Podcasts about understandable

หนังสือ Understandable Economics: Because Understanding Our Economy Is Easier Than You Think and More Important Than You Know ของ Howard Yaruss - ยุคสมัยของทุนนิยม เราตระหนักรู้มันมากน้อยเพียงใดแล้วเราควรเข้าใจอะไรบ้าง - ความเข้าใจเชิงพื้นฐานอาจจะเป็นสิ่งที่เราต้องเข้าใจมันระดับนึง นั่นคือไม่มีใครที่อยู่นอกเหนือระบบนี้เลย - ทำไมการเงินถึงมีส่วนเชื่อมโยงสำคัญกับเศรษฐศาสตร์ แล้ววิชานี้ยังเชื่อถือได้จริง ๆ ไหม - กำแพงภาษี กรอบภาษี รวมไปถึงการแข่งขันทางการค้า ทั้งหมดคือทักษะของการเอาตัวรอดของประเทศนั้น - คนทุกคนจำเป็นจะต้องเรียนรู้วิชาความเข้าใจเศรษฐศาสตร์กันทุกคน ไม่ใช่ใครคนใดคนหนึ่ง แต่ต้องเราทุกคน

Mike McCoy 10-19-2025 AM In this morning's message Brother Mike will take a look at the life of Joseph and its parallels to Jesus, and for this message, our lives. Crossville First Free Will Baptist Church www.crossvillechurch.com

In this episode, we talk about the 28th of October (28η Οκτωβρίου) in Greece. The 28th of October is a big Natioanl Holiday for our country, and today we will talk about how we honor that day every year!E: Να σου πω, εσείς είστε έτοιμοι για την 28η; /Tell me, are you all ready for the 28th?D: Σχεδόν! Μόνο τα παπούτσια μένουν να πάρουμε, αλλά θα πάμε το Σάββατο. Εσείς; /Almost! We just need to get the shoes, but we'll go on Saturday. How about you?E: Κι εμείς έτοιμοι! Ευτυχώς κάνουν ακόμα στα παιδιά τα ρούχα από την περσινή γιορτή, οπότε δεν χρειάστηκε να πάμε για ψώνια. Φέτος όμως είχαν πιο δύσκολα ποιήματα και κάναμε πολλές πρόβες. Εσένα θα συμμετέχουν στην γιορτή; /We're ready too! Luckily, the kids' clothes from last year's celebration still fit, so we didn't need to go shopping. But this year, they had harder poems, and we practiced a lot. Are yours taking part in the celebration?D: Ναι! Κι εμένα δυσκολεύτηκαν λίγο με τα ποιήματα, αλλά νομίζω μέχρι τις 27 του μηνός που είναι η γιορτή θα είναι πανέτοιμοι και οι δύο. Η μεγάλη θα είναι στην χορευτική ομάδα και η μικρή στην χορωδία! /Yes! Mine had a bit of trouble with the poems too, but I think by the 27th—the day of the celebration—they'll both be fully ready. The older one will be in the dance group, and the younger one in the choir!E: Τέλειο! Πήρατε και στολές για τους χορούς ή δεν σας ζήτησαν; /That's great! Did you get costumes for the dances, or didn't they ask for any?D: Νοίκιασε κάποιες ο σύλλογος γονέων και κηδεμόνων, οπότε μόλις τελειώσει η γιορτή θα τις επιστρέψουμε. Εσείς όμως θα είστε και στην μεγάλη παρέλαση, σωστά; /The parents' association rented some, so once the celebration is over, we'll return them. But you'll also be in the big parade, right?Ε: Ακόμα καλύτερα έτσι! Ναι! Και οι δύο φέτος θα είναι στην μεγάλη παρέλαση στο κέντρο… Είναι λίγο αγχωμένοι θα έλεγα. Θα έχει πολύ κόσμο! /Even better that way! Yes! Both of them will be in the big parade downtown this year… I'd say they're a bit nervous. There will be a lot of people!D: Λογικό! Θα έρθουμε να τους δούμε οπωσδήποτε! Τι ώρα είναι; /Understandable! We'll definitely come to watch them! What time does it start?Ε: 10 η ώρα αρχίζει. /It starts at 10 o'clock.D: Τέλεια! Θα σας δούμε εκεί λοιπόν! /Perfect! We'll see you there then!E: Ωραία! Καλά να περάσετε στην γιορτή! /Great! Enjoy the celebration!Check out our Instagram @greek_lang_experts or visit our website for our upcoming⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Greek classes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!If you enjoyed this episode please rate our podcast and leave a comment!

Christian College Sex Comedy: Part 10 Interrogated Until Dawn In 30 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the podcast at Explicit Novels.             Wakefulness is a race we cannot not win; Sleep is remorseless as all salvation should be           "Are you his real girlfriends?" Gerry, a shorter, stout girl with short black hair inquired. "It doesn't work that way," Chastity confessed. "Zane is our property and we rent him out for social functions." "No you don't," I laughed. "Chastity and Hope are good friends and we came out for dinner and a movie." "If you aren't dating anyone in particular there is going to be a party next Saturday. It is by special invitation only, it is a block party but we could call you when we find out," Erin offered. "Hey, babes," this guy greeted us, or more appropriately, the ladies around me. He was rather average looking; perhaps he would have looked better if his face wasn't constantly burned by the Sun and he avoided smoking joints and drinking so much. I figured he was about twenty or so. He was unlikely to have anything resembling a regular girlfriend or even regular sex because he paid little heed to his looks or his wardrobe. His chief companion was a weasely guy; not the shifty sort, but the blood-thirsty feral kind. He was short and wiry with an anger that came from unrealized ambition and recognition; probably a vicious fighter but used to striking from the blind side. The final guy was tall and skinny, suffering from shyness exacerbated by the presence of women. Erin and Gerry looked at the new guy, snorted derisively and turned back to me. "Here's our number," Erin said as she took out a pen and wrote her digits on my palm. "Call on Thursday and we'll tell you where we can meet." I nodded because I was grappling with the rudeness these girls were showing this guy and his buddies. "What, going to be a party?" the guy leered. "By invitation," Erin responded, "College students only." I was starting to feel for this guy. "What, is Zane boy and his Kappa Sig whores good enough for you sluts, but real working men are not?" he taunted us. "Don't do that," I warned him, putting a hand to his chest as he stepped forward and tried to put his hands on Erin's and Hope's asses. I'm not sure what Erin would do but Hope was likely to dislocate his jaw. "Take your hand off me, jack ass," he growled. His weasely buddy looked ready to pounce. "We should call it a night," I told the ladies. "Erin, Gerry, I'll call later. Ladies, let's get out of here." Erin and Gerry tossed a worried look dumbass's way, then smiled to me and left. My companions and I left by a different way. Since we were heading out the easiest way to the parking lot, the three guys followed us. "Hey, you sissy bastard, why are you afraid to share?" he mocked me, but really, was sissy bastard the best he could do? I sensed him coming up behind us as we exited the mall so I spun around, as did the girls. "So how much do these Kappa Sigs cost?" he chuckled. "It can't be that much if you are buying these whores two at a time. I'll give you twenty for them both." "Walk away, Zane," Chastity urged me quietly. "Let it go." "You are right," I bit down my anger, "not only does he not have the money, he couldn't satisfy a woman even if he could convince one to accept payment." "Mother fucker," he snarled, and shoved me back. I had had enough. "Go back to your playmates," I warned him calmly, "I'm not someone you want to be badmouthing ladies around." "Whatchya gonna do, Fucker?" he shot back. "How about when I finish kicking your ass, I'm gonna bang both the bitches you brought tonight? Then I'm going to ride those whores you were on the video with." "Oh, you shouldn't have said that," breathed Hope. I was not the one she was admonishing, either. "Apologize to these two ladies right now and pledge to never go near the Kappa Sigs and I'll let you leave here under your own power," I responded. "I was afraid this shit-hole would never fight," the weasel guy sneered. I looked to the third guy. "Do you know the number for the hospital?" I asked him. He nodded. "Good." The main talker started to shift his body into an aggressive stance but had the nerves of a bully, not a fighter. My first strike rocked him back on his feet and gave me the time I needed for his buddy. The buddy got a quick but unskilled jab off. I blocked it and popped him hard, nearly knocking him over. I spun back to the Talker, set him up with a strike, and then kicked him so hard that I sent him flying out of the fight. The Weasel lashed out again; I caught his arm and drove my knee into his stomach. I kept that up for eight more knee-strikes until he ceased struggling and slumped to the ground. "Make that call," I told the third guy, then grabbed my girls and ran for the car. "Why are we running?" Hope asked as we got into my car. "They already know who I am but you two are unknown. Face it," I reasoned with them, "if you two get dragged down to the police station, that could be big trouble." "And since you are already known, you are screwed," Chastity muttered. "Yes, basically. Once I get you two safely back to your dorm, I'll turn myself in and deal with the consequences," I informed them. "We'll talk to Gorman when we get back," Hope said. "That kind of voids the reason for fleeing the scene," I pointed out. "What is it about you, dates, and the police?" Chastity chided me. "Hey, now, only half my dates have ended with police involvement," I complained. "Zane, do you realize how horrible those odds are?" Hope noted. "Does this mean no second date?" I joked. "I think we want a do-over on this one," Hope grinned. "I think we were all hoping for a different kind of excitement when we got back to your place." "Groan, it would sort of suck for you two to be in my room when the cops come for me," I sighed. That was the end of our conversation, because it would suck and we had no choice. Once I had Hope and Chastity back to their dorm, I made my way back to my place and changed. Since we were normally required to be in uniform, we had gone to Aunt Jill's to change into 'normal' attire, but I had decided we didn't have the time for it on the way back. I gave Coach Gorman a call and explained the events, minus my two friends. She told me to stay put. It was past midnight when I received a call from the Coach. "Zane, please come to my office," she told me. "I'll be right there," I responded, as I slipped off my bed. The campus was still and dark as I made my way to the Security Center. There were only two offices with lights on, that of the night officer and Gorman's office. Inside, I found Gorman behind her desk and a Sheriff's Deputy sitting in a chair opposite her and angled to look at me and the door. "I told you he would come," Gorman reprimanded the officer. "He ran once; I had reason to believe he would rabbit again," the man answered. "Cowardice is not a trait I attribute to Mr. Braxton," Gorman commented dryly. "That may be the case," he replied. "Mr. Braxton, I want to ask you some questions about what happened at the mall this evening around 9:30." "I went to see a movie. When I came out, I was accosted by three men, and when I attempted to leave, they followed me to the parking lot where I proceeded to beat the crap out of them," I confessed. "So you admit putting two men in the hospital?" the Sheriff's Deputy inquired. "Yes, sir. I struck the taller one in the face, pivoted and did a downward block to the smaller guy, following through with an uppercut to his jaw. I did another strike to the first guy, then did a jump kick, sorry Coach, to his sternum, putting him out of the fight. The smaller guy righted himself, struck, and I caught him in an arm bar. I then brought my knee to his stomach, sorry Coach, and struck him repeatedly with it, sorry Coach," I outlined the fight. "Thank you. But why are you apologizing to Coach Gorman?" the Deputy asked. "He's apologizing for not using Karate moves," Dana informed him. "I'm his Karate Coach as well as Head of Security." "And a hell of a soccer coach, or so I'm told," I grinned sadly. "That is nice. Now, there was a report of two women being with you," the officer said. "Who were they? I need to interview them." "I'm not going to deny there were other women there but I won't name names. There could be academic consequences for fighting and I want to spare them that," I explained. "Son, I could tack on a charge of obstruction of justice to go with your two counts of assault and one of fleeing the scene of a crime," he related. "Okay. Do what you have to do," I declared. "I will not turn on my friends." "In that case, I am placing you under arrest," the Deputy stated, as he stood up and Mirandized me. He brought out the cuffs and led me away. Back at the Sheriff's Office, I sat down with SD Burrows, my arresting officer, and we worked on his report. It turned out I could type and he could peck, so I convinced him to dictate the report for him because I desperately needed some sleep. A female Sheriff's Deputy gave our case, and me, a double-take. "What have you got here?" the woman asked. "Two counts of Assault, fleeing the scene, and obstruction of justice," Burrows said. "Zane Braxton?" she inquired. "Yeah. We have him in a report for that fight at the Kappa Sigma House last Saturday, though no charges were filed," he informed her. "I went to the University, that's Freedom Fellowship, and he turned himself in." "Why did you run?" She turned to me. I groaned and lowered my head. "Apparently, he was protecting the identity of the two women he was with; most likely fellow FFU students," Barrows filled her in. She nodded and went on her way. "Okay," he said when we finished, "let's get you processed and put you into the general holding cell. Do you want to call your lawyer?" "I'd rather get some sleep," I confided in him. "You will be arraigned tomorrow morning at 9:00 so have someone by then," he advised me. After that was the tedious process of fingerprints and the pictures before they finally moved me to the 'overnight' holding cell. Inside were two benches and nine guys. Five crowded onto one bench, two biker-type guys lounged on the second bench, and two were left to stand against the bars. I was really tired. "I'm really tired," I explained to the more tattooed and bald biker-guy, "get off my God-damn bench." There was a hush in the cell. "What did you say, Pussy?" the guy said as he stood up. He had an inch on me and fifty pounds or so. His buddy was standing as well. "I've put two guys in the hospital tonight already. I'm more than willing to put your heads through the bars, Asshole. Now get off my God-damn bench," I growled. "Braxton, I don't want any trouble from you," a passing Deputy commented. "What's he in for?" the lead biker asked the Deputy. "He put two guys in the hospital for talking to his ladies, as best as we can figure," the officer stated. "What are these two in for?" I inquired, while keeping my eyes on the bikers. "Misdemeanor drug possession," the Deputy answered. I smiled evilly at the bikers. "Get off my God-damn bench. I need a nap," I seethed and they back-side-stepped out of my way. As I said, I was really cranky. For whatever reason, no one attacked me in my sleep, and I was definitely dead to the world within five minutes of my head hitting the hard surface of my contested bench. I dreamed of ice cream and pizza, and scantily clad babes bringing me ice cream and pizza, confirming that while exhausted, I was not dead. "Mr. Braxton," a strange yet not totally unfamiliar voice said as she shook me awake. I looked up into the deep, earthy brown eyes of the female Deputy that I'd seen earlier. "They need you in Interrogation Room One." I sat up and rubbed my eyes, realized I didn't have a watch, so I inquired as to the time, a little past 2:00. "Okay, but I've already confessed," I mumbled as I stood up. "I'm not sure what more I can say." She turned and walked out of the cell, where a second female officer was holding the door. Alarm bells were going off. While I've never been to a US jail before, I'd seen enough police procedural shows to know the cops never let the convict get behind them. Girls do it all the time, when they want to show off their ass, and I stupidly was caught doing just that, as her smirk over her shoulder revealed. She shut the door when I left and walked down the hall with one in front of me and one behind. Sure enough, they took me into an interrogation room, and the unknown one took a seat opposite me while the slightly more familiar one stood behind my chair. "Mr. Braxton, we understand you have refused your right to counsel; is that correct?" the one with Urquhart on her name tag said. "Technically, no. I have refused to call for a lawyer but I plan to engage one in the morning," I admitted. "We would like to ask you some questions, if that is okay?" Deputy Urquhart said. "Sure," I leaned back. The other officer put her hands on my shoulders. Without really thinking about it, I reached across my chest to the opposite shoulder and ran my fingertips along the fingertips of the woman's hand. My interrogator noted the gesture. "You were in an altercation at the Kappa Sigma House last weekend. What can you tell us about that?" she asked. "I imagine saying things like 'it wasn't official' and 'it was within city limits' is pointless, so I guess I was shoved into the girls' bathroom by five guys and got my ass kicked," I explained. "Five guys decided to beat you up? Was there a reason?" she persisted. The other officer began rubbing her fingers along with mine. "Short story, none of your business; longer version, these frat boys were messing with some of the ladies I came to the party with and I got the ladies away. Later, they came for payback and a fight ensued. I got my ladies out, then went back to the Kappa Sigs to see if everything was okay." "But neither the FFU girls nor the Sorority pressed charges so we don't know who they are, and now you are in another fight, women are involved, but you won't tell us who they are either," she outlined. "Basically, yes," I replied. "You are looking at some very serious trouble if these girls don't step forward or you don't tell us who they are," she explained. I took the time to move my free hand behind me and onto the thigh of the officer there. In seconds, I had spider-climbed my hand to her crotch. She tensed up, pushed away from me, then rocked forward until her breasts bracketed my head. "Well, since that's not going to happen, how about we get something to eat?" I sighed. I figured that sleep wasn't likely so I might as well toss around some sexual innuendo to lighten the mood. "You are looking at serious jail time and your first thought is to order out?" the interrogator questioned. "I was hoping to eat in, actually," I grinned. "Oh, and what makes you think that is going to happen?" she questioned me with a sexual undertone. "Two female officers, you are not taking notes, and I've been frigging your partner behind my back for nearly a minute now without her putting my head through the table," I explained. She stared at me for a second, not sure if I was exhibiting bravado or I was really playing into their game. Apparently her partner expressed to her visually that I was indeed playing with her. "Well, what do you have in mind?" she gave a lopsided grin. "I'm Haley and she's Tara." "First off," I stood up, moved the chair away, and turned to Tara, "I'd like to do this." I ran my hands down her sides, around to cup the ass she'd shown me in the cell while I kissed her. Tara pulled my lips down to her ear and neck while I raised her leg up until her knee was at my hip level. When I began working on her belt buckle, her hands came around and helped me until it swung loose and she lowered it to the ground. A rapid mutual stripping off of the clothes followed. "You two want to slow down?" Haley joked as she came up behind me. "Fuck, this thing is huge," Tara gasped past me to her partner. Since her hand had surrounded my cock, I had to imagine she had a flair for the dramatic. "He's twice as big as my husband." Oh, Hell! Husband? I guess if I was a better guy, I'd end things right now, but I'm an okay guy, not a saint. "If he complains, remind him that he's sleeping with that tramp of a sister you have," Haley teased. "God, yes," Tara moaned happily, "Let's get a condom on this bad boy and see if he performs as advertised. If he's anything like his video, I can't wait to show this to Bill and let's see how he likes it." "Whoa," I interjected. "Who is your husband, Bill, and is he going to want to kill me?" Tara slid down my body, licking my shaft and balls as she went, retrieved a condom from her pants, and came back up along the same path. "Don't you worry, Zane; he's a bouncer at the Fallout Shelter," Tara assured me. Clearly I had no idea what that was so Tara enlightened me. "It's a popular college club. You can't get in there legally anyway." "Your sister?" I questioned. As for the club, was an ID the only thing in the way? Simple. "She's a bartender there, the slut. She's still pissed that I put her husband away," Haley explained. "What'd he go in for?" This was getting more and more twisted. Haley began rubbing her nearly naked body against mine from behind. "Arms trafficking. He was sentenced to twelve years down in Fairview," Haley murmured, "Now, let's put that tongue to better use." Arms trafficking, at least I'm learning about firearms at school. I turned Tara around and pushed her up against the table next to Haley. "How are we going to do this?" Haley asked. "You both get up on the table and I'll give it a shot," I told them. "I am so far past exhausted that I feel invincible." I crouched down, placing Haley's left and Tara's right between my legs, and began to massage their cunts in tandem. I moved up to Haley first, kissing her cunt lips, then making three passes with my tongue, parting her lips and tasting her fluids as they began to flow. I then transferred my attention to Tara, this time sucking on her already excited clit. "Make out," I suggested to the objects of my affections. "We are not like that," Tara told me. Well, that sucked, or more like, I was going to be the only one sucking, which made my job a lot harder. Now I had to increase the activities of my fingers to keep them boiling, and finally I sent Tara over the edge with clitoral stimulation with my lips and teeth. "Oh, God!" she cried out shrilly. Her legs wrapped around my shoulders and squeezed me tightly to her, temporarily pulling my hand away from Haley's honey trap. The second I could pry myself free of Tara's legs, I stood over Haley and began sliding my cock into her hot, steamy cunt. "Ah," she moaned, "give it to me just like that, oh, yeah." I pushed in slowly. By her tightness, I figured it had been some time since she'd had sex. "Oh, fuck, she went on. "Bigger than Chris?" Tara chuckled, somewhat breathless. Chris? Who the fuck was Chris? If I had to deal with another husband, I was going to seek out a non-extradition country. "Chris?" I ground out, as I picked up my pounding of Haley. "My, ugh, ex, ugh, damn, you are , ugh, good," Haley grunted. "Caught, oh, yeah, him, banging a, ugh, co-ed, ugh, divorced his, ass." What the hell? Could no one in this town keep it in their pants? Had I come home to where I truly belonged? "How is he?" Tara asked. "I'm, hmm, plotting out, yeah, baby, that, ugh, mile, oh, good, between his, hmm, school and, fuck, yeah, his home." Haley urged me on harder with her thighs on my ass and her fingernails on my shoulders and back. Lucky me; Lancaster city limits end right past the Kappa Sigma house, then it's all county up to the campus gates. I already had a city cop waiting for second round and now I was adding to frustrated Sheriff's Deputies figuring out how to commit legal malfeasance on my ass. I was so distracted, I literally collided with Haley's face as she grabbed the back of my head and pulled me down. Kissing, I understood; the licking of Tara's juices off my face is somewhat unexpected. I caught Tara mesmerized by the show, though I was really not in a position to push them together because Haley started going off. "You bastard," she growled, "bastard, bastard, fuck, fuck, you Bastard!!" She bucked up against me with powerful jabs that rotated and lifted her hips into my downward thrusts. She made this hissing noise through her clenched teeth as her orgasm gripped her body in one massive seizure. How exactly do you explain fucking a female officer to death? "Did, is she going to be okay?" Tara worried. How in the Hell am I supposed to know? "Oh, Gawd," Haley finally gasped. "Do you date older women?" "Ah, I don't know, since I may be going to prison soon," I responded cautiously. "That's not going to be a problem," Tara said seductively as she tilted my sweaty face her way. "Those guys dropped the charges. Your lawyers are processing you out right now." "A less deviant personality would be upset by what you two just did," I groaned, "but since the sex has been really good and I haven't cum yet, all I really want to know is, do we have to stop now or can we keep going?" They exchanged glances, then turned on me with a hunger worthy of she-wolves. Fortunately, I was feeling pretty damn Alpha wolf right then too. Yes, I'm an idiot. An hour later we were all finishing getting dressed when I slumped back on the table and put an arm over my eyes to shield me from the overhead florescent lights. "You okay, Zane?" Tara asked. "Nothing wrong here, but I did have this fantasy that I'd get a good night's sleep tonight. I'm not sure how I'm going to get through classes," I relayed to them. "The weekend is almost here," Haley said as she pulled me up and off the table. I stumbled into her arms and she gave me one more saucy kiss. "Now we better produce your body before too many questions are asked." "Don't worry, we'll keep in touch with you to make sure those guys don't cause you any trouble," Tara grinned. "Which guys?" I asked for clarification. "Exactly," Haley smiled. Translation: whatever excuse works. "Let's go." We three had all made it out the door and about fifteen steps down the hall when a voice called out behind us. "Zane." It was Hudson Lane, the school's lawyer. My two new friends and I turned around and I didn't have to be told how bad things were. Lane and another woman had come out of the door next to the interrogation room I'd just left. That would be the room on the other side of the one-way glass. "Hey, Ms. Lane," I grinned, even as the blood drained out of my face. "Been here long?" "About an hour," she smiled knowingly. "I can explain," I gulped. My two cop buddies were very silent on the matter. "This is going to be good," Lane told the woman standing next to her. The stranger looked intrigued. "See, I ended up in a cell with some drug smugglers and it necessitated a full-body cavity search," I offered hopefully. "While that is a possibility, far-fetched perhaps, why were the officers required to also be without their clothing?" the unnamed lawyer asked. I stared at her. "That's Zane's way of asking who you are," Hudson smiled. "Oh, my apology. I'm Sophia Brigitte Messier. I was hired to represent you in this matter," the lawyer answered. "Oh, okay. The officers discovered that they might have had drug residue on their uniforms and had to remove them before the drugs could take effect," I lied. "And the physical Olympics that ensued?" Brigitte smirked. "CPR, I was having a bad reaction to, something," I groaned. "For an hour? You are lucky to be alive," she said with a straight face. "I often feel that way too, lucky to be alive, that is," I clarified. "Officers, I think we are done here tonight," Lane told my female Deputies. They both took a deep breath, Tara smirked at me, then they both departed down the hall. "Let's go, Zane; it is time to get you home." I moved aside so that Lane and Messier could walk past me, but Lane put her hand to my back and moved me forward. "No, you don't," she laughed. "You need to get to campus before daylight." "Couldn't you stash me in a motel room for twenty-four hours?" I stifled a yawn. Lane shook her head and steered me out. As I was leaving the station, a short, burly Deputy brushed past me. His name tag read Chris Urquhart. Well, fuck a duck, Haley's ex is a Sheriff's Deputy too. "Zane, are you okay?" Lane asked with some concern. "Let's get out of here before that guy figures out I just nailed his ex-wife," I whispered to her. "My car is this way," Brigitte motioned to us, and we hastily made to her car and sped away. "Just so I have this straight," Brigitte turned to Lane, "you let this guy live among an entire school of young ladies?" "I'd trust my daughter if I had one," Hudson declared. "Zane's reliable and loyal, if sexually, " "Promiscuous, aggressive, dynamic, Brigitte added. "I can only imagine how this story is going to be received around the bar where I hang out. I'm not sure anyone will believe me." "This has never happened to you before?" Lane teased us both. "Going to a hospital and intimidating witnesses, happens all the time. Going to the station to retrieve my client, only to find him, I don't even know how to describe all those sexual acts he perpetrated on those two female officers, still having sex with two of his arresting officers, how does this happen to someone?" Brigitte wondered. "That's Zane," Lane answered. "Zane, have you ever turned down an offer of sex?" "Recently," I thought about it, "technically, yes I have." "Really?" Lane sounded surprised. "Well, she said I could do anything to her, and I told her I wanted to cuddle," I told them. "Does that count?" "A girl throws herself at you and all you want to do is cuddle?" Brigitte said. "If it wasn't for what I witnessed over the past hour, I might think you were gay." "She is a really nice girl who is worried about the nature of our relationship. She didn't really want to have sex, she wanted to be appreciated, so I held her and talked to her and we fell asleep in each other's arms," I explained. "Is this the guy you think is a threat to our girls at Freedom Fellowship?" Lane questioned. "I actually wish my boyfriend had felt that way. He was all about quick sex and rolling over, and private time was spending the night at a club with his friends," Brigitte mulled it over, then, "Oh, God, I unloaded on the two of you. I don't even know either one of you." "Zane makes women around him do all kinds of crazy things," Lane chuckled. "Blame him." "Honestly, Ms. Messier, you need to take a good swim to unwind," I noted. "Not power-laps either, but diving and swimming deep, fun stuff." Silence followed. "How did you know I was a swimmer? I competed in college," Brigitte inquired. "You have that kind of body, plus the way your roll your shoulders and hips," I responded. "I thought you would say something like my breasts were small," she stated. "What do you mean? You have great breasts. That green half-cup is a really good choice for you, too," I told her. "How, Brigitte stammered. "I notice women," I explained. "Brown eyes, set tight on an aquiline nose, shoulder length black hair, but you probably feel you need a haircut, fine bone structure, five foot ten, and maybe 115 pounds, slender, and you regularly wax." More silence followed. "How old is he, again?" Brigitte asked Hudson. "I swear he's only eighteen; we checked. All we can figure is that it is genetic. Apparently his father was a real hellion," Lane related. "We are lucky there aren't dozens of little Zane s out there." "Maybe that is why my Dad told me to never use my real name when I first asked him for dating advice," I mused. "I thought your parents died when you were fifteen," Brigitte asked. "They did, but I started dating when I was twelve," I enlightened her. "You were dating when you were twelve?" Hudson gawked. "If it is any consolation, she was sixteen," I offered. "How do you date a sixteen-year-old when you are twelve?" Brigitte wondered. "She was upset because some other girls were bothering her. I started up a conversation and then I asked her out and she said yes," I stated what was obvious to me. "Tell me you didn't have sex," Lane said. "No, I didn't have sex. I was a virgin until I went to Thailand," I filled them in. "No sex of any kind?" Brigitte asked. "I didn't say that. I mean, she was gorgeous and, filled out so much more than girls in my class, and she wanted to show me stuff," I continued. Silence followed us into the campus parking lot. "We'll see you up to your room," Hudson told me as we got out of the car. At this point, I figured I could make a run for it, but then Gorman would probably let them into my room eventually anyway. I considered leaving the campus forever but I couldn't leave Rio behind. Finally, I surrendered to the inevitable. Not because I'm egotistical or believe I'm sexually irresistible but because all I want to do is sleep, and that seems to draw women to me like nails to a magnet. My life would have been so much easier if I'd lied and told Brigitte she was a stick and claimed Hudson was unremarkable. Of course, my hell-bound mind referenced that Hudson was definitely bi-sexual and Brigitte was lonely. "I need you to sign some papers," Brigitte told me as we entered the dorm. "Can I grab a shower first?" I responded. Ms. Messier and Lane exchanged looks. "Of course, Zane," Lane replied. "We'll go over our notes until you get back." In reality, lawyers are struggling guys in cheap suits with bad diets and an under-developed sense of humor. In my world, they are leggy babes with overcharged libidos and a penchant for mixing business with pleasure. I fully expected a lesbian love fest when I got back to my room from my shower so I was a bit surprised when I got back and found them sitting on opposite ends of the bed in awkward conversation. I'm standing there with a white towel around my waist and my flesh covered in a sheen of steam-borne water. Brigitte couldn't take her eyes off me and licked her lips like I was a piece of prime rib. Hudson looked at her and visually teased me seductively; she had used me as bait to get at her newfound colleague. I'd hate her if she wasn't so damn hot. I'm going to have to add Nuvigil to the Viagra I need to start taking. "Zane, why don't you sit down next to Brigitte and we can conclude our business," Hudson smiled and gave me a wink. Great, I've gone from her sex toy to her accomplice. I sat down next to Brigitte, our thighs rubbing against each other. She nervously pulled out some papers and a notepad from her briefcase and held them up for me to look over. At the same time, Hudson scooted down the bed until she was wedged in on my other side. "Here is the itinerary I followed," she began. "Okay, good," I nodded. I would have paid more attention except Hudson touched my jaw and pulled my head away from Brigitte and my lips into hers. "My interview, maybe I should, Brigitte stuttered, then fell totally quiet when I rested a hand on her thigh right above the knee. Hudson and I kept making out, even after she pushed me back on the bed and hovered over me. I kept a hand resting on Brigitte's hip and I felt her shift so she was closer to facing the two of us. "Keep him busy," Hudson suddenly told Brigitte as she pulled up and away and began taking her shirt off. She looked back and forth between me and Lane for three seconds before leaning in on me. "Are you okay with this?" she said in a throaty growl. I figured less was more so I simply nodded. She started kissing me tentatively so I ran my hand through her hair and pulled her closer. Her position was ungainly so I figured she'd turn on her side and lay beside me. Instead, she vaulted me and straddled my hips. "Are you really sure you are okay with this?" she panted. "If you are asking me if I want to have sex with you, then yes, I have been fantasizing about having sex with you since I first saw you, Brigitte." Not really the truth, but she did have a nice, firm, athletic body and I did want to know it better. On my tombstone I want these words transcribed: He was just curious. "Thank God," she confessed, as her eyes lit up with passion, "because I haven't had sex in nine months and watching you for the past hour and a half has been murder." "Are you going to make love to him with your clothes on?" Hudson teased Brigitte. "Oh, right," Brigitte admitted. She rolled off toward Hudson and began hiking up her skirt and working down her pantyhose and panties. "Don't go anywhere," she demanded of me. "This is my room; I'm hardly going to make a run for the door," I joked back. I pulled off my towel, rolled onto my side, and returned to kissing Brigitte. Every time she revealed a new portion of her body, I dove on it, tasting, kissing, and nibbling every inch. Hudson finished getting undressed first despite Brigitte's frantic efforts. She was content to watch me and the new lawyer go at it. When Brigitte finished stripping she pulled me on top of her with her legs pinning my hips to her. I reached between her legs and stroked her kitty. "Is there anything you want me to do first?" I questioned her with a husky tone. She let me rub my fingers over her cunt several times before she nodded vigorously. "Scoot to the top of the bed," I requested. Brigitte crab-walked to the head of the bed while Hudson let her move past, then shot me a 'clever boy' look. I crawled forth on all fours between Brigitte's legs and gave her a famished look before lowering my lips to her muff. "Umm," she moaned as I rested my upper lip against her clit while I inserted my tongue deep into her liquid folds, already dripping with her need. I worked her over for over a minute before I noted Hudson poised right above my head. I parted Brigitte's legs farther apart and began kissing down her thighs toward the underside of her knees. "No, Brigitte pleaded. "Close your eyes and concentrate on my lips," I instructed her. When she did so, I exchanged another quick look to Hudson, then went lower on Brigitte's thighs. Hudson's arms straddled Brigitte's body and she lowered her face onto Brigitte's cunt. "Yeah," Brigitte purred, as Hudson slowly sucked on her clit. We kept up the pressure on our latest friend for several minutes before she finally clued in that there were two sets of lips engaging her body's erogenous zones. "Ms. Lane, Hudson, I don't think, oh, Brigitte's protest was stifled by Hudson's vigorous suction of her clit. I gave Ms. Messier about fifteen seconds to decide whether or not she wanted to fight Hudson off but when her hands quested down to gently hold Hudson's head in place, I was sure we were okay. I moved outside of Brigitte's legs and slowly forced her onto her side. Hudson responded expertly and soon I was kissing her ass cheeks and Hudson was lapping her cunt. Hudson was tuning up her cunt while I teased and penetrated her anus with the occasional sojourn lower so that Hudson and I could kiss between her legs. That intensified Brigitte's arousal and within a minute, she began trembling. "You two, are incredible," she gasped out desperately. "I'm going, going to cum!" She bucked a few times, then went off. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, Yes, Yes!" she growled. Brigitte wasn't a screamer but her orgasm carried a subsonic undercurrent that made the skin tingle and the blood pump faster. As she came down we positioned ourselves farther up Brigitte's body, sandwiching her between us. "How do you want to handle this?" Hudson threw out there. "I still need a stiff, hard cock," Brigitte pleaded. "Okay," Hudson grinned wickedly. "Brigitte, we will '69' with you on top and Zane will mount you doggy style." "I'm not really into girls, sorry," Brigitte apologized. "You don't have to do anything to me," Hudson lied to her" "but I want another shot at your clit while Zane bangs you." Brigitte gulped, then nodded, and the ladies positioned themselves quickly enough. Several things ensued, primarily the exposure of Hudson Lane as a persistent witch who usually gets her way. Just as important, Brigitte isn't a 'slammer', she's a 'slow stroke' kind of girl. She likes the feel of a strong rod slowly pushing in and out of her as it rubs against her vaginal walls. She's not about friction but sensitivity. Another little trick was, every fifth stroke into Brigitte, Hudson would pull me out and insert nearly two-thirds of my meat down her throat, then reinsert me back into Brigitte, which is pretty freaking Awesome. That last bit of Ms. Lane's plan was a combination of stamina, curiosity, and lustful arousal. For the first minute or so, Brigitte kept her head up and avoided looking down at Hudson's inviting spread. Hudson would ungulate her hips and moan occasionally but wouldn't play with herself. Eventually, Brigitte was drawn to look at Hudson's glistening lips and finally touch them. A few cautious, coaxing strokes turned into a finger dipping in and an excited squeal from Hudson. Brigitte took the encouragement for what it was and began to seriously work Hudson's lips over with the first and third fingers while finger-fucking with the middle. Hudson hungrily sought out more attention and before I knew it, Brigitte had lowered her lips to Lane's engorged clitoris. To remind Lane she wasn't getting away with murder, I reached under Brigitte and tortured Hudson's nipples with a vengeance. Maybe that wasn't the best way to teach Hudson a lesson because she began exploding all over the place seconds later, it is that whole seduction thing, no doubt. That left me with nearly a minute to concentrate solely on Brigitte and I did so by leaning over her body, reaching around and massaging each breast lovingly, from tender flesh to rigid nipple. Her climax had the unintended consequence of Brigitte biting Lane on the inner thigh hard enough to leave visible teeth marks and elicit a loud squeal from Hudson. Brigitte tumbled to the side in a jumble of arms and legs with Hudson. I crashed backwards, sprawling over the foot of my bed. I lay there, exhausted, wasted, broken, and spent physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Lane appeared like some hazy spirit over me and smiled. "Now it is my turn," she demanded. Rio loves me. I'm sure if I begged her to put a knife through my heart she would do it. I put that suggestion on my 'To Do' list. Relationships, consequences, and women in need. "Zane," Barbie Lynn whispered to me as she shook my shoulder. I swear I only got to sleep ten minutes ago. I blearily looked around me. Brigitte was face down on my left snoring softly, her black hair splayed everywhere. Hudson was asleep on my right, an innocent smile on her lips visible because her head was turned toward me. Then there was Barbie Lynn who looked both amused and nervous as she was trying to wake me up without disturbing the two professional women to either side. "You need to get up," she continued to hiss. "I don't want you to miss your shower." Yes, I had already had a shower recently, but I'd also been milked of every last ounce of energy in the interim. Gingerly I climbed over Hudson, but half way there she stirred and started to wake. "Go back to sleep," I murmured to her. I kissed her on the cheek; she grinned, wiggled beneath me and then went still. My cock had been resting on her ass when this happened and sprang to life in one last suicidal effort at manhood. Barbie Lynn grabbed a towel and my shower kit and led me by the hand down the stairs. When we stepped out into the hall she wrapped the towel around me, stroking my hard-on. "If you like," she purred, "I'll take care of that for you." She had no idea why I started to sob uncontrollably. She put an arm around my shoulder and led me to the showers in silence. My cadre of shower-buddies was already there when I arrived. I nodded a few greetings then walked straight into a cold spray of water, hanging my head and letting the chill push me back toward consciousness. "What's wrong with him?" Opal asked Barbie Lynn. "He was arrested last night," she told the assembled group. "You go, Boy!" Rio exulted. She's a freak. "He was on a date with Hope and Chastity," Iona spoke up. "I'll find out what they know." "Anyway, I went up to find him and there he was with all those bites and scratches all over his body, plus he had Ms. Lane and some other woman I don't know in bed with him, asleep." "Ms. Lane, the school lawyer?" Brandi babbled. "The very one," Barbie Lynn affirmed. "I suppose it is too much to hope for that they had clothes on?" Iona sighed. "Sorry, no. Naked as the day they were born with that freshly and thoroughly fucked glow all about them," Barbie Lynn giggled. "Well, who is going to ask him what happened?" Opal demanded. "I don't know," Brandi intervened. "He looks like he's about to die." "Nah, I know that look," Rio snickered. "He's past the 'about to die' phase. Right now, he's at the 'praying for death' phase." The water warmed up and I decided it was time to actually get clean so I poured out some shampoo and worked it in. Signs of life on my part quieted the conversation and quickened the girls to finish up their own cleaning functions. Later Opal insisted on shaving me while Brandi began cataloging the sexual details the women had left on my body. "Whoa, the bite marks on his shoulders are smaller than the ones on his ass," Brandi enlightened the remaining girls. Iona and Rio had already beaten a hasty exit and had I been more alert, I would have been terribly worried. As it was, Barbie Lynn guided me back to my door and let me go up alone. "Umm, hey, Zane," murmured Hudson as I began getting dressed. She had rolled over and was looking at me as I zipped up my pants. "Good Morning, Hudson. Barbie Lynn Masters was up here earlier, reminding me to use the shower, and she saw both of you," I informed her. "Oh, God, where am I? Oh, God, what have I done?" moaned Brigitte into her pillow. I walked to her side of the bed and sat down. I let my hand rub her shoulder blades and brushed her hair away from her neck. "You didn't do anything immoral or illegal," Hudson said. "Technically, Zane was never your client but a person of interest to your client. We are all of legal age." "I'm in some teenage boy's dorm room," she muttered. "I had hopes of making partner one day too." "How do you feel?" I asked. "I'm beat," she sighed. I kissed her on the back of the neck. "Don't." I kissed her lower, where the neck flows into the shoulders. "Don't, Another kiss along the top of the left shoulder blade, "Oh, a final kiss to the top of the shoulder. "Damn," she moaned. "I hope you had a good time because I certainly did," I whispered into her ear. "I did," she admitted. "I'm, still thrumming inside. That last orgasm, she couldn't put it into words, though I was sure Hudson was feeling very self-satisfied right then. "Don't worry about anything. Stay in my room until 9:00 then slip over to Ms. Lane's office while we are at Assembly, then make a public showing of leaving from there and heading out. Everything will be okay," I assured her. "I'll look after her, Zane," Hudson Lane told me. "How about I set the alarm clock and you two get some sleep?" I suggested. Hudson pouted, then let it turn into a knowing grin. "Okay, but what about you?" Hudson noted. "You look like Death warmed over." "Thanks," I joked through the fatigue. "How come only women are allowed to look even more desirable after sex, while men simply look worn out?" Brigitte rolled onto her side and stared at me. "Is he for real?" she wondered to Hudson. "Absolutely," she chuckled back. "Look at his pants if you don't believe me." Damn it, I was hard again. "Zane, have you ever thought about interning at a law firm?" Brigitte asked. "I'm in Pre-Med," I answered. "Change majors," she commanded. Hudson laughed. "Be careful, Sophia Brigitte Messier, there are at least a dozen young ladies on this campus who will deeply resent you poaching their favorite freshman," Hudson snickered. Brigitte looked at me with a twinge of sadness and regret. "Hudson knows how to reach me if you ever have need of me," I told her. "Please understand that while what we did was very pleasurable, I am here to graduate with a degree in something." "Yes, that whole being eighteen and all," Brigitte sighed. "I understand." "Zane," Hudson huffed, "do you want to see Brigitte again?" "Absolutely; there is something to be said for her tight swimmer's body," I replied," and she's definitely got spirit." "I'm not another one of your college co-eds," she chastised me, but with a smile on her face. "Why not? You are as wild and vigorous as any eighteen-year-old I know," I responded. Brigitte's mouth fell open in shock. "I, well, because I'm a graduate of Georgetown Law School; third in my class," she stammered. "One never stops being young; you merely forget how," I quoted someone from somewhere, but I was too tired to remember the specifics. "I hope that if any job opportunity every stops you from being as sexy as you are now, you turn it down." "Imagine what he's like when he's actually trying to seduce you," Hudson smiled. "I repeat my earlier question: are you sure you want to unleash this boy, man on an all-girls campus?" Brigitte grinned. "I swear, the next girl I get to seduce here will be the first," I groaned. "They rarely give me the chance or the time before, well, things happen. Frankly, I've only romanced one girl here and she's not too interested." "Who is that?" Hudson inquired. "Christina Buchanan," I shrugged, "a beautiful, intelligent senior who seems to have enough sense to not get too involved with me." Brigitte shook her head and chuckled. "She's my employer. She hired me to get you out of jail." I wasn't sure how long I stood there digesting that news because the next thing I recalled was Hudson calling my name. "Zane? Zane? Are you okay?" "Huh?" I muttered. "You zoned out there for a minute. You really need some sleep," she observed. "I won't argue with that, but it doesn't seem likely," I noted. "I am going to call Ms. Goodswell and ask her to get you half the day off," Hudson stated. "You aren't going to hear me argue," I grinned as I flopped down on the bed. I assumed she called but I was out before she reached her phone. Getting Through The Day I slept through a nice little struggle between Rhaine and Barbie Lynn. Rhaine had been sent promptly at 7:00 to deliver me to the Chancellor. Barbie Lynn had been warned of the visit, and my condition, by Virginia Goodswell, and held her off long enough for Doctor Larson to get there and defuse the situation. By the time the Chancellor made a second run at me, Hudson and Brigitte had made their exit and Ms. Lane was able to cover for me and my 'condition'. At 11:30 I received a call from Lane to 'remind' me that I had to bring by the papers she'd 'left' with me when she escorted me from the jail the night before. I found the paperwork that Brigitte had wanted me to sign last night, read it over, and then signed them. After that, I grabbed my stuff and headed for the Dining Hall. For a nice change, I was one of the early arrivals, getting my food and grabbing my spot in peace. I had started working on my salad when I spotted Iona running right at me. "Zane!" she cried out as she hugged me. "I was so worried about you." "I was a little exhausted, Iona," I squeezed her back. "There was nothing to worry about." "You were in jail, Silly," she lectured me. "A really prisoner could have hurt you." Iona was missing the fact that I put two people in the hospital. Mentioning that I threatened two bikers over a bench to sleep on would definitely be unwise. "I was in no real danger. They didn't put me in with any bad people; mainly drunks and minor drug charges," I embellished the facts. She rested her head on my shoulder (I was still sitting) and sighed. "Well, Rio and I were still worried," she murmured. No sooner had Iona headed off to get food than Rio came up. "Hey, little brother, we have got to get you a prison tattoo now," she laughed. "Rio, I was in County lock-up for four hours. I didn't even get to use the communal toilet," I joked back. "So, how many hotties did you bang? Quick, tell me before Iona gets back," Rio grinned. "They don't house men and women together," I pointed out. "Oh, like concrete walls and iron bars are going to slow you down," she teased. "Fine, I swear I did not have sex with any female, or male, inmates," I pledged. "Damn, she frowned for a second, then she brightened up. "You nailed a cop!" I lowered my head with embarrassment. "Well, fuck," she crowed, "you nailed two? More?" I pointed to the lunch line. "Go get some food, damn it!" I growled. She skipped off, overly pleased with herself, and all I could do was shake my head. Before Iona returned, a dozen more of my friends stopped by to see if I was okay, if I was molested in prison (they are weird friends), and to confirm that I'd really put two guys in the hospital for threatening two FFU girls. Iona and Rio were sitting down with me when Raven came up, looking conflicted. "Well, I don't imagine you made any progress on our project," she asked. "No. I said I'd get stuff this weekend so we could start Monday," I assured her. "Fine; try to stay out of jail and not fight anybody, and get some sleep," she stated. Raven gave me a curt nod, turned and left. "Zane," Rio sighed, "you've gotten another one into your orbit." "No," I insisted, "we are studying together; that's all." "So she came over here to ask totally irrelevant questions she already knew the answers too?" Iona mused. God is laughing at me and trying to drive me crazy. Chastity and Hope came walking up next, looking less pleased than I hoped they would. "We need a moment outside," Chastity cautioned me. I stuffed as much food as possible into my cheeks before getting up and following them out; I'd missed breakfast after all. The trail led outside where Christina, Faith, and Heaven waited. In a strange reversal of events, Heaven looked fearful for me and Christina looked like she wanted to bite my head off. Even Faith held some sympathy toward me. I got to them, tried to smile, but Christina cut me off. "Can you try to not fuck everyone in sight?" Christina snarled. "Honestly, all I wanted to do was get back to my room and get some sleep," I swore. "What did he d

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David Locke joined DJ & PK to talk about the Utah Jazz as they continue rolling through training camp and prepare for preseason games.

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Abhishek Saxena, Technical Architect at Copado. Join us as we chat about how he learned Data Cloud and why understanding context is the key to making Agentforce shine. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Abhishek […] The post Making Data Cloud Understandable for Admins appeared first on Salesforce Admins.

AJ Brown, hours after the game, sent out a cryptic Tweet seemingly in frustration after having another unproductive week. Jason Avant and Ron Jaworski spoke post-game with their thoughts on AJ and his route running. Is it the play calling or does AJ need to do something different in his game? Was the Tweet a selfish move or was it understandable?

It's Monday, August 25th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus 2 arrested in Illinois church arson Authorities in southern Illinois, responding to a call on July 24, have arrested two men in connection with the arson and vandalism of McKinney Chapel Freewill Baptist Church in the town of Marion, reports International Christian Concern. Damage estimates to the property are expected to exceed $300,000. Ethan Lam, arrested on July 30, and Chad Krueger, arrested on August 14, were both charged with place of worship arson and criminal damage to property.  Attacks on American churches throughout the nation appear to be more prevalent in recent years. Romans 1:29-30 says, “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are … God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.” Kamala Harris' disastrous appearance on CBS' Late Show Former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert last month promoting her new book entitled 107 Days, reports Newsbusters.org. It was a disaster. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, tweeted, “Colbert lost CBS $40 million dollars a year because not enough people watched, so CBS canceled it. Kamala cost her donors $2 billion dollars in 107 days and she lost in an electoral landslide. America rejected both of them, so now they're blaming America. Look in the mirror!” Take a listen to Stephen Colbert who makes wildly inaccurate claims about the national American mood and Trump's second term.  It's followed by another characteristic “word salad” by Kamala Harris that doesn't make a lick of sense. Listen. COLBERT: “The national mood is so grim in many ways. And people are so shocked by the abuses and the abhorrent corruption …” HARRIS: “Yep.” COLBERT:  “and the violence against neighbors happening in the United States …” HARRIS: “Yeah. Understandable.” COLBERT:  “by our government …” HARRIS: “Yeah.” COLBERT: “and the free reign being given by Congress and the Supreme Court to this President, …” HARRIS: “Yeah.” COLBERT: “that just, less than a year ago, things were very joyful. There was, there was actually a lot of hope associated with your campaign, and there was a lot, there was a lot of promise that we might actually not only keep this absolute barbarian out of the White House …” HARRIS: “Yeah.” COLBERT: “but also we might actually make progress as, as a country with the type of people that we wanted to see in office, and a younger, more vital …” HARRIS: “Yeah.” COLBERT: “revived political consciousness in America. What do you think of when you look back at that, that time and that feeling?” HARRIS: “What I look back at is, as I said, how people realized the commonality and the collective strength and our collective love of our country. We love our country. And the thing about that experience is exactly what propels me to think about this moment and the future and not look back too much, which is: those same people, they're still here.” For the men of the late night comedy talk shows, the first half of 2025 was an instance of history repeating itself. According to a NewsBusters study, 99 percent of their political guests were on the Left, matching the result for the last six months of 2024. Black pastor rejoices that Black Entertainment suspended its Hip Hop awards show Pastor John Amanchukwu said that revival may be burgeoning in the black community, and that he believes interest is waning in what he described as the debauchery afflicting much of black pop culture in recent decades, reports The Christian Post. Amanchukwu, an author and preacher from North Carolina who wrote the 2022 book Eraced: Uncovering the Lies of Critical Race Theory and Abortion, also suggested the Left has done much to alienate many black men, a trend he claimed manifested during the 2024 presidential election. Amanchukwu, who was formerly a football player for North Carolina University, recently spoke out on his podcast in favor of the decision of Black Entertainment Television (BET) indefinitely suspending its Hip Hop Awards and Soul Train Awards after 38 years. The 2025 BET Awards in June saw a significant drop among the key 18-49 demographic, cratering by almost 50% from the 2024 ceremony, according to TV Ratings Guide. AMANCHUKWU: “BET suspending these award shows isn't a cultural tragedy. It's a long overdue mercy killing. “These ceremonies became annual worship services for filth, degrading women, and the men allowed the women to be exploited.” Proverbs 11:22 says, “Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.” AMANCHUKWU: “It glorified violence and celebrat[ed] ghetto dysfunction. That is the culture that they're trying to push upon blacks. “To see that these award shows are going away, that is a good sign for black America. It means that not enough minorities are tuning in because they have become disinterested. That is a good thing.” Purposeful vacation in Branson, Missouri this fall Want to take a purposeful family vacation to Branson, Missouri? Consider attending The Family Reformation Conference at the beautiful Hillside Hotel from Wednesday, October 29th through Friday, October 31st. Speakers include Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations, Israel Wayne, father of 11 and author of Raising Them Up: Parenting for Christians, Dr. Jim Orrick, the author of Mere Calvinism and Seven Thoughts Every Christian Ought to Think Every Day, and Rebecca Robinette, whose father and brothers tragically died in a house fire, who oversees Mission to Myanmar. Learn more and register at TheFamilyReformationConference.com. That's TheFamilyReformationConference.com.  Cracker Barrel's woke rebranding cost the chain almost $100 million And finally, Cracker Barrel, a restaurant and gift store chain with a Southern country theme, lost almost $100 million in market value last Thursday after its stock plunged following the release of a new, sanitized logo, reports CBS News.  It was founded in 1969 and today operates 660 locations across America.  The new design eliminates a longstanding drawing of an overall-clad man leaning against a barrel, in favor of a cleaner logo featuring just the chain's name. The man and barrel in the old logo represented "the old country store experience where folks would gather around and share stories." According to Cracker Barrel's own website, the man they eliminated from the logo is based on Uncle Herschel McCartney, the real uncle of Cracker Barrel founder Dan Evins.   Ken Blackwell with the Family Research Council wrote, “He wasn't a corporate mascot; he was family. His values inspired the restaurant's entire culture, and they even named a breakfast plate after him. Now, Cracker Barrel's corporate leadership has erased him. The logo has been stripped down into bland, soulless minimalism in the name of ‘modernization.' But let's be honest: this isn't modernization. It's the same tired playbook we've seen from Bud Light, Target, and Disney … sacrificing tradition to appease activists who never even eat there. And the result is always the same: go woke, go broke.” Shares of Cracker Barrel fell $4.22, or 7.2%, to $54.80 per share in Thursday trading, shedding $94 million in market value. The stock had dipped to a low of $50.27 earlier in the day, representing a loss of almost $200 million in its capitalization. However, it's not just about the logo redesign, but the new menu items and redecorated stores that eschew the chain's old-timey approach in favor of a more modern taste and look.  Some suggest that the woke changes are connected to the fact that the BlackRock Investment Firm holds 3,317,812 shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, which represents 14.9% of the company's outstanding shares. This substantial stake indicates that BlackRock is indeed a major institutional investor in Cracker Barrel, though not necessarily a controlling one. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, August 25th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Dr. Jennifer Kavanagh, Law Lecturer in South East Technological University, reacts to the call by High Court judge Mr Justice Michael Twomey for written judgements to be written in plainer, more comprehensible language.

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 5 Lab work. Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.   Time went quickly, but also seemed to go nowhere at all; only three days after the final demise of the house we'd moved the RVs four times and I decided we needed to figure out something at least semi-permanent. Even a week in the same spot would be preferable to constant movement. The space where my house had stood was now full of stacks and pallets of supplies, and Vanessa had a crew of almost two dozen of her 'gorillas' working to erect what would become the first of a dozen temporary bunkhouses for the incoming construction workers. She still seemed to be the only foreman on site, so I went looking for Vanessa. I found her at the water truck, splashing some water onto the back of her neck as she took a quick break. It had turned even hotter over the week, spring slipping fully into summer, and we were all starting to boil when we were outside. I'd quickly abandoned the feeling of needing to 'dress up' for everyone and I was down to athletic shorts and one of my sleeveless workout shirts; one of the few that were still 'mine' considering both Erica and Ivy had taken to wearing them as well. Vanessa was the boss however and had to set the example for the rest of the crew, so she was still wearing the jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt and her reflective vest of a dutiful construction foreman. "Hey, got a second?" I asked. "Oh, hey Harrison," she said, looking up as she continued splashing water onto the back of her neck. "Sorry I haven't come to check with you and the girls today, we had three more loads this morning of barracks pilings I had to get sorted, and the fucking surveyors are still bitching about not knowing where the sewage lines are going to come onto the property, as if I can fucking answer that question for them or something." "When's your Dad supposed to finally get on site?" I asked. Her father was supposed to be the General Manager of the entire construction project, but so far I had yet to have seen him. "Fuck, a few days still at least," Vanessa sighed. "I'm getting tired as shit of the phone tag." "Well, sorry if this is a big ask and causes you more headaches; any chance we could project ahead a bit and figure out where we can stash the RVs and everything where we're not going to need to move them for a while? Moving everything around is annoying by itself, but I've also noticed some of your guys are spending a lot of time wandering by the RVs whenever the girls are outside." "Fucking gorillas," Vanessa grunted and grimaced. "I mean, on the one hand, I get it; they are either cooped up in the motel or here working. I'm not exactly thrilled with the situation either. But they could keep it in their fucking pants too, ya know?" "Look, if we can find a spot, the way I see it we can use the RVs and Containers to set up a yard for us that's blocked from view. Then we can have some privacy and not feel cooped up in the RVs, and your guys aren't tempted to let their eyes wander," I said. "I figure it's a win-win." Vanessa smiled and patted my arm. "Harri, as long as you keep the fucking indoors, I'll see what I can do about getting you guys some more privacy." "What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly a little worried that Erica and I might have gotten caught at the Willow tree after all, or that maybe a surveyor had wandered up near the Spring without us hearing. "Nothing, nothing," Vanessa said. "I just; you know we can see the RVs rocking a bit, right? And I don't know who it is, but someone over in your camp is a screamer. We can hear her when she really gets going. Once the guys even gave you a standing ovation." "Fuck," I coughed, shaking my head. "I'm sorry. I think it's something to do with the vaccine. I've had more sex in the last four days than I have in the last four years. Honestly, I don't even know how I'm doing it; I ain't old, but I'm not a teenager either." "Well, god bless the vaccine I guess," Vanessa smirked. "And good for you. Just do me a favor and keep it inside the RVs 'till we can get you that privacy. We don't need the entire site shutting down to listen to you fucking your girlfriends." I shook my head again with a self-deprecating smirk. "Um, deal. I hope." That made Vanessa chuckle, and we parted ways for the afternoon. The next day, she came back in the morning and explained the plan she had worked out with the Surveyors and one of the tree-clearing crews. By mid-afternoon, a new swathe of the back end of the hill was bare of trees, and a bulldozer scooped dirt into the holes left by ripped-up stumps. By the time Vanessa left that evening, two of the storage containers had been shifted around by the 'gorillas' and positioned in an L-shape for us in the new location, and Leo and I moved the RVs to form the other two sides of a square. When Vanessa came by the next morning we'd hung up some old, heavy blankets at the corners to maximize our privacy, busted out the lawn chairs and barbecue, and were on our way to turning the space into an outdoor living room. Leo and I even went so far as to rig up an old bell we'd salvaged from the barn on a wooden post with a metal knocker on a string to serve as a doorbell. Erica was the one to answer Vanessa's ring of the bell, and she swept aside the blanket curtain. "Welcome to Casa de Black," she declared. "Jesus," Vanessa said, walking into our new home base. "You guys didn't want to wait, did you?" "Why would we?" Leo asked. "We don't know how long we're going to be living like this, so might as well make the most of it." Leo had decided to make one last addition to our current set-up, and had pulled a loose slab of wood from the container holding all his tools and was carving 'Speak Friend and Enter' into it the makeshift sign with his handheld angle grinder. He'd already been talking about using his torch to burn the wood before giving it a clear lacquer coat. "What can we do for you, Vanessa?" I asked. "Need some breakfast?" "Actually?" Vanessa chewed on the inside of her cheek for a second and peeked back outside the yard. "Breakfast would be fucking great. They're feeding us at the motel, but it's been the same instant oatmeal every fucking morning." "Well, we've yet to have our egg hookup dry out on us," I said. Old Mrs. Branston lived about fifteen minutes down the highway and had been selling eggs to three generations of my family; through the pandemic and quarantine we'd set up a system where I called ahead and she dropped off two dozen eggs at the end of her driveway, and I left a ten dollar bill in her mailbox. "How do you like them? I think I'm getting pretty good at using the grill with a frying pan." We hosted Vanessa for about fifteen minutes as I fried her up some over-easy eggs and some toast to go with it, and she started devouring the first two so quickly that I put another two in the pan for her immediately. While I cooked, she shared the most recent gossip running through the construction crews. "So the latest group to come in said they got tested four times before even leaving the airport," she said around a mouthful. "They were basically flown into Portland, put in little hygienic pods inside the terminals until they'd tested negative all four times, then escorted to military transports. I guess the army is our taxi service or something, and there are members of the national guard currently standing watch at all of the motels. It's kind of fucked up and feels like a prison, honestly. We're not even supposed to mingle outside with each other, despite the fact that we all work together here all day." "Who's feeding you all?" Danielle asked. "Just the people already working out there seems like a lot." "Some catering service is making these prepackaged meals," Vanessa said. "The breakfasts are shit, and the lunches are whatever. The dinners are Okay though; microwavable, and waiting for us when we get off shift." "Have you heard anything else out there about the vaccine?" I asked. "Hmm-Hmm," Vanessa shook her head. "But I mean, I spend my time working." "I'm still not seeing much online," Leo said. "Little whispers on social media, but then it disappears before it gets going." "That's kinda fucked up," Erica said. "We know it's real. The government must be censoring the information or something. "Well, whenever it happens, I don't know what I'll do," Vanessa sighed. "I like working too much, being my own woman. I bring in more cash in a year than almost every other person I graduated high school with, I've been doing it for years, and I don't have any debts. I can't just get tied down to some guy." "You would be surprised, Vanessa," Ivy spoke up. "I am this way too, no? I left home to make my way, and I am happy doing it. But now I am happy here, and am also safe from the sickness. It is not how I saw my life going, but c'est la vie, non?" Vanessa shrugged, and we moved on to some other topics until her radio squawked and she had to run off back to her work. By lunchtime I'd already done another two quick guides into the hills for the surveyors and Leo had gotten his nerd-sign carved out and torched, and he was spray lacquering it outside the yard with a facemask and safety goggles on to cut the strong fumes. He stopped the sprayer when he saw me approaching and stepped away from the sign. "Hey, you able to help me out with hanging this tonight?" he asked me. "Of course," I said. "I gotta help you fly your nerd flag somehow." "Yeah, says the guy with the Lord of the Rings concept art cycling as his desktop screen," Leo rolled his eyes. "It's for my work," I said. "Top-notch inspiration." And then I realized I hadn't opened my laptop in days; not since I'd finished the questionnaire that had led to Erica choosing me. And Ivy for that matter. I hadn't checked emails, I hadn't reached out to contacts. Fuck, I hadn't even sent in my last work-for-hire backgrounds. "Whatever," Leo laughed and punched me in the arm. "Look, when you go in there, just know it wasn't my idea, Okay? I only helped them move the stuff." "What does that mean?" I asked. "You'll see," Leo said cryptically. I ducked through the blanket door and immediately saw what Leo was talking about. Space had been cleared in the center of our sheltered yard for three of the heavy Adirondack deck chairs, and laying in those chairs were Danielle, Erica and Ivy. Each of them was wearing a bikini and were glistening with sunscreen and sweat from the sun as they tanned. They had a Bluetooth speaker playing songs from their phones; I suspected Erica was trying to convince the younger two women of the virtues of mid-2000s pop punk. "Oh, good," Erica said, grinning as she saw me coming into the yard. She lifted her glass. "Um, excuse me, waiter? We could use a top-up, please." I snorted and shook my head, walking over. All three of the women were in two-piece swimsuits, though I suspected Danielle and Ivy's were possibly part of their stripping gear rather than actual bikinis. Both of their suits were more string than fabric and left little to the imagination. Erica's was a bit more conservative, though really not by that much because of her swathe of cleavage. "What are we drinking today, ladies?" I asked. "I made up a pitcher of sangria," Erica said. "It's in the fridge in our place. You would be the absolute love of my life if you were to go get it for us, please?" "I thought I already was the love of your life?" I asked with a smile. "You are," Erica smiled back. "But this will get you to the front of the line for my next life, too. How about that?" "Does that go for all of you?" I asked. "Absolutely," Ivy grinned. "I think I could definitely do worse," Danielle grinned. "But I think Leo might have something to say about that." "Harri can take my brother," Erica chuckled. "Don't worry, Danni. Just sell your future soul to Harri, what's the worst that could happen?" "Fine. My future love life for a refill of sangria," Danielle giggled. I fetched the pitcher and poured for the three women, unable to wipe the grin from my lips as I watched and listened to them bantering back and forth happily. By mid-afternoon, the tanning was over and after a quick fuck in the RV Erica and I were lounging in the Adirondacks, each of us with a sketchbook in hand. "What are you working on?" I asked. "I know you've been as frustrated as I have over the last month." "A tattoo design for Ivy," Erica said, her brow creased as she tapped her pencil against her lips thoughtfully. "Now that I have a future canvas, I feel like I can concentrate again. Plus the sex helps a lot." You laughed and nodded. "Got your creative juices flowing, huh?" "Got all my juices flowing, baby," she grinned at me. "What about you? I've got Ivy, and Danielle wants me to design something for her now, too. What's got you drawing again?" I smiled a little and shrugged. "Just figured out my muse," I said. "And what's that?" she asked. "Come on, don't be shy." I turned my sketchbook around so that Erica could see the portrait I had been sketching of her. She looked at it and blushed, biting her lower lip. "Just the most beautiful thing in the world," I told her. "You know," Erica said. "It kinda looks like you're drawing me naked." "That's cause I'm drawing you from the shoulders up," I said. "Yeah, but would you?" she asked. "Would I what? Draw you naked?" "Or Ivy?" "Are you asking me to draw you like one of my French girls?" I asked. Erica barked out a laugh at the reference and threw her pencil at me. "Yes, maybe I am," she said. "Now give me back my pencil." "You threw it at me," I said, fetching it off the ground. "Come and get it." We ended up in each other's arms and making out, me halfway to taking her back into the RV for round two, when someone rang the doorbell. "Who is it?" I shouted over the wall. "It's me," Vanessa called and ducked through the blanket door without waiting for a response. "Sorry, but we've got a problem," she said. "I think I'm going to need you down at the road again." "Fuck," I said. "Is it Kara?" "It's a lot more than that bitch," Vanessa said. I changed and this time Vanessa drove us both down in her company-branded pickup truck. Erica, having already staked her claim on me in front of Kara in her eyes, decided to hang back and let Ivy finish what I'd started. I was sure sending me away with that picture in my mind was done on purpose. As we were nearing the bottom of the driveway, I could hear the noise of the protest through the closed windows and over the engine of the truck. "Fuck me," I said. "Yeah," Vanessa nodded. The end of the driveway was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, blocking traffic. They were three rows deep and singing a protest chant. Every single one of them was dressed in bright colors, showing their allegiance to the Band and proudly shouting for all they were worth. Opposing them, about ten feet up the drive, was a slim, single row of burly construction workers just watching the protest happen. "Those guys really can't let themselves get baited," I said. "If something happens, it doesn't matter who said what or what can hold up in court. There'll be big, scary motherfuckers showing up wanting to do some damage and I don't think your boys are ready for that." "I know, I already told them," Vanessa said. "But I'll tell them again. You'd be surprised how much threatening someone's big, fat bonus checks can keep them calm and focused." We got out of the truck and I walked down to the line of workers, rubbing at the stubble on my chin as I considered the protestors. There were easily fifty of them blocking the driveway, and there was already a backup of two flatbed trucks on the highway, plus a half dozen cars that looked more like they just wanted to get by rather than come in. Another thirty or so protestors were strung out on either side of the highway in both directions, holding up signs and doing the organizational things to keep the protestors going. "Pretty good turnout," I said offhandedly. "A lot bigger than last time." "When was the last time?" Vanessa asked. "Five years ago," I said. "Kara tried to sue for an injunction on my father's Will, and about a dozen protestors showed up to the courthouse the day she got shot down." "Any chance they'll get tired and go home?" Vanessa asked. I scanned the crowd and the vehicles parked up and down the highway. I already knew there were about thirty military-age males in the protest, and I could see people opening the backs of vans where I spotted supply caches of water and food. I could also see the determination on the faces of the crowd, and hear the declarations of a couple of different women holding loudspeakers. The rhetoric, and emotions, were ramped up more than usual. The anti-government hate was high, and now that they knew they weren't fighting Me but rather the Government it seemed to steel their resolve. "Not a shot," I said. I stepped forward and the shouting got louder. Likely every single person in that crowd knew who I was, while I had no idea who most of them were. But with every step I took, they shouted louder. Finally, halfway between the lines, they seemed to be at a fever pitch and I just stopped and waited. They kept going for a good five minutes before Kara pushed her way through and walked up to me, masked behind those bandanas again. "I told you this would happen," Kara said over the shouting and chanting. "You didn't think I could do it, but look at us. Look at us, Harrison! We will not let this happen to our land." "Kara," I said loudly. "How do you think this ends?" "Only one way," Kara shouted. "The Feds surrender to our rightful claim, and stop their colonization efforts, and we take back what's ours." "This is dangerous, Kara," I said, gesturing at the crowd. "What?" she shouted back. "I said this is dangerous, Kara," I shouted. "Every person here is in danger." "Are you threatening us?" Kara shouted, playing it up for the crowd behind her. "Going to kill us, like your family has done for generations?" "Jesus fuck," I said, shaking my head. "Kara, this doesn't end the way you think it does. I'm going to pray for you, honest to God." Kara just held up her middle finger at me, pointed her other at Vanessa behind me, and turned and walked away to the cheers of her people. I shrugged and went back to Vanessa. "Yeah, they aren't leaving," I said. "I already called my Dad," Vanessa said. "He's coming down and will want to meet with you." "Sure," I nodded. "If they let him through." About thirty minutes later the protesters were still going strong, and another three flatbeds with either supplies or heavy machinery were backed up on the highway, along with dozens of cars. Vanessa was doing as much as she could to keep her workers at least a dozen yards away from the crowd of protestors; the last thing she wanted was for them to need to get quarantined waiting on a half dozen new tests. Or worse, actually catch something. I did my best to help her juggle phones, calling various General Foremen to get incoming trucks rerouted to staging areas and to keep those that were stuck in the traffic in their cabs or else they couldn't enter the site. Eventually she got a call, spoke quickly and then hung up. "Harri, this might be a big ask, but could you do me a favor?" she asked. "The government paid me a lot of money for my land and doing favors," I said. "But you've gone out of your way plenty for me and Leo and the girls. Favors come free to you, Vee." She rolled her eyes. "Who told you my brothers call me that?" "No one, just felt natural," I chuckled. "I call Erica 'E' sometimes, and I'm sure I'll end up calling Ivy 'I've' at some point." "Alright, well, 'H,'" she said. "My dad is parked down at the edge of the property on the highway and doesn't want to get too close to the traffic. Could you hike out to him and bring him back?" "Sure," I said. I looked up at the sun and then out at the woods. "Um, from here... it's probably faster if I grab an ATV. Would he be squeamish about riding double with me?" Vanessa snorted. "He probably wouldn't be, but he's also got a gut the size of your ATVs so it would be a tight fit." "Alright, guess we're hiking. I can rough it and reach him in about twenty minutes," I said. "I'll take a smoother way back for him, so we'll get here in under an hour." "Got it, I'll let him know you're on your way. Thanks," she said, patting my arm. "Try to take it easy on him, he growls like a bear but he's still my Dad." "Hey, he's the big man in charge. Gotta keep him happy or else I'll find myself with the worst workers for my house, right?" "Very true," she laughed. I started hiking back up the driveway a little ways, and then diverted into the woods, hoping that the protestors would miss that I was skirting away from them. I was very glad I had changed from my lounging around clothes; rough jeans and my hiking boots were a lot sturdier in the rocky bush than athletic shorts and sandals. The raucousness of the protestors was quickly muffled by the forest to a dull roar, and it felt good to get away from them. It was weird. After spending months in isolation with Leo and Erica, we'd been getting used to so many people around again with the workers and adding Ivy and Danielle to our weird little family dynamic. But a crowd like that, all packed together? That was exactly what the quarantine orders were warning against. "Harrison!" My name cut through the muffle of the trees and shrubs, and I turned and saw Kara quickly jogging through the woods to catch up with me. "Kara, what the fuck are you doing? You're trespassing," I said. "So throw me off your land," Kara said, coming to a stop about ten feet from me and putting her hands on her hips. "Oh wait, that's right, it's not your land anymore." I rolled my eyes. "You can take off the bandanas if you want. We're fine this far apart." She did so, pulling them down to hang around her neck. Kara was still as beautiful as the day we'd broken up, though she'd grown up a lot. Where I was such a mix that it was hard to tell I had any Native American in my bloodstream, she had that classic warm skin tone and thick black hair. She'd been taking care of herself well, fit and a little thinner than Erica was, but with a similar strong jawline to my girlfriend. Her lips were as full as I remembered though, and I could almost feel her kissing me again like all those years ago behind the corner of the biology classroom in high school, or laying out in the back of my old beater pickup under the stars. "What's going on, Harri?" she asked me. "I thought we'd at least hit a status quo or something." "Oh, the one where you file a lawsuit against me every couple of years, and the judge shuts you down, but I keep having to rack up legal fees?" "No," she said. "Well, sort of. I thought we were keeping things above board. No games, no gimmicks. Not getting historical." I grimaced. "Well, we did," I said. "So what the fuck?" she said, throwing her arms wide. "What the fuck is all of this?" "Kara, think about it for one fucking second without your prejudice. Imagine I'm not just doing this as a 'Fuck You' from my family tree to the Band," I said. "A week ago I wouldn't have thought any of this would be happening. A week ago I was happily living my life and would have stayed that way straight through the end of the world if I had to. Do you seriously think I've done this on some whim?" "Why, then? What are they doing? What are they offering you?" she demanded. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said. "And even if you did, I think you're too far into this already to walk it back with your people." "Try me," she said. "If you ever cared about me,” "Stop," I interrupted her. "You've used that line twice on me before, Kara. You used it when you broke up with me, and you used it again right after my father died. That line didn't work when I was at some of the lowest points in my life; do you seriously think I'll respond well to that here?" She grimaced, and I saw the realization in her eyes that I was right. That she had used that line before, and it had been pretty fucked up for her to do that. "I'm sorry," she said, and only partially through gritted teeth. "I shouldn't have done that." "Thank you," I said. My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt like I was in combat, just having this verbal sparring contest with her. I fucking hated her, but I also still knew she was the first girl I'd ever loved. The one that had broken my heart. The one that 'got away.' "Just explain it to me," Kara said, trying to be more even about it. "Please." I took a moment to breathe deeply. I wasn't barred from telling her anything. I'd tried to warn her when she'd shown up at the driveway before, but the thought of all those protestors at risk for the virus pushed me over the edge of trying to warn her again. "Kara, the government gave me the choice of accepting a huge payout for the land, or them kicking me out and taking it by eminent domain. Either way, they were going to take it and take it fast. I could either ride it, or die fighting it." "So what are they doing with it?" she asked. "Building homes," I said. "A whole gated community, it sounds like. Part of my payout was housing for myself, Leo and Valerie." "What the fuck? Why do they want a gated community way out here?" she asked. "Worst-case scenario shit," I said. "You mean the pandemic?" she asked. "Are you for fucking serious?" "Serious enough that my house got bulldozed a couple days ago," I said. "Gone. Like it was never even there." "This can't be real," Kara said. "This is absurd." "I told you that you wouldn't believe me," I said. "Well, if you were too much of a cunt to stop them, we will," Kara said, steeling herself again. "We'll have the local news down here by tomorrow, and if the Feds show up we'll have national news coverage by the end of the week." I had to try one more time. "Kara, this doesn't end the way you want it to. You're a dreamer, and I loved that about you when we were teens, but you know the real world doesn't just work like that." Kara narrowed her eyes. "Where are you going right now?" "What does that matter?" I asked. "Because I just followed you out into the woods after your little construction girlfriend was talking to you," she said. "She's not my girlfriend," I rolled my eyes. "Tell her that. She's flirting with you hard enough," Kara said. "I can see her doing it." "Even if she was, what does that have to do with you?" I asked. I knew I'd landed a blow because she got angry again. "Nothing," she said. "But I still want to know what you're doing." "I don't have to tell you that, Kara," I said. "I don't answer to you, I don't owe you anything, and I don't worship the ground you walk on. All I've got to say now is that you should go send all those people home, and hope that you haven't organized some super-spreader event here. For all the shit you've given me and my family, I don't want to see them all dead. I don't want to see you dead." Kara raised her bandanas again. "We're fighting the good fight. We're on the right side of this, Harrison. You're not." She turned and started walking back towards the road. "Fuck me," I sighed, shaking my head. That woman could still push my buttons almost fifteen years later. I pressed through the forest, making for the edge of the property and then diverting towards the road. When I reached it, I found a white and brown heavy pickup identical to Vanessa's idling on the gravel shoulder. The big guy in the driver's seat rolled down his window a crack. "What's up?" "I'm Harrison Black," I said. Another guy got out of the passenger seat and came around, slapping the hood. "Head on back to the motel," he said to the man in the truck. "I'll catch a ride back with my daughter." The guy in the truck nodded and waited for us both to back away before pulling a U-Turn and taking off down the highway. "So, you're the land guy, eh?" the man said, turning and offering me his hand. He was exactly as Vanessa had described; portly to the point of obese, with a gruff exterior that spoke of years handling his business in a rough industry and getting shit done. "I am," I said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "Your daughter has been fantastic to work with. Helpful and on task, and she keeps her guys in line." "I have no doubt," he said. "She grew up bossing her older brothers around and got the best of her mother and me. I'm Brent Peters, by the way. I'm sure we'll be speaking every once in a while through this project." "Good to meet you, sir," I said. "And I'm sure we will." I led Brent into the brush and got us through the roughest part until I could get us to one of the more used trails. It got a lot easier for him there, and once he had a chance to catch his breath he seemed to actually enjoy the chance to stretch his legs. He didn't know, or at least wasn't forthcoming, with any more information than Vanessa had been able to give about what was going on, but he did enjoy hearing about the sordid history of the land, my family and the Band. It took a little longer than I'd thought it would to get back to the driveway, Brent needing a couple of breaks, but we made it eventually. Vanessa grinned when she saw her father in a way that made me think she was going to run to him and hug him, but she never made the move. I had to assume that was a hard-trained response from her years working with the man; hugging your pops on a job site would probably lead to taking a lot of shit from your coworkers. Brent quickly got updated on the last hour of developments from Vanessa, and I saw his managerial side take over. Soon the line of construction workers were twenty yards back from the protestors, and he was stride-waddling forward with a medical mask stretched over his face. Kara met him halfway, and whatever they said seemed to go about as well as the talks I'd had with her myself. Again, she ended it by showing off for the protestors by giving him the double-birds. "Well, that went well," Brent sighed as he came back. "You were right, Harrison. They're stuck in. Wouldn't even help us get those trucks room to move or get out of the way of traffic." "She feels like she's got leverage," I guessed. "And they haven't had that on us for years now." "Well, I've officially done what I can," Brent said. "Time to do what every good GM does when shit like this happens." He took out his phone and started walking up the driveway away from Vanessa and me. "What's that?" I asked. "Call the client and tell them to un-fuck the situation," Vanessa smirked. The rest of the afternoon and evening was a long fucking day. There was no good way to get the workers on site off of it, and no good way to get new ones on, so Leo and I ended up walking several groups through the trails to get to the road in places out of sight of the protestors. And since the big crew vans were parked on site, Brent ended up getting access to school buses to come and pick up his guys. The second to last bus dropped off a dozen men who would take over watching the driveway and the protestors overnight; we'd already seen them breaking out tents and lanterns to hold their vigil; and the last bus out had Brent and Vanessa on board. "Client will be by in the morning," Brent said, and winked at me. "Don't you worry, bucko. You hold down the home front tonight, and the cavalry will be here in no time." "You got it," I said. "But whoever is coming, I suggest you make sure they know to take this seriously. The Band is riled up, and now they smell blood in the water. This isn't going away easily." "I'll pass that on to the Lieutenant Colonel," Brent nodded. He shook my hand again and stepped onto the bus. "See you tomorrow, H," Vanessa grinned at me. "Not if I see you first, Vee," I chuckled. She stepped up into the bus and I heard her voice raise immediately. "Alright, you Gorillas. Grab your fuckin' seats and stay there. I swear to Christ if one of you pisses me off, I'll confiscate your fuckin' dinner, got it?" I laughed, and could see the construction workers grinning in their seats as the bus did a three-point turn and pulled away. The sun was getting low when I finally hiked out of the bush and back into view of our little compound. Erica was waiting for me with a smile and a plate of stir fry. "What's the word, Harri?" "They're still down there," I said. "There are some workers keeping an eye on the driveway. Could you throw on a big pot of coffee for me and dig one of the thermoses out of storage?" "Harri, if they've got some of their workers down there, it's not your job to supervise. I'm sure Vanessa and her Dad left someone in charge." "They did," I said. "And I'm not going down there. I'm staying up here." I shoveled the stir fry down, relishing in the spicy kick Erica liked to cook with. Inside our little compound I gave Ivy a kiss, apologizing that I wouldn't be seeing her in bed for the night. Then I went to the storage container closest to my RV. The one with my gun safe. "What's the word?" Leo asked me when he found me. I had a lantern flashlight on and was loading rounds into my father's Model 700. "Jesus, Harri. What the fuck?" I doubted he was commenting on me loading the Remington hunting rifle. We'd used it plenty when we were hunting during deer season; it was a solid, reliable tool. No, I knew he was reacting to the other firearms I had out. My M9 was already holstered on my hip, a copy of my service sidearm that had served me so well through my tour and as an MP, and my DDM4V1 was laid out, waiting for me to do a quick check it was still in good order. "Just taking precautions," I said. I was already trying to get into the right mindset. "What does that even mean? What are you doing?" "There's about a hundred protesters down there, last I counted. More keep arriving," I told Leo, loading the last round into the 700 and checking the safety before setting it down. I fished a handful more.308's out of the ammo box in the safe and fed them into the bandolier shoulder strap for the hunting rifle. "Problem is, they're pissed off. Not just about the construction, but at all the other shit going on right now. And pissed-off people do dumb shit." "So what, you're going to go all Alamo on us?" Leo asked. "For real, Harri. Nothing's going to happen. They're down there, we're up here." "Leo," I said. "I'm not asking you to do anything you don't want to. The Bear shotgun is in my RV. Do me a favor and keep it handy tonight. If I miss something, I'd rather you have it than not." "Harri,” "Dude, just stop," I said. I'd finished with the.308s and started taking apart the DDM4V1 and giving it a quick clean. It was a budget purchase that I'd made prioritizing reliability over flashy shit, and the 'scary one' in my collection when it came to civilians. Erica hadn't even liked the idea of me owning it when we gave her the tour of my firearms and taught her the safety protocols for them. Leo had only ever fired it once. Both of the siblings had said the same thing; 'If you have the rifles and shotguns and the handgun, why do you need a machine gun?' This sort of thing was why I needed it. And it wasn't a 'machine gun.' "I'm not planning, or hoping, to kill someone tonight. If I have to use the DDM4 or my sidearm, something has gotten really fucked," I said. "But I'm also not taking any chances. Sometime tonight, there's going to be people sneaking up into the construction yard to cause mischief, and they aren't going to know the difference between the construction yard and where we're living. Maybe they hear us and they stay clear, or maybe they don't. I'm not taking that chance." Leo watched me cleaning my rifle, and glanced out at the darkening sky, and then back to me. "What should I do?" he asked. A wave of relief washed over me; it had been years since I'd served, and every instinct I had was telling me to do what I was doing, but that civilian part of my brain was second-guessing everything. Leo agreeing told me I was being logical, even if he didn't like it or I turned out to be wrong. "Just be with the girls tonight," I said. "I can handle the yard, you stay with them. Think of it like a shitty tower defense game. If I do my job, you'll never have to do anything." He nodded and left me to my work. Surprisingly, it was Danielle who came to see me next. "What can I do to help?" she asked. Her Australian accent was sounding stronger, the California valley girl part of it dropping with her serious demeanor. "Nothing, I've got it," I said. She'd caught me as I was strapping on my ghillie suit; another item that Leo and Erica had found silly to own considering we didn't need it for hunting deer. It had honestly been more of a gag item in my collection than anything until tonight. "Harrison, I'll remind you that my Dad was military, yeah?" she said. "I grew up outside the city. I know how to work a firearm." I took a breath and looked at her. Even at night, by the light of a lantern, she looked like an elven beauty despite the cutoff denim shorts and zippered knit sweater. "Can you handle a handgun?" I asked. "I've shot the head of an Eastern Brown from ten paces away when it was threatening to bite my dog," she said. "I assume that's a snake?" "A fucking poisonous one," Danielle said. "Alright," I nodded. "Under the passenger seat of my truck is a gun case with my pop's old 1911 and a couple of magazines. Hang on to it for tonight. Try not to freak out Erica or Ivy, and if you hear shots tonight don't let Leo come looking for me, let alone Erica and Ivy. If they leave the RVs it'll just make things worse." "Okay," she said with a serious nod, then stepped towards me, hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks." "For what?" I asked as she stepped back. "For being the man I figured you were," she said. "Leo's all mine and I'm happy with that, but like I told you; you remind me of all the good parts of my Dad. I'm glad I have Leo and you around." She left to fetch the pistol, and I finished strapping on the ghillie suit and slung my two rifles over my shoulders and closed the gun safe. When I was finished slamming the storage container closed, I turned around to find Ivy and Erica both looking at me with their arms crossed. "Both of you, huh?" I asked. "Yes, both of us," Erica said. "United front," Ivy said. "Look,” "Shut up, Harrison," Erica said, and then they were both hugging me while being careful around the firearms. "Just be careful." "Extra careful," Ivy said, burying her face into the strings of the ghillie suit in my chest and then immediately pulling back with a wince. "Ugh, this smells terrible." "Yeah, well it's not exactly the sort of thing you clean very often," I shrugged. "Whatever," Erica said and kissed me. Ivy kissed me as well, looking at me with those big eyes of hers with concern. "So you're not going to try and convince me this isn't necessary?" I asked. "Wouldn't do anything except lead to a fight we couldn't win," Erica said. "You're too stubborn not to do it." "And too brave," Ivy added. "That too," Erica smiled sadly. Then she handed me the big thermos of coffee. "Come back to us in one piece." "I will," I said. "Don't worry. But if you two hear anything tonight, if there's any gunfire, don't come looking for me. Just stay in the RVs and hunker down from the windows. If you come looking for me, you'll add more danger and not take it away, alright?" They both agreed, though I could tell Erica didn't like it. I could only imagine her sprinting across the construction yard, bullets flying everywhere, screaming my name as she worried I'd been shot. Hell, she'd probably pick me up and carry me to safety if it were true, but she'd also likely never get to me in the first place if things were that bad. I kissed them both again, then stalked off into the night. I ended up settling into a nook on the side of the hill to the south of the construction yard, with a clear view of about two-thirds of the yard and most importantly the RV compound. I unslung my rifles and carefully positioned myself in a comfortable prone position I was going to be able to manage for a long time. I'd never gone through Sniper training, but I'd picked up enough from my Bootcamp, talking with other soldiers and from movies to know a thing or two; not to mention years of hunting. So I cracked the thermos and took a sip of the hot, strong coffee, and started my watch. I saw them moving through the trees at around 02:30 in the morning down on the east side of the yard near the driveway. They must have skirted around the construction worker picket line and followed the driveway up, but they were still in the shadows so I couldn't tell how many there were, or what they were carrying. The only reason I spotted them early at all was because someone was flicking a flashlight up occasionally. I had the 700 cradled in my arms, and I slowly rolled into position but didn't sight down the scope yet. I didn't have any night vision gear, and while the simple Leopold scope easily gave me the range to tag anything moving down there, I wouldn't know what I was hitting. They stopped at the edge of the tree line, and I could only imagine the nerves they were feeling looking out over the open area. There were seven portables set up holding various offices now, and half a dozen big crew vans that had been left behind for the night along with some of the company pickup trucks. The pilings and supplies to erect the bigger barracks were also looming in the big, open space. "Just take a look and leave," I muttered quietly to myself, willing whoever was down there to not make this worse than it could be. Five minutes went by before a figure began to creep out of the tree line, crossing the rise of the hill and slipping towards the yard. From the distance I was at, I couldn't see them clearly enough other than to tell they were probably wearing a backpack; not a big deal in and of itself, but my training was screaming at me. 'Anything' meant anything. That backpack could hold weapons, or communications equipment, or even an I E D. I sighted in on the figure. It was a man, military age but young. I couldn't see much of his face between the black bandana over his nose and mouth and a ball cap backwards on his head. My finger tightened just a fraction on the trigger when I saw the flash of metal in his hand, but my hesitation saved his life; he was carrying a can of spray paint. He reached what he thought was the shelter of the first building; and it was shelter if he thought a guard was patrolling inside the yard. But I wasn't inside the yard, and instead I was looking at him dead on along the length of the building as he took off his backpack and then turned, motioning back towards the tree line. A half dozen more figures began quickly creeping across the hillside. I had a choice; if that backpack was full of spray-paint and that was all they were there to do, it would be annoying vandalism at worst as long

Entrusting Your Life to Jesus - Matthew 17:14-27All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2 Tim. 3:16-17All the Scriptures were perfectly written between 1500 BC & 100 A.D. But the printing press wasn't created until A.D. 1455. That means every fragment and copy of the Bible was hand-copied before the printing press.Why we can fully trust that the Bible we have from copies is TRUE:Tens of thousands of copied manuscripts, unlike any ancient document.Remarkable consistency across 2 MILLION pages of biblical text.Understandable differences as copies were made over centuries.Earliest texts to help clarify what the original text said.In today's text we are going to see Jesus interact with people during some very frustrating moments in life. We will see Him exhort us all with words and deeds that show we can entrust our lives to Him.Matthew 17:14-27Disciples have to entrust family member's health to Jesus - V. 14-18Jesus' words in verse 17 seem harsh at first, but remember that He had just been up on the mountain and got to interact with ancient saints known for great faith and focused living for God. But now he's back with disciples caught up in unbelief and petty arguing.Mark 9:21-24 lets us know that Jesus can do anything we ask Him to do. We can approach Him with full confidence that if healing now is His will, it will happen. But if you struggle to believe that, use this father's words to voice your prayer to Jesus – “Lord I believe; help my unbelief.”Disciples have to entrust their frustrations to Jesus - V. 19-21When you are frustrated and ‘in the flesh' sin blocks you from focused prayers and successful ministry to others. You are blocked from trusting God and entrusting your situation to God.“If I regard iniquity (sin) in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” - Ps. 66:18The key to faith is not the amount of it but the object of it. What confidence our faith in Jesus brings! If it is His will for the mountain of our circumstance to move, He will say ‘Yes' to our prayer. If He says ‘No' or ‘Wait,' we can be confident the no will be for a greater ‘Yes.'“Even a small amount of faith can move a mountain, assuming that the move is in God's will.” - David JeremiahDisciples have to entrust what distresses them to Jesus - V. 22-23Suffering and death are not the worst things that will happen to a believer – failure to live by faith in the midst of our circumstances is. Prosperous circumstances and things going our way often keep us from growing faith.Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. - 1 Peter 4:1-2Disciples have to entrust their finances to Jesus - V. 24-27With all the travel and experiences Peter must have been physically and emotionally exhausted when he got home to Capernaum. And what does he encounter there? The tax man!This tax was the Temple tax going all the way back to Exodus 30. Men over 20 years of age were to pay this tax every year for the upkeep of God's house in Jerusalem.Knowing all things, including what Peter was feeling, verse 25 says Jesus spoke to him first. Jesus knew Peter needed encouragement in this time of distress, and He gave it to Peter. He knows you and I need it too!Jesus is saying He is the Son of God here. Prince's don't have to be taxes in their father's house. Since Jesus is the Son of God, He doesn't need to pay taxes to support His Father's house!A stader was worth 4 drachma, enough to pay off their tax bill and model good citizenship.

Get Howard's book here: https://a.co/d/dKN61sC   Tariffs are threatening, AI is replacing jobs, inflation is on the rise, and the word “recession” is being bandied about. The economy is on everyone's mind these days—because we're living it! But few people feel like they understand economics well enough to determine which policies would work best and champion those policies effectively.   Howard Yaruss can break down our economic system in a straightforward, nonpartisan way, avoiding jargon as he answers such questions as:   · Who pays for tariffs and how do they affect prices, jobs, and our economy? · Are the government's huge deficits and escalating national debt threats to our well-being? · What causes inflation, how big a problem is it, and how can we rein it in? · Could alternative currencies like Bitcoin replace the dollar? · What does the Fed do and how does it affect our lives? · Why is inequality soaring and what can we do about it? · Do tax cuts for the wealthy create jobs or just more inequality? · Why do so many people believe free trade is good if it causes some people to lose jobs? · Are we headed for a recession and, if so, what can be done to get the economy back on track?   HOWARD YARUSS is an economist, professor, attorney, businessman, and activist who has taught a variety of courses on economics and business and currently teaches at New York University. Prior to teaching, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Radian Group, one of the largest guarantors of debt in the world. Yaruss graduated from Brown University, studied at the London School of Economics, and earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.   Check out our new bi-weekly series, "The Crisis Papers" here: https://www.patreon.com/bitterlakepresents/shop   Thank you guys again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and everyone of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined, BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron only programing, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH!   Become a patron now https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents?   Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, (specially YouTube!)   THANKS Y'ALL   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG9WtLyoP9QU8sxuIfxk3eg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/ Twitter: @TIRShowOakland Instagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland   Read Jason Myles in Sublation Magazine https://www.sublationmag.com/writers/jason-myles   Read Jason Myles in Damage Magazine https://damagemag.com/2023/11/07/the-man-who-sold-the-world/   Read Jason in Unaligned here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-161586946...   Read, "We're All Sellouts Now" here: https://benburgis.substack.com/.../all-we-ever-wanted-was...

Whilst there are some people at either end of the spectrum - at one end we have vegans, and the other we have those following the carnivore or lion diet - most of us we fall somewhere in the middle as far as red meat intake goes.That being said, there's a lot of conflicting info around whether red meat is good or bad for you, and much debate on how much is too much - which can leave us with questions and concerns about the volume we might be consuming. Understandable, given what's at STEAK *boom tish*Spoiler alert, this is a nuanced conversation but if you'd like to get our thoughts - just press play!SEND US A QUESTION:https://www.speakpipe.com/theholistichealthpodcast  FIND NAT BELOW: Website - https://nataliekdouglas.com/  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/natalie.k.douglas  Book a Free Assessment Call - https://calendly.com/nataliekdouglas/thyroid-discovery-call EndoNourish - Endometriosis and Adenomyosis Guide - https://nataliekdouglas.com/endonourish-holistic-endometriosis-adenomyoisis-care-guide/   SacredSeeds - Preconception Care Guidehttps://nataliekdouglas.com/preconception-care-guide/  PCOS Wellness Guidehttps://nataliekdouglas.com/pcos-holistic-guide/  Thyroid Rescue - Self guided programhttps://nataliekdouglas.com/thyroid-rescue/  Coming Off The Pill/IUD Holistic Guidehttps://nataliekdouglas.com/coming-off-the-pill-mini-course/  Become a one-to-one clienthttps://nataliekdouglas.com/1-1-naturopathic-nutrition-consultations/  FIND AMIE BELOW: Book a Free Discovery Call: https://p.bttr.to/3yBdmu3   Book Yourself In: https://l.bttr.to/ZDxWO   Website - https://whatthenaturopathsaid.com   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thatnaturopath   Join the mailing list - https://elysium-clinic-of-natural-medicine.ck.page/69663ce14a   

Big Thunder Topic from Trammin' Episode 267Everyone's got their MUST when they come to Disneyland. It's often a churro, or Haunted Mansion. Understandable. But you know the Trammin' boiz have their hot takes. We won't overwhelm you this week, so what does Kirk think of your must-do's? Are they what you say they are, or are they… NOT FOR ME. Do's is the accepted plural form according to the AP Style Guide so I don't want to hear it from Chicago apologists. Listen to full episodes every Windsday and topic-only uploads on Big Thunder Thursdays!InstagramTrammin' - https://instagram.com/TramminPodcastChristian Rainwater - https://instagram.com/imrainwaterMusicLocal Forecast - Elevator Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Trammin' - The Disneylanders, Addy DaddyUsed with permission.Character Art & AnimationNadia Dar - https://nadsdardraws.carrd.co/Trammin.comTrammin' is written without the use of Artificial Intelligence.©Trammin' - A Disneyland Podcast

Everyone's got their MUST when they come to Disneyland. It's often a churro, or Haunted Mansion. Understandable. But you know the Trammin' boiz have their hot takes. We won't overwhelm you this week, so what does Kirk think of your must-do's? Are they what you say they are, or are they… NOT FOR ME. Do's is the accepted plural form according to the AP Style Guide so I don't want to hear it from Chicago apologists. Listen to full episodes every Windsday and topic-only uploads on Big Thunder Thursdays!InstagramTrammin' - https://instagram.com/TramminPodcastChristian Rainwater - https://instagram.com/imrainwaterMusicLocal Forecast - Elevator Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Trammin' - The Disneylanders, Addy DaddyUsed with permission.Character Art & AnimationNadia Dar - https://nadsdardraws.carrd.co/Trammin.comTrammin' is written without the use of Artificial Intelligence.©Trammin' - A Disneyland Podcast

Send us a textWelcome to You Heard it Here Last where we talk about news, you've already heard.https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo70cy9?Gen-Con-Preview-BlogYou may not realize it, but GenCon is just around the corner, and while the online chatter wants to turn the tariff issues into doom and gloom for GenCon, I tend to believe it will be as big as ever. Paizo's recent announcement about GenCon events seems to bear out my sentiment.Paizo has announced they are running a Starfinder Society Second Edition event with their new 4-5 hour scenario “Collisions Wake.” They also will be hosting a Pathfinder Society adventure “Under the Eye of Mantis.” Finally, they will be releasing “Battlecry!”, official skirmish rules for leading armies.While I don't play much official Pathfinder, I think this just illustrates that GenCon will be as active as ever, not only with the games you love, but with new things as well.Dust off the credit cards, put on those compression socks, and get to GenCon.Mike, What do you think of Paizo's lineup for GenCon?[Kick to Mike]Christina, What about you?[Kick to Christina]Now onto something a little more heavy hitting.https://www.enworld.org/threads/goodman-games-revives-relationship-with-anti-semitic-publisher-for-new-city-state-kickstarter-updated.713282/In 2020 Judges Guild owner Bob Bledsaw II posted a variety of racist, homophobic and antisemitic statements online. These statements rightfully created a bit of a stir at the time and various game publishers including Bat in the Attic, Frog God Games, Goodman Games, and Drivethru RPG cut all ties with Judges Guild.It should be noted that these statements were all made by Bob Bledsaw II, not by Bob Bledsaw Snr, who co-founded Judges Guild and passed away in 2008.Fast Forward to today. Goodman Games has announced a new version of “City State of the Invincible Overlord” will be coming to crowdfunding this summer. The original version was written by Bob Bledsaw Snr and the license for “City State of the Invincible Overlord” is still owned by Judges Guild. Goodman Games will be publishing this new version through a license with Judges Guild Games.Understandable this has caused a bit of concern.EN World has a great article outlining the original issues and statements along with a current response from Goodman Games.Let's start with Christina on this one, thoughts?[kick to Christina]Mike, is this problematic or is this just business?[kick to Mike]And there you have it, all the news, you've already heard.

Scott Petrak joined Baskin and Phelps to explain why the Browns are letting Nick Chubb sign elsewhere for the 2025 season and all of the little things that lead up to the running back's exit from Cleveland. He talked about whether or not the young and rookie running backs can fill the void Chubb is leaving behind, and he talked about why he thinks Joe Flacco would give the Browns the best opportunity to win right out of the gate.

**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience.****************Let us explain. No, we haven't bought a red convertible, had an affair or gotten a divorce. But reaching this stage of life, what we once looked as a somewhat baffling, even humorous, stereotype of modern American life... makes a little more sense to us. Or at least we feel like we could see how someone landed there. We take a deep-dive into what we think counts as a mid-life crisis, what we think causes it and how maybe, just maybe, we can channel it into more productive ends. Or to justify that basement pottery studio that you've been dreaming of :)

Fred Heppner of Arizona Transitions is back for part 2 of his chat with Kiera! Life comes at you fast, and sometimes, it comes in the form of a surprise. Kiera and Fred talk about creating an exit strategy today for your departure from dentistry, as well as what the economics look like for moving on from a practice. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am so excited for you to have part two of me and Fred Heppner going through associates, DSOs, how to really grow this. You guys, we had such an incredible first half of this episode. It was so long and so much information that I wanted to break it into two parts. So here's part two. I hope you enjoy. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.   Kiera Dent (00:24) should people be talking   when they're in their 20s 30s or is it something we're like start to think about it I know Ryan and I from Dentist advisors we we talk shop about this quite often of like there I mean there are studies that show that when you retire you actually start to atrophy in life and ⁓ there isn't as much of a purpose and so we talk often of like how can we continue that   mental stamina, the things that are going to fulfill us, whether it's working or something else of philanthropy, like whatever is going to keep you going as a human, whether you're working in the chair or you're not, I think is important. So that's I was curious of like, really probably connecting with you three to five years before we think we might retire, but with the caveat of, hey, if something were to happen to me, what would kind of be my exit strategy? your like death list like I do, like if I die, this is what's going to happen. It's creepy, but it's awesome.   Fred Heppner (01:15) No, it's, it's creepy and it is awesome. And at the same time, it's a really good conversation to have because if we're three to five years out, then one of the first things to do is say, okay, so what's going to happen if you're not here? And that carries on to the discussion we had earlier. So once the discussion about, what do want to do when you, when you retire or you stop practicing dentistry, then the questions start coming up. What about the economics?   Kiera Dent (01:27) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (01:44) So in any... Yep, absolutely.   Kiera Dent (01:44) I was just going to say, like, is it sell? Is it DSO? it? And also, I mean, this   to me also, I think might exponentially accelerate some people's plans because the DSOs are hot and it's like 10x EBITDA. That might accelerate your retirement or your sell because you're on a wave right now that who knows if in the next 20, 30, 40 years we'll be there. Fred, I'm super curious, like, how is this whole DSO model maybe shifting it for transitions? Or is it? I'm curious.   Fred Heppner (02:13) It is, it's shifted quite a bit, but what it's shifted is a real desire for dentists to be able to sell their businesses and release the management responsibility and to have somebody else take that over. 15, 20. Yeah. I just want to do, I just want to do dentistry. I don't want to manage a business. I don't want to manage people. Um, I don't want to run the company. I want to be able to practice my trade. Well,   Kiera Dent (02:22) you   The dream for every business owner. ⁓   Exactly.   Fred Heppner (02:43) I can tell you that in the last 15, 20 years, it's certainly exploded in dentistry and not in a bad way. And here's why. Dentists graduating from dental school today need a place to work. The banks that loan money to dentists to buy dental practices are looking for dentists that have a couple years experience in dentistry. They have a production track record. The banks can see what it is that the dentist can do. Chair aside.   a good credit score and some liquidity, usually 8 to 10 % of the purchase price of the business that they're looking at in cash. So one of the things to consider is graduating dentists should be able to make the minimum payments on their debt, on their student loans, on what debt they have, and begin to put money away as quickly as possible to gain some liquidity. So as we look at the equation of   what DSOs are doing, they're providing them with a place to work. Because as dentists come out, I mean, the majority of dental practices that I work with, maybe you can echo this or discuss it, are just single dentist practices. Right, they don't have a, somebody called it a plus one at some point time, and I thought, okay, that's decent. So you have the dentistry, but there's the ability to bring somebody on maybe one or two days a week. Well, that doesn't,   Kiera Dent (03:44) Mm-hmm.   Totally same.   Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (04:09) That doesn't feed a hungry young dentist coming out of dental school who really has a lot of debt and wants to begin to work and develop a way to reduce that debt. They're looking for four days a week, five. They might have a quality of life thing where they just want to work three tens and be off Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. That's okay. But the point is, is that most private practices don't have the capacity to be able to bring on a full-time dentist and feed them right away and keep them very busy. The DSOs, corporate dentistry,   Kiera Dent (04:19) Right.   Fred Heppner (04:39) have offices that can provide that place. So essentially, if a dentist comes out of school and begins to work, they may very well work for one of the corporate DSOs, which gives them experience. It gives them the ability to work five days a week. It gives them the ability to practice in what I call civilian dentistry out of dental school. And it gives them the opportunity to be able to see what it's really like. I can tell you, Kiera, that 15, I think 15 years ago,   Kiera Dent (04:57) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (05:08) the most popular phone call I would get on my phone line was, hey, we just got 50 million from a private equity firm. We're starting a DSO, but we're different. And we want to buy practices from you because we heard you're good. And I just tell them, great, thanks very much. Get in line, register on my website. And when an opportunity comes up, I will email to you like I do everybody else the opportunity. Because most of my clients call and say, I...   Kiera Dent (05:17) you   Fred Heppner (05:34) Hard no to a DSO. I'm a private practitioner. I've got a legacy practice and I want to sell to another private dentist Okay, so that was the most popular second most popular call was I'm sick of working for a company find me a practice to buy Now it's shifted More so do I hear I'm sick of working for somebody else find me a private practice to buy I'm ready to go The the DSO calls have filtered off of it and I don't know that that's a global   Kiera Dent (05:48) Mm-hmm. ⁓   Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (06:03) representation of the DSOs starting to slow their buying and really focus on the profitability of the offices they have to really maintain the profitability due to higher interest rates. Maybe they're slowing down their buying. Who knows? The interesting thing about it is that it's somewhat of a closed loop in DSO work. You really can't get into and find out exactly what everybody is doing unless you're member of their organizations, which is fine. And I respect that.   Kiera Dent (06:12) Yeah.   Fred Heppner (06:32) private information, but it begs the question. And ultimately, if a dentist is looking to buy their own practice, eventually they're going to need those one to two years experience, liquidity, good credit score, in order for them to go to one of the commercial banks and say, I want to buy a practice and let me get a practice to buy and then we'll put it together. Okay? So I can tell you that private practice is alive and well.   Kiera Dent (06:55) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (07:02) very bullish on the individual dentist who's out there still practicing and doing quite well. I can also tell you that those kinds of doctor to doctor transitions are extremely successful. The idea is some people who look at a transition like that would think, my gosh, the dentist leaves, all the patients will leave. They'll go somewhere else, they'll go to other practices. Well, if that was true, let's carry that forward. If that was true,   Kiera Dent (07:14) Mm-hmm.   No.   Fred Heppner (07:28) then that would mean that the loans that the dentist used to buy the practice would go in default, would they not? Because if all the patients left, there would be no revenue and they'd have to fold up camp and see you later, right? The default rate on dental practice loans still over the last 15, 20 years and even recently is 40 basis points. 100 basis points is 1%. 40 basis points is four tenths of 1%. So if you follow the math,   Kiera Dent (07:33) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (07:58) The default rate is less than half of 1 % on the billions of dollars that are loaned by banks for dentists to buy practices. They don't fail. Okay.   Kiera Dent (08:08) Totally. They don't and they're such a   good investment. I think that that's why so many people like, that's why I think DSOs are buying up practices. ⁓ And I think that that's where so many private practice owners now, I would say I've watched where it used to be legacy practices and there's still legacy practice doctors who do not want to sell to a DSO. Like when they're there, they want to sell doctor to doctor, they want to bring in an associate, they want to bring in partners. I think   By default, dentistry tends to be a more humanistic, ⁓ very relationship model ⁓ versus I still think though, right now DSOs, you're right. I don't think people are getting as many calls. ⁓ But what I will say is my doctors are probably getting 20 to 30 emails every month from a DSO interested in buying their practice. So they are getting it as private practice owners. And so I think that that's where, ⁓ like I said, some people within the last eight years bought a practice as a private practice.   the DSOs, they were profitable. were within the metrics that the DSO wanted. And it just made sense. was like, I'm going to get 10x EBITDA on this. My EBITDA is great. No private party is going to pay me what this DSO is going to pay me. And while yes, I'd love it to maintain a legacy practice, I'm in my 30s and I could basically have retirement today. mean, there's more risk selling out because they have a lot of it in their stocks and there's a whole ⁓ game around that.   I think that that's where maybe some of the younger generation might be looking at transitions sooner than I think the more senior population of dentistry is. think that they're starting to be the shift and that's where I'm very curious of like, maybe conversations need to be had sooner. Maybe because DSOs are aggressive on the emails to the dentist. Like it is wild and they are sexy offers to them that are not always true. And that creeps me out too, because they're hearing a number. Like I had a doctor and he had a DSO.   Fred Heppner (09:49) Yep. Yep.   Kiera Dent (10:04) come to him and they said, Hey, we're going to give you 5 million. And he's like, here, it seems like a great deal. And I said, yeah, but you're going to do 5 million next year just in your own production. So that's actually a bad deal because you're already going to make that without selling to them and having to work for them for the next five to 10 years or like three to five is usually what their requirement is. So again, I think that this is where it's like, how do we cut through that noise to know when I do transition? Because I think people are getting asked to transition from private practice.   sooner. You're right, they go work at the DSO, they go to some of those bigger corporate practices to get the experience, then they go buy their private practice, and then it really is, or they do a startup. And then it's pretty aggressive because I think Wall Street's pretty hot right now and private equity is very, very luring, but they do have to hit certain requirements to join DSOs.   Fred Heppner (10:53) Yeah. There are tons of verticals that people are getting into, the private equity is getting into, you're right. There's a ton of money at it. You know, I would tell you that the devil is in the details. It may very well be that there are transitions that occur where a DSO or a corporation acquires the assets of a private practice and the dentist stays and works back in the office. And that transition works swimmingly well for the dentist who sells for the DSO.   Kiera Dent (11:02) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (11:21) And ultimately everything works out fine. There are others that don't and they're, they're out there. And I think what you mentioned earlier is, you know, I could get 5 million from my practice. Well, why would you, you will be able to make that in, your earnings in 2.3 years, whatever it might be, whatever the math pencils that be. But if you think about it, if it, if 10 times EBITDA is their offering price, what are, what are the details? How much cash at closing?   Kiera Dent (11:38) Right.   Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (11:49) Is there a work back or a work back arrangement where you will be paid to be the dentist? And what is your compensation? What are the benefits that you would receive? And what is the term of that work back arrangement? You're right. It's creeping up now more into five years. 15, 20 years ago, was maybe, you know, stay on one or two years and we're good. There's a claw back. There's a hold back provision that holds back part of the purchase price. And the dentist has to meet the   Kiera Dent (12:04) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Fred Heppner (12:17) has to meet certain metrics from the trailing 12 months to be able to get that back. Well, let's pretend. Let's pretend that the DSO comes in and sets up the practice and nothing changes and the business continues to grow and develop because there's more marketing promotion and advertising. There's better cost control. There's just better stuff going on and that works. Well, what if it doesn't? What if all of a sudden the company comes in and says, we're changing these policies?   You were Delta Dental Premier, we're jumping into PPOs because we've got really good reimbursement rates on these 12 PPO contracts. Well, if that reimbursement rate drops from fee for service, does that hinder the doctor to be able to generate the income necessary for that hold back to be acquired in the next two to three years? And then there's equity. You mentioned that they offer a stock in the company to be able to ultimately participate in a   Kiera Dent (13:09) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (13:15) recapitalization should that happen? Well, it'd be really interesting. You're going to love this one. I know you're going to love this one. So for any of your listeners, any of your A-Team clients, if they get approached by a DSO and they look at it and they think it's really, really good, have somebody look at it. What you will hear typically is you really don't need an advisor. You don't need an attorney. We've got all the contracts ready to go. You can come.   Kiera Dent (13:35) Mm-hmm.   Lies. Lies.   Fred Heppner (13:44) Exactly. You can just take all of this and we'll be good. Well, trust but verify. And ultimately a good team would be able to review these. I would be glad to review. I review paperwork all the time from dentists that are looking to transition. And if there's an equity piece in that offer, I turn around and contact the DSO on behalf of the client. And I say, we'd like to see your financials.   Kiera Dent (14:08) Absolutely.   Fred Heppner (14:11) What do you mean? Well, you're asking my client to acquire stock in your company in lieu of cash at closing. yeah, that's part of the deal. I need to see your financials. I need to advise my client on whether or not you have a healthy company and whether or not my client's going to be at risk by taking stock in your company. Well, nobody's ever asked us that. Well, I am. And doesn't it make sense? We've just provided to you tax returns, profit and loss statements, but sing along if you know the words, balance sheets, W-2, production reports, everything on the business.   Kiera Dent (14:21) Yeah.   things.   Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (14:39) And yet you're not willing to provide the other. Just provide the other. Show us that your business is solvent. Show it that it is something that my client would like to receive in stock. So, mon bro.   Kiera Dent (14:50) And there's strategy   for tax around that too. there are benefits to having stock rather than all the cash at closing for your total dollar amount when you want to retire, but only if that stock actually is valuable.   Fred Heppner (15:05) Pays back. Correct. Good. And that   is so brilliant. You see, you're good looking, you're smart, and that's a rare combination today. So, so, but think about it. You just mentioned something that people really don't think. If, if I have a practice and they give me 1.5 million chopped up into the ways that we've mentioned, and I have $200,000 worth of equity in the company, what if that $200,000 is half of 1 %? Well, when they recapitalize, I get half of 1 % of what proceeds, right?   Kiera Dent (15:09) Thank you.   Mm-hmm.   I love it. It's such a...   Fred Heppner (15:35) So map it out. Yeah, map it out. mean, can   you sell your practice twice? sometimes yes, sometimes no.   Kiera Dent (15:43) And there's so many sticky pieces around it. And that's where I feel like it's just a, think this is where people get leery to do it. However, I think like there are some, you said, that go really, really well, but agreed. And when I look at this people like Kiera, like I thought about that doctor and I was like, so sweet. You're going to five mil. That's your 10 X. You're going to produce 5 million. Your overhead right now is sitting at a 50 % overhead. So right now you're taking 2.5. Let's say you do get a $5 million check.   you give me 10 taxes, it's barely over your 2.5, which you're already going to get next year. So like, yes, next year, you still have to pay taxes because you're at a 50 % overhead. So you will still get a small amount more of cash to you. But there's a lot of strategy that goes into that 2.5, pending upon what you need when you invest that, like for every million, it's about like on average, if it's in the stock market, about 35,000 right now is like a very, very, very loose number to like estimate your financial future. But I'm like,   you throw 2.5 into the stock market right now, we'll high five, you're making about 100K a year. Like that's just to me, those are the things that I feel you need to be really smart about to make sure that your practices are assets and not liabilities and something that really will provide the retirement for the work you've put in rather than it just feeling good in the moment, but not really giving the life you want.   Fred Heppner (16:59) You know, excellent point. And what you also said earlier, just in passing was, what dentists could buy my practice. can't sell to a private dentist. I've got to sell to a DSO. ⁓ surprise, surprise. That's a myth. There are dentists who would, I can tell you right now, if you could give me your client's number, I'll buy her practice. Well, yeah, well, I mean, that's gonna, that's gonna pencil. So the, the point that I would make is know that   Kiera Dent (17:12) It is a myth.   Right? I know, me too. I'm like, actually, actually I would.   Fred Heppner (17:29) Dentists that are out there who are looking to buy really profitable practices and can meet the production goals. So there's an important aspect there. Your client's doing two and a half million in profit, five million in productivity on her own. If a person coming in to buy that won't be able to quite meet those production numbers, they may hire the client back for a year or two. The bank may want them to make sure that there's some kind of arrangement where they have some help.   But if a bank is looking at a practice that has that kind of liquidity and profitability, they'll gladly loan the money to the dentist if other measures are there because they know it's going to be paid back. So I want to dispel the myth that big practices with large productivity and big profitability are excluded from private practitioners being able to buy them. It's not true. Is it? Yeah.   Kiera Dent (18:10) Mm-hmm.   I agree. They get nervous because of the debt,   but I have somebody that I know that just bought into a $2.5 million is how much they had to bring to the table. Plus they have their student loan debt, plus they have their house debt and they were able to do it to buy into a practice. so I'm like, I think let's not assume that that's the only route. think figure out what you want and there is a buyer based on the outcome you want. I think Fred, I want to switch gears because I want to ask some questions about associates.   because I think we've kind of gone through like private practice. There's so many things like make sure you're taken care of, make sure you know where you're going. But now I want to switch gears because I think this is something I get asked all the time. And so selfishly again, welcome to curious therapy with Fred. I want to know all the pieces. This is my podcast that you get to be a part of. No, it's for all of you. ⁓ we get asked often, how do you set up a great associate buy-in? So like, how do I buy these people and how do I tether them in? I think one of the greatest, I would say   Fred Heppner (19:06) I'm listening.   Kiera Dent (19:19) stressors and like blind spots in practices and the thing that can really hurt a practice is when they have an associate that associate leaving. ⁓ And so they want to like golden handcuff these associates, but they want it to be good for both parties. What are some of those associate transitions to retain associates to get them in as partners? Is it a good idea? Is it not a good idea? And I think like we can wrap on this because I, I'm super curious of like what you recommend to help with that transition.   Fred Heppner (19:45) The   capacity for the business volume has to be there. You've got to have, not only are you working, but there's this phantom practice out there that you can't get to as the provider. And you need somebody to be able to get to that. So bringing on an associate to get to that phantom practice immediately creates incremental income, which is, to the owner of the business, very liquid.   Kiera Dent (20:03) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (20:07) The cost associated with treating extra people during the course of the day is the associate's compensation and variable cost supplies in lab. And if you're ⁓ providing can-to-can technology and your lab costs are very low, but you're producing crowns in a day, for example, and using that kind of technology, then the cost associated with treating every incremental patient and creating that revenue is very low.   we're suggesting that the team in place can handle the extra work. We don't have to hire an extra assistant or hire an extra administrative person. So given those things.   ⁓ One of the best transition plans, in my opinion, is one that has time built into it. The associate has to develop some traction. They have to generate some productivity. They have to show that they can produce the numbers. But more importantly, the outcomes are good. The treatment outcomes are successful. The patients are adapting to them. The team connects with them. This is a good relationship. As an aside, really quick, when you mention relationship business in dentistry,   I think DSOs traditionally are a transactional business. They're really focusing on the transaction, right? Private practice focuses on the relationship. Not to say that corporate dentistry doesn't focus on relationships. They're focused more so on the transactions. I might get ridiculed for that statement, but that's what I see. And that's my opinion.   Kiera Dent (21:19) I would agree.   Sure,   sure.   Fred Heppner (21:36) So back to the associate, need the associate to develop some traction. And essentially that traction comes from being in the office, seeing patients, working with the team, and ultimately getting feedback along the way. And I think that's a one to two year cycle. Will you know as a practitioner and owner of the business within the first one or two months, if the associate is working two or three days a week or four days a week, will you know, do they get along with the patients? Do they get along with the team? Yes. Will you know about treatment outcomes?   Kiera Dent (21:40) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (22:05) To some degree, yes. So early on, you'll know if this is cut bait, this is not going to work. Or yes, this person's fitting in great, primarily because they were vetted. So quick, quick retract back to how do you hire them? Go through a long process of vetting. Don't just take the first one that appears. Get to know them, make sure they're going to integrate well. I see a lot of associate plans.   work real well when the dentist knows the dentist owner knows the associate coming on board from some past experience. Great example is the dentist associate grew up in town, did an internship kind of in the office as a sterilization tech, kind of worked in the office, found out that dentistry was their passion, went to college for undergrad, went to dental school for dental degree and came back to the town to work for that dentist. Right. Okay, good. So somebody you know, ⁓   Kiera Dent (22:38) Mm-hmm.   Totally.   Fred Heppner (23:00) son of doctor, owner's best friend. So there's history there. You know, the quality of the individual. Okay. So once traction is developed during the part of that associate agreement, there's some discussion about ownership and building an understanding of how the practice works so that when time comes to be a partner and buy in, there's already some traction. There's already some traction so that if the person elects to buy the seller out,   in a couple years, then they can switch roles. But there has to be some traction. One of the things that's really perilous is thinking about jumping into a practice and being a partner right away. If you want to practice and you do two million a year, hygiene does 500, you do 1.5. I'm going to come in and I want to be a partner of yours today because I've heard how great your practice is. And you have the physical plant capacity, you have the patient capacity, and I can step right in.   If I pay you half of the value of your practice today to buy in, we can split up the medicine and supplies and drugs. can split up the equipment. We can split up the office equipment. ⁓ we can split up all the operatories, but how do we sort out the patients? Because come Monday morning, say we close tomorrow, Friday, come Monday morning, I need to have in my schedule, the ability to generate half of the revenue in the business so that I can pay myself and I can pay.   to having bought in. that make sense? And that doesn't really happen easily when somebody just freshly wants to buy in as a partner. So fast forwarding to partnerships, which I hope we get a chance to talk a little bit about today, that associate has to be in that process, in that business for a period of time. And that traction needs to get up so that they've got productivity under their belt. And again, going back to what we talked about about banks,   Kiera Dent (24:32) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   I agree.   Fred Heppner (24:59) they wanna see that that productivity is there, that they'll be able to generate it because they wanna make sure that they get the loan paid for. And a really good associate agreement has, in my opinion, good restrictive covenants, not to compete, not to solicit patients or staff. ⁓ In some states, that's not allowed. The FTC voted that associate agreements or employment agreements should not have restrictive covenants, but there's no legislation yet that has actually mandated that.   Kiera Dent (25:05) Totally.   Fred Heppner (25:26) So keep in mind that it's probably not appropriate to think that you'll be able to limit somebody's ability to work. Now for them to essentially buy your practice, for example, and you as a, agreement have a restrictive covenant that you will agree to that's different because somebody paid you good and valuable consideration money for you not to compete against them because they bought your business in an employment agreement. It's a little different.   Kiera Dent (25:49) Mm-hmm.   Great.   Fred Heppner (25:56) So if a dentist comes and works for another dentist who owns the business, and after a couple of months, it's just not gonna work out, they're not gonna have enough connection with the patient base to solicit patients or solicit staff or the team. They won't. So would it matter if there was a restrictive covenant in that initial agreement? Probably not.   because after a couple months, if they've alienated patients and alienated staff and they're not very good at dentistry, you want them out of there anyway, forget about the restrictive covenant, they could go work for somebody else close by. It's probably the same thing that'll happen.   Kiera Dent (26:36) I think it's really wise because I think so many offices hire an associate, but they're so scared to move them along in two months. I think that was wise advice you listed. It is so much easier to move them on in two months than it is to keep them for six months, eight months, 10 months, and then realize their dentistry or their team connection or their patient connections not there. so ⁓ it's, it's be very intentional within those first 90 days and make sure that this will be a long-term fit. ⁓ You can see it in two months.   Fred Heppner (27:01) So how does this,   you can, I'm sure you can. How does this sound? For the first six months of an associate agreement, maybe you don't have quite a good background, deep background about that individual, but you feel that they would be good in the practice. They come recommended by their instructors at university, at dental school. was highly, someone was highly recommended. How about a single page,   six month agreement that says you come to work for me, I will pay you this. And if you want to go, you can go. If I feel you need to go, I'm going to release you. It's an at will agreement, no restrictive covenants, nothing in it that locks anybody down. Because again, what I mentioned earlier is how much traction can you generate really in one or two, three, four months, because you'll know after four or five months that this is somebody really want to lock in at six months, develop a really strong, well-written attorney reviewed.   employment agreement that has restrictive covenants that has specific on how to redo cases in case they need to be done at the end of the employment agreement. Right. What do you think? I mean, does that give that give the opportunity?   Kiera Dent (28:08) Sure.   I think,   I mean, I like it. think that the devil's advocate in me would say, I'm not sure that the ⁓   millennial Gen Z generation coming through would say yes to six months. I think that they're looking for more security. They're looking for more guarantees. They come in with a lot more debt and a lot more risk that I am really curious. As a business, I think it's freaking brilliant. As on the other side, I'm curious, would you be able to get candidates that would want to come or is it too risky of an offer?   Fred Heppner (28:43) You mean,   yeah, do you mean the associate dentist coming on board is thinking more about themselves rather than the practice?   Kiera Dent (28:52) I think with the associate offers that are given currently, ⁓ I think agreed. It does show that they're thinking about it, but I also feel for a practice making sure that they're competitive with offers. I don't love having to be ⁓ like with hygienists. I don't want to have to go chase them, but you have to at least be competitive with other people in the market. So I think I agree with you. I just feel for practices making sure that maybe   Fred Heppner (29:05) ⁓   I understand what you're saying.   Kiera Dent (29:19) you are so competitive with other people and offer. So you do get the candidates, but you can have some of these ideas within like that I think would make you even maybe more attractive. So maybe it's a year that we're offering, but like, Hey, in the first six months, there's no restriction. There's no nothing. We add that in in six months. So that way you are competitive with other people. Cause I think associates, they need that security and I'm watching more and more come through. I mean, they're walking out with one mil plus 2 million in debt. Like, so I think that   I think to be competitive with others, might need to be a possibly. This is my hallucination that could possibly just make sure you're competitive.   Fred Heppner (29:53) Well, well, no, you're   so you're right on you're in a you're in another section of what the employment agreement might look like called compensation and benefits. I'm looking at just the period of time that you would be that a dentist would be employed in the practice to determine if it's a right fit for them and if it's a right fit for the practice and if it's a right fit for the patients and the team. Compensation can say exactly what you were saying. Now,   Kiera Dent (30:16) Right.   Fred Heppner (30:22) Unfortunately, it isn't the responsibility of the practice to provide for somebody who is unproven in their debt or to satisfy their lifestyle requirements. Yes, they're competing with other organizations that are offering salary, health insurance, vision, life insurance policies, all of those benefits that come along with big corporations. However,   It's a private practice. And the sooner I think that dentists who are coming on as associates know the intricacies and the difficulties of running a business and also the rewards that come with it, they would understand better how those arrangements are made. And I've seen compensation programs set up where it's the greater of over two weeks, a compensation per day or a percentage of a certain amount over a certain amount of productivity. So you can meet those requirements. can kind of meet.   Kiera Dent (31:15) Mm-hmm.   Fred Heppner (31:16) Kind of need halfway in between.   Kiera Dent (31:18) Yeah, and I think that that's where I was saying of I feel like making sure that you're meeting in the middle. I love the idea of being able to protect like, you're right, like not being stuck in this with someone who's not working out and getting stuck, I think is actually something that happens all the time with associates. ⁓ And so I think like, Fred, it was such a fun like,   chat about us. I agree, we need to chat more partnerships because now it's like, okay, we've got these associates, we've got some ideas on it. We've heard about figuring out where we want to go and how we're going to be able to get there and needing to think about our future life and how when we need to transition, you said the three to five years, I think looking for like, what do need to do to be able to buy a practice? If I want to buy a practice, what do need to get? Then we talked about like the DSO offers coming for private practices, and how to assess that through Fred.   And then we moved into associates. So Fred, like that was such a like smorgasbord of topics, which I love. And I think definitely reconnecting because I think there's the next step is like, how do we bring in these associates for partners if we want them? How can we build a legacy practice? That's not necessarily just the DSO. So I'd love to get you back on the podcast and chat partnerships and like alternative transitions beyond, but gosh, Fred, such a fun podcast today.   Fred Heppner (32:10) It was fun.   I am   happy to do it anytime. I appreciate what you do for dentistry. So I'll absolutely support you and be glad to do it.   Kiera Dent (32:36) Thank you. Well, Fred, as we wrap up today, were there any last thoughts you had to give to the listeners? And of course, ArizonaTransitions.com, ArizonaTransitions.gmail. If you're looking to transition or associates or what do I do or hey, Fred, I just need help. But any last thoughts you have as we wrap up today?   Fred Heppner (32:52) Yeah, I think   I tell you a funny quip that I think resonates with most people that I talk to. Dentists are excellent at curing dental disease, at diagnosing conditions and recommending treatments and working with patients to get them well. And, ⁓ coming into an event like purchasing a practice or selling a practice where they've never done it before. They don't have the experience or the education.   going in to understand what to do. I would encourage them to get advice and guidance from a great team. ⁓ I have a deal with my dentist. Mike Smith is brilliant. He has a practice called the biting edge here in Phoenix and he's brilliant. And he and I have an agreement. I don't do my own dentistry.   And he doesn't do his own practice transition stuff or practice management stuff. He relies on me to do that because they're in the middle. meet. So I want him to cure my dental conditions and make sure I'm in the optimum dental health that I could be. And I'm to make sure that I provide the services to him so that if he's looking to acquire a practice or merge an office into his, or figure out how the next plan would be for his practice growth or his transition, that he's going to sit down with me because he understands that that's my expertise and he.   he benefits from.   Kiera Dent (34:15) Yeah, I love that. That's such a good way to look at it. Let's sit in our lanes. Let's do what we're really good at and not try to be a one-stop shop. I think that that's brilliant, Fred. And I feel like for all those looking for the transitions for what do we do? How can I do it? Reach out, Fred. I think you're a wealth of knowledge. You've been in it for a long time and just truly so grateful to have you on the podcast today.   Fred Heppner (34:36) It's my pleasure. Absolutely. Have a great day. Talk to you soon. Bye here.   Kiera Dent (34:39) Awesome. Thank you. And thank you,   Fred. Thank you, all of you. And for all of you listening, thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Navigating Indecision: A Simple Process to Move Forward Hey there, amazing friend! Ever caught yourself going round and round in circles, totally stuck on making a decision? That feeling where your brain just won't settle on which path to take? I've been there too, and in today's episode, I'm sharing exactly how to break free from that frustrating loop! I open up about my own battles with confusion and that knot-in-your-stomach anxiety that shows up when we're faced with choices. But don't worry - I've got something special for you today: a super practical process that will help you cut through the mental fog and finally move forward. Together, we'll explore how to tap into your imagination (yes, it's way more powerful than you think!) and discover the symbolic representations of what's really going on. It's amazing how our minds can show us the answers when we know how to look! What You'll Learn Today: Why indecision feels so uncomfortable (and why that's actually useful!) My step-by-step visualization process that unlocks hidden insights How to tune into what your unconscious mind is trying to tell you Simple techniques to transform your new awareness into confident action Whether you're deciding what to have for dinner or contemplating a major life change, this episode has something valuable for you. Now it's your turn! Give yourself 10 minutes to try it. Find a quiet space, close your eyes, and follow along with the episode. Please take time to try this process for yourself. Find a quiet space, close your eyes, and follow along. Then come share your experience in our community group or tag me on social media - I'd absolutely LOVE to hear what insights came up for you! Then come share your experience in our community group or tag me on social media - I'd absolutely LOVE to hear what insights came up for you! Here's the link to help you share the whole episode: https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/443-clearing-confusion-and-finding-direction-on-our-dreams Remember, you're not meant to stay stuck. Let's break free together! Shine Brightly

HT2199 - Abstract Moments Yesterday we had a visitor who is not a photographer, but it's fascinated by the photographs she can make with her iPhone. Understandable, she's probably one of millions. She showed me a photograph of an abstract that was quite lovely. She had sprinkled comet all across her bathtub in preparation for a good cleaning and it made a gorgeous colored pattern. She inadvertently confirmed that abstracts are everywhere, and available to everyone.

Download a free podcast/audio/mp3 at www.fluentamerican.com/podcastAmerican English pronunciation can feel overwhelming, but here is a key tactic that, if your goal is to sound more natural when you speak in English, is really going to help!*If you want to know what sounds you are mispronouncing in English, there is a FREE pronunciation test you can take (and get some free premium access too for extra practice) with ELSA: https://bit.ly/ELSAxFLUENTAMERICANTo be clear: I've found ELSA to be great at specific, individual sounds (e.g., "lock" vs "luck", or "sit" vs "seat"); it struggles a bit more with sentence level reductions and stress. However, for a quick few minutes of practice on sounds you find difficult, I think you'll find ELSA helpful. Take advantage of the discount they've made for you above!of pronunciation.And you're invited!If you're interested in American English, sounding natural, and finding ways to express yourself like native speakers, this is the weekly class for YOU!You'll practice saying phrases, get feedback to learn which sounds/parts of pronunciation to target, and hear native and nonnative examples to know what to do/what to avoidAnd if that interests you, register here: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21550696&appointmentType=736978675 seats maximum every Wednesday. Sections of class may be posted to socials.See an example of what it is like here: https://youtu.be/9Neg_uHJYmw*Welcome to Wake Up American, where Monday through Friday, we spend a couple minutes on a challenging aspect of American English pronunciation and walk through examples to help you achieve a more natural sound the next time you speak in American English at work, at home, or out and about town.See all the episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA83m7lXmjQ&list=PLlZ0dlSbrSXhtU6hvocUB69VuvfWZkgZu❗❗❗❗❗❗JOIN our channel to get access to our Pronunciation Group on Telegram, where you receive feedback and suggestions for YOUR pronunciation every day. See what it is like here: https://youtu.be/FDwPuwstUEoWho am I? My name is Geoff Anderson. I got my MA in Teaching English as a Second Language in 2012, and have been teaching since 2010. I've studied Italian to around level C1-C2. I was also an IELTS examiner for the speaking/writing tests for 3 years.Want to know what classes with me are like? Check out our Mssion: English program, where we do livestreams that YOU can join Monday through Friday! It'd be great to do pronunciation exercises with you, answer your American English accent questions, and improve together in our supportive community; see what a Mission: English class is like here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlZ0dlSbrSXhxuga9nOujvx6FL9LU22h7#fluentamerican #americanenglish #wakeupamericanSupport the show

By Walt HickeyDouble feature today!Welcome to the Numlock Sunday edition.This week, I spoke to Alissa Wilkinson who is out with the brand new book, We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine.I'm a huge fan of Alissa, she's a phenomenal critic and I thought this topic — what happens when one of the most important American literary figures heads out to Hollywood to work on the most important American medium — is super fascinating. It's a really wonderful book and if you're a longtime Joan Didion fan or simply a future Joan Didion fan, it's a look at a really transformative era of Hollywood and should be a fun read regardless.Alissa can be found at the New York Times, and the book is available wherever books are sold.This interview has been condensed and edited. All right, Alissa, thank you so much for coming on.Yeah, thanks for having me. It's good to be back, wherever we are.Yes, you are the author of We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine. It's a really exciting book. It's a really exciting approach, for a Joan Didion biography and placing her in the current of American mainstream culture for a few years. I guess just backing out, what got you interested in Joan Didion to begin with? When did you first get into her work?Joan Didion and I did not become acquainted, metaphorically, until after I got out of college. I studied Tech and IT in college, and thus didn't read any books, because they don't make you read books in school, or they didn't when I was there. I moved to New York right afterward. I was riding the subway. There were all these ads for this book called The Year of Magical Thinking. It was the year 2005, the book had just come out. The Year of Magical Thinking is Didion's National Book Award-winning memoir about the year after her husband died, suddenly of a heart attack in '03. It's sort of a meditation on grief, but it's not really what that sounds like. If people haven't read it's very Didion. You know, it's not sentimental, it's constantly examining the narratives that she's telling herself about grief.So I just saw these ads on the walls. I was like, what is this book that everybody seems to be reading? I just bought it and read it. And it just so happened that it was right after my father, who was 46 at the time, was diagnosed with a very aggressive leukemia, and then died shortly thereafter, which was shocking, obviously. The closer I get to that age, it feels even more shocking that he was so young. I didn't have any idea how to process that emotion or experience. The book was unexpectedly helpful. But it also introduced me to a writer who I'd never read before, who felt like she was looking at things from a different angle than everyone else.Of course, she had a couple more books come out after that. But I don't remember this distinctly, but probably what happened is I went to some bookstore, The Strand or something, and bought The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem off the front table as everyone does because those books have just been there for decades.From that, I learned more, starting to understand how writing could work. I didn't realize how form and content could interact that way. Over the years, I would review a book by her or about her for one publication or another. Then when I was in graduate school, getting my MFA in nonfiction, I wrote a bit about her because I was going through a moment of not being sure if my husband and I were going to stay in New York or we were going to move to California. They sort of obligate you to go through a goodbye to all that phase if you are contemplating that — her famous essay about leaving New York. And then, we did stay in New York City. But ultimately, that's 20 years of history.Then in 2020, I was having a conversation (that was quite-early pandemic) with my agent about possible books I might write. I had outlined a bunch of books to her. Then she was like, “These all sound like great ideas. But I've always wanted to rep a book on Joan Didion. So I just wanted to put that bug in your ear.” I was like, “Oh, okay. That seems like something I should probably do.”It took a while to find an angle, which wound up being Didion in Hollywood. This is mostly because I realized that a lot of people don't really know her as a Hollywood figure, even though she's a pretty major Hollywood figure for a period of time. The more of her work I read, the more I realized that her work is fruitfully understood as the work of a woman who was profoundly influenced by (and later thinking in terms of Hollywood metaphors) whether she was writing about California or American politics or even grief.So that's the long-winded way of saying I wasn't, you know, acquainted with her work until adulthood, but then it became something that became a guiding light for me as a writer.That's really fascinating. I love it. Because again I think a lot of attention on Didion has been paid since her passing. But this book is really exciting because you came at it from looking at the work as it relates to Hollywood. What was Didion's experience in Hollywood? What would people have seen from it, but also, what is her place there?The directly Hollywood parts of her life start when she's in her 30s. She and her husband — John Gregory Dunn, also a writer and her screenwriting partner — moved from New York City, where they had met and gotten married, to Los Angeles. John's brother, Nick Dunn later became one of the most important early true crime writers at Vanity Fair, believe it or not. But at the time, he was working as a TV producer. He and his wife were there. So they moved to Los Angeles. It was sort of a moment where, you know, it's all well and good to be a journalist and a novelist. If you want to support yourself, Hollywood is where it's at.So they get there at a moment when the business is shifting from these big-budget movies — the Golden Age — to the new Hollywood, where everything is sort of gritty and small and countercultural. That's the moment they arrive. They worked in Hollywood. I mean, they worked literally in Hollywood for many years after that. And then in Hollywood even when they moved back to New York in the '80s as screenwriters still.People sometimes don't realize that they wrote a bunch of produced screenplays. The earliest was The Panic in Needle Park. Obviously, they adapted Didion's novel Play It As It Lays. There are several others, but one that a lot of people don't realize they wrote was the version of A Star is Born that stars Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. It was their idea to shift the Star is Born template from Hollywood entities to rock stars. That was their idea. Of course, when Bradley Cooper made his version, he iterated on that. So their work was as screenwriters but also as figures in the Hollywood scene because they were literary people at the same time that they were screenwriters. They knew all the actors, and they knew all the producers and the executives.John actually wrote, I think, two of the best books ever written on Hollywood decades apart. One called The Studio, where he just roamed around on the Fox backlot. For a year for reasons he couldn't understand, he got access. That was right when the catastrophe that was Dr. Doolittle was coming out. So you get to hear the inside of the studio. Then later, he wrote a book called Monster, which is about their like eight-year long attempt to get their film Up Close and Personal made, which eventually they did. It's a really good look at what the normal Hollywood experience was at the time: which is like: you come up with an idea, but it will only vaguely resemble the final product once all the studios get done with it.So it's, it's really, that's all very interesting. They're threaded through the history of Hollywood in that period. On top of it for the book (I realized as I was working on it) that a lot of Didion's early life is influenced by especially her obsession with John Wayne and also with the bigger mythology of California and the West, a lot of which she sees as framed through Hollywood Westerns.Then in the '80s, she pivoted to political reporting for a long while. If you read her political writing, it is very, very, very much about Hollywood logic seeping into American political culture. There's an essay called “Inside Baseball” about the Dukakis campaign that appears in Political Fictions, her book that was published on September 11, 2001. In that book, she writes about how these political campaigns are directed and set up like a production for the cameras and how that was becoming not just the campaign, but the presidency itself. Of course, she had no use for Ronald Reagan, and everything she writes about him is very damning. But a lot of it was because she saw him as the embodiment of Hollywood logic entering the political sphere and felt like these are two separate things and they need to not be going together.So all of that appeared to me as I was reading. You know, once you see it, you can't unsee it. It just made sense for me to write about it. On top of it, she was still alive when I was writing the proposal and shopping it around. So she actually died two months after we sold the book to my publisher. It meant I was extra grateful for this angle because I knew there'd be a lot more books on her, but I wanted to come at it from an angle that I hadn't seen before. So many people have written about her in Hollywood before, but not quite through this lens.Yeah. What were some things that you discovered in the course of your research? Obviously, she's such an interesting figure, but she's also lived so very publicly that I'm just super interested to find out what are some of the things that you learned? It can be about her, but it can also be the Hollywood system as a whole.Yeah. I mean, I didn't interview her for obvious reasons.Understandable, entirely understandable.Pretty much everyone in her life also is gone with the exception really of Griffin Dunn, who is her nephew, John's nephew, the actor. But other than that, it felt like I needed to look at it through a critical lens. So it meant examining a lot of texts. A lot of Didion's magazine work (which was a huge part of her life) is published in the books that people read like Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album and all the other books. What was interesting to me was discovering (I mean, not “discovering” because other people have read it) that there is some work that's not published and it's mostly her criticism.Most of that criticism was published in the late '50s and the early '60s when she was living in New York City, working at Vogue and trying to make it in the literary scene that was New York at that time, which was a very unique place. I mean, she was writing criticism and essays for both, you know, like National Review and The Nation at the same time, which was just hard to conceive of today. It was something you'd do back then. Yeah, wild stuff.A lot of that criticism was never collected into books. The most interesting is that she'd been working at Vogue for a long time in various positions, but she wound up getting added to the film critic column at Vogue in, '62, I want to say, although I might have that date slightly off. She basically alternated weeks with another critic for a few years, writing that until she started writing in movies proper. It's never a great idea to be a critic and a screenwriter at the same time.Her criticism is fascinating. So briefly, for instance, she shared that column with Pauline Kael. Pauline Kael became well known after she wrote about Bonnie and Clyde. This was prior to that. This is several years prior to that. They also hated each other for a long time afterward, which is funny, because, in some ways, their style is very different but their persona is actually very similar. So I wonder about that.But in any case, even when she wasn't sharing the column with Pauline Kael, it was a literal column in a magazine. So it's like one column of text, she can say barely anything. She was always a bit of a contrarian, but she was actively not interested in the things that were occupying New York critics at the time. Things like the Auteur Theory, what was happening in France, the downtown scene and the Shirley Clark's of the world. She had no use for it. At some point, she accuses Billy Wilder of having really no sense of humor, which is very funny.When you read her criticism, you see a person who is very invested in a classical notion of Hollywood as a place that shows us fantasies that we can indulge in for a while. She talks in her very first column about how she doesn't really need movies to be masterpieces, she just wants them to have moments. When she says moments, she means big swelling things that happen in a movie that make her feel things.It's so opposite, I think, to most people's view of Didion. Most people associate her with this snobbish elitism or something, which I don't think is untrue when we're talking about literature. But for her, the movies were like entertainment, and entering that business was a choice to enter that world. She wasn't attempting to elevate the discourse or something.I just think that's fascinating. She also has some great insights there. But as a film critic, I find myself disagreeing with most of her reviews. But I think that doesn't matter. It was more interesting to see how she conceived of the movies. There is a moment later on, in another piece that I don't think has been republished anywhere from the New York Review of Books, where she writes about the movies of Woody Allen. She hates them. It's right at the point where he's making like Manhattan and Annie Hall, like the good stuff. She just has no use for them. It's one of the funniest pieces. I won't spoil the ending because it's hilarious, and it's in the book.That writing was of huge interest to me and hasn't been republished in books. I was very grateful to get access to it, in part because it is in the archives — the electronic archives of the New York Public Library. But at the time, the library was closed. So I had to call the library and have a librarian get on Zoom with me for like an hour and a half to figure out how I could get in the proverbial back door of the library to get access while the library wasn't open.That's magnificent. That's such a cool way to go to the archives because some stuff just hasn't been published. If it wasn't digitized, then it's not digitized. That's incredible.Yeah, it's there, but you can barely print them off because they're in PDFs. They're like scanned images that are super high res, so the printer just dies when you try to print them. It's all very fascinating. I hope it gets republished at some point because I think there's enough interest in her work that it's fascinating to see this other aspect of her taste and her persona.It's really interesting that she seems to have wanted to meet the medium where it is, right? She wasn't trying to literary-up Hollywood. I mean, LA can be a bit of a friction. It's not exactly a literary town in the way that some East Coast metropolises can be. It is interesting that she was enamored by the movies. Do you want to speak about what things were like for her when she moved out?Yeah, it is funny because, at the same time, the first two movies that they wrote and produced are The Panic in Needle Park, which is probably the most new Hollywood movie you can imagine. It's about addicts at Needle Park, which is actually right where the 72nd Street subway stop is on the Upper West Side. If people have been there, it's hard to imagine. But that was apparently where they all sat around, and there were a lot of needles. It's apparently the first movie supposedly where someone shoots up live on camera.So it was the '70s. That's amazing.Yes, and it launched Al Pacino's film career! Yeah, it's wild. You watch it and you're just like, “How is this coming from the woman who's about all this arty farty stuff in the movies.” And Play It As It Lays has a very similar, almost avant-garde vibe to it. It's very, very interesting. You see it later on in the work that they made.A key thing to remember about them (and something I didn't realize before I started researching the book)was that Didion and Dunn were novelists who worked in journalism because everybody did. They wrote movies, according to them (you can only go off of what they said. A lot of it is John writing these jaunty articles. He's a very funny writer) because “we had tuition and a mortgage. This is how you pay for it.”This comes up later on, they needed to keep their WGA insurance because John had heart trouble. The best way to have health insurance was to remain in the Writers Guild. Remaining in the Writers Guild means you had to have a certain amount of work produced through union means. They were big union supporters. For them this was not, this was very strictly not an auteurist undertaking. This was not like, “Oh, I'm gonna go write these amazing screenplays that give my concept of the world to the audience.” It's not like Bonnie and Clyding going on here. It's very like, “We wrote these based on some stories that we thought would be cool.”I like that a lot. Like the idea that A Star is Born was like a pot boiler. That's really delightful.Completely. It was totally taken away from them by Streisand and John Peters at some point. But they were like, “Yeah, I mean, you know, it happens. We still got paid.”Yeah, if it can happen to Superman, it can happen to you.It happens to everybody, you know, don't get too precious about it. The important thing is did your novel come out and was it supported by its publisher?So just tracing some of their arcs in Hollywood. Obviously, Didion's one of the most influential writers of her generation, there's a very rich literary tradition. Where do we see her footprint, her imprint in Hollywood? What are some of the ways that we can see her register in Hollywood, or reverberate outside of it?In the business itself, I don't know that she was influential directly. What we see is on the outside of it. So a lot of people were friends. She was like a famous hostess, famous hostess. The New York Public Library archives are set to open at the end of March, of Didion and Dunn's work, which was like completely incidental to my publication date. I just got lucky. There's a bunch of screenplays in there that they worked on that weren't produced. There's also her cookbooks, and I'm very excited to go through those and see that. So you might meet somebody there.Her account of what the vibe was when the Manson murders occurred, which is published in her essay The White Album, is still the one people talk about, even though there are a lot of different ways to come at it. That's how we think about the Manson murders: through her lens. Later on, when she's not writing directly about Hollywood anymore (and not really writing in Hollywood as much) but instead is writing about the headlines, about news events, about sensationalism in the news, she becomes a great media critic. We start to see her taking the things that she learned (having been around Hollywood people, having been on movie sets, having seen how the sausage is made) and she starts writing about politics. In that age, it is Hollywood's logic that you perform for the TV. We have the debates suddenly becoming televised, the conventions becoming televised, we start to see candidates who seem specifically groomed to win because they look good on TV. They're starting to win and rule the day.She writes about Newt Gingrich. Of course, Gingrich was the first politician to figure out how to harness C-SPAN to his own ends — the fact that there were TV cameras on the congressional floor. So she's writing about all of this stuff at a time when you can see other people writing about it. I mean, Neil Postman famously writes about it. But the way Didion does it is always very pegged to reviewing somebody's book, or she's thinking about a particular event, or she's been on the campaign plane or something like that. Like she's been on the inside, but with an outsider's eye.That also crops up in, for instance, her essays. “Sentimental Journeys” is one of her most famous ones. That one's about the case of the Central Park Five, and the jogger who was murdered. Of course, now, we're many decades out from that, and the convictions were vacated. We know about coerced confessions. Also Donald Trump arrives in the middle of that whole thing.But she's actually not interested in the guilt or innocence question, because a lot of people were writing about that. She's interested in how the city of New York and the nation perform themselves for themselves, seeing themselves through the long lens of a movie and telling themselves stories about themselves. You see this over and over in her writing, no matter what she's writing about. I think once she moved away from writing about the business so much, she became very interested in how Hollywood logic had taken over American public life writ large.That's fascinating. Like, again, she spends time in the industry, then basically she can only see it through that lens. Of course, Michael Dukakis in a tank is trying to be a set piece, of course in front of the Berlin Wall, you're finally doing set decoration rather than doing it outside of a brick wall somewhere. You mentioned the New York thing in Performing New York. I have lived in the city for over a decade now. The dumbest thing is when the mayor gets to wear the silly jacket whenever there's a snowstorm that says “Mr. Mayor.” It's all an act in so many ways. I guess that political choreography had to come from somewhere, and it seems like she was documenting a lot of that initial rise.Yeah, I think she really saw it. The question I would ask her, if I could, is how cognizant she was that she kept doing that. As someone who's written for a long time, you don't always recognize that you have the one thing you write about all the time. Other people then bring it up to you and you're like, “Oh, I guess you're right.” Even when you move into her grief memoir phase, which is how I think about the last few original works that she published, she uses movie logic constantly in those.I mean, The Year of Magical Thinking is a cyclical book, she goes over the same events over and over. But if you actually look at the language she's using, she talks about running the tape back, she talks about the edit, she talks about all these things as if she's running her own life through how a movie would tell a story. Maybe she knew very deliberately. She's not a person who does things just haphazardly, but it has the feeling of being so baked into her psyche at this point that she would never even think of trying to escape it.Fascinating.Yeah, that idea that you don't know what you are potentially doing, I've thought about that. I don't know what mine is. But either way. It's such a cool way to look at it. On a certain level, she pretty much succeeded at that, though, right? I think that when people think about Joan Didion, they think about a life that freshens up a movie, right? Like, it workedVery much, yeah. I'm gonna be really curious to see what happens over the next 10 years or so. I've been thinking about figures like Sylvia Plath or women with larger-than-life iconography and reputation and how there's a constant need to relook at their legacies and reinvent and rethink and reimagine them. There's a lot in the life of Didion that I think remains to be explored. I'm really curious to see where people go with it, especially with the opening of these archives and new personal information making its way into the world.Yeah, even just your ability to break some of those stories that have been locked away in archives out sounds like a really exciting addition to the scholarship. Just backing out a little bit, we live in a moment in which the relationship between pop culture and political life is fairly directly intertwined. Setting aside the steel-plated elephant in the room, you and I are friendly because we bonded over this idea that movies really are consequential. Coming out of this book and coming out of reporting on it, what are some of the relevances for today in particular?Yeah, I mean, a lot more than I thought, I guess, five years ago. I started work on the book at the end of Trump One, and it's coming out at the beginning of Trump Two, and there was this period in the middle of a slightly different vibe. But even then I watch TikTok or whatever. You see people talk about “main character energy” or the “vibe shift” or all of romanticizing your life. I would have loved to read a Didion essay on the way that young people sort of view themselves through the logic of the screens they have lived on and the way that has shaped America for a long time.I should confirm this, I don't think she wrote about Obama, or if she did, it was only a little bit. So her political writing ends in George W. Bush's era. I think there's one piece on Obama, and then she's writing about other things. It's just interesting to think about how her ideas of what has happened to political culture in America have seeped into the present day.I think the Hollywood logic, the cinematic logic has given way to reality TV logic. That's very much the logic of the Trump world, right? Still performing for cameras, but the cameras have shifted. The way that we want things from the cameras has shifted, too. Reality TV is a lot about creating moments of drama where they may or may not actually exist and bombarding you with them. I think that's a lot of what we see and what we feel now. I have to imagine she would think about it that way.There is one interesting essay that I feel has only recently been talked about. It's at the beginning of my book, too. It was in a documentary, and Gia Tolentino wrote about it recently. It's this essay she wrote in 2000 about Martha Stewart and about Martha Stewart's website. It feels like the 2000s was like, “What is this website thing? Why are people so into it?” But really, it's an essay about parasocial relationships that people develop (with women in particular) who they invent stories around and how those stories correspond to greater American archetypes. It's a really interesting essay, not least because I think it's an essay also about people's parasocial relationships with Joan Didion.So the rise of her celebrity in the 21st century, where people know who she is and carry around a tote bag, but don't really know what they're getting themselves into is very interesting to me. I think it is also something she thought about quite a bit, while also consciously courting it.Yeah, I mean, that makes a ton of sense. For someone who was so adept at using cinematic language to describe her own life with every living being having a camera directly next to them at all times. It seems like we are very much living in a world that she had at least put a lot of thought into, even if the technology wasn't around for her to specifically address it.Yes, completely.On that note, where can folks find the book? Where can folks find you? What's the elevator pitch for why they ought to check this out? Joan Didion superfan or just rather novice?Exactly! I think this book is not just for the fans, let me put it that way. Certainly, I think anyone who considers themselves a Didion fan will have a lot to enjoy here. The stuff you didn't know, hadn't read or just a new way to think through her cultural impact. But also, this is really a book that's as much for people who are just interested in thinking about the world we live in today a little critically. It's certainly a biography of American political culture as much as it is of Didion. There's a great deal of Hollywood history in there as well. Thinking about that sweep of the American century and change is what the book is doing. It's very, very, very informed by what I do in my day job as a movie critic at The New York Times. Thinking about what movies mean, what do they tell us about ourselves? I think this is what this book does. I have been told it's very fun to read. So I'm happy about that. It's not ponderous at all, which is good. It's also not that long.It comes out March 11th from Live Right, which is a Norton imprint. There will be an audiobook at the end of May that I am reading, which I'm excited about. And I'll be on tour for a large amount of March on the East Coast. Then in California, there's a virtual date, and there's a good chance I'll be popping up elsewhere all year, too. Those updates will be on my social feeds, which are all @alissawilkinson on whatever platform except X, which is fine because I don't really post there anymore.Alyssa, thank you so much for coming on.Thank you so much.Edited by Crystal Wang.If you have anything you'd like to see in this Sunday special, shoot me an email. Comment below! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for supporting Numlock.Thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber! Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.numlock.com/subscribe

The examination of every part of the operation of Gainesville Regional Utilities by the recently appointed governing board is resulting in changes in billing of other services provided by GRU and the City of Gainesville. CEO Ed Bielarski discussed recent changes, plus financial decisions resulting in savings to customers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back for more DOUBLE TROUBLELet's talk about dreams….Dreams can be intoxicatingly erotic; they can be filled with loss and longing; you might be falling, trapped in an confusing maze, or carried across bodies of water in a leaky boat.  I often have the actor's nightmare - where I'm about to go onstage, but I don't know my lines and I don't even know which play it is. These are dreams from which I wake up in a cold sweat.SUMMER WINE by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood (Reprise, 1966)A Succubus is defined as a female demon or supernatural entity that appears in dreams to seduce men. This is probably what singer-songwriter-producer Lee Hazelwood had in mind when he paired up with the husky voiced Nancy Sinatra to tell the story of a cowboy who swaggers into town, and meets an alluring siren, who then invites him to spend the night partaking of her special home-made brew. He drinks too much of the elixir and wakes up the next morning alone, hungover, and without his silver spurs. This might have been a cautionary tale, but the smitten cowboy is left craving more of the same.Understandable. Nancy had seduced us all with These Boots Are Made For Walkin' and Sugar Town, and was at the peak of her magnetic powers. Teaming up with Lee was a smart move, too, because this Svengali was an American original; an independently minded auteur, with an irresistible basso, who, with his muse, went on to create many evocative and enduring tracks before going their separate ways. The structure of the song is simple: Nancy sings only the recurring chorus describing her recipe: “Strawberries, Cherries, and an Angel's kiss in spring…” This plays like an ear worm, stuck in the cowboy's head as he relates his mysterious tale of submission.HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM by Mimi Farina (Philo, 1985)Mimi Farina became a widow at age 21. The younger sister of Joan Baez, who was one half of an anointed, royal duo of folk music, was left bereft when Richard Farina, her husband and partner, rode his motorcycle into oblivion. After casting about for years, trying to find her civic, and artistic footing (forming the charitable performing organization, Bread and Roses - and, even trying improv comedy) - she finally emerged in 1985, stronger and more confident at the age of 40, with a beautiful solo effort. Here she interprets the Tim Hardin composition HOW CAN WE HANG ON TO A DREAM? - which delicately puts all her trials into perspective.Mimi died of cancer in 2001, leaving behind a legacy of fragile, dream-like beauty and wonder. It seems that some people are too good for this world. I'm reminded of Richard and Mimi's anthemic PACK UP YOUR SORROWS…”If somehow you could pack up your sorrows, and give them all to me….you would lose them, I know how to use them, give them all to me.”Mimi did just that for us. 

Not the welcome we expectedWhen your tour guide is an assassin, what can go wrong?By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.You can do wrong while trying to do right.FlashbackAlal's 'milk of human kindness' had finally run dry as the Visigoths sacked his Roman villa. While looters ran off with his latest trappings of wealth, and deserted by his servants and his slaves, Grandpa decided that he was tired of fucking around with the Human Race. He felt they were simply too stupid, venal and weak to make any positive, lasting changes in the world.Alal decided that he was going to make the key choices for them. Fuck free will. Fuck letting the vermin that floated to the top of the cesspool destroy everything good in the world, as he had witnessed them doing time and time again. He had lost count of the monuments destroyed, histories of peoples forgotten and benefits to mankind burned away by barbarism and ignorance.By the fading light of August the 26th, 410 CE, Alal found himself sitting back in the pergola (a sort of mini-gazebo) in his rear gardens, drinking through several amphora of wine all the while having a deep philosophical debate with the several dozen very dead Goths decorating his environs.As three or four looters would enter the garden, he would kill them. And then three or four more would show up looking for the earlier group,, on and on. This reinforced Alal's belief that something drastic had to be done. He seriously considered going to the coast, getting a ship and five solid stone anchors. He'd sail out two days, maybe three, wrap himself in the anchors and jump overboard.The problem, as he saw it, was that given a few decades, the ropes would rot and he'd bob to the surface to see again that none of the fundamentals had changed. Further complicating his current thinking was that every time he came close to throwing in the cosmic towel, some more GOD DAMN GOTHS would come around, calling for their buddies, the dead ones. Somewhere around noon on August the 27th, Alal vowed that he was tired of this shit.Right on cue, around twenty Goths came strolling through the rear of his villa and soaked up the carnage out back. Fifty-two of their brethren were in various states of dismemberment and defilement (Alal had been, as usual, angry). They saw this dark-skinned Roman and rightly asked 'where's the army that killed these fellows?' He walked up to them in his wine-splashed toga."Are you the one in charge?" he asked the meanest looking Visigoth in passible Goth."I am," the leader responded. With lightning speed, he killed the man with his own sword. The Germans weren't sure what to make of that, it had happened so fast."You can join me," Alal indicated himself, "or you can join him," he indicated the corpse of their former leader. He had his new band of followers and the rest was Illuminati history.End FlashbackFor me, this meant more to me than living with the memories of a very bitter, driven and pitiless man. Alal was essentially the anti-me. It gave me chills to realize that all of Alal's gifts were bestowed on me with a purpose. I knew it was part of his greater plan. Normally, to end-run an evil genius, you just find him and kill him. Not only would Alal not stay dead, I now knew how well he could fight.I knew only four people who might be in his league, and I wasn't one of them. Of the four, Sakuniyas wasn't likely to help Pamela, Saint Marie and Elsa get the job done. That meant I had to rev up the deception engine to comfort my Aunts with hope, while dispelling the knowledge of how little they mattered to their sire. Almost as bad, I had to ignore what horribly people they were while extending that portion of my soul.It was with some relief that I hugged, kissed, and forcefully separated myself from the Aunts in Dublin. We were going on to Budapest's Ferenc Liszt International Airport. My next action was to make my request to Selena for a contract with the Ghost Tigers to defend Hana when she arrived in Russia. (Of the three 9 Clan Assassin-Babes, Selena was the least impressed with me.) She informed me that the Ghost Tigers didn't do bodyguard work. I still wanted her to relay my request, so she relented. After that, I passed out.We left Dublin around 9:30 am Friday morning and landed in Budapest at 1:45 pm., still Friday. As Rachel rousted me so I could grab a quick shower before touchdown, I was gifted with the misconceptions of my fellow travelers:To put it nicely, Riki thought I was somewhat revolting, Virginia was disturbed and Chaz had lowered his opinion of my moral character. It was the incest thing. Vincent being polite was a pleasant surprise, Delilah's camaraderie less so and Odette was peaches with my most recent sexcapades. She was far too good to me. The Amazons uniformly didn't give a crap."So, is there going to be any other bizarre behavior we should be prepared for?" Riki sat down next to me as I was drying my hair. I was back to my 'jeans, t-shirt and wind-breaker' style."Fine, " I said loudly. "It is really none of your business what I did with and to my mother's clones. Yes, they are all clones of my mother, who died when I was seven." A lie."They are also the genetic creations of my grandfather, also known by many as Cáel O'Shea. They are sterile, they are wickedly evil, and two weeks ago I didn't know they existed. I do have a real aunt in Maryland. She's my Father's sister and is not part of the menagerie. Oh yeah, my grandpa is currently a disembodied spirit, back from the Netherworld and looking for a body to take over, if he hasn't found one already," I added."He was born roughly five thousand years ago, was cursed by an ancient Sumerian Goddess such that he can never just die and stay dead. I have his memories running around my head, which, along with denying me a good night's sleep, allows me to speak an assortment of languages, use virtually every weapon built before 1970 and know that he is a vicious criminal mastermind the likes of which you've never imagined outside of fiction.How does that sound, Riki? Shall I get more bizarre? Trust me, I can," I regarded her evenly. She was speechless, but not out of awe. No, she was certain that I was completely unhinged."Everyone who believes Cáel, raise their hand," Odette demanded. Her hand went up. Odette and the Amazons agreeing was expected by the outsiders. Delilah and Virginia joining in was not."Captain Fairchild?" Colour Sgt. Chaz Tomorrow requested clarification."You've all seen those five O'Shea's that left the plane in Ireland. Barring some cosmetic changes, they were the exact same woman. You can either go with Sean Connery's Tak-ne creating a female clone army, or you can believe there is an otherworldly plastic surgeon altering a cadre of super-rich bitches to all look alike," Delilah, who was a captain of something, put out there."Who in the Hell is Tak-ne?" Riki mumbled."Duh," I poked the State Department lassie. "Connor MacLeod's Egyptian mentor in Highlander, the original movie and in the less than stellar sequel, Highlander: The Quickening"."You are mistaken. Connery was that Spanish guy," Riki poked me back."Actually, the relevant quote is: 'I am Juan Sánchez Villalobos Ramírez, Chief metallurgist to King Charles V of Spain. And I'm at your service'," Vincent regaled us with his movie trivia. "He later reveals that he was born Tak-ne in Egypt in the 9th century BCE. Also, his Spanish name makes no sense, he has one too many surnames.""Agent Loire, I am beginning to find intelligent men to be attractive," Charlotte said."Umm, thank you," Vincent responded warily."This might be a good point to get something clear," Chaz inquired. "Mr. Nyilas, whose side are you on? It appears to be rather complicated.""Okay, Chaz, call me Cáel. Calling me Mr. Nyilas makes me miss my dad. I can also be addressed as Cáel 'Wakko' Ishara, Head of House Ishara of the First Twenty Houses of the Amazon Host. Or, you can call me what the Great Khan does, Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege. Finally, those who love me, or find me amusing, may call me Fehér mén."Selena's snort indicated she'd failed to hide her amusement at my presumptiveness, both titular and physically."Do you want to explain what's so amusing?" Riki looked over to the Black Hand assassin."Your job should be exceptionally easy now," Selena mocked me, "Prince of Hungry and Transylvania, or do you prefer 'White Stud'?""Laugh while you can, Monkey-Girl," I sneered. "The guy currently making a run at erasing seven hundred years of Asian history gave me that title. As for Fehér mén, that means 'White Stallion' and is symbolic of my ties to House Epona, not a phallic reference." Riki's look had gone from disgust, to anger (because she thought she was being played) and lastly, to shock."No," I interpreted her fear. "I am not here as some vanguard to unite the Magyar people to their cultural kinfolk in Central Asia. If you know your Central European history, you might recall that the Mongols devastated my homeland. For the next 450 years, the Turks were unwelcome visitors, conquerors and overlords. My princely status is a pat on the head for a job well done and nothing more.""What job did you do?" Riki prodded."I saved a man's life," I looked pained to admit. She didn't get it."It must have been a major VIPs life," Chaz suggested."You can say that," Pamela nodded. "End of discussion time too."At Ferenc Liszt International, we were diverted to a private hangar once more, courtesy of the Republic of Ireland's diplomatic umbrella. Three grey Ford Focuses and a white panel truck advertising a furniture repair store awaited us. Security issues were immediately obvious. They wanted to separate us (in the Fords) from most of our luggage (in the truck).The five guy welcoming party hid under the cloak of 'don't speak any language you claim to speak' and Selena was of zip help. So, I spoke to them in Hungarian. They glanced my way, but didn't respond. Serbian? Nope. Romanian? Nope."Bows and doves," I commanded.That translated rather logically as 'guns/bows' and 'phones/doves'. Out came our pistols. The only Black Hand to react fast enough was Selena and Pamela had her covered. The Amazons were aiming at the locals while Delilah and Chaz had their weapons out and scanning. Vincent and Virginia hadn't been fast enough, this time. They also didn't have guns pointed at them.The lead BH flunky began talking calmly in German, heavily Slavic accented German."What do you think you are doing?" he inquired of me, in German."Disarming you, ya Moron," I grumbled. Then added in Hittite; "Go", and in my Amazons went to very roughly search, disarm and de-phone our not so friendly friends."Alright, gather up your luggage," I called out to my group. "We are walking to town." That wasn't truly accurate. There was a metro associated with the airport, a kilometer away max. Our guides didn't speak English so they were rather surprised when the bags came out of the truck and were distributed to their owners. Riki Martin and Odette were in some trouble.Girls and 'only packing the necessities', Well, we had some diplomatic lumber to toss at the security services, Vincent had web-searched our location and the route we needed to take to the metro, and Delilah had purchased week-long public transport passes for the group. Only when we started marching out of the hangar did the BH comprehend the totality of their error.The five guys in the hangar were chattering away, in Hungarian, and Selena was peeved."You are upsetting my superiors by blatantly disrespecting their courtesy," she reminded me. "They have guaranteed your safety.""Less than a day has passed since the shootout in London, Selena," I countered."This is the Black Hand's backyard," Selena persisted, "not London.""So, you are only going to help us if we do stupid shit we wouldn't do, even on our own home ground, is that it?" I chuckled. "Sweet," then, to my people, "I guess we are on our own."The airport security guards didn't know what to make of our group of over-worked Sherpa, but the US State department and the RoI (Republic of Ireland) vouched for us, so they let us pass.We hadn't taken the cars and the truck because that would have been theft. The confiscated guns and phones had been disassembled and tossed into a large iron drum of used aviation lubricant. Odette began shopping around for hotel reservations (I was carrying most of her gear). She was the logical choice because she sounded the most human of the bunch.Selena called her people back, explained the fuck up and engaged in a mutual ass-chewing that spilled over a half-dozen languages and ended up with Dick-head, the local BH chieftain providing us with quarters that would turn a blind eye to our arsenal. With that address in mind, we made for the bowels of modern Budapest.Dutifully, Riki contacted the US Embassy to Hungary's CIA mission head and Chargé D' Affaires, a.i., updating them on our arrival and movements. At the last moment, I had Riki relay the wrong address, on a paranoid hunch. I was right to be paranoid except I was looking in the wrong direction.We had just disembarked at the Kőbánya-Kispest M3 station when we walked into the rolling ambush. A 'rolling ambush' is like a meeting engagement, the difference being that one side (ours) is on the move, not knowing it is being hunted while the other side (our attackers) was rushing to catch up with us, not knowing where along the path they would find us.As we preparing to transition from the station to the attached terminal, looking for the bus line that would connect us to the BH safe house in the Kőbánya (X) District, our attackers were dismounting their vehicles from across the street as well as to our left and right. They were dressed like cops. Had they been armed like cops,"Oh look," I snickered to Pamela, "I see a whole bunch of heavily armed people coming our way.""Good for you," Pamela muttered. "Your eyes are still working.""Do you think they are here to raise me up on their shields and proclaim me 'Prince'?" I joked."I think they are here to kill us," Pamela grinned."I prefer to think positively," I grinned back."I am positive they are here to kill us," Pamela laughed. It had to be our relaxed demeanor that confused them.Had we been the droids they were looking for, we wouldn't have been chatting in the open with our bags in our hands. That would have made us crazy, and they would have been right. We were crazy alright and there was a method to our madness. It was mid-afternoon, yet there were plenty of average Hungarians wandering about.Sure, they saw the 'special cops' closing in. They didn't see the upcoming shoot-out because that was plain nuts. A gun battle in a modern metropolis in broad daylight? London yesterday was an aberration, not the new normal. Our impromptu plan was to let the killers get as close as possible to limit the collateral damage.This wasn't classic Amazon training. It was a concession to allies who did care about civilians killed in the cross-fire. The oncoming hit squad was finally putting faces to targets when Odette broke the calm before the storm. All she did was squeak when Vincent pushed her behind a kiosk. Riki took Virginia shifting her to cover in silence.Delilah took off at a dead-run to the south-east. They were raising their shotguns and assault rifles. We were drawing our pistols. Normally this would have been an unequal match, except that in the time period where, in their eyes, we had gone from bystanders to targets, they'd also covered a good deal of ground, to the point that they were out in the open while my fighting band was in close proximity to all kinds of cover.It started out as eighteen to twelve. Pamela, Chaz and Selena quickly cut down those odd by five. Me? I didn't try to shoot and run at the same time, so I made it to cover and was stuck there by our opponents use of fully-automatic fire.My lack of martial prowess could be forgiven by the reality I was the one they were trying to off. My greatest contribution to this skirmish was tossing my SPAS-12 to Chaz so he could use something more than his standard military issue Glock-17. I had barely gotten Chaz's appreciative nod when two grenades went off in close proximity to me.At first, I heard and felt nothing. My eyes were having trouble focusing. When my limbs began to orient themselves, I had to fight down the instinct to move. I was lying down, which was far safer than staggering around in the middle of this hail of lead. The twin grenades turned out to be their second and very fatal mistake on this mission.The first had been their delay in identifying my group. The second, using the stun grenades, did put me, Pamela and Selena out of commission temporarily. But their mistake was having misplaced my six Amazons in this mess they had created. They did have thirteen shooters versus Chaz, Virginia and Vincent. They rushed our position using the classic advance while firing rote.Two meters from me, the six Amazons revealed themselves with five P-90's and one big-ass bow. Four escaped the kill zone only to find themselves flanked by Delilah. Her .480, combined with their confusion, finished off the survivors. That wasn't the end of it. We still had to effect our get-away.I was still getting my head on straight as the ladies decided to hotwire some of the deceased men's rides and get us the heck out of Dodge. Recovery brought with it the knowledge that Virginia and Chaz had been shot. Pamela, Selena and me, we had some scrapes and bruises. Everyone else checked out. Mona let us know that she could handle the wounded. They wouldn't be doing jumping jacks for a week or two, but a hospital was not required. On the downside, no one believed that eighteen killers dressed as cops randomly rolled up on our transit point by accident. The only people who knew about our change in travel plans had been the Black Hand. We'd lied to the US.We broke into an abandoned factory to stash the vehicles and make our next plan. Selena was coldly furious. Not only did she come to the same conclusion we had, the Black Hand had set us up to be murdered, we weren't letting her call in. Wiesława and Charlotte kept their guns pointed at her, so low was our level of trust.Chaz was pretty much of the opinion that Selena should be coerced to provide us with the names and locations of the Black Hand involved so that we could do our own 'fact finding tour'. Oddly, none of the Americans asked to be pulled out. Vincent and Riki wanted to let the US Embassy know what had happened, yet were willing to wait until we were secure somewhere first.Rachel was on board with Chaz's idea, with the addendum that they kill every Black Hand they could get their hands on before fleeing the city. They had tried to kill ME after all. I was touched. It was Pamela who put things in perspective.1) The attackers were not Black Hand, they were mercenaries and that pointed a bloody finger at the Condottieri.2) Selena wasn't a fanatic and her life had been in as much danger as anyone else's. She wasn't part of our ambush. Her buddies had tossed her under the bus.3) It would have been far easier to catch us in that convoy they'd tried to stick us with. Caught in pre-planned crossfires and without our heavier weapons, we would have all died.4) Having failed to deliver us to the pre-planned ambush site, the Condottieri had to rush to our metro stop because, the safe house they had prepared for us wouldn't have worked. We had the numbers to allow us take total charge of our security once we were in place. No, gauging our numbers, this traitor had sent the mercs into a straight-up fight they'd just lost.

Director of Marketing at Gaming Laboratories International, April Augustine, delves into the world of gaming, wagering, and lottery industries. She shares insights on how GLI delivers top-notch land-based, lottery, and iGaming testing services across six continents. Show NotesConnect With: April Augustine: Website // LinkedIn The Rebrand Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterI Hear Everything: IHearEverything.com // LinkedInSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dane Brugler: It's understandable to have reservations about this draft class of QBs full 949 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 13:29:50 +0000 zSHIPCQAwrcsiCci8VpXrN595QYBP0ID sports The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima sports Dane Brugler: It's understandable to have reservations about this draft class of QBs The only place to talk about the Cleveland sports scene is with Ken Carman and Anthony Lima. The two guide listeners through the ups and downs of being a fan of the Browns, Cavaliers, Guardians and Ohio State Buckeyes in Northeast Ohio. They'll help you stay informed with breaking news, game coverage, and interviews with top personalities.Catch The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima live Monday through Friday (6 a.m. - 10 a.m ET) on 92.3 The Fan, the exclusive audio home of the Browns, or on the Audacy app. For more, follow the show on X @KenCarmanShow. 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Sports False https://

It's headline time again, another attempt to make sense of a lot of nonsense, at least from a worldly perspective. But eternally speaking, there is more sense to it all than you might think. Today we talk about the spiritual aspect of the wildfire disaster and what some Christians think is a helpful spin but it is not. Speaking for God on any given thing is above our pay grade but that doesn't stop people from doing it anyway. We also talk about Greenland, and how this appears to be nonsense as well, but it isn't. Still paying attention to events, or have you bailed out of sheer exhaustion? Understandable, but there is a price to paying attention and being able to tell others what is going on, and why it matters. There is a price tag on everything the Bible calls important so we will talk invoices and costs, counting and cutting our losses. Finally, those blood moons are back in 2025. Who will get sucked into that scheme, I wonder? I hope we learned a lesson in 2015. We shall see. All that and more in a packed hour on Stand Up for the Truth.       Stand Up For The Truth Videos: https://rumble.com/user/CTRNOnline & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgQQSvKiMcglId7oGc5c46A

It's headline time again, another attempt to make sense of a lot of nonsense, at least from a worldly perspective. But eternally speaking, there is more sense to it all than you might think. Today we talk about the spiritual aspect of the wildfire disaster and what some Christians think is a helpful spin but it is not. Speaking for God on any given thing is above our pay grade but that doesn't stop people from doing it anyway. We also talk about Greenland, and how this appears to be nonsense as well, but it isn't. Still paying attention to events, or have you bailed out of sheer exhaustion? Understandable, but there is a price to paying attention and being able to tell others what is going on, and why it matters. There is a price tag on everything the Bible calls important so we will talk invoices and costs, counting and cutting our losses. Finally, those blood moons are back in 2025. Who will get sucked into that scheme, I wonder? I hope we learned a lesson in 2015. We shall see. All that and more in a packed hour on Stand Up for the Truth.       Stand Up For The Truth Videos: https://rumble.com/user/CTRNOnline & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgQQSvKiMcglId7oGc5c46A

Happy 2025! It's time to take action and become your greatest self! That begs the question, how? You need a life plan! In today's episode, I'm breaking down how to create your much needed life plan with the work you've already done—diving into what you want, need, and how you want to feel! We are bringing our four-week journey to a close with this step-by-step plan. Let's dive in! KEY TAKEAWAYS: When creating your life plan, you must answer one important question: What legacy do you want to leave? This question and answer allows you to have more awareness of what's important to you. If you put action into your life, your life will change. WHY MUST YOU CREATE A LIFE PLAN: -Highlights what is utmost important to you -Keeps you accountable -Gives you the confidence to take action to overcome your fears -Understandable way to get to obtainable goals because you have broken your goals down into actionable steps -Helps you prioritize Create a life plan instead of New Year Resolutions! This is a far more sustainable way to move forward. STEP-BY-STEP TO CREATING A LIFE PLAN: Start with creating your vision statement Imagine your dream life. What does it look like? What does it feel like? Be specific in the details. What do you look like in this vision—meaning, what kind of energy are you putting out? Picture yourself already there and write out your vision. If you need help, use these questions: Do you see? What do you hear? Who are you with? How do you spend your days? How much money do you make? How are you making that money? What have you accomplished? Where do you live? What emotions and feelings are you feeling? What is your daily routine look like? Once you've written out your vision, think about what you need to achieve in order to make that vision come about. , What do you need to achieve in order to make that vision a reality? Do you need to go back to school? Increase your income? Change your health? List what you must do. Turn this into a more visual form, whether that's on a social media board or even just on a vision board. Perform a personal assessment A personal assessment is where we're looking at your achievement so far up until this point in your life. It's like taking stock of your success and failures. And by the way, many people hate doing this because they become really concerned that they haven't done enough. Stop the judgment. Just look at the lessons that you've learned, the experiences that you're not willing to repeat. When you're doing your personal assessment plan, look at all of the areas of your life: relationships and personal growth, finances, emotional well-being, your community, your career, your physical health, the five master areas of your life. Rate your happiness factor from 1 to 5. Adjust your focus What is step one? Create SMART Goals S - Specific M - Measurable A - Attainable R - Relevant T - Time bound Set Deadlines and Reviews How am I going to stay motivated? You're going to have a deflation of your motivation and some unforeseen challenge. The answer is to allow yourself to take breaks and come back to your plan. It's your accountability partner. Most importantly, stay in action. Love this episode and want to keep the inspiration and conversation going? Join the nearly 25K plus members on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok who are engaging in their own life revolution. Visit: www.getyourlifetogethergirl.com and the Get Your Life Together, Girl blog, classes, and one-on-one sessions with Danielle. And don't forget to sign up for the Get Your Life Together, Girl Insider Email here! You also don't want to miss the NEW You Are Only as Strong as Your Weakest Emotion downloadable eBook and journal! Podcast listeners receive a 50% discount on their purchases. Click here to check it out! Finally, if you are interested in guided meditations, join Danielle on Insight Timer as she takes you through free guided meditations. New release each month.

Taking Shape: Is the Bible Understandable?

  “A bunch of bull.” That's how one of the numerous North Carolinians targeted by Republican Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to have her ballot not count in the November election eloquently reacted last week. Griffin is trying to have the votes of 60,000 North Carolinians, in effect, retroactively uncounted because their original voter registration […]

Ever wonder what the difference is between explainable AI and understandable AI? In this episode, we break it down so you can sound sharp at your next meeting. Host Courtney Baker is joined by Knownwell CEO David DeWolf and Chief Product Officer Mohan Rao to explore why these terms matter and how they impact AI adoption in business. They discuss the importance of explainable AI for technical insights and regulatory compliance, while highlighting understandable AI's role in building trust and enhancing user experience. Our guest, Dom Nicastro, Editor-in-Chief at CMSWire, shares insights on AI's growing influence in customer experience and journalism. From empowering frontline agents to aiding journalists without replacing their expertise, Nicastro reveals how AI serves as a transformative but complementary tool. Plus, don't miss the debut of our new segment, Dragnet, where Pete Buer uncovers how AI helped the U.S. Treasury detect over $1 billion in fraud in 2024. It's a real-world example of AI's potential for good. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/txAJLP3iTvE  Want to shape the future of AI in your business? Sign up for Knownwell's early access program and beta waitlist at Knownwell.com.

In this series, Ben Schneider has been helping us consider those difficult questions and even the objections that we may have while we are looking into God's word, the instruction He provides, and the implications of believing what the Lord has told us. Today we'll look at that common and very difficult subject of doubt.

Ben has been gracious enough to sit down with us again for another episode of Understandable Objections. This time we'll look at the frequently asked question, "Is God fair?" This may be the most frequently asked question about God, and we'll take a careful look at it today.

Cliff Coleman, MD, MPH, is a physician and international expert in the field of health literacy. His award-winning work focuses on improving health literacy and clear communication training for healthcare professionals through systems approaches, including curriculum design and evaluation. Coleman is Professor of Family Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of […] The post Health Information Equity: Equal Access to Information that is High-Quality, Understandable, and Usable (HLOL #252) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.

We are joined by a man, Byron Coley, who has more stories than we could fit into every past episode of our podcast and we surely packed as much as we could into a single sit down. We start off with some talk about what we're listening to as usual and we move on to record fair talk (don't forget about our Record Fair at Counter Weight Brewing Co. on October 13th featuring Byron selling upstairs!). Byron tells tales of driving John Fahey around looking for classical records, his process for listening to 10 new records everyday, writing for weekly publications and magazines like the Wire, Forced Exposure, Spin and on and on.  We talk about the label and store he runs with his friend Ted in Florence, Western Massachusetts. We go back to his start writing a tour diary with Devo, but this is yet a scratch on the surface and this podcast is our longest yet for good reason! Check it out! Links: https://feedingtuberecords.com/ https://feedingtuberecords.bandcamp.com/music https://www.facebook.com/FeedingtubeRecords https://bsky.app/profile/byroncoley.bsky.social (Blue Sky) https://www.instagram.com/feedingtuberecords_rozztoxart (run by Ted) Music on this episode: Opening: Mike Watt, J Mascis, Murph, Byron Coley, John Petkovich as Hellride East May 2, 2012, Le Poisson Rouge, New York City. (YouTube) Rick: Melt-Banana "Code" 3+5 (A-Zap) Lolina "Dejavu" Unrecognisable (Relaxin Records) Parallel "In Flashes" Flooded (Play Alone) Holy Tongue meets Shackleton "The Merciful Lake" The Tumbling Psychic Joy of Now (AD 93) Josh: TR/ST "All At Once" Performance (Dais) Jesus Lizard "Hide & Seek" Rack (Ipecac) Ginger Root "No Problems" Shinbangumi (Ghostly International) Jamie XX "All You Children ft. The Avalanches" In Waves (Young) Disfigure "Stygian Chalice" New Age of Judgement (Self-Released) Byron: Chris Corsano "Everything I Tried To Understand Wasn't Understandable at All" The Key (Became The Important Thing [& Then Just Faded Away]) (Drag City) Closing: Byron Coley "Punk Day" Dating Tips For Touring Bands (Hot Cars Warp Records) The Redscroll Podcast is a monthly show (first of the month going forward) that works as a companion to what we do at Redscroll Records in Wallingford, CT USA. We are a record store that has a heavy emphasis on the left of center / underground music of the world. Whether it be underappreciated or just has a niche audience, marginalized or just off the radar it's all of interest to us. With the show we'll generally have a localized focus. We'll discuss upcoming releases and what is in our personal rotation at the moment. We'll talk about upcoming area musical activities. We'll talk to guests who have to do with all of the above. And we'll talk about specific dealings with the store. If you have input you're welcome to contact us through email (redscroll@gmail.com).

The Blue Plate in a Red-hot World (start time: 7:46) While adding cream to your morning cup of coffee, or digesting the hamburger that you grilled last night, you might not have been asking yourself, What's the carbon footprint of these ingredients and meals? Understandable. Our guest today, ecologist Mark Easter, however, has pondered this … Continue reading "The Carbon Footprint of Food"

On this episode, my guest is Craig Slee, a disabled writer, consultant and theorist dealing with mythology, folklore, magic and culture, exploring life through the lens of landscape, disability and fugitive embodiments.He has contributed essays and poetry focusing on the numinous and disability to various anthologies including The Dark Mountain Journal. Craig has also co-facilitated multiple seminar series at the Dresden Academy for Fine Arts, regarding ableism in the arts, as well as how ableism affects our relationship to space. In 2023 he was one of the speakers at the World Futures Studies Federation 50th Anniversary Conference, introducing the concept of (Dis)abling Futures. Craig resides in the northwest of England.Show NotesCornwall and the Seasons Who Gets to Decide What it Means to Know a Place?The Folding in of Identity to TourismA Question of Productive vs Generative AbilityAbleism and AttentionFinger Bending and the Freedom of MovementRedefining and Remembering Other Forms of MovementWhat is Stillness?The Dance of MountainsObeying LimitsHomeworkCold Albion (Craig's Blog)Goetic Atavisms (Hadean Press)Craig's Blue Sky Page | Facebook PageTranscriptChris: Welcome to the End of Tourism, Craig. Craig: Thank you for having me. Chris: Yes, it's great to be able to speak with you today. I've been ruminating for a couple of years now as to the themes that we might speak of. And I was introduced to you via a mutual friend and have come closer to your work via the Emergence Network's online gathering, We Will Dance With Mountains, in the last quarter of 2023.And so, to begin, I'd like to ask you first where you find yourself today and what the world looks like for you, where you are. Craig: Where I find myself today is by the canal in my flat, looking out the window, just as evenings coming in, in the northwest of England, in Lancaster, and it's chilly here which is actually a good thing, I guess, these days.Chris: Perhaps I could ask you to elaborate a little bit on what Lancaster looks like, but I know that, you know, from our conversations previous that you grew up [00:01:00] in Cornwall, a place that was previously, a town, an area devoted to fishing and mining, and from what you've told me, it's also become a massive tourist trap that you know, from the little that I've seen online, that the area receives around 5 million visitors a year, and tourism makes up about a quarter of the local economy.So I'm curious what you've seen change there and what do you think has happened to Cornwall and its people as a result and maybe there's something in there as well regarding Lancaster. Craig: Yeah, so I should emphasize this. I was born in Cornwall. My family has been lived down there for many many generations anyway and my father's side of the family actually, at various points, worked in the tourist trade as well before they went on to other things.And, [00:02:00] yeah, I mean, I left because, frankly, there was no jobs that weren't tourism. I came to Lancaster to study because one, I have a physical disability which means that Cornwall is a very rural area, so you need to drive everywhere, and that's fine, I drove at that point, but for good or ill, a more urban center was better for me later in life as I left.But the way that it shifted, even in the years when I was growing up, was that, you know, essentially was a rural area where nothing really happened socially or culturally that much until the summer seasons. So, you were very, very aware of the seasons in terms of, you'd have visitors [00:03:00] starting, and that was when the town would wake up, and then it was kind of dead for the rest of the year, so it was very much one of those things where the tourist trade has actually made me more aware of human rhythms in the natural world than perhaps I would have been, because it's so based on seasonal stuff.And just looking at the way the infrastructure because a lot of the towns and areas, they boomed a little bit well, quite a lot in certain areas with the tin mining of the 19th century. But a lot of the architecture and things like that was 19th century. So you had small villages and slightly larger towns, and they have very, well, I guess some people, if they were tourists, would call "quaint, narrow streets."And when you have that many visitors, in the summer, you can't get down the streets. [00:04:00] You can't drive it because it's full of people walking. You know, there's an interesting anecdote I'd like to recount of when my father, he was a vicar, he was a priest, moved to a new area he would go to the local pub and all the locals would greet him as the priest and be like, very polite.And then when it would come out that my dad was actually a local, that he was born down there and part of the family, everybody would relax. And there was this real sort of strange thing where people came and stayed because it was a lovely area, but there was still that whole issue with second homes and certainly keeping an eye on things from a distance here during the pandemic when people left cities during the pandemic, they went down there amongst places in Britain.And that meant that, [00:05:00] literally, there were no houses for newly starting teachers, you know, teachers who had got jobs and were moving down there, couldn't find places to live because during the 2020 and sort of 2022 period, everything was just opening up either as Airbnb because there was this influx from the cities to the more rural areas because it was supposedly safer.You know, and I feel like that's a reflex that is really interesting because most people think of it as, oh, "a tourist area," people go there for leisure, they go there to relax and get away from their lives, which is true, but under a stressful situation like a pandemic, people also flee to beautiful quotes isolated areas, so there's that real sense of pressure, I think and this idea that we weren't entirely sure, growing up, [00:06:00] whether we would have a place to live because a lot of the housing was taken up by people with second homes. And plenty of people I went to school with because it's a surfing area took the knowledge that they learned in the tourism trade, and actually left and went to Australia. And they live on the Gold Coast now. So it's this self perpetuating thing, you know? Chris: Well, that leads me to my next question, which kind of centers around belonging and being rooted and learning to root, maybe even becoming a neighbor or some might say a citizen of a place.And with tourism or a touristic worldview, we seem to be largely stunted in our ability to know a place, to become part of that place in any significant or enduring sense of the word. And so, I'm curious what your thoughts are on what it means to know a place, [00:07:00] and perhaps on the often mad rush to say I know a place for the sake of social capital, you know, given the context of the kind of relative difficulties that one might incur, or in a place like Cornwall, and the relative degree of exile that forces people out.What do you think it means to know a place in the context of all of these economic pressures denying us that possibility, or at least making it really, really difficult. Craig: I think we have a real problem in modernity with the idea of knowing as a sense of capture, right? So if I know you, I have this boundary of this shape, this outline of Chris, right, that I can hold, that I can grasp. And I think sometimes when we say, "oh, I know a place," or, "oh, I know a person" there's no concept of the [00:08:00] ongoing relationality. You know, you capture the image and then you keep it. And it's a whole construct of extractive knowledge that really, I think, comes down to the idea that the humans are the ones who get to decide what a place is, right?So. I could say in the standard sense, "Oh, I know Cornwall because I, you know, I grew up there for nearly 20 years." My family has been there since about the 1500s. You know, "I know a place, it's in my bones." Yada yada yada. All the metaphors you want to use. But the fact of the matter is, the place itself influences me more than I influence it. So there's this strange sense of belonging in which modernity [00:09:00] says "I belong" or "it belongs to me" rather than perhaps the place has extended hospitality to me and allowed me to grow and I could live/work in a place for 30 years and never know it because we're not comfortable as a culture with the idea of going, "I don't know this place."And it's a variety. It's always changing. And I think about all the times I used to watch the sea and talk to folks whose parents were fishermen or lifeboatmen, and they'd be like, "Yeah, we know the waters, but the waters can change. We know roughly what they do under certain conditions, but we don't know them completely, because they can always surprise us."And So, when somebody says, "oh, you're from Cornwall, you're a Cornishman," and all that sense of identity, [00:10:00] I'm like, "yeah, but that's, that's both really fluid for me, because, you know, there's a lot of history." Is it the tourist world of the 20th and 21st century, or is it the farming and the mining that goes back to the Neolithic?How we relate to a place purely in a modern sense isn't, to my mind anyway, the only way to conceive of belonging because, even though I'm now 300 miles away from there, I have its isotopes, its minerals from drinking the water in my teeth, you know. So, on some level, the idea that you have to be in a place also to belong to a place is something that I'm curious about because, there's this whole notion, [00:11:00] "you're only in the place and you've been in a place for this long and that means you know it and you're local." Whereas growing up, there was this sort of weird thing where it was like, "yeah, you might have been here 30 years and everybody knows you, but you're not a local." Right? You still belong, but there was this other category of " you're not local or something like that."And so it's complicated, but I really do, for my personal take, tend to look at it as a, the landscape, or wherever it is, influences my sense of belonging in a non human context, or more than human context, if that makes sense. Chris: Hmm. Yeah, there's so much there. Yeah. I mean, I'm also, in the context of identity, also wondering in what ways, not only has the tourism industry shaped one's identity of being local, which [00:12:00] is, I think, a huge issue in over touristed places in the last, you know, 10 or 20 years, as identity politics rises into the mainstream, and but then also not just the industry and the interaction with foreigners or, or guests, or tourists, but the way in which the image of that place is crafted through, often, ministries of culture or heritage, you know, so you could grow up in a place that isn't necessarily overly touristed or anything like that. But then have your identity crafted by these ideas of culture or heritage that the government's, federal and otherwise, have placed on people.Craig: And especially because where I come from, Cornwall, actually had its own language, which died out, which was on the verge of dying out in the 19th century. And slowly there are more speakers of it now. And you go back there now and you'll find, [00:13:00] even when I was growing up it wasn't so prevalent, but you'll find a lot of the signs for the street signs will have the English and the Cornish.So that's where the government has embraced this identity and enhanced it after people have been saying, you know, "this is a language we've rebuilt it. It's cousin to Welsh and Breton. We should use it. It's part of our identity and it's got folded into that." And so the infrastructure itself is now been part of that. You know, those very same streets have a name that wasn't known for like, 50, 60, maybe to 80 years, and suddenly people are now deliberately using the old names in non English languages because of that. And it's very strange because, especially in the UK, what with all [00:14:00] of Brexit and all that, there is a very weird sense wherein the rest of England, i. e. North and London and those sort of areas don't understand because Cornwall was a peripheral area and much like Wales, there's a lot of distrust of central government. Hmm. So, you've got this whole construction of a personal identity of nobody actually really understands what goes on outside. Either they're incomers, either they're emmets. You know, which "emmets" is the old English for "ants." Referring to tourists as ants in a kind of, yeah, they get everywhere. And the whole notion of who we are is always constructed. But in that case, going away and coming back to visit, I'm going, "Well that street didn't [00:15:00] have that label on it when I left. But it does now. And so in a certain sense it's the same place, but it's got this overlay of somewhere different that really enhances that sense of layers for me of "which Cornwall?" "Which of any of these places are we talking about?"Like you say, is it the one you see on a picture postcard or an Instagram or is it the ones who sat there as kids going, right, 'there's nothing to do, let's go and drink in a field?' You know and all of these things can co exist.Chris: Hmm, right. Yeah, I just interviewed a friend of mine, Christos Galanis, who did his PhD on hillwalkers, as well as homecomers in the Scottish Highlands, so people who spend their weekends climbing, summiting the Highland Mountains, and also the Canadian or Americans who travel to Scotland on heritage trips or ancestral [00:16:00] journeys. And he mentioned how in the Highlands that the governments have placed the original Gaelic place names on all of the the signs there, whether you're entering a village or perhaps on the street signs as well.And that he said that something like "only three percent of the of the people in Scotland actually speak, speak Gaelic," so they see the sign, they see the name, the vast majority of people, and they have no idea what it means. And I also remember the last time I was in Toronto, which is where I'm from originally, or where I grew up.And my family grew up in the east end of town, and the main thoroughfare in the east end of town is largely referred to as "Greek Town." You know, when I was a kid it was certainly Greek Town. The Greek letters, the Greek alphabet names as well as the English names of the street signs in that area.But it's much, much, much less Greek than it was 25 years ago, right? So again, [00:17:00] this question of like, is that to some extent trying to solidify the kind of cultural geography of a place. That people come to that street and that neighborhood because they want to experience Greekness in its diasporic kind of context.And yet, so many of those people, so many of those families have moved on or moved along or become more Canadian in their own sense of the word, so. Craig: Yeah. It's very strange as well because things like that attract... there's a loop obviously, because you'll get people coming to experience the greekness or the cornishes, and people will be like, oh, we should open a business that will enhance the greekness or the Cornish of the place, and that will draw, and it just becomes this thing and, yeah.Yeah, it's very strange. And I would totally agree with you on that one. Chris: Yeah. [00:18:00] Yeah. Until like a Greek person from Greece or a Cornish grandmother comes into town and says like, what? No, that's not Yeah. Oh, yeah. So I'd like to shift the conversation, Craig, a little bit towards ableism, and begin with this question that comes from our dear mutual friend Aerin and who admits that she's happily robbed it directly from Fiona Kumari Campbell.Yes. So, you might have heard this question before but she she felt the need to kind of pose it anew and and so the question is this. How does disability productively color our lives and Aerin wanted to ask it, to modify it slightly and ask, how does disability generatively or creatively color our lives? Craig: I can't speak to anybody's life other than my own really. But I would say that for me disability has, [00:19:00] one, given me a real sort of ability to look at the world and go, "you guys think this is how everything works and it clearly doesn't."You know, it has given me a generative gift of going, "hold on, what people think of the default really isn't the default, because I was never born as the default, and so I've had to find my own way of relating to the world" and that means that anybody goes anytime anybody goes "Oh, well, everybody knows..." or "the only way to do it is this?" I am always going "are you absolutely sure about that?" You know, "are you absolutely sure that what you're looking at or experiencing or noticing is only perceivable in one way, it's only ever [00:20:00] frameable, in one context?" But also this idea for me that disability is simply a fact.It's not good or bad. It is a thing that exists in the world and ableism is essentially the urge to measure against the vast field of disability and impairment and go, "We don't want that. That's the worst thing to be. So, we will strive to not be that." As Fiona Kumari Campbell would say, " It sets up a ranking and notification and prioritization of sentient life."So, this is why we, to a certain extent, we have such a obsession with youth culture. Young, healthy, fit folks are in some way better than the elderly. Oh god, nobody wants [00:21:00] to get old cause, if you're of white extraction, "oh, they'll probably stick you in a home."Nobody wants to conceive of the idea that actually you can have a generative and intimate relationship with somebody, not necessarily a romantic one, but a deep, deep friendship that also involves, frankly to put it crudely, perhaps wiping somebody's arse, right? There's this whole notion of messiness and failure and why Aerin reworded it from "productive" to "generative" is that whole idea of being productive, of having capitalist use, to produce, to make for purposes. And for me, disability and the field of disability in which I exist says "I exist and I don't have to be productive." it really [00:22:00] challenges the capitalist framework for me. And also, ableism, because it's set up to rank things like speed, mobility, all kinds of things like that, having a disability where you're sitting there going, but there are other ways to do this. There are other ways to exist. To notice the way our bodies move that are mostly ignored in the sense of "yeah, we don't pay attention to our posture or our muscle structure or what our guts are doing because we're all already forced along to the next thing.You know, we're already touring from, "okay, I've got up in the morning. Next thing I've got to do is have breakfast," right? And if you can easily shift between those stages, so you get up in the morning, start your breakfast, put your clothes on easily. [00:23:00] You don't think about it as much, but if it takes you 10, 20 minutes to even get out of bed and you have to do specific things, maybe exercises, maybe things like that, the whole process thickens.And in a sense, for me, it's an antithesis to escapism because there are things you cannot escape. There are things you have to deal with. And because there are things you have to deal with, you have to pay attention to them more. And that means the most ordinary mundane thing becomes or can become, if you're willing to gently sense it, a lot richer.So, this is one of those interesting things where if people want to go places to experience new things, Okay, that's a whole issue that you've obviously talked about throughout the podcast, but there is a certain sense in [00:24:00] which we don't even know where we started from. We've not explored our own bodies.I mean, I wrote a piece in 2020 when all the lockdowns hit that got shared around various bits of the internet and I think even in the newspaper at one point in, but I got a request to syndicate it, of how to exist when you're stuck in your house. You know, what do you do to "keep," in inverted commas, "sane," which, of course, is an ableist framework, but what do you do to stop yourself from losing mental health? How do you function? And I broke it down and I sort of made practical suggestions of, this is how I, as somebody that doesn't actually have a, quotes, "normal life," and spends a lot of his time unable to travel or go out much, stops myself from feeling isolated, [00:25:00] because I've ended up having to learn to explore what some might regard as a limited domain.But to me, that limited area, that limited domain has given me this sense of vastness that's, you know, I can't remember which philosopher it is, but there is a philosopher who basically says, I think it is a Camus, who says "you just need to reopen when you're in your room and the whole world will reveal itself to you."And when you don't have a choice, when you're stuck in chronic pain, or sickness, or something like that and you have to work out what to do with your limited energy, to embrace life, there becomes a sort of challenge, to go, "okay, how can I feel like things are enriching? How can I, almost metabolize the things that other people would reject.⌘ Chris Christou ⌘ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.You know, [00:26:00] because disability is so "Oh, it's so sad he's disabled. Or we've got the cure for this and that. And we've got to cure it." And it's not really about ameliorating suffering. Which is a good thing. It's an analoid good to ameliorate any form of suffering. But there is this sense that the only way to perceive the world is through a so called "non disabled" abled body.The only way to experience a rich world, and again, I'm not knocking people who do a lot of travelling per se, but the only way to experience the world is to go on long journeys, and backpack and explore you know, new ways of thinking. That's great. And I'm not saying you can do exactly the same at home, but you can also become radically hospitable to yourself and to the environment in which you find [00:27:00] yourself.And that opens a whole lot of doors that I think I would regard as generatively colouring life and revealing life. In a way that was possibly occluded before. Chris: Yeah, I mean, so much of what I've come to in the research around tourism and hypermobility is this question of limits.And that certainly comes up in other themes, in other contexts. But not just the limits to one's place. Like, where does your place end? But also the limits of the human body. And, when we talk about freedom generally in the West, or in, in the context of modernity, it's so often pinned or underpinned via the freedom of movement, in part, because I know you're coming from the other side of the Atlantic, but certainly in, in this part of the [00:28:00] world, in the Americas and especially North America, freedom is understood as freedom of movement because that's in part how, the states and, and the nation's existences are justified.And so, I would just ask you what you think of that in the context of freedom being, of course a synonym for liberation. And how so many of our western notions of freedom are attached to movement and have. To a large degree become glorified in the hyper mobility of our times.Craig: I would agree with you. I think it was always there because of the colonial urge, but I think North American notions of freedom have, through a certain cultural hegemony, filtered back. You get it in the media, even Star Trek, you know, the final frontier, you know. Things like that. Or wide open spaces. There's still this notion of, freedom to move, room to live. It has its own European context and [00:29:00] horrors, unfortunately.But also, I think the notion of freedom as freedom to move. There is a question there for me, because I'm not sure we know what we're doing when we move. Right? And one of the questions that always was raised for me is, if I raise my finger, as I'm doing now, and I bend it so it's 90 degrees, how did I do that?What did I do? Well, science would say, okay, you used all your tendons and so on and so forth, and I'm like, yeah, "okay, those are nice descriptors. But what did I actually do?" Where's the connection between the impulse and the urge to bend my finger? Right. I don't know what I did there. I just thought I'm gonna bend my finger and the [00:30:00] finger bent But there's a whole bunch of stuff going on.So when I'm thinking about freedom of movement First the question is, "freedom to move in what way?" Right? So the the classic example is, in perhaps North America and and English speaking countries is "to go where I want, when I want, with none to to gainsay me, none to say you can't go there," which has been problematized thanks to the history of enclosure of land and capture by state and political actors, but also this notion that if you get into a city and you can go and people go, "Oh, I'm free to go wherever I want."I always sit there and I'm going, "yes, but you can go wherever you want, but if a place has stairs and no lift..." right? I [00:31:00] can't go there. So do I have less freedom? Well, according to the traditional notions of freedom, yes. I am less free. When I grew up, as an example in the UK I went to America when I was about four or five, and I was absolutely stunned by the amount of public toilets that had a disabled toilet.Right? Because virtually nowhere where I grew up at that point had a disabled toilet. This was due to the fact that the U. S. has a disability rights movement that was slightly ahead of the U. K. 's. So I was freer to go about my holiday in the U. S. than I was technically at home. I couldn't go certain places because there weren't toilets, or there weren't ramps, because that had not been legalized. You know, there'd been no legislation. In the UK, there was [00:32:00] no disability legislation until 1995. You know, so technically, I was born in 1981. I had no specific extra legal rights that I needed for 14 years. Now some would say, "oh, that, you've got freedom there... the law has given you freedom.It's giving you the ability to move, but it's only given me the ability to move in approved ways, right? And so every single time somebody talks about room to move, my query is always, okay. "One, as I said, move in what way? And two, who taught you what method of movement is approved or disproved?" So, particularly in Europe, we have folks like the Romani, the Irish travellers, [00:33:00] even the so called New Age travellers, right, who are nomadic folks.And despite this obsession with freedom, the idea that people are nomadic, are shiftless and rootless, still exists. Yes, a degree. The degree of privilege, the degree that I could be, quote, "more confident going into public spaces." And you'll see this in American history and throughout European history as well.And when I was talking about the nomadic folks, I was saying, you know, there are only certain people who are allowed to move in certain ways, to travel in certain ways that are approved. In similar ways with disability there were only certain kinds of people who were allowed into public spaces.They might not have been legislated against in the mid twentieth century. They might have struck those off the books, but at [00:34:00] various points, at least in the US, if you look up the Chicago Ugly Laws, people who were regarded as vagrants or unsightly, were not allowed in public spaces. They could be jailed for that.It's not just loitering. It was very much anything that could give offense because they were physically disabled. Or, the idea that the physically disabled are more likely to be begging or doing things like that. That was all folded in. So, this notion of freedom as the ability to move and move in space.Despite the North American urge to be like, "well, nobody can tell me what to do." There's still a certain level of certain forms of movement are privileged or regarded as normal versus others. So, you know it's weird if you don't stay [00:35:00] in one place or perhaps, it's weird if you don't have a reason for your seasonal job, right?When I was a kid and a teenager... like I said, where I grew up was kind of known for surfing, right? And I met folks who would come from places like Australia and live in Volkswagen transporter vans and work in the seasonal hotels and then go surfing. And then sometimes in the winter they disappear off to Morocco.And you wouldn't see them for six months and they'd come back and there's all this kind of idea of Differing rhythms, which has really influenced my entire life because those folks, they were there there were hundreds of them you could see them parked on every road and I knew several of them very very well, but the fact of those seasonal rhythms, which weren't [00:36:00] approved. It wasn't approved that they didn't stay in one place and pay taxes. To some that might be, you know, "Oh, that's freedom! That's telling the government, I don't have to pay your taxes or I don't have to stay in one place and be a registered visible citizen. I can be a free spirit and go to Morocco whenever I want. But, the fact of it is, if you walked on the, on the roads, people would look at you funny, right?If you look at people who do long distance walking in areas that are drivable, I mean, especially I guess in North America, that's looked at as very, very, very strange, because you guys don't have the infrastructure. So, for me, it's this really strange notion that we're fixated on particular kinds of movement to do with agency and power, right?And we, we will say, "oh, [00:37:00] that's mobile, that's fast, that's quick, that's agile." And I'm always curious about what criteria we're using to say, "oh, that's fast, that's agile, that's nimble," when you look at the so called natural world, and you've got plants that are seemingly immobile, but they actually turn to the sun.You just don't notice it until you stick it on a stop motion camera. And then you're like, "wow, they move." But you could go past that plant every single day and be like, "yeah, it doesn't move. It's a plant. It just stays there." Right? Because our perception of what movement is and what is approved is based around one, what we're taught and two, what we see every day.But also three. What we can't notice unless we're forced to look at the same thing over and over again, right? [00:38:00] Because our tendency is to see one thing, think, "Oh, I know it. I've spotted it. I know what it is. I've identified it. It's fitted into my matrix of identity. I can move on now. It's all sorted." But the whole ethos, I guess, that I'm coming at iswhat if you don't know? What if you don't know? What if that microphone that I'm speaking into and you're speaking into it looks like a particular thing and you think you could describe a microphone to somebody but go down to say the flows of the electrons and it's a context issue. You know? And, and So, I'm interested in thinking about what are the contexts are in the room with us right now that we're not even paying any attention to, and not even in the room, in our own bodies, in our own language.Chris: Wow. Yeah, again, there's so much there. My [00:39:00] my thoughts just flew off into a million different directions. And I feel like it would probably take me a while to to gather them in.Craig: No problem. You do what you need to do. I mean, that's, that's the whole point. Chris: Yeah. So I had a queer crip travel writer named Bani Amor on the podcast in season three.And we were talking about the fallout and the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic. And she said something like, you know, "the settler can't stay still. That the pandemic showed us that we can't stay still." In the context of that time that so many people who had been engaged in and who glorify or who simply have been taught to live a hyper mobile life, that there was this opportunity to question [00:40:00] that, to bring it into a different context.And I know a lot of people, couldn't necessarily leave their houses in the quote unquote lockdowns. But I don't think that wouldn't necessarily stop people from tending to or allowing themselves to witness the more than human world in that way. And so, my question is, assuming we have the opportunity, in some manner, in any manner, how do you think we might have our understandings of movements subverted, or at least challenged, by virtue of looking at the movement in the more than human world.Craig: Great question. I think one of the biggest notions, and I just want to return to that phrase, "the settler can't stay still." And really, agree with that, and so add to secondary things of what actually is stillness, right? We have [00:41:00] this idea of stillness as immobility, as, as, as perhaps staying in one place.Not moving, but actually, if we look at what we're doing when we're actually apparently still, there's still movement going on, right? There's still movement going on in our bodies. There's still a different kind of mobility going. And we're not the only ones, right? The more than human does this exactly as well.If you look at a rock, oh, you think a rock doesn't move? I mean, it doesn't move, but then you have erosion, right? Then you have the rain, and the way that particles are shaved off it, and it shifts. So, when we're thinking about outside, when we're thinking about... and when I say "more than [00:42:00] human," I'm not saying "better than human," I'm saying "exceeding the human," I just want to make that clear, it exceeds the boundaries of the human. Disability as mutual friend Bayo would define it is, I believe he said "it's a failure of power to contain itself." So, that's Bayo Akomolafe. And this notion that the world and the modern human flows through and beyond any sort of boundary, right? So, any outline we form is not immune in the sense of there's no boardwalk, right?A wall is not an untouchable upright edifice. It's actually touched and permeated, right? So everything in the more than human context interrelates and is, to a certain extent, degrees of [00:43:00] permeable. So, yeah, our cells keep certain things out, and let certain things in, but even the things they keep out, they're in contact with.They're relating to. Right? Because in the same way, with COVID 19 vaccine, people think, "oh, it's a vaccine. It's immunity, right? It'll stop me getting COVID. Or it'll stop me getting this, or stop me getting that." What it actually does is it has an interaction with your, the vaccine has an interaction with your immune system.There's a dialogue, there's a discussion, a call and response, which then engenders further responses in your body, right? So, there's constant relation that is ongoing. So, nothing is one and done, right? To borrow from Stefano Hani and Fred Moten No motion is ever completed, right? Nothing's [00:44:00] ever finished. It's not like we're gonna get off this and, and you'll be like, "oh, I've finished recording the podcast." Sure, you've hit the stop recording button, but the recording of the podcast is still ongoing. And there's this fundamental ongoingness, which is a product of the world.The world is worlding, right? And that means the most ordinary, mundane thing you can think of is ongoing. The mug I have right in front of me right now with tea in it. It's ceramic. It's been painted, but it's still ongoing, right? It still has the relation to the machines that shaped it. And it also has this ongoingness with the human history of pottery.Right? And people go, Oh, that's ridiculous. That's not practical. You know, "it's a mug," but I always [00:45:00] think. Isn't that just commodification? Like, is that not just saying it's a commodity, it doesn't have a story? Like, I don't want to get all Marxist here, but there's that real alienation from ongoingness and the fact that we also are ongoing attempts at relation. We're not even fixed identities. Our movements cannot be technically circumscribed because I have a disability which means I can't dance. Right? I use a wheelchair. I can't dance. I can't do the tango. Right? Okay. But everybody uses dance in a context of bopping to the music and doing all this thing and it's a bit like freedom. You know, everybody assumes that dance is a particular thing.But as Bayo and We Will Dance with Mountains, the course, the whole point of it being [00:46:00] called We Will Dance with Mountains is the fact that mountains don't dance like humans. Mountains dance like mountains. And the only way we spot how mountains dance is to actually pay attention to them and attempt to relate to them.We can't get out of our framework completely, but we can be open to say, what does our framework for a mountain miss about those massive landforms? What are we missing when we say a mountain doesn't move? And that's where you have references to indigenous and local stories that actually talk about these landforms, these places, these folklore places, as the living, moving beings that they actually are.Hmm. You know. Yeah, "okay, that stone circle over there was because a bunch of women were dancing on a [00:47:00] Sunday and in a Christian country, that's bad, so they got turned to stone," or in Scandinavia, "that rock there, it's actually a troll that got caught out in the sun." that these are living, ongoing beings and events, which it's not woo, it's actual or intellectual, I think.If you look at anything for long enough, you start to notice what's ongoing with it, even something that's solid and fixed. And that, to me, the gripping is the bending of the perception, right? That is queering, but crip-queering is that point where you have the restriction involved. People will talk about queer liberation, and yeah, we want crip liberation. That's cool. But if you think about crip liberation as, it might actually be the limits that bring us liberation.And then, if you track back [00:48:00] into mythologies long enough. You've got figures like Dionysus or then poetic gods who say, they're the ones that fetter you. They can bind you, but they can also set you free. And that is really interesting to me that a lot of these liberational figures also have a side that they can tie you up.And I don't just mean in a bondage sense. It's this notion that the two things, the two complexes are part of a whole thing, and you can't divide it into restricted and free and you can't escape. You can't pull a Harry Houdini from existence, which, to a certain extent, some people, when they go on holiday, engage in tourism, they're trying to escape for a little while, their other lives. But we all know you can't escape them. Mm-Hmm. But the inescapability of it is not bad. Right. By default, it's not [00:49:00] bad. It can be, but the assumption something is inescapable, just like, oh, something is disabling. Mm-Hmm. the assumption of good and bad. If you can hold that in abeyance and actually look at it for a second and go, Okay, what's going on here?Maybe our conceptions of this need reevaluating. Now the reason we don't do this on the regular, even in modernity, is because it takes a lot of effort and time to focus. And that's another benefit that I get as a disabled person, right? Because I can't use my time for a whole bunch of things that non disabled folks can.So I've got more time, I've got a different relationship to time and space, which means that I can sit and look at things with that differing relation to time and space, and be like "Huh, I never noticed that." And then I get to talk [00:50:00] about this stuff to folks like you, and people get surprised.And they're like, "you think about this all the day." I'm like, "no, I don't think about this. This is my life. This is how I live. This is my embrace of life, right? And this is my freedom to literally, Be like, " well, okay, my restrictions. How do they actually open me to the world?" And I'm not offering a prescription here, because everybody's different.But it strikes me that even the most nomadic person always carry stuff with them, right? And to borrow from Ursula K. Le Guin with her "Carrier Bag Story of Fiction," which Bayo talked about in We Will Dance The Mountains, the idea of what we're carrying is really interesting, but how often do we rummage in our own bags?Hmm. [00:51:00] Right? How often do we take off our backpacks and rummage just for the sake of it? Often we just look in the backpacks for something specific. Hmm. Right? Oh, I need a map. Oh, I need a chocolate bar. Oh, I need my, you know my iPad. We rarely stick our hands in and notice the way our clothing might shift around our fingers or the way, you know, the waterproofing is possibly coming off and means that the fabric has these different textures because we don't take the time and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's the fact that we don't have that relationship to time and space.And babies, kids do. It's why kids put things in their mouth. All those things where you're like, "Oh no, don't put that in your mouth, it's bad for you." They don't know that. But the whole point of putting it in their mouth and feeling it is to try and not [00:52:00] understand it, not get it.There's nothing there in a baby in its early function that says, "I must understand what that is." The understanding comes upon you through experience. But there's no bit, at least as far as I can work out, that's like, "I must understand what it is that I'm putting in my mouth."It's more like, "hmm, that tastes interesting, it has some interesting textures," and then your brain does all the work or your brain and your body mind do all the work, but the personhood isn't also doing all the work, just like the "I" of my body, right, my relationship with the "I", as in my sense of self, I have to expand that to my entire body, You know, because there's so much going on right now in this conversation that I'm not aware of, right?There's stuff going on in my room that I'm [00:53:00] not aware of, but it's going on now. And so I have to expand and that expansiveness also means I sometimes have to venture into realms of pain, right? Because I have chronic pain. And in order to fully experience that, sometimes I have to encounter that pain.I have to slow down and focus and go, "Oh, the chronic pain that I was mostly ignoring because just in the background, it suddenly leaped to the fore because I'm paying attention." Now, modernity says you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't do stuff that causes you pain. Understandable in a certain context, but If I didn't understand that the pain was also part of the experience and changes how I move, if I didn't understand that chronic pain changes how time stretches, then I wouldn't be where I am.So the more than human permeates the human in ways [00:54:00] that the human is either deliberately trained to deny or doesn't even know is going on and the pandemic basically was, in my eyes, the more than human kind of knocking on the door going you are not this completely hermetically sealed box, right? Your society is not a hermetically sealed box. Chris: Amen. Amen. I mean, could have gone in a lot of different directions, but here we are, at least being able to reflect on it in a good way, and I'm reminded, this notion of abeyance and attention and, and the expansion of the I.I'm reminded of this, this line from Simone Weil who said that "absolutely unmixed attention is prayer." And so, I think that it, something like that is worthy of the times we, we wish to live in and perhaps sometimes do. Craig: [00:55:00] Definitely.Chris: And so, you know, I wish we had more time, Craig really getting into some beautiful black holes there. But hopefully we get the opportunity to speak again sometime.Craig: I'd be, be happy to. Be happy to. Chris: And so before we depart, I'd just like to ask the kind of token question that always comes at the end of interviews, which is where can our listeners find your work?And I'm pretty sure you had a book that came out last year entitled, Goetic Atavisms, if I'm not mistaken. Craig: Yes, I did. So you can find me on my mostly moribund, but strange little blog at cold-albion.net. And you can also pick up the book, which is, to be clear, more of an occult angle on this, but it also brings in the disability angle directly from the publisher Hadean Press or you could get it from, you know, the Bezos Behemoth, if you really [00:56:00] wanted. I am also not really on social media as a project, but I'm also on you know Blue Sky, so you can search me up there, or Mastodon, which you could always search me up there, and I occasionally post things on there.Chris: Wonderful. Well, I'll make sure that all those links and connections are available for our listeners once the episode launches. And I very much look forward to reading Goetic Activisms myself. So, thank you so much, Craig.Chris: Thank you, Chris. Get full access to ⌘ Chris Christou ⌘ at chrischristou.substack.com/subscribe

This week's episode of the podcast is an interview I did with Alec Vucinich on his brand new Basicbball Podcast. We discuss the steps behind creating an efficient offensive, making analytics practical and understandable for your players, and designing and implementing small-sided games with your program.Be sure to check out the full interview on Alec's channel, Basicball Podcast.This episode is sponsored by the Dr. Dish Basketball Shooting Machine. Mention "Quick Timeout" and receive $300 off on the Dr. Dish Rebel, All-Star, and CT models.Subscribe to A Quick Timeout Newsletter for SSGs, Xs & Os and expert basketball coaching interviews.

On the latest eisode of the Morse Code Podcast I speak with Emmy-nominated filmmaker Derek Dienner on his wild journey producing the independently-funded feature film —  “Brave the Dark” starring Jared Harris (Mad Men, Chernobyl) — surviving cancer in his 30s, and staying motivated in a highly unpredictable industry.Derek and I met at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. He'd recently finished his first feature film and was in the process of finding a distribution partner to help him release it. Randa and I were there for a similar reason, but on the TV side, with Morse Code.In an industry of ravenous self-seekers, I was impressed with Derek's unusual combination of earnest sincerity and restless determination. He was looking for a solution to his own problem, yes, but he was also interested in mine. Actually interested. In one way, we were driven by a similar need — to tell a story as close to our actual lives as possible. In my case it's the world of woe and wonder that makes an indie-folksinger. In his, it was Stan Deen, a widely-loved teacher and philanthropist from Derek's neck of the woods, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Like the protagonist from, Stand and Deliver, Deen had an extraordinary impact on generations of young people from the area. It was from this well of love and regard that a script was born, led by Deen's adopted son, Nathan. Derek got involved, and raised an enormous amount of money by reaching out to people in the Lancaster area, setting up meetings over coffee, getting the backers one cup at a time.People don't really understand how long it takes to make a movie. It's years of your life — toiling through constant uncertainty, navigating the weird and sometimes impossible-seeming challenges that appear from nowhere. A lot of folks never finish. Understandable why. It's just really hard. We talk about the passion that fueled him through the process, and the belief that sustained him.Honestly I didn't know how this episode would go because it was my first with a producer type. But the time passed faster than I wished and our conversation left me bubbling with vim and vigor. It had something to do with Derek's open-hearted enthusiasm, combined with a refreshing transparency from a passionate filmmaker very much on the front lines of the current war that is indie filmmaking. I believe! Find Derek: Website: https://makefilms.cc/about/derek-dienner/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derekdienner/ Get full access to The Morse Code at korby.substack.com/subscribe

Clayton and James take a deep dive into captaincy over the opening 10 Gameweeks of the season to determine the premium players wanted and needed for the opening weeks of the new season; before moving on in the latter part of the Podcast to a discussion on rotation options. The Haaland vs Salah debate continues, with the case made for both players, the difficulty in having both, the importance of the number 36, when it'll be time to hide behind the sofa and which of the players priced 8.5-10.5 stands up as being one that may well be wanted more often than FPL managers may expect for captaincy. There's also an overview of captaincy through the winter months and when during the season there really will be a time to take Haaland on with the captaincy - for those not brave enough to do it at the start! (Understandable!). Plus, a look at rotations, which even includes a 6.0 and 4,0 option together but focuses primarily on players and combinations priced in the 4.5 bracket and there may well be some options that haven't previously been considered. Tomorrow on Planet FPL: Planet FPL s8 ep6 - The Planet FPL QNA Today on Patreon: Tot&Ham And The Midweek FPL Dilemma For the full Planet FPL schedule this week, including our offering on Patreon view this post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/schedule-aug-109908150 Want to become a member of our FPL community and support the Podcast?  Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/planetfpl Follow James on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlanetFPLPod Follow Suj on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sujanshah Follow Clayton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/claytsAFC Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PlanetFPL Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/planetfpl Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planetfpl #FPL #FantasyPremierLeague #FPLCaptain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance talk with former Democratic state House member and attorney Brandon Jones about President Joe Biden's health, about state Supreme Court races and a litany of ongoing federal lawsuits that could impact Mississippi politics. Jones is the director of political campaigns for the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund.

Director of Marketing at Gaming Laboratories International, April Augustine, delves into the world of gaming, wagering, and lottery industries. She shares insights on how GLI delivers top-notch land-based, lottery, and iGaming testing services across six continents. Show NotesConnect With: April Augustine: Website // LinkedIn The Rebrand Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterI Hear Everything: IHearEverything.com // LinkedInSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I'm mad! So I yell at you, punch the wall, storm off, stomp my feet, shove the chair, and slam the bedroom door! I don't care that you don't like it! I don't care that you now feel bad. In fact, I'm going to wait in my room until you come and apologize to me! Who am I? I'm a 2 year old toddler throwing a fit, or a teenager dealing with hormones, social anxiety, and overwhelming schoolwork, or a full-grown covert narcissistic adult. How do you handle the situation? For the 2 year old, you parent them. You take away their favorite toy, have them take a time out, and let them know that this behavior is not okay. You talk with them about emotions. Help them to learn how to handle being angry, and tell them that you love them. For the teenager, you probably ground them. Take away their phone and the car, can't spend time with their friends. Cancel their fun events. And encourage them to make amends. You talk with them about how their behaviors affect those around them, trying to help them to see outside of themselves. And you try to connect with them and you tell them that you love them. For the covert narcissistic adult, you tiptoe around them. Figure out what set them off and add that to your checklist of things to make sure never happen again. After countless attempts of trying to connect with them, resulting only in circular conversations, you instead wait for this behavior to disappear, for the abuse amnesia to set in, and you both pretend that it never happened. The problem is this behavior is the same from a 2 year old, to a teenager, to a full-grown adult. Understandable from a toddler, expected from a teenager, and shocking from an adult.  

Sam and Sierra answer a letter from someone who is feeling insecure at home while her boyfriend is on a fun trip abroad. Join us on Patreon for an extra weekly episode, exclusive livestreams, and more! SUBMIT: justbreakuppod.com FACEBOOK: /justbreakuppod INSTAGRAM: @justbreakuppod TWITTER: @justbreakuppod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices