Podcasts about us defense department

China has voiced strong opposition after the US Defense Department added certain Chinese entities to its military companies list. The Chinese commerce ministry says the US move overstretches the concept of national security.

Beijing has criticized Washington for adding several Chinese companies to a list of entities allegedly supporting China's military, urging the United States to "correct its erroneous practices".中方批评美方将多家中国企业列入一份所谓的“涉军”实体清单，并敦促美方“纠正错误做法”。On Monday, the US Defense Department added several major Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, to the list, according to US media.据美国媒体报道，美国国防部于6月8日将阿里巴巴、百度、比亚迪等多家中国知名企业列入该清单。Responding at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, "China has consistently and firmly opposed the US overstretching the concept of national security and formulating various types of discriminatory lists to go after Chinese businesses.中国外交部发言人林剑6月9日在北京举行的例行记者会上回应称，“中方一贯坚决反对美方泛化国家安全概念，划设各类名目的歧视性清单，无理打压中国企业。"We urge the US to correct its erroneous practices and stop its unwarranted suppression of Chinese enterprises," Lin said.“我们敦促美方纠正错误做法，停止对中国企业的无理打压，”林剑表示。China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, he added.他补充道，中方将采取必要措施，坚定维护中国企业的正当合法权益。According to leading IT news portal TechCrunch, the list — known as the 1260H list, after the specific section of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that created it — "is just one tool that the US has used to place restrictions on Chinese tech".据美国知名科技资讯网站TechCrunch报道，这份所谓的“1260H清单”是根据美国《2021财年国防授权法案》第1260H条款设立，“仅仅是美国用来限制中国科技发展的工具之一”。The updated list, which supersedes an earlier 2025 version, now includes a broad swathe of China's top technology companies, according to Reuters.据路透社报道，更新后的清单取代了2025年的先前版本，如今涵盖了中国一大批顶尖科技公司。It also reported that other companies added include biotech enterprise WuXi AppTec, artificial intelligence-driven robotics company RoboSense Technology Co and Unitree, a leading Chinese maker of humanoid and quadruped robots.报道还指出，被新增列入的其他企业包括生物科技企业药明康德、人工智能驱动的机器人公司速腾聚创，以及中国领先的人形与四足机器人制造商宇树科技。Baidu said in a statement to Tech-Crunch that "the suggestion that Baidu is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list".百度在给TechCrunch的一份声明中表示，“所谓百度是一家军工企业的说法毫无根据。我们将毫不犹豫地利用一切可用手段将该公司从清单中移除。”Alibaba told TechCrunch that it "is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy", adding that it will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent the company.阿里巴巴在给TechCrunch的声明中表示，其“既不是中国军工企业，也未参与任何军民融合战略”，并补充称，将对任何试图歪曲该公司的行为采取一切可用的法律行动。discriminatory list /dɪˈskrɪmɪnətəri lɪst/歧视性清单unwarranted suppression /ʌnˈwɒrəntɪd səˈpreʃən/无理打压1260H list /wʌn tuː sɪks əʊ eɪtʃ lɪst/ 1260H清单（美国防授权法案第1260H条）National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) /ˈnæʃənəl dɪˈfens ˌɔːθəraɪˈzeɪʃən ækt/国防授权法案quadruped robot /ˈkwɒdrʊped ˈrəʊbɒt/四足机器人military-civil fusion strategy /ˈmɪlɪtəri ˈsɪvəl ˈfjuːʒən ˈstrætədʒi/军民融合战略

Episode 285.  This week, we uncover some long-term offensive strategies that show the virtue of patience can have a negative impact on the victims.A China-aligned threat group is quietly weaponizing telecom infrastructure with kernel-level backdoors, turning carriers into long-term strategic listening posts.A low-tech but highly effective social engineering campaign is turning everyday users into their own worst enemy by coaching them to execute the attacker's commands.A popular AI gateway narrowly avoided a cascading supply-chain breach after compromised packages exposed just how fragile modern dependency chains have become.A leaked cache of internal documents has forced Anthropic to confirm a powerful new model, spotlighting both its rapid progress and the operational risks of secrecy at scale.New research shows that AI graders systematically diverge from human judgment, rewarding polish over depth and raising red flags for automated assessment in high-stakes settings.The US Defense Department is pushing AI vendors onto a single contractual and ethical footing, signaling that military requirements will increasingly define how models can be used.China's latest Five-Year Plan elevates AI from a growth priority to a full-spectrum instrument of national power, blending industrial policy with geopolitical strategy.And finally.. The Meta–Manus deal has evolved into a geopolitical flashpoint, illustrating how cross-border AI acquisitions can collide head-on with state control and national security anxieties.You don't even have to be patient with these discoveries.  Let's go!Find the full transcript to this podcast here.

Today's MadTech Daily covers Anthropic suing the US Defense Department, Meta's Oversight Board finding its deepfake moderation is falling short, and a new feature on Barb's Ads Hub.  

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened down 189-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 33,484 on turnover of $9.9-billion N-T. Shares in Taiwan rebounded sharply Thursday, posting the fifth-largest single-day gain on record, as bargain hunters returned after reports the United States and Iran could enter negotiations eased geopolitical concerns. Among major technology stocks, chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 1.88 percent to close at $1,900 NT, and other large-cap tech firms also advanced. Memory-related stocks staged a strong rebound as well, while shipping stocks moved in the opposite direction. Analysts say investors will continue to monitor developments in the Middle East, including the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, while the long-term growth outlook for Taiwan's artificial intelligence supply chain remains intact (完好) despite potential technical corrections. Taiwan signs double taxation pact with Tuvalu Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has signed an agreement to avoid double taxation and donate funds to cover the maintenance costs of Tuvalu's first undersea cable. Lin is currently visiting Tuvalu as a special envoy of President Lai Ching-te. According to the foreign minister, the agreement was signed during a banquet hosted by Tuvalu's Prime Minister Feleti Teo, and is expected to boost trade and encourage Taiwanese investment in Tuvalu. Lin also donated funds to cover the maintenance costs for Tuvalu's first undersea cable, to help ensure (確保) the country's communications resilience during the banquet. Lin and his delegation arrived in Tuvalu on Wednesday on what is his third trip to the Pacific ally. Ukraine Sharing Expertise on Shahed Drones Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine's expertise in countering (對抗) Iran's Shahed drones. Zelenskyy says various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation. Russia has fired tens of thousands of Shaheds at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago. Iran has responded with the same type of drones to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets. Pentagon officially labels Anthropic a supply chain risk The US Defense Department has formally labelled (標記為) the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic a supply chain risk, following a dispute over its efforts to limit how the government could use its products. Anthropic has said it intends to challenge the label in court. Ira Spitzer reports from San Francisco. Cuba Power Outage Continues Swaths of Cuba remain without power nearly a day after a massive blackout hit the western part of the island in the latest outage blamed on a fragile (脆弱的) electric grid and a lack of fuel. Crews worked overnight to repair a broken boiler at one of Cuba's largest thermoelectric plants. Officials have warned that it could take three to four days for power to be fully restored. State media reported on Thursday that 52% of customers in Havana have power, as well as 30 hospitals and 10 water supply stations. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____. －－－－以下為 SoundOn 動態廣告－－－－ 【遠雄樂元】 北屯捷運X好市多 雙首排 ➤早鳥首付55萬起 旗艦級新地標 21-39坪，北屯機捷總站20米，好市多60米，出站即到家。2147坪新世代遊園宅，全齡化公設✦ 早鳥輕入住 https://sofm.pse.is/8sxjul -- 即日起至6月底， 透過台南住商不動產買房， 就有機會參加【買屋抽黃金】活動， 幸運得主將於7月公開抽出✨ 把成家的重要時刻， 變成雙倍黃金祝福。 台南住商不動產， 不只陪你安心成家， 還讓黃金一起到家！ 馬上預約看房 https://sofm.pse.is/8t4kfn -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

-Anthropic is reportedly trying to reach a new deal with the US Defense Department, which could prevent the government from labeling it a supply chain risk. -The White House announced that several major players in tech and AI have agreed to steps that will keep electricity costs from rising due to data centers. Under this Ratepayer Protection Pledge, companies are agreeing to practices that are intended to protect residents from seeing higher electricity costs as more and more businesses create power-hungry data centers. -Apple Music has now introduced "Transparency Tags" designed to show listeners if any elements were generated in whole or part by AI. The catch is that Apple is leaving it up to labels and distributors to create those tags. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a tough week for Europe after President Trump described the continent as "weak" and "decaying". Can US-Europe relations recover? Christiane gets the view from both sides of the pond, with former US Defense Department official Celeste Wallander and Oxford historian Peter Frankopan. A year since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the country's new President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to Christiane about Syria's future following a decade of civil war. Plus, who are the “Pink Ladies”? A special report on Britain's new protest movement which is echoing far right rhetoric. Then, into the past with author Jonathan Freedland, who reveals the hidden history of the millions of Germans who resisted Nazi rule. From the archives, how one man from Harlem trekked to the North Pole to inspire New York's schoolchildren. And finally, Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Corina Machado makes a daring journey to Oslo, telling the world what the award means to her.    Air date: December 13, 2025   Guests:  Celeste Wallander & Peter Frankopan  Ahmed al-Sharaa  Jonathan Freedland    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A correction to start with - Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles have a range of 3,000km, not the 1,000km mentioned in the previous podcast, giving rise to the question: if Ukraine can develop their own long-range cruise missiles, why can't Australia? Next we have the comical renaming of the US Defense Department to the War Department, as if this will do anything other than expose the Trump administration to more ridicule. Make no mistake, continuing pro-Russia actions make it abundantly clear that President Trump is not a supporter of democracies - and that could extend to Australia as the US retreats slowly into a posture of homeland defence. We look at nuclear submarine numbers in the US and UK with new analysis provided by retired submariner RADM Peter Briggs and it's not a pretty picture. If only we had stuck with France. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Trump said he would be placing chip tariffs “very shortly,” which will be “fairly substantial”, but signalled Apple (AAPL) and others will be safe during his dinner with tech CEOs at the White House on Thursday, according to CNBC.US President Trump said they are going to get the war in Ukraine settled; US Defense Department said two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters.European bourses are mostly firmer but with trade tentative ahead of NFP; Broadcom +7% after strong results.USTs are incrementally firmer whilst USD dips awaiting US NFP; Gilts lead after Retail Sales.Crude was pressured but now flat pre-OPEC, Gold holds around USD 3,550/oz into the US jobs report.Looking ahead, US Jobs Report (Aug), Canadian Jobs Report (Aug).Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

US President Trump said he would be placing chip tariffs “very shortly,” which will be “fairly substantial”, but signalled Apple (AAPL) and others will be safe during his dinner with tech CEOs at the White House on Thursday, according to CNBC.Fed's Williams (voter) reiterated that he expects gradual interest rate cuts over time, while he declined to comment if the market's September rate cut view is correct.US President Trump said they are going to get the war in Ukraine settled; US Defense Department said two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters.APAC stocks mostly took their cues from the gains on Wall Street; European equity futures indicate a positive cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.2% after the cash market finished with gains of 0.4% on Thursday.Looking ahead, highlights include German Industrial Orders (Jul), French Trade Balance, EZ Employment (Final), GDP Revised (Q2), UK Retail Sales (Aug), EZ GDP Revised (Q2), US Jobs Report (Aug), Canadian Jobs Report (Aug).Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

Joel Elconin, Co-Host of the PreMarket Prep Show and Co-Founder of the Stock Trader Network, joins me for a wild trading session as the general US stock indexes blast to new all-time highs, and many tech and growth stocks have some very volatile trading in this risk-on environment.   Key topics include:   The S&P 500 and Nasdaq blasted up to new all-time highs in Thursday's trading session. We talk about what a different week we are having compared to what many projected we'd have, initially thinking the Trump reciprocal tariffs were coming off this week.  Instead they were pushed back and the TACO trade is alive and well.   Travel and leisure stocks surged, with notable moves higher this week from Delta Airlines and Royal Caribbean. This brings up the concept of “digital nomads” and how as many as 50 million individuals are taking their digital work with them to travel more and work in multiple destinations.   Growth stock are in and value stocks are out. Berkshire Hathaway, one of the preeminent value stocks has been in a downtrend since May, coinciding both with the markets breaking higher, and Warren Buffett stepping down from the company he built over multiple decades.   Tesla remains resilient, no matter how many tangents Elon Musk goes on publicly. Joel reviews technical levels in (TLSA), but points out that it is somewhat of a cult stock, and there always ends up being a bid come in for this “love stock.”   There has been an unusual opportunity developing in the trading arbitrage since the new market darling CoreWeave, Inc (CRWV) announced its intention to acquire Core Scientific (CORZ). Joel breaks down how the pair trade evolved with a “buy the rumor sell the news” effect, and how there wasn't a good way to borrow short against CoreWeave, so the arbitrage got wider, but there was uncertainty on if the deal will go through keep some investors from buying Core Scientific.  The gap is starting to narrow more, but it could still be a compelling arb-trade for those traders with the right risk tolerance temperament.   MP Materials (MP) skyrocketed up roughly 50% on Thursday's session after the US government became their largest shareholder. US Defense Department just announced becoming MP Materials' biggest shareholder in a multibillion-dollar deal to boost output of rare earth magnets and help loosen China's grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.   Click here to visit Joel's PreMarket Prep website.   Click here to visit the Stock Trader Network.

One of the first executive orders that President Donald Trump signed in his second term of office stated that being transgender is incompatible with the ‘rigorous standards necessary for military service'. It set the stage for a ban on trans people serving in the military, regardless of ability, rank or service history. Official figures say there are 4,240 transgender service members in the US armed forces, however research commissioned by the US Defense Department in 2016 estimated there could be up to around 10,000. Over the past four months the BBC has been following the stories of two trans service people as the executive order took effect. Both have served 17 years in the military, and are now facing the threat of a dishonourable discharge.Archive sources: NBC News, FOX News, CBS News, CNN, Chicks on the Right, Newsmax, 9 News, WKYC, ABC News, US Army's School of Advanced Military Studies

It is now known that the Covid 19 epidemic of early 2020 resulted from an accidental release of the virus from the Wuhan lab funded by the US Defense Department and Tony Fauci through the EcoHealth Alliance. Join our Happy Warrior community www.WeHappyWarriors.com But eminent scientists wrote in Lancet Magazine and in Nature Medicine magazine early in 2020 that Covid came from the so-called Wet Market in Wuhan and thinking otherwise is crazy conspiracy theory. Take a look at the wonderful Tower of Power course:  https://www.wehappywarriors.com/offers/L6KwuaXh?coupon_code=MEMORIAL15 .  As late as October 2023 the New York Times was still insisting that the Wuhan Virology Lab escape story was nonsense. For Memorial Day, America's Real War eBook – only $10. America's Real War (Paperback) – now just $15  Wuhan was operating with the same biosecurity levels you'd find at your dentist instead of hi level security needed for lethal viruses.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is now known that the Covid 19 epidemic of early 2020 resulted from an accidental release of the virus from the Wuhan lab funded by the US Defense Department and Tony Fauci through the EcoHealth Alliance. Join our Happy Warrior community www.WeHappyWarriors.com. But eminent scientists wrote in Lancet Magazine and in Nature Medicine magazine early in 2020 that Covid came from the so-called Wet Market in Wuhan and thinking otherwise is crazy conspiracy theory. Take a look at the wonderful Tower of Power course:  https://www.wehappywarriors.com/offers/L6KwuaXh?coupon_code=MEMORIAL15 . As late as October 2023 the New York Times was still insisting that the Wuhan Virology Lab escape story was nonsense. For Memorial Day, America's Real War eBook – only $10. America's Real War (Paperback) – now just $15. Wuhan was operating with the same biosecurity levels you'd find at your dentist instead of hi level security needed for lethal viruses.

Diplomatic Hell Hole.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."Are we in the right place?" the stranger worried."I'm afraid so. Anais, you need to leave.""Not until you tell me what is going on here," she sizzled."She's not here to have sex, if that's what you worried about," I retorted. "Wait, are you here to have sex with me?""I barely know you.""That rarely stops me," I muttered."He's a master of bedroom antics," Pamela praised me. "He's pretty much at a loss at doing anything else.""Thanks Grandma," I griped."Your welcome, Grandson.""We, are here to meet someone," the stranger hedged."You came to the right place," Pamela preempted me. "He's definitely someone.""Fine, redo. I'm Cáel Nyilas," (deep breathe), "NOHIO, HCIESI-NDI, U HAUL, Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege plus a bunch of other honorifics that have yet to be confirmed. I am single-handedly bringing back medievalism to the center of Europe and the Near East. The woman to my left is Pamela Pale, and she really is my bodyguard. The woman to my right is Sgt. Anais Saint-Amour, RCMP, my ex-lover and the person that needs to leave   right now.""I'm not sure I should leave at this moment," Anais shifted possessively. I had to recall earlier this morning, the part where we'd broken up by mutual consent. Yep. That had really happened. I had thought I was whittling down my current list of paramours. Why do the Goddesses hate me so?"Told you, she can't give up that cock," Pamela whispered."As you can see, I have limited control of my life," I told the strange woman. "I know you are here to meet somebody who isn't me. Now you know who I am. Who are you and your companions?""I'm Ms. Quincy.""Sorry; I'm on a first name basis with everyone I meet," I interrupted."What's your rank, Honey?" Pamela added."What makes you think,?""She doesn't think. That's what makes her so dangerous." I explained."Hey now," Pamela faux-complained."Okay. She's a fledgling telepath, or medium," I shrugged."Captain, Zelda Quincy.""In case you are mesmerized by her tits," Pamela tapped me, "she's packing some serious hardware.""One of those personal defense gizmos?" I leaned Pamela's way."Close, but no cigar. She's my kind of girl, big 'bang-bang', back-up at the small of her back and knife in her boot.""What!" Zelda gulped."She's his knife-fighting instructor," Anais answered drolly."Are you Special Forces?" Zelda regarded my mentor."Nah, I got kicked out for a consistent failure to observe even the loosest Rules Of Engagement. I'm a free-spirit.""Oh, you're a sniper," Zelda nodded."I like this one," Pamela smiled."Ah, thank you." Then, over her shoulder, "I think we are in the right place." Zelda entered the room, followed by a Hispanic panther of a man (kind of like a tanned, slightly shorter Chaz without the cool accent) wearing a long coat, and a Subcontinent-cast woman who looked at everyone as if she expected us to sprout fangs, or start quoting the Koran any second now. She obviously was a brain seconded to this mission very much against her will.The fourth person had that cagey 'when my lips move, I'm lying' look while seemingly unhappy with her current assignment. The heavy implication was that the lady was a career diplomat. Considering our current company and who we were talking to, she was State Department. She was in her late 30's or early 40's and giving off the sensation she had devoted so much to her career that she was starting to wonder if that was all that life had to offer.The fifth member was a military man clearly uncomfortable about what he was doing here, thus not a spook. His off-the-rack suit wasn't terrible, so he expected to socialize somewhat while performing his duties. He also looked like a man who expected other people to speak half-truths and obfuscated lies as easily as they breathed. Numbers three, four and five were dressed for the weather and unarmed.All of this meant they were good at what they did, though they probably didn't know the particulars of what was expected of them. They had their marching orders. Those orders were about to be made irrelevant in the company they would be keeping. The latter weren't the 'doing it by rote' kind of people they would normally be dealing with."I bet you she's a doctor," I murmured to Pamela, "she's with State and he's some sort of Foreign Service type.""I bet the first guy is Air Force," she countered."Like one of those Para-rescue guys?""No. More like one of those Battlefield Air Operations guys, I'm guessing," she corrected me."That guy?" I nodded to the final guy. "Pentagon wonk?""More likely he's one of those embassy guys. I'm going to take an educated leap here, Office of Military Cooperation, Mongolia?""That is pretty clever of you. Kazakhstan. Major Justin Colbert.""I bet some people in the White House, Pentagon and Langley are disappointed with you right now," I reasoned. His jaw grew tight."Don't worry, Major," Pamela grinned. "We consider that a good thing. We don't like the people in charge and have a low opinion of their opinion on just about everything, including their habit of blaming the blameless for their government's fuck ups.""Who are these people?" the first man whispered to Quincy."She's a telepath." That was Zelda"She's a psychic-medium." That was Anais."She can see through time." That was me. "Nice to meet you. Who are you?""Chris Diaz. Lieutenant Colonel, USAF.""Dr. Saira Yamin," the second woman introduced herself. "Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Are you the man from Johnston Island?""Why yes, yes I am," I beamed."The APCSS is in Waikiki, Hawaii," Pamela educated me. "Your arrival probably cost her some prime surfing time.""I was more interested in the fact that he survived a plane crash in a Category Four Cyclone," she admitted."Mother Nature hates me. No matter how hard I try, she refuses to kill me," I confessed. "My suffering is an endless source of amusement to that bitch.""That, that wasn't the helpful answer I was looking for," she stammered."So, Lt. Colonel Chris Diaz, you must be with JSOC, I have a deep and abiding respect for you guys. If you need something, just ask," I greeted him. "Captain Zelda, you are not with JSOC.""She's with the DCS ~ that is the Defense Clandestine Service," Pamela kept going. "Zelda, you love being in your uniform, you're proud, yet happy with the concept of dying in an unmarked grave for Constitution and Country. You are too old to have been in the first female class at Ranger School, so that means no 'in the field' JSOC for you. You've gotten around that stone wall by joining the US Defense Department's own little pack of killers.""Also, you felt it was necessary to bring a Benelli M4-11707. That's a close-in action shotgun, but a bit over-kill considering the paper-thin walls in this building. That tells me you are used to being in the kinds of places where such a tool is a necessity. Or in other words, since you think you are meeting a band of terrorists, you brought along your favorite toy.""Your personal weapon is a SIG Sauer P229R DAK in .357 which is a new weapon still under trial by the US Army and Air Force. Your boot dagger is ceramic so it will pass a cursory exam, or scan. You hate the idea of being trapped on a public aircraft weaponless. You have also given up killing power for a proper balance for throwing. I like a forward-thinking gal.""Air Force ~ you've recently come back from Asia, most likely Tibet. It shows in your breathing brought about by a close call with Altitude Sickness. The only reason for an Air Force guy to be here is because he's familiar with the Khanate military and you are not US Army, or Marine Corp Special Forces. I know the type.""You went with the MP5K in the standard 9mm, so you are more interested in sending bullets down range than looking into someone's face as you kill them. You may be a 'light' Colonel, which means you are almost somebody. What your higher-ups haven't appreciated is that our guests will respect you because they are like that ~ remembering past friends and comrades in arms. Of greater importance, you have Cáel's gratitude which will count for more than you currently believe."I pledged then and there to be as good as Pamela at determining that kind of stuff before I died. She had assured me it was as much a matter of psychology as eagle-eyed perception. People were often a type that gravitated to various forms of destruction, be they old school, or going for the latest gadget."I told you all that firepower was excessive," State softly chastised her associates (what they really were, not the underlings she saw them as)."So, you appeared to have forgotten to tell us your name," I regarded the State lass."Nisha Desai Biswal. I'm with the government.""Oh, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, I've examined your website," I told her. It clearly pissed her off somewhat that I so swiftly disregarded her crude attempt at subtle manipulation."Hey. I've got some real enemies at State, so it pays to know who might be the next suit trying to cock me over," I explained. I had to prioritize. It would take some serious effort to convince Zelda to have a MFF three-way straight out the gate and she was definitely the hotter number."Major, you came here unarmed," Pamela noted. "That won't do. They expect you to be armed because you are a warrior, damn it. Cáel get him one of your Glock 22's.""Gotcha," I nodded. I went to my room, tipped away the false back to my closet (that Havenstone had installed recently so Odette wouldn't accidently fire off one of my weapons) and retrieved one of my spare Glocks, but not the one with the laser sight. Such over-the-top fancy gear would be inappropriate. I only gave him one mag. If he couldn't get the job done with 15 rounds, he wouldn't have a chance to reload.Mind you, I took two in a twin-rig shoulder holster and four 22 round magazines, because I tend to shoot two-handed which doesn't exactly give you a bullseye every time. I returned to our crowded living room, handed the Major his weaponry, and then directed the US group to the far side of the room (towards Timothy's bedroom. Saira and Nisha took the couch.Because this tiny space wasn't crowded enough, there was a knock at the door. I checked. It was Juanita, oh yeah, my real bodyguard."Listen up everybody," I announced to the room. "This is my other bodyguard, my official one. Her names is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza, she's from the Dominican Republic via Buenos Aires and she is armed, so don't freak out." I opened the door."What is going on?" Juanita hissed."I'm having a private meeting with a few heavily armed friends. The other side to this party hasn't arrived yet. Why don't you come in?" She came in."Why didn't you warn me?" she whispered her complaint."Long night, worse wake-up, needed to do some soul-searching. Pamela was looking after me, then this came up and I forgot. I apologize," I lowered my head in shame. Juanita was only trying to do the job she'd been entrusted with and by not thinking of her, I was making that so much harder.I made the introductions, first names only."Juanita, Anais, Pamela; please slip into the kitchenette," I suggested.Anais "Why?"Juanita "Where are you going to be?"Pamela "Sure. I'm starving. I'm going to raid the fridge.""Anais, because I need my faction in one place. Juanita, I will be refereeing this meeting, so I will have to remain in the living room, roughly six feet from you." It was really a small apartment. "Pamela, if it is edible, it isn't mine and you'll have to replace it."Great Caesar's Ghost! No wonder Big Wigs had their personal assistants handle this pre-meeting crap. I was on my last two fucking nerves and one of those was already stressed and tender. And the real reason for being here hadn't even arrived yet."Why am I in your faction?" Anais mulled over threateningly."Because you haven't walked out that door. There are going to be three sides to this meeting, not three plus Anais. That is the way it is going to be. Now, are you going to behave, or are Juanita and Pamela going to toss you out?""You are threatening me!""Finally catching on to that, aren't you, Sweetie?" Pamela chimed in."I'm only staying because I believe you are in trouble," Anais grumped."Why is she (Anais) here?" Nisha inquired heatedly. "This is supposed to be a very, very private encounter.""I know Anais. I don't know you. I trust Anais with my well-being despite the fact she has numerous reasons to distrust me. She's staying because she is a straight arrow. That's good enough for me.""But is she going to keep her mouth shut about what happens here today?" Nisha pressed."Anais, this is a clandestine meeting that isn't going to be recorded by anybody so, barring a crime being committed, you can never discuss this with anyone who isn't already in the room. Agreed?"Pause."I agree," she nodded. I really was going to have to fuck her again. Not today. Well, maybe not today; I had to keep my options open. Her investigator mind was going into overdrive. Give it a week and she'd be knocking on my door late one night. Inquisitive, truth-hungry dames are like that, trust me. Then it would be 'bask in my genius' sex. It had been a while since I'd experienced that, with Lady Yum-Yum.There was another knock at the door. I checked before Juanita could do the checking for me, in case someone was going to shoot me through the door. Fuck it. I was going to talk to Timothy about moving. Him, me and Odette. I couldn't give those two up. It was Kazak bookends. I opened up and invited them in. It turned out they had names besides Bookends #1 and #2, Nuro and Roman.Nuro (I think) checked out the rooms while Roman (I was pretty sure) kept an eye on my guests. I made introductions, first names only and specifying who was with who. Technically, they could trust my side because I was the Great Khan's brother and thus my servants were his servants. Technically.Iskender came next followed by OT. A woman I didn't know (sadly, not OT's daughter) came in behind him while the other two quintuplets stayed in the hallway. Iskender and I hugged."Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," he smiled. That was 'Prince-something'. My Kazak was a bit rusty. He then whispered into my ear. "OT bows to you first. His title is Hongtaiji." What?"Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," OT bowed."Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar," I bowed back. I remembered I had to rise first. It was an etiquette thing. In retrospect, Iskender had stretched the bounds of tradition by hugging me, his titular superior. "Welcome to my humble abode.""I thank you for your hospitality," he 'grinned'. His face wasn't made for that gesture so that faint gesture came across as rather unnatural.My mind finally finished translating what Iskender and OT had called me. It wasn't 'prince'. It was 'beloved brother of the Great Khan'. Mother fucker!"Wait," Justin, the military attach  guy muttered, "we are here to meet this guy?" indicating me."What do you mean?" Saira questioned."The title Mr. Nyilas was identified with means 'beloved brother of the Great Khaan'," he explained. "The Kazakhs don't go tossing honorifics like that around. This guy," again pointing at me, "is a really important somebody.""Thanks for dropping this grenade in my lap, OT," I joked. "I'll get you for this, and your little yak too.""Odette is going to be so miffed that she missed this," Pamela chuckled."Mr. Nyilas," Zelda began."Please, call me Cáel. It is how I roll.""Cáel, can I ask you a stupid question?""Go right ahead," Pamela snorted. "Cáel does stupid real well. It is a critical part of his skill set. It makes him adorable instead of annoying. Trust me, you'll learn that soon enough."Too much 'trust me' was flying around in a room where nobody trusted anybody."Thanks for that encouragement, Teach," I grumbled. "Ask away, Captain Zelda.""Why are you playing this game with us?""I wasn't. Until thirty seconds ago I was sure I was here totally as a spectator," I gripped. "My buddy," the word dripped with sarcasm, "Temujin likes dumping these kinds of surprises on me.""Did you mean what Ms. Pale said about you feeling you owed me?" Chris asked."Absolutely.""We need help defusing this Thailand crisis before a shooting war begins.""What do you suggest?""We want the Khanate to back down," Chris stated firmly."I thought we had agreed that I would spearhead this delegation," Nisha reminded Chris."I think the situation had evolved and we need a different approach," Chris insisted."You should listen to the Lieutenant Colonel," I advised. "He knows a whole lot more about what is going on than you do.""Why don't you explain it to us?" she began her weevil-ling."You are engaging in linguistic niceties with men who have bled together, Ms. Biswal," I instructed. "Not that Chris and I have bled on the same battlefield, we have shed blood in the same cause; and that cause has been bringing our two nations, the Khanate and the US, together. The Khanate owes Chris for his efforts on our behalf and we pay our debts.""How so?" Nisha asked."National Security stuff," I evaded. "If you don't know, you shouldn't know and you probably don't want to know. Suffice it to say, the Khanate is willing to listen to Lt. Colonel Diaz's request as a friend.""But he doesn't speak for the United States Government," she corrected."Why not?" I riposted. "He's dealt with the Khanate longer than you have. He has a clue about the mindset of their rank and file.""But does he know their leadership?" she persisted."I don't know. Chris, do you think you have a handle on me?""Are you really capable of talking for the Khanate government?" Nisha preempted Chris. What she left unsaid was 'are you culpable in their atrocities?'"Let's find out," I then looked over my shoulder. "Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar, will my words and wishes reach my brother's ear?""That is why I am here," he replied."Don't you have the authority to speak for your leader?" she grilled OT. Nisha was relentless trying to stay in the limelight. "Aren't you a diplomat?""There is no need to insult the man," Pamela snidely commented."I am one of many voices that provide information to the Great Khan. I am not his brother. Cáel Nyilas is and has already proved his familial affection by proposing Operation Funhouse and brought whole nations as gifts," OT schooled her. "He is gifted with both tactical and strategic insight as well as sharing the Great Khan's love for his people and his hopes for their eventual freedom.""I didn't think you were a soldier," Zelda looked me over."Oh no," I wove off that insinuation. "I've never been a real soldier and am unworthy of that distinction. I know quite a few who have earned that title and they scare the crap out of me. I mean, they go looking for trouble. In my case, trouble comes looking for me. I'm damn lucky to still be alive and that's the damn truth.""Bullshit," Pamela coughed."What was that, Artemisia?" I winked at her."Bitch," she laughed "My men have become women, and my women men. At least you didn't call me Cassandra.""Well, she's Greek (a deadly insult to all Amazons), but you could be her Evil Twin because everyone believes whatever you say.""Can we get down to business?" Chris inquired."Damn," Pamela shook her head. "They haven't been paying attention.""What does that mean?" Zelda griped."Iskender, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked."Not a clue, Exalted One," he stood there like a stone statue. Note, the Khanate contingent really were standing there like the Altai Mountains, doing nothing. You had to carefully examine them to see that they did indeed breathe and blink."Use small words," Pamela advised."You really are a rude misanthrope," Anais told Pamela."Do you know what's going on?" Pamela volleyed."No.""Then sit back and watch how the madness works," she snickered. "It is all you, Cáel.""Okay. One; how did Artemisia escape the battle of Salamis?" I began. Nothing."Oh," Justin nodded. "She rammed an allied ship to make the pursuing Athenians think she was an ally. What does that have to do with our current predicament?""Achieve your ends by using violence as a distraction," I sighed. "The Khanate will invade Thailand in," I looked to OT, "tomorrow?" He nodded."How does that help us?" Nisha complained."Second example, Cassandra. She saw the truth through all illusions and falsehoods and no one believed her. Now, reverse that."Pause."We are waiting," Saira finally joined the conversation. I could hear those little microprocessors inside her noggin firing electrons at light speed."We fight a phony war. The Khanate and their buddies invade in a lightning campaign that appears to be successful. Shit like attacking the opposition where they ain't. Things that look epic on CNN where some retired colonel, no offense...""None taken," Chris responded."Where some colonel talks about seizing resources, severed supply lines and encirclement. We, the Khanate, bomb shit like bridges and supply dumps, things with no civilians to get killed. On the downside, to make this work the Khanate needs to put some level of force into Bangkok.""That will get civilians killed," Nisha reminded me, unnecessarily."Civilians are getting killed right now by their own government. This time they will get a chance to strike back," I stated firmly. "The Thai protestors aren't cowards. They are just grossly outgunned. We can change that.""How does that help the United States?" Nisha queried."The US gets to come in and save the day," I sighed. "The US can t get there until the day after, so you don't look bad about letting the first 24 hours of brutality happen.""Oh," Zelda blinked."The US gets to end the fighting that the Khanate has no desire to continue. The US brings peace, while whomever takes over owes the Khanate. Both sides look good. Both sides claim victory. The President gets a second Nobel Peace Prize (psychic, aren't I?). The US gathers some regional allies like Malaysia, the ROC and the Philippines along with our Marines to ensure free and fair elections. The Khanate isn't seen to be backing down against the Titan of Western Civilization. They are working with them to bring about a better world.""Win-win," Saira nodded in agreement."The Khanate is still an autocratic tyranny," Nisha commented."As opposed to the People's Republic's oligarchical tyranny?" Chris countered."Agreed," Saira said. "I now think we should work with the Khanate to bring stability to Central Asia which which was impossible while those member nations were being squeezed between Russia, Europe, China and India.""What are you a doctor of?" I asked."I specialize in 'failed states', among other things," Saira grinned."This could still turn into one bloody cluster-fuck," Zelda mused."My peopled don't have the resources to devastate Thailand," OT finally spoke. "If you, the US, agrees to intervene on our timetable, you will have our thanks, off the record, of course.""How do we know this isn't some ruse to allow the Khanate to overthrow Thailand's existing government?" Justin questioned."You have my word," I replied. No one said anything for several heartbeats."Really?" Nisha balked."Mr. Nyilas, Cáel, do you give me the Great Khan's word?" Chris studied me intently."Without reservation," I answered. "For what you have done for us and more, the Great Khan will honor this deal. We and the Thai's will do the bleeding. You will get your accolades. We avoid a pointless clashing of forces, which is why we are all here today.""I will give you my written recommendation in a few hours," Saira told Nisha.Chris stepped forward to shake my hand. He was an alpha-type alright. I gave as good as I got. His eyes bore into mine, looking for a faltering of will."What did you do in Romania?""I got a lot of good men killed.""Okay.""Okay?" Nisha squawked. "A handshake, a pat on the back and the deals done? Since when did our democratic republic do business this way? He admitted he got men killed in Romania. What is to say this won't be Romania writ large?""Ms. Biswal, he told the truth. He got good men killed and he isn't happy about it. I would be worried if he claimed one bit of glory from that episode. He didn't.""Nisha," I took a deep breathe, "When you unleash men with weapons, nothing is assured. Maybe the Thai government will see the hate coming their way and back down. Maybe the people will resist the intrusion. Maybe the Khanate's forces will get slaughtered at the starting line. It isn't like they have enough time to deploy enough forces to win a protracted war.""What happens if the Khanate decides it won't go?" she continued."Then they get destroyed on the ground in a war of attrition," Chris answered for me. "He's right. They can't bring enough in the time allotted to completely overwhelm the roughly 120,000 members of the Royal Thai Army that have remained loyal to the regime.""In three days they will be out of fuel, shells, rockets and bullets. It is logistics, Ms. Biswal," Zelda piled it on. "The Khanate war-fighting systems are not NATO compatible. That means they can't simply capture more material as they penetrate the frontiers. If they overstay their welcome, we can launch missile strikes against their fuel depots. The combat devolves back to World War I and that's a style of war they can't afford to fight.""What about stopping the Khanate from invading in the first place?" Nisha wouldn't give up."Had the US acknowledged the Khanate, none of this would have happened, Ms. Biswal," I became snappish. "Neither superpower talked to the other until other commitments had been made.""If you think you can come in and start dictating Khanate policy, you are dreadfully mistaken. The US doesn't have the power, or the resolve," I glared at her. "Don't try convincing the Khanate that isn't the case. We know better.""You don't know what the US is capable of," she snapped back."Abandoning Iraq with a fractured pseudo-democratic process? Abandoning Afghanistan without destroying the Taliban? The Syrian Civil War? The Donbass Crisis? The collapse of Libya? Boko Haram? Somalia? Yemen? Exactly how has the US's power and resolve solved any of those issues?" I countered."Ms. Biswal," OT spoke again. "We are willing to create a desert and call it 'Peace'. Our enemies know that. Your unwillingness to do so is neither a strength nor a weakness. It is a hallmark of your society in the same way that 'Total War' is a hallmark of ours. We are more than willing to leave you to manage the Peace. Let us manage the War against the forces opposed to civilized discourse.""As ugly and disagreeable as it is, we are willing to keep creating pyramids of skulls on every street corner until either they learn their lesson, or we kill them all. Let us do that and you will have your global stability and reap the economic benefits and accolades of Pax Americana. We are not your enemy. We are precisely the ally you need to keep the peace and we will do that, if you let us.""To allow barbarism is to become barbarians," Saira mused."That is complete fiction," I scoffed. "The United States didn't become communist because it allied with the Soviet Union in World War II. Truman didn't become Stalin. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is older than recorded history.""It is the Carrot and the Stick on a Global basis," Justin agreed. "Listen to the gentle words of the West, or you will end up feeling the wrath of the East.""As long as the Khanate accepts the limitations of is role," Saira added, "this might work. Please understand there will be factions in the Western Democracies who will not accept that status quo. It is not in the nature of our societies to stifle dissent.""Is it possible to get any political concessions from the Khanate's leadership?" Justin requested. "A pledge to hold some level of democratic elections? A Constitution with some strong provisions to protect individual rights and liberties would be nice.""Justin, in case your bosses missed it, the Khanate is still at a state of war with the PRC," I shook my head. "With their limited experience with democratic government throughout most of the Khanate's territories, that would be madness.""With limited concessions to the Imperial State, we have not interfered with the politics of Albania, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. We are never going to become a Western-style democracy. We have had limited rule by consensus long before White Men arrived in the Western Hemisphere," OT informed them."Discounting the Irish Monks, Vikings and Knights Templar," Pamela interjected."If you say so," OT gave a minuscule bow to Pamela. "Long before your nation was anything more than the scribbled history of a long-faded Greek city-state, we had meritocracies, oligarchies of senior statesmen & warriors, thinkers and religious leaders, and we had codified judicial moral equality into the political arena. We have a far superior record of religious and minority freedom, of genuine multi-culturalism plus a deeper understanding of the arts and crafts as a means of uniting disparate peoples. We find your claims of cultural superiority to be childish.""Oh, snap," I snickered. "You get'em, OT.""I bet the boys in Foggy Bottom felt that pimp-slap," Pamela agreed."I bet the bronzed skull of some Harvard dean just fell off its pedestal.""They are called 'busts'," Anais groaned. "With a name like that, how could you forget it?""So true," I concurred. "All this responsibility must have clouded my normally hedonistic vocabulary.""That doesn't change the fact that you have employed biological warfare and genocide in this current day and age," Justin pointed out."Tell that to our Native Americans," I snorted. "They are easy to find. They live in trailer parks in whatever blasted Hell Hole we stuck them in, or in their casinos where they are buying back their country, one rube at a time. Ask them if they've gotten over it.""We don't claim to be perfect," Justin insisted."No, we merely claim to have the only correct form of government, economic policy and schools of philosophical, political, scientific and educational thought," I pointed out."We definitely should revive ethical utilitarianism," Pamela slapped a fist into her palm. "Oh, and the guillotine. Work houses for orphans and grist mills for the disabled, and A Modest Proposal for those chronically unemployed and terminally homeless, yes, and,""Pamela, what is it with you today?" I snickered."It is nearly sunset,""Ah, and you haven't killed anyone yet.""You know how cranky I get when I don't get my daily dose of homicide.""Are you two done?" Anais frowned. She did that a lot around me."And you don't hand out Mini-Uzi's to your preschoolers," Pamela glowered. "What is wrong with you people?"Pause, waiting for that punch line that was never coming. See, it was more difficult to sense Pamela was an immediate threat to your health if you thought she was completely off her rocker."Hmm, well, on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a deal. Chris and Justin, I will leave you with my loyal Iskender to work out the gory details. Who wants to grab dinner?" I inquired."Are you serious?" Nashi gasped."Oh yeah. I had the Russian invasion of Manchuria figured out in this amount of time and Manchuria is way bigger than Thailand." Was it? I didn't know. Geography was not one of those subjects which gets you laid."What do you have in mind?" Zelda inquired."Whatever you want."{1 am, Sunday, August 31st ~ 8 Days to go}"How did I end up in bed with you?" Zelda sighed happily, her body splayed halfway over mine and her head resting on my chest, listening to my heartbeat."You aren't the first girl to ask me that question."On the other side, Anais moaned in her sleep. Yeah, she was over me. Abso-fucking-lutely. If you recall, she'd try anything once. I convinced her the military babes were totally different than that Goth chick we'd blown the mind of back in Montreal.Zelda was with me because I had caught her in a lie. She claimed to be a lesbian when I first hit on her. She was adamant. I destroyed her with incontrovertible evidence.A) She hadn't scoped out Anais when she came in. A glance didn't count and Anais oozed sexy when she was angry, which was most of the time.B) She hadn't scoped out Juanita's figure when said worthy went to the kitchenette. I look for such things and Juanita has thighs to die for.C) When I told her she had a wicked sense of humor, she blushed. Honestly, lesbians rarely care about strange men complimenting their personalities.D) Then I double-downed by asking her if she preferred a shower, or bath. She said shower (because that's the butch thing to say). When I asked her 'when was the last time she'd had a bubble bath', she blushed again. Lesbians don't like it when a man imagines them naked. Straight chicks, unless you are a creepy, stalker guy, like it when men fantasize about them swathed in bubbles, thus semi-clothed, thus not creepy.E) In a final and fatal act of evasion, she asked a grumpy Anais what she liked about me. Anais was blunt."He can fucking hammer you all night, sneak in a romantic quickie in the shower, cook you a delicious breakfast then give you another round of mind-numbing intercourse up against the wall before you have to go to work. And still find the time and energy to fuck your neighbor."Woot!"So, this happens to you often?" she mused, it was a trap. She really wanted to know if I was an egotistical scumbag who took advantage of every woman I came across. At the same time, she wanted to know if I considered her a 'whoe' ~ a woman who gives up the goodies for free."Do you mean 'am I taking advantage of you'?" I replied."That is not what I asked," she persisted. That meant 'yes'."Let me see," I laid back and looked up at the ceiling. "I have a fiancée, six women I am close enough to to spend quality time with, a fuck-buddy who is a sweet girl and trusts me too much and a passel of ex-girlfriends who have found my infidelity to be reprehensible.""Six women?" she frowned."Four co-workers (Rhada, Oneida, Yasmin and Buffy), the girlfriend of a co-worker who dumped her in a very public fashion (Brooke) and that woman's friend (Libra). She was the wing-chick who was stuck with me on a quadruple-date and was underwhelmed with me when we first met."I didn't count my 'hook-ups' and I wasn't sure how to qualify Nicole."Ex's?""'No' is not a word in common usage in my vocabulary. I've dated a best friend's girl, a mother, sister and aunt of the same girlfriend, basically, I'm either highly immoral, incredibly loose, or a letch.""Don't you take responsibility for any of those, relationships?""Hell yeah," I tilted her chin up so that we could make eye-contact. "I've never blamed a woman for taking out her frustrations on my flesh, ran away from a screaming fit (Big Lie!), or blamed them for any failing in our relationship. It is always my fault because I can't stay loyal.""That's depressing," Zelda moped."Don't get me wrong. I don't find fault in any of the women I have spent time with. That is my problem, I find women fascinating; never boring, or bland. Quite frankly, it is a gift that I don't regret having. I may be a fuck-up, but I'm a fuck-up who will give you the very best attention.""Full of yourself, much?" her attitude shifted. I had short-circuited her fears; I was a cheater, I confessed to it without shame because I was inexorably drawn to her beauty, personality and charm. With Anais around, I couldn't claim to be solely enchanted with Zelda, so I had to think quickly on my feet. After all, Zelda was energetic and had great stamina."I promised you pleasure," I countered. "Did I deliver?""Yes, you are full of yourself," she slapped my stomach. I wasn't full of myself. I was a confident sex machine."Thank you.""Huh?""Wonderful sex, taking a chance with me, agreeing to a three-way, being awake after," I looked at the bed-table clock, "six hours.""I run five miles a day," she bragged."I try to have ten hours of sex a day," I teased. Zelda slapped my stomach again. Anais stirred."Do any women like you, for any reason beyond your cock?""I'm considered loyal where sex is not concerned, reliable and brave," I offered."What happened in Romania?""Have you ever been in combat?""I've been in violent confrontations, but not a true firefight," she admitted."Hmm,""Is it something that you can't relate?" she asked."No. You are a soldier so you probably know more about combat than I do. It was, not chaotic at all. I never lost perspective of what was going on despite the bullets flying around. The Romanian Captain in charge knew his stuff, directed his company well and all I had to do was figure out where the terrorist leader was.""What happened?" she perked up."I am here talking with you and he's in a morgue in Bucharest.""Oh," She wanted more."I have to live with the knowledge that I set all of that in motion, Zelda. I convinced the Romanians that they had to confront that terror group before they moved on to their next target, me.""I knew they would come after me and my friends, no matter where we were. Which would have ended up as a blood bath in some urban center. So I felt compelled to strike first. Based on information I provided, the Romanian Army sent two battalions, the 22nd and 24th, of the 6th Mountain Troops Brigade into battle.""It was a massacre," I remembered sadly."But you won," she tried to comfort me."Of the four companies involved in the battle, the Romanians suffered nearly two hundred dead and wounded. I hardly consider it anything other than a massacre. Yes, we won. Only three of the terrorists escaped. Their leader died. I don't think I've ever felt so hollow in my life," I finished."Forty percent losses, that is horrific," she crawled on top of me."The kicker is the Romanians sent some men of the 24th to hunt me down when I was kidnapped. A squad was in the group that rescued me and my companion from Johnston Island. I thought they would never want to deal with me ever again.""Don't be so hard on yourself. If they thought well enough of you to send their men out to rescue you, then you must have done right by them.""Chaz said something like that too," I felt sheepish and sleepy."Chaz? Who is she?"Honest to God, one day I want to find a girl who thinks I'm talking about another girl and asks if we can have a three-way, instead of trying to compare herself to this unknown person. Wait... I already had someone like that. Her name was Odette."Chaz is Color Sergeant Charles 'Chaz' Tomorrow of Her Majesty's SSR," I corrected her assumption."SSR? Those are some tough people. How do you know him?""Black Bag directives from the National Security Council, sworn to secrecy upon penalty of death, pinky-promise kind of stuff," I grinned. Maybe I wasn't all that sleepy after all."You really are a Man of Mystery," Zelda purred. She had truly exceptional stamina. "Maybe I can convince you to talk.""Maybe I can find another use for my tongue," I countered and off we went. Somewhere along the process, Anais woke up and joined in.It wasn't all fun and games. Anais' parting words were "You are a pig," then she sauntered out of my room and out of my life. Had she remembered to take her Serge with her, I would have bought the act. As it was,"Is she always so volatile?" Zelda remarked."Volatile? That's not her being volatile. That's Anais being affectionate. Volatile usually is accompanied by thrown objects and bodily harm," I sighed happily. Meeting her one more time couldn't be all that bad, could it? Zelda looked hungry so I shoved that thought to the back of my mind and got to work.That was the highlight of my Sunday. Zelda had to fly back to Washington D.C. and I had to go to work with JIKIT. It seemed that the Khanate and the US military were heading for a showdown. I unloaded all my Saturday's activities to the team and we got to work, no recriminations. I was the Khan's spiritual brother and sometimes that meant I had to do him favors.I asked Addison when she thought he would return the favor. She laughed, then smiled and told me that wasn't how it worked. He was a world leader now and I was merely his kooky kinsman that he would keep throwing problems at until one day I broke. Then it would be some other poor saps turn.Then she told me she was kidding and clearly the Great Khan thought the world of me. I chose to believe the second lie because it made me feel better, and it was promising to be a long weekend/start of the week.Note: Geopolitical DevelopmentsWhat follows are snippets of the Battle for Thailand that takes place late in the night of September 1stand continued into the early morning of September 3rd. If this does not interest you, you can rejoin Cáel's exploits in four pages)On the eve of battle, the Royal Thai High Command had decided to strip all but one armored unit from the 2nd Army in order to give the First Army's offensive against the rebels more of a punch. It's decision to strip the tank battalions from both their infantry divisions as well as the armored and one of the two mechanized regiments would prove to be disastrous. It was as if the leadership of the Royal Thai military were idiots.The least economically valuable part of the country was the northeast which the 2nd Army warded. They had severely underestimated the airlift capacity of the Khanate as well as the willingness of Laos and Cambodia to both use their armed forces in an invasion as well as their willingness to let Vietnamese troops cross their countries.That thinking had led the Thai military to adopt a 'forward defense' strategy, the desire to fight the enemy at the borders, as opposed to having stronger formations deeper within the country. Considering the relative weakness of the Cambodian and Laotian militaries, that policy had made sense:- The baseline Laotian and Cambodian tank was the T-54/55, a 1950's Soviet relic. The normal anti-tank capabilities in all Thai infantry formations was more than equal to such a threat.-Neither country had an air force worth worrying about.In contrast, the Khanate's primary tanks, the T-90SM and T-95 were resistant to most of what the Thai Army could throw at them, at least from the front. The seven hundred combat aircraft the Khanate and the Vietnamese were able to field was an equal catastrophe for the Thais. It greatly compensated for the relative small numbers of invaders.Finally, there was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Alliance's goals were. Military logic dictated the destruction of Thailand's mobile force followed by the capture of Bangkok. As long as the Thai regime held the capital, it would remain the legitimate power in the country.Due to the altering political landscape, the Alliance's only option was to make the government 'look bad'. The loss of peripheral provinces, while of negligible immediate strategic value, looked great on the maps the world-wide media would be showing to their audiences. It would appear that the Thai army had failed to defend their country. That would (hopefully) make the Thai Third Army look like the legitimate authority in Thailand.That was the plan anyway, and you know what they say about battle plans and the enemy, right? H-hour was 4 am, September 1st.The commander of the Zuun stood up and waited to be recognized. The staff officer from the Yunnan Command pointed at him."Sir, why are we doing this? I am not afraid to fight for the Great Khan, but this action seems to be suicidal. We will be far behind enemy's lines while our offensive force will be grossly under-equipped.""You will have to rely on our ability to supply you by air.""We only have supplies for two days of operations. What happens then?""We rely on the Americans to come and save us," the senior officer responded bitterly."Allah save us from allies," the young commander muttered. What else could he do?He was part of the 2nd Mountain Sultan Mehmet Tumen which had just arrived in Yunnan to replace the exhausted 1st Mountain Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Tumen. His men were from Turkey, inexperienced in combat and using new equipment they were not familiar with. They would be working with a unit he had never worked with before, the 1st Airmobile Tauekel Khan Tumen, Kazaks, who would be seizing the small airport his men needed to land in.From there, they were to 'run amok'. That was the technical term for racing south down a highway in Central Thailand, attacking the headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Division, an armored unit. Once that was accomplished, they were to attack the local police precinct. Provided they were still alive after that, they were to return to the air strip to resupply then they were to 'spread chaos' until they were finally hunted down by the vastly larger Thai division his 100 men would be fighting.Of course, there was the plan for the rebel Royal Thai Third Army to force their way through the larger frontline forces of the loyalist Royal Thai First Army and come to his rescue. How would the Thai troops respond when ordered to fight their fellow Thais? No one was sure. If there was any hope in this mission, it was the knowledge that several other Zuuns had the exact same mission in other areas of Thailand.  It was H-hour minus twenty-two.It was 11 o'clock in the evening when the general in charge of the Royal Thai 9th Infantry Division was woken up. The Marines were leaving. That was correct; the three Royal Thai regiments were heading west to Sattahip Naval Base, because they had been ordered to by the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize why this was going on.Seven hours earlier, the Royal Thai Army had seized all the Air Force bases in the 1st and 2nd Army districts as well as ordering the 4th Army to do the same thing (The Royal Thai Air Force had been trying to remain neutral in the upcoming civil war).Undoubtedly the navy had decided to make their assets less 'hijack-able'. A few phone calls later confirmed that most of the Navy had set sail for parts unknown and the naval air units at Ban Sattahip Air Base (U-Tapao International Airport) had also departed either out to sea, or to ports and bases in the South.He made a personal appeal to the commander of Marine Forces to no avail. They wanted no part of the upcoming struggle and advised the general to do the same. The general had other problems. The Royal Thai Marines were the frontline forces facing the southern border with Cambodia. He quickly reorganized his regiments, sending them to take the old Marine strongpoints to await further orders. Stopping the Marines never entered his mind.That was a bloodletting he wanted no part of. The last thing he did was inform his superiors, thus avoiding any stupid orders to the contrary. Suddenly the nebulous movements along the Cambodian border developed a haunting significance. He wondered how much longer he had before something happened.  It was H-hour minus five.At midnight a loyalist commander of a company of mechanized infantry in the 2nd Cavalry's 11th Battle Group (named after their axis of advance, Highway 11) decided to send a motorized section of his command forward to the advance position his battalion was to occupy come sunrise. Either later in the day, or tomorrow morning, the forces loyal to the regime would launch a coordinated assault against the rebels main supply center at Phitsanulok.He had a cot set up in his communications hut and had just nodded off when the radio squawked to life. His lieutenant in charge of the advance made a hurried report. They had encountered serious opposition in a confusing night action, then he went silent. The captain immediately swung into action. He put the rest of his men on alert, then contacted the neighboring Tank Battalion. He needed some armored support. He made a similar call to the attached artillery component.The Tank Battalions night officer quickly put a platoon of light tanks at his disposal. The artillery were ready for any fire mission he sent their way. Before the armor could arrive, the company commander found himself being called to the carpet by the Duty Officer at the 3rd Cavalry (two regiments of the 2nd Cav. had been attached to the 3rd's command) over his 'offensive' action and the relief mission was called off. What had happened to the patrol of 20 Royal Thai soldiers? He was ordered to wait until sunrise to find out.Little did anyone know, these were the first combat casualties of the upcoming rebel offensive. His patrol had stumbled across a battalion of mechanized troops arriving at their jump off point for the attack that was less than six hours from beginning. Neither the commander of the 11th Battle Group, the 3rd Cavalry Division, or First Army was informed that the enemy had already advanced twenty kilometers south of where they were supposed to be.  

Companions, History and Heroism.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.There are two distinct phases of falsehood. In the first, you realize you can lie to those closest to you. In the second, you realize you shouldn't.(And the stars continue to shine forth)"Stop trying to save me," Pamela remarked, once she was sure we were alone once more."Ask me to do something I'd at least consider doing," I sighed. "Let's go back to the party, I'm not sure where we are.""You've been walking in one big circle, Dummy," she chided me.Why was she letting me off the hook for walking off with the Grand Villain in the scheme of things? Well, if she started hitting me, she probably wasn't sure she could stop."One of these days I'm going to screw up and not get out of it," I noted sadly."That is the epitaph of anyone who has ever taken up a weapon and a cause," Pamela smiled.Maybe she wasn't angry with me."Why aren't you more pissed off?" I wondered."You are a good guy, Cáel," Pamela enlightened me. "That means you are going to reach out to people you think you can save. Personally, I don't think Alal can be, but then I'm biased.""Guy coming back from the dead?" I inquired."Damn right. No more surefire way to anger an assassin than to come back from the dead," she related. "Did you take note of his body?""Not really. What did I miss?" I requested."It didn't look right," Pamela shook her head. "Nothing more specific than that. I was hoping, since you touched him, you might have picked something else up.""Nope. I was too busy slipping a GPS locator on him," I grinned."You don't have one and the technology doesn't work that way, ya numbskull," she play slapped my left bicep."Wouldn't it be cool if it did?" my grin broadened."Laugh it up, Monkey-boy," Pamela countered. "Buffy would have you tagged like a mule deer in Yellowstone.""Eek," I gasped. "Point taken.""Well, " Pamela huffed."He's going to kill my soul," I observed. "Now I'm sure of it. All of that discussion was just gauging my personality so that when he offs me, he can become Cáel Nyilas / Wakko Ishara." Pause."Good for you," Pamela let go of a tense breath. She didn't have to ask."The whole Condottieri situation is a scam," I passed on that bit of information I'd first put together with the Vizsla. "It never left Granddad's control. Currently he's going to use various other factions to kill off the Condottieri and Illuminati leadership that oppose him, then it is Unity Time.""If he takes your place, that gives him leverage on the Amazon Council plus your appeal to the 9 Clans and the Earth  and  Sky," Pamela helped me work things through. "He couldn't get his hooks into the Egyptians because they knew too much about him. Matters of race stymied his efforts with the Earth  and  Sky and Seven Pillars.""Except I saved Temujin and he's been supplying them with weapons and tech for over fifty years," I told her. "Even when he was dead, his plan was working, he had predicted the path that warfare would take, invested wisely and left orders to implement his plans. When the time came, they were ready to take out the Seven Pillars.""Without you saving Temujin, the E and S wouldn't have cared, but you," Pamela nodded. "If it comes down to his coalition of Illuminati, Condottieri, Amazons and 9 Clans, the Egyptians will join him, Global Unification has been their goal all along," she continued. "Besides, you made one hell of a positive impression on them the only time you've met. Bang up job, Stud.""Temujin will join as well. He's anything but suicidal," I finished the roll call of my fate. We were almost back to the rave by this time. "You know, you could kill me and short-circuit all of this mess," I reminded her."No way. I plan to win, damn it," Pamela patted me on the back. "Save the Dum-sel in Disrepute, slay the Evil Warlord and re-retire with a boatload great-grandbabies to spoil.""I gave the Vizsla a clue," I let Pamela know the possible complications to her plan. "In 1847, one General of the Condottieri tried to have the Italian Black Hand kill another. Unfortunately, the victim in question was a puppet for Grandpa and the assassin team attacked them both. Because they saw his face, he hunted them back to their base and slaughtered the entire Verona Chapter house of the Wolf.""He must have fucked up a few other times as well," Pamela assured me. Speaking of miscalculations, Anya, Katalin and Orsi broke from the thrashing mob and ran up to me."Your crazy ex-girlfriend called," Anya seemed steamed. "She insisted must she talk to you." At first glance, it would be 'which crazy ex-GF', except only one had Anya's phone number. I took her phone."Bonjour, ma petite amie méchante ," I greeted Anais, the Mountie, in French. Yes, I was calling her a 'meanie'."Cáel, how are you? Where are you?" she was truly concerned. I didn't doubt her sincerity. I also didn't doubt she was convinced she knew what was best for me, as well."I've talked with the Hungarian Police too," I let my pique come through. "You screwed me over. I asked you to let me handled this and you didn't.""You are still a Jerk," she snapped. "I've been trying to help. And from the sounds of it, you are at a party.""It's a rave. It is a rave brought about by the police keeping people penned up in the town all afternoon. Now, if you would stop treating me like a freaking child, you would realize that I'm actually safer in a crowd than I am alone, holed-up in some room without a weapon because you've made it so that the TEK is now keeping a sharp eye on me," I retorted."Can't you tell I'm trying to help you?" she got loud, on the cusp of becoming enraged."Yes. I called you, asking for help. I also called to apologize, without making it sound like some lame stupid stunt to get you back. I'm in real trouble here and I've put other people in danger at the same time," I told her. And yes, I planned to get some 'Anais' when I got back to North America."I'm telling you," she persisted, "let Hungarian law enforcement help you.""I'm trying to make you understand," I countered, "that this is a situation that the police can't help me with. I called you because I believed I could trust you, even though you hate me.""I'm angry with you, Cáel. I don't hate you," she grumbled. "I am trying to help.""If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't still be talking to you, Anais," I allowed. "What did Timothy tell you?""Is that all you care about?" she grumbled."Actually, this is me trying not to be a selfish jackass," I said. "People are in danger because of me and I need to make sure they are safe before I take care of myself.""That's, very unlike you," Anais sounded unsure."I've been doing some growing up since graduation," I replied. "I only wish I'd grown smarter.""I, I'm sorry about your Papa," she quieted down."They gunned him down in his own home," I told her. "Dad never touched a gun in his life and they shot him with an assault rifle.""Oh, well, I understand your Federal Justice Department is investigating the matter," Anais tried to comfort me. "I talked with your Prosecutor Castello. She wouldn't tell me much.""Pity," I mumbled. "I know they are having difficulties.""It is an American problem," she noted."Not really," I sunk in my hooks. "We've been working with MI-6 and the CIA. They are all part of that international task force I told you about {see last chapter}.""Yes, how did you get Irish diplomatic status? That doesn't make any sense," she perked up. Anais liked puzzles. Actually, she liked solving conundrums. It made her a great cop."We are missing the party," Monika protested, in German."That's right. Tell your EX-girlfriend good-bye, Cáel," Anya insisted loudly."Who is that?" Anais groused."It is Anya, the Bulgarian mechanical engineer. We've had sex since you and I last talked and I think she's feeling a tad possessive," I explained.Pause."Bastard," Anais seethed. I was sure her cunt was twitching already. "Fine. I talked with your roommate, he says you have my uniform in a dress bag and my boots in a sealed box, so I forgive you. Anyway, he said Odette called, and she gave him a number to give to you."Since it didn't have 555 in it, I had hopes it was genuine. This was not the time to give Anais the quick kiss-off."I appreciate it, Anais," I sighed with relief. "Have you decided which restaurant you want to go to when I get back?""I haven't given it much thought, Cáel," I could feel her defrosting further. "How can I keep in touch with you?""Ugh, I don't have my own phone right now. Tomorrow I'm going to steal some means of conveyance and, " I grinned."Don't tell me that," Anais complained. "I'm still an officer of the law.""Well, the new 'me' is trying to be more honest with you, Anais. I've got to get out of town tomorrow. Would you rather I lied to you, again?" I confounded her."Well, no. Try to be careful, prends soin de mon amour," she sighed."I will call you as soon as I'm able. Thank you again," I signed off."I still say, 'that one' is confused about her 'ex' status," Orsi teased me."Do you know what is worse than having one woman save your soul?" I tossed out to them. They could not divine an answer. "Having three women do it at the same time, for different reasons. Now I believe we have a party starving for our attention."(Reunions)Pamela had convinced me the motorcycle driver who belonged to our newly acquired BMW K1600 GT would be at least four hours regaining consciousness and getting himself untied. We had stopped at a petrol station along the 431, between Kiszombor, Hungary and the Romanian border. She wanted to fuel up before the border crossing, in case things didn't work out, you know, with our guns and this stolen vehicle.She was already peeved that I'd stopped in Szeged to pick up a few pounds of paprika. Rumor had it that the fields around that stretch of the Tisza produced the highest quality of that spice on the planet, especially the sweet kind. Pamela pointed out I knew 'jack' about cooking. I agreed. What I did know was cooks, the female variety.Fresh spice from the 'source' was way better than a dozen roses, even with a box of chocolates added. Did I have a cook lined up in New York? No, but I was sure I could find one. Wait! Yasmin, my Brazilian, ex-Super Cop, hottie should be back in town by now. If she didn't cook, she'd definitely have a friend I could seduce.Honest to Ishara, I was starting to believe this constant 'work-work-work' was ruining my normally poor judgment where sex and fidelity were concerned.Pamela was getting some lunch for us while I gassed up my crotch-rocket. My luck kept being, exceptional. Two Hungarian motorcycle troopers showed up; both were women and they apparently had decided that I was worthy of attention. Hey, I'm good-looking, and I was wearing a ballistic vest. (The durability of my long coat wasn't so obvious.) "Nice bike," the first one, the one directly confronting me, said. "Thanks. It is a KT1600 GT, 2009," I smiled. "What are you two on?" "Yamaha FJR1300A's," she answered. I put up the nozzle, capped the tank and walked over to her conveyance. It was a really sweet ride. "You have a gun," she noted calmly. She and her partner both had their hands on their holstered weapons. Since the flaps were still down, I wasn't panicking. "Yes. More than one in fact," I kept pretending to look over her bike while I was really scoping her out. I'd nailed all six boat girls and then had the Macedonian babe for breakfast. So I still had three good sexual bangs in me before dusk and these two were nice and pleasant enough. "Do you have permits for those?" she asked. Her partner was calling something in. "Are we still in Hungary?" I mused. The question was a joke. "I believe we are," she smiled. Sure, I may have been a dangerous felon, but I was a nice looking and engaging one."Nope. I'm afraid not," I sighed. She understood my English. "Why are you so armed?" she kept calm. "Are you law enforcement somewhere?" "Does a secretive, non-governmental, paramilitary organization count?" "No," she sighed. "That sounds rather criminal. So, what are you carrying?" That was a nice way of saying 'give me your gun'."Left, right, back, or ankle?" I replied. "Which one do you want first?" "Let's try this again. Can I see some form of ID?" she remained rather comfortable despite this having to be the most bizarre traffic stop of her career."I'm reaching around to my right rear jean pocket for it," I related. Something dating Anais had taught me was that you always tell an on-duty cop what you are doing before you do it.She nodded, so I pulled out my NY Driver's license, my US passport and my Irish Diplomatic ID. She began looking them over. "You are Cáel Nyilas?" she looked over my documents. "If that who it says I am, then yes," I grinned.For a second, she was P-O'ed, then she realized I was playing with her. She snorted in amusement and returned to looking over my stuff.   "Nyilas is a Hungarian name," she hummed. "Székely," I clarified. "My family emigrated to America at the end of World War II. I've actually come back here to look over the homeland." "You couldn't land in Bucharest?" she handed me my ID back. "What?" I feigned an insult to my intellect. "Hungarian women are far prettier.""You don't appear to be Dortmund Schuyler," her partner looked me over.

Dr. Halinder Mangat, Director of Research at the Brain Trauma Foundation, has developed evidence-based guidelines for treating severe traumatic brain injuries, which have been shown to improve outcomes significantly. The Foundation is conducting research in collaboration with the US Defense Department and Veterans Administration, including a clinical trial on the use of lumbar drainage to reduce intracranial pressure from a brain injury. While the brain was once thought incapable of healing, research shows early intervention from injuries can result in the regeneration of cells and formation of new neural circuits.  Halinder explains, "The initial focus of the Brain Trauma Foundation's mission was treatment. The Brain Trauma Foundation in 1997 became the first surgical organization and first professional body to produce evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of severe head injury. That means looking at the comprehensive literature body, finding out what robust research is, and compiling it all. Some studies may have contradictory results. We compile it all in a very objective, systematic way to then frame recommendations as to the best practice, and these fall under the umbrella of evidence-based medicine. In 1997, the first edition was published. Over the years, multiple studies have shown that this set of guidelines has improved good outcomes or decreased poor outcomes by 50%, which is the most remarkable intervention, perhaps short of vaccines or antibiotics. But in the surgical field, it is probably the most impactful intervention."   "So the first impact of the injury causes X amount of damage, and then following that, there is a cascade of it like dominoes falling. The whole focus has been to prevent downstream dominoes from falling by early intervention. And after the first injury when a few dominoes, for example, have fallen, the goal of the guidelines has been to as early and as intensively as possible to minimize downstream dominos falling, which means secondary injury, which in itself has its own legacy of influencing outcome. Over a period of time, there's been a lot of trials to try neuroprotective drugs, which would, in the first instance, mitigate the secondary injury."  #BrainTraumaFoundation #BTF #Neurology #Neurologist #TraumaticBrainInjury #TBI #BrainTrauma braintrauma.org Download the transcript here

Dr. Halinder Mangat, Director of Research at the Brain Trauma Foundation, has developed evidence-based guidelines for treating severe traumatic brain injuries, which have been shown to improve outcomes significantly. The Foundation is conducting research in collaboration with the US Defense Department and Veterans Administration, including a clinical trial on the use of lumbar drainage to reduce intracranial pressure from a brain injury. While the brain was once thought incapable of healing, research shows early intervention from injuries can result in the regeneration of cells and formation of new neural circuits.  Halinder explains, "The initial focus of the Brain Trauma Foundation's mission was treatment. The Brain Trauma Foundation in 1997 became the first surgical organization and first professional body to produce evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of severe head injury. That means looking at the comprehensive literature body, finding out what robust research is, and compiling it all. Some studies may have contradictory results. We compile it all in a very objective, systematic way to then frame recommendations as to the best practice, and these fall under the umbrella of evidence-based medicine. In 1997, the first edition was published. Over the years, multiple studies have shown that this set of guidelines has improved good outcomes or decreased poor outcomes by 50%, which is the most remarkable intervention, perhaps short of vaccines or antibiotics. But in the surgical field, it is probably the most impactful intervention."   "So the first impact of the injury causes X amount of damage, and then following that, there is a cascade of it like dominoes falling. The whole focus has been to prevent downstream dominoes from falling by early intervention. And after the first injury when a few dominoes, for example, have fallen, the goal of the guidelines has been to as early and as intensively as possible to minimize downstream dominos falling, which means secondary injury, which in itself has its own legacy of influencing outcome. Over a period of time, there's been a lot of trials to try neuroprotective drugs, which would, in the first instance, mitigate the secondary injury."  #BrainTraumaFoundation #BTF #Neurology #Neurologist #TraumaticBrainInjury #TBI #BrainTrauma braintrauma.org Listen to the podcast here

Tom welcomes back Christopher Grove to the show. Chrisopher is President and Director of Commerce Resources and an expert on the rare earth element market. Despite China's lack of direct involvement in the export halt of germanium, gallium, and antimony to the U.S., it underscores Beijing's dominance in the sector. With the surge in demand for rare earth elements due to technology advancements, particularly permanent magnets for electric vehicles, no new significant producers have emerged since 2011-2012. Prices have reverted to levels last seen then as a result. China's manipulation of input feedstock prices has caused unease and encouraged nations to seek alternative rare earth element sources The US Department of Defense is investing in vertically integrated supply chains, as shown by the Defense Industrial Base Consortium and the Global Partnership Initiative. China's market dominance remains a concern but presents an opportunity for countries to invest in creating alternative sources. Chris discusses the challenges he faced as CEO of Commerce Resources, including high Canadian mining regulations and the repeal of the uptick rule on the Toronto Stock Exchange. This rule change has led to significant losses for resource companies when they release positive news. Grove plans to list Commerce Resources on the Australian stock exchange in late Q1 or early Q2 of 2025 as a potential solution to address this challenge. The discussion discusses the complexities and challenges of mining in Canada and importance of advocacy efforts to relevant government bodies. Commerce Resources is completing an updated preliminary economic assessment for its Ashram project and awaiting responses from grant opportunities in Canada and the United States. Time Stamp References:0:00 - Introduction0:47 - Rare Earths & China8:15 - China & Processing11:33 - Western Deregulation?15:50 - Substitution18:59 - Recycling?19:57 - Adapting to China21:34 - Biggest Deposits?25:45 - Personal Challenges29:21 - Miners & Shorting34:52 - Canadian Challenges38:15 - Commerce Resources41:33 - Wrap Up Talking Points From This Episode China's dominance in rare earth elements poses challenges but also opportunities. No significant new rare earth producers have emerged since 2011-2012. US Defense Department investing in vertical supply chains to reduce dependence on China. Guest Links:Twitter: https://twitter.com/commercerescceWebsite: https://commerceresources.com/ Mr. Christopher Grove is President and Director of Commerce Resources since September 2014. Previously, he worked as Corporate Communications for Commerce since 2004 and has significant contacts within the financial communities in North America and Europe. Mr. Grove joined the Commerce Resource board in 2012 and has been active in representing the company abroad.

China urges the United States to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop its dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.10月26日，中国外交部发言人表示，中方敦促美方立即停止武装台湾，立即停止破坏台海和平稳定的危险行径。The spokesperson made the remarks in response to a reporter's query that the US Defense Department on Oct 26 announced that the US State Department has approved $1.988 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, including the "National Advanced Surface-to-air Missile Systems" and radar systems.外交部发言人就美国批准向中国台湾地区出售19.88亿美元武器答记者问。10月26日，美国国防部发布消息称，美国务院已批准总额19.88亿美元的对台军售，包括“国家先进地空导弹系统”和雷达系统。The US arms sales to China's Taiwan region severely violate the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques, especially the August 17 Communique of 1982. The sales seriously infringe upon China's sovereignty and security interests, harm China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and send a gravely wrong message to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, the spokesperson said.发言人表示，美国向中国台湾地区出售武器，严重违反一个中国原则和中美三个联合公报特别是“八·一七”公报规定，严重侵犯中国主权和安全利益，严重破坏中美关系、危害台海和平稳定，向“台独”分裂势力发出严重错误信号。China strongly condemns and firmly opposes the sales and has lodged solemn representations with the US side, the spokesperson noted.发言人强调，中方强烈谴责、坚决反对，已向美方提出严正交涉。The US decision to use Taiwan to contain China and help advance "Taiwan independence" agenda by arming Taiwan goes against the US leaders' commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence" and the two sides' effort of stabilizing the China-US relations, the spokesperson said.发言人表示，美国执意“以台制华”“以武助独”，与美方领导人的“不支持台独”表态完全背道而驰，与双方稳定中美关系的努力完全背道而驰。China urges the United States to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop the dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the spokesperson said. China will take resolute countermeasures and take all measures necessary to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.发言人说，中方敦促美方立即停止武装台湾，立即停止破坏台海和平稳定的危险行径。中方将予以坚决反制，并将采取一切必要措施，坚定捍卫国家主权、安全和领土完整。infringev. 违反；侵犯solemnadj. 严肃的；郑重的territorial integrity领土完整

Savage speaks with world renowned nuclear-cardiologist Dr. Richard Fleming about his new book Are We the Next Endangered Species?: Bioweapons, Eugenics, and More. Fleming unravels the complex web of historical events, misinformation, and the dire convergence of bioweapons and eugenics. They dig into the startling history of eugenics and the ominous future that awaits mankind in this must-listen episode. How serious is the threat of biowarfare? Fleming reveals the damning links between the federal government and gain-of-function research and the attempts to cover it up. Who is behind the current research into bioweaponry? Learn how Fauci LIED to Congress and the American people. Learn how U.S. eugenics programs served as models for Hitler's genocide. Find out why Fleming and others are at the forefront of a medical and scientific resistance challenging the status quo and bringing truth to the public! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

US Defense Department warns of Russian hacktivists targeting OT devices. The US government establishes safety and security board to advise the deployment of AI in critical infrastructure sectors. Vulnerabilities affect CyberPower UPS management software. US congressmen put forward water system cybersecurity bill. Encore guest Garrett Bladow, Distinguished Engineer at Dragos, joins us from the CyberCon 2023 event in Bismarck, North Dakota. Garrett discusses active visibility into OT systems. The Learning Lab is currently on a hiatus this episode. Control Loop News Brief. US DOD warns of Russian hacktivists targeting OT devices. Urgent Warning from Multiple Cybersecurity Organizations on Current Threat to OT Systems (NSA) US government establishes safety and security board to advise on deployment of AI in critical infrastructure sectors. DHS launches safety and security board focused on AI and critical infrastructure (FedScoop) Over 20 Technology and Critical Infrastructure Executives, Civil Rights Leaders, Academics, and Policymakers Join New DHS Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board to Advance AI's Responsible Development and Deployment (DHS) Vulnerabilities affecting CyberPower UPS management software. Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS): A Silent Threat to Critical Infrastructure Resilience (Cyble) US congressmen introduce water system cybersecurity bill. Crawford puts forward bill on cybersecurity risks to water systems (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) Control Loop Interview. Guest is Garrett Bladow, Distinguished Engineer at Dragos, discussing active visibility into OT systems.  Control Loop Learning Lab. The Learning Lab is on a break. Stay tuned.  Control Loop OT Cybersecurity Briefing. A companion monthly newsletter is available through free subscription and on the N2K CyberWire website.

This week we talk about Huawei, DJI, and ByteDance.We also discuss 5G infrastructure, black-box algorithms, and Congressional bundles.Recommended Book: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette KowalNote: my new book, How To Turn 39, is now available as an ebook, audiobook, and paperback wherever you get your books :)TranscriptIn January of 2024, Chinese tech giant Huawei brought an end to its years-long US lobbying effort, meant to help mend fences with western politicians.In mid-2019, then US President Trump had blacklisted the company using an executive order that, in practice, prevented Chinese telecommunications companies from selling specialized equipment in the US, as part of a larger effort to clamp-down on the sale of Chinese 5g and similar infrastructure throughout the US.Around the same time, a Huawei executive was jailed in Canada for allegedly violating sanctions on Iran, and several other western nations were making noises about their own bans, worrying—as Trump's administration said they were worried—that Huawei and similar Chinese tech companies would sell their goods at a loss or at cost, significantly undercutting their foreign competition, and as a consequence would both lock down the burgeoning 5g market, including all the infrastructure that was in the process of being invested in and deployed, while also giving the Chinese government a tool that could allow them to tap all the communications running through this hardware, and potentially even allow them to shut it all down, if they wanted, at some point in the future—if China invaded Taiwan and wanted to keep the West from getting involved, for instance.So while part of this ban on Huawei—for which the President made use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and declared a national emergency—was undoubtedly political (part of the trade war Trump started as part of the "China is the enemy" platform he was running on leading up to the 2020 election), there were also real-deal concern about China insinuating itself into the world's infrastructure, beginning with the rollout of the next phase of communications technologies; making themselves indispensable, disallowing foreign competition, and yes, possibly even creating a bunch of backdoors they could use at some point in the future to tip the scales in their favor during a conflict.This ban also ensured that Huawei's then quite popular line of smartphones wouldn't be available in the US, or many other Western countries. The company sold off its Honor brand of phones in a scramble to try to protect that line of products from these new blocks on its offerings, which among other things disallowed them from accessing the chips necessary to make competitive smartphone products, but the legislation just kept coming after that initial salvo, the US Federal Communications Commission banning the sale or import of anything made by Huawei in late-2022, and a bunch of fundamental US allies, especially those with which the US collaborates on military and intelligence matters, have likewise banned Huawei products on their shelves and in their communications networks; the idea being that even one Huawei transmitter or modem could tap into the whole of these networks—at least in theory—which is considered a big enough security concern to justify that blanket ban.Huawei has managed to survive, though it didn't scale the way its owners seemed to think it would back before all these bans.Now it exists as a primarily regional outfit, still making billions in revenue each year, though down to about half the revenue it was earning before 2019.Another popular Chinese tech company, DJI, is now scrambling to deploy its lobbyists and circle the wagons, as there's word that it's on a shortlist of potential Chinese security threats, in this case because the company makes very popular consumer and professional grade drones, which have successfully outcompeted many western brands of the same, and which have thus started to dominate aspects of the drone market.These drones tend to be of the six or eight mini-propeller variety, the kind that people fly for fun, or use to shoot aerial photos, but the success of drones, even of this kind of drone, in Ukraine, reworked to spy on enemy fortifications or to carry explosives, has had the US Defense Department thinking it might not be the best idea to allow a Chinese company to own a substantial chunk of the US and international drone market—for many of the same reasons that Huawei was considered to be a threat; because that would allow China to continue to take out international rivals, allegedly by stealing their competitor's tech back in the day, and by continuing to back their companies with government support and funding, which makes fair and level competition a bit of an impossibility.These companies are doing well for many reasons, then, and some of those reasons are not replicable outside the tight relationship the Chinese government has with its corporate entities.If DJI is ultimately targeted in this way, it would likely be via a similar mechanism as the ban that was slapped on Huawei: new drones made by DJI would be unable to use the US's communications infrastructure, which would make their continued functionality in the country all but impossible.This wouldn't ban DJI drones that are already owned by folks in the US, and it's anyone's guess as to how likely this will be to pass, as a bill to this end is currently working its way through the House, but DJI is lobbying heavily, is more common and popular in the US than Huawei was, and there's a chance that it simply won't be worth the potential political consequences for those who vote to ban it, if the bill works its way further through the process.What I'd like to talk about today is another potential ban of a popular Chinese product, TikTok, and how such a ban might play out.—Back in 2020, the Trump administration announced that it was looking into banning TikTok, a popular vertical video-focused social network that operates a bit like a cross between Instagram and YouTube, and which was becoming especially influential with young people, so-called Gen Zers.TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, and ByteDance has a version of the same app in other countries, including China, which there is called Douyin.That same year, TikTok hit back against the Trump administration with a legal challenge that said, in essence, the President was just trying to score political points by passing protectionist laws in the lead-up to the election, and that it might have also been revenge because there were young people on the platform posting videos about a prank they instigated at a Trump rally, which seemed to irk the former President.Around this same time, TikTok higher ups began working on what became known as Project Texas, which was meant to help address one of the government's concerns and complaints, that data and media shared on TikTok was sent to Chinese servers, which suggested all that information could be more easily siphoned off and used by the Chinese government.This project resulted in a re-working of how data on the platform is handled, bringing in US tech company Oracle to keep tabs on everything, ensuring that this data is safely managed and not sent somewhere the Chinese government can easily get it.A former employee of TikTok alleged in early 2023 that this Project didn't do what it was supposed to do, and TikTok's leadership said that this employee left before it was fully implemented; other involved people have spoken about their own takes on the matter since then, some of them saying the company is locked down tight because of all the oversight it's receiving, while others have said it makes big security claims, but is still not locked down the way it needs to be.This concern is the result of a law in China that says, basically, if the government tells you to hand something over, you do, or you can be stripped of all your wealth, can be put in prison, can even be killed.So ByteDance's leadership's claims that they have not handed this sort of data over to the Chinese government, and wouldn't do so if they were asked, can't be trusted, according to arguments against their claims, because they would of course lie about this if they had handed it over, and may not even be legally allowed to admit to so doing, but they also wouldn't really have a choice if they were asked—they would legally, in China, have to do so.That's the big argument and concern on the US security side of things: the Chinese system works different than the system in many other countries, and because of how integrated and entwined their government is with their market, every single Chinese company, like ByteDance, like Huawei, like DJI, should be considered a wing of the Chinese military, because in practice, they are.Thus, as soon as these concerns about TikTok started to hit the mainstream consciousness, we started to see those federal efforts to do something about it—most of which were initially unsuccessful, except for that Project Texas effort, about which no one seems to be able to say with any certainty whether it was successful or not.At the state level, we also saw a bunch of bans on having the TikTok app on corporate and government devices, and in some places, like Florida and Montana and Indiana, we've also see bans on Chinese individuals and Chinese companies acquiring land, working on some types of research, setting up factories, and other such things.All of which sets the stage for a piece of legislation that was passed by the US Congress earlier this month, and then signed by President Biden, saying that ByteDance needs to divest itself of TikTok, and soon, otherwise TikTok will be banned in the US.The specifics are important here: first is that this legislation was passed as part of a bundle with legislation that also provided funding for Ukraine, Israel and Palestinians, and Taiwan—so this is generally being seen as a sweetener to some further-right Republicans who otherwise would have opposed those funding efforts, and it may not have been passed if it hadn't been thus bundled.Second is that this isn't a TikTok ban, in the sense that Biden signed it and now TikTok is banned in the US. Instead, it says, basically, TikTok can keep operating in the US, but it can't be owned by a Chinese company, which again, if the Chinese government asks them to do spy or military stuff on their behalf, they would legally have to do. So the idea is that TikTok itself isn't the problem, it's those ties to the Chinese government and intelligence and military apparatus.Third is that the company now has nine months to figure out a deal to sell the whole or part of TikTok to some more acceptable—which in this case means non-Chinese-government-entangled—owner, and the President has the option of extending that to a full year, if it looks like a deal is about to be done, but needs a little more time.That's up from a previously proposed six months, and is considered to be more realistic, given the scope and scale of the company in question.And that scope and scale is point number four: TikTok is huge. It's an absolutely behemoth company, with about 170 million users in the US, alone, and about $16 billion in revenue each year.That's still nowhere near Meta's $134.9 billion of annual revenue, but it's still a colossal company that's generally considered to be worth more than $100 billion, again, for the US assets alone—though if the company were to sell everything but the algorithm it uses to decide what videos to show its users, it's though that price could drop to closer to $20 billion; which is still substantial enough that there wouldn't be many people or entities capable of affording it, and some of the big, well-moneyed US tech players, like Meta and Google, would be unlikely to even try, as their offer would probably be held up by antitrust concerns within the current, fairly hardcore regulatory environment.So ByteDance is being told to sell their US assets within a year, max, and they may have to find a buyer willing to spend tens of billions of dollars for it, and that buyer would have to be acceptable to the same US government that is telling the existing owner it has to sell or be banned in the country.Analysts are mixed on whether this is a bluff or not, but at the moment, ByteDance's leadership is saying, in essence, no—we're not going to play this game, we would rather shut down the US version of TikTok than sell those assets.Part of the rationale here might be that the Chinese government is telling ByteDance's owners that they're not allowed to sell these assets; it could be a requirement they're dressing up as staunch resilience to save face, basically.It could also be that they did the math and realized that their US offerings, despite being worth billions, are nowhere near their most profitable assets—those are in China—and they'd rather double-down on that larger market and other foreign markets than sell off something valuable in the US, which could then be used to challenge them in some of those remaining markets.It could also be that they're holding out for a good deal, or delaying, hoping that denying even the possibility of a sale will help their case in court.And they do, by some estimations at least, have a pretty solid case to lean on.Some legal experts are saying their First Amendment rights are being violated, and in a 1965 Supreme Court case, Lamont v. Postmaster General, the court ruled that foreign-produced propaganda—in that case communist propaganda—could still be distributed through the postal service because Americans have a first amendment right to receive it, even if they didn't specifically request it.This is considered to be relevant, here, because one of the arguments against TikTok by the US government is that the Chinese government could adjust what they show people, favoring content that supports positions and views of the world they like, over time adjusting the opinions and facts or pseudo-facts young people in particular are working from—which over time could also influence what they believe, how they vote, and so on. There have already been claims that TikTok favors pro-Palestinian content over pro-Israeli content, for instance, and it has long suppressed work that talks about the Tiananmen Square massacre and other things the Chinese government doesn't like; it doesn't generally fully disappear this stuff from the platform, but the algorithms show that sort of content to few people, which has a similar effect to deleting it on an app where people primarily discover things based on what they're shown by that algorithm.Of course, Facebook and Twitter and other networks have been accused of the same, in Meta's case downplaying news and political content, and in Twitter's, recently, post transition to X, favoring more conservative posts over more liberal ones—though in both cases, and in TikTok's, too, it's difficult to prove this sort of thing, and the algorithms are often black boxes rather than open code we can look at and judge objectively; so some such claims may be based on anecdote and the complainer's own bias.And it's worth mentioning here that although the Chinese government, TikTok's leadership, and a slew of free speech rights groups have come down on TikTok's side, citing the US's First Amendment and the support it would seemingly have for the popular app and those who want to use it to exercise their speech—and for the company to exercise its own, as well, sharing stuff those people watch—China has regularly banned US social networks from its highly controlled and censored portion of the internet, clamping down on those that survive so hard that they don't have much control, their data highly secured and allegedly tapped within China.So China is saying the US is in the wrong for doing something similar to what it does back home, though on a much smaller and more focused scale, and one of the counterarguments being made by some folks in the US, including some who are typically free speech proponents, is—well, tit-for-tat. Countries that remain open for US social networks will have their networks welcomed in the US in the same way, but those who don't? Their futures are less clear, because why should the US allow that kind of potential security and influence risk when the other side refuses to do the same?There's a question here, then, of what the modern, splintered internet is and how it should be treated—perhaps especially in free speech-favoring, democratic societies—now that we've moved past the veneer of free and open online activity everywhere.That's never been the case in China, and in many other countries around the world, so the idea that the US and Europe and similar nations need to behave as if it's equally open and free everywhere seems a little outmoded, and some such entities, like the EU, have been regulating based on that reality, while the US has been slow to do the same; this could mark a moment in which the US starts thinking along these same terms, or it could be another instance of maintaining the previous paradigm, because that tends to be easier, and because the relevant laws haven't been updated, yet.There's also the question of how expansive this particular bill will end up being.Does it apply to ByteDance's other apps, as well, including the popular CapCut video editing app, and its existing Instagram-dupe Lemon8, and potential future Instagram-clone TikTok Notes?Further, does it apply to other Chinese-owned apps, and other apps owned by companies in, for instance, Russia and other current and future antagonistic states?Also, to what degree will the law allow friendly nation states, like Japan and European nations, to scoop up these sorts of assets and operate them in the States, in a way China would no longer be allowed, when there's the chance that some of them—Hungary, for instance—might not always be so friendly? How does the friendly or unfriendly judgement get made, and what sort of process is involved in changing a nation's label from one to the other?Right now, the framing of all this is mostly whether we prioritize free speech or national security, and it's arguably the government's responsibility to make that argument, or face the electoral consequences of seemingly behaving in anti-speech ways without any real purpose, beyond potentially empowering US-based social platforms over foreign versions of the same.And lacking a stronger argument and more public evidence, there's a decent change a lot of people, especially young people will be irked at a TikTok ban, or even the possibility of one, despite the supposed security threat it poses.All of which suggests this will be an interesting year, as the clock ticks downward on those 9 months, plus another 3, possibly, that ByteDance has to sell its US assets, during which several companies will probably arise, stating their case for scooping up the most popular social platform, with young people at least, in the country, and during which ByteDance's lawyers will be filing cases on their employers' behalf.And this will all go down as the country winds its way toward the November election, which features two presidents that have spoken out against the app, while also having used it for their own political gains, to try to reach the youths of the country, who will play a major role in this upcoming election, but also a lot of elections after that, well into the future.Show Noteshttps://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/381/301/https://www.wsj.com/politics/states-take-on-china-in-the-name-of-national-security-7ed05257https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-wang-yi-8c1c453df3afbd6ec87ced0c8d618064https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/24/24139036/biden-signs-tiktok-ban-bill-divest-foreign-aid-packagehttps://www.dw.com/en/eu-sets-tiktok-ultimatum-over-addictive-new-app-feature/a-68891902https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/business/tiktok-india-ban.htmlhttps://apnews.com/article/tiktok-divestment-ban-what-you-need-to-know-5e1ff786e89da10a1b799241ae025406https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-lawsuit-biden-386e6d81e2eef61a756bcdea96cd0aefhttps://www.axios.com/2024/03/16/tiktok-ban-divest-ownership-chinahttps://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/five-observations-on-the-tiktok-bill-and-the-first-amendmenthttps://archive.ph/7Fiknhttps://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-lawsuit-biden-386e6d81e2eef61a756bcdea96cd0aefhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/25/tiktok-legal-battle-is-certain/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/18/business/media/tiktok-ban-american-culture.htmlhttps://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/02/22/how-u-s-adults-use-tiktok/https://www.ypulse.com/article/2023/06/05/gen-z-is-officially-using-tiktok-more-than-any-other-social-media-platform/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/bytedance-tiktok-ban-bill.htmlhttps://www.cnn.com/2024/04/25/tech/who-could-buy-tiktok/index.htmlhttps://www.nbcnews.com/business/tiktok-ban-bill-why-congress-when-takes-effect-rcna148981https://www.wsj.com/tech/bytedance-says-it-wont-sell-u-s-tiktok-business-61f43079https://www.wsj.com/tech/why-china-is-holding-its-fire-as-u-s-moves-to-ban-tiktok-38a63cddhttps://www.theverge.com/2024/4/11/24127579/tiktok-ai-virtual-influencers-advertisinghttps://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/project-texas-the-details-of-tiktok-s-plan-to-remain-operational-in-the-united-stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok#Project_Texashttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/business/china-tiktok-douyin.htmlhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c289n8m4j19ohttps://techcrunch.com/2024/04/27/will-a-tiktok-ban-impact-creator-economy-startups-not-really-founders-say/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/25/tiktok-ban-bill-us-communities/https://www.wsj.com/tech/how-tiktok-lost-the-war-in-washington-bbc419cchttps://archive.ph/pnMEGhttps://www.theverge.com/24141539/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-dc-circuit-supreme-courthttps://www.axios.com/2024/04/23/tiktok-ban-bytedance-apps-capcut-lemon8https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/politics/us-china-drones-dji.htmlhttps://www.theregister.com/2024/01/05/huawei_ditches_us_lobbying_team/https://engadget.com/huawei-honor-sold-024435704.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaweihttps://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/15/trump-ban-huawei-us-1042046 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

Coffee with Samso Episode 196 is with Matt Szwedzicki, Managing Director of West Cobar Metals Limited (ASX: WC1) In my first conversation in June 2023 with West Cobar Metals Limited, I noticed the amphibolite basement for the Salazar project and asked how this could affect the mineralogy of the project. With nearly 12 months of work since that time, the benefits of the Newmont deposit are now coming to light. In this episode of Coffee with Samso, Matt Szwedzicki shares with us the potential multi-commodity aspect of the Newmont deposit. The company has come a long way in substantiating its view on the new strategy in bringing light to the Titanium and Scandium part of the flow chart. This is an unfolding story and credit goes to the management for looking at the alternative value of the Newmont project. The increasing tenure of the project means that the protection of the potential value adding process is now in safekeeping. The potential extension of the amphibolite is now for West Cobar Metals to discover and if the Scandium and Titanium strategy holds ground, the shareholder value will be very interesting. Time will tell, but at least it is up to the company to find it. Samso's Conclusion I have been fascinated with the West Cobar story as it is the only Rare Earth project that I have come across that has a amphibolite basement, or rather, one that has a non-granitic basement. This stands out even more when you know that the Esperance region does not appear to have an equivalent. When I first talked to the company, I posed the question to management, what is the significance of the amphibolite? Does it come with other commodities (at that time they had a HPA resource sitting on top of the Newmont project)? There is now a pathway for the company and it will be interesting where this leads to in terms of shareholder value. The scandium story is very interesting as I have had some experience of that sector nearly a decade ago. If you watch the video and listen to Matt when he talks about the Scandium pricing mechanism, it is a revelation. For once, we have a market that is priced so high that it needs new supply to bring the pricing down so that it can create more supply and more use. It is not a matter of lack of demand, but that the sector needs supply. When you think about what the implication will mean, the opportunity for shareholder value adding is enormous. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:20 Introduction 01:23 Update from Matt 01:43 More ground for Salazar 01:56 An updated exploration target 02:22 Realisation that Newmont is different 02:40 The Titanium Factor 02:59 Titanium Exploration Target 03:06 Presence of HPA 03:30 Flow Sheet 04:52 Titanium Mineral Study 06:05 What about this Scandium in Salazar? 07:32 Is Newmont more of a Critical Minerals project as opposed to a Rare Earth project? 09:02 Is there enough volume for the other commodities to be economical? 10:47 What triggers should investors look for to take a position in companies like WC1? 12:55 All about Scandium 14:40 Why is Scandium exciting? 15:43 The high pricing of Scandium. 16:41 Supply bottleneck may be changing 17:50 US Defense Department looking out for Scandium 18:24 Solid oxide fuel cell use of Scandium - green fuel transition 19:13 Where will the new mines come from - reasons why Newmont is the front runner 19:46 Newmont may have a potential positive metallurgical pathway 21:17 High grade vs. normal grade of Scandium 22:48 News Flow 24:43 A Natural pivot for WC1 25:49 Last words from Matt 26:57 Conclusion

Evelyn Farkas is a former official of the US Defense Department and head of the McCain Institute. She joins Bianna Golodryga from Kyiv, which was struck by Russian missile strikes for the first time in six weeks yesterday, to talk about the feeling on the ground among Ukrainians and the support of the United States.  Also on today's show: Michael Froman, President, Council on Foreign Relations; Rodrigo García, Film Director / Son of Gabriel García Márquez; actor Ian McKellen  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's Headlines: Five tech CEOs, including leaders of TikTok, Meta, Snap, X, and Discord, testified before the Senate Judiciary committee about child exploitation on their platforms. Lawmakers discussed the Kids Online Safety Act, aiming to make it easier for parents to sue tech companies for insufficient efforts in curbing online bullying, privacy violations, and sexual exploitation of minors. During the four-hour hearing, parents of children harmed by social media shared their experiences, including a tragic incident involving a fentanyl-laced pill ordered on Snapchat. Mark Zuckerberg faced pointed questions, ultimately apologizing to the affected families. TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled on the platform's ties to the Chinese Communist Party. In the House Homeland Security Committee, two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were advanced, citing his handling of the migrant crisis. The Federal Reserve announced no change to the federal funds rate, and the US Defense Department identified Kataib Hezbollah as the Iran-backed militia responsible for the drone strike in Jordan that killed three US soldiers. Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode: BBC: Tech CEOs testify about online child sexual exploitation at US Senate hearing - live updates CBS News: House committee advances Mayorkas impeachment articles, teeing up historic floor vote NBC News: Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady as consumer confidence improves, inflation slows BBC: Kataib Hezbollah: Iran-backed group suspends attacks against US after drone strike  Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage alongside Amanda Duberman and Bridget Schwartz Edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's show features stories from Radio Deutsche-Welle, Radio Havana Cuba, France 24, and NHK Japan. http://youthspeaksout.net/swr231215.mp3 (29:00) From GERMANY- An interview with human rights lawyer and climate campaigner Tessa Khan. She discusses the outcome of the COP 28 climate summit in Dubai, which many felt was an inadequate response to the climate emergency being experienced across the globe. The majority of countries and activists demanded a timeline to end to fossil fuels- what was delivered was a watered down version calling for a transition away from fossil fuels without specifying a schedule. From CUBA- On Friday December 8th the US vetoed a UN Security Council binding resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine- 13 of the 15 members voted for it, the UK abstained and the US voted against. Following the veto the US Defense Department pushed through a sale of 14,000 tank shells to Israel without Congressional approval. Israel began this week by attacking a UN refugee school, a convoy of Palestinian ambulances, and another Gaza hospital. On Tuesday the UN General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution for a ceasefire- the US, Israel and 8 small countries voted against the bill, 23 countries abstained, and 153 voted for it. From FRANCE- An interview with Gilbert Achar, Professor at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies in London. He describes the US veto of the ceasefire resolution as doublespeak and what the eradication of Hamas would entail. From JAPAN- A Japanese doctor describes her recent work in Gaza with Doctors Without borders. The Washington Post reported Israeli use of US supplied white phosphorous munitions in Gaza. Health workers in Gaza are extremely worried about the rapidly spreading infectious diseases in shelters for Gaza refugees. Available in 3 forms- (new) HIGHEST QUALITY (160kb)(33MB), broadcast quality (13MB), and quickdownload or streaming form (6MB) (28:59) Links at outfarpress.com/shortwave.shtml PODCAST!!!- https://feed.podbean.com/outFarpress/feed.xml (160kb Highest Quality) Website Page- < http://www.outfarpress.com/shortwave.shtml ¡FurthuR! Dan Roberts “ Americans think of themselves first, second, third, fourth, fifth- and if there's any time left over they think about Americans ” -Lula da Silva Dan Roberts Shortwave Report- www.outfarpress.com YouthSpeaksOut!- www.youthspeaksout.net

On October 7, Hamas attacks in Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people and took over 200 people hostage. The Israeli response, including intense bombardments and a ground offensive in Gaza, has been extremely destructive, reportedly killing over 13,000 Palestinians including 5,500 children as of the time of this episode's recording. In this episode, Emily Tripp, Director of the casualty counting organization Airwars, joins us to make sense of these numbers and explain the process and importance of casualty recording. Guest: Emily Tripp, Director of AirwarsThis podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. You can find a full transcript of this episode here.This episode includes clips from FOX 26 Houston, France 24, ABC News, US Defense Department, NPR, and Al Arabiya English.To learn more about civilian harm in Gaza, see:Airwars, Israel and Gaza 2023CIVIC, Civilians in Gaza Running out of Self-Protection OptionsPAX: Dutch Government, Don't Give Israel Carte BlancheJust Security, Law and Policy Guide to US Arms Transfers to IsraelEvery Casualty Counts, Casualty Recorders Network

The US Defense Department failed for the sixth year in a row to score a clean financial audit. Dave and Debbie speak with Utah State Auditor John Dougall about how this may be possible. 

On August 1, 2017, China official opened its first overseas military base in the East African nation of Djibouti. The base, constructed to provide logistical support to the Chinese navy's counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia, marked a major step toward Xi Jinping's goal of constructing a world class military by the middle of the century.The US Defense Department has just released its annual China Military Power Report, and that says that the People's Republic of China (PRC) probably has also considered adding military logistics facilities in 19 countries around the world (in addition to Djibouti): Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, Nigeria, Namibia, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Tajikistan. To expand its global footprint, People's Liberation Army (PLA) will need to cultivate good relations with potential host countries. China's military diplomacy is likely aimed at achieving that objective among others.Today's discussion focuses on the key features and goals of China's military diplomacy and its quest for additional military installations – or what the Chinese call “strategic strongpoints.” Host Bonnie Glaser is joined by Kristin Gunness, a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She previously served as the Director of the Navy Asia Pacific Advisory Group at the Pentagon, advising the Chief of Naval Operations on security and foreign policy trends in the Indo-Pacific, focusing on Chinese naval and gray zone warfare capabilities. Earlier this year, Kristin testified on China's overseas military diplomacy and its implications for American interests at a hearing convened by the US Economic and Security Review Commission.  Timestamps[02:20] Introduction to Military Diplomacy[04:36] Three Objectives of Chinese Military Diplomacy[06:15] China's Regions of Interest[08:48] Gauging the Success of China's Military[11:46] Beijing's Broader Geo-Political Strategy[13:47] Challenges Posed to US Interests[15:53] Military Installations Versus Commercial Ports[17:20] Potential Chinese Presence in Cambodia [19:27] Potential Chinese Presence in Equatorial Guinea [21:41] Beijing's Assessment of their Military Diplomacy[23:33] Recommendations for a US Response

David Schild, executive director of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America (PCBAA), discusses the latest government policy and legislation for printed circuit board manufacturing in the US, the roadmap for government investment, the trade group's recent annual meeting in Washington, and "exposing the flaw" in the US Defense Department's procurement process. PCBAA was founded in 2021 to advance US domestic production of PCBs and base materials. The organization is made up of corporate members of all sizes, and includes fabricators, assemblers and suppliers. This episode of PCB Chat is sponsored by PCB West, The Largest Conference and Exhibition for Printed Circuit Board Design, Fabrication and Assembly in the Silicon Valley, coming September 19-22 to the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center.

Hour 1 -  Good Tuesday morning! Here's what Nick Reed covers this hour: We have another happy hour this Friday! Join us from 4-6 p.m. at Retro Metro! We hope to see you out there! The US Defense Department tracking another balloon traveling between Hawaii and Mexico. Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News, and Newsmax, wants him to be more than just the face of the network. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the news channel is doing everything it can to sweeten the deal for Tucker to come on board -- including floating the idea of letting him program the whole channel, not just his own show. Jonathan Turley joined "Fox & Friends" Monday to react to claims from Senator Ron Johnson that Antony Blinken lied to Congress about his contacts with Hunter Biden. Turley said the secretary of state and former Biden campaign adviser is facing a "very serious" allegation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied having any role in the 2020 letter signed by 51 current and past intelligence officials that aimed to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop as part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

It's not everyday that we get to chat with research scientists. Sit back and enjoy this entertaining episode filled with many take aways. Mrs. Jenna Gadberry is a contract Scientist at the US Army Futures Command's Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM-CBC) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. Mrs. Gadberry earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Davis in 2003 and enjoyed a 12 year career at the DoD's Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) where she was a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and program coordinator for two Technical Support Working Groups (TSWGs). Since 2016, Mrs. Gadberry has been part of the Olfactory Sciences Team, working on enhancing canine detection capabilities. She now manages a diverse portfolio of active Military Working Dog projects (everything from olfaction to wearables and decon solutions), specializing in the spiral development process of getting applied research and development solutions into end-user's hands.Michele Maughan, Ph.D., is a research scientist and program manager for Excet, Inc. a US Defense Department science and engineering contract firm. Michele works at the US Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Chemical Biological Center (CBC) in the Olfactory Sciences group at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. In this role, Dr. Maughan, provides subject matter expertise on canine scent detection and training aids, explosive and other emerging CBRNE threats, sensor technologies, and research, development, test and evaluation of Military Working Dog and Homeland Security canines. In addition to being a scientist, Michele is also a certified explosives detection dog (EDD) handler, currently working on developing her second EDD from puppy to operational canine for R&D projects.We are happy to announce Fox and Hound as our title sponsor. Please checkout shopfoxandhound.com or on Instagram @shopfoxandhound. Remember to use the discount code WDDP for 15% off your Fox and Hound order.Also checkout Fox and Hound K9 Foundation Nonprofit Organization.Fox + Hound K9 Foundation is a K9-focused organization that seeks to assist active and retired k9s. "Making a difference, it's what we do."The Fox and Hound K9 Foundation would like to announce their first celebration event in Branson Missouri on June 3, 2023. Follow them @foxandhoundk9foundation on IG.*Hold the Line K9 conference. Yes that is correct the Blueline Conference is now HOLD THE LINE K9 CONFERENCE.  It's still the same great conference run by the same great people, just under a new name. The next conference is May 2 - 4 in Pittsburgh Pa. Follow them on www.thinbluelineconference.com, IG @htlk9conference, facebook @Thin Blueline Conference. It's truly a great conference with quality instructors. Preregistration is taking place now. Join us for a great time. We are pleased to have Hold The Line K9 Conference htlk9.com as a sponsor of the The Working Dog Depot Podcast. Joe Lutkowski and his staff are currently securing vendors and presenters for the 2024 conference. The Hold The Line K9 Conference will be in a brand new location. The dates and location are April 9, 10, and 11 in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. There's nothing finer than to be in Carolina in the Spring time. Additional information will be forthcoming. www.htlk9.com We are taking reservations for the Pro Series. If you want Rich and Howard to come to your location we can make it happen. They have come together to provide workshops on any K9 related topic you like. Open to law enforcement and civilian attendees. Contact Howard at hjyk91@gmail.com or 704-473-9885.

Hosts Jon Olson and Chris Chapp talk with Pat Dillon, the President of MNSBIR, and Chip Laingen, the Executive Director of the Defense Alliance about helping Minnesota small businesses do business with the US Defense Department and the challenges those companies face.

Hosts Jon Olson and Chris Chapp talk with Pat Dillon, the President of MNSBIR, and Chip Laingen, the Executive Director of the Defense Alliance about helping Minnesota small businesses do business with the US Defense Department, and the challenges those companies face.

CISA and its partners issue a Joint Advisory on the Hive ransomware-as-a-service operation. Ransomware continues to trouble governments, internationally and at all levels. The US Defense Department may see enhanced authority to conduct offensive cyber operations. Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure remain kinetic, as missiles show up, but cyberattacks don't. Kevin Magee from Microsoft about leveraging cybersecurity apprentices. Our guest is Paul Giorgi from XM Cyber describing creative attack path in enterprise networks.And, hey, glupost' [GLUE-post]–don't mess with Google's lawyers. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/11/222 Selected reading. CISA Alert AA22-321A – #StopRansomware: Hive Ransomware. (CyberWire) #StopRansomware: Hive Ransomware (CISA) Vanuatu: Hackers strand Pacific island government for over a week (BBC News) Ransom attack cripples Vanuatu government systems, forces staff to use pen and paper (The Sydney Morning Herald) Ransomware incidents now make up majority of British government's crisis management COBRA meetings (The Record by Recorded Future) Suffolk County, N.Y., Hack Shows Ransomware Threat to Municipalities (Wall Street Journal)  Biden set to approve expansive authorities for Pentagon to carry out cyber operations (CyberScoop) Red Lion Crimson (CISA) Cradlepoint IBR600 (CISA) A ruling in our legal case against the Glupteba botnet (Google)

Annie Jacobsen, author of 'The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency' joins Jonathan to discuss the history of the US Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. First broadcast July 9th 2016

In the last two episodes of 'The Matt Lohmeier Show,' Matt discussed why he was fired from the Space Force and provided some essential context about his background and career in the US military. Today, in the final episode of this 3-part series, Matt shares what happened right after his firing and his perspective on the main problem with the current state of affairs of the military.You'll learn Matt's suggestions to service members on how to navigate the current hyper-politicized environment in the military, plus the most significant takeaways we can learn from his story.Next episode, Matt will be interviewing renowned podcaster and geomythologist Randall Carlson to discuss his latest project, so stay tuned! Key Takeaways - What happened after Matt was fired from command (00:00)- What to expect from the podcast in the following months (05:18)- How to fight back against divisive political activism (08:10)- Matt's message to all service members (16:00)- The investigation that followed Matt's firing (25:00)- What Matt has been doing since his departure from the Space Force (28:04) Additional Resources- Connect with Matt- Learn more about the Irresistible RevolutionThis episode is brought to you by One Sunrise.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please share and follow it on your favorite platform.

In the last episode, Matt discussed the real reason why he was relieved from command as a Space Force commander in May 2021.He shared the formal written complaint he sent to the Space Force inspector general's office and the response to said complaint. Today, Matt shares more about his career in the US military and how he got from joining the Air Force Academy to becoming a Space Force commander - essential context for the next episode, in which Matt talks about what happened after his firing.Tune in to learn more about Matt's thoughts on the consequences of social justice activism in the military, what Donald Trump said to him in a Thanksgiving video conference, and some of the topics Matt will be discussing in the next episodes. Key Takeaways - How to become a Space Force commander (00:00)- Matt's Thanksgiving call with President Trump (00:40)- Matt's background and early career (6:44)- The incredible story of how Matt got to join the Air Force Academy (08:16)- How Matt joined the US Space Force as a commander (13:44)- How social justice activism is harming the strength of the military (16:41)- Why Matt decided to publish his book 'Irresistible Revolution' (23:42) Additional Resources- Connect with Matt- Learn more about the Irresistible RevolutionThis episode is brought to you by One Sunrise.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please share and follow it on your favorite platform.

In the first episode of 'The Matt Lohmeier Show,' Matt reveals critical information never publicly disclosed about the political climate of fear that has swept across the Defense Department.He discusses the context leading to the need to publish his bestselling book 'Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & The Unmaking of the American Military' and the reasons behind him being relieved of command on May 14, 2021 - a story that made national headlines.Tune in to learn Matt's thoughts on the dangers of political activism in the military, his career and background, and what to expect in the next episodes. Key Takeaways - Why Matt created this show and what to expect in the future (00:00)- The propaganda engendering division and resentment within the ranks (06:00)- Why the idea that the military isn't a safe environment for minorities is false (16:30)- The dangers of political activism in the military (21:43)- How we're creating a polarized political and social environment (31:05) Additional Resources- Connect with Matt- Learn more about the Irresistible RevolutionThis episode is brought to you by One Sunrise.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please share and follow it on your favorite platform.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has labeled former US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard a "traitorous liar" over Gabbard's suggestion that the US should work with Russia toward a ceasefire in Ukraine with a focus on protecting the US Defense Department-funded biolabs scattered around that country. This even though the US Administration itself admitted the labs' existence and the potential danger posted by them. Apparently speaking the objective truth is "Russian disinformation" to Washington's pro-war cult. Also today: Rand Paul seeks to clip Fauci's wings, Pelosi gives an economics lesson, and Germany goes ga-ga over the F-35.

On this episode, Garrison is rejoined by a valued guest of the podcast, Dr. Yoichiro Sato, to discuss the race to replace retiring Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Dr. Sato takes a deep dive into the circumstances that led to Suga's resignation, the role of the Olympics and the pandemic in upending Japanese politics, the leading candidates to replace Suga as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (including a deep examination of factional politics and his predicted winner), and the possibility for greater instability in the Japanese political system in the years to come. Dr. Yoichiro Sato is a professor at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. Previously he was a professor at the US Defense Department's Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also has held teaching positions at the University of Auckland, among other roles. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Government from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a M.A. of International Relations and Affairs from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, and a Bachelors in Law from Keio University. Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy - Foreign Policy at Liberty University in the United States where he also received a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude). All guest opinions are their own and not that of The New Diplomatist podcast formally. Please subscribe and leave a review for feedback; join the podcast on Patreon for bonus perks. Follow The New Diplomatist on Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for listening. (Originally recorded September 4, 2021)

Guest analyst Johna Till Johnson, CEO and Founder of Nemertes Research, joins the Network Break to discuss a variety of IT news including the rising price of copper, Proofpoint going private in a $12.3 billion deal, why the US Defense Department suddenly began advertising a huge block of IPv4 addresses, and space networking.

Guest analyst Johna Till Johnson, CEO and Founder of Nemertes Research, joins the Network Break to discuss a variety of IT news including the rising price of copper, Proofpoint going private in a $12.3 billion deal, why the US Defense Department suddenly began advertising a huge block of IPv4 addresses, and space networking.

Guest analyst Johna Till Johnson, CEO and Founder of Nemertes Research, joins the Network Break to discuss a variety of IT news including the rising price of copper, Proofpoint going private in a $12.3 billion deal, why the US Defense Department suddenly began advertising a huge block of IPv4 addresses, and space networking.

Today Garrison is joined by Dr. Yoichiro Sato, who is an expert analyst of foreign and security policy regarding Japan, the US, and the Indo-Pacific. The two discuss the 2021 outlook of security policy from Japan towards North Korea's nuclear program, as well as the naval arms race developing between Tokyo and Beijing in light of increasing assertiveness in China's maritime activity. They also discuss the RCEP trade deal and the TPP trade negotiations, Japan's global soft power and role hosting the delayed summer Olympic Games, as well as Prime Minister Suga's policies of office (and political future) as Japan moves away from the Abe era and faces a new US administration under Biden. Dr. Yoichiro Sato is a professor at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. Previously he was a professor at the US Defense Department's Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also has held teaching positions at the University of Auckland, among other roles. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Government from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a M.A. of International Relations and Affairs from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, and a Bachelors in Law from Keio University. Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he holds a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) from Liberty University in the United States. All guest opinions are their own and not that of The New Diplomatist podcast formally. Please subscribe and leave a review for feedback; join the podcast on Patreon for bonus perks. Follow The New Diplomatist on Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for listening. (Originally recorded February 22, 2021)

We are joined once again by J. Michael Bennett, PhD—a.k.a. "Dr Future" of the classic Future Quake radio show (2005-2012)—for Part Two of a conversation on his challenging book, "Two Masters and Two Gospels, Volume 1 : The Teaching of Jesus Vs. the “Leaven of the Pharisees” in Talk Radio and Cable News". In the first conversation we talked about the spiritual and political aspects of his book. In this second conversation Dr. Bennett shares with us some of the historical data supporting the arguments in his book, some of which are quite eye-opening. J. Michael Bennett holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, and worked as a US Defense Department scientist, successful high-tech inventor and entrepreneur. For several years he produced the influential Future Quake show for local radio and the Internet, and his work has been profiled on PBS, CNN and Scientific American. He also served as an invited speaker on religion for a United Nations NGO. He and his wife reside in Nashville, and his books are featured at MikeBennettBooks.com. For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”—LK 16:13 (NIV) We are joined by J. Michael Bennett, PhD—a.k.a. "Dr Future" of the classic Future Quake radio show (2005-2012)—for part one of a conversation on his challenging, controversial, yet timely and necessary book, "Two Masters and Two Gospels, Volume 1 : The Teaching of Jesus Vs. the “Leaven of the Pharisees” in Talk Radio and Cable News", published by Akribos Press. In this first chat, we also take the opportunity to discuss the excellent documentary that Dr. Bennett co-produced, which—in the manner of a gripping whodunnit—sleuths out and answers key mysteries surrounding the enigmatic Georgia Guidestones, sometimes referred to as an "American Stonehenge". J. Michael Bennett holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, and worked as a US Defense Department scientist, successful high-tech inventor and entrepreneur. For several years he produced the influential Future Quake show for local radio and the Internet, and his work has been profiled on PBS, CNN and Scientific American. He also served as an invited speaker on religion for a United Nations NGO. He and his wife reside in Nashville, and his books are featured at MikeBennettBooks.com. For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com

In this episode, I discuss the following topics: Zoom is not adding end-to-end encryption to free calls. Honda and Acura recalling 136K cars due to faulty fuel pumps. The US Defense Department ramps up 5G testing, with them now having 12 military bases experimenting with 5G. Samsung's AR glasses patent shows off turn-by-turn navigation function. Google accounts now work with NFC, USB-C, and Lightning security keys on iOS. Motorola has launched their Moto G Fast and Moto E 2020 edition. About 50 editors working for MSN, Microsoft's news operation, have learned their contracts won't be renewed and their jobs will be performed by artificial intelligence software. Google is facing a $5 billion lawsuit for allegedly tracking users in incognito mode. Link to the YouTube episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdADiUc7fjc&list=PLMpyN4U94Ozp2Qm01Z5Kbjdra8IjQiFH1&index=3 Check out our new website: https://jak3mb.com and the channel https://youtube.com/jak3mb Also check out our Spotify playlist: https://spotify.jak3mb.com Website: https://jak3mb.com Email: business@jak3mb.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/jak3mb Twitter: https://twitter.com/jak3mb Facebook: https://facebook.com/jak3mb

How far will Barack Obama go in taking on critics who say the United States has abandoned its role as the global champion of human rights? America's counter-terrorism measures after 9/11 - including targeted killings and indefinite periods of detention without trial - have angered many. Former President Jimmy Carter has said the US has now lost its moral authority as a result. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Jeh Johnson, the General Counsel of the US Defense Department, the Pentagon's top lawyer and a close ally of Barack Obama.(Image: Jeh Johnson. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)