Podcasts about sunni

Erick Erickson fills in for Mark Arum today. He discusses the GA elections happening today! Erick also talks about the difference between the Sunni & Shia Muslims, its' origin and how it relates to modern day.

Erick Erickson fills in for Mark Arum today. He discusses the GA elections happening today! Erick also talks about the difference between the Sunni & Shia Muslims, its' origin and how it relates to modern day.

Erick Erickson fills in for Mark Arum today. He discusses the GA elections happening today! Erick also talks about the difference between the Sunni & Shia Muslims, its' origin and how it relates to modern day.

President Trump has announced another potential deal with Iran, and many people are already reacting with fear, anger, or excitement.My message is simple: Don't panic.Some people misunderstand me. They assume that when I say not to panic, I mean the deal will never happen. That is not what I am saying. I have no idea whether it will happen or not. What I do know is that no agreement will change the fundamental nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The regime's jihadi ambitions, its hatred of Israel or the USA, and its desire to spread its jihad throughout the world are not going away because of signatures on a piece of paper.The real lesson is that we must stop placing our faith in human leaders.Whether Trump succeeds or fails, whether a deal is signed or not, the Jewish nation must place its faith in God alone. At the same time, we must continue doing what is necessary to ensure that the evil Islamic Republic of Iran can never again threaten Israel, the free world, or even its own suffering citizens.Jihadi Islam remains the greatest threat to civilization. No agreement signed in Washington changes that reality.More important than any announcement coming out of Washington was the recent declaration by Israel's Defense Minister. He made it clear that Israel will not withdraw from its security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, that the IDF will continue defending Israel from forward positions, and that Gaza's jihadi infrastructure must be dismantled. He also spoke about advancing migration from Gaza and rebuilding Jewish communities in northern Gaza.That is the news people should be paying attention to.It signals that Israel is continuing to move forward with the lessons of October 7th. It signals that Israel understands that security is achieved through strength, presence, and control—not wishful thinking.The next step must be even clearer: applying Israeli sovereignty to every area liberated from our jihadi enemies. Whether in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, southern Lebanon, or southern Syria, lasting victory comes when Israel takes responsibility for securing and developing the land rather than leaving vacuums that our enemies inevitably fill.The lesson of October 7th is simple. If we are not there, they will be.After the Iranian and Qatari-backed invasion of southern Israel, no Israeli leader should ever again allow jihadi organizations—whether Sunni or Shiite—to build military threats on our borders.Stay strong.Keep your eyes on what Israel is actually doing on the ground.Have faith in the God of Israel.Support leadership that learns the real lessons of October 7th and acts accordingly.The Lion of Zion is awake.Am Yisrael Chai.Join Our Whatsapp Channel: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMvFollow us on Twitter: https://x.com/AviAbelowJoin our Telegram Channel: https://t.me/aviabelowpulseFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pulse_of_israel/?hl=enPulse of Israel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsraelVideoNetworkVisit Our Website - https://pulseofisrael.com/Donate to Pulse of Israel: https://pulseofisrael.com/boost-this-video/

Today on The Cosmic Womb: Exploring the innate enlightenment and spiritual awareness of babies in the wombHow to cultivate a protected, high-vibration environment through soft birthInviting spiritual guardians  to support you through pregnancy and  birthThe necessity of clearing personal blockages to become a clearer vessel for your babyListening for your baby's needs and honoring their needs throughout the labor processThe importance of simply asking your baby what they need in pregnancy Connect with Sunni:Read Sacred Birthing: Birthing a  New Humanity Join Sunni's community: SacredBirthing.org Read Conceiving Souls of Magnificence Sunni's Website Connect with Emily: IG: @emilythemediumWebsite: emilythemedium.com Spirit Baby Q+A Temple Tickets Available June 30th 1PM EST https://bit.ly/4d8XsufJoin Cosmic Womb Pregnancy Cohort beginning May 2026: https://bit.ly/3OX94rYFertility Initiation Virtual Retreat June 6&7th: https://bit.ly/4uJ58KMOther Resources:Use code EMILY10 to shop MILKMOON Fertility and Postpartum tonics  https://bit.ly/3uoNYsn

1/3: Preview for Later Today: Abdul-Husain explains Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system where the Prime Minister is Shia, Speaker is Sunni, and President is Kurdish, highlighting the internal Shia primary.

In this episode of Crossing Faiths, John and Elliot discuss the intricate and often nuanced overlaps between different religions and belief systems, comparing and contrasting internal divisions within Islamic tradition with those in Christian tradition. They explore the historical and theological distinctions between Sunni and Shia Islam, examining how each sect interprets concepts like leadership, succession, and divine authority. Their deep dive unpacks how these factions navigate their respective identities, the role of historical figures and political movements in shaping these differences, and the ongoing challenges of reconciling distinct interpretations within the broader Islamic community. Throughout the discussion, they also reflect on how historical, cultural, and geopolitical contexts have influenced these sectarian identities, highlighting how they both shape and are shaped by the shared quest for spiritual legitimacy.

“Trump has no strategy and no endgame. No amount of success in tactics will win. No military campaign has ever been won solely from the air.” — Jason Pack Happy May Day! Today's papers are leading with stories about Obamacare, a Gaza flotilla, and the price of oil. Everything but the story at both the front and back of our minds. Only the Wall Street Journal leads with Iran. Which is more than a bit odd, given that America is supposed to be at war there. Or is it? Jason Pack — Middle East analyst, host of the Disorder podcast, and our man in London — joins for a special May Day show on the most surreal conflict in recent memory. Both sides, Pack argues, care more about the narrative war than about actual military strategy. The official word out of DC and Tehran is the same: we're winning. But no military campaign in history has been won solely on the airwaves. Pack sees two sides that are doing their surreal best to ignore a war that they are both fighting. If you pretend it's not happening, then maybe it isn't. Don't mention the war. On this May Day, everyone is Basil Fawlty. Five Takeaways •       Two Sides with No Strategy: Both Trump and the Iranian regime are more invested in the narrative war — the story of who is winning — than in having an actual endgame. Trump says the blockade will make the Iranians cry uncle. The Iranians say they are surviving and therefore winning. Neither has clearly stated what they want from this conflict: not on the nuclear file, not on territory, not on regime change. Pack's verdict: he sees two sides that don't even know what they want to get out of a war they're both pretending is going well. •       No Campaign Has Ever Been Won Solely from the Air: The American military has showcased extraordinary AI-enabled tactical capability in the Iran conflict. But war is about outcomes and strategy. Territory must be controlled. New leaders must be installed. These things cannot be done from altitude. The Israeli Twelve-Day War hit the head of the snake — the Iranian regime — but may have overplayed its hand. A Shia axis that was being systematically degraded could come back like a phoenix if the narrative of martyrdom and resistance is allowed to reconsolidate around shared injury. •       Trump Does Projection: Pack's most pointed observation: track what Trump accuses his adversaries of, and you learn what he is about to do. He says the blockade will make the Iranians cry uncle. Which means he is on the verge of backing down. The absolute worst outcome, Pack argues, would be Trump as the one who folds — not because America loses a war, but because it loses the credibility that underwrites the entire international order. His fear: that is exactly what is about to happen. •       Pakistan: The Sleeping Giant: The story the world's media has mostly not told: Pakistan's role. Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Pakistan has a large Shia minority and a complex relationship with Iran. It also has a complex relationship with China, with the Gulf states, and with the United States. Any escalation that involves Iran necessarily involves the question of what Pakistan does. Pack considers this one of the most under-covered dimensions of the conflict and one of the most consequential. The sleeping giant has not yet been asked to choose sides. That moment may be coming. •       The First AI War: London Antisemitism and Russian Disinformation: Six antisemitic attacks in London in six weeks since the Iran war began. Pack's argument: the disinformation driving radicalisation on social media is not purely Iranian. Russia and North Korea are seeding the most outlandish conspiracy theories about Jewish people — great replacement, Epstein, the rest — and someone with mental health problems eventually acts. This, combined with AI-enabled targeteering and logistics in the actual conflict, makes this the first AI war. Future historians will untangle what that means. For now, it means the world is more disordered than it looks from any single headline. About the Guest Jason Pack is a Middle East analyst, host of the Disorder podcast, and a Fellow at the Middle East Institute. He is the author of Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder and a regular contributor to international media on North Africa, the Middle East, and great power competition. References: •       Disorder podcast by Jason Pack — disorder.fm. •       Episode 2877: Keith Teare — Let's Just Say It Out Loud: AI Is Not Dangerous — the Silicon Valley seminary argument, now tested in the first AI war. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters: (00:00) - Chapter 1 (00:31) - May Day check-in: is there even a war happening? (02:09) - Both sides care more about the narrative than strategy (02:37) - Trump's lack of endgame: no military campaign is won from the air (04:18) - How is the war covered in the Middle East? (06:09) - Shia vs Sunni: does it still matter? (07:54) - Hussein, martyrology, and the Shia willingness to fight the losing battle (09:21) - Syria and the Alawis: off the map? (11:00) - Pakistan: the sleeping giant (14:00) - Is this the equivalent of Suez? (18:00) - A new world order: does America want to lead it? (22:00) - The Gulf states and the new regional order (26:00) - Trump does projection: crying uncle (30:00) - China, Russia, and who benefits (34:22) - The first AI war: what will historians say? (37:25) - AI company stocks keep going up (38:02) - London antisemitism: six attacks in six weeks (40:12) - Russian and North Korean disinformation driving radicalization (42:13) - Disorder podcast: subscribe. The world needs it.  

Sahil Adeem explains why beliefs inherit automatically, exposing psychology behind Sunni-Shia identity, herd momentum, and why truth feels costly—asking whether faith is chosen, or merely absorbed without conscious struggle today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imam Malik ibn Anas (711–795 CE) was a major Islamic scholar and jurist born in Medina during the early Abbasid era. He is best known as the founder of the Maliki school of Islamic law, one of the four major Sunni legal traditions. From a young age, he devoted himself to studying hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and Islamic jurisprudence, learning from some of the most respected scholars in Medina. His most famous work, Al-Muwatta, is one of the earliest and most important collections of hadith and legal opinions. Imam Malik was known for his strong emphasis on the practices of the people of Medina as a key source of Islamic law, alongside the Quran and authentic hadith. He spent most of his life teaching in Medina and became one of the most respected scholars of his time, influencing Islamic legal thought for centuries after his death.

By 2011, Baghdad was physically transformed by concrete blast walls institutionalizing sectarian division. Abdul-Ahadcritiques Maliki's government for hollowing out the military through systemic corruption, turning units into "money-making machines." The failure of the 2012 "Friday of Anger" protests and the spillover of the Syrian civil war allowed ISIS to masquerade as "liberators" in Sunni cities like Mosul, exploiting deep-seated grievances against the oppressive central government. (5)1918 BAGHDAD

Turkey's foreign minister has warned it could be Israel's "next enemy" as the war with Iran appears headed for closure, and called for a Middle East security pact amid rising tensions between the two countries.  "After Iran, Israel cannot live without an enemy – it has to develop a rhetoric to shape public opinion," declared Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in a television interview on Monday. "We see that not only Netanyahu's administration, but also some figures in the opposition – though not all – are seeking to declare Turkey the new enemy." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the region's most vocal critics of Israel's military campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, fuelling a surge in bilateral tensions. In response, Israel accuses Erdogan of backing terrorist organisations, including Hamas, whom Erdogan has called “liberation fighters". Diplomatic ties have withered, leaving only a skeleton crew in each respective embassy. Iraq turns to Turkey for oil exports as Middle East war reshapes routes Turkish-Israeli relations have a history of highs and lows, but current tensions are unprecedented, argues Turkish security analyst Arda Mevlutoglu. "Turkey is considering Israel a security threat because of the unpredictability factor of the Israeli government,” he said, noting that Israel's unpredictability, combined with a breakdown in mutual understanding, is causing deep unease within Ankara's corridors of power. “Mutual understanding is especially critical when it comes to establishing at least a minimum amount of security environment, and the lack of such ability forces Turkey to take precautionary measures in both diplomatic, strategic and military domains as well,” he said. Baku's 'silent diplomacy' Fidan on Monday also called for the formation of a Middle East security pact – following follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent warning of an emerging radical Sunni alliance in the region, which he said is threatening Israel. Alarmed by the escalating tensions, Azerbaijan – one of the few countries with strong ties to both Turkey and Israel – has quietly entered the fray. “We are behind the scenes through the silent diplomacy, effectively contributing to de-conflict certain elements of the misunderstandings and also building a certain trust and channels of communication between the two parties,” said Hikmet Haciyev, assistant to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and head of the country's Department of Foreign Affairs. Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance strained by opposing stances on Israel With Turkey and Israel both having a military hold in Syria, the country is a potential flashpoint. The Baku talks saw the creation of a hotline between Turkish and Israeli militaries to avoid any accidental clashes between their air forces, which routinely fly over Syria. But with two Israeli ministers last year calling for the assassination of the Syrian President Ahmed al-Assad, a key ally of Erdogan, Syria remains a hotspot, and Fidan warned on Monday that Israel could target Syria after the Iran conflict. Washington's role Turkey expert Gallia Lindenstrauss of Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies, while acknowledging Baku's role, says more needs to be done. “I would say tensions between Turkey and Israel are high enough that the United States also has to be involved. And I think there's a wider understanding in Washington that they should play this role." Asli Aydintasbas, head of the Turkey Project at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank, agrees. Turkey pushes for European missile defence deal amid Iran tensions "Washington certainly has to step in and do more in order to mediate between Turkey and Israel. This is a very, very dangerous rivalry and it has the hallmarks of emerging into a long-term enmity,” she warned. However, Aydintasbas questions Washington's readiness and ability. “Traditionally, it's been the US role, actually, to mediate between Turkey and Israel. The Trump administration, though, is not very focused on it. This is not the kind of stuff the Trump administration excels in – the painstaking, cumbersome work of diplomacy, of roadmaps, confidence-building measures and so on," she said. The formidable strength of both the Israeli and Turkish militaries serves as a strong deterrent against open conflict. Yet, as both nations vie for influence across overlapping arenas – from the Gulf States to the Horn of Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean – the risk of escalation and regional destabilisation continues to cast a long shadow.

If you're wondering why Sunni and Shia have been divided and if unity is even possible, this is the interview for you. What caused the Sunni VS Shia divide? What made it religious? Are Shia's Muslims? Can Sunnis and Shias live together? Who did this to us? We're FINALLY going to talk about the dark time in Islamic history no one talks about....the Sahabah Civil War. What happened?! Why?! How?!In this episode, we have on again, Hamza Raza, a graduate of Vanderbilt and Harvard University with a master's degree in Islamic Studies, currently a student at Al Azhar in Egypt, sits down to reveal the real theological differences and political divides that have separated Muslims for centuries. This is the raw, unfiltered truth about what really happened after the Prophet Muhammad's (ﷺ) death.Follow Hamza: https://www.instagram.com/hamzahraza*JOIN OUR YOUTUBE MEMBERSHIP*OR*Support Us on *Patreon:* https://www.patreon.com/theansaripodcast*Ayubi Collective*FREE 10-Part Masterclass “How to Build Your Own Multi-Billion Dollar Business”https://www.ayubi.com/ansari*Provision Capital:* https://www.provisioncapital.com00:00 What's the story between Sunni & Shia?08:40 The different kinds of Shia10:09 Views about the Sahaba13:57 Ad15:36 The Battle of Jabr20:17 The Death of Uthman 27:45 Who Was Right? Ali or Muawiyya?30:05 Why Is this held a secret?33:08 Ad33:59 The Battle of Safeen35:22 Imam Hassan VS Muawiyyah45:56 The Battle of Karbala57:52 The Origin of Shi'ism01:02:00 The Massacre of the Prophet's Family01:09:50 The Ismaili Split01:11:28 Ad01:12:20 Sunni VS Shia Misinformation 01:15:13 What about Modern Politics?01:19:29 Unification of Muslims01:22:34 Final Thoughts#IslamicHistory #IranWar #muslimpodcast #islamicpodcast #shia #sunni *Listen on All Audio Platforms:* https://tr.ee/JeX-ILYSyj*Follow The Ansari Podcast**Instagram:* https://instagram.com/ansaripodcast*TikTok:* https://tiktok.com/@theansaripodcast*Twitter/X:* https://twitter.com/ansaripodcast

When building a business, have you ever felt like working harder should be the answer, but the more you push, the more exhausted, misaligned, or stuck you become?  In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, Jason Hull sits down with Sean Patton, former U.S. Army Special Forces Commander, executive coach, and leadership speaker, to unpack what entrepreneurs can learn from military leadership, self-leadership, and mission-driven culture.  They discuss the dangers of hustle without recovery, why so many business owners never learn to lead themselves, and how clarity of mission, roles, and outcomes can transform the way a team operates.  Jason and Sean also explore why the military is far more collaborative than most people assume, how strong leaders facilitate input without losing ownership, and why mission dictates culture in both combat and business. Along the way, they dive into personal purpose, team alignment, trust in sales, and the mindset shifts required to build a business that creates both impact and freedom instead of burnout. You'll Learn (00:00) Introduction and Guest Background  (01:15) Sean Patton's Military and Entrepreneurial Journey  (04:16) Leadership in Difficult Situations: Military vs. Business  (08:29) Dispelling Myths About Military Leadership  (10:35) Collaborative Decision-Making in Special Forces  (12:56) The Role of Extreme Ownership in Leadership  (16:08) Culture as a Mission-Driven Concept  (19:16) Aligning Mission, Culture, and Outcomes  (20:51) The Power of Mission and Vision in Business  (25:41) The Why Behind Business Success  (29:24) The Entrepreneurial Hierarchy of Needs  (35:19) Applying Military Clarity to Business Operations  (37:31) The Importance of Clear Roles and Responsibilities  (41:37) Closing Remarks and Contact Information Quotables "Leadership isn't a title, it's a person you become." "Sometimes the loudest voice in the room isn't the smartest voice in the room." "Mission dictates culture." Resources DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind DoorGrow Academy DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right. Welcome everybody to the DoorGro show. I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGro, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we've brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry.   At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so I have an awesome guest today. I'm hanging out here with Sean Patton. Welcome, Sean. I'm going to brag about you a little bit. Thanks for being here.   Sean Patton (00:53) Yeah, alright, you go for it. Thanks for having me, man.   Jason Hull (00:54) All right. All   right. So Sean is a former U.S. Army Special Forces Commander, Meta Performance Executive Coach at Novus Global and a leadership keynote speaker. Sean helps leaders accomplish seemingly impossible and thrilling visions through transformation. This is your bio. As a former U.S. Army Special Forces Commander, Sean brings a rare combination of battlefield tested leadership, real world business ownership.   and success back to human performance principles to every stage and coaching session. His work is grounded in one belief, leadership isn't a title, it's a person you become. As an ICF certified executive coach, host of the No Limit Leadership Podcast and author of A Warrior's Mindset, The Six Keys to Greatness. Awesome. Sean, so glad to have you here. Welcome to the show.   Sean Patton (01:48) Thanks, man. I'm excited to be here.   Jason Hull (01:50) Cool. So Sean, for those listening, I'd love for them to get a little bit of background on you. I gave a little bio, but tell them a little bit about how did you get into entrepreneurism? When did you wake up and go, hey, you know what? I'm an entrepreneur.   Sean Patton (02:04) Well, it took a little bit. was maybe a little late to the game. I originally went from a small town in Kansas. I went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduated and then spent 10 years as an active duty officer in the army. So I was an infantry officer and then a special forces officer in the special forces group commanding two different Green Beret attachments. So it was a busy time. I feel like I crammed a lifetime of   leadership lessons into those 14 years, right? Like West Point is most intense leadership training that our nation has. And then, you know, was a rifle platoon leader and sniper platoon leader in Iraq. Then I was an Afghanistan with my team. So I was doing really difficult things and complex things with elite performing teams. And, you know, despite all of that and 22 months in combat and 30 months to point overseas,   I was never really the gun guy or the gear guy. Uh, it was all, it always about the people and the problems that we were solving. And so in 2015, a little before that, I decided that I was going to get out of the military in transition. And I just had this entrepreneurship itch that I wanted to scratch. Plus, you know, I want to check out with this freedom thing that I had been hearing about all these years was all about. And so I decided to try it and.   Jason Hull (03:04) Yeah.   Yeah.   Sean Patton (03:31) It was a rocky start. I had a lot of, I think I had some strengths coming out of the military and those experiences, but also some real gaps. And one of them was a, I think my risk tolerance was so high from things I had been doing. then also   Jason Hull (03:33) Yeah.   Yeah.   Sean Patton (03:59) The answer in the military so often, at least in the units I was in was when things got hard, right? When the, when the darkness came, when it seemed like the weight was unmanageable, the answer was just go harder. Like, you know, like the mission is going to end, you're going to redeploy, like you, know, the sun's going to come up, just keep going, keep going, keep going. And what I didn't appreciate was when you get into the entrepreneurship space is that in the military, even in those units, there was this like,   Jason Hull (04:11) Okay, yeah.   Yeah.   Sean Patton (04:28) mechanism around us almost protecting us. Like they had honed us into this machine that could push ourselves to these extreme limits. But they told us when it was time to turn it off and when it was time to refit and when it was time to recover. And then I got in entrepreneur space and when things got difficult and you know, I made some really bad financial decisions which we can get into and all of that. I found myself with all of that weight with the only answer I had was just go harder.   Jason Hull (04:52) Yeah.   Yeah.   Sean Patton (04:59) And so   three years later, I was in the hospital ⁓ and I had stress hives and my appendix almost burst and all these health issues and going through my first bankruptcy or my only bankruptcy, but bankruptcy after three years. And so it was a rough start to the whole thing. I had to learn a lot of lessons about myself in that.   Jason Hull (05:07) Wow.   Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, early stage entrepreneurism, there's some similar patterns I've noticed because, you know, I've talked to thousands of entrepreneurs. I've gone through this sort of journey. in the beginning, yeah, we do a lot of stupid stuff. Like we make mistakes and that's part of learning. You know, we believe weird things like I just like your first hire should be a clone of yourself. If I could just clone myself, I call it the clone myth. Like we believe like   You know, we think we can do everything ourselves. it'd be cheaper if I just figure out how to do it myself. If I just read the right book, watch the right YouTube video. And so we do dumb stuff like we don't get support. We don't get help. We don't get mentors. like it. had to things had to get really hard before I started getting mentors, getting help, getting coaches, getting support. And I had to be humble, you know, before I was willing to do that. And.   And yeah, and so I see, I see this, you know, a lot of people play out this journey and then early stage as an entrepreneur. Yeah. We're, we're, it's almost like the hustle's glamorized. And so we go through this process of like, I got a hustle. I got to work harder. That's what you do if you own a company, if you're a CEO, if you're a boss. And so you just burn yourself out. I remember I was at end of a sales call trying to wrap it up.   I was in so much pain because I like I think I'd slipped some sort of disc or was bulging in my back. And I was like by the end of the call and doing this call, I was laying on the floor and I ended the call and I was like, and I was in so much pain. I wasn't able to work and had to lay down for like two weeks. Yeah. And then I realized because I hadn't been eating, I'd been just working. hadn't been sleeping.   Sean Patton (07:04) my gosh.   Jason Hull (07:11) very well, I'd been just working. I thought I just need to work harder, work faster. And I didn't realize that probably I was like probably operating at like 10 % of my effectiveness mentally. I was being stupid. And I thought, I just need to work harder, I gotta hustle. And I wasn't taking care of myself. And then that's when I realized, if I don't take care of my body, I don't have a vehicle to achieve stuff or to get results. And I'm not even really present.   Sean Patton (07:23) Thank   Jason Hull (07:40) when I'm there with people because I'm hungry and I'm tired and I'm I'm everywhere else and I haven't even produced the, or my brain hasn't had a chance to clean itself like it does every night. And I haven't gotten food to fuel my brain. I don't have all the chemicals my brain needs. I'm lacking dopamine and serotonin and GABA and like, I'm just, I'm an absolute mess, right? And I see people do this all the time, all the time.   Sean Patton (08:05) It's so true. I, in my lens, how I look through that is through a leadership lens. And I learned in the military so many great things about leading others. And as I look back at it, what I had to learn in entrepreneurship, what you're kind of talking about is like, I never really had to master leading myself.   Jason Hull (08:31) Yeah.   Sean Patton (08:32) I never had to look at myself as like, how am going to lead myself? Cause the way you mentioned there, like I would never treat one of my soldiers or one of my employees or have an expectation of them the way I was, I was treating myself. And so it's like, how would you.   Jason Hull (08:41) Yeah.   Yeah, I wouldn't do I wouldn't I wouldn't push my spouse to be like this. I'd be like, hey, come on, clean more. Work harder.   Do this. Right. Yeah. Then marriage would be over real fast. I wouldn't like I wouldn't do that to my kids. Come on, go. Yeah. But to ourselves, we can sometimes be a cruel leader. Right. Can you dispel a myth? Because, you know, I got I kind of got a sense of this. I've never been in the military. And God bless you. Thank you for your service. I appreciate that.   Sean Patton (08:55) Yeah.   Jason Hull (09:15) ⁓ but I've realized I've been listening to, ⁓ Chaka Willa, Willick and Leaf, whatever their, their book, ⁓ the dichotomy of leadership. And I had this belief that in the military, I think a lot of people maybe that haven't been involved in it have this perception. Military, just, you either give orders or you take orders. It's rigid. There's no thinking. You just were told what to do. And, ⁓ you know, I've kind of gotten a very different picture of that.   that there's a lot of decisions and there's planning and know, this is lives are on the line and it's painted a very different picture. Can you just touch on that? Cause I think some people here, you've got this background in the military and to you, it's just, you know this stuff cause you had lived it. But for those that have never been in the military, what advantage did that give you in business and how is that different that maybe people perceive it?   Sean Patton (10:09) It's a great question. I do think that there is this idea from either whether it's like movies about basic training or, you know, the, or, know, about like submarines. Yeah. You just shut up and go. Right. And, know, there is in basic training or when you're, I would say when you're being transformed from a free citizen to a soldier, there is a bit of a breaking down of   Jason Hull (10:16) in movies. Yeah. You blindly follow and you're told what to do. Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Sean Patton (10:39) some of that, that needs to come back. But then as you build that foundation of like, when it's time to go, I go ⁓ and I have some discipline and I can, can integrate with the unit, let's say. ⁓ Then you start getting more and more responsibility. And especially as you move up in the military, you become, I mean, it's not that long, like two or three years later, even the regular military, regular army, you're going to be a team leader. So you're going to be a leader.   And a of those kids are like 20, 19, and they're in charge of three people. And so they're no longer just like, it would make no sense to have someone to stand here and like, what do I need to do? This is what need to do. ⁓ That's not, not, that wouldn't like, that doesn't work in a company and that wouldn't work in a unit. And so there needs to be input on each side. And then especially when you get into like the Navy SEALs, like Jaco was talking about, or in a special forces team. mean, the planning, I was a facilitator of mission plan.   Jason Hull (11:11) Yeah.   Yeah.   Sean Patton (11:38) but I was by no means the smartest person in the room and it was a very collaborative experience. And so my job as the commander of a 12 man special forces ODA was to receive the mission that we had been given. And that mission doesn't come down and tell us this is how you're going to do it. It says, here's the effect we need to have in the area. Here's the questions we have. And then it was up for us to sit down and I had, you know, I have a warrant officer who's   Jason Hull (11:43) Hmm.   Sean Patton (12:08) trained in human intelligence to a level of a CIA operative. I have an intelligence officer or an intelligence sergeant who does the same work the NSA does. My average age on my team is 30 years old, people with multiple combat experiences. I remember one time I was in Lebanon and one of my younger soldiers, Greenbright, we were talking about why there was this conflict going on and how we were trying to influence it.   And I said, well, you know, it's probably because of this rift between this Hezbollah and the Shia sect and the Sunni sect of Muslims in the area. And, you my 26 year old soldier is like, actually, sir, that's incorrect. This conflict in the Becca Valley actually goes back hundreds of years. It's actually over like water rights. mean, like that's the level of conversation we're having in the planning session. And it is very much a collaborative   Jason Hull (13:00) Yeah.   Sean Patton (13:07) ⁓ discussion and we come up with multiple courses of action, but here's, I will say where it kind of converges to, ⁓ the lesson that comes from the military and maybe an issue, this is where the people maybe have this misconception, but I think it's an important one for when it comes to the, company is that at the end of the day, kind of go back to Jaco's first bunk on book, honestly, extreme ownership, has to be someone in charge as the commander is my dis   Jason Hull (13:11) Yeah.   Sean Patton (13:35) was my decision. was like, okay, I've heard everyone's input. We're going with, this is how we're going to do that. And immediately, because everyone had given their input, even if we didn't pick what their choice was, it was, okay, Roger that. Now we're going to execute that as if it was our own. And so that level of ownership when it comes to planning and execution is where we turn and say, okay, now we're on the same page.   the rich discussion and input that happens before that is an important job. And that's why I think whether it's in the military or in the civilian world, as a leader of an organization like that, you need to be a master facilitator. It's not your ideas. It's how can we be the composer of the group in front of us? And if someone is taking over, how do we calm them down? How do we...   Jason Hull (14:20) Yes, yeah.   Sean Patton (14:31) recognize when someone's voice is being stomped out and their valuable input isn't being contributed. You know, like how do you handle that and get the idea so that the best concept comes to the top and then get buy-in to execute.   Jason Hull (14:37) Bye.   I mean, what I'm hearing is like, you know, this picture you're painting is you've got this team of specialists. They each bring some value and some wisdom and some knowledge to the table. They're experts at this one particular craft. They see everything through a different lens and you're getting feedback from all these different lenses. And then as a leader, you have to decide which things are valid, which things do we incorporate? And, know, and it's up to each individual that's a specialist to really   put some pressure on the leader to say, this is significant, this is important. And it's up to the leader to make sure that, you know, maybe that quieter voice, but to recognize what is significant if they're not making it present, because sometimes the loudest voice in the room isn't the smartest voice in the room. And so, yeah, so that's fascinating. And, business is a lot like that, but a lot of business owners, they don't even run their teams like that. They think it's a dictatorship.   They mistakenly think that's how the military works. They're like, I'm the dictator and I have all the best ideas and I'm smarter than all of you. And they do, they end up as the emperor with no clothes. Cause everybody in the team were like, yes boss, we don't want to get fired.   Sean Patton (15:56) Absolutely. And that's why I think that the, main job of, let's say that entrepreneur, that business owner, that even commander, right. Is your job is to craft the vision of what you're trying to create. And yes, the outcome and clarity of outcome, clarity of vision of why does this company, why do we exist and what impact are we trying to have in the world? And once people are bought into that and aligned on that.   Jason Hull (16:09) The outcome, clarity of outcome.   Okay.   Sean Patton (16:26) then we can have a great and rich discussion on the how, the strategy.   Jason Hull (16:30) Got it. that,   you know, that's, so now we're talking about culture, right? Which is the foundation before we get into tactics, we have to have culture and the military, you have all kind of chosen into a particular culture. There's a set of beliefs and that's a foundation. It's kind of like, you might maybe even take it for granted, but the military has that and a lot of businesses don't. They don't have that set culture where it's defined.   Sean Patton (16:57) So can I, what I will say is that this is true in the military and I'll give you some military examples just because they're maybe interesting to your audience and then we can talk business is that mission dictates culture. So, know, for example, you might have, you know, especially a lot of the movies, right? You see like the Marines, That's stereotypical. We'll be super stereotypical right now. Marines mission, their core mission is secure the beach to land ships.   Jason Hull (17:04) Yeah, I love this. Yeah.   Yeah, OK.   Mm-hmm.   Okay.   Sean Patton (17:27) So if   you notice, are a bit like, just go get in line, full frontal assault, you're getting off ships on an uncovered area and you're just massive violence of action. That's how you win that battle, okay? So they need to have a certain kind of mentality and I'm generous. Okay. A special forces team will operate by, with and through an indigenous force. So we're a US sponsored insurgent. we've got, I will go on target with.   Jason Hull (17:42) Yes.   Sean Patton (17:54) 10 Americans and 300 Afghani commandos. Like that dictates a certain mission, right? And so ⁓ the difference between the Marines and then maybe the Navy SEALs who are operating and their job is to take over a ship underway with 30 SEALs that all live together, work together. They know each other in their ear, like synchronize their precise, you know, cause you've got to be right. You're, you're firing weapons inside of a ship corridor. Like   Jason Hull (17:57) Okay. Yeah.   Sean Patton (18:23) You have to be so precise. I can't do that on the ground with 300 Afghanis running around. I'm just like guns pointed this way. You know, like we've got to you've to be much more flexible and and how you plan that and how you think about success and all that is a different animal than the Marines who are on you're trying to storm a beach together. A SEAL team is operating with 30 people who've worked closely together and then.   where you've got 12 of us trying to work by with and through a different unit to do a different thing. Like the culture inside each one of those units would be completely different. In the Marines, you might have a bit more like go here, do that. Yes, sir. How, how jump high, jump faster. You know, you might need that because that's you need to storm a beach. You made, you need very precise, very black and white, right? And wrong, like precision to take down a ship with 30 people.   you need to be very clear about larger intent and what is the big thing we're trying to operate here and how do we control sort of an uncontrollable mass and chaos to operate a Green Break team. If you took the culture of each one of those, if you gave that mission to a bunch of Marines who are just like, where do I go? Where do need to blow up? And you're trying to like do a sensitive political operation with 300 indigenous, it would be a disaster.   Jason Hull (19:29) Yeah.   Sean Patton (19:46) And if you tried to set the precision of, cause we tried to do this sometimes, like you would work with an indigenous force. If you tried to set the precision and standard of a US special operator, whether it's a SEAL or a Green Beret on this indigenous force, you drive yourself crazy. Like it's not going to happen. All right. And so all of those different units have different missions. And so they all have different cultures. And to your point on your company, if you're not clear on missions,   If you're not clear on the vision and like why you exist and what you're trying to do, you will end up chasing your tail on culture because you'll just start grabbing like every other leadership book and culture. just like, what about this works here? This works here. This works here. Instead of saying, what are we trying to accomplish and what is the optimal culture for our mission set?   Jason Hull (20:36) I love that. Yeah, one of our guiding documents at DoorGrow is our, we call it our client-centric mission statement. And it talks about who we want to serve in detail, how we will help them, what our goal is, our plan, and then what kind of the long-term sort of vision that maybe we'll never achieve, but it's the goal we're striving for. And this is what we coach our clients on getting defined because it creates culture.   Then we have our how we do things. That's the company core values. And then we get into personal why statements for the business owner, business why statements. Creating all of this is, we call this the culture materials. There's like six key elements that I coach them on getting in place that help kind of make the culture visible to everybody on the team. And you're right, mission dictates culture. I love this idea because the mission of the business   which most people mistakenly think is just to make money, is actually to provide some sort of value and to solve a real problem in the marketplace. And that mission, whether you're good at it or not, and the team are conscious of it or not, and you're focused on it or not, dictates whether or not you have good culture that actually achieves outcomes. That makes a lot of sense.   Sean Patton (21:53) Yeah, absolutely. Cause   yeah, I love that you have that structure and I love how you also tied that down to personal why statements because this is another leadership issue that I see with a lot of entrepreneurs. We're big companies, honestly too, is that there is this assumption that you've accepted this job description and here's what matters to the company and therefore   what matters to maybe me as your leader or boss or the division or the company is also the most important thing to you as an individual or like the reason you're here is not really explored. So I think one of the most critical conversations you can have, and it sounds like you have a structured format for that, which is fantastic, is just sitting down with each member of your team, like, why are you here? What matters to you? Because often, right, I'm sure you've had this, I've had employees where you assume   a salesperson, the most important thing is compensation, right? It's how much money you can make. And that's great. Maybe it is, but then it's actually like, well, yeah, that's important. And also, you know, my, my youngest is a senior in high school and this is the last baseball season we have with, and man, the games start at four and it's so hard for me to get to games at four because you have me work till five. And it's like, if I could just make those baseball games, that would be amazing. And then all of sudden,   Once you know like what matters to them and why they're doing this, then you can adjust and say, cool, how do we align what matters to you? What your personal why statement as you mentioned it and the company why statement. And now you've got alignment. And when you align those two things where what matters most to them contributes to what matters most to the company, you just, create transformative effects.   Jason Hull (23:36) Thank   Yeah, the big challenge I've noticed, the biggest transformation I can get is to help the business owner get clear on their why. Because when the business owner isn't clear on why they do what they do, they end up doing the wrong things in the business. Because you're the business owner, you can do anything in the business. And so some business owners are like, well, I have to do the accounting. I'm the business owner. Do you really? If you hate accounting, you probably shouldn't be doing the accounting.   You're not the right personality fit for that, which means you're actually probably not the best person to do that. So some business owners love sales. Some love accounting. Some hate it. Some love operations. Some are really bad at that. And so if we can get clear on their personal why, and then we can look at their role and see if their role is helping align with that, we can then reorganize the entire business. But most business owners, the first team they build is they transition from solopreneur to having a team.   I find is a mess. The first team they have is built around the wrong person. And it's kind of like they're like, I'm this shape puzzle piece, but it's not really them. They're like, I'm doing accounting. I'm doing this and a little bit this. And then they're like, now I'm going to get team members. I'm going to puzzle pieces around this misshapen puzzle piece. And they fit that puzzle piece, but that's not even me. So I hate being in it. I'm uncomfortable in my own business.   In property management, this is where they get to two to 400 doors. call it the second sand trap or the team sand trap. They've made it through that transition of finally having a team from being a solopreneur and they're the most miserable they've ever been in their business. And adding more doors makes their life personally worse, not better. Because adding more doors just means they're working harder. They're doing more work instead of getting the right support and the right team, because they didn't build the right team around the right person from the beginning. So if I get them clear on their why,   They're like, my gosh, I'm a circle. I'm not a square. I need to build this whole different team around me. And then like when I got clarity on this many years ago, I think within a month I had fired like half my team. I changed everything. I changed the type of clients I was willing to work with. I changed my business model. Like I didn't want to tolerate certain things anymore because you know, I woke up one morning and I was like, I would rather stream Netflix and avoid growing my business.   even though I need money, then deal with the clients I'm dealing with at that time. I'm like, why is this so, why am I so out of alignment? Then I saw Simon's the next start with why, like presentation on the golden circle, why, how, what? And I was like, what? And I'm like, ⁓ what's my why? And so I went to, I've like, I need to figure this out. And my personal why is to inspire others to love true principles. What that means is I love finding the better way to do things. I love learning what works.   and sharing it with other people, I would do that for free for fun. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm doing it for free for fun right now. Like I love this. I love learning what's working for other people. And then I get to turn around and share that with clients and I get paid to do that. That's crazy. And that's the role I get to live in my business. And so my business, it feeds me my why.   Sean Patton (26:47) Yeah, it's all true.   Jason Hull (26:55) And so our why statement of door goes to transform property management, business owners and their businesses. So we get to create transformation. Everybody on my team buys into this vision. We all celebrate when our clients are winning. And so that's the culture we've created in the business. That's our mission, transformation. And we know if we transform the business owner, we transform the business. We transform the business, we transform the team. We transform the business and the team. We transform hundreds, maybe thousands of tenants and rental property owners lives.   There's this ripple effect and that's exciting to me. We're having impact, right? And so the thing I can get on a sales call and confidently say to a property management business owner, here's why you should trust me because if I'm selfish in getting what I want out of life, my why, my business is going to give you what you need and you are going to win. And we can always trust motives. And so I call that the golden bridge. The golden bridge is find out the prospects why.   Sean Patton (27:31) Yeah.   Jason Hull (27:54) and you build a bridge to it, the bridge is the business. It's what gives you both what you want. That's where the deal happens. And there's my why, there's the prospect's why, the business why is what connects us. And that's the golden bridge. And if I can relate that formula verbally, all the objections drop by the wayside, because the only real objection is, I don't trust you. If they're like, what about these features? And what do you do with my property? And what do you do? How do you handle evictions? All they're saying is blah, blah, blah, I don't trust you yet.   And so that's, I just teach my clients the golden bridge formula and that we have, and then they become great at selling because sales is about trust. That's it.   Sean Patton (28:35) Yeah, I love that, ⁓ that framework. And also I want to call out an important mindset shift that I know I struggled with. And I think a lot of other owners struggle with it. You mentioned there, which is this belief that if we're not suffering,   Jason Hull (28:57) ⁓ yeah. It's like suffering's a badge of honor in entrepreneurism.   Sean Patton (29:02) Yeah, like if we had, if we're actually enjoying what we're doing, if we're having time off, if we're like, you mentioned, we're taking care of ourselves and we're like inspired and energetic and it doesn't feel that hard, we must be doing something wrong or being lazy or we're not doing enough. And so then we're like constantly pushing ourselves to this point of, uh, I need to be overwhelmed. I need to be, and when things are going well, we'll crash the plane.   Jason Hull (29:11) ⁓ yeah.   Yeah, yeah.   Sean Patton (29:30) just so we can feel the pain again, so we feel like we're being productive. And so I love the fact that you, sounds like you sort of, we're running into that or identified that. And now the shift that it sounds like you've made around your mindset is like, what if this could be fun?   Jason Hull (29:32) Yeah.   Yeah. What if you actually love doing what you were doing in your business? I'll tell you what happens because I hope a lot of people do this. You make way more money when you focus on the money instead of the mission and you're not focused on your why you make way less money. But it's money is easy when you are focused on helping people get what they want. You're outward focus and it's you're being selfish enough to focus on your actual purpose. Money is not your purpose.   If I say, do you want money? There's a whole level of depth beneath that. Right. And so, yeah, but you're right. Like we're struggling, we're suffering, and it's like a badge of honor. Look at my hustle culture. And I'm like, it's so hard. And then we start succeeding and we get, the world gives us feedback because the world isn't supportive of entrepreneurs. The world cares about safety and certainty more than freedom. Entrepreneurs care about freedom and fulfillment more.   Sean Patton (30:24) Yes.   Jason Hull (30:48) than safety and security. And that's why we start businesses. That's a risk. But as soon as we start winning, what do we hear from people? ⁓ it must be nice.   Sean Patton (31:00) Yeah.   Jason Hull (31:01) it must be nice that you have this. Jason got his cyber truck or he's in his million dollar house. It must be nice. ⁓ know, and so you hear things like this and you're like, did I do something wrong? maybe I need to be small because I'm making some people feel uncomfortable because, know, it's to be a struggle. I can't show that I'm having success because it's got to be hard. I didn't I didn't work hard enough to earn this. Maybe it's that feeling or, know, it has to   Sean Patton (31:20) Yeah.   Or enjoyment, yeah, it's gotta be.   Yeah, I think there's a lot   of that. I know my relationship as I've reflected back with, with money, um, with success is, know, I grew up with a, with a single mom and she was phenomenal. I mean, raised me, worked full time as a waitress and bar center to put herself through undergrad and grad school to be a school psychologist, to work with special needs kids so that she could impact the world and take care of me. But in that, yeah. Yeah.   Jason Hull (31:31) Hard.   Yeah.   And love was working hard. That's what you saw. Like she was hustling.   You knew she loved you. She was serving. Yeah.   Sean Patton (32:02) Absolutely.   And so I would say there's two sides of that coin. One, what I tell people all the time is like, when you see your mom do that or that's your leader, like mediocrity is no longer acceptable. That's one thing I took away from it. then the, but there was this idea when we say we drove through nice neighborhoods or we saw big houses or we saw people with money. was like, ⁓ those it's like those people. Like it was very much put into, I feel like subconsciously that   Jason Hull (32:10) Yeah.   Yes. Yeah.   Sean Patton (32:31) I think that it was just a matter of like, ⁓ there's this idea of that good people or hardworking, working class folks like us, we're doing sort of this noble thing and these other people either just got lucky or they're just different or they were born into it or, it's this idea of like, we're not those people.   Jason Hull (32:49) Or even worse,   were unethical or hurt people to get there. Those rich people, those evil billionaires and those evil millionaires, and nobody should have that kind of money. They must have hurt people to get there and yeah, yeah, yeah.   Sean Patton (32:54) 100 exactly.   And so that   was like a story, even a money story and success story that over the last 10 years as an entrepreneur with different businesses, and I was, and I was as a coach of leaders inside companies, ⁓ and, business owners that I've had to overcome. And I have found myself to your point, sort of sabotaging or questioning when I do have certain levels of success or impact and downplaying it almost because I have this.   Jason Hull (33:17) Yeah.   Sean Patton (33:34) subconscious belief that like, wait a if I make this amount of money or if I get to do these things is like, am I, as you said, am I deserving of that? Or is that even like an ethical thing to be able to do? I need to suffer more and drive myself back to the suffering conversation.   Jason Hull (33:40) Yeah.   Yeah, I mean,   the feedback we get from the world as entrepreneurs. So one of my frameworks is the four, I call it the four reasons for starting a business. The first reason is fulfillment in life. That should be primary. We should be getting fulfillment in life, living our why, living our purpose. Number two, it should be more and more freedom. The business should give us more and more freedom. Now, we initially as entrepreneurs, when we start our journey, we make more and more money.   And the reason we want more money is we think it will give us more fulfillment and more freedom. But the default is, I've seen this over and over again, I live this, is we make more and more money and we have less fulfillment and freedom in our business initially. Until we get clear on this, because we're aiming for the wrong goal, we're aiming for money, not the four reasons. Once we have fulfillment and freedom though, once we figure that out, we're like, why am I doing this? I need to shift things. And we get alignment there, then we want to benefit others.   That's contribution. And that's actually why businesses exist. Businesses exist to contribute to the marketplace something of value, solve real problems. Otherwise, they're just snake oil and they're stealing people's money. And so true entrepreneurs, like they might start with just the motive of money, which maybe isn't the highest motive. But if they're going to be successful, eventually they graduate usually to contribution.   because that's the only thing that actually works in the marketplace. The marketplace is brutal to anything else. So it's almost like God tricks us into becoming good people by getting us to start businesses, you know? And so the fourth reason, once we have contribution, we have fulfillment, freedom, we get to, we're living a life where we feel like we're benefiting others, making a difference. And we love, we can't have those first three without the fourth, which is support. There's no,   Sean Patton (35:22) Yeah, yeah.   Jason Hull (35:41) business owner that I know of that enjoys doing every hat, wearing every hat in their own business. And so we have to have a good team. We have to have a good support. Just like you were talking about in the, in the military, like if you're going on a mission, you need some specialists that have expertise in different areas to make this work. Not everybody has the same personality, the same skills, the same intellectual abilities. And so we need other people if we want to stay in those first three.   We can't have fulfillment, freedom and contribution if we're doing stuff we don't enjoy. That's the opposite. And so we have to have team members. And that's why we build the vehicle of a business instead of just be a freelancer and do it all on our own. And that's the, so those are my four reasons. Now there is the fifth reason. The fifth reason is what everybody else wants. And we want this too as entrepreneurs, but the fifth reason is safety and security.   This is what makes us different. Everybody else on the planet wants all five of these things. But most people on the planet play safety and security first. They're like, forget your freedom. We saw this during the pandemic. It's like, fuck your freedom. Like, we don't care about your freedom. I want to feel safe. Make everyone feel safe. Force it on everybody. Make everybody feel safe first. And then freedom would be a really nice afterthought. And then entrepreneurial people were like, this what crazy planet am I on?   Sean Patton (37:04) Mm-hmm.   Jason Hull (37:08) Am I hanging out with aliens? Like, I don't understand. I thought we were in the land of the free home of the brave here in the US and like, what's going on? And we have all these different basic hierarchy of needs, but the hierarchy is different for entrepreneurs versus everybody else. And there's nothing wrong with that. Like I need people on my team that don't want to be the business owner.   Sean Patton (37:21) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Yeah, yeah   Jason Hull (37:32) You know, I need them to be with me and enjoy it, right? And they need somebody that like me, that's crazy, that's willing to take some of the risks. They just don't realize they're working for a crazy person, right? So that values freedom more than safety. So yeah, but look, I love safety and security too. That's why I process documentation. I have systems that makes me feel safe. If I lose somebody, right? So we need all of these things. So I love, I love that you were pointing that out. ⁓ Where should we go from here?   Sean Patton (37:42) Hahaha   Yeah.   Jason Hull (38:01) Like we're almost at the time and I love hearing the ⁓ how the military works because the military works its life or death. It's it's ⁓ and there's clear objectives and I feel like in business things get so fuzzy and there's so much BS. And when we hear it in terms of military, we're like, ⁓ duh, this would translate. I should do my business this way.   Sean Patton (38:04) Yeah.   Yeah, I think it's a good way to wrap in last couple of minutes is like, what are some key points there? think that what the military does, because not everything in the military is from personal experience translates perfectly over, right? But that there's certain things. Yeah, it's all the same. There are some similarities. I think that if there's an overarching word of why, and it's just true,   Jason Hull (38:43) Sure, it's not all exactly the same, yeah.   Sean Patton (38:58) military, good military units are able to accomplish the seemingly impossible tasks ⁓ is clarity, like extreme clarity and no nonsense around no clarity. And so whether that's clarity of mission, clarity of roles and responsibilities, who's doing what when and what are they committing to? There's so much... ⁓   Jason Hull (39:05) Yeah.   Hmm.   Sean Patton (39:26) sort of expectation or unsaid agreements that happen inside business, where we make assumptions about what we think other people understand or what they think success is or roles is. Instead of saying here's our clear mission, here's our outcomes, here's my role and responsibility, here's what I'm gonna own. I mean, the amount of times I work with a company or entrepreneur and we go in and they say, yeah, here are like the 12 things that are important before the next meeting, but there's no one's name next to it with a date.   Jason Hull (39:28) Hmm.   Yeah.   Yeah. Right.   Like who? Who's responsible? Who's accountable? Yeah.   Sean Patton (39:55) It's like, Hey, what'd we talk about last meeting? Who's doing that? Yeah. Who's taking,   who's accountable. So I think they're very clear about like what role and responsibility do you have so that you can lean into that. So clarity around roles, responsibilities, clarity around mission, then clarity around, you know, end state. Like what does success look like for this? Those are.   Jason Hull (40:14) What's the definition   of done on this? How do we know this is accomplished? I love it.   Sean Patton (40:19) Mm-hmm. And so I think   if companies could really take that approach of clarity in those three areas, it could be transformative.   Jason Hull (40:29) Totally agree. One of my mentors that really taught me operational stuff was a mentor named Alex Sharpen. And Alex would talk about outcome transparency and accountability. He was like a three-legged stool. And he said, there has to be a clear outcome. Like, who's responsible ⁓ is also, right? that's like outcome transparency, accountability. Accountability is who? What are we trying to accomplish is the outcome.   And then what's the scoreboard? How do we measure success? How do we know if it's done? And he said he would watch billionaires and follow them around and they go into a meeting. They didn't know what was going on, what was being discussed, but there was a problem. He would just walk in and he would ask three questions and the problems were solved. Cool. What are we trying to accomplish? Okay. Who's responsible for this? Awesome. How do we know if it's done or not?   And it was that simple. And then you walk out of the room, everyone's like, man, he's magic. So glad we have him. What a great leader. And I love it. Clarity is massive. one of the things, like a lot of businesses don't even have the clear role or job descriptions defined for their existing team members. If I went to, anyone listen to this, I went to your team member, ask yourself this question. And I asked them, what are you responsible to achieve on a weekly, monthly basis? What is your job?   Sean Patton (41:27) Yeah.   Jason Hull (41:52) What are your roles? What are you supposed to do? And then I went to the business owner. I went to you listening and said, what is their responsibility? What are these? I usually get two very different set of directions. But if you come to my team or hopefully some of my clients that I'm coaching and you ask that question, they would say, cool, let me pull up my document that is super clear that we review regularly. This is it. We've agreed on this. We're literally on the same page.   And it's that simple. And so they know what outcomes they're responsible for. And the outcomes are more important than the responsibilities. So on our job descriptions, we have results. What results or expected accomplishments are there? so little things like that. One of the things I love saying lately is, this is one of my little phrases, is any action we take without clarity is a little bit wrong. Sometimes a lot, a lot wrong.   Sean Patton (42:21) Yes.   Mmm, I love that.   I love that.   Jason Hull (42:51) Yeah, and so that's dangerous. like the last thing you want to do in on the battlefield is just rush out with a lot of gusto guns a blazing with no plan and a lack of clarity. But in business, sometimes that's how we operate for shooting from the hip. We're like, Woo, yeah.   Sean Patton (43:08) Yeah,   it is. That's the thing is because of the mission that the military has, the culture demands extreme clarity. And because of the mission of businesses, people can get away with leakage and mistakes because, you know, it's not life or death. But if you treat your business like that, that's how you get to the next level of performance.   Jason Hull (43:18) you   Love it. Cool. Sean, awesome having you on. Always fun to chat with you. We have some good conversations. ⁓ This is really interesting to me. I love hearing how ⁓ this all works and the contrast with military and whatnot. You brought up some really great points that really made me think. How can people get in touch with you? Tell them what you do real quick and all that.   Sean Patton (43:40) Yeah, absolutely.   Yeah,   absolutely. So you wanna, my personal site is SeanPatton.me. Super easy to find. I'm very active on LinkedIn. And I am a part of a larger firm called Novus Global, where we focus on creating meta performance leaders. A lot of the transformation we're talking about today. So yeah, LinkedIn and my website, easiest ways to get me. also the host of the No Limit Leadership Podcast. Please check that out and.   Jason, you have a scheduled day. I'm excited to have you on that podcast in the future.   Jason Hull (44:29) Yeah, I'm excited to be on that. That'll be great. It's been great having you. Cool. Thanks for being here. All right. Yeah, absolutely. So for those of you that are property management business owners and you felt maybe stuck, stagnant, you want to take your property management business to the next level, reach out to us at doorgrow.com for free training on how to get unlimited free leads. Text the word leads to 512-648-4608.   Sean Patton (44:35) Thanks, Jason. Appreciate the opportunity.   Jason Hull (44:57) Also join our free Facebook community just for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com. And if you want tips, tricks, ideas, and to learn about our offers, subscribe to our newsletter by going to doorgrow.com slash subscribe. And if you found this even a little bit helpful, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on wherever you saw this. We'd really appreciate it. And until next time, remember the slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together. Bye everyone.   All right, and we are out in five, four, three, two, one.   Sean Patton (45:33) Thanks brother.

