Podcasts about wild west

Upcoming municipal elections, recent hazardous icy conditions that disrupted city services, and various local initiatives, such as the Citizens Police Academy and student-athlete awards. Sports coverage includes Mansfield ISD basketball results and the signing of a new professional soccer player to North Texas SC. Listeners also receive health advice regarding heart disease prevention and a thematic cocktail recipe centered on the concept of personal growth. Finally, an in-depth interview highlights Mansfield Cares, a charitable organization hosting a "Wild West" themed fundraiser to support local food pantries and student scholarships.

Welcome back to Wayward Stories!   Tonight we're going to explore yet another location significant to America's Wild, Wild West! We're going to take a trip to Kansas City and explore the Arabia Steamboat Museum, as well as some of the jumping off locations for the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails. There will be steam boats, covered wagons, crappy ghost tours and so much more!   I hope you'll join me tonight to hear all about it!   If you'd like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to   mywaywardstory@gmail.com   -or-   Head on over to   www.waywardstories.com    

Setting up an IC-DISC the right way can mean the difference between maximizing tax savings and having issues down the road. In this episode of The IC-DISC Show, I sit down with Brian Schwam, IC-DISC specialist and tax attorney, to walk through the complete IC-DISC setup and compliance process from start to finish. This conversation was inspired by a CPA request for a comprehensive guide covering every step of the IC-DISC journey. Brian breaks down the entire process chronologically, from the initial consultation to determine if a business qualifies, through the critical formation steps that can make or break your IC-DISC. We cover proper capitalization requirements, the infamous 90-day election window, why non-interest bearing bank accounts matter, and the draconian 60-day payment rule that catches many businesses off guard. He explains the difference between simple and transaction-by-transaction calculations, sharing an example where detailed analysis increased a client's commission from $4 million to $17 million on $100 million in export sales. Whether you're a CPA learning about IC-DISC for the first time or a business owner considering this strategy, Brian's systematic approach demonstrates why working with a true specialist matters when navigating these complex regulations.     SHOW HIGHLIGHTS A detailed transaction-by-transaction calculation increased one client's IC-DISC commission from $4 million to $17 million on the same $100 million in export sales. Missing the 90-day election filing window requires a private letter ruling costing $35,000-$40,000 to fix, making it cheaper to just set up a new IC-DISC. The 60-day payment rule requires paying at least 50% of your estimated commission in cash or promissory note within 60 days of year-end to avoid disqualification. Setting up an IC-DISC with no par value stock is a fatal error that will cause the IRS to reject your election, regardless of everything else done correctly. A non-interest bearing bank account is essential because even $1.50 of interest income can disqualify your IC-DISC if no commission is paid that year. Export sales typically need to reach $3-5 million before an IC-DISC makes economic sense, though exceptions exist for businesses with exceptionally high profit margins.   Contact Details LinkedIn - Brian Schwam LINKSShow Notes Be a Guest About IC-DISC Alliance Brian SchwamAbout Brian TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Good morning, Brian. Welcome to the podcast. Brian Hey, good morning David. Good to be here. Dave: So I, I now refer to you as the Bob Hope of the podcast because I believe that Bob Hope holds the record for the most appearances on the Johnny Carson Show. So that's why you're like the Bob Hope of the podcast. You have more appearances than anyone else with today's appearance. Brian That's good company to be in if you're of a certain, if you're of a certain age. Dave: Yeah. And I'm not even sure you and I are quite old enough to even be of that certain age. Brian I probably never saw him on Johnny Carson. Dave: Yeah, me too. So this is an episode that was requested by a CPA of one of our clients who was retiring and he had a new. Partner taken over and he said, Hey Dave, can you send over a link to the episode that just goes through all the details of the IC disc from start to finish? And I'm like, well, we don't have that episode, but it's a great idea. So that's what's behind this. So let's start at the very beginning. Somebody calls you up and says, Hey Brian, I need an IC disc, or I want an IC disc. What's the very first step? Brian Very first step for me is to say why. Dave: Okay, Brian tell me about your business. Dave: Okay. Brian You know, do you have qualified export receipts? Do you have qualified export property? That those are very complex areas. And some people might think they do when they don't, and others might think they don't when they do. Dave: Okay. Brian And more likely than not, they heard about IC disc from. Somebody they met at a, you know, business leader meeting or something and somebody said, oh, hey, I have an IC disc. You should have one. Dave: Okay. Brian And not everybody can utilize one, but there's many out there that can utilize 'em that do not. Dave: Okay. And do you charge anything for that consultation? Brian No, because to me it's just a fact finding. Dave: Okay. So step one, figure out if their fact pattern warrants having an IC disc. Brian Right? Right. Well, it's, it's actually, that's one step. If you deter, if we determine that yes, an IC disc makes sense because they do have qualified export property, they do have qualified export receipts, then we have to talk about volumes. Because, you know, if you have 500,000 of export sales, most like more likely than not. Disc isn't gonna make sense. Dave: Economic sense when Brian you factor Right. Economic, the Dave: costs Brian not right. There's not enough benefit to offset the cost at that, at that level, most likely. Of course. It [depends on what, what it is they're selling. Dave: Sure. Do you have a rule of thumb you typically use? Is it like three or 5 million where it typically makes sense or every case Brian For most, for most businesses, that's sort of the range that where it starts to make sense, but there are always exceptions to that. Dave: Sure. Brian So like I had a client that had, you know, 600,000 of export sales, but their bottom line profit was 80%. Dave: Okay. Brian So in that instance, hey, it made sense, but for most companies that have 600,000 of export sales, it, it probably doesn't make sense. Dave: Okay. So let's say they have 5 million of exports, good margins, looks like it makes economic sense. What's the next step then? Brian Well then we talk about what is the tax structure of that exporting company? Is it a flow through entity? Is it a C Corp? And how is it owned? Sometimes [00:04:00] it's owned by a foreign company that makes things way more complicated. Okay. It's owned by a combination of different shareholders, some of which are individuals, some of which are corporations. So that can be complicated. And sometimes it's just a, it's just a pass through entity that's owned by, you know, let's say it's an S corporation that's owned by a family owned. Dave: Sure. Brian You know, so you, you can have a lot of different fact patterns and that will dictate a lot of things with, with respect. Dave: Okay. Brian To how the disc is organized. Dave: Might that also be the time? You inquire as to whether multiple discs might make sense for their structure, or do you typically just focus on kind of getting the initial disc in place and then exploring that over time? Brian Probably the latter. Dave: Yeah. Brian Initially I, you know, the goal is, you know, do you have enough activity? Do you have the right kind of activity? What kind of benefit is it that you think you can, we can get for you? And then, okay, if the answer to all those are in the positive, then it's like, okay, how should this disc be owned based on what we're trying to achieve and where should it be set up? Because that also can have a lot of negative surprises if you set it up in the wrong place. Dave: Yeah. So let's say and I think there's some rules of thumb like if if the. Exporting company is a C corp, you typically don't want the C Corp to own the disc, is that correct? Brian That is, that is correct. And that's because a C corporation pays tax on a dividend. It receives from the IC dis, so effectively there's no benefit. Dave: Okay. So with a C corp, typically it would be the individuals, individual or [individuals that Brian are Oh, the, the shareholders typically, Dave: yeah. Brian You know, possibly a management group could be involved as well, but typically we're talking about the shareholders of the C corporation. Dave: Yeah. And the shareholders of the disc do not necessarily have to mirror the shareholders of the C corp. Right. Brian That is sort of up in the air. I, I prefer that to be the case, but it doesn't have to be the case. Dave: Yeah, like in a simple example, census C Corp owned by one person and when they set it up, they wanna add a couple key employees to it. Brian Yeah. That, that, that's probably fine. You know, there's some old revenue rulings out there from the early 1980s that have a bad fact pattern, which the IRS held that the structure created gift tax issues, but that was like a mom and a dad and a son and a daughter, and mom and dad set up a disc and then gave the stock to the son and the daughter. And, and so that, that's, I see that's a bad fact pattern. What you described is a completely different fact pattern. There's no donative intent in that fact Dave: pattern. Yeah. Okay. In Brian fact, that I have a client that started out where the disc and the C Corp was. It did have mirror ownership, but over time, that has changed dramatically. But still, there's no donor of intent because we have all these unrelated families that own shares in the company in this quote company. And when there have been redemption opportunities over the years, they have the choice redeemed, the disc shares redeemed. The, the C corp shares redeemed them both. So some of like kept their dis shares, but gotten rid of the C Corp shares and vice versa. But really without the donative intent, plus some court case you know, precedent, I, I'm not [00:08:00] so concerned about that issue. Dave: Okay. Now let's switch gears and let's say it's a flow through an S-Corp partnership et cetera. Do you typically want the individuals to own it in that situation? Say that the company has three shareholders, would you just make them the three owners of the disc? More often than not, no. Okay. And why is that? Brian Because it, you get the same benefit by making the disc a subsidiary of the S corporation without some of the extra complexity associated with having the disc be owned by the shareholders. Now that, that's, that's preferred, but there are also situations where that doesn't make sense. Dave: Okay. Brian So let's say the, the S corporation is in California and the shareholder lives in Texas, or Florida. Or Nevada. Dave: Okay. Brian So they might want that dividend income flowing directly to them so that there's [00:09:00] no state Oh. So that there's no state income tax on the dividend. Dave: Sure, sure. Brian Okay. Okay. Yeah. So again, it's just another fact you need to uncover in the process of trying to figure all this out. Dave: Okay, so you've met with the client, you've figured out a disc makes sense, you've dug further you figured out the ownership structure of the disc. That makes sense. So then I guess you have to figure out where to incorporate, huh? Brian Yeah. And that again, there are good states and bad states. Dave: Okay. Brian Some states will tax an IC dis as a regular C corporation, you wanna avoid those states. Some states don't have an income tax at all, and those are good states to deal with. Dave: Okay. Brian And the three, you know, I'd say there's three states that are predominantly viewed as positive, and that would be Delaware, Texas, and Nevada. Okay. They're all fairly similar. For filing. And, and none of them have a corporate income tax on the dis so that's, that's all good in terms of not adding additional costs to the, the structure. Dave: Okay. So I'm in Texas and thus you, it seems like most of my clients end up incorporating in Texas. Do you just so here we are January 8th. We're recording this of 2026. So do you just do you just get around to doing it anytime before the end of the year and then you could use the disc the whole year? Is that how it works? Brian It's not how it works. It's generally a prospective opportunity. So you wanna get that entity formed as quickly as possible. Dave: Okay. Yeah. I've had people, I've heard [00:11:00] people say that if you don't do it on January 1st, you just have to wait till the next year. Brian No. That, well, that's certainly not true. And from any date forward that you set it up, you can certainly get benefits or shipments. Okay. That they, but one other item that I forgot to mention earlier, they also like to ask if the, if the related supplier entity, which is the exporter, if they're an accrual based company or a cash basis, Dave: ah, Brian that's an, that's an incredibly important issue Dave: Sure. Brian Dealt with. That's why. Dave: Okay. Brian Because the disc is an accrual base taxpayer by default. Dave: Yeah. Okay, we'll get into that when we get further around the, Brian okay. Dave: I think about when I was a kid, there was a, there was a Saturday morning TV series I think called schoolhouse Rock. And one of the episodes was how, how a bill becomes a Law [00:12:00] And there's the whole steps, the Brian episode, everybody remembers. Dave: Yep. Yep. So everybody our age at least. Okay, so you've got the disc set up and say you do it in Texas and let's say they make the decision January 8th, takes a few days to, you know, just kind of get stuff, you know, information