Podcasts about Virtually

Virtually everyone -- sadly, even on the right these days -- believes things that are demonstrably false about the Industrial Revolution, inequality, trade, poverty, and plenty more. Former US Senator (and economics professor) Phil Gramm joins us to correct the record. Sponsors: Go to OmahaSteaks.com and use Promo Code WOODS at checkout for an extra $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. See site for details. A big thanks to our advertiser, Omaha Steaks! + Bank on Yourself Book Discussed: The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism Show notes for Ep. 2657

Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results.  You are now documenting, you are now process mapping, you are codifying, you are figuring out and creating the blueprint for what they call your throughput, right from the time you get a lead to the time you get paid and everything in between, how you fulfill the order, how you satisfy your clients. That's called your throughput, you determine and systematize your throughput. I'm a huge fan of scripts and so you want to script out as much as possible. Virtually every business there are very few exceptions. There are very few businesses that are not capable of becoming an assembly line and you want. Essentially in your business, you want to build an assembly line with the most amount of certainties possible, and you want to standardize and create the most consistent results possible in your business. Okay, that's stage four.  Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.  

Service excellence emerges when businesses solve problems others avoid tackling. This week I spoke with Zohra Shroff from Sealink Logistics, a freight forwarding company that started in 2005 from a one-bedroom apartment in LA. Zohra joined the family business in 2006 and has helped grow it into a comprehensive logistics provider. Our conversation walked through the complete journey of shipping a container from Houston to India. Zohra detailed every step of the freight forwarding process, from initial customer vetting through final container return at destination. Their technology platform allows customers to book shipments, track cargo, and manage payments through their mobile app, maintaining this edge for over six years with live tracking and monthly rate updates. Their approach evolved from simply moving freight to becoming a complete logistics partner handling sea freight, air freight, and domestic transportation under one portal. When customers face problems like container mix-ups or space constraints, Zohra's team works directly with steamship lines to resolve issues rather than leaving customers stranded. This service model applies to any business where customer problems become your competitive advantage. When others walk away from complex situations, stepping in to solve them builds lasting relationships and premium pricing power. The freight forwarding industry reminded me that behind every simple transaction sits a web of coordination most people never see. Zohra's passion for helping customers navigate these complexities shows why service businesses thrive when they embrace the hard parts.     SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I explore Sealink's journey as a logistics company founded in 2005, emphasizing its deep family roots and innovative approach to the shipping industry. I discuss the complexities of the international shipping process, including filing shipping instructions with US Customs and securing an AES number. We highlight the challenges and financial implications for shippers when consignees refuse to pick up shipments, emphasizing the importance of financial due diligence. In our conversation, we examine the role of freight forwarders and the critical importance of service levels and customer support in the logistics industry. We delve into Zohra's entrepreneurial journey, from the jewelry industry in India to co-founding Sea Link in the U.S., illustrating the courage and determination required for such ventures. She provides insights into maritime routes and their impacts on transit times, including the choice between the Panama Canal and the Cape of Good Hope.   Contact Details LinkedIn - Zohra Shroff (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zohra-shroff-383276172/) LINKSShow Notes Be a Guest About IC-DISC Alliance About Sealink International Inc GUEST Zohra ShroffAbout Zohra TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Good morning Zohra. How are you today? Zohra: Good morning, I'm well. How are you I? Dave: am good Now. Are you calling in from San Francisco, or is that just a background you have? Zohra: No, it's just a background I have. Dave: Where are you calling in from? I am San. Zohra: Antonio Texas. San Antonio Texas. Dave: Yeah, soft spot for me. I went to high school in a suburb of San. Zohra: Antonio, oh, that's really nice. It's a great city, you know, small growing, not too big yet, but I guess eventually getting there. Dave: Yeah, Now are you a native of San Antonio. Zohra: I've been here almost 22 years now, so I think I am. Dave: Okay, and what about originally when? Zohra: are you from? Originally from India, Migrated to the US in the early 2000 and came into Jersey. Stayed there for a couple of years and then moved to San Antonio, Got married and moved to San Antonio. Dave: That's awesome. Zohra: So been here since then. Yes, so it's home now. Dave: That is great. So my wife is a native Texan. I'm what I choose to call a naturalized Texan. We have a saying. I got here as quick as I could. Zohra: I think I can say that now too. You know it's been wonderful, and it's home now. So yeah, it's great. Dave: That is great. So tell me about SeaLink. When did the company start? What prompted it to start? Who started it? Kind of a whole story. Zohra: Sure, sure, definitely. So. Sealink was started by Shaizad. He is my cousin and the forwarding business has been in our family for three generations now. Okay, india. And then my father took it over in the early 80s and 90s and then Shaizad joined him as well after he graduated from college. So he worked in the Indian market on at that point we used to do a lot of brick bulk vessels and we used to do containerized vessels as well. So that's how it all began. And then when Shaizad moved to the US I want to say in 2001, he was working for one of the forwarders and stuff for a few years and then he decided that we should, that he should start on his own. So he started Sealink in 2005 from LA, from his one bedroom apartment, just handling freehand cargo that our sister company back in India was anyways consigning to different agents in the US. And so then we took over that business and that's how we started. And then from there we are here today, grown to a fully export plus import oriented forwarder. So I think that's awesome. Dave: And when did you join the company? Zohra: I joined very early on 2006. So it was yeah, not very late on, so started in 2005. I joined in. I think we were September 2005,. If I'm not mistaken, I think I joined March 2006. Dave: Okay, so Shaizad gets credit for the first six months. Zohra: Yes, Shaizad gets credit for it. Dave: But you get credit for all the growth starting in 2006, right? Zohra: I wish I could take all the credit, but he is a visionary. He is a visionary and without his vision or without his farsightedness on you know what like, we don't want to just be called a forwarder. I don't like saying Sealink is just a forwarder. Because of that, because of his vision, I think we are so ahead of the market in terms of our competitors also and in terms of our vendors also, like overall, I think, for the shipping industry. I think we have it one notch up at, I think, at any given point. You know, just because we have because of his vision. I should again say that, because of Shaizad's vision of not only moving freight but making sure that we are giving service with the service industry and also making sure that we are making sure that we are giving the standard of service with the competitive rates at all time, and I think that is one thing that puts Seelink above. Of course, our technology is our greatest selling point. We've had our app I think so for over six years now six to seven years and you can do everything on our Seelink app you can book, you can give your documents, you can download an invoice, you can download an invoice, you can pay an invoice. You can track and trace your cargo. You can do everything on that app so you are not stuck to see that. Okay, what is going on on my shipment? You know where is my shipment. Why do I need to like hassle bustle and call somebody and someone's not answering the phone? So we have live tracking and tracing that shows on your website that your that your shipment has been delayed or there is a vessel delay or there is a longer transshipment hold. All of that information is available on our app, ready to go. Every month we update our rates so the customers know that in February, if my rate from place A to place B was $500, then we know that March 1st that rate is either going to be $400, depending on the market, or $600. So they have visibility of all of this, which is giving them ease of business. They can make their deals. They can look and then get a figure that, okay, you know what, my freight is going to be so much and my material is going to cost so much. This is what I need to do and this is how I can sell. So we give them all that information. Also, not only we are providing a sea, water services or sea services, we are even providing air freight, we are providing domestic, we are providing trade services. So, for example, if I have a customer who wants to move from Atlanta, atlanta into into Moondra, so I have a rate through the vendor from Atlanta to Moondra to Mundra, so I have a rate through the vendor from Atlanta to Mundra. But if he has a facility in Duluth, atlanta, and then wants to get into on the rail, so we provide that drage service as well. So he can put in his zip code that I need to pick up from so and so zip code, take it to the rail and then it'll go out, you know. So we provide that part of draGE as well, which is really helpful for our customers if they want to go ahead and offer that to their suppliers or to their clients as well. So everything is under one portal and easy access. That's what I can say. Dave: That sounds great. So even though I've been in this business for 20 years, working with exporters, I never really understood how the freight moved. So what I would love for you to do is let's imagine that I'm a brand new scrap broker, scrap metal broker, and I have my first load ready. It's in a container and it's at the Port of Houston. And so let's just imagine like, help me just understand all the steps. So I call you up and I say, zohra, how I've got this uh load of uh of scrap metal at the port in houston and I need to get it to uh, um, what would be a good, a good port in india. Zohra: That that, mundra, let's say. Dave: Let's say, so, walk me through like all the things that that like, just walk me through all the steps that have to happen okay. Zohra: So initially, if I'm onboarding a new scrap customer, we we have an onboarding process that goes into place. You know we we run their credit scores. We, you know, ask for references, we make sure the company is in good standing. Because we do all these thorough checks? Because in the end we don't want a long standing container in some other country where then Seelink is responsible. So we have a thorough vetting process. So it's not like you know, somebody didn't just come to me and say, hey, you know what, I want to move one box of scrap and please help me. It doesn't work like that anymore Because you know there has been so many people who have not done the right thing while moving metal scrap. You know they say that it is metal scrap, but they load something else and it happens. It's just the way the industry is right. So, first and foremost, when we onboard a customer, there is a whole onboarding process. We go ahead, we make sure that the customer is vetted completely. For some reasons, if there is no scores, we ask them for their financials, three years financials and sometimes we even ask for a deposit, depending on the situation of the customer. That's how our onboarding process works. Once the onboarding process is done, then they can go on the website or the app and they can see what port pairs they are moving this freight on. Now, for example, if they are buying from Houston and they want to move from Houston to Moondra, they will plug in on my website Houston to Moondra 120 footer metal scrap and they will see all the steamship lines that I have rates on. It could be MSC, maersk, capagloid, you know all of these top three, four lines where I can say that, ok, this is what your price will. If you want to ship with Maersk, your price is A. If you want to ship with MSC, your price is B. It will give them the transit time. Some of the shippers are very, very, very, very concerned about the transit time. Shippers are very, very, very, very concerned about the transit time. It depends on what they're shipping. If they're shipping ferris and it is, like you know, maybe five boxes they might not be very concerned. But if they're shipping non-ferris, they might be like okay, zohra, I need a 45 day transit. So then I'm telling them okay, choose Maersk or MSC, because their transit is somewhere between 45 to 46 days, you so so let's say so. Dave: Let's say I pick mursk mursk. Zohra: Yes, so then you go on my app and then you hit book. Once you hit book, I get a notification saying abcd has made a booking request from houston to mundra for next week's cutoff for 120 footer. I come inside, I come into play, my team goes ahead, makes the booking on Maersk and turns it around and about. I want to say we want to try to keep it under two hours, so we go ahead and we send a booking confirmation that has all the information of this load. So, the customer exactly knows that, okay, this load needs to get picked up, the empty container needs to get picked up at Bayport Terminal. Okay, once the trucker picks it up at Bayport Terminal, they go to their facility, they get it loaded If the customer is doing their own trucking. If the customer says, or I don't have a trucker in Houston, do my trucking, then I'll offer him, I'll say give me your zip code in Houston, I'll give you a dredge rate and then I can go pick up, schedule your trucking. So I will schedule the trucking, get the container loaded, bring it back to the port, return it loaded at the port and then from there it will sit on the port on the day of the cutoff and then from there we will go ahead and make sure that it gets loaded on the ship. There. We will go ahead and make sure that it gets loaded on the ship. Now, that is where the whole process is working in terms of getting this container into the port. Now, once it's into the port, then it is the customer's responsibility to go ahead and send me shipping instructions. Who is he shipping to? Who is his shipper? Who is his consignee? What is the container number? What is the weight. What is the weight? What is the seal? Dave: is there a name for that set of documents? Zohra: yes, it's called shipping instructions the shipping instructions. So those shipping instructions are given to, given by the, the customer, to us. We go ahead and we put it. Dave: I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. I just really want to make sure understand yeah so those instructions? Is that done electronically through your website? Zohra: We can do it electronically. There are lots of customers who send us emails also, so, however, they are comfortable. Dave: Okay. Zohra: If they feel comfortable, there is a way on our website to go ahead and save their shipper and consignees as well, so they can just click, click and say that, okay, this is my shipper, this is my consignee, and then they just change the container name or the container number and weight and seal number. Dave: Okay, so I've given you the shipping instructions. Zohra: Yes, Now you've given me the shipping instructions, I'm going to go back and send you. I'm going to put everything on the BL and I'm going to send you a draft bl. I'm going to say, hey, this is what your draft, a draft bl will look. So you will go ahead and get a draft bl from ceiling and you will check everything your shipper, your consign what is bl? a bill of lading okay yes, the bill of lading, but this is a draft copy, okay, so we, so we can still make changes. If you say, oh, you know what, I don't want to write metal scrap, I want to write heavy metal scrap. So can you edit that for me? Or if your consignee says you know what, I want to add a notify party, so we're going to be like, ok, we'll add a notify party. So we send you a draft copy and stuff like that and we tell you that, okay, please look at it thoroughly, this is what your draft, this is what your bl is going to look like. Okay, so once they check everybody is in order, we go ahead, we take and we file those shipping instructions with the us customs. We tell them that, hey, this person is shipping this cargo from here to here. These are the details. And then we file the entry into the US Customs. They come back with an AES number for us where it is that OK, you know what. The customs has approved your shipment. This is your AES filing number and now you're good to go. Dave: And what does AES stand for? Zohra: It's an automated uh-oh export system export uh automated export documentation okay, yeah yeah. So it's like uh, it's like an ams that you file from the import side, and where does the and then the uh container number? Is that going to be? Dave: in shipping instructions yeah, so it'll still end up on the bill of lading. Zohra: Yes, yes, everything. All this information, shipper consignee, container number, weight, seal, what commodity you have shipped. Everything will appear on the bill of lading, All of this instructions, so everybody has clarity on what has shipped, who has shipped and where is it going. Dave: Okay. Zohra: Also, and if Seelaling has done the trucking for this customer, then I'm not even asking him for the container number because the trucker will give me. He's my trucker, so he's going to be like hey, I pulled this container number. Once I load it, I'll give you the weight and seals. So once we send out the draft BL, it is approved, we go ahead and we send all the information to the Steam ship line, whichever vendor you chose, and we file everything. Dave: We ask the Now where does it, I'm sorry. When does it ship? From being a draft to being a final After the customs process? Zohra: After sailing, after sailing. So once the customs is processed, we have all our information. Once the shipment is sailed, then the steamship line will be like okay, your shipment has sailed, Everything looks good. This is your original bill of lading. Dave: And sailed is a reference to 200 years ago, right With ship that sails Does it? Just mean it's departed the port. It has departed the port, yes. Zohra: So once it is sailed and then after, I think most of the time, they give us a draft in two days of sailing. The original bill will come out in two days of sailing and then from there, once we have the original bill, the customer does have a choice that if he wants a complete set of original bill of ladings, so that means that's a paper copy, or else he wants a telex, which would be an electronic copy. And then he can say that oh, you know what, I don't mind, my consignee doesn't mind a telex release. So if you can go ahead and update this to a telex release, and is the telex? Dave: is it truly going through the old telex system or is it just being electronic? Zohra: It's through the old telex system or does it just mean electronic? It's just meaning electronic. There's no funny how the language just stays around. Right, yeah, okay, all right, so go ahead. Yeah, so once. So then they have a choice to either have some of the guys if they have an lc, they would like the obl so that way they have control on the cargo, they have control on the money, and then they release the bills once they get paid and if they are confident, if they are a regular shipper and a regular consignee, they might go in for a telex release which is just electronic Gotcha. Dave: So then it leaves Houston, and I'm guessing does it go through the Panama Canal. Zohra: Depends on the routing. Some go through the Panama Canal, some do not, so it just depends on what route the steamship line is taking. Dave: I'm just curious. So if it's going from Houston to Moondra, I mean it's got to get around South America. Zohra: Yeah, yeah. So it would go through the canal and if not, because of all the issues that we're going through now, a lot of steamship lines have been routing it to the Cape of Good Hope. Dave: So they've been going that direction, that direction Around Africa. Zohra: Okay, yes, yes, so that makes it a little bit transit longer, but just the safety was more important at that point. Dave: So a lot of routes. Zohra: At least it's a predictable amount of time even though it's longer, and so if it goes, around Houston to Mondra by the Cape under Cape of Good Hope. Dave: How many days does that typically I? Zohra: think it added. I think it added 15 days to the transit. Dave: So what would that? Be total transit so about 60 days about 60 days. Zohra: Yeah, so I think first it was 45 days and then it became 60 days when they were doing, uh, the cape of good hope. Um, I and you know what, sometimes it even is a little bit shorter. I did see a couple of vessels that were doing 55 days also. So I think it just depends on you know how, how how delayed the vessel is, or if there is any any issues on any transshipment ports and stuff like that. So sometimes it's hard to say if it's going to be like anywhere between 40 to 60 days okay, so now it's on the water, is there just no activity at this point? Dave: is there any? Zohra: hopefully you don't want any activity, you just want everything to be good. But there are things that happen, like you heard about the Baltimore issue that happened early last April. I want to say it's going to be a year that everything was good to go. The vessel was ready to sail and it hit the bridge right and that was disastrous and that lasted for six months. Containers, fellers, fell in the water and you know some got damaged and then you know those things. Yeah, we don't want those things to happen, but of course it is. It is an inevitable. Like you know, hazards happen sometimes, so you would want that. Dave: Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry. I know you know this really well and so I'm sorry I have to keep stopping you for such basic questions. Zohra: No, no, not at all Do the containers these days. Dave: Do they have any electronic tracking on the containers? Zohra: Some do and some don't. Okay, so the ones that do like. Dave: Is it RF tracking or a different type of electronic tracking? Zohra: I don't believe they have an RF tracking. Most of our containers do not have a tracker because the lines will only give us 10 plus old, 10 plus year containers to load scrap, I see. So we don't get the nice fancy containers. So, most of us are not trackable. Okay, so my scrap load, load. Dave: It's not being tracked but it's on the boat it's on the boat, and so it's sailing, and then now it shows up in mundra. And what happens now? Zohra: so once it shows up in mundra, the steamship line that you have picked is going to send an arrival notice, five to seven days, to your consignee in India or your forwarder in India, whoever you have put on the BL instructions, so you will get an arrival notice. Dave: Now will you be? Will you be the forwarder in India? Zohra: No, no, we do have our own office in India, but most of metal scrap moves on a master bill, so there is really no requirement of a forwarder per se needed when your shipment reaches destination. Dave: They just need a broker and they can clear their shipment and pick it up at the port. Okay, so the ship arrives, and then that starts the arrival notice. Time clock. Zohra: Yeah. Dave: From the time it's actually lands. No, so the arrival notice you will get from the time it's actually lands? Zohra: no, so the arrival notice you will get five to seven days before arrival. So it gives you it gives you ample of time to say that okay, you know what my shipment is coming in. Let me get my docks ready and file it with the Indian customs. Because you can file, I want to say, four days before your shipment is arriving. Dave: So you're not scrambling, and how do we know that the ship is five to seven days away? Zohra: Is there tracking of the ship? Yes, yes, you can track it. Dave: Does the captain get on the radio? Call Zohra. Yeah, hey, I'm about five days away. Zohra: Yeah, no, so the shipment can be tracked on the steam ship lines website also, and plus on ceilings, on ceilings website as well. so you, will see, definitely that your shipment is arriving in three days or five days. If there is a delay, it will blink red and say that hey, there is a delay. And then when you get your arrival notice from the steam ship line, also it will have a date of arrival. It will be like, okay, you know this shipment is arriving on so and so date, so you are prepared that. Okay, you know what. My shipment's coming in five days. Let me get all my documents ready. Dave: Let me have it send it to my broker, you can start and you can start the process with the india customs four days before. I want to go four to five days before so that way, when the ship lands, the you can you already have your entry done and you already know that. Zohra: You know there are no holds of customs and you've paid your freight and you can go along and say that, okay, you know what, I just need the ship to berth. Once they unload my containers, then you know I can just send my trucker to go pick it up. Everything will show green released. You know, unless they have not paid ceiling, then I'll hold the cargo. Dave: Yeah, okay, and help me understand, because I'm an accountant by training. Help me understand the payment of the shipping. At what point do I pay for the shipping? Zohra: Okay, so we have. I want to say 90% of our customers are cash customers. So, when they need their original bill of lading after sailing. We generate an invoice after two days of sailing most of the time, because the line will give us a BL and an invoice in a couple of days. We go ahead, we generate that, we give it to the customer and when he wants to release his shipment he makes a payment to us. So whether it is an OBL or a DELEX, it doesn't matter. When he will tell me okay, zohra, he can go on my website and say release bill. He can go ahead and it will show him that you owe so-and-so amount for this shipment in order to get your release. He can go make a payment and then within 24 hours he will get a release from us. Dave: Okay, Because without that release will the Indian customs not unload. Zohra: No, the Indian customs doesn't really have any control on that. The Indian customs is only getting involved, saying, okay, I have a vessel that has 200 containers coming into India. I need documents to just make sure that it is what they are claiming it is. So they don't have anything to do with our BL release. They only work with customs release. So if I said that I have moved metal scrap and if there is battery in that box, that's a flag for the US customs and I mean for the Indian customs and they will be like I'm going to hold this box. So at that point that box is on a customs hold. Customs will not worry about a BL hold. There are two types of hold. One is a BL hold where either I or the steamship line is holding it for payment, holding it for payment, and then the customs hold is because there is an exam or there is some kind of uh inspection they want to do on the container or if they find some misdeclarations and stuff like that okay yeah, okay, yeah and then, so it shows up, it goes through customs. Dave: Uh, the freight forwarder there puts it on a truck, yeah, and then the truck goes to the warehouse or wherever they need to originally drop. Zohra: They go ahead, they unload the goods off the container. They make sure everything is weight and the weight is matching to what they had claimed it was. Sometimes the weight has shifted or sometimes they feel like, okay, the weight is less, then internally they will file a claim. It doesn't happen a lot, but some things sometimes do happen. And then, once the shipment has been unloaded, they have to make sure it is their responsibility to return the empty container back to the depot. So, once this empty container is returned back in India, that's when my shipment is closed here. Dave: That okay, you know what. Zohra: My empty container has been returned. This has been picked up. Everything is good, payment is good. We are good to close this file. Okay so one file can be open anywhere from 45 days to 60 days, okay, and then if you have issues with that shipment, then it can go longer. If the consignee refuses to pick up the shipment, the consignee abandons, you know, the shipment and says, oh, I don't, I don't have money to pay for it, I can't pick it up. That's when we get into different problems. You know that. Okay, then we need to figure out what we want to do and we all have to keep in mind that every country, every destination country, gives you a few days of free days. So when my shipment arrives in India with my contracts I have 14 free days. So for 14 days I'm not going to get billed for that container sitting at the port. But on that 15th day the clock will start and then, you know, all those charges for demurrage will start occurring for port charges, and then that becomes an expensive, you know, charge that will be billed back to the shipper here because he will have to take accountability of why his consignee didn't pick up the shipment or whatever happened. Dave: You know, and this is part of why you do your financial due diligence on the customers, because you need to make sure that they're a solid business. Solid business, the customer is going to pick it up. Yeah. Zohra: And sometimes we do the due diligence on the shipper part and you know we don't really know what the consignees are in different countries. So now we've started even collaborating with the US customs and you know we run the consignees also through our AES system and if there is like a faulty consignee, then that gets flagged in our system. This is something very new that we have started and we are proud to say that now we are going to run them also to make sure that you know what. There is utmost ease in this process, you know, not to say that when I run the check he's a good consignee and then in the 30 days or the 60 days of the transit something went wrong. Right, I'm not saying that's not going to happen, but at least at the time of the shipment we know everything is a green check, you know. So that's one extra step that we have started taking now, because of so much long standing in different countries are happening due to consignee abandonments. You know, people not paying the banks, lc issues, frauds, people have said that, oh, they are going to do it and then they don't do it. So because of that we are trying to do this extra check where at least the shipper is also at ease. We are also at ease at the time of shipment, and we have this great tool that the US customer is offering us, and so we've started using that as well. Dave: Okay, yeah. So let's instead imagine that this first container is by a friend of mine. Let's say he tells me oh Dave, these freight forwarders are just so expensive, I'm just going to do this all myself. Sure, I would say to them good luck, yes. I would say good luck, because this sounds like an impossible thing to try to do on your own Virtually impossible. Zohra: So a lot, a lot of customers or BCOs that I can say is like the direct shippers, like, of course, the Walmarts and the targets they have, they have a shipping department that does this, of course. But if you have, like, a small trader who's sitting out of Houston or probably New York, it is not worth his headache to do this, because there are lots of small nitty gritty things that are happening along the way, like, for example, I gave you this booking, okay, from Houston to Moondra. Now you have arranged for a trucker, the trucker is trying to pull an empty and my booking is not on file. Okay you are sitting and making a phone call to that line saying, oh, my booking is not on file. I have a trucker. Your trucker is charging you $65 because he's in line for an hour, gets to the terminal and the booking is not on file. I have a trucker. Your trucker is charging you $65 because he's in line for an hour, gets to the terminal and the booking is not on file. They're not going to let him wait there. He will have to go back in the line. So doing business with a forwarder is bringing you ease of these kind of kinks that are going to cost you financially. It is going to cost you a $65 dry run fee or a $65 detention fee for that guy to turn around and stand back in the line With us. We go ahead and we make sure that their booking is on file. Most of the time the depots are filled with containers. And again, I'm not saying that things don't happen. Of course things happen. But if you are a guy who's moving five to seven boxes a week, you don't have the time to sit and call for every booking and say, hey, is my booking on file? Is my trucker standing there? Do we have chassis, you know? Do the container depots have containers mounted on chassis? Do I have to take my own chassis? What's going on, at least with with us? We are telling them okay, your pickup is here, your booking is on file, go ahead, send the trucker again. Sometimes, when the trucker is there, some things happen. Then we can go ahead and fix it. I just feel like, because we are, our relationships are so much more deeper with the lines, you know what we can try to solve problem faster than someone trying to do this first time on their own or even if they've been in the business. Because these are painstaking things you know, like getting appointments to return. Like APM terminal in New York, it is a nightmare right now. It is a nightmare to get an appointment to return your box. So think about it. It. You pulled a box, you loaded it. Now you need to return it and your trucker is trying to get an appointment right and everything is showing full. Your cutoff is tomorrow. So you know those kind of hassles come in, which all come with the financial costs, and I'm not saying that you know what. Every time we will be coming to the rescue, but I feel like we have. So we have a good leverage to come to solve your problems, to make it easy to ship for you guys. You know our job is to make it easy to ship and you can have, you can have, you can be stress-free and you can concentrate on the growth of your business instead of worrying about how one container is going to move. You know yeah now, that's where we come in well, you've sold me. Dave: When I, if I ever get into the scrap metal business and ship to mundra, you'll be the first call thank you now I understand this now. This may be shocking, but I understand that there are other freight forwarders besides Sealink. Oh yes, oh yes, but help me understand, though I imagine that on the surface it's funny. Every business like when you're an outsider, it looks like a commodity, right, you know, it just looks like they're all the same. So if you don't know anything about, I don't know whatever like, let's say, farming equipment. To me, all farming equipment looks the same. I'm sure there's differences between them. Some do better at some things than others. Some are more expensive, some are cheaper, and so I'm sure that it's like that in the freight forwarding world. So give me an example that it's like that in the freight forwarding world. So give me an example. I'm sure that from time to time you get a call from somebody and says Zohra, my current freight forwarder dropped the ball once again and I'm fed up with them. I want to start using you all. Let's think back to maybe an example of that. And of course you don't mention the customer name or the prior freight forwarder. But what's a typical fact pattern that makes them shift from somebody else to you all? Zohra: so in in all these years of of me being at ceiling, the the majority people turn back to us is because of service levels. If there is a problem, I'm not going to run away. I'm going to sit with my customer, explain to them that this is an issue and we need to work together. It is going to cost. Let's come to that understanding that it is going to cost. Am I going to do my very best to make the cost minimal? Yes, yes, of course, though I know that the customer is at fault or the trucker is at fault, it doesn't matter. But we at Sealing believe that we are not going to haggle our customers when they are in problems to make a quick buck. We're not going to do that. We are never going to do that. So we make sure that if a customer is stranded like I'll give you an example right now, I have a situation I have a booking from A-Line Okay, and we got a container loaded. Okay, we got a container loaded. When the container got returned at the port, we got an email from the A-Line saying hello, this container doesn't belong to us. So then we started digging. We started digging, we found out that my customer had used another forwarder's booking for a line that ceiling doesn't work with. Okay. So there are seven, eight vendors we work with and two, three vendors we don't work with. Okay. So now I have a situation where I have a container loaded sitting in the port which my line is saying Zohra, I can't move it, it's not my box, I can't on hire this box because they won't let me. Though it is a partner box, they won't let me. You need to go to this line and figure out what you want to do. Now, zohra or ceiling doesn't work with this line. And my customer is frustrated because his forwarder, who gave him this booking, is saying oh, I can't do anything. You pulled a box now and my booking I gave it to somebody else so that booking is full. Now okay so now he has no space to accommodate this box here, okay, okay. So I'm not going to tell my customer. Oh, you know what? You got a booking from another forwarder on a line that ceiling doesn't work with. You figure out your stuff, because this container here is already accumulating demurrage, sitting sitting on the boat, which is $250 a day. So now yesterday what I did is I called the line that I don't work with and I gave them the whole rundown. I gave them the container number. I told them see, this is what is going on. I understand we don't work with you guys, but can you go ahead and help us? So yesterday they said okay, you know what, we can help you all. We are going to try to see we can reach out to the other forwarder and increase his booking and make sure that this can get returned at that point. Would that that other forwarder should have taken that step to help his customer, who is also my customer, but because of the service failure, or because maybe he doesn't, he was not able to understand how to problem solve this or troubleshoot this, or probably he just didn't have the resources to do it? I don't know. But if my customer came to me and is stranded. I am going to offer that help. I'm not going to be looking here to make a quick buck and say, hey, I don't work with this guy. Pay these 200 demurrage or go ahead and dray out the container. Pay $900 to dray out the container and then go back reloaded in my Steam Ship Lines box. Dave: I see so what happened in that scenario? Zohra: So now today I mean this is very live. This just happened like two days ago. So now today, hopefully you know, the line that I'm not working with has talked to that forwarder and hopefully we have increased his original booking and now we can attach this container to his booking. Go ahead and tell that line. Okay, please move this. Tell my customer. Go ahead, I have increased your booking. Please go to your forwarder, submit your shipping instructions and make sure your container gets on water on the next vessel. You will have some demerit charges which you will have to settle directly with the port, so they had to find space on the line that owned the container. Yes. Dave: Okay. Zohra: Yeah, the line that owned the container. So right now, because of so much of vessel shiftings, right, every vendor in the market whether it is Maersk, hapag, lloyd, zim, msc, all these lines are relocating services, they're readjusting services. Someone is coming into a new alliance, someone has come out of an alliance. There are lots of new vessels come into the market, larger ships come into the market, so everyone is adjusting a lot of vessels. So that is why it is very space, a space constraint. Right now. There are blank sailings, you know, to make sure that these new services are well adjusted for april. So, uh, so that is why there is this space issue. If there was no space issue, right, there wouldn't be a problem I see the other forwarder could pick up the phone and get it right right and the containers are owned by the shipping lines yes, the container. Dave: That's why, when I see a railroad when I'm sitting at a rail stop yeah comes by. Zohra: I see the maersk yeah, the big blue, because that's one of their containers yes, a musk or any, or a costco hat bag, they they all they all own their containers. Yes, correct, wow. Dave: So how, uh, it sounds like you have to work 168 hours a week, I mean, if you're in the service business yeah, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think moondraw is on a different time zone. Zohra: Yes, yes, yeah it's almost end of working day for them right now. Actually, before this, I was on my india office call. We have our own office in india as well, so we have a call with them once a week to just see what's going on, how's business, what can we do to support from here. So they were already, like you know, getting ready to go home, because it's almost eight o'clock in the night over there so is it safe to assume that you, that eight to five is not the sole hours that you work? there is no eight to five in this industry. No, there isn't. Dave: No, I mean my business you know, is to somewhat the same way. I mean, what I tell my clients is all you need to know about the ic disc is my mobile number. Yeah, that's it. That's all you need to know. Just call me, I'll take care of it. Zohra: Yeah, that's how we are, that's how we are. Customers call us, whatsapp us, email us and we try to service. We try to service. We are in the service industry. We believe our service is, is on top and if, and and I'm not saying c-link is the cheapest, I'm not saying that even at but we thrive on it because we know that. You know our customers, and hats off to our customers. Their support has got us here and they are willing to pay us an extra $25 for what we offer. We offer the app, we offer the service. All my sales reps are very in touch with the customers. They just don't sell and then you never see them. It's not. That doesn't work here. You know we do trade shows. We see our customers there make it a point at least two times a year. We are seeing our customers. We have FaceTime with them. So it's not like you're going to like have a salesperson. Dave: They sell you a rate and then they are gone. It's not going to be like that. Zohra: Your point of contact is your salesperson. Of course we don't want our salespeople to get in operations which they don't. Their work is to sell. But customer is not going to feel like isolated saying that, oh you know what. So, and so was my salesperson at ceiling. They sold me a rate and now have all these problems and I don't know who to go to. You know that problem will never arise. Like you say that problem will never arise like you say that, uh, your cell phone number is what they need for us. It's just just email email me or email one of my reps, and you will get a response, like I can promise that well, you all have a booth at the rima san diego show. Dave: I'll be sure to stop by, will you be wow? Yes, I'm gonna be there I'll be sure to stop by. Oh, that'll be awesome, yeah, we do rima every year? Yeah, we've been doing it for the past several years now okay, yes, so uh, uh, wow, I can't believe how the time has flown. Zohra: Yeah, it's um, it wasn't that bad, like I thought it would, I know. Dave: So, so a couple, so last couple questions what? What do you enjoy the most about your job, like what's the most satisfying part of your role within C-Link. Zohra: Helping my customers. Dave: Okay, I had a feeling that was it? Zohra: I really, really find it satisfying when I see an email saying you know, thanks, Zohra, you saved my life, you know, or you know like. Dave: Chad, he's our sales director. Zohra: You know, thanks, zohra, you saved my life, you know, or you know, like Chad, he's our sales director. You know he'll send out an email saying, okay, you're a miracle worker, not to me, but to my teams as well, right, because sometimes it's, it's very frustrating to get small things done right, and when that small thing gets done, then everything flows. So I feel like once you get them that ease, that, okay, now their cargo is going to flow. I feel, I feel satisfied, my teams feel satisfied, right. So I think, just helping out and making sure we are there, that's, you know, that's, I think, is very important, because if you're missing in this chain, your customer is just going to be stranded, you know. Dave: Yeah, no, that makes makes sense. So last two questions. So one's kind of serious and the last one's fun. So the serious one is um, if you could go back 20 years, and what year did you say you came to the uS? Zohra: I came in 2000. Dave: Okay, so if you could go, if you had a time machine and you could go back and you could give advice to yourself back in the year 2000, what advice or pep talk or insight, would you tell yourself? Zohra: you tell yourself that I should have started this earlier. I did. Dave: I don't know why I waited till 2006, okay, so yeah that you know that's the answer that every client gives yeah, that they, they didn't start the business, or they didn't do this because they were afraid or there was risk or whatever. And the advice they always, almost always, give is don't be afraid, take the risk, do it. Zohra: Yes, yes, I agree. So I'll give you a little background. So before I joined Shaizad, I was working at a wholesale jewelry place. We had, you know, huge wholesale and we had a lot of mexican um imported jewelry. You know, we used to sell a lot like. It was a very different, different field altogether. We used to supply to all the big stores and stuff like that. And then when shazad started this, you know, he told me he's like I don't know if I can, like we'll be able to afford a salary, or you know how it's going to be, because I'm just starting and and and we don't know. You know how it's going to work because right now I don't have overhead expenses. So think about it, right. So, like I said, he's a visionary, right. And he just told me one thing he's like I promise you that you will not regret, right. And at that point I feel he, he was all. He already taken the risk, he had already taken the risk, he had left his job at at another forwarder and taken the risk to start this. And when he told me that you know you won't regret, I just I just took the leap of faith and said you know what? This is it. If I think I would have like thought a little bit more and said, oh, I won't. I don't know how I'm going to replace my income or what's going to happen. I don't know if this is going to work. I feel like maybe we wouldn't be here. So I think sometimes you just take that leap and then leave it up to the big man up and I think it all works out with your hard work. But you have to put in the work, I feel. Dave: Sure, that is great. Well, my last question, a fun one. So in Houston we have a thriving Indian community and I have a lot of great Indian restaurants to choose from. So two questions. One if you want really good Indian food in San Antonio, do you have to go to your kitchen? Zohra: Or are there some good Indian restaurants in San Antonio? Actually, now there are a couple of good Indian restaurants in San. Antonio, I can say that you know. Dave: Because I'm guessing the Indian population in San Antonio is a lot smaller than Indian. Zohra: Yes, it is a lot smaller, but I can now say if you would ask me this five years ago, I would be like nothing my kitchen but, now I can say actually we just went to one day before yesterday and it was pretty nice. Dave: So yes, yeah, I think I am heading to Houston, uh, next week. Zohra: so I'm going to make it a point to go to one of the nice restaurants Indian restaurants to know, get some food, that's great, which I think. Dave: I think the yellow curry is my favorite. What's your favorite curry? Zohra: I think I'm not very fond of curries, but I think I'm not a big. I'm not a big curry person, so, but I think my favorite Indian food would be biryani. Dave: Okay. Zohra: Yeah, the rice with the meat. Yeah, yeah, I think that that is awesome. Dave: Well, Zohra, thank you again for coming on the show sharing your story, the SeaLink story and uh and sharing your passion. It really comes through that you and uh and Shaizad both have a passion for serving your customers, and that's really. It's always fun to hear that somebody's just really enjoying what they do. Zohra: Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you for having me and thank you for letting me talk about sealing, and I hope that whoever listens to this, you know, comes to us and uses us. Thank you. Dave: That sounds great. You have a great day. Zohra: You too, you too. Special Guest: Zohra Shroff.

The guys go through the most interesting fantasy wide receivers heading into next season and place them into categories, including the hardest to rank, the hipster pick, sleepers, and much more! Plus, emails! (00:00) Intro(02:24) Hardest to rank(12:56) BONK!(19:22) Hipster picks(32:23) Sleepers(46:08) Post-hype Sleepers(01:00:40) Ricky Bobby guys(01: 11:36) Now the tuxedos are f-cked up(01:14:05) Guys you hate but have to rank (01: 22:29) Emails! Check out our 2025 Ringer Fantasy Football Rankings here!⁠ Email us! ⁠ringerfantasyfootball@gmail.com⁠The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit ⁠www.rg-help.com⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: ⁠Danny Heifetz⁠, ⁠Danny Kelly⁠, and ⁠Craig Horlbeck⁠ Producers: Kai Grady and Carlos Chiriboga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can send and text and we love them.. but apparently we cant respond. Sorry!!A daily dose of good news in two minutes time... give or takeSupport the showJoin us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/awesomenewsdailyor email me at awesomenewsdaily@gmail.com

Send us a textAngel Bozard, CNO with VirtuALLY, joins the Teledigm Pulse to discuss virtual nursing and their partnership with Teledigm Health.

Karen Read Trial Day 28 Recap - Defense Expert Backfires And Virtually PROVES She's GUILTY With $70K Crash Test Day 28 of Karen Read's murder trial will go down as one of the most spectacular defense disasters in legal history. Dr. Daniel Wolfe from ARCCA walked into court expecting to save Karen Read's life with scientific evidence. Instead, he accidentally proved exactly how she allegedly killed Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe with mathematical precision that no jury will ever forget. Wolfe spent $70,000 of Read's money conducting elaborate crash tests using dummy arms and slow-motion cameras, thinking he was building a case for innocence. The shocking twist? His lighter 9.4-pound test dummy still created damage patterns that perfectly matched the prosecution's theory at 24 miles per hour. Since John O'Keefe's actual arm weighed 11.8 pounds, the physics become even more damning for Read's defense. But the scientific disaster was just the beginning. Prosecutor Hank Brennan systematically destroyed Wolfe's credibility by exposing his use of Signal encrypted messaging with defense attorney Alan Jackson and his admission to deleting text message evidence. Nothing screams "objective expert witness" quite like secret communications and destroyed evidence. The courtroom atmosphere was electric as Brennan revealed that ARCCA had transitioned from being FBI contractors to paid defense witnesses while maintaining a pretense of independence. Judge Beverly Cannone's visible frustration with the defense team's "repeated violations" and ethical lapses may have telegraphed her assessment to the jury. What makes this particularly devastating is that Wolfe admitted his methodology had no peer-reviewed scientific support and should be called "experiments" rather than validated procedures. Meanwhile, he literally recreated the crime he was trying to disprove, complete with slow-motion footage that could serve as the prosecution's closing argument. Karen Read sat through this implosion with remarkable composure, possibly not fully grasping that her star witness had just handed prosecutors everything they needed for a murder conviction. The defense expected to create reasonable doubt but instead eliminated it with scientific precision. #KarenRead #ExpertWitness #ARCCA #DefenseDisaster #TrueCrime #MurderTrial #JohnOKeefe #ForensicScience #CourtDrama #CrashTest Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video?  Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Karen Read Trial Day 28 Recap - Defense Expert Backfires And Virtually PROVES She's GUILTY With $70K Crash Test Day 28 of Karen Read's murder trial will go down as one of the most spectacular defense disasters in legal history. Dr. Daniel Wolfe from ARCCA walked into court expecting to save Karen Read's life with scientific evidence. Instead, he accidentally proved exactly how she allegedly killed Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe with mathematical precision that no jury will ever forget. Wolfe spent $70,000 of Read's money conducting elaborate crash tests using dummy arms and slow-motion cameras, thinking he was building a case for innocence. The shocking twist? His lighter 9.4-pound test dummy still created damage patterns that perfectly matched the prosecution's theory at 24 miles per hour. Since John O'Keefe's actual arm weighed 11.8 pounds, the physics become even more damning for Read's defense. But the scientific disaster was just the beginning. Prosecutor Hank Brennan systematically destroyed Wolfe's credibility by exposing his use of Signal encrypted messaging with defense attorney Alan Jackson and his admission to deleting text message evidence. Nothing screams "objective expert witness" quite like secret communications and destroyed evidence. The courtroom atmosphere was electric as Brennan revealed that ARCCA had transitioned from being FBI contractors to paid defense witnesses while maintaining a pretense of independence. Judge Beverly Cannone's visible frustration with the defense team's "repeated violations" and ethical lapses may have telegraphed her assessment to the jury. What makes this particularly devastating is that Wolfe admitted his methodology had no peer-reviewed scientific support and should be called "experiments" rather than validated procedures. Meanwhile, he literally recreated the crime he was trying to disprove, complete with slow-motion footage that could serve as the prosecution's closing argument. Karen Read sat through this implosion with remarkable composure, possibly not fully grasping that her star witness had just handed prosecutors everything they needed for a murder conviction. The defense expected to create reasonable doubt but instead eliminated it with scientific precision. #KarenRead #ExpertWitness #ARCCA #DefenseDisaster #TrueCrime #MurderTrial #JohnOKeefe #ForensicScience #CourtDrama #CrashTest Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video?  Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Karen Read Trial Day 28 Recap - Defense Expert Backfires And Virtually PROVES She's GUILTY With $70K Crash Test Day 28 of Karen Read's murder trial will go down as one of the most spectacular defense disasters in legal history. Dr. Daniel Wolfe from ARCCA walked into court expecting to save Karen Read's life with scientific evidence. Instead, he accidentally proved exactly how she allegedly killed Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe with mathematical precision that no jury will ever forget. Wolfe spent $70,000 of Read's money conducting elaborate crash tests using dummy arms and slow-motion cameras, thinking he was building a case for innocence. The shocking twist? His lighter 9.4-pound test dummy still created damage patterns that perfectly matched the prosecution's theory at 24 miles per hour. Since John O'Keefe's actual arm weighed 11.8 pounds, the physics become even more damning for Read's defense. But the scientific disaster was just the beginning. Prosecutor Hank Brennan systematically destroyed Wolfe's credibility by exposing his use of Signal encrypted messaging with defense attorney Alan Jackson and his admission to deleting text message evidence. Nothing screams "objective expert witness" quite like secret communications and destroyed evidence. The courtroom atmosphere was electric as Brennan revealed that ARCCA had transitioned from being FBI contractors to paid defense witnesses while maintaining a pretense of independence. Judge Beverly Cannone's visible frustration with the defense team's "repeated violations" and ethical lapses may have telegraphed her assessment to the jury. What makes this particularly devastating is that Wolfe admitted his methodology had no peer-reviewed scientific support and should be called "experiments" rather than validated procedures. Meanwhile, he literally recreated the crime he was trying to disprove, complete with slow-motion footage that could serve as the prosecution's closing argument. Karen Read sat through this implosion with remarkable composure, possibly not fully grasping that her star witness had just handed prosecutors everything they needed for a murder conviction. The defense expected to create reasonable doubt but instead eliminated it with scientific precision. #KarenRead #ExpertWitness #ARCCA #DefenseDisaster #TrueCrime #MurderTrial #JohnOKeefe #ForensicScience #CourtDrama #CrashTest Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video?  Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett joins Chis and Amy weekly, 'lots of news, and it's not even noon.' The travel ban is back, why did some countries make it? Elon Musk's DOGE and his departure, he's pushing back on Trump's tax and spending bill; books on the Biden administration.

In this episode we're talking about Downton Abbey's third film 'The Grand Finale'. Not much has been given away about the plot. Virtually nothing at all, in fact. So we come up with theories ranging from Matthew and Sybil's return to the grand finale being a fast forward to the present time.What are your theories on the plot of the film?

George Lowther was a mutineer and a pirate, one of the most prolific during the golden age of piracy. His first mate, Edward "Ned" Low, went on to establish himself as perhaps the most sadistic and depraved of all pirate captains. Virtually all popular sources specify Lowther's death being by suicide in 1723, while marooned on the small island of Blanquilla, off the coast of Venezuela. While researching the War of Jenkins' Ear, historian Craig Chapman found repeated references to "Lowther the Pirate" in primary source material. This Lowther was pardoned and commissioned as a Royal Navy lieutenant in 1741. Further research revealed that this was indeed George Lowther, and therefore, that the date and place of his death had been reported erroneously. Military historian and author Craig Chapman shares the story of how Lowther became a pirate, some of his most notable and notorious actions, and his astonishing resurfacing years after his purported death. His book is called "The Resurrected Pirate: The Life, Death, and Subsequent Career of the Notorious George Lowther". The author's website: https://craigschapman.com/ The author's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CraigSChapmanAuthor/ Hungry? Support the show here! Get started with Factor here to get 50% off plus FREE shipping on your first box!: http://factormeals.com/notorious50off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That's not fair! Virtually every parent has heard that complaint countless times from their children. But many adults, including Christians, say the same thing when confronted with the spiritual teachings on election, predestination, and salvation by God's free sovereign grace. What does the Bible have to say about these complex and controversial subjects? Find out on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/581/29

That's not fair! Virtually every parent has heard that complaint countless times from their children. But many adults, including Christians, say the same thing when confronted with the spiritual teachings on election, predestination, and salvation by God's free sovereign grace. What does the Bible have to say about these complex and controversial subjects? Find out on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/791/29

How does a top agent close 150 homes in one year, virtually—from another state? In this episode, Brendan Bartic sits down with the exceptional Knelly Dettinger, who breaks down exactly how she built a multimillion-dollar listing business ($1.6M GCI) by delivering a white-glove seller experience and powerful referral networks—all while running her business remotely.Knelly reveals how she's mastered virtual listing appointments, closing 95% of deals without stepping foot in the seller's home, and consistently outshining her competition by making every client feel like her only one.In this high-impact episode, you'll learn:How Knelly conducts virtual listing appointments remotely—and why sellers love it.Her exact pre-listing process and the key to positioning yourself as the undisputed market expert.Proven strategies for creating exceptional client experiences, including her unique "Gorilla Bag" decluttering tactic.How to quickly establish rapport and trust with sellers—even from thousands of miles away.The powerful mindset shift Knelly adopted to run a thriving business while maintaining her family priorities and lifestyle freedom.About Knelly Dettinger: Knelly personally sold 75 homes last year, while her team totaled 150 closings, generating $1.6 million in commissions—all managed virtually from California, 2,000 miles from her core markets in Wisconsin and Minnesota. She credits her extraordinary results to creating simple yet powerful systems, exceptional seller care, and leveraging remote technology to scale her impact and income.Episode Timestamps:0:00 – Intro & Meet Knelly Dettinger (Virtual Listing Expert)1:03 – Running a Thriving Real Estate Business Virtually2:44 – The 3 Pillars of Exceptional Seller Experiences4:02 – Knelly's Secret to Standing Out From Competition5:58 – Her Proven Pre-Listing Process (Detailed Breakdown)8:44 – Creating Trust and Excitement Before the Appointment10:08 – How to Price Homes Effectively and Confidently12:25 – Pre-Listing Materials & The Power of Simplicity14:40 – Conducting Virtual Appointments Step-by-Step18:31 – Real Examples & Results from Virtual Listings22:13 – Mastering Client Objections & Handling Challenges26:15 – Knelly's "Commitment to Sell" Technique Explained28:57 – Her Signature “Gorilla Bag” and Prepping Homes for Market34:05 – Executing Highly Effective, Multi-Day Open Houses37:41 – Why Pricing Strategy is Your Best Marketing Tool41:07 – "Beast Mode" Lightning Round Questions & Fun Stories48:18 – How She Balances Family Life & Massive Success52:21 – Final Thoughts & Closing CTA with Brendan BarticThanks for tuning in to the Listing BEAST podcast! If you found today's episode valuable, share it right now with another agent who's ready to dominate their market.Ready to triple your listings and income? Spots fill fast—book your FREE custom strategy session at ListingBeast.com. We'll give you a clear, actionable plan to transform your listing game from good to unstoppable.I'm Brendan Bartic—see you next week on the Listing BEAST podcast, where top agents come to earn bigger checks, multiply referrals, and 10x their listing leads!Connect with Knelly Dettinger:

Virtually everyone loves how welcoming and caring Jesus is. He welcomes sick and outcast and hurting and overlooked. And yet, from time to time, he makes these incredibly exclusive statements that can seem offputting or even harsh. Many in our society take deep offense when these kinds of phrases are invoked - almost as a hammer - to crush or quiet others. It feels to them so much unlike the Jesus who is so welcoming. So how do these things fits together? How can Jesus be so inclusive and so exclusive at the same time? And why is that 'Good' News? Let's talk about how the Gospel is personal, exclusive and inclusive all at the same time: "If You Had Known Me" (

Alice Chang founded Perfect Corp. in 2015, at age 52, and in 2022, became the first Taiwan-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Perfect Corp. provides augmented reality and AI SaaS solutions for the beauty and fashion industries. Perfect's technologies include virtual product try-ons, facial diagnostics and digital consultation services with offices in 11 cities and serving over 450 brands.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's guest is a coaching student who started a few years ago as a ProvenAmazonCourse.com student. He now has a very successful business and a flexible schedule and we both agreed, "We want this for other families!"   He's got a fantastic system for finding underserved small brands that he can sell on Amazon and he explains all the details. He has a very profitable reselling business and he breaks it all down!   He's also in the early stages of launching his own brand although he's in the early stages of that adventure.   He's hoping to make it to our TheProvenConference.com event at the end of May as well - we discuss that too! If you can't make it to Orlando for this event, be sure to get livestream access and join the 1,200 member facebook group where all attendees and virtual guests will be interacting the last three days of May! (You get all 45+ event recordings as well!) If you can't make it to Orlando May 29-31st 2025, plan to attend VIRTUALLY - details at https://theprovenconference.com/livestream25/   Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/brzqONJYgKg   Show note links: My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 81,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated free for life!   SilentJim.com/1000 - Step by step instructions for your first $1,000 day selling on Amazon assuming you're brand new : https://silentjim.com/podcast/episode-890-student-has-his-first-1k-day-just-a-couple-weeks-into-coaching/   3PMercury - SilentJim.com/thesystem - The seller automation tool that allowed our student Khang to build a $3million REPLENS business using a team of two people that ran his entire business!   SilentSalesMachine.com - Text the word “free” to 507-800-0090 to get a free copy of Jim's latest book in audio about building multiple income streams online (US only) or visit https://silentjim.com/free11   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.                                    

The weekend episodes of our podcast contain important announcements as well as a great introduction to the community for anyone who is new to our community.   Important and timely announcement LINKS:   TheProvenConference.com - Our May 2025 event - plan to join 100s of listeners to this show in Orlando May 29-31st, 2025! We've secured a fantastic room rate of only $109 at a gorgeous location! This event was recently voted the #1 event for RESELLERS in international voting!   If you can't make it to Orlando May 29-31st 2025, plan to attend VIRTUALLY - details at TheProvenConference.com/livestream25   SilentJim.com/bb70 - See well over 200 examples from my Amazon account of ASINs that are selling above buy box - Note: you need to be a member of our Facebook group to view this video   Show note links:   My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 81,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated free for life!   SilentJim.com/1000 - Step by step instructions for your first $1,000 day selling on Amazon assuming you're brand new : https://silentjim.com/podcast/episode-890-student-has-his-first-1k-day-just-a-couple-weeks-into-coaching/   SilentSalesMachine.com - Text the word “free” to 507-800-0090 to get a free copy of Jim's latest book in audio about building multiple income streams online (US only) or visit https://silentjim.com/free11   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.                                    

As you know, we are a multiple income stream podcast and community.   That means we love using any manner of creative strategies to generate new legitimate income streams that compound and complement each other.   Today's guest is a long time member of our community who has succeeded in many different arenas and with many different income streams.   You'll enjoy his story as well as learning about a creative strategy he's using right now on eBay that has put him into one of the best business and personal phases of his life. He will also be a guest speaker with us at our upcoming conference in late May 2025.   Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/-_MvdKFsqYE   Show note LINKS: SilentJim.com/ungating - our tips and strategies for new sellers dealing with ungating issues. Free link takes you to a post in our facebook group.   TheProvenConference.com - Our May 2025 event - plan to join 100s of listeners to this show in Orlando May 29-31st, 2025!   ProvenAmazonCourse.com/100 - Our pre-conference workshop titled Path to 100 ASIN's - The Replens Accelerator. Brian and Robin Joy are teaching live in Orlando in May!   If you can't make it to Orlando May 29-31st 2025, plan to attend VIRTUALLY - details at https://theprovenconference.com/livestream25/   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated for free for life!   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.   My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 81,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   3PMercury - SilentJim.com/thesystem - The seller automation tool that allowed our student Khang to build a $3million REPLENS business using a team of two people that ran his entire business!                          

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 2977: Gabriel Zhañay shares three proven yet often overlooked habits that drive lasting physique transformation: eating sufficient high-quality protein, prioritizing post-workout recovery, and focusing on compound movements. His no-fluff approach cuts through fitness industry noise and offers clear, science-backed strategies for building lean muscle and optimizing performance. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://bachperformance.com/the-three-not-so-secret-habits-guaranteed-to-get-you-the-physique-youve-always-wanted/ Quotes to ponder: "Good intentions and hard work are not enough." "Virtually all the protein you consume will be used for rebuilding." "If you want to look like an athlete, then you have to train like an athlete." Episode references: FitTrack Dara Smart Scale: https://getfittrack.com/pages/dara-scale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 2977: Gabriel Zhañay shares three proven yet often overlooked habits that drive lasting physique transformation: eating sufficient high-quality protein, prioritizing post-workout recovery, and focusing on compound movements. His no-fluff approach cuts through fitness industry noise and offers clear, science-backed strategies for building lean muscle and optimizing performance. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://bachperformance.com/the-three-not-so-secret-habits-guaranteed-to-get-you-the-physique-youve-always-wanted/ Quotes to ponder: "Good intentions and hard work are not enough." "Virtually all the protein you consume will be used for rebuilding." "If you want to look like an athlete, then you have to train like an athlete." Episode references: FitTrack Dara Smart Scale: https://getfittrack.com/pages/dara-scale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The weekend episodes of our podcast contain important announcements as well as a great introduction to the community for anyone who is new to our community.   Important and timely announcement LINKS: TheProvenConference.com - Our May 2025 event - plan to join 100s of listeners to this show in Orlando May 29-31st, 2025! We've secured a fantastic room rate of only $109 at a gorgeous location! This event was recently voted the #1 event for RESELLERS in international voting!   If you can't make it to Orlando May 29-31st 2025, plan to attend VIRTUALLY - details at https://theprovenconference.com/livestream25/   Show note links: SilentSalesMachine.com - Text the word “free” to 507-800-0090 to get a free copy of Jim's latest book in audio about building multiple income streams online (US only) or visit https://silentjim.com/free11   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.   My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 81,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated free for life!   SilentJim.com/kickstart - If you want a shortcut to learning all you need to get started then get the Proven Amazon Course and go through Kickstart.        

Is right now possibly the greatest time in e-commerce history to become a reseller on Amazon? I think it just might be - and I explain why on today's episode.   Also - we are entering Covid 2.0 (and I'm not talking about the disease). I'm talking about the BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. The last time we saw conditions like what's about to happen we saw THOUSANDS of sellers make a killing on Amazon as resellers - and the conditions are the same again now! I'll explain what I mean on this episode.   Stick around for the last few minutes of the episode today to hear an update about "The System". The System (aka 3PMercury found at SilentJim.com/thesystem) is the software that completely automated Khang's $3 million replens business with 10,000 ASINs while requiring only a team of only 2 people! Hundreds of users are now using The System to successfully automate their ProvenAmazonCourse.com REPLENS businesses - and you can as well!    The System webinar - Brian Olson did a training and you can check it out on the SilentJim.com/thesystem page for FREE and it's titled "Announcing Walmart integration and importing bulk ASINs!"   Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/Xg3j8HSQSTw   Show note LINKS: SilentJim.com/bookacall - Book a FREE call here to discuss our offers including coaching, legends and ProvenAmazonCourse.com course   SilentJim.com/ungating - A great article in our free facebook group about the "ORGANIC" path to ungating   TheProvenConference.com - Our May 2025 event - plan to join 100s of listeners to this show in Orlando May 29-31st, 2025!   If you can't make it to Orlando May 29-31st 2025, plan to attend VIRTUALLY - details at https://theprovenconference.com/livestream25/   SilentSalesMachine.com - Text the word “free” to 507-800-0090 to get a free copy of Jim's latest book in audio about building multiple income streams online (US only) or visit https://silentjim.com/free11   SilentJim.com/thesystem  - (aka as 3P Mercury) - The complete workflow software we created on our team with the help of 200 beta testers. "The System" automates your Amazon reselling/wholesale business the same way Khang (the creator) automated his $3million reselling business and made it HANDS FREE!   My Silent Team Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam 100% FREE! Join 82000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model with two courses available on this topic alone. The PAC is updated free for life!   SilentJim.com/podcast - Listen to all of the episodes on our website here!            

The cardinals electing the next pope will vote again Thursday afternoon after black smoke rose again from the Sistine Chapel Thursday, indicating no pope was selected in the conclave's latest round of voting. The secrecy surrounding the conclave hasn't stopped people from trying to predict the results. Three of the major betting markets alone have taken in more than $19 million in wagers. Known as papal vestments, the pope's official attire has long been made by two family-run tailoring businesses in Rome. They're eagerly waiting to watch white smoke rise from the Sistine Chapel and see a new pope emerge, possibly wearing the garments they created. The price tag of parenthood is becoming more expensive. Tariffs in the escalating trade war between China and the U.S. are driving up prices on baby products, impacting businesses and customers. CBS News' Jo Ling Kent reports. CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer reports on how Russia's wartime past is being honored even as the fight in Ukraine continues.Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates tells "CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil about his plans to give away $200 billion through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years. He also criticized the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, saying they will lead to millions more child deaths worldwide. Actor Lovie Simone discusses her lead role in "Forever," a new Netflix series exploring teenage romance and self-discovery in 2018 Los Angeles. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrating WAWABILITY: A Journey of Transformation with Warren Wawa Snipe In this episode of '⁠⁠Pushing Forward with Alycia⁠⁠,' Alycia Anderson welcomes the award-winning hip hop artist and accessibility pioneer⁠ ⁠Warren “Wawa” Snipe⁠⁠. Wawa, who was born profoundly deaf, shares his inspirational journey in the entertainment industry and his profound impact on advocacy for the deaf and disability communities. The episode dives deep into the origins of Wawa's career, his initial struggles, and how he found a supportive community in the deaf culture. Highlighting his upcoming event,⁠ ⁠WAWABILITY⁠⁠, a celebration of the 35th anniversary of⁠ ⁠the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)⁠⁠, Wawa discusses the importance of creating accessible environments, community support, and raising awareness for disability rights. He emphasizes the transformative power of advocating for disability inclusion and the significance of celebrating successes within the community. The conversation is further enriched by the contributions of⁠ ⁠ASL interpreter Mandy David⁠⁠, who facilitates the discussion. Join Alycia and Wawa for an uplifting and informative episode that underscores the importance of resilience, community, and the transformative impact of disability advocacy. Episode Flow & Milestones 00:00 Introduction to Pushing Forward with Alycia 00:25 Meet Warren Wawa Snipe: Hip Hop Artist and Accessibility Pioneer 02:29 Wawa's Journey: From Dance to Advocacy 05:43 The Birth of WAWABILITY 09:52 Celebrating Disability and Community 14:44 The Future of Accessibility 20:40 Discovering Rights and Resources 21:05 Transformation and Empowerment 22:27 Pitching Sponsorship and Support 25:25 The Importance of Accessibility 29:39 Personal Stories and Family History 34:51 Final Thoughts and Inspirational Messages A Quote from Wawa “ Be unapologetic for who you are. Whether you were born with a disability or it happened and hit later in life, you are not alone. ” ~ Warren “Wawa” Snipe What Shaped Our Dialogue

Virtually every product brought into the United States must have a so-called "country of origin." Think of it as the official place it comes from. And this is the country that counts for calculating tariffs.But what does it really mean when something is a "Product of China"? How much of it actually comes from China? And how do customs officials draw the line?Here in the U.S., the rules are delightfully counterintuitive. A product's country of origin is not necessarily where that product got on the container ship to come here. It's not necessarily where most of its ingredients are from or even where most of the manufacturing happened.Our system is much stranger. The answers can be surprisingly philosophical — and at times, even poetic.This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed with help from Sylvie Douglis. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode is part of our Throwback Series where we re-air some of our most popular shows. This episode originally aired on 1/14/2025. As we quickly approach the midway point of the year, we hope this episode serves as a reminder and motivator of what can still be done in 2025. This is the Wholesale Hotline Podcast (Brent Daniels Show Edition), the best 120 minutes in wholesaling education -- live with Brent Daniels. Show notes -- in this episode we'll cover: Brent answers your questions live. Knowledge from Brent and some of the best wholesalers in the industry. The most important news affecting the wholesaling industry. Your weekly dose of wholesaling motivation. Interviews with industry experts and successful wholesaler. Please give us a rating and let us know how we are doing! ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ ☎️ Welcome to Wholesale Hotline & TTP Breakout

Today's guest Tim was invited to our community by a friend, and he says it's been life changing.   In 2024 Tim sold well over $500K at great margins by using the strategies we teach in the ProvenAmazonCourse.com training.   He's also attending our Amazon/Walmart seller event May 29-31st in Orlando FL - TheProvenConference.com. He attended last year as well and tells listeners, "It's a must attend event!" He came away with several practical strategies last year and he shares sever of them on today's episode.   If you can't make it to Orlando May 29-31st 2025, plan to attend VIRTUALLY - details at https://theprovenconference.com/livestream25/   Watch this epsiode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/VI8RFKOYOqU   Show note LINKS: ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated for free for life!   SilentJim.com/keepa - The service we use to help interpret all of the selling data. Keepa is discussed in depth on episode 369 at https://silentjim.com/podcast   Keepa Product Finder - Learn more about Keepa at SilentJim.com/360 (Note: This module has very recently been added to the ProvenAmazonCourse.com library along with all our other incredible Keepa training!)   Humnbird.com - They help sellers get established on Amazon.com (sell in the US from anywhere in the world) They specialize in everything from Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Patents, Corporation Setup to Branding, Design and Marketing. They offer a tax service, too. We recommend their affordable systems and solutions giving you everything you need for your wholesale and private label business even overseas!   TheProvenConference.com - Join 100's of sellers at our upcoming May conference in Orlando May 29-31st   SilentSalesMachine.com - Text the word “free” to 507-800-0090 to get a free copy of Jim's latest book in audio about building multiple income streams online (US only) or visit https://silentjim.com/free11   My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 82,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.   Today's guest Tim Dorri

In this prep centered episode, our prep team briefly recaps two big shows from this past weekend, touching specifically on the Fit Model division and what they each noticed. Then, they dive into the topic of "what a coach's role is on show day." Whether it's coaching an athlete VIRTUALLY on show day or being there in person, our coaches break down how they provide support to their athletes on the big day.

Busty girlfriend enjoys a baseball game challenge.In 3 parts, based on a post by ret 123. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Moving beyond the ‘flash & kiss' barrier.First, a little explanation of how I arrived at this spot. My girlfriend, Donna, and I were attending a party hosted by her, her sister Diane, & their friend Sylvia. We were in the middle of a drinking party game called baseball. It involved drinking, stripping and sex based on the events in a baseball game.After a couple of rounds of drinking, the Kansas City batter hit a double off the wall. A double meant that the girls would get felt up if they didn't drink or strip. A couple of girls drank, but most opted to be felt up. This was supposed to be where Donna drew the line and either stripped, drank, or dropped out of the game.Donna drew my friend, Ronny, who was completely enamored with her and had lusted after her since the time we first started dating. Her sister, Diane picked my name.Diane walked up wearing only her bra and panties. Diane's clothes were normally so baggy to fit over her tits that she looked 20 pounds heavier than she did right then. She definitely looked better out of her clothes.She looked at me and said, "This is so embarrassing. I just can't drink another beer right now."I said, "Don't worry about it. Plus, you look great by the way.""Thank you, Joe!" she replied with a smile. "Well, I guess you better start groping me."I stepped behind her back and wrapped both arms around her in a comforting hug, and then grabbed up both of her big tits and started squeezing them while keeping them in the stretch lace bra. They felt really good.She seemed to love being in my arms and not having to look at me. Soon she raised herself high on her tiptoes and grabbed my stiff rod. She pressed her ass cheeks around my naked hard cock. It couldn't have been an accident. Donna's conservative sister was humping my cock, while I rolled her big nipples through the thin lacey bra.As I squeezed her tits from behind, Diane said, "Joe, you can pull my tits out of my bra if you want. I have no dignity left."She continued to hump me with her ass as I pulled the straps off her shoulders then reached into the top of her bra and pulled out one and then both of her tits out of the top of her bra. Her tits felt great and her nipples were hard. My cock was hard as she pressed her ass into it."I know now why Donna likes having sex with you so much. That thing feels so big and hard."Several guys commented on Diane's big naked tits as I felt her up. Diane was clearly excited about the effect she was having on the guys watching. Tyrone was enamored; “Damn, Diane! You're one hot woman!” Diane gushed from all the attention of the starting quarterback.Soon, the 2 minute time limit was up and Diane hoisted her tits back into her bra and thanked me. I was a little bit embarrassed that I had a big erection standing up in front of me as she walked away.I had totally failed to watch my sexy girlfriend get felt up by Ronny. However, I could tell that Ronny was unbelievably excited as Donna smiled at him and walked away while readjusting her bra.Donna gave me a strange, sad look and then walked over to me. She grabbed two beers and told Sylvia that the two of us would drink this next round. She pulled me aside to talk.Big tears started rolling out of Donna's eyes and down her cheeks as she said, "I thought we were playing this game for you to see me act a little slutty in front of our friends. Instead, you are making plans to have sex with Angie and humping my sister while you feel her up in public. I feel sad, completely humiliated and cucked."I tried to hug her and quickly said, "Oh, Donna, I love you. I don't want to do anything to hurt you. I didn't make any plans with Angie."She looked at me and tearfully said, "I heard her tell one of the other girls that you had agreed to have sex with her later and that she should keep it secret from me. I told you she wants to steal you from me! Then, humping my sister in public! I am so embarrassed and ashamed. Everyone must think you want all of these other girls instead of me."I felt like I had acted like an ass. I said, "You have the wrong idea about what happened with Angie. She said those things to me, but I didn't mean to give her the impression that I secretly wanted to have sex with her. I said that I didn't want her to talk to you about having sex with me, but it wasn't to keep it secret from you. She wanted to ask you to let her have sex with me, and I didn't even want the idea discussed! Period! Angie is trying to intimidate you, Donna."I started to say that it was Diane's idea for me to take her tits out of her bra and that Diane was the one humping me. But as I started to speak, I looked at Donna crying and it broke my heart. I knew I shouldn't try to excuse what I had done even though I didn't feel like it was my fault.I said, "I am sorry. I didn't mean to let Diane dry-hump me. It just happened when I grabbed her tits from behind. I hope she is not upset with me. I'm trying to follow your lead, Donna. But you're the only one I desire."Donna looked at me like she wasn't buying any of this and said, "I came here to show off a little for you, baby. Now, I am just worried about Angie."I was terrified that I had accidentally screwed up my relationship with the girl I adored. Consequently, I gave her a big hug and said, "You have nothing to worry about. I was showing off because I thought you wanted me to. I love only you. I will drop out of this game right now.""You would do that for me?""Of course."She hugged me, pressed her big chest against me and said, "I am sorry I got mad at you. I was being felt up by guys while you were with Angie and my sister. I am just sensitive about Angie since everyone thinks she is so pretty and she's crushing on you."In an instant, tearful, sad Donna was gone and laughing, smiling tipsy Donna was back.I said, "I am so sorry I hurt your feelings. I will sit out the rest of this game."She smiled and said, "Stay in the game one more round. I will show off for you while you feel me up in public for being so sweet to me. "I was confused. "How do you know you will draw my name?"She laughed and said, "The drawing of the names is not really random. All of the girls know whose name they are picking.""You mean you picked that asshole Josh to kiss?"She laughed drunkenly and said, "We can talk about all of that later. We need to get back to the game for your final round."We rejoined our teams and Sylvia turned on the game. Kansas City was batting and the batter hit a hard line drive down the left field line. The guys cheered when he slid safely into second base.Donna grabbed my name out of the hat just as Angie was grabbing it. Both girls pulled, but Donna ended up with it. Angie looked at her and seemed a little miffed.Donna walked up to me still wearing her sexy, lacy white lingerie. The tops of her tits bounced with each step. She turned around and pushed her cute little ass into my cock. I was immediately hard. She was now facing the large crowd and I was standing behind her.She grabbed my two wrists and pulled them seductively up onto her tits, then said, "Feel me up, Joe."Donna was staring at Angie who was being felt up by my buddy Tyrone. Donna continued to stare at her as I felt her up, over her stretch lace underwire bra. Donna's huge firm tits felt great and I loved that she was showing off as I squeezed her big tits. Angie was watching us as Tyrone rubbed her tits.My cock was hard as I felt Donna up in public with numerous people looking. I pressed my cock against her tiny little ass.After about a minute, Donna turned her head toward my ear and said, "Is it okay if I show off a little more for you, baby?"I quickly agreed. It had really frightened me when I thought I had made Donna mad. I wasn't about to say no to anything she wanted. Honestly, I could never get mad at Donna or boss her around. The few times I did, I immediately regretted it. I was obviously in a double standard arrangement. Was I becoming a cuck?Donna looked over her shoulder at me, and then looked down demurely and said, "It will be so embarrassing on campus if all of these people see me without any clothes. Are you sure you are okay with this?I wasn't at all sure, because there were thirty or forty people watching the game, but said, "You are so sexy, it could not be embarrassing, with a bombshell body like yours, Donna."Donna then turned back around to face the rest of the room. As the time officially expired she turned to me and said, "Joe, baby, would you unhook my bra?"My cock was rock hard again.I looked at Donna's slender back and her stretchy, sexy white bra. She looked great. I unhooked the bra and Donna looked over her shoulder at me and smiled as she said, "Thank you, baby. I wanted you to be the one showing me off."Then she smiled at the crowd and let her two huge bra cups fall into her hands. The crowd went wild, with the possible exception of Angie who looked defeated when she saw Donna's jugs. You don't see tits like Donna's every day. In fact, most people never see tits like that in person.Donna handed me her bra and stood with her hands on her hips. The slightest movement of her body would cause her big soft tits to jiggle in front of her. It was truly amazing.Despite her embarrassment, Donna never tried to hide or cover up her tits. She just stood there looking sexy. She loved the confidence my words infused into her.When the crowd finally settled down the girls went back to their side of the room, and I declared my withdrawal as a contestant. I told Ronny & Sylvia; “My cock can't handle the intense stimulation.” It was then announced by Sylvia that I would be the official timer and video operator for the rest of the game. Several of my friends looked at me like I had lost my mind.Joe Drops OutThe game continued with me on the sidelines.I was staring at my beautiful girlfriend and wishing that the earth would open up and swallow me. I had royally screwed up and I was too drunk to think quickly enough to talk my way out of the problem. I was sure that my greatest fear was about to come true because I had been a fucking idiot.My awesome girlfriend was the first girl to go topless. She was a big hit at the party. I had dropped out of the game because Donna got upset about my conduct with the giant tits of her sister, Diane, and a passionate kiss from a gorgeous girl, Angie.None of that was the cause of my current problem. Donna's friend, Sylvia, the "Commissioner" of the game, called time out and gathered up her team of girls. Most of the girls except Donna were wearing only lingerie. After talking for a few minutes, Sylvia announced that the girls' team was challenging the guys to a bet about the outcome of the party game.The bet was $100 per player. This was a huge amount for college girls. Sylvia announced that a couple of girls were dropping out, but they would be replaced with other girls at the party including a girl named Betty whose tits I had admired for several years. Silvia also reminded everyone that a team won by a member of the other team failing to perform the tasks required by the game.I assumed that Donna was one of the girls dropping out of the game before this bet went into effect, but I was wrong. I asked Donna why the girls made this bet with guys who could drink them under the table.Donna smiled and said, "Sylvia has been watching the guys and they have been drinking nonstop since the start of the party. She is sure one of the guys will pass out soon. She also thinks that as a back-up plan some of the guys will ejaculate and won't be able to continue to perform in the game."I was none too sure about this logic, but most of the girls seemed to be on board, including my girlfriend. Donna said, "Diane and Sylvia really want to win this bet and I want to help them, if it is okay with you, baby."I told her it was okay even though I wasn't sure she had $100 in her bank account and I thought I would probably have to pay part of her share if the girls lost. She gave me a big, busty kiss. There is nothing like the feel of Donna's big soft tits on your chest or arm.The guys quickly accepted the bet since it seemed like they couldn't really lose. The guys could drink more than the girls, were more than happy to perform the sex acts and it gave the girls incentive to stay in the game.Sylvia called a quick bathroom time out. The girls all ran for the restroom. They were all in bras and panties except Donna who was only wearing some small white lace panties. Her huge F cup tits were on display for the first time in her life and they looked incredible. Most of the girls tried to cover their bodies as they ran, but Donna just happily walked along with her big tits swaying. The smallest move of her body caused her tits to jiggle. They were huge and firm, but Donna could not keep them from jiggling when she made even a small movement. I knew this because I couldn't take my eyes off of my topless girlfriend. Watching her, I loved her so much. It seemed to me that every other guy in the room was staring at her, too.A couple of my buddies came over to talk to me as the girls ran to the bathroom. My friend, Ronny, was really excited about Donna taking off her clothes. Ronny is a great guy and was a really good linebacker on our football team. For some reason, he never had much luck with good looking women. He was a guy's guy and just didn't seem to connect very well or for very long with women.Ronny had long been totally enamored with Donna. He was always respectful and polite, but it was easy to see that he lusted after Donna. He never failed to ask me about her.Ronny said, "You are such a lucky guy! If I was you, I would stay up all night just staring at Donna and that unbelievable body. She is fucking gorgeous!""Thanks, man. I like looking at her too!"Ronny continued, "There is no way she can play this game much longer! A girl who looks like that has probably never gone down on a guy. I have never had a pretty girl go down on me. Only slutty girls seem to want to suck my cock. I bet Donna just lets guys worship her tremendous body. I know that is what I would do if I ever had a girl like her."I noticed that several guys were standing around listening to our conversation. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for having such a hot girl (as if I had anything to do with it). Donna was clearly the sexiest girl in the room. I looked around to make sure none of the girls could hear me, and said; "This is going to drive you crazy, Ronny. Donna is not only beautiful, she loves to suck my cock! She is great at it. I don't know how often she did it with other boyfriends back home before college, but she has no gag reflex and her blow jobs are incredible. She can deep throat a big cock with ease. I love to watch her swallow my cock."Ronny gulped and looked like he was about to cum just thinking about what I told him.As I laughed at Ronny's reaction, I looked up to see that Josh had heard my comments about Donna sucking cock. As you may remember, Josh was a teammate of ours on the football team, but among my friends, he was considered an arrogant asshole. He had a smirk on his face as he said, "I figured that anyone who dated you would be a cock whore."As he said that, Josh turned and headed toward the bathroom where the girls were still waiting in line. I tried to call out to Josh to tell him to go fuck himself, but he either ignored me or didn't hear me.In my drunken state, I did not pay too much attention to Josh. Actually, I never paid too much attention to Josh. I considered him to be a rather slimy loser.

This podcast presents pianist Giorgio Koukl in conversation with Raymond Bisha at the end of a five-year project to rehabilitate the complete works for piano solo and duo by Vittorio Rieti (1898-1994). Virtually self-taught, Rieti went on to establish his composing credentials, becoming the only Italian composer, for example, to be invited to write ballet music for Diaghalev. His neo-classical style remained a constant in his output, as did his sense of musical humour.

Virtually every state has, at some point, debated, denied or passed legislation regarding giving the tenants the "first option" to buy the property. They do this using faulty assumptions and absolutely zero understanding of how the "tenant-owned" process works. In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we're going to explore the truth behind this issue and reveal what the government is apparently fully unaware of.

Today David and Josh do a follow up episode to 197 where we use real life examples of working through various handler aggression issues.

As you might have heard, the SNAFU book comes out next week (April 29, 2025)! If you want to meet Ed, either on book tour or virtually, buy your copy right now. He’ll be hosting a private Ask Me Anything for anyone who preorders and submits their proof of purchase here: www.Snafu-Book.com. Or if in-person is more your style, you can also join Ed on his book tour next week in 8 cities across the country, complete with book signings (NYC, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Silicon Valley, LA). On this episode, Ed sits down with his producer Carl Nellis to talk about treasure hunting for SNAFUs, the book’s jazzy and hangable art, his favorite stories (even if he loves all his children the same…), and which SNAFU characters he’d like to play in a movie adaptation. Again, you can preorder SNAFU, buy your book tour tickets, or sign up for Ed’s virtual AMA at this link: www.snafu-book.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn English with Real News! In this lesson, we talk about rising tariffs between the United States and China—up to 145%! You'll learn 21 important words, idioms, and phrasal verbs like “feeling the squeeze,” “hitting back,” and “virtually.” This lesson is perfect for intermediate English learners (A2–B1) and includes a reading passage and simple example s.Improve your vocabulary and understand world events at the same time!Perfect for students, English learners, and teachers.

My special guest is Allison Huntington here to discuss her book called Bizarre Brooklyn. Get it now from Amazon.Brooklyn. The most populous borough in New York City. Birthplace of the Dodgers, Sweet'n Low, and Season 21 of "The Real World.'? With more than 400 years under its belt, the borough is filled with a history of both sweet and savory moments. It's hard to imagine Brooklyn as anything other than a concrete jungle. Who would guess that that first battle of the Revolutionary War was fought here? Or that the world's oldest subway is hidden beneath the streets of Boerum Hill? Or how an airplane fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the street in Park Slope? Hundreds of people pass by the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park everyday. Virtually no one stops to read the plaque. If they did, they would learn that it is actually a grave, holding up to 15,000 bodies. Author Allison Huntington Chase, Brooklyn's own Madame Morbid, takes readers on a journey beyond the brownstones, to discover the hidden, macabre and bizarre throughout Brooklyn history.Mysterious Radio is transitioning to a show fully supported by my dedicated fans. If you genuinely love the show and the content I've created for nearly a decade, now is the time to help me continue this journey we started together. I have millions of listeners, and each of you will bring me closer to my goal of having the largest Patreon community ever. Soon, you'll only be able to access full episodes by becoming one of my devoted members. Joining the community unlocks over 1000 ad-free episodes, bonus segments, and much more that will blow your mind! While the price is set to rise to $9.99, you can jump on board right now for just $5, and that's forever! ⁠⁠Join The Brain Trust Now.⁠⁠ Follow Our Other ShowsFollow UFO WitnessesFollow Crime Watch WeeklyFollow Paranormal FearsFollow Seven: Disturbing Chronicle StoriesJoin our Patreon for ad-free listening and more bonus content.Follow us on Instagram @mysteriousradioFollow us on TikTok mysteriousradioTikTokFollow us on Twitter @mysteriousradioFollow us on Pinterest pinterest.com/mysteriousradioLike us on Facebook Facebook.com/mysteriousradio]Do you frequently miss episodes of Mysterious Radio? Don't worry; here are some tips to ensure you never miss out again: 1. If you haven't already, follow or subscribe to the show to receive updates on new episodes. Even if you have already done this, it's a good idea to click the option again to ensure that you are still subscribed. This is especially important! 2. Turn on notifications for new episodes in your podcast app. 3. Make sure that your device allows notifications from your podcast app. 4. If your app has the option, swipe down to refresh the list of episodes.

Lionel Messi is widely considered the great soccer player of all-time. His accomplishments are virtually unrivaled. His counting stats in many was are incomprehensible. Messi's long career primarily with Barcelona, at the club level, and Argentina, internationally, have built him a fan following second to none on the history of professional sports. With David Beckham's involvement in the Major League Soccer club, Inter Miami CF, there were whispers that the potential for Messi to come to MLS may be a reality. But, when it happened in 2023, it was still a shock. The greatest of all time, just months removed from his first World Cup win in 2022, was coming to play soccer in America. Despite his advanced age, Messi was still regarded as one of the best players in the world. Virtually any team in top five European leagues would happily have added him to their roster.  Yes, he chose MLS. The impacts of the deal were well documented but still hard to conceive. Messi's arrival triggered economic ripples that included a massive broadcast partnership between MLS and Apple TV, among others. His arrival immediately boosted ticket sales as well. Paul Tenorio is a senior writer at The Athletic, covering soccer. He has documented "Messi-mania" in all forms -- on the field, off the field and beyond. Tenorio has written numerous pieces for The Athletic breaking down the economic impacts of Messi's arrival in America and is working on a book about his overall effect on MLS and soccer in the United States. He joined Founding Futbol to talk all things Messi in America. Founding Futbol is a year-long exploration of the critical moments that have led to soccer's emerging popularity in America.Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠FoundingFutbol.com. Email us at kent@foundingfutbol.com.Subscribe to Founding Futbol on your platform of choice.Host: Kent MalmrosGuest: Paul Tenorio (Senior Writer, The Athletic)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode introduces a simple yet highly effective communication habit that can be adopted by anyone to significantly reduce the risk of misunderstandings and enhance connection. It explores how this practice, which requires thoughtful communication but no special skills, can benefit individuals at all career levels.Discover why misunderstandings pose a significant risk to your career and how our natural inclination towards low-effort communication contributes to this risk.Learn the core of this high-leverage habit: restating what someone is telling you in your own words to ensure clarity and mutual understanding. This involves summarising or rephrasing the other person's message using your own terminology.Understand the multiple benefits of this technique, including demonstrating that you are actively listening, encoding the information more effectively for yourself, and most crucially, giving the other person the opportunity to correct your understanding.Explore how this habit provides a critical opportunity to refine your understanding and check it against the speaker's intended message, ultimately leading to better comprehension.Learn how receiving confirmation ("That's right") builds credibility and fosters a sense of being understood, creating a genuine connection with others.Grasp the idea that this "mirroring back" of meaning, rather than just the words, is a cheap, deep, and high-leverage behaviour that can significantly improve your communication effectiveness in professional settings.

Episode 188: RSV Management and PreventionDr. Sandhu and future Dr. Mohamed summarize the management of RSV and describe how to prevent it with chemoprophylaxis and vaccines. Dr Arreaza adds some comments about RSV vaccines.Written by Abdolhakim Mohamed, MSIV, Ross University School of Medicine. Comments by Ranbir Sandhu, MD, and Hector Arreaza, MD.You are listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast, your weekly dose of knowledge brought to you by the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program from Bakersfield, California, a UCLA-affiliated program sponsored by Clinica Sierra Vista, Let Us Be Your Healthcare Home. This podcast was created for educational purposes only. Visit your primary care provider for additional medical advice.What is RSV? -The Respiratory syncytial Virus (RSV) is an enveloped, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the Orthopneumovirus genus within the Pneumoviridae family. -RSV is a major cause of acute respiratory tract infections, particularly bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in infants and young children, and it also significantly affects older adults and immunocompromised individuals. -RSV infections cause an estimated 58,000–80,000 hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years and 60,000–160,000 hospitalizations among adults older than 65 years each year.-RSV is highly contagious and spreads through respiratory droplets and direct contact with contaminated surfaces. The virus typically causes seasonal epidemics, peaking in the winter months in temperate climates and during the rainy season in tropical regions. -Virtually all children are infected with RSV by the age of two, and reinfections can occur throughout life, often with milder symptoms.-Per the 2014 Clinical Practice Guideline: The Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Bronchiolitis, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the most common etiology of bronchiolitis is RSV. -About 97% of children are infected with RSV in the first 2 years of life, about 40% will experience lower respiratory tract infection during the initial infection. Other viruses that cause bronchiolitis include human rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, influenza, adenovirus, coronavirus, and parainfluenza viruses.When is RSV season?-Classically, the highest incidence of infection occurs between December and March in North America. Per CDC, there were typical prepandemic RSV season patterns, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted RSV seasonality during 2020–2022. -Before we dive into the seasonality patterns, for context, in order to describe RSV seasonality in the US, data was gathered and analyzed from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results reported to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) during July 2017–February 2023. -Seasonal RSV epidemics were defined as the weeks during which the percentage of PCR test results that were positive for RSV was ≥3%. Per 2017–2020 data, RSV epidemics in the United States typically follow seasonal patterns, that began in October, peaked in December or January, and ended in April. -However, during 2020–21, the typical winter RSV epidemic did not occur. The 2021–22 season began in May, peaked in July, and ended in January. -The 2022–23 season started (June) and peaked (November) later than the 2021–22 season, but earlier than prepandemic seasons. CDC notes that the timing of the 2022–23 season suggests that seasonal patterns are returning toward those observed in prepandemic years, however, warn that clinicians should be aware that off-season RSV circulation might continue.Treatment of RSVSome key points of the 2014 pediatric guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.-AAP strongly do not recommend beta agonists or steroids for viral associated bronchiolitis because of no significant improved outcomes. “Clinicians should not administer albuterol (or salbutamol) to infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).”-Epinephrine is not recommended for infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).-Nebulized hypertonic saline should not be administered to infants with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis in the emergency department (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Moderate Recommendation), but hypertonic saline may be administered when they are hospitalized (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Weak Recommendation [based on randomized controlled trials with inconsistent findings]).-Chest physiotherapy should not be used in infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Moderate Recommendation).-Antibiotics should not be administered in bronchiolitis unless there is a concomitant bacterial infection, or a strong suspicion of one (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).-Oxygen therapy may not be administered if the oxyhemoglobin saturation exceeds 90% in infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: D; Recommendation Strength: Weak Recommendation [based on low level evidence and reasoning from first principles]).-Clinicians should administer nasogastric or intravenous fluids for infants with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis who cannot maintain hydration orally (Evidence Quality: X; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).How do we prevent RSV?Infant Immuno-prophylaxis:A clinical trial in 2022 demonstrated that a single injection of nirsevimab (Beyfortus®), administered before the RSV season, protected healthy late-preterm and term infants from RSV-associated lower respiratory tract that required medical treatment. Nirsevimab is a monoclonal antibody to the RSV fusion protein that has an extended half-life.Additionally, on August 3, 2023, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended nirsevimab for all infants younger than 8 months who are born during or entering their first RSV season and for infants and children between 8-19 months who are at increased risk for severe RSV disease and are entering their second RSV season. On the basis of pre-COVID-19 pandemic patterns, nirsevimab could be administered in most of the continental United States from October through the end of March.Maternal Vaccination: The CDC recommends the administration of the RSVPreF vaccine to pregnant women between 32 0/7 and 36 6/7 weeks of gestation. This vaccination aims to reduce the risk of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infection in infants during the first 6 months of life.At this time, if a pregnant woman has already received a maternal RSV vaccine during any previous pregnancy, CDC does not recommend another dose of RSV vaccine during subsequent pregnancies.Older individuals: -Each year in the U.S., it is estimated that between 60,000 and 160,000 older adults are hospitalized and between 6,000 and 10,000 die due to RSV infection-ABRYSVO's approval will help offer older adults protection in the RSV season.-On June 26, 2024, ACIP voted to give these recommendations: all adults older than 75 years and adults between 60–74 years who are at increased risk for severe RSV disease should receive a single dose of RSV vaccine (Abrysvo®).Even without trying, every night you go to bed a little wiser. Thanks for listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast. We want to hear from you, send us an email at RioBravoqWeek@clinicasierravista.org, or visit our website riobravofmrp.org/qweek. See you next week! _____________________References:Hamid S, Winn A, Parikh R, et al. Seasonality of Respiratory Syncytial Virus — United States, 2017–2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:355–361. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7214a1Hammitt LL, Dagan R, Yuan Y, Baca Cots M, Bosheva M, Madhi SA, Muller WJ, Zar HJ, Brooks D, Grenham A, Wählby Hamrén U, Mankad VS, Ren P, Takas T, Abram ME, Leach A, Griffin MP, Villafana T; MELODY Study Group. Nirsevimab for Prevention of RSV in Healthy Late-Preterm and Term Infants. N Engl J Med. 2022 Mar 3;386(9):837-846. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2110275. PMID: 35235726.Ralston SL, Lieberthal AS, Meissner HC, Alverson BK, Baley JE, Gadomski AM, Johnson DW, Light MJ, Maraqa NF, Mendonca EA, Phelan KJ, Zorc JJ, Stanko-Lopp D, Brown MA, Nathanson I, Rosenblum E, Sayles S 3rd, Hernandez-Cancio S; American Academy of Pediatrics. Clinical practice guideline: the diagnosis, management, and prevention of bronchiolitis. Pediatrics. 2014 Nov;134(5):e1474-502. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-2742. Erratum in: Pediatrics. 2015 Oct;136(4):782. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-2862. PMID: 25349312.CDC, per their published article Seasonality of Respiratory Syncytial Virus — United States for 2017–2023, in the United StatesWhat U.S. Obstetricians Need to Know About Respiratory Syncytial Virus.Debessai H, Jones JM, Meaney-Delman D, Rasmussen SA. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2024;143(3):e54-e62. doi:10.1097/AOG.0000000000005492.Maternal Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccination and Receipt of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Antibody (Nirsevimab) by Infants Aged

The amount of time children and adolescents spend with a screen is absolutely stunning. Lots of people, including parents, health leaders, educators, elected leaders from both parties I might mention, and even children themselves, are highly concerned and are discussing what might be done about all this. I'm delighted to begin this series of podcasts on children and screen time. Today we're welcoming two very special guests who can talk about this topic in general, and especially about what's being done to protect children and adolescents. Several podcasts will follow this one that deal with food and nutrition in particular. Our first guest, Kris Perry, is Executive Director of Children and Screens, an organization devoted to protecting children. In the digital world by addressing media's impact on child development, communicating state-of-the-art information, and working with policymakers. Prior to joining children in Screens, Kris was senior advisor of the Governor of California and Deputy Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. Our other guest, Dr. Dimitri Christakis is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Child Health Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's. He's also editor-in-chief of JAMA Pediatrics and both Chief Scientific Officer and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Children and Screens. He's also the co-editor of a new book that I'm very excited to discuss. Interview Summary Download The Handbook of Children and Screens: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-69362-5 Kris, let's start with you. Could you set the stage and give us some sense of how much time children spend in front of screens, children and adolescents, and what devices are being used and what kind of trends are you seeing? Yes, I'd be happy to. I had better news for your listeners, but as you might imagine, since the advent of the smartphone and social media, the youth digital media use has been increasing each year. Especially as children get older and have increasing demands on their time to use screens. But let's just start at the beginning of the lifespan and talk about kids under the age of two who shockingly are spending as much as two hours a day on screens. Most spend about 50 minutes, but there's a significant chunk spending up to two hours. And that rises to three or three to five hours in childhood. And eventually in adolescence, approximately eight and a half hours a day our adolescents are spending online. Also wanted to talk a little bit about middle childhood children, six to 12 years of age. 70% of them already have a social media account, and we all know social media wasn't designed for children. And there are restrictions on children under 13 using them, and yet children six to 12 most have an account already. Over half of four-year-olds have a tablet and two thirds of children have their own device by the age of eight; and 90% of teens. This probably won't be surprising, and yet we should really think about what this means; that 90% of teens are using YouTube, 60% are on TikTok and Instagram, and 55% use Snapchat. I'll stop by ending on a really alarming statistic. Oh my, there's more? There's more. I know it! I told you. I'll be the bearer of bad news so that we can talk about solutions later. But, children are checking their devices as often as 300 times per day. 300 times. 300 times per day, and we're talking about screen time right now. And we know that when you're using time to be on screens, you are not doing something else. And we know that childhood is full of challenges and skill building and mastery that requires repetition and tenacity and grit and effort. And the more children are on their screens, whether it's social media or other entertainment, they're not doing one of these other critical child development tasks. That's pretty amazing. And the fact that the older kids are spending more time on before a screen than they are in school is pretty alarming. And the younger, the really youngest kids, that's especially alarming. So, Dimitri, why should we fret about this? And I realize that fret is kind of a mild word here. Maybe all I'll panic would be better. But what are some of the major concerns? Well, I don't think panic is ever the right reaction, but the numbers Kris conveyed, you know, I think do paint a, let's say, concerning story. You know, the simple reality is that there's only so much time in a day. And if you think about it, teenagers in particular should sleep for eight to 10 hours a day at a minimum. They really should be in school six and a half, seven hours a day. And then when you add the numbers, Kris conveyed, you realize that something's giving because there isn't enough time left to spend eight and a half hours a day. The two things at a minimum that are giving are sleep. Kids are losing sleep to be on screens. And I'm sorry to say that they're losing school while they're on screens. We just published a paper that used passive sensing to see where and when children are on their screens. And found that the typical child in the United States spends an hour and a half during the school day on their device. And it's not, before any of your guests ask, on Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Britannica. It's on the usual suspects of social media, TikTok, etc. So, you know, we talk about displacement, and I think it's pretty obvious what's being displaced during school hours. Its time focused on learning if it's in the classroom, and time focused on being authentically present in real time and space if it's during recess. School hours are precious in that way, and I think it is concerning that they're spending that much time in school. And I told you the median. Of course, some kids are above that, a significant half of them are above it. And at the high end, they're spending 30 to 40% of school time on screens. Now, some schools have enacted policies. They don't typically enforce them very well. One of the things that drives me nuts, Kelly, is that as an academic, you know we love to argue amongst ourselves and hem and haw. And this issue about whether or not there's such a phenomenon as digital addiction is still being hotly debated. Honestly, the only behavioral addiction that's being seriously considered at this point is gaming disorder. The DSM-5 didn't consider gaming, considered it, but didn't include, it said it needed further study in 2013. In 2022, the WHO did include gaming disorder as an ICD-11 diagnosis. But just as further evidence how slow science is compared to technology., I mean gaming, while it's still an entity, represents a small fraction of most people's screen time. And the numbers that Kris conveyed, a small fraction of that for some on average was gaming. For some people, it's their screen use of choice, but for many, it's social media. YouTube, although I consider YouTube to be a social media, etc. And at the high end when you hear the numbers Kris conveyed in my mind that's a behavioral addiction any way you define it. Well, and if you think about things that we all agree are addictive, like nicotine and alcohol and heroin, people aren't doing it 300 times a day. So it's really pretty remarkable. And that's exactly right. One of the salient criteria for those addictions is that it's interfering with activities of daily living. Well, you can't be on a screen for nine hours a day when you're supposed to be asleep for 10 and at school for six without interfering with activities of day. The math isn't there. And things like being physically active and going out and playing. That's right. It doesn't add up. So, you don't need the DSM-5. You don't need a psychiatrist. You need a mathematician to tell you that there's too much time on this thing. Alright, so Kris, talk to us if you will, about the Children and Screens organization. I have a lot of respect for the organization and its work. Tell us how it got started and what its objectives are. Well, it's so great to be on this show with you and get to see you in your day job, Kelly. Because you've been an advisor, like Dimitri, to the institute almost since its inception, which is in 2013. As you know, our founder, Dr. Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra, really became concerned as a parent about the way digital media was impacting her children and sought out some answers. Well, what does this mean? Why is this happening? What should I do? And found out that this, of course, is 2013, this is a long time ago. There wasn't that much research yet. And it was multidisciplinary. In other words, there might be a study among neuroscientists or developmental psychologists, even ophthalmologists. But there really hadn't been, yet, a concerted effort to bring these different disciplines and the research together to try to answer some of these hard questions about the impact on kids. And lo and behold, here we are, almost 13 years since the advent of the smartphone and social media. And there is an astounding amount of research across disciplines. So, what we do at the institute is we try to translate it as fast as we can and make it actionable for parents, providers, and policy makers. And we do that through our Ask the Experts webinar series where we bring the experts themselves directly to our audience to talk about these impacts and answer questions. We also create printables, you might say, like tip sheets and Research at a Glance Digest, and newsletters and FAQs and we've upgraded our website to make it very navigable for parents of kids of all ages. I even started my own podcast this year, which has been really fun. Dimitri was my first guest, so it's great to see him here. And we have convenings. We're having our third Digital Media Developing Mind Scientific Congress this summer where the experts come together in person to discuss issues. And we really try to focus them on advancing research and supporting it, translating it, and positioning the issue as a policy priority. We'll be in Washington, DC where we know lawmakers are grappling with the impact of digital media on child development, how to make online, products safer for kids and protect their data. The Institute is in the middle of all of this, trying to facilitate more discussion, more results and more support for parents primarily. Kris, a couple of things occur to me. One is that the breadth of work you do is really very impressive because you're not only having very hands-on kind of in the real world ex advice for parents on how to navigate this world, but you have advice for and helpful resources for policy makers and for researchers and people. It's really quite an impressive breadth of work. The other thing that occurred to me is that I don't think you and I would have any podcast career at all if it hadn't been for Dimitri helping us out. So thanks Dimitri. Yeah. So, let me ask you, Dimitri, so I know that both you and Kris are committed to an evidence-based approach to making policy. Yeah. But technology advances way more quickly than scientists can evaluate it. Much less come up with policies to deal with it. And by the time research gets funded, completed, published, you're on to eight new levels of technology. So how does one handle this fundamental problem of pace? It's a really good question. I mean, I can tell you that we should at a minimum learn from the mistakes we've made in the past. And, you know, one of the most critical, frankly, that most people don't really understand is that we talk about the age at which children get social media accounts in this country. Kris pointed out that actually pre-teens routinely have social media accounts. Social media companies do very little to age gate. They're trying to do more now, but even the age at which we've accepted it is being normative is 13. Few people know where that comes from. That doesn't come from talking to pediatricians, psychologists, parents about what age is the appropriate age. It comes entirely from COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), which basically was the original privacy act that said that before the age of 13, companies could not collect data from children. So, because these companies were interested in collecting data, they set the age at 13 so as to not have any constraints on the data they collected. Well, that's not even common sense-based policy, let alone evidence-based policy. And it's never been revisited since. It's very troubling to me. And as things move forward, I think we have to learn from those mistakes. Medicine has a maxim which is do no harm. We use that phrase a lot and I think it's a good one in this case. I think it's a particularly good one as we see the new technologies emerging around artificial intelligence. And you know, again, like any new technology, it has incredible upside. We made the mistake and we're still paying for it, about not appreciating the downsides of social network sites, and frankly, the internet in general. And I would hope we put guardrails in place now. And if you will apply the same standard we apply to other non-technology based products. You can't introduce a new pharmaceutical to anybody, let alone to children, until you show it's safe and effective. You can't bring toys to the world that are dangerous. Why do we have more safety precautions around toys than we do around websites for children? You know, a lot of it involves changing defaults, doesn't it? Because if the default is that government or somebody out there has to prove that something is harmful before it gets taken away. That changes everything then if you began at a different point where these companies have to prove that these things are safe. Correct. Or they're permitted. Then the companies would find workarounds and they would play games with that too, but at least that would help some. Well, it would help some. And at least we'd be philosophically in the right place. By the way, Kris didn't say it, so I'll say it. You know, the mission of Children and Screens, lest we sound like Luddites here, is not get kids away from technology. Take away their smartphones. We all recognize that technology is here to stay. I think all of us appreciate the incredible upside that it brings to children's lives. The mission of Children and Screens is to help children lead healthy lives in a digital world. And part of the reason she and I often talk about the concerns we have is because the pros make the case for themselves. I mean, you know, no one needs to come here and tell you how amazing it is that you could Google something or that you could get somewhere with GPS. I mean, we know it's amazing and we all rely on it. And none of us are ever talking about getting rid of that stuff. That makes good sense. It's like, you know, children benefit from the fact that they can get around with their parents in the automobile. But you want to have car seats in there to protect them. Exactly. And that's exactly right. There needs to be assurances of safety and they're none. I mean, they're really virtually none. The age getting is a joke. And even if we accept it as effective, the age set of 13 is too young, in my opinion. We started this conversation talking about these medias being addictive, I believe they're addictive. There are legitimate academics that will debate me on that, and I'm happy to join that debate. But as I said before, it's a tough argument to win when people spending upwards of 10 to 16 hours a day doing it. I don't know what you call that besides addictive. We can argue about what percentage are doing that, but nevertheless, once you accept something as addictive, for other addictive things we immediately age gate it above 18 or 21, right? Mm-hmm. We don't believe that the teenagers have the ability to regulate their alcohol or tobacco or gambling, all of which we accept are addictive. In fact, in the case of alcohol, we raised the age from 18 to 21 because we thought even 18-year-olds weren't able to do it. And yet somehow for this behavior, we think of it as just so different that it doesn't require greater cognitive capacity. And I don't believe that. Yeah, very good point. Kris, let me ask you a question about how you and your colleagues at Children and Screens set priorities because there are a lot of things that one could potentially worry about as outcomes. There's violence that kids see on social media. There's cognitive and brain development, social developments, social interactions, and bullying. Mental health, body image, diet, all these things are out there. How do you decide what to work on? Well, we try to work on all of it. And in fact, we've built up a fair amount of expertise and resources around almost 25 different topics. And we also understand that, you know, childhood is a long period of time. Birth to 18, birth to 21, birth to 25, depending on who you talk to. So, we're able to take those 25 topics and also provide deeper, you might say, resources that address the different stages of development. We're really trying to do as much as we can. What's been interesting over these last few years is trying to figure out when to be reactive, when to be proactive. And by being proactive, we go out looking for the research, translating it, digesting it, and creating materials with it that we think are really accessible and actionable. At the same time, as Dimitri points out, there are policy windows and there are opportunities that present themselves that you have to react to. If you just only talk about what you want to talk about to each other you're missing some of these external opportunities to inform policy and policy makers. Help influence the way that parents and providers are talking about the issue. Framing it in such a way that engages youth and makes them want what we want for them. We're really excited by increasing opportunities to partner in coalitions with others that care about kids and teachers and nurses and doctors. But we also are speaking directly to leaders in states and school districts at the federal level, at the local level. You would be, I'm sure, not surprised to hear that we are contacted every day by groups that support parents and families. Asking for resources, asking for support, because they're seeing the impact now over many years on their children, their development. Their academic ability. Their cognitive and analytical ability. Their social emotional ability. Their ability to pay attention to tasks that we all know are critical in building that foundation for essentially, you know, future success. The Institute is being pulled in many directions. Ee try really hard to be strategic about what are people asking us for? What does the research say and how can we get that to them as quickly as possible? Dimitri - Can I add to that? You know, I want to emphasize that the concern around the effects of screen use on children's lives is shared by parents on both sides of the aisle. 75% of parents are concerned about the impact of screens on their children's lives. 35% of teenagers are concerned about their dependents on screens and that it has a negative effect on their lives. Actually by some studies, some surveys, even more than 35 to 50% of teenagers are concerned. And both sides of the political aisle agree in large part of this. And Kris and Kelly, you guys are the policy wonks, you can speak more to that. So it's a serious indictment on us as grownups and as a society that we have not done more to deliver on this issue. Why? When there's bipartisan agreement amongst many policymakers. This is not a political [00:22:00] issue to speak of and there is widespread concern on the part of parents and even teenagers. Why is nothing happening? Well, one has to look no further than where the money is. And that's a problem. I mean, that's a serious indictment on our political system when we can't deliver something that is needed and basically wanted by everybody but the industry itself. We'll come back and talk in a few moments about the policy issues and where industry gets involved here. But let me take just a bit of a detour from that and talk about the book that I mentioned earlier, because I think it's such a valuable resource. Now, when I mention the name of this book I'm urging our listeners to write this down or to remember it because you can get the book at no cost. And I'll come back, Kris, and explain what made that possible and why the decision was to make this an open access book. But Dimitri, let's begin with you. So you, along with Lauren Hale, edited this book that's entitled, The Handbook of Children and Screens: Digital Media Development and Wellbeing From Birth Through Adolescence. I think it's an extraordinary piece of work, but tell, tell us about the book.  It was an extraordinary undertaking. There's I think 178 or 180 authors. Literally, it's a who's who of experts in children and media research in all disciplines. It represents pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, communications experts, demography, lawyers, neuroscientists. I don't know who I'm forgetting. Every single discipline is represented. Leading scientists in all of those areas. Virtually every topic that someone might be of interest to people. And we deliberately made the chapters short and easily accessible. So, it is, I think, a great resource for the constituents we serve. For teachers, for parents, for researchers, for policymakers. And it is free. The hardest part of it, to be honest, as an editor, was getting peer reviewers because unfortunately, every expert was conflicted since they all had an article in it. But it was a long time coming. And again, this was really the brainchild of Pam (Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra) and we're grateful to have brought it along. So, you go all the way from the neuroscience, how children's brains are reacting to this, all the way out there into the public policy and legal arena about what can be done about it. And then kind of everything in between. It's remarkable how much the book covers. It's almost a thousand pages. I mean, it is a tome to be sure. And don't forget to mention, Dimitri, we aren't even two months post publication, and we have 1.6 million views of the document, despite its gargantuan size. I think that is really a tribute to experts like you and others that have really studied this issue and can speak directly to its impacts. It's been great to see the success so far. You know, not a small number of those views is from me logging on. And then a million from me and then we got there. So, it is free because it's online and you can download it. You can also order a hard copy for I think, $60, but I'm not sure why you would do that if you can download it for free. But it's up to you. So, Kris, it's unusual for a book like this to be made open access and free to the general public. What made that possible and why was that so important? We want the maximum number of people to use it and treat it like the premier resource that it is. And the only way you can really do that is to fund it to be open access and find a publisher that does open access publishing, which we did with Springer. I mean, most journal articles are behind a paywall and publishers do require you to purchase either a subscription or the document itself to download it or order it. And we just really wanted maximum access. So, we funded it to be published in that way. And I think honestly, it helped us even sort of create it in the first place. People want to be a part of something that has that level of access and is available so widely. So, I think it was a kind of mutually beneficial. It gets more people to read it, but it got more people to write for it too, I think. Right, Dimitri? Dimitri - I agree. I mean, you know, the numbers 1.6 million are extraordinary. I mean, Kelly, you've been internal editor. I mean, as a editor of JAMA Pediatrics, if an article gets 70,000 views, it's in our top 1%, you know, 200,000 views is 0.01%. 1.6 million in growing is really extraordinary. And that's about the number of people that read my articles. 1.6. And of course, they're not all scientists. I mean, many of them are parents and maybe are policy makers, but that's Kris's point, you know. The moment anyone hits a paywall, even if it's a dollar or two, they're going to walk away. It's great to see it get so much traction. Alright, so again, for our listeners, the title of the book is The Handbook of Children and Screens. And it's really a terrific resource. Alright, so let's turn our attention to a really important matter. And we've sort of touched on this, but who's in charge of protecting our children? You know, Dimitri at the end of the day help survey this landscape for us. I mean, is it congress, is it the administrative branch of government? What role do the courts play? Are there legal actors taking meaningful action? What's being done does it come anywhere near, meeting the need. Tell us about what that landscape is like? Well, there isn't adequate protections for children. And we talked a little bit about that earlier. There's been an enormous loophole, unfortunately, created by Congress when they added the Section 230 to the Communications Decency Act in 1996. And that was put in place essentially to provide protections for internet companies. And it basically said that they should be treated like bookstores and not publishers. That they weren't responsible for content they were just conveying it. And what that means, in effect, was that the companies had sort of carte blanche to do whatever they want. And they've used that very effectively, legally, to argue that any restriction, any culpability on their part, is protected by that Act. That they're exonified for any ill that occurs as a result of their product. The only exception that's been made of it, to date, was around sex trafficking on back page, if anyone remembers that. But other than that, social media sites and internet sites in general have been able to say that they're not liable for anything that's done. And I think that was a huge mistake that was made. It needs to be rectified. It's being challenged in the courts presently. My own belief is that, and I'm not speaking as a lawyer, is that when that law was passed, it was under the assumption as I said, that they were just conveying information. No one at the time foresaw the development of algorithms that would feed the information. It's really not a bookstore when you are making recommendations. Once you start recommending things, I think you're no longer merely a purveyor of product. You're actually pushing it. So, Kris, tell us about the Children and Screens and the role the organization plays in this space. And how do you deal with policy and is it possible to be bipartisan? Yeah, I mean, it's essential. There's no way to get anything done, anywhere on these policy matters at a population level without working in a bipartisan or non-partisan manner, which is what we've always done. And it's easy to do that when you're following the science, not ideology. And you're putting the science first and you're creating resources and tools and support for those mostly staffers, honestly, that are trying to help their bosses get smarter and better at talking about these issues as they evolve and become more complicated over time. It takes more effort to staff a lawmaker on this front. And they're very anxious to learn and understand because they're meeting with parents of children who have been harmed. Or frankly didn't even survive their childhood because of the social media platform. There's great urgency on the part of policymakers. We've heard everything from school phone bans to outright social media bans proposed as policies. And one thing I like to come back to is it's one thing to want to take action and make your best guess at what would have the best impact. But it's another thing to study whether or not that policy actually achieved its result. And it's a part of this that by staying bipartisan, nonpartisan allows us to say, 'Hey lawmaker, if you're able to get that to happen, we'd really like to come in and help study whether or not your idea actually achieves the results that you wanted, or if it needs to be adjusted or amended over time.' Fantastic. That's so important to be doing that work, and I'm delighted the organization is doing it. Let me ask a question here. If you think about some of the areas of public health that I've been following, like tobacco, for example. Opioids more recently. Vaping products. And in the case of my own particular work food policy. The administrative legislative branches of government have been almost completely ineffective. If I think about food policy over the years, relatively little has been accomplished. Even though lots of people have worked really hard on it. Same thing happened with tobacco for many years. Opioids, same thing.  And it's until you get the third branch of government involved, the judiciary, and you start suing the actors who were causing the harm do you get much action. Not only do the lawsuits seem to have an effect, but they soften the ground for legislative things that then can occur because public opinion has changed. And then those things help make a difference as well. What do you think about that kind of issue in this space?  I think you're exactly right. I mean, I think the failure of our legislative branch to enact policy leaves us with very few options at this point anyway, except to try to pursue it through the judiciary. There are challenges there. First and foremost, it's a big and well-funded industry, not unlike tobacco or big food, as you mentioned and there's this Section 230 that's given them kind of blanket immunity to date. But there are many, many very large pending cases in several jurisdictions brought by individuals, brought by school districts, brought by states. And those, at least provisionally have gotten further than prior cases have with which have been thrown out based on Section 230. So, we'll see what happens with that litigation. But right now, my guess is it's the best chance we have to set some guardrails. And I think there are plenty of guardrails that could be set. Everything that these companies have done to make their products addictive can be undone. Can be made protective. The tobacco company deliberately designed their products to be addictive. While they tried to make the claims that they were less addictive, you know. They made light cigarettes that had holes in the filter so that it would diffuse the carbon and nicotine, but people quickly learned they could cover those up with their fingers and think they were smoking light cigarettes, and smoke more of them. There's a lot of things that can be done in this space to undesign the problematic nature of the products. And quite apart from the financial settlements, which will get companies attention, I hope that that's part of any settlement if it gets that far. It'll be interesting to see where those go. And, also historically, one important part of these lawsuits is what gets turned up in discovery. And what sort of intent the companies have and how much do they know about harms. And how much do they know about addiction and things like that. And how they might have proceeded in the face of that information that then doesn't get disclosed to the public. In any event, we'll see where that goes. Dimitri, what about the argument that responsibility resides with parents. It's up to parents to protect their kids from this, and government doesn't need to be involved. I've never understood that argument. I mean parents obviously are children's most important safeguard, but as a society, we enact policies and laws to assist parents in that. I mean to me, if I made the argument, well, why, why do we have minimum ages of drinking. It's parents' job to make sure their kids don't drink. How would that possibly play out? Look, it's hard enough as a parent anyway, because kids do get around these laws. But we still have them and it's a lot easier as a parent. I think most parents would agree their life's made easier by minimum age restrictions on certain things. We have seatbelt laws. I mean, why do we have seatbelt laws? Why don't we just tell its parents' job to make sure their kids buckle up? The truth is its society and parents working hand in hand to try and keep children safe. And I think it also helps parents to be able to say that there are laws around this, and I expect you to follow the laws. So, I don't think it's an either or. Okay, well, I think that's a very good way to frame it. There are many, many precedents where we protect children. And why not do it here too? So let me end with a question I'd like to ask both of you. So, in this sea of concerns that we've discussed, is there a reason for optimism? And Kris, let me start, start with you. What do you think? Absolutely. I think the young people I've met that are leading among their peers are incredibly impressive and are armed with the research and their energy and their own lived experience in ways that are very compelling. At the same time, I think the vast amount of research that has now been compiled and translated and acted upon, whether in courtrooms or in state houses, it's becoming more, and we're all getting more steeped and aware of more nuanced information. And finally, I would just say, there is a tipping point. We are reaching as a society, adults and kids alike, we are reaching a tipping point where we can't withstand the pressure of technology in every aspect, every corner of our day, our life. And we want relief. We deserve relief. And I think that's what's going to take us over the finish line. Good. Well, I'm glad to hear those optimistic notes. Dimitri, what about you? I can find reasons to be optimistic. I mean, look, the reality is that technologies have enriched our lives in many ways. And I think if we put guardrails in place, we can make sure that future ones do even better. I have a piece coming out in JAMA Pediatrics around the use of AI, which people are very concerned about, I think rightly. But specifically, about the use of AI and people with intellectual developmental disabilities, making the use case, that there are ways in which it could be extremely beneficial to that population. A population I care deeply about in my role as the Chief Health Officer at Special Olympics International. And in particular, let's say in terms of the doctor patient interaction where it could facilitate their communication with their provider, and it could also help the provider better communicate with them. Look, that use case isn't going to be a priority for the purveyors of artificial intelligence. It's a small, non-lucrative use of a technology. But it's a good one. And if we created the right incentives and put in the right guardrails, we could find many other ways that technology can serve the needs of all of us going forward. I think the problem is that we've tended to be reactive rather than proactive. And to not start with the do no harm first premise, particularly when it comes to children. AI is another example of that where I hope we don't make the same mistake we made with social media. Bios Kris Perry is the executive director of the Children and Screens Institute. Kris most recently served as Senior Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom of California and Deputy Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency where she led the development of the California Master Plan for Early Learning and Care and the expansion of access to high-quality early childhood programs. She led systems change efforts at the local, state and national levels in her roles as executive director of First 5 San Mateo, First 5 California and of the First Five Years Fund. Through it all, Perry has fought to protect children, improve and expand early learning programs, and increase investments in low-income children. Perry was instrumental in returning marriage equality to California after the landmark 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Hollingsworth v. Perry, which she wrote about in her book Love on Trial (Roaring Forties Press, 2017). Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH is the Children and Screens Institute's inaugural Chief Science Officer. He is also the George Adkins Professor at the University of Washington, Editor in Chief of JAMA Pediatrics, and the Chief Health Officer at Special Olympics International. Christakis is a leading expert on how media affects child health and development. He has published over 270 peer reviewed articles (h-index 101) including dozens of media-related studies and co-authored a groundbreaking book, The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television Work for Your Kids. His work has been featured on Anderson Cooper 360, the Today Show, ABC, NBC, and CBS news as well as all major national newspapers. Christakis received his undergraduate degree at Yale University and his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed his residency and Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine. 

Highlighted by tariff news, here's a sample of what Jim presented on this week's 'Round-Up' broadcast:--The Trump administration has deported over 100,000 illegal migrants since taking office and has arrested more than 110,000.--Radical left activist federal district judges have continued to issue a seemingly endless list of injunctions against President Trump's executive orders. By what authority do they have to do this? This was discussed in a hearing by Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy and Assistant Attorney General nominee Brett Shumate. Jim provided audio of the exchange. --Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley has introduced a bill that seeks to clarify the role of the Judicial branch and limit federal court orders by ending universal injunctions.--Representative Jim Jordan, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told Newsmax on Tuesday that he believes Congress has the will to use its constitutional power to prevent what he considers judicial overreach used at the district court level to usurp President Trump's authority. --After months of anticipation, President Trump rolled out his plans to implement historic tariffs on Wednesday, transforming the nation's trade policy with the stroke of his pen.--President Trump's sweeping tariffs on dozens of foreign trading partners has unleashed a rapid response abroad with European leaders urging negotiations and pondering retaliatory measures.--U.S. companies had 2.4 trillion of valuation wiped out yesterday after Trump's tariffs. Virtually every sector suffered big losses.

Join George the Tech at VO Atlanta 2025 as he provides an exclusive demo of the much-anticipated Source Connect 4 software. George connects with Robert Marshall from Chicago to showcase the software's impressive features, including noise filtering, dropout restoration, and seamless session backups. Discover how Source Connect 4 enhances workflow efficiency for both voice talents and studio engineers, with improvements in transport sync, multiple connections, and uncompressed audio replacements. Stay tuned for an exciting sneak peek at the upcoming video camera integration, set to debut at NAB. Upgrade seamlessly if you're already a subscriber, or learn more at source-elements.com. @Source-elements 00:00 Introduction to Source Connect 4 at VO Atlanta 2025 01:10 Live Demo with Robert Marshall 02:10 Testing Source Connect 4's Reliability 04:44 New Features for Voice Talent 06:47 Enhancements for Producers and Engineers 08:47 Upcoming Features and Final Thoughts - We are pleased to announce our upcoming webinar, Source Connect 4 for Voice Actors with Robert Marshall, on April 14th at 3:00 PM PT! Are you feeling uncertain about the necessity of upgrading to Source Connect 4? Are you unclear about its new features and functionality, or what will happen to your existing Source-Connect 3 license? This webinar is designed to address all your questions and concerns, providing voice actors with the essential information they need to navigate this new version. JOIN US ➡️ https://link.georgethe.tech/y-sc4rm - Website: http://georgethehtech Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/georgethetech Instagram: @georgethetech Podcast: http://theproaudiosuite.com

With Terrell sick with his family, this week of the MalloryBros Podcast the Bros ironically talk VIRTUALLY about the recent trend of AI Apps recreating well known Artistic styles with the simple touch of a button. They speak about how that creates tension between Original Artists and the future of technology. Which should we honor? Speed or Originality? The Bros also give thoughts on the controversial situation with Marvin Sapp and how he raises money with his church. This is a sensitive topic because it's wrapped with religion, but of course the Bros give an honest critique to the viral clip that's resurfaced this past week. Next they speak on the popular Youtube show "Pop The Balloon or Find Love"  whose creators just signed a new deal with Netflix to bring a special to Thursday nights. The Bros speak about what this means for creators and the heights that can be reached with a move like this. They also speak on if this is a good look for the culture or if some of the backlash is an overreaction. You decide. Later in the episode, Terrance speaks on an Emmitt Till fact that might actually shock you if you didn't know already, and the Bros end with a conversaton about Chris Brown's upcoming ERA's Tour and what this summer is about to look like for 2025 concerts. Of course with some "what you look like" bits in the mix, it's another week with the Boys! 

Today on the Wholesale Hotline Podcast (Wholesaling Inc Edition), Brent Daniels is joined by Rom Levy to discuss his real estate journey from newbie to deal closer. Show notes -- in this episode we'll cover: Rom Levy, a 22-year-old wholesaler from Israel, shares how he successfully closes deals in the U.S. without ever setting foot here. The power of cold calling—Rom spends four hours a day dialing homeowners, finding motivated sellers, and locking up deals virtually. How Rom overcame massive obstacles to turn a difficult deal into a $20,000 payday. The importance of mindset—how Rom stays motivated using affirmations, vision boards, and a strong “why” to push through the toughest challenges. Why surrounding yourself with the right people—like accountability groups—can accelerate your success in wholesaling. Please give us a rating and let us know how we are doing! ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ ☎️ Welcome to Wholesale Hotline & TTP Breakout

Virtually everything done in Francis' name in the last 40 days is fake.Sources:https://www.returntotradition.orgContact Me:Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.comSupport My Work:Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStineSubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-traditionBuy Me A Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStinePhysical Mail:Anthony StinePO Box 3048Shawnee, OK74802Follow me on the following social media:https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/https://twitter.com/pontificatormax+JMJ+

Virtually everything done in Francis' name in the last 40 days is fake.Sources:https://www.returntotradition.orgContact Me:Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.comSupport My Work:Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStineSubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-traditionBuy Me A Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStinePhysical Mail:Anthony StinePO Box 3048Shawnee, OK74802Follow me on the following social media:https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/https://twitter.com/pontificatormax+JMJ+