Podcasts about Twa

Group of African Pygmy peoples

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Best podcasts about Twa

Latest podcast episodes about Twa

The Sandman Podcast
Episode 64: ECW's Matter of Respect 1996

The Sandman Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2025 94:18


Send us a textThe Sandman, BWT, Tyler, and Oliver discuss the NBA playoffs, the TWA reunion show, ECW's Matter of Respect 96, and all things you gotta understand.0:54 - Intro/NBA playoffs10:27 - TWA reunion show recap16:55 - ECW's Matter of Respect 96 recap1:16:53 - Listener questions1:33:44 - Cane of the week/Toast of the weekEpisode recorded 5/8/25

Productivity Smarts
Productivity Smarts 100 - The Power of Connection with Dr. Dianne Olvera

Productivity Smarts

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2025 41:00


Did you know the way you make eye contact could determine your next promotion—or prevent a team meltdown?  In this paradigm-shifting episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard uncovers the hidden mechanics of workplace success with Dr. Dianne Olvera, a clinical psychologist and former diplomat whose espionage experience revealed surprising truths about human connection. With dual doctorates in bilingual education and cultural neuroscience, Dr. Olvera proves that real productivity isn't about doing more, it's about connecting better. From her accidental dental disaster as a TWA stewardess to surviving Argentina's political turmoil, Dr. Olvera's extraordinary journey reveals how connection fuels resilience in business and life. This isn't just another soft skills lecture. It's an operational manual for the most overlooked productivity tool you have: your ability to truly see others.  Tune in to discover how mindful communication and authentic connection can transform your team dynamics, fuel inclusivity, and unlock lasting productivity.   What We Discuss [02:01] Introduction to Dr. Dianne Olvera's extraordinary career   [05:07] A hilarious (and revealing) story about knocking out a passenger's tooth mid-flight   [08:05] How language shapes culture—lessons from Latin America's "open conversations"   [13:29] The science of eye contact: Why being "felt" boosts productivity   [17:36] Spy tactics for workplace dynamics: Using eyes to set boundaries   [19:17] How electrical energy in our eyes rebuilds broken relationships   [23:31] The dark side of jokes: How negative speech patterns poison teams   [26:21] Neurodiversity in the workplace: Creating safety for divergent thinkers   [32:15] The "Ask Don't Tell" philosophy to empower self-leadership and intrinsic motivation  [32:53] Naming behaviours in the book [38:40] Where to connect with Dr. Olvera   Notable Quotes   [05:01] “I knocked a man's tooth out with my hip as we were getting ready to land at the Indianapolis 500. This is when they still had real forks." — Dr. Dianne Olvera   [08:05] "I spent 12 years in graduate school going for my first doctorate in bilingual special education, and then my second one was in cultural differences because I wanted to know what is the impact of language on people." — Dr. Dianne Olvera   [09:59] "In Latin America, people would come up, hug me, and tell me to my face what they thought of me. At first, you want to crawl into a hole, but then you realize they really care about me." — Dr. Dianne Olvera   [13:29] "When you broaden your awareness, you actually notice when somebody looks at you, and you also notice when they don't look at you. And so you don't feel." — Dr. Dianne Olvera   [19:17] "Our eyes are of the electrical system of our body. You can literally turn negative relationships or relationships that have gone cold within a week by just learning how to use your eyes." — Dr. Dianne Olvera   [23:31] "Negative speech patterns usually start out as a joke. But then that little negative gesture permeates the whole group." — Dr. Dianne Olvera   [33:44] “So it's the words you don't use that are the words that get you into trouble.”— Dr. Dianne Olvera   Our Guest Dr. Dianne Olvera is a lively and compassionate educator, former diplomat, and intelligence officer whose groundbreaking work has transformed classrooms and workplaces around the world. Holding doctorates in bilingual special education and cultural neuroscience, she brings a rare blend of academic insight and real-world experience. Her research into how language and nonverbal cues shape the brain has helped teams and individuals communicate more effectively, resolve conflict, and foster genuine connection. In her acclaimed book, The Power of Connection, Dr. Olvera reveals how subtle shifts in speech patterns and body language can unlock empowerment, collaboration, and lasting change.   Resources Dianne Olvera Website - https://www.drdianneolvera.com/ Book - The Power of Connection   Productivity Smarts Podcast Website - productivitysmartspodcast.com   Gerald J. Leonard Website - geraldjleonard.com Turnberry Premiere website - turnberrypremiere.com Scheduler - vcita.com/v/geraldjleonard   Mentioned Book Conversational Intelligence  Kiva is a loan, not a donation, allowing you to cycle your money and create a personal impact worldwide. https://www.kiva.org/lender/topmindshelpingtopminds

The Laneway Podcast
S3: EP7 – What Makes TWA Actually Stick? Eating More in a Reverse Diet (Am I Just Gaining Fat?), Can You Lose Weight on Junk Food, Calories vs Macros, and Do I Really Have to Track Everything?

The Laneway Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2025 72:21


We start with our usual chit chat for the first 19 minutes of this episode, then we chat about the 5 Day Challenge and the 40k woman in the group before heading into this weeks questions. What makes TWA something that people can stick to? I've been eating more during a reverse diet… but now I'm scared I'm just gaining fat. Is that normal? Can you really eat junk food and still lose weight? Are calories or macros more important when it comes to fat loss? Do I really need to track everything I eat to see results?The most valuable thing to a podcast is sharing your thoughts through a written review and a 5-Star Rating - it's the ultimate gift! If this episode left you inspired, we'd absolutely love just 1 minute of your time to leave your valuable rating and review. Your feedback means the world to us!Click here the link below to download your FREE Fat Loss GuideTo follow us: Ash: https://www.instagram.com/ash__lane/Brad: https://www.instagram.com/trainwithbrad/And to follow more on our journey across Aus - make sure you're following: https://www.instagram.com/thelanewayontour/To register for our FREE 5-Day Fat Loss Forever Challenge:Join here: https://www.ashlane.com.au/

The Fact Hunter
Episode 347: Fact Hunter Radio May 1, 2025 - More on TWA 800

The Fact Hunter

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2025 120:19


In hour 1, we continue to discuss the "environmental health hazards" we are exposed to, with a focus on baby formula & baby food. In hour 2, we discuss more information regarding TWA800.Webstie: truthernet.com Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheFactHunterEmail: thefacthunter@mail.com Snail Mail: George Hobbs PO Box 109 Goldsboro, MD  21636Show Notes:We Need To Know If Intelligence Agencies Covered Up The 1996 Crash Of TWA 800 https://thefederalist.com/2018/09/18/need-know-intelligence-agencies-covered-1996-crash-twa-800/ The Passengers of Flight 800 https://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/CRASH/TWA/PASSENGERS.html William H. Donaldson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Donaldson Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Ballistic_Missile_Defense_System Baby Food Autism Lawsuit https://www.lawsuit-information-center.com/baby-food-autism-lawsuit.html It's not the bugs in Similac that make me sick - let's recall the other ingredients (opinion) https://www.naturalnews.com/029863_Similac_infant_formula.html The Scandal of Infant Formula https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/the-scandal-of-infant-formula/#gsc.tab=0 Midroll clip is from Law of Liberty Baptist Church in Jacksonville Florida. http://LawofLibertyBaptist.com  https://x.com/SaltyGirl09/status/1917191524695085216

The Fact Hunter
Episode 346: TWA Flight 800

The Fact Hunter

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 74:31


In this episode, we discuss the doomed flight of TWA 800 that exploded over the Atlantic ocean on July 17, 1996, approximately 12 minutes after take-off. Was this an accident as they claim, or was it a coverup to protect the US Navy and the military industrial complex?Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheFactHunter Website: truthernet.comEmail: thefacthunter@mail.com Snail Mail: George Hobbs PO Box 109 Goldsboro, MD  21636Show Notes:Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOqKuTBcqRs TWA Flight 800 movie https://youtu.be/Oy5x5fFYFhc?si=IUk-2YWkZEKAGWzT TWA 800: The Crash, the Cover-Up, and the Conspiracy https://a.co/d/bxerVlX TWA 800: 25 Years of Deep State Deception https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/07/twa_800_25_years_of_deep_state_deception.html

The Shining Wizards
Episode 739: When You're Old It Doesn't Matter

The Shining Wizards

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2025 150:51


The Shining Wizards return with a jam packed show We kick things up with a Death Pool Update as we add another point to the board & remember Steve "Mongo" McMichael. We share some memories and find ourselves looking at 1997 & 98 WCW with the Rock N Roll Express & various other randoms that non of us cared to remember or couldn't forget. We are then joined by TWA/ECW Original Tony "The Hitman" Stetson. He shares stories about his time in TWA & ECW. HIs bitterness towards Paul Heyman, getting a banner at the 2300 Arena, working in the WWF because of Bam Bam, how he got the last name Stetson & much more. It's a fun interview and must listen too if you aren't familiar with Tony Stetson. After the break we are talking about the WWE, The Rock and his recent comments, Monday Night Raw and Smackdown. We update the PPV Picks and talk some TNA Rebellion. We briefly touch on AEW and talk some Dark Side of the Ring before we jump into Homework Brundo takes us back to WCW Slamboree 1998 as we discuss the WCW Cruiserweight Battle Royal and the match that followed immediately afterwards. It's mixed reactions, a lot of Johnny Swinger talk & more. Plus Handsome Kevin assigns us Homework as we go back to WWF Superstars February 18th 1995 for The Headshrinkers vs The Smoking Gunns. Remember to Subscribe, Rate and Review.

The Opperman Report
Jack Cashill: TWA 800: The Crash, the Cover-Up, and the Conspiracy

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 60:13


The Opperman Report
Aaron Sheets - TWA FLIGHT 800 SOLVED ( NEW 04/25/25)

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 81:22


The Opperman Report
John Clarke : POW MIAs ,TWA 800, Vince Foster

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 120:13


The Opperman Report
Aaron Sheets - TWA FLIGHT 800 SOLVED

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2025 81:22


Aaron Sheets - TWA FLIGHT 800 SOLVEDTrans World Airlines Flight 800 (TW800/TWA800) was a scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States, to Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, with a stopover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. On July 17, 1996, at approximately 8:31 p.m. EDT, twelve minutes after takeoff, the Boeing 747-100 serving the flight exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, United States.All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. Accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the following morning  amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and New York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) initiated a parallel criminal investigation. Sixteen months later, the JTTF announced that no evidence of a criminal act had been found and closed its active investigationBut what actually happened? Does it all way up? Many questions remain stubbornly unanswered. Aaron Sheets may have those answers.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling
TMPT Feature Show: John Finegan

Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 61:47


Today's Feature episode of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling is with former ECW referee John Finegan. The former ECW referee is on to talk about his entire professional wrestling career. Host John Poz and John talk breaking into pro wrestling, TWA, ECW, Paul Heyman, WWE, One Night Stand, Mike Awesome, Taz, Tommy Dreamer, RVD, Sandman, Vince McMahon, the new ECW, and so much more!Store - Teepublic.com/stores/TMPTFollow us @TwoManPowerTrip on Twitter and IG

Are You Movie Mad?
307 - American Made

Are You Movie Mad?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2025 103:43


Spoilers For Sinners In This Episode! We're still running with the gimmick of Tom Cruise Films That Aren't Action Films During His Action Star Run theme, this time with Doug Liman's true-life drama about Barry Seale, pilot for the TWA, the CIA, the Cartel and the White House, but who is the most corrupt? (It's Reagan, it's always Reagan) Johnny has thoughts on the latest Doctor Who and thrusts it in, the two talk A Minecraft Movie now Andrew's witnessed it, Ryan Coogler's Sinners, The Amateur and Warfare too, just a hodgepodge of cinematic discussion around the other forgotten Tom Cruise film from The Summer Of The Dark Universe. THE FERRYMAN UPON THE PLAINS - Andrew's First Novel - Pre-Order Now! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferryman-Upon-Plains-Andrew-Jones-ebook/dp/B0F39C3WM4/

Untamed Heritage
EP 280 A Fireside Chat with Rebecca Jones

Untamed Heritage

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2025 31:55


While attending the Hunt Fish Podcast Summit, Larry had the opportunity to sit a visit with wildlife conservationist/hunter Ms. Rebecca Jones, recently elected to the DSC Board of Directors. Ms. Jones is also a member of the Texas Wildlife Association Board of Directors. The two covered a myriad of topics from recent hunting trips to goals and objectives of both DSC and TWA and how those who truly love wildlife can become more involved and engaged in wildlife conservation! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Opperman Report
Dr Fred Whitehurst : FBI Whistleblower, OKC, TWA 800, OJ, Waco..

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2025 120:14


DR Fred Whitehurst : FBI Whistleblower, OKC, TWA 800, OJ, Waco....moreFrederic "Fred" Whitehurst is an American chemist and attorney who served as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory from 1986 to 1998. Concerned about problems he saw among agents, he went public as a whistleblower to bring attention to procedural errors and misconduct by agents. The FBI agreed to 40 reforms to improve the forensic reliability of its testing. FBI careerDr. Whitehurst received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Duke University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University. He joined the FBI in 1982 and served as a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI crime lab from 1986-1998.While he was employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory, the FBI officially rated Dr. Whitehurst as the leading national and international expert in the science of explosives and explosives residue. Concerned about a number of issues that he observed and by the behavior of agents in the laboratory, he began to investigate their procedures. He eventually uncovered and reported what he thought were cases of scientific misconduct, alleging that the agents were biased toward the prosecution. In the OIG's report of Whitehurst's allegations, it was concluded that,"most of Whitehurst allegations were not substantiated," and that Dr. Whitehurst had, "common sense and judgement to serve as forensics examiner. The FBI crime lab finally agreed to forty major reforms, including undergoing an accreditation process. During this period, to protect himself in administrative proceedings, Whitehurst hired Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in defending whistleblowers.[1]Post-FBI yearsDr. Whitehurst currently serves as the Executive Director of the Forensic Justice Project (FJP). The FJP was formed in 1998 as a project of the National Whistleblower Center, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. The goal of the FJP is to lead a national effort to accomplish the following:Review cases to make sure that innocent people have not been wrongfully convicted through the misuse of forensic science;Provide expert testimony in cases in order to assure that forensic science is not misused in civil and criminal prosecutions impacting on the public interest or the rights of individuals;Offer objective scientific evaluations of forensic evidence;Publish and distribute information necessary for an objective analysis of the quality and objectivity of forensic science and crime laboratories nationwide.Dr. Whitehurst practices criminal law in Bethel, North Carolina. He was elected to the commission of the town of Bethel.The DiariesIn March 2005, he and his brother Robert (also a Vietnam War veteran) brought the Đặng Thùy Trâm diaries to a conference on the Vietnam War at Texas Tech University. There, they met photographer Ted Engelmann (also a Vietnam veteran), who offered to look for the family during his trip to Vietnam the next month. With the assistance of Đỗ Xuân Anh, a staff member in the Hanoi Quaker office, Engelmann was able to locate Trâm's mother, Doãn Ngọc Trâm. He obtained connections to the rest of her family.[1]In July 2005, Trâm's diaries were published in Vietnamese under the title Nhật ký Đặng Thùy Trâm (Đặng Thùy Trâm's Diary), which quickly became a bestseller. In less than a year, the volume sold more than 300,000 copies, and comparisons were drawn between Trâm's writings and that of Anne Frank.[2][3]In August 2005, Fred and Robert Whitehurst traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet Trâm's family. In October of the same year, the Vietnamese family came to Lubbock, Texas, to view the diaries, which are archived at Texas Tech University's Vietnam Archive. They visited Fred Whitehurst and his family in his home state of North Carolina.The diaries have been translated into English and published in September 2007. The book includes photographs of Đặng during high school and with her family. Additional translations have been made and the book has been published in at least sixteen different languages.In 2009 a film about Đặng Thùy Trâm by Vietnamese director Đặng Nhật Minh, entitled Đừng Đốt (Do Not Burn It), was released. Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, an F.B.I. agent who served as a Supervisor at the FBI crime lab from 1986 to 1998, blew the whistle on irregularities at the lab. Whitehurst received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Duke University and his law degree from Georgetown University before joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1982 The F.B.I. considered Whitehurst the world's top expert in the forensic science of explosives and explosives residue. While at the Lab, he investigated, uncovered and reported misconduct which forced the F.B.I. crime lab to agree to major reforms.For his crusade against corruption in the Lab, Whitehurst was forced to defend himself from retaliation by the Bureau. He was defended by David K. Colapinto of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in defending whistle-blowers. The FBI settled his whistle-blower case for over $300,000.Fred Whitehurst's revelations of F.B.I. misconduct have affected the course of many prominent cases, including the Waco Siege (he is featured in the 1999 documentary film Waco: A New Revelation (1999)) and the O.J. Simpson murder trial. He practices criminal law in the state of North Carolina.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

Fast Five from Sporty's - aviation podcast for pilots, by pilots
Don't forget the rudder pedals, with Wally Moran

Fast Five from Sporty's - aviation podcast for pilots, by pilots

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2025 43:48


From the Lockheed Constellation to the Boeing 747 to competition gliders, Wally Moran's flying career has covered an incredible variety of airplanes. He describes some key concepts that have stayed the same across all those airplanes, from using the rudder properly to managing technology, plus his personal connection to the TWA 800 tragedy and his advice for successful checkrides (he has given more than 2400). In the Ready to Copy section, Wally shares what he looked for when hiring airline pilots, the best place to fly gliders, and his favorite aviation books.* Wally's webinar on rudder use: https://pilotworkshop.com/videos/rudder-skills-back-basics/* TWA 800 review: https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/documents/moriches_ny-TWA_800_Overview.pdf* PilotWorkshops Mastery: https://pilotworkshop.com/products/vfr-mastery/

ExplicitNovels
Cáel Defeats The Illuminati: Part 17

ExplicitNovels

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2025


The last days before the Great Hunt.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.“Can the scorpion ever stop being a scorpion? “"Do we get our legally permitted weaponry back?" The bishop still held my hand."Sure. If it makes you feel better.""I would like to meet your people then," he gave my paw one last shake then released me. "Shall we go?""I will have someone take you to your car. I want to briefly meet with the President, of Havenstone, then I'll join you in the garage. We'll drive over to JIKIT and I'll make the introductions. Good enough?""That is acceptable," he nodded."What about you two?" I regarded the nun and the Swiss Super-soldier. The nun remained vigilant, and silent. The Swiss' eyes flickered to his boss before settling back on me."It is what I volunteered for," he stated firmly."Okay. Please never say I didn't give you a chance to take the sane way out. Also, Bishop Nicolö, circumstances have conspired to up my prospective wedding date to January 1st.""That will be more difficult. Why the change?" he remained grim."We are having twins. By March, this will be very visible.""That is, unfortunate," he shook his head."You have no idea," and then a brainstorm. "And I am curious about resurrecting the Order of the Dragon, the Societas Draconistarum." Technically that meant 'Society of the Dragonists' which was more appropriate than the literal Ordo Draconis."Precisely how do you plan to recreate a crusading Christian Order which was the purview of the Hungarian monarchs?" he didn't sound the least skeptical, just curious."I have billions of euros to fund such a thing," I winked. "Of far greater critical importance, I know where I can find the supernatural guidance and spiritual imperative for such an organization.""You are going to produce a dragon?" his eyes grew larger even as he fought down his fear. Good man. He was adaptive. He'd need to be."I never said such a thing. That would make me sound crazy," I smiled broadly. "Besides, when I say 'dragon', you think 'devil' and that's way too pedestrian for where we are going.""I am not a moral relativist.""Neither am I. I'm out to save lives and nurture the drive in the human spirit to reach for freedom, love and liberty. As you might imagine, I'm pretty freaking outnumbered.""I think you are crazy," he re-evaluated things."I just might be. In all honesty, you should back out now. Take your two compadres back to 25 East 39th Street (the Holy See's Permanent Observer Offices to the UN in NYC) and report 'Mission Failure'. You'll most likely live longer," I reasoned."I am not afraid to die," Sister Rafaela Sophia finally voiced an opinion."That's idiotic," I scoffed before the bishop could reprimand her for opening her mouth. "You should be.""My soul is in God's hands," she set her jaw."Does he talk to you?" I countered."His message is clear.""Not what I asked. I asked if he specifically directed you to toss your life fruitlessly away as an object lesson for the reckless, or careless?""This is uncalled for," Nicolö intervened."Nope. I bet you a phone call to my Brother to physically restore your bishopric that there are four people in this room who have murdered in cold blood," I kept eye contact with the nun, "and she's the odd one out. Right Juanita?""Yes, Ishara," Juanita slipped up. Her spycraft, like mine, needed work."You were in the military?" the bishop asked my bodyguard."Was? I am. Right now," she related. "I will be until I die."That earned me looks from the three Catholics."She is loyal," Nicolö nodded slightly toward her, referring to Juanita's declaration."Huh? To me? Nope. She's loyal to my office, which we shan't get into right now. Back to you, Sister Rafaela Sophia. Are you out to be a martyr, or has some saint, or angel, given you a directive the other two seem to be unaware of which causes you to devalue your life?""I am devoted to the One True God, Christ, our Savior," and Juanita snorted, "and the Virgin Mary," the nun stated firmly. "I don't hear voices in my head.""Juanita, that was rude. Apologize to our guest," I kept looking forward."No." Well, fuck you too."Gun," I commanded. I held out my left hand."What? No. I will not give you one of my guns," she resisted."Juanita, give me your primary weapon, or I will ask Pamela to beat you up the moment I depart for the Great Hunt. After yesterday's stunt, you know she will," I threatened. Fair, I was not. She drew a Glock-20 and handed it to me. I went through the routine, dropped the magazine then ejected the round before opening the door.Oh look, there were four SD chicks outside, ready to escort my visitors downstairs. I didn't even need to waste a phone call. It wasn't like the conference room wasn't being monitored."Excuse me," I took a half step out the door then hurled all three items down the hall. Looking back at Juanita. "Go fetch.""Fuck you," she snapped."And insulting her faith was as degrading to both her faith and her as me doing this to you is degrading to you right now," I lectured her. "It is important to her, therefore it is important to me because she is my guest in the same way it is important to me that I let my bodyguard do her job without being a total asshole all the time. Now go get your God-damn weapon," I barked. Off she went. I left the door open."Now Sister Rafaela Sophia, the point of all this is: I don't give a crap if you are willing to die for God. In fact, that makes you less than worthless to me and the team. I want to know if you are willing to put other motherfuckers in the ground so that Bishop Nicolá, or Mathias, might get to keep doing their jobs.""Murder is a sin," she declared."Go home," I sighed while shaking my head."She answers to me, the Church and God, not you, Mr. Nyilas," the bishop stepped forward."Then you can go home too," I shrugged. "I'm not asking for remorseless killers. I'm asking for people willing to kill to get the hard work done and best of all, for people who know the difference.""Everyone on JIKIT is a professional soldier, or killer?" he asked."No, but the ones who aren't don't carry guns and know to get down when things get funky," I bantered."I vouch for her," he insisted. Juanita came running back into the room."Cool beans. I don't know you either.""You apparently know my service history," he volleyed."Yeah. Ten years a foreigner in the service of France, then you went straight into a university which turns out Jesuits," I riposted."What turned your life around?" he evaded. That was okay. I'd gotten what I wanted. I was willing to bet he had read every bit of public information about me and it was rumored the heavy Catholic membership in the FBI had its benefits to the Church as well. Not so much as to give them insight into JIKIT, but,"Someone risked their life for me. It's been pretty much downhill from there," I confessed. It was the truth. After Katrina gave me the life line on Day Two, it had all spiraled to the revelation of my heritage, Dad's death, Summer Camp, the Hamptons, Romania and Aya's kidnapping."A person, a soldier, died saving my life," the bishop empathized. "Her story is similar. She seeks redemption. She is not suicidal. I am staking both our lives on it."Did he mean him and Mathias, or him and me? I wasn't certain. Still, it was good enough for now. I'd gotten a look at their emotional make up, even the relatively quiet Swiss."Very well," I agreed. "I have to go see the President about my new job description. I'll catch up with you at your car." To the SD team leader, "Take them to the garage. I will join the group of you very soon.""Yes Ishara," she nodded. I exited the room, Juanita in tow. Two SD entered. I was gone before the Papal team left. Upstairs we went, with one last chore to discharge. I had to check on Ms. French to be absolutely freaking sure it was Shawnee, because anyone else would spell disaster.{8:30 am, Monday, September 8th. Last day}A Room full of asistants:Well, there it was, the office of the Executive Director to the President, and not 'Executive Assistant', because this was Katrina's final 'fuck you, no, just her final 'fuck you' before the Great Hunt got underway. I shouldn't assume things, dang it!Anyway, according to the gray-haired matron running gatekeeper to the Office of the President, this was where I was supposed to show up. I shot Juanita a worried look. She glanced my way and shrugged, momentarily willing to not give me shit about the past 24 hours because where I was situated would determine how easily she could do her job.In we went. In the suite were three desks, the 'big' desk situated at the far end of the office space and two far more modest ones on either side of the entryway. The room expanded beyond the chokepoint formed by the two closest desks into a cluttered area. The walls were cluttered with inset bookshelves and portraits of women. Facing one another were a loveseat on my left with bookend plush chairs in an 'L' facing and a full sofa on the right. There were end tables at the ends of the sofa and the corners between the loveseat and each chair.As the door opened, I hadn't knock as this was my office, or so it seemed, the occupants, who had all been sitting in quiet conversation in the central section, began reacting. Oh look ~ Constanza! I nearly had a heart attack before I realized there were three other Amazons also in the room. Sadly, none were behind the 'big desk', so I couldn't tell who was in charge. Two of the other three choices weren't too much better. First off,"Ishara," Marilynn Saint John stood to greet me. I'd last seen her when I'd dedicated her grandmother's (Hayden's) spirit to the halls of my ancestors, not hers, after forcing the political crisis leading to Hayden's suicide ~ her taking herself to the cliffs and in doing so, destroying the Amazon Cult of Blood Purity. Marilynne was clearly still bitter with me. Umm, I could still incite passion in women I hadn't slept with, yet, woot?"Cáel," the senior-most and only friendly face in the room spoke next. Thank goodness it was Beyoncé Vincennes, Head of House Hanwasuit and House Ishara ally."Cáel Ishara," the third individual was deferential which I wasn't sure how to take as the last time I'd encountered her, yeah, things hadn't gone well either."Beyoncé," I started off with a smile. From there, I had to figure out, ah, Beyoncé's eyes flickered to Constanza then Sabia. I knew Marilynn, with her young age, had the least seniority, "Constanza, Sabia, Marilynn. How's tricks?"Glum faces by everyone except Beyoncé. I didn't ask about Sabia's particular well-being. It had been months since I'd beaten her into the mats of the Full-blooded gym. She'd attacked Yasmin, the Brazilian Hottie and my Brazilian Jujutsu sparring buddy, and I'd retaliated by ambushed her when she turned her back on us. Besides, she'd been giving me shit before I even could see straight.Constanza was minus her left eye because of her dire insult to me. If she wasn't capable of working, she wouldn't be here. If she appreciated my 'mercy' in sparing her life ~ her insult was worthy of her death ~ Constanza hid it well. I hadn't spared her expecting a change of heart. I hadn't felt words alone warranted anyone's death. I was a big boy and could take a few insults. House Ishara, as represented by me, could care less. These days, my sisters would be less understanding despite them knowing my heart."Constanza Landau of House Jaya and Marilynn Saint John of House Anahit are Assistants to President Shawnee French," Beyoncé eased things along, "so will be working closely with us, at least for the short term. Sabia Noel of House Guabancex, who I now think you know as well, has joined you as the other 'Assistant' to the 'Executive Director to the President', (that would make me an 'adept', but adept at what?), and since two of the three Regents are unfamiliar with the workings of Havenstone proper, Shawnee has asked me to perform in that role."Beyoncé was, or had been, Havenstone HQ's CFO (Chief Financial Officer). From what I was quickly piecing together, she would essentially be making all the day-to-day decisions concerning the running of Havenstone (how the Host made the majority of its money) until the Regents got up to speed.Only Buffy had actual experience with the New York office and, from what she had told me, solely within Executive Services. While ES knew 'who' did what inside Havenstone, they weren't aware precisely how those Amazons got their jobs done. That would have been an impossible task. Katrina could do it, but she knew it was beyond the ability of most of us 'mere mortals'. Since we were currently at war, the Host needed Katrina completely focused on her duties as Chief Spy-mistress, not baby-sitting the adults.Shawnee indeed had much gravitas among the other House Heads. Not only had she risen up to lead a First House, she had performed heroically during the final days of the last Secret War. Afterwards she had moved into the realm of Amazon jurisprudence and mediation. Until yesterday, she had lived in a House Arinniti freehold in Minnesota's Great Lakes region thus her desire for the 'Training Wheels' period.The Regency would not rule through telecommunication (the upper echelons feared being eavesdropped upon beyond the standard Amazon (read: paranoid) levels) and Havenstone: New York was the center best situated for the current war-fighting operations, so here she lived. I was sure a team from Executive Services was buying, outfitting/spy-proofing and fortifying a dwelling suitable for the President of a Fortune 500 company. Hayden's home would remain the domicile of Sydney thus Marilynn.The same rigmarole would be done for Rhada and Buffy (though I imaged Buffy would bitch endlessly). Publically, they were VP's of a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars and they had to present the public trappings of such leaders.Why did the Amazons do this ~ unmask their leadership to public exposure? Legal-simple: they could request and expect all levels of public and private security for their executives who happened to also be important officials of the Host. Certainly not all executives at Havenstone were officeholders, House Heads, or House Apprentices, but the high level of competence which permitted one often led to the other.Beyonce:As an example: Beyoncé wasn't the most 'bad-ass' lethal chick in House Hanwasuit. As she was preparing to be casted, her intelligence, creativity and diligence at her future craft, finances, was noted by the Host and the members of her House. In due time her name was circulated as Apprentice and the elders approved. When her elder cousin, the prior House Head, took herself to the cliffs, Beyoncé assumed the top spot. Beyoncé wasn't even one of that woman's three daughters.Mirroring her advancement in her House was her advancement in Havenstone's Accounting, Acquisitions and Banking Divisions until she was appointed CFO Havenstone HQ ~ the supreme financial authority inside Havenstone, though the individual regional branches had a greater degree of autonomy than you might normally expect from a 21st century conglomerate, or a Bronze Age autocracy.I had to constantly remind myself, despite the near-constant feuding, Amazons exhibited a phenomenally higher level of trust than I'd ever found in any other society I'd ever witnessed, or read about, before. Though technically Beyoncé could have gone to President Hayden to enforce her decisions ~ or now the Regency ~ she was far more diplomatic in her approach in dealing with the other 'continental' CEO's and CFO's.That meant she had to wrangle the aspirations and resources from:North America (including Latin America, the 'Canadian Arctic' and the North Pacific Ocean),South America (includes both the South Atlantic and South Pacific as far as Samoa),Europe (mostly Central Europe these days plus Antarctica, the 'Russian' Arctic and the North Atlantic),Africa (mostly West-central Africa),India (the subcontinent plus the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean) and,Southeast Asia (which includes Australia)All of which suggested Havenstone hadn't redrawn the Amazons' geographic demarcations since the late 19th century. As an example, an East African venture, say in Tanzania, was as likely to be under the purview of Havenstone: India (due to its control over the Indian Ocean) as Havenstone: Africa (which traditionally had no East Coast holdings due to their constant struggles versus the Arabic slave trade).Returning to Beyoncé: initially she had held the proper 'conservative' (aka man-hating) mindset. My behavior during that first Board Meeting began to change her opinion of me and the New Directive. After the Archery Range incident, Beyoncé became a vocal proponent of the New Directive and faced challenges within her ranks. House Heads do not have to accept challenges and Beyoncé didn't, reasoning with her detractors they had no alternatives save the 'Old Ways' which spelled doom for the Amazon Race.Bing-bang-boom ~ I became the Head of a resurrected House Ishara by the Will of the Ancestors and Beyoncé was vindicated. Not necessarily in the New Directive, but in her support of me thus the rebirth of a sister First House. The purge following High Priestess' Hayden's death was her ultimate absolution. The Ancestors and Destiny had spoken and shown Beyoncé had been piloting House Hanwasuit along the proper course all along.Back to my current circumstances:Oh, why was I Assistant to the Executive Director to the President? It gave me direct access to the finances of Havenstone which was a critical leg of the war-fighting stool ~ people, morale, money and equipment. As Chief Diplomat, I helped with all four of those in varying degrees, allied troops, allied victories, allied bank accounts and allied armaments.The Great Khan, my spiritual 'Blood-Brother', was ramping up his logistic support for my Amazons in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We were 'Allies in the Struggle' and he wasn't going to wait for the Condottieri to begin coordinating with the Seven Pillars to declare them to be his enemies. They were already fighting the Amazons and 9 Clans, his allies, so their fates were sealed.In Japan, my Amazons provided small yet highly effective strike groups which the Ninja families furnished all the support services for. Everything from food to bullets to medical attention as needed. Without reservation, we shared their death-grapple with the Seven Pillars.From the dispatches I was getting back from my family members and envoys in Japan, we were making serious diplomatic inroads with the Ninja. Once again, it was the Amazons shocking capacity for violence as well as their fanaticism, professionalism and proficiency which all impressed our hosts and terrified our enemies, and this from people of a philosophical mindset which had them historically battling samurai.The Black Lotus were running around like rhesus monkeys on crack cocaine unleashed in a China Shop and given RPG's. While the Amazons couldn't help them in China, Indochina & Thailand ~ the Khanate could and was. The Amazons were of more help in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, where the Black Lotus and Amazons were going everywhere on the offensive against the Seven Pillars while the normal tight cohesion and iron-clad confidence, traits which made the 7P's so dangerous ~ were shaken by their horrendous losses in the 'Homeland' aka Mainland China.Less we forget, the 'military intelligence' wing of their organization had been decimated by the Khanate's Anthrax attack due to members of the Earth & Sky sacrificing themselves by being injected with the toxin then allowing themselves to be captured, which always ended in torture and death.Furthermore, the People's Republic of China, while having a scary 18% of the population either captured, imprisoned, dead, or displaced due to the Khanate invasion, that had come with the loss of 63% of their landmass (they had lost all of Nei Mongol, Ningxia & Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regions, Qinghai and Gansu as well as 90% of Yunnan, 80% of Sichuan and 20% of Shaanxi provinces) to the Khanate and the 'abomination' that was a free Tibet.Then came the Russian 'stab in the back' which entailed the loss of another 10% of their people falling under foreign dominion as well as losing 8% of their most industrialized territory, Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces ~ the Nei Mongol portion of 'Manchuria' was in the Khanate's greedy clutches, from the viewpoint of a Seven P's warrior).Don't get me wrong, they weren't about to throw in the towel. If anything, they were becoming more dedicated to trying harder, digging deep into their knowledge of every atrocity, inhumanity and perversion now deemed necessary to re-chart history back onto its 'correct' path. It was this willingness to act in an even greater sociopathic manner which was being used against them. After all, the 7P's had plenty of proxy allies, who were starting to get really nervous about what their paymasters were now asking them to do,We Amazons were getting some extra special help too. The Booth-gan (Do not call them Thuggee ~ the confederate 9 Clan member based out of India though long since ensconced within various Hindi enclaves across the Globe) had created an all-female group of ultra-fanatical Kali-devotees ~ a gift for the upcoming battle fomented by the Will of the Goddess herself.While Aya was our Queen and the Regency would rule until she wished to assume command of the Amazon People, the nuts-and-bolts of the Host's activities were handled by Saint Marie as Golden Mare (our Minister of War) (technically she held the top spot due to our State of War, though no Golden Mare had ever exercised such authority over a Queen (and she definitely believed Aya was our Queen)), Katrina (as Minister of Intelligence and Security), Beyoncé (as Havenstone (the multinational corporation) ~ our Treasurer/Economic Tsarina) and me (our Foreign Minister).Saint Marie had decided to forgo a public face in order to better facilitate her moving around to various battle fronts and holding clandestine meetings with her junior regional commanders. Her Havenstone corporate title was 'Chief of Security Training and Certification'. As an extra level of deception, the head of Security Services wasn't even a Director-level position, instead being folded into the duties of the Office of the President.To my current circumstances ~ I had been given Constanza's house name which could only mean she wasn't currently assigned to the Security Detail; a fact that couldn't have made her bad attitude any better. Marilynn had completely lost her way as an Amazon when I first met her, burying her pain and confusion in endless partying and intoxicants. I believed only her grandmother's status as High Priestess kept her from the severest of reprimands, or death. I didn't even know what Marilynn's caste was. Sabia,"While I'm sure you are both far more qualified than I, precisely how did you two get these jobs?" I had to ask my two non-coworkers. Constanza glowered. Marilynn flinched."I have an in depth knowledge of Havenstone security procedures and resources," Constanza replied."Shawnee requested me," was Marilynn's comeback. "I also have intimate knowledge of the City of New York and its environs.""Actually, Buffy Ishara recommended you both to Shawnee," Beyoncé corrected their misconceptions. I knew the score. I'd be working intimately with the tight community around the President (Shawnee) and Vice Presidents (Buffy & Rhada). Buffy wanted me to be surrounded by women who hated my guts, so I wouldn't end up boinking them. It rarely worked that way. All too often ladies who hated my still-beating heart ended up punishing me with sex. I wasn't sure why that happened, but it did."Beyoncé, didn't the Chief Diplomat of the Host have her own office? I'm pretty sure Troika had one before her unfortunate collision with Saint Marie," I felt entitled to inquire."Do you feel you've earned that office space?" she riposted."Oh, fuck no!" I waved my hands one over the other to accentuate my denial. "I was just wondering where I could stick Juanita while I'm hanging around, here.""She has the desk right outside the door, Cáel," Beyoncé smiled knowingly. "So there is no way you can sneak past her.""Oh," I grunted. "Buffy again?""No. Pamela Pile put in that particular request.""Oh, Sweet Mother of God, now she is conspiring against me too?""Yes. Some of us realize the greatest hazard to your health is yourself, Ishara," Beyoncé chided me. "We'd like to keep you around, so we listen to those charged with that nigh impossible task.""Is she going to be hanging around the office often?" Constanza asked, either myself, Juanita, or Beyoncé; I wasn't sure. She = Pamela."Please, Constanza," I attempted to intervene, "don't make Pamela kill you. It will upset Mona." Constanza's scowl was accentuated by the eyepatch covering her ruined left socket, the one Pamela had carved out when Constanza had insulted me and House Ishara on our first day of rebirth. I didn't tell Juanita this, because Juanita might just shoot Constanza over the insult before Pamela got a chance to finish the job.The tension was palatable."Mona and I have talked, about Romania, and other things," Constanza grudgingly allowed. It took me a second to realize there was a hidden meaning to what she said. Mona was part of my personal Security Detail bodyguard unit. If she felt Constanza, the woman who had raised her after her birth-mother had died, was a threat to me, she'd feel duty-bound to snuff Constanza first. Amazons were hard-ass bitches alright and I think Mona had made that clear."I hope things can improve between us," I offered to Constanza. "Beyoncé, I just stopped in to say 'hey'. I'm off to JIKIT and I've got three of the Pope's people waiting on me in the garage so,""Vice President Varma requested a moment of your time," Beyoncé smirked. "She is in 2604.""Who?""Vice President Rhada Varma, a moment of your time, alone?" she clarified."Sure thing," I backed out of the office. Once I had some space, I turned to Juanita. "Give me three minutes then bust in and say, I don't know, a tsunami is about to overwhelm the city, or something. Otherwise, I won't get out for at least an hour and I think I've put the Bishop and his people through enough delays as it is.""Are you actually asking me to stop you from having an in-office liaison?" she studied me intently as we walked in the direction of Rhada's office."Yes. It's not likely to happen often, believe me.""Oh, I do, in that you won't ask me to do it often," she grumbled. I'd deal with Juanita's morale problem later. Right now, I had to gird my loins so they wouldn't do anything else with Rhada. I had work to do, damn it!Rhada was sitting at her desk, working on something, stylus raised up so she could chew on the end. Her hair was pulled back in a half-ponytail, the type that captured the rear half of the hair in a ponytail while leaving the front and bangs free to flow down. Rhada's blouse was white & billowy and, as I was soon to discover, her pants were ultra-tight and contour hugging."Mr. Nyilas," she greeted me. "I would like a moment of your time," she relayed what I already knew. She was more than a tad nervous to boot."Vice President Varma," I started off."When in private you may call me Rhada," she interrupted."Rhada, you look more ravishing than ever."That got up her and coming around her desk, which revealed her ultra-tight pants with no sign of her wearing underwear. Yikes! My cock was preparing to do what a cock was meant to do and I just didn't have the time, Really!"Do you have any time?" she let her bosom heave."Not today, ugh," I groaned. See, Rhada took the stylus and dragged it down her chin, throat and in between her bountiful mounds.All of which exposed the top of her black bra."Are you sure, Master?" she enticed me by turning around and then leaning over her desk, point that ass in my direction. My mouth began salivating and my groin ached. I found myself quick-stepping to her and giving those buttocks two firm slaps, one on each cheek."No, damn it, though I'm going to make you pay for this when I get back," I rumbled."Master will make me wait?" she taunted me."That will cost you even more," I growled. "I have business which simply won't wait and here is my captive teasing me with the treasures of her flesh. Bad, war captive," I spanked her yet again, hard. "Bad!" and I spanked her a fourth time. With each beating, Rhada gasped in pain and then exhaled in pleasure."If I've been bad, Master must be extra harsh with me when he returns in triumph from the Great Hunt," she gloated. Rhada had gotten what she wanted, which was another affirmation of my lust for her and our 'game'. I could provide her the release she so desperately craved while allowing her the safety of remaining in the Amazon fold. It was a perfect pairing, for her.I had other problems, such as all the other baby mamas in my life plus the extra-marital affairs I was contemplating. I still took the moments we had to snuggle with Rhada, her grinding that tush into my rod while I held both her arms tightly to her side while raining kisses down onto her neck and head."Sir! A giant tsunami is approaching the city!" Juanita exploded through the door."What?" I coughed. I had a face full of hair."Huh?" Rhada pushed up and away from me. I let her go."Right now," Juanita insisted. She really needed to stop taking me so seriously when I gave her such advice."Really?" from Rhada. She shot me a curious look so I shrugged. What else was I supposed to do with such a flimsy lie forcing our separation? At least I got out of there on time?{9:50 am, Monday, September 8th ~ Last day}(JKIT HQ)"Is this a common occurrence?" Sister Rafaela Sophia whispered to the closest woman, who happened to be Wiesława, the Polish Amazon. Since she hadn't arrived with us from Havenstone, the nun might have assumed she was with the 'Americans', or British."What?" Wiesława responded evenly."Weapons combat, they look real," the nun clarified."They are real. We always practice with real weapons.""Really?""Of course," Wiesława smiled at her. "We believe a few cuts and scrapes now will save lives when the true tests come.""Oh, you are with, Havenstone?" Rafaela clued in."Yes. I am Wiesława of House Živa. I am currently assigned to Unit L, Cáel's unit within JIKIT," she offered her hand to shake. Despite being a full-blooded Amazon from a freehold, her 'human' skills were progressing nicely. The nun shook it."I am Sister Rafaela Sophia of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is a Roman Catholic Religious Order." Pause. "Do you hate Catholics too?""Yes. We have lived beside your people for many centuries and found your clergy to be much more dangerous than your pagan predecessors. Still, Cáel thinks you can be relied on and he's proven we can trust outsider women, which I was raised to believe was unlikely, and outsider men, which was basically anathema, so I'm willing to set aside my prejudices and judge you as an individual," the Pole imparted."Outsider men?" Rafaela mumbled."Well, yes," Wiesława smirked. "You are a nun, right?""Yes.""So you set aside the World of Men to live mostly among women, right?""Not entirely," the nun chose her words carefully. "We still rely on priests for religious rights and of course obey the life teachings of Christ and follow the leadership of his Holiness, the Pope, a man.""No one is perfect," the Amazon bantered back."Do you know the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ?" Rafaela ventured into dangerous waters."Yes. He was the semi-historical Son of your supposed One True God. We are not monotheists. We are Polytheists. Živa is my House's matron Goddess. It is also the name of the first woman to lead the House, her birth name surrendered to Destiny so all the daughters who came afterwards would be equals.""Oh, is Mr. Nyilas also pagan?" she inquired."I am unsure. From what I have been told, he has commended the spirit of his fallen father to your Jesus in a sacred ceremony then, in the presence of your Trinity and the Goddess Ishara, brought in new members to his House. I suspect he may be both," Wiesława reasoned. "Why don't you ask him?""Because he's fighting for his life?" Rafaela looked my way.See, the entire time their discussion had been going on, I had been sparring in a spare room at JIKIT HQ with Estere Abed, the Hashashin assassin (rather redundant ~ like saying the Sahara Desert). I had two tomahawks while she had a scimitar and curved dagger. While we sparred using the furniture as obstacles, Agent-86 was briefing me on various World events to get my input.Addison Stuart (CIA) and Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke (MI-6) were having a chat with Bishop Nicolé de Santis, verifying for themselves he was worth adding to the team. Juanita was having a similar discussion with Rikki Martin (US State Department) concerning my earlier encounter with the Papal team. Nicolé's buddy, Wachtmeister Mathias Bosshart of the Swiss Guard, was getting acquainted with the other security personnel.In comparison, those two had it easy. Both men were in their elements. Nicolé was a spook who pretended to be a diplomat for the Pope and was well acquainted with terms like 'deniable assets', 'plausible deniability' and your direct superior referring to requests concerning your identity/diplomatic status by saying 'I never heard of him and if I had, I have no idea what he was doing when you caught him doing what I don't know what he was doing', or something like that.Mathias was in the company of military-security specialists, brother professionals who were introducing him to his 'sister' professionals. Our Homeland Security gang were almost entirely former military by now. They got along with our JSOC folks and both had gained a limited acceptance with the Amazon security contingent.They bonded over the fact they were forced to work with really shady characters ~ the 9 Clans menagerie ~ who didn't always appreciate JIKIT operational security. Without going into particulars, the Wachtmeister was given the impression the abnormal was the norm and if you didn't think there was a 'down-side' to being able to carry your personally favorite bang-bang (the SG 552-2P Commando in his case) with some serious attachments (read: grenade launcher) around in downtown Manhattan, you probably didn't belong on this team.Back in the room,"He's not fighting for his life," Estere laughed. "He is fighting for mine.""Right," I responded sarcastically. We went through a flurry of exchanges, ending up with me kicking a chair at her. Estere stepped over it, colliding with me.I blocked her dagger, disarmed her scimitar and,"You are dead," she panted down at me, smiling. I was on my back, her straddling me. She had a belt-knife to my throat. I hadn't see her draw it. The scimitar 'disarm' had been a distraction."Woot!" I exhaled."But you're dead," Sister Rafaela misunderstood my good humor."He survived a minute and thirty-four seconds more today than his previous record," Estere responded. She slithered off of me, doing my arousal no good whatsoever, then offered me a hand up."And that's better?""He's a rank amateur with a few months on the job. I've been training to kill people for nearly two decades," Estere smiled. "Care to have a go?""With him, or you?""Either," Estere offered."I don't have a knife, or any hand weapons," she stated."We'll need to remedy that," Wiesława stated. "You should at least carry a knife.""Really? Why?""It is a nearly universal tool," I verbally stepped up. "Even if you are disarmed, you should be able to find one relatively easily, people are less likely to miss a stolen knife than a purloined gun, and a concealed blade could come in handy.""Do you train in knife-work?" Rafaela eye-balled me."Absolutely. It is part of my culture," I grinned."Okay. Can we spar, hand-to-hand?""Sure," I nodded. I put my tomahawks in their harnesses then put my harnesses aside. Estere gave me a wink before giving us the fighting space."So," Rafaela began to circle, "are you Christian?""By your definition, or mine?""By the definition of the Catholic Church."Oh cool, she went for a Savate stance. This was going to get ugly.My "no," was followed by her kick and my block, lunge and grapple. She wasn't nearly as good as Felix. I had her down and in a choke hold within fifteen seconds.Perhaps she thought I'd take it easy on her. She tapped out. I released her, retreated and flowed back to my boxing stance. It took her a moment to realize this was 'practice', not 'an interview'. She hadn't failed in anyone's eyes. We were both doing this to get better."See, I really, truly believe I have talked to supernatural entities ~ some who are considered divinities," I continued. This time she was more careful, trading jabs and blocks with me. "They don't claim to be the One True God. I believe in such a thing, but I also believe having been given the Message, Humanity has been left to muddle things out for ourselves."Whoops, she popped me one."The Woman-Thing this morning?""Yep," I evaded another flurry. She got cocky and I landed three blows, dropping her to the ground. I didn't help her up. Instead, I withdrew and let her get back up on her own before deciding if she wanted to continue. She did."I believe I've seen dragons and ghosts. I have felt legions of my ancestors give me quiet encouragement when I needed it. I know the dead have been brought back to life," I came at her. This time we both went for body blows, knees, elbows and fists. She was not SD-caliber and she needed to be. I grappled and she was forced to tap out again. After she regained her feet, she held up a hand for a pause."Do you believe any of that?" she addressed Estere."I am an adherent of Ismaili Islam yet nothing Cáel has encountered is contrary to my belief system. The Universe is a complex place and the Divine Light is often seen through a fractured lenses," she counseled the nun."Among the escapees were lawyer Francisco Luemba, Catholic Priest Raul Tati, economist Belchior Lanso Tati and former policeman Benjamin Fuca who are serving jail sentences of between three and six years each for supposed links to the rebel group FLEC (Frente para a Libertaé'o do Enclave de Cabinda), which carried out the attack on the Togolese football team at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in January, 2010," Agent-86 read off yet another bit of global minutia."We need to get to them," I half turned. Sister Rafaela punched me in the gut and I folded up."Oh!" she gasped. "I'm sorry.""Okay," I mumbled. I had to keep with the plan. "Those men. We need to contact our Coils people in Kinshasa and the Warden of the Mountain Ways ('she' was the Amazon Host's leader of Africa ~ in the ancient times, the mountain ways had been the routes of southern vulnerability for the Amazon tribe thus the name).""Okay," both Agent-86 and Estere answered."Why?" 86 added."The Coils and the Host have had a serious problem with no nation in Africa giving them even back room recognition so we are going to take over our own country, Cabinda. It's been struggling to be free of Angola since 1975 and, by latest estimates, we've got strike elements of over 2,000 Amazons ready and waiting next door in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.""So you are going to go to war with Angola?" Estere frowned. "Don't we have enough enemies?""Au contraire," I grinned wickedly. "The resistance movement is genuine," I ticked off my points, "they have tons of offshore oil, and after we set off some spectacular explosions in the two main Angolan ports which are just down the coast, we allow global panic to bully the UN into intervening before the Angolan military launch an effective counter-offensive ~ considering the Angolan Armed Forces (I'd been reading up on a ton of CIA & MI-6 briefings) will most likely involve attrition warfare since they can't beat us in a stand-up fight.""They, the Angolans, have no overland access, they are separated by 60 kilometers of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo over some sad ass roads Plus the Congo River itself which is freaking huge by the time it gets that close to the Atlantic, Cabinda rests on the Atlantic Ocean by the way. No bridges. The Angolan Navy is anemic. Let me think."I began pacing."Hmm, they have no paratroopers though they have some Special Forces, we will need to hit as many of them in the barracks as we can. Their last invasion was from the north, overland, from the Republic of the Congo, in 1975, not likely to happen this time, though I may have my 'Brother' weasel up a battalion of Indian paratroopers to act as convincing peacekeepers after the initial take over.""Perhaps we can recruit some Vietnamese. I'm sure they'll love fighting in someone else's jungle for a change. We'll need some of 'our' guys to seize the port of Soyo, it is on the wrong side of the river, but has the major refinery the Cabindans will need. Since the entire surrounding province are the same ethnic make-up as the Cabindans, we'll have to take that too.""Man-o-man, I bet by the time this is over they'll really wish they'd given little Cabinda independence back in 1975. As for their other refinery, it is in their capital, Luanda, a few big explosions there too will get the markets jittery. Check that ~ the complete and utter destruction of their major petroleum facility will create a stampede for Peace," I continued. I walked over as our resident computer intelligence genius worked his magic."Blowing things up, you mean killing people," the nun blanched."Yes. This is what I do," I spared her a sympathetic glance. "I've got a madman roaming around in my head who provides me truly epic military advice which normally, but not always, means blowing shit up and killing folks. Welcome to the team," then as the data appeared, "Holy Shit! Did they build their oil refinery in the midst of their ghetto?" I was staggered. The refinery in Soyo was isolated from the town so it could be easily (and safely) seized. It was the one in Luanda which was the 'Holy Shit' site."It looks that way," Agent-86 agreed nonplussed. "Hmm, yeah, here is the port facility then your neighborhood of shoddily constructed one- and two-story dwellings between the refinery and the inland storage tanks, the perimeter barrier appears to be a chain link fence. I'd hate to be their Chief of Security.""Oh yeah," I choked. Estere slipped around to get a look."Whoops," she snorted."What are these people thinking?" I continued. "The whole shebang is exposed to the northern quarter of the city. The storage tanks have residential dwellings on all four sides with numerous side streets. Two teams with RPGs and four rounds apiece, Holy Crap. Sorry Sister.""But I want to save lives," she sputtered."Limiting the collateral damage could be pretty tough," Estere frowned. She toggled throw a series of maps to multiple pictures."Oh, look (dripping sarcasm); they light up the refinery at night. You can sit off the coast in a speed boat under cover of darkness and attack from there," she noted."Damn. Those are a lot of lights," Agent-86 agreed."24-7 operation," I suspected."We will need some experts," the government agent nodded."Or we are going to kill a fuck-load of innocent people. Not just the workers, but can you imagine a fire spreading to those neighborhoods? Shit," I muttered."You can't seriously be contemplating doing something like this," the nun sputtered. "It is inhumane. Think of the families, the children.""Lady, yes I am. Do you have any idea what the Human Rights record of the Angolan Army in Cabinda is? It is truly horrific and in case you missed it, one of the guys in dire need of rescuing by me, due to him being a huge rebel leader who has managed to escape, is also a Catholic priest. He's going to be part of the new government we are going to install once we kill a few hundred Angolans ~ mostly soldiers (more like well over a thousand).""We are going to kill a few hundred so a few hundred thousand can live free, democratic lives without worrying about the local police and political establishment torturing and murdering them. It is all part of the plan.""I think I need to talk with the Bishop.""Hang on. Let me finish," I forestalled her. "He'll get briefed along with everyone else. After all, it is a majority Roman Catholic country as is Angola, so I'm sure your guy can be of immense help.""The people you are putting at risk don't deserve this," she protested."They never do," I nodded in agreement with her. "It rarely stops terrible crap from happening to them though."I felt sorry for the Sister. She thought the Bishop was going to put a stop to this. Poor girl; he was going to do the exact opposite. See, the two competing forces at play here were a communistic kleptocracy (currently ruling Angola) and Catholic liberation theology united with a Cabindan national identity dating back to 1885. At stake was 900,000 barrels a day of petroleum. That was a bunch of funding for somebody. Last I checked, the state run energy conglomerate had misplaced $32 billion, in just three years.Mind you, the Coils of the Serpent and the Amazon Host didn't want to help the People of Cabinda out of the goodness of their hearts either. They wanted cover for the importation of weapons and other war-fighting material so they could kill the Condottieri in Africa. If the rebel leaders-turned-legitimate government didn't play ball well, the Coils were in the 'assassinating people' business and somewhere along the line the survivors would figure out keeping 'us' happy kept them alive. Problem solved.It was Bishop Nicolé de Santis' job to facilitate that understanding. If certain people with Vatican credentials explained the 'facts of life' to the new regime a lot more lives could be saved, Catholic lives. In turn, he could work to make sure the new group in power wasn't nearly as corrupt as the gang we were tossing out. Better education and quality of life, improved infrastructure & security and a nice shiny cathedral, or two.We, as in JIKIT and our component members, didn't want to rule the country and dominate the people's lives. We needed the ports and the airfields with a blind eye turned to our skullduggery. Sure, there would be future considerations. Amazons and Coil members would be fighting and dying for these people's freedom ~ public recognition definitely not required. No; the Amazons wanted to be left alone in their deep jungle homes which was an isolation they basically already had. This was a future chit which said 'don't come looking'.The Coils? Let's just say in the future Cabinda would have embassies around the globe and if occasionally they wanted someone to slip through under diplomatic cover ~ they were good for it. And if the Cabindans ever needed help in the future they knew they had friends in dark places who were now invested in Cabinda's survival. It was a win-win-win, unless you were an Angolan big-wig, or one of their foot-soldier currently serving in Cabinda. Amazons weren't big on taking prisoners, or even giving the opposition the option of giving up.For me, it wasn't lunch yet and here I was plotting to overthrow yet another government in yet another country ~ though in only two, small provinces this time. Thank the Goddess I had the rest of the week

christmas united states god jesus christ ceo american new york director amazon death head world president new york city church father chicago australia lord europe stories earth china master peace man house france men japan ghosts state americans british french care west race war society struggle africa christians ms office brothers chinese sharing european executive director christianity german murder russian spanish mind western minnesota guns universe north america dad berlin chief barack obama brazil fortune african dead east indian security fbi fantasy facing poor legal empire dragon humanity portugal vietnam savior beyonce disease massive atlantic thailand manhattan catholic daddy council narrative paradise cuba islam nigeria nations sister cia shit hang philippines indonesia weapons sisters minister south america intelligence ninjas agent pope sexuality air force library holiness united nations secretary fuck workers republic thousands latin america americas east coast nato ra strangers cfo cold war human rights daughters swiss rpg castro excuse prime minister accounting malaysia catholic church globe parliament romania outsiders southeast asia goddess congo mexico city antarctica portuguese unite soviet cuban indians arctic roof runner vatican dc comics dial arabic tanzania catholics latin american eastern europe apprentice communists booth frente limiting illuminati screw certification vietnamese ships serpent sd bing explicit good morning acquisitions hercules pole ancestors nsa finest sir traditionally hungarian apologize lisbon hindi blowing technically tibet marxist venezuelan marxism rpgs nile summer camp runners novels socialists angola jakarta voted havana eighteen atlantic ocean ajax great lakes special forces arial homeland new delhi halls clan cameroon day two jesuits roman catholic armed forces helvetica virgin mary south pacific defeats chief financial officers democratic republic hamptons sabia central asia gee indian ocean samoa perish communist party erotica goddesses soviets machismo weave anthrax secret wars free markets ragnar warden assyria sg sacred heart assistants countering sahel liberta tad gabon sub saharan africa times new roman my brother slavic drc regents departing bronze age north atlantic papal clans high priestess glock central europe one true god mirroring regency general secretary east african upstairs ancient world umm germanic sahara desert prc woot comrade kinshasa holy crap upwards holy shit papaya cdt foreign minister voices in my head enclave central africa security council coil nguy tahoma sichuan bantu varma anat board meeting sao astana hittite my spirit constanza standard operating procedures twa luanda holy see mainland china santis divine light traditionalists troika carlos alberto security services angolan yunnan africa cup wies 'christian' international community first house seven pillars handmaids south atlantic indo european moldavia indochina leon trotsky black lotus asiatic china shop estere coils war chest saku brazilian portuguese lok sabha lisbon portugal marxist leninist western roman empire marilynn houseless glum jsoc security training great hunt gansu swiss guard pygmies shaanxi jilin sir elton opposing forces reactionaries old world order cabinda togolese liaoning congo river ningxia literotica 7p polytheists savate brookes brothers forest people qinghai house heads publically house head santos cruz black sands shammy north pacific ocean great khan craptastic anahit sweet mother central asians white nile globemaster marilynne thuggee angolans brazilian navy
The Shining Wizards Network
The Shining Wizards 735: Johnny Hot Butter

The Shining Wizards Network

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 161:51


The Shining Wizards Return with a jam packed show. Maven sat down with PJ Polaco, so we have tons to talk about with Polaco Watch. We are then joined by Bay Ragni AKA Chubby Dudley to talk about the upcoming Rasselcon at the 2300 Arena & TWA One and Done. Is AEW out to get the TWA? Check in with Bay & have a few laughs along the way Back... The post The Shining Wizards 735: Johnny Hot Butter appeared first on Shining Wizards Network.

The Shining Wizards
Episode 735: Johnny Hot Butter

The Shining Wizards

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 161:51


The Shining Wizards Return with a jam packed show. Maven sat down with PJ Polaco, so we have tons to talk about with Polaco Watch. We are then joined by Bay Ragni AKA Chubby Dudley to talk about the upcoming Rasselcon at the 2300 Arena & TWA One and Done. Is AEW out to get the TWA? Check in with Bay & have a few laughs along the way Back from our break we are talking WWE, Wrestlemania 41, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Naomi, Monday Night Raw and much more. Its Mania season and we are jacked up We turn our attention to AEW, as they have Dynasty coming this weekend. Good week of TV, we discuss a variety of topics, from Mercedes Mone & Athena, to who turns in Rated FTR.We get a run in from Tony before we cover Brundo's Homework last week. We go back to ROH, 2005 for the infamous Samoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi match. Then KJG assigns us some TNA Turning Point 2009, Homicide vs Amazing Redhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH8EWya-ogkBefore we pull the train into the station we talk some Dark Side of the Ring Hell in a Cell & Mick Foley

Crypto Hipster Podcast
Discovering the Parallels Between Blockchain Advancements and the Evolution of Multi-Channel E-Commerce, with Neil Twa @ Voltage Holdings (Video)

Crypto Hipster Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 35:14


Neil Twa is the CEO and Co-Founder of Voltage Holdings, acompany specializing in launching, consulting, selling, and acquiring brands, with a focus on e-commerce channels such as Amazon FBA and multi-channel. Over fifteen years of experience selling private label products on Amazon and in his company. For over 17 years, Mr. Twa has been constructing businessesboth online and offline after departing his senior IBM role. Since 2012, he has launched over five personal brands, generated tens of millions in revenue as an eight-figure seller, and assisted in the growth of over 1,000 others throughconsulting, coaching, and mentoring alongside partner Reed and their Voltage team. Neil, together with Reed Larsen, published a new book titled"Almost-Automated Income with FBA: Build a Profitable Lifestyle-Driven Amazon Business. Exit for Millions. Even with no E-commerce Experience". The book is a groundbreaking guide that has swiftly claimed the #1 spot among newrelease books. This manual is the key to building a lucrative lifestyle-driven Amazon business expertly guided by Twa and Larsen through the intricacies of Amazon FBA, offering invaluable insights and strategies to pave the way for aprofitable venture. The Crypto Hipster audience can claim free copies of his book by going to this link:https://www.voltagedm.com/freebook Enter the discount code CRYPTOHIPSTER there and obtain your free copy.

Crypto Hipster Podcast
Discovering the Parallels Between Blockchain Advancements and the Evolution of Multi-Channel E-Commerce, with Neil Twa @ Voltage Holdings (Audio)

Crypto Hipster Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 35:14


Neil Twa is the CEO and Co-Founder of Voltage Holdings, acompany specializing in launching, consulting, selling, and acquiring brands, with a focus on e-commerce channels such as Amazon FBA and multi-channel. Over fifteen years of experience selling private label products on Amazon and in his company. For over 17 years, Mr. Twa has been constructing businessesboth online and offline after departing his senior IBM role. Since 2012, he has launched over five personal brands, generated tens of millions in revenue as an eight-figure seller, and assisted in the growth of over 1,000 others throughconsulting, coaching, and mentoring alongside partner Reed and their Voltage team. Neil, together with Reed Larsen, published a new book titled"Almost-Automated Income with FBA: Build a Profitable Lifestyle-Driven Amazon Business. Exit for Millions. Even with no E-commerce Experience". The book is a groundbreaking guide that has swiftly claimed the #1 spot amongnew release books. This manual is the key to building a lucrative lifestyle-driven Amazon business expertly guided by Twa and Larsen through the intricacies of Amazon FBA, offering invaluable insights and strategies to pave the way for a profitable venture. The Crypto Hipster audience can claim free copies of hisbook by going to this link:⁠https://www.voltagedm.com/freebook⁠ Enter the discount code CRYPTOHIPSTER there and obtain yourfree copy.

The Shining Wizards
Episode 734: One and Done

The Shining Wizards

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2025 163:28


The Shining Wizards Return with a ton of wrestling talk and talk about wrestling We are down 2 men, and Matt is flustered with the videos, but once we get past that we are on to busting HK's chops about the homework he assigned us. One of the Wizards reset their clock, and looking at who was on the show tonight, it shouldn't be hard to figure out. We are joined by TWA Promoter Joel Goodhart to talk about the upcoming TWA One and Done & Rasslecon taking place May 3rd at the 2300 Arena. We talk about the TWA, gimmick matches, Tod Gordon, ECW, Tessa Blanchard and more. It's a fantastic interview and for any wrestling historian, it's important to know Joel Goodhart and the role he played in the wrestling business. Back from the break we have an update in the Death Pool. Then its onto the Road to Wrestlemania and WWE. We discuss the Women's Title Picture for Wrestlemania, John Cena's latest promo, the triple threat match between Punk/Rollins/Roman, and what Wrestlemania 41 looks like at the moment. Things get heated as we turn our attention to AEW and the Moxley/Spike spot. Was it a stupid spot? Should it have been on PPV? We touch on this, Megan Bayne, the 4 way & moreWe turn our attention to the WWE Hall of Fame, will Tony Khan let Sting be a part of Lex's induction? We argue about if the Natural Disasters are a Hall of Fame Tag Team. Another heated argument. We then turn our attention to Homework as HK dropped some indy Buck Zumhofe thing in our laps. We reflect & of course make fun of HK & Tony for this one. Then Brundo sends in a video in an attempt to right the homework ship & assigns us Samoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi from October 2005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7RpSxESOFkSadly HK lost a friend this past weekend from the wrestling community. If you can, here is the Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-virginia-hanner-and-her-sons-as-they-grieve?fbclid=IwY2xjawJOjKBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHS6pWZ-Poz_X4QbbnJTcKg49aNy4q-44pUKGmOY-EcExX4Gi5imTUDzXnQ_aem_ZEvalKncb4CylzVauWEwZAYou can also purchase tickets for Rasselcon & One and Done at the link below https://2300arena.showare.comFollow The Shining Wizards on all forms of social media https://t.co/JxBwhzKl9E

random Wiki of the Day
Lukanga Twa

random Wiki of the Day

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025 1:34


rWotD Episode 2874: Lukanga Twa Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia’s vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Monday, 17 March 2025 is Lukanga Twa.The Twa of the Lukanga Swamp of Zambia are one of several fishing and hunter-gatherer castes living in a patron–client relationship with farming Bantu peoples across central and southern Africa. The Lukanga Twa live primarily among the Lenje, and speak the Lenje language.In Southern Province, where swampy terrain means that large-scale crops cannot be planted near the main rivers, only the Twa fish. They exchanged their catch for agricultural produce from their patrons. Up to the 1920s the Twa built their huts on the marshes, but they were moved to higher ground for ease of taxation. By the 1970s many of the Twa identified as Lenje, and consequently abandoned fishing, as the Lenje have a strong cultural aversion to that activity. They have been replaced by immigrants to the region, primarily Luvale and Malawians.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:20 UTC on Monday, 17 March 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Lukanga Twa on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ivy.

Untamed Heritage
EP 273 Texas Wildlife Association Turns 40!

Untamed Heritage

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2025 23:12


While at the Texas Wildlife Association headquarters Larry caught up with Justin Dreibelbis, TWA's Executive Director to visit with him about current education and legacy programs, but also to learn more about the Association's 40th Anniversary celebration and convention July 10-12 in San Antonio, Texas (www.texas-wildlife.org). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mysterious Radio
The Medusa File - Part One

Mysterious Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2025 81:05


My special guest tonight is author and researcher Craig Roberts who's here to share some some of the most heinous crimes ever committed by the U.S. Government.  From World War II to present, there has been hidden within the highest levels of government secrets that you are not supposed to discover. During the period of 1940 to this day the power brokers, working from their positions of trust, have committed and then covered up the most heinous of crimes known to mankind. Investigative journalist Craig Roberts, author of "Kill Zone--a Sniper Looks at Dealey Plaza", now provides us with the results of his ten -year investigation regarding the secret crimes and coverups of the U.S. Government. You will read his case files on such subjects as the Japanese "Devil Unit 731" who experiments on American POWs in WWII with germ warfare weapons--and what happened when the war ended and the commanding officer was hired by the government instead of hanged for war crimes; Operation Paperclip in WWII when the U.S. brought Nazi scientists to America to work for us on our weapons programs instead of standing trial as war criminals; CIA and military mind control experiments on unsuspecting citizens--including children--without our knowledge; Secret drug and bacteriological weapons experiments on the American population; Atomic guinea pigs, Agent Orange, and the Gulf War Syndrome; what really happened to over 30,000 U.S. POWs after World War II, Korea and Vietnam; International assassinations, drug smuggling and money laundering; What the media did not tell you about the shoot down of TWA 800, the bombing of Pan AM 103, the Oklahoma City bombing, the crash of Arrow Air in Gander, Newfoundland, the derailment of the Sunset Limited in Arizona, the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and much more….If you're enjoying Mysterious Radio, now is the time to join Patreon. Soon, you'll only be able to access episodes by being part of our community there. You'll enjoy every episode ad-free, and we can share our episodes with you without censorship. Plus, joining us unlocks over 1000 bonus segments and episodes that will blow your mind! While the price is set to rise to $9.99, you can jump on board right now for just $5, and that's forever! ⁠⁠⁠Join The Brain Trust Now.⁠

eCommerce Marketing Podcast
Building Sustainable Brands in E-commerce - with Neil Twa

eCommerce Marketing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025 38:50


In this episode of the E-commerce Marketing Podcast, host Arlen Robinson interviews Neil Twa, a successful entrepreneur and co-founder of Voltage, an Amazon FBA consultancy. Neil shares his journey from working at IBM to becoming a leading figure in e-commerce, discussing the importance of branding, marketing strategies, and the role of storytelling in building customer loyalty. He emphasizes the significance of Amazon as a launchpad for brands and the need for emotional connectivity with consumers. Neil also highlights the evolution of branding and the necessity of adapting to market demands. In this conversation, Neil Twa discusses the intricacies of optimizing Amazon listings, the importance of understanding market demand, and the challenges faced by sellers in the Amazon marketplace. He emphasizes the need for innovation in product development, the significance of multi-channel selling, and addresses common misconceptions about Amazon FBA. Twa also shares insights on navigating the DTC landscape and the evolving nature of e-commerce. Key Episode Takeaways: Neil Twa has launched multiple eight-figure brands since 2012. The importance of emotional connectivity in branding. Amazon serves as a powerful incubator for new brands. Successful brands focus on value creation and problem-solving. Storytelling is crucial for building brand loyalty. Sales and marketing strategies must evolve with the market. Control over the entire business process is essential for success. User-generated content is vital for modern marketing. Brands should focus on one channel before expanding to others. Building relationships and networks is key to business growth. Amazon's ecosystem allows for both organic and PPC marketing. The relationship between product marketing and sales is crucial. Innovating existing products can lead to greater market success. Understanding market demand is key to product positioning. Multi-channel selling is essential for business growth. Many misconceptions exist about the profitability of Amazon FBA. Challenges in the Amazon marketplace can be mitigated with the right strategies. Investing in inventory and brand control is vital for success. E-commerce requires a balance between different sales channels. The cost of doing business is a reality in both DTC and Amazon sales. For show transcript highlights, past guests, and more, visit: https://www.ecommercemarketingpodcast.com. Or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@ecommercemarketingpodcast  Twitter: https://x.com/emarketpodcast  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ecommercemarktingpodcast  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/emarketingpodcast/  Past guests on the ecommerce marketing podcast include Neil Patel, Nemo Chu, Luke Lintz, Luke Carthy, Amber Armstrong, Kris Ruby and many more. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and leave a review.

Breakfast Leadership
Mastering Amazon FBA in 2025: Expert Strategies for Automated Income, Brand Building, and Wealth Creation with Neil Twa

Breakfast Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2025 24:59


Positive Mindset and Entrepreneurial Journey @ 0:00 Neil and Michael discuss the importance of maintaining a positive mindset and embracing the entrepreneurial journey, even when faced with challenges. Neil shares how he pivoted from a corporate career to building his own businesses, overcoming obstacles like financial setbacks and family changes along the way. Building Sustainable E-commerce Businesses @ 1:56 Neil outlines his experience building online companies over the past 17 years, including launching successful private label brands on Amazon and acquiring other e-commerce businesses. He emphasizes the need to create real, sustainable businesses with tangible assets rather than just "side hustles" or "hobby businesses". Acquiring and Scaling E-commerce Businesses @ 2:47 Neil discusses his company's focus on acquiring e-commerce businesses with $1.5-$3.5 million in EBITDA, with the goal of scaling them further through their expertise and resources. He explains the value of building sustainable businesses with tangible assets that can be acquired and grown. Rapid Growth of E-commerce and Mobile Commerce @ 5:42 The discussion explores the explosive growth of e-commerce, especially the shift to mobile purchasing overtaking desktop in recent years. Neil highlights the speed at which the e-commerce industry is evolving and the opportunities this presents for entrepreneurs to build scalable, profitable businesses. Entrepreneurship Education for Youth @ 13:37 Neil shares that he is teaching an entrepreneurship course for 14-18 year olds in his homeschool co-op, with the goal of helping young people start their own businesses in the next 15 weeks. Michael praises this initiative as an important way to foster entrepreneurial mindsets and skills at a young age. Recap and Resources @ 24:46 In closing, Neil provides information on how to connect with him and access his resources, including a book he co-authored with Kevin Harrington on building a "lifestyle-driven business model" through physical product e-commerce. About Neil Twa Are you a podcast owner looking to book an e-commerce and entrepreneurship expert who can deliver game-changing insights for your audience? Look no further than Mr. Twa - he's got the brains, the real-world experience, and the down-to-earth demeanor, and he wrote the book on building automated income with Amazon FBA. For over 17 years, Mr. Twa has been constructing online and offline businesses after departing his senior IBM role. Since 2012, he's launched 5+ personal brands, generated 10 million in revenues as eight-figure sellers, and assisted in the growth of 1000+ others through consulting, coaching, and mentoring alongside partner Reed and their Voltage team. As the sole "Shark"-endorsed Amazon FBA growth consultancy, their "As Seen on TV" strategy anticipates market demands and creates brand marketing pull. This approach pinpoints the 5 CRUCIAL breakthroughs sellers need to transform an Amazon FBA business into a direct-to-consumer brand worth more upon sale than during its building phase. Neil Twa frequently guests on top shows, sharing his mastery of e-commerce, entrepreneurship, and brand building online - with a laser focus on leveraging Amazon FBA and omnichannel marketing strategies. Book him as your next guest to unlock insights that can propel your audience's Amazon FBA ventures in 2024 and beyond! Discover how to leverage Amazon FBA to build an automated income, achieve time freedom, and amass more incredible wealth - whether high-income earners, current business builders, generating passive income, or desiring wealth outside Wall Street! https://podmatch.com/guestdetailpreview/1617919623027x315208613535165500 Website: https://voltagedm.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neiltwa/ Facebook https://web.facebook.com/neiltwa/?_rdc=1&_rdr Twitter https://twitter.com/voltagefba Instagram https://www.instagram.com/neiltwa/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@fbabusinessbuilders YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/NeilTwavoltage

The Opperman Report
Nelson Martins - THE LUCKIEST FLIGHT OF 911 - TWA 3

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2025 50:53


DJ Thermal Detonators - THE LUCKIEST FLIGHT OF 9/11 : TWA 3Sep 20, 2024Nelson Martins runs a blog dedicated to 9/11 skepticism and exposing the crimes and cover-ups of 9/11 as well conspiracy theory disinformation sold as “truth”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

VOC Nation Radio Network
IN THE ROOM with Don E. Allen

VOC Nation Radio Network

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 137:04


Live, Tuesday nights at 7:30PM ET on vocnation.com, it's IN THE ROOM! ITR features topics introduced by the panel, your calls, PWI's Brady Hicks, and WCW's Maestro. This week: Brady Hicks and crew welcome Don E. Allen from ECW and TWA, take calls, and discuss WWE/Netflix, AEW/HBO, Corey Graves, and more. Call in to any live show on VOC Nation by visiting http://callvoc.com. Full Video Episode Available for only $3/mo at www.vocnation.com! Subscribers also get commercial free audio and video of Wrestling with History featuring Bill Apter and Ken Resnick, In the Room featuring PWI's Brady Hicks and former WCW Star the Maestro, No BS with The Bull Manny Fernandez, and more! VOC Nation takes you behind the scenes of your favorite moments in pro wrestling history. Notable show hosts include legendary pro wrestling journalist Bill Apter, former WWE/TNA star Shelly Martinez, former WWE and AWA broadcaster Ken Resnick, former WCW performer The Maestro, former TNA Impact talent Wes Brisco, Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Brady Hicks, independent pro wrestling and Fireball Run star Sassy Stephie, and more! Since 2010, VOC Nation has brought listeners into the minds of the biggest stars in pro wrestling and entertainment. Subscribe to the podcasts for free on most major directories, and visit http://vocnation.com for live programming. Subscribe to premium - only $3/mo - for commercial full commercial free audio and video episodes. Exclusive access to 50 years of Bill Apter's interview archives is available for a nominal charge. Learn more about your ad choices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between The Sheets
Ep. #491: January 8-14, 1992

Between The Sheets

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2025 256:59


Kris and David are back to discuss the week that was January 8-14, 1992. Topics of discussion include:A detailed rundown on Jim Herd's resignation from WCW, with all three major newsletters chiming in with unique information regarding this major event in dirtsheet history.Just who is Kip Frey, and why was he chosen to replace Jim Herd?Lex Luger's status in WCW according to Jack Petrik going on the record in Matwatch.The awesomeness of the Dangerous Alliance vs. the world feud on WCW TV.Atsushi Onita and The Sheik doing battle in FMW, and how that helped gain the promotion more exposure.Bob Backlund wrestling Jerry Lawler for the first time ever at a WWE show in New Jersey.The Moondogs destroying job guys on Memphis TV.Eddie Gilbert booking the GWF and why it's arguably his best booking run.Phil Mushnick's scathing column on the WWF steroid scandal in the New York Post as Titangate is about to blow up.The Rockers breaking up on the set of The Barber Shop in one of the most famous angles and misremembered moments in wrestling history.We have a tremendous show this week, folks. We really enjoyed doing this one, and we hope you enjoy it as well!!!Timestamps:0:00:00 WCW1:16:11 Int'l: AJPW, NJPW, SWS, FMW, UWFi, AJW, JWP, England, Stampede, CMLL, El Suriano, & UWA1:34:45 Classic Commercial Break1:38:51 Halftime2:24:47 Other USA: WWA (NJ), TWA, SAPW, ICWA, IWF (Mansfield), USWA, GWF, LPWA, SoCal Lucha, & Portland3:02:58 WWFTo support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/BetweenTheSheets and become an ongoing Patron. Becoming a Between the Sheets Patron will also get you exclusive access to not only the monthly themed episode of Between the Sheets, but also access to our new mailbag segment, a Patron-only chat room on Slack, and anything else we do outside of the main shows!If you're looking for the best deal on a VPN service—short for Virtual Private Network, it helps you get around regional restrictions as well as browse the internet more securely—then Private Internet Access is what you've been looking for. Not only will using our link help support Between The Sheets, but you'll get a special discount, with prices as low as $1.98/month if you go with a 40 month subscription. With numerous great features and even a TV-specific Android app to make streaming easier, there is no better choice if you're looking to subscribe to WWE Network, AEW Plus, and other region-locked services.For the best in both current and classic indie wrestling streaming, make sure to check out IndependentWrestling.tv and use coupon code BTSPOD for a free 5 day trial! (You can also go directly to TinyURL.com/IWTVsheets to sign up that way.) If you convert to a paid subscriber, we get a kickback for referring you, allowing you to support both the show and the indie scene.To subscribe, you can find us on iTunes, Google Play, and just about every other podcast app's directory, or you can also paste Feeds.FeedBurner.com/BTSheets into your favorite podcast app using whatever “add feed manually” option it has.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/between-the-sheets/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Between the Sheets
Ep. #491: January 8-14, 1992

Between the Sheets

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2025 256:59


Kris and David are back to discuss the week that was January 8-14, 1992. Topics of discussion include:A detailed rundown on Jim Herd's resignation from WCW, with all three major newsletters chiming in with unique information regarding this major event in dirtsheet history.Just who is Kip Frey, and why was he chosen to replace Jim Herd?Lex Luger's status in WCW according to Jack Petrik going on the record in Matwatch.The awesomeness of the Dangerous Alliance vs. the world feud on WCW TV.Atsushi Onita and The Sheik doing battle in FMW, and how that helped gain the promotion more exposure.Bob Backlund wrestling Jerry Lawler for the first time ever at a WWE show in New Jersey.The Moondogs destroying job guys on Memphis TV.Eddie Gilbert booking the GWF and why it's arguably his best booking run.Phil Mushnick's scathing column on the WWF steroid scandal in the New York Post as Titangate is about to blow up.The Rockers breaking up on the set of The Barber Shop in one of the most famous angles and misremembered moments in wrestling history.We have a tremendous show this week, folks. We really enjoyed doing this one, and we hope you enjoy it as well!!!Timestamps:0:00:00 WCW1:16:11 Int'l: AJPW, NJPW, SWS, FMW, UWFi, AJW, JWP, England, Stampede, CMLL, El Suriano, & UWA1:34:45 Classic Commercial Break1:38:51 Halftime2:24:47 Other USA: WWA (NJ), TWA, SAPW, ICWA, IWF (Mansfield), USWA, GWF, LPWA, SoCal Lucha, & Portland3:02:58 WWFTo support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/BetweenTheSheets and become an ongoing Patron. Becoming a Between the Sheets Patron will also get you exclusive access to not only the monthly themed episode of Between the Sheets, but also access to our new mailbag segment, a Patron-only chat room on Slack, and anything else we do outside of the main shows!If you're looking for the best deal on a VPN service—short for Virtual Private Network, it helps you get around regional restrictions as well as browse the internet more securely—then Private Internet Access is what you've been looking for. Not only will using our link help support Between The Sheets, but you'll get a special discount, with prices as low as $1.98/month if you go with a 40 month subscription. With numerous great features and even a TV-specific Android app to make streaming easier, there is no better choice if you're looking to subscribe to WWE Network, AEW Plus, and other region-locked services.For the best in both current and classic indie wrestling streaming, make sure to check out IndependentWrestling.tv and use coupon code BTSPOD for a free 5 day trial! (You can also go directly to TinyURL.com/IWTVsheets to sign up that way.) If you convert to a paid subscriber, we get a kickback for referring you, allowing you to support both the show and the indie scene.To subscribe, you can find us on iTunes, Google Play, and just about every other podcast app's directory, or you can also paste Feeds.FeedBurner.com/BTSheets into your favorite podcast app using whatever “add feed manually” option it has.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/between-the-sheets/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

The Opperman Report
Arran Sheets - The mystery of TWA 800

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 48:22


Arran Sheets - The mystery of TWA 800Jan 27, 2023Ed is joined by Arran Sheets aka Rob Shef, to discuss the mystery surrounding the crash of TWA 800 outside New York. At the time it was taken to be another crash, albeit any crash is tragic for all concerned.Pretty soon word was put about by witnesses and people claiming to be insiders that it wasn't a fault with the plane or pilot error; the bitter truth, they claim, is that TWA800 came down as the result of a missile hitting the plane.Despite Government denials, these rumours have persisted, and the evidence for the claims has gathered in both credibility and weight. No one knows and no organisation has claimed responsibility for the missile, should it be a factual portrayal of events. This has spawned rumours in the same way 9/11 has grown into an entire movement.Arran Sheets talks of his work, his research and his belief that the entire event is an orchestrated work of deception by shadowy figures as yet to be identified. But why?From WIKIPEDIATrans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31 pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome, with a stopover in Paris.: 1  All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. Accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the following morning[1]: 313  amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash. Consequently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and New York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) initiated a parallel criminal investigation.Sixteen months later, the JTTF announced that no evidence of a criminal act had been found and closed its active investigation.Youtube: No Bull AnalisysBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

Between The Sheets
Ep. #487: December 4-17, 1991

Between The Sheets

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2024 346:23


Kris and David are back after a week off to discuss the two weeks that were December 4-17, 1991. Topics of discussion include:The aftermath of This Tuesday in Texas including Jack Tunney announcing that the WWF Championship was vacant.Bret Hart winning the "Wrestler of the Year” award in a short, barely explained segment on Superstars.Ric Flair beating Shawn Michaels on Prime Time Wrestling thanks in part to misguided “help” from Marty Jannetty, accelerating the Rockers' breakup.Dynamite Kid announces his retirement on the last night of the AJPW Real World Tag League.Hulk Hogan beats Genichiro Tenryu on a wacky SWS show at the Tokyo Dome.Mascara Año 2000 takes Anibal's mask in a memorable match at Arena Mexico.Gordon Scozzari's AWF runs its first shows, including a TV taping in Lowell, MA with some crazy stuff going on, including cameos from DR. MIKE LANO!!!Eric Embry gets a new valet and some new wardrobe in the USWA.New booker Eddie Gilbert lays down the law in the GWF.WCW tours the United Kingdom and is forced to move SuperBrawl II to Milwaukee thanks to Donald Trump.Madusa hits a dive on WCW TV that has to be seen to believed.Plus a whole lot more on a very entertaining episode of BTS!!Timestamps:0:00:00 WWF0:47:10 Asia: AJPW, NJPW, SWS, FMW, W*ING, RINGS, UWFi, & Singapore1:58:37 Classic Commercial Break2:03:27 Halftime2:55:07 Latin America: CMLL, Juarez, Monterrey, AWF (PR), & WWC3:27:06 Other USA: AWF TV tapings (Scozzari), UWF (Abrams), TWA, SAPW, Florida, USWA, GWF, & Portland5:08:17 WCWTo support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/BetweenTheSheets and become an ongoing Patron. Becoming a Between the Sheets Patron will also get you exclusive access to not only the monthly themed episode of Between the Sheets, but also access to our new mailbag segment, a Patron-only chat room on Slack, and anything else we do outside of the main shows!If you're looking for the best deal on a VPN service—short for Virtual Private Network, it helps you get around regional restrictions as well as browse the internet more securely—then Private Internet Access is what you've been looking for. Not only will using our link help support Between The Sheets, but you'll get a special discount, with prices as low as $1.98/month if you go with a 40 month subscription. With numerous great features and even a TV-specific Android app to make streaming easier, there is no better choice if you're looking to subscribe to WWE Network, AEW Plus, and other region-locked services.For the best in both current and classic indie wrestling streaming, make sure to check out IndependentWrestling.tv and use coupon code BTSPOD for a free 5 day trial! (You can also go directly to TinyURL.com/IWTVsheets to sign up that way.) If you convert to a paid subscriber, we get a kickback for referring you, allowing you to support both the show and the indie scene.To subscribe, you can find us on iTunes, Google Play, and just about every other podcast app's directory, or you can also paste Feeds.FeedBurner.com/BTSheets into your favorite podcast app using whatever “add feed manually” option it has.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/between-the-sheets/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Between the Sheets
Ep. #487: December 4-17, 1991

Between the Sheets

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2024 346:23


Kris and David are back after a week off to discuss the two weeks that were December 4-17, 1991. Topics of discussion include:The aftermath of This Tuesday in Texas including Jack Tunney announcing that the WWF Championship was vacant.Bret Hart winning the "Wrestler of the Year” award in a short, barely explained segment on Superstars.Ric Flair beating Shawn Michaels on Prime Time Wrestling thanks in part to misguided “help” from Marty Jannetty, accelerating the Rockers' breakup.Dynamite Kid announces his retirement on the last night of the AJPW Real World Tag League.Hulk Hogan beats Genichiro Tenryu on a wacky SWS show at the Tokyo Dome.Mascara Año 2000 takes Anibal's mask in a memorable match at Arena Mexico.Gordon Scozzari's AWF runs its first shows, including a TV taping in Lowell, MA with some crazy stuff going on, including cameos from DR. MIKE LANO!!!Eric Embry gets a new valet and some new wardrobe in the USWA.New booker Eddie Gilbert lays down the law in the GWF.WCW tours the United Kingdom and is forced to move SuperBrawl II to Milwaukee thanks to Donald Trump.Madusa hits a dive on WCW TV that has to be seen to believed.Plus a whole lot more on a very entertaining episode of BTS!!Timestamps:0:00:00 WWF0:47:10 Asia: AJPW, NJPW, SWS, FMW, W*ING, RINGS, UWFi, & Singapore1:58:37 Classic Commercial Break2:03:27 Halftime2:55:07 Latin America: CMLL, Juarez, Monterrey, AWF (PR), & WWC3:27:06 Other USA: AWF TV tapings (Scozzari), UWF (Abrams), TWA, SAPW, Florida, USWA, GWF, & Portland5:08:17 WCWTo support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/BetweenTheSheets and become an ongoing Patron. Becoming a Between the Sheets Patron will also get you exclusive access to not only the monthly themed episode of Between the Sheets, but also access to our new mailbag segment, a Patron-only chat room on Slack, and anything else we do outside of the main shows!If you're looking for the best deal on a VPN service—short for Virtual Private Network, it helps you get around regional restrictions as well as browse the internet more securely—then Private Internet Access is what you've been looking for. Not only will using our link help support Between The Sheets, but you'll get a special discount, with prices as low as $1.98/month if you go with a 40 month subscription. With numerous great features and even a TV-specific Android app to make streaming easier, there is no better choice if you're looking to subscribe to WWE Network, AEW Plus, and other region-locked services.For the best in both current and classic indie wrestling streaming, make sure to check out IndependentWrestling.tv and use coupon code BTSPOD for a free 5 day trial! (You can also go directly to TinyURL.com/IWTVsheets to sign up that way.) If you convert to a paid subscriber, we get a kickback for referring you, allowing you to support both the show and the indie scene.To subscribe, you can find us on iTunes, Google Play, and just about every other podcast app's directory, or you can also paste Feeds.FeedBurner.com/BTSheets into your favorite podcast app using whatever “add feed manually” option it has.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/between-the-sheets/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Bill Meyer Show Podcast
12-13-24_FRIDAY_7AM

Bill Meyer Show Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2024 48:38


Greg Roberts, Mr. Outdoors from Rogue Weather Dot Com brings the latest Outdoor report. Later, journalist and author Jack Cashill discusses how the officer who killed Ashli Babbitt is being coddled by the Dems, plus TWA 800 truth, whiy it still matters.

Bo Snerdley / James Golden
Drone Mysteries and Government Denials | 12-12-24

Bo Snerdley / James Golden

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 58:47


Bo discusses recent drone sightings in New Jersey and the official statement from the White House, which claims there is no national security threat associated with the drones. Bo draws parallels to the TWA 800 incident, expressing skepticism toward government narratives. The show also features commentary on the impact of digital media on political messaging, criticisms of mainstream media bias, and a discussion on the Biden administration's handling of January 6th informants. Additionally, the show includes segments on notable songs and artists, and a controversial satanic statue display in New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bo Snerdley's Rush Hour
Drone Mysteries and Government Denials | 12-12-24

Bo Snerdley's Rush Hour

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 58:47


Bo discusses recent drone sightings in New Jersey and the official statement from the White House, which claims there is no national security threat associated with the drones. Bo draws parallels to the TWA 800 incident, expressing skepticism toward government narratives. The show also features commentary on the impact of digital media on political messaging, criticisms of mainstream media bias, and a discussion on the Biden administration's handling of January 6th informants. Additionally, the show includes segments on notable songs and artists, and a controversial satanic statue display in New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saint of the Day
Repose of Archimandrite Lazarus (Moore) (1992) (Nov. 14 OC)

Saint of the Day

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2024


Though he has not been glorified by the Church, Fr Lazarus was a pioneer and exemplar of Orthodoxy in the West.   He was born in England in 1902. In his early manhood he moved to western Canada, where he worked as a farm laborer for several years. While working in Alberta, he sensed a call to become a missionary and went to an English missionary college for five years.   Sad to say, our sources are unclear about how he came to the Orthodox faith from this unlikely beginning. But in 1934 he spent seven weeks on Mt Athos, then lived as a monk in Yugoslavia. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Theophan (Russian Orthodox Church Abroad), then sent to Palestine to serve the Russian Mission in Jerusalem.   In 1948, the new State of Israel gave the Mission's property to the Soviet Union and the mission was left dispossessed. Fr Lazarus served as priest to the Russian Convent in Aïn Karim and Transjordan, then was sent to India in 1952, where he helped in Orthodox missionary work for twenty years. Several of his books and translations, such as his biography/study of St Seraphim of Sarov, were written while he lived in India. While there, he met Mother Gavrilia of Greece, whose beautiful biography Ascetic of Love includes good descriptions of him during his life in India. Though very strict in his Orthodoxy, he was flexible in externals: in India he wore a white rather than a black cassock, because black clothing had offensive connotations to the Indian people.   In 1972 Fr Lazarus was called to Greece, then in 1974 to Australia, where he served for nine years. In 1983 he moved to California in answer to call from Fr Peter Gillquist to assist members of the former 'Evangelical Orthodox Church' in their move to Orthodoxy. In 1989 he moved to Alaska, where he continued this work. He reposed in Eagle River, Alaska in 1992. Following is an excerpt from an account of his last days by members of his community in Eagle River:   "Father always signed his name with TWA, "Traveling With Angels". A few days before his death, after battling cancer many years, faithfully using the Jesus Prayer as the medicine for his affliction, the Archangel Michael appeared to help him. His final journey homeward had begun, TWA... 'the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.' (2 Timothy 4: 6-8)."

Buying Online Businesses Podcast
8-Figure Ecom Brand Acquisitions & Scaling Secrets with Neil Twa

Buying Online Businesses Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2024 40:35


Welcome to another exciting episode of the Buying Online Businesses podcast. Today, Jaryd speaks with Neil Twa, a master of 8-figure ecom brand acquisitions who has achieved this scale without using his own money. Neil is the CEO and co-founder of Voltage Holdings, a company that specializes in launching, consulting, selling, and acquiring e-commerce brands across Amazon FBA and multiple channels. With over 15 years of experience in private label sales on Amazon and more than 17 years in building businesses both online and offline, Neil brings expertise grounded in his background as a former IBM senior executive. Neil has successfully launched five brands of his own, generating tens of millions in revenue, and has been instrumental in helping more than a thousand other e-commerce brands grow through Voltage's consulting and mentoring services. In this discussion, Neil reveals how he creatively finances his acquisitions through veteran-backed partnerships, sometimes even selling companies back to veterans. He explains his process for identifying ideal businesses to acquire, the strategies behind rolling up and growing these companies, and his two-year plan for potential expansions and exits. This conversation dives into the crucial differences between ecommerce brand owners who scale and those who stagnate, and the mindset shifts required to achieve lasting growth. Neil shares his insights on the three essential levers for driving a company from seven to eight figures, providing valuable takeaways for anyone interested in acquiring or scaling an online business. This episode is packed with expertise, making it a must-listen for aspiring and seasoned online business owners alike. Let's dive in. Episode Highlights 02:30 Strategies in ecom marketing 10:50 How Neil started in business acquisitions? 17:00 Raising a capital 26:20 Neil on buying more businesses! 33:10 How to scale eCom businesses? 39:45 Where to find Neil? Key Takeaways ➥ Acquiring brands in the same niche (like home and kitchen) allows for a roll-up strategy, enabling scale and efficiency by managing various brands under one roof. ➥ Jaryd advises against acquiring businesses in unfamiliar areas without proper experience or guidance, emphasizing that expertise in the market or the guidance of a mentor is critical to avoid costly mistakes. ➥ Emphasizing the importance of thorough vetting, Krause reveals that Voltage Holdings evaluates numerous businesses to identify the right acquisition targets, estimating they will review around 1,000 companies to meet their goal of acquiring five by 2025. Due diligence includes financial and operational assessments to avoid acquiring problematic businesses, especially in light of past market fluctuations that led to overvalued acquisitions. About The Guest Neil Twa is the CEO / Co-Founder of Voltage Holdings, a company specializing in launching, consulting, selling and acquiring brands with a focus on the e-commerce channels such as Amazon FBA and multi-channel. More than fifteen years of experience selling private label products on Amazon and his company. For over 17 years, Mr. Twa has been constructing businesses both online and offline after departing his senior IBM role. Since 2012, he's launched 5+ personal brands, generated 10's of millions in revenues as 8 figures sellers, and assisted in the growth of 1000+ others through consulting, coaching, and mentoring alongside partner Reed and their Voltage team. Connect with Neil Twa ➥ https://www.voltagedm.com/ ➥ https://www.voltagedm.com/book ➥ https://high-voltage-business-builders.simplecast.com/ Resource Links ➥ Sell your business to us here - https://buyingonlinebusinesses.com/sell-your-business/ ➥ Buying Online Businesses Website - https://buyingonlinebusinesses.com ➥ Download the Due Diligence Framework - https://buyingonlinebusinesses.com/freeresources/ ➥ Hostinger (Website Hosting) - https://bit.ly/3HUqW0s ➥ Surfer SEO (SEO tool for content writing) - https://bit.ly/3lINGaV ➥ Ezoic (Ad Network) - https://bit.ly/3NuVR5P

This Day in Jack Benny
Television Director (Ralph Levy)

This Day in Jack Benny

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2024 33:20


November 15, 1953 - Jack repares for his TV show with Johnnie Ray. References inlude TWA airline, 1954 Cadillac, Old Crow Bourbon Whiskey, Thrifty's drug store, the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny" contest, and his guitar player Frank Remley.

Trivial Warfare Trivia
TW502 - Axis Answer

Trivial Warfare Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 95:47


We had a lot of fun recording this week's episode! It's Carmela teaming up with Jeremy Ruberg and Jason Bowen against Jonathan and General Dev Thakur with Erin hosting. Enjoy! Sponsored by: BetterHelp - www.betterhelp.com/TWA  

Crazy Train Radio
Crazy Train Radio's Interview with "Extreme" Ref Jim Molineaux (ECW Referee)

Crazy Train Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2024 62:35


This next guest has certainly seen his fair share of action by being the 3rd manin the ring over the years, with getting his start in the old TWA promotion, which lead to things turning into ECW (both Eastern Championship Wrestling, then becoming the land of “Extreme” in ECW & was there til it closed in 2001. This next guest always tried to call it down the middle and be one to lay down the law. He will be appearing at TWA “One & Done” & RassleCon” on May 3rd 2025, 2300 Arena, but let's welcome the Extreme Ref: Jim Molineaux! Jim Molineaux IG: https://www.instagram.com/jimmolineaux/ Crazy Train Radio Facebook: facebook.com/realctradio IG: @crazytrainradio X/Twitter: @realctradio Website: crazytrainradio.us YouTube: youtube.com/crazytrainradio --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/crazytrainradio/support

Perched On The Top Rope
E222: Joel Goodhart is Perched On The Top Rope

Perched On The Top Rope

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2024 81:56


Join us for an exclusive interview with Joel Goodhart, where we delve deep into the secrets that have shaped his remarkable journey of Tristate Wrestling Alliance. In this candid conversation, Joel reveals insights into his career, personal challenges, and the lessons he's learned along the way.Joel also breaks a lot of news on the regrading a TWA Reunion Show: One & Done. Tickets go on Sale October 5th as Joel confirms a few guests on air! Goodhart also discusses a book that he as coming out as well.Joel tells a lot of stories about wrestlers such as, Owen Hart, The Blue Meanie, Bruno and Davis Sammartino, Cactus Jack, The Sandman, Sabu, Luna Vachon and many more! Whether you're a fan or simply curious about his story, this interview promises to uncover the truths behind his success and the strategies he employed to overcome obstacles. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain inspiration and knowledge from one of the industry's most intriguing figures. Make sure to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more insightful content!#TWA #wrestlinglegends #oldschoolwrestling #ecw #wwe #owenhart #mrmcmahon #vincemcmahon #paulheyman #pauledangerously #thesandman #brunosammartino #reunionshowSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/perchedonthetoprope/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Outdated Wrestling Hour With Bob Smith
He's Back: The Legacy of TWA's Joel Goodhart!

The Outdated Wrestling Hour With Bob Smith

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2024 106:43


Send us a textThe Podcast: Bob Smith - the former managing editor of Pro Wrestling Illustrated and longtime wrestling writer - continues his unique nostalgia podcast by offering perspectives that fans can't get anywhere else. This time, Smith goes deep into his past...The Guest: And welcome the founder of the now-legendary Tri-State Wrestling Alliance, Joel Goodhart. This conversation marks the first time that Smith and Goodhart have spoken since 1991 - and the innovative former promoter holds nothing back, offering details about the heights of TWA, the superstars that worked there, the decision to close the company - and offers details on a huge event booked for Philadelphia early next year!Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showContact us at outdatedwrestling@gmail.com!

Crazy Train Radio
Crazy Train Radio's Interview with Joel Goodhart (TWA Wrestling-Philadelphia)

Crazy Train Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2024 80:03


This next guest is one of the unsung heroes when it comes to wrestling in Philadelphia. Well it is safe to say we all can officially rejoice as he got several projects coming on. He is currently in the final stages of doing his book (with Scott Teal & Dan Murphy), a documentary that is going to have the final scenes filmed the night of the big event coming up on May 3rd, 2025. That's right TWA is back for “One & Done” (7:30 bell time, doors opening at 6). On top of all that there will be “RassleCon” from Noon to 3:30 and all this will be taking place at the 2300 Arena (former ECW arena) on the corner of Swanson & Ritner in the heart of South Philadelphia! Let's Welcome Joel Goodhart!   (Go On Sale Oct 5th) Tickets For “One & Done”: https://2300arena.showare.com/AccessDenied.asp?p=521&venueview=1&src=   Banner For TWA Legends: https://www.change.org/p/raise-a-banner-to-honor-these-5-philly-wrestling-icons?recruiter=156416355&recruited_by_id=561305b9-3686-4b52-bcd2-17e3e7053c56&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&utm_medium=copylink Crazy Train Radio Facebook: Facebook.com/realctradio Instagram: @crazytrainradio X/Twitter: @realctradio Website: crazytrainradio.us YouTube: youtube.com/crazytrainradio --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/crazytrainradio/support

Trivial Warfare Trivia
TW498 - Mayonnaise is Food Lube

Trivial Warfare Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 94:35


This week we make good on a promise over a year old and celebrate our 2023 Jax Trivia Takeover trivia champs. It's Rob Cotter and Michael Turner vs. Carmela Smith and Luc Leavenworth with Jonathan hosting. Enjoy! Sponsored By BetterHelp - www.Betterhelp.com/TWA  

The Opperman Report
DJ Thermal Detonator - THE LUCKIEST FLIGHT OF 9/11 : TWA 3

The Opperman Report

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2024 50:53


DJ Thermal Detonator - THE LUCKIEST FLIGHT OF 9/11 : TWA 32 days agoDJ Thermal Detonators runs a blog dedicated to 9/11 skepticism and exposing the crimes and cover-ups of 9/11 as well conspiracy theory disinformation sold as “truth”PatreonYoutubeTwitterOther LinksBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine
Episode 419 - Stan Herman and Ann Leary - Memoirs

Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2024 52:27


Stan Herman The three-time Coty award-winning designer Stan Herman is truly a pioneering man. Not only was he the President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America for sixteen years, but also the founding president of 7th on Sixth Corporation; the fashion shows in Bryant Park. With KOMAR, Stan has incorporated his ready-to-wear design savvy to become America's foremost designer of robes and loungewear. His comfortable, lifestyle driven products can be found on QVC, QVCUK, QVCItaly. After over 24 years on air he has built a return customer base of over 300,000 people and has sold over $150 million worth of robes alone. Furthermore as the leading uniform designer in the world his uniforms arguably cover more bodies than any other single designer. As a pioneer in the industry, Stan popularized "fashion at a price" with his Mr. Mort label; a label sought by vintage collectors today. When most designers were relegated to backrooms, he served as a spokesman for the creative side of the industry, championing designer names on labels, and watching out for the good of his colleagues. He was on the vanguard of designer boutiques with Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and in-store designer partnerships with Henri Bendel. Mr. Herman popularized the Designer Uniform. His list of corporate clients has included many of the world's leading corporations. FedEx, Jet Blue, United Airlines, TWA, U.S. Airways McDonald's, and Amtrak, Avis, Humana, RCCL, and Securitas along with Las Vegas Hotels including Paris, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and Mandalay Bay. He just launched the redesign for the newly re-opened Regency Hotel as well as the rest of the Loews Hotel system. He has redesigned the next look for FedEx and the new JetBlue uniform. Ann Leary is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels, THE FOUNDLING, THE CHILDREN, THE GOOD HOUSE, OUTTAKES FROM A MARRIAGE, and the memoir, AN INNOCENT, A BROAD. She has written for numerous publications including Ploughshares, NPR, Real Simple and the New York Times. Her novel, THE GOOD HOUSE was adapted as a motion picture starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline and will be released in theaters in September, 2022. Her new essay collection, I'VE TRIED BEING NICE (Simon Element/MarysueRucci) will be published on June 4, 2024 Ann and her husband Denis Leary live in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast
Mary Trump: Family Ties and Lies

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2024 69:54


Everyone knows her name. Mary Trump grew up in a family divided by its patriarch's relentless drive for money and power. The daughter of Freddy Trump—the highly accomplished, dashing eldest son of wealthy real estate developer Fred Trump—and Linda Clapp—a flight attendant from a working-class family—Mary lived in the shadow of Freddy's humiliation at the hands of his father. Fred Trump embodied the ethos of the zero-sum game and among his five children: there could only be one winner. That was supposed to be Freddy, his namesake, but Fred found him wanting―too sensitive, too kind, too interested in pursuits beyond the realm of the real estate empire he was meant to inherit. In Donald, Fred found a kindred spirit, a “killer,” who would stop at nothing to get his own way. Even after Freddy's short-lived career as a professional pilot for TWA came to an end, he never stopped trying to gain his father's approval. Finally, at the age of 42, he succumbed to Fred's lethal contempt and died alone in an emergency room, with no family by his side. Mary Trump returns to the Club for a special online-only talk about the issues raised in her new memoir Who Could Ever Love You, in which she pulls back the curtains on what she calls the twisted family whose patriarch ignored, froze out, and eventually destroyed his own. Freddy Trump's decline into alcoholism and illness, along with Linda's suffering after their divorce, left Mary dangerously vulnerable as a very young girl. Inadequately and only conditionally loved, there were no adults in her life except for the father she loved but lost before she could know him; and a mother abandoned by her ex-husband's rich and powerful family who demanded her loyalty but left her with nothing. She says that cold, selfish cruelty has come to define the Trump family thanks in large part to her uncle, whose ambition has divided the nation and much of the world. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

History Goes Bump Podcast
Two Dads Investigating the Afterlife

History Goes Bump Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2024 84:27


Paranormal Conversations are random, off-the-cuff discussions on all things paranormal. On this 23rd Paranormal Conversation, we are joined by Phil Rossi and Tee Morris of Old Spirits Investigations. They describe themselves as "Just two dads, living our best life, while investigating the afterlife." They share with us their techniques and experiences. Their investigations pf the TWA 514 crash site and Crescent Hotel lead to some chilling experiences! Check them out @OldSpiritsInvestigations on YouTube and Instagram.  Check out our website: http://historygoesbump.com Become an Executive Producer: http://patreon.com/historygoesbump Music used in this episode: Main Theme: Magic in the Air by Purple Planet Music https://purple-planet.com

Trivial Warfare Trivia
TW486 - Aw Yeah, Puddin Puddin

Trivial Warfare Trivia

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2024 109:54


You're gonna love this episode! Carmela teams up with Will Krasnoff and CHRIS HOLLISTER against Jonathan and Sara Callori with Zahkia in the host's chair. Too much fun! Enjoy! Sponsored By: www.sporclecon.com - Use the code TWA to get 10% off your ticket!