from the client set up. And let's say you get it set up January 15th, so then they're good to go, huh? They can just start using that disc and away we go. Anything else? Ha. That has to be done Or is it, is it that some Brian on the, on the surface, yes, that's true. Dave: Okay. Brian But beneath the surface, there's other things that have to take place. Dave: Okay. What's the next thing that has to happen after you've formed the disc? Brian Well, you have a, there's a 90 day window to file a disc collection with the IRS. That's probably the most critical thing that has to happen. You have to file an actual paper form with the IRS to elect disc status for the company, because the company, when you set it up, it's just a corporation. Without that election, it's not a disc. Dave: And that election, is this the famous form 48, 76 dash a, is that said election, Brian famous or infamous in some cases, Dave: yes. Yeah. Okay. So you have to, so you just well, you just go to the IRS website. Download the form, send it in, bing, bam. Boom. You're done. You're good to go. Brian Not exactly. Dave: Okay. That's the Brian first Dave: step. Brian Skip. That's the first step. But the I mean, first of all, when you're setting up the disc, you have to make sure you incorporate it properly. Dave: Okay. Brian I kind of glossed over that. Dave: And what are some of the elements of proper incorporation? Brian Well, for example, when you go to a, the Texas website or any other secretary of State website to organize the company, because it can be done all online, [00:14:00] like the default is always, you know, no par value stock, right. Brian If you just select the default, you are going to have a problem because Okay. Dis rules require, you know, par or stated value of $2,500 on the, issued an issued an outstanding stock of, of the disk. So I had a client that came to me years ago. They had set up a company in, well, they used Wyoming, which is also possible to use, and it's not a bad jurisdiction. And they had, he had his quote unquote friend that who was an attorney, set it up for him. And there were some issues with the DISC collection and it went back and forth and then ultimately took a look at the articles of incorporation and it had, you know, $1 power stock, 1000 shares. Dave: Ah, that's a problem. Brian That's, [00:15:00] yeah. So no matter what happened with the disc election and the back and forth with the IRS, the disc election was ultimately never approved because the entity didn't meet the requirement. Having enough outstanding capital stock. So you have to have one and it can only have one class of shares. So there are, you know, there are some hoops you have to jump through in terms of not doing things incorrectly or doing things correctly. So you have to make sure there's one class of stock, $2,500 par value. There can't be foreign sales corporation in the same patrol group, which years ago was a big deal, but now it's not really a big deal because those have been gone for many years and almost nobody has one left. Not, not really an issue there. And what, you know, those are the formation matters that, that mattered, that are important to make sure you, you meet when you form the entity. Okay? If it's formed wrong, right from the get go, you have a problem. If [00:16:00] it's formed correctly, then the next step is yes, file a disc election. Dave: And, but before you file the disc election, there's a step we're missing, right? Doesn't the DISC election require. To put the corresponding EIN for the distance. Oh yes. I mean, I just assumed we, yeah, you obviously you have to apply for an ID number for the new entity that does not come automatically with the incorporation. Brian 'cause that's done with the state as opposed with the IRS yes. Dave: Yeah. And that's become more challenging. It used to be pretty easy to get an EIN you could apply under a corporate name or Brian yeah. But there, there's a, you know, there is an online portal with the IRS to get an EIN for a domestic company. So it's not, it's not Dave: terrible. Yeah. Brian It's not terrible. Dave: Yeah. So you have the EIN that you need for the 48 76 ae. Brian Right. Dave: You have you have 90 days, Brian you have the proper capitalization. Dave: Yeah. Brian You figured out who's gonna own the disc because the, the disc collection is. Signed, you know, it's not just made by the disc entity. It's made by the disc entity, then consented to by the shareholder. So you have to make sure that all that takes place. I can't tell you the number of times where somebody filled out part one, the disc signed it, and then the shareholder forgot the consent to it. And if you don't do the 48 76 dash eight correctly, you get it filed timely. It's an extremely expensive fix to try and get that Dave: rectified. Brian Generally, you have to try to get a private letter ruling, which will grant an extension of time to file the late disc collection. Dave: Okay. Brian And that's that's an expensive process. It's a 25 to $30,000 exercise to [00:18:00] file the private letter, really. Plus you have to pay a user fee to the IRS of 10,000, 11,000. Dave: Wow. Yeah. It seems that seems inconvenient at, at best. Brian And for most companies, they're better off just setting up a second dose Dave: Sure. Brian As opposed Dave: to process, Brian because how much volume there is. Dave: Yeah. Yeah. And I understand the IRS itself refers to these as a, a paper entity. So I guess since it's a paper entity, that's it. No need to fuss around with a bank account or actually have to capitalize it with actual money is there. Brian It's, it's recommended, but you're right, it's not required. There's no requirement in the disk rules to set up a bank account. Dave: Okay. Brian So there it could simply have. A receivable receiv for the capital stock. And that can be, its working capital doesn't have to have a bank account, but that's sort of a misnomer that people think it must have a bank account. Okay. In the original regulations, that was a requirement, but when the regulations are finalized, the requirement was removed. Dave: Okay. But practically speaking, it you probably wanna have a bank account. Brian Yes. Practically speaking, it makes all the sense in the world to have a bank account, a non-interest bearing bank account. Dave: And why is the non-interest bearing important? Brian Well, it, it has to do with one of the annual requirements of a disc. That 95% of its receipts have to be qualified export assets. I'm sorry, receipts. And so let's say in a year the company decides. You can't always decide not to use the DIS even though you've got it in place. So let's say the company says, well we're not gonna use the, this year we had a loss. In our business there's no using. Dave: Okay. Brian We say, okay, and then the DIS bank account earned a dollar 50 of interest income. Dave: Okay, Brian well 100% of the receipts are now not qualified receipts. Okay. Income and no other revenue. If there was a non-interest bearing bank account, it would just have no receipts and then it would be fine. But the earning, the dollar 50 of interest would disqualify that. Dave: Okay. So non-interest bearing account and then I guess the dollar amount in the bank account, what you start with, $2,500 initially. Brian Yeah, pretty much keep it there forever. Dave: But, but it doesn't matter if you end up, oh, if you're a little lazy and you forget to distribute all the money and you end up with 50 grand at the end of the year, that, that's not a problem, is it? Brian It is. Dave: It is. Everything's a problem Brian with you, Brian, because everything, 'cause the, these rules are draconian and everything can become a problem. So a commission dis anyway, a comm, [00:21:00] you know, a paper entity commission dis doesn't need $50,000 of working capital. And the IRS would hold that, that that's not a qualified export out. Like having too much working capital in DIS will cause it to fail. The other test, which is the 95 qualified export asset test 2,500, you know, an amount of cash equal to the capital stock is fine. Dave: Sure. Brian Amounts above that start to, you know, raise questions as to whether. That's reasonable working capital or not? Given that the entity's a paper entity, it doesn't really have any expenses. Maybe some bank fees. That would be about it. In most cases, it really doesn't need cash sitting. Dave: Yeah. Yeah. So maybe 3000, 3,500 to account for some bank fees or, Brian yeah, at most, yeah, we start getting about 5,000. It really starts to [00:22:00] look questionable. Dave: Okay. Oh, I just realized, I think in the initial assessment there was a step we forgot and that's, do they want to make it a buy sell disc or a commission disc? What percentage of your clients are commission discs? Mine a hundred percent. That's Brian 99%. Dave: Yeah. So we're just stepping ahead assuming that it would be a commission disc, Brian right. I mean, the only time you would really have a buy sell disc. 'cause if you have a business where. They're buying inventory from unrelated parties. And all the inventory is manufactured in the US and all of it is export. Dave: Yeah. Brian Okay. That, that, that I do have, like I said, two clients that have adopted that structure. One was commissioned disc with an S-corp and they converted, they merged the S-corp into the disc and just became an operating disc. You know, and that's a little different than a buy sell disc. I mean, an operating disc. People think of buy, sell dis an operating disc for the same thing. They're really not. I mean, 'cause you could have a, the equivalent of a commission disc, but have it be by sell where it could buy product from its related exporter and then export it. Dave: Okay. Brian It's possible that, that, that tho that fact pattern, I don't have any clients in. Dave: Okay. Brian It's possible. Dave: Okay. So we've got the election filed and then at some point the IRS will send the taxpayer letter approving the election, right? Brian Correct. That is, that was true. Dave: And then so we've got the, the B and usually it makes more sense to have the disc bank account at the same bank as the operating company, right? Brian It typically does, Dave: yes. Yeah. And we'll get into that when we get further into the operation of the disc. Okay. So it's all set up. And elections filed, election approved. So now certainly we're done with incorporation and government governance matters, right? Brian No. No, Dave: not yet. Brian Not yet. Not yet. Okay. We still have to make sure there's a a call, a related supplier agreement or disc commission supplier agreement in place between the, the exporting entity or entities and the disc itself. This document is, it's not, again, it's not required in the regulations, but it is recommended. It gives the related supplier a lot of flexibility in how it uses the disc and if it uses the disc and it gives it unilateral powers to decide not to use the disc. It also lays out the, you know, sort of boil legal boilerplate language about an inter intercompany agreement between the two business. Dave: So you could just go to chat GPT and have them spool up a one page sales agent agreement. Is that right? Brian Maybe. I don't know. I haven't tried that 'cause I don't wanna teach chat GPT how to, how to do that, but because every time you ask it a question, you teach it, right? Dave: Sure. Brian General, no, it's a pretty specific agreement and it has very specific provisions in it. Provisions and so somebody that knows what they're doing really needs to draft them. Dave: Okay. Okay. So this is kind of pointing away from just having your general corporate attorney who's never heard of a disc, do all that quote paperwork. Brian Yeah. I never recommend. I always recommend that a specialist do it, namely myself take care of it. Dave: Okay. Yeah. 'cause you are, in addition to having an accounting background, you're also a tax attorney, correct? Brian Correct. Dave: Correct. Okay. Brian Yeah. And you know, some of the documents that need to be created, yeah. That can be done by a general corporate attorney like bylaws and those as well and or other organizational documents that aren't disc specific can only be done by any attorney. But but if, but really it doesn't make sense to split that work up amongst different attorneys. Dave: Okay. Sure. Brian It all sort of be done by the same party to make sure that it's, that everything gets taken here. Dave: Okay. Brian And timely because there's a 90 day window to get this, in my opinion, to get this all done. Dave: Yeah, to co to coincide with the election filing. Brian Right. Because typically I don't provide any of the documents, including the election, to the, to the client until all these things are done. Dave: Yeah. Oh, I see. Sure, sure. Because then there's, Brian you know, they have to sign the disc election and there's all these other documents they need to sign and put in a minute book. And so rather than piecemeal it, we just give it to them all at once. Dave: Okay. So they've got their binder with all their signed documents or a signed copy of the 48 76 A that was filed a copy of the approval from the IRS. So now finally, are we ready to get started using our disc? Is there. Brian Collection the I. Yeah. As you've probably seen in the news, things are changing at the postal service as far as postmarks and what they can be relied on as when something was considered filed. So they're not promising the postmark things that they, you drop them in the mail anymore. Dave: Oh, really? Okay. I hadn't heard that. Brian Yeah. So it's recommended to go, like, walk it to a counter and have it hands stamped with [00:28:00] a postmark. Yeah. But more importantly, and unfortunately not everybody listens to this, send the form certified mail return receipt requested. 