Dan Duval addresses rising tensions in the Middle East following a the U.S. strike on Iran, suggesting that key facts are being obscured and that the conflict is unlikely to resolve quickly. He shares a spiritual encounter in which he saw a massive, city-sized scorpion over Iran in a defensive stance, along with what he interpreted as a global network resembling sleeper cells—prompting a warning to prepare for what he describes as a “new world.” He frames the situation not primarily as a battle over oil or military dominance, but as a deeper ideological and eschatological conflict. He explores Islamic perspectives, including Sunni and Shia expectations surrounding the Mahdi, as well as political Zionist motivations. He also highlights divisions within Christian end-times theology, referencing views such as dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism.  Dan further warns of what he describes as a Luciferian agenda aimed at blending advanced technology with Kabbalistic elements and moving toward transhumanism. He ultimately calls on Christians to remain spiritually aware and grounded, emphasizing that the true battle is not against flesh and blood, but against unseen spiritual forces.Then we ENCOURAGE you to do 4 QUICK THINGS!!Sign up to be a podcast memberwww.danduval.comBe sure to check out and like our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DiscoveringTruthNetworkSubscribe to the new podcast YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5nxloF2rt7-dXkjppGHdFAAND Subscribe to our Rumble Channel, where we will post all of our interviews that are TOO HOT for YouTube!DiscoveringTruthNetwork (rumble.com)

