Podcasts about turks

This week, Jason is joined by esteemed British historian and author, Simon Sebag Montefiore, to discuss his latest book, The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East. Jason and Sebag's discussion ranges over centuries of history and ping pongs back and forth on myriad topics. It tries to make the peripheral central by putting the non-Arab, non-Sunni groups at the centre of understanding the Modern Middle East. They unpack how the Middle East became the Disorderly region we know today and where to frame current conflicts historically to understand certain deeper dynamics, especially as pertains to minorities and their ambitions for statehood and peoplehood. They focus a lot on WWI and the dynamics that emerged from it and shaped the history of the Kurds, Armenians, Turks, and fleeing Ionian Greeks. These were the dynamics of population transfer and ethnonationalism that destroyed the old Middle East of the Millet System. They try to avoid the overdone Israel/Palestine dynamics which occasionally shed more heat than light. With this framing in place, they look at what tragedies took us to the current pointless and self-defeating Iran war, and where we might go from here. To get part 2 with bonus content, and hear it before anyone else, join our Mega Orderers Club at disordershow.com/club Producer: George McDonagh Subscribe to our Substack - https://natoandtheged.substack.com/ Disorder on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DisorderShow Show Notes Links: To get Simon's book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cauldron-Making-Modern-Middle-East/dp/1399634895/  For more Disorder about the history of the Middle East, try: What is Zionism and is it still relevant today? Israel's Independence Day with Phil Rosenberg  https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ug89R0zHLumkldJX5Cmo2 And Sir Vincent Fean The Case for Palestinian Statehood: https://disorder.supportingcast.fm/listen/disorder/ep74-part2-the-case-for-palestinian-statehood  And the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day: https://disorder.supportingcast.fm/listen/disorder/ep36-part-i-former-armenian-president-sarkissian-on-armenian-genocide-remembrance-day This episode is brought to you in partnership with the New Books Network, for more visit https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/up-partners/disorder 

This recent Equal to the Apostles was born in Mega Dendron (Great Tree) in Aetolia. He became a monk on Mt Athos, where he lived and prayed for many years. But he was troubled by the ignorance of the Gospel that had fallen on many of the Orthodox people, living under the oppression of the Ottoman Turks. He went to Constantinople, where he studied the rhetorical arts and received the blessing of Patriarch Seraphim II to preach the Gospel. He travelled throughout Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Albania, preaching at every town he visited. Often not only Greeks but many Muslims would come to hear him, so great was his reputation for holiness. Though he always sought the blessing of the local bishop and the local Turkish governor before he preached in an area, his strong condemnations of dishonest business practices aroused the enmity of Orthodox Christian and Jewish merchants, who falsely accused him to the authorities. He was strangled by the Turks and thrown into a river in Albania, but his wonderworking relics were preserved. He reposed at the age of sixty-five.

MUSLIMS ARE planning enclaves that could put self-contained religious communities near Dallas and Houston. Meanwhile, amplifiers broadcast the call to prayer in American cities like Minneapolis, Dearborn and Hamtramck, Michigan, and Paterson, New Jersey. Imams are growing increasingly bold in their statements that their goal is to turn America into a Muslim nation. What most Americans don't realize is that there is no separation of church and state in Islam. The church IS the state, for all intents and purposes. But more than that, this is a spiritual war that the god of Muhammad—who is not to be confused with the triune God of the Bible—intends to win. Here's the link to the article Derek mentioned, "A Call to Power: Islamic Leaders See Ballot Box as Path to Paradise," by Paul Sperry. That fact is also behind a statement issued by the foreign ministers of Turkey, the UAE, Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. In a joint statement, the ministers objected to Israel's plan to build 3,400 new dwellings in an area east of Jerusalem called E1. They complain that this would separate Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem from the rest of the so-called West Bank, blocking the creation of a future Palestinian state with its capital at Jerusalem. From the Israeli standpoint, that is rather the point. After the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Israel will not accept an independent Palestinian state on its borders. Further eroding the situation in the Middle East, Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Turks are seeking an Interpol red notice for the arrest of Netanyahu as part of a criminal case against him for Israel's interception of an aid flotilla sailing for Gaza back in May. The charges include genocide, crimes against humanity and torture. Well, good luck with that. We also discussed a plan to build data centers around the ring of fire, the volcanically active area around the Pacific Ocean, using geothermal energy to power the centers. Tapping into volcanoes to generate electricity. What can possibly go wrong? Also: Social media is causing an epidemic of mental and spiritual illness, as evidenced by the crowd of women who gathered outside the courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts Thursday in support of Lindsay Clancy, who has admitted to killing her three children. Granted, postpartum depression is a real thing. But that doesn't mean Clancy shouldn't be held accountable for what she did. Derek's new book War of the Watchers Book One: From Baal to Balfour is now available at Amazon in paperback and as a Kindle e-book! It's also a part of a special offer at the SkyWatchTV store: Get War of the Watchers, Derek's previous book The Second Coming of Saturn, and a 13-part teaching DVD based on The Second Coming of Saturn for your donation of at least $45! Follow us! • X (formerly Twitter): @pidradio | @sharonkgilbert | @derekgilbert• Telegram: t.me/gilberthouse | t.me/sharonsroom | t.me/viewfromthebunker• Substack: gilberthouse.substack.com | SharonKGilbert.substack.com• YouTube: @GilbertHouse | @UnravelingRevelation• Facebook.com/pidradio Thank you for making our Build Barn Better project a reality! f you are so led, you can help out at www.GilbertHouse.org/donate. Get our free app! It connects you to this podcast, our weekly Bible studies, and our weekly video programs Unraveling Revelation and A View from the Bunker. The app is available for iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Links to the app stores are at pidradio.com/app. JOIN US IN ISRAEL (NOTE NEW DATES)! We will tour the Holy Land October 25–November 6, 2027 with an optional three-day extension to Jordan. For more information, log on to GilbertHouse.org/travel. Think better, feel better! Our partners at Simply Clean Foods offer freeze-dried, 100% GMO-free food and delicious, vacuum-packed fair trade coffee from Honduras. Find out more at GilbertHouse.org/store/.

FOR THE FULL EPISODE, support the show at https://www.patreon.com/c/thiswreckageNEWS EP! We preview our coming events in Chicago and New York, and read about the United States' comic inability to make artillery shells. UPCOMING EVENTS:FRI 8/21 This Wreckage live event: https://luma.com/tc972eyv SAT 8/22 UFOlogy to the People event at the Beach: https://www.instagram.com/thebeachchicago/SUN 8/23 Metropolitans event at Pilsen Community Books: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcMgcU2GRvQ/WEDS 8/26 Heatwave Magazine release party at Night Club 101 in Manhattan: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/heatwave-magazine-launch-night-club-101-tickets/15029603Song: Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business

//The Wire//2300Z August 19, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: PRESIDENT TRUMP ANNOUNCES HALT TO DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS WITH IRAN. DUBAI CONFIRMS YESTERDAY'S MISSILE ATTACK ORIGINATED FROM IRAN. ISRAELIS STRIKE AIRBASE IN SYRIA. TAJIK NATIONAL FLEES MURDER CONVICTION IN UNITED STATES AFTER VIRGINIA ALLOWS HIM TO OBTAIN PASSPORT.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Persian Gulf: Following yesterday's missile warnings in Dubai, the culprit of the missile attack was revealed to be not the Houthis, but Iran. Two ballistic missiles were launched from within Iran, with one impacting in the Gulf, and the other landing somewhere outside the UAE. Emirati officials have stated that the missiles were not intended for them, and that the missiles were attempting to target merchant vessels within the Strait of Hormuz. Nevertheless, the UAE has allegedly halted trade and financial transactions with Iran, until further notice.Analyst Comment: Prior to the war, Dubai was Tehran's gateway to the west, and served as a major hub for trade, but especially for banking. If the Emirs have indeed shut down Iran's access to financial markets, this will probably have more significant impact than it seems at first.Syria: Last night Israeli forces conducted airstrikes at Al Duhur Airbase, targeting the runway and several maintenance facilities at the airfield.Analyst Comment: This is a message to Turkey. Turkish forces have been at this airfield for a few months, trying to fix the airstrip enough for it to open once again, which would in turn allow for the recreation of the Syrian Air Force, but also another place for Turkish forces to run operations out of. The Israelis striking this runway is probably an effort to put the Syrians back in their box, and also inflame tensions with the Turks even more, to prevent their expansion into Israel's back yard.-HomeFront-USA: Around the nation, the energy crisis continues to worsen as gas prices climb steadily higher. This morning, the national average for diesel rose to over $5.50, as reflected by the current global diesel shortage. This afternoon bond yields dropped after the Treasury Department announced that the US will be doubling the repurchases of debt.Washington D.C. - Yesterday President Trump stated that no diplomatic efforts with Iran are taking place, sharply reversing the months of prior rhetoric that the White House has become legendary for. Up until this statement, the official stance has been that indirect talks are occurring, and that Iran frequently calls the White House "wanting to make a deal". Yesterday's statement by President Trump is a very sharp reversal regarding the diplomatic efforts in the region.Virginia: Yesterday local authorities revealed that a Tajik man fled the United States last month following his detention in a mental facility. In 2019, Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda stabbed his landlord to death, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2022. He was sentenced to detention in a mental facility, before being deemed to be a candidate for early release last year. While serving his sentence, he was allowed by the prosecution to visit the Tajik Embassy in Washington D.C. where he was allowed to obtain a passport for his home country of Tajikistan. He was also allowed to have prison vacation time, when he could have two-day vacations outside the detention facility. During one of these vacation slots on July 6th, Toshpulodzoda used his passport to flee the United States.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: In Utah, overnight more details have come to light regarding Monday's funeral shooting. The lead suspect at the moment is Afuhia Masiu Manatau, who pulled out a gun and attempted to kill an unidentified person at the funeral. At some point during the shootout, his son Tusi took his father's gun and continued to shoot at members of the Angilau family.Concerning the alleged victims, a correction to yesterday's report is needed as the fatality in this case is not the same person who was previously convicted of murder. The victim was Vilisoni Angilau (aged 18), and Vilisoni Angilau (aged 33) was previously convicted of crimes related to gang affiliation. Same exact name, same exact area, same exact family, same exact affiliation with the Ward, but different people. Turns out, the 18-year-old who was killed yesterday is also affiliated with the Tongan Crips, as evidenced by confirmed gang members and shotcallers mourning his death on Facebook. Local Tongans are claiming the victim is not affiliated with the gang, but social media posts indicate this is not true.The reason for why this matters is due to the elevated potential for a gang war to kick off, if it hasn't done so already. Clearly local police thought the same at the time, as they rolled way harder than they needed to in order to protect the hospital. Gang violence is very likely to continue to escalate within Utah over the next few weeks, and this is going to affect more people than just those in the gang. When the only Level 1 Trauma Center for hundreds of miles is locked down because hordes of Tongan Crips are trying to break down the doors after a gang shooting, this becomes more of a substantial concern than just some random gang war. Even in the legendary gang epicenters around the country, local hospitals don't have to worry about literally being overrun as if they were a forward-deployed military base in a foreign land. But in Salt Lake City, this is now a genuine concern that is all brought about by a demographic that comprises less than one percent of the population.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

As part of our Great Coaches series, Kelly talks with Ali Truwit, who went from Yale Division I swimmer to shark attack survivor to Paralympic silver medalist in just over a year. Two days after her college graduation, a snorkeling trip in Turks and Caicos ended with Ali losing her left foot and part of her leg as a result of a shark attack. What followed wasn't just a physical recovery but a complete reimagining of identity, guided by coaches who understood that rebuilding Ali meant helping her see what was still there, not what was lost. (Previously aired)Please check out and consider supporting Ali's non-profit: Stronger Than You Think . https://strongerthanyouthink.org/

Send us Fan MailWelcome back for part two of my conversation with Author and Detective Superintendent Bob Lessemun as we travel across the pond to England and to Turks and Caicos.A little about my guest. Robert C. ‘Bob' Lessemun, a man who left school at sixteen and walked straight into a police career that would span more than half a century. From uniform sergeant and ultimately Detective Superintendent. He built a reputation for tackling some of Britain's toughest cases-murders, international fraud, major drug operations-while pioneering interview and interrogation training that would influence detectives across the UK. This is the story of how a grammar-school boy from England became one of the country's most experienced investigators leading him to Turks and Caicos investigating international drug and money laundering cases.  It was a treat chatting with Bob! I hope you enjoy part two of my interview with Bob as much as I did.  In today's episode we discuss:·      Some cases that has stuck with Bob thorough the years.·      His thoughts on the police in Brittan today.·      How he wound up working in Turks and Caicos Islands? ·      Money laundering, human trafficking, and burial at sea.·      His advice for police officers in the USA and or other parts of the world. ·      His advice for being an affective police leader. ·      What he misses the most or least about being in law enforcement. ·      The Plod books and his writing career.·      Why he wrote The Young Plod: Tales from the Black Country, Plod Goes Private: Tales of a Private Investigator, and Plod Policing Paradise: Tales from the Caribbean? All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Visit Bob's Amazon Author Page. Head on over to my website!What's the craziest thing you saw when you were a cop?My first week on the job, a guy running at me with a butcher knife. He'd just killed his brother over the last hot dog.That's chapter 1. There are 33 more.Police Stories: The Rookie Years just launched - available on Amazon. Search 'Police Stories Patrick O'Donnell' or click thSupport the show

Turkey stands on the threshold of closing a conflict spanning almost 50 years, after the Turkish parliament this week passed a law allowing exiled Kurdish militants to return home and rejoin society. The legislation aims to end the war with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has battled the Turkish state for independence since 1984. On Monday, legislators voted 468-88 in favour of a law detailing how the PKK will lay down arms, disband and guide most members back into civilian life. Many see this legislation as a turning point after decades of bloodshed. “This law in question is going to make a giant contribution,” predicts sociologist Mesut Yegen of the Diyarbakir-based Kurdish Studies Center. “If the PKK militants are convinced that they can be safe in Turkey, it's estimated that some 15,000 people in Europe, in Syria, in Iraq and in the prisons in Turkey are going to be either released or are going to be able to come back home.” The PKK leadership, based primarily in Iraq, is not covered by the legislation. Nor is the group's founder and leader Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned since 1999 in a Turkish jail. He initiated the peace process and last year called for the disarmament and dissolution of the PKK. Hope, caution Istanbul, now the city's with the world's largest Kurdish population, became a sanctuary in the 1990s as hundreds of thousands fled the violence raging in Turkey's southeast. At the conflict's peak, the Turkish army destroyed villages in relentless scorched-earth campaigns. In Istanbul's Bagcilar district, home to a vibrant Kurdish community, conversations reveal a fragile mix of hope and caution. “This law seems good for the honour of the Kurds and to stop bloodshed,” said 31-year-old Ahmet, who only wanted to be identified by his first name. “Mothers should not shed tears anymore.”  But others were more wary. “The state has been delaying our rights for decades; I do not believe this process will be different,” said Kava, who also preferred not to give his full name. “I do not trust an arrangement in which Kurds do not have legal status.”  Kurds make up around a fifth of Turkey's population, but are not legally recognised as a minority. Emotions appear equally divided among Turks. “If they're agreeing to live under the Turkish flag and love our country, that's fine – let them,” said 51-year-old Mehmet Tas. But 40-year-old Ertugral Zengin is unconvinced. “They committed a crime – and now they are to be pardoned? Do I want something like that? No, I won't accept it.” PKK ends 40-year fight but doubts remain about the next steps Political momentum The decades-long conflict has claimed 40,000 lives and forced more than 3 million people from their homes. While major political parties support the peace process, hardline nationalist groups remain staunchly opposed, insisting it rewards a PKK they see as already defeated. The process hinges on the laborious task of disarming the PKK and verifying its weapons are gone. Maintaining the current political momentum is vital, warns Asli Aydintasbas, a Turkey expert at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington DC. “If this drags on, political support for the legislation and for the return of former PKK members, seen by many Turks as terrorists, would become politically problematic for the government. Timing and moving fast is very important to achieve reconciliation,” she says. The government is expected to face growing pressure to address Kurdish rights, including Kurdish-language education in schools and local autonomy, along with broader democratic reforms. Social media buzzes with questions: how can PKK members walk free while critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remain behind bars? Peace or politics? Turkey's fragile path to ending a decades-long conflict Yegen warns that since the new legislation fails to address Kurdish rights and democratisation reforms, the government needs to move swiftly. “The fact that these two issues are not touched upon by the law has created many doubts on both Kurdish and Turkish sides about whether disarmament will be the government's only agenda,” he says. For Erdogan, steering the peace process to success could secure the vital Kurdish vote in the 2028 elections. Yet extending Kurdish cultural rights risks alienating Turkish nationalists, and relaxing pressure on the opposition brings its own perils as their electoral strength grows. For now, the negotiations present a rare window for reconciliation and lasting peace.

As I'm still on the road in Moscow, Idaho, today's podcast was originally recorded exactly one year ago. It's sort of a part two with the most recent weekend podcast about the Letters of C.S. Lewis. Today we look at four of these letters more closely, especially in regards praying for suffering and persecuted Christians. Follow and/or message me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post (among other things) daily reminders to pray for China.You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com. Lastly, to learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of my missionary biographies, visit PrayGiveGo.us! Today I’m going to look closer at four of the ten letters, each dealing primarily with prayer, from last weekend’s podcast on the China letters of C.S. Lewis: https://chinacall.substack.com/p/the-cs-lewis-china-letters (Also see this related content: C.S. Lewis, Burnt Marshwiggle, and the Brainwashing of Richard Wurmbrand) Here are the specific letters we cover in today's Prison Pulpit podcast: 1940- To his brother Warnie, on the burden of sympathy in a world of “instant” news: Barfield…is very much depressed, having a greater faculty than you or I for feeling the miseries of the world in general, which led to a good deal of argument, how far, as a man and a Christian, one ought to be vividly and continuously aware of, say, what it's like on the [front]line at this moment. I took the line that the present rapidity of communication, etc, imposed a burden on sympathy for which sympathy was never made: that the natural thing was to be distressed about what was happening to the poor Jones's in your own village and that the modern situation, in which journalism brings the Chinese, Russians, Finns, Poles and Turks to your notice each morning really could not be [faced] in the same way. 1946- To Dom Bede Griffiths, on a future Christian China and carrying all the world’s burdens: No, I don't think I feel like you, ‘disillusioned’. I think that though I am emotionally a fairly cheerful person my actual judgement of the world has always been what yours now is and so I have not been disappointed…When you say that nothing… has a value in itself, that everything has a value in relation to God, I couldn't agree with you more. And I often, like you, think that all the valuable future may lie with the Christened Chinaman. But one mustn't assume burdens that God does not lay upon us. It is one of the evils of rapid diffusion of news that the sorrows of all the world come to us every morning. I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. (This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know). 1953- To Father Manna, on the Chinese “disaster” and Western culpability in the matter: [Dearest Father Manna, regarding] your article on [the] Chinese disaster…I used [to entertain many hopes for China myself], since missionaries have served there for many years not unsuccessfully: now it is clear, as you write, that all is on the ebb. Many have reported to me too, in letters on this subject, many atrocities, nor was this misery absent from our thoughts and prayers. Footnote- [In his letter] Fr Manna pleads for greater recognition of the gravity of Communist persecution of Christian hospital workers (as well as missionaries) in China. He argues that if [a French Communist Party leader] is arrested in the West, the Communists rise in protest. There should be no less an outcry on behalf of victimized missionaries. 1962- To Mary Van Deusen, on ignoring present pain to pray for the suffering in China: You are always in my prayers. As regards this particular matter [of moving], I sympathise both with [your husband’s] dislike of noise and your dislike of moves. I suppose one thing we must do about these minor crises is to get them into perspective. At the moment when the nuisance of the move is worst, remember that (at that precise moment) people are dying in pain and others are at their bedside, and in China children starving and men in prison camps and some of them being tortured. Follow China Compass Follow or subscribe to China Compass on whichever platform you use. You can also send any questions or comments on X: @chinaadventures or via email (bfwesten at gmail dot com). Hebrews 13:3!

As I'm still on the road in Moscow, Idaho, today's podcast was originally recorded exactly one year ago. It's sort of a part two with the most recent weekend podcast about the Letters of C.S. Lewis. Today we look at four of these letters more closely, especially in regards praying for suffering and persecuted Christians. Follow and/or message me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post (among other things) daily reminders to pray for China.You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com. Lastly, to learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of my missionary biographies, visit PrayGiveGo.us! Today I’m going to look closer at four of the ten letters, each dealing primarily with prayer, from last weekend’s podcast on the China letters of C.S. Lewis: https://chinacall.substack.com/p/the-cs-lewis-china-letters (Also see this related content: C.S. Lewis, Burnt Marshwiggle, and the Brainwashing of Richard Wurmbrand) Here are the specific letters we cover in today's Prison Pulpit podcast: 1940- To his brother Warnie, on the burden of sympathy in a world of “instant” news: Barfield…is very much depressed, having a greater faculty than you or I for feeling the miseries of the world in general, which led to a good deal of argument, how far, as a man and a Christian, one ought to be vividly and continuously aware of, say, what it's like on the [front]line at this moment. I took the line that the present rapidity of communication, etc, imposed a burden on sympathy for which sympathy was never made: that the natural thing was to be distressed about what was happening to the poor Jones's in your own village and that the modern situation, in which journalism brings the Chinese, Russians, Finns, Poles and Turks to your notice each morning really could not be [faced] in the same way. 1946- To Dom Bede Griffiths, on a future Christian China and carrying all the world’s burdens: No, I don't think I feel like you, ‘disillusioned’. I think that though I am emotionally a fairly cheerful person my actual judgement of the world has always been what yours now is and so I have not been disappointed…When you say that nothing… has a value in itself, that everything has a value in relation to God, I couldn't agree with you more. And I often, like you, think that all the valuable future may lie with the Christened Chinaman. But one mustn't assume burdens that God does not lay upon us. It is one of the evils of rapid diffusion of news that the sorrows of all the world come to us every morning. I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. (This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know). 1953- To Father Manna, on the Chinese “disaster” and Western culpability in the matter: [Dearest Father Manna, regarding] your article on [the] Chinese disaster…I used [to entertain many hopes for China myself], since missionaries have served there for many years not unsuccessfully: now it is clear, as you write, that all is on the ebb. Many have reported to me too, in letters on this subject, many atrocities, nor was this misery absent from our thoughts and prayers. Footnote- [In his letter] Fr Manna pleads for greater recognition of the gravity of Communist persecution of Christian hospital workers (as well as missionaries) in China. He argues that if [a French Communist Party leader] is arrested in the West, the Communists rise in protest. There should be no less an outcry on behalf of victimized missionaries. 1962- To Mary Van Deusen, on ignoring present pain to pray for the suffering in China: You are always in my prayers. As regards this particular matter [of moving], I sympathise both with [your husband’s] dislike of noise and your dislike of moves. I suppose one thing we must do about these minor crises is to get them into perspective. At the moment when the nuisance of the move is worst, remember that (at that precise moment) people are dying in pain and others are at their bedside, and in China children starving and men in prison camps and some of them being tortured. Follow China Compass Follow or subscribe to China Compass on whichever platform you use. You can also send any questions or comments on X: @chinaadventures or via email (bfwesten at gmail dot com). Hebrews 13:3!

While official Washington is understandably preoccupied with the war with Iran, a tectonic shift has just occurred in the region that threatens to overshadow that conflict's ongoing challenges and knock-on effects.  For many years, we have been encouraged to believe that three sharia-supremacist nations – Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia – are reliable U.S. allies. Indeed, the Trump administration has counted on them to negotiate on our behalf with the Iranians.  The announcement that those three nations have just established a mutual defense accord is ominous. It means that Saudi Arabia is now joining the Turks and Pakistanis in aligning with the Red-Green axis forged by Communist China and the Muslim Brotherhood.  Reports that Egypt may soon join them signals our enemies are filling a perceived vacuum of power in the Mideast, increasingly threatening Western civilization at a particularly bad time.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Send us Fan MailToday's show takes us across the pond to England and the Caribbean to Turks and Caicos with a man with over half a century of experience in law enforcement, retired Detective Superintendent Bob LessemunA little about my guest. Robert C. ‘Bob' Lessemun, a man who left school at sixteen and walked straight into a police career that would span more than half a century. From uniform sergeant to detective sergeant on the Regional Crime Squad, then inspector, chief inspector, and ultimately Detective Superintendent. He built a reputation for tackling some of Britain's toughest cases-murders, international fraud, major drug operations-while pioneering interview and interrogation training that would influence detectives across the UK. This is the story of how a grammar-school boy from England became one of the country's most experienced investigators, leading him to Turks and Caicos to investigate international drug and money-laundering cases.  I loved chatting with Bob, and I think you will love this episode. Part Two will go live next Sunday, where we'll dive into more of his international experiences and author journey. Please enjoy my chat with Bob Lessemun! In today's episode, we discuss:·      Being chased by the police as a young lad to becoming a police officer.·      His grandfather being a constable and the influence that had on him as a young man.·      The realities of being a constable in 1968 England.·      The lack of equipment and training; it took two years for him to get a set of handcuffs. ·      Being in a fight of his life on Christmas and the unlikely backup that helped. ·      Being outnumbered all the time and learning the gift of gab. ·      Writing the interrogation / interview manual for the English police.·      What is Scotland Yard and his training there?·      Hostage negotiating and other specialties he possesses? ·      Negotiating with an armed man holding a police sergeant hostage.All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Visit Bob's Amazon Author Page. Head on over to my website! What's the craziest thing you saw when you were a cop?My first week on the job, a guy running at me with a butcher knife. He'd just killed his brother over the last hot dog.That's chapter 1. There are 33 more.Police Stories: The Rookie Years just launched - available on Amazon. Search 'Police Stories Patrick O'Donnell' or click thSupport the show

The JBP's latest episode begins with the news of Joe's weekly true-crime video podcast, partnering with Wolf Entertainment (28:45) before Marc Lamont Hill shares his thoughts on the upcoming Joe Jackson Documentary 'The Manager. The Mythology. The Legend.' (34:42). Political Commentator Roland Martin is being extorted (44:50), A$AP Rocky withdraws a job offer with a graphic designer which leads the room to speak on dealing with entrepreneurs (52:26), and the latest debate on splitting the dinner bill after a Queen Naija livestream (1:07:40). Myspace is planning a comeback (1:39:10) while actor Jonah Hill says he would 'annihilate' someone using his Jiu-Jitsu training (1:53:57). Also, QueenzFlip discusses trigger words that lead to fights (2:09:00), the old school vs. new school fighting rules (2:16:50), weird AI videos from Mario Lopez (2:25:02), the father of the attacker at Alapachee High School gets sentenced to 15 years (2:29:24), and more.  Become a Patron of The Joe Budden Podcast for additional bonus episodes and visual content for all things JBP! Join our Patreon here: http://www.patreon.com/joebudden 

//The Wire//2300Z August 4, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: IRANIAN ATTACKS CONTINUE IN KUWAIT AND STRAIT OF HORMUZ. TURKISH MERCHANTS STRUCK BY UKRAINIAN DRONES IN BLACK SEA. WILDFIRE RESPONSE CONTINUES IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST AS ARSON REMAINS A CONCERN.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East: This morning Iranian attacks continued in the Strait of Hormuz, targeting more vessels which have attempted to transit via the unauthorized southern route. Around the region, Iranian forces targeted American installations in Kuwait overnight, with locals reporting large fires allegedly in the vicinity of Camp Buehring. Analyst Comment: This is the first round of strikes that was not explicitly tied to the tit-for-tat American strikes, and this is one of the few times the Iranians have launched an attack during this war, that was not purely retaliatory. This is the latest indicator that the Iranians are becoming increasingly less likely to allow the United States to conduct strikes, and then let the markets cool off by the time the opening bell rings. Conducting strikes on their own terms and timing, is likely a tactic Iran will continue to exercise while the United States tries to buy more time to figure out how to win the war.Europe: The war in Ukraine has remained hot on multiple fronts as attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea continue to involve more third-party nations. This morning, Ukrainian drones targeted the M/V NADEZHDA (IMO: 7702657) just off the coast of Novorossiysk. This vessel is a Roll-on, Roll-Off (RoRo) vehicle transportation vessel, and was owned and operated by Turkey, with a mostly Turkish crew. In addition to this strike, another vessel was also struck in the same general area. The M/V YASAR (IMO: 9276341), a smaller regional containership was struck at roughly the same time as the NADEZHDA. Both vessels had recently departed port Novorossiysk before being struck.Analyst Comment: So far, Turkish authorities have played their hand very carefully, and there haven't been any public statements indicating how serious they are treating these strikes. The Turks have called on both Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, which is exactly the kind of milquetoast statement that would be expected for a NATO member which also buys a lot of Russian military hardware. Nevertheless, this duality of defense is only going to last for so long, especially if this war expands to include the deaths of Turkish civilians onboard Turkish civilian ships.-HomeFront-Pacific Northwest: Wildfire concerns remain paramount as disaster recovery efforts continue in Washington state. Spokane is the biggest urban interface affected by the wildfires, and many suburbs and surrounding towns have burned completely to the ground. The National Interagency Fire Center status report for this morning stated that the three main wildfires burning in the Spokane area are still zero-percent contained, though major gains were made in combatting two of the fires threatening local homes in the suburbs. So far, most of the firefighting efforts have prioritized immediate risk to life within the residential areas of the city, in addition to aiding evacuation efforts for much of the population.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: In eastern Washington, weather is going to play a factor over the next few days and the region at large is not out of the woods just yet. The National Weather Service Fire weather update from this morning indicated light and variable winds forecasted for tonight, increasing tomorrow. Temperatures today were a bit cooler, but temps are expected to rise (and humidity expected to drop) ever further tomorrow, as winds begin to rise. This afternoon's weather forecast continued to indicate increasing winds of over 20mph are likely throughout central and eastern Washington on Friday and Saturday. As a result, fire behavior conditions can change quickly, and increased situational awareness is vital while the crisis continues. This is especially important considering the origin of the fires. At least one arrest has been made due to at least some of these fires being arson, and the risk of continued malign action is likely while these weather patterns continue.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

Full Text of Readings Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Lectionary: 614 The Saint of the day is Transfiguration of the Lord The Story of the Transfiguration of the Lord All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place the event shortly after Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus' first prediction of his passion and death. Peter's eagerness to erect tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the week-long Jewish Feast of Booths in the fall. According to Scripture scholars, in spite of the texts' agreement it is difficult to reconstruct the disciples' experience, because the Gospels draw heavily on Old Testament descriptions of the Sinai encounter with God, and prophetic visions of the Son of Man. Certainly Peter, James, and John had a glimpse of Jesus' divinity strong enough to strike fear into their hearts. Such an experience defies description, so they drew on familiar religious language to describe it. And certainly Jesus warned them that his glory and his suffering were to be inextricably connected—a theme John highlights throughout his Gospel. Tradition names Mount Tabor as the site of the revelation. A church first raised there in the fourth century was dedicated on August 6. A feast in honor of the Transfiguration was celebrated in the Eastern Church from about that time. Western observance began in some localities about the eighth century. On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade. News of the victory reached Rome on August 6, and Pope Callistus III placed the feast on the Roman calendar the following year. Reflection One of the Transfiguration accounts is read on the second Sunday of Lent each year, proclaiming Christ's divinity to the Elect and baptized alike. The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, by contrast, is the story of the temptation in the desert—affirmation of Jesus' humanity. The two distinct but inseparable natures of the Lord were a subject of much theological argument at the beginning of the Church's history; it remains hard for believers to grasp.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

In this episode, we'll look at why the Seljuk Turks suddenly appeared in the Middle East in the eleventh century. The name Seljuk and the origins of Seljuk power lie with a man called Seljuk, who rose to prominence in the late tenth century. He was an Oghuz Turk, and at that time the Oghuz Turks were a group of nomads living around the Volga River. Originally from Mongolia, the Turks were ethnically similar to the Huns of the late Roman period and the future Mongols of the thirteenth century. History AnalyzedHistory Analyzed is a podcast which investigates both history's biggest moments and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showFor a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

A single week of headlines can redraw the map of belonging, security, and opportunity across the Caribbean and the diaspora. Here's a look at the headlines on Episode 3 for July 2026U.S. Congressman introduces the End Birthright Citizenship for US Territories Act.US Government moves to remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian ImmigrantsThe Nevis Geothermal Project enters a pivotal stagePuerto Rico Senate proposes video surveillance for retail alcoholic beverage licenses andMajor airport developments are underway for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the US Virgin IslandsListen and subscribe to the  Pulse of the Caribbean News Round Up for news you need to know. Send news releases and information to news@pulseofthecaribbean.com.

She was the daughter of Scanderbeg, Albania's national hero. She married Stefan, Prince of Serbia, a kinsman of Scanderbeg who sought refuge in his court. Stefan, a gentle, God-fearing man, had been blinded by the Turkish Sultan. Princess Angelina, loving him despite his loss of his vision and his worldly kingdom, married him with her father's blessing. Together they had two sons, George and John. When their sons were grown, Albania was ravaged by an invasion of the Turks. Stefan, with Angelina and their sons, fled to Italy, where they lived until his repose in 1468. The widowed Angelina buried her husband in his Serbian homeland and devoted her remaining years to good works. Her elder son George gave up his princely title and entered monastic life. John married but died without children in 1503. When Angelina had outlived her two sons as well as her husband she too entered monastic life. She was buried with her sons at Krušedol monastery in northern Serbia. There her miracle-working relics are venerated to this day, and a service is held each year in her memory. She, her husband and her two sons are all glorified as saints of the Church.

Full Text of Readings Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest Lectionary: 405 The Saint of the day is Saint Ignatius of Loyola Saint Ignatius of Loyola's Story The founder of the Jesuits was on his way to military fame and fortune when a cannon ball shattered his leg. Because there were no books of romance on hand during his convalescence, Ignatius whiled away the time reading a life of Christ and lives of the saints. His conscience was deeply touched, and a long, painful turning to Christ began. Having seen the Mother of God in a vision, he made a pilgrimage to her shrine at Montserrat near Barcelona. He remained for almost a year at nearby Manresa, sometimes with the Dominicans, sometimes in a pauper's hospice, often in a cave in the hills praying. After a period of great peace of mind, he went through a harrowing trial of scruples. There was no comfort in anything—prayer, fasting, sacraments, penance. At length, his peace of mind returned. It was during this year of conversion that Ignatius of Loyola began to write down material that later became his greatest work, the Spiritual Exercises. He finally achieved his purpose of going to the Holy Land, but could not remain, as he planned, because of the hostility of the Turks. Ignatius of Loyola spent the next 11 years in various European universities, studying with great difficulty, beginning almost as a child. Like many others, his orthodoxy was questioned; Ignatius was twice jailed for brief periods. In 1534, at the age of 43, he and six others—one of whom was Saint Francis Xavier—vowed to live in poverty and chastity and to go to the Holy Land. If this became impossible, they vowed to offer themselves to the apostolic service of the pope. The latter became the only choice. Four years later Ignatius of Loyola made the association permanent. The new Society of Jesus was approved by Pope Paul III, and Ignatius was elected to serve as the first general. When companions were sent on various missions by the pope, Ignatius remained in Rome, consolidating the new venture, but still finding time to found homes for orphans, catechumens, and penitents. He founded the Roman College, intended to be the model of all other colleges of the Society. Ignatius of Loyola was a true mystic. He centered his spiritual life on the essential foundations of Christianity—the Trinity, Christ, the Eucharist. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, Ad majorem Dei gloriam—“for the greater glory of God.” In his concept, obedience was to be the prominent virtue, to assure the effectiveness and mobility of his men. All activity was to be guided by a true love of the Church and unconditional obedience to the Holy Father, for which reason all professed members took a fourth vow to go wherever the pope should send them for the salvation of souls. Reflection Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg in 1517. Seventeen years later, Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society that was to play so prominent a part in the Catholic Reformation. He was an implacable foe of Protestantism. Yet the seeds of ecumenism may be found in his words: “Great care must be taken to show forth orthodox truth in such a way that if any heretics happen to be present they may have an example of charity and Christian moderation. No hard words should be used nor any sort of contempt for their errors be shown.” One of the greatest ecumenists was the 20th-century German Jesuit, Cardinal Augustin Bea.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

For part of its history, Nassau was a notorious hotbed of pirate activity. And it was home to a maritime criminal network known as the Flying Gang. Research: "Bahamas, the." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™, The Columbia UP, 2025. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A69385873/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7f7affa4. Accessed 8 July 2026. Ahrens, Wolfgang P. “Naming the Bahamas Islands: History and Folk Etymology.” Names and Their Environment. Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Glasgow, 25-29. August 2014. Vol. 1. Keynote Lectures. Toponomastics I. Carole Hough and Daria Izdebska (eds). First published 2016 by University of Glasgow under Creative Commons license. https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_576595_smxx.pdf Butler, Lindley S. “North Carolina 1718: The Year of the Pirates.” The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2 (APRIL 2018). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45184933 Cartwright, Mark. "Benjamin Hornigold." World History Encyclopedia, 09 Sep 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/Benjamin_Hornigold/. Craton, Michael. “A History of the Bahamas.” London. Collins. 1962. Enthoven, Victor. “‘That Abominable Nest of Pirates’: St. Eustatius and the North Americans, 1680—1780. Early American Studies , Spring 2012, Vol. 10, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23547669 Fox, E.T. “Jacobitism and the ‘Golden Age’ of Piracy, 1715-1725.” International Journal of Maritime History, XXII, No. 2 (December 2010), 277-303. Hahn, Steven C. “The Atlantic Odyssey of Richard Tookerman.” Early American Studies, Summer 2017, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Summer 2017). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/90011103 Keegan, William F. “The Native Peoples of Turks and Caicos.” Florida Museum. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/caribarch/education/tc-peoples/ Kinsella, Pat. “The real pirates of the Caribbean: your guide to Nassau's pirate republic.” History Extra. 1/20/2022. https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/nassau-pirate-republic-flying-gang-real-pirates-caribbean/ Lane, Kris. “Pirate Networks in the Caribbean.” From Empires of the Sea: Maritime Power Networks in World History. Brill. 2020. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctv2gjx041.18 Leeson, Peter T. “An‐arrgh‐chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization.” Journal of Political Economy , Vol. 115, No. 6 (December 2007). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/526403 Moore, David D. “Captain Edward Thatch: A Brief Analysis of the Primary Source Documents Concerning the Notorious Blackbeard.” The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2 (APRIL 2018). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45184934 Queen Anne’s Revenge Project. “Did You Know Blackbeard’s Mentor Was a Pirate Hunter?” 3/8/2018. https://www.qaronline.org/blog/2018-03-08/did-you-know-blackbeards-mentor-was-pirate-hunter Rediker, Marcus. “‘Under the Banner of King Death’: The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates, 1716.” The William and Mary Quarterly , Apr., 1981. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1918775 Saunders, Gail. "Rogers, Woodes (c. 1679–1732), privateer and colonial governor." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. January 03, 2008. Oxford University Press. Date of access 9 Jul. 2026, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-24006 Sheposh, Richard. “Republic of Pirates.” EBSCO. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/republic-pirates Wilson, David. “The 1715 Plate Fleet and the Rise of the Pirates.” History Today. 6/30/2015. https://www.historytoday.com/1715-plate-fleet-and-rise-pirates Woodard, Colin. “The republic of pirates : being the true and surprising story of the Caribbean pirates and the man who brought them down.” New York, NY : Mariner Books. 2007. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Episode 277 of Pelo Buddy TV, an unofficial Peloton podcast & Peloton news show. This week we cover the following topics: The Peloton Treads got updates for the speed & incline shortcut features. The Peloton App now has an AI Chatbot for updating & creating new Personalized Plans. Andy Speer & Rebecca Kennedy are teaching some classes at a resort in Turks & Caicos for a Chase Sapphire event. Anna Greenberg has some new prenatal pilates classes – the first on Peloton. There will be artist series with Backstreet Boys and Zara Larsson in August. An artist series featuring the music of Ne-Yo took place. Robin Arzon has teased that she has a Split+Run program coming in August. Katie Wang's new signature series – Power Pyramid – began this week. A new set of Fit Family fun classes was released. The Peloton BreathWrk app on Android can now access the Peloton content. There are two upcoming in-person run clubs in London, one with Becs Gentry, and one with Jon Hosking. Peloton highlighted some classes in "This Week at Peloton." There was a contest to win tickets to the Faces of Fitness Chicago event. The next Peloton earnings call will be on August 6th. Cody Rigsby's podcast is ending. Peloton engineers talk about how they keep the servers up during Turkey Burn. Robin Arzon teamed up with the Lorax. Rebecca Kennedy has another "Off Script" event. Ally Love was on the Doing It Anyway podcast. Marcel Dinkins was on the Mindset Connection podcast. Class Picks of the Week Enjoy the show? Become a Pelo Buddy TV Supporter!  Find details here: https://www.pelobuddy.com/membership-levels/ You can find links to full articles on each of these topics from the episode page here: https://www.pelobuddy.com/pelo-buddy-tv-episode-277/ The show is also available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeloBuddy This episode is hosted by Amanda Segal (#Seglo3) and Chris Lewis (#PeloBuddy).

Mary welcomes back historian William Federer to bring us the sweeping history of Iran, from Genesis 10 to modern times. And it’s a wild ride. Who were those Persians? Dating back to Elam, grandson of Noah, they have occupied a huge part of world history, biblical and secular alike. We will look at those biblical skirmishes, the middle ages, and the rise of the British Empire when Islam was forced to grapple with the then-Christian element of Europe. As we look at the Ottoman Turks, who started out as friends of the Jew following their expulsion from Spain, we find that just when the Ottoman Empire started to disappear from the world scene, Zionism arose and -surprise! – oil entered the picture as nation states began to industrialize. Then it’s on to shahs and ayatollahs and the 1970s under Jimmy Carter who gave us Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis, simply by campaigning for the Ayatollah over the Shah. Didn’t I warn you it’s a wild ride? And all of it valuable history as we try and make sense of our world. There is no one quite like Bill Federer and his wealth of knowledge about just about everything.     Stand Up For The Truth Videos: https://rumble.com/user/CTRNOnline & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgQQSvKiMcglId7oGc5c46A

Send us Fan Mail*DISCUSSION TOPICS*Alex had to check someone???Check-in on past Peloton instructors. Who do we still follow?Peloton retreat in Turks and Caicos? Who's going?Amazon sharing how Peloton is able to run large live classes on AWS!Alex Breanne Corporation Updates!Former Peloton founder starting a new tech-based fast food company??? What???Nike Joggers at Costco!!! Danielle, you in???Class Recommendations

Every Client Asks. Here's What We Actually Say. Whether it's a first-time Disney family, a couple planning a honeymoon, or someone who's never considered a cruise, Ryan and Julie hear the same core questions over and over. This week, they decided to just answer them — all at once, on the podcast. No sales pitch, no runaround. Just the real answers they give clients every day, including the ones that are a little more complicated than they first appear. If you've ever wondered whether a travel advisor is actually worth it, this episode is a pretty good place to start.Is It Really Cheaper to Book Online? Ryan and Julie tackle the most common question they hear: can't I just do this myself for less? The honest answer is sometimes yes — but the real question is what you're giving up when you do. Mental load, time, and the risk of booking the wrong thing at the wrong price top the list. They share how a travel advisor's job isn't just to find a price, it's to make sure what you're booking is actually right for you — including knowing which beach is covered in seaweed in August.Travel Insurance: What's Covered and Do You Actually Need It? This one comes down to risk tolerance, not whether you plan to take the trip. Ryan and Julie break down typical coverage categories — cancellation, medical, evacuation, baggage, and delays — and explain that policies vary widely, which is exactly why they vet specific companies for clients. A vivid example: a client group that skipped insurance and got caught in a hurricane two days before departure. Plan for about 5% of your total trip cost as a starting benchmark.Is That Destination Safe Right Now? Social media and the news cycle make this question louder than ever — but louder doesn't always mean more accurate. Ryan and Julie explain how they respond: State Department advisories, on-the-ground partners, and some honest perspective. A Cancun safety incident that happened the distance of LA to Chicago from the resort zone is not the same as a threat to your resort. Context matters.What's the Best Resort or Cruise for My Family? Short answer: it depends, and that's exactly why this question deserves a real conversation. Ryan and Julie walk through how they match families to the right fit — and why a top-10 list from a travel magazine (often sponsored or years out of date) is not the same as advice from someone who's been there and booked it before.How Far in Advance Should I Plan a Big Trip? For milestone trips — honeymoons, multi-gen family travel, graduation trips — the answer is: reach out as soon as you know you want to go, even if it's two years out. Julie is already mapping an Italy graduation trip for next year that she's been quietly tracking for twelve months. For popular destinations like Turks and Caicos or Disney around the holidays, availability goes fast. Standard trips in the four-to-six month range are usually still workable.Bonus Question: The One They Always Get at Disney Consultations Julie's add: nearly every first Disney call turns immediately to dining reservations and Lightning Lanes — months before it's time to think about either. Her advice: book the room first, then let the timeline guide you.Where in the World?  Ryan shares the story of a mother-daughter graduation trip to Walt Disney World — an upgrade to Animal Kingdom Lodge that ended with a giraffe outside their window on arrival. No savannah-view room required.Next week: Ryan recaps the Las Vegas and Mighty Five National Parks leg of his Canyon Spirit Southwest trip. Start planning your own adventure at wonderandbeyondtravel.com.Support the showLove the podcast? Help us continue to create great travel content by supporting the show. You can do that here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1197029/supporters/newReady to plan your vacation?  Most families are confused and overwhelmed when planning a vacation. We work with you to plan a trip perfect for your family. Saving you time, money, and stress! Visit our website www.allthingstravelpodcast.com and click on "Plan Your Next Vacation"Join the travel conversations and the fun in our Facebook Page and Instagram Page!Please share the show with your travel buddies!!  Click this link and share the show!Never miss an episode and help us take you to the top with us by following and leaving a 5-Star review on your favorite podcasting app!

Welcome to episode #226 of The Relentless Diaries Podcast!Topics and discussions include:Weekly recaps/ The Odyssey/ Palm Tree's/ Toronto Temp - 0:01Toronto Tempo coach suspended for comments on Angel Reese - 20:00Zoie's Turks & Caicos trip recap - 40:05Felix flexin - 1:38:00PlaqueBoy Max is going through it - 1:46:00Tyrese Halliburton wedding outfit - 2:08:00What are “Male Centered” women? - 2:34:05 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Henry returns to the podcast, joining Pastor Tim Bayly to discuss why they are thankful for the United States of America and what the need of the day is for Christians living in her. They discuss the American Revolution and its messy complexity; John Adams; the desire for simplistic explanations amid conflicts and controversies; the work of politicians and pastors; living in your station; localism; the crisis of discipline; and cultivating the ability to say "I was wrong."Show notes:Alfred F. Young, Liberty Tree: Ordinary People and the American RevolutionGeorge W. Forell, "Luther and the War Against the Turks,” Concordia Theological Monthly: Vol. 17, Article 52. Andrew mentions Samson, so I thought to include... Calvin's comments on Numbers 6:6.He shall come at no dead body:This, too, they had in common with the high-priest, that they were not even to mourn for their relations. Although Moses enjoins two things, that the Nazarites should make themselves unclean neither by entering the house of mourning, nor by mourning themselves, it was indeed a duty of humanity to bury the dead; but if any of the people had touched a dead body, or had come near a death-bed or bier, they were polluted. But God demands more of the Nazarites, lest, they should contract uncleanness; for it was not sufficient for them (as will be seen again presently) to purify themselves according to the accustomed means, but it behoved them to be far removed from all things that would pollute them. But why the touch of a dead body was a pollution, we shall consider more at large in its proper place. Now it must be briefly concluded, that because by death is represented God's curse, the wages of sin, the Israelites were thus admonished to beware of dead works. (336) As to the mourning, the reason of the prohibition was different, viz., that those who professed the special service of God, should set, an example to others of magnanimity and submission. If it were sinful to weep and lament when our friends are taken from us, Christ would not, have wept. at the tomb of Lazarus; but because perturbation is always associated with grief, and men in their mourning are too apt to give way to ambition and pomp, and voluntarily and purposely provoke themselves to excess, as though nature did not already carry them further than is right, the Nazarites could not give an example of moderation, if they had mixed themselves with mourners. Wherefore, as they were before restrained from daintiness, so now a remedy is applied to the opposite disease, viz., to sorrow. But, although all ought, to seek to indulge it moderately, yet something more is prescribed to the Nazarites, that, as if disentangled and stripped from earthly affections, they should go further than the rest of the people; as we shall see hereafter with respect to the priests.Aish.com article titled, “Samson - Contact with Dead":In terms of coming in contact with dead animals, that is not an issue for any type of Nazarite. The Torah only forbids his coming in contact with “a dead soul” – but not a dead animal (which doesn't possess a true soul) (Talmud Nazir 48a). (answered by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld.)Here's the picture of my great-grandfather, William A. DeWalt, which hangs in our living room. He holds my uncle, Curtis DeWalt: "H. R. 10174. William Dewalt, aged 78 years, late a private, Company A, One hundred and fifty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry, from April 20, 1862, to June 6, 1865 (length of service, 3 years 1 month 17 days), is now pensioned under certificate No. 47837 at the rate of $46 per month under general law for loss of left arm above elbow."***Desire to become a pastor? Check out New Geneva Academy. Listen to NGA's brand new podcast, "What I Wish They'd Told Me," here or watch video here.***Out of Our Minds Podcast: Pastors Who Say What They Think. For the love of Christ and His Church.Intro and outro music is Psalm of the King, Psalm 21 by My Soul Among Lions.Out of Our Minds audio, artwork, episode descriptions, and notes are property of Warhorn Media, published with permission by Transistor, Inc. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.Simile est regnum caelorum thesauro abscondito in agro : quem qui invenit homo, abscondit, et prae gaudio illius vadit, et vendit universa quae habet, et emit agrum illum. 45 Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls.Iterum simile est regnum caelorum homini negotiatori, quaerenti bonas margaritas. 46 Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.Inventa autem una pretiosa margarita, abiit, et vendidit omnia quae habuit, et emit eam. 47 Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes.Iterum simile est regnum caelorum sagenae missae in mare, et ex omni genere piscium congreganti. 48 Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth.Quam, cum impleta esset, educentes, et secus littus sedentes, elegerunt bonis in vasa, malos autem foras miserunt. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just.Sic erit in consummatione saeculi : exibunt angeli, et separabunt malos de medio justorum, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.et mittent eos in caminum ignis : ibi erit fletus, et stridor dentium. 51 Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes.Intellexistis haec omnia? Dicunt ei : Etiam. 52 He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.Ait illis : Ideo omnis scriba doctus in regno caelorum, similis est homini patrifamilias, qui profert de thesauro suo nova et vetera.Laurence of Brindisi, a Capuchin friar who for some years ruled his whole Order, acquired great fame for learning and eloquence, and labored with remarkable success in most parts of Europe preaching to Catholics, to Protestants, and to Jews. When 80,000 Turks invaged Hungary in 1605, he it was who inspired the united Christian armies of 18,000 men to the attack and himself led them to complete victory riding before them bearing a large cross. He died in Lisbon in 1611. 1. The Treasure Hidden in the Field (vv. 44)A man discovers a treasure so valuable that he joyfully sells everything to buy the field.Notice two things:He doesn't give up everything reluctantly.He gives it up because he has found something infinitely better.Jesus isn't saying Christians should despise earthly goods. He's saying that once you've discovered the Kingdom, everything else finds its proper place.2. The Pearl of Great Price (vv. 45–46)This parable is slightly different.The first man stumbles upon the treasure.The merchant has been searching all along.Some people are converted unexpectedly. Others spend years searching for truth before they find Christ.Again, Jesus emphasizes the worth of the Kingdom.3. The Dragnet (vv. 47–50)Jesus is describing the visible kingdom on earth.The Church contains:saintssinnerspeople growing in holinesspeople resisting graceThe final separation belongs to God.Sometimes we wonder why evil seems to remain in the world—and even within the visible Church. Jesus says the final judgment comes at the end of the age.4. The Householder (vv. 51–52)Then He says:"Every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth from his treasure things new and old." A faithful disciple doesn't discard the old. He doesn't cling only to the new. He treasures both.As Catholics, we naturally think of:the Old Testament fulfilled in Christthe continuity of apostolic teachingthe Church preserving ancient truth while continually proclaiming it anew.

This week, for our 400th episode, we're joined by Rafael Lovato Jr.! Rafael is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion, a former Bellator middleweight MMA champion, and the creator of the Timeless Jiu-Jitsu philosophy. In this episode, Rafael makes the case that consistency beats intensity, and shows how a game built on timeless fundamentals lets you dominate opponents no matter your age. Topics include: consistency over intensity, competing in your 40s, playing the long game, mastering the fundamentals, and the case for the mount.Follow Rafael on Instagram:https://instagram.com/lovatojrbjjGet Rafael's new knee-passing instructional with his dad, Lovato Legacy:https://www.timelessjiujitsu.com/lovato-legacy-timeless-pressure-passing-from-the-kneesLearn more at Timeless Jiu-Jitsu:https://www.timelessjiujitsu.comTrain with Rafael in the Turks and Caicos Islands from Sep. 24-29, 2026:https://destinationjj.comMental models discussed in this episode:Consistencyhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/consistencyPrioritize Longevityhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/prioritize-longevityCompoundinghttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/compoundingTimeframe Paradoxhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/timeframe-paradoxInvesting in Losshttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/investing-in-lossDo What Workshttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/do-what-worksTokui Wazahttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/tokui-wazaPosition Over Submissionhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/position-over-submissionProbabilistic Thinkinghttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/probabilistic-thinkingMarginal Gainshttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/marginal-gainsSelf-Competitionhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/self-competition⬆️ LEVEL UP with BJJ Mental Models Premium!The world's LARGEST library of jiu-jitsu audio lessons, our complete podcast network, online coaching, and much more! Your first week is free:https://bjjmentalmodels.comNeed more BJJ Mental Models?Get the legendary BJJMM newsletter:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletterLearn more mental models in our online database:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/databaseFollow us on social:https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodelshttps://threads.com/@bjjmentalmodelshttps://bjjmentalmodels.bsky.socialhttps://youtube.com/@bjjmentalmodelsMusic by Enterprize:https://enterprize.bandcamp.com

The boys are back in the building! Join Malcolm Harris and Michael Vincent as they dive into the latest industry news, headlines, and expert insights on this edition of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? In This Episode 5 Minutes in Freight (Headlines): A major $2.1M cocaine bust involving tractor-trailers in Florida. ArcBest restructuring and 2% workforce/terminal door consolidation. Military CDL skill waivers and veterans in trucking. DHS and DOT investigating 75 CDL training schools for suspected fraud. Special Guests Tarek Alaruri – Co-Founder & CEO of StuutTariq drops by to break down how AI and automation are transforming accounts receivable (AR) in logistics. From his background in wrestling to running tech that reduces overdue invoices by up to 40%, Tarek shares how Stuut is helping brokers and carriers get paid faster and streamline their operations. John Scott – Operations Manager at Atlanta Container and TrailerCalling in all the way from Turks and Caicos, John joins the show to discuss the growing demand for storage space in supply chain operations. He breaks down how flexible, month-to-month trailer and container rentals help businesses stay adaptable across different verticals—from construction to retail ⁠Watch on YouTube⁠ ⁠Visit our sponsor - GNOSIS FREIGHT⁠ ⁠Subscribe to the WTT newsletter⁠ ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠More FreightWaves Podcasts⁠ #WHATTHETRUCK #FreightNews #supplychain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hamlet wagers 6 Barbary horses against 6 French swords. Falstaff talks about fighting with a Barbary hen. Bassanio in Merchant of Venice talks about travelling merchants going to foreign lands including "Tripolis, Mexico and England, Lisbon, Barbary, and India" There are also an additional 5 references to Barbary horses.   The Barbary States were Algeria, Tunisia, Tripolis, and Morroco. These were powerful coastal societies tied in various ways to the Ottoman world, and in Shakespeare's day they were central to English fears about piracy and captivity. Ships were seized. Sailors were enslaved. Families, merchants, churches, and governments negotiated over the price of a human life.  English first hand accounts of the Muslim world and the Barbary States in particular were sparse, even non-existent prior to Richard Knolles publication in 1603 where he writes the History of the Turks, the same year Shakespeare publishes his Ottoman-heavy play with a Moor in the title role, Othello.   Today we are joined by Daniel Vitkus, editor of Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption: Barbary Captivity Narratives from Early Modern England, and Abdulhamit Arvas, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and expert on early modern Muslims, Barbary pirates, and Shakespeare. They are here to help us explore the place of the Barbary Coast in Shakespeare's England, to understand the culture of hostages and holding someone ransom, what was happening to Britons that were taken captive and sold into slavery by the Barbary pirates, as well as to explain the surprising dichotomy of being afraid of the Barbary nation while admiring their products, like horses. 

The boys are back in the building! Join Malcolm Harris and Michael Vincent as they dive into the latest industry news, headlines, and expert insights on this edition of WHAT THE TRUCK?!?In This Episode 5 Minutes in Freight (Headlines): A major $2.1M cocaine bust involving tractor-trailers in Florida. ArcBest restructuring and 2% workforce/terminal door consolidation. Military CDL skill waivers and veterans in trucking. DHS and DOT investigating 75 CDL training schools for suspected fraud. Special Guests Tarek Alaruri – Co-Founder & CEO of StuutTariq drops by to break down how AI and automation are transforming accounts receivable (AR) in logistics. From his background in wrestling to running tech that reduces overdue invoices by up to 40%, Tarek shares how Stuut is helping brokers and carriers get paid faster and streamline their operations. John Scott – Operations Manager at Atlanta Container and TrailerCalling in all the way from Turks and Caicos, John joins the show to discuss the growing demand for storage space in supply chain operations. He breaks down how flexible, month-to-month trailer and container rentals help businesses stay adaptable across different verticals—from construction to retail Watch on YouTube Visit our sponsor - GNOSIS FREIGHT Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts #WHATTHETRUCK #FreightNews #supplychain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the years from 1068 to 1071, the Byzantine emperor Romanus Diogenes tried but failed to stem the Turkish raids into Anatolia. Finally, he decided to lead his army far into the east, to stem the raids at their point of origin, near the fortress of Manzikert. There he would fight a battle that would change history.Support the showFor a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

Darrell Castle discusses war once again because it seems that the more we are told a political solution has been reached, the more missiles and drones are fired at more targets. Then retaliation has to come so, no solution. Transcription / Notes: THE ENEMY GETS A VOTE Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today's Castle Report. This is Friday the 17th day of July in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is war once again because it seems that the more we are told a political solution has been reached more missiles and drones are fired at more targets and then retaliation has to come so no solution. The president is in a difficult position but it is apparently of his own making. He is not an Eisenhower with many years of experience commanding vast armies in some of the biggest campaigns in human history. He instead is forced to rely on his team of advisors and so they tell him where he should go and what the consequences will be. They must have told him that Iran was ripe for the taking and would fall just like Venezuela but Iran is different and any experienced military person should have been able to see that. Power unhinges people and people who seek it are often unhinged to start with. That is part of the reason Mr. Jefferson told us that every 20 years or so we should have a revolution to reset things such as personal liberty. He reminded us that government agents are not saints or angels but they are instead ordinary humans with all the vices and weaknesses of other ordinary humans. President Trump started rearranging his group of military advisors as soon as he was elected because having no real military experience himself I suppose he wanted people around him who would put the best spin on what he wanted to do. Do you think I can force Iran, a real and very large country, to surrender and concede its own desires using only naval and air forces. Oh yes, Mr. President, Iran will crumble when attacked and the people will rise up and overthrow the government and that will be it except that you will be an international conquering hero. To get the team of advisors who would tell him that certain changes had to be made. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who is supposed to be his top military advisor announced his retirement one month after the inauguration. The Secretary of Defense was changed which is normal for the new president but then the Department of Defense became the Department of War. I admit that is a more honest name and cuts out some hypocrisy but it sends a very bellingerite message. So, this war, this attack against a country that was apparently no threat to the United States was supposed to resolve problems standing in the way of the Greater Israel Project but it had the opposite effect. Israel is much weaker and in a more tenuous position and Iran is much stronger and in a more commanding position because of the war. When I say Israel is weaker I mean that it literally has no friends except the United States and is for the most part hated around the world. A nation that has sponsored terrorism through proxies across the Middle East is now seen as the heroic barrier to Israel's genocide. The United States has suffered a humiliating defeat or at least it is unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz open with its navy. U.S. bases across the Middle East have been repeatedly attacked by Iranian missiles and drones as have U.S. allies in the region. Just the other day Jordan which has tried very hard to stay out of the struggle and says it has no foreign bases had 10 or 12 missiles fired at its bases and suffered considerable damage. The bottom line for U.S, interests is that Iran has proven to the world, the U.S,. Israel and other allies that the promises of protection cannot be met. If one of the Gulf States, for example, responds to an Iranian attack it is swarmed by Iranian missiles and drones and much of their military bases have been severely damaged already. The bottom line for Israel, well let's look at it. Israel has no political way out of this that I can see. Israel's goal from the beginning has been the destruction of Iran which would leave Israel in complete domination of the Middle East south of Turkey. Israel simply cannot accomplish its goals without the U.S. but its leadership acts as if it doesn't care what the U.S. president wants. I can tell you what he wants with a fair degree of certainty. He wants out of this debacle before it creates a worldwide depression. Bibi apparently cares nothing for the United States and its people or its survival. For example, last week reports are that Bibi and the president had a lengthy phone conversation and President Trump asked him to leave southern Lebanon so he could meet one of the Iranian demands before peace. Bibi has still not complied with that request and perhaps has no intention to comply and if so Trump has no way out. Israel is not interested in peace right now, only war. Israel has not let go of its original goal and that was the complete destruction of Iran. Bibi said when it started that he had been waiting for this war for 40 years. So, let's get this straight. The United States started bombing Iran because Israel wanted and demanded it. The bombing only hurts the U.S. and makes it weaker and it is now threatening the world economy with depression. Israel will not do the basics that would allow the U.S. to escape and so Trump feels trapped, blames it all on the Iranians and restarts the bombing on an even more massive scale. Why would Donald Trump, an obviously proud and even vain man, put up with such shabby and embarrassing treatment by this ally of 9 million people which could not continue to exist without the U.S. That is the question of the day isn't it. Could it be revelations from the Epstein files. Possibly, but I don't think so because the Democrats had those files before his election and they didn't use them. Could it be money. I'm sure there's money involved but I don't think its pure greed for Trump because he is already a multi billionaire. Could it be something as simple as nuclear blackmail. That's pretty horrible to contemplate but I suppose it's possible. How would that work, who knows for sure, but maybe something like this. If you don't help me destroy Iran I will do it myself with nuclear weapons. Or maybe we have planted dirty bombs all over Washington just in case. Let me be clear folks that I have no information at all to suggest that has happened I'm just wondering where the control comes from. When Trump was campaigning in both 2016 and 2024 he ran on an antiwar promise. He said he would be remembered for the wars he didn't start and that was a very appealing message to me. All I know for sure is that after the assassination attempt in Butler Pennsylvania he emerged a completely different man. First he ordered a halt to the investigation which raises all kinds of red flags. Why would you order the FBI and Secret Service to stop investigating an attempted assassination. He became close friends with super war hawks like Lindsey Graham and many others. Trump is apparently trying to get a little distance from Bibi by using Turkey and putting the Turks forward as the next rising power which could replace Iran and hopefully control Syria and Lebanon which of course includes Hezbollah. Years ago, Turkey, although a NATO member agreed to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia. NATO was outraged because that would give Russia inside knowledge of NATO aircraft, radars, etc. The U.S, congress sanctioned Turkey and delisted it from the F-35 program. Now trump says despite the congressional ban he will sell the F-35 to Turkey as well as selling them or allowing their purchase of Taal engines for the new stealth fighter they are trying to build so if they have those engines they can make their own 5th generation fighter. The U.S. congress is not the only group outraged by the deal. Can you imagine what Israel thinks about it. I'm pretty sure Bibi would want the U.S. to destroy Turkey after it destroys Iran but I'm just guessing folks. This is not how diplomacy has been conducted in the past folks. One party never releases partial information about any deals until the paper is signed. In other words, there should be no release of information that we have a deal, the Iranians called me begging me to stop bombing, but that is what he has been doing. There is indeed something really weird about this war and the negotiations. I've lived awhile and I've been a student of history during most of that and I can't remember the U.S. attacking a country for no obvious reason, not even a bogus one that could be used as cover, so it's quite a departure from the American way. Or maybe we were born from war. We fought wars of expansion and a war that freed enslaved people, wars to help out friends in Europe and now wars apparently to maintain military control over the earth so maybe it's not such a departure. In conclusion, since the enemy gets a vote as the generals like to say, and the enemy votes to continue the war one side can't just make it all go away by proclaiming that it has. Ther is no political solution but there are a few military solutions one of which makes sense. Number one the U.S. and or Israel could destroy Iran with nuclear weapons. That would be the most catastrophic disaster in the history of man's time on earth. Number two the U.S. could invade, conquer and occupy Iran with ground troops. That solution would be very bloody and costly in terms of human destruction but also would severely damage the world economy and would probably provoke a worldwide depression. The only solution that makes any sense is the simplest one and that is to disengage. Not only from Iran but from the Middle East itself. Just come home from there and announce that the Project for a New American Century has been flushed. Announce that the U.S. will feed its own people, rebuild its own infrastructure, and bandage its internal wounds for a while. Finally, folks, I see the Castle Report not as reporting the news which you have probably heard but just giving you my take on it. Ron Psul has been doing that for 30 years. At least that's the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for Listening.

Today's Cruise News covers three stories shaping where cruisers can go and how they get there. Egypt and Turkey denied port calls to Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady during a 10-night Atlantis Events charter, prompting a revised Eastern Mediterranean itinerary for roughly 1,900 guests. The U.S. Department of State kept Turks and Caicos at a Level 2 advisory, urging increased caution at the busy Grand Turk cruise port over crime, vendor scams, and strict firearms laws that have led to tourist prosecutions over stray ammunition. And Atlas Ocean Voyages added six fly-cruise departures for the 2027-28 Antarctica season, letting travelers trade the roughly two-day Drake Passage crossing for a two-hour charter flight from Punta Arenas, Chile to King George Island.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors--and in this three-part summer mini-series, Paradise Prison, we're going to follow American hunters and gun owners who were trapped in Turks and Caicos in 2024. The story received international media attention, and you might think you know what happened, but trust us, you don't know the half of it. Follow the show now to get notified when Episode 1 drops, Thursday, July 23rd. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube ClipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors--and in this three-part summer mini-series, Paradise Prison, we're going to follow American hunters and gun owners who were trapped in Turks and Caicos in 2024. The story received international media attention, and you might think you know what happened, but trust us, you don't know the half of it. Follow the show now to get notified when Episode 1 drops, Thursday, July 23rd. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube ClipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors--and in this three-part summer mini-series, Paradise Prison, we're going to follow American hunters and gun owners who were trapped in Turks and Caicos in 2024. The story received international media attention, and you might think you know what happened, but trust us, you don't know the half of it. Follow the show now to get notified when Episode 1 drops, Thursday, July 23rd. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube ClipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kelly Kock from Plants For All Seasons joins Sherri Harrah in this 1st hour from 7/11/26 and helping with a fig tree that was damaged during a hurricane that is green but not producing, Belinda needs help trimmer her shrubs, John is a new listener (welcome John!)  and needs advice with his fruit tree, Jim has new shrubs that are dying, Brenda has moss growing on her Yolk tree and Shannon needs help maintaining her tall turks. The post Fig Tree Damage, Pruning & Trimming, Fruit Tree Care, Shrubs, Yolk Tree Moss, Turks -260711-H1 appeared first on HomeShow Garden Pros Radio.

Allison Kushner, a travel advisor with Four Hundred, a Virtuoso-member host agency, talks with Amy Tate of Insider Travel Report, about how to sell the Salterra Resort & Spa, a year-old luxury property that is the perfect retreat for families, couples and singles. With a great beach and pools, an awesome spa, great accommodations and lots of activities, Salterra could be just the right choice for your clients looking for an off-the-grid escape in Turks and Caicos. For more information, visit www.salterra.com. All our Insider Travel Report video interviews are archived and available on our Youtube channel  (youtube.com/insidertravelreport), and as podcasts with the same title on: Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Listen Notes, Podchaser, TuneIn + Alexa, Podbean,  iHeartRadio,  Google, Amazon Music/Audible, Deezer, Podcast Addict, and iTunes Apple Podcasts, which supports Overcast, Pocket Cast, Castro and Castbox. 

Being that the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami is only a couple of months away, this special IHS Series episode features the VP of Development, U.S. & Canada at Minor Hotels, Genna Panagopoulos!  Genna joins the Suite Spot podcast to discuss: The Minor Hotels Brand & Special Announcements The Independent & Lifestyle Hotel Landscape The 2026 Independent Hotel Show Creating Unique Experiences for Travelers And much more. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. We are here for the second season of our Independent Hotel Show series. That means we are gearing up, if you can believe it, for the Independent Hotel Show here in September and Miami Beach. I am so excited and equally excited to bring in a familiar voice. We had her on the podcast just a couple months ago in New York City, Genna Panagopoulos, VP of Development North America at Minor Hotels. Genna, welcome back to the Suite Spot. Genna Panagopoulos: Hey, thanks for having me again. Ryan Embree: Yeah, excited to have you. We were talking off camera. Typically, I usually do the virtual interview before meeting you in person, so this is a little bit more comfortable here, virtually back in, in, I think you’re in Atlanta. I’m here in our TMG headquarters in Orlando, but second time on the Suite Spot. We really didn’t get to get into your hospitality background, kind of a tradition here. Wanna introduce you to our audience a little bit more, intimately and in depth. Talk to us a little bit about your background in hospitality and the journey that led you to Minor Hotels. Genna Panagopoulos: Well, it starts a long time ago because I grew up in the hospitality industry. Typical greek immigrant story. My father came here with just a few dollars in his pocket and ended up building a pretty successful restaurant business in Detroit. So if you ever are in Detroit, if you say Jimmy, the Greek people will know him. But I went to, I obviously grew up in Michigan, went to Michigan State, really, and started studying hospitality with the intent of taking over the restaurant business. And then I did an internship for my father and realized I did not love it as much as he did. And so I ended up falling into the hotel space and specifically hotel investment, real estate development, and have just fallen in love ever since I started my career at Davidson Hotels and Resorts back when they were in Memphis, actually on their business development team. And then they moved to Atlanta, ironically, next to IHGs headquarters. So I was with Davidson for a few years, hopped in over to IHG, where I was for 10 years, did everything from feasibility to business development to even brand, which is a little bit unique. And I don’t wanna undermine that because I had a lot of people say at the time, why would a developer ever go to brand? Like, that’s, you’re where you wanna be. But for me, it was so critical to kind of unlocking new opportunities in the future because the skills I gained in a year and a half on the team work just the role that I’m in now is super helpful because it’s, it’s kind of like wearing two different hats, right? A creative versus a mathematician. So anyways, I was there at IHD for 10 years, and then this opportunity at Minor came up last summer. I was so ready and excited to take on like a new challenge and I thought that it’d be a really fun and exciting new endeavor for me with this combination of my background. So, it’s exciting. Minor’s been super supportive and it’s a little weird to go from working in an office with thousands of colleagues to being the one of one in an entire continent, but it’s been great so far. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And what a unique opportunity. We’re gonna talk about that here in a moment because I think it’s absolutely fascinating. But your story is very familiar. I mean that we hear all the time from our guests, a lot of them start in that f&b kind of space and then transition over to the hospitality side, but super comprehensive skillset, which I’m sure has set you up for success in your role at Minor Hotels. Now, we met face to face at NYU IHIF, where just a couple weeks removed. I call this kind of takeaway season where everybody’s on LinkedIn, kind of frantically typing their takeaways and what they felt about the state of the industry right now, what we’re looking back on New York City, maybe you could start kind of zoomed in version of how that event for you and then maybe back up with an industry lens on some of the biggest takeaways from your time at New York City. Genna Panagopoulos: So from a Minor perspective, we had a really successful conference. So we had tons of meetings while we were there. Really good ones too, on some deals that were hopefully perpetuating. And then we’ll be announcing maybe by the Independent Boutique Hotel Show, but it was, the energy was very live, the excitement for Minor Hotels, was very visceral people, I think, you know, hoteliers are really looking for brands that understand their position. And because Minor is, you know, I always describe it as an owner first, then an operator, now a brand, right? And we still own an owner lease a vast majority of our portfolio. So we know what it’s like to be in their shoes, quite honestly. So it was a successful, like I said, the energy was there. It’s very validating to know that a lot of our marketing is working and all of the, the word of mouth and the fact that we’re out there, iI’m having to educate people less and less with every conference about who we are. So that’s great. Zooming out on an industry lens, you know, I think, you know, even just looking at beginning of the year to NYU IHIF, this sentiment is very different, right? You know, at the beginning of the year there was so much excitement over the World Cup. You and I spoke about that at NYU and it’s, it’s obviously been tempered quite a bit, and the K economy is still happening. We’re seeing luxury, the rates of the projects that I’m working on, I’m just shocked at how high they are and, how well the competitors are doing in the upper luxury space. It’s really fascinating. So I’m definitely seeing that as well. But the sentiment, and appetite to grow is definitely there. People are still looking to place equity, not ton, not huge amounts, but we’re, we’re seeing that there are still gaps on that front. Ryan Embree: The resiliency of our industry, I think, continues, right? It just, the momentum there, every single time we see a headwind, we continue to push through, which is really, really cool to see that owner. And, and from a development, I mean, new brands, new projects being announced, this is the space that we’d love to see, you know, more and more because there’s more and more demand growing travelers continue to prioritize travel and the experience economy, which is great for us hoteliers. So we just need some more rooms here, which is obviously what you’re tasked with, right, Jenna? So, but I wanna talk about Minor Hotels. I know you talked about needing a little less education now, but educate us here on the Suite Spot. I mean, Minor Hotels, brand spanning from select service all the way up to that ultra luxury segment ton of brands. They don’t have time for all of them today, but maybe you could share some of your personal favorites and within the hotel, Minor Hotels portfolio, what makes those brands unique? Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, sure. So yeah, like you said, we now have 12 different brands, four of which were launched last year right before I joined the company. But we have these two lineages, I think within Minor Hotels history, right? We have our roots, which come from Thailand, and Anantara and Avani are great examples of that. And then we have our European roots from acquisitions over the years. So we’ve got brands like…that came from Portugal, NH, which is a very established brand out of Madrid. The four that we launched last year, offer really unique things that we never had before in our portfolio. So as we were looking to grow, we knew that that was something we’d have to have to kind of have on our menu of options for potential hotels, because some of these brands don’t work in every asset type and not every market, though most of our brands have a lot of flexibility to be able to grow into different asset types. But I guess my favorite, and I’m really excited about the Wolseley hotel brand we launched last year. So Minor International owns, which of course, Banner Hotels Resorts is a part of, owns Wolseley Hospitality Group out of London. And there’s a really beautiful institutional restaurant called the Wolseley that’s very famous. If you ask anybody from London, they definitely know the Wolseley. In fact, most people I know that just traveled to London know the Wolseley. So we own, we own that company and decided to take that brand into the hotel space, which is interesting because it’s a restaurant moving into the hotel world. And our first one will open in New York next year, but it’s been really fast. I think it’s really fascinating. There’s a lot of membership club opportunities with that one. And so that’s kind of an new trend we’re starting to see in the luxury space. Ryan Embree: It’s gotta be great to be able to have that breadth and spectrum of property or investment type for an owner to come in and say, this is maybe the market that I’m interested in pursuing, and then figuring out and kind of curating and tailoring what asset, what brand is gonna fit best there. And we talked about this a little at NYU, but I think, again, your job is so fascinating. You have this well-established, extremely popular worldwide brand, and here you are tasked with bringing it into the North American market, right? I’m sure there’s a lot of envious developers out there, what has been kind of, and really you only get to launch a brand like this into a new market only once. So what has been kind of your approach, Jen? I’d love to get kind of the background on what’s been your approach and what kind of feedback you’ve been initially hearing. Have owners been kind of waiting for this, you know, to arrive here and, and what are you hearing from owners right now? Genna Panagopoulos: It’s a tale of two stories as they say, right? So in the luxury space, there’s so much excitement. We are very established, people in that space know us, and wanna be the first to help us develop here. So that’s where we’ve seen the vast majority of our interest. Now, when you shift to looking at some of the upper upscale through the select service brands that we now also offer franchise, which I don’t know the stat off the top of my head, but it is a large component of those properties, those segments are operated by third parties and franchised. So being that we’re newer into that space, that’s where the challenge has been. So, but yeah, in terms of the hardest thing and I have to tackle every day is where do I spend my time? Because there’s constantly deals coming my way. We have to, we have to be quite strategic and mindful about what has the most likelihood of being the best representation of our brand in our target markets. So early on, when I started, I think the first four weeks of me taking the role, I had developed a pretty cohesive development strategy of where we wanted to spend that time. And where that is really any of the top, let’s call it 20 markets in the US that have international demand. So we have top markets that don’t have as much international demand, and we’ll look at those, but we just think that our value is gonna come from driving international business into these hotels. And then totally opposite from that, with Anantara, our, you know, wellness, upper luxury experiential brand. We are really excited about finding deals in kind of everywhere else except for those urban markets, right? So hard to get to places. Last week I was driving through Utah and Colorado, six hours in between each of them. So just to give you a little flavor, we were looking at a couple different opportunities in those states. You know, Hudson Valley is somewhere we wanna be Montana, Wyoming. So, you know, it’s a little bifurcated our approach to our various brands. But we’re trying to be very diligent and strategic about it. So we don’t get distracted by things that aren’t going to help us grow here. Because once we have good examples, we really believe the first few have to be really good. Once we have those, we’ll be able to drive further, further growth at a more quick pace. Ryan Embree: Yeah, no, absolutely. And what you were talking about how best to spend your time, I think that’s a, a challenge that hoteliers have had since the dawn of this industry. But it’s very exciting and very cool to hear those different approaches because, you know, you have the privilege of having that background, of having that history and, and culture already built over an in another market, bringing that here. But you also have the exciting new flavor of providing something new, maybe in some, some very experiential markets right now, which experiential travel is just absolutely exploding another traveler trend right now. And you already have some several success stories we touched on at NYU. Let’s dive a little deeper into some of those projects, Genna. Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, so we’ve got, I guess our next one that I’ve already kinda spilled the beans on it, but the releases are already out there, but the first Wolseley in the world will be opening next year in New York in the former Lambs Club property. And I think it’s just such a fantastic market to open the first Wolseley hotel. You know, theoretically it could have been in London and hopefully we do have one in London soon, but it’s a very special cherished brand and it’s not the one thing I also just wanna spend a moment on, even though it’s luxury and it’s this very quintessential British kind of formal service style, it’s egalitarian at its roots, it’s really meant for everybody. So you could walk into the, into the Wolseley in London and see celebrities next to politicians and you’re Joe Schmo walking in off the street, you don’t need a reservation. And so I think it’s a really beautiful evolution of the, of the history of that brand. And I’m so excited for it to land in New York. Ryan Embree: So we can announce right now in 2027. The Suite Spot will be on site. We can do nice little episode up there hopefully. Genna Panagopoulos: Next, next conference in New York. We’ll be able to do it there. Ryan Embree: Alright. Genna Panagopoulos: Yes. And then a little, actually, I guess the next one that’ll open in 2029 is Anantara Turks and Caicos, which is a 100% residential hotel, really, really beautiful resort heavy wellness, you’ll find with Anantara. We really lean into the wellness, longevity space. And so, we pride ourselves on always being at the forefront of the latest wellness, the direction wellness is going. And so longevity, for example, right now is very important to us. And we’re seeing that bleed into the residential space. So, you know, just the way that’s getting threaded into the residential experience, into the hotel guest experiences is very fascinating to watch. And then in 2030, we’ll also have another Anantara in Miami, very close to design district. It’s kind of at the epicenter of where design district, Edgewater and Midtown all meet the views from the hotel will be incredible. There’ll be a helipad, a 30,000 square foot spa. And then a mix of hotel rooms, residences that people are living in, and then also residences that can get rented out to hotel guests as well. So we are super excited, I think, you know, having these three hotels in these three markets, right? We’ve covered New York where we already have a hotel, by the way, the NH collection, Madison Avenue, we’ve had there for a few years, which we actually own. And then, you know, Miami, which is a key market, obviously very heavy international demand, but just if you had to tell me to pick one plate, one urban market to put it an Anantara, that would be it. And then Turks and Caicos is such a important market for U.S. leisure travel. So these couldn’t have been better, better markets for us to be entering and launching region. Ryan Embree: Congratulations. What a strong pipeline and really cool projects you’re working on, excited to kind of see those and the announcements as they start to roll in and the pictures, those views that you’re talking about. But I think, you know, the Turks and Caicos property is something we’ve been talking about on the podcast. That CALA region is also booming right now. So, you know, it’s not just, I think sometimes when we say, you know, obviously bringing into the North American market, we tend to go a little bit more domestic, but to expand that into CALA I think is gonna be absolutely critical. ’cause you’re right, so much of that US domestic travel is now spending, you know, time and money in those areas, and looking a little bit more towards that for their experiences. So exciting all around. And of course we love, you know, we’re based here in Florida, so we’d love a new project. We’ll, we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on that Miami project that you have. But this is speaking of Miami, this is our independent hotel show series. Talk to us, you know, why you feel some of the Minor Hotel brands fit within this independent and lifestyle category. And what advantages do you see independent hotels or even experiential brands and lifestyle brands have in today’s hospitality landscape? Genna Panagopoulos: I’ll answer that last question first. If you don’t have that experiential, that’s table stakes today. So, we’re, I believe we’re only gonna see that become more and more important as the years go on. Because if you look at the consumer data of what the younger demographic, where they’re spending their money, it’s not experiences. It’s not, it’s no longer on goods. So having these really cool, unique experiences that they can travel and and receive is gonna be critical in terms of what we have to offer for independent hoteliers, keep in mind this is our roots, right? We started our, our company was founded by Bill Heineke, who, fun fact, and I can’t remember if I’ve already told you this, but the reason we’re called Minor is that he went to go start his business at a very young age of 17. And when he was getting his his business license, they said, sorry, but you need an adult to sign with you ’cause you’re a minor. So he’s really one of those serial entrepreneurs, wicked smart, wicked great at launching businesses, but he was an independent hotelier. That’s how he got his start. So he’s still driving a lot of the vision of the company. And I could tell you coming from a larger brand company into this environment, it is incredibly entrepreneurial. And because we also own hotels, but also operate for a lot of our owners, we truly believe we have this, like this hotelier mindset. We’re more of an operator than we are a brand at this moment. And so I think that could help lend itself to independent owners who are looking for a little bit of support. And we’re here to lean in as much as they want and as little as they want, but there’s benefits to it, right? We can help save on OTA costs, we can help save on purchasing. We’ve got great technology to help with forecasting and revenue management and and so on. So there’s definitely places to tap in. And I think particularly now more than ever with our two collection brands that we launched last year, so I started telling you this, but I didn’t finish telling you the brands that we launched, but two of them that we launched last year are collections. One is minor reserve collection, which is in the luxury space. And then Colbert collection, which is more upper upscale, maybe entry luxury. And those are just such, they’re primed for independent hotels, right? That’s why they were launched. To be able to keep the heritage and the name of an independent hotel play off of it, but then get all the back support, all the things behind the scenes that consumers will really never see, but it’ll help make operations much more efficient and smooth. And so we think that’s where there’s a lot of opportunity and we’re, you know, we’re priding ourselves on that. We’re here to be a partner and not a brand that’s telling you have to do it this way. So that’s where we’re really thinking this is the opportunity for us in that space. Ryan Embree: Well, it says, it says a lot that, to have two collection brands dedicated to that space really shows the investment in the future of these kind of independently run or branded properties and see the opportunity there because again, looking, you mentioned the lens and view challenges about independent hotelier and brand is very different from those big brands that have the scale to kind of combat those challenges a little bit more efficiently. So, you know, independent hotels, we always talk about on this series specifically are looking for any edge or opportunity to differentiate themselves to the traveler because they are really first in line to present a one of a kind experience. If you think about it, one of those places is f&b, a trend that obviously Minor Hotels has taken and ran with, especially with converting a f&b brand to hospitality brand. How have you leveraged the f&b theme with potential owners and when you’re having these conversations with investors, as you look to bring Minor Hotels to North America? Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, so, well first we have a, when I was doing my onboarding in Madrid and Amsterdam, I toured our Anantara in Amsterdam and they had just, maybe they, a couple months before they had just concluded a chef series where they brought I believe 20 or 30 Michelin rated chefs under their roof and had a food festival, which I had never seen that. Like how amazing to bring. I didn’t know that, that that many Michelin chefs would be side by side cooking for each other, right? But it’s a really special thing. And I think that shows you that Minor is very credible in this super experiential high end f&b space separate to that. And so we have the talent in-house. Separate from that, when you look at our brands and the way our Colbert brand, for example, our Colbert, I don’t even wanna call it a brand ’cause it’s a collection. It’s not really a brand the way we thread food and beverage into the guest experience, right? So each hotel is completely unique within the collection. We don’t want any two to really look alike, to be honest with you. But as part of the one ritual that you can, that you can count on as a guest at every Colbert is a food and beverage driven experience. So whether that’s a bespoke cocktail that’s mixed for you, right as you enter the door, or maybe, after you’ve checked in and you’re in your room, a bell cart is a food and beverage bell cart of sorts is delivering a special experience to your door something that ties back to the identity that the hotel has, but is very curated and special, right? Not something that’s like a here’s the, the chocolate chip cookies we made today. No. Right? We want something really beautiful, thoughtful, creative, and that shows the craft in it that either ties to the experience or the identity of the hotel. So I think that’s really important and those little things go a very long way. Ryan Embree: A hundred percent. And those are the little things that add up in the independent hoteliers world that can, you can have the edge, right? And I mean there’s a whole now space with food tourism. I mean, it’s got a name for it now. That’s how large this trend is. And hoteliers are looking at F&B very, very differently than they did five, 10 years ago. It was a first a place where they started to look and say, where can we cut costs? Where can we make efficiencies? Now the brands that I think are doing it right are leaning into it. They’re seeing it as a part of their guest experience and also a huge opportunity for their local markets too. I think people, you know, in locally have looked at through a different lens at what a hotel F&B experience can be. And when someone comes to town, they might not be going to that restaurant. They might be going to a hotel or a resort, and it having that experience there. So very interested to see, right. Genna Panagopoulos: It’s, I don’t mean to interrupt you. But I just wanna say, I was recently having the conversation because when I started in the industry, we would joke, you could, you could like blow a cannon through a hotel restaurant. Nobody wanted to go to a hotel restaurant. Back in the day, they were cool. And it was like, oh, I’m staying at this hotel, meet me at the restaurant. But for a while, you didn’t wanna go to a hotel restaurant. It was vanilla, it was boring, it had no identity. It was just an extension. It was just a restaurant within a hotel. Now it’s such an important driver of bringing people to that hotel, whether local or visiting from out of town. And so there’s such an opportunity. I just, I look back at the time that those hotel restaurants were not attractive. And now I’m like, no, it’s such a beautiful component to an experience and I’ve seen really amazing destination hotels that are operated by the operators, but have a totally unique identity that’s very strong and compatible with the hotel, but not homogenous with the hotel. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. It’s very, very cool to see that evolution. And I think it’s only, again, as the trend continues to grow, I think it’s only gonna get stronger. You’re gonna see more emphasis on that f&b experience. And I personally can’t wait. Because I love those types of experiences to kind of see that evolve. And we’re gonna learn a little bit about maybe some of your favorite f&b experiences within the portfolio here. So let’s do my favorite part of the episode. Some rapid fire to get to know you Genna and the Minor Hotel portfolio a little bit better. Let’s start with one of your, you talked about maybe future favorite views at your property, but right now what is one of the favorite views at your properties in the portfolio? Genna Panagopoulos: I know you’re trying to do rapid fire, but of course I’ll just story tell a little bit. Ryan Embree: No, not at all. Please. Genna Panagopoulos: The Avani in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity during my onboarding with Minor to go to Amsterdam for a few days. Because we have a ton of hotels in Amsterdam. And I got to stay there and I woke up, I think it was a Sunday morning, and I had one of the upper level rooms and floor to ceiling windows. And I just, I watched the city wake up. It was so cool to see the sunrise from my room, but also the canals were coming to life. People were in boats and I had this cup of coffee and they had a great lounge here. And it’s not, it’s not a fancy hotel, right? It’s an approachable lifestyle of hotel. But it was really, it was so beautiful. I had this like Minor Magazine I was reading and I read the full thing. It was so lovely. And I’m actually taking my daughter there in a few, in two weeks, because I loved it so much. Ryan Embree: Very cool. Yeah. And she’ll get to have that view of the, the property as well. What about favorite fact? A fun fact about one of the properties? Genna Panagopoulos: Okay, so one of our new Colbert collections, that I believe is open now in Florence. It’s called Port Rosa, which it translates to Red Door. And it is actually one of the oldest, it might have been the first hotel actually in Italy and one of the first hotels in Europe. So it’s just so funny ’cause here we call our historic hotels 200 years old. And, and here we have like an 800 year old hotel. So I think that’s, I don’t think I could top that. Ryan Embree: Yeah, that puts it in perspective. Favorite signature dish? We talked about f&b experiences at one of the properties. Genna Panagopoulos: So I know I’m talking a lot about Amsterdam, but that was, it obviously left an impression on me, but at the Tivoli, which is one of our entry luxury brands, very well established in Europe, they really pride themselves on food and wine. And so culinary is a huge component of that experience. So I get to eat at the restaurant in the Tivoli called Ombre. And they really try to weave in creativity and art into the overall experience. And so they took it, they took inspiration from Rembrandt, and so Ombre is one of the 12 colors of Rembrandt’s palette. And so they, they had a beautiful way of weaving that into the food, the color of the food, the color of the menu, the names of the menu items. And it was just a beautiful, and you could watch the chef finish the food right at the entrance. And it was just, it was remarkable. It’s also on the canal. It was an evening candle lit room. It was beautiful. Ryan Embree: I mean the marketing team for some of these properties I’m sure has no shortage of content and storytelling. I mean, this is every hotel marketer’s dream. What about favorite guest experience or amenities at one of your properties? Genna Panagopoulos: That’s a good question. The, also in the Avani in Madrid, so, when I had wrapped up, I had trained in Madrid. I went to Amsterdam for a weekend, came back to Madrid to kind of give everybody my 2 cents of how the project or how the onboarding went. And I was only there for one or two nights. I was so tired. I had been gone for like two weeks. I missed my kids. But I came back and the Avani in Madrid as my welcome city had a smoothie set up. And I had never seen this, and I don’t even know if I’ll ever see this again, but they had a little, a little tiny, I think it’s called like a bullet blender, right? That I could blend in my room. They had the most beautiful, I don’t even know what fruit it was, but it was sweet. It was delicious. They had a variety of milks next to it that I could mix with the fruit, and then of course a little ice bucket and some honey. And it was just everything that I needed. I was so tired from being on the road and to come back and have this really like, cool, healthy, nutritious, it was so, it was like they were reading my mind of what I needed. And I’ve never been in a lot of amazing hotels. And again, Avani is not a luxury brand, but they totally nailed it. And then about an hour later after it, ’cause I had checked in fairly late in the day, they showed up at my door with this beautiful wind down tea set up, and it was, you know, tea can be hit or miss. Yeah, it was so beautifully floral and delicious. And I’m not even a tea drinker. And I loved every moment of it. And they had the most perfect cookie to compliment. Ryan Embree: It’s brilliant by the way, that smoothie, because it makes you a part of the process. It makes you feel a part of the experience. I’m sure a ton of people are sharing that on social media. They’re talking about it. I mean, how easy could it have been to just deliver a smoothie, but for you to kind of be a part of that experience, I think makes it a little bit more special. Very, very cool. I’ve never heard that either. Very cool. And then the last but not least, favorite piece of artwork at one of your properties? Genna Panagopoulos: Thats a tough one. Coming back to the fact that we have an NH hotel in Amsterdam called the Schiller, with tons of authentic Danish artwork. But I’ve also heard that the Tivoli Puerto Gaia has a lot of remarkable pieces. In fact, they have over 70 pieces of authentic art. One of my favorite artists is a Spanish artist…and his works are there. So I haven’t seen it in real life, but that’s on my bucket list. Ryan Embree: Well, I’ll tell you, this was probably the most internationally friendly rapid fire that we’ve had here. When asking these questions. You took us to Madrid, Amsterdam, Italy, all over the place. So, we’ll definitely, I can feel the hoteliers now doing some research on these hotels and planning their vacations. Let’s shift to the Independent Hotel show. It’s happening September 16th, 17th in Miami Beach. And remember Suite Spot listeners, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26 for a complimentary registration. Genna, and I would love to see you there. Genna, you recently joined the show’s advisory board. Congratulations on that. What inspired you to get involved with this event and how do you see it supporting independent hoteliers? Genna Panagopoulos: First of all, thank you. And I’m really flattered to be on the advisory board. When we started our, when I was working through our development strategy as part of that, we were talking about the various conferences we wanted to attend. And we really think that we’re different from a lot of the big players that are already here, right? We’re trying to not be aligned with them, but a totally different offering. And so for us, it was really important that we find these independent hoteliers, boutique hoteliers that, again, are looking for somebody to help support them and maybe make their lives a little bit easier, but not be always watching over their shoulder. And so for us that this was perfect, I actually hadn’t come across it until they reached out to me. And it came about 48 hours after we had said, we need to find a show or a conference that has specifically this. And it just fell into our lap. And so we, it was, it was very serendipitous and we’re very excited. In fact, I hope we can continue to attend and I’ll be bringing my colleague from Mexico actually to help run the process with us while we’re there. So we’re excited. I also think that we could learn a lot of what independent hoteliers need and their challenges are and be able to help them out. Ryan Embree: Yeah, it’s a very, very unique event. I’ve had the privilege of being to the show since its inception a few years back. So much learning, there is something special when you put a group of independent hoteliers together in a room. The networking that goes down. It really is unlike any other event I’ve been to. So, again, hope you will join Genna and I in Miami Beach in September. We hope to see you there. As we wrap up today, we got a couple more minutes. What is your vision for the future of Minor Hotels in North America? Genna Panagopoulos: Listen, we don’t wanna be as big as everybody else that’s here, but we wanna have a really good foothold. I don’t think I mentioned this, but we have a little over 600 hotels worldwide, including in pipeline. And we’re really everywhere except for North America. And so it just feels like the right progression, of where we even have hotels in South America, in Mexico, right? So we’re really kind of closing in from all directions. And so we just wanna have good hotels here. Good representation on, fun fact, British and US travelers make up the majority of Anantara guests worldwide, even though we have no Anantara here in the U.S.. So, Norin England. So people want it, and I think once they’re here they will absolutely come. So we’re excited. We just want what we want. A good representation of hotels. Hopefully that’s somewhere around 20 to 30 hotels in the coming years. Ryan Embree: Well, you’re off to a super strong start. Congratulations again, Genna. It’s exciting to be here, kind of at the starting line of this Minor Hotel’s journey in North America. It will soon follow suit, like the rest of your brand is. So we’re excited to watch that unfold here in the upcoming years. Genna, thank you so much. We know you’re busy. You mentioned it before. We appreciate you taking your time, spending some time with us and talking about Minor Hotels and in the Independent Hotel Show. Again, we’re, we’re excited that we’ll both be attending there in Miami. And hope you will too. So Genna, thank you for your time. Genna Panagopoulos: Thanks for having me again. Ryan Embree: Alright and we’ll talk to you next time on The Suite Spot. Thank you for listening. To Join our Loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

Welcome to episode 362 of The Cloud Pod, where the weather is always cloudy! Justin, Jonathan, and Matt are in the studio, and this week we've got slightly less AI, but much more data news – a trend Jonathan is sure will continue. Join us as we explore Kubernetes updates, the end of Amazon Mechanical Turk, and the last of the physical media for game consoles, plus more. There's a lot to cover, so let's get started!  Titles we almost went with this week Going Cold Turk-ey Kubernetes Rollbacks Let You Ctrl-Z Your Cluster Answer Engine Optimization Is the New SEO Game Turk-ing Point: Amazon Pulls the Plug Stop Chasing Ephemeral IPs in Your EKS Cluster Firewall Rules That Know Your Pods by Name CloudWatch Pipelines Finally Speaks Fluent OpenTelemetry Sony Discs You, Keeps Your Money Forever  EKS Upgrades Finally Get an Undo Button Azure Embraces Chaos, Calls It Studio Time Mechanical Turk Turns Off The Lights For Good There Was Never Anyone Inside the Box KV Cache Me If You Can on GKE AWS Security Hub Says Hello to Azure, Finally Amazon Cancels the Internet’s Oldest Side Hustle Amazon Prime's Next Delivery: A Pink Slip for the Turk Business as Usual – Azure announces Chaos Studio? Hello sunshine, my old Azure A big thanks to this week's sponsors: We're sponsorless! Want to get your brand, company, or service in front of a very enthusiastic group of cloud news seekers? You've come to the right place! Send us an email or hit us up on our Slack channel for more info. Follow Up  01:36 Amazon's Mechanical Turk to stop accepting new customers – and not  Even AI can save it Amazon is closing Mechanical Turk to new customers, effectively ending the crowdsourced human-labor platform that launched in 2005 and once served as a foundational tool for AI training data labeling. The service predates the current generative AI boom by nearly two decades, originally designed for tasks like image tagging, transcription, and data verification that computers couldn’t handle at the time. Ironically, the rise of AI and large language models has reduced demand for the type of human-in-the-loop micro-tasking Mechanical Turk provided, as automated systems now handle much of that labeling work. Existing customers can reportedly continue using the platform, but the halt on new signups signals that Amazon is deprioritizing the service rather than investing further in it. This closure reflects a broader shift in the AI data pipeline, where synthetic data generation and more sophisticated automated labeling tools are replacing older crowdsourced human-labor marketplaces. 02:14 Justin – “If you ever actually used the service, you’ll know that both the Turks interface that you actually did work, and the setting up the jobs was terrible anyway. It was always very difficult to use, and they never made it easier over the years. So I don’t know if they’ve ever really been investing in it heavily. But it’s definitely been around for a long time.” AI Is Going Great – or How ML Ma

John Hazzard, managing director of Salterra, talks with Amy Tate of Insider Travel Report about his one-year-old luxury resort on remote South Caicos Island in the Turks and Caicos. Designed for families, couples and singles, the property, named for the nearby salt flats, features a great beach, a private island, lots of activities and excursions, an amazing spa, special culinary programs, and very comfortable and stylish accommodations. For more information, visit www.salterra.com.  All our Insider Travel Report video interviews are archived and available on our Youtube channel  (youtube.com/insidertravelreport), and as podcasts with the same title on: Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Listen Notes, Podchaser, TuneIn + Alexa, Podbean,  iHeartRadio,  Google, Amazon Music/Audible, Deezer, Podcast Addict, and iTunes Apple Podcasts, which supports Overcast, Pocket Cast, Castro and Castbox. 

"After a decade of devastating loss, and medical trauma nearly destroys his will to live, a man reaches the edge of giving up before the fragile birth of his son brings him a new hope. Today's episode featured Nathan Wieser. If you'd like to email Nathan, you can reach him at natelucywieser@gmail.com. Nathan is on Instagram @nathanwieser, and is on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nathan.wieser.3 Nathan's book, a memoir, We Did It: A rare perspective from a husband and father enduring a decade of miscarriages, infant loss and the roller coaster of emotion in the NICU: https://a.co/d/0iR6km0q, and also their website for the short term rental in Turks & Caicos: www.grandturkrentals.comProducers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits Content/Trigger Warnings: adoption, divorce, religious trauma, alcohol abuse, violence/fighting, pregnancy loss, termination for medical reasons, stillbirth, miscarriage, infant death, medical negligence, traumatic birth, uterine rupture, blood loss, near-death experience, PTSD, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, NICU hospitalization, premature birth, infant medical trauma, sepsis, emergency surgery, wildfire/house fire, explicit language Social Media:Instagram: @actuallyhappeningTwitter/X: @TIAHPodcastFacebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happeningAudible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com. Read more about Whit's insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he's been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He'll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it. Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop. Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott VelasquezMusic Bed: Ambient Themes ServicesIf you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources: National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988 National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Finna be a Jim Dandy. Guarantee people are listening in Mexico. Turks & Caicos. Germany bounced from the World Cup. Let's get Soccer Sharp's takeaway. Hoppin' mad at The Dutch. Greatest day in World Cup ever (per Martin). Takes need marinading. Free range engagement farming.Zedd at The Arch. Keep throwing Libby out there and see what happens. Doug's expecting a bounceback start. Shot by shot analysis of the round at Bellerive yesterday. Doug only played 7 holes. Reed Low's a bomber. Moosejaw Saskatchewan. Ope, that's the lede. Green Book or Crash? Well done, Governor. Homer Roll.Pyrotechnicians to the front of the line. The Josh Naylor situation. Al Pacino taught me. Only losers buy new shoes. Lake Geneva.Jackson Burkett: Vacation Police. Gareth is famous for a hairy back. Audio of Robert Thomas talking about the Jordan Kyrou trade and being excited for him to get a new opportunity. Homer roll rebooted. Doug's a flaccid 7.Audio of Lance Lynn on Cardinal Territory talking about Jordan Walker's quiet June. Misclubbing Tim. Doug's never weeped on the air. The call of Brazil's game winning goal in stoppage time against Japan. The electric call of Paraguay's game winner in penalties. Joe Buck has a grammar take and calls in about it. Chairman nearly came out of the chair witch excitement.Audio of a confused Boston Red Sox booth after Wilson Contreras was ejected for tapping his helmet on the way to the dugout. Kirk Herbstreit takes aim at the current MLB product. The Whitey Ball era. Vince Coleman.Look, Doug, it's Brody back from Florida. Brody's got World Cup Fever. Ok, now transitioning to Mason McTavish. Ok, now Cardinals. The Island of Zeiteist?Design Aire Heating & Cooling EMOTDSelf-loathing during the commercial break. Lack of talent and preparation or confidence? Doug Vaughn: Swing Coach. Dougie Two Gloves.101 will carry the Alexander Steen presser at the top of the hour. Quick Mexico City weather update. Why does the tall, blonde community wear diapers? Booking adult diaper commercials. TALK ANTHROPOLOGY. Love is Blind.Should we be scared of Bosnia because a texter played tough Bosnian teams growing up? Chairman is hosting "During The Morning After" in the YouTube chat.And the winner of the Design Aire Heating & Cooling EMOTDSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(00:00-22:33) Finna be a Jim Dandy. Guarantee people are listening in Mexico. Turks & Caicos. Germany bounced from the World Cup. Let's get Soccer Sharp's takeaway. Hoppin' mad at The Dutch. Greatest day in World Cup ever (per Martin). Takes need marinading. Free range engagement farming.(22:41-1:02:25) Zedd at The Arch. Keep throwing Libby out there and see what happens. Doug's expecting a bounceback start. Shot by shot analysis of the round at Bellerive yesterday. Doug only played 7 holes. Reed Low's a bomber. Moosejaw Saskatchewan. Ope, that's the lede. Green Book or Crash? Well done, Governor. Homer Roll.(1:02:35-00:00) Pyrotechnicians to the front of the line. The Josh Naylor situation. Al Pacino taught me. Only losers buy new shoes. Lake Geneva.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Al needs some rich in-laws to send him to Turks and Caicos

In which cartoonist and writer Emily Flake discusses chance encounters with Dan Rather, being denied entry to Turks and Caicos, and the namesake of Emily's St. Nell's Humor Writing Residency for Ladies. Certificate #863.

On Friday's Mark Levin Show, an Iran deal is not the answer. The enemy cannot be trusted; they are terrorists who have lied, cheated, and violated every agreement for 47 years. Their 7th-century Islamist fundamentalist ideology makes honoring deals with the West impossible, as they are driven by a death cult to spread revolution rather than obligations to the “Big Satan.” There is no proof the deal will contain Iran, and the terrorist regime will not comply long-term, especially after President Trump leaves office. Also, the House Judiciary Committee released a memo detailing the Biden-Harris administration's misuse of taxpayer dollars through USAID, the State Department, and other agencies to fund anti-Netanyahu NGOs and radical anti-Israel protests, some with ties to terrorist organizations. The Democrat Party is aligning with Islamists, Marxists, Qataris, Iranians, Turks, and Chinese Communists in efforts against Israel. Later, Canada's socialist healthcare system now provides assisted suicide with same-day appointments. This system, which Bernie Sanders wants to import to the US, makes death easy and cheap while treating care as a rationed resource, akin to Soviet breadlines. "Free" universal healthcare means paying in time and lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pastor Jack sits down with author and speaker Bill Federer to discuss the rise of Islam in Western culture and in political positions of power. William J. Federer is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of American Minute, Inc. Bill has written or contributed to over 30 books and is a frequent guest on television, radio, and podcasts. He produces the "How We Got Here" video series for TurningPointEd.com. And his AMERICAN MINUTE feature is broadcast daily on the radio and the internet. (00:00) Introduction to the Jack Hibbs Podcast(02:05) Introducing Bill Federer and the Rise of Political Islam(02:50) Muhammad’s Life and the Origins of Islam(06:10) Muhammad’s Spiritual Encounter and Early Teachings(08:10) Medina, Victimhood, and the Shift Toward Militancy(11:20) “Immigrate, Increase, Eliminate”(13:40) Islam in America, Mosques, and Sharia Influence(16:30) Moderate Islam, Fundamental Islam, and Submission(21:30) Islamic Expansion Across Christian Lands(27:30) Persia, the Islamic Golden Age, and the Turks(31:00) The Crusades and the Fall of Constantinople(35:00) Barbary Pirates, Thomas Jefferson, and America’s Early Conflict with Islam(38:00) Treaties, Iran, and the Concept of Huda(42:30) Jesus, Muhammad, Sharia, and the Gospel ContrastCONNECT WITH BILL FEDERER:Website: https://americanminute.com/ CONNECT WITH PASTOR JACK:Get Updates via Text:  https://text.whisp.io/jack-hibbs-podcast Website: https://jackhibbs.com/Instagram: http://bit.ly/2FCyXpOFacebook: https://bit.ly/2WZBWV0 YouTube: https://bit.ly/437xMHnTwitter/X: https://x.com/RealJackHibbs CALLED TO TAKE A BOLD STAND:https://boldstand.org/ DAZE OF DECEPTION:https://jackhibbs.com/daze-of-deception/ Did you know we have a Real Life Network? Sign up for free today for more exclusive content:https://www.reallifenetwork.com/