'cause many times document is sent to Kansas City and they lose track. Oh, we never got your dis election. We can't process your dis return, whatever. And then there's proof that it was sent and then they have to, you know, find it basically. Dave: Okay. Or Brian at least accept it, maybe even if they never find. Dave: Yeah. Brian But there's one other thing about the disc and that we didn't talk about and, and I'm reminded of it because something you asked me in passing last week, which is something about the year end of the disc, the year end of the disc must coincide with its principal shareholder. So if I have a C corp that's a fiscal year, but the owners of the disc aren't gonna be [00:29:00] individuals, that disc will be a calendar year disc. Dave: Sure. Brian Not be a fiscal year company. And you know, if. It's owned by, let's say an S corp that has a fiscal year, then the disc will have a fiscal year. It, it must have the same year as its principalship. Dave: Okay. Yeah. Good. Thanks for the reminder of that. Brian And sometimes the disc collection gets filled out incorrectly. Somebody assumes one thing and, and then when a return is filed, the IRS, they're like, they, they dunno what to do. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Now finally, do we have a little bouncing baby disc to be delivered to its proud parents? I think so. Dave: Okay. Okay. Okay. Brian And that's usually, it's usually about three to five months after it was formed. Dave: Okay. Brian Is when it started eating solids. Dave: Okay. Alright, so now we've got the disc set up and 9:45 AM I'm, I'm sorry, I keep touching my watch and it says the time, apparently it's time to just take off my watch. Okay. So now, so let's just say that they have not yet set up the bank account. They've done everything else, and now it's time to set up the bank account so they, you know, call their local banker. They get it set up at the same bank, so it can be on the same online banking platform. And then they fund it. And does it matter where the funding comes, comes from for that bank account? Can they just like say the company. I mean, can just anybody fund it? Say there's three shareholders, can just one shareholder write a check for $2,500 to fund it? Or how does that all look? Brian Well, I mean, there, there will be a subscription agreement that shows how much each shareholder owes for their shares, and each shareholder should pay for them. Okay. Can't just be one. Dave: Okay. So we have the bank account set up, we're ready to go. And so now we're at the end of the year, or approaching the end of the year. Let's say we're in November of 2026. Anything we need to do before the end of the year Brian for an accrual based taxpayer? No. Okay. There's nothing paid to do, but before the end of the year. Dave: And what about for a cash basis? Brian For a cash basis, taxpayer, if we want a deduction in 2026. We need to pay the DIS in 2026, so Dave: we Brian would need to gather information in order to estimate a DIS commission for 2026 before the end of the year. Dave: Okay. So cash basis, that's what we need to do by the end of the year. Accrual basis. Basis, no. Do I need to do [00:32:00] anything by the end of the year? Brian You don't need to. You have an option to, if you'd like to, if you wanna have an idea of what the disc commission might be, or you actually wanna pay it before the end of the year, but there's no requirement. Dave: Yeah. And if you don't, and if you don't pay it by the end of the year, you get a deferral benefit Brian possibly. Dave: Yeah so say, say you did a hundred million of exports and your commission was $20 million. You just get to defer that whole thing till the next year, right? Brian No, Dave: no. Brian, all you say is No. Every good idea have you just say No. Brian It could defer 10% of it to the next year because only the income related to 10 million of export sales can be deferred, and it'd be a little less than 10% because the disc wasn't there the whole year. So we'd have to prorate that 10 million for the number of days the disc existed. And then some sliver can be deferred, but the rest of it is gonna be taxed to the shareholders as a deemed dividend Dave: in the current year. In the Brian current. Dave: Okay. Brian Then not taxed when physically distributed in the following. Dave: Okay, so we have an accrual tax payer. We get into the to 2027, and let's say they're extending their corporate return and they're planning to file that in August of 27. So we're done. We don't have anything else to do before August. Right? Brian That's not true either. Dave: Brian, Brian you're Dave: killing me. Brian Yeah, well, it, I mean, it depends. If nothing was done before the end of the year, then something needs to be done within the first 60 days after the accrual base taxpayer. Or, you know, let's say the cash base taxpayer says, I don't [00:34:00] care if I get my deduction next year, so I'm not gonna pay anything this year. Something needs to be paid at this within 60 days of the end of the year. Dave: So is this one of those things like the sales agent agreement, that that's just recommended? Brian No, this is required. Dave: Required. Okay. Brian Yeah. This is required. This is, this is one of the hot buttons the IRS will try to use to disqualify your disc. Dave: Okay. Brian So the disc accrues a receivable at the end of the year, even though it doesn't know the amount at the end of the year for all, for, for disc purposes and books an an accrual for the income at the end of the year. That accrual or the receivable is only a qualified export asset if, if the payment rules around that receivable or satisfy. Dave: Okay. Okay. Brian One Dave: rule Rules. Rules. There's always rules. Brian Yeah. It's very draconian. You have a 60 day rule and a 90 day rule. 60 day rule says you must pay a reasonable estimate of the disc commission to the disc within 60 days of the end of the year in cash or. It could be cash, it could be a note. Dave: And reasonable is just any old amount. You just put your finger in the air and ah, I think a hundred dollars is reasonable. Brian Again, that's not the case. There is a safe harbor for what is reasonable, and that safe harbor is f at least 50% of the final commission amount that you Dave: determine. But how do you know that in February Brian you have, Dave: if you're not preparing the corporate, Brian you have to try to compute an estimate before the end of FE Dave: and you have to nail it exactly at 50%. So if you think the commission's gonna be $1,217,412, you need to pay exactly 50% of that, Brian at least. [00:36:00] Dave: Oh, at least. So you could pay more. At Brian least you could pay more. And we always recommend maybe paying 75 to 80%. Dave: Okay. Brian Because if you pay whatever you pay. That amount is gonna be your limit. So if you thought it was gonna be a million and you paid 500,000 and it turns out to be 1,000,500, too bad. So sad, you only paid 500,000, you're capped at a million. Dave: Okay? I mean, that's the safe harbor. I suppose there might be circumstances where, where one could argue that they maybe the first year of the disc, and you know, they, they, Brian you can argue it, you can try to argue it, but there's no guarantee that the IS will accept any of the arguments. And the private letter rulings that exist from the 1970s would imply that they, they're really not going to accept just about any rationale for being reasonable other than that 50% bright [00:37:00] line safe harbor. Dave: Okay so you make the payment, Brian make that payment, and. Dave: Can you just book a journal entry? Do you, do you actually have to really move the money? It sounds like a hassle. Brian I mean, in, in general you have to, you have to either create a note or move cash. Dave: Okay. Brian Okay. Dave: But that might be a lot of money though. Like what if, what if it's like $2 million and million? The company only has a million dollars in the bank. Brian They could use the same capital multiple times. Dave: Oh, okay. Brian And roundtrip the money as many times as they need to, or like I said, use the, use the promissory note. Dave: Okay. Brian Short term promissory note to satisfy that requirement because it does say cash or property. Dave: Okay. So we get through February, we've made our, our 60 day payment. We've, we've, you know, sh sh we've, we, instead of doing 50%, we did about 80% of what we thought it was gonna be to give us some cushion, and now we can go take a vacation till the till the corporate returns ready. Brian Yeah. I, I, I think so. Dave: Okay. Brian I think so. Dave: Okay. So it's time to now. So it's time. Now, if they extend that corporate return, I guess they're gonna have to extend the disc return as well. Brian Well, the disc return is due September 15th as a matter of course. Dave: Oh, Brian are handy. There are no extensions. So really as far as the disc and its compliance goes, once you make that 60 day payment, there's really not much you can or should do or are able to do until the related entities tax return. Prepared. [00:39:00] So a lot of times they'll say, well, that's not gonna be done till September 15th, and we have to have a discussion about how that doesn't work because the disc return has to be done by September 15th, but in order to do the disc return, you need to basically a completed within it supplier returns. So then we have to work backwards from September 15th to figure out like when's the latest they can have that, that other return done in order Dave: to Brian get the disc return done. Now that's relatively easy in the past through context because all those pass through returns are also due September 15th on extension. Dave: Sure. Brian Whereas a C corporation, it's not so easy because the extended due date for a C corporation, if it's a calendar year is October 15th. So it may be that you have to file a disc return with a made up number on time and then amend it after. Okay. After September 15th. I've done that a number of times. Dave: Okay. So that makes sense. Brian Because as is good as CPAs are, they're deadline driven. So if a return is due October 15th, they're unlikely to have it done by the end of August. Dave: Yeah. Okay. So it's time to file the disc return. I assume the CPA firm probably has that disc return and their standard tax software with all the other forms. So you just have the CPA go ahead and prepare the disc return. I've looked at it, it's a short return. It's like 10 pages long. So you just go ahead and have the CPA prepare the disc return, then bing, bam, boom, you're done. Brian Could do that. Dave: Okay. Is there a drawback to doing that? Brian Yeah, it would probably be wrong. Dave: Okay. Why do you say that? Now, remember [Brian, we have a lot of CPAs who we have very good relationships with that we share clients, you know, saying that they're probably gonna do it wrong. I mean, heck, I don't really wanna annoy all my great CPAs we work with Brian Well, okay, but it, well, it's just a fact. It'll probably okay Dave: be Brian wrong because they might see one or two or three a year. They, they think they know what all the different terms on the district return mean, but they're not as familiar with that as they are with a S Corp return or a partnership return, or 1120. So they do what they think is right, and it may be right, it may not be right. So again, I, in my opinion, you want a specialist preparing the district return. Dave: Okay. Brian Okay. Because we know exactly how it's supposed to be filled out. And then if, if the calculation is done on a transaction by transaction [00:42:00] basis, there's this schedule P that gets attached to the return. Well, if you don't do a T by T, there's one Schedule P. If you do a T by T, there could be thousands of them. So I don't think CPAs and their software are equipped to complete thousands of schedule Ps and attach Dave: Yeah. Brian To the district. Dave: No, good point. And you're, you're getting your your enthusiasm to get to T by t had me, you got a little ahead of me. 'cause I was gonna ask, so client says, Hey, we have a desk. Our accounting department's busy. What's just the bare minimum of information we need to send you? What's the bare minimum? Brian Bare minimum would be qualified export sales. Dave: They just need to send you a number. Brian Yes. Dave: Then you take that number and how hard can it be? Right. Just take the, Brian it's not, it's not necessarily that hard at that point. Dave: Yeah. But say the profit on those sales [00:43:00] is the average profit of the company and taxable profit. And you compute the disc commission, you go through the Schedule P and compute the disc commission and pick the higher of the two numbers that you, that you compute. So you would just be like the final draft, corporate return and that total export number, you know, dollar amount for the year. And, and that's really all you need to, to do. That's Brian the bare bone. That's the bare bones, yeah. Dave: Okay. And that's what some people would call the standard calculation or a simple calculation, Brian I'd call it simple. Yeah. Dave: Okay. And that's also known as the 4% 50% calculation in some circles. Right. How does that work? Brian Well, it's also known as the safe harbor calculation in certain circles as well. Back to that, Dave: back to that safe harbor again. Brian Yeah. But that's actually not a safe harbor, so that's why I bring that up. Dave: Okay, well Brian that's the safe harbor calculation. I'm like, no, it's not. It's just the [00:44:00] calculation. There's nothing safe harbor about Dave: it. Okay. Brian Okay. It's just the rules that are found in the code and regs for computing and disc commission, and they're the two predominant methods. 