Iraq is turning to Turkey as an alternative route for its oil exports, as the war in the Middle East continues. The Iraqi move comes as Ankara steps up efforts to capitalise on the shifting diplomatic, economic and security landscape in the region.  In a race to find routes that circumvent the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq has resumed pumping oil through a previously disused pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayyan Abdul-Ghani al-Sawad, claims that up to a million barrels of oil could be exported via Turkey.  The Iran war is also boosting Baghdad's efforts to realise the Iraqi Development Road, a multi-billion euro project to turn Iraq into a transit hub between Asia and Europe via Turkey, says Norman Ricklefs of the geopolitical consultancy, the NAMEA Group. "[The Iran war] is an impetus for [the Iraqi Development Road], to be accelerated. It would be a great project to link Turkey and Iraq closer to together.” The maritime passages with a chokehold on the global economy Turkish influence growing Ricklefs argues that Turkey's geographic importance to supply chains between Europe and international markets is growing. "Turkey is a corridor state – it's already doing this with Caspian Gas and Russian Gas. Turkey is a brilliant strategic location for benefitting from disruption in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea." However, Ricklefs cautions that Iraq's "instability", exacerbated by the war against Iran, remains an obstacle to the realisation of.the Development Road project. While cost remains a factor, shipping via the Strait of Hormuz is the cheapest distribution option. The aftermath of the Iran war is also being predicted to boost Ankara's efforts to increase its influence across the energy-rich Gulf states. In 2014, Turkey opened a military base in Qatar which has been expanded from land forces to air and naval capabilities, with a reported presence of 5,000 personnel. Turkey has also, in recent years, rapidly expanded and modernised its navy.  “However the Iran war ends, it will take a while for Iran to ameliorate relations,” predicts Turkish international relations expert Soli Ozel. “So in that sense, the relations between the Gulf states – or certainly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey – I'm sure will continue to be strong, because Turkey will be a countervailing power to Iran, especially if the Iran regime survives this. The regime will have been fortified.” French ship makes first Western European transit of Hormuz since Iran conflict The Israeli fissure Turkey is already stepping up its diplomatic efforts with Saudi Arabia and Egypt in seeking to end the fighting. This deepening cooperation is enhanced by shared concerns over Israel, exacerbated by the Iran war. “Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan want stability in the region,” says Asli Aydintasbas, head of the Turkey Project at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. “They are not fully on board with the Israeli plan of keeping Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iran destabilised." “As such, they have not been able to deal with Israel's policies, but together they can. They are providing an alternative axis. And I think that will be very important for [the] US administration that similarly seeks stability, so they can do less in the Middle East and more in Asia.” France denies blocking US flights as Israel cuts defence ties However, Aydintasbas acknowledges that such cooperation threatens to deepen another fissure in the Middle East. In February, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that Israel is facing an emerging threat of “a radical Sunni axis”. “I think when Netanyahu said that, he was trying to create a bogeyman and, really, he was talking about Turkey. The strategic competitor to Israel in the region is now Turkey,” said Ricklefs. The Iran war is exacerbating existing tensions between Israel and Turkey, with both sides ramping up their rhetoric against each other. Any enhancement of Turkish influence in the region in the aftermath of the Iranian conflict would likely be perceived as a threat by Israel, only intensifying their growing rivalry.

Support our comrades at these links:https://wedeservebetterfoundation.orghttps://agrimovement.org@safehouse.poddiasporapeoplesplace.org @diaspora.peoplesplacegivebutter.com/nochellahttps://chuffed.org/project/172939-help-feed-lebanons-displaced-communityPlease follow @PeoplesCore  @tvfreepalestine   @habibihousepodcast  Welcome to a Colonial Outcasts/People's Core collaborative Episode. So we're about 5 weeks into the most unpopular war in US history with this being the first war ever where the majority of Americans are consciously siding with the nations we're attacking. After 3 years of Genocide in Gaza, the planet has experienced a level moral cohesion that is unprecedented. This, combined with the revelations coming out of the Epstein files, has set the stage for a level of global solidarity against a common enemy that we have never seen.Iran and Lebanon have shifted the power dynamics through their strategic operations and messaging to the world and in doing so have opened the floodgates of resistance in the region that united Sunni, Shia, Christian and secular, despite the Wahabi and sectarian psyops working overtime to divide. We discuss this unity and the failure of imperial manipulations in the region with a formidable panel of gifted and determined voices from Lebanon and Palestine.Soha Yassine is a guerrilla journalist and narrative podcaster whose work inside the Lebanese hip hop scene — through Safe House Travel Diary — documents resistance, identity, and survival on the ground. She holds a BA in World Religions and an MA in Islamic Studies, with a background in communications for international NGOs. As founder of Diaspora Peoples Place, she empowers diaspora communities through decolonized gatherings like The Peoples Marketplace and NOCHELLA (April 11, 2026).Anthony Sargon is a Lebanese-AmericanYouTuber/Streamer, documentarian, Former TV Writer and creative.Abu Rahss is co founder of the Palestine News Network.Jedi Darwish is American and Lebanese (South) US Army Veteran, former Explosive Ordnance Disposal - Operations Officer with the United Nations, founder of Radio Beirut, activist, humanitarian, brother, father and son.Assad Shalhoub (@assadshal) is a Lebanese Canadian American creative and co-host of the Habibi House podcast, where he helps shape one of the most unapologetic voices of the Arab diaspora in media today. Blending cultural insight with lived experience, Assad navigates conversations at the intersection of identity, politics, and pop culture with clarity and edge.Laith Marouf is a respected film maker, journalist and humanitarian who operates Free Palestine TV.#lebanon #iran #war #epsteinfiles #muslim #christian #solidarity

You can also watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube channel here: "April, 2026: Is Morocco Safe for Travel?"---With the conflict happening between Iran and the US/Israel, and travel routes and logistics facing all kind of upheaval, we recognized here at Destinations Morocco that it's important to address what's happening and how it could impact Morocco.Is it still safe to travel to Morocco? How close is the country to the conflict? Has anything changed on the ground? Should people travel during times of conflict?Bearing in mind that we recorded this episode at the beginning of April, 2026, reflecting on the state of affairs at that time. Things could change any day, week or month. If events transpire that do put Morocco more under threat, we will do further episodes to share with you what we know, and our best advice.But for now, the short answer is that Morocco is in North Africa and about 3,000 miles from the Middle East conflict, with no direct threat. Basically, “business as usual,” although travelers may notice more routine checkpoints and security presence. We look at Morocco's long-standing alliance with the US, and its Sunni identity versus Iran's Shia sect, but why spillover is unlikely. Practical guidance includes buying dedicated travel insurance (including “cancel for any reason” and evacuation coverage), registering with the US STEP program, sharing passport/itinerary copies, staying connected via WhatsApp, transport options like the Green Taxi (Taxi Vert) service and the latest Uber availability, and alternative exit routes to Europe by ferry if flights are disrupted.We can't know for sure what the coming weeks and months will bring, but what we can give you is as much information and peace of mind as possible, so that you can make an educated decision on whether to carry on with your trip, and feel comfortable and confident in doing so.And remember that on our tours, you will always have a dedicated team around you, from your driver and guide to the various riad hosts and local guides, and ultimately Azdean himself and his team, who keep 24h monitoring on all of their tours.If you have more questions about the state of travel to Morocco, the status of your tour, or what to expect in 2026, you can always reach out to Azdean at azdean@destinationsmorocco.com. Join me for an 8-Day Boutique Moroccan Experience!Step inside the hidden Morocco on this first-of-its-kind, 12-spot journey, hosted personally by Azdean.November 8-15, 2026, $1995 USD Per PersonBook Your Spot Today! Learn more about Azdean and Destination Morocco.

In this episode of the Blood Brothers Podcast, Dilly Hussain speaks with the prominent British Muslim broadcaster, commentator and influencer, Bushra Shaikh. Topics of discussion include: Rampant Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in Britain, online and offline, from the Southport riots to the Trafalgar Square iftar prayer controversy. The future of Muslims in Britain: belonging, identity, colonialism and British foreign policy. Lessons from Afghanistan and Iraq, and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran: manufacturing consent, regime change and domestic blowback. Bushra's recent trip to Iran. Was it a propaganda trip, and was she paid? The reality on the ground, her personal observations, and public opinion. The lack of Sunni (states) solidarity for Iran. How legitimate are the reasons for this: Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and sectarianism. What is the future of the Pakistan and its role in the future of the Muslim world? Why is every form of religious-political unity allowed and tolerated except Islamic political unity? FOLLOW 5PILLARS ON:    Website: https://5pillarsuk.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@5Pillars Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5pillarsuk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5pillarsnews Twitter: https://x.com/5Pillarsuk Telegram: https://t.me/s/news5Pillars TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@5pillarsnews

In this episode of the Blood Brothers Podcast, Dilly Hussain speaks with the editor-in-chief and co-founder of 5Pillars, Roshan Muhammed Salih. Topics of discussion include: Roshan's personal experience of Iran and Iranian people. How popular is the current leadership? Is Iran winning the war so far, and was this war inevitable? How much stockpile and capability does Iran have left, and do they have a nuclear bomb? Iran's war strategy, the Straits of Hormuz, global economy and World War Three. Why is Roshan so optimistic about Iran's military strategy when its leadership is being taken out and the country is being decimated? Is targeting GCC states legitimate, and are they secretly backing the war? What is the future of American bases in the region? How popular is Sunni support for Iran? Will Sunnis ever forgive Iran and Hezbollah over Syria and Iraq? Is Iran really fighting for Palestine or for itself? How will the war in Iran impact Shia communities in Britain and across the western diaspora? What is the end game for Iran, Israel and the U.S.? FOLLOW 5PILLARS ON:    Website: https://5pillarsuk.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@5Pillars Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5pillarsuk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5pillarsnews Twitter: https://x.com/5Pillarsuk Telegram: https://t.me/s/news5Pillars TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@5pillarsnews

Last Hope of a Dying Republic with Rev. William Cook – Tracing Muhammad's transition from religious leader to political and military authority in Medina, and explains the historic split between Sunni and Shia Islam. He outlines what he saw as a recurring historical pattern of expansion through stages of migration, consolidation, and conquest across multiple regions and eras...

She was raised Muslim, entered an arranged marriage in a devout Sunni household, and spent years searching for God within the boundaries of Islam. Then everything changed.Nikki Kingsley joins John-Henry Westen to share the extraordinary story of how she encountered the Virgin Mary inside a Catholic cathedral—not as a distant figure, but as a living presence who spoke to her. Later came visions of Jesus, vivid and undeniable, culminating in a moment inside a Catholic church where she received what she could no longer deny: Christ is God.Her conversion cost her family, her community, and everything she once knew. But what she found was worth the price. Kingsley now reflects on what it means to evangelize Muslims—not through argument alone, but through the witness of a life transformed. And at the center of it all stands Our Lady, who led her home.HELP SUPPORT WORK LIKE THIS: https://give.lifesitenews.com/?utm_source=SOCIAL U.S. residents! Create a will with LifeSiteNews: https://www.mylegacywill.com/lifesitenews ****PROTECT Your Wealth with gold, silver, and precious metals: https://sjp.stjosephpartners.com/lifesitenews +++SHOP ALL YOUR FUN AND FAVORITE LIFESITE MERCH! https://shop.lifesitenews.com/ +++Connect with John-Henry Westen and all of LifeSiteNews on social media:LifeSite: https://linktr.ee/lifesitenewsJohn-Henry Westen: https://linktr.ee/jhwesten Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As war intensifies across the Middle East, it is easy to focus on headlines, military strategy, and geopolitics. But what if the deeper story lies elsewhere—beneath the surface, in theology and ideology? In this episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Pastor Doug Reed and Rabbi Pesach Wolicki are joined by Dan Burmawi, a former Muslim turned Christian and founder of the Ideological Defense Institute. Together, they explore the religious ideas shaping the current conflict, from Iran's Shiite worldview to the broader ideological struggle between Islam and the West. Dan argues that this war is not fundamentally about land or politics, but about competing visions of truth, power, and the future of civilization. He explains why Sunni and Shiite perspectives diverge, how Islamic eschatology influences global strategy, and why many in the West misunderstand the nature of the conflict entirely. The conversation also turns to the growing ideological battle within Western societies, raising urgent questions about identity, freedom, and the durability of Judeo-Christian values in an increasingly uncertain world. This is a wide-ranging and provocative discussion that challenges assumptions—and asks whether the real battleground is not only in the Middle East, but in the realm of ideas.

NEWS WEAKLY – The Story of KarbalaThis week, I step away from the headlines to tell one of the most powerful stories in the Muslim world: the Battle of Karbala. The death of Husain ibn Ali in 680 CE shaped the split between Sunni and Shia Islam and created a moral narrative about power, justice, and martyrdom that still echoes through modern politics, from Karachi to Tehran.It's a very different episode, but I feel like it's a central element missing from the analysis and understanding of Iran and the IRGC's self perception, global Shia empathy towards the Ayatollah, and how the Iranian government has become that which it purports to hate.Shenanigans and tomfoolery will be back next week. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music “Historic Anticipation” by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Editor's Note: We apologize for not having been able to bring you this webinar live yesterday. David Weinberg's assessment, however, shouldn't be missed – so we recorded the conversation and are pleased to be sending it to you. A U.S.-Israeli ground raid on Iran's nuclear sites at Isfahan and elsewhere is under active discussion to seize more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that aerial bombardment alone cannot neutralize, David Weinberg told a Jewish Policy Center webinar on March 12. Weinberg, a government relations and foreign affairs specialist at the Misgav Institute, said the absence of American heavy strategic bombers over Iran's nuclear plants during the current campaign was itself telling. “Something more needs to be done about the stockpiles,” he said. “You can't just leave this as a loose end.” Weinberg spoke from the Israeli home front as the country entered its second week of direct war with Iran under Operation Epic Fury. He described an Israeli home front absorbing punishing Iranian strikes while maintaining overwhelming public support for the war. More than 46,000 missile and attack drone alerts had sounded across the country, he noted, with 18 Israelis killed, 2,300 wounded, and 3,400 civilians made homeless. He singled out Iranian cluster munitions—carried by more than half of the incoming missiles—as particularly devastating, citing one strike earlier in the week that scattered destruction across 16 sites and killed two Israelis. Roughly 35 percent of the population lacks access to a bomb shelter. Despite the toll, Weinberg said polling showed well over 80 percent of Israelis supported extending the war “until a more decisive crushing of Iran and its offensive abilities is achieved.” He described families locked down at home for a second week, dashing into shelters day and night, and noted wryly that Israeli entrepreneurs had produced apps calculating total shelter time and the statistically safest moment to risk a shower. His own app, he said, logged more than 20 hours in shelter across some 60 alerts in the previous week. Gaza, Hezbollah, and the Northern Front Weinberg stressed that Gaza remained a significant confrontation front even as attention shifted to Iran. More than 50 percent of the territory is under Israeli control, he said, with Hamas entrenched in the remainder, including Gaza City—the one major area Israeli forces had not operated in intensively over the past two years. He expressed deep skepticism about the Trump administration's plan for international investment and peacekeeping forces in the territory, and doubting international troops would succeed in disarming and demilitarizing the enclave. Meanwhile, Hezbollah had launched 200 missiles into Israel the previous night, and Weinberg predicted that “even if the war with Iran dials down in the coming days or the coming weeks, the war with Hezbollah is just beginning.” The Regional Chessboard Turning to the broader region, Weinberg identified a “radical Sunni axis” of Turkey and Qatar as a significant strategic threat to the Jewish state, warning that confrontation with that axis could come in the years ahead. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had placed himself squarely on Iran's side, he observed, and threatened to seize parts of northern Syria and move against the Kurds. “Somebody's going to have to put Erdogan in a box,” Weinberg said. On the Abraham Accords, he noted that behind-the-scenes coordination between Israel and Gulf states was “closer than ever,” but cautioned that open normalization would take time. Saudi Arabia, he argued, had scaled back from its pre-October 7 trajectory toward Israel, and he faulted the Trump administration for granting Riyadh major concessions—including a path to F-35 purchases and understandings on civilian nuclear enrichment—without conditioning them on movement toward the Jewish state. Movement with countries like Indonesia and smaller Gulf states was more likely in the near term, he added. Trump and the Endgame Weinberg offered a forceful defense of President Trump's handling of Iran, calling him “this generation's greatest generator of moral purpose.” He ticked off a series of decisions—withdrawing from the nuclear deal in 2018, the assassination of IRGC chief Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Operation Midnight Hammer the previous June, and now Operation Epic Fury—as evidence of unwavering strategic clarity. Trump had also shown domestic political courage, Weinberg added, taking on progressive critics, isolationists within his own base, and prominent voices like Tucker Carlson. Still, Weinberg acknowledged that the war's ceiling might ultimately be set not by ideology but by “Washington's imperfect endurance”—economic costs, dwindling weapon stocks, and diminishing military returns. He cautioned that Iran could not be allowed to conclude that disrupting oil flows was “its passport to survival,” and argued that the spike in oil prices was, as Trump himself had said, “a small price to pay for major security advances.” The stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Weinberg stressed, made a ground operation a serious option. “Trump did say help is on the way,” he concluded. “And he meant it.”

A gripping update on Iran, the underground Church, and why many believers see Jehovah moving in surprising ways. In this episode of The Smith and Rowland Show Podcast, Smith and Rowland react to a powerful testimony from an Iranian Christian woman who describes dreams, miracles, secret church life, and the cost of following Jesus under persecution. Along the way, the conversation turns to what's happening in the Middle East right now, including the long-running Shia and Sunni divide, reports of rapid Christian growth in Iran, and how Jeremiah 49 gets brought into the discussion. The hosts also highlight the contrast between faith under pressure and spiritual comfort in the West, plus why this testimony should wake up the Church in America. You'll hear about:  * A conversion story shaped by dreams, healing, and a deep hunger for truth  * Smuggling and distributing thousands of New Testaments across Tehran  * The risks faced by women who choose Christ under an oppressive regime  * Why this story matters for prayer, perspective, and prophetic discussion This is part one of the clip, the next episode continues with the prison story and release. #Iran #ChristianTestimony #PersecutedChurch #Jehovah #Podcast

Is Imam Ali a source of division or the grounds for friendship among Muslims?How did a man who asked that his killer's ropes be loosened in his dying moments become the most contested figure in Islamic history?In this episode of Thinking Islam, we explore Dr Hassan Abbas's acclaimed book, "The Prophet's Heir" through the lens of a policy maker and conflict resolution scholar. Drawing from both Shi'a and Sunni sources, Dr Abbas tells the story of Imam Ali not as a sectarian narrative but as a bridge between traditions. We examine the political dynamics of Saqifa, Ali's radical economic justice, the bias in Western scholarship of Islam, and the paradox of a warrior whose defining qualities were dialogue, selflessness, and forgiveness. In his final moments, struck by a poisoned sword, Ali asked that his killer be treated well, a measure of the justice and forgiveness that Dr Abbas argues makes Ali's legacy not a source of division but a possibility for renewal and unity.Dr Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the National Defence University in Washington, D.C. and a senior adviser at Harvard University's Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs. His research focuses on countering political and religious extremism, rule-of-law reforms, and the intersections of security, politics, and faith in South Asia and the Middle East. "The Prophet's Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib," published by Yale University Press, has been widely praised across traditions.Audio Chapters: 0:00 – Highlights 01:32 – Writing a Book on Imam Ali 8:04 – Using Both Shi'a and Sunni Sources 17:23 – The Bias in Western Scholarship 25:35 – An Uncritical Version of Imam Ali? 32:00 – Saqifa Through the Lens of a Policy Maker 43:47 – Did the Companions Fail the Test? 51:28 – Imam Ali as a Diplomat 56:45 – Imam Ali & Economic Justice 1:07:15 – Imam Ali, Dialogue & Egalitarianism 1:16:02 – Imam Ali's Legacy 1:21:05 – Thinking Islam Question

//The Wire//2000Z March 3, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: DRONE AND MISSILE ATTACKS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE PERSIAN GULF. SAUDI FORCES DEPLOY TO QUELL RIOTS IN BAHRAIN. MAJOR OIL FACILITIES SHUT DOWN THROUGHOUT MIDDLE EAST DUE TO STRIKES. ISRAEL LAUNCHES GROUND INVASION OF LEBANON.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----  -International Events-Middle East: The Gulf War continues as Iranian forces begin shifting to strategic targets. Most of the drone/missile attacks overnight targeted oil production facilities, such as the Fujairah Industrial Zone in the UAE, which has been taken offline. Otherwise, the attacks on American installations continue, with the American Embassy in Riyadh being hit multiple times by drones overnight.Bahrain: Significant riots have broken out around the country, as the majority-Shia population begins expressing dissent with the Sunni government, and more specifically the American presence within the nation. Saudi Forces crossed the bridge this morning with anti-riot forces to help quell the more kinetic protests, which have become intense over the past 24 hours.Analyst Comment: Politics in Bahrain were complicated before the war, as the population is mostly Shia (and aligned with the Ayatollah), but the country is ruled by a Kingdom that is Sunni. Even before the shooting started the situation was tenuous at best, and the assassination of the Ayatollah might have been the spark needed to kick off a civil conflict within the island nation. This is a complicating factor for the United States, as Bahrain has long served as a major Center of Gravity for American combat power in the region. Now that some locals are getting rowdy (and are also aligned with Iran), this will make things more difficult.Lebanon: This morning Israeli forces launched a ground invasion in the south, opening up another front so as to seize terrain along the border. Lebanese Army forces have withdrawn from the border as Israeli units advance.Analyst Comment: It is not clear as to if this is a legitimate, full-scale ground invasion, or limited border incursions that Israel is known to do throughout southern Lebanon. So far, Israeli forces haven't crossed their limit of advance set during the height of the conflict two years ago.United Kingdom: A stabbing attack was reported in Edinburgh, which resulted in a standoff lasting several hours yesterday afternoon. One unidentified assailant began stabbing people an apartment building, which resulted in two people being wounded. After the attack, the suspect fled into the apartment building, which resulted in a standoff situation that lasted seven hours. Eventually, police were able to breach the building and detain the suspect.Separately, in Birmingham a different stabbing attack was captured on film this morning, which involved an assailant stabbing a man on the street outside a Catholic school in Alum Rock. This attacker was arrested at the scene, and very few details remain public regarding his identity.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Yesterday afternoon the US State Department published the list of nations that Americans should evacuate from, which includes the entire Middle East. The "depart now" order has been issued for the nations of: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE, and Yemen.However, the US State Department has stated that Americans are on their own regarding evacuations. Even though the start of this combat operation was easily predicted down to the exact day (and nearly the exact hour) that it began, the United States somehow believes that they needed to maintain the element of surprise. The State Department believed that if they made attempts to evacuate the Middle East before the attack, the world would know that the war was imminent. This is also why many American bases appea

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel has not only dominated domestic headlines but also gained sharp attention in international circles. The timing is significant. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently urged the formation of a new regional bloc, describing the Middle East as divided between “radical Sunni and Shia axes”.' Watch this week's column for ThePrint by Amana Begam Ansari.----more----Read full article here: https://theprint.in/opinion/modi-israel-indian-muslims-faith-foreign-policy/2864952/

Abdul-Ahad explores the Sunni insurgency, tensions between nationalists and foreign jihadis, and the humiliation of occupation that fueled resistance and further sectarian violence in Iraq. 3.

Abdul-Ahad examines Sunni tribal infighting in Ramadi, the failure of a coherent political project, and how ISISexploited security cracks to present itself as liberators. 6.1960

Last week, Donald Trump took the most courageous step of any president in our nation's history. After years of analysis, debate and efforts to negotiate a different outcome, he decided that the regime in Iran that had brought ruinous hardship to its own people and relentlessly threatened ours must be destroyed.  He bet his presidency by launching in concert with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu devastating and ongoing military operations to that end. The result was the immediate decapitation of the so-called Supreme Leader and most of his senior subordinates.  Iran has retaliated against Israel and U.S. bases and other targets in Sunni Arab nations. Thank God, the resulting casualties have been minimal to date. But unless and until the regime's dead-enders are decisively defeated or overwhelmed and removed by the Iranian people, there will doubtless be more losses.  Therefore, President Trump must resist the temptation to end the campaign to liberate the Iranian people before that goal is accomplished. Not only will that ensure the sharia-supremacists of the Shiite stripe remain dangerous enemies, but those of the Sunni one will redouble their efforts to bring “Death to America,” including here at home.  This is Frank Gaffney.

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text MessageA map doesn't just change with borders; it changes when the rules do. We trace a straight line from the Abraham Accords through October 7, the region-wide June escalation, and the strike that removed Iran's Supreme Leader to explain why the Middle East just entered a new era. The thread is simple but profound: normalization unsettled the status quo, terror tried to reverse it, and a coalition responded by targeting not just fighters but the entire architecture behind them.We walk through how the Accords quietly re-ordered incentives for Israel and several Sunni states, making open cooperation normal and isolating Tehran's ambitions. Then we examine October 7 as a deliberate shock aimed at blowing up normalization, and how Israel's doctrine shifted from “manage the threat” to “dismantle the network.” As Hezbollah, Iraqi and Syrian militias, and Hamas moved in concert, June's escalation exposed a single grid of proxies. With U.S. backing, strikes expanded from rocket crews to commanders, infrastructure, and nuclear assets during Operation Midnight Hammer, turning a shadow war into a multi-front confrontation.The final, startling turn—the killing of the Supreme Leader—breaks an old taboo and sends a message across every capital from Riyadh to Moscow: proxy violence no longer shields the regime at the top. We reflect on how this changes deterrence, why it hardens a loose coalition of Israel, Sunni partners, and the West, and what it means for global energy, great-power opportunism, and the possibility of more accountable politics across the region. Think of the Berlin Wall falling: a single event that announces a different world and forces everyone to rewrite their playbooks.If you're ready to understand how these moments connect—and what likely comes next—tune in, share this episode with a friend who follows geopolitics, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find the show. Subscribe to stay with us as the next chapters unfold.Key Points from the Episode:• Abraham Accords as a realignment, not a photo-op• Iran isolated as Israel and Sunni states cooperate• October seventh as a bloody backlash to normalization• Israel ends contain-and-manage doctrine• June escalation exposes a single proxy grid• Operation Midnight Hammer against nuclear capability• Strike authority expands to senior leadership and infrastructure• Supreme Leader killed signals end of regime immunity• New coalition hardens against Tehran's network• Berlin Wall analogy for a new geopolitical eraBe sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademy.com, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast as well as other great resourcesOther resources: Israel's September 11thLM#38--Israel's 9-11, pt 1LM#39--Israel's 9-11, pt 2Want to leave a review? Click here, and if we earned a five-star review from you **high five and knuckle bumps**, we appreciate it greatly!

Courage is not loud. Sometimes it is a 13-year-old girl standing in a courtroom, promising to defend dignity no matter the cost.  Noura Ghazi's life was shaped by detention, disappearance, and resistance long before she became a human rights lawyer. Growing up in Damascus with a father repeatedly imprisoned for political opposition, she chose early to confront injustice through law rather than violence. From defending political prisoners during the Syrian revolution to marrying her husband inside a prison and later founding No Photo Zone, Noura has built a life rooted in resilience, civil rights advocacy, and unwavering belief in human dignity.  Now living in France as a political refugee, she continues her work supporting families of detainees, survivors of torture, and the disappeared. Her story is not simply about survival. It is about choosing mindset over fear, purpose over despair, and love even in the shadow of loss. This conversation invites reflection on what it means to remain Unstoppable when freedom, justice, and even safety are uncertain.  Highlights:  00:07:06 – A defining childhood moment reveals how a confrontation in a Syrian courtroom shaped Noura's lifelong commitment to defending political prisoners.  00:12:51 – The unpredictable nature of Syria's exceptional courts exposes how justice without standards creates generational instability and fear.  00:17:32 – The emotional aftermath of her father's release illustrates how imprisonment reshapes entire families, not just the person detained.  00:23:47 – Noura's pursuit of human rights education demonstrates how intentional learning becomes an act of resistance in restrictive systems.  00:32:10 – The early days of the Syrian revolution clarify how violence escalates when peaceful protest is met with force.  00:37:27 – Her marriage inside a prison and the global advocacy campaign that followed reflect how personal love can fuel public courage.  00:50:59 – A candid reflection on PTSD reveals how trauma can coexist with purpose and even deepen empathy for others.  About the Guest:   Noura Ghazi's life has been shaped by a single, unwavering mission: to defend dignity, freedom, and justice in the face of dictatorship. Born in Damascus into a family deeply rooted in political resistance, she witnessed firsthand the cost of speaking out when her father was detained, tortured, and disappeared multiple times. That lived experience became her calling. Since 2004, she has defended political prisoners before Syria's Supreme Security State Court, and when the Syrian revolution began in 2011, she fully committed herself to supporting detainees and the families of the disappeared. Even after her husband, activist Bassel Khartabil Safadi, was detained, disappeared, and ultimately executed, she continued her advocacy with extraordinary resolve.  Forced into exile in 2018 after repeated threats and arrest warrants, Noura founded NoPhotoZone to provide legal aid, psychological support, and international advocacy for victims of detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and displacement across Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. Her mission is not only to seek justice for the imprisoned and the missing, but to restore agency and hope to families living in uncertainty and trauma. Recognized globally for her courage and leadership, Noura remains committed to amplifying the voices of the silenced and ensuring that even in the darkest systems, human rights and human dignity are never forgotten.  https://nouraghazi.org/   https://nophotozone.org/   Book – Waiting by Noura Ghazi - https://www.lulu.com/shop/noura-ghazi-safadi/waiting/paperback/product-1jz2kz2j.html?page=1&pageSize=4   About the Host:  Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.  Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.  https://michaelhingson.com   https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/   https://twitter.com/mhingson   https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson   https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/  Thanks for listening!  Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.  Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!  Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.  Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Michael Hingson  00:09 Well, welcome everyone to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to chat with Nora Ghazi, who lives in, I believe, France right now. She was born in Syria. She'll tell us about that, and she has had an interesting life, and I would say, a life that has had lots of challenges and some treachery along the way. But we'll get to all of that, and I will leave it to her to describe most of that, but I just want to tell you all we really appreciate you being here and hope you enjoy the episode. So Nora, how are you? Noura Ghazi  00:49 Thank you, Michael, for having me in this great broadcast, doing well. Michael Hingson  00:57 Well, there you go. Well, why don't we start? I love to start this way. Why don't you tell us kind of about the early Nora, growing up and so on, where you grew up, what anything you want to talk about, regarding being a younger person and all of that and and however we want to proceed, we'll go from there. Noura Ghazi  01:17 Okay, so since I was a child, my childhood wasn't like normal, like all the kids at my age, because my father was like a leader in opposition party against the previous Syrian regime. Michael Hingson  01:34 So you were born in Syria? Noura Ghazi  01:37 Yes, I work in Damascus. I'm from Damascus, but I have some like multiple origin that I'm proud of. But yes, I'm from Damascus. So since I was five years old, my father was disappeared and because he was wanted with other, like fellows at his party and other, let's say aliens, parties of opposition against the previous regime. So he disappeared for six years, then he was detained and transferred to what was named the supreme security state court. So it was during my adultness, let's say so since I was a child like I had at that time, only one sister, which is one year younger than me, we were moving a lot. We had no place to live. So my mother used to take us each few days to stay at some, someone place, let's say so it caused to us like changing schools all, all the time, which means changing friends. So it was very weird. And at that age, okay, I I knew the words of like cause, the words of leader or dictatorship. I used to say these words, but without knowing what does it mean. Then, when my father detained, it was his ninth detention. Actually, my mother was pregnant with my brother, so my brother was born while my father was in prison. And while he was in prison, the last time he disappeared for one year, three months, he was in like a kind of isolation in security facility. Then he was referred to this court. So in one of the sessions of the trials, I had a fight with the officer who, like who was leading the patrol that bring my father and other prisoners of conscience. So at the end of this fight, I promised my father and the officer that, okay, I will grow up and become a human rights lawyer and defend political prisoners, which I did at the end. Michael Hingson  04:05 So what? What was the officer doing? He was taking people to the court. Noura Ghazi  04:12 Yes, because Okay, so there is many kind of prisons now. They became like, more familiar to like public opinion because of, like 15 years of violence in Syria. So there was, like the the central civil prison in Damascus, which we call ADRA prison, and we have said, NIA jail, military prison. So those two prisons, they were like, holding detainees in them. So they they used to bring detainees to the court in busses, like a kind of military busses, with patrol of like civil police and military police. So the officer was like. Heading the patrol that was bringing my fathers from other prison. Michael Hingson  05:05 So you, so you, what was the fight about with the officer and your father and so on? What? How? Well, yeah, what was the fight? Noura Ghazi  05:16 It's very good question, although at that time, it was a very like scary situation, but now I laughed a lot about it. Okay, so they used to to catch all the prisoners in one chain with the handcuffs. So we used to come to hug and kiss my father before entering the court. So I was doing what I used to do during the trials, or just upon the trials, and then one of the policemen, like pushed me away. So I got nervous, and my father got nervous. So the officer provoked me. He was like a kind of insulting that my father is a detainee, and he is like he's coming to this court. So I, like I replied that I'm proud of my father and his friends what they are doing. So he somehow, he threats me to detain me like my father, and at that time, I was very angry, and I curse the father Assad just in on the like in the door, at the door of the court, and there was people and and Like all the the policemen, like they were just pointing their weapon to me, and there was some moments of silence. Then they took all the detainees into the court. So at this moment, while I'm entering the court behind them, I said, I will grow up and become a human rights lawyer to defend political prisoners. Michael Hingson  07:02 What did the officers say to that? Noura Ghazi  07:06 Because they used to look to us as because we are. We were against father Assad and the dictatorship, so they used to see us, even if we are kids, as enemies. Michael Hingson  07:22 Yeah, so the officer but, but he didn't detain you. I was Noura Ghazi  07:27 only 13 years, yeah, okay, they used to to arrest the kids, but they didn't. Michael Hingson  07:37 So did the officer react to your comment? You're going to grow up to become a civil rights lawyer? Noura Ghazi  07:43 He was shocked, was he? But I don't know if he knew that I become a human yes, there at the end, yeah. Michael Hingson  07:54 And meanwhile, what did your father do or say? Noura Ghazi  07:58 He was shocked also, but he was very proud, and until now, he like every time, because I'm also like, very close to to his friends who I used to visit in prison. Then I become a human rights lawyer, and I was the youngest lawyer in Syria. I was only 22 years old when I started to practice law. So during the the revolution in Syria, which started in 2011 some of his friends were detained, and I was their lawyer also. So I'm very close to them. So until now, they remember this story and laugh about it, because no one could curse or say anything not good about father Assad or or the family, even in secret. So it's still, like, very funny, and I'm still like, stuck somehow in, like, in this career and the kind of activism I'm doing, because just I got angry of the officer 30 years ago. So at this, at that moment, I've decided what I will be in the future. I'm just doing it well. Michael Hingson  09:20 From everything I've read, it sounds like you do a good job. Noura Ghazi  09:25 I cannot say it's a job, because usually you you do a job, you get paid for your job, you go at a certain time and come back at a certain time. You do certain tasks. But for me, it's like a continuing fight, non violent fight, of course, for dignity, for freedom, for justice, right, for reveal the truth of those who were disappeared and got missing. So yes, until now, I'm doing this, so I don't have that. Are the luxury to to be paid all the time, or to be to have weekends or to work until like certain hour at night. I cannot say I'm enjoying it, but this is the reason why I'm still alive, because I have a motive to help and support other people who are victims to dictatorship and violence. Michael Hingson  10:25 So your father went into court and what happened? Noura Ghazi  10:31 He was sentenced. At the end, he was sentenced to three years in prison. And it's a funny story, another funny story, actually, because, like the other latines at that at that trial, like it was only my father and other two prisoners who sent who were sentenced to three years in prison, while other people, the minimum was seven years in Prison, until 15 years in prison. So my mother and us, we felt like we are embarrassed and shy because, okay, our father will will be released like in few months, but other prisoners will stay much longer. So it's something very embarrassing to our friends who whom their fathers got sentenced to like more. Michael Hingson  11:30 Did you ever find out why it was only three years? Noura Ghazi  11:33 We don't know because it's an exceptional court, so it's up to the judge and the judge at that time, like it's it's very similar to what is happening now and what happened after 2011 so it's a kind of continuing reality in in Syria since like 63 which was the first time my father was detained. It was in 63 just after the what they called the eighth March revolution. So my father was only 11 years old when he was detained the first time because he participated in a protest. So it's up to the judge. It's not like a real court with like the the fair trial standards. So it's it's only once you know, the judge said the sentences for each one. So two prisoners got confused. They couldn't differentiate like Which sentence to whom, so they asked like again, so he forgot, so he said them again in different way. So it's something like, very spontaneously, yeah, very just moody, not any standard. Michael Hingson  12:51 Well, so Did your father then serve the three years and was released. Or what happened? Noura Ghazi  12:58 He was released on the day that he should be released, he disappeared for few days. We didn't know what happened. Then he was released. Finally he came. We used to live with my my grandma, so I was the one who opened the door, and I saw just my father. So we we knew later that okay, he was moved again to a security facility because he refused to sign a paper that say that he will not practice any oppositional action against the authority. So he refused, yeah, yeah. Michael Hingson  13:43 Well, I mean, I'm sure there's, there's a continuing story, what happened to him after that. So he came home, Noura Ghazi  13:53 he came out to my grandma. It was a big surprise, like full of joy, but full of tears as well. Michael Hingson  14:01 And you're you were 16 now, right? Noura Ghazi  14:04 I was when he was raised. I was 15, yeah, okay, yeah. And my sister was 14. My brother was two years and a half, so for him, okay, the father is this person that we visit behind bars every Monday, not this one who stay with us. So for him, it was weird. For my brother, he was very like little kid to understand. Then my father went to to see his parents as well. Then we came back to our apartment that we couldn't live more than few months because my father was detained. So at this night, everything was very, very, very new, like because before the three years he he was disappeared for six years, so there was. Nine years. We don't live with my father, so my brother used to sleep just next to my mom, actually my sister and me, but okay, we were like a teenager, so it's okay. So my brother couldn't sleep. Because why he keep, he kept asking why my father is sleeping with us while he's not with his friend at that place. And he was traumatized for many days. But usually when, like a political prisoner released, usually, like, we have a kind of two, three weeks of people visiting the family to say, Okay, it's it's good. We're happy for you that he was released. So the first two, three weeks were full of people and like, social events, etc. Then the, the real problem started. So my father studied law, but he was fired from university for security reasons at the the last year of his study, and as he was sentenced so he couldn't work, my mother used to work, and so like suddenly he started to feel that okay, He's not able to work. He's not able to fulfill the needs of his family. He's not able to spend on the family. The problems between him and my mother started. We couldn't as like my sister and me as teenagers. We couldn't really accept him. We couldn't see that. He's the same person that we used to visit in prison. He was very friendly. We used to talk about everything in life, including the very personal things that usually daughters don't speak with fathers about it. But then he became a father, which we we we weren't used to it, and he was shocked also. So I can say that this, this situation, at least on emotional and psychological level, for me, it lasted for 15 years. I couldn't accept him very well, even my my sister and and the brother and it happens to all like prisoners, political prisoners, especially who spent long time in prison. Michael Hingson  17:32 So now is your father and well, are your father and your mother still alive? Or are they around? Noura Ghazi  17:41 They are still alive. They are still in Damascus, Michael Hingson  17:44 and they're still in Damascus. Yes, how is I guess I'll just ask it now, how is Syria different today than it was in the Assad regime, Noura Ghazi  17:56 like most of Syrians, and now we should differentiate about what Syrians will talk. We're talking so like those Syrians, like the majority of Syrians, and I'm meaning here, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be very direct. Now, the Arab Sunni Syrians, most of them, they are very happy. They are calling what happened in in last eight December, that it's the deliberation of Syria, but for other minorities, like religious or ethnic minorities, of course, it's almost the same. For me, I feel that okay, we have the same dictatorship now, the same corruption, the same of like lack of freedom of expression. But the the added that we have now is that we have Islamist who control Syria. We have extremists who control Syria. They intervene even in personal freedoms. They they are like, like, they are committing crimes against minorities, like it started last March, against alawed. It started last July, against Druze. Now it is starting against Kurdish, and unfortunately, the international community turning like an attorney, like, okay. They are okay with with it, because they want, like their own interest, their own benefits. They have another crisis in the world to take care and to think about, not Syria. So the most important for the international community is to have a stable situation in Syria, to be like, like, no kind of like, no fight zone in the Middle East, and they don't care about Syrian people. And this is very frustrating for those who. Who have the same beliefs that I have. Michael Hingson  20:04 So in a lot of ways, you're saying it hasn't, hasn't really changed, and only the, only the faces and names have changed, but not the actions or the results Noura Ghazi  20:16 the faces and names, and most important, the sects, has changed. So it was very obvious for me that most of Syrians, they don't mind to be controlled by dictator. They only mind what is the sect of this dictator? Michael Hingson  20:35 Unfortunately. Well, yeah. Well, let's go back to you. So your father was released, and you had already made your decision about what you wanted to be, what how does school work over there? Did you go to a, what we would call a high school? Or how does all that work? Noura Ghazi  20:58 Yeah, high school, I was among the like the student who got the highest score in Damascus. I was the fourth one on Damascus when I finished. We call it back like Baccalaureate in Syria, which came from French. And I studied law, and I was also very, like, really hard, hard study person. So I was graduated in four years. Actually, nobody in Syria used to finish studying law in Damascus University only in four years. Like some people stayed more than 10 years because it it was very difficult, and it's different than like law college or law school or university of law, depending on the country, than other countries, because we only like study law. Theoretically, we don't have any practice because we were 1000s of students, it was the like the maximum university that include students. And I registered immediately in the Bar Association in Damascus, and I started because we have, like, a kind, it's, it's similar to stage for two years, like under the supervision of another lawyer who was my uncle at the first and then we we have to choose a topic in certain domain of flow, to write a kind of book which is like, it's similar to thesis, to apply it, to approve it, and then to have the kind of interactive examination, then we have the the final graduated. So all of them to be like a practice lawyer. It's around six years, a little bit more. So my specialist was in criminal law, and my thesis, what about what we call the the impossible crime. It was complicated topic. I have to say that in Syria at that time, I'm talking about end of of 90s, beginning of 2000 so we don't have any kind of study related to human rights. We weren't allowed even to spell this word like human rights. So then in 2005 and 2006 I started to study human rights under international laws related to human rights in Jordan. So I became like a kind of certified human rights defenders and the trainer also, Michael Hingson  23:47 okay, and so you said you started practice and you finished school when you started practice, when you were 22 Yes, okay, I'm curious what, what were things like after September 11, of course, you know, we had the terrorist attacks and so on. Did any of that affect anything over in Syria, where you lived, Noura Ghazi  24:15 of course, like, we stayed talking, watching the news for like four months, like until now we remember, like September 11. But you know, I now when I remember, it was a shock, usually for the Arab world, or Arab people like America is against the Arab world. So everything happened against it was like, this was like, let's say 2030, years ago. Everything that caused any harm to America, they celebrate it. So that. At that time, I was 19 years old, and okay, it's the first time we we hear that a person who was terrorist do like is doing this kind in in us, which is like a miracle for us. But then I started to to think, okay, they it's not an army. They are. There are civilians. Those civilians could be against the the policies of the US government. They could be like, This is not a kind of fight for freedom or for rights or for any like, really, like, fair cause. This is a terrorist action against civilians. And then we started, I'm very lucky because I'm from very educated family. So we started to think about, like, okay, bin Laden. And like, which we have a president from Qaeda now in Syria, like, you can imagine how I feel now. Like, I Okay, all the world is against al Qaeda, and they celebrated that the President in Syria is from al Qaeda. So it's, it's very it's, it's, really, it's not logical at all. But the funniest thing that happened, because, like, the name of Usama bin Laden, was keeping on every like, every one tongue. So I have my my oldest uncle. His name is Usama, and he lives in Germany for 40, more than 40 years, actually. So my brother was a child, and he started to cry, and he came to my mother and asked her, I'm afraid, is my uncle the same Usama? So we were laughing all, and we said, No, it's another Usama. This is the Usama. This is Osama bin Laden, who is like from is like a terrorist group, etc. But like this unfortunate incident started to bring to my mind some like the concept of non violence, the concept of that, okay, no civilian in any place in the world should be harmed for any reason, Because we never been told this in Syria and mostly in most of of countries like the word fight is very linked to armed fights, which I totally disagree with. Michael Hingson  27:56 Well, the when people ask me about September 11 and and so on. One of the things that I say is this wasn't a religious war. This wasn't a religious attack. This was terrorist. This was, I put it in terms of of Americans. These were thugs who decided they wanted to have their way with people. But this is not the way the Muslim the Islamic religion is there is peaceful and peace loving as as anyone, and we really need to understand that. And I realize that there are a lot of people in this country who don't really understand all about that, and they don't understand that. In reality, there's a lot of peace loving people in the Middle East, but hopefully we'll be able to educate people over time, and that's one of the reasons I tell the story that I do, because I do believe that what happened is 19 people attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and so on, and they don't represent the the typical viewpoint of most people, religious wise in the Middle East. And I can understand why a lot of people think that the United States doesn't like Arabs, and I'm not sure that that's totally true, but I can appreciate what you're saying. Noura Ghazi  29:28 Yeah, I'm talking about specific communities actually, who they are, like totally against Israel, and they believe that you us is supporting Israel. So that's that's why they have their like this like attitude towards us and or like that US is trying to invest all the resources in the in the Middle East, etc. But what you were mentioning. Is really very important, because those 19 persons, they like kind of they, they cause the very bad reputation for for Muslims, for Middle Eastern because for for for other people from other countries, other culture or other religion, they will not understand that, okay, that, as you said, they don't represent Muslims. And in all religions, we have the extremist and we have those peaceful persons who keep their their religion as a kind of direct connection with God. They respect everyone, and normally in in in Syria, most of of the population like this, but now having a terrorist as a President, I'm not able to believe how there is a lot of Syrians that support him. Mm, hmm. Because when Al Qaeda started in Syria at the beginning, under the name of japet Al Nusra, then, which with July, who is now Ahmad Al shara, was the leader, and he's the leader of the country now most of Syrians, especially the the the Sunni Syrians, were against this, like terrorist groups, because the most harm they cause is for for Sunnis in Syria, because all other minorities, they will think about every Sunni that they, He or she, like, believe and behave like those, which is totally not true. Michael Hingson  31:47 Yeah, I hear you. Well, so September 11 happened, and then eventually you started doing criminal law. And if we go forward to what 2011 with the Syrian revolution? Yeah, and so what was, what was that revolution about? Noura Ghazi  32:10 It was okay. It started as a reaction against detaining kids from school. Okay, of course, this like the Syrian people, including me, we were very affected and inspired about what was happening in Egypt and Tunisia. But okay, so the security arrested and tortured those kids in their south of Syria. So people came out in demonstration to ask for their freedom and the security attack those protesters with, like, with weapons, so couple of persons died. So then it was, it started to be like a kind of revolution, let's say, yeah, the the problem for me, for lot of people like me, that the the previous Syrian regime was very violent against protesters and the previous president, Bashar Assad, he refused to listen to to to those people, he started to, like dissipated from the reality. So this like, much violence that was against us, like, I remember during some protest, there was not like, small weapon toward us. There was a tank that bombing us as protesters, peaceful, non violent, non armed protesters. So this violence led to another violence, like a kind of reaction by those who defected from the army, etc. And here, my father used to say, when the opposition started to to carry weapon in a country that, like the majority of it, is from certain religion, this could lead to a kind of Jihadist methodology. And this is what happened. So for for people like us, which we are very little comparing of like, the other beliefs of other people like we were, we started to be against the Syrian regime, then against the jihadist groups, then against that, like a kind of international, certain International, or, let's say original intervention, like Iran and Russia. So we were fighting everywhere, and no one. No one wanted us because those like educated, secular, non violent people, they. Form a kind of danger for every one of those parties. But what happened with me is that I met my late husband during a revolution at the very early of 2011 and having the relationship with me was my own revolution. So I was living on parallel like two revolution, a personal one and the public one. And then, like he was detained just two weeks before our our wedding. He was disappeared, actually, for nine months, then he was moved to the same prison that my father was in, to the central prison in Damascus that we got married in prison by coincidence. I don't know if coincidence is the right word in this situation, but my late husband was a very well known programmer and activist. So we were he was kind of, let's say, famous, and I was a lawyer and lawyer that defend human rights defenders and political prisoners. And the husband was detained, so I used to visit him in prison and visit other prisoners that I was their lawyers. And because my like, we have this personal aspect that okay, the couple that got married in prison and that, okay, I'm activist as a lawyer, and my late husband was a well known programmer. So we created a very huge campaign, a global campaign. So we invested this campaign to like, to shed the light about detention, torture, disappearance, exceptional courts, then, like also summary execution in Syria. So then, after almost three years of visiting him regularly, he disappeared again in 2015 and in 2017 I knew that he was sentenced to death, and I knew the exact date of his execution, just in 2018 which was two days ago. It was October 5. So this is what happened then. I had to leave Syria in 2018 so I left to Lebanon. Michael Hingson  37:27 So you left Syria and went to Lebanon? Noura Ghazi  37:33 Yes, the The plan was to stay only six months in Lebanon because I was wanted and I was threatened like I lived a terrible life, really, like lot of Syrians who were activists also, but the plan was that I will stay in Lebanon for six months, then I will leave to to UK because I had A scholarship to get a master in international law. But only two months after I left to Lebanon, I decided to stay in Lebanon to establish the organization that I'm I'm leading until now, which was a project between my late husband and me. Its name is no photo zone, so it was a very big decision, but I'm not regrets. Michael Hingson  38:23 You, you practice criminal law, you practiced human rights, you visited your your fiance, as it were, and then, well, then your husband in prison and so on. Wasn't all of that pretty risky for you? Noura Ghazi  38:42 Yes, very risky. I, I lived in under like, different kind of risk. Like, okay, I have the risk that, okay, I'm, I'm doing my activism against the previous regime publicly because I also, I was co founder of the First Family or victim Association in Syria families for freedom. So we, we were, like, doing a kind of advocacy in Europe, and I used to come back to Syria, so I was under this risk, but also I was under the risk of the like, going to prison, because the way to prison and the prison itself were under bombing. It was in like a point that separate the opposition militias and the regime militias. So they were bombing each other and bombing the prison and bombing the way to prison. So for three years, and specifically for like, in, let's say, 2014 specifically, I was among, like, I was almost the only lawyer that visited the prison, and I, I didn't mind this. I faced death more than 100 time, only on the way to prison, two times the person next to me in the like transportation. It's a kind of small bus. He died and fell down on me, but I had a strong belief that I will not die, Michael Hingson  40:21 and then what? Why do you think that they never detained you or or put you in prison? Do you have any thoughts? Noura Ghazi  40:29 I had many arrests weren't against me, but each time there was something that solve it somehow. So the first couple of Earths weren't actually when, when my late husband was detained, he he made a kind of deal with them that, okay, he will give all the information, everything about his activism in return. They, they canceled the arrest warrant against me. Then literally, until now, I don't know how it was solved. Like I, I had to sleep in garden with my cats for many nights. I i spent couple of months that I cannot go to any like to family, be house or to friend house, because I will cause problem for them, my my parents, my brother and sister, and even, like my sister, ex, until like just three months before the fall of the Syrian regime, they were under like, investigation By the security, lot of harassment against them so, but I don't know, like, I'm, I'm survive for a reason that I don't really realize how, Michael Hingson  41:52 wow, it, it's, it certainly is pretty amazing. Did you ever write a book or anything about all of this, Noura Ghazi  42:02 I used to write, always the only book like, let's say, literature or emotional book. It was about love in prison. Its name is waiting. And I wrote this book in English and basil. My late husband translated it. Sorry. I wrote it in Arabic, and Basset translated it into English in prison. So it was a process of smuggling the poems in Arabic and smuggling the them in English, again out of the prison. And we published the book online just after basil disappearance in 2015 then we created the the hard copies, and I did the signature in in Beirut in, like, early 2018 but like, it's, it's online, and it's a very, like light book, let's say very romantic. It's about love in prison. I'm really keen to write again, like maybe a kind of self narrative or about the stories that I lived and i i I heard during my my journey. Unfortunately, like to write needs like this a little stable situation, but I did write many like legal or human rights book or like guides or studies, etc. Michael Hingson  43:34 Now is waiting still available online? Noura Ghazi  43:37 Yes, it's still available online. Michael Hingson  43:40 Okay? It would be great if you could, if you have a picture of the book cover, if you could send that to me, because I'd like to put that in the notes. I would appreciate it if you would, okay, for sure. But anyway, so the the company you founded, what is it called Noura Ghazi  44:02 it's a non government, a non profit organization. Its name is no photo zone. Michael Hingson  44:07 And how did you come up with that name? Noura Ghazi  44:12 It was Vasil who come up with this name, because our main focus is on prisoners of conscious and disappeared. So for him, it was that okay, those places that they put disappeared in them. They are they. There is no cameras to show the others what is happening. So we should be the the like in the place of cameras to tell the world what is happening. So that's why no photos on me, like, means that prisons or like unofficial detention centers, because they're it's an all photo zone, right? Michael Hingson  44:54 And no photo zone is is still operating today. Noura Ghazi  44:58 It's still operating. We are extending our work, although, like we have lots of financial challenges because of, like, funds issues, but for us, the main issue, we provide legal services to victims of torture, detention, disappearance and their families. So we operate in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. We are a French woman led organization, but we have registration in Turkey and Syria, and like in seven years now, almost seven years, we could provide our services to more than 3000 families who most of them are women, and they are responsible about kids who they don't have fathers. So we defend political prisoners. We search the disappeared. We provide the legal services related to personal and civil status. We provided the services related to identification documents, because it's a very big issue in Syria. Beside we provide rehabilitation, like full rehabilitation programs for survivors of detention or torture, and also advocacy. Of course, it's a very important part of our our work, even with the lack of fund, we've decided in the team, because most of the team, or all the team, they they were themselves victims of detention, or family members of victims, even the non Syrian because we have many non Syrian member in the team. So for us, it's a cause. It's not like a work that we're doing and getting paid. So we're, we're suffering this this year with the fund issues, because there is a lot of change related to the world and Syrian issues, which affected the fund policies. So hopefully we'll be, we'll be fine next year, hopefully, and we're trying to survive with our beneficiaries this year, Michael Hingson  47:02 yeah, well, you, you started receiving, and I assume no photo zone started receiving awards, and eventually you moved out of Lebanon. Tell me more about all of that. Noura Ghazi  47:16 During my journey, I I got many international recognition or a word, including two by Amnesty International. But after almost two years, like just after covid, like the start of covid, I was thinking that I should have another residence permit in another country because, like, it became very difficult for Syrians to get a residence in Lebanon. So I I moved to Turkey, and I was between Lebanon and Turkey. Then I got a call from the French Embassy in Turkey telling me that there is a new kind of a word, which is Marianne award, or Marianne program, that initiated by the French president. And they it's for human rights defenders across the world, and they will give this award for 15 human rights defender from 15 country. And I was listening, I thought they want me to nominate someone. Then they told me that the French government are honored to choose you as a Syrian human rights defender. So it was a program for six months, so I moved to Paris with my cat and dog. Then they extended the program and to become nine months. And at the almost at the end of the program, the both of Lebanese and Turkish authorities refused to renew my residence permit, so I had to stay in France to apply for asylum and a political refugee currently. Michael Hingson  49:10 And so you're in France. Are you still in Paris? Noura Ghazi  49:13 I'm still yes in Paris. I learned French very fast, like in four months. Okay, I'm not perfect, but I learned French. Michael Hingson  49:25 So what did your dog and cat think about all that? Sorry, what did your dog and cat think about moving to France? Noura Ghazi  49:33 They are French, actually, originally, they are friends. Michael Hingson  49:36 Oh, there you go. Noura Ghazi  49:38 My, my poor dog had like he he was English educated, so we used to communicate in English. Then when I was still in Lebanon, I thought, okay, a lot of Syrians are coming to my place, and they don't speak English, so I have to teach him Arabic. Then we moved to Turkish. So I had to teach him Turkish. Then we came to. France. So now my dog understand more than four languages, Michael Hingson  50:06 good for him, and and, of course, your cat is really the boss of the whole thing, right? Noura Ghazi  50:12 Of course, she is like, the center of the universe, Michael Hingson  50:16 yeah, yeah, just ask her. She'll tell you. And she's Noura Ghazi  50:20 very white, so she is 14 years. Oh, it's old, yes. Michael Hingson  50:29 Well, I have a cat we rescued in 2015 we think she was five then. So we think that my cat is 15 going on 16. So, and she moves around and does very well. Noura Ghazi  50:46 Yeah, my cat as well. Michael Hingson  50:49 Yeah. Well, that's the way it should be. So with all the things that you've been dealing with and all the stress, have you had? Noura Ghazi  50:59 PTSD, yes, I started, of course, like it's the minimum, actually, I have PTSD and the TSD, and I started to feel, or let's say, I could know that the what is happening with me is PTSD two years ago. I before, like, couple of months before, I started to feel like something unusual in my body, in my mind. At the beginning, we thought there is a problem in the brain. Then the psychologist and psychiatrist said that it's a huge level of PTSD, which is like the minimum, and like, we should start the journey of of treatment, which is like the behavior treatment and medical treatment as well. Like, some people could stay 10 years. Some people need to go to hospital. It's not the best thing, but sometimes I feel I'm grateful that I'm having PTSD because I'm able to deal with people who are in the same situation. I could feel them, understand them, so I could help them more, because I understand and as a human rights defender and like victim of lot of kind of violations, so I'm very aware about the like, let's call it the first aid, the psychological first aid support. And this is helpful somehow. Okay, I'm suffering, but this suffering is useful for others Michael Hingson  52:47 well and clearly, you are at a point where you can talk about it, which says a lot, because you're able to deal with it well enough to be able to talk about it, which I think is probably pretty important, don't you think? Noura Ghazi  53:03 Yeah, actually, the last at the first time I talked about it very publicly in a conference in Stockholm, it was last October, and then I thought it's important to talk about it. And I'm also thinking to do something more about PTSD, especially the PTSD related to to prisons, torture, etc, this kind of violations, because sharing experience is very important. So I'm still thinking about a kind of certain way to to like, to spread my experience with PTSD, especially that I have lot of changes in in my life recently, because I got married again, and even the the good incident that people who have PTSD, even if they have, like good incident, but it cause a kind of escalation with PTSD, Michael Hingson  54:00 yeah, but you got married again, so you have somebody you can talk with. Noura Ghazi  54:06 Yes, I got married five months ago. The most important that I could fall in love again. So I met my husband in in Paris. He's a Lebanese artist who live in Paris. And yeah, I have, I have a family now, like we have now three cats and a dog and us as couple. But it's very new for me, like this kind of marriage, that a marriage which I live with a partner, because the marriage I used to is that visit the husband in prison. I'm getting used to it. Michael Hingson  54:43 And just as always, the cat runs everything, right? Yes, of course, of course. So tell me about the freedom prize in Normandy. Noura Ghazi  54:55 Oh, it was like one of the best thing I had in my life. I. Was nominated for the freedom prize, which is launched by usually they are like young people who who nominate the the nominees for this prize, but it's launched by the government of Normandy region in France and the International Institute for Human Rights and peace. So among hundreds of files and, like many kind of round of, like short listing, there was me, a Belarusian activist who is detained, and a Palestinian photographer. So like, just knowing that I was nominated among more than 700 person was a privilege for me. The winner was the Palestinian photographer, but it was the first time they invite the other nominee to the celebration, which was on the same date of like liberating Normandy region during the Second World War. So I chose, I thought for my for couple of days about what I will wear, because I need to deliver a message. So I, I I came up with an idea about a white dress with 101 names in blue. Those names are for disappeared and detainees in Syria. So like there was, there was seven persons who worked on this dress, and I had the chance to wear it and to deliver my message and to give a speech in a very important day that even like those fighters during the Second World War who are still alive, they they came from us. They came from lot of countries. I had the privilege to see them directly, to touch them, to tell them thank you, and to deliver my message in front of an audience of 4500 persons. And it's like I love this dress, and like this event was one of the best thing I had in my life. Michael Hingson  57:21 Do you have a picture of you in the dress? Yes, I would think you do. Well, if you want, we'd love to put that in the show notes as well, especially because you're honoring all those people with the names and so on. Kind of cool. Well, okay, so, so Syria, you're, you're saying, in a lot of ways, hasn't, hasn't really changed a whole lot. It's, it's still a lot of dictatorship oriented kinds of things, and they discriminate against certain sex and and so on. And that's extremely unfortunate, because I don't think that that's the impression that people have over here, Noura Ghazi  58:02 exactly I had a chance to visit Syria, a kind of exceptional visit by the French government, because, as political refugees were not allowed to visit our country of origin. And of course, like after eight years, like out of Syria after six years without seeing my family. Of course, I was very happy, but I was very traumatized, and I I came back to Paris in in July 21 and since that time, I feel I'm not the same person before going to Syria. I'm full of frustration. I feel that, okay, I just wasted 14 years of my life for nothing. But hopefully I'm I'm trying to get better because okay, I know, like much of human rights violations mean that my kind of work and activism is more needed, yeah, Michael Hingson  59:03 so you'll so you'll continue to speak out and and fight for freedom. Noura Ghazi  59:10 Yes, I continue, and I will continue fighting for freedom, for dignity, for justice, for civil rights, and also raising awareness about PTSD and how we could invest even our pain for the sake of helping others. Michael Hingson  59:29 Well, I want to tell you that it's been an honor to have you on the podcast, and I am so glad we we got a chance to talk and to do this because having met you previously, in our introductory conversation, it was very clear that there was a story that needed to be told, and I hope that a lot of people will take an interest, and that it will will allow what you do to continue to grow, if people would like to reach out to you. And and help or learn more. How do they do that? Noura Ghazi  1:00:05 We you have the the link of my website that people could connect me, because it includes my my email, my personal email, and I always reply. So I'm happy to to talk with the to contact with people, and it also include all the all my social media, Michael Hingson  1:00:23 right? What? What's the website for? No photo zone. Noura Ghazi  1:00:27 It's no photo zone.org. No photo zone.org. Michael Hingson  1:00:30 I thought it was, but I just wanted you to say it. I wanted you to say it. Noura Ghazi  1:00:35 It's included in my website. Michael Hingson  1:00:37 Yeah, I've got it all and and it will all be in the show notes, but I just thought I would get you to say no photo zone.org Well, I want to thank you for being here. This has been a wonderful time to have a chance to talk, and I appreciate you taking the time to, I hope, educate lots of people. So thank you very much for doing that, and I want to thank all of you for listening and watching. We'd love you to give us a five star rating. Give us a review. We really appreciate ratings and reviews. So wherever you're watching or listening to this podcast, please give us a five star rating. Please review the podcast for us. We value that, and I know that Nora will will appreciate that as well. Also, if you if you know any guests, and Nora you as well, if you know anyone who you think ought to be a guest on the podcast, we would really appreciate it. If you would let us know you can reach me. At Michael M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, love to hear from you. Love to hear your thoughts about the podcast. So Nora, very much my I want to thank you again. This has been great. Thank you very much for being here. Noura Ghazi  1:01:56 Thank you Michael, and thank you for those who are listening, and we're still in touch.

This month Dr. Kurt Olding shares with us the latest published research on compression fractures, Gabapentin (Neurontin), degenerative scoliosis, epidurals, non-contained discs and spondylolisthesis. Dr. Kurt Olding has been in practice for over 40 years, opening Minster Chiropractic Center in 1986 after graduating from National College of Chiropractic in Lombard, IL in 1984. Through the years Dr. Kurt has enjoyed treating all age groups, from infants to athletes and parents to grandparents. He took special interest in sports medicine during his early years in practice, completing 300 hours of continuing education through the Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician program. Dr. Kurt earned Cox® Technic certification in 2009. In 2012 he began co-instructing the technique, and since 2015 has been a full-time instructor alongside Dr. James Cox, Dr. Ralph Kruse, and Dr. George Joachim. Through his work with Cox® Technic, Dr. Kurt has had several exciting opportunities. In March of 2016, he taught Cox® Technic in Bern, Switzerland as part of the Swiss Chiropractic Academy's "technique series" program. Later that month, he presented research on Cox® Technic with his mentor Dr. James Cox at the annual Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference. Dr. Kurt co-authored a paper published in the June 2016 edition of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine titled Chiropractic Distraction Spinal Manipulation on Post-surgical Continued Low Back and Radicular Pain patients: A Retrospective Case Series. In 2015, Dr. Kurt became board certified as a Chiropractic Orthopedist, and a Fellow of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists (FACO). He is also a board member of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists, serving since early 2016. Dr. Kurt and his wife Jackie are Minster natives. They have three children: Sunni, Kregg, and Jack. Sunni and her husband Tyler joined the practice in 2014. Resources: Minster Chiropractic Center kurt.olding@gmail.com Find a Back Doctor thebackdoctorspodcast.com The Cox 8 Table by Haven Medical

In this transformative episode, Inside the Vault with Ash Cash sits down with Imam Rashad Abdul, a scholar of Quranic Arabic, comparative religion, and Black liberation theology, to explore one of the most important conversations in the Black community today: the relationship between Christianity, Islam, identity, and economic empowerment.Imam Rashad breaks down:– Why 20–40% of enslaved West Africans were Muslim – The real link between Christianity, Islam, and Black liberation – What the Quran actually says about Jews and Christians – Why Jesus was never worshiped as God in early Christianity – How both faiths can unite to transform the Black community – The economic blueprint inside scripture — wealth, stewardship, and power – Why miseducation keeps Black people divided spiritually and financially – How Islam in America evolved from the Nation of Islam to modern Sunni practice – Identity, trauma, and the psychology of choosing faith – What new Muslims must know when embracing IslamThis episode isn't about debate. It's about truth, unity, and empowerment for a people who share the same history, the same struggle, and the same need for collective elevation.Follow Imam Rashad Abdul: @rashadabdul_ Follow Inside the Vault: @InsideTheVault Follow Ash Cash: @IAmAshCash⏱ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — The statement that shook the room: “Jesus never said ‘I am God.'” 00:22 — Why 20–40% of enslaved Africans were Muslim 00:54 — Islam as a liberating message for Black America 01:21 — Judaism, Christianity & Islam: shared historical roots 01:55 — Religion, control & why faith became political 02:14 — Inside the Vault introduction 02:29 — Who is Imam Rashad Abdul? 03:04 — Why this conversation matters for Black unity 03:42 — Christianity, Islam & money: the foundation of America 04:07 — The first controversial question about Jesus' divinity 05:28 — Why Black Christians & Black Muslims share the same history 06:18 — Fatherhood, trauma & psychological patterns in our community 07:54 — Slavery's impact on Black religious identity 09:12 — Early Black Christian interpretations vs European Christianity 10:58 — Why many African Americans choose Islam today 12:48 — How West African Islamic culture shaped Black America 13:23 — How Islam entered America through the Nation of Islam 14:47 — Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad & Black liberation theology 16:33 — Christianity used as psychological control during slavery 17:08 — “We are one people” — unity over division 18:04 — Why Muslims cannot disconnect from their community 19:08 — What the Quran actually says about Jews & Christians 21:10 — The Trinity vs the Quranic concept of God 22:56 — How Greek philosophy influenced the New Testament 24:50 — Cultural context & how theology evolved after Jesus 25:54 — Islam's teachings on money, wealth & stewardship 27:38 — Wealth as responsibility, not greed 29:20 — Adam's story & human potential 31:05 — Joseph & economic intelligence in scripture 33:22 — Zakat: purifying wealth and uplifting the poor 35:10 — Is wealth spiritually dangerous? 36:42 — Religion, poverty & controlling the masses 38:01 — How Prophet Muhammad modeled entrepreneurship 39:18 — Independence vs dependency in the Black community 40:51 — Why the Black Muslim economic model is powerful 42:31 — Cultural confusion vs true Islam 43:56 — Identity issues among Black Muslims 45:14 — The “Arabization” challenge in U.S. Islam 47:09 — Isolation of new Muslims & lack of mentorship 49:05 — The psychological legacy of “white Jesus” 50:18 — How Islam & Christianity overlap more than people realize 52:42 — Misunderstanding theology keeps us divided 54:56 — Why both faiths must unite economically 56:21 — The Jewish wealth blueprint & economic discipline 58:44 — Competing ideologies & ego in leadership 1:00:38 — Why Islamic growth threatens some leaders 1:02:45 — What the Black community is missing economically 1:04:11 — How Muslims & Christians can build together 1:05:43 — The future of Black religious leadership 1:08:22 — What new Muslims must know 1:10:04 — Taking shahada: what happens next 1:12:00 — Islam as a lifelong journey of growth 1:13:10 — Final wisdom from Imam Rashad 1:14:44 — Follow Imam Rashad & get his book 1:15:30 — Closing the VaultAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in and your continued support. This week, we bring you another installment of Semper Cinema in reviewing the documentary, The Last 600 Meters, detailing the battles of Fallujah and Najaf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Released last year, The Last 600 Meters chronicles the two deadliest battles of the Iraq War, Najaf in the south against the Shi'a Madhi Militia and Fallujah in the west against Sunni insurgents. Both battles occurred in 2004 and the interviews for this documentary were recorded in 2007. Due to internal issues at PBS, many of which have been revealed to be political, it was shelved until last year. We mention this dynamic in our review, but mainly focus on the specifics of the film, such as the narrative style and cinematic art, and how well the filmmakers used these tools to tell the story. Another controversy surrounding the release of the film is its use of graphic combat footage, including the deaths of US service members, so we also dive into the ethics of depicting graphic imagery and the moral decisions that go into it when trying to be authentic in illustrating the savagery of war. Enjoy! The post #229: Semper Cinema – The Last 600 Meters first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in and your continued support. This week, we bring you another installment of Semper Cinema in reviewing the documentary, The Last 600 Meters, detailing the battles of Fallujah and Najaf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Released last year, The Last 600 Meters chronicles the two deadliest battles of the Iraq War, Najaf in the south against the Shi'a Madhi Militia and Fallujah in the west against Sunni insurgents. Both battles occurred in 2004 and the interviews for this documentary were recorded in 2007. Due to internal issues at PBS, many of which have been revealed to be political, it was shelved until last year. We mention this dynamic in our review, but mainly focus on the specifics of the film, such as the narrative style and cinematic art, and how well the filmmakers used these tools to tell the story. Another controversy surrounding the release of the film is its use of graphic combat footage, including the deaths of US service members, so we also dive into the ethics of depicting graphic imagery and the moral decisions that go into it when trying to be authentic in illustrating the savagery of war. Enjoy! The post #229: Semper Cinema – The Last 600 Meters first appeared on Marine Corps Association.

4 Hamas gunmen killed after emerging from Rafah tunnel. Hizbullah artillery commander killed. IDF seizes Sunni terrorist in south Lebanon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this thought‑provoking episode, Dr. Dipak Gyawali, Geopolitical expert, Political Economist, joins us to unpack some of the most pressing issues shaping today's world. From the controversial Epstein files explained to the complex dynamics of Nepal elections 2026, this podcast dives deep into the realities of South Asia geopolitics and beyond. We explore how China's media in Nepal, including Dragon Media, reflects shifting power balances, while India‑Nepal relations** remain tense. Dr. Gyawali also provides insights into Iran as a country, the Iran nuclear program, and the growing possibility of Iran vs Israel conflict. His analysis of Shia vs Sunni explained offers clarity on religious divides that continue to influence Middle East tensions. The conversation highlights the turbulence of global conflicts 2026, the risk of election postponement in Nepal, and the broader implications of international relations podcast discussions. Whether you're interested in geopolitical turbulence, future of global power shifts, or the role of Nepal politics podcast in shaping narratives, this episode delivers sharp insights. Tune in for a comprehensive look at **business, politics, and geopolitics, as Dr. Gyawali connects the dots between local elections, regional conflicts, and global power struggles. GET CONNECTED WITH Dipak Gyawal: Twitter - https://x.com/dipak_gyawali?lang=en  

As Iran's regime faces unprecedented internal revolt, the Middle East may be approaching a historic turning point. In this episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and Pastor Doug Reed are joined by foreign policy expert Dr. David Wurmser to examine what is truly at stake — not only for Israel and Iran, but for Western civilization itself. From the legacy of the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the ideological roots of Islamism, from Gaza and Syria to the rise of Sunni radicalism, this wide-ranging conversation explores why material incentives fail in the Middle East, why ideas matter more than economics, and why the coming struggle may determine the future alignment of the world.

The United States is steadily deploying more forces into the Middle East for a potential military strike on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet it increasingly appears that the Trump administration has made a strategic choice: to dismantle the Shiite jihadi axis led by Iran while simultaneously backing Sunni jihadi regimes and movements across the region - Syria, Turkey and Qatar - and while we can be grateful for the prospect of ending Iran's brutal Islamic regime, empowering Sunni jihadism is a dangerous gamble with long-term consequences.Join Our Whatsapp Channel: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMvFollow us on Twitter: https://x.com/AviAbelowJoin our Telegram Channel: https://t.me/aviabelowpulseFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pulse_of_israel/?hl=enPulse of Israel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsraelVideoNetworkVisit Our Website - https://pulseofisrael.com/Donate to Pulse of Israel: https://pulseofisrael.com/boost-this-video/

Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Syria's new central government remains extremely fragile, with authority barely extending beyond Damascus as factions clash in Aleppo. Schanzer describes a "Sunni jihadist regime" facing retribution from sectarian minorities. Meanwhile, regional tensions escalate as Israel and Iran reportedly narrowly avoided direct conflict, prompting Russia to evacuate its embassy.1979 TEHRAN

SHOW1-14-251671 Guests: Elizabeth Peek and John Batchelor. Batchelor and Peek discuss inflation holding firm at 2.7% in December. They evaluate falling gasoline prices and strong holiday retail performance as indicators of improving consumer sentiment. Peek also critiques a DOJ investigation into Jerome Powell, labeling it an "unforced error" that might inadvertently extend Powell's tenure. Guest: Elizabeth Peek. This segment addresses political dissent in Minnesota following a tragedy involving an ICE agent. Peek argues that liberal activists are nationalizing the incident to demonize law enforcement. She views this as partisan positioning for the midterms, intended as a weapon to be used against President Trump. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. Dempsey explains that the EU lacks a cohesive strategy for Irandespite a consensus on increasing sanctions. Regarding Ukraine, she highlights staggering divisions among European states as the U.S. withdraws military help. Dempsey notes a ceasefire remains unlikely because Russiacurrently has no interest in negotiations. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. The discussion focuses on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's efforts to address immigration to counter the populist AfD party. Dempsey explores the nuances of refugee integration into the German workforce. Finally, she reports European "horror" at potential U.S. moves to annex Greenland, which could threaten the survival of NATO. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. China faces a "sluggish zombie economy" characterized by a burst property bubble and anemic consumption. Sternberg warns of "Japanification," where growth remains stagnant for decades. Beijingstruggles with price deflation, further burdening a heavily indebted economy. Meaningful recovery requires political reforms Xi Jinping resists.  Guest: Joseph Sternberg. President Trump is reportedly using an investigation into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as a pretext to influence interest rate decisions. Sternberg notes that while central banks like the Bank of England strive for independence, they are increasingly politicized. Additionally, Western media outlets like the BBC initially faced criticism for slow coverage of Iranian massacre 7Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Intense protests in Iran, sparked by decades of mismanagement, have led to a violent crackdown by the regime. Schanzer highlights that these demonstrations are uniquely supported by President Trump's rhetoric. Reza Pahlavi has emerged as a potential figurehead for a transitional government or constitutional monarchy, as the population remains largely pro-Western.8 Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Syria's new central government remains extremely fragile, with authority barely extending beyond Damascus as factions clash in Aleppo. Schanzer describes a "Sunni jihadist regime" facing retribution from sectarian minorities. Meanwhile, regional tensions escalate as Israel and Iran reportedly narrowly avoided direct conflict, prompting Russia to evacuate its embassy. Guest: Dr. Brenda Shaffer. Iran is a multi-ethnic state where Persians constitute less than 40% of the population. Shaffer explains that while current protests are Persian-led, the regime's survival often depends on the participation of ethnic minorities like Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and Baluch. These groups frequently engage in direct retribution against security forces. Guest: General Blaine Holt (retired). Holt discusses potential U.S. intervention to support Iranian protesters, emphasizing strikes on command nodes rather than ground troops. While the U.S. maintains air superiority, putting special operators on the ground carries high risk. The Iranian people face a critical window of days to succeed before facing stunning reprisals. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Iranian protesters face a brutal regime that may utilize a "Samson Option," firing all missiles at Israel if the government falls. Weichert notes that while the Israelis and CIA have covert assets on the ground, the protest movement lacks a cohesive leader. Proposals for restoring the Pahlavi dynasty are criticized as an impractical solution. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Turmoil in Iran threatens China's energy security, as Beijing receives roughly 70-80% of Iranian oil. Weichert suggests Russia and China are using the crisis to test anti-Starlink technologies. Furthermore, the regime might import foreign terrorists to suppress domestic dissent, while the U.S. provides behind-the-scenes support to the movement. Guest: Gregory Copley. Iran's collapse could dismantle the "International North-South Transport Corridor," a vital trade route for Russia and India. Copley argues that the Iranian public is increasingly secular, with the youth rejecting clerical authority. While the regime may fire remaining missiles in desperation, a post-clerical Irancould ignite Central Asian economic potential. Guest: Gregory Copley. Although the U.S. promises help, Copley warns that a ground invasion is physically difficult and historically unsuccessful. There are signs that Iranian police and some Revolutionary Guard units are refusing to fire on protesters. Ultimately, the Iranian people must take ownership of the revolution to ensure the legitimacy of any successor government. Guest: Gregory Copley. Following the arrest of Maduro, Venezuela is controlled by four competing "crime families." Copley notes the absence of a clear U.S. plan for citizens facing food and medical insecurity. The U.S.seeks to enforce an oil embargo against Cuba, which is currently suffering from infrastructure collapse and electric grid failures. Guest: Gregory Copley. Reza Pahlavi proposes a constitutional monarchy where the crown serves as a symbolic figurehead, similar to the British system. Copley highlights Pahlavi's unique name recognition and legitimacy as the former crown prince. However, air power alone cannot decisively change the situation on the ground, requiring covert support after the clerics collapse.

SHOW SCHEDULE1-13-251868 PUBLISHER'S ROW NYC Guests: Elizabeth Peek and John Batchelor. Batchelor and Peek discuss inflation holding firm at 2.7% in December. They evaluate falling gasoline prices and strong holiday retail performance as indicators of improving consumer sentiment. Peek also critiques a DOJ investigation into Jerome Powell, labeling it an "unforced error" that might inadvertently extend Powell's tenure. Guest: Elizabeth Peek. This segment addresses political dissent in Minnesota following a tragedy involving an ICE agent. Peek argues that liberal activists are nationalizing the incident to demonize law enforcement. She views this as partisan positioning for the midterms, intended as a weapon to be used against President Trump. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. Dempsey explains that the EU lacks a cohesive strategy for Irandespite a consensus on increasing sanctions. Regarding Ukraine, she highlights staggering divisions among European states as the U.S. withdraws military help. Dempsey notes a ceasefire remains unlikely because Russiacurrently has no interest in negotiations. Guests: Judy Dempsey and Thaddeus Matter. The discussion focuses on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's efforts to address immigration to counter the populist AfD party. Dempsey explores the nuances of refugee integration into the German workforce. Finally, she reports European "horror" at potential U.S. moves to annex Greenland, which could threaten the survival of NATO. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. China faces a "sluggish zombie economy" characterized by a burst property bubble and anemic consumption. Sternberg warns of "Japanification," where growth remains stagnant for decades. Beijingstruggles with price deflation, further burdening a heavily indebted economy. Meaningful recovery requires political reforms Xi Jinping resists. Guest: Joseph Sternberg. President Trump is reportedly using an investigation into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as a pretext to influence interest rate decisions. Sternberg notes that while central banks like the Bank of England strive for independence, they are increasingly politicized. Additionally, Western media outlets like the BBC initially faced criticism for slow coverage of Iranian massacres. Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Intense protests in Iran, sparked by decades of mismanagement, have led to a violent crackdown by the regime. Schanzer highlights that these demonstrations are uniquely supported by President Trump's rhetoric. Reza Pahlavi has emerged as a potential figurehead for a transitional government or constitutional monarchy, as the population remains largely pro-Western. Guest: Jonathan Schanzer. Syria's new central government remains extremely fragile, with authority barely extending beyond Damascus as factions clash in Aleppo. Schanzer describes a "Sunni jihadist regime" facing retribution from sectarian minorities. Meanwhile, regional tensions escalate as Israel and Iran reportedly narrowly avoided direct conflict, prompting Russia to evacuate its embassy. Guest: Dr. Brenda Shaffer. Iran is a multi-ethnic state where Persians constitute less than 40% of the population. Shaffer explains that while current protests are Persian-led, the regime's survival often depends on the participation of ethnic minorities like Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and Baluch. These groups frequently engage in direct retribution against security forces. Guest: General Blaine Holt (retired). Holt discusses potential U.S. intervention to support Iranian protesters, emphasizing strikes on command nodes rather than ground troops. While the U.S. maintains air superiority, putting special operators on the ground carries high risk. The Iranian people face a critical window of days to succeed before facing stunning reprisals. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Iranian protesters face a brutal regime that may utilize a "Samson Option," firing all missiles at Israel if the government falls. Weichert notes that while the Israelis and CIA have covert assets on the ground, the protest movement lacks a cohesive leader. Proposals for restoring the Pahlavi dynasty are criticized as an impractical solution. Guest: Brandon Weichert. Turmoil in Iran threatens China's energy security, as Beijing receives roughly 70-80% of Iranian oil. Weichert suggests Russia and China are using the crisis to test anti-Starlink technologies. Furthermore, the regime might import foreign terrorists to suppress domestic dissent, while the U.S. provides behind-the-scenes support to the movement. Guest: Gregory Copley. Iran's collapse could dismantle the "International North-South Transport Corridor," a vital trade route for Russia and India. Copley argues that the Iranian public is increasingly secular, with the youth rejecting clerical authority. While the regime may fire remaining missiles in desperation, a post-clerical Irancould ignite Central Asian economic potential. Guest: Gregory Copley. Although the U.S. promises help, Copley warns that a ground invasion is physically difficult and historically unsuccessful. There are signs that Iranian police and some Revolutionary Guard units are refusing to fire on protesters. Ultimately, the Iranian people must take ownership of the revolution to ensure the legitimacy of any successor government. Guest: Gregory Copley. Following the arrest of Maduro, Venezuela is controlled by four competing "crime families." Copley notes the absence of a clear U.S. plan for citizens facing food and medical insecurity. The U.S.seeks to enforce an oil embargo against Cuba, which is currently suffering from infrastructure collapse and electric grid failures. Guest: Gregory Copley. Reza Pahlavi proposes a constitutional monarchy where the crown serves as a symbolic figurehead, similar to the British system. Copley highlights Pahlavi's unique name recognition and legitimacy as the former crown prince. However, air power alone cannot decisively change the situation on the ground, requiring covert support after the clerics collapse.

PREVIEW FOR LATER TODAY REBELLION SPREADS IN IRAN'S SISTAN AND BALUCHISTAN PROVINCES Colleague Malcolm Hoenlein. Malcolm Hoenlein reports on the Moarisun Popular Front, a new coalition supporting rebellion in Sunni majority provinces. With reporting limited by internet blackouts, demonstrations have spread to every province, with protesters even taking over police stations as the regime faces significant and widespread unrest.1902 PERSIA

According to a famous prophetic report, “Whoever imitates a people becomes one of them.” What does “imitation” here mean? Rather, what does this statement really mean at all, and how have Muslims historically understood it? How did this simple report become a doctrine in the Islamic tradition? What does this hadith mean for Muslims today, in an increasingly interreligious atmosphere and especially for those living in the West or in other non-Muslim-majority contexts? Finally, why do humans invest so much in being different and displaying their difference from those they declare as an ‘other'?  These and many other questions are answered in Youshaa Patel's exciting book The Muslim Difference: Defining the Line between Believers and Unbelievers from Early Islam to the Present, published in 2022 with Yale University Press. The book explores the issue of difference and frames the hadith as significant to Muslim interreligious encounters, showing that ideas and examples of imitation—and Muslims' understanding of the concept—have changed throughout times and in different contexts. And the debate around issues of religious difference, imitation, and Muslims' effort to distinguish themselves from non-Muslims tells us about how Muslims understand and define religion. In our conversation today, we discuss the origins of the book, some of its main arguments and findings, the prophetic reports on imitation—specifically the hadith that “whoever imitates a people becomes one of them”—its role in establishing a Sunni orthodoxy given that the hadith or the concept of tashabbuh is not found in Shii collections, and influential scholars and thinkers' development of the concept, individuals such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi. We also discuss examples of small differences that are not to be imitated, and Patel explains the significance and value of these small differences, which are quite powerful and symbolic. Our conversation ends with the relevance of imitation and emulation for today's Muslims, including Muhammad Abduh's Transvaal fatwa on, among other things, Muslims wearing European hats or Muslims doing Christian European things and how other Muslim scholars responded to this fatwa. Shehnaz Haqqani is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Mercer University. She earned her PhD in Islamic Studies with a focus on gender from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. Her dissertation research explored questions of change and tradition, specifically in the context of gender and sexuality, in Islam. She can be reached at haqqani_s@mercer.edu. 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

5. Maliki's Corruption and Road to ISIS During 2011-2013, Baghdad was unrecognizable, divided by concrete walls into sectarian neighborhoods, with Maliki pursuing sectarian policies targeting Sunni figures while building government on corruption and patronage. Military became money-making machine with "ghost soldiers," weakening army before ISIS emerged. Al-Qaeda resurrected amid Syrian chaos while Sunni leaders aligning with jihadis during 2012 "Friday of Anger" demonstrations proved disastrous as Maliki's forces collapsed, allowing ISIS to present as "liberator."

3. Return of Exiles and Rise of Sectarian War American blunders included disbanding the army and Ba'ath party while returning exiles "frozen in time" whom Iraqis distrusted but Americans relied upon. Resistance began with nationalists like Hamid fighting to restore honor, recognizing danger from foreign jihadis flooding borders seeking Islamic state rather than preserving Iraq. Zarqawi facilitated sectarian quagmire but conditions were created by Americans, exiles, and jihadis, with Mahdi Army becoming death squads dumping hundreds of Sunni bodies at Sada dam.

6. Ramadi's Infighting and ISIS Infiltration Ramadi saw tragic infighting among Sunni tribal elders utilizing outside powers to increase influence, unable to form coherent political project while US treated them monolithically. Market scenes devolved into chaos with 14 factions fighting simultaneously. After Al-Qaeda's defeat, no one expected jihadis' return, but Maliki's sectarianism and security forces' corruption created societal crack that disciplined ISIS forces infiltrated, while Iran's influence existed since Americans entered Baghdad.