Podcasts about TAC

In July of 2024, we brought talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference (TAC), East Coast at Westchester University.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-charm-of-tainan-taiwans-oldest-city-a-talk-with-author-and-historian-jinyu-hsieh-%e8%ac%9d%e9%87%91%e9%ad%9a-ep-337/   Jinyu Hsieh (謝金魚), one of the speakers at TAC is a writer and a historian. I sat down to talk to her about Tainan, located in southern Taiwan, it is the oldest city in Tainan was founded in 1624 and in 2024 it was celebrating its 400th anniversary.   This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-charm-of-tainan-taiwans-oldest-city-a-talk-with-author-and-historian-jinyu-hsieh-%e8%ac%9d%e9%87%91%e9%ad%9a-ep-337/

Quaranteam - Dave In Dallas: Part 8 Intruders! Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. October 26, 2020. Monday afternoon, Reena took lunch duties. Lunch was often individual or in small groups, but she really wanted a crack at cooking for everyone. She said it could be 'come and go' to still facilitate varied schedules around the house. Her idea was ramen. But, it wasn't just basic out of the package. Well, it was, but with a variety of add-ons. You could pick your flavor of ramen, then she'd prepared chopped carrots, nori, sesame oil, diced onion, spam, eggs (fried up for each bowl individually) and Korean red pepper powder that Jan had gotten added to the spice rack. Oh, Reena still cooked it up, but each bowl was individual, and made on request. When Jan came in for lunch, she laughed warmly. Beaming, Reena asked hopefully, "Just like mom would make?" Jan placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Not exactly dear. This is ore like what my Caucasian aunt would make when she tried to be authentic." Reena's face and shoulders seemed to suddenly melt. Jan stepped in beside the teen, wrapping her arms around her. "And the one time I made fun of my aunt for it in my mother's hearing was the last. She pulled me aside and scolded me for being insensitive, and ungrateful. Mom said that ramen was always about making something tasty, with love and what ever ingredients were available." Jan made a point of looking over the prepped ingredients arrayed on the counter. "And this is exactly what you have done." She kissed Reena on her cheek. "Thank you. Thank you for the meal, and thank you for reminding me of two lovely, caring women in my life." Reena hugged her. Then she got the specifics of what Jan wanted and got busy making it. Dave stepped out of his office and got two steps down the hallway when Lupie found him. "Dave, could I use your office and computer for a bit? It's kind of urgent. I was in the middle of some trades and my laptop died." "Again?" Dave chuckled. Lupie looked chagrined and rolled her eyes. "Good thing you have your software installed in there already. Just log me off and do what you gotta do. How long do you need me to stay out?" "Rest of the afternoon?" "Okay." Dave started to walk away but Lupie snagged him by the shirtfront and tugged him towards her. They kissed softly. They didn't hear the small footsteps approaching. "Oh gag me with a tamale." Both adults laughed too hard to maintain the kiss. "I do need to get in there," Lupie said. A quick peck and she scampered into the office. Dave knelt down and wrapped Esme in a hug. "And you, rascal, need to give it a rest. We keep a lot out of your sight because; well because it should be out of your viewing. So give us a break on the kissing once in a while, huh?" "Yessir" her tone sounded reluctant, but the grin was hard to suppress. She took four quick steps away from him before turning. "Dave?" "Yes, sweetie?" "Thanks for making mom happy." "Never have I ever; used a pay phone," Reena said with a wicked grin. Shawna and all the ladies over thirty took a drink. Dave first reached into his pocket, pulled his hand back out, and tossed a quarter at Reena. Then he took a drink. Liv busted out laughing. "One of Dad's favorite songs!" she cried as she cackled loudly and leaned a bit too far over into Mel. They'd been going for over half an hour. And she and Mel had pre-gamed. "Song?" Reena asked. "Pay phones used to cost a quarter to make a call. Early nineties, there was a country breakup song called 'Here's a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares'," Dave filled in. Reena pouted, then stuck out her tongue. "Okay, Lupie, your turn," Jan prompted. 'Never have I ever; done the splits." Reena threw one back. Liv joined her, while Dave laughed. "That laugh suggests a story," Nessa observed. "Yeah, yeah," Liv replied. "I was; oh, about ten or so?" "Eleven," Dave corrected. "Right. Anyway, the girlie girl types were saying I was not really a girl if I couldn't do the splits. So I did." Dave cleared his throat. Liv blushed. "On top of the monkey bars." All the older ladies burst out laughing. "Well, that showed them!" Shawna rejoined. "And I believe it's Dave's turn now." "Alright, never have I ever; taken a nude or semi-nude selfie." Reena's eyes bugged out. She reached for her drink, threw back a slug, then covered her face with her hand. Mel, Liv, and Nessa followed suit. That was no shock to anyone. Jan doing so caught a few looks. "Nope, not gonna talk about it." Jan's face was as red as Melanie's hair. "Okay, moving on; " "Not yet. Someone hasn't drunk." Dave said. He looked at Becca, clearing his throat. "What?! I've never sent nude selfies. You're the first guy I ever got naked for!" "I believe you." Then Dave held up his phone and waggled it. Becca's eyes got wide. "Oh, crap, I forgot about that!" The young blonde blushed about six shades of red before reaching for her drink. "Oh, this I gotta hear." Melanie breathed. Becca hid her face in her hands, peeking between two fingers. Lupie laughed loudly. "Okay, you busted me out, so spill." Becca looked pleadingly at Dave, then shrugged her shoulders, giving him a nod. "Loops, you remember that very first day, when the vax guy came around?" Lupie nodded in reply. "And you wondered why Becca was acting all embarrassed after I told you I'd accepted you both?" "Yes?; oh!" "I told you she'd be the one to say it was okay to tell you what happened? She just did." Lupie just nodded in reply. "Uh, care to fill the rest of us in?" Mel asked. "So the CDC guy came around mid-September. He got to Lupie's house first. She sent him over here with a letter asking that I request her and Becca, giving her reasons why I should say yes. After setting things up with Arthur, I texted both of them that I would make the request. Becca replied with a selfie. With her shirt and bra pulled up. Still have it by the way." Dave winked at Becca. "Shit, we shoulda thought of that! Right after the video call!" Liv groused, nudging Mel. "Another missed first." "Becca was weeks before that call, so still first. Well, first amongst this group, not first ever." "Oh, yeah?" Dave dodged. "Old girlfriend, long time ago. So, who's turn is it next?" Thankfully, they let it slide. October 27, 2020. Dave descended the stairs to see Olivia, Becca and Reena watching a 90's movie. The two teens were making a concerted effort to take in as much of the movies and songs that Dave had grown up with, particularly the ones he had physical copies of. Reena had taken some adjusting to the idea of watching without streaming. Not that they didn't stream at all. Last night, Dave had discovered several of his partners, including Reena, hadn't yet seen Hamilton. That required immediate correction. "Wow, really? It's a great story, well executed, and it's historical. I mean, yeah, they take some liberties, but Miranda was pretty true to the essence of the characters." "But history?" Reena whined. "It's just a bunch of old white guys." Dave looked askance at her. "You're sleeping with an old white guy." Reena's face fell, and Dave's heart with it. In a soft voice, she said, "You're not just an old white guy to me." Her head wasn't exactly hanging, but she didn't meet his eyes. Fuck, emotional landmine triggered. Splash damage accumulating. Dave got up swiftly, without rushing, to stand in front of her and take her in his arms. He kissed the crown of her head as her face nestled in his chest. "I'm sorry honey, I didn't mean to sound so disparaging." Reena slipped her arms around Dave and took him in a hug. Several others joined in, circling the pair in their arms. "Reena, honey?" Shawna prompted. "The guy who wrote it had a vision to make the story more interesting than 'just a bunch of old white guys. Give it a try. I think you'll like it." As often happened, Shawna was spot-on. This morning though, the trio were watching Dave's blu-ray of Twister. "You know, we'll have to watch this in April. Before or during the first severe thunderstorm warning." Dave said as he rounded the back corner to pass them without blocking their view. All three girls chuckled lightly and accepted the kisses Dave planted on them as he passed behind them on his way to the library. Entering, he found Vanessa lounging with a book. He took a seat in easy speaking distance without crowding her. "So, how are you settling in?" "Pretty well. It's; so peaceful here. I really expected a house with this many people in it to be more chaotic. I mean, there's a fun energy here, and a lot of life, but it's; so soothing here. Thank you, David. For accepting me, for just; being here to match with." "I'm enjoying having you here. Beyond the obvious, I mean." Nessa snickered at that. "You've slipped rather smoothly into the family and already I couldn't imagine this place, or us, without you." "That's so sweet, thank you." "Maybe once the whole state's vaccinated, we'll get some normalcy and get out to do the usual family things together." "When we get some normalcy again, you ought to marry Lupie." "I should marry all of you." "No. No, I don't feel that way. Lupie does. Olivia does. And maybe Janice. Shawna too, she has it bad for you. Becca is still young and sorting it all out. Same goes for Reena and Mel. I don't share that depth of bond. I wouldn't want to cheapen what they have with you by sharing a marriage ceremony when I don't have that connection. I damn well better be one of the bridesmaids though" A wry smile crossed Vanessa's face. "I care for you. I love you. I love this family. I am not in love with you." "If it weren't for this damn serum, you would be free to find someone to have that bond with." Vanessa's eyes watered. "Don't ever say that again." There was steel in every syllable. "I may not be in love with you, but this is one of the best relationships I've ever had. I have more joy; not mere happiness; joy in my life now than I have had in a very long time. If the serum caused this, then Thank God and bring it on. I wouldn't change what I have right now for anything. I know you care for me. I can feel it. I feel it from each of the others. What we have is special and I don't ever want to let it go." Dave stood and walked towards Vanessa. From one eye, a tear rolled down her cheek. "I haven't felt this safe and accepted since I was a little girl that didn't know what emotional pain was." She closed her eyes, surrendering, hopeful, to what he might do next. Dave bent down, bringing his face to hers. He kissed each eye gently. He kissed each tear streak. He kissed her gently on the nose, eliciting a small giggle. He kissed her lips, softly at first, growing firmer as she responded. She broke the kiss and opened her eyes in time to see his eyes opening. She could see the tears watering them. "You're going to make me fall in love with you aren't you?" "No. I'm going to give you every reason to, and let you decide." Dave reached underneath Vanessa and lifted her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him as he carried her. Olivia noticed them coming out of the library. With a small grin she began singing in a soft voice "Who; knows what to-morrow brings; in a world; few hearts survive ;” Dave tried scowling at her, but he couldn't get the grin off his face. As they neared the base of the stairs, Vanessa ceased her slow circuit of kissing Dave's cheek, neck and lips. "I think you better let me walk from here stud." Dave chuckled and lowered her feet to the floor. They rose up the stairs, side-by-side joined at the hips, shoulders, and lips. From below, they heard Olivia mutter "God that's hot." Reena Umm-hmmed her agreement. "My nipples are freaking diamonds right now." Entering the bedroom, Dave and Vanessa began removing each other's clothes, quickly, but without frenzy. They stood naked, at the end of the bed, kissing, holding and softly groping each other. Dave pressed in close and gripped Vanessa under the curve of her ass. He lifted her and tossed her into the middle of the bed. She squealed happily as she flew. Dave slowly crawled up the bed, kissing Vanessa as he went. He started by kissing the big toe of her left foot and proceeded down the top of her foot to her ankle. Then he switched to her right foot. When he reached her ankle, he continued laying soft, gentle kisses up her shin. Then again up her left shin. He avoided the backs of her calves, her kneecap and the inside of her knee. These spots were very ticklish for Vanessa. Becca loved the loss of control when Dave tickled her. Becca and Janice loved the counter play of tickling and sexual stimulation. Vanessa would mule-kick him through a wall if he tickled her. And be out of the mood. And be pissed for a few days. So no tickle-y He kissed his way up the tops and outsides of each leg. He kissed a wandering path around her abdomen, taking time at her belly button like a caravan merchant at an oasis. Vanessa moaned. Her belly button was one of her favorite places for Dave to play with. Dave began working his way upward again, kissing in a straight line that ran up from her navel between her tits. He looked up as he rose, seeing her eyes locked on him, hungry and happy. Pure joy radiated from her face. He reached the hollow of her neck and alternated kissing with light nibbling. Vanessa moaned again and shifted beneath him. This was another of her favorite spots. He kissed up to her jaw, across her jawline, to her lips. "Umm" Vanessa hummed as Dave settled in, his body pressing firmly against hers. He rested his weight on his elbows and knees (outside of hers) and took her hands in his, out to the sides of her head, their fingers interlaced. It was more sensual than sexual. After several minutes, Dave slipped his hands loose and moved lower for the next step. He broke the kiss. Vanessa whimpered and opened her eyes. She bit back a complaint about the end of the kiss, because she knew what was coming would be better. Dave kissed her chin, then her shoulder. He stroked the outside of each tit with his fingertips. He kissed from her shoulder down to the top of her tit. He kissed around her tit, never touching the areola. Then he placed tiny, soft kisses just at the border of her areola without brushing her nipple. Vanessa whimpered. His hand played with her other tit, likewise avoiding the areola. Vanessa squeaked as he took her nipple and areola in his mouth and suckled, flicking his tongue against her nipple. "Yes; ;” she clutched the sheets and writhed beneath him. It was delicious torture. He had her worked up and ready, but kept the foreplay going rather than enter her. One finger of his hand lightly brushed across her other nipple. Back and forth. Back and forth. Light pinch. "Oh, David, please baby." Dave chuckled. He met her eyes as he descended down her body again, taking less time than when he rose. He kissed her hip, then across her pelvis and down. He kissed her mound of Venus and descended with his mouth hovering over her labia, but not touching. He let his breath brush over her entrance. Then he pulled back further and kissed her inner thigh. He heard a strangled whine from above. He nibbled. He switched thighs. More shifting and squirming. Dave latched his mouth onto Vanessa's labia and suckled like a newborn. "Yes!" Her body lifted off the bed for several seconds. He flicked his tongue against her entrance before easing it inside of her. She let out a contented moan. He slid his hands along her sides and thighs. Dave lifted his eyes to look at Vanessa. Her eyes were closed in bliss. He moved marginally forward and took her clitoris into his mouth, massaging it with his lips and tongue. "Oh God!" her eyes flew open. Hands gripped sheets and pulled hard. Her feet lifted. Dave backed off, giving her a moment. He started crawling up the bed, over top of her. Vanessa pouted and locked eyes with him. Desire and need echoed back and forth between their eyes. Dave inserted himself into her wet, relaxed passage and slid forward purposefully. Vanessa issued a sound that was both a sigh and a moan signaling her satisfaction. Once again, Dave interlaced his fingers with hers. With his hands on top of hers, and all four hands beside Nessa's ears, Dave began to rock his body overtop of her. He held himself just low enough that his chest and ribs softly grazed over her erect nipples. With slow, gentle strokes, he raised the two of them towards ecstasy. Kissing softly, they communicated without words, just sighs, moans, and hums. Time stopped and the world fell away. Just two lovers wrapped in gauzy layers of lovemaking. Nessa's body trembled with anticipation for what felt like an eternity as Dave caressed and stimulated her, hitting all her pleasure spots just so, raising her gently to one delicious climax. He buried himself to the root within her as the dam burst forth. Her erotic writhing alternatively pushed him away and strove to swallow him within her. The oscillations of her wet passage seized his organ and sent him cascading over the cliff with her. Struck by the serum induced orgasm, Nessa clutched him tightly and howled her pleasure. When Nessa's grasp loosened, Dave slipped to lie beside her, holding her close. Drifting back into the conscious world, Nessa snuggled in close, draping an arm over him. "Hmm, so that's what the girls have been calling 'the full Dave', huh? I like it." Shawna's rotating early shift was today, allowing all of us to sit down as a family and finish discussing housing preferences. Mel came in from the kitchen once Shawna arrived. "We didn't quite get there last time, but with 12 or more people, we need a bigger kitchen." Lupie said emphatically. "Preferably with a double oven and a cooktop with five burners and a grill. Four burners and no grill is still okay. And gas, not electric." "Anything else for the kitchen?" "Well, an island, preferably with power to it, but with a cutting board top, and large enough for rolling out dough." Lupie paused, looking pensive. "Did I go too far?" "Not at all, that sounds great. Especially if I actually get to use it." Dave grinned back. Lupie smirked and rolled her eyes. "Oh, and one other condition; a nice big batch of tamales after we move in." Lupie's eyes danced. "Absolutely." "I was thinking," Reena said, "how about a backyard deck?" Dave interjected "Not really necessary. It would be good to have, but I can build a reliable deck. Especially with Livy involved. You can help too if you want." "If you can do renno, I may have work for you." Vanessa smirked. Dave laughed. "I still have a day job. Our house sure, but I'm not looking to make it a job. Oh, and what ever we get needs plenty of electrical outlets. If it's really necessary, I could run a few new breakers and circuits, but seriously, I'd rather stay away from that." Shawna looked alarmed. "Baby, I believe you when you say you've got skills, but I don't want you around one-ten, or worse, two-twenty." Dave returned with a scowling laugh, "That's why you turn it off at the box, dear." "Just be careful honey." "Yes, Peaches." That earned a laugh all around, as Shawna blew a kiss at him. Nessa looked at her. "Are you from Georgia?" "No, but my parents met there in college. Mom's from Georgia, Dad was just there for school. They raised me and my brother in St. Louis." "And you went there for your degree?" "Oh no. I knew I wanted to be a meteorologist since I was a young teen. I went to O U. With the National Weather Service center right there, I got experiences I could never have gotten elsewhere. Spent a good chunk of my upper-class and grad years chasing storms." "Sounds like a lot of fun." "Oh yeah." Nessa grinned with Shawna, then turned to Dave. "I have been asked to press the idea of the towers one more time. Not so much our immediate supervisor here, but the folks back in DC. Their argument is that it's more efficient." "Unbelievable." Dave managed to avoid grumbling. "You do realize that the same people that want to shove us into a shoebox are the same little hypocrites that scream their heads off when a CEO lays off workers to make his company more efficient. Both of them are promoting the math of what they want, ignoring what they don't, and neither actually gives a shit about the people they are using like pawns." Shawna, seated beside him, stroked his arm, a slight grin on her face. "Yeah, okay, I'll climb down off my soap box. But no, I do not want to live in an apartment tower. A neighborhood, sure. A diverse neighborhood sounds great. I'm not a fan of monochrome anyway." "Clearly," Nessa said. "Just looking around the room proves that." "I'm sorry, but the whole 'I know better than you' crowd pisses me off, whether it's the church variety, the lefty variety, or the old money variety." "Okay, okay," Nessa replied light heartedly. "I had to bring it up again. I've done so, and you've been quite clear. I'll get on the search tomorrow. It may take a bit, but I'm sure we can find something that meets our requirements." The conversation turned to other subjects, and the family splintered into little knots of discussions. Mel slipped back out to check on the meal she was making. Dave didn't know what it was, but it smelled really good. Well, he knew it was something with chicken. He decided to join Mel in the kitchen. "Hey, Mel, how's it goin'?" "Almost done." Mel turned her face to his and received the offered kiss. "Smells really good. Chicken soup?" "Chicken and dumplings. From scratch. I boiled the chicken earlier this afternoon. It's about time for me to mix the dumplings. After that, it'll be ready to eat in twenty minutes." Dave wrapped his arms around her, holding her close from behind as she watched the pot. "Perfect choice for a dreary day like today. And, I haven't had chicken and dumplings in a long time." "Well, I hope you like mine." "Oh, Mel," Dave said as he nuzzled his head against hers, "you know I like your dumplings." He traced the middle finger of each hand up her sides, pulling away before reaching her tits. She cackled, turning to face him. With a light smack on his shoulder she said, "You're an old lech," she stepped in for a kiss. "But you're my old lech." She waggled her eyebrows. Dave chuckled, resting his forehead against hers. Then the doorbell rang. "Go, I need to get on the dumplings anyway." Mel swatted him on the ass as he walked away. Jan was already at the door when Dave arrived. The soldier was just handing over the clipboard. Beside her stood a young black woman with her hair in several tight braids. She stood about 5'6", with eyes that appeared to prefer laughing, but bore the potential to penetrate obfuscation, a cute button nose and a bright red lipstick on her perfectly sized mouth. Large golden hoop earrings in her ears and tight black jeans on her legs were the only attire visible other than her thick coat. Given the near-freezing temperatures and drizzle that had gone on all day long, Dave could hardly blame her. The black handle and ribbing stood out starkly from the vivid, deep pink of her umbrella canopy. It looked thoroughly functional, and infinitely girlie; maybe a bit more Wednesday Addams than cheerleader, but that didn't bother Dave in the slightest. Jan handed the clipboard back to the soldier, who departed immediately. "Hello, my name is Janice, though I prefer Jan." She held out her hand, which was taken without trepidation. "And this is Dave." He likewise reached out and shook the lady's hand. "Come on inside. We were just about to sit down for dinner." "About twenty minutes," Dave supplied. "Mel; Melanie; is making chicken and dumplings." "Oh, that sounds really good. Especially with this weather." She pulled her roller case through the foyer and parked it just inside the living room. The ladies approached her, no more than three at once, and the early few drew her towards the center of the room as they greeted her and introduced themselves. Mel, having not taken a seat yet, exited to the kitchen again, reappearing barely a minute later. "It'll be about ten more minutes," she replied to the expectant faces that turned her way. Becca and Olivia immediately stood, heading to the kitchen. Apparently, it was their turn to set the table. The light conversations and sharing continued through the meal, interrupted only by nearly everyone asking for a second bowl (Dave had four, but made sure everyone else was done eating before the last two.) Of course, each family member took multiple opportunities to praise Mel for the quality of the meal, and the excellent choice for the dreary conditions. Dave listened in on the conversations around him, paying special attention to the ones involving the new arrival, Niki. Between his own conversations with her, he learned her full name was Nicole Lassiter, and she worked as the network administrator and network security administrator for a bank headquartered in Dallas. With all the losses, she was now over all computer issues that were not customer facing. Her little brother was still in college, hunkering down in the UGA dorms. Niki, her mom, and her dad each called him at least once a week both for their own peace of mind and to keep his spirits up. Niki's parents were recently vaccinated. Her mother had styled her hair before 'her baby girl' left for the Vax Center. The tight braids she wore were called a Senegalese twist. Since her mother was a hairdresser (not that she was seeing customers at the moment) she had extensions on hand to do her daughter up right. Niki's dad had just retired from road construction work, looking to open up a barbecue restaurant; right before the lockdowns hit. Dave also noticed a slight unsteadiness on occasion when Niki walked. It made him concerned for her well-being, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up without being rude. As the evening wore on, he noticed Niki making furtive glances his way. The next time she did, he made eye contact, lifting one eyebrow. She bit her lip and nodded. Dave rose from his seat and strode to her side. A few eyes followed them as he took her hand and led her upstairs. Dave guided her to the master bedroom. Niki quickly took a seat on the bed. "You know, I didn't ask you earlier: do you want to do this here, or in a separate room? Here, you're going to wind up with several other women in the bed as well. We still have a room you could wake up in with some privacy. Shawna and I use it sometimes to spend time together when she gets home from work, and she stores clothes in there so she can dress and not disturb anyone when she has an early morning shift, but nobody uses the bed in there." "No, here's fine, thank you." Looked pensive for a moment. And a little pained. "Are you okay? If you don't want to do this; " "No, no I'm fine, really. Well, I'm not fine, but you aren't the problem, not by a long shot. I pushed myself too hard this evening. I should have spent less time standing." Dave waited while she ordered her thoughts. "I haven't been completely honest with you, Dave. I only recently got to a point where I can walk without a cane. Over a year ago, I was t-boned by a drunk driver. Shattered my legs. It'd be a good bet that half the metal in this room, is in my bones right now." She let out an annoyed snort. "I used to run track. Even got a partial scholarship that helped me get my degree. I spent months in a wheelchair, and then a walker. After that, I moved up to those forearm crutches. During lockdown, I couldn't go to the doctor, so when I felt annoyed enough with the crutches I shifted to a simple cane. And now I've been walking without any aid for over a month, but it hurts like hell; and it's tiring." "You are one tough cookie." Dave said from the spot he'd taken beside her as she spoke. "I don't feel so tough. I feel beat up and worn out." Dave hugged her. "You want me to tuck you in and let you rest? We could do the imprinting tomorrow." "No, no I want to do this with you Dave. I just may need you to go easy. And probably help me undress." "Just to be clear, you're asking me to strip your clothes off, handle your body gently, and blow a load inside you?" Dave said with a hint of sarcasm. Niki giggled. "You seem man enough to handle the job." Dave answered her with a kiss, full on the lips, pressing firmly but with moderation. His hands drifted behind her shoulder blades. Niki responded, humming into the kiss and parting her lips. When Dave's tongue probed undemandingly, hers welcomed the visitor. Dave's hands roamed slowly, taking the first steps in learning the body of his newest lover. He enjoyed the feel of her in his hands. There was a looseness, as would be expected for an athlete that had been benched. Beneath that slight layer, there was a firm core. She was; exciting. And excited. Whatever she wanted in a man, she seemed to think Dave had it. Well, that and the serum had her amped up. Dave was finally getting past feeling guilty about that. Mostly. Dave started consciously directing his hands, seeking the buttons or clasps or zipper to loosen the neck of the tight black top she was wearing. Solid black panels with a black lace overlay stitched in at regular intervals. Finding the short zipper took no time at all. He next dropped his hands, seeking the hem of her shirt under her jeans waist. There was no hem. As his hands quested, he found bare hip, with cloth from the top still diving down her front and back. Just like a swimsuit. Then it struck him. He came up for air and play scowled at her. "You could have just said it was a bodysuit." She snickered. "Aw, where's the fun in that?" Dave kissed her. Then he gently shoved her backwards onto the bed. Her torso lay flat on the bed, her legs dangling off. Dave stood and faced her. Reaching down, he unbuttoned her jeans and lowered her zipper. Niki's eyes twinkled as Dave took hold of the cuff of her jeans and pulled them off. He missed the worried look in her eyes as the scars on her legs were exposed. That's because his eyes were locked on her trim brown legs. They stayed fixated on those lovely legs as he kneeled between them and began kissing her legs, first one then the other. All over her thighs, then, gently lifting, careful not to lift too high, he kissed her calves and shins. He lavished every inch of her legs with his lips and tongue. Niki moaned. Then she sniffled. Alerted, Dave brought his head up, locking his eyes on hers. Tears watered the bottom of her almond shaped sockets. "You make me feel beautiful again." "You always were." He kept his eyes on her as he kissed the inside of her knee. The kiss extended into suckling. He gave the spot a little nip, then moved his position by a few inches and giving the same attention, adding in a few strokes of his tongue tip. Niki's chest heaved. Dave could hear sobs amongst the moans as he switched to her other knee. He would have been alarmed except for the clearly cathartic tone. "Umm, David, please, I need you up here." With a grin, Dave worked his way, unhurried but not dawdling, up her leg, kissing and huffing hot breath on her exposed skin as he went. Reaching her fragrant core, Dave brought his fingers softly to the three little snaps holding the gusset of her bodysuit together. A gentle flick separated the two soaked flaps of cloth and revealed that Niki wore nothing underneath. The engorged, richly black outer labia of her nethers drenched in her arousal. Her inner labia petaled outward, yielding a peek at the pink interior. Dave blew one long, slow hot breath over her bare, quivering sex before latching his mouth on her. He suckled her lower lips as her back arched. Niki keened her pleasure while her arms beat a tattoo on the bed. "David, now, please, now." Dave shucked his shoes and quickly slipped his cargo shorts and boxers to the floor. In a flash, Dave was over top of her, dragging her up the bed like a leopard securing his prey in a tree. Niki's breath caught as he took charge of her body. The fire in her eyes was unmistakable. He kissed her deeply, then pulled away. With his eyes locked on hers, he moved himself to her entrance and pressed his cockhead just barely inside. The fluids leaked all over his throbbing cock touched her most sensitive places and set off a riot only attributable to the serum. Dave anchored her motions with his knees, pressed against her rear, but not enough to force her legs too far apart. "Fuck that was good." She paused for a deep breath. "Hmm, I'm all yours now Dave. Send me off to neverland, lover." Dave worked within her, slowly and gently at first, picking up pace slightly and a little more force when she signaled it was needed and acceptable. Her hums and moans continuously reminding him his actions were still mutually desired. His peak arrived and he shot hot ropes of cum with his cock buried deep in her, his cockhead brushing her cervix. Immediately, she shuddered, racked with the serum induced pleasure that forever locked her life with his. Dave held her in her throes until she went limp muttering "Imprinting; imprinting; imprinting ;” He rose, going to the bathroom to clean himself before returning with a wet washcloth and a hand towel to clean Niki. Once she was cleaned and dry, he snapped her body suit closed again and arranged her comfortably on the bed, beneath the covers. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before heading downstairs to spend social time with the rest of his family. As he descended the staircase into the mild buzz of the other eight women happily sharing his life, his home, and his bed, Dave marveled at how amazing his life was. Chapter 10; Storm Winds. October 28, 2020 4:18am David's hand was halfway to the palmprint secured gun safe on the back side of his headboard before he realized he was even awake. With the vertical placement, and the; activity frequently occurring in the bed, he'd installed two Velcro loops to hold the pistol and magazine inside. He released the pistol and placed it on his chest before reaching back for the clip. Fortunately, only two hands and a part of one leg were draped over him at the moment. The four younger girls were in their rooms, leaving Lupie, Jan, Shawna, Vanessa, and his newest partner Nicole to share his bed. Nicole was one of the hands, and the partial leg. By consensus, the ladies decided she should get to curl up next to Dave for her imprinting sleep. Gingerly, Dave slipped free of his partners' limbs and slid down the bed onto the floor. Only then did he insert the magazine and work the slide. Flipping the safety on, he padded softly but quickly to the closet to grab a pair of shorts. He decided not to wear slippers this time. He might need the extra footing. Keeping close to the wall, he approached the bedroom door. With the door still shut, he took the safety off, but kept his finger out of the trigger well for the moment. Slowly, Dave eased the door open. Slipping through, he noticed a shape in the hallway, against the wall, at the top of the stairs. Too dark to identify an individual, the figure made the 'Join Me' signal his friend Carter had taught him long ago. He did not raise his weapon. Sliding along the wall silently, just the way he'd practiced at least once every year, Dave approached. Proximity gave the reassurance the lighting denied at a distance. Liv crouched in the hallway, pistol in hand, wearing only a light nightgown that reached most of the way to her knees. With a quick series of hand signals, Dave told Liv to follow at a distance as he prepared to descend the stairs as quietly as possible. Liv signaled back that she should lead, but apparently had no signal for why. Dave negated the suggestion, and started down the stairs. He reached the lower landing with no incident. His nerves had been raw as he got halfway down and the solid wall gave way to railing. Now he crouched on one knee, Liv a few steps up from the landing, but with good vision on the living room area, both of them listening. The nighttime chirping of mockingbirds was absent. No flutter of wings or rustle of raccoons, possums, or skunks. Out here on the wild edge of the metroplex, there was always something moving at night. Dave signaled for Liv to post up on the landing and then moved along the wall of the stairs, in front of the media center to the corner of the living room where the downstairs hallway started. He was now directly below the spot Liv had occupied when he first emerged from the bedroom. And just two steps from his secured gun closet recessed under the stairs and hidden behind a normal looking panel. Dave had only one twelve round magazine. Liv had purchased a larger safe and had a spare ten round magazine in addition to the one in her weapon. It was a bit awkward carrying it since she had no pockets, but Carter had taught a variety of firing stances, one of which allowed carrying something in the non-dominant hand. By the absence of natural sounds, somebody was outside. He did not know how many, or how they were armed, but he was sure they weren't here in the oh-my-god-it's-early hours for a friendly visit. He slid the cover for the pin pad open so he could punch in the unlock code. Dave heard a crashing thump at the door followed by cursing. The security door worked just fine. He didn't get a chance to smile though. The glass door at the back of the living room shattered from several rounds. Dave squared his body with the opening just as two men stepped through. The first man fell as Dave brought his weapon up. The second went down just as his head turned to his right to see Liv's position flanking their breach. Dave heard a tinkling sound from the entry. Someone was breaking the window in the front parlor. Now he was worried. The thick pillar at the free corner of the landing would give Liv scant protection against a firearm. Dave stayed low, stepping away from his corner. It gave him protection against someone firing from the sliding door breach, but he had no angle to fire into the entryway. With the furniture screening him from the glass door breach, he approached the arch between the entry and living room. Loud whispers drifted in from his right. The remaining attackers on the deck seemed to be hesitant about testing themselves against the defenses. He was straining to pick out words when a head began to resolve itself in the entry. Dave fired two rounds. The body fell. He held his position, weapon ready. Out back he heard an angry growl, "Hey, one of those women is my sister!" The reply was too low to understand the words, but the snideness came through clearly. As did the answering gunshot. What the hell is going on? They're shooting each other now? Hey, they don't need to be on my property for that! The fallen body in front of Dave slid backwards. Hands appeared from the foyer and the broken glass door, but they were empty. The hands gripped a pair of ankles of one downed man each and yanked them back to where the hands came from. This repeated for the second body near the glass door. Wet sickening sounds ensued, backed up by an occasional retching noise. Murmurs were heard. Someone said something about a marker and a bag. "David?!" Shawna's voice called from up the stairs. That wasn't the only sound from upstairs. Roscoe was barking his head off. Furtive whispers indicated some of his family were at the top of the stairs with Shawna. "Keep everyone up there. Open up the armory in the main closet and distribute weapons to the adults. Everything Lt. Malcolm Reed gave us is in there. Arm up and take defensive positions upstairs." That was a bluff. Hopefully enough of one to drive the attackers away. Dave was sure Shawna would recognize the name of the armory officer from Enterprise and catch on. The sounds from the foyer and back deck took on a hurried pace before Dave heard footsteps rushing away. Dave and Olivia exchanged glances, and then immediately darted their eyes back to the penetration points. This happened a few more times over the next several minutes. "Looks like we're clear." "Yeah, just stay on your toes." "I know. I grew up under the same guy that trained you, remember?" "Vividly." Cautious footsteps descended the stairs. "David, Olivia, it's Shawna. I'm coming down." Slowly, Shawna came into view, feet first on the exposed portion of the staircase. Her pink satin nightgown falling just past her knees gave her some coverage, but made Dave aware of the cold, damp air pouring in from both breaches. "Are you two okay? Is it safe?" "For now. We've got two big holes in the house, so maybe keep everybody up there where it's warm unless they're needed down here." Dave paused for a second. "Ask Nessa and Mel to look out the upstairs windows. See if they can spot these guys leaving, or lying in wait." Shawna disappeared upstairs, then came back down after a brief verbal exchange. Shawna came down to the lower landing and spoke briefly with Livy, giving her a hug. Then she came to Dave. She hugged him fiercely. Her voice shook as she said thickly, "For a little bit there, I thought I was going to lose you." "We held." Dave managed to keep most of the nervous tension and post-adrenaline shake out of his voice. By the look in her eye, Shawna wasn't fooled a bit. Dave led her to the beginning of the hallway, the cubby under the stairs. He whispered the passcode in her ear so she could unlock it. That had been the galling thing during the attack. His full stash of weapons had been right beside his shoulder, but he couldn't spare the attention to unlock it. Clearly, he needed to rethink his arrangements. Shawna handed out a thigh holster for him, which he only saw peripherally as he kept watch. The weight told him immediately she'd placed two pre-filled magazines in there for him. He pulled one out for a quick check. No use him having Livy's mags. "I go to the pistol range about every other month. Nothing fancy, but I'm a decent shot and I know the difference between ten mil and nine mil. What? It's a very satisfying skill to have, and a great way to blow off some stress." Dave chuckled and turned his head, with a quick lean to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. Then he stepped back out to his post. He felt Shawna walking out, so he moved to the other side of the hallway so she could make her way to Livy with the other thigh holster without crossing Dave's line of sight. She paused at his shoulder. "Dave, do you want the other weapons in there?" Dave thought for a minute. He knew which ones Shawna had to mean. He sighed, "Yeah. A tac vest and one of the MP5's. Tac vests should already have six loaded magazines in the pockets. Get two and give the other vest and weapon to Liv. Then find out if anyone upstairs has any weapons training. You said you shoot, how good are you?" Shawna handed out a vest first, which Dave quickly donned. "With silhouette targets, I can put four out of five rounds through the heart. Now, I haven't gotten to shoot since the lockdowns, but I was pretty regular before." She handed him one of the MP5's which Dave quickly slung over his head and shoulder, inserted a magazine he'd pulled from the vest and chambered a round, then safed the weapon. "Are those; ?" "Semiauto. Carter went to a lot of work to make sure we had everything we could legally have, but never anything illegal. They do have the integral noise suppressor. It was expensive as hell and took forever plus a mountain of paperwork, but it's all legal. At least in Texas." "God Bless Texas," she said with a gleam in her eye. Shawna gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before sauntering over to Livy, a thigh holster clutched in one hand, a tac vest in the other, and an MP5 slung over her neck. A second thigh holster, with a nine millimeter and magazines was strapped to her sleek, powerful thigh. Shawna handed off the gear to Olivia, then swiftly moved back to the concealed weapons closet. She was in there for quite a while before emerging. "There was only one more pre-loaded nine mil mag, so I had to load a few or just walk around with one. The second choice didn't sound viable." "Agreed." Dave grasped Shawna's bicep and pulled her in for a quick kiss on the cheek. She beamed at him after returning the kiss, then headed upstairs. Dave heard Liv saying something to Shawna as she passed by. An eternity and a short time later, two sets of footsteps descended the staircase. Melanie followed behind Shawna. "Carter and Liv both took me to the range several times. I even went to a tactical course once my aim was; acceptable. But only with pistol. I've never shot anything else." "Good enough. There's another thigh holster and pistol inside. What did Carter train you on? "Nine millimeter. He said it was so common it made a good starting point. Once with Liv, we rented shotguns at an outdoor range and I was decent with it." "Pistol will do fine. Shawna, help her get some magazines loaded. Has anyone called for police?" Mel swallowed nervously. "I didn't see anyone waiting in the back yard, but the deck;” "Yes?" "It's; disturbing. Dave, be careful." Dave nodded, as did Liv. Shawna spoke up as she followed Mel in. It was tight with two adults in there, but doable. At three it would have been cramped. "Lupie called. They didn't know how long before someone responds. They're stretched thin and the night shift is the least staffed." Wordlessly, she handed over a t-shirt she'd grabbed while she was upstairs. Dave slipped the tac vest off, donned the shirt, then the tac vest again. While he dressed, he spoke with his partners. "Fuck. Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You two take defensive positions on the stairs. One of you take the lower landing, one further up, just below the ceiling line. Then Liv and I will go out through the deck, and check the exterior all the way around." "I'll take the landing," Mel said. "I've had training with Carter, I should be the one exposed." "You sure?" Shawna prodded. "Yeah." "Okay, take your positions then." Dave kissed each one on the cheek before they walked away. When both had taken their places, Liv came over to him. Dave had one more instruction for Shawna. "Oh, and tell Lupie to call the police again, let them know we are clearing the grounds so they don't just shoot us on sight." Shawna nodded and crept upwards. Jan came down the stairs, bearing a pair of shoes for Dave and Liv, a pair of socks stuck into one shoe for each of them. After handing over the shoes, Jan headed back upstairs. They shod themselves quietly. "So, me on point?" Liv asked as she finished. "No, I'll take point, you cover me." "Dave, if anything happens to you, we're all in big trouble." "That's why you're watching my back. Otherwise, I'd go out there solo and leave you in charge here." "Like hell you would. I ain't some; " "I know you are capable, but I'm still going to shield you from as much risk as I can." Liv rolled her eyes. "Gee, I feel safe and offended all at once." Dave stared at her stony. "Are we done here? Ready to go?" "Shit, Dad really rubbed off on you. Yeah, let's do this." Olivia fell in behind Dave as he headed straight for the glass door breach. Both held their weapons ready, jutting forward with the strap taut around their necks and backs. Dave paused at the breach. "Off safe." "Roger." Dave examined the scene visible through the broken glass and the flapping curtain. Blood trails led out the breach from the various points where the bodies of the invaders had landed. He could see the legs of a few of them still on the deck. He turned his head to catch first Shawna's then Mel's eyes, nodded, and proceeded cautiously but swiftly out the breach. He swiveled right going out, knowing Liv would go left, just as her father had taught them for years. Each stopped at the furthest extension of the deck in their direction, scanning the deck and yard in a full semicircle, their backs to the house. There was no damage to the fence, and no apparent damage to the greenhouse or anything else in the backyard. The deck however; well, it wasn't damaged. The bodies on it were. Each had the pants and underwear pulled down and a huge bloody mess where the genitals once were. Blood continued to ooze out of the wounds, though clearly it had poured out initially. Dave signaled his intent to clear the greenhouse. Liv followed him. It didn't take long to clear. They emerged quickly, rescanning the backyard as they did. With Liv trailing, Dave exited the backyard through the side gate. The side yard showed no disturbance. In the front yard, they found the same gruesome sight as the back deck. Here though, they found an empty plastic baggie with blood spatter. And a few bloody fingerprints. The bag snagged under the heel of the corpse, ensuring the light wind was insufficient to blow it away. Dave and Liv finished the sweep, checking the other side yard, which showed no signs of disturbance. "I think we're safe, for now. These guys bugged out." "Yeah, but why did they cut their buddies' junk off?" Dave shivered, and not from the crummy weather. Well, maybe a little from the weather. He was barely dressed after all. "Let's get inside." Since the front door was still locked, they traipsed back through the side yard to the gate and came in through the broken glass door. "Coming in." Dave called before entering. "No sign of anyone out there." The relief on Mel and Shawna's faces was evident. Their shoulders relaxed slightly. "Can you two keep watch here? I'm gonna talk to the others, then we'll both get dressed, and then I'll call the police again." At the top of the stairs, four of Dave's partners wrapped him in hugs muttering their relief that he was still in one piece. He could see Lupie gazing at him, beseechingly as she held Esme close, soothing her. A loud bang against a door at the end of the hall reminded Dave of other necessities. "You better go let Roscoe out so he can see that we're all intact," Dave chuckled. As Olivia opened the door, Roscoe bolted from the room, turning only when she bellowed "Roscoe, Heel." That cut through his canine brain fog of 'defense mode'. He turned to her, sniffing as if checking on her condition. Liv knelt in front of him. She placed her hands on either side of his face and began stroking his neck and back while speaking softly, in calm tones. After a few whimpers, he started aggressively licking her face and putting his paws on her shoulders. Addressing his family, Dave said, "Liv and I need to get dressed. We need to call the police again, and we need to get those holes sealed." "Holes?" Jan asked. "Yeah, they busted in the sliding door and a window in the parlor. It's not quite as cold and miserable downstairs as it is outside, but it's close enough. For now, stay upstairs unless you have something you need to do down there. You can still run down to grab a book, or make meals or snacks. For tv, use the spare room that Shawna uses when she has morning shifts." "We could just use our laptops for streaming, Dave. We'll be fine." Reena added. She looked a bit bleary. To be fair, everyone seemed caught in some whipsaw state of alert and drowsy. Not surprising, given what they'd just been through. Dave patted her on the shoulder and kissed the crown of her head in appreciation. Releasing Reena, Dave knelt in front of Esme, who was showing clear signs of worry and strain. He enveloped her in his arms and held her close. "It's okay now, baby girl. We're all okay now." He held her, stroking her hair and back soothingly. After several minutes had passed, he loosened his grip and began to stand. Esme's arms immediately came up, wrapping Dave in a vise-grip hug. She didn't say anything, she didn't cry or whimper. She just clutched him tightly. Dave eyed Lupie, but she just looked back at him imploringly. He reached a hand out to her and she grabbed on immediately. He looked around at the others and saw the need for reassurance was still there. Olivia had already slipped into her room with Roscoe to get dressed. Becca, Reena, Jan, Nessa and Lupie all rushed to surround him the moment he waved his hand to 'bring it in'. Esme was wedged between Dave and Lupie. She finally relaxed her grip on Dave, and switched over to her mother. With a silent chuckle, Dave kissed Lupie on the cheek and slipped off to the master bedroom. Jan followed after him. "I thought I'd call the police and put it on speaker so you could talk to them while getting dressed." Dave nodded, then wrapped her in a hug and gave her a closed mouth kiss that was no less affectionate for its chasteness. Reluctantly, he released her and headed into the closet to collect some clothes. Jan dialed 911 as soon as Dave emerged. Police staffing was so low, all calls went through the emergency center. Long held habits are hard to break, though. Especially when those habits are codified in a manual. That's what they call 'procedure'. "911, what's your emergency?" "We called earlier about a break in. The people trying to break in have left, except the ones we shot," Dave called out in clear, even tones for the speaker. "Is anyone injured?" The operator droned, as if she been on duty too long, too many days in a row. "No, ma'am," Dave said. "No one in my family was hit, and the ones we shot are dead." "Are you sure they're dead?" "Yes ma'am. The guy that taught me how to shoot didn't teach me to miss. Besides, before they left, the invaders; mutilated the bodies. If they hadn't died from the gunshots, they'd have died from the blood loss." Dave was watching Jan's face when he mentioned the mutilation. Not the best choice, since he nearly fell over pulling on his cargo pants. It did allow him to see the flinch that briefly flitted across her face before she reasserted control. "Did you say mutilated, sir?" The tones were even, obviously someone that had worked 911 for years. Still, there were notes of 'oh shit' blended with 'what fucking else?' "I did." "Would you please specify the nature of the mutilation?" "The genitals of the deceased were removed." A short silence reigned on the line. "Could you repeat that sir?" The operator's voice sounded slightly more alert. Dave pulled his pre-tied sneakers on as he said, "the scrotum was removed from each of the corpses." This conversation was now added to the thick stack of reasons to be very glad of the distance between the master bedroom and Esme's bedroom. Lupie and the others had taken her there when Dave walked away. Between the walk-in closet and Dave's office, there was little chance sounds from the bedroom penetrated that far. "Are you certain the perpetrators have left?" "Yes ma'am, one of my partners and I swept the area; our yard anyway; and found no one remaining. All we found were the bodies that the survivors had drug back out of the house and carved up." "So the shooting happened inside the house?" "Correct." "I'm noting all this in the file sir. I'm appending this report to the prior calls your partner made requesting assistance. Since you are no longer in immediate danger, I am diverting the patrol response. They will get to you to you after attending to higher level calls." Even as she spoke, the woman's voice grew more exhausted, like a Walmart employee on Black Friday at about 3pm. "It's been almost an hour since the initial break in. Why has it taken so long?" "Sir, I'm not at liberty to discuss that, but I do apologize. I have no control over response times. I will dispatch a detective to investigate as well. Until then, please leave the scene undisturbed." "How long will that take? Can you give me an estimate?" "Probably a few hours, sir. There are very few detectives working night shift, so they'll likely hand this over to the dayshift investigators." "Hours? These guys busted in my sliding door and broke a large window in the parlor. It's making for quite a chilly cross breeze. And that's not even counting the blood stains and blood trails in my living room and entryway." Dave's voice had begun to rise. "Sorry, I'm trying to maintain a level tone here, but that's a bit difficult given what's happened and what you're telling me." The voice on the other end reached its most hollow state. "I'm sorry sir, I can't change those realities. Please understand that it will be three hours minimum before a detective would reach you. More likely it will be three hours before a detective is assigned to your case. Patrol won't take that long, but it won't be immediate." Dave took a deep, cleansing breath. It was only marginally useful, but it helped him keep his tone level. "And what is the longest likely time before a detective gets out here?" "Possibly six to eight hours sir." "That's; " Dave caught himself. And formed a plan immediately. "Fine. We'll be ready when the detective arrives." He hung up. Dave took a deep breath, staring intently at the far wall, fully aware of Jan quietly and patiently waiting off to his right. He rubbed his face, then snatched up his t-shirt and pulled it on. "Okay, let's meet with everyone else. I have a plan, and we can deal with this." Dave said as he stood. With a concerned look to Niki's slumbering form, he strapped the thigh holster in place and fastened the tac vest as he walked. The MP5 he slung over his neck and shoulder, then pulled around to his back. To be continued in part 9, Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts, for Literotica.