4% of sales and the 50% of net profit, Dave: you just cherry pick whichever one works better. Brian Yeah, but the 4% method has limitations. So Dave: more limitations probably. Why? Why can't this just be simple? You said it was the simple calculation and now you're already telling me there's inherent complexity. Brian Even if it's simple, it's not totally simple. Dave: Okay. Okay, Brian so the, and I've seen this done wrong. Millions, well, not millions, hundreds of times, and I can say it is hundreds of times. Client computes the 4% method just by choosing 4% of sales. They don't look at what their net income is on the, on the [00:45:00] activity. They just say, oh, I'm allowed to use 4% of sales. The limit there is you cannot create a loss. There's something called the no loss rules. You can't create a loss with a disc commission if one doesn't already exist. So if the profit on, say, on the sales are 2% of sales, you can't take 4% of sales. You're limited to 2% of sales. And if, for example, you have a loss of the company, you're limited to zero. But I've seen situations where that's completely ignored. Dave: Okay? Brian Properly computed this commission of 4% of sales, but it should have been something less or possibly zero. Dave: Okay? So more complexity, but the good news, that's the extent of the complexity. One, schedule P, 4%, 50%, you know, make sure you, you don't create a loss. Now we're, we're all done. Pop. You [00:46:00] know what, what? Dusted and dusted and delivered we're, we're good to go. They've maximized their dis commission, right? And we're all done. They have a nice 10 page return to send to the IRS. Which by the way, can they file that electronically, that return? Brian Fortunately, there are no provisions for electronic filing of the disc return. It must be, Dave: what is this, the 1970s or something? Brian Pretty much Dave: Okay Brian with, with regard to the disc? Yeah. And, and some other forms. Yeah. But the, the, the benefit of that, here, I'll give you a benefit. The benefit of the fact that you must file a paper return is they can have an electronic signature on it. Okay. It doesn't have to have a wet signature. Dave: Okay? Okay. Brian So you could theoretically, for example, send your client the return using DocuSign, have them sign it. You print it, you file it for, Dave: okay. Okay. But, but now we're finally done. It's signed, it's done. And they say, boy, thank you very much, Brian. You've done, your team did a great job, and boy, I really appreciate, you know, we had 10 million of exports. We have all kinds of variability in our profit margins. And, but thank you very much. You, you created the amazing $400,000 or you calculated the 400,000 disc commission. Thank you very much. I couldn't imagine you went above and beyond. I couldn't imagine you could have done anything more. And then what do you say? Do you graciously say, oh, you're welcome. It was our pleasure. Brian I would graciously say, you know, we, we've just computed your minimum disc commission. Dave: Okay, Brian not your maximum. Because you have Dave: vast, lemme guess. Lemme guess. There's more complexity coming. Brian More complexity, which relies on more data being. Pulled from the client's [00:48:00] records to, to allow for a calculation of the DISC commission at a more detailed level, ideally at a line item by invoice level, Dave: line item. That sounds like a lot of work. Brian It can be. Can be a Dave: lot. What if the client says, our accounting department's busy? Sounds like we're gonna have to spend weeks gathering all this data for you. Eh, it's just, we're too busy, it's not worth it. What do you say then? Brian I gu I almost can guarantee you it will be worth it. Okay. Because looking at the detail is likely to cause at Disconnect commission to be anywhere from 50 to three, 400% higher than what it otherwise would've been. Now, unfortunately, in that first year, since you've already filed with a certain number, you're limited to two times what you paid in that 60 day window. But going forward. You know, there's no limit. Dave: Okay. Brian Whatever we compute can be your disc commission. So different industries have different amount of variability and t and transaction by transaction calculations have different impacts depending upon the industry, the profitability of the business, how many products they have, who they sell to. But it can vary. But I'll give you an example of one that we worked on recently where company had a hundred million of export sales. They took 4% of sales, and they've been taking 4% of sales year after year, after year, after year, after year, Dave: okay. Brian They brought us in like three weeks before the district return. Dave: Okay. Brian And we went through the calculations and we actually calculated 17 million Dave: as opposed to 4 million. Brian As opposed to four. Dave: [00:50:00] Yikes. That's a big difference. Brian It's a huge difference. And fortunately they were, you know, well, I mean they were very pleased with the result. And so now on a going forward basis, we're not doing 4% of sales. Dave: Okay? But you still have this. But if they were able to get a $17 million commission, then that means their corporate taxable income must have been at least 17 million. 'cause didn't I hear you say the disc commission cannot cause a loss. Brian It cannot cause a loss at the level at which you're computing the commission. So there's no, you're killing me, Brian. Just more complexity. Yeah. Well, it's very complex area. There's, there's no overall no loss rule. Like if you, you can, as long as you're meeting the rules as they're written, you can cause your entity to go into a loss position. Now, this particular instance, it did not do that, but [00:51:00] you could do that. Dave: Okay. And then if you get into a loss position, there are other non disc complexities that come into play that impact whether you want to maximize the loss in that entity or you want to target a particular loss in that entity. And that's not something that we get involved with, but we're certainly sensitive to it. Sure. Sure. And so you're saying for this client, even though I've heard some people say you've got the simple calc and then the hard calc. And so you'd wonder why would anyone do the hard calc? Well, it's because their commission went from 4 million to 17 million, which saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars. You created hundreds or millions of dollars with additional tax savings. Brian Right, right. Dave: Okay. Brian And by the way, after the first conversation we had with them, they said, oh [00:52:00] yeah, this is not something we can do. The accounting department said, this is not something we can do. Then the owner said, this is something you're gonna, Dave: it's funny how that, how that works. Okay. And then I'm guessing this extra work. You, you're probably gonna have to create another schedule P or two. So now the disc return, it's gonna be 10 pages. It's what? 20 pages? Is that kind of a typical page count? Brian No, it could be Dave: no. Brian Thousands of pages. Dave: Thousands. I mean, Brian, a ream of paper is 500. So thousands would be reams of paper. Brian Yes. I've had some returns that have like 15 binders of paper. Dave: Yikes. Brian Yeah. Just goes in a big box and I'm sure the IRS types, all those schedule Ps into their, Dave: I'm sure they do. Okay. So the return gets filed, so the return's ready. You take that box, you just slap a you print off a postal label online, drop it off at the post office. And you're done, right? You just give it to carrier, Brian understand, Dave: carrier, carrier your house or whatever. Brian Well, you can send it via FedEx. You can send it via UPS. And actually, in some ways, I think that might be better these days than the postal service. Dave: And why do you have to do that? Can you just slap, I mean, if you have your 15 binders, couldn't you just put a hundred stamps, you know, on the, the box and ship it in because they'll get it, right? I mean, it's not like they're gonna lose it or anything. Brian They might, they could very well lose it. And you definitely want proof of delivery and you want proof of mailing. So again, it's a certified mail if you're using the postal service or if you're using a private carrier like FedEx, you know, you get all that documentation about when it was shipped and when it was delivered.[00:54:00] Dave: Okay, well now at least we're finally done. Right? You ship it off. The CPA pulls the numbers from the disc return, puts it on the corporate and shareholder returns. Now we're done. It's gone to the IRS. We never have to think about it again. Right. Brian I'm not sure if that's a trick question or not, but in some ways that could be true, Dave: right? Yeah. But it, but I guess you could get audited, right? Brian Could get audited by an agent who has no idea what they're doing, which is typically the case. Dave: So that's why you want your CPA defending you in that case. 'cause then it's like the blind leading the blind. Brian No, I think it's better if someone with site is involved. So again, the specialist who did the disc work should represent the taxpayer or be involved with the representation of taxpayer in the case of the audit. Dave: Okay. Brian And the should be involved. Because really what's under, what's really in question is the [00:55:00] deduction on that entity's tax return. The dis itself doesn't pay tax. So they rarely audit a dis quote. Dave: Okay? So if I break it down, you to do it really right? You need a specialist to guide you on the initial structure of the disc. You need another specialist to set up the, the disc. You need another specialist to do all the paperwork, make sure the document's correct another specialist to prepare the return, and then another specialist to defend you. So is that about right? So do you need like five different people to make sure everything's done right? Brian? Isn't there some way that you could just have one person that could just do it all for you and be done with it? Brian Well, of course. Dave: Okay. Finally, finally, I get a simple answer, Brian right? So if you, if you engage a disc specialist, that [specialist should be able to do all that. Dave: Okay? Brian Okay. Now, not every disc specialist is created equally. Dave: Sure. Brian You know, I brought up during our conversation that there are some non disc things that can also add complexity to the situation. Not every disc specialist will be sensitive to those things. Not every disc specialist will understand those things. So the benefits that like our organization brings is that. Least myself in particular, I didn't always just do IC disc work. I, I, I have a well-rounded knowledge of all of the, of the tax world. And so I am sensitive to non disc things. You know, for example, you know, another example, oh, a company has a lot of export sales. You would think it's a no brainer. They should have a dis, they should use the dis. They should, they, they should want to convert that ordinary income to qualified dividend [00:57:00] income. Well, what if the S-corp is owned by an ebit? What if there are passive shareholders? All of those things impact whether the disc commission actually helps or hurts their tax situation. And I would get, I would venture a guess that, you know, if you went out and Googled, you know, I see this specialist, you would find a handful. At most that understand all that stuff and how all it all interplays together as opposed to the multitude of those that won't understand any of it. Dave: Okay. Brian So I think a, a disc specialist that is sensitive to all the other tax rules is, is definitely something that is valuable. Dave: And you probably want someone with some experience who's done maybe, you know, what a dozen disc returns in their career, maybe 50 if they're really good. Like how many, how many have we done organization wide? Probably Brian probably 10,000. Dave: 10,000? Well, that's a lot more than 50. Brian Yes. Over the years it's probably close to that number. And we've probably claimed billions of dollars of just deductions and saved clients, hundreds of millions of dollars of tax. And, and I'm proud to say that every dollar we've ever claimed we've. Okay. Dave: So Brian I've never had an adjustment from the IRS. Dave: Well, that sounds like a, a good a good record. So bottom line, Brian that's, that's the best you can come up with a good record. I'd say it's Dave: well, I didn't wanna say a perfect record. I didn't want to jinxy. Brian No, but it's, it's, it's, it's pretty outstanding record. Dave: Yeah. It's a, it's an impressive record Brian because there are also just providers out there that say, well, you know, Dave: it's the Wild West. Brian The wild west, the IRS doesn't really understand it, so let's be as aggressive as possible. And, and that's not the way we approach it. Dave: Yeah. Wow. Well, this has been this has been a lot. So really it's that simple. So the person who wants to just do all this themselves, we've laid out the whole playbook for them. Brian Yeah. The only simple thing they have to do is call us. Dave: There you go. That is it. Yeah. And, and oh, the other thing, not only are you the Bob, hope you now have moved from number two to number one for the most experienced icy disc guy. I know now that Neil Block is retired. Brian Well, that's, I don't know if that's a plus or not. Whether I'll take it just means I've been doing it a long time myself. So Dave: yeah, Neil was, I think my second, first or second guess. And and I was just happy. 'cause his billing rate back then was like $1,500 an hour. I was just glad I didn't get a bill a month later for him being on the podcast. But he, [01:00:00] he did it for exactly 50 years at one firm, baker and McKinsey in Chicago. He had one office, one phone number, like the whole 50 years. Brian Yeah. That's, Dave: that is something you don't see much anymore. Brian Definitely not, no. It's, but it's very, that's. That's very cool. And Neil is a very, you know, is a very intelligent savvy guy. Dave: Yeah, that is for sure. Well, Brian, anything else that we didn't cover that you can think of? Brian I can't think of anything. I think we covered a, a great deal here. Dave: Okay. Brian Can't think. Dave: Well, I, I'll let Brian we omitted. Dave: Well, great. Well, hey, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. And I'll let you get back to your, your exploration of your yard there. Brian Yeah. I feel like, it's funny I shrunk the kids. Dave: I know. Well, hey, well, well again, thanks again, Brian. We all appreciate your time. Brian You're welcome. Have a good day. Dave: You too.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Tami Rowen discuss the listener questions that arose from her last episode on Critically Speaking. From drinking soy milk as a substitute for estrogen, the complex relationship between the number of children you have and breast cancer risk, dense breast tissue, early menstruation, hormone replacement therapy, and more. Listen in for the answers to your questions!    Key Takeaways: Soy is not in any way a substitute for estrogen. How it affects your circulating estrogens depends on your age. While the number of kids you have is inconclusive regarding its relationship to breast cancer, breastfeeding has been shown in every study to be preventative against breast cancer. The number one killer of women is heart disease. It's not breast cancer.   "A period is a bleed in response to ovulation, and that is coming from the level of the hypothalamus, pituitary, ovary, and uterus, so you can have a problem at any of those levels." —  Dr. Tami Rowen   Episode Reference: Welcome to the Wild West of Testosterone: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/welcome-to-the-wild-west-of-testosterone/id1708072320?i=1000743735353    Connect with Dr. Tami Rowen: Professional Bio: https://profiles.ucsf.edu/tami.rowen  Website: https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/tami-rowen  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtamirowen/    Connect with Therese: Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode of Gangland Wire, Gary Jenkins sits down with author Craig McGuire to discuss his gripping book, Empire City Under Siege, a deep dive into three decades of FBI manhunts, mob wars, and organized-crime investigations in New York City. Craig explains how the project grew out of his collaboration with retired FBI agent Anthony John Nelson, whose career spanned the most violent and chaotic years of New York's Mafia history. From Nelson's early days as a radio dispatcher in 1969 to his transition into undercover and frontline investigative work, the book captures the gritty reality of law enforcement during the 1970s and 1980s. We explore how Nelson's career mirrored the evolution of organized crime and law-enforcement tactics, including the rise of undercover stings, inter-agency cooperation, and the increasing role of technology. Craig highlights the close working relationship between Nelson and NYPD detective Kenny McCabe, whose deep knowledge of Mafia families and quiet professionalism led to major breakthroughs against organized crime. He tells how these two investigators wathced and uncovered the Gambino Family Roy DeMeo crew under Paul Castellano and Nino Gaggi. Throughout the conversation, Craig shares vivid, often humorous slice-of-life stories from the book—tense undercover moments, dangerous confrontations, and the emotional toll of living a double life. These anecdotes reveal not only the danger of the job but also the camaraderie and resilience that sustained agents and detectives working in the shadows. The episode closes with a reminder that Empire City Under Siege is as much about honoring unsung law-enforcement professionals as it is about mob history. Craig encourages listeners to support true-crime storytelling that preserves these firsthand accounts before they're lost to time. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. 0:02 Welcome Back to Gangland Wire 2:14 The Journey to Anthony John Nelson 4:46 The Life and Work of Law Enforcement 15:00 Inside Anthony Nelson’s Early Career 26:49 The Dynamic Duo: Nelson and McCabe 30:16 Tales from the Underworld 35:55 The Tragedy of Everett Hatcher 39:12 The High-Stakes World of Undercover Work 40:56 Closing Thoughts and Inspirations transcript [0:00] Hey, all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in studio of Gangland Wire. I say the same thing every time. I hope it doesn’t bore you too much, but I am back here in the Gangland Wire studio. And I have today an author who interviewed and wrote a book with an FBI agent named Anthony John Nelson, who was one of the premier FBI agents in New York City that was working the mob. And even more interesting about him to me was he formed a partnership with a local copper named Kenny McCabe, who you may know the name. I had read the name before several times as I started researching this and looking at the book, but he was a mob buster supreme and Agent Nelson really formed a dynamic duo. But first, let’s start talking to Craig, your book, Empire City Under Seize, Three Decades of New York FBI Field Office Manhunts, Murders and Mafia Wars. How did you get involved with Anthony John Nelson? [0:55] Hi, Gary. Thanks for having me on your show. Big fan. Appreciate the opportunity. Very interesting and winding path that led me to Anthony’s doorstep. I also previously wrote another book, Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys, which was about an enforcer in the Colombo family during the Third Colombo War. And I was introduced to Carmine Imbriali through Thomas Dades. Tommy Dades, he’s a famous retired NYPD detective. So after the success of that book, Tommy introduced me to another member of law enforcement. I started to work on a project that sort of fell apart. And one of the sort of consultants, friends that I met with during that was Anthony Nelson. And then one day as that, due to my own fumbling, as that project was falling apart, I had a delightful breakfast with Anthony and his wonderful wife, Sydney, Cindy, one Sunday morning. And Anthony’s pulling out all these clips of all these investigations and all these Jerry Capiche gangland clips. And it was just fascinating. And so I started to realize that there’s something here because I’m also a true crime fan and I remember many of these cases. [2:08] So it took a while to get Anthony to agree to write a book. He’s not one for the spotlight. He’s really your sort of quintessential G-man, modern G-man. It’s also somewhat of a throwback. But he eventually was interested in doing a book if we didn’t just shine the spotlight on him. Gary, you should know the original, the working title of the book was In the Company of Courage. And that’s really the theme that Anthony wanted to bring forth. You’ll notice throughout the book, there are some vignettes and some biographical information about many of the members of law enforcement that I interviewed, but then we also covered and who are no longer with us. It was my privilege to write this book sharing Anthony’s amazing history, 30 years at the FBI and then several years at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office as an investigator. And just like one of the themes is just to really shed some light on the valuable work that members of law enforcement, including you, sir. Thank you for your service. And we think too often these days, members of law enforcement are maligned and there’s a negative light cast on them. It’s the most difficult job in the world. And we just want to make sure that we’re shining some light on that valuable work that the thousands of members of men and women in law enforcement do every day protecting us. [3:24] I appreciate that. I’ll tell you what, all the way from the rookie on the street making those domestic violence calls and party armed calls and armed robbery alarms calls that are, there’s nothing there the first five times you go. And then all of a sudden there’s a guy running out with a gun all the way up to the homicide detectives. And even the people that handle the budget, they all paid their dues out on the streets and organized crime investigators, of course, and narcotics. I really appreciate that. It’s a thankless job for the most part. Once in a while, you get a little thanks, but not much. As we used to say, it was fun. I can’t believe they pay us to do this. [4:01] Gary, it’s like you’re repeating some of the lines of Frank Pergola to Al King, just like that. And that’s key, that thankless piece. I remember interviewing Frank Pergola, just famous New York City detective, worked on Son of Sam. He also worked on solving 79 homicides related to the Gambinos and the DeMeo family. And he echoed those same sentiments. While you’re investigating a case, it’s the victims’ families and the victims, their nerves are so fraught. It’s such a stressful situation. And the members of law enforcement bear the brunt of a lot of that frustration. [4:41] And too often, there’s no thank you at the end. And it’s not that they want to thank you. It’s just that they want the sort of closure, not even the recognition, just some sort of realization that they did a great job. And it’s unfortunate that they don’t, that doesn’t happen as often as it should. I appreciate it. Let’s talk about Anthony Nelson. He sounds like a very interesting character. Talk a little bit about what you learned from him about his early career. And I want to tell you something, that recalcitrance, I believe that’s the word, $25 word if I’ve ever heard one. His refusal to really make himself a hero or the center of attention. That’s pretty common among cops and FBI agents. I’ve noticed we’ve got, I’ve got a good friend here in Kansas City, wrote a book about the mafia in Kansas City called Mopsers in Our Mist, but he refused to put himself into the book. He had a publishing company that wanted him to do it and was going to pay him to do it, but it had to have him as a hero. He said, we have to have a hero in this book. He says, I won’t do it. So that Mr. Nelson, Agent Nelson, that’s not that uncommon. So tell us a little more about some of his early cases. [5:49] Anthony Nelson, interestingly enough, his career trajectory and really his life tracks with the latter half of the last century. And a lot of the technological evolution, the rise of organized crime post-prohibition, these themes of urbanization, radicalization that came out from the starting in the middle of the century. But really heating up as a young Anthony Nelson joins the FBI in 1969, really mostly in administrative roles, radio dispatcher first, eventually he’s an electronics technician. So I’m sure, Gary, you can reflect on, and some of this will resonate with you, just how archaic some of the technology was. Oh my God, yeah. Yeah. Back then, we have some fantastic anecdotes and stories in the book, but just also like, for example, when you’re responding to a hostage crisis and you don’t have a cell phone, you don’t have minimal communications and talking about, you better make sure you have a pocket full of dimes and knocking on a neighbor’s door because time is of the essence and to establish contact. So just some of this great, really interesting material there. Eventually, Anthony was sworn in as an agent in 1976, and he entered the FBI Academy at Quantico, graduated in 77. [7:13] And interestingly enough, Anthony reflects like some of his fellow graduates, perhaps were not as keen on going to New York, one of the larger field offices, perhaps wanting to cut their teeth at a smaller office, but he obviously wanted to go home. So he was, and he jumped right into the fray, really assigned to hijacking. And he was an undercover operative in Red Hook during the 1970s, like the really gritty. And from the stories and from the various folks I interviewed, this really was gritty New York back then with the economy failing, crime on the rise. [7:48] Gary, you look, I heard an interesting stat last week where you had, there was almost a record setting that New York City had not reported a homicide for a record 12 consecutive days. And that had not happened in decades. So when Anthony joined the FBI, they were recording five homicides in New York City. And also during the 70s, you also had this, when you talk about radicalization, with 3,000 bombings nationwide, corruption was rampant. You had credit card fraud was just kicking off. You had widespread bread or auto theft and hijacking. Again, at the street level, Anthony was the front for a Gambino-affiliated warehouse where he had first right of refusal, where some of the hijackers would bring in the loads. And he was doing this on an undercover basis. So he jumped right in. They set him up in a warehouse and he was buying like a sting, what we called a sting operation. He was buying stolen property. They thought he was a fence. [8:50] Yeah, they started doing that in the 70s. They hadn’t really done, nobody had done that before in the 70s. ATF kind of started sting operates throughout the United States. We had one here, but they started doing that. And that was a new thing that these guys hadn’t seen before. So interesting. He was that big, blurly guy up front said, hey, yeah, bring that stuff on. Exactly. If you look on the cover, there are three images on the cover, and one of them is following one of the busts afterwards where they tracked down the hijacked goods. I believe it was in New Jersey. So you could get the sense of the volume. Now, think about it like this. So he’s in Red Hook in the mid-70s. This was actually where he was born. So when Anthony was born in 49, and if you think about Red Hook in the early 50s, this was just a decade removed from Al Capone as a leg-breaking bouncer along the saloons on the waterfront. And this was on the waterfront, Red Hook eventually moved to Park Slope. [9:49] And this was where Crazy Joe Gallo was prompted, started a mob war. And this was when any anthony is coming of age back then and most of his friends is gravitating so to these gangster types in the neighborhood these wise guys but this was a time pre-9-1-1 emergency response system so the only way to report or get help was to call the switchboard call the hospital directly call the fire department directly so you had the rise of the b cop where it wasn’t just the police they were integral part of the community and there’s this really provocative story Anthony tells the first time he saw a death up close and personal, an acquaintance of his had an overdose. And the beat cops really did a sincere effort to try to save him. And this really resonated with the young Anthony and he gravitated towards law enforcement. And then a little bit, a while later as a teenager, they’re having these promotional videos, these promotional sort of documentary style shows on television. And Anthony sees it, and he’s enamored by it, especially when they say this is the hardest job in America. So he’s challenged, and he’s a go-getter. So he writes a letter to J. Edgar Hoover, and Hoover writes him back. [11:03] So it’s a signed letter, and now Anthony laughs about it. He says it was probably a form letter with a rubber stamp, but it really had an amazing impact. And this is at the time when, you know, in the 50s, you really had J. Edgar really embrace the media. And he actually consulted on the other famous, the FBI television show, several movies, the rise of the G-Man archetype. So Anthony was fully on board. [11:28] Interesting. Of course, J. Edgar Hoover wanted to make sure the FBI looked good. Yes, exactly. Which he did. And they were good. They had a really high standards to get in. They had to be a lawyer or accountant or some extra educated kind of a deal. And so they always think, though, that they took these guys who had never been even a street policeman of any kind and they throw them right into the DPN many times. But that’s the way it was. They did have that higher level of recruit because of that. So, Anthony, was he a lawyer or accountant when he came in? Did he get in after they relaxed that? Oh, that’s spot on. I’m glad you brought that up. So now here’s a challenge. So Anthony needs that equalizer, correct? So if you’re a CPA, obviously a former member of the military, if you’re a successful detective or a local police force, one of these type of extra credentials. [12:20] Anthony’s specialty was technology. Now, when you think of technology… Not the ubiquitous nature of technology nowadays, where you have this massive processing power in your phone, and you don’t really have to be a technologist to be able to use the power of it. This is back in the 1960s. But he always had an affinity for technology. And he was able to, when he, one of the other requirements was as he had to hit the minimum age requirement, he had to work for a certain amount of time, he was able to get a job at the FBI. So he was an electronics technician before he became an agent. [12:59] And he had all of the, and back then this was, it was groundbreaking, the level of technology. And he has some funny story, odd, like man on the street stories about, I’m sure you remember Radio Shack when there was a Radio Shack on every other corner, ham radio enthusiasts. And it was cat and mouse. It was, they had the members of organized crime had the police scanners. And they were able to, if they had the right scanner, they had the right frequency. They were able to pick on the bugs planted really close to them. And he tells some really funny stories about one time there was a member of organized crime. They’re staking out, I believe it was the cotillion on 18th Avenue. And then I believe he’s sitting outside with Kenny McCabe. And then one of this member of organized crime, he’s waving a scanner inside and he’s taunting them saying, look, I know what you’re doing. And so it was that granularity of cat and mouse. [13:55] Rudimentary kind of stuff. Yeah. We had a guy that was wearing what we called a kelk kit. It was a wire and he was in this joint and they had the scanner and so but they had to scan her next door at this club And all of a sudden, a bunch of guys came running and there’s somebody in here wearing a wire. And my friend’s guy, the guy I worked with, Bobby, he’s going, oh, shit. And so he just fades into the background. And everybody except one guy had a suit on. Nobody had a suit on except this one guy. So they focused on this one guy that had a suit on and went after him and started trying to pat him down and everything. Bobby just slipped out the front door. So amazing. I mean, you know, Anthony has a bunch of those slice of life stories. I also interviewed a translator from the FBI to get a sort of a different perspective. [14:42] It’s different. Like the agents a little bit more, they’re tougher. They’re a tougher breed. They go through the training. Some of the administrative professionals, like the translators. So this one translator, it’s a pretty harrowing experience because remember the such the insular nature of the neighborhoods and how everyone is always [14:59] looking for someone out of place. So she actually got a real estate license and poses a realtor be able to rent apartments and then she spoke multiple dialects and then just to have to listen in and to decipher not only the code but also the dialects and put it together when you have agents on the line because remember you have an undercover agent if they get discovered more often than not the members of organized crime are going to think they’re members of another crew so you’re dead either they’re an informant if they think they’re an informant you’re dead if they think you’re an agent yeah just turn away from you say okay we don’t deal with this guy anymore if you think you’re informant or somebody another crew or something trying to worm their way in then yeah you’re dead exactly so interviewing maria for this you get that sense from someone who’s not in like not an agent to get true how truly harrowing and dangerous this type of activity was and how emboldened organized crime was until really the late 90s. And back then, it truly was death defying. [16:02] Oh, yeah, it was. They had so many things wired in the court system and in politically in the late 70s and early 80s and all these big cities. No big city was immune from that kind of thing. So they had all kinds of sources. They even had some clerks in the FBI and they definitely had all the court. The courthouses were just wired. And I don’t mean wired, but they had people in places and all those things. So it was death to find that you got into these working undercover. Ever. Hey, you want to laugh? I don’t want to give away all the stories, but there was a great story. I remember Anthony saying, they set up a surveillance post in an apartment and they brought in all the equipment while they were, then they got the court orders and the surveillance post actually got ripped off twice. So while they try, like after hours, someone’s going, yeah, ripping off all the FBI equipment. So you have this extra level of, so that gives you like, It really was Wild West then. Really? [17:00] So now he gets into organized crime pretty quick, into that squad and working organized crime pretty quick. I imagine they put him in undercover like that because of his accent, his ability to fit in the neighborhood. I would think he would have a little bit of trouble maybe running into somebody that remembered him from the old days. Did he have any problem with that? I spot on, Gary. I tell you, this was he. So he’s operating in Red Hook and actually throughout the next several years, he’s periodically flying down to Florida as a front for New York orchestrated drug deals. So he’s going down to Florida to negotiate multi-kilo drug deals on behalf of organized crime. But at the same time, he’s an agent. He eventually rose to be supervisory special agent. He’s managing multiple squads. So there did come an inflection point where it became too dangerous for him to continue to operate as an undercover while conducting other types of investigations. [18:02] Interestingly enough they opened up a resident agency office the ras are in the major field offices in the fbi they have these they’re called ras i’m sure you’re familiar these like mini offices with the office and they’ll focus on certain areas of crime more geographically based so they opened up the brooklyn queens ra and that really focuses heavily on organized crime but also hijacking because you had the, especially with the airport over there and a lot of the concentrations of, especially in South Brooklyn, going into Queens. So he worked there. Also the airport. Also the mass, you have this massive network of VA facilities. You have the forts. So you need these other RA offices. So you have a base of operations to be able to investigate. But Anthony has such a wide extent of case history, everything from airline attacks to art theft heists to kidnappings, manhunts, fugitives. There was Calvin Klein, the famous designer, when his daughter was kidnapped by the babysitter, it did do it. Anthony was investigating that. So it’s just, and while he has this heavy concentration in organized crime. I mentioned that. What’s this deal with? He investigated a robbery, a bank robbery that was a little bit like the dog day afternoon robbery, a standoff. What was that? [19:30] This was actually, it was the dog day afternoon robbery. They based a dog day afternoon on this. Exactly. What you had, and this was before Anthony was when he was still in his administrative role. So he had a communications position. So he was responsible for gathering all the intel and the communications and sharing it with the case, the special agents on site. So what you had was like, he’s with the play by play of this really provocative hostage. It was a bank robbery that quickly turned into a hostage crisis. And then, so throughout this whole, and the way it eventually resolved was the perpetrators insisted on a particular agent. I apologize. It slips my mind, but he’s a real famous agent. So he has to drive them to JFK airport where they’re supposed to have a flight ready to fly them out of the country. And what happens is they secrete a gun into the car and he winds up shooting the bank robbers to death. And there were so many different layers to this bank robbery. It eventually became the movie. And a funny story aside, the movie, while they’re filming the movie, Anthony’s at his friend’s house in downtown Brooklyn. It may have been Park Slope. And they’re calling for extras. His friends run in and say, hey, they’re filming a movie about this bank robbery that happened on Avenue U. You want to be an extra? And he said, nah, no thanks. The real thing was enough for me. [20:55] I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t for a New York City organized crime and New York City crime. Al Pacino wouldn’t have had a career. That’s the truth. [21:05] Now, let’s start. Let’s go back into organized crime. Now, we’ve talked about this detective, Kenny McCabe, who was really well known, was famous. And during the time they worked together and they were working with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Is that correct? Were both of them working for it? Was he at the FBI and Kenny was with the Brooklyn DA’s office? [21:26] When you think about thematically, in the company of courage, Kenny McCabe was really close. This was a career-long, lifelong, from when they met, relationship, professional relationship that became a deep friendship between two pretty similar members of law enforcement. [21:46] Kenny McCabe had a long career in the NYPD as organized crime investigator before he joined the Southern District Attorney’s Office as an investigator. So the way they first crossed paths was while Anthony was working a hijacking investigation. So he gets a tip from one of his CIs that there’s some hijacked stolen goods are in a vehicle parked in a certain location. So he goes to stake it out. Like they don’t want to seize the goods. They want to find out, they want to uncover who the hijackers are and investigate the conspiracy. So then while he’s there, he sees a sort of a familiar face staking it out as well. Then he goes to the, he goes to the NYA, a detective Nev Nevins later. And he asks about this guy. And so this detective introduces him to Kenny McCabe and right away strike up with his interesting chemistry. And they’re like, you know what? Let’s jointly investigate this. So they wind up foiling the hijacking. But what starts is like this amazing friendship. And I’ll tell you, the interesting thing about Kenny McCabe is almost universally, he’s held in the highest regard as perhaps law enforcement’s greatest weapon in dismantling organized crime in the latter half of the 20th century. For example, I interviewed George Terra, famous undercover detective who eventually went to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. [23:12] And he had a great way. I hope I don’t mangle. Kenny knew all the wise guys and they all knew Kenny. And when I say he knew all the wise guys, he knew their shoe sizes. He knew who they partnered with on bank jobs years ago. So he knew who their siblings were, who their cousins were, who they were married to, who their girlfriends were, what clubs they frequented. For example, during the fatical hearings, where they would do sentencing, often the defense attorneys would want the prosecutors to reveal who their CIs are for due process, for a sense of fairness. And they refused to do that, obviously, for safety reasons, and they want to compromise ongoing investigations. So in dozens, perhaps so many of these cases, they were bringing Kenny McCabe. He was known as the unofficial photographer of organized crime. [24:07] For example, I think it was 2003, he was the first one who revealed a new edict that new initiates into Cosa Nostra had to have both a mother and a father who were Italian. Oh, yeah. I remember that. Yeah. He was also, he revealed that when the Bonanno family renamed itself as Messino, he was the one who revealed that. And then when Messino went to prison for murder, his successor, Vinnie Bassiano, Vinnie gorgeous. When he was on trial, that trial was postponed because so many of law enforcement leaders had to attend Kenny McCabe’s funeral, unfortunately, when he passed. So this is such a fascinating thing. Now, why you don’t hear more about Kenny McCabe, and I interviewed his son, Kenny McCabe Jr. Duke, is like Kenny McCabe like really issued the media spotlight. He would not, he wasn’t interested in grabbing the microphone. So you have almost no media on Kenny McCabe. If you do a Google search for him, I believe the only thing I ever found was a picture in his uniform as an early career police officer. [25:19] So it’s really hard to even do a documentary style treatment without having any media because B-roll is just going to get you so far. So really what Duke has been doing over the last two decades or more is really consolidating all of these as much material as he can. And I think eventually when he does put out a book, this thing’s going to explode. It’s going to be like true Hollywood treatment. But now going back to the mid-70s, so these two guys hook up. You have the FBI agent and you have the police detective. [25:49] Craig, what you always hear is that the FBI is suspicious and doesn’t trust local authorities. And local policemen hate the FBI because they always grab all the glory and take everything, run with it. And they’re