Podcasts about traditionally

It turns out I am not alone in experiencing the magic of back to school energy as an adult.  Have you seen the new trend of creating a personal curriculum?  Traditionally, it's designed to include research and satisfy your curiosity, but in this episode, I'm putting a crafty twist on it.  Let's look at ideas for ramping up creative energy, mastering paper crafting tools, and completing holiday cards.

Traditionally, vision correction surgery has been seen as a permanent change, you do LASIK, PRK, or lens replacement, and that's your new visual baseline. But more and more, people want to know they have an “exit strategy” if they're not happy with the outcome. It's not that they expect to be unhappy, in fact, outcomes are excellent, but the idea that there's a safety net makes them more comfortable moving forward. Our expert today was Dr Arthur Cummings, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and Medical Director at the Wellington Eye Clinic.

Matt Miles is a Political Science professor at Brigham Young University–Idaho and a co-host of This Week in Mormons and the Latter-day Lens podcasts. Links Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community Religious Identity in US Politics The Latter-day Lens podcast This Week in Mormons Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community Highlights This discussion centers on a research-backed framework for measuring religiosity, moving beyond traditional metrics to focus on the transformative effects of faith on an individual's life. Beyond the Three B's: Traditionally, religiosity has been measured by "the three B's": Behavior (what a person does), Belonging (their social connections), and Belief (their convictions). Matt Miles argues that these are insufficient measures of genuine faith. The Fourth B: Becoming: A more accurate measure is "religious becoming"—the extent to which a person has been transformed by their faith. This concept suggests that true religiosity is not just about actions but about internal change. Four Aspects of Transformation: Based on his research, Miles identified four universal traits that indicate "religious becoming": Transcendence (a connection to the divine), Humanity (love for others), Justice (a belief in fairness), and Temperance (humility). Faith and Political Tolerance: The research shows that individuals with higher scores in "religious becoming" are more politically tolerant. They are less likely to view those with opposing political views as a threat, in contrast to those whose faith is measured only by the "three B's." Challenges of Genuine Change: The episode highlights the difficulty for leaders and parents in discerning whether someone has truly been transformed by the gospel or is simply going through the motions. Leadership Applications Leaders should focus on teaching a "holistic gospel" that emphasizes the principles of "becoming," rather than just providing a checklist of behaviors. This encourages genuine internal change over external compliance. The discussion suggests that the Church is effective at teaching "transcendence" (connection to God) but could improve at teaching "humanity" (love for others) and "temperance" (humility). Leaders can apply this insight by creating more opportunities for members to serve others and develop empathy. The research on political tolerance can help leaders foster more charitable and understanding discussions within their wards and stakes, particularly on sensitive topics. The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

What is the center of Paul's theology? Traditionally, Protestants taught that justification by faith was the center. More recently, scholars proposed reconciliation, union with Christ, and transformation as the center. In The Affections of Christ Jesus, Nijay K. Gupta proposes love as the center. “The language of love in one form or another occurs over one hundred times in the Pauline corpus,” he writes. “Furthermore, every single letter contains love language — that cannot be said for other contenders for the so-called center of Paul's thought.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Gupta about what love is and why it may be “the bull's-eye center” of Pauline theology. I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Nijay K. Gupta is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is editor of Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (2nd ed.), The State of Pauline Theology, and most recently, The Affections of Christ Jesus: Love at the Heart of Paul's Theology, published by Eerdmans. ————— This episode of the Influence podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Open When . . . Parenting through Everyday Moments. In Open When . . . Parenting through Everyday Moments, child development professionals and Christian education experts discuss the most common parenting scenarios faced by families today. Readers will be empowered with knowledge, tools, and strategies for navigating the complexities of each issue while also nurturing the child's spirit through scriptural application. For more information about Open When . . . Parenting through Everyday Moments visit MyHealthyChurch.com.

Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal and Dr. Petros Grivas discuss innovative new intravesical therapies and other recent advances in the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: Hello and welcome. I'm Dr. Monty Pal here at the ASCO Daily News Podcast. I'm a medical oncologist and professor and vice chair of academic affairs at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. And I'm really delighted to be your new host here. Today's episode is going to really sort of focus on an area near and dear to my heart, something I actually see in the clinics, and that's bladder cancer. We're specifically going to be discussing non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, which actually comprises about 75% of new cases. Now, in recent years, there's been a huge shift towards personalized bladder-preserving strategies, including innovative therapies and new agents that really are reducing reliance on more primitive techniques like radical cystectomy and radiation therapy. And I'm really excited about this new trend. And really at the forefront of this is one of my dear friends and colleagues, Dr. Petros Grivas. He's a professor in the Department of Medicine and Division of Hematology Oncology at the University of Washington. It's going to take a while to get through all these titles. He's taken on a bunch of new roles. He is medical director of the International Program, medical director of the Local and Regional Outreach Program, and also professor in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Petros, welcome to the program. Dr. Petros Grivas: Thank you so much, Monty. It's exciting for me to be here. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: Just FYI for our audience, our disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode.  We're going to get right into it, Petros. Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, this is a really, really challenging space. We see a lot of recurrence and progression of the disease over time, about 50% to 70% of patients do have some recurrence after initial treatment, and about 30% are ultimately going to progress on to muscle-invasive or metastatic disease. Now, I will say that when you and I were in training, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer was something that was almost relegated to the domain of the urologist, right? They would use treatments such as BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) in a serial fashion. It was rare, I think, for you and I to really enter into this clinical space, but that's all changing, isn't it? I mean, can you maybe tell us about some of the new therapies, two or three that you're really excited about in this space? Dr. Petros Grivas: Monty, you're correct. Traditionally and conventionally, our dear friends and colleagues in urology have been managing patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. The previous term was superficial bladder cancer. Now, it has changed, to your point, to non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. And this has to do with the staging of this entity. These tumors in superficial layers of bladder cancer, not invading the muscularis propria, the muscle layer, which makes the bladder contract for urine to be expelled. As you said, these patients have been treated traditionally with intravesical BCG, one of the oldest forms of immunotherapy that was developed back in the 1970s, and this is a big milestone of immunotherapy development. However, over the years, in the last 50 years, there were not many options for patients in whom the cancers had progression or recurrence, came back after this intravesical BCG. Many of those patients were undergoing, and many of them still may be undergoing, what we call radical cystectomy, meaning removal of the bladder and the lymph nodes around the bladder. The development of newer agents over the last several years has given the patients the option of having other intravesical therapies, intravesical meaning the delivery of drugs, medications inside the bladder, aiming to preserve the bladder, keep the bladder in place. And there are many examples of those agents. Just to give you some examples, intravesical chemotherapy, chemotherapy drugs that you and me may be giving intravenously, some of them can be given inside the bladder, intravesical installation. One example of that is a combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel. These drugs are given in sequence one after the other inside the bladder, and they have seen significant efficacy, good results, again, helping patients keeping the bladder when they can for patients with what we call BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. And again, there's criteria that the International Bladder Cancer Group and the FDA developed, how to define when BCG fails, when we have BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: And we're actually going to get into some of the FDA requirements and development pathways and so forth. What I'm really interested in hearing, and I'm sure our audience is too, are maybe some of the new intravesical treatments that are coming around. I do think it's exciting that the gemcitabine and docetaxel go into the bladder indeed, but what are some of the top new therapies? Pick two or three that you're excited about that people should be looking out for in this intravesical space. Dr. Petros Grivas: For sure, for sure. In terms of the new up-and-coming therapies, there are a couple that come to mind. One of them is called TAR-200, T-A-R 200. This agent is actually a very interesting system. It's an intravesical delivery of a chemotherapy called gemcitabine, the one that I just mentioned a few minutes ago, that is actually being delivered through what we call a pretzel, which is like a rounded [pretzel-shaped] structure working like an osmotic pump, and that is being delivered inside the bladder intravesically by urologists. And this drug is releasing, through the osmotic release mechanism, this chemotherapeutic drug, gemcitabine, inside the bladder. And this can be replaced once every 3 weeks in the beginning. And the data so far from early-phase trials are really, really promising, showing that this agent may be potentially regulatory approved down the road. So TAR-200 is something to keep in mind. And similarly, in the same context, there is a different drug that also uses the same mechanism, and this osmotic release, this pretzel, it's just encoded with a different agent. The different agent is an FGFR inhibitor, a target therapy called erdafitinib, a drug that you and me may give in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma if they have an FGFR3 mutation or fusion. And that drug is called TAR-210. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: And can I ask you, in that setting, do you have to have an FGFR3 mutation to receive it? Or what is the context there? Dr. Petros Grivas: So for TAR-210, TAR-2-1-0, usually there is a checking to see if there is an FGFR3 mutation or fusion. And the big question, Monty, is do we have adequate tissue, right? From a limited tissue on what we call the TURBT, right, that urologists do. And now there is a lot of development in technology, for example, urine circulating tumor DNA to try to detect these mutations in the urine to see whether the patient may be eligible for this TAR-210. Both of those agents are not FDA approved, but there are significant promising clinical trials. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: So now let's go to a rapid-fire round. Give us two more agents that you're excited about in this intravesical space. What do you think? Dr. Petros Grivas: There is another one called cretostimogene. It's a long name. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: They really make these names very easy for us, don't they? Dr. Petros Grivas: They are not Greek names, Monty, I can tell you, you know. Even my Greek language is having trouble pronouncing them. The cretostimogene, it's actually almost what we call a growth factor, a GM-CSF. The actual name of this agent is CG0070. This is a replicating mechanism where GM-CSF is replicating in cells. And this agent has shown significant results again, like the TAR-200, in BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. I would say very quickly, two agents that actually were recently approved and they're already available in clinical practice, is nadofaragene firadenovec, another long name. That's a non-replicating vector that has the gene of interferon alfa-2b that stimulates the immune system in the bladder. It's given once every 3 months. And the last one that was, as I mentioned, already FDA approved, it's an interleukin-15 superagonist. It's another long name, which is hard to pronounce, but I will give it a try. It's a drug that was recently actually approved also in the UK. The previous name was N-803. It's given together with BCG as a combination for BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: This is a huge dilemma, I think, right? Because if you're a practicing, I'm going to say urologist for the moment, I guess the challenge is how do you decide between an IL-15 superagonist? How do you decide between a pretzel-eluting agent? How do you decide between that and maybe something that's ostensibly, I'm going to guess, cheaper, like gemcitabine and docetaxel? What's sort of the current thinking amongst urologists? Dr. Petros Grivas: Multiple factors play into our account when the decision is being made. I discuss with urologists all the time. It's not an easy decision because we do not have head-to-head comparisons between those agents. As you mentioned, intravesical chemotherapy with gemcitabine and docetaxel has been used over the years and this is the lowest cost, I would say, the cheapest option with good efficacy results. Obviously, the nadofaragene firadenovec every 3 months and the interleukin-15 superagonist, N-803, plus BCG have also been approved. The question is availability of those agents, are they available? Are they reimbursed? Cost of those agents can come into play. Frequency of administration, you know, once every 3 months versus more frequent. And of course, the individual efficacy and toxicity data, preference of the patients; sometimes the provider, the urologist, may have something that they may be more familiar with. But we lack this head-to-head comparison. Of course, I want to make sure I mention that radical cystectomy may still be the option for appropriate patients. So that complicates also the decision making and has to be individualized, customized, and personalized, taking into account all those factors. And there is not one size fitting all. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: So I think we discussed five intravesical therapies. As you point out, and you know, I'm going to get some calls about this: I think I referred to radical cystectomy as being a more primitive procedure. Not true at all. I think it's something that still is, you know, a mainstay of management in this disease space. But I guess it gets even more complicated, am I right, Petros? Because now we have systemic therapies that we can actually apply in this non-muscle invasive setting for at this point, refractory disease. Can you maybe just give us a quick two-minute primer on that? Dr. Petros Grivas: Absolutely, and systemic therapies now come into play, as you said. And a classical example of that, Monty, came from the KEYNOTE-057 trial that we published about 6 years ago. This is intravenous pembrolizumab, given intravascularly, intravenously, as opposed to the previously discussed intravesical administration of agents. Pembrolizumab was tested in that KEYNOTE-057 trial and showed efficacy about, I would say, one out of five patients, about 20%, had a complete response of the tumor in the bladder in a year after starting the treatment. Again, it's hard to compare across different agents, but obviously when we give something intravenously, there is a risk of toxicity, side effects systemically, what we call immune-related adverse events. And this can also play in the decision making, right? When you have intravesical agents versus intravascular agents, there is different toxicity profiles in terms of systemic toxicity. But intravenous pembrolizumab has been an option, FDA approved, since, if I remember, it was early 2020 when this became FDA approved. There are other agents being tested in this disease, but like atezolizumab through the SWOG study that Dr. Black and Dr. Singh led, but atezolizumab is not FDA approved for this indication. Again, this is for BCG unresponsive, high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: So maybe teach us how it works, for instance, at an expert center like the Fred Hutch. When you see a patient with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, there's obviously the option of surgery, there's the intravesical therapies, which I imagine the urology team is still really at the helm of. But then, I guess there has to be consideration of all options. So you've got to bring up systemic therapy with agents like pembrolizumab. In that context, are you involved that early on in the conversation? Dr. Petros Grivas: That's a great discussion, Monty. Paradigm is shifting as we mentioned together. The urologists have been treating these patients and still they are the mainstay of the treaters, the managers in this disease. But medical oncologists come to play more and more, especially with the FDA approval of intravenous pembrolizumab about 5 years ago [GC1]  [KM2] . We have the concept of multidisciplinary bladder cancer clinic here at Fred Hutch and University of Washington. This happens every Tuesday morning, and we're very excited because it's a one-stop shop for the patients. We have the urologist, a medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, and experts from radiology and pathology, and we all review cases specifically with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. But every now and then, we see patients with BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. And this is where we discuss and we talk to the patient about pros and cons of all those options. And that's a classic example where medical oncologists may start to see those patients and offer their input and expertise. In addition to that, sometimes we have clinical trials, we may see these patients because there are systemic agents that may be administered in this setting. We have the SunRISe trial program that includes also a systemically administered checkpoint inhibitor. So that's another example where we see patients either in the context of multi-clinic or in individual solo clinics to counsel the patients about the pros and cons of the systemically administered agents in the context of clinical trials. Usually checkpoint inhibitors are the class of agents that are being tested in this particular scenario. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: I can see a scenario where it's really going to require this sort of deep dive, much in the way that we do for prostate cancer, for instance, where the medical oncologist is involved very early on and planning out any sort of systemic therapy component of treatment or at the very least, at least spelling out those options. I think it's going to be really interesting to see what this space looks like 5 or 10 years down the road. In closing, I wanted to go through something that I think is so different in this space, at least for the time being, and that is the paradigm for FDA approval. When you and I have our fellows in the clinics, we always say, “Look, you know, the paradigm in this disease and that disease and the other disease needs to be phase 3 randomized trials, right? Big thousand patient experiences where you're testing clinical endpoints.” That's tough in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, right? Because thankfully, outcomes can actually be quite good, you know, in this setting, right? It's tough to actually estimate overall survival in some of these early-stage populations. Tell me what the current regulatory bar is, and this is a tough thing to do in 2 minutes or less but tell me where you see it headed. Dr. Petros Grivas: You alluded to that before, Monty, when I was giving the background and we talked about the regulatory approval. And I have to very quickly go back in time about 10 years ago because it's important for context that can help us in other disease types too. We had workshops with the FDA and the NCI with the help of the International Bladder Cancer Group and other colleagues. And we try to define a framework, what endpoints are meaningful for those patients in this disease. It was a multidisciplinary, multiple stakeholders meeting, where we tried to define what is important for patients. What are the available agents? What are the trial designs we can accept? And what are the meaningful endpoints that the regulatory agencies can accept for regulatory approval? And that was critical in that mission because it allowed us to design clinical trials, for example, single-arm trials in a disease where there was no standard of care. There was intravesical valrubicin and chemotherapy anthracycline that was approved for many years, but was not practically used in clinical practice, despite being approved, the valrubicin. And because of that, the FDA allowed these single-arm trials to happen. And obviously the endpoint was also discussed in that meeting. For example, for carcinoma in situ, complete response, clinical complete response, because the bladder remains intact in many patients, clinical complete response was a meaningful primary endpoint, also duration of response is also very important. So what is the durable clinical complete response in 1 year or 18 months is relevant. And when you have papillary tumors like Ta or T1 with CIS, for papillary tumors, event-free survival becomes one of the key endpoints and you look at it over time, for example, at 12 or 18 months, what is the event-free survival? So clinical complete response, duration of response, event-free survival, depending on the CIS presence or papillary tumors, I think these are endpoints that have allowed us to design those trials, get those agents approved.  Now, the question going forward, Monty, and we can close with that is, since now we have the embarrassment of riches, many more options available compared to where we were 6 and 7 years ago, is now the time to do randomized trials? And if we do randomized trials, which can be the control group? Which of those agents should be allowed to be part of the control group? These are ongoing discussions right now with the NCI, with other agencies, cooperative groups, trying to design those trials and move forward from here.[GC3]  Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: Well, it's awesome to have you here on the program so we can get some early looks into some of these conversations. I mean, clearly, you're at the table at a lot of these discussions, Petros. So I want to thank you for sharing your insights with us today. This was just tremendous. Dr. Petros Grivas: Thank you, Monty. You know, patients in the center, I just came back from the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network meeting in Washington, D.C., and we discussed all those questions, the topics you very eloquently mentioned and asked me today, and patients gave us great feedback and patients guide us in that effort. Thank you so, so much for having me and congratulations for the amazing podcast you're doing. Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal: Oh, cheers, Petros, thanks so much.  And thank you to the listeners who joined us today. If you really like the insights that you heard on this ASCO Daily News Podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks, everyone. Disclaimer: The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.   Find out more about today's speakers:      Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal  @montypal  Dr. Petros Grivas @PGrivasMDPhD   Follow ASCO on social media:     @ASCO on Twitter    ASCO on Bluesky   ASCO on Facebook     ASCO on LinkedIn     Disclosures:    Dr. Sumanta (Monty) Pal:   Speakers' Bureau: MJH Life Sciences, IntrisiQ, Peerview  Research Funding (Inst.): Exelixis, Merck, Osel, Genentech, Crispr Therapeutics, Adicet Bio, ArsenalBio, Xencor, Miyarsian Pharmaceutical  Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Crispr Therapeutics, Ipsen, Exelixis  Dr. Petros Grivas: Consulting or Advisory Role: Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Pfizer, Janssen, Roche, Astellas Pharma, Gilead Sciences, Strata Oncology, Abbvie, Bicycle Therapeutics Replimune, Daiichi Sankyo, Foundation Medicine, Bicycle Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, Urogen Pharma, Tyra Biosciences Research Funding (Inst.): Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, EMD Serono, Gilead Sciences, Acrivon Therapeutics, ALX Oncology, ALX Oncology, Genentech Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Gilead Sciences

In this season of Building Better Developers with AI, hosts Rob Broadhead and Michael Meloche revisit a past topic: 'Transform Your Projects: The Ultimate Guide to Effective User Stories.' This episode offers a fresh perspective on how teams can achieve greater success by writing better user stories. The hosts initially tackled this subject in an earlier season, but they return to it because the challenge remains timeless: poorly written user stories continue to derail software projects. This time, they dive deeper into lessons learned, customer-centric approaches, and frameworks that make user stories truly work. Why Writing Better User Stories Still Matters Rob opens with a familiar frustration: sitting in sprint planning and realizing the user stories don't make sense. Vague requirements create confusion, rework, and wasted effort. A user story is not a specification—it's a promise for a conversation that builds shared understanding. By writing better user stories, teams maintain focus on outcomes, rather than implementation. They deliver features that users actually need, instead of technical solutions that fall short. The Philosophy of Writing Better User Stories User stories should always: Stay customer-centric by focusing on what the user wants, not the technical details. Break down work into small, manageable chunks that improve agility and estimation. Emphasize outcomes over implementation, avoiding the trap of data tables and CSS classes too early. Rob illustrates this with the ATM example: “As a customer, I want to withdraw cash so that I can access money in my account.” This keeps the story grounded in the user's experience. The Anatomy of Writing Better User Stories At the core of writing better user stories is a simple formula that makes requirements clear and human: As a [user role] I want [goal] So that [reason] This framework ensures that every story is tied directly to a user's perspective, their needs, and the value they'll receive. However, strong stories extend beyond this sentence structure. Rob and Michael highlight two key frameworks that add depth and clarity: The Three C's – Card, Conversation, and Confirmation, which explain how stories spark dialogue and define “done.” The INVEST Model – Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable- is a checklist that helps teams evaluate whether a story is ready to move forward. Finally, one important reminder: each story should only have one meaning. If a story can be interpreted in multiple ways—or contains “if/then” scenarios—it should be split into smaller, more focused stories. This keeps the backlog clean and avoids confusion later in development. The Three C's of Writing Better User Stories 1. Card The card represents the user story itself. Traditionally, teams would write stories on index cards. Today, tools like Jira, Trello, or Asana take their place. The key is that the card is just a placeholder for a conversation, not the entire requirement. It captures the essence of the story but leaves room for discussion. 2. Conversation The conversation is where the real value happens. Developers, product owners, and stakeholders discuss the story, ask clarifying questions, and uncover details that weren't written down. These discussions ensure that the team shares a common understanding of the user's needs. Without this step, the story risks being too vague or misinterpreted. 3. Confirmation The confirmation defines how the team knows the story is complete. This typically takes the form of acceptance criteria or test cases. Confirmation transforms a story from an idea into a verifiable piece of functionality. It answers the critical question: What does “done” look like? Card captures the idea. Conversation builds the understanding. Confirmation proves the work is complete. The INVEST Model for Writing Better User Stories The INVEST model is a simple but powerful checklist that helps ensure user stories are clear, practical, and actionable. Each letter represents a quality that a strong user story should have. Independent A good user story should stand on its own. That means it can be developed, tested, and delivered without being blocked by another story. Independence reduces dependencies and keeps projects moving smoothly. Negotiable User stories are not contracts carved in stone—they're open to discussion. Teams should be able to negotiate details, scope, and implementation during conversations. This flexibility encourages collaboration and prevents rigid requirements that may not fit real-world needs. Valuable If a story doesn't provide business or user value, it doesn't belong in the backlog. Every story should clearly tie back to outcomes that matter for the end-user or the organization. This keeps the team focused on delivering impact, not just features. Estimable A story should be clear enough that the team can estimate the effort to complete it. If it's too vague or too large, it can't be accurately sized. Estimable stories make sprint planning realistic and help track progress more effectively. Small Stories should be small enough to complete within a single iteration. Large stories, sometimes called “epics,” should be broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Small stories are easier to understand, estimate, and test. Testable Finally, a user story must be testable. The team needs to know how to verify it's “done.” This often takes the form of acceptance criteria or test cases, ensuring the functionality can be validated from the user's perspective. The INVEST model keeps stories clear, focused, and actionable. If a story fails any of these tests, refine it before moving forward. Lessons From the Trenches: Writing Better User Stories in Practice Michael highlights a recurring issue: customers often don't fully understand their “why.” They may use outdated paper trails, redundant processes, or even misuse tools they already own. Sometimes developers must reverse-engineer requirements by observing workflows, asking why at each step, and uncovering hidden pain points. Rob adds that trust plays a huge role—stakeholders may initially follow the “official” process, but only reveal their real practices after rapport is established. Avoiding Common Pitfalls Even with good intentions, stories can fall short when they are: Too vague or incomplete. Disconnected from actual business processes. Written without acceptance criteria. Michael stresses that implied requirements are dangerous. Developers should always strive for clearly defined acceptance criteria that leave no room for ambiguity or uncertainty. Practical Tips for Writing Better User Stories The hosts wrap up with actionable guidance for developers: Speak up – Don't code vague tickets without asking questions. Push for the “so that” – The business value matters most. Write acceptance criteria – Define what “done” means. Break down big stories – Smaller, testable stories are easier to validate. Stay user-focused – Keep technical details in subtasks, not in the story. Example: Bad: Add a contact form. Good: As a potential customer, I want to fill out a contact form with my name, email, and message, so that I can get in touch with the company about their services. This richer story sparks the right questions: Which fields are required? Should multiple contact methods be supported? These clarifications lead to solutions that match real needs. Final Thoughts By revisiting this subject, Rob and Michael remind us that user stories are more than backlog items—they are bridges between developers and customers. Writing better user stories keeps teams aligned, prevents rework, and ensures projects deliver meaningful results. Implied requirements are not good requirements. Defined requirements are good requirements. Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community We invite you to join our community and share your coding journey with us. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting, there's always room to learn and grow together. Contact us at info@develpreneur.com with your questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes. Together, let's continue exploring the exciting world of software development. Additional Resources Updating Developer Tools: Keeping Your Tools Sharp and Efficient Building Your Personal Code Repository Your Code Repository and Ownership of Source – Consulting Tips Using a Document Repository To Become a Better Developer The Developer Journey Videos – With Bonus Content Building Better Developers With AI Podcast Videos – With Bonus Content

This Day in Legal History: George Wallace Calls out the Alabama National GuardOn September 2, 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace once again attempted to defy federal court orders mandating school integration, this time at Tuskegee High School. Just months after his infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” to block Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama, Wallace ordered the Alabama National Guard to surround Tuskegee High in an effort to prevent the enrollment of thirteen Black students. The integration was ordered by a federal court in Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, a pivotal case that would eventually lead to sweeping desegregation across Alabama's public school system.Wallace's use of the state Guard was a direct challenge to federal authority and part of his broader campaign to maintain segregation under the banner of “states' rights.” In response, President John F. Kennedy swiftly invoked his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief and federalized the Alabama National Guard. Once under federal control, the troops were ordered to stand down and return to their barracks, removing the immediate threat of military-enforced segregation.The confrontation at Tuskegee High marked another flashpoint in the broader struggle between federal civil rights enforcement and Southern resistance. Wallace's actions highlighted the lengths to which segregationist officials would go to preserve Jim Crow, even in the face of binding federal court orders. The federal response signaled a growing willingness by the Kennedy administration to use executive power to enforce civil rights rulings on the ground. The Lee v. Macon litigation would go on to become one of the most significant desegregation cases in the post-Brown era, eventually placing all Alabama schools under court supervision. This incident at Tuskegee underscored both the volatility of the era and the legal system's central role in dismantling systemic segregation.Legal technology companies are facing increasing pressure to distinguish themselves from general-purpose AI models like ChatGPT and Claude, which continue to improve in accuracy, usability, and affordability. A recent MIT report highlighted a corporate lawyer who preferred using ChatGPT over a $50,000 specialized contract analysis tool, underlining the dilemma: why pay more for tools that may not perform better? While legal tech startups have attracted about $2.2 billion in investment since 2024—80% of it going to AI-focused ventures—they risk being outpaced unless they can offer superior user experience and domain-specific functionality.Specialized tools often rely on the same large foundation models that power general AI, making differentiation more difficult. However, legal tech firms argue their value lies not in the raw language models but in how they tailor those tools for legal workflows. For example, IP CoPilot identifies patentable ideas—a complex task not easily replicated by general AI. Some legal AI systems, such as Harvey (used by DLA Piper), have gained traction among attorneys, though many still favor ChatGPT.Studies comparing general and legal-specific tools show mixed results: while general models sometimes outperform on clarity or accuracy, niche tools often prove more valuable in daily legal work. Legal tech companies aim to stay ahead by integrating ethical compliance, user-centered design, and security into their offerings. Unlike general models, they can be customized to reflect a law firm's risk appetite or case strategy. Some legal AI tools also incorporate retrieval-augmented generation or are trained solely on legal data, increasing their relevance and precision.Legal Tech Battles to Set Itself Apart From General AI ModelsAs Congress returns from its August recess on September 2, lawmakers face an urgent deadline to fund the government before the current funding expires on September 30. Among the contentious issues is the fate of the IRS budget. House Republicans are pushing to cut $2.8 billion from the agency, particularly targeting funding for tax compliance and blocking resources for the IRS's Direct File tool, which allows free online tax filing. Democrats, meanwhile, are opposing the cuts, citing recent staff layoffs and the need to rebuild the agency's capacity. A temporary funding measure could delay decisions but would disrupt preparations for the next tax season.The Senate has yet to offer a formal counterproposal but has a history of softening House spending cuts, thanks in part to the chamber's 60-vote legislative threshold. Democrats are expected to advocate for continued funding, especially for auditing high-income taxpayers and improving customer service. IRS employees and their union are calling on Congress to fully fund the agency to strengthen enforcement and reduce the deficit.Complicating matters further, several leadership vacancies emerged over the summer, including the IRS chief and a top Treasury post. Nominations are moving slowly, with some being blocked by political disputes, such as over clean energy tax credits. At the same time, Republicans are already considering another tax bill, possibly to amend or expand provisions from the July tax law signed by President Trump. This includes industry-backed changes like increased deductions for pass-through entities and revisiting limits on gambling loss deductions. Expiring tax credits—such as ACA health insurance subsidies—could also trigger legislative action, particularly as midterm elections approach.IRS Funding on Tap as Congress Returns From Summer RecessU.S. District Judge Jia Cobb halted two Trump administration policies that sought to expand fast-track deportations across the country. These policies, enacted in January, allowed immigration authorities to deport non-citizens found anywhere in the U.S. without a court hearing if they couldn't prove two years of continuous residence. Traditionally, expedited removal applied only to migrants caught near the border shortly after entry, but the expansion would have affected millions more already living within the country.Judge Cobb ruled that this broadened approach violated the Fifth Amendment's due process protections, emphasizing that people who had settled in the U.S. had a stronger liberty interest in remaining and were entitled to more than a rushed removal process. She criticized the government for not adapting procedural safeguards for this larger and more established group of immigrants, calling the existing process “skimpy” and likely to result in wrongful deportations.The Department of Homeland Security defended the policy, claiming Trump had legal authority to enforce deportations. However, Cobb refused to delay her ruling pending appeal, effectively stopping the expanded deportation plan immediately. The lawsuit was brought by Make the Road New York, represented by the ACLU. Earlier in the month, Cobb had also blocked another Trump deportation policy targeting immigrants paroled into the U.S. under Biden's humanitarian programs.US judge halts Trump effort to expand fast-track deportations | ReutersA divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that most of President Trump's tariffs are illegal, significantly weakening a cornerstone of his second-term economic policy. The 7–4 decision found that Trump had overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which he used to justify new tariffs in April and February. The court emphasized that IEEPA does not grant the president explicit authority to impose taxes or tariffs, only to regulate or restrict imports during national emergencies.The ruling does not affect tariffs issued under other laws, such as those on steel and aluminum. However, it casts serious doubt on Trump's broader use of tariffs as leverage in foreign policy and trade negotiations. The decision stems from lawsuits brought by small businesses and Democratic-led states arguing that only Congress has the constitutional authority to impose tariffs, and that any delegation of this power must be narrowly defined.The appeals court allowed the tariffs to remain in effect until October 14 to give the administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump criticized the decision as partisan but predicted a reversal. Experts believe the administration was anticipating the ruling and may try to shift its legal strategy. This case now sets the stage for a major Supreme Court confrontation, especially as Trump also challenges the Federal Reserve's independence.Most Trump tariffs are not legal, US appeals court rules | Reuters This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

It's the 1st of September which means Spring has officially sprung! Although we're not sure the weather has caught up with the news. Traditionally spring is all about getting back into the garden and this year the focus seems to be on modern meadow gardens. Mitre 10 Garden Operations Specialist Craig Clancy joins Jesse with tips and tricks.

Traditionally, we have learned that any imbalance in the estrogen: progesterone relationship can trigger irregular uterine bleeding. That makes sense, right? During anovulation, prolonged unopposed estrogen can result in HMB. In such a case, we give progesterone as both a therapeutic as well as diagnostic intervention. On the contrary, with progestin only contraception, we consider estrogen predominant products when progesterone breakthrough bleeding (BTB) occurs to restore endometrial stabilization. But a new RCT (AJOG) adds credence to adding MORE progesterone in cases of progesterone associated BTB. Listen in for details.1. Zigler RE, Madden T, Ashby C, Wan L, McNicholas C. Ulipristal Acetate for Unscheduled Bleeding in Etonogestrel Implant Users: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Oct;132(4):888-894. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002810. PMID: 30130351; PMCID: PMC6153077.2.ANDRADE MCR, et al. Norethisterone for Prolonged Uterine Bleeding Associated with Etonogestrel Implant (IMPLANET): A Randomized Controlled Trial, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2025), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2025.08.029.

For many artists, an art career takes many twists and turns—an adventure shaped by different mediums, jobs, and ways of sustaining creative work  while at the same time, educating oneself with the histories of your chosen path.  On this episode of The Unfinished Print: A Mokuhanga Podcast, I speak with printmaker Charles Spitzack. We talk about his discovery of mokuhanga and how it connects to his broader printmaking practice. Charles shares his early experiences making mokuhanga, his teaching methods, and how his understanding of the medium developed through a Western American perspective. He also speaks about his time at the Mokuhanga Project Space, and his thoughts on the differences between oil-based and water-based mokuhanga. Please follow The Unfinished Print: A Mokuhanga Podcast and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or email me theunfinishedprint@gmail.com Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase. Artists works follow after the note if available. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted. Dimensions are given if known. Print publishers are given if known. Charles Spitzack - website, Instagram Seattle Print Arts - is a printmaking association based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It maintains a membership and is dedicated to the exchange of knowledge related to various printmaking practices. More info can be found, here.  High Point Center for Printmaking -is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is dedicated to increasing the understanding of printmaking and operates a co-op, gallery, and educational programs. More info can be found, here.  Cornish College of the Arts - is an independent art college located in Seattle, Washington, United States. Its programs emphasize experimentation and critical thinking. More info can be found, here.  Mokuhanga (木版画) - is a Japanese word meaning "wood" and "print." Traditionally, it refers to a relief printing method using woodblocks, water, natural handmade papers, and water-based pigments. With the rise of the sōsaku hanga (creative print) movement in the early to mid 20th century, mokuhanga expanded to include works made with Western oil pigments as well. Today, mokuhanga can be difficult to define, as many artists experiment with new approaches while others remain dedicated to traditional water-based methods. This balance between innovation and tradition shows that mokuhanga is limitless, continually evolving while still grounded in its past. sōsaku-hanga - or creative prints, is a style of printmaking which is predominantly, although not exclusively, prints made by one person. It started in the early twentieth century in Japan, in the same period as the shin-hanga movement. The artist designs, carves, and prints their own works. The designs, especially in the early days, may seem rudimentary but the creation of self-made prints was a breakthrough for printmakers moving away from where only a select group of carvers, printers and publishers created woodblock prints.  Stephen Hazel (1934-20120 - was a painter and printmaker based in the Pacific Northwest. He created works on paper, and educated upon the subject. More info can be found, here.  Beautiful Display 10: Beauties of Chinatown (1977) 24" x 17 11/16" Katheleen Rabel - is an American printmaker, painter and sculptor. More info can be found, here.  Penedo Alto (sōsaku hanga) 50″ x 39″ Hideo Hagiwara (1913-2007) - was a mokuhanga printmaker who came of age during the sōsaku hanga period of the mid 20th Century in Japan. He studied printmaking with Un'ichi Hiratsuka (1896-1997). Hagiwara made prints that were expressive of the self and abstract. He taught at Oregon State University in 1967.   Lady No. 6 (1975) 24.75" x 18.25"  kentō - is the registration system used by printmakers in order to line up the colour woodblocks with your key block, or outline block, carved first.   floating kentō - is like the traditional kentō registration technique but is carved on an "L" shaped piece of wood, and not onto the wood block.  monotype print - is a unique print created from an image painted or drawn on a smooth surface, such as glass or metal, and then transferred to paper. Unlike most printmaking methods, where multiple copies of the same image can be produced, a monotype typically has a single, one-of-a-kind image. It's called a "mono" type because it is not part of an edition like traditional prints (e.g., lithographs, etchings), where you can make multiple copies.  Mike Lyon  -  is an American artist. His medium has varied throughout his career such as "square tiles," or "pixels," through to making mokuhanga, monoprinting, and machine-assisted etching, drawing and mezzotint. Mike Lyon also has a large woodblock print collection which he has curated for the public, here. More information about his work can be found, here. Mike's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.  Grass 4 (2010) 77" x 22" Naoko Matsubara - is a Japanese/Canadian contemporary artist, and sculptor, who lives and works in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.  She has focused much of her artistic life on making mokuhanga and has gained critical acclaim for it.  Naoko Matsubara's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.  Conducting (2004) 22.05" × 15.59" Katsutoshi Yuasa - is a Japanese contemporary artist, and sculptor, who works predominantly in mokuhanga. He has  produced an incredible mount of work. Katsu's interview with the Unfinished Print can be found, here.  On The Dawn of Night and Fog (2025) 39.37" in × 78.74" Antonio Frasconi (1919-2013) - was a Urugyuan printmaker who lived and worked in the United States. He cerated coloured woodcuts and was an educator and author. Frasconi's themes could be political in nature. More info can be found, here.  Cows (1955) 7 1/2" x 12 15/16" The Arts and Crafts Movement in America - flourished from the late 19th to early 20th century, emphasizing simplicity of design, and the use of natural materials as a response to industrial mass production. Inspired by the ideals of John Ruskin (1819-1900) and William Morris (1834-1896) in Britain, the movement in the United States was closely tied to architecture, furniture making, and decorative arts, promoting honesty and a functional beauty.  There was a link with social reform, criticizing modernity and industry and fostering communities of makers across the country. In Japan this folk movement was explored in the mingei movement of the early 20th Century.  William S. Rice (1873-1963) - was a painter, educator and woodblock artist from the United States. Having moved to California early in his life, Rice made landscape prints and paintings of California. At the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibition, Rice had a chance to see Japanese mokuhanga in person and was influence by those prints in his woodcuts.  The Windy Summit (1925) 9" x 12" Arthur Wesley Dow (1857-1922) - was an American printmaker who was greatly influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e. He wrote a book on the subject of printmaking called Composition which was published in 1905.    Lily (Ipswich Prints x 1901) 5½" x 4⅛"   Toledo Museum Shin Hanga Exhibitions (1930 & 1936) - were held at the Toledo Museum of Fine Arts in the United States. These two exhibitions played an important role in introducing Japanese woodblock prints to the American market. They were curated by J. Arthur MacLean and Dorothy L. Blair. Artist Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) had traveled to the United States in the 1920s, helping to set the stage for these exhibitions. More info can be found, here.    Walter J. Phillips (1884–1963) - was a British-Canadian printmaker who began his career as a commercial artist. After moving to Canada, he produced etchings, watercolors, and color woodcuts. Influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e, Phillips's prints offer a distinctive view of Canada in the early to mid-20th century.My interview with Sophie Lavoie of The Muse/Lake Of The Woods/Douglas Family Arts Centre about the life and times of Walter J. Phillips can be found, here.      Warren's Landing, Lake Winnipeg (1931) 6.30" × 9.45"   Kathleen Hargrave - is a printmaker and kiln formed glass maker. Kathleen explored various printmaking methods but uses mokuhanga in her practice. Kathleen's mokuhanga is abstract and uses colour in a fantastic way. More info can be found, here.      Resilience 5   Pratt Fine Arts Center - is a nonprofit arts educator in Seattle, Washington. It offers classes and instruction on various artistic expressions such as blacksmithing, glass, jewelry, paintings and printmaking. More info can be found, here.     Mokuhanga Project Space - is a mokuhanga residency located in Walla Walla, Washington, USA. It was established in 2016 and is led by printmaker Keiko Hara. My interview with Keiko Hara and Benjamin Selby of MPS can be found, here. More info can be found, here.    Shoichi Kitamura - is a woodblock carver and printmaker based in Kyoto, Japan. Shoichi has been involved in MI Lab through his demonstrations on carving. More info can be found, here.    Utagawa Kuniyoshi - from The Series Bravery Matched With The Twelve Zodiac Signs. A Modern Reproduction 4.13" x 11.15" (2017) printed and carved by Shoichi Kitamura   April Vollmer - is an established artist who works predominantly in mokuhanga. Her book Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop is one of the most authoritative books on the subject and has influenced many mokuhanga artists. April's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.     It Happened To Me  (1995) 11" x 14"   Andrew Stone - is an American mokuhanga printmaker based in Florence, Italy. He is also a baren maker. The baren is a mokuhanga specific tool. Andrew's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here.    Tutto Bene? (2024)   Davidson Galleries - is a gallery situated in Seattle, Washington. Opening in 1973 Davidson Galleries focus on works on paper. In their stable of artists is Charles Spitzack and Andy Farkas. More info can be found, here.    SGC International - the Southern Graphics Council is a member supported printmaking organization which supports printmakers throughout the world. It is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States. More info can be found, here.    Karen Kunc - is an American printmaker and Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and is based in Nebraska. Karen Kunc works in various artistic and printmaking styles but has worked in mokuhanga for many years. My interview with Karen Kunc for The Unfinished Print can be found, here. More information can be found on her website, here.      Weight of Air (2018) 12" x 24" Woodcut, etching, pochoir, watercolor   Tollman Collection  - is a well known Japanese art gallery located in Daimon, Tokyo, Japan and New York City, NY. More information can be found, here.    Ballinglen - is an arts foundation based in Ballycastle, Co Mayo, Ireland. The groups aim is to "enhance cultural awareness," of North County Mayo. This is done via fellowships, education, exhibitions and workshops. More info can be found, here.    Pomegranate - is a company which sells items such as jigsaw puzzles, holiday cards, etc using different types of artists  and their work in these pieces. More info can be found, here.    Gustave Baumann (1881-1971) - was a colour woodcut printmaker, and painter of German descent who made his life in the United States. More info can be found, here.      Marigolds (1960) colour woodcut 12 7/8" x 12 7/8" © Popular Wheat Productions logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny  Intro music by Oscar Peterson, I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)  from Night Train (1963) Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written or verbal consent. I'm friendly :)  Слава Українi If you find any issue with something in the show notes please let me know.  ***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***                  

There are perhaps more than two ways to experience Charlottesville Community Engagement, but the audio edition is one of the ones that I know about. I'm Sean Tubbs, a journalist who got his professional start as an intern at a public radio station in Roanoke thirty years ago. Before that I spent a couple of years at a student newspaper at Virginia Tech. Somehow all of that led to this time in 2025 when I'm able to produce radio and print stories for an audience that pays me to do the work. Thank you and here's what's coming up in this edition.* Case against Charlottesville's zoning to proceed to trial after Judge Worrell changes position on default (learn more)* A round up of other stories not quite yet ready for a full story (see below for the briefs)* Albemarle Supervisors are briefed on strategic plan report (learn more)* On September 5, groups will mark the 75th anniversary of federal ruling that allowed a Black man to attend UVA law (learn more)* Albemarle Supervisors approve special use permit for private school on Dudley Mountain Road (learn more)Sponsor: Westwind FlowersIt's that time of year we've all been waiting for… Dahlia season!Westwind Flowers in Orange, Virginia believes the blooms in your vase should be just as fresh, and just as local, as the food on your table.Join them in September at their Gordonsville floral studio for their Dahlias & Desserts Workshop—sweet treats, stunning flowers, and serious fun.Then in October, grab your shears and sign up for their Dahlia U-Pick events at their farm… a flower lover's dream come true!But why wait? Order your locally grown, freshly harvested Dahlia bouquets today, delivered straight to your home, your office, or to someone special.Westwind Flowers offers sustainably grown, thoughtfully curated cut flowers, perfectly suited to the season, and the special moments in your life.Learn more at westwindflowers.com.A note of difference with this edition: This particular podcast edition comes at a time when there have been a few developments here and there. Perhaps it would be useful to have a segment of quick stories. This functions as the script for those who likely won't take a listen and longer versions may be in the next regular edition.City Council to consider ban overnight camping ban in Charlottesville public's spacesThe Labor Day holiday means City Council will meet on Tuesday rather than Monday, and the final item on their regular agenda is an ordinance to ban camping and personal storage on city property.“The City Manager shall be guided by City of Charlottesville's interpretation of applicable federal and state law, the safety and dignity of those impacted, and the need to protect public and private property in the City of Charlottesville,” reads the final line of the draft rules.Charlottesville City Police Chief Michael Kochis has proposed the new rules which are being considered less than two months after the White House has issued an executive order that calls for imprisonment of people who cannot find a home.For more information on this story, check out my story on C-Ville Weekly's website but also be sure to read the source materials.Resources:* Staff report for the ordinance* Draft protocol for how the ordinance is to be implemented* The ordinance to prohibit “unpermitted camping on city property”* White House Executive Order titled Ending Crime and Disorder on America's StreetsWhite House withdraws $39 million from Norfolk project for off-shore wind logisticsSince taking office, President Donald Trump has used the power of the federal government to shift away from the use of alternatives to fossil fuel. For instance, on July 7, 2025, the administration issued an executive order titled “Ending Market Distorting Subsidies for Unreliable, Foreign-Controlled Energy Sources.”On Friday, August 29, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy followed through with the termination or withdrawal of $679 million in projects for offshore wind projects. Duffy called such projects a scam.In late October 2023, the Port of Virginia provided an update on its efforts to become the primary logistics center for the Mid-Atlantic to assist Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. This is taking place at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal.Duffy's announcement includes $39.265 million for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port. This was to support the Dominion project which is to consist of the construction of 176 offshore wind turbines situated on a lease site 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. (view the project on Dominion's site)What does this mean to the overall project? Stay tuned.Virginia Senate committee denies confirmation of more UVA Board membersWhen the University of Virginia's Board of Visitors next meets on September 11, there may not be as many members around the table at the Rotunda.On August 28, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee declined to confirm 14 appointees to governing bodies of Virginia's public universities including four to the UVA Board of Visitors. All eight Democrats voted to decline to advance the nominations while all six Republicans voted to do so.The action comes at a time when the Virginia Supreme Court is taking up a lawsuit over a similar denial on June 9 when the committee declined to confirm the appointment of former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Current Attorney General Jason Miyares had advised fellow Republicans and University Rectors that the Senate committee action was not valid.The Senate Democrats on the panel sued and Fairfax County Circuit Court Jonathan D. Frieden agreed to a preliminary injunction barring Cuccinelli from serving as a member of the BOV. He did not attend a meeting in early August and his name is not listed on the BOV website.In late June, Youngkin appointed four more to the Board of Visitors and the newcomers did attend that August meeting. However, their names have also been removed from the BOV website.The Privileges and Elections Committee meeting on August 28 was swift but Republicans on the panel argued that a confirmation vote should wait until after the Virginia Supreme Court weighs in.“Traditionally, if we have something in front of the courts, we allow the court to rule and give them the opportunity to do their job,” said Senator Bill DeSteph (R-8). “And I think that before we vote on this, we should allow the Supreme Court the opportunity to rule on this.”DeSteph said a vote to deny the nominees could be construed as an attempt to influence the Virginia Supreme Court's decision.Senator Adam Ebbins (D-39) noted that none of the people up for appointment were part of the pending lawsuit.Senator Tara Durant (R-27) said she felt the nomination process was becoming politicized.“This is really kind of unprecedented,” Durant said. “We have a long list of people who have got quite a wealth of experience. And I think the broader question it begs is what will happen in the future to dissuade those who are willing to serve the Commonwealth in this capacity?”Committee Chair Aaron Rouse (D-22) responded briefly without much explanation.“We have a job to do as this committee, not only to protect our colleges, universities, but make sure that appointees or potential appointees are upholding the values and principles set forth by members of the Commonwealth, members of this body,” Rouse said.Stay tuned for more on this and other stories.And make sure to check out the Cavalier Daily's coverage as well.The end of 915-AI don't usually post end-notes for the podcast version but this is a hybrid. I wanted to get a newsletter out with the three stories that are reported in this edition, and I'll flesh each out in editions to come. Today could have been a day off, but I know when I chose this career decades ago that such things were not for me. I chose a profession where there's always the potential for something to happen. I call the business Town Crier Productions as a way of explaining the basic function of what I want my journalism to be.I want you to know things and the context in which decisions are made. I want you to consider possibilities you may not have done so before. I believe in this so strongly that I've dedicated my life in the pursuit of this craft. Sure, I make typos. Sure, I make the occasional error. Sure, I maybe don't know when to shut up in these blurbs sometimes.As soon as I hit send and as soon as Leeds v. Newcastle is over, I'm going to lace up my boots and walk somewhere. I don't know where yet but everywhere I walk I will see the examples of previous decisions I've covered in my 20 years here. Whenever I get to where I'm going, I'll keep working. It might be correspondence. It might be thanking subscribers. I may get the second version out of the Town Crier Productions media kit. I may begin writing the Week Ahead. I may write a note to the people doing the Virginia Local News Ecosystem Study to ask why the Cavalier Daily isn't included in their geographic scope. Or maybe I'll just keep trying to make up new sounds for future podcasts. Or maybe I'll just chat with friends?Who knows? All I know is I pledge to always be ready to get to work when I am able. Anyway, Everton looked good today until the end. Wolves were attacking at the end. Here's a review for the two people who read to this point. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Ganesh Chaturthi, the Hindu festival celebrating the birth of the God Ganesh, is being observed across the world. Traditionally, after the festivities, devotees bid farewell to Ganesh by immersing his idols or images in water, a ritual known as 'Ganpati Visarjan'. To make this celebration eco-friendly and sustainable, local councils in Sydney are providing communities with environmentally friendly alternatives. Listen to this podcast featuring Vijay Srinivasa from Sahyadri Sydney to learn more about collective and eco-friendly immersion.

Hello, I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking. Well, the calendar starts a new month and a new season. I have been noticing some of the native plants starting to bloom for the past couple of weeks. Traditionally, Spring is a time of renewal and regrowth, and for those of us living in areas where chills and frosts can settle, it will be good not to have the tingle of cold weather when we venture out in the morning. One of the things that amateur radio is historically known for is experimentation and enjoyment of craft activities. Even in the solid state world, we still have breadboards and construction kits; things embedded in the ethos of the hobby but also valuable learning tools. It seems not too long ago that having a personal computer and a printer was something we could aspire to see in our shacks. Innovation and manufacturing has moved on with 3D printing and laser CNC machines that sit on a bench or table and give the ability to make creations that mere hand tools would never see completed. This got me thinking about having mementoes that could be made to announce our presence and membership to our fellows and the wider world. Just think of the various ways that we can make a name badge these days. Clear epoxy potting of objects can provide exciting decorations and displays of so many items. Colour printers are relatively common in many households, and materials are readily available at various craft shops. If that doesn't work for you, then there is the home home-sized engraving machines, and with CNC, the finished item can look totally professional. I have been to local markets where woodworkers sell pens they have produced in their home workshops. How these items stack up in cost to the advertising pens given out by businesses and organisations, I am unsure of, but surely this is an opportunity to perhaps make a little money by selling them or distributing them as gifts. Not all that many years ago, paper QSL cards were the standard before e-QSL's became the modern standard. Every so often, there can be the opportunity to share a physical, so perhaps being able to make short print runs can work for you too. I mentioned that I have enamelled badges from several years ago. These days, most clothing badges are made in the form of patches to be sewn on larger items. In some areas, specialist uniform suppliers can provide design and production if this type of adornment suits your needs. Maybe you have one of the fancy embroidery sewing machines that can be computer programmed to stitch these, too? For the avid readers, bookmarks were once a great freebie to hand out at events. With e-readers, they perhaps aren't quite so collectable. What I have tried to do is cast the net amongst simple items that can be made at home. With a little thought and discussion, maybe your club or group can have a project that allows other interests to join in with the obvious activities that we consider to be amateur radio. The idea of spreading the word and sharing our common identity really appeals to me. Got a gift for the successful candidates in getting their ticket? I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and that's what I think. How about you?

In “We Sure Eat Good When Someone Dies,” Gravy producer Caleb Johnson takes listeners back to August 2024, when his extended family gathered inside a Baptist church in Arley, Alabama, to mourn the loss of their matriarch—his grandmother, Celia Sampley. Before the funeral service, the church served lunch for the family, including chicken and dumplings, green-bean casserole, and plenty of desserts. A particular cake caught Caleb's eye that day, called a pea picking cake. In this episode, Caleb steps into the kitchen of the woman who baked that memorable cake and explores how eating something sweet helps us process grief. The cook's name is Sandra Stewart, and she was a good friend of Caleb's grandmother. They attended Bethel Baptist Church together for many years. When it came time to bake something for the funeral wake, Sandra looked through her large recipe book. She chose a pea picking cake because all the ingredients she needed were already in her pantry. Her choice was mainly for convenience. Traditionally, recipes for pea picking cake call for using a box cake mix. The first box cake mix was created in the 1930s, but it didn't become popular until after World War II. Caleb talks with food historian KC Hysmith about the mysterious origins of the pea picking cake and how it fits into a tradition of fancy box cakes that grew popular in the second half of the twentieth century, a time when home cooks started using more store-bought, convenience ingredients. Caleb also speaks with Dr. Candi K. Cann, a professor of religion at Baylor University and a self-described death scholar, about funeral traditions involving food around the world. She explains that these traditions help mourners revisit meaningful relationships. However, despite the close link between funerals and foodways, Dr. Cann says Americans aren't taught how to navigate grief, partly because individualism is a key part of the Protestant faith. She believes this has led to less emphasis on communal meals like the one served at Caleb's grandmother's wake. *** This episode was reported by Caleb Johnson. Johnson is the author of the novel Treeborne, and a frequent contributor to the Gravy podcast and magazine. He teaches creative writing at Appalachian State University.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello to you listening all over Whidbey Island and these United States!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.Traditionally, parades, picnics, and barbeques happen on Labor Day; but this year pack up the babies, grab the old ladies and everyone go to one of many mass mobilization protests that will be taking place from coast to coast.We are working people rising up to stop the tycoon takeover - not just through the ballot box or the courts, but by building a powerful, ever stronger mass mobilization movement. We the People are fighting for a country that is more fair, just, equitable, and free for all of us. Together on Labor Day we hope to exceed the estimated five million people who hit the streets at June's No Kings! rally.We march to stop the tycoon takeover and cruelly obscene corruption of the Trump administration, to protect and defend Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs for working people, to ensure fully funded schools, and healthcare and housing for all.Hear us when we say: We the People want no part of you and your lies. We won't back down. We will never stop fighting for our families, our rights, our freedoms!Click HERE to sign up and join us on Whidbey IslandDate: Monday 1st September 2025Time: 10 AM to 12 noonPlace: Coupeville intersection => HWY 20 & Main StreetBring: flags, signs, good trouble spirit & non-perishable food items to donate to Good Cheer PantryClick HERE to access the Indivisible Whidbey website for tools you can use.Click HERE to find the Workers Over Billionaires rally events happening in your city or region Thank you for listening, being one of us, and see you out on the streets this Labor Day!We're not watching history - we are making it - to save our Democracy!You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Services I offer, arrange a no-sales Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

News; birthdays/events; bucket list adventures...what's on your list?; word of the day. News; game: quiz; game: feud; Reader's Digest list...most and least fun states in the U.S. News; what are some of the laziest things you do?; favorite candy when you were a kid (Ashley had been on the search for a candy...but it turns out they changed the recipe and it sucks now); habits that shorten your life (besides smoking/drinking) News; do you believe in lucky clothes?; game: calendar trivia; goodbye/fun facts....national banana split day...Surprisingly, the original banana split wasn't created in an ice cream parlor but in a pharmacy in 1904.  Banana splits were the brainchild of David Evans Strickler, a pharmacist's apprentice in Latrobe, Pennsylvania who enjoyed experimenting with new soda fountain sundaes in his free time. They were so popular with the college crowd that students willingly paid 10 cents, double the price of a normal sundae. Then Charles Rudolph Walgreens of the Walgreens drug store started promoting the banana split as their premium soda fountain dessert...then soda fountains and ice cream shops all over the country started selling them! In 2016, the United States Post Office honored the banana split and the town of Latrobewith a "forever stamp" depicting the banana split.  It was one of five stamps in the "Soda Fountain Favorites" series. Traditionally served in a long dish called a boat...you cut the banana lengthwise and place it in the dish. Then add scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream between the slices of banana but you can put any flavor of ice cream and toppings that you like.

Hello to you listening all over Whidbey Island and these United States!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Traditionally, parades, picnics, and barbeques happen on Labor Day; but this year pack up the babies, grab the old ladies and everyone go to one of many mass mobilization protests that will be taking place from coast to coast.We are working people rising up to stop the tycoon takeover - not just through the ballot box or the courts, but by building a powerful, ever stronger mass mobilization movement. We the People are fighting for a country that is more fair, just, equitable, and free for all of us. Together on Labor Day we hope to exceed the estimated five million people who hit the streets at June's No Kings! rally.We march to stop the tycoon takeover and cruelly obscene corruption of the Trump administration, to protect and defend Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs for working people, to ensure fully funded schools, and healthcare and housing for all.Hear us when we say: We the People want no part of you and your lies. We won't back down. We will never stop fighting for our families, our rights, our freedoms!Click HERE to sign up and join us on Whidbey IslandDate: Monday 1st September 2025Time: 10 AM to 12 noonPlace: Coupeville intersection => HWY 20 & Main StreetBring: flags, signs, good trouble spirit & non-perishable food items to donate to Good Cheer PantryClick HERE to access the Indivisible Whidbey website for tools you can useClick HERE to find the Workers Over Billionaires rally events happening in your city or region Thank you for listening, being one of us, and see you out on the streets this Labor Day!We're not watching history - we are making it - to save our Democracy!You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Services I offer, arrange a no-sales Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

1. Episode OverviewMatty A. brings clarity to the big investment debate of our time: Crypto, Artificial Intelligence (AI), or Real Estate. In this episode, he breaks down the strengths and risks of each investment avenue—and reveals how they can complement one another in a well-rounded portfolio.2. Big Ideas CoveredCryptoCrypto continues to gain traction with institutional interest and regulatory progress paving the way for innovation like stablecoins, asset tokenization, and enhanced DeFi interfaces.These developments could make digital assets more accessible and practical—but volatility and regulatory uncertainty remain ongoing concerns.AI InvestmentsAI investment remains a bright spot thanks to surging demand for infrastructure like data centers, as well as gains from specialized “stealth” technology providers.Still, analysts caution that such growth may be part of a larger tech bubble. Success depends on strategic execution, staying ahead of technological disruption, and navigating market cycles.Real Estate (Tech-Enhanced)REITs and tech-integrated real estate (via AI, smart homes, and tokenization) are showing resilience—especially in diversified global markets and evolving offline-to-online platforms.While real estate offers stability and generational value, it's slower to scale and less liquid—though tokenization may change the game in the future.3. Investment SnapshotCryptoOffers high growth potential and rapid innovation.Easily accessible—can invest with small amounts.Highly volatile and exposed to regulatory uncertainties.Often speculative, requiring strong conviction and risk tolerance.AIDriven by significant enterprise demand and infrastructure expansion.Supports a broader range of industries—beyond crypto hype.Risks include overinvestment and rapid obsolescence.Offers structured growth, especially through AI applications and platforms.Real Estate (Tech-Enhanced)Backed by tangible assets with income-generating potential.Becoming more efficient and liquid thanks to PropTech, AI tools, and tokenization.Traditionally less liquid with slower cycles—though technology is bridging the gap.Offers long-term stability and passive income.4. Episode TakeawaysDiversification is still your friend. Each asset class has distinct risk-return profiles—crypto offers high volatility upside, AI brings innovation and industry momentum, while real estate delivers stability and passive yield.Hybrid opportunities are emerging. AI-powered real estate platforms and tokenized CRE blends the best of multiple worlds—liquidity with structure, innovation with asset backing.Know your investor profile. Aggressive builders might lean more into crypto and AI, while income-focused or conservative investors could find real estate—or tech-enhanced real estate—more suitable.5. Suggested Next StepsAssess your risk appetite and time horizon to guide how you allocate across these sectors.Start small and explore hybrid investment channels, like tokenized real estate or AI-backed platforms.Track convergence trends—where blockchain intersects with real estate or AI tools power DeFi—as they often reveal outsized opportunities.Bottom Line: There's no single winner crowned in this episode. Instead, success may lie in combining these tools within a strategic, diversified portfolio—and leaning into the tech bridge between them.Episode Sponsored By:Discover Financial Millionaire Mindcast Shop: Buy the Rich Life Planner and Get the Wealth-Building Bundle for FREE! Visit: https://shop.millionairemindcast.com/CRE MASTERMIND: Visit myfirst50k.com and submit your application to join!FREE CRE Crash Course: Text “FREE” to 844-447-1555FREE Financial X-Ray: Text  "XRAY" to 844-447-1555

Join Coach Chris for a peaceful exploration of the traditional tea ceremony. Traditionally called “Tah Do.” In this episode, Chris ventures into the ancient art of preparing and sharing green tea, a practice that offers much more than just a morning beverage. Discover how this mindful ritual can bring a sense of calm and connection to your daily life. You can also watch this video on the Empowered Mastery YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@EmpoweredMastery The Power of Green Tea: Learn about the health benefits of green tea, particularly the special green tea from Korea, which is rich in nutrients and known for its restorative properties. The Art of Unraveling: The tea ceremony teaches us to "unravel with logic," a metaphor for approaching life's challenges with a calm and untangled mind, avoiding unnecessary pressure. A Moment to Connect: The ceremony is a powerful reminder to share our time and attention with those we care about. It is a moment to slow down, connect with others, and create meaningful memories. Daily Mindfulness: Learn how to incorporate a simple tea ceremony into your daily routine, transforming a simple act into a mindful practice that brings a sense of peace and presence to your day. Be Better Every Day!

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   In this episode, Justin interviews David Neikrug, CEO at Optimatum Solutions, about managing vendors of employer-sponsored healthcare and a recent Optimatum Solutions report, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare”. David explores with Justin the topic of applying risk management tools to HR programs and plans, an area that risk managers rarely visit. They touch on ways for risk managers to contribute at the table using the risk management skills and tools that they have applied to recognized risk areas for years.   Listen to learn about the benefits of managing benefit plan vendors.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our topic is vendor management. We will dive deeply with Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug. [:40] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! The next Virtual RIMS-CRMP exam prep, co-hosted by Parima, will be held on September 2nd and 3rd. [:50] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED virtual workshop will be held on November 11th and 12th, and led by Joseph Mayo. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes. [1:07] RIMS Virtual Workshops! RIMS has launched a new course, “Intro to ERM for Senior Leaders.” It will be held again on November 4th and 5th and will be led by Elise Farnham. RIMS members enjoy deep discounts! [1:24] The full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's notes. [1:35] The next RIMS Webinar will be held on September 4th and will be led by AXA XL. It is titled “Lockdown & Level Up: Turn Up Your Cyber Security Game Against Creative Cyber Criminals”. [1:48] On September 18th, Origami Risk will present “Driving Better Incident and Claims Management with Data, Technology & Strategic Collaboration”. [1:56] On October 30th, Swiss Re will present “Parametric Insurance: Providing Financial Certainty in Uncertain Times”. [2:05] On November 6th, Hub will present “Geopolitical Whiplash — Building Resilient Global Risk Programs in an Unstable World”. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. [2:17] Mark your calendars for November 17th and 18th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is jam-packed with educational sessions that will resonate with risk practitioners in all stages of their careers. [2:38] See the full agenda at RIMS.org/ERM2025. [2:44] RISKWORLD 2026 will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 3rd through May 6th. RIMS members can now lock in the 2025 rate for a full conference pass to RISKWORLD 2026 when registering by September 30th. [2:58] This also lets you enjoy earlier access to the RISKWORLD hotel block. Register by September 30th, and you will also be entered to win a $500 raffle. Don't miss out on this chance to plan and score some extra perks. [3:11] The members-only registration link is in this episode's show notes. If you are not yet a member, this is the time to join us. Visit RIMS.org/membership and build your risk network with us here at RIMS. [3:26] On with the show! You wanted to hear about vendor management, and that's why I reached out to Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug, to discuss the findings in Optimatum's new report, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare”. [3:50] It's got some fascinating insights, and I wanted to extend the dialogue beyond the PDF, so let's get started! [3:56] Interview! David Neikrug, welcome to RIMScast! [4:07] Justin hasn't covered vendor management much on RIMScast. Justin invited David on the show to talk about Optimatum's publicly available paper, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare.” This speaks to a risk management audience. [4:28] There is a link in this episode's show notes. The average cost of healthcare in 2025 is pushing north of $25K total cost, per employee per year, and it's an outsourced function. It's a large amount of money. [5:08] HR generally doesn't have the traditional service level agreements (SLAs) or performance guarantees that are present in an IT services agreement. That's a major disconnect that leads to financial, operational, and risk issues that go unchecked. [5:44] Traditionally, we don't see risk managers getting involved in HR things like employer-sponsored healthcare. David encourages risk managers to take the tools and skills they know and apply them to HR and employer-sponsored healthcare and retirement plans. [6:23] David suggests risk managers should demand vendor transparency when it comes to fees, debits, and credits. David talks about pharmacy rebates, segregation, and how credits are captured and applied. [7:09] David says vendor harmonization can be applied vertically or horizontally. The vertical side is when a company has acquired several HR benefits and programs, and then merges them into one program. The value creation by doing that is immense. [7:56] David says horizontal harmonization applies to anybody who aggregates companies of various kinds, including family offices. Each company may have a disparate benefits plan. Bringing plans together can save hundreds to thousands of dollars per employee per year. [8:46] Those are the types of numbers Optimatum Solutions is seeing as the opportunity for a risk manager to focus on as a quantifiable value proposition of bringing 10 vendor programs into one aggregated program. [9:14] From a risk standpoint, you have a single source to manage across enterprises. [9:31] David often speaks using numbers to convey the point. He says risk managers have a wealth of information and know what they are doing. When it comes to opportunities to create value, HR is an area they're not thinking about. [10:25] David suggests surveying risk managers and asking what percentage of risk managers are focused on the HR side, employer-sponsored healthcare, and retirement plans. You'll see the opportunity is almost endless. [10:44] Quick Break for RIMS Events!  On September 18th, the 10th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum will be held at The Old Post Office in Chicago. Register at ChicagoRIMS.org. [10:59] On October 1st through the 3rd, the RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held in North San Jose at the Santa Clara Marriott. The agenda is live. It looks fantastic! Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and register today! [11:15] On November 17th and 18th, elevate your ERM Program and career at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is live, and early rates are available until September 5th. Register now to save $110 and secure your spot at the ERM event of the year. [11:37] Canadian listeners, take note, that's just a little bit South of the border in British Columbia. That's a great way to extend your knowledge after the RIMS Canada Conference. Visit RIMS.org/ERM2025 to register. [11:52] At the top, Justin mentioned RISKWORLD 2026. Through September 4th, the RISKWORLD education content submission process is still open. [12:02] RIMS invites you to share your experiences, best practices, and innovative strategies that represent the global outlook of risk management. Send us your submission, and who knows? We might select you to speak at RISKWORLD 2026 in Philadelphia! The link is in the show notes. [12:20] Let's Return to My Interview with David Neikrug!  [12:42] David says the first thing to do is make sure risk managers have a seat at the table of employer-sponsored healthcare. They need to look at and understand all the terms and conditions of the contracts, looking for the low-hanging fruit. [12:55] Look for Service Level Agreements, Performance Guarantees, and Built-in Reconciliation Clauses for the vendor to provide a self-reconciliation of all the debits and credits from the plan year. Understand the contracts. [13:17] Second, make sure that you're a part of the team. Look at what you can do, bringing all the tools that you've acquired, dealing with the risk side over the years, and applying them to the HR benefits side. [13:54] For organizations of between 500 to 5,000 employees, there is ample opportunity. Those are going more unwatched than the larger organizations. The vendors aren't used to being held as accountable as they are for a Fortune 100. [14:21] David would say there isn't an organization that doesn't have an opportunity. It's a matter of focusing on it and bringing your expertise to the table to help your organization hold those vendors accountable, drive savings and performance, and create value. [14:59] David said Optimatum Solutions had a client that was a rapidly growing organization. They had acquired a company and decided to change the acquired company's vendor because they had been using a different vendor. [15:22] David mentions that Optimatum Solutions has a focus on improving or fixing relationships with vendors, versus running an RFP and finding a new vendor. It's better to fix a problem than to replace it. [15:40] Someone at the client company decided to move the pension plan business of the acquired company to a new provider. The plan was started in 1972, before the ERISA regulations on how pension plans are managed. The new vendor did no due diligence and took it over. [16:37] Within the first year, there was a claim by a retiree that the lump sum payment should have been 10 times what it was, stemming from one example in a plan document of how a benefit will be calculated. The company had to defend an $18 million potential claim. [17:11] It took three years to resolve. This taught the new vendor what the old vendor had been doing seamlessly for all those years. The former vendor knew how to deal with various situations, including payments to international employees. [17:49] The new vendor hadn't understood what they were acquiring. That led to a colossal mess. [18:10] It was an HR issue. They had a risk manager, but hadn't thought of having the risk manager at the table for this event. [18:20] A Final Break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [18:40] Since 1999, Spencer has awarded over $2.9 million to create more than 570 Risk Management Internships. The Internship Grants application process is now open through October 15th, 2025. [18:56] To be eligible, risk managers must be based in the U.S., Canada, or Bermuda. A link to the Internship Grants page is in this episode's show notes. You can always visit SpencerEd.org, as well. [19:10] The Spencer 2025 Funding their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 18th, at the Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York. This year's honoree is Tim Ryan, the U.S. President of Lockton, and we look forward to having Tim join us here on RIMScast very soon. [19:29] A link to the Gala is also in this episode's show notes. Buy a ticket, enjoy a great night in the city, and support the future of risk management. [19:38] Let's Return to the Conclusion of My Interview with Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug! [19:47] Behavioral and mental health are workforce concerns and reputational risks. David says the real number is productivity. If a factory has employees out for behavioral health issues, it has to replace those employees with temporary workers while still paying them. [20:43] The total cost of unmanaged behavioral health in a workforce is not just the behavioral health medical claims, pharmacy claims, or inpatient claims; it's also the lost working hours of those employees and the replacement costs of those employees. [21:15] That's a much larger number than just the surface of behavioral and mental health. Today, all health plans have strong behavioral programs. Organizations have Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). [21:38] There are also point solutions adding a layer of a microbenefit on top of the program to ensure that employees are receiving the right care at the right time, in the right place.  [22:01] Organizations have the right tools. An employer will have all these programs, but they're disconnected. No one is bringing everyone to the table. [22:24] For a certain cost per employee per month, an EAP vendor will provide a given number of behavioral health visits. They will support the process within the traditional healthcare delivery system. Organizations can have point solutions for behavioral health. [23:00] Organizations can have these vendors at the table to understand what's going on at the organization. Are there RIFs? Are there acquisitions? Does the organization have seasonal issues driving stress? Is there an issue with the community where the organization is located? [23:20] Look at it holistically. Bring all these vendors to the table and discuss what's going on.  [23:30] In an unfortunate situation where employees are very stressed and have some sort of episode while at work, that's a material reputational risk, internally, and it may become an external issue. Most employers today have the vendors in place who can support them. [24:05] The steps are bringing the vendors to the table and managing them to ensure that they're aligned with the intended outcomes, and everyone's goal is aligned accordingly. [24:20] When you're discussing the organization with vendors, what about trade secrets, such as expansion and strategy? David says if you have the right vendor, they're about confidentiality. [24:46] If you're about to announce a Reduction in Force (RIF) or an acquisition, you will want your EAP in place to train managers to deal with employees who may be stressed. [26:01] David talks about AI risks. Ensure that when your employees are using any AI platform, you have thoroughly vetted the platforms you are allowing them to use to make sure that none of your proprietary or confidential information lands in public. [26:36] When using AI with confidential information, unless it's a closed system, you have a material risk of it being exposed. [27:02] AI is here for the future. It will change the face of every single profession. Justin assures that there will be no bots hosting or guesting on RIMScast! [27:35] David asks organizations, in the face of AI, What are you doing about it? How are you training and supporting your employees so that they can be part of the future, versus being a former employee who has been replaced due to AI? [27:54] In analytics, AI is simplifying delivery and crunching numbers like we've never seen before. These are incredible benefits for organizations in the future. [28:27] David thinks that you need internal tools to ensure that your employees are not divulging confidential information within public tools and that your vendors and their vendors are all aligned to apply the same rules for confidentiality. [29:12] David, you have been such a wonderful guest! I'm so glad that you were here to provide a little extra insight into the recent Optimatum Solutions paper, “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare”. A link is in this episode's show notes. [29:35] At the end of the paper is David's contact information. [29:53] Special thanks again to Optimatum Solutions CEO, David Neikrug, for joining us here on RIMScast. You can find the link to A Path Not Taken, the professional report, at OptimatumSolutions.com and in this episode's show notes. [30:11] I've also got links to RIMS coverage of vendor management in this episode's show notes. [30:17] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [30:45] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [31:03] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [31:21] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [31:37] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [31:52] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at Content@RIMS.org. [32:04] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continuous support!   Links: RIMS ERM Conference 2025 — Nov. 17‒18 The call for RISKWORLD 2026 submissions is now open! RIMS Canada 2025 — Sept. 14‒17 | Registration open! 10th Annual Chicagoland Risk Forum — Sept. 18 | Registration open! RIMS Western Regional — Oct 1‒3 | Bay Area, California | Registration open! RISKWORLD 2026 — Members-only early registration! Register through Sept 30! RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Educational Foundation 2025 Funding Their Future Gala — Sept. 18, 2025, in NYC! Spencer Internship Program — Registration Open Through Oct. 15. RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management — Featuring Instructor James Lam! Next bi-weekly course begins Oct 9. RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy | RIMS Legislative Summit SAVE THE DATE — March 18‒19, 2026 RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute RIMS Now Optimatum Professional Report: “A Path Not Taken: Vendor Management in Employer-Sponsored Healthcare” OptimatumSolutions.com RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Lockdown & Level Up: Turn Up Your Cyber Security Game Against Creative Cyber Criminals” | Sept. 4, 2025 | Sponsored by AXA XL “Driving Better Incident and Claims Management with Data, Technology & Strategic Collaboration” | Sept. 18 | Sponsored by Origami Risk “Parametric Insurance: Providing Financial Certainty in Uncertain Times” | Oct. 30, 2025 | Sponsored by Swiss Re “Geopolitical Whiplash — Building Resilient Global Risk Programs in an Unstable World” | Nov. 6 | Sponsored by Hub   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — Sept 2‒3, 2025 | Presented by RIMS and PARIMA RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — November 11‒12 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Intro to ERM for Senior Leaders” | Nov. 4‒5 | Instructor: Elise Farnham See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “ERM, Retail, and Risk with Jeff Strege” “Supply and Bike Chains with Emily Buckley”   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL's New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today's Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! 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In episode 503 of The Astrology Podcast astrologer Rod Chang joins me to discuss the long and fascinating history of comets in astrology, how astrologers viewed them as omens in ancient times, and creating a new foundation for interpreting them today. While comets are a notable astronomical phenomenon and are famous in legends from ancient times as powerful omens, there has been very little discussion about their meaning or use in modern astrology. Part of the reason for this is that they appear so infrequently, are difficult to calculate, and are not included in most astrology software, which has led to them being largely overlooked by contemporary astrologers. We begin the discussion by exploring the long history of comets in astrology, noting the contrast between the Western tradition and the Chinese tradition. In the West, research into comets was set back for centuries by Aristotle's mistaken belief that they were merely atmospheric phenomena. In the Chinese tradition, however, comets were meticulously documented for thousands of years, where they were often referred to as "broom stars" that could sweep away the old government or indicate the need for reform. This eventually led to a rich history of astrological interpretation, which we are only now beginning to recover and understand. During the course of the episode we talk about what comets are from an astronomical perspective, as well as how their erratic and unpredictable nature became a key part of their astrological interpretation. Traditionally comets were interpreted as omens that signified major disruptions, the death of prominent people, and important turning points in history. Their meaning was often derived from their visual appearance, such as their color or the shape of their tail. While often viewed as negative omens that coincided with natural disasters or the death of rulers, there are also instances where they were interpreted positively. Towards the end of the episode we discuss how contemporary astrologers are now in a much better position to study comets, with new tools that allow us to calculate their positions and go back and research what was happening in the world when major comets appeared in the past. This is a large part of the focus of Rod's new book titled Comets in Astrology, where he identifies some of the most important "Great Comets" in history and documents the events that coincided with their appearance. We hope that this discussion provides a good foundation for a subject that will become an exciting new area of research in astrology in the years to come. Rod's book was just released August 13, and you can get it now: Comets in Astrology on Amazon You can find out more information about Rod on his website: RodChang.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:05 Rod's journey into studying comets 00:02:40 Why comets are overlooked in modern astrology 00:07:09 What is a comet? 00:10:04 Short-period vs. long-period comets 00:16:55 Erratic and unpredictable quality of comets 00:19:18 Aristotle's error vs. Chinese documentation 00:24:30 Edmond Halley, Brahe, and Kepler 00:28:58 Recent comets: Pons-Brooks 00:33:52 Decline of astrology hindered comet research 00:36:39 Researching historical comets and mundane events 00:39:01 What defines a “Great Comet” 00:51:04 Chinese “broom stars” and political significance 01:01:06 Comets as omens 01:11:47 Death of prominent people 01:15:02 Mark Twain and Halley's Comet 01:25:52 Observational astronomy 01:36:18 Comet's tail and directionality 01:40:03 Positive interpretations of comets 01:43:27 Setting a foundation for comet research 01:48:11 Rod's upcoming work, website, and classes 01:51:29 Concluding remarks Watch the Video Version of This Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-UtgNIRCnY –

Send us a textHow often do you sit with a cup of herbal tea and really feel the effects that it has in your body?  And if you have experienced this, what did you notice?  Traditionally, through many ancient cultures plants have been allies to humans.  Meditating with plants and fostering relationship with plants can be a profound way to potentiate both the plants and the meditation practice.In this special episode of The Nourished Nervous System, I am thrilled to welcome David Crow, an expert in herbalism and classical Asian medicine. We dive into an enlightening conversation about the synergy between herbs and meditation, exploring how these practices can potentiate each other. I share my serendipitous journey with David, highlighting key moments that led to deep learning experiences. David elaborates on his path studying Acupuncture, Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine and his practices in meditation. We discuss practical applications of herbs combined with meditation to enhance healing, introducing the concept of 'illuminated herbalism.' This conversation covers the profound relationship between mindfulness and herbal practices, and I wrap up with details on David's courses and resources for those interested in this integrative approach.In this episode:David Crow's Background and JourneyIntegrating Herbal Medicine and MeditationPractical Applications and Personal ExperiencesMindful Tea Drinking: Unlocking Hidden DimensionsThe Power of Attention in Herbal PotencyUsing Herbs to Enhance Yoga Nidra and MeditationDirecting Herbal Effects with Focused AttentionPractical Applications: Herbs for Different SystemsExploring the Unity of Breath and PlantsConnect with David:WebsiteInstagramFacebookIlluminated Herbalism CourseShop with all courses and booksMy resources:Weekend Nervous System Reset Deep Rest MeditationNourished For Resilience Workbook Book a free Exploratory CallFind me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Let's quiz! This week we've got ten brand-new questions to warm your brain — and maybe even give you goose bumps

Why would someone want to be traditionally published instead of dodging the massive gatekeepers and leaning into the supportive Small Press and Indie communities? (Of course, all this talk doesn't mean I'm not excited to work with small presses as well...) =============================== If you find my content of value, please share it with your friends! Join me Sunday afternoons for "Morgan's Lazy Sunday Afternoon 'Productivity' Sprints" on YT/Twitch, where sometimes we're productive, and sometimes we're not, but we always bring snacks. If you're looking for an agent, check out My Agent Database (https://www.patreon.com/c/MyAgentDatabase) on Patreon, where for $1/month you can have access to a spreadsheet of over 2,000 vetted agents, sorted by sub-genre, categories, and tons of other data. Also available are worksheets to fix your writing issues, submission package edits, and more. You can find me all over the internet (https://linktr.ee/morganHazelwood) If it fits your budget, show your support at Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/morganhazelwood) Thanks for listening! I'll be back next Monday with more rambling ideas about writing.

Today, I am delighted to reconnect with Dr. Tyna Moore. She is a naturopathic physician and chiropractor, in addition to being the host of the wildly popular Dr. Tyna podcast, a bestselling author, and an international speaker offering a unique perspective for those seeking a stronger foundation for their health and well-being.  In our discussion today, we dive into the importance of strength training, exploring concerns about under-fueling our bodies, and the damaging messages women currently receive about food, body size, and exercise, particularly from the health and wellness community. Dr. Tyna discusses the signs she often sees in women who underfuel their bodies, explaining how underfueling affects key hormones, including cortisol, thyroid, progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone, and the value of strength training. We also explore medications that impact bone health, including SSRIs, hormones, peptides, exosomes, and stem cells.  You will not want to miss this delightfully engaging and enlightening conversation with Dr. Tyna Moore. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: Why building muscle mass is essential for avoiding frailty in later life. The cardinal signs of health and vitality for women, as we age Why disordered eating and fear of strength training are common issues among women Dr. Tyna shares her concerns about using GLP-1s for rapid weight loss. The importance of eating enough food to fuel the muscles you are trying to build Why a healthy body fat percentage, strength, mobility, good sleep, and reduced pain are far more important than appearance-based goals How not eating enough can worsen hormonal dysregulation, and how long-term use of SSRIs can significantly increase the risk of osteoporosis. Ways to regulate your hunger and prevent overeating at night The value of doing strength training a few times a week to optimize your central nervous system How peptides, exosomes, and stem cells can be beneficial- but only once you have optimized your lifestyle and foundational health Bio: Dr. Tyna Moore, ND, DC, is a leading expert in holistic regenerative medicine and metabolic resilience, with nearly three decades of experience in the regenerative medicine space. Traditionally and alternatively trained in both science and medicine, she brings a metabolic-first perspective to optimizing health from the ground up. Dr. Moore is the host of The Dr. Tyna Show podcast and an international speaker known for her direct, no-nonsense approach to strength, hormones, and longevity. With a combined following of over half a million across platforms, she has been featured on dozens of top health podcasts and stages worldwide. Through her online education programs and social media presence, Dr. Moore helps the general public and practitioners get the basics right – because without a strong metabolic foundation, no therapy, treatment, or supplement will ever deliver lasting results. Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on X Instagram LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Connect with Dr. Tyna Moore On her website The Dr. Tyna Show YouTube Instagram

Struggling with the complexities of indoor farming and looking for innovative solutions to streamline your operations? Join me as I explore groundbreaking ideas with Marcus Comaschi, R&D engineer at Gyroplant, who is revolutionizing the way we think about plant substrates in controlled environment agriculture.Marcus Comaschi, an R&D engineer at Gyroplant, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in design and engineering to the world of indoor farming. With a background that spans from working at Ford Motor to developing hydroponic systems, Marcus has a unique perspective on how to innovate within the agricultural sector. His journey from traditional engineering to creating reusable plant-holding superstructures is a testament to his passion for sustainable and efficient farming solutions.The main focus of our conversation is Gyroplant's innovative approach to eliminating traditional substrates in indoor farming. Marcus shares how his company developed reusable silicone rubber superstructures that hold plants without the need for messy, single-use materials. This advancement not only simplifies the growing process but also addresses issues of cleanliness, cost, and supply chain reliability, making it a game-changer for growers worldwide.Beyond the main topic, we delve into the challenges of standardization in the vertical farming industry and the importance of collaboration among growers and technology providers. Marcus also discusses the role of 3D printing in prototyping and developing custom solutions, highlighting how this technology has been pivotal in Gyroplant's success.Curious to learn how Gyroplant's solutions can transform your indoor farming operations? Click to listen and discover how Marcus Comaschi's insights could help you achieve cleaner, more efficient plant production.Thanks to Our SponsorsCEA Summit East - https://indoor.ag/cea-summit-east-2025/Indoor AgCon - https://indoor.ag/Key Takeaways0:00 Intro: Marcus Comaschi joins Vertical Farming podcast5:20 Marcus's journey from engineering to food10:41 3D printing's crucial role in prototyping18:29 Eliminating substrate: Drivers and challenges24:38 Need for standardization in vertical farming31:21 Design process for crop-specific superstructures37:42 Balancing focus and opportunities in business42:39 Closing thoughts on indoor farming's futureTweetable Quotes"We don't like to problem solve, but problem eliminate. Traditionally an engineer solves a problem and creates 20 other problems.""There's this great mesh of the engineered and the organic together in one and that's never going to go to plan initially.""I think the indoor farming world is finding its feet and we really would like to say to people to look at some of our case studies online to see how we slightly disrupted the traditional models."Resources MentionedWebsite - https://www.gyroplant.com/LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-comaschi-05b9327b/?originalSubdomain=ukConnect With UsVFP LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/verticalfarmingpodcastVFP Twitter - https://twitter.com/VerticalFarmPodVFP Instagram -

Climate. Weathers. History.Here's an encore episode to wrap up the mini-series on these themes!This episode on the puzzling origins of farming is one of my all-time favourites on the show. I thought it was a good time to put it out again.You can also read my essay on the topic ⁠here⁠.Enjoy!~ORIGINAL SHOW NOTESAgriculture changed everything. Traditionally, this “Neolithic Revolution” was celebrated for opening the gates of civilisation. Recently, it has been compared to the original sin. But whatever our take on agriculture, we should be puzzled by one thing: Why did our ancestors start to farm in the first place? It's not like early farmers had improved lives. Quite the opposite, they worked harder and suffered from worse health. So why did so early farmers stick to it? And why did farming spread so far and wide?⁠Andrea Matranga⁠ thinks he has the answer. An economic historian at the University of Torino, Matranga links agriculture to climate change. This is not a new idea — not as such. After all, agriculture developed in lockstep with the end of Ice Ages. For years, this vague link has formed my own pet-theory on the matter. But I never paused to reflect on the obvious problem with it. There was never an “Ice Age” in Sudan. Why didn't humans just farm there? Matranga has the answer to this and many other puzzles. And surprisingly, his answer is linked to the movements of Jupiter. I will let him tell you why.We begin this episode covering some previous theories on the origins of agriculture. Next, we dissect Matranga's theory and the evidence for it. Towards the end, we talk about the spread of farming — peaceful and violent — and note a neglected downside to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. As always, we finish with my guest's reflection on humanity.LINKSYou can find my summary of Matranga's theory with links to academic articles at ⁠⁠⁠⁠OnHumans.Substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.Do you like On Humans? Join the group of patrons at ⁠⁠Patreon.com/OnHumans⁠⁠!MENTIONSNamesV. Gordon Childe | Jared Diamond | Mo Yan | Alain Testart | Robert J. Braidwood | Milutin Milanković | Feng He | James Scott | Richard B. Lee | Irven DevoreTermsNeolithic | Holocene | Pleistocene | Consumption smoothing | Malthusian limit | Milankovitch cyclesEthnic groupsNatuffians | Pacific Northwestern hunter-gatherers KeywordsAnthropology | Archaeology | Big History | Economic History | Agricultural Revolution | Neolithic Revolution | Homo Sapiens | Sapiens | Climate change | Paleoclimatology | Seasonality | Origins of Agriculture | Neolithic Revolution | Climate Change | Hunter-Gatherers | Human Civilization | Population Growth | Sedentary Lifestyle | Subsistence Farming | Evolutionary Adaptation | State Violence | Agricultural Coercion | Ancient DNA

Traditionally in this country, a bride would have taken her new husband's surname upon marriage. While this doesn't happen as much nowadays, are Gen Z women now taking up the tradition again?Joining guest host Tom Dunne to discuss is Saoirse Hanly, Columnist with the Irish Independent…

Podcast Summary This episode of the Pain Exam Podcast, hosted by Dr. David Rosenblum, discusses an interesting article about Ketorolac injections for musculoskeletal conditions. The podcast covers: Ketorolac is an NSAID that provides analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis Multiple studies comparing Ketorolac injections to corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid for various conditions Research shows Ketorolac injections are equally effective as corticosteroids for subacromial conditions, adhesive capsulitis, carpal-metacarpal joint issues, and hip/knee osteoarthritis Ketorolac may be a safer alternative to steroids for certain patients, though it has its own contraindications for those with renal, gastrointestinal, or cardiovascular disease Dr. Rosenblum considers the potential of using Ketorolac injections directly at pain sites rather than intramuscularly Upcoming Courses and Conferences Ultrasound courses in New York and Costa Rica (check unwrappedpain.org) Private ultrasound sessions available Dr. Rosenblum will be speaking at Pain Week about ultrasound in pain practice and PRP Presenting at a primary care conference in London Teaching ultrasound at ISPN LAPSES conference in Chile (Dr. Rosenblum won't attend this year) Ketorolac Injections: An Effective Alternative for Musculoskeletal Pain Management Musculoskeletal conditions such as bursitis, adhesive capsulitis, and osteoarthritis affect millions and often require injectable therapies to reduce pain and inflammation. Traditionally, corticosteroid injections have been the mainstay treatment. However, concerns over side effects like tendon rupture, cartilage damage, and systemic hyperglycemia have prompted exploration of alternatives. A recent narrative review by Kiel et al. (2024) highlights ketorolac—a parenteral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)—as a promising substitute for corticosteroids in musculoskeletal injections. Warning: OFF Label use of Ketorolac discussed. Please consult your physician. See full article  for details. Subacromial Ketorolac Injections for Shoulder Pain Subacromial bursitis and impingement syndrome are common causes of shoulder pain and disability. Several randomized controlled trials have shown that subacromial ketorolac injections provide pain relief and functional improvement comparable to corticosteroids: Goyal et al. demonstrated significant reductions in pain scores after subacromial injection of 60 mg ketorolac versus 40 mg methylprednisolone, with no difference in outcomes between groups. Taheri et al. found similar short-term pain relief at 1 and 3 months with either ketorolac or corticosteroid subacromial injections. Kim et al. reported equivalent clinical improvement in rotator cuff syndrome patients receiving ketorolac or triamcinolone injections. Min et al. noted ketorolac led to better forward flexion and patient satisfaction at 4 weeks compared to corticosteroids. These studies support ketorolac as an effective agent for subacromial injection, offering an alternative for patients where corticosteroid use is limited. Intra-articular Ketorolac Injections for Adhesive Capsulitis and Osteoarthritis Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) and osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and carpometacarpal joint are often treated with intra-articular corticosteroids. Ketorolac injections have shown comparable efficacy in these conditions: Akhtar et al. found intra-articular ketorolac significantly reduced shoulder pain at 4 weeks in adhesive capsulitis compared to hyaluronic acid. Ahn et al. reported similar pain relief between intra-articular ketorolac and corticosteroid injections in adhesive capsulitis, with ketorolac providing superior shoulder mobility at 3 and 6 months. Koh et al. showed that adding ketorolac to hyaluronic acid injections in carpometacarpal osteoarthritis resulted in faster onset of pain relief compared to hyaluronic acid alone. Park et al. observed equivalent functional improvements with intra-articular ketorolac or corticosteroids in hip osteoarthritis. Jurgensmeier et al. demonstrated similar symptom improvement at 1 and 3 months post-injection for ketorolac and triamcinolone in hip and knee osteoarthritis. Xu et al. and Bellamy et al. confirmed ketorolac's comparable pain relief and functional benefits to corticosteroids for knee osteoarthritis, with ketorolac being more cost-effective. Lee et al. noted quicker pain reduction with intra-articular ketorolac combined with hyaluronic acid versus hyaluronic acid alone in knee osteoarthritis. aSafety and Pharmacologic Considerations Ketorolac's anti-inflammatory action stems from cyclooxygenase inhibition, reducing prostaglandin synthesis. Its half-life is approximately 5.2–5.6 hours, and it is metabolized in the liver. Unlike corticosteroids, ketorolac avoids systemic hyperglycemia and cartilage damage risks. Animal and in vitro studies suggest ketorolac may protect cartilage by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines. While gastrointestinal, renal, and cardiovascular risks associated with NSAIDs remain considerations, localized intra-articular and subacromial ketorolac injections may limit systemic exposure and adverse effects. Mild, transient post-injection pain has been reported but resolves without intervention. Conclusion Ketorolac injections, administered intra-articularly or subacromially, are a safe, effective, and economical alternative to corticosteroids for managing common musculoskeletal conditions. Their comparable efficacy in reducing pain and improving function, combined with a more favorable side effect profile, makes ketorolac an appealing option for clinicians and patients alike. Further research is warranted to fully elucidate long-term safety and optimal dosing strategies. FAQS Ketorolac Injections for Musculoskeletal Conditions: Frequently Asked Questions Musculoskeletal pain from conditions like bursitis, adhesive capsulitis, and osteoarthritis often requires injectable treatments. Ketorolac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is emerging as a promising alternative to corticosteroids. Below are common questions and answers based on a recent narrative review by Kiel et al. (2024). 1. What is ketorolac and how does it work? Ketorolac is a parenteral NSAID that reduces pain and inflammation by inhibiting cyclooxygenase enzymes, which decreases prostaglandin synthesis. It can be administered orally, intramuscularly, intravenously, or by injection directly into joints or around bursae. 2. How effective is ketorolac for musculoskeletal conditions? Studies show ketorolac injections provide significant pain relief and functional improvement comparable to corticosteroids in conditions like: Subacromial bursitis and shoulder impingement (subacromial injections) Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) (intra-articular injections) Osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and thumb carpometacarpal joint (intra-articular injections) 3. What evidence supports subacromial ketorolac injections? Randomized controlled trials found: Goyal et al. and Taheri et al. reported similar pain reduction and functional outcomes between ketorolac and corticosteroids for subacromial injections. Kim et al. and Min et al. observed comparable or better patient satisfaction and shoulder mobility with ketorolac versus corticosteroids. 4. How does intra-articular ketorolac compare to corticosteroids for adhesive capsulitis? Akhtar et al. showed ketorolac reduced shoulder pain more than hyaluronic acid. Ahn et al. found ketorolac and corticosteroids equally effective for pain relief, with ketorolac providing better shoulder mobility at 3 and 6 months. 5. What about ketorolac for osteoarthritis? Ketorolac combined with hyaluronic acid provided faster pain relief than hyaluronic acid alone in thumb carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis (Koh et al.). Intra-articular ketorolac had similar efficacy to corticosteroids in hip (Park et al., Jurgensmeier et al.) and knee osteoarthritis (Bellamy et al., Xu et al.). Ketorolac injections were more cost-effective compared to corticosteroids (Bellamy et al.). 6. Are ketorolac injections safe? Ketorolac's side effects are similar to other NSAIDs, mainly involving gastrointestinal, renal, and cardiovascular risks. However, localized intra-articular and subacromial injections may reduce systemic exposure. Animal studies suggest ketorolac does not harm cartilage and may protect against inflammatory damage. Mild, transient local pain post-injection is possible but usually resolves without treatment. 7. What are the limitations of ketorolac use? Ketorolac is not suitable for patients with: Renal impairment Gastrointestinal ulcers or bleeding risk Cardiovascular disease or hypertension NSAID hypersensitivity, especially in asthma or chronic urticaria patients Clinicians should assess individual risks before choosing ketorolac injections. 8. How does ketorolac's pharmacokinetics affect its use? Ketorolac has a plasma half-life of about 5.2 to 5.6 hours and is metabolized in the liver. Pharmacokinetics for subcutaneous or intra-articular administration are less defined but systemic absorption occurs. Its relatively short half-life supports repeated dosing if needed. 9. Why consider ketorolac over corticosteroids? Ketorolac avoids corticosteroid-associated risks such as tendon rupture, cartilage damage, and steroid-induced hyperglycemia. It is also more cost-effective, making it a favorable option for patients and healthcare systems. 10. What further research is needed? More large-scale, long-term studies are needed to fully understand ketorolac's intra-articular effects, optimal dosing, and safety profile compared to corticosteroids and other treatments. Summary: Ketorolac injections, whether intra-articular or subacromial, offer a safe, effective, and economical alternative to corticosteroids for managing various musculoskeletal conditions. This makes ketorolac an important option in pain management and inflammation control.     Reference: Kiel J, Applewhite AI, Bertasi TGO, Bertasi RAO, Seemann LL, Costa LMC, Helmi H, Pujalte GGA. Ketorolac Injections for Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Narrative Review. Clinical Medicine & Research. 2024;22(1):19-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3121/cmr.2024.1847 Disclaimer: This Podcast, website and any content from NRAP Academy (PMRexam.com) otherwise known as Qbazaar.com, LLC is  for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. Professionals should conduct their own fact finding, research, and due diligence to come to their own conclusions for treating patients. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.    

Podcast Summary This episode of the Pain Exam Podcast, hosted by Dr. David Rosenblum, discusses an interesting article about Ketorolac injections for musculoskeletal conditions. The podcast covers: Ketorolac is an NSAID that provides analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis Multiple studies comparing Ketorolac injections to corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid for various conditions Research shows Ketorolac injections are equally effective as corticosteroids for subacromial conditions, adhesive capsulitis, carpal-metacarpal joint issues, and hip/knee osteoarthritis Ketorolac may be a safer alternative to steroids for certain patients, though it has its own contraindications for those with renal, gastrointestinal, or cardiovascular disease Dr. Rosenblum considers the potential of using Ketorolac injections directly at pain sites rather than intramuscularly Upcoming Courses and Conferences Ultrasound courses in New York and Costa Rica (check unwrappedpain.org) Private ultrasound sessions available Dr. Rosenblum will be speaking at Pain Week about ultrasound in pain practice and PRP Presenting at a primary care conference in London Teaching ultrasound at ISPN LAPS  conference in Chile (Dr. Rosenblum won't attend this year) Ketorolac Injections: An Effective Alternative for Musculoskeletal Pain Management Musculoskeletal conditions such as bursitis, adhesive capsulitis, and osteoarthritis affect millions and often require injectable therapies to reduce pain and inflammation. Traditionally, corticosteroid injections have been the mainstay treatment. However, concerns over side effects like tendon rupture, cartilage damage, and systemic hyperglycemia have prompted exploration of alternatives. A recent narrative review by Kiel et al. (2024) highlights ketorolac—a parenteral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)—as a promising substitute for corticosteroids in musculoskeletal injections. Warning: OFF Label use of Ketorolac discussed. Please consult your physician. See full article  for details. Subacromial Ketorolac Injections for Shoulder Pain Subacromial bursitis and impingement syndrome are common causes of shoulder pain and disability. Several randomized controlled trials have shown that subacromial ketorolac injections provide pain relief and functional improvement comparable to corticosteroids: Goyal et al. demonstrated significant reductions in pain scores after subacromial injection of 60 mg ketorolac versus 40 mg methylprednisolone, with no difference in outcomes between groups. Taheri et al. found similar short-term pain relief at 1 and 3 months with either ketorolac or corticosteroid subacromial injections. Kim et al. reported equivalent clinical improvement in rotator cuff syndrome patients receiving ketorolac or triamcinolone injections. Min et al. noted ketorolac led to better forward flexion and patient satisfaction at 4 weeks compared to corticosteroids. These studies support ketorolac as an effective agent for subacromial injection, offering an alternative for patients where corticosteroid use is limited. Intra-articular Ketorolac Injections for Adhesive Capsulitis and Osteoarthritis Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) and osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and carpometacarpal joint are often treated with intra-articular corticosteroids. Ketorolac injections have shown comparable efficacy in these conditions: Akhtar et al. found intra-articular ketorolac significantly reduced shoulder pain at 4 weeks in adhesive capsulitis compared to hyaluronic acid. Ahn et al. reported similar pain relief between intra-articular ketorolac and corticosteroid injections in adhesive capsulitis, with ketorolac providing superior shoulder mobility at 3 and 6 months. Koh et al. showed that adding ketorolac to hyaluronic acid injections in carpometacarpal osteoarthritis resulted in faster onset of pain relief compared to hyaluronic acid alone. Park et al. observed equivalent functional improvements with intra-articular ketorolac or corticosteroids in hip osteoarthritis. Jurgensmeier et al. demonstrated similar symptom improvement at 1 and 3 months post-injection for ketorolac and triamcinolone in hip and knee osteoarthritis. Xu et al. and Bellamy et al. confirmed ketorolac's comparable pain relief and functional benefits to corticosteroids for knee osteoarthritis, with ketorolac being more cost-effective. Lee et al. noted quicker pain reduction with intra-articular ketorolac combined with hyaluronic acid versus hyaluronic acid alone in knee osteoarthritis. aSafety and Pharmacologic Considerations Ketorolac's anti-inflammatory action stems from cyclooxygenase inhibition, reducing prostaglandin synthesis. Its half-life is approximately 5.2–5.6 hours, and it is metabolized in the liver. Unlike corticosteroids, ketorolac avoids systemic hyperglycemia and cartilage damage risks. Animal and in vitro studies suggest ketorolac may protect cartilage by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines. While gastrointestinal, renal, and cardiovascular risks associated with NSAIDs remain considerations, localized intra-articular and subacromial ketorolac injections may limit systemic exposure and adverse effects. Mild, transient post-injection pain has been reported but resolves without intervention. Conclusion Ketorolac injections, administered intra-articularly or subacromially, are a safe, effective, and economical alternative to corticosteroids for managing common musculoskeletal conditions. Their comparable efficacy in reducing pain and improving function, combined with a more favorable side effect profile, makes ketorolac an appealing option for clinicians and patients alike. Further research is warranted to fully elucidate long-term safety and optimal dosing strategies. FAQS Ketorolac Injections for Musculoskeletal Conditions: Frequently Asked Questions Musculoskeletal pain from conditions like bursitis, adhesive capsulitis, and osteoarthritis often requires injectable treatments. Ketorolac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is emerging as a promising alternative to corticosteroids. Below are common questions and answers based on a recent narrative review by Kiel et al. (2024). 1. What is ketorolac and how does it work? Ketorolac is a parenteral NSAID that reduces pain and inflammation by inhibiting cyclooxygenase enzymes, which decreases prostaglandin synthesis. It can be administered orally, intramuscularly, intravenously, or by injection directly into joints or around bursae. 2. How effective is ketorolac for musculoskeletal conditions? Studies show ketorolac injections provide significant pain relief and functional improvement comparable to corticosteroids in conditions like: Subacromial bursitis and shoulder impingement (subacromial injections) Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) (intra-articular injections) Osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and thumb carpometacarpal joint (intra-articular injections) 3. What evidence supports subacromial ketorolac injections? Randomized controlled trials found: Goyal et al. and Taheri et al. reported similar pain reduction and functional outcomes between ketorolac and corticosteroids for subacromial injections. Kim et al. and Min et al. observed comparable or better patient satisfaction and shoulder mobility with ketorolac versus corticosteroids. 4. How does intra-articular ketorolac compare to corticosteroids for adhesive capsulitis? Akhtar et al. showed ketorolac reduced shoulder pain more than hyaluronic acid. Ahn et al. found ketorolac and corticosteroids equally effective for pain relief, with ketorolac providing better shoulder mobility at 3 and 6 months. 5. What about ketorolac for osteoarthritis? Ketorolac combined with hyaluronic acid provided faster pain relief than hyaluronic acid alone in thumb carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis (Koh et al.). Intra-articular ketorolac had similar efficacy to corticosteroids in hip (Park et al., Jurgensmeier et al.) and knee osteoarthritis (Bellamy et al., Xu et al.). Ketorolac injections were more cost-effective compared to corticosteroids (Bellamy et al.). 6. Are ketorolac injections safe? Ketorolac's side effects are similar to other NSAIDs, mainly involving gastrointestinal, renal, and cardiovascular risks. However, localized intra-articular and subacromial injections may reduce systemic exposure. Animal studies suggest ketorolac does not harm cartilage and may protect against inflammatory damage. Mild, transient local pain post-injection is possible but usually resolves without treatment. 7. What are the limitations of ketorolac use? Ketorolac is not suitable for patients with: Renal impairment Gastrointestinal ulcers or bleeding risk Cardiovascular disease or hypertension NSAID hypersensitivity, especially in asthma or chronic urticaria patients Clinicians should assess individual risks before choosing ketorolac injections. 8. How does ketorolac's pharmacokinetics affect its use? Ketorolac has a plasma half-life of about 5.2 to 5.6 hours and is metabolized in the liver. Pharmacokinetics for subcutaneous or intra-articular administration are less defined but systemic absorption occurs. Its relatively short half-life supports repeated dosing if needed. 9. Why consider ketorolac over corticosteroids? Ketorolac avoids corticosteroid-associated risks such as tendon rupture, cartilage damage, and steroid-induced hyperglycemia. It is also more cost-effective, making it a favorable option for patients and healthcare systems. 10. What further research is needed? More large-scale, long-term studies are needed to fully understand ketorolac's intra-articular effects, optimal dosing, and safety profile compared to corticosteroids and other treatments. Summary: Ketorolac injections, whether intra-articular or subacromial, offer a safe, effective, and economical alternative to corticosteroids for managing various musculoskeletal conditions. This makes ketorolac an important option in pain management and inflammation control.     Reference: Kiel J, Applewhite AI, Bertasi TGO, Bertasi RAO, Seemann LL, Costa LMC, Helmi H, Pujalte GGA. Ketorolac Injections for Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Narrative Review. Clinical Medicine & Research. 2024;22(1):19-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3121/cmr.2024.1847 Disclaimer: This Podcast, website and any content from NRAP Academy (PMRexam.com) otherwise known as Qbazaar.com, LLC is  for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. Professionals should conduct their own fact finding, research, and due diligence to come to their own conclusions for treating patients. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.  

In this episode of the Building PA Podcast, co-hosts Jon O'Brien and Chris Martin dive into a significant legal case that has captured the attention of the construction industry in Pennsylvania, the Clearfield County Jail case. Joined by legal expert Mike Pascoe from Ice Miller, the discussion centers around the implications of a legal doctrine known as "nullum tempus" and its potential application to the statute of repose in construction law.The episode begins with Jon and Chris introducing Mike Pascoe, who provides a brief overview of his background in construction litigation. Mike explains that the Clearfield County case involves a renovation of a jail built 40 years ago, during which it was discovered that critical structural elements were missing. The county is now facing an estimated $4 million in costs to rectify these issues. Traditionally, contractors and design professionals would not be held liable for problems arising after such a long period, but the county is arguing that the nullum tempus doctrine should allow them to pursue legal action indefinitely.As the conversation unfolds, Mike elaborates on the differences between the statute of limitations and the statute of repose, emphasizing that the latter provides a definitive end date for legal claims. The Clearfield County case is significant because it challenges the long-standing understanding of these legal principles, potentially allowing public entities to sue contractors and designers long after the completion of a project.Jon and Chris express their concerns about the ramifications of this case for the construction industry, particularly regarding the burden it could place on contractors who may be held liable for work completed decades ago. They discuss the practical implications of maintaining extensive documentation for projects that could be scrutinized many years later, highlighting the challenges of record-keeping in an industry where practices have evolved significantly over the decades.The episode also touches on the financial implications of storing project data over long periods, with Mike providing eye-opening statistics on the costs associated with data management. The discussion underscores the importance of finality in construction contracts and the potential chaos that could ensue if public entities are allowed to pursue claims indefinitely.As the episode wraps up, Mike shares insights into the current status of the case, including the timeline for briefs and the potential for oral arguments before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The co-hosts express their commitment to keeping their audience informed about the developments in this case, recognizing its far-reaching impact on the construction industry.

Traditionally divers took on risky tasks in the aquaculture industry like pressure cleaning and repairing nets.

Episode SummaryIn this poignant episode of Journey of Hope, host Elio Constantine welcomes Milad, lead pastor at Hope Evangelical Church in Southern Lebanon and field manager for Heaert For Lebanon's Ministry Center. They delve into the lives of two often-overlooked and marginalized groups in Lebanon: the Bedouins and the Gypsies (Dom and Raja).Milad, who has worked with these communities for years, sheds light on their distinct cultures, histories, and the severe challenges they face, including deep-seated societal discrimination, poverty, and lack of access to essential services like education and healthcare. The conversation highlights the heartbreaking realities these communities endure, such as forced temporary housing, children leaving school early, and limited employment opportunities.Despite the immense difficulties, Heart For Lebanon is actively working to bring hope and transformation. Milad shares how the organization offers educational opportunities through their Hope Center, provides mobile learning experiences with the "Hope on Wheels" truck, distributes essential relief packages, and conducts awareness workshops on legal rights, health, and dignity.A powerful testament to their work is the story of Hassan, a Dom community member who, despite lacking official documents and facing severe discrimination, found employment, education, and spiritual transformation through Heart For Lebanon, eventually getting baptized and becoming a beloved staff member. The episode underscores Heart For Lebanon's commitment to making disciples and extending Christ's love to all, regardless of societal standing, and invites listeners to support their mission through prayer and investment.Show NotesUnderstanding the BedouinsIdentity: Nomadic, desert-dwelling Arab groups known for loyalty, welcoming guests, and oral storytelling traditions.Origin & Lifestyle: Historically from the Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert, they followed cattle for grazing. Many now live in valleys or city edges in Lebanon while maintaining their way of life.Economic Activities: Traditionally raised animals and traded along routes. Today, many engage in seasonal work like olive picking due to changing circumstances.Challenges: Difficulty accessing official services like healthcare and education. Face significant societal discrimination, making it hard for Bedouin men to marry Lebanese locals. Children often experience discrimination in public schools.Understanding the Gypsies (Dom, Raja, and Ti)Identity: A small group with roots in South Asia, related to the Romani people. Approximately 8,000 live in Lebanon.Language & Religion: Speak Bari and Arabic; most are of Sunni Muslim background.History & Culture: Arrived in Lebanon centuries ago from South Asia via the Middle East and North Africa. Known for rich musical traditions, crafts, and storytelling. Traditionally performed at celebrations, did seasonal jobs, or made metal goods.Economic Activities & Stigma: Often associated with begging, sex trafficking, and illicit trade. Face severe societal distrust and are rarely hired by Lebanese locals. Girls are sometimes sent to work as dancers in other countries.Challenges: Face extreme social exclusion, low school attendance (even in private schools), poverty, and bias in services. Often forced to live in temporary housing on government or municipal land.Heart For Lebanon's Response and ImpactDignity and Love: Heart For Lebanon treats members of both communities with dignity and Christ-like love.Education: Offers education at their Hope Center, teaching reading, writing, math, and science, along with kindness and respect. Operates "Hope on Wheels," a mobile truck bringing fun and learning directly to camps and tent areas.Relief and Support: Regularly distributes food packages, cleaning supplies, and hygiene kits through their family care and relief program.Awareness Workshops: Provides sessions on legal rights, health, hygiene, dignity, and family issues (e.g., harm of early/child marriage).Spiritual Support: Staff regularly visit homes and tents, leading small Bible study groups and encouraging worship. Churches in the Bekka Valley and Southern Lebanon are welcoming places for both communities.Call to Action:Pray for Heart For Lebanon's work and the communities they serve.Join the Heart For Lebanon prayer ministry: Hartford Lebanon | Prayer.Your support helps expand kingdom work and brings love to those deemed irrelevant by society.Join our email list to stay up-to-date on how God is moving in Lebanon:Email Elio: podcast@heartforlebanon.org https://heartforlebanon.org/emailsignup/ Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW Heart For Lebanon:Website: https://heartforlebanon.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartforlebanon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartforLebanonTwitter: https://twitter.com/HeartForLebanon #HeartForLebanon #Lebanon #Missions

The Rod and Greg Show Daily Rundown – Friday, August 1, 20254:20 pm: Jason Hopkins, Immigration Reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation, joins the show to discuss his recent piece on how Latinos living on the southern border are pleased with President Trump's increased immigration enforcement.4:38 pm: John Daniel Davidson, Senior Correspondent at The Federalist, joins the show for a conversation about his recent piece on why it's time to get women out of men's spaces.6:05 pm: Corey DeAngelis, Senior Fellow at the American Culture Project and a Visiting Fellow for the American Institute for Economic Research, joins the show to discuss his Fox News piece about what was revealed in a leaked National Education Association handbook.  6:20 pm: Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, joins the show for a conversation about his piece on the 85th birthday of Bugs Bunny, and how the cartoon character's antics of yesteryear wouldn't go over well with today's woke generation.6:38 pm: We'll listen back to this week's conversations with Jonathan Freedman, Chief Executive Officer of World Trade Center Utah, about how the trade deal Donald Trump has worked out with the European Union could affect Utah, and (at 6:50 pm) with Chris Talgo, Editorial Director for The Heartland Institute, on President Trump's plan to rescind some of the Obama-era's anti-fossil fuel EPA regulations.

The one and only WR? Podcast is back for a brand new rendition! Welcome to episode 265! This week's "open" covers the recent passing of Hulk Hogan, Happy Gilmore 2, and a two-night WWE Summerslam Preview! Then it's back to the movies. Welcome back to a F@12AM "Double Feature" with 2 newer releases! We take a look at "Until Dawn" and one of A24's latest, "Death of a Unicorn". Traditionally, we head on down to the lagoon and waterfall to close everything out for the week. Please enjoy responsibly!Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro: The recent passing of Hulk Hogan, Happy Gilmore 2, and a two-night WWE Summerslam Preview00:58:10 - Friday's at Midnight: Until Dawn (2025)01:08:43 - Friday's at Midnight: Death of a Unicorn (2025)01:18:00 - Goofs R GoofsThanks for Listening!PRESENTED by CHURCHILL PICTURES

At the conclusion of this Shabbat, the Jewish community will commemorate Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av. It's a day steeped in mourning and reflection. Traditionally, it commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples—the first attributed to the ancient Israelites' idol worship, immorality, and bloodshed; the second to Sinat Chinam, or baseless hatred. In each case, it was not divine vengeance that brought about devastation, but the maleficence of mere human beings. Jewish tradition is quite blunt on this point: man's own moral failings unraveled the fabric of society and led to catastrophe.Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history. Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard TempleWebsite: wbtla.orgYoutube: Wilshire Boulevard TempleInstagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

August 1st marks a powerful turning point on the Wheel of the Year - Lughnasadh, the first of the three harvest festivals and the midpoint between summer and autumn. Traditionally a celebration of ripened grain and community feasts, Lughnasadh also invites us modern witches to turn inward and ask:What am I harvesting in my own life right now?In this episode of Stay Magic, we're exploring the spiritual magic of Lughnasadh and how this season invites reflection, gratitude, and intentional planning for the months ahead. We'll talk about:

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers,The innovation landscape is facing a difficult paradox: Even as R&D investment has increased, productivity per dollar invested is in decline. In his recent co-authored paper, The next innovation revolution—powered by AI, Michael Chui explores AI as a possible solution to this dilemma.Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, Chui and I explore the vast potential for AI-augmented research and the challenges and opportunities that come with applying it to the real-world.Chui is a senior fellow at QuantumBlack, McKinsey's AI unit, where he leads McKinsey research in AI, automation, and the future of work.In This Episode* The R&D productivity problem (01:21)* The AI solution (6:13)* The business-adoption bottleneck (11:55)* The man-machine team (18:06)* Are we ready? (19:33)Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation. The R&D productivity problem (01:21)All the easy stuff, we already figured out. So the low-hanging fruit has been picked, things are getting harder and harder.Pethokoukis: Do we understand what explains this phenomenon where we seem to be doing lots of science, and we're spending lots of money on R&D, but the actual productivity of that R&D is declining? Do we have a good explanation for that?I don't know if we have just one good explanation. The folks that we both know have been both working on what are the causes of this, as well as what are some of the potential solutions, but I think it's a bit of a hidden problem. I don't think everyone understands that there are a set of people who have looked at this — quite notably Nick Bloom at Stanford who published this somewhat famous paper that some people are familiar with. But it is surprising in some sense.At one level, it's amazing what science and engineering has been able to do. We continue to see these incredible advances, whether it's in AI, or biotechnology, or whatever; but also, what Nick and other researchers have discovered is that we are producing less for every dollar we spend in R&D. That's this little bit of a paradox, or this challenge, that we see. What some of the research we've been trying to do is understand, can AI try to contribute to bending those curves?. . . I'm a computer scientist by training. I love this idea of Moore's Law: Every couple of years you can double the number of transistors you can put on a chip, or whatever, for the same amount of money. There's something called “Eroom's Law,” which is Moore spelled backwards, and basically it said: For decades in the pharmaceutical industry, the number of compounds or drugs you would produce for every billion dollars of R&D would get cut in half every nine years. That's obviously moving in the wrong direction. That challenge, I don't think everyone is aware of, but one that we need to address.I suppose, in a way, it does make sense that as we tackle harder problems, and we climb the tree of knowledge, that it's going to take more time, maybe more researchers, the researchers themselves may have to spend more time in school, so it may be a bit of a hidden problem, but it makes some intuitive sense to me.I think there's a way to think about it that way, which is: All the easy stuff, we already figured out. So the low-hanging fruit has been picked, things are getting harder and harder. It's amazing. You could look at some of the early papers in any field and it have a handful of authors, right? The DNA paper, three authors — although it probably should have included Rosalyn Franklin . . . Now you look at a physics paper or a computer science paper — the author list just goes on sometimes for pages. These problems are harder. They require more and more effort, whether it's people's talents, or whether it's computing power, or large-scale experiments, things are getting harder to do. I think there's ways in which that makes sense. Are there other ways in which we could improve processes? Probably, too.We could invest more in research, make it more efficient, and encourage more people to become researchers. To me, what's more exciting than automating different customer service processes is accelerating scientific discovery. I think that's what makes AI so compelling.That is exactly right. Now, by the way, I think we need to continue to invest in basic research and in science and engineering, I think that's absolutely important, but —That's worth noting, because I'm not sure everybody thinks that, so I'm glad you highlighted that.I don't think AI means that everything becomes cheaper and we don't need to invest in both human talent as well as in research. That's number one.Number two, as you said, we spend a lot of time, and appropriately so, talking about how AI can improve productivity, make things more efficient, do the things that we do already cheaper and faster. I think that's absolutely true. But we had the opportunity to look over history, and what has actually improved the human condition, what has been one of the things that has been necessary to improve the human condition over decades, and centuries, and millennia, is, in fact, discovering new ideas, having scientific breakthroughs, turning those scientific breakthroughs into engineering that turn into products and services, that do everything from expand our lifespans to be able to provide us with food, more energy. All those sorts of things require innovation, require R&D, and what we've discovered is the potential for AI, not only to make things more efficient, but to produce more innovation, more ideas that hopefully will lead to breakthroughs that help us all.The AI solution (6:13)I think that's one of the other potentials of using AI, that it could both absorb some of the experience that people have, as well as stretch the bounds of what might be possible.I've heard described as an “IMI,” it's an invention that makes more invention. It's an invention of a method of invention. That sounds great — how's it going to do that?There are a couple of ways. We looked at three different channels through which AI could improve this process of innovation and R&D. The first one is just increasing the volume, velocity, and variety of different candidates. One way you could think about innovation is you create a whole bunch of candidates and then you filter them down to the ones that might be most effective. Number one, you can just fill that funnel faster, better, and with greater variety. That's number one.The candidates could be a molecule, it could be a drug, it could be a new alloy, it could be lots of things.Absolutely, or a design for a physical product. One of the interesting things is, this quote-unquote “modern AI” — AI's been around for 70 years — is based on foundation models, these large artificial neural networks trained on huge amounts of data, and they produce unstructured outputs. In many cases, language, we talk about LLMs.The interesting thing is, you can train these foundation models not just to generate language, but you can generate a protein, or a drug candidate, as you were saying. You can imagine the prompt being, “Please produce 10 drug candidates that address this condition, but without the following side effects.” That's not exactly how it works, but roughly speaking, that's the potential to generate these things, or generate an electrical circuit, or a design for an air foil or an airframe that has these characteristics. Being able to just generate those.The interesting thing is, not only can you generate them faster, but there's this idea that you can create more variety. We're usefully proud as humans about our creativity, but also, that judgment or that training that we have, that experience sometimes constrains it. The famous example was some folks created this machine called AlphaGo which was meant to compete against the world champion in this game called Go, a very complex strategic game. Famously, it beat the world champion, but one of the things it did is this famous Move 37, this move that everyone who was an expert at Go said, “That is nuts. Why would you possibly do that?” Because the machine was a little bit more unconstrained, actually came up with what you might describe as a creative idea. I think that's one of the other potentials of using AI, that it could both absorb some of the experience that people have, as well as stretch the bounds of what might be possible.So you come up with the design, and then a variety of options, and then AI can help model and test them.Exactly. So you generate a broader and more voluminous set of potential designs, candidates, whether it's molecules, or chemicals, or what have you. Now you need to narrow that down. Traditionally you would narrow it down either one, through physical testing — so put something into a wind tunnel or run it through the water if you're looking at a boat design, or something like that, or put it in an electromagnetic chamber and see how the antenna operates. You'd either test it physically, and then, of course, lots of people figured out how to use physics, mathematical equations, in order to create “digital twins.” So you have these long acronyms like CFD for computational fluid dynamics, basically a virtual wind tunnel, or what have you. Or you have finite element analysis, another way to model how a structure might perform, or computational electromagnetic modeling. All these ways that you can use physics to simulate things, and that's been terrific.But some of those models actually take hours, sometimes days, to run these models. It might be faster than building the physical prototype and then modeling it — again, sometimes you just wait until something breaks, you're doing failure testing. Then you could do that in a computer using these models. But sometimes they take a really long time, and one of the really interesting discoveries in “AI” is you can use that same neural network that we've used to simulate cognition or intelligence, but now you use it to simulate physical systems. So in some ways it's not AI, because you're not creating an artificial intelligence, you're creating an artificial wind tunnel. It's just a different way to model physics. Sometimes these problems get even more complicated . . . If you're trying to put an antenna on an airplane, you need to know how the airflow is going to go over it, but you need to know whether or not the radio frequency stuff works out too, all that RF stuff.So these multiphysics models, the complexity is even higher, and you can train these neural nets . . . even faster than these physics-based models. So we have these things called AI surrogate models. They're sort of surrogates. It's two steps removed, in some ways, from actual physical testing . . . Literally we've seen models that can run in minutes rather than hours, or an hour rather than a few days. That can accelerate things. We see this in weather forecasting in a number of different ways in which this can happen. If you can generate more candidates and then test them faster, you can imagine the whole R&D process really accelerating.The business-adoption bottleneck (11:55)We know that companies are using AI surrogates, deep learning surrogates, already, but is it being applied as many places as possible? No, it isn't.Does achieving your estimated productivity increases depend more on further technological advances or does it depend more on how companies adopt and implement the technology? Is the bottleneck still in the tech itself, or is it more about business adaptation?Mostly number two. The technology is going to continue to advance. As a technologist, I love all that stuff, but as usual, a lot of the challenges here are organizational challenges. We know that companies are using AI surrogates, deep learning surrogates, already, but is it being applied as many places as possible? No, it isn't. A lot of these things are organizational. Does it match your strategy, for instance? Do you have the right talent and organization in place?Let me just give one very specific example. In a lot of R&D organizations we know, there's a separate organization for physical testing and a separate organization for simulations. Simulation, in many cases, us physics-based, but you add these deep-learning surrogates as well. That doesn't make sense at some level. I'm not saying physical testing goes away, but you need to figure out when you should physically test, when you should use which simulation methods, when you should use deep-learning surrogates or AI techniques, et cetera, and that's just one organizational difference that you could make if you were in an organization that was actually taking this whole testing regime seriously, where you're actually parsing out when the optimal amount of physical testing is versus simulation, et cetera. There's a number of things where that's true.Even before AI, historically, there was a gap between novel, new technologies, what they can do in lab settings, and then how they're applied in real-world research or in business environments. That gap, I would guess, probably requires companies to rewire how they operate, which takes time.It is indeed, and it's funny that you use the word “rewiring.” My colleagues wrote a book entitled Rewired, which literally is about the different ways, together, that you need to, as you say, rewire or change the way an organization operates. Only one of those six chapters is around the tech stack. It's still absolutely important. You've got to get all that stuff right. But it is mostly all of the other things surrounding how you change and what organization operates in order to bring the full value of this together to reach scale.We also talk about pilot purgatory: “We did this cool experiment . . .” but when is it good enough that the CFOs talks about it at the quarterly earnings report? That requires the organization to change the way it operates. That's the learning we've seen all the time.We've been serving thousands of executives on their use of AI for seven years now. Nearly 80 percent of organizations say they're regularly using AI someplace in the business, but in a separate survey, only one percent say they're mature in that usage. There's this giant gap between just using AI and then actually having the value be created. And by the way, organizations that are creating that value are accelerating their performance difference. If you have a much more productive R&D organization that churns out products that are successful in the market, you're going to be ahead of your competitors, and that's what we're seeing too.Is there a specific problem that comes up over and over again with companies, either in their implementation of AI, maybe they don't trust it, they may not know how to use it? What do you think is the problem?Unfortunately, I don't think there's just one thing. My colleagues who do this work on Rewired, for instance — you kind of have to do all those things. You do have to have the right talent and organization in place. You have to figure out scaling, for instance. You have to figure out change management. All of those things together are what underpins outsized performance, so all those things have to be done.So if companies are successful, what is the productivity impact you see? We're talking about basically the current technology level, give or take. We're not talking about human-level AI, superintelligence, we're talking about AI more or less as it exists today. Everybody wants to accelerate productivity: governments around the world, companies. So give me a feel for that.There are different measures of productivity, but here what we're talking about is basically: How many new products, successful products, can you put out in the market? Our modeling says, depending on your industry, you could double your productivity, in other words, of R&D. In other words, you could put out double the amount of products and services — new products and services — that you have been previously.Now, that's not true for every industry. By the way, the impact of that is different for different industries because for some industries you are dependent — In pharmaceuticals, the majority of your value comes from producing new products and services over time because eventually the patent runs out or whatever. There are other industries, we talk about science-based industries like chemicals, for instance. The new-product development process in chemicals is very, very close to the science of chemistry. So these levers that I just talked about — producing more candidates, being able to evaluate them more quickly, and all the other things that LLMs can do, in general, we could see potential doubling in the pace of which innovation happens.On the other hand, the chemicals industry — let's leave out specialty chemicals, but the commodity chemicals — they'll still produce ethylene, right? So to a certain extent, while the R&D process can be accelerated a great deal, the EBIT [Earnings Before Interest and Taxes] impact on the industry might be lower than it is for pharmaceuticals, for instance. But still, it's valuable. And then, again, if you're in specialty chem, it means a lot to you. So depending on where you sit in your position in the market, it can vary, but the potential is really high.The man-machine team (18:06)At least for the medium term, we're not going to be able to get rid of all the people. The people are going to be absolutely important to the process.Will future R&D look more like researchers augmented by AI or AI systems assisted by researchers? Who's the assistant in this equation? Who's working for who?It's “all of the above” and it depends on how you decide to use these technologies, but we even write in our paper that we need to be thoughtful about where you put the human in the loop. Every study, the conditions matter, but there are lots of studies where you say, look, the combination of machines and humans — so AI and researchers — is the most powerful combination. Each brings their respective strengths to it, but the funny thing is that sometimes the human biases actually decrease the performance of the overall system, and so, oh, maybe we should just go with machines. At least for the medium term, we're not going to be able to get rid of all the people. The people are going to be absolutely important to the process.When is it that people either are necessary to the process or can be helpful? In many cases, it is around things like, when is it that you need to make a decision that's a safety-critical decision, a regulatory decision where you just have to have a person look at it? That's the sort of necessity argument for people in the loop. But also, there are things that machines just don't do well enough yet, and there's a little bit of that.Are we ready? (19:33). . . AI is one of those things that can produce potentially more of those ideas that can underpin, hopefully, an improved quality of life for us and our children.If we can get more productive R&D, and then businesses get better at incorporating this into their processes and they could potentially generate more products and services, do we have a government ready for that world of accelerated R&D? Can we handle that flow? My bias says probably not, but please correct me if I'm wrong.I think one of the interesting things is people talk about AI regulation. In many of these industries, the regulations already exist. We have regulations for what goes out in pharmaceuticals, for instance. We have regulations in the aviation industry, we have regulations in the automobile industry, and in many ways, AI in the R&D process doesn't change that — maybe it should, people talk about, can you actually accelerate the process of approving a drug, for instance, but that wasn't the thing that we studied. In some ways, those processes are applied now, already, so that's something that doesn't necessarily have to changeThat said, are some of these potential innovations gated by approval processes or clinical trials processes? Absolutely. In some of those cases, the clinical trials process gait is not necessarily a regulation, but we know there's a big problem just finding enough potential subjects in order to do clinical trials. That's not a regulatory problem, that's a problem of finding people who are good candidates for actually testing these drugs.So yes, in some cases, even if we were able to double the amount of candidates that can go through the funnel on a number of these things, there will be these exogenous issues that would constrain society's ability to bring these to market. So that just says, you squeeze the balloon here and it opens up there, but let's go solve each of these problems, and one of the problems that we said that AI can help solve is increasing the number of things that you could potentially put into market if it can get past the other necessities.For a general public where so much of what they're hearing about AI tends to be about job loss, or are they stealing copyrighted material, or, yeah, people talk about these huge advances, but they're not seeing them yet. What is your elevator optimistic pitch why you may be worried about the impact of AI, but here's why I'm excited about it? Why are you excited by it?By the way, I think all those things are really important. All of those concerns, and how do we reskill the workforce, all those things, and we've done work on that as well. But the thing that I'm excited about is we need innovation, we need new ideas, we need scientific advancements, and engineering that turns them into products in order for us to improve their human condition, whether it's living longer lives, or living higher quality life, whether it's having the energy, whether it's to be able to support that in a way that doesn't cause other problems. All of those things, we need to have them, and what we've discovered is AI is one of those things that can produce potentially more of those ideas that can underpin, hopefully, an improved quality of life for us and our children.On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were PromisedMicro Reads▶ Economics* The Tariffs Kicked In. The Sky Didn't Fall. Were the Economists Wrong? - NYT Opinion* AI Disruption Is Coming for These 7 Jobs, Microsoft Says - Barron's* One Way to Ease the US Debt Crisis? 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Traditionally, headcount equals scale. But in the age of AI, is this still true? In this episode, we're joined by Amos Bar Joseph, the co-founder of Swan AI, the first autonomous business. Their goal? Reaching $30 million in ARR with just three founders and a powerful fleet of AI agents. Amos explains how he is building an enterprise-level business with just three employees, and how Swan AI's autonomous business model is different from traditional AI-powered businesses. While most companies simply bolt AI onto existing workflows to automate repetitive processes, Swan AI is designed around agentic workflows, where AI agents operate with memory, goals, and decision-making capabilities. It's not just automation; it's intelligent delegation. Amos is quick to clarify: this isn't about replacing humans, it's about giving small teams superpowers. He explained how each agent is purpose-built to make their founders 100x more effective, by designing agents around them, rather than 1:1 replacing a hire. Amos explains how to ensure your agents stay accurate and aligned with business objectives, avoiding ‘hallucinations' and maintaining customer trust. He also shares when to stick with classic workflows and when to switch to agents for higher-level tasks. We also tackle the provocative question: Is a one-person unicorn possible? If you're interested in building a smarter, leaner business using AI, this episode will challenge how you think about scale. Enjoy! Topics Discussed in this episode: What is an agentic workflow? (03:48) Amos's background and the origins of Swan AI (04:48) How an autonomous business is different from an AI-powered business (08:45) Why adding AI agents helps enhance employees, not replace them (13:43) How Amos is building an enterprise-level business with just 3 employees (18:26) How to control the AI agents' context and accuracy (23:33) The difference between AI automation and AI agents (28:44) When to use automations and workflows vs AI agents (35:12) The best resources for building your own AI agent (42:36) Is a one-person unicorn possible? (45:08) Mentions:  Empire Flippers Podcasts Empire Flippers Marketplace Create an Empire Flippers account Swan Amos's LinkedIn Amos's Autonomous Business Playbook Amos's Avatar Sit back, grab a coffee, and learn how to scale your business without bloat, using AI agents.  

This episode was recorded at the 2025 Western Dairy Management Conference in Reno, Nevada.Dr. Lock begins with an overview of his presentation, discussing nutrition and genomics impacts on the speed of progress in milk fat production. He also talks about historic differences in milk fat production in Europe compared to the US. With the reduction in generation interval that genomics provides, a more complete understanding of rumen and mammary metabolism will continue to be imperative. How do we supply the nutrients she needs to meet her genetic potential? (3:34)Can we feed too much 16:0? The panel discusses how palmitic and other fatty acids are incorporated into milk fat. They emphasize that no matter what, milk fat will remain a liquid at body temperature, so that does provide some limitations. Processors can alter their protocols to account for increased palmitic acid in milk fat and for increased milk fat in milk overall. (8:35)There is a gene called DGAT that can explain about 50% of the variation in milk fat content. Dr. Lock discusses some research looking at more vs less favorable DGAT profiles and how feeding palmitic acid interacted with those profiles in milk fat production. (13:04)The panel discusses whether there is a physiological limit for how much milk fat a cow can produce. Traditionally, when milk yield increased, fat yield decreased, but that is not the current case. We are learning more all the time about altering rations and using new oilseed ingredients like whole cottonseed and high-oleic soybeans. Dr. De Souza emphasizes that understanding de novo fatty acid synthesis is really important to keep pace with genomic progress. (16:08)Amino acid supplementation has recently been linked with milk fat production, with the assumed mechanism of action being increased mammary gland enzyme synthesis and activity. Dr. Lock describes a study assessing amino acid-fatty acid interactions in fresh cows. The amino acid (metabolizable protein) effect was greater for fat yield than feeding fatty acids, which was interesting. But perhaps more exciting was the effects were additive. Feeding both high metabolizable protein and 2% palmitic:oleic acid blend resulted in 9.5 kg more energy-corrected milk and a carryover effect after supplementation ceased. (22:41)Dr. Lock summarizes some of his group's work on using oilseeds in dairy diets.(28:24)Dr. De Souza and Dr. Lock give some perspective on just how much we have learned about milk components over the last several years. (34:38)Panelists share their take-home thoughts, including practical advice on increasing milk fat production and what's on the horizon for fatty acid nutrition research. (37:15)Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to invite more people to join us at the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table.  If you want one of our Real Science Exchange t-shirts, screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to anh.marketing@balchem.com. Include your size and mailing address, and we'll mail you a shirt.

Traditionally, headcount equals scale. But in the age of AI, is this still true? In this episode, we're joined by Amos Bar Joseph, the co-founder of Swan AI, the first autonomous business. Their goal? Reaching $30 million in ARR with just three founders and a powerful fleet of AI agents. Amos explains how he is building an enterprise-level business with just three employees, and how Swan AI's autonomous business model is different from traditional AI-powered businesses. While most companies simply bolt AI onto existing workflows to automate repetitive processes, Swan AI is designed around agentic workflows, where AI agents operate with memory, goals, and decision-making capabilities. It's not just automation; it's intelligent delegation. Amos is quick to clarify: this isn't about replacing humans, it's about giving small teams superpowers. He explained how each agent is purpose-built to make their founders 100x more effective, by designing agents around them, rather than 1:1 replacing a hire. Amos explains how to ensure your agents stay accurate and aligned with business objectives, avoiding ‘hallucinations' and maintaining customer trust. He also shares when to stick with classic workflows and when to switch to agents for higher-level tasks. We also tackle the provocative question: Is a one-person unicorn possible? If you're interested in building a smarter, leaner business using AI, this episode will challenge how you think about scale. Enjoy! Topics Discussed in this episode: What is an agentic workflow? (03:48) Amos's background and the origins of Swan AI (04:48) How an autonomous business is different from an AI-powered business (08:45) Why adding AI agents helps enhance employees, not replace them (13:43) How Amos is building an enterprise-level business with just 3 employees (18:26) How to control the AI agents' context and accuracy (23:33) The difference between AI automation and AI agents (28:44) When to use automations and workflows vs AI agents (35:12) The best resources for building your own AI agent (42:36) Is a one-person unicorn possible? (45:08) Mentions:  Empire Flippers Podcasts Empire Flippers Marketplace Create an Empire Flippers account Swan Amos's LinkedIn Amos's Autonomous Business Playbook Amos's Avatar Sit back, grab a coffee, and learn how to scale your business without bloat, using AI agents.  

As the NFU hosts an on-farm water summit, we find out more about an innovative project in Shropshire to manage water. It aims to prevent excess run-off from urban areas which floods farmland and destroys crops.Out and about with the Agricultural Chaplain for Suffolk who's helping farmers cope with the pressures of running a farm business. He says they're especially concerned about changes to inheritance tax reform.Scientists are working with farmers to find a high-tech way of tackling one of the most voracious pests farmers face - slugs. Traditionally, producers have used ferric phosphate pellets to kill them, or taken a more expensive but eco-friendly route, using nematodes to eat the pests. Now the British On-Farm Innovation Network or BOFIN for short, is using artificial intelligence as part of a "Slimers" project to work out where slugs are hiding. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

This episode features my conversation with Tom Sherwood, the owner and winemaker of BXT Wines in California. BXT is an exploration of Californian viticulture through the lens of traditionally made sparkling wine. The idea of “Bubbles by Tom“ (BXT) is to take a grower-Champagne mentality and apply it to hand-crafted sparkling wines from grapes grown throughout California, and Tom seeks out interesting vineyard sites to work with for producing his small batches of these wines. He started this project in 2018 inspired by grower Champagne, but he grew up in Australia where he says he stumbled into wine making when he attended Adelaide University and studied Viticulture and Enology. He not only discovered a love for this career but he also me his now wife, Britt, who also works in the wine industry as the Director of Winemaking for Lawrence Wine Estates in Napa, CA. Tom was not afraid to get a little nerdy while talking about the details of his grape growing and winemaking practices, and you'll appreciate his transparency during our discussion about wine pricing and the state of the market for domestic sparkling wine. You can visit www.bxtwines.com to learn more about the portfolio, and you can connect with Tom by following @bxtwines on Instagram.Recorded July 20, 2025

Title: Rare Earths to Truffles: Diversified Investments You've Never Heard Of with Louis O'Connor Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes back Lou, an international investor, to discuss diversification, rare earth metals, and a unique agricultural investment opportunity. Lou, who splits his time between Europe and Latin America, emphasizes the importance of global diversification for peace of mind and flexibility. He highlights the geopolitical dynamics affecting rare earth metals, where China dominates the refining process, and discusses the increasing demand due to restricted exports. Transitioning from metals to agriculture, Lou introduces his truffle farm investment. Leveraging agri-science and Ireland's favorable climate, the project offers investors ownership of inoculated truffle trees with professional farm management. Returns are projected to begin in year 4-5 and continue for up to 40 years, offering IRRs between 14% to 69% based on historical truffle prices. Risks include mismanagement and natural elements, though strong biosecurity and proven success mitigate concerns. Lou finishes with a valuable mindset tip: improve by 1% daily to compound results over time. Bullet Point Highlights: Diversification across countries and industries provides flexibility and peace of mind China's control of rare earth refining and export restrictions create scarcity and opportunity Truffle farm investment offers strong IRR potential, with returns starting in years 4-5 and lasting 30-40 years Minimum $30K investment includes 400 saplings and full farm management with a 70/30 profit split Primary risks are mismanagement and nature, mitigated through biosecurity and replacement guarantees Lou's golden nugget: Focus on improving 1% daily to unlock exponential long-term growth Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Lou, what's going on, brother? Welcome back to the show.   Thank you very much Seth. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here. Good to see you again.   Yeah, absolutely man. Great to catch up with you. Are you tuning in from where?   Well, in Europe still, you know, I'm back and forth between Ireland, Germany, mostly, a little bit of time in Panama as well, because my wife's from there, but I'm in temporary in Ireland, horse breeding country and agricultural heartland actually of Europe. And at the moment anyway, yeah, so in Europe.   (Seth Bradley) (01:16.664) awesome, awesome. That's the beauty of being on a video conference call that you can talk to anyone from anywhere in the world now. That's the one good thing that came out of COVID is it made it normal to do it.   Yeah, it's funny, unbelievable. Just yesterday I was contacted actually by CNBC in the US, I'm in Europe, about the metals. We're not talking about metals today, but I've spoken with you before about the rare earth metals. And I guess the US chamber, secretary chamber of commerce is in China this week because China is restricting the export of certain technology metals and that's their area.   And within a day, there's like an hour after I speak with you, I'm doing an interview with CNBC on, I think it's Power Launch or something they call it. So it's fascinating really how quickly you can sort of ping around the globe and find somebody and do this.   Yeah, yeah, very cool, very cool, man. Well, thanks for taking the time to tune in with us today. And we've got a brand new thing to talk about and we'll jump into that. But before we do, just for listeners who didn't listen to your previous episode, give us a little bit about your background and your story. Just a general synopsis,   Sure, thank you. Yeah, so I'm obviously, you can tell from the accent, I'm Irish or Scottish or Australian, but it's Irish. And I suppose you could say I'm bit of a world traveler who has come back home specifically for this project we're going to talk about. Ireland is known as sort of the breadbasket of Europe. But yeah, I lived in Germany for 10 years, lived in Central America and traveled extensively in South America during that time.   (Louis O'Connor) (03:05.422) But my niche, if you will, you know one other business we're involved in. And my niche, what I'm looking for is always what I call, I don't know what you might call it in the US, but we sort of call it a path of progress play here, which is if you sort of look at an industry or a product, what's happened in the last 10 years, or even a country or even a business for that matter, if you look at what's happened in the last 10, you can sort of   have a look at likely what's going to happen in the next 10. So I'm always looking for somewhere where demand is increasing and supply is either going to be limited or subject to disruption and somehow, and that's what we will be talking to an agricultural product and we'll talk more about it. But I like to be diversified in every way. So I have business in Germany, this agricultural product is in Ireland.   I do my banking in Belize and Panama and different parts of Europe. So just trying to be as diversified as possible.   Right, right. And that's part of your kind of plan as well, right? Like to be kind of this international man of mystery, right? Like you have different ties to a couple of different countries, which gives you flexibility in case something goes wrong in one of them, right? Like, you know, I think a lot of people were worried here for a while and I think it's still in the back of people's minds in the United States about, you know, the strength of the dollar and   You know, people were talking about getting a second citizenship and things like that. Can you speak to that a little bit about kind of, you know, how you've done that and what your kind of thoughts and feelings are around that?   (Louis O'Connor) (04:46.552) Sure, sure. Well, you my feeling always has this peace of mind, you know, I just want peace of mind. I want to be at peace with myself and the world around me. that's, I mean, I'm probably talking about more philosophically and spiritually as well, but also, you know, in business or residencies or banking. I suppose it's because I left Ireland quite young and I did live.   I didn't just go on a vacation somewhere. lived in Germany for 10 years. I learned the language. Ireland is an island, even though we're part of Europe, continental Europe is completely different. And then I went to Latin America, which is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. And I suppose it was those experiences that the perspective that gave me was that, that sounds very simple, really, root of entry, but there's...   there's good and bad, know, you we do certain things in Ireland very well, and maybe other things not so well in Germany, they do, you know, they've made better cars and better roads. And we do and you know, Latin America, I think they dance better and drink better maybe than you know, but so yeah, what I learned is, you know, you know, you can pick is a bit like life can be a bit like a buffet, and you can pick what you like, and you know what you don't like leave behind, you know, so and the idea, I suppose the point I should make is that   What I've learned is it's not expensive or difficult to be diversified. Like have your banking in different jurisdictions really doesn't cost anything. Having a second or third residency if you do the right homework on I'll go into more detail if you want. have residency still in Panama and I three passports. I'm working on the fourth and it has been a little bit of effort but not expensive or costly.   And will I ever use it? I worried that the world's going to end? No. But it's just that peace of mind you have when you've got these other options that, God forbid if something did happen here in Ireland or Europe, I have a residency in Panama, I banking there. So it's just that, suppose it's like having a parachute or a safety net that's always there.   (Seth Bradley) (07:00.13) Yeah, yeah, I agree. mean, that's, you know, especially the way that things are today and people kind of just worry about things generally, right? If you have that peace of mind and you have that, you know, second or third option, it's just something that can kind of let you sleep at night a little bit better. It's like having a nest egg or, you know, having a second, third, fourth, fifth stream of income.   things like that that can let you sleep at night and while other people are panicking and worrying and making, you know, maybe even bad decisions based on that, you know, based on those worries, you can sleep soundly and make decisions that are best for you.   Yeah, yeah, and you're not limited, know, if you're just, you know, like, I mean, it's funny though, as well, I think it's timely. I think the time has come. I you see people, you know, we were chatting earlier, you know, being involved in multiple different industries and, you know, with technology, we're allowed to do that. We can reside in one country, we can do our bank in another, we can do our tax responsibility somewhere else, we can do our business. So it's probably just in the last 20, 30 years that we can move so freely.   with all this stuff, know, you know, only maybe 25, 30 years ago, I wanted to, I couldn't really do business in Germany, but live in Ireland, it'd have to be one or the other. There was no internet, you know, everything. So, so yeah, I think, I think we're heading in that direction anyway. And it's just, yeah, there's great freedom in it and great peace of mind, even though, you know, I mean, I'll be in Ireland for, you know, my two kids are, there's another six or eight years.   before they finish school. So I plan to be here, but I just have other options as well, you know.   (Seth Bradley) (08:41.42) Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic. And speaking of diversification, mean, your investments are very diverse, right? I mean, in the previous episode, we jumped into rare earth metals. And then in this episode, we're going to jump into something new. Before we jump into the new thing, though, give us a little update on what has changed in your business with the rare earth metals or if anything has changed or how those things are going.   Yeah, well, thanks. Thanks for asking, Seth. Since we spoke, actually, the big news is just in the last 60 days, I think I mentioned to you that China pretty much sort of dominates the rare earth industry. it's, I think really, it's possible and we understand now that China sort of saw before the EU and maybe before the US or they understood at least that rare earths would become   the backbone of manufacturing in the 21st century and they've been, you know, they've taken action on that. So we're in a situation now and it's not really an economic strategy. It's more of a geopolitical strategy that China has big plans for electric cars, big plans for solar, big plans for wind. you know, they, they've hundreds of million people, they're, taken out of the poverty, into the middle class all the time. So sort of   thinking strategically and long term, they rightfully secured their supply of rare earths. And what happened just in the last 60 days is the US sort of initiated a sort of a block. Now it was also supported by Holland and Japan and they're blocking sort of the latest sort of semiconductor technology from going to China. And in retaliation for that, China   You know, they have, you know, an ace up their sleeve, which is where it hurts. So the West has the technology and China has the raw materials. And just in the last 60 days, China has said they're going to, well, effective August 1, which is a month ago, they're restricting the export now of gallium and germanium, which is two of these technology metals, and that China, you know, is responsible for 95 % of the global production. so we're seeing the prices go up and this is sort of.   (Louis O'Connor) (10:57.826) what I talked to you about that these metals are in demand on a good day, you know, you will make a nice return. But if something like this happens where China sort of weaponizes these metals economically, then you'll see prices increasing quite dramatically, which they are. Yeah, that's that's what's happening there. It's basically a market where there's surging demand and you have sort of political landscapes affecting as well. So   It makes for interesting investment.   Yeah, yeah. Are these rare earth metals, are they not something that we can mine or is it something we're not willing to mine, like let's say in the West?   (Louis O'Connor) (11:44.142) Yeah, good question actually. that actually gets right to the heart of it, Seth, because despite the name rare earths, they're not all that rare. Some of them are as sort of common as copper and stuff, but there's about eight or ten of them that are rare and they are available in the US. But this is what's changed dramatically in the last 30 years is the rare earths don't occur naturally. So they always occur as a byproduct of another raw material.   They're sort of, they're very chemically similar. they're, sort of all stuck together. So they have to be extracted and separated and then refined and processed into, you know, high purity levels for jet engines or smartphones or whatever the case might be. what's happened where China dominates is, is China is responsible for 95 % of the refining. Now there's about 200 or sorry, $390 billion available in subsidies in the U S.   from the Inflation Reduction Act, which despite the name is all about energy transition. And that's all very well, except the human capital and the engineering expertise to refine rare earths is depleted in, it doesn't exist in Europe, and it's very much depleted in the US. Just to give you some context, there's 39 universities in China, where they graduate degrees in critical minerals.   So the Chinese are graduating about 200 metallurgists a week, every week for the last 30 years. I think the US has a handful of universities. I'd say there's probably 300,000 metallurgists in China and there might be 400 in the US and probably none in Europe at all. So it's not just a question of if they're there, it's how do we get them into 99.99 % purity? Without the engineering expertise, we can't, not anytime soon anyway.   Wow, yeah, yeah. mean, that just alone sounds like a recipe for a pretty good play for an investment. you know, there's these bottlenecks, right? Whether that's people that can refine it or the actual element itself or willingness to mine it, you know, all these different things come into play to make it a good investment. All right, let's switch over a little bit here. Let's talk about the new investment vehicle.   (Seth Bradley) (14:06.99) that you talked to me about. It's an agricultural play, correct? we're talking about truffles, talking about mushrooms, right? Tell me a little bit about it just to get started here.   Okay, well, you probably I mean, you know, truffles are in the culinary world, they're known as the black diamond of the kitchen, you know, they're, they're a delicacy going back to, you know, thousands and thousands of years. Traditionally, the black perigord, which is the Mediterranean truffle would have originated in France, but for the last sort of, you know, the last 100 years or so,   they've been growing abundantly in sort of South, Southwestern France, Northern Spain and Italy. So traditionally, you know, that's where they grow and they sort of, know, because the truffle, as you said, it's a mushroom that has a symbiotic relationship with a a native tree, an oak tree or hazel tree or sometimes beech. So it's a very delicate balance, you know.   And although I have invested in agriculture before, we started, we, I mean, a collective does not just me involved here, and I don't want to sound like I take credit for any of this really. I was just a part of a team where we had some agri-science people, and we had sort of four generational farmers involved. But we were looking at, it is no question that climate, there's a climate change, right?   It doesn't matter to me whether people, whatever the causes of that are, the reality is if you talk to an olive grower or a truffle grower in Italy or France, they'll tell you the climate has changed because their harvests have been decreasing for about the last 30 to 40 years actually, but really more so in the last 10. So we were sort of, I'll tell you basically the AgriScience partner involved in this.   (Louis O'Connor) (16:10.958) As a test back in 2005, they started to plant and the trees inoculated, the baby trees inoculated with the truffle sort of in the root system as a test all over different countries, not just Ireland, England, UK, also the US. So this has been in sort of research and development since about 2005.   And we got seriously involved in about 2015 when history was made and this Mediterranean truffle was grown here in the British Isles for the first time. we then with our agriscience partner in 2015 planted a thousand trees in five different locations in Ireland where I am.   and one of them is about 20 minutes away from me here. They're all secret locations. I won't even tell you where they are because they really are. They're highly valued or highly prized. And so it takes about four or five years to see if you're a business. So yeah, we now are growing the Mediterranean truffle, not just in Ireland, but in other parts of the UK. But the real interesting thing, Seth, it's just now ready for scale. And all of the farmers,   who were involved in the original research. None of them are going to take it to scale. The one that's local to me is a lovely gentleman. in his 60s and he planted a thousand trees really just as a retirement. His daughter works in banking in Switzerland and so there's nobody really to take over the farm. So we're the first to do it with scale. So we're inviting in...   a portion of some investors in as well.   (Seth Bradley) (18:05.87) Gotcha. Are there specific, I assume there are, are specific growing conditions where these things can prosper? Like I can't, I'm in San Diego, I can't just plant them in my backyard and wait five years and be a millionaire.   Well, if you you if I hear you're growing truffles death, you know, we should assign an NDA we should assign. You could try but no, they wouldn't grow in San Diego because I mean, there's a very delicate balance and you're what you're you're what you're using here is agri science and nature. You're working with nature. And because the reason they've grown so well in demand is   No way.   (Louis O'Connor) (18:48.738) just because of that balance up they get a sort of a dry season or sort of they got to get a lot of rain and then they get the dry season and what's happened is they're getting more drought and less rain and it's just upset the balance. So it's a very, very delicate balance. But what people wouldn't know, I think, is that truffles have always grown wild in Ireland.   There was a time five or 600 years ago when Ireland was 85 % forest and our native tree is the oak and the hazel tree, is the tree that's also where the fungus grows. And what happened was when the Brits were before, you know, when shipbuilding was the thing and the British Navy were, you know, the Spanish were, so the Brits sort of chopped down a lot of the forest for the wood for shipbuilding. you know, our forests were depleted. But to this day,   Truffles do still grow wild here, but we're doing it differently. know, we're only planting on land where you have like certain protein and pH levels and limestone. And then we're planting baby saplings that are already two years old that were inoculated with the truffle fungus like at birth, like in the root system. And we only plant them after we see that the root system and the fungi are already thriving.   So if you get into the right soil and it's already thriving, then two, three, four years later, you'll get truffles.   (Seth Bradley) (20:17.216) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   That's awesome. just, I think about like wine and like, you know, you can grow it, you know, vines in different places. Some places they grow, some places they don't, some places they grow and the result isn't good and some places they grow and the result is awesome. It's probably a very delicate balance between, you know, environment plus how they're raised, how they're taken care of and all those sorts of things.   It is 100%. I mean, first and foremost, mean, because of angry science and technology today, you know, I mean, we can plant baby saplings that are already and not, I mean, we're playing God a little bit with nature, but you know, I mean, it's just amazing, you know, like you could do it. And then, you know, the biggest threat is actually mismanagement. You know, if you don't then manage it correctly. If you have a root system inoculated with the fungus and you have the right soil conditions,   after that and it's management and it's sort of bio security meaning they have a very pungent smell. mean, squirrels and pigs and they love them. They love to eat. So you have to, mean, you're literally it's like protecting a bank, know, you have a bio security fence. You've you know, you limit visitations to the farm, you've, know, special footwear and cleaning and stuff. so yeah, it's serious stuff, you know.   Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. Well, let's dive in a little bit to the kind of the investment itself. Like what does that look like for an investor? Like what are your projected returns? You know, what, how does it all kind of, how does it all shape out? Like you've grown these wildly valuable truffles and now I guess the first step would be what's the business plan? Who are we selling these truffles to? What makes them so valuable? And then get into kind of the investor   (Seth Bradley) (22:33.794) portion like how would someone get involved in whether projector returns.   Okay, so we sell, first of all, the estate that the farm is, it's called Chan Valley Estate. People can Google it, it's beautiful. It's 200 acres of north-temporary farmland. The estate itself, it's a bit like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. It's a Georgian.   a three story Georgian home, it's over 200 years old. It's also a museum and we have events there and it's also a working farm. And it's a herbal farm. So we grow plants and herbs there that we then we have our own, we work the value chain where we also sell those herbs for medicinal purpose and we convert them into medicinal oils and things like that. So the location is already up and running.   And what we're doing with the truffles is for every acre, we can plant 800 trees. And so what we're doing is we're offering investors, well, a client, the minimum investment is $30,000 and the investor for that price gets 400 baby saplings already inoculated with the truffle fungus. And then they get the farm management   included up to the first four to five years. takes about, there'll be truffles after, bearing in mind that the sapling, the baby tree is two years old. So after three years in the ground, it's already five years old and there'll be truffles then and the returns don't begin until then. But what's included in the price is all the farm management, know, all the, you know, the,   (Louis O'Connor) (24:23.508) implementation of the farm, the irrigation, the electricity, the hardware that's needed. So all the management right up until there is production and then when they're producing, the investor gets 70 % of the growth and the farm management company, we get 30%. So it's a 70-30 split. Now the great thing about the oak and the hazel is they'll produce   for 30 to 40 years. it's a long term, it's a legacy investment, you might call it, because you won't see returns until the fourth or fifth year. But once you do, you'll see returns then for another 30 to 35 years. And they're very, very good. mean, we have three numbers in the brochure. We looked at what's...   price half the truffles never dropped below. So we have the very low estimate, which is they've never gone below this price. That brings in an IRR, which would be from day one of about 14%. And then the highest that they've sold for, you're looking at about 69%, but the average is about 38%.   So the returns will be very, very good once production kicks in and then they'll maintain. We've included an inflation for 30 to 40 years. I hope, I think I answered everything there.   Yeah, definitely. sorry. I gave you about six questions there to answer in a row. But yeah, I think you covered everything. And having an IRR, which is time-based on something that has this long of a horizon and even takes four or five years to even start producing, those are really, really strong numbers.   (Louis O'Connor) (26:23.63) Yeah, well, again, even the, you know, one of the reasons obviously we like truffles because they're very, very expensive. mean, they're a luxury product. You know, we're about an hour from Shannon Airport here, which is the transatlantic hub between Europe and the U.S. So we can have truffles in U.S. or anywhere in Europe or even the Middle East or the Far East, for that matter, in less than 24 hours. that's important as well. But they're a luxury item. There's huge demand for them. mean,   You know how the world is. mean, there are, unfortunately, you know, there's always sort of, people are getting richer and some people maybe are getting poorer. But the luxury, you know, high end market and the culinary, international culinary explosion means that, you know, there's huge demand for truffles. And also you have to factor in the fact that the harvests in the Mediterranean are less and less every year. And I mean, very, very sadly,   I mean, it's an opportunity for us, but very sadly that they've done very specific scientific studies and it's going to over the next 50 years, the truffle harvests in the Med will go will decline between 73 and 100%. So literally, they will not be growing truffles there in 50 plus years from now. So that's an opportunity for us. you know, again,   We've been working on this really since 2015. And it was only, you know, it was only 2019, 2020 when we began to get to truffles we knew because there was no guarantee, you know. But yeah, now that we're growing them, we just need to scale up.   Gotcha. Gotcha. what's kind of the I see that you know, for that minimum investment, you get X number of baby saplings. How many was that again? 400. That's what I Okay, 400. What's kind of the survival rate, I guess, of those saplings? Do you have kind of a percentage on that? Is it like?   (Louis O'Connor) (28:17.102) 400   (Louis O'Connor) (28:27.086) Yeah, well, we expect you got what's happening so far is within in about year three, which is actually year five, because the sapling, you should get three of the five trees producing. But once you have production, once that fungi is thriving, it will just continue to grow. So in year four, you should have four of them. In year five, you should have all of them producing.   Now we also put a guarantee in the farm management contract that if any tree, you know, if it dies or if it's not, you know, producing truffles, we'll replace it free of charge at any time. in the event, you know, for some reason, I mean, we put a tree in that's inoculated and it doesn't take, then we just replace it. So either way, over the first four to five years, we get them all. And the great thing is if you protect that soil from   pests and diseases and other sort of unwelcome sort of mycorrhizal or fungi, then it will thrive. It will thrive. It'll keep, you know, it'll spread, you know, it's a symbiotic relationship underground between the tree and the fungi.   Got it. Yeah, that's awesome to know. like survival is not one of the things that we should consider because if for some reason it wouldn't survive or is not producing, then it just gets replaced. So you actually are getting those full 400 saplings turning into trees that will be producing.   almost they mature and produce and you know as I said barring you know any pests or diseases or you know interference then they just continue you just protect them you just allow nature then to do its work.   (Seth Bradley) (30:18.848) Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the risks then? What are the downsides that you can foresee if something were to go wrong? What would it be?   Well, the greatest threat is mismanagement, literally. I obviously we're doing this with scale, so it's a professional endeavor, you know, people from time to time, know, I mean, some of the test sites here, mean, I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and they're not that hard to manage, but people just lose interest, or the younger kids don't want to farm. But the greatest threat is mismanagement. So as long as you put in these biosecurity measures,   and manage, you know, there's got to be some clearing done, there's got to be some pruning done, there's got to be tree guards. So there is a process involved in bringing them to nurturing them along and then keeping everything, you know, neutral, if you will. that's first, weather is always, you know, factor in agriculture. We don't feel it's as much of a threat here, because although we're for the first time,   growing the Mediterranean truffle. Truffles have grown, they grow here wild anyway. So the climate is right and has been right for thousands of years in Ireland. So, you know, and again, we'll have irrigation as well. You know, we get a lot of rain here. It's not likely we'll need any more rain, but yeah, we, you know, the agri-science will kick in there as well. And then, you know, as I said, like,   you know, biosecurity we call it, which is, you know, very, very serious fencing, limited visits to the farm, know, special footwear if people are going up to the area and sort of rinse. We have a pool area where they have to disinfect before they go into, you know, it's a very, very, very protected area from pests and from diseases or anything, you know, that could be brought in from the outside on whether that's machinery or humans.   (Louis O'Connor) (32:22.892) So yeah, it's almost like a laboratory. mean, you keep it very, very delicate balance and keep it very limited on who visits and, you know, people are a visit, but they have to be properly, you know, the feet have to be cleaned and footwear has to be worn and stuff like that. So, but, know, at the end of the day, Seth, it's, you know, well, any investment really, but agriculture, you know, the final say is in nature's hands, you know, not ours. mean, we...   We like to think, suppose, we're in the results business, but the reality is we're not. in the planning business and all we can do is plan everything as well as we can. It's just like, you if you planted a rose, you know, bush out in your backyard there today, you wouldn't stand outside and will it to grow, right? You know, grow quicker. You know, we have to allow nature and the cosmos to do its work. so yeah, nature has the final say, you know.   Yeah, yeah, no, totally, totally understand. And any investment has its risks, whether you're investing in truffles or real estate or any of the above. Quick question on this. Don't want to paint you like in a bad way at all, but we have had and it's not you, of course, of course, but we've had an influx of bad sponsors and people that are anything from mismanaging investor capital on one end, which can happen pretty easily. And there's not a whole lot of   Not a lot of bad blood there. Things happen. And then on the other side of the spectrum, we've seen everything from fraud to Ponzi schemes and all kinds of stuff lately. One thing that I tell investors is to make sure you know who you're investing with and make sure your investing dollars are actually getting invested where they're supposed to. Could an investor invest with you and actually go to the farm?   and see their saplings or see the farm and see this business.   (Louis O'Connor) (34:24.654) 100 % in fact, we would rather people do I mean, I it's not always possible. Right. But Shan Valley Estate, I mean, I'll give you the website and stuff after Shan Valley Estate. It's a 200 acre farm. It's already a museum. have events there. It's a herb dispensary as I said, as I said, it's our our manage our farm management partner is the Duggan family, their fourth generation farmers and they're being in temporary, you know,   longer than that even. absolutely, you you know, of course, there's legal contracts. mean, people get a legal contract for the purchase of the trees and then we have a legal contract for the farm management that we're responsible for implementing the project, we're responsible for bringing the hard, the trees to truffles to harvest. But we do, we just beginning, we just had our first tour, but it was sort of Europe from Germany. Last, sorry,   the 18th, 19th of August. But we will be having tours every quarter. And if anybody wants to come at any time, we'd be delighted to have them because it's like I said, it's like a smaller version of Downton Abbey. And we've accommodated, we converted the stables into accommodation, you know, because we have weddings and events and stuff there as well. It's not just a field that we bought.   Yeah.   And so it's a big deal. I'll give you the website. The location is spectacular and clients can, you know, stay the night, you know, and there's a three story Georgian estate house and the bottom floor is a museum. So it's like walking into a pharmacy from 1840, all the bottles and the counter is 200 years old, you know, and then the middle level, we've an organic vegetarian restaurant, all the   (Louis O'Connor) (36:17.24) food is grown on the farm. There's an old walled garden that they used to wall the gardens years ago to keep out the pests. And all the food that's served is grown on the farm. And then the top floor is accommodation as well and the stables have been converted. look, it's all about trust, Seth. And, you know, I would say to anybody, you've   I mean myself, if I have any doubt about anything, don't do it. And it might not be that somebody's a scam or a fraud, it's just if you're not 100 % sure about it, don't touch it. But what I would recommend is people do their due diligence because we've done ours. We've eight years invested in it, put a lot of time and effort into it. And at the very least, we'd like people to check it out and see it all the way through.   for what it is. yeah, we'll be, we're hoping to, we have a partner in Europe and we're to connect with somebody in North America. I don't want name anybody here because it might not come off, but there's a few sort of marketers and there's plenty obviously that we might sort of do a sort of an agreement with where they'll, you know, I mean, we could even have sort of investment real estate conferences on the farm.   you know, and do farm tours as well. so definitely 100 % we'd love for people to visit and, and they get to drink some Guinness and they're really brave, they can swim in the Irish sea.   Yeah, and I'm looking at the website right now. We'll drop that in the show notes, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, it's making me want to get on a plane right now and check it out. It's incredible.   (Louis O'Connor) (38:00.046) Yeah, that's the estate, shambali.ie. I mean, what I love about it's 100 % organic or members of the Irish Organic Association, track ref, fourth generation. You know, this is not me, I'm a part of this, but the farm management team are, you know, they're already like growing herbs and plants and converting them to medicinal, you know, oils and things. And this is just another, it's more of a farming enterprise, I suppose, than a farm.   And then the other partner is the Agri Science Partner, which is this team of scientists who basically made history by growing for the very first time eight years ago, the black, the Mediterranean truffle in Ireland, you know, so there's a lot of professionalism and thought and effort being put into a chap.   Love that. Love that man. Is there anything else about this type of investment that I didn't ask about that I should have?   I think you know Seth, you should be on CNN or something because I you did. I'm pretty sure you did, you definitely covered it. I mean I may have left something out but I think it's a good foundation for somebody if they're interested, I'll give them my email and you know it's not that expensive to get to Europe and it's a great way to mix a holiday and you know come to the farm and stuff you know.   Absolutely, absolutely. Well, since you're repeat guest of the guest of the show, we won't go into the freedom for but you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   (Louis O'Connor) (39:34.446) You know, I knew you were going to ask me that, Seth, you caught me off guard. So I have one ready and I stole this from someone else. So I'm not going to take it. But I was listening to a guy last week and he, sort of a big operation in Europe. And he was talking about a phrase they have in the office and it's 1%. And they always look at each other and when you pass them, they go 1%. And I love what it's about. It's about the idea that in a way it sort of comes back to what we talked about earlier, which is forget about.   Yeah.   (Louis O'Connor) (40:04.664) the fact don't think you're in the results business. You're in the planning business. And the 1 % is every day, try and improve every little action. I'm not just talking about work. I'm talking about family, your spiritual practice, if you have one, increase it by 1 % every day. And you know, it's like compound interest, isn't it? That in a way, then you don't have to worry about the big picture. And the results will just look after themselves then, you know.   Yeah, yeah, I love that man. Always improve. mean, you you've got to take small steps to get to those big goals. And a lot of times you just need to ask yourself, did I improve 1 % today? If the answer is yes, then it was a successful day.   Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And it's great because, you know, if I was to try and think now, or you were to try and think now, everything you have to do in the next three weeks, right, you just be overwhelmed, right. And sometimes my head is like that, you know, I mean, I've got meditation practice and stuff, but I watch my thoughts and you know, I mean, it's it's a fact. I mean, it's a human condition. I don't know, some disestimates of how many thoughts do we have a day? How many are repetitive and how many are useless?   A lot of them are repetitive, a lot of them are useless. So it's good just to narrow it right down to what's the next thing I can do right now and can I do it 1 % better than I did yesterday, you know?   Absolutely. Love that man. All right, Lou, we're gonna let us find out more about you.   (Louis O'Connor) (41:34.954) Okay, so they can email me. It's Truffle Farm Invest. Sorry, it's a new website www.trufflefarminvest.com or they can if somebody from your your audience wants to email me directly, it's louis at trufflefarminvest.com   Alright, perfect man. We'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on the show. Always a pleasure, brother.   Thank you very much, Seth. A pleasure.   (Seth Bradley) (42:08.088) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Louis O'Connor's Links: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054362234822 https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-o-connor-a583341b8/ https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/08/30/strategic-metals-founder-louis-oaconnor-breaks-down-china-u-s-rare-metal-wars.html

A new report by London's Victims' Commissioner, Claire Waxman, says that victims are being forced to quit the criminal justice system in huge numbers amid record court delays and traumatic process. She joins Nuala McGovern in the Woman's Hour studio to explain why they are saying 'there is a near total failure in seeing offenders brought to justice'.What are your attitudes towards money and specifically saving it, rather than spending it? Are you confidently playing the markets or are you still tucking it away under the mattress for a rainy day? Traditionally women have been thought of as risk-averse when it comes to putting their money into stocks and shares. Is that about to change? And is there such a thing as the 'gender investment gap'? To discuss women's attitudes towards investing we hear from Dr. Sara Reis, deputy director and head of policy and research at the Women's Budget Group think tank. Actor Miranda Raison has played numerous stage, screen and TV roles including the iconic Jean Seberg and Anne Boleyn but now takes on the role of the legendary Victorian actress Ellen Terry in a new play by David Hare - Grace Pervades at the Theatre Royal Bath. It tells the story of her relationship with Henry Irving, played by Ralph Fiennes, the greatest stars of the Victorian stage. Miranda discusses her latest role.News of fresh guidance from the government for relationships, sex and health education in schools. Responding, to what it says, is an increase in the harmful and misogynistic content, children are exposed to online. According to recent research, when asked about just the past week, over a third of pupils aged 11-19 had heard comments that made them worry about girls' safety, and more than half witnessed comments they would describe as misogynistic. The BBC's Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys updates us.Despite making up almost half of gaming audiences, just 30% of games industry workers are women. In the next part of our series on women and gaming, we're finding out why this is and what can be done to get more women into the industry. Charu Desodt, who was the first female engineer at Sony's London studio in 1999, and Tara Mustapha, founder of Code Coven, discuss. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Read Online“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27A scribe asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked the scribe what the Law of Moses taught. The above line was the scribe's response. He was essentially quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, which was a common prayer prayed by the Jews and seen as a summary of the entire Law of Moses as found in the Ten Commandments.Notice that this summary of the Law does not present a negative prohibition such as “Thou shalt not…” Instead, it is a positive command stating, “Thou shalt love…” Love is the fulfillment of the Law of the Old Testament, as well as the fulfillment of the New Law of Christ. When we love God with our whole being, that love overflows upon all of God's creatures, including our neighbor.In this Gospel, the scribe goes on to ask Jesus who His neighbor is. Jesus responds by telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable, there was a man beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite passed by and ignored the man. But a Samaritan passed by and took care of the man, bringing him to an inn and vowing to pay for his recovery. The story concludes by the Samaritan being identified as the one who acted as a neighbor to the victim.Traditionally, the victim of the robbers in this story has been seen as Adam. Adam represents fallen humanity. The Samaritan represents Jesus who cared for fallen humanity, healed us of sin and provided for our every need. Therefore, according to this parable, Jesus has acted as a neighbor to us, and we must love Him as we love ourselves. But Jesus also says, “Go and do likewise.” This is a commission to fallen humanity, now healed of sin, to go forth to others, acting as Jesus Himself, bringing the healing grace they have been given and bestowing it upon others generously.Sometimes we can see love as a feeling or emotion. Though love is often accompanied by certain emotions and feelings, love is much more. It is an action. In this parable, if the Samaritan simply looked upon the victim and felt sorry for him, had compassion for him but then moved on, he would not have shown love. The love of charity is an action and requires much of us. If we are to fulfill this first and greatest commandment of love of God and neighbor, then we cannot wait until we feel like loving to act. Instead, we must act now and not hesitate. This is love.Reflect, today, upon the true nature of love. Love, in its most elevated form, is the choice to do what is best for others—to help free them from sin and to be an instrument of God's providence in their lives. It's a participation in the very love that God has shown us in Christ Jesus by giving His life for our salvation. We are all called to devote ourselves to this same form of selfless and sacrificial love. Doing so is a requirement for the glorious sharing in eternal life.My loving Lord, You have given everything to fallen humanity. You have freed us from sin and provided for all of our needs. You have acted as a true neighbor in every way. Please give me the grace I need to imitate You and to participate in the love You have for others. May I truly act and never hesitate to bestow on others the charitable love to which I am called. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: African depiction of "The Good Samaritan" by Tim Kubacki, license CC BY 2.0Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Monique Strong. President of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC). Here's a breakdown of the key highlights and takeaways:

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Monique Strong. President of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC). Here's a breakdown of the key highlights and takeaways:

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Monique Strong. President of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC). Here's a breakdown of the key highlights and takeaways:

PREVIEW TIBET: Colleague Charles Burton recounts the likely scenario when the CCP moves to replace a traditionally chosen Dalai Lama with Beijing's obedient choice. More.