It's the end of another wild and weird year on The Activity Continues! In this season finale, Amy and Megan hunker down with cocoa, cozy blankets, and a healthy dose of sarcasm to look back on all things TAC 2025. We revisit our favorite moments, share clips from standout episodes, and shout out the listeners and Patreon crew who keep us (mostly) sane. Buckle up for haunted Minnesota, listener requests, out-of-context pig facts (yep, you read that right), gratitude for the lovely people we interviewed this year, and our ongoing quest for the perfect ghost story. There's talk of imaginary friends, spirit guides, investigating haunted hotels (with adult diapers and crystals, obviously), and a whole lot of gratitude for everyone who stuck around through the shenanigans. But don't get misty-eyed—this is just our season wrap, not a goodbye! We'll be back after a short break with even more ghostly antics, wild tangents, and haunted hijinks. So grab your spreadsheet, your “brave pants,” and maybe a crystal or two, and join us where… The Activity Continues. Content Warning:We didn't find anything we thought deserved a content warning, except that we use colorful language. The Activity Continues is a paranormal podcast where soul friends, Amy and Megan chat about ghost stories, haunts, dreams, and other supernatural and paranormal stuff including the TV show, The Dead Files. Our recaps are full of recurring jokes about recurring tropes. We also occasionally do interviews with people from the metaphysical world, as well as Dead Files clients. This episode was recorded on December 8, 2025, and released on December 23, 2025. Chapter Markers00:00:26 Welcome00:01:48 A Look Back 00:02:21 132: Brothels, Gambling, and Saloons, Oh My!00:06:02 Interviews00:13:01 Imaginary Friends and Spirit Guides00:14:35 144/145 Spirit Junkies00:18:25 Pig-Related ADHD Tangent00:20:34 Haunted Minnesota00:23:19 Listener Input00:26:38 AP's Departure00:27:56 Recapping Kindred Spirits00:29:11 The Dead Files Changes 00:31:14 Looking Forward00:34:45 We Beg Amy Allan to Join Us Episode links:Parafair: https://www.theandersonhousehotel.com/events/parafairSpreadsheet for Recommendations: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LPssO02Usn_C4AmuVkkzzFWVLGM1GvV3ZWCMRvcgLUM/edit?usp=sharing Visit us at: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/Leave us a voicemail at: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/  Disclaimer:Sometimes we get a little scientific. We enjoy trying to come up with possible explanations for some of the things that the clients experience. But this by no means indicates that we do not believe the clients or are invalidating their experiences. We do believe. This podcast is in no way affiliated with HBOMax, the Travel Channel, Painless TV, or the TV show The Dead Files or any of its cast or crew. We're just fans of the show talking about paranormal shows & movies and other spooky stuff. We want to build a community of like-minded people who would enjoy hanging out and discussing similar content. Credits:Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg and Megan SimmonsProduction, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC.Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by Melissa West Engage!Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (might be read on the show)Newsletter sign-up: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/newsletter          Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesWe're on (almost) all the socials too @theactivitycontinues SEND US YOUR PARANORMAL STORIES!Email: theactivitycontinues@gmail.com and maybe it will be read on the show!Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ to leave a message and maybe it will be played on the show! BE OUR GUEST!Are you a The Dead Files client, or a paranormal/spiritual professional, and are interested in being interviewed on our show? Let us know by filling out our guest form:https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/guests/intake/ Affiliates/SponsorsPlease see our Store page for all the links for all our affiliates. https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/store/ Thank you for listening, take care of yourselves. We'll see you in 2026!If you want to hear us early and ad-free EVERY week, become a Patron, join our Ghosty Fam and get bonus exclusive episodes! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-activity-continues/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're baaaack! Part 1 of a 3 part series where I took my LIKEITORNOT podcast inside the doors of local Tacoma dispensary Diamond Greens and sat down with the bud extraordinaire's from Kush Mountain- who held their first vendor day in the Tac town. Sit back and listen to some funny and wild ass stories that are told by the 3 man collective that is Kush Mountain. Tune in also as Mark, Andy and an unnamed associate talk about the importance of educating yourself about cannabis and cannabis products to simply expand your horizons and keep you safe while getting higher than the midnight sky. Also, find all KM products in Diamond Greens on 12th street in the same parking lot as that massage parlor and Flipping Out Burgers is at. It's a quick listen too and I promise you'll find these entertaining, LIKEITORNOT

Au programme de l'émission du 17 décembre : avec Chun-Liang Yeh et Loïc Jacob, éditeursCette émission, la dernière pour 2025, est entièrement tournée vers les livres.Pour commencer, on fait le point sur le rapport des États généraux sur la lecture des jeunes, présenté au début du mois, et sur la tribune collective publiée par Le Monde le 12 décembre, dans laquelle 40 associations et organismes culturels alertent sur la baisse drastique des crédits de l'État, dans le projet de loi de finances, au sein du programme Livre et industries culturelles, qui prévoit une réduction des enveloppes concernant le développement de la lecture et des collections de 12,9 millions d'euros en 2025 à 5,4 millions en 2026.LIVRES  - chronique de Véronique Soulé - c'est à 10 min

　TAC株式会社は12月4日、個人情報の漏えいについて発表した。

durée : 01:58:36 - Figures libres, un programme du tac au tac - par : Thierry Jousse, Laurent Valero - Cette semaine, dans Retour de plage, on vous propose un jeu, le tac au tac, qui peut se pratiquer à deux et même à plusieurs. Le principe en est simple : quelqu'un choisit un morceau, une chanson, et la personne suivante doit lui répondre avec un autre morceau en écho avec le précédent... - réalisé par : Doria Zénine Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

DTT Hot Takes Week 14 Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro(00:05:10) - Scott(00:07:40) - Vinzent(00:08:14) - TAC(00:09:50) - J-Sum(00:11:08) - MHK Jesus(00:13:44) - Ozzy(00:15:50) - Alison(00:16:38) - Handsome Guy(00:20:16) - Alison x2(00:23:10) - Outro

This week we're recapping The Dead Files episode “House of Mirrors,” but — in true TAC fashion — we veer wildly off the rails in the best possible ways. We also talked about Megan's full-blown Oregon Chai obsession, Amy's unexpected backyard cryptid sighting, whether possums are adorable or demonic, why yelling at ghosts never works, and the ongoing “tree burial vs. cremation vs. body farm” debate that absolutely will not die. We talk of the upcoming season finale, listener suggestions for new investigations, potential paranormal podcast crossovers, and haunted places within road-trip distance that the TAC crew could visit in 2026. Prepare for tricksters, history, side quests, and a whole lot of laughing at the absurdity of it all. So grab your Oregon chai (trust us), get cozy, and join us…where The Activity Continues. Content Warning: In this episode we mention suicide by hanging (or was it?) and some child death in history. Also, while Amy and Steve's swears are bleeped on TV, ours are not. Chapter Markers00:00:26 Intro00:01:30 Content Warning & Housekeeping00:06:43 Segment One – The Set Up00:28:03 Segment Two – The Investigation00:44:08 Discussion of Hanging00:45:56 Segment Three – The Reveal00:56:34 Research and Rabbit Holes01:01:48 Outro/Disclaimer Episode links:Oregon Chai Tea Concentrate: https://amzn.to/4p4k3g3The Dead Files Official Podcast: https://pod.link/1642377102Amazon links could generate a small commission to us at no cost to you. The Activity Continues is a paranormal podcast where soul friends Amy and Megan chat about true crime, ghost stories, hauntings, dreams, and other paranormal stuff including the TV show, The Dead Files. Our recaps are full of recurring jokes about recurring tropes.This episode was recorded on November 20, 2025 and released on December 11, 2025. Disclaimer:This podcast is in no way affiliated with Warner Brothers, HBOMax, the Travel Channel, Painless TV, or the TV show The Dead Files or any of its cast or crew. We're just fans who love the show and want to build a community of like-minded people who would enjoy hanging out and discussing the episodes and similar content. Credits:Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg and Megan SimmonsProduction, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC. https://www.collectedsounds.com/Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by CannelleBackground music: “Beyond the Stars” by Chris Collins Engage!Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (might be read on the show)Newsletter sign-up: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/newsletter          Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesWe're on (almost) all the socials too @theactivitycontinues BE OUR GUEST!Are you a The Dead Files client, or a paranormal/spiritual professional, and are interested in being interviewed on our show? Let us know by filling out our guest form:https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/guests/intake/ Affiliates/SponsorsPlease see our Store page for all the links for all our current affiliates. https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/store/ Thank you for listening, take care of yourselves. We'll see you next time!If you want to hear us early and ad-free EVERY week, become a Patron, join our Ghosty Fam and get bonus exclusive episodes! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-activity-continues/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this powerful episode of Gangland Wire, retired Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins sits down with Tegan Broadwater, a former Fort Worth Police officer, musician, and undercover operative whose story reads like a movie script. Broadwater takes listeners on a riveting journey from his early years as a professional musician to his dramatic turn infiltrating one of America's most dangerous street gangs—the Crips. Drawing from his book Life in the Fishbowl, he details how music, culture, and human connection became unexpected tools for survival and success inside the underworld. Listeners will hear: How Tegan Broadwater transitioned from touring musician to undercover police officer, bringing creativity and adaptability to the streets. The story of his two-year infiltration into the Crips—posing as a South Texas drug dealer with the help of a trusted informant. His insights into gang hierarchy, loyalty, and manipulation, and how understanding culture was key to earning trust. The moral challenges of living undercover—forming friendships with men he would eventually arrest. The emotional impact of a major gang raid that ended with over 50 arrests, and how it changed his outlook on justice and humanity. His decision to donate proceeds from his book to the children of incarcerated parents aims to break the cycle of violence. He continues to share lessons on leadership, empathy, and cultural understanding through his private security firm and new podcast projects.   Broadwater's story isn't just about crime and undercover operations—it's about identity, compassion, and the human cost of violence. This episode offers a rare look at what it means to live behind a mask while still holding onto one's purpose.

0:00 - Intro / Mark Shaw0:52 - Romans 15, v14 2:00 - Testimonies4:00 - Participating in Giving Tuesday8:00 - Come alongside the Church10:10 - Sober is good, but our message is TRANSFORMATION18:18 - Free gift19:38 - "Recovery"21:30 - TAC's Publications27:00 - Wrap-upMicah in Addiction CounselingCOUNSEL — https://theaddictionconnection.thinkific.com/Mark E. Shaw, D.Min. is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

Au programme de l'émission du 26 novembre : avec  Natali Fortier, autrice, illustratrice et plasticienne ; et avec Alain Serres, éditeur (rediffusion) ✅ En ouverture de l'émission, lecture du communiqué de l'association Paris librairies (qui rassemble 200 librairies de quartier indépendantes)n suite au Conseil de Paris de jeudi dernier, où les élus de l'opposition, parmi lesquels le groupe Changer Paris de la ministre de la Culture, Rachida Dati, se sont opposés à 500 000 euros de subventions destinées aux librairies indépendantes de la capitale, faisant de la sorte échouer l'adoption de cette délibération.JE VEUX UNE BD ET PAS N'IMPORTE LAQUELLE - chronique de Julia Segui - c'est vers 08 min

Guest: Diana Doty — co-host of Homespun HaintsShe's back—and so are the ghosts.This week, we welcome Diana Doty of Homespun Haints for her long-awaited return to TAC, and things get deliciously weird (again). From haunted mirrors that open into impossible green hallways to the eerie overlap between skepticism, storytelling, and sleep paralysis, we explore what happens when logic meets the paranormal—and what it means to keep laughing in the dark. In This Episode·        Revisiting Diana's famous basement haunting and what's changed since she sold the house.·        Her haunted bathroom mirror portal (yes, really) and why some objects refuse to behave.·        The push-pull between science and spirit—how a Vulcan mathematician dad and a fairy-healer mom made her the perfect paranormal hybrid.·        When storytelling becomes summoning—can talking about ghosts actually attract them?·        A deep dive into sleep paralysis, shadow figures, and the line between dream and visitation.If you like your ghost stories smart, your skeptics funny, and your haunted objects a little too familiar, this one's for you. It's an episode about curiosity, fear, and the fine art of not taking eternity too seriously. So grab your favorite athletic cup and join us, where The Activity Continues. Content Warning: We didn't find anything we thought deserved a content warning, except that we use colorful language. This episode was recorded on November 5, 2025 and released on November 27, 2025. Chapter Markers00:00:00 Intro00:01:02 Welcome Diana!00:05:48 Diana's First Ghost Experience00:28:15 Morgan's Questions00:35:25 Classroom Anxiety00:38:11 Becky's Violin Solo00:43:33 Growing up Non-Competitive00:51:57 Diana's Ridiculously Overpriced Antique00:58: 47 Are We Living in a Simulation? Episode links:Homespun Haints: https://homespunhaints.com/Patreon-only episode where the ladies recreate "Innocent or Innuendo?" Delta blues spicy slang quiz they did at the Fernbank. https://www.patreon.com/posts/hoodoo-and-spicy-91720554“I Never Knew What the Blues Were” (OK 8151, 72479-B, April 1924), Virginia Listan, lyric @ 2:50 "I'm gonna get my hambone boiled..." https://open.spotify.com/track/0Zqir4NFAnEAdH6yyY5X7b?Studies on movement before conscious thought:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34119525/ Dennis the Demon and the Meth Gators https://homespunhaints.com/possessed-by-a-demon Robert Johnson and Delta Blues https://homespunhaints.com/the-devils-instrument Have You Seen The Hat Man? https://homespunhaints.com/the-hat-man Our Top 5 Podcast Episodes About Sleep Paralysis With Demons https://homespunhaints.com/demonic-sleep-paralysis-demons The Dormitory Demon of Mumbai https://homespunhaints.com/sleep-paralysis-demonVisit us at: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/Leave us a voicemail at: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ Credits:Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg and Megan SimmonsGuest: Diana DotyProduction, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC.Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by Cannelle https://melissaoliveri.com Engage!Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (might be read on the show)Newsletter sign-up: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/newsletter          Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesWe're on (almost) all the socials too @theactivitycontinues SEND US YOUR PARANORMAL STORIES!Email: theactivitycontinues@gmail.com and maybe it will be read on the show!Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ to leave a message and maybe it will be played on the show! BE OUR GUEST!Are you a The Dead Files client, or a paranormal/spiritual professional, and are interested in being interviewed on our show? Let us know by filling out our guest form:https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/guests/intake/ Affiliates/SponsorsPlease see our Store page for all the links for all our affiliates. https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/store/ Thank you for listening, take care of yourselves. We'll see you next time!If you want to hear us early and ad-free EVERY week, become a Patron, join our Ghosty Fam and get bonus exclusive episodes! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-activity-continues/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Alzi la mano a chi non è mai capitato di ricevere il referto di una risonanza, una TAC o un'ecografia... e di non capire quasi nulla? Sigle, termini tecnici, diagnosi che sembrano scritte in un'altra lingua. E con loro, un senso di spaesamento. Oggi però qualcosa sta cambiando: grazie all'intelligenza artificiale, anche il linguaggio medico potrebbe diventare più chiaro, più vicino alle persone. Proprio per centrare questo obiettivo all'Università di Stanford un gruppo di radiologi ha sviluppato "RadGPT", un modello linguistico capace di tradurre i referti delle immagini diagnostiche in parole semplici, accessibili, perfino con esempi pratici. Ne parliamo con il prof. Luca Maria Sconfienza, Direttore dell'Unità Operativa di radiologia all' I.R.C.C.S Ospedale Galeazzi Sant'Ambrogio di Milano

Donations Resources (feminine hygiene products, and diapers, etc.)https://my.liberaforms.org/solidarity-kitchen-2Cash Pledges (100 percent goes to families)https://my.liberaforms.org/solidarity-kitchen-3Here is our plan: December 2, 2025 (Tuesday), 2:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., North Point ChurchServe up to 400 to go meals for students, parents and/or family members in our school district who have experienced the government shut down, food insecurity, or just plain tight times, with inflation and the job market.We will cook and pack to-go containers of meals, and be ready to send those off with students and/or families and/or caregivers. We will also have cash donations to put into envelopes, gift card donations to give away to those families that need additional support recovering from the shutdown or SNAP break. If folks would like to give to this, we are in process of setting up a secure format for it, in collaboration.TRANSCRIPTSDanielle (00:00):Cut it off. I just is so swamped with trying to respond to people's texts and calls. We have the whole system going, but I can explain more when we talk. It's justJenny (00:12):Okay. Oh my gosh. Yeah. We can do kind of a short one if that helps, or whatever feels supportive for you.I'm doing good. I'm thinking about the American Academy of Religions Conference this weekend. It kicks off tonight and I'll be presenting on my panel tomorrow, so I've been thinking about that.Yeah, I feel nervous, but I feel good. I feel really supported by the Purity Culture Research Collective and the colleagues and friends that I have there. So I mostly excited just to see folks coming in from all over, so I think it'll be a fun time.Danielle (01:02):Do you feel like you're going to be able to say what you want to say in the way you want to say it?Jenny (01:08):I think so. I keep reading over it again and again and tweaking it. It's hard to say what you want to say in five minutes, but,Oh goodness. I think there's eight of us. Eight or nine, I can't remember exactly. So we each get five minutes, but then it opens up into a q and a and sort of a discussion, so I'll have more time to expand on what I'm trying to say and it'll be fun to weave it together with other people.Danielle (01:42):It's interesting. I feel like we're all in these different places. We are physically sometimes, but even if we're in the same city and we're doing different things towards similar goals, that really strikes me. It's one reason I get excited about what you're doing.Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, I think I wrote in an email to friends to get it started. Basically what happened is we were at a band concert a month ago and it was the government shutdown, and my kids were talking about it and some of their classmates not having paychecks, their parents not having paychecks because we live in Kitsap County, and so there are two military, well, maybe there's three military bases in the area, so a lot of government funded work employees, the military obviously. And then also in our school district, I became aware that almost 30% of our students are either on SNAP or free and reduced lunch. So if you add that plus the level of the population of kids in our schools, either with parents in the military or in government position jobs, that's a lot of kids. And so I was like, oh, shit, what are we going to do? And I thought to myself, I was like, how can you not get on board with feeding kids? Really? They're innocent, they're young. I mean, we have plenty of riches in our county, in our country actually to do this should not be a thing. So that's kind of how it got started.Well, now it's called the Solidarity Kitchen. I'm like one member. There's many members of the Solidarity Kitchen, and we try to make decisions collaboratively. Some of us are better at some things like I'm not going to, I did take my food handlers permit test and passed it, by the way, today. Good job. I'm not going to be in charge. I'm not the expert at that. I like cooking for masses. So although I give input, there's other people that know more than me. There's also other people that know more about organizing volunteers or creating forms, and I dabbled a little bit in the art, but there's people that know more about how art should look and the words that need to go on art. I'm out here telling people, Hey, this is what we're about.(04:07):Would you like to join us? And trying to make space that's big enough for a lot of people to join in. It really felt like this collective consciousness movement. I go and I talk to someone, they're like, oh, we would love to do that. And it's like they've already thought of it. So it's not me trying to convince anybody to do anything or any of us, it's just like, oh, this is a need. This is something we can do. And we don't have to agree on a thousand things to get it done because I don't know. I know there are people in our government right now that are just wicked enough not to feed kids. We saw that as evidence, and I won't say any names. And also the new budget that's coming out in the big bill is going to cut snap benefits massively. So this is probably going to be an ongoing issue for kids, but it seems like a slam dunk to me. If you don't have food, if you don't have water, if you don't have shelter, if you don't have safety, how are you supposed to learn?Jenny (05:09):Yeah, right. I'm thinking about kids too and just how much their brains, their bodies are just burning through calories as they're growing, as they're learning, as they're developing. And of course every body needs food, but I think especially kids need a lot of food because their bodies are going through a lot of metabolism and a lot of change.Danielle (05:35):I think the collective messaging of the government saying basically, I've heard a lot of political pundits say, if you're on snap, if you're on free and reduced lunch, you're lazy. Your parents are lazy. Well, that's just not true. My kids have been on free and reduced lunch, and I remember the times when I was in grad school and we were living on one check, and I'm trying to go back to school to get paid, and you're literally short on money. Making lunches is expensive. And so to have that as an option increases capacity in other areas of your life. It's not that parents are lazy. It's not that parents aren't working jobs. So if that's the collective message, but what it does is it takes food out of the mouths of kids and kids, no matter what we say or think or believe, they are receiving that messaging that your parent might be lazy or your parent is leaching off the government or whatever these horrible tropes are that are spread by certain politicians. I won't say their names. I mean, do we think kids are really that dumb that they don't understand that, right? I mean, they get it. Yeah.Jenny (06:47):Right. When really the issue is hoarding, and I was thinking it's really actually pretty recent in human history that most people have even had to buy food. Food comes from the land, from the earth, from animals, from all of these things. And yet we have privatized and subsidized and commodified everything to make it so that you have to be able to have money to be able to afford food, which is just to me, I made this post recently where I just said, I cannot think of anything more opposite than Jesus' message of don't worry about what you'll eat, what you'll wear. Even the sparrows don't fret and the flowers bloom. And then this message from the government and from honestly, a lot of Christians is you should pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And Martin Luther King Jr. Said, if someone does not have boots, what a cruel thing to tell them. And if we live in a system that is intentionally hamstringing people's ability by not paying them what their labor is worth, by not providing childcare, by giving them crippling medical bills, of course something as simple as food should be becomes so complicated.Danielle (08:20):When I was in this theological and also, sorry, political discussion with family members, and I actually heard this verse preached in a sermon referenced Second Thessalonians three 10, which says, if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. And in the context I heard it in was interpreted to mean, if you're not working tough, go get a job. So that's kind of the context and some of the theological foundation of what I've heard for why let's not do Snap, let's not do free and reduced lunch, et cetera, et cetera. But I think a more holistic approach would be to focus on what was the historical impression of that time? What did community accountability mean? What did it mean to do resource sharing, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And I think what I would call today, or not me friends and more wise people than me, and I'm using the term of mutual aid, and I don't know if they use mutual aid back then, but that's kind of what I think they're talking about. I don't know that it means showing up at a job and doing nine to five work, is what they were saying in that verse. I think it's contributing to your community.(09:41):And a lot of people that don't make hundred, 200 million, like a million dollars a year, they're contributing to our society and they don't get paid what they need to eat. That is also a sin.Jenny (09:58):Yes. Yeah. Sorry. It sure seems to me that Jesus spent a lot of time walking around talking and not a lot of time working. From what I read, gospelDanielle (10:10):Bro, Jesus relied on mutual aid too. He went fishing, he showed up people's houses, they fed him. There was a lot of trading going on.Jenny (10:20):Absolutely. Absolutely. So if someone wants to get involved in what you're doing and provide what they have towards a mutual aid and in service of what you're already doing, is that possible? Should they just go start their own thing? Is there a way they can get involved with what you're doing? What would you tell someone who's listening and is like, yeah, I want to get involved and help?Danielle (10:48):They definitely could give cash or a donation. We partnered with the Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center Kayak here in Kitsap County, and they're like a fiscal partner. They're not a sponsor, but they're like adjacent to us help with Mutual aid. So there is the opportunity to donate through them and market for Solidarity Kitchen December 2nd. And I can put the link in the notes, but I think more importantly, if you're not here, yeah, please, I am not going to say, no, don't give us some cash or don't send us some menstrual supplies or whatnot. You can't donate food from that far away because we have to follow, be compliant with Washington Food law and standards. See, I know this now I took my test, but who in your community needs a gas card? Who needs a grocery card? Who could just use an envelope with a hundred bucks, a hundred bucks? What does that get you? Two bags of groceries or a hundred bucks to just shoot the breeze somewhere, sit down and have a coffee and a drink and go buy your groceries. I think there's this misconception if you give out cash, oh, they're just going to use it on booze and drugs. That's what I heard as a kid.(12:00):And now as an adult, I know that's rarely true. And why would we begrudge someone a little bit of cash to go out and have a coffee or have a drink or maybe get a date with their partner or enjoy a little bit better meat at the grocery store? That just seems so selfish and judgmental,Jenny (12:24):Totally. No, it makes me think of Tema, O K's, white supremacy, cultural norms, and it's so paternalistic that's like, I should decide how this other person spends their money when it's like that other person is a sovereign being living in their own body. And what if they get to decide what they eat and what they do with their body? What a concept that might be.Danielle (12:50):How do you see that kind of, I talk about this here and I know you're very supportive of me too, but how do you see that playing out in your day-to-day life? What does mutual aid look like for you?Jenny (13:01):Yeah, it does feel a little more complicated because my community is so broad right now. We're rarely in a place more than a week. And so it really is trying to be open to what's right in front of us. So a week ago, we were at this beautiful cafe in northern Maine that was doing a food drive and was collecting food, but the cafe was going to open itself up to make meals for everyone that was houseless for the holidays. And so we just gave them some cash and we're like, we're not going to be around anymore, but can you use this for the meals that you're going to be making? And they were like, absolutely.(13:50):We also look around, we end up picking up a fair amount of hitchhikers when we see someone along the road. And a ride is something we can try to do. So we look out for that. I consider you part of my community, even though you're literally on the other part of the country right now. And so those are some things I like to do. And I like what you said, there's some people that know how to cook. There's some people that know how to do art. I consider one of my gifts is networking and connecting people and saying, Hey, you need this other person has this. Let me connect you. And then also just trying to educate folks, because I think there's a lot of misconceptions out there about, since Reagan and the quote welfare queen and these racialized stereotypes and tropes of who needs money and who needs assistance.(14:53):One, white people need snap and assistance as well. And two, it doesn't do justice to the wealth disparity that exists because of hundreds of years of systemic racism and xenophobic rhetoric in our country, that there is a reality to the necessity of these systems right now to support bodies. And so I find myself trying to have difficult, frustrating conversations with family members or people I know that have maybe seen different news sources or things like that, that I have or have a very homogenous community where they don't often understand some of the source of suffering.Danielle (15:45):So if you could summarize for someone saying, well, I don't know anybody. I don't have anything. What I kind of hear you saying is that's okay. One, you can continue to reach out for that community and try to make efforts, but you can also, oh, no, are you paused? Oh, no. You can also reach out for those people and you can get started with what's present right in front of you. You can donate some cash to a friend. You can pick up what's safe for you, for you and Sean, you've decided it's actually safe to pick up a hitchhiker and you can get involved locally when you're around something. It doesn't have to be limited to what I'm talking about. The importance is to jump in and communicate love to people through different ways of giving. Where do we go from here? It feels like every day there's something hopeless happening. Yeah,Well, I think this is one way working and organizing and finding solidarity with friends in my area, but also just I have a family. I'm blessed with a family and just enjoying them, not trying to change anything about them, sitting with them, trying to meet them where they're at, reaching out to friends, calling, texting, saying, Hey. I mean, those are little ways. What about you?Jenny (17:33):Yeah, very similar. This conference feels hopeful to me that people are still trying to get together and understand how we can navigate hopefully a more ethical, equitable world. I've had the opportunity to just have some really sweet times connecting with friends who live around here recently and just sharing meals and catching up and just remembering how most people I think are really good and are really trying to do their best. And I need to be able to see that because I think the algorithm wants us to believe that people are mostly scary and bad and dangerous, and certainly there are scary and bad and dangerous people in the world. And I would say the majority of people that I tend to come into contact with in the flesh give me hope for the type of world that is possible.It is been mostly cold because we're in Boston and it's real cold, but it's also made me appreciate moments of sweet warmth even more. If we go to the YMCA and take a hot shower once every few days or sit in the sauna, it feels like it's a tiny little example of what we're talking about where it's like there are moments of goodness and hope breaking through even when things feel like they're really difficult. And in some ways that actually makes me savor those moments even more because I have honestly lived a very privileged life where most of my life, I didn't have to acknowledge a sense of hopelessness that I'm finding myself reckoning with now in a different way.Yeah. I'm giving my dog lots of snuggles. She sprained her paw on the beach the other day, and it's been very sad. She did limp around.Danielle (20:19):Well, how do you see yourself moving through then a time of Thanksgiving and a time when we, technically this is a time of being together and dah, dah, dah, and I know Thanksgiving has a lot of different meanings for a lot of different people, but just curious how you're thinking of that for yourself this year.Jenny (20:44):Yeah, I think I'm thinking about nuance and complexity and knowing that I will be sharing time with people who see the world very differently than I do and who are some of the most generous people I know. And it's not in my opinion, because they're terrible people that they see the world they do. It's because they've had certain influences. And I really appreciate the attempt to not split the world into all or nothing good or bad. That's very hard for me. I have a very strong tendency to just go, Nope, you're in the bad bucket now. And I would say in the last couple years, living in the van has taught me more about nuance and complexity and that you can never really pin someone down. I think people will always surprise you. And so I'm trying to go into the holiday and being open to hold nuance and also trying to grow my ability to not stay silent when I witness violence spoken.Danielle(22:19):Like I said, my family's everything to me. So we have some traditions that were started when the kids were little. One is making the favorite pie of everyone in the family. And so I'm in pie phase today. I wrote up a list of the pies I want to make, and really this week is an excuse to do it.So I'm looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to being with one of my dear friends, one of my forever people, and it's an excuse for us to be together, and we're just going to sit likely and laugh and do nothing and take advantage of the time off. So I think those two things like connection and food feel good to me often, and they feel really good to me right now.Jenny (23:05):Yes. And connection and food sounds like so much a part of this day that you're organizing and that you're planning. What are your hopes for December 2nd?Danielle (23:18):Is it Yeah, December 2nd, just a Tuesday. Yeah. My hopes is that one that some people were, and this is a valid question, why not just get meal packages ready and then people can cook them and take them home? And I think one of the things was is there's so much love that goes into preparing a meal, and that felt like a ritual for me when I was thinking about doing it that I didn't want to forego. So one, I want to feel like this was cooked, this had intention, this had thought behind it, and it was a lot of work, and that's okay. It's because they love you. And I know that kids go around and often feel like can feel lonely or outcast, and I know adults are feeling that way too. And I just wanted this to be, this is one moment where you can bet someone thought of you and loved you.(24:09):That was one thing. So love is a main thing. Second, I wanted it to taste good. That's what I hope it tastes good to people. And third is that there's an imagination in our community that there's so many things against us forming and working and collaborating together, but I hope it gives imagination. There's the political world out there, and there's the practical way of it affects us in one way. I think it affects us, is separating us from our bodies and from each other. And I think to combat that or for any change to happen, we have to find common themes to gather around. And I mean, like I said, there's very few people that can say no to feeding kids, and I just think it's an easy Yes. Let's do it. Yeah. Sorry to talk so much. I have so much to say about it.Jenny (24:59):No, I think it's important, and honestly, it's inspiring and challenging in a good way of, I think it's almost easier sometimes to be like, oh, there's so much I don't know what I can do. And you're just like, yeah, you can make food for someone. It doesn't have to be as complicated as we tend to make it. And I have witnessed that be a part of who you are for many, many years now, and I always am inspired to do better in my own way when I see you living into that.What's your favorite pie?Danielle (25:43):It was my favorite pie. Well, I started making homemade pumpkin, and that's when I realized I really like pumpkin pie. You bake the pumpkins. Have you done this? You cutDude, you got to do it. You cut them in half, you clean out the seeds, you save that for later, and you don't want the hair in there. I don't know what it's called in English, that string stuff, and then you salt it with the big salts and you bake it. That to me, that is like, oh, it's so good. So I like homemade pumpkin pie, but I also like chocolate pecan pie. I do like pecan pie. I like pie.What about you? What's your favorite?Jenny (26:27):I love so many pies too. I like strawberry rhubarb pie. That's probably my favorite.Danielle (26:34):Oh, I didn't know that about you.Jenny (26:36):Yeah. I do love pumpkin pie. I do love a really cinnamony apple pie. I had a Mexican chocolate pie once that was spicy. It was so good. Yeah, we actually had it at our wedding. We don't really like cake, so we did just a bunch of pies and it was so good. ThatMan. Okay. Okay. Now I really want some pie. Our oven in doesn't work, sadly, so we can't make pie.Danielle (27:08):You need to get another way of doing that, then you cannot not have pie.Jenny (27:14):I know. We'll be at some families next week, so I'm going to make them make a pie. Well,     Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

November is Men's Health Awareness month. In this episode of Texas County Voice, we sit down with TAC's Senior Director of Health Benefit Services Quincy Quinlan and Senior Wellness Consultant Mark Zollitsch to explore why men often avoid care, the barriers they face and how reaching out can make a difference. From vital stats to practical tips, we shine a light on why speaking up is the first step toward a healthier life.

It's spooky season and birthday season here at TAC — and we're celebrating in the most chaotic, heartwarming way possible.In this special Halloween episode, Amy and Megan catch up after a long break, sharing ghostly stories from Amy's trip to Scotland, featuring an EVP session, haunted antiques, and one very hungry crow. Then, fan-favorite guest Leah Evenstar joins to talk about her work as a medium — including what happens when our loved ones (and pets) cross over, and why more people than ever are suddenly sensing the other side.HighlightsAmy's eerie EVP experience from her Scotland trip (and that mysterious “growl”)Leah's moving story about feeling a beloved cat's spirit after passingA look at how the veil seems thinner than ever — and what that means for “accidental mediums”Plus: haunted dolls, Ringing ears, vivid dreams, and signs from spirit So light a candle, grab your favorite Halloween mug, and settle in for laughter, chills, and a little spiritual reflection.Want the full uncut version (with live audience banter, spooky sidebars, and more)? Join our Patreon to get it all! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinues We didn't find anything we thought deserved a content warning, except that we use colorful language. The Activity Continues is a paranormal podcast where soul friends, Amy and Megan chat about ghost stories, haunts, dreams, and other supernatural and paranormal stuff including the TV show, The Dead Files. Our recaps are full of recurring jokes about recurring tropes. We also occasionally do interviews with people from the metaphysical world, as well as Dead Files clients.This episode was recorded on October 26, 2025 released on November 13, 2025.  Episode links:Visit us at: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/Leave us a voicemail at: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/The Last Kingdom Book series: https://amzn.to/4oPWfMCAmazon links could generate a small commission to us at no cost to you. Credits:Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg and Megan SimmonsGuest: Leah Evenstar https://www.goldenphoenixhealing.com/Production, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC.Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by Cannelle https://melissaoliveri.com Engage!Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (might be read on the show)Newsletter sign-up: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/newsletter          Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesWe're on (almost) all the socials too @theactivitycontinues SEND US YOUR PARANORMAL STORIES!Email: theactivitycontinues@gmail.com and maybe it will be read on the show!Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ to leave a message and maybe it will be played on the show! BE OUR GUEST!Are you a The Dead Files client, or a paranormal/spiritual professional, and are interested in being interviewed on our show? Let us know by filling out our guest form:https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/guests/intake/ Affiliates/SponsorsPlease see our Store page for all the links for all our affiliates. https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/store/ Thank you for listening, take care of yourselves. We'll see you next time!If you want to hear us early and ad-free EVERY week, become a Patron, join our Ghosty Fam and get bonus exclusive episodes! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-activity-continues/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

GameDotFilm (from 3ReelCinema) rejoins to sum up the 10 seasons, Redemption TV movie, books, comics & novels for the entire saga.   What seasons would we recommend to casual viewers?   Which ones don't get enough love?   Which ones SHOULD rank higher due to their brilliant second act plot twist?   And which ones will you see anyway (despite the fan & critical hatred)?   Get to the chopper, bring a TAC team & get ready to disarm some bombs with us!       SONGS USED: SONGS/CLIPS USED: "The Office" Dwight Schrute's a Jack Bauer fan clip "No Time" by The Heavy "Back Biter" by Pfeifer Broz. Music (used in the Season 2 Trailer) "Day 7: The Convoy" by Sean Callery "The Longest Day" by Armin van Buuren & Sean Callery

Listen to all of the top plays & the postgame interview with Talvin Hester following the Dunkin' Dogs 93-35 rout of Lyon College in a 19th straight home-opening win at the TAC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow welcomes Dr. Chaz Compton and Dr. Meera Adya, co-directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (NVRTAC). They discuss how the Center builds on decades of innovation in vocational rehabilitation (VR) to unify training, evaluation, and technology that strengthen state VR agencies across the nation. Partnering with The George Washington University, the National Disability Institute, CSAVR, YesLMS, Case Review Solutions, SaraWorks, and Intellitech, the NVRTAC delivers comprehensive technical assistance to enhance performance, fiscal management, and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Key initiatives include AI-driven tools such as SaraWorks and Case Amplify, designed to reduce administrative burdens and capture real-world impact. The team is also launching leadership and fiscal talent development programs, expanding recruitment and retention efforts, and embedding continuous evaluation across all initiatives. Their goal is to achieve measurable outcomes, real change, and a stronger, more efficient VR system serving individuals with disabilities.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music} Chaz: Right now, not ten years from now, but right today, we have the capacity to. Turn our administrative burden into an AI driven function that alleviates that burden.   Meera: Input is getting provided at the beginning and the middle at the end all over again. It really is that measurable and real change and ongoing calibration towards that is our North star.   Chaz: And having actual measurable outcome improvements. So simple as that.   Carol: That sounds good. How about you? What do you think?   Meera: Nothing to add. Measurable outcomes. Real change. Drop the mic.   Carol: Boom! I love it.   {Music} Intro Voice: Manager Minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today are my close colleagues, doctor Chaz Compton and Doctor Meera Adya, Co-project directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center, or VRTAC for short. So woohoo you guys! I'm so excited to have you here. How are things going Chaz?   Chaz: Wonderful. Very busy and very happy to be here. Thank you.   Carol: Excellent. How about you, Meera? How's it going?   Meera: Pretty good.   Carol: Awesome. Well, glad to have you both. I just want to give a little bit of history for our listeners. The Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Centers have a long and rich history rooted in the Rehabilitation Act itself. And from the very beginning, the act recognized that helping individuals with disabilities achieve meaningful employment requires more than just funding. It requires a system of continuous learning, innovation and improvement. And that's why the Rehabilitation Services Administration has long invested in national technical assistance centers to strengthen state VR agencies, build staff capacity and ensure programs stay aligned with evolving regulations, Relations, research and best practices, and over the years, these centers from the early TACE centers to WINTAC and the QM and QE and AIVR TAC and all the things, and now the new NBR tech have become the backbone of progress in our field, helping translate policy into practice and ensuring that the promise of the Rehabilitation Act remains strong for the next generation. So let's dig in. Gang, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourselves and your journey into VR? And, Chaz, I'm going to kick it to you first.   Chaz: Okay. Gosh, it's been 40 years now. Hard to believe. I started with a community rehab program 40 years ago this year.   Carol: Wow.   Chaz: A few years later, I moved into the public VR program in California. I was a counselor, a supervisor, and then a district administrator and got my doctorate degree at San Diego State University and moved over and directed the TA Center 15 years ago, and then the WINTAC and then the VRTAC-QM and now the what we call the VR TAC, the national VRTAC.   Carol: That is awesome. I did not realize it was 40 whole years. Chaz, I think we're pretty close in age to each other.   Chaz: It's been a while.   Carol: Meera, how about you? How'd you get your journey into this world?   Meera: Well, my work has always been at the intersection of empiricism and law and policy. So I'm a researcher and evaluator. I've done projects looking at how people with disabilities can be successful in workplaces and communities, thinking about inter work and the VR system. More specifically, I became engaged first as a partner, leading the program evaluation for Interworks Wintech centre. And then Chaz convinced me to come to Interworks continue doing what I was doing by taking the lead on the program evaluation for the VR, QM, and then our portfolio at Interworks has grown. Now there are several disability innovation grants and customized employment projects in addition to the TAC that we are leading the evaluation on. And Chaz then offered me the opportunity to continue growing my work, and here I am as the co-director of the center as a whole, and I'm honored and thrilled to support Chaz and our team. Take the work with VR and its partners forward to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.   Carol: I love it Meera, and you're a good addition, and we're really happy to have you as the Co-project director, too. So what is the overarching purpose of our new VR TAC?   Chaz: It is to provide technical assistance and training that will help VR agencies and their partners improve service delivery and increase the quantity and quality of employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities being served by VR program and their partners. Our major focus areas include helping agencies effectively manage the program, the performance of the program, the fiscal side of the program and their resources, and helping them identify and implement effective employment strategies and practices that accomplish the overarching goal of helping improve outcomes and service delivery. That's the big picture.   Carol: It is cool because it's like soup to nuts. I think sometimes, you know, the previous TAC, you know, they had very kind of more specific focus. And then with the QM and like QE too, you know, it expanded. But now we've got the whole shebang in one place.   Chaz: Mhm.   Carol: Very fun. Meera do you have anything you wanted to add to that?   Meera: Sure. I was just thinking about all the work that Chaz has been doing, the messages he sends us and how we've come together and so far trying to put it into an encapsulation. I've been coming up with one team or his words, but I think just such a good representation and you'll see that now in our messaging going forward, but also a yes. And we don't say no. We find a way to work together and is so what, what is the measurable change that's going to result from the work we do? I think you're going to see that over the next five years constantly coming up.   Carol: Yeah, I like that, Meera. You got to keep us grounded in that. About the so what? So what we can do lots of activities. But so what about them? And I see, Chaz, you're smiling at me because, you know, I'm an activity person. And it's like, but what's the benefit from what we did? So how does the new TAC build on the work in the lessons that were learned from all the previous work?   Chaz: Well, to say we've learned some lessons along the way, especially in the last ten years, would be an understatement. There have been the implementation of WIOA and all of the requirements associated with that, living through all of the implementation with agencies, helping them respond to that effectively, looking at the demographic shift in the field to youth, where now the majority of the people we serve are 24 years of age or younger. Looking at going into and out of Covid and how that changed service delivery, how the fiscal landscape of the program changed accordingly, how we have seen the pendulum shift fiscally from one side to the other and now back again. All of that has helped inform, I think, the development of our technical assistance and the training and the way we go into this new center. So we have just a bunch of lived experience, if you will, along with agencies. So what they have gone through, we have gone through with them, and I think we can help them successfully navigate the future. And while at the same time responding to the challenges that they face right now. So all of that, I think, really has laid an important foundation for the VRTAC and the work we're going to be doing with agencies.   Carol: I think you hit the nail with that. I think about all the last five years, even the work I've done and our team has done and how deep we got in with agencies like it felt like we were part. I often talk when I'm in at agency, I talk about we like I'm part of them because you're enmeshed in everything they're doing and their systems and their people and their meetings and all of their things. You become so ingrained with them. It really helped you to get such a clear picture of what was happening and helps really get maybe at the root of some of the issues and to develop that work fundamentally so that the seeds we laid could really grow and germinate and keep going forever and keep growing and growing and growing. So it isn't just a one shot. We did a little quick training and we're out of there. It really became such a deep lesson. Meera, how about for you with that lessons learned? I'm sure evaluation wise there are things you were thinking about as well.   Meera: Oh, absolutely. We have all of our past evaluation reports and findings, and we can keep looking at those. And I certainly keep bringing them up whenever it strikes me that there's a relevant point that comes forward again. And you can see with the way that Chaz has put together these innovative partners and projects, a continuation of the successful approaches and partnerships as well, and just a laser focus on measurable change that evolution and improvement and lessons learned is just baked into the center. As a research and evaluator, I know firsthand how the knowledge translation pipeline takes time, but it can take less time when you work directly with stakeholders from the beginning, and that's what's happening with us. Chaz has always taken evaluation seriously, woven it into the very fabric of the work. Stakeholders are the partners. They hold us accountable. We continuously are learning what's working. Pivot when needs must.   Carol: Well said Meera. Thank you for that. What current challenges do you guys see in the VR system that make a unified national TA center so important right now?   Chaz: To say that efficiency, accountability and improved outcomes are important would be an understatement. And this is not a new focus, of course. I mean, you have to go back to the movement of the Rehabilitation Act under the Workforce Investment Act of 1988, which was really an attempt to improve efficiency and refrain from duplication of services and improve outcomes and all that stuff. And that focus has just grown and grown,   Carol: right.   Chaz: and so a unified center is I mean, it really is helpful to ensure that everything is administrated under one center that we're focused on, you know, whether it's focused on improving performance, like on the performance measures, like improving an agency's ability to manage their fiscal resources or implement employment strategies like, say, customized employment, a unified center can address all of these aspects together, holistically, understand how they interact with each other and an agency. Instead of having 2 or 3 different entities trying to work together with a VR program differently, with different ways of doing business, ways of interacting all that. So it just is a very efficient, I hope. Anyway, an enhanced holistic way of working with an agency. Ultimately, I believe that will contribute to increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes.   Carol: I like the part with the employment being in with us now. Not that employment wasn't in our mind, but it was distant because we'd always put it like we, you know, we're referring folks over to the Q2E, but now with it all integrated, it really does kind of front and center. You're thinking about the fiscal things that my group is working at and how our impact is helping the program, maybe for stability or whatever may be going on, does impact the employment outcomes in the end, and the funds that are available and whether people go on an order or not, you know, all those kind of things. So I like that having it all together, it's a little closer, at least in my head. Meera, did you have any thoughts about that one as well?   Meera: I echo everything you both have said. The unified voice. Central voice. This center has always been a supportive voice. It is always on, always available, and that continues to be really needed. That is something we've heard in the evaluation interviews and feedback that we've received is that folks really appreciate being able to just call, get someone on the other end, get an answer right away, send an email, hear back right away. The responsiveness and the targeted information that they need has been phenomenal. And so looking forward to that continuing. And now across the whole range and spectrum of what technical assistance is needed. As you both have said, It's a time of, you know, as was said, significant change requirements may be shifting again, a laser focus on efficiency and effectiveness of work, which is right. And, you know, in the broader context, we're seeing significant disruption in the work world. And the future of work has been talked about. The future of work is here today. It's the today of how we work. And agencies need help navigating all of that with their customers. There's a lot for our stakeholders and our partners to navigate. I think we've seen from the evaluation feedback, this is where our team under Chaz really excels. It just brings together the many. It brings together the a lot. It goes to the heart of it and meets it on the grant.   Carol: Yeah. You lead into my next question about the partners on the grant because we have a deep bench. I mean, I felt like we had really phenomenal folks on the QM grant. But when I look at the partners you all have brought together for this, and we're on our first meetings and you've got, you know, 30 people in the Hollywood Squares instead of a dozen or so. It's a cool bunch, and people with such interesting expertise. So Chaz, who are the partners on our grant?   Chaz: Our biggest and primary partner is the George Washington University. We've been partners with them for really since national centers were funded. They were part of the WINTAC, part of the QM, and now we'll be a obviously a critical part of the VR TAC Every single one of them is a doer. Their hands are have their hands have gotten dirty and providing like literally in the trenches to just like our own staff at work Institute at San Diego State. We just have been, practically speaking, teammates for a very long time. We know each other well, we work together well, and we're very confident in each other's work. GW a big, huge partner of ours. Then there's the National Disability Institute, which is also a longtime partner of ours. They'll be helping with the employment strategies component of things and just are a very well respected, nationally known institute that is really has some super interesting and helpful information and resources and knowledge along with the rest of the team. Of course, many of our listeners will know. Yes LMS, we're working with Linda and her team this time around, expanding our available training resources to users out there. CSAVR of course, is another long time partner. Everybody knows them. Sara Works is a partner of ours as well. Sara Works has been a partner again since the WINTAC days and, you know, has done all kinds of work with us in terms of developing Sara, the AI program to help act as an assistant to VR programs, communication tool and so on. Then we have Case Review Solutions. It's just a new partner of ours this time around focused on quality assurance, case reviews, contract monitoring. So another use of software and technology to basically provide solutions to VR programs. And another new partner this time around in Intellitech, which has created a program called Case Amplify, which is an AI driven system, which we'll talk about here in a few minutes, but we're really excited about this one as well, because it provides an opportunity for agencies to see how things could potentially be different and more effective into the future. So those are our primary partners, yeah.   Carol: yeah. It's exciting. It's a cool group of people I really was thrilled to see in the very secret proposal that you would not share with us before we went in, and then you see what all the things are that are going to happen. You are always known, though, Chaz, for being the guy. You have those little fun projects that become part of the grant that you know, live on and people are able to carry out and they've created really cool things. This proposal with the exciting AI initiatives, can you share what tools like Case, Amplify and Sara Works are going to mean for state VR agencies?   Chaz: Absolutely. And I think it's important for folks to understand the why. Right. Like, why are these it's not just because they're fun and they are super fun. You're right. But there really is a reason behind developing these projects. And the primary reason is as agencies have implemented Wioa and this kind of goes back to lessons learned, right? We know that the data elements for, for instance, for the 911 and just the recording processes and all of the administrative responsibilities associated with being in compliance with the law and the regulations is a burden. It's a struggle, and especially in a period of time where recruitment and retention has been a challenge across the country. You know, when you lose people and they're the ones responsible for gathering and reporting this data, IT becomes a real challenge on everybody else. And I honestly, in my heart of hearts, believe that embracing advanced technology is the way out of this. It's the way to effectively respond to it. It's not by hiring more people to do administrative stuff, although that would be wonderful. But, you know, we're in this situation for a reason. And now we have right now, not ten years from now, but right today we have the capacity to turn our administrative burden into an AI driven function that alleviates that burden from VR staff. And that's what the why is behind this? Why are we doing this? Because we want agencies to see and participate. If you know, if they're able and willing in these projects to see what the impact could be. Now, of course, we don't know, for instance, what the impact will fully be. We have a vision for it. But part of what this is is an experiment, right? It's a pilot, if you will, to make sure that we can see how it works. So the idea is that and I'll take Sara because Sara's been around for a while now. A lot of agencies know Sara. They know what's possible. Several of them use the program. Now, in our case, like under the VR tech, we're going to be using Sara to do something for pre-employment transition services that we haven't done yet. Now we're ten years. 11 years. Well, I guess ten years really post implementation 2016 was the full implementation. So we're approaching the ten year mark. And while we focused on implementing projects and tracking and reporting and down to the individual consumer level and all that good stuff. Making sure costs are allowable, that people are spending their 15%, all that good stuff. What we haven't done a very good job of yet is evaluating the impact of those services on individuals themselves. Like how has it impacted them? What does it mean in terms of their future employability or future involvement in post-secondary Ed or whatever it is we're trying to determine? And so using Sara specifically to communicate and gather information with students or former students on the impact of periods, and then analyzing that data and showing the impact, that's really where we're zeroed in on this project for Sara Works. Case Amplify, well let me go to CRS. So Case Review Solutions is a new software program developed by two of our former colleagues in the WINTAC and the QM, Rachel Anderson and Brittany McIvor. So they know right? Like what is it about the review system, the case review process, the process, the quality assurance process that is lacking the internal control process, right? How do we fix that or help fix it anyway? Or help states analyze where the deficiencies are and then give them information real time quickly along multiple levels to help them address it so that it's not a consistent finding and monitoring reviews so that they're on top of the changes that they need to make. So again, it's another technology solution to a challenge facing agencies. And they're also developing a contract monitoring tool that's going to be available later on in the project. That will help states monitor another big one. Right. We hear all the time is we're not sure like whether those contracts are doing what they should be doing and the quality of service delivery and all that stuff. So that's going to help with that. Case Amplify is a AI program that Intellitech has developed. It's so exciting to talk about how this could potentially change. And I mean really change the way that VR staff are gathering and populating information into the case through case management system. Ultimately, it has the capacity ultimately to make the process hands free. That is, you can talk to an individual, and this system is listening and gathering information and populating all over into the CMS important data elements, summarizing meetings. And believe it or not, like if it does what we really want it to do, it's going to actually fill in the 911 data elements automatically based on these conversations at critical points along the pathway.   Carol: That's a game changer for people that alone with those what, 400 elements like that is a game changer.   Chaz: Yeah, I could not be more excited about this one than I am. I just think it's going to be revolutionary. You know, it's still in its development phase fully. It's still going to be kind of an experiment with agencies and how it integrates into their existing CMS. But that's part of why we call it a pilot, because it's supposed to be a way to kind of see if things work the way we want it to work.   Carol: It's so cool. I am really excited. I'm also excited about the whole evaluation part of projects because I long thought, you know, when I was back in Minnesota blind and we were getting all those funds spent on students and I'm like, we're getting at these kids earlier. I just knew in my heart of hearts like, this is going to make such a difference in their trajectory is going forward and employment, they're going to start better. They're going to start better in college because they're going to have all this exposure to things they had not had any exposure to. Finally, the time we get at being able to measure, is that really coming true? I mean, I believe it to be true, but it'll be nice to actually quantify it and go, yeah, this is what's happening for people. And we can see the real difference. And that investment that Congress had said all those years ago, we're going to invest in these kids. And they did it for a reason. And now the proof is going to be in the pudding with the results. I love it. So, Chaz, one of your goals was to strengthen the workforce. So tell us a little bit about the VR Fiscal Talent Accelerator and NRLI, the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute.   Chaz: Yeah. Great. So most people know NRLI. They've heard about it in the past and or even many participated. I remember at one point a few years ago at a conference, Steve Wooderson said, hey, how many people here have gone to NRLI. And I swear, three quarters of the room raised their hand. So it's over 20 years old now, and it's a training program specifically targeted at the executive leadership level, staff of the VR program and preparing them over a year long process where we meet in person for a week, four weeks out of the year, three times in San Diego, one time in Washington, DC. And there's coaching and training contacts that go on throughout the course of the year in a cohort model. So that is supported by the VRTAC this time around. So that's kind of our primary executive leadership training tool. Then we're developing something new this time around. For those of you who are listening, who are familiar with the management concepts training that was part of the QM, that was the VR grants management certificate program that we developed as part of that center. This time around, we are specifically zeroing in on the fiscal folks in VR and preparing a kind of like, nearly like program for them, where we'll use the same cohort model. I'm not certain of all the details yet, but obviously, Carol, you'll be a super important part of that one. And we'll provide an opportunity for fiscal staff in VR agencies who some obviously like every other position turnover at times. And when they do turnover, if they take the knowledge with them and nobody's coming behind them, it can be really challenging. So the Fiscal Talent Accelerator program will be a way to help them understand all of the responsibilities right under fiscal responsibilities in the VR grant, helping them really manage those resources and effectively so that the agency has both not just in compliance, but has the resources available to serve as many folks as possible.   Carol: Absolutely. Yeah. I'm super excited about all of these projects. We've got a lot of work ahead. I know also, we had started spending some time under the QM addressing, you know, the recruitment and retention issues and leadership development and such. So how do you see that kind of expanding in the new grant?   Chaz: Well, it's definitely expanding. And so we're very excited about that because we know clearly that recruitment and retention especially was a just a real, real issue in the last five years. So we had a recruitment and retention pilot under the QM that worked with four states. And we have some really helpful tools and toolkits developed as a result of that. That's on the QM site now, will be brought forward under the VRTAC, but more importantly will be going into phase two from that process under the VRTAC, looking again at implementing those strategies and practices for recruitment and retention with other agencies, tracking the impact of that over time, and expanding the scope of that. John Walsh was really helpful in leading that effort under the QM, and he'll be doing that again. Also, we're developing onboarding resources for VR programs this time around, helping agencies kind of identify both what to include and giving them actual stuff and resources to include in an onboarding program for VR staff. We're moving beyond just the executive level of training for nearly into mid-level management and supervisory training. Training specifically targeted at those groups, which I think will be really helpful and certainly very needed and engaging in succession planning processes with agencies, both strategic planning and succession planning understanding the two of them are clearly linked, but giving agencies some real strategies and practices on how to develop a succession plan and implement that, so that we're not faced with this sort of mass exodus of institutional knowledge. When people both retire or resign and we're like, oh no, what do we do now? Right. So hopefully we're intending to create resources, training tools to help agencies address that proactively.   Carol: And we have some really awesome staff on this grant. This time around too, that can help. Our bench is deeper. You know, even in this area that are going to be able to help do that. So definitely. Meera, you have something you want to throw in there. I didn't forget you.   Meera: Oh I don't think so. Chaz covered all the practices and new projects really well.   Carol: Okay, Meera, I want you to tackle this one about the evaluation and data driving that ongoing improvement coming forward. Do you have thoughts about that? How's that going to look?   Meera: Sure. I think I spoke to this a little bit earlier, but to pick up from that thread, I mean, that is something we are consistently doing. We have multiple channels and approaches that monitor the work and the change that are taking place. We have custom built apps and tools that our IT group has created, so we can make sure that we're setting up plans and staying on track with the agencies and the work that we're doing with them. And we have stakeholders, partners, customers, all of whom can provide feedback in different ways. We meet regularly to discuss what we are hearing and what we are seeing. Formally speaking, we have two reports that are compiled and shared broadly, internally and with stakeholders. We hold meetings, review the findings, and consider recommendations by taking that report apart and into little bite, but continuously throughout the year. We're not waiting for those big report moments. Evaluation Group has been woven into the work we do. They are a part of all the regular meetings that are taking place for the center, and input is getting provided at the beginning and the middle at the end, all over again. It really is that measurable and real change and ongoing calibration towards that is our North star. That will continue to be so.   Carol: Led by the awesome you, which will be great.   Chaz: Exactly.   Carol: My final question to you too what will success look like for the VRTAC over the next five years. And Chaz, I'll ask you first.   Chaz: Well, it will be demonstrably changing for the better outcomes in the VR program and service delivery. It will be serving individuals with the kind of commitment to meeting their individual needs and wants and desires and employment factors, and agencies operating efficiently and effectively and having actual measurable outcome improvements. So simple as that.   Carol: That sounds good. Meera, how about you? What do you think?   Meera: Nothing to add. He stole it right there at the end. Measurable outcomes. Real change. Drop the mic.   Carol: Boom! I love it. So, how do people find you?   Chaz: Our website will be VRTAC or just VRTAC.org. We have the site kind of really in its shell form right now. We're developing it. Give us a couple of months to get it fully going, but if you need to reach us, you can certainly contact any of us through the channels that you would normally reach us through the VRTAC-QM. Can send an email to me or to you or anybody else on the team. And at this point, I think most agencies are able to reach us in whatever way they want. But soon the website will be up and running and they can get us there or any number of ways.   Carol: Awesome. Well, I sure appreciate both joining me this morning. It was super cool. And we can check back in in a couple years too and go like, woo, where are things now? It'll be fun to report on some more successes. So thank you both. Have a great day.   Chaz: Thanks, Carol. Appreciate you having us.   Meera: Thank you.   Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Tac and Rex from Sound Clash Radio join Target Talk for a conversation that's part storytelling, part creative exchange. We talk about how the show came together, the early days of The Hangout Network, and how the two connected through music and community. Tac shares his perspective as a DJ, Rex talks about building a platform for local voices, and both reflect on what it takes to keep something real and consistent in Dallas.From early music memories to our favorite rappers, this one's about collaboration, culture, and keeping the scene alive through conversation.Follow them: @goodgametac | @yurboyrexdabest | @soundclashradio

The path to progressing as a leader isn't always linear. SUMMARY Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott shows how a childhood dream can evolve into a lifetime of impact—from commanding in uniform to leading innovation in healthcare and national defense. Hear more on Long Blue Leadership. Listen now!   SHARE THIS PODCAST LINKEDIN  |  FACEBOOK   MIKE'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS A leader worth his or her salt should be comfortable not being the smartest person in the room. Striving for a lack of hubris is essential in leadership. Setting a clear vision is a fundamental leadership skill. Moving people without authority is crucial for effective leadership. Resource management is key to achieving organizational goals. Acknowledging what you don't know is a strength in leadership. Effective leaders focus on guiding their teams rather than asserting dominance. Leadership is about influencing and inspiring others. A successful mission requires collaboration and shared vision. True leadership is about empowering others to succeed.   CHAPTERS 00:00: Early Inspiration 06:32: Academy Years 13:17: Military Career Transition 21:33: Financial Services Journey 31:29: MOBE and Healthcare Innovation 40:12: Defense Innovation Unit 48:42: Philanthropy and Community Impact 58:11: Personal Growth and Leadership Lessons   ABOUT MIKE OTT BIO Mike Ott is the Chief Executive Officer of MOBĒ, a U.S.-based company focused on whole-person health and care-management solutions. He became CEO in April 2022, taking the helm to lead the company through growth and operational excellence following a distinguished career in both the military and corporate sectors.  A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mike served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves before shifting into financial services and healthcare leadership roles including private wealth management at U.S. Bank and executive positions with UnitedHealth Group/Optum. His leadership ethos emphasizes alignment, acceleration, and human potential, building cultures where teams can thrive and leveraging data-driven models to improve health outcomes.   CONNECT WITH MIKE LinkedIn MOBE CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     OUR SPEAKERS Guest, Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott '85  |  Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   FULL TRANSCRIPT Naviere Walkewicz 0:00 A quick programming note before we begin this episode of Long Blue Leadership: This episode will be audio-only, so sit back and enjoy the listen. Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. Today, on Long Blue Leadership, we welcome Col. (Ret.) Mike Ott, Class of 1985, a leader whose vision was sparked at just 9 years old during a family road trip past the Air Force Academy. That childhood dream carried him through a 24-year Air Force career, culminating in retirement as a colonel and into a life of leadership across business, innovation and philanthropy. Mike is the CEO of MOBE, a groundbreaking company that uses data analytics and a revolutionary pay-for-results model to improve health outcomes while reducing costs. He also serves as a senior adviser to the Defense Innovation Unit, supporting the secretary of defense in accelerating commercial innovation for national security. A member of the Forbes Councils, Mike shares his expertise with leaders around the world. A former Falcon Foundation trustee and longtime supporter of the Academy, Mike has given generously his time, talents and resources to strengthen the Long Blue Line. His story is one of innovation and service in uniform, in the marketplace and in his community. Mike, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad to have you here.   Mike Ott 1:29 Naviere, thanks a ton. I'm glad to be here. Naviere Walkewicz 1:31 Yes, yes. Well, we're really excited. I mean, you're here for your 40th reunion.   Mike Ott 1:35 Yeah, it's crazy.   Naviere Walkewicz1:37 You came right in, and we're so pleased that you would join us here first for this podcast.   Mike Ott 1:39 Right on. Thanks for the time.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:41 Absolutely. Well, let's jump right in, because not many people can say at 9 years old they know what they want to do when they grew up, but you did. Mike Ott 1:48 Yeah. I guess some people can say it; might not be true, but for me, it's true, good or bad. And goodness gracious, right? Here for my 40th reunion, do the math team, and as a 9-year-old, that was 1972, And a lot was going on in the world in 1972 whether it was political unrest, Vietnam and all of that, and the Academy was in the thick of it. And so we had gone — It was our first significant family vacation. My father was a Chicago policeman. We drove in the 1968 Buick LaSabre, almost straight through. Stopped, stayed at a Holiday Inn, destination Colorado, simply, just because nobody had ever seen the mountains before. That was why. And we my parents, mom, mom and dad took myself. I have two younger sisters, Pikes Peak, Academy, Garden of the Gods, Royal Gorge. And I remember noon meal formation, and the bell going off. Guys at the time — we hadn't had women as cadets at that point in time — running out in their flight suits as I recall lining up ready to go. And for me, it was the energy, right, the sense of, “Wow, this is something important.” I didn't know exactly how important it was, but I knew it was important, and I could envision even at that age, there was they were doing good, Naviere Walkewicz 3:21 Wow. Nine years old, your family went on vacation, and it just struck you as this is important and something that I want to do. So what did that conversation look like after that experience that you had as a 9-year-old and kind of manifest this in yourself? How did that go with your parents? Mike Ott 3:36 Well, I didn't say too much about it, as I was in grammar school, but as high school hit, you know, I let my folks know what my plans were, and I had mom and dad — my mother's still alive, my father passed about a year ago. Very, very good, hard-working, ethical people, but hadn't gone to college, and we had been told, “Look, you know, you need to get an education.” They couldn't. I wish they had. They were both very, very, very bright, and so I knew college was a plan. I also knew there wasn't a lot of money to pay for it. So I'm certain that that helped bake in a few things. But as I got into high school, I set my sights. I went to public high school in Chicago, and I remember freshman year walking into my counselor's office, and said, “I want to go to the Air Force Academy,” and he kind of laughed.   Naviere Walkewicz 3:21 Really?   Mike Ott 3:22 Well, we had 700 kids in my class, and maybe 40% went on to college, right? And the bulk of them went to community college or a state school. I can count on one hand the number of folks that went to an academy or an Ivy League school or something of that. So it was it was around exposure. It had nothing to do with intelligence. It was exposure and just what these communities were accustomed to. A lot of folks went into the trades and pieces like that. So my counselor's reaction wasn't one of shock or surprise insofar as that's impossible. It was, “We haven't had a lot of people make that commitment this early on, and I'm glad to help.”   Naviere Walkewicz 5:18 Oh, I love that.   Mike Ott 5:19 Which is wonderful, and what I had known at the time, Mr. Needham...   Naviere Walkewicz 5:23 You Remember his name?   Mike Ott 5:24 Yeah, he was in the Navy Reserves. He was an officer, so he got the joke. He got the joke and helped me work through what classes to take, how to push myself. I didn't need too much guidance there. I determined, “Well, I've got to distinguish myself.” And I like to lean in. I like a headwind, and I don't mind a little bit of an uphill battle, because once you get up there, you feel great. I owe an awful lot to him. And, not the superintendent, but the principal of our school was a gentleman named Sam Ozaki, and Sam was Japanese American interned during World War II as a young man, got to of service age and volunteered and became a lieutenant in the Army and served in World War II in Europe, right, not in Asia. So he saw something in me. He too became an advocate. He too became someone that sought to endorse, support or otherwise guide me. Once I made that claim that I was going to go to the Academy. Naviere Walkewicz 6:30 Wow. So you mentioned something that really stuck with me. You said, you know, you didn't mind kind of putting yourself out there and doing the hard things, because you knew when you got to the top it was going to feel really great. Was that something you saw from your father? Was that something, there are key leaders in your life that emulated that? Or is that just something that you always had in yourself? Mike Ott 6:51 I would say there's certainly an environmental element to it — how I was raised, what I was exposed to, and then juxtaposition as to what I observed with other family members or other parts of the community where things didn't work out very well, right? And, you know, I put two and two together. y father demonstrated, throughout his entire career what it means to have a great work ethic. As did mom and, you know, big, tough Chicago cop for 37 years. But the other thing that I learned was kindness, and you wouldn't expect to learn that from the big, tough Chicago cop, but I think it was environment, observing what didn't occur very often and how hard work, if I apply myself, can create outcomes that are going to be more fulfilling for me. Naviere Walkewicz 7:48 Wow, you talked about kindness. How did you see kindness show up in your journey as a cadet at the Air Force Academy? Or did you? Mike Ott 7:58 Yeah, gosh, so I remember, started in June of 1981, OK, and still connected with many of the guys and women that with whom I went to basic training and all that. The first moment of kindness that I experienced that it was a mutual expression, but one where I recognized, “Wow, every one of us is new here. None of us has a real clue.” We might have some idea because we had somebody had a sibling or a mother that was in the military or father that went to the academy at the time, but none of us really knew, right? We were knuckleheads, right? Eighteen years old. Maybe there were a couple of prior-enlisted folks. I don't recall much of that, but I having gone to a public high school in Chicago, where we had a variety of different ethnicities. I learned how to just understand people for who they are, meet them for who they are, and respect every individual. That's how I was raised, and that's how I exhibited myself, I sought to conduct myself in high school. So I get to the Academy, and you're assigned, you know, the first couple three nights, the first few weeks before you go to Jacks Valley, you're assigned. It was all a alphabetical, and my roommate was an African American fellow named Kevin Nixon. All right, my God, Kevin Nixon, and this guy, he was built. I mean, he was rock solid, right? And he had that 1000-yard stare, right? Very intimidating. And I'm this, like, 6-foot-tall, 148-pound runner, like, holy dork, right? And I'm assigned — we're roommates, and he just had a very stoicism, or a stoic nature about him. And I remember, it was our second night at the Academy, maybe first night, I don't quite recall, and we're in bed, and it's an hour after lights out, and I hear him crying, and like, well, what do you do? Like, we're in this together. It was that moment, like we're both alone, but we're not right. He needs to know that he's not alone. So I walked around and went over his bed, and I said, “Hey, man, I miss my mom and dad too. Let's talk. And we both cried, right? And I'll tell you what, he and I were pals forever. It was really quite beautiful. And what didn't happen is he accepted my outreach, right? And he came from a very difficult environment, one where I'm certain there was far more racial strife than I had experienced in Chicago. He came from Norfolk, Virginia, and he came from — his father worked in the shipyards and really, really tough, tough, tough background. He deserved to be the Academy. He was a great guy, very bright, and so we became friends, and I tried to be kind. He accepted that kindness and reciprocated in ways where he created a pretty beautiful friendship. Naviere Walkewicz 7:48 Oh, my goodness. Thank you for sharing that story. And you got me in the feels a little bit, because I remember those nights, even you know me having family members that went through the Academy. There's just something about when you're in it yourself, and in that moment, it's raw.   Mike Ott 11:13 Raw is a good word. Naviere Walkewicz 11:15 Oh, thank you for that. So you're at the Academy and you end up doing 24 years. I don't mean to, like, mash all that into one sentence, but let's talk… Mike Ott 11:22 I didn't do very much. It was the same year repeated 24 times over. Like, not a very good learner, right? Not a very good learner. Naviere Walkewicz 11:30 Yeah, I was gonna ask, you know, in that journey, because, had you planned to do a career in the Air Force? Mike Ott 11:36 Well, I didn't know, right? I went in, eyes wide open, and my cumulative time in the Air Force is over 24 but it was only it was just shy of seven active duty, and then 22, 23, in the Reserves, right? I hadn't thought about the Reserves, but I had concluded, probably at the, oh, maybe three-year mark that I wanted to do other things. It had nothing to do with disdain, a sense of frustration or any indignation, having gone to the Academy, which I'm very, very proud of, and it meant an awful lot to who I am. But it was, “Wait, this is, this is my shot, and I'm going to go try other things.” I love ambiguity, I'm very curious. Have a growth mindset and have a perhaps paradoxical mix of being self-assured, but perhaps early on, a bit too, a bit too, what's the word I was thinking of? I wrote this down — a bit too measured, OK, in other words, risk taking. And there were a few instances where I realized, “Hey, man, dude, take some risk. What's the downside? And if it isn't you, who else?” So it was that mindset that helped me muscle through and determine that, coupled with the fact that the Air Force paid for me to go to graduate school, they had programs in Boston, and so I got an MBA, and I did that at night. I had a great commander who let me take classes during the day when I wasn't traveling. It was wonderful. It was there that I was exposed to elements of business and in financial services, which ultimately drew me into financial services when I separated from active duty. Naviere Walkewicz 13:17 Well, I love that, because first you talked about a commander that saw, “How can I help you be your best version of yourself?” And I think the other piece of financial service, because I had to dabble in that as well — the second word is service. And so you've never stopped serving in all the things that you've done. So you took that leap, that risk. Is that something that you felt developed while you're at the Academy, or it's just part of your ethos. Mike Ott 13:41 It developed. It matured. I learned how to apply it more meaningfully at the Academy after a couple, three moments, where I realized that I can talk a little bit about mentoring and then I can come back to that, but mentoring — I don't know, I don't recall having heard that term as a mechanism for helping someone develop. I'm sure we used it when I was a cadet at the Academy and out of the Academy, and having been gone through different programs and banking and different graduate programs, the term comes up an awful lot. You realize, wow, there's something there helping the next generation, but also the reciprocity of learning from that generation yourself. I didn't really understand the whole mentoring concept coming out of Chicago and getting here, and just thought things were very hierarchical, very, very command structure, and it was hit the standards or else. And that that's not a bad mindset, right? But it took me a little while to figure out that there's a goodness factor that comes with the values that we have at the Academy, and it's imbued in each one of you know, service excellence, all of those pieces. But for the most part, fellow cadets and airmen and women want to help others. I mean, it's in service. It's in our DNA. Man that blew right past me. I had no idea, and I remember at one point I was entering sophomore year, and I was asked to be a glider instructor. I'd done the soaring and jumping program over the summer, and like, “Hey, you know you're not too bad at glider. You want to be an instructor?” At the time, that was pretty big deal, yeah, glider instructors. Like, “Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that, you know? I've got to study. Like, look at my GPA.” That didn't really matter. “And I'm going to go up to Boulder and go chase women.” Like, I was going to meet women, right? So, like, but I didn't understand that, that that mechanism, that mentoring mechanism, isn't always bestowed upon a moment or a coupling of individuals. There are just good people out there that see goodness in others that want to help them through that. I had no clue, but that was a turning point for me.   Naviere Walkewicz 15:56 Because you said no.   Mike Ott 15:58 I said no, right? And it was like what, you know, a couple months later, I remember talking with somebody like, “Yep, swing and a miss,” right? But after that, it changed how I was going to apply this self-assuredness, not bravado, but willingness to try new things, but with a willingness to be less measured. Why not? Trust the system. Trust the environment that you're in, the environment that we're in, you were in, I was in, that we're representing right now, it is a trusted environment. I didn't know that. And there were a lot of environments when I was being raised, they weren't trusted environments. And so you have a sort of mental callous mindset in many ways, and that that vigilance, that sense of sentinel is a good protection piece, but it prevents, it prevents... It doesn't allow for the membrane to be permeated, right? And so that trust piece is a big deal. I broke through after that, and I figured it out, and it helped me, and it helped me connect a sense of self-assuredness to perhaps being less measured, more willing to take ambiguity. You can be self-assured but not have complete belief in yourself, OK? And it helped me believe in myself more. I still wish I'd have been glider instructor. What a knucklehead. My roommate wound up becoming one. Like, “You, son of a rat, you.”   Naviere Walkewicz 17:29 So tell me, when did the next opportunity come up where you said yes, and what did that look like in your journey? Mike Ott 17:36 I was a lieutenant. I was a lieutenant, and I was looking for a new role. I was stationed at Hanscom Field, and I was working at one program office, and I bumped — I was the athletic officer for the base with some other folks, and one of the colonels was running a different program, and he had gotten to know me and understand how I operated, what I did, and he said, “Hey, Ott, I want you to come over to my program.” And I didn't know what the program was, but I trusted him, and I did it blindly. I remember his name, Col. Holy Cross. And really good guy. And yeah, I got the tap on the shoulder. Didn't blink. Didn't blink. So that was just finishing up second lieutenant. Naviere Walkewicz 18:26 What a lesson. I mean, something that stuck with you as a cadet, and not that it manifested in regret, but you realized that you missed that opportunity to grow and experience and so when it came around again, what a different… So would you say that as you progress, then you know, because at this point you're a lieutenant, you know, you took on this new role, what did you learn about yourself? And then how did that translate to the decision to move from active duty to the Reserve and into… Mike Ott 18:56 You'll note what I didn't do when I left active duty was stay in the defense, acquisition, defense engineering space. I made a hard left turn…   Naviere Walkewicz 19:13 Intentionally.   Mike Ott 19:14 Intentionally. And went into financial services. And that is a hard left turn away from whether it's military DOD, military industrial complex, working for one of the primes, or something like that. And my mindset was, “If I'm not the guy in the military making the decision, setting strategy and policy…” Like I was an O-3. Like, what kind of policy am I setting? Right? But my point was, if I'm not going to, if I may, if I decided to not stay in the military, I wasn't going to do anything that was related to the military, right, like, “Let's go to green pastures. Set myself apart. Find ways to compete…” Not against other people. I don't think I need to beat the hell out of somebody. I just need to make myself better every day. And that's the competition that I just love, and I love it  it's greenfield unknown. And why not apply my skills in an area where they haven't been applied and I can learn? So as an active-duty person — to come back and answer your question — I had worked some great bosses, great bosses, and they would have career counseling discussions with me, and I was asked twice to go to SOS in-residence. I turned it down, you know, as I knew. And then the third time my boss came to me. He's like, “OK, what are you doing? Idiot. Like, what are you doing?” That was at Year 5. And I just said, “Hey, sir, I think I'm going to do something different.” Naviere Walkewicz 20:47 Didn't want to take the slot from somebody else.   Mike Ott 20:49 That's right. Right. And so then it was five months, six months later, where I put in my papers. I had to do a little more time because of the grad school thing, which is great. And his commander, this was a two-star that I knew as well, interviewed me and like, one final, like, “What are you doing?” He's like, “You could have gone so far in the Air Force.” And I looked at the general — he was a super-good dude. I said, “What makes you think I'm not going to do well outside of the Air Force?” And he smiled. He's like, “Go get it.” So we stayed in touch. Great guy. So it had nothing to do with lack of fulfillment or lack of satisfaction. It had more to do with newness, curiosity, a challenge in a different vein. Naviere Walkewicz 21:30 So let's walk into that vein. You entered into this green pasture. What was that experience like? Because you've just been in something so structured. And I mean, would you say it was just structured in a different way? Mike Ott 21:48 No, not structured. The industry… So, I separated, tried an engineering job for about eight months. Hated it. I was, I was development engineer at Ford Motor Company, great firm. Love the organization, bored stiff, right? Just not what I wanted to do, and that's where I just quit. Moved back to Chicago, where I'm from, and started networking and found a role with an investment bank, ABN AMRO, which is a large Dutch investment bank that had begun to establish itself in the United States. So their headquarters in Chicago and I talked fast enough where somebody took a bet on me and was brought into the investment banking arm where I was on the capital markets team and institutional equities. So think of capital markets, and think of taking companies public and distributing those shares to large institutions, pensions funds, mutual funds, family offices.   Naviere Walkewicz 22:48 So a lot of learning and excitement for you.   Mike Ott 22:51 Super fun. And so the industry is very structured. How capital is established, capital flows, very regulated. We've got the SEC, we've got the FDIC, a lot of complex regulations and compliance matters. That's very, very, very structured. But there was a free-wheelingness in the marketplace. And if you've seen Wolf of Wall Street and things like that, some of that stuff happened. Crazy! And I realized that with my attitude, sense of placing trust in people before I really knew them, figuring that, “OK, what's the downside? I get nipped in the fan once, once or twice. But if I can thrust trust on somebody and create a relationship where they're surprised that I've trusted them, it's probably going to build something reciprocal. So learn how to do that.” And as a young fellow on the desk, wound up being given more responsibility because I was able to apply some of the basic tenets of leadership that you learned and I learned at the Academy. And face it, many of the men and women that work on Wall Street or financial services simply haven't gone to the Academy. It's just, it's the nature of numbers — and don't have that experience. They have other experiences. They have great leadership experiences, but they don't have this. And you and I may take it for granted because we were just four years of just living through it. It oozed in every moment, every breath, every interaction, every dialog, it was there.But we didn't know it was being poured in, sprinkled across as being showered. We were being showered in it. But I learned how to apply that in the relationships that I built, knowing that the relationships that I built and the reputation that I built would be lasting and impactful and would be appropriate investments for the future endeavors, because there's always a future, right? So it wasn't… again, lot of compliance, lot of regulations, but just the personalities. You know, I did it for the challenge, right? I did it because I was curious. I did it because I wanted to see if I could succeed at it. There were other folks that did it simply because it was for the money. And many, some of them made it. They might have sold their soul to get there. Some didn't make it. Maybe it wasn't the right pursuit for them in the first place. And if I go back to mentoring, which we talked about a little bit, and I help young men and women, cadets or maybe even recent grads, my guidance to them is, don't chase the money, chase the environment, right? And chase the environment that allows you to find your flow and contribute to that environment. The money will come. But I saw it — I've seen it with grads. I've seen it with many of the folks that didn't make it in these roles in financial services, because I thought, “Hey, this is where the money is.” It might be. But you have to go back to the basis of all this. How are you complected? What are your values? Do they align with the environment that you're in? And can you flow in a way where your strengths are going to allow success to happen and not sell your soul? Naviere Walkewicz 26:26 Yeah, you said two things that really stood out to me in that —the first one was, you know, trusting, just starting from a place of trust and respect, because the opportunity to build a relationship faster, and also there's that potential for future something. And then the second thing is the environment and making sure it aligns with your values. Is that how you got to MOBE? Mike Ott 26:50 Yeah, I would say how I got to MOBE, that certainly was a factor. Good question.   Naviere Walkewicz 26:57 The environment, I feel, is very much aligned Mike Ott 27:00 Very much so and then… But there's an element of reputation and relationship that allowed me to get there. So now I'm lucky to be a part of this firm. We're 250 people. We will do $50 million of revenue. We're growing nicely. I've been in health care for four years. Now, we are we're more than just healthcare. I mean, it's deep data. We can get into some of that later, but I had this financial services background. I was drawn to MOBE, but I had established a set of relationships with people at different investment banks, with other families that had successfully built businesses and just had relationships. And I was asked to come on to the board because MOBE, at the time, great capabilities, but struggled with leadership during COVID. Lot of companies did. It's not an indictment as to the prior CEO, but he and the team struggled to get through COVID. So initially I was approached to come on to the board, and that was through the founders of the firm who had known me for 20 years and knew my reputation, because I'd done different things at the investment bank, I'd run businesses at US Bank, which is a large commercial bank within the country, and they needed someone that… They cared very little about health care experience, which is good for me, and it was more around a sense of leadership. They knew my values. They trusted me. So initially I was asked to come onto the board, and that evolved into, “No, let's just do a whole reset and bring you on as the CEO.” Well, let's go back to like, what makes me tick. I love ambiguity. I love a challenge. And this has been a bit of a turnaround in that great capabilities, but lost its way in COVID, because leadership lost its way. So there's a lot of resetting that needed to occur. Corpus of the firm, great technology, great capabilities, but business model adaptation, go to market mechanisms and, frankly, environment. Environment. But I was drawn to the environment because of the people that had founded the organization. The firm was incubated within a large pharmaceutical firm. This firm called Upsher-Smith, was a Minnesota firm, the largest private and generic pharmaceutical company in the country, and sold for an awful lot of money, had been built by this family, sold in 2017 and the assets that are MOBE, mostly data, claims, analysis capabilities stayed separate, and so they incubated that, had a little bit of a data sandbox, and then it matriculated to, “Hey, we've got a real business here.” But that family has a reputation, and the individuals that founded it, and then ultimately found MOBE have a reputation. So I was very comfortable with the ambiguity of maybe not knowing health care as much as the next guy or gal, but the environment I was going into was one where I knew this family and these investors lived to high ethical standards, and there's many stories as to how I know that, but I knew that, and that gave me a ton of comfort. And then it was, “We trust you make it happen. So I got lucky. Naviere Walkewicz 30:33 Well, you're, I think, just the way that you're wired and the fact that you come from a place of trust, obviously, you know, OK, I don't have the, you know, like the medical background, but there are a lot of experts here that I'm going to trust to bring that expertise to me. And I'm going to help create an environment that they can really thrive in. Mike Ott 30:47 I'm certain many of our fellow alum have been in this experience, had these experiences where a leader worth his or her salt should be comfortable not being the smartest gal or guy in the room. In fact, you should strive for that to be the case and have a sense of lack of hubris and proudly acknowledge what you don't know. But what I do know is how to set vision. What I do know is how to move people without authority. What I do know is how to resource. And that's what you do if you want to move a mission, whether it's in the military, small firm like us that's getting bigger, or, you know, a big organization. You can't know it all. Naviere Walkewicz 31:30 So something you just mentioned that I think a lot of our listeners would really like, would love a little bit to peel us back a little bit. You said, “I know how to set a vision. I know how to…” I think it was move…   Mike Ott 31:45 Move people without authority and prioritize.   Naviere Walkewicz 31:47 But can we talk a little bit about that? Because I think that is really a challenge that some of our you know younger leaders, or those early in their leadership roles struggle with. Maybe, can you talk a little bit about that? Mike Ott 32:01 For sure, I had some — again, I tried to do my best to apply all the moments I had at the Academy and the long list of just like, “What were you thinking?” But the kindness piece comes through and… Think as a civilian outside looking in. They look at the military. It's very, very, very structured, OK, but the best leaders the men and women for whom you and I have served underneath or supported, never once barked an order, OK? They expressed intent, right? And you and I and all the other men and women in uniform, if we were paying attention, right, sought to execute the mission and satisfaction of that intent and make our bosses' bosses' jobs easier. That's really simple. And many outsiders looking in, we get back to just leadership that are civilians. They think, “Oh my gosh, these men and women that are in the military, they just can't assimilate. They can't make it in the civilian world.” And they think, because we come from this very, very hierarchical organization, yes, it is very hierarchical — that's a command structure that's necessary for mission execution — but the human part, right? I think military men and women leaders are among the best leaders, because guess what? We're motivating men and women — maybe they get a pat on the back. You didn't get a ribbon, right? Nobody's getting a year-end bonus, nobody's getting a spot bonus, nobody's getting equity in the Air Force, and it's gonna go public, right? It's just not that. So the best men and women that I for whom I've worked with have been those that have been able to get me to buy in and move and step up, and want to demonstrate my skills in coordination with others, cross functionally in the organization to get stuff done. And I think if there's anything we can remind emerging graduates, you know, out of the Academy, is: Don't rely on rank ever. Don't rely on rank. I had a moment: I was a dorky second lieutenant engineer, and we were launching a new system. It was a joint system for Marines, Navy and Air Force, and I had to go from Boston to Langley quite often because it was a TAC-related system, Tactical Air Force-related system. And the I was the program manager, multi-million dollar program for an interesting radio concept. And we were putting it into F-15s, so in some ground-based situations. And there was this E-8, crusty E-8, smoked, Vietnam, all these things, and he was a comms dude, and one of the systems was glitching. It just wasn't working, right? And we were getting ready to take this thing over somewhere overseas. And he pulls alongside me, and it's rather insubordinate, but it was a test, right? He's looking at me, Academy guy, you know, second lieutenant. He was a master sergeant, and he's like, “Well, son, what are we going to do now?” In other words, like, “We're in a pickle. What are we going to do now?” But calling me son. Yeah, it's not appropriate, right? If I'd have been hierarchical and I'd relied on rank, I probably would have been justified to let him have it. Like, that's playing short ball, right? I just thought for a second, and I just put my arm around him. I said, “Gee, Dad, I was hoping you're gonna help me.” And mother rat, we figured it out, and after that, he was eating out of my hand. So it was a test, right? Don't be afraid to be tested but don't take the bait. Naviere Walkewicz 35:46 So many good just lessons in each of these examples. Can you share a time at MOBE when you've seen someone that has been on your team that has demonstrated that because of the environment you've created? Mike Ott 35:57 For sure. So I've been running the firm now for about three and a half years. Again, have adapted and enhanced our capabilities, changed the business model a bit, yet functioning in our approach to the marketplace remains the same. We help people get better, and we get paid based on the less spend they have in the system. Part of some of our principles at MOBE are pretty simple, like, eat, sleep, move, smile, all right. And then be thoughtful with your medication. We think that medicine is an aid, not a cure. Your body's self-healing and your mind controls your body.   Naviere Walkewicz 36:32 Eat, sleep, move, smile. Love that.   Mike Ott 36:35 So what's happening with MOBE, and what I've seen is the same is true with how I've altered our leadership team. I've got some amazing leaders — very, very, very accomplished. But there are some new leaders because others just didn't fit in. There wasn't the sense of communal trust that I expected. There was too much, know-it-all'ing going on, right? And I just won't have that. So the easiest way to diffuse that isn't about changing head count, but it's around exhibiting vulnerability in front of all these folks and saying, “Look, I don't know that, but my lead pharmacist here, my lead clinician here, helped me get through those things.” But I do have one leader right, who is our head of vice president of HR, a woman who grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, who has come to myself and our president and shared that she feels liberated at MOBE because, though this firm is larger than one that she served as a director of HR, previously, she's never had to look — check her six, look right, look left and seek alignment to ensure she's harmonizing with people. Naviere Walkewicz 37:49 Can you imagine being in an environment like that? Mike Ott 38:51 It's terrible, it's toxic, and it's wrong. Leaders, within the organization, I think you're judged more by what you don't do and the actions that you don't take. You can establish trust, and you will fortify that trust when you share with the team as best you can, so long as it's nothing inappropriate, where you made a mistake, where we went wrong. What did we learn from that? Where are we going to pivot? How we're going to apply that learning to make it better, as opposed to finding blame, pointing the finger or not even acknowledging? That happens all the time, and that toxicity erodes. And regretfully, my VP of HR in prior roles experienced that, and I don't have time. Good teams shouldn't have time to rehearse the basic values of the firm. We don't have time the speed of business is like this [snaps]. So if I can build the team of men and women that trust one another, can stay in their lanes, but also recognize that they're responsible for helping run the business, and look over at the other lanes and help their fellow leaders make adjustments without the indictful comment or without sort of belittling or shaming. That's what good teams, do. You, and I did that in the Air Force, but it is not as common as you would think. Naviere Walkewicz 39:11 20 we've been talking about MOBE, and you know, the environment you're creating there, and just the way that you're working through innovation. Let's talk a little bit how you're involved with DIU, the Defense Innovation Unit. Mike Ott 39:21 Again, it's reputation in relationships. And it was probably 2010, I get a call from a fellow grad, '87 grad who was living in the Beltway, still in uniform. He was an O-5 I was an O-5. Just doing the Academy liaison work, helping good young men and women that wanted to go to the Academy get in. And that was super satisfying, thought that would be the end of my Reserve career and super fun. And this is right when the first Obama administration came in, and one of his edicts and his admin edicts was, we've got to find ways to embrace industry more, right? We can't rely on the primes, just the primes. So those were just some seeds, and along with a couple other grads, created what is now called Joint Reserve Directorate, which was spawned DIUX, which was DIU Experimental, is spawned from. So I was the owner for JRD, and DIUX as a reserve officer. And that's how we all made colonel is we were working for the chief technology officer of the Defense Department, the Hon. Zach Lemnios, wonderful fellow. Civilian, didn't have much military experience, but boy, the guy knew tech — semiconductors and areas like that. But this was the beginning of the United States recognizing that our R&D output, OK, in the aggregate, as a fund, as a percentage of GDP, whether it's coming out of the commercial marketplace or the military DoD complex, needs to be harnessed against the big fight that we have with China. We can see, you know, we've known about that for 30 years. So this is back 14 years ago. And the idea was, let's bring in men and women — there was a woman in our group too that started this area — and was like, “How do we create essential boundary span, boundary spanners, or dual-literacy people that are experiences in capital markets, finance, how capital is accumulated, innovation occurs, but then also how that applies into supporting the warfighter. So we were given a sandbox. We were given a blank slate.   Naviere Walkewicz 41:37 It's your happy place.   Mike Ott 41:38 Oh, super awesome. And began to build out relationships at Silicon Valley with commercial entities, and developed some concepts that are now being deployed with DIU and many other people came in and brought them all to life. But I was lucky enough after I retired from the Reserves as a colonel to be asked to come back as an adviser, because of that background and that experience, the genesis of the organization. So today I'm an unpaid SGE — special government employee — to help DIU look across a variety of different domains. And so I'm sure many of our listeners know it's key areas that we've got to harness the commercial marketplace. We know that if you go back into the '70s, ‘60s and ‘70s, and creation of the internet, GPS, precision munitions and all of that, the R&D dollars spent in the aggregate for the country, 95% came out of DOD is completely flip flopped today. Completely flipped. We happen to live in an open, free society. We hope to have capital markets and access a lot of that technology isn't burdened like it might be in China. And so that's the good and bad of this open society that we have. We've got to find ways. So we, the team does a lot of great work, and I just help them think about capital markets, money flows, threat finance. How you use financial markets to interdict, listen, see signals, but then also different technologies across cyberspace, autonomy, AI. Goodness gracious, I'm sure there's a few others. There's just so much. So I'm just an interloper that helps them think about that, and it's super fun that they think that I can be helpful. Naviere Walkewicz 43:29 Well, I think I was curious on how, because you love the ambiguity, and that's just something that fills your bucket — so while you're leading MOBE and you're creating something very stable, it sounds like DIU and being that kind of special employee, government employee, helps you to fill that need for your ambiguous side.   Mike Ott 43:48 You're right. You're right.   Naviere Walkewicz 43:49 Yeah, I thought that's really fascinating. Well, I think it's wonderful that you get to create that and you just said, the speed of business is this [snaps]. How do you find time in your life to balance what you also put your values around — your health — when you have such an important job and taking care of so many people? Mike Ott 44:06 I think we're all pretty disciplined at the Academy, right? I remain that way, and I'm very, very — I'm spring loaded to ‘no,' right? “Hey, do you want to go do this?” Yeah, I want to try do, I want to do a lot of things, but I'm spring loaded. So like, “Hey, you want to go out and stay, stay up late and have a drink?” “No,” right? “Do you want to do those things?” So I'm very, very regimented in that I get eight hours of sleep, right? And even somebody, even as a cadet, one of the nicknames my buddies gave me was Rip Van Ott, right? Because I'm like, “This is it.” I was a civil engineer. One of my roommates was an astro guy, and I think he pulled an all-nighter once a week.   Naviere Walkewicz 45:46 Oh, my goodness, yeah.   Mike Ott 45:50 Like, “Dude, what are you doing?” And it wasn't like he was straight As. I was clearly not straight As, but I'm like, “What are you doing? That's not helpful. Do the work ahead of time.” I think I maybe pulled three or four all-nighters my entire four years. Now, it's reflected in my GPA. I get that, but I finished the engineering degree. But sleep matters, right? And some things are just nonnegotiable, and that is, you know, exercise, sleep and be kind to yourself, right? Don't compare. If you're going to compare, compare yourself to yesterday, but don't look at somebody who is an F-15 pilot, and you're not. Like, I'm not. My roommate, my best man at my wedding, F-15 pilot, Test Pilot School, all these things, amazing, amazing, awesome, and super, really, really, happy and proud for him, but that's his mojo; that's his flow, right? If you're gonna do any comparison, compare yourself to the man or woman you were yesterday and “Am I better?”. Naviere Walkewicz 44:48 The power of “no” and having those nonnegotiables is really important. Mike Ott 45:53 Yeah, no, I'm not doing that. Naviere Walkewicz 45:56 I think sometimes we're wired for a “we can take on… we can take it on, we can take it on, we can take it on. We got this.” Mike Ott 46:03 For sure. Oh, my goodness. And I have that discussion with people on my team from time to time as well, and it's most often as it relates to an individual on the team that's struggling in his or her role, or whether it's by you know, if it's by omission and they're in the wrong role, that's one thing. If it's by commission, well, be a leader and execute and get that person out of there, right? That's wrong, but from time to time, it's by omission, and somebody is just not well placed. And I've seen managers, I can repatriate this person. I can get him or her there, and you have to stop for a second and tell that leader, “Yeah, I know you can. I'm certain that the only thing you were responsible for was to help that person fulfill the roles of the job that they're assigned. You could do it.” But guess what? You've got 90% of your team that needs care, nurturing and feeding. They're delivering in their function, neglect, there destroys careers, and it's going to destroy the business. So don't, don't get caught up in that. Yeah. Pack it on. Pack it on. Pack it on. You're right. When someone's in the crosshairs, I want to be in the crosshairs with you, Naviere, and Ted, and all the people that you and I affiliate with, but on the day-to-day, sustained basis, right to live, you know, to execute and be fulfilled, both in the mission, the work and stay fit, to fight and do it again. You can't. You can't. And a lot of a little bit of no goes a long way. Naviere Walkewicz 47:40 That is really good to hear. I think that's something that a lot of leaders really don't share. And I think that's really wonderful that you did. I'd like to take a little time and pivot into another area that you're heavily involved, philanthropy side. You know, you've been with the Falcon Foundation. Where did you find that intent inside of you? I mean, you always said the Academy's been part of you, but you found your way back in that space in other ways. Let's talk about that. Mike Ott 48:05 Sure. Thank you. I don't know. I felt that service is a part of me, right? And it is for all of us, whether you stay in the military or not. Part of my financial services jobs have been in wealth management. I was lucky enough to run that business for US Bank in one of my capacities, and here I am now in health care, health care of service. That aligns with wanting things to be better across any other angle. And the philanthropic, philanthropic side of things — I probably couldn't say that word when I was a cadet, but then, you know, I got out and we did different volunteer efforts. We were at Hanscom Field raising money for different organizations, and stayed with it, and always found ways to have fun with it. But recognized I couldn't… It was inefficient if I was going to be philanthropic around something that I didn't have a personal interest in. And as a senior executive at US Bank, we were all… It was tacit to the role you had roles in local foundations or community efforts. And I remember sitting down with my boss, the CFO of the bank, and then the CEO, and they'd asked me to go on to a board, and it had to do with a museum that I had no interest in, right? And I had a good enough relationship with these, with these guys, to say, “Look, I'm a good dude. I'm going to be helpful in supporting the bank. And if this is a have to, all right, I'll do it, but you got the wrong guy. Like, you want me to represent the bank passionately, you know, philanthropically, let me do this. And they're like, “OK, great.” So we pivoted, and I did other things. And the philanthropic piece of things is it's doing good. It's of service for people, entities, organizations, communities or moments that can use it. And I it's just very, very satisfying to me. So my wife and I are pretty involved that way, whether it's locally, with different organizations, lot of military support. The Academy, we're very fond of. It just kind of became a staple. Naviere Walkewicz 50:35 Did you find yourself also gravitating toward making better your community where you grew up? Mike Ott 50:41 Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of my dear friends that grew up in the same neighborhood, he wound up going to the Naval Academy, and so we're we've been friends for 50 years. Seventh grade.   Naviere Walkewicz 50:53 Same counselor? Mike Ott50:54 Yeah, no. Different counselor, different high school. His parents had a little bit of money, and they, he wound up going to a Catholic school nearby. But great guy, and so he and I, he runs a business that serves the VA in Chicago, and I'm on the board, and we do an awful lot of work. And one of the schools we support is a school on the south side, largely African American students and helping them with different STEM projects. It's not going to hit above the fold of a newspaper, but I could give a rat, doesn't matter to me, seeing a difference, seeing these young men and women. One of them, one of these boys, it's eye watering, but he just found out that he was picked for, he's applying to the Naval Academy, and he just found out that he got a nomination.   Naviere Walkewicz 51:44 Oh my goodness, I just got chills.   Mike Ott 51:46 And so, yeah, yeah, right, right. But it's wonderful. And his parents had no idea anything like that even existed. So that's one that it's not terribly formal, but boy, it looks great when you see the smile on that kid and the impact on that individual, but then the impact it leaves on the community, because it's clear opportunity for people to aspire because they know this young man or this young woman, “I can do that too.” Naviere Walkewicz 52:22 Wow. So he got his nomination, and so he would start technically making class of 2030?   Mike Ott 52:27 That's right. Naviere Walkewicz 52:28 Oh, how exciting. OK Well, that's a wonderful…   Mike Ott 52:27 I hope, I hope, yeah, he's a great kid. Naviere Walkewicz 52:33 Oh, that is wonderful. So you talk about, you know that spirit of giving — how have you seen, I guess, in your journey, because it hasn't been linear. We talked about how you know progression is not linear. How have you grown throughout these different experiences? Because you kind of go into a very ambiguous area, and you bring yourself, and you grow in it and you make it better. But how have you grown? What does that look like for you? Mike Ott 53:02 After having done it several times, right, i.e. entering the fray of an ambiguous environment business situation, I developed a better system and understanding of what do I really need to do out of the gates? And I've grown that way and learn to not be too decisive too soon. Decisiveness is a great gift. It's really, really it's important. It lacks. It lacks because there are too many people, less so in the military, that want to be known for having made… don't want to be known for having made a bad decision, so they don't take that risk. Right, right, right. And so that creates just sort of the static friction, and you've just got to have faith and so, but I've learned how to balance just exactly when to be decisive. And the other thing that I know about me is I am drawn to ambiguity. I am drawn… Very, very curious. Love to learn, try new things, have a range of interests and not very good at any one thing, but that range helps me in critical thinking. So I've learned to, depending on the situation, right, listen, listen, and then go. It isn't a formula. It's a flow, but it's not a formula. And instinct matters when to be decisive. Nature of the people with whom you're working, nature of the mission, evolution, phase of the organization or the unit that you're in. Now is the time, right? So balancing fostering decisiveness is something that that's worth a separate discussion. Naviere Walkewicz 54:59 Right. Wow. So all of these things that you've experienced and the growth that you've had personally — do you think about is this? Is this important to you at all, the idea of, what is your legacy, or is that not? Mike Ott 55:13 We talked a little bit about this beforehand, and I thought I've got to come up with something pithy, right? And I really, I really don't.   Naviere Walkewicz 55:18 Yeah, you don't.   Mike Ott 55:19 I don't think of myself as that. I'm very proud of who I am and what I've done in the reputation that I have built. I don't need my name up in lights. I know the life that I'm living and the life that I hope to live for a lot longer. My legacy is just my family, my children, the mark that I've left in the organizations that I have been a part of.   Naviere Walkewicz 55:58 And the communities that you've touched, like that gentleman going and getting his nomination. I'm sure.   Mike Ott 56:04 Yeah, I don't… having been a senior leader, and even at MOBE, I'm interviewed by different newspapers and all that. Like I do it because I'm in this role, and it's important for MOBE, but I'm not that full of myself, where I got to be up in lights. So I just want to be known as a man that was trustworthy, fun, tried to meet people where they are really had flaws, and sought to overcome them with the few strengths that he had, and moved everything forward. Naviere Walkewicz 56:33 Those are the kind of leaders that people will run through fire for. That's amazing. I think that's a wonderful I mean that in itself, it's like a living legacy you do every day. How can I be better than I was yesterday? And that in itself, is a bit of your living and that's really cool. Well, one of the things we like to ask is, “What is something you're doing every day to be better as a leader?” And you've covered a lot, so I mean, you could probably go back to one of those things, but is there something that you could share with our listeners that you do personally every day, to be better? Mike Ott 57:05 Exercise and read every day, every day, and except Fridays. Fridays I take… that's like, I'll stretch or just kind of go for a walk. But every day I make it a moment, you know, 45 minutes to an hour, something and better for my head, good for my body, right? That's the process in the hierarchy of way I think about it. And then read. Gen. Mattis. And I supported Gen. Mattis as a lieutenant colonel before I wanted to and stuff at the Pentagon. And he I supported him as an innovation guy for JFCOM, where he was the commander. And even back then, he was always talking about reading is leading none of us as military leaders… And I can't hold the candle to the guy, but I learned an awful lot, and I love his mindset, and that none of us can live a life long enough to take In all the leadership lessons necessary to help us drive impact. So you better be reading about it all the time. And so I read probably an hour every night, every day.   Naviere Walkewicz 58:14 What are you reading right now?   Mike Ott 58:15 Oh, man, I left it on the plane! I was so bummed. Naviere Walkewicz 58:17 Oh, that's the worst. You're going to have to get another copy. Mike Ott 58:22 Before I came here, I ordered it from Barnes & Noble so to me at my house when I get home. Love history and reading a book by this wonderful British author named Anne Reid. And it's, I forget the title exactly, but it's how the allies at the end of World War I sought to influence Russia and overcome the Bolsheviks. They were called the interventionalists, and it was an alliance of 15 different countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, U.K., Japan, Australia, India, trying to thwart, you know, the Bolshevik Revolution — trying to thwart its being cemented. Fascinating, fascinating. So that's what I was reading until I left it on the plane today. Naviere Walkewicz 59:07 How do you choose what to read? Mike Ott 59:10 Listen, write, love history. Love to read Air Force stuff too. Just talk to friends, right? You know, they've learned how to read like me. So we get to talk and have fun with that. Naviere Walkewicz 59:22 That's great. Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, the last question I'd like to ask you, before I want to make sure you have an opportunity to cover anything we didn't, is what is something you would share with others that they can do to become better leaders? Maybe they start doing it now, so in the future, they're even stronger as a leader. Mike Ott 59:42 Two things I would say, and try to have these exist in the same breath in the same moment, is have the courage to make it try and make it better every day, all right, and be kind to yourself, be forgiving. Naviere Walkewicz 59:59 That's really powerful. Can you share an example? And I know I that's we could just leave it there, but being courageous and then being kind to yourself, they're almost on two opposite sides. Have you had, can you share an example where I guess you've done that right? You had to be you were courageous and making something better, and maybe it didn't go that way, so you have to be kind to yourself. Mike Ott 1:00:23 Yeah, happy to and I think any cadet will hear this story and go like, “Huh, wow, that's interesting.” And it also plays with the arc of progress isn't linear. I graduated in '85 went to flight school, got halfway through flight school, and there was a RIF, reduction in force. And our class, our flight class, I was flying jets, I was soloing. I was academically — super easy, flying average, right? You know, I like to joke that I've got the fine motor skills of a ham sandwich, right? You know, but, but I didn't finish flight school. And you think about this, here it is. I started in 1981 there were still vestiges of Vietnam. Everyone's going to be a fighter pilot. Kill, kill, kill. Blood makes the grass grow. All of that was there. And I remember when this happened, it was very frustrating for me. It was mostly the major root of frustration wasn't that I wasn't finishing flight school. It was the nature by which the determination that I wasn't finishing was made. And it was, it was a financial decision. We had too many guys and gals, and they were just finding, you know, average folks and then kicking them out. So our class graduated a lower percent than, I think, in that era, it was late '85, '86, maybe '87, but you can look at outflows, and it was interesting, they were making budget cuts. So there was a shaming part there, having gone to the Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:02:02 And knowing since 9 years old. Mike Ott 1:20:04 Right, right, right, and I knew I wanted to go the Academy. I'd like to fly, let's check it out and see if it's for me. I would much rather have been not for me, had I made the decision I don't want to do this or that I was just unsafe and didn't want to do it. The way it turned out is, and this is where I learned a little bit about politics as well. In my class, again, I was very average. Like, nobody's ever going to say, like, yeah, I was going to go fly the Space Shuttle. Like, no way, right? Very, very average, but doing just fine. And a lot of guys and gals wanted to go be navigators, and that's great. I looked in the regs, and I learned this as a cadet, and it's helped me in business, too. If there's a rule, there's a waiver. Like, let me understand the regs, and I asked to go to a board. Instead of just submitting a letter to appeal, I asked to go to a board. And so I went to a board of an O-5 five, couple of threes O-4 four, and ultimately shared the essence of why I shouldn't be terminated in the program. And son of a gun, they agreed, and I still have the letter. The letter says, “Recommend Lt. Ott for reinstatement.” Nobody in my class has that letter, nobody makes the appeal. And I'm like, I'm going downstream. I'm going downstream. And that's the Chicago in me, and that's the piece about… but also move forward, but forgive yourself, and I'll get to that. And so I, I was thrilled, My goodness, and the argument I had is, like, look, you're just not keeping me current. You put me in the sim, and then you're waiting too long to put me in the jet. The regs don't allow for that. And like, you're right. So I'm assigned to go back to the jet. My pals are thrilled. I'm going to stay in the same class. I don't have to wash back. And then I get a call from the DO's office — director of operations — and it was from some civilian person so the DO overrode the board's decision. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:04:12 You were so high, you did all of your work. And then… Mike Ott 1:04:15 Yeah, and then heartbreaking and frustrating, and I guess the word is indignant: anger aroused through frustration. In that I figured it out. I knew exactly what's happening. I made the appeal and I won. And it wasn't I was expecting to be assigned to fly a fighter. It was like, “Just let me, let me express the merits of my capabilities. It's how the system is designed.” The son of a gun, I jumped in my car and I ran to base and I waited and reported in. He didn't really know who I was. That's because he didn't make a decision. It was just it was that decision, and that's how life comes at you. That's just how it is. It isn't linear. So how do you take that and then say, “Well, I'm going to be kind to myself and make something out of it.” And he went through, you know, a dissertation as to why, and I asked him if I could share my views, and it's pretty candid, and I just said, If my dad were something other than the Chicago policeman, and maybe if he was a senator or general officer, I wouldn't be sitting here. That lit him up, right? That lit him up. But I had to state my views. So I knew I was out of the program. Very, very frustrating. Could have had the mayor of Chicago call. Didn't do that, right? Like, OK, I understand where this is it. That was very frustrating and somewhat shaming. But where the forgiveness comes in and be kind to yourself, is that I ran into ground. I ran into ground and drove an outcome where I still… It's a moment of integrity. I drove an outcome like, there you go. But then what do you do? Forgive yourself, right? Because you didn't do anything wrong, OK? And you pivot. And I turned that into a moment where I started cold calling instructors at the Academy. Because, hey, now I owe the Air Force five years, Air Force is looking for, you know, things that I don't want to do. And thank goodness I had an engineering degree, and I cold called a guy at a base in Hanscom. And this is another tap on the shoulder.   Naviere Walkewicz 1:06:24 That's how you got to Hanscom. Gotcha.   Mike Ott 1:06:27 There was a friend who was Class of '83, a woman who was in my squadron, who was there. Great egg. And she's like, “Hey, I was at the O Club.” Called her. I said, “Hey, help me out. I got this engineering degree. I want to go to one of these bases. Called Lt. Col. Davis, right? I met him at the O Club. I called a guy, and he's like, “Yeah, let's do this.”   Naviere Walkewicz 1:06:44 Wow, I love that..   Mike Ott 1:06:46 It was fantastic So it's a long winded way, but progress isn't linear. And progressing through that and not being a victim, right, recognizing the conditions and the environment that I could control and those that I can't. Anything that I could control, I took advantage of and I sought to influence as best possible. Ran into ground and I feel great about it, and it turns out to be a testament of one of my best successes. Naviere Walkewicz 1:07:17 Wow. Thank you for sharing

0:00 Intro0:52 Mark Shaw and Chris Yeager1:00:00 Wrap-upMicah in Addiction CounselingCOUNSEL — https://theaddictionconnection.thinkific.com/Mark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

and the Turd in the Car Recapping The Dead Files Fatal Attachment (Season 2 Episode 1) which aired August 10, 2012.  This week, TAC digs into one of the most haunting (and surprisingly sweet) early episodes of The Dead Files: Fatal Attachment. A small-town dentist's office is plagued by strange activity, a sad little girl spirit, and the looming shadow of an abusive father. Amy and Megan unravel the mystery behind Lavina Wall's tragic story — and discover just how much empathy can tether the living to the dead.Expect stairwell chills, ghost logs, creepy teddy bears, and yes… The Turd in the Car.Haunted dentistry, toxic family secrets, and more than a few laughs — So, grab your radiator moonshine, and join us where… The Activity Continues. Content Warning: In this episode we mention domestic abuse. Also, we swear.  Chapter Markers00:00:00 Intro00:02:11 Overview! 00:03:14 Segment One – The Set Up00:26:35 Segment Two – The Investigation00:41:33 Segment Three – The Reveal00:57:22 Research and Rabbit Holes01:05:30 Outro/Disclaimer Episode links:https://emohealth.org/welcome-dr-grimes/ - he runs a monthly clinic for the uninsured!Article about a para normal group coming in in 2009! Mountain State Paranormal: https://www.hurherald.com/obits.php?id=33967Another article from 2011: (use an ad blocker)https://theresashauntedhistoryofthetri-state.blogspot.com/2011/11/breaking-news-dr-grimes-dental-office.htmlLavina's True storyhttps://theresashauntedhistoryofthetri-state.blogspot.com/2011/11/lavinas-true-storydr-grimes-office-part.htmlBlog about the dental office https://theresashauntedhistoryofthetri-state.blogspot.com/2012/04/dr-grimes-part-3-carlas-story.htmlThe Dead Files Official Podcast: https://pod.link/1642377102 The Activity Continues is a paranormal podcast where soul friends Amy and Megan chat about true crime, ghost stories, hauntings, dreams, and other paranormal stuff including the TV show, The Dead Files. Our recaps are full of recurring jokes about recurring tropes.This episode was recorded on September 24, and released on October 16, 2025. Disclaimer:This podcast is in no way affiliated with Warner Brothers, HBOMax, the Travel Channel, Painless TV, or the TV show The Dead Files or any of its cast or crew. We're just fans who love the show and want to build a community of like-minded people who would enjoy hanging out and discussing the episodes and similar content. Credits:Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg and Megan SimmonsProduction, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC. https://www.collectedsounds.com/ Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by Cannelle Background music: “Beyond the Stars” by Chris Collins Engage!Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (might be read on the show)Newsletter sign-up:  https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/newsletter          Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinues We're on (almost) all the socials too @theactivitycontinues SEND US YOUR PARANORMAL STORIES!Email: theactivitycontinues@gmail.com and maybe it will be read on the show!Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ to leave a message and maybe it will be played on the show! BE OUR GUEST!Are you a The Dead Files client, or a paranormal/spiritual professional, and are interested in being interviewed on our show? Let us know by filling out our guest form:https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/guests/intake/ Affiliates/SponsorsPlease see our Store page for all the links for all our current affiliates. https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/store/  Thank you for listening, take care of yourselves. We'll see you next time!If you want to hear us early and ad-free EVERY week, become a Patron, join our Ghosty Fam and get bonus exclusive episodes! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-activity-continues/exclusive-content

The “most important fish in the sea” just exposed one of the biggest management failures in decades. A new assessment shows Atlantic menhaden quotas were set 300 million pounds too high. The fallout could reshape both the Atlantic and Gulf fisheries — and what happens next is up to us. Our Association stands firm on three statements: (1) The Atlantic fishery needs to "take the cut", and the industrial reduction fleet needs to front a majority of that reduction. We can no longer accept half the coastwide TAC being taken from the Chesapeake Bay. (2) The Gulf fishery lacks a TAC/Quota. It is shocking that an industrial operation of this scale has no upper limit in 2025. This can no longer be true. (3) Buffer zones should not be repealed in any capacity.

0:00 Intro0:52 Mark Shaw and Jim Quigley20:00 Wrap-upMicah in Addiction CounselingCOUNSEL — https://theaddictionconnection.thinkific.com/Mark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast20:00 Wrap-upCOUNSEL — https://theaddictionconnection.thinkific.com/Mark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

Dan Fitzgerald is the Founder of the 40Forty Padel Club, a company bringing one of the world's fastest growing sports to South Carolina and beyond. A Citadel graduate and former Army Infantry Officer, Dan went on to serve as a TAC officer at West Point, teach leadership, and build executive teams as a recruiter before discovering padel during his travels to South America. Hooked from the very first game, Dan saw an opportunity to introduce the sport to the U.S. market in a way that was both affordable and community-driven. Today, he leads 40Forty Padel Club with the mission to make padel accessible, grow the sport across universities and population centers, and create spaces where people connect through play, fitness, and community. In this episode of the SABM podcast, Scott chats with Dan about: The Rise of Padel: Why this international sport is exploding worldwide and how it differs from tennis, pickleball, and racquetball.  Founding 40Forty Padel Club: Dan's journey from Citadel cadet to Army officer, to entrepreneur building the first designated paddle club in South Carolina. Building Community: How paddle brings together men and women of all ages, fostering friendships, fitness, and healthy competition. Scaling Strategy: Starting with two courts at the Pickle Yard in Malden this fall, then expanding to a flagship six-to-eight-court facility. Long-Term Vision: Positioning paddle as an NCAA and Olympic sport, while growing clubs regionally and nationally through partnerships and creative land use. Timestamps: 00:31 The Correct Pronunciation: Paddle or Padel? 02:24 Founding 40 40 Paddle Club 04:02 Discovering Paddle: A Personal Journey 05:29 What is Paddle? 07:44 The Growth and Popularity of Paddle 10:19 Launching 40 40 Paddle Club 16:15 Future Plans and Expansion 29:03 Community Building and Health Benefits 32:08 Challenges and Opportunities 37:32 Conclusion and Contact InformationConnect with Dan: LinkedIn | Dan Fitzgerald www.40fortypadel.com  info@40fortypadel.com | dan.fitzgerald@40fortypadel.com  If you found value in today's episode, don't keep it to yourself—share it with a colleague or friend who could benefit. And if you're a Service Academy graduate ready to elevate your business, we'd love for you to join our community and get started today. Make sure you never miss an episode subscribe now and help support the show: Apple Podcasts Spotify Leave us a 5-star review! A special thank you to Dan for joining me this week. Until next time! -Scott Mackes, USNA '01

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast50:00 Wrap-uphttps://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-drivingMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

The Footy pod tries to talk itself into a Brisbane Grand Final tip and there is SO much W on!!! Marnie's been working on a really important piece this week. It's about the increase in calls to domestic violence support services that coincides with Grand Final weekend. We discuss it on pod this week, and you can read about it here:  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-24/increased-rates-of-gender-based-violence-during-football-finals/105809996 This episode of The Footy is brought to you by the TAC - “Stop Kidding Yourself – If you drink, don't drive. A message from the TAC”

durée : 00:05:49 - Tanguy Pastureau maltraite l'info - par : Tanguy Pastureau - Doit-on, quand on est comédien, partager tout ce que disait la personnalité qu'on incarne dans un biopic ? Vous avez douze heures. Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

Bài Giảng: Sự thất vọng có thể rất nguy hiểmDiển giả: David WilkersonChuyển ngữ: Đội ngũ Ba-rúcMục sư David Wilkerson cảnh báo về những nguy hiểm thuộc linh khi để sự thất vọng biến thành đau khổ và vô tín. Lấy Môi-se và dân Y-sơ-ra-ên làm ví dụ, ông cho thấy cách chúng ta phản ứng với những thất vọng không thể tránh khỏi trong cuộc sống quyết định việc chúng ta kinh nghiệm sự giải cứu của Chúa hay đồng vắng thuộc linh.Thực tế về sự thất vọng• Mọi người đều phải đối mặt với những thất vọng trong hôn nhân, công việc, gia đình, sức khỏe hoặc đời sống tâm linhHai lựa chọn quan trọng• Khi thất vọng, chúng ta phải chọn giữa việc từ bỏ trong tuyệt vọng hoặc tin cậy Chúa hoàn toànNguy hiểm của sự vô tín• Sự đau khổ kéo dài dẫn đến việc chúng ta không còn nghe được những lời hứa của Chúa nữa.Sự thành tín của Chúa• Chúa không khiển trách những sự yếu đuổi của chúng taCái giá của việc chối bỏ đức tin• Dân Y-sơ-ra-ên đã lãng phí 38 năm trong hoang mạc vì họ không chịu tinLời kêu gọi tin cậy Chúa• Quyền năng toàn năng của Chúa được thể hiện qua Thánh Linh ngự trị trong lòng chúng ta---------------------------------The Giang Luan Kinh Thanh (Biblical Preaching) YouTube channel is dedicated to providing biblically faithful sermons and messages from respected Christian speakers. Our content is specifically designed to uplift and support pastors and believers in Vietnam, where access to resources for Christian teaching can be limited. As a non-profit initiative, our mission is to offer encouragement and spiritual guidance to believers striving to serve God in their communities.We would like to inform you that some videos may not have obtained formal copyright permissions prior to translation. We sincerely appreciate the understanding and forgiveness of copyright holders regarding this matter. If you have any concerns or inquiries, please feel free to reach out to us at giangluankinhthanh@gmail.com.---------------------------------Anh chị em có thể nghe bài giảng audio của Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh tại địa chỉ sau:Spotify:   sum.vn/hybeq  Apple podcast:   sum.vn/sccjb  Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh là dự án dịch thuật/lồng tiếng sang tiếng Việt các bài giảng, thông điệp Cơ Đốc kinh điển của những diễn giả đã được thời gian khẳng định và cộng đồng Cơ đốc chung xác nhận. Đây là dự án phi lợi nhuận nhằm cung cấp nguồn tư liệu cho các tôi tớ cùng con dân Chúa tham khảo và sử dụng miễn phí. Để hiểu hơn về chúng tôi vui lòng truy cập website :  giangluankinhthanh.net  Đội ngũ Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoan nghênh mọi đề nghị cộng tác của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong các lĩnh vực như dịch thuật, lồng tiếng, quảng bá, cầu thay, v.v. Nếu quý con cái Chúa sẵn lòng đóng góp công sức của mình vào bất cứ lĩnh vực nào, cùng đồng công trong những sứ điệp giúp tỉnh thức nhiều người.Xin vui lòng điền thông tin cá nhân vào biểu mẫu sau: Kênh Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoạt động vì các mục tiêu phi lợi nhuận, không phát quảng cáo. Vì vậy, chúng tôi mong tiếp tục nhận được sự dâng hiến và ủng hộ của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong việc phát triển kênh. Quý vị có thể dâng hiến theo thông tin trong biểu mẫu sau:   sum.vn/zz19m  Nếu bạn muốn dâng hiến cho các hoạt động của Kênh, xin vui lòng chuyển khoản cho chúng tôi vào số tài khoản dưới đây:Tên tài khoản: Nguyen Thanh Tung - Nguyen Dinh HungSố tài khoản VND: 0010174709250 Số tài khoản USD: 0200143705194 Tên ngân hàng: Ngân hàng MB Bank – Chi nhánh Hoài Đức (Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank - Hoai Duc Branch)SWIFT CODE: MSCBVNVXXin chân thành cảm ơn!#Giangluankinhthanh #DavidWilkerson #thatvong #channan #baigiangtinlanh #baigiangkinhthanh #doisongchienthang

Bài Giảng: Sự thất vọng có thể rất nguy hiểmDiển giả: David WilkersonChuyển ngữ: Đội ngũ Ba-rúcMục sư David Wilkerson cảnh báo về những nguy hiểm thuộc linh khi để sự thất vọng biến thành đau khổ và vô tín. Lấy Môi-se và dân Y-sơ-ra-ên làm ví dụ, ông cho thấy cách chúng ta phản ứng với những thất vọng không thể tránh khỏi trong cuộc sống quyết định việc chúng ta kinh nghiệm sự giải cứu của Chúa hay đồng vắng thuộc linh.Thực tế về sự thất vọng• Mọi người đều phải đối mặt với những thất vọng trong hôn nhân, công việc, gia đình, sức khỏe hoặc đời sống tâm linhHai lựa chọn quan trọng• Khi thất vọng, chúng ta phải chọn giữa việc từ bỏ trong tuyệt vọng hoặc tin cậy Chúa hoàn toànNguy hiểm của sự vô tín• Sự đau khổ kéo dài dẫn đến việc chúng ta không còn nghe được những lời hứa của Chúa nữa.Sự thành tín của Chúa• Chúa không khiển trách những sự yếu đuổi của chúng taCái giá của việc chối bỏ đức tin• Dân Y-sơ-ra-ên đã lãng phí 38 năm trong hoang mạc vì họ không chịu tinLời kêu gọi tin cậy Chúa• Quyền năng toàn năng của Chúa được thể hiện qua Thánh Linh ngự trị trong lòng chúng ta---------------------------------The Giang Luan Kinh Thanh (Biblical Preaching) YouTube channel is dedicated to providing biblically faithful sermons and messages from respected Christian speakers. Our content is specifically designed to uplift and support pastors and believers in Vietnam, where access to resources for Christian teaching can be limited. As a non-profit initiative, our mission is to offer encouragement and spiritual guidance to believers striving to serve God in their communities.We would like to inform you that some videos may not have obtained formal copyright permissions prior to translation. We sincerely appreciate the understanding and forgiveness of copyright holders regarding this matter. If you have any concerns or inquiries, please feel free to reach out to us at giangluankinhthanh@gmail.com.---------------------------------Anh chị em có thể nghe bài giảng audio của Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh tại địa chỉ sau:Spotify:   sum.vn/hybeq  Apple podcast:   sum.vn/sccjb  Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh là dự án dịch thuật/lồng tiếng sang tiếng Việt các bài giảng, thông điệp Cơ Đốc kinh điển của những diễn giả đã được thời gian khẳng định và cộng đồng Cơ đốc chung xác nhận. Đây là dự án phi lợi nhuận nhằm cung cấp nguồn tư liệu cho các tôi tớ cùng con dân Chúa tham khảo và sử dụng miễn phí. Để hiểu hơn về chúng tôi vui lòng truy cập website :  giangluankinhthanh.net  Đội ngũ Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoan nghênh mọi đề nghị cộng tác của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong các lĩnh vực như dịch thuật, lồng tiếng, quảng bá, cầu thay, v.v. Nếu quý con cái Chúa sẵn lòng đóng góp công sức của mình vào bất cứ lĩnh vực nào, cùng đồng công trong những sứ điệp giúp tỉnh thức nhiều người.Xin vui lòng điền thông tin cá nhân vào biểu mẫu sau: Kênh Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoạt động vì các mục tiêu phi lợi nhuận, không phát quảng cáo. Vì vậy, chúng tôi mong tiếp tục nhận được sự dâng hiến và ủng hộ của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong việc phát triển kênh. Quý vị có thể dâng hiến theo thông tin trong biểu mẫu sau:   sum.vn/zz19m  Nếu bạn muốn dâng hiến cho các hoạt động của Kênh, xin vui lòng chuyển khoản cho chúng tôi vào số tài khoản dưới đây:Tên tài khoản: Nguyen Thanh Tung - Nguyen Dinh HungSố tài khoản VND: 0010174709250 Số tài khoản USD: 0200143705194 Tên ngân hàng: Ngân hàng MB Bank – Chi nhánh Hoài Đức (Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank - Hoai Duc Branch)SWIFT CODE: MSCBVNVXXin chân thành cảm ơn!#Giangluankinhthanh #DavidWilkerson #thatvong #channan #baigiangtinlanh #baigiangkinhthanh #doisongchienthang

The impact of Wacky Willy Wednesday has spread all the way to the Midday Madness towers in South Melbourne. Alerted to the success of Wacky Willy, The Pipe himself, Dwayne Russell, stops by for a look. Pipe - we are so very sorry. This episode of The Footy is brought to you by the TAC - “Stop Kidding Yourself – If you drink, don't drive. A message from the TAC”

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upAbout Fishers Farm (Watch) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkx3ybzaBM&t=84sMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

Recorded at TAC's 2025 Legislative Conference, this episode of Texas County Voice takes you behind the scenes with Texas county leaders sharing stories from the frontlines. Join us for insights on the legislation that made it through this year's Legislature and what it means for counties across the state. Related Resources:  Texas leadership at the National Association of Counties Travis County's Men as Allies program 

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

In this spirited crossover episode, Amy and Megan from The Activity Continues team up with Becky and Diana, the paranormal powerhouses behind Homespun Haints.We talk ghost stories, unexpected spirit encounters, DIY hauntings, and what it's really like making spooky podcasts from inside our own haunted corners of the world.There's laughter. There's side-eye. There's a cello story that will live in podcast infamy. (Sorry, Megan.)Whether you're a longtime TAC listener or a curious Haint dropping by for the first time — welcome to the weirdness.Grab your EMF detector and a strong cup of something witchy. It's about to get haunted.Connect with Our Guestshttps://homespunhaints.com/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/homespunhaints Here's their episode with the Irish Ghosts! https://homespunhaints.com/ghosts-of-ballylough-house-northern-irelandChapter Markers00:00:00 Intro/Housekeeping/Gab00:03:57 Dennis and the Meth Gators 00:05:32 Tech Goblin Madness Begins00:05:56 Appalachian Lore00:13:33 Diana's Lips and more00:16:16 Souvenir Tips00:19:15 Music Lessons00:22:47 Becky's Haunting Stories00:33:10 Spiders00:35:01 Ghostly Office Ghost00: 35:31 Diana's Haunting Stories00:46:01 Live Séance00:50:48 Tech Goblins Strike Again and Stop the Recording00:51:25 Chin Hairs and Lessons from Mom01:11:49 Haunted South01:18:03 Ghost Hunting at the Psychic's Office01:27:37 Outro Credits:Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg and Megan SimmonsGuests: Becky Kilimnik and Diana Doty, Homespun HaintsProduction, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC.Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by Melissa West Engage!Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (might be read on the show)Newsletter sign-up: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/newsletter          Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinues Support the show, get bonus episodes, and unlock chaos.We're on (almost) all the socials too @theactivitycontinues BE OUR GUEST!Are you a The Dead Files client, or a paranormal/spiritual professional, and are interested in being interviewed on our show? Let us know by filling out our guest form:https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/guests/intake/ Affiliates/SponsorsPlease see our Store page for all the links for all our affiliates. https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/store/ The Activity Continues is a paranormal podcast where soul friends, Amy and Megan chat about ghost stories, haunts, dreams, and other supernatural and paranormal stuff including the TV show, The Dead Files. Our recaps are full of recurring jokes about recurring tropes. We also occasionally do interviews with people from the metaphysical world, as well as Dead Files clients. This episode was recorded on August 20, 2025 released on September 18, 2025. Thank you for listening, take care of yourselves. We'll see you next time!If you want to hear us early and ad-free EVERY week, become a Patron, join our Ghosty Fam and get bonus exclusive episodes! https://www.patreon.com/theactivitycontinuesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-activity-continues/exclusive-content

✨ Nuevo episodio de El Backstage

Broden and Tom recorded this shortly after landing in Australia, off very little sleep. How do you reckon it goes? This episode of The Footy is brought to you by the TAC - “Stop Kidding Yourself – If you drink, don't drive. A message from the TAC"

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

The boys are in Wellington so they do New Zealand accents off the top and, to be honest, it's pretty full on. Stop Kidding Yourself – If you drink, don't drive. A message from the TAC

0:00 Intro0:52 Podcast24:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

0:00 Intro1:15 Podcast9:07 Wrap-upMark E. Shaw, D.Min., founded The Addiction Connection in 2012 and is the author of 30 publications on addictions and biblical counseling. He serves as Nocatee Campus Pastor of Counseling at First Baptist Church Jacksonville (FL).Bible study on handling God's truth

BEST OF TST: Three key details inform us that the recent, 2017 and onward, reporting on the UFO/UAP is nothing but a rewriting of the historical narrative using archaic psychological military-intelligence scripts. One, that AATIP spent only $22 million on research between 2012 and 2017, which pales in comparison with government waste, especially for a subject so critical for air safety and national security. Two, the curated cases investigated by the ODNI and DOD-AARO ignore countless credible global reports about the same. Three, the nature of the reporting and investigation are methods of “education” and “debunking” as laid out by the intelligence and military communities back in a 1953 Report called Robertson Panel. Compare that report with statements from the ODNI today:“That the evidence presented on Unidentified Flying Objects shows no indication that these phenomena constitute a direct physical threat to national security...”The ODNI reports says, “UAP continue to represent a hazard to flight safety and pose a possible adversary collection threat,” a standard policy for what cannot be identified; but the conclusion that these are only “potential risks” indicates that the risks “it poses as both a safety of flight hazard and potential adversarial activity,” are only potential. There is no actual threat. “We suggest that these aims may be achieved by an integrated program designed to reassure the public of the total lack of evidence of Inimical forces behind the phenomenon, to train personnel to recognize and reject false indications quickly and effectively, and to strengthen regular channels for the evaluation of and prompt reaction to true indications of hostile measures.”The ODNI report says, “AARO has been established as the DoD focal point for UAP... AARO is the single focal point for all DoD UAP efforts, leading a whole-of-government approach to coordinate UAP collection, reporting, and analysis efforts.” In other words, the ODNI statement is a public relations campaign equivalent to the quote above.“That the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the Unidentified Flying Objects of the special status they have been given and the aura of mystery they have unfortunately acquired…”This is precisely the goal of AARO and the reclassification of UFO to UAP, which relates to the next line from the 1953 report: “The Panel's concept of a broad educational program integrating efforts of all concerned agencies was that it should have two major aims: training and ‘debunking'.”It says that the, “basis of such education would be actual case histories which had been puzzling at first but later explained... Recent cases are probably much more susceptible to explanation than older ones; first, because of ATIC's experience and, secondly, their knowledge of most plausible explanations.”And this is why the Tic Tac has been so popular; the story is old enough to remain distant from proper investigation, but new enough to provoke interest. With the declaration by Ross Coulthart that the object is Lockheed Martin technology, the UAP movement has fulfilled the 1953 agenda. A recent case with a history, at first seen as puzzling but then later explained. The 1953 report further suggested employing psychologists, including Dr. Hadley Cantril, who wrote the study of the panic that followed the Orson Welles WOW broadcast in 1938, a story that took place in the area where the recent New Jersey drone sightings also occurred. When the Pentagon's UFO Mythology script was leaked in 2025, coupled with the AARO discovery that the USAF gave fake classified material to commanders, it became clear that all the congressional investigations were nothing short of a ruse. The discrediting of the whistleblowers did not so much discredit them as it did the role they served. The 2025 Pentagon UAP report reinforced these revelations. The narrative circle is complete. People got too close to UFOs 75 years ago, so the military and intelligence communities intervened to spread dis and mis information, and also to cover up their own programs. The narrative has been re-introduced in 2017 so that it can be misdirected again.Following this up is the revelation of a black goo substance found by a ship captain in Ohio. Is it in anyway related to the Sukunaarchaeum Mirabile (Sukuna-biko-na)? Analysis indicates that it contains “20 DNA sequences,” one of which was completely novel. In the X Files this is the vehicle for an alien virus; in Alien, including Prometheus, it is the life force of the xenomorph and what created mankind; in Venom it is an alien parasite; in District 9 it is a alien bio-agent; in Lucy it represents the merging of consciousness with machines; in Event Horizon it is a portal to hell. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKWEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Broden teaches the pod about 1994's 'Richie Rich' featuring Macaulay Culkin and Tom PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN on the great hot dog v pie footy food debate. This episode of The Footy is brought to you by the TAC - “Stop Kidding Yourself – If you drink, don't drive. A message from the TAC”

MFJJ and Tim Connor sit down to chat about many things including: commanding the shot, impressions of meeting Josh and Sarah Bowmar, TAC stories, and other ramblings. #archery #podcast Josh's Website, save 10% discount code "timc" https://www.podiumarcher.com/ Watch The Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@joshandtim Tim's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TimConnor13 Josh's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@podiumarcher3447 Follow The Guys on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/podiumarcher/