left out. And I didn’t have that experience myself. They’ve got the case. They’ve got the laws. We don’t locally, county and statewide, you don’t have the proper laws to investigate organized crime. Yes, sir. But the feds do. So that’s how it works. This really blows that myth up that the local police and the FBI never worked together and hated each other. [26:25] I’m so glad you brought that up because this was very important to Anthony. He has so many lifelong friends in the NYPD, and I’ve interviewed several of them. And just this sincerity comes across, the camaraderie. In any walk of life, in any profession, you’re always going to have rivalries and conflict, whether healthy conflict or negative conflict. [26:46] Even more, you’re going to find that in law enforcement because the stakes are so high. But it’s a disservice to… And what we want to do is sort of dispel the myth that there was no cooperation. Why there were very well-publicized conflicts between agencies prosecuting certain cases. This was the time where technology was really enabling collaboration. Remember, and you had a time, if you had to investigate a serial crime, you had to go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and you had to interview investigators. You had to comb through written records to piece this together. So it really was not conducive for collaboration. [27:22] So what you saw was the rise of, and then you had these investigative tools and these legal tools like RICO, while they were still trying to figure out and to build. So now you had the litigious tools where you could build conspiracies and prosecute them. So this sort of helped ferment this sort of collaborative interagency, which eventually led to these joint task force that were very successful. What I really love is this microcosm of Anthony Nelson and Kenny McCain. Now, Anthony Nelson was issued a Plymouth Grand Fury with the full police interceptor kit. If you’re familiar with that make and model, no automobile ever created screams cop-mobile like the Grand Fury. And so what you had was after hours, Anthony and Kenny would join up and they would go prowling the underworld with the Grand Fury on purpose. They wanted to be as conspicuous as possible. to the point where they would park in bus stops across the street from these social clubs. And when I say social clubs, they were… [28:29] Everywhere. There were dozens of them all over Brooklyn and Queens. And these are cafe, social clubs, bars, restaurants with heavy OC presence, blatantly conducting their business. So you have these two, Anthony’s always driving. Kenny’s always riding shotgun with his camera. I assume it was some sort of 35 millimeter hanging out the side, taking down names, license plates. Just a great story. You had Paul Castellano in front of Veterans and Friends on 86th Street when he had Dominic Montiglio start that social club so he could have more of a presence in Brooklyn on the street so that he actually crosses the street and he goes to Kenny and Anthony. And he’s saying, guys, you don’t have to sit out here. You could come down to Ponte Vecchio in Bay Ridge. I have a table there anytime you want to talk to me. So it’s that level of bravado. But pretty soon it changed. Once more of this intel started to build these real meaningful cases, Castellana put an edict, don’t talk to these two, don’t be photographed. What came out of that was an amazing partnership where they gathered so much intelligence and Anthony is very. [29:46] Quick to have me point out, give more credit to the investigators, to the agents, to the detectives. They gathered a lot of the intelligence to help with these investigations, but you had so many frontline folks that are doing a lot of the legwork, that are doing the investigations, making the arrests, that are crawling under the hoods. So it’s pretty inspiring. But then you also had some really good, and I don’t want to share all the stories [30:12] in the book. There’s a great story of Kenny and Anthony. They go into Rosal’s restaurant because they see this. [30:21] There may have been a warrant out on this member of law enforcement. So they had cause. So they go in and there’s actually some sort of family event going on. And they’re playing the theme song of The Godfather. As they go in and then they have to go into the back room to get this member of organized crime who’s hiding. So it’s these kind of really slice of life kind of stories that just jump out, jump out of the book. Really? I see, as I mentioned, they had some kind of a run-in with Roy DeMeo at the Gemini. You remember that story? Can you tell that one? Yeah, there’s, so Kenny and Anthony, throughout the hijacking investigations. [30:59] Were, they were among the first to really learn of this mysterious Roy. And his rise. And then also Nino. Remember Nino Gadgi was the Gambino Capo who took over Castellano’s crew, Brooklyn crew, when he was elevated. And then Roy DeMeo was really this larger than life maniac serial killer who formed the Gemini crew, which was a gang of murderers really on the Gemini Lounge in Flatlands, which is really close to Anthony’s house. And Kenny’s not too far. Didn’t they have a big stolen car operation also? Did they get into that at all? Yes. Stolen cars, chop shops. Remember, this is when you had the introduction of the tag job, where it was relatively easy to take the vehicle identification numbers off a junked auto and then just replace them with the stolen auto, and then you’re automatically making that legitimate. And then, so they’re doing this wholesale operation where they’re actually got to the point where they’re shipping hundreds, if not thousands of these tag jobs overseas. So it was at scale, a massive operation. Roy DeMay was a major earner. He was such an unbalanced, very savvy business for the underworld, business professional, but he was also a homicidal maniac. [32:22] Some say they could be upwards of a hundred to 200 crimes. Frank Pergola alone investigated and So 79 of these crimes associated with this crew. And it got to the point where, and he had a heavy sideline in drugs, which was punishable by death in the Gambino family, especially under Castellano. So then what you had was all these investigations and all this intelligence that, and then with this collaboration between the FBI and NYPD. Oh, wow. It is quite a crew. I’m just looking back over here at some of the other things in there in that crew in that. You had one instance where there was a sentencing hearing and of a drug dealer, I believe, a member of organized crime. And Kenny McCabe is offering testimony to make sure that the proper sentencing is given because a lot of times these guys are deceptive. [33:16] And he mentions DeMeo’s name. So DeMeo in a panic. So then maybe a couple of nights later, they’re parked in front of veterans and friends. And DeMeo comes racing across 86th Street. Now, 86th Street is like a four-lane thoroughfare. It’s almost like, oh, I grew up in the air a few blocks away. So he’s running through traffic. And then he’s weaving in and out. And he’s screaming at Kenny McCabe, what are you trying to kill me? Putting my name into a drug case? They’re going to kill me. And so it’s that kind of intimate exchanges that they have with, with these key members of organized crime of the era. [33:52] Wow. That’s, that’s crazy. I see that they worked to murder that DEA agent, Everett Hatcher, that was a low level mob associate that got involved in that. And then supposedly the mob put out the word, but you gotta, we gotta give this guy up. But you remember that story? Now, this is another instance where I remember this case. And I remember afterwards when they killed Gus Faraci. So what you had was, again, and this is very upsetting because you had DEA agent Everett Hatchard, who is a friend of Anthony’s. To the point where just prior to his assassination, they were attending a social event together with their children. And he would also, they would run into each other from time to time. They developed a really beyond like camaraderie, like real friendship. So then, so Hatcher has, there’s an undercover sting. So there’s Gus Faraci, who’s, I believe he was associated with the Lucchese’s, with Chile. [34:55] So he gets set up on the West Shore. And so he’s told to go to the West Shore Expressway. Now, if you’ve ever been on that end of Staten Island, that whips out heading towards the outer bridge. This really is the end of the earth. This is where you have those large industrial like water and oil tankers and there’s not really good lighting and all this. It’s just like a real gritty. So he loses his surveillance tail and they eventually, he’s gunned down while in his vehicle. So then Anthony gets the call to respond on site to investigate the murder. He doesn’t know exactly who it is until he opens up the door and he sees it’s his friend. And this is the first assassination of a DEA agent. It was just such a provocative case. And the aftermath of that was, again, like Gus Faraci, who was, he was a murderer. He was a drug dealer, but he did not know. He set him up. He thought he was a member of organized crime. [35:53] He was just another drug dealer. He did not realize he was a DEA agent. And then all hell broke loose. And you had just the all five families until they eventually produced Gus Faraci, set him up, and then he was gunned down in Brooklyn. [36:06] Case closed, huh? Exactly. Yeah. And as we were saying before, I don’t remember it was before I started recording or after that. When you’re working undercover, that’s the worst thing is they think that you’re an informant or a member of another crew and you’re liable to get killed. At one say, I had a sergeant one time. He said, if you get under suspicion when you’re like hanging out in some of these bars and stuff, just show them you’re the cops. Just get your badge out right away because everything just, all right, they just walk away then. It’s a immensely dangerous thing to maintain your cover. Yes, sir. Anthony was always good at that because tall gentleman has the right sort of Italian-American complexion. He’s passable at Italian. So with some of these folks, especially from Italy that come over, he could carry a conversation. He’s not fluent. [36:56] And he just walks in and talks in. It’s a different… George Terror was a fantastic undercover detective. And you talk to some of these undercovers, it’s like you have to be… There’s sort of this misperception that the organized crime members are like these thugs and flunkies. These are very intelligent, super suspicious, addled individuals that are able to pick up on signals really easy because they live on the edge. So you really can’t fake it, the slightest thing. And again, they’ll think that their first inclination is not that you’re a member of law enforcement. Their first inclination is that you’re a member of a rival crew that’s looking to kill me looks at looking to rip me off so i’m going to kill you first it’s just it’s just a wild and imagine that’s your day job oh man i know they could just and i’ve picked this up on people there’s just a look when you’re lying there’s just a look that just before you catch it quick but there’s a look of panic that then you get it back these guys can pick up that kind of stuff just so quickly any kind of a different body language they’re so good with that. [38:02] And he’s also, he has to be able to say just enough to establish his connection and credibility without saying too much that’s going to trip him up. And that’s like being able to walk that line. He tells, again, I hate giving away all these stories because I want readers to buy the book, but he has this fantastic story when he’s on an undercover buy and he’s, I don’t know if it’s Florida, if it’s Miami or it’s Fort Lauderdale and he has to go into a whole, like the drugs are in one location and he’s in that with the drug deals in one location and he’s in this location and, but he knows the money’s not going to come. [38:42] So he has to walk into this hotel room with all these cartel drug guys who are off balance, knowing that he’s got to figure out, how do I get out of this room without getting killed? And once I walk out, will the timing be right that I could drop to the floor right when the responding FBI agents, again, these are FBI agents from a different [39:08] field office that he perhaps doesn’t have intimate working. knowledge of. I got to trust that these guys got my back and they’re not distracted. So I can’t even imagine having to live with that stress. No, I can’t either. All right. I’ll tell you what, the book, guys, is Empire City Under Siege, the three decades of New York FBI field office man hunts, murders, and mafia wars by Craig McGuire with former retired FBI agent Anthony John Nelson. I pulled as many stories as I could out of the book from him. You’re going to have to get the book to get to the rest of. And believe me, I’m looking at my notes here and the stuff they sent me. And there are a ton of great stories in there, guys. You want to get this book. [39:50] I also want to say there’s something special going on at Wild Blue Press. My publisher specializes in true crime. And it’s just, they’re so nurturing and supportive of writers. Just fantastic facilities and promotions. And they just help us get it right. That’s the most important thing, Anthony, accuracy. So if there’s anything wrong in the book, that’s totally on me. It’s really hard to put one of these together, especially decades removed. But then I’m just thankful for the support of nature of Wild Blue and Anthony and all the remarkable members of law enforcement like yourself, sir. Thank you for your service. And Anthony, and I’m just so inspired. I just have to say, they’re like a different breed. And you folks don’t realize how exciting. Because there are so many stories like Anthony would come up with and he would say, do you think readers would be interested in this story? And I fall out of my chair like, oh my God, this could be a whole chapter. So it was as a true crime fan myself of this material, it’s just, it was a wild ride and I enjoyed it. [40:56] Great. Thanks a lot for coming on the show, Craig. Thanks, Gary. You’re the best.

Episode 274- State Police RPO Cover-Up  Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode Transcript Gun Lawyer Transcript – Episode 274 SPEAKERS Teddy Nappen, Evan Nappen, Speaker 2 Evan Nappen 00:17 I’m Evan Nappen. Teddy Nappen 00:19 and I’m Teddy Nappen. Evan Nappen 00:21 And welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, our good friend, John Petrolino, who writes about many, many important topics, particularly as well concerning New Jersey, has an article that was in Bearing Arms. And I want to talk about what he’s raised here. The article’s title is “New Jersey State Police Tight Lipped Over Retired Police Permits”. (https://bearingarms.com/john-petrolino/2026/01/21/new-jersey-statepolice-tight-lipped-over-retired-police-permits-n1231288) So, what John has done is he’s used the New Jersey form of OPRA (Open Public Records Act), the Freedom of Information Act, asking the authorities in New Jersey for the number of permits issued to retired police officers. Evan Nappen 01:15 You may recall the then Attorney General Platkin did put up that dashboard and released the data of public statistics regarding carry permits, the number of permits issued. There’s been over 92,000 approved applications for carry permits in New Jersey, and of those approvals, 64,000 are non-expired permits. Now it’s interesting that the State puts out that data, but they don’t put out the data as to the RPO permits. The Retired Police Officer permits, and we want to find out how many folks carry that are not law enforcement, right? That are civilian. And let’s face it, Retired Police Officers are still civilians, even though they were formerly law enforcement. Originally carry was outside of being law enforcement and outside of New Jersey’s insane carry permit system back then, where you had to show “justifiable need”, which, as you may recall, meant showing of urgent necessity. This meant showing that a gun was necessary for you to defend yourself from death or serious bodily injury and that carrying a handgun was the only means that could do it. I mean, it was a standard that was so extreme that basically, if you’ve been shot and killed, you then qualified for a New Jersey carry permit. Evan Nappen 03:08 Now that went away thanks to the Bruen decision, and New Jersey jumped from less than 600 carry permits to now 64,000 valid permits and 92,000 valid, approved permits. But it does not include the RPOs. Now, RPOs had the ability to carry before Bruen, and during that time period when regular old civilians who weren’t retired law enforcement could not defend themselves with a firearm and carry in that manner, right? They were deemed to have to be victims instead of defenders. But now, for some reason, the State Police and such will not release the number of RPO permits. We’re not asking for names. John went forward here, and he didn’t ask for names. He didn’t ask for anything. He just wants to know how many? How many of the RPO permits are out there as well. This should be looked at in the aggregate with all the other carry permits that are out there, and yet that doesn’t happen. Page of 1 8 Evan Nappen 04:25 In December of 2025, John sent a request for the number of RPO permits, and it was denied. And the request was denied weirdly and strangely for reasons that just don’t make any sense. And I’m going to tell you. It makes you wonder, why is there a cover up? The reason they denied it, the reason the State Police have put in writing for the denial. Well, get a load of this. “Improper and Overbroad” was the main reason. Can you believe that the information is supposedly improper and overbroad? Why would wanting to know a statistical fact such as the number of RBO permits be considered overbroad? And why would it be considered in any way improper? It is strictly information. It is based on a record. It absolutely should be released. Evan Nappen 05:52 How come they are releasing the numbers for civilian carry permits, right? The 92,000. How come that’s not “improper and overbroad”? No, the Attorney General does it. Go ahead. Why? Tell me. Why do you think? Teddy Nappen 06:10 So, going back to because John also, if I recall, broke the story about denials where, what was it? Blacks were five times more likely to be denied to their carry. Evan Nappen 06:22 Yes, institutionalized racism. That exists in New Jersey. Teddy Nappen 06:31 So, add into the fact that you have the, well, here’s the trick. The Left have always been anti-police. That is a fact. They were the ones that wanted to defund the police. They were the ones for that. So, now we have the first factor of showing the absolute racism of the gun laws. But also the fact that they were supporting the only carry which, by the way, how much you want to bet they were all for the RPOs under all the Democrat Governors who allowed those carries to come into play. How much of that look, if it shows that there’s this massive amount of RPOs being issued. And because the Left are Marxists who absolutely hate police and hate law and order, this would make them look like absolute elitists and hypocrites. Evan Nappen 07:19 So, the fear is that, arguably, in the defund the police mentality, that if retired police are being armed, they don’t want any police armed, even if they’re retired, because of the perceived threat that they put out there that law enforcement creates toward minorities. In their view, not in my view. Not in my view. It’s the opposite. I mean, the fact is, they’re out there as protectors, defenders of the good people of our State. Every retired officer is somebody who’s not only armed, but also is experienced in armed defense, having served as a law enforcement officer. They’re a resource. They’re a positive benefit to our society. Yet, they’re probably scared of the politics. I mean, why else? What? There’s nothing about it that makes it “improper”. And it sure isn’t “overbroad”. It would be overbroad, maybe, if you want to know the name and address and Dox every carry RPO that’s out there. That’s not being requested. We just want the damn number. How many RPO carry permits? Teddy Nappen 08:41 Page of 2 8 It honestly reminds me, Dad, of that poster you had hung up. It was the joke where it shows if the Left could rewrite the Second Amendment. And I think, and I remember, you remember that. They crossed out, remember, they crossed out militia. And it says, like, military and police, employed police only. We’re kind of that logic where like, well, they’re not in the service, so why should they be armed? Not because there’s massive doxing websites, and that’s why ICE has to have their mask on for that exact reason. But. Evan Nappen 09:17 Exactly. Well, the fight is still ongoing and the question is raised. Why not just give us the number so we all know? And I would like to see a huge number of RPOs. I hope there’s lots of them out there. The more trained law-abiding folks that have firearms, the safer we are. And retired police are perfect in that regard. That’s exactly what we want to see. So, whatever their basis is, it just creates more of a conspiracy, and it just politicizes it so unnecessarily. It’s ridiculous. Release the number. Let us know. Let’s join in showing how many armed folks are out there. Maybe that’s another reason. They’re afraid that if that number, you know is even more, now, more and more people are carrying and suddenly the BITS argument they love to make right? Blood In The Streets. BITS. There’ll be blood in the streets with civilian carry, you know. No, it didn’t happen. And it’ll be the Wild West. It’s not the Wild West. And look at how many folks have carries when you combine the numbers. Maybe they’re afraid of that political aspect. But, you know, we have a right to know these numbers. It’s not a secret. It’s not improper. It’s not overbroad. Just let us know, and we deal with the facts. Evan Nappen 10:47 I also want to bring a couple very interesting things out that I’ve recently learned about. An important one here is the old “Bang or Bong – You can’t have both”. Well, shortly, at least a greater degree, you may be able to have both because President Trump, through his administration, folks, keep that in mind. Through the Trump administration, they have proposed, through ATF, revision of their regulation concerning the interpretation of what a “user of drugs” as a disqualifier, what it means. You know, for almost 30 years, ATF has said they treat even a single incident, a single past admission of marijuana use, or a failed drug test, or one misdemeanor marijuana conviction as evidence of a person being an unlawful user. They have now put forward an administrative reg that when it becomes finalized, which should be happening within the next few months, it will make it so that those things no longer will be deeming a person “an unlawful user”. And this should be of great help. Evan Nappen 12:25 From an article in AmmoLand, written by Dean Weingarten, which is entitled “ATF Finally Admits: One-time Drug Use Isn’t Grounds to Strip Gun Rights.” (https://www.ammoland.com/2026/01/atf-finally-admitsone-time-drug-use-isnt-grounds-to-strip-gun-rights/) It makes it really interesting here regarding that. In 2025, NICS denied 9,163 firearm transfers under the “unlawful user” category, okay? So, in other words, denials, denials of over 9,000 transfers, more than half of those denials, more than half, were single-incident drug inferences. Well, under this rule, those will no longer be denials. That’s over what? Four thousand people that will not be denied their gun rights, just in that one year, no less. Of people being denied over this nonsense. And furthermore, in this article, ATF admitted that 8,893 cases, it declined to investigate, prosecute, or retrieve firearms because of a single-drug incident. So, they’re denying individuals and not prosecuting. Yet, they’re using it as a base for denial. So, finally, we’re getting a reg of common sense that clears it up. Evan Nappen 14:05 Page of 3 8 And it even, to me, appears to go further. Now this may take a little bit more analysis, but in my reading of the reg, and I’m going to have to see how it pans out, it also talks about those that use drugs that are lawfully prescribed. That becomes an exemption. I’m going to be looking further into whether this reg also directly impacts individuals with a medical marijuana card. Because if it’s prescribed and it’s legal in the state and it’s by a lawful prescription, then maybe that, too, gets covered by this new regulation. It remains to be seen, but it sure seems like it. So, this is good. It progress in the right direction of helping protect our gun rights. And, of course, it’s happening under the Trump administration. It didn’t, this didn’t happen under, you know, the senile sock puppets for years. This is Trump, and yet it’s in the area of marijuana. I mean, oddly, it’s going to essentially remove what got Hunter Biden in trouble, you know. Now, of course, I don’t think he had a single individual use, but still. It’s that disqualifier that’s being addressed by the Trump administration. Evan Nappen 15:40 I also want to point out something that caught my attention, and I think it is just great when something illustrates the absurdity of the gun laws. As you know, we’re fighting over with the big, beautiful lawsuit with NFA over suppressors. Of course, there’s no more $200 tax, which is nice, and they have made it much more efficient online to be able to get federally registered through the National Firearm Act, when acquiring suppressors. And I appreciate the progress, but we all know that there shouldn’t be any NFA at all. It shouldn’t exist. There should be no registration of suppressors or silencers. And it’s so stupid the way silencers are regulated. And I just love this. Apparently, this fellow here, regarding the National Association for Gun Rights, registered a potato as a suppressor. That’s right, a potato. (https:// www.facebook.com/share/v/1Aadb9chUS/) It’s the classic potato silencer that they used to be, mythologically, I guess, accredited to the IRA even. A potato on the end of a gun will act as a suppressor, and to a certain degree, it does. So, he registered a potato, an actual potato, as a suppressor, and then proceeded to utilize it. The only problem with the potato silencer is it’s good for about one shot, and then you end up with a lot of mashed potatoes after you use it. But there you go. They did, in fact, register the potato as a silencer. Teddy Nappen 17:31 There’s a slang term for it, too it’s called a Paddy can. Evan Nappen 17:35 There you go. A Paddy can. Well, he registered a Paddy can. And you know, ATF, also, in the past, registered a shoelace as a machine gun, because you could wrap it around the trigger and the bolt. Then you could do a quasi bump fire deal with it. So, there is a bona fide, if you go on the internet, see a bona fide ATF registered shoelace as a machine gun. We have potatoes as silencers, and I think it illustrates just how stupid the NFA is. Evan Nappen 18:07 Hey, let me tell you about our friends at WeShoot. WeShoot, as you know, is a range where Teddy and I both shoot, and they have been lately featuring some biographies of their instructors. You see, WeShoot has fantastic instructors, and one of their instructors that they’ve taken a focus on is Todd Friedman. Now, their instructors are fantastic and Lieutenant Todd (Retired) is an elite tactical instructor at WeShoot. He has over 25 years experience with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. And he didn’t just serve there. He commanded. He was Special Operations Group, Range Master, PTC Certified Range Instructor. His training and background is really something. He’s completed all the advanced coursework and tactical shot sub gun, tactical rifle, tactical narcotics operations. He is an amazing guy, Page of 4 8 and this is just one of the many fantastic instructors at WeShoot. WeShoot is the place to go. Todd, by the way, also served as a Sergeant First Class in the New Jersey National Guard and supporting the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division. So, this is the kind of guy you want training you, you know, and we shoot has these fantastic trainers. You can take advantage of this by belonging to WeShoot. You can take these courses and really, really learn and hone your skills. You need to check out WeShoot at weshootusa.com, weshootusa.com. It’s a beautiful range right there in Lakewood, conveniently located easy to get to, right off the Parkway, right there in Central Jersey. You have this fantastic resource of a range. So, make sure you check out WeShoot. Evan Nappen 20:24 And of course, our friends at the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs have been very busy. They’ve been battling in the courts. We should see some more progress there, and I’ll be reporting on that. They’ve been keeping an eye on what’s going on in Trenton and letting us know about these fights we’re fighting. We’ve made an impact. We’ve made an impact. But man, it is a tough slog. And without the Association, we would be even worse. So, make sure that you join the ANJRPC.org, the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol clubs. anjrpc.org. They are the premier gun rights group in New Jersey. You need to be a member. You’ll get the email alerts, and you’ll stay on top of what is going on in the crazy state of New Jersey, where the fun just never ends when it comes to oppression of our rights and the fight for our liberties. Evan Nappen 21:22 And by the way, this is where I shamelessly promote my book New Jersey Gun Law, which is the Bible of New Jersey gun law. You’ve got to get a copy. Go to EvanNappen.com. It’s over 500 pages, 120 topics, all question and answer. It is the book used by everybody, and the only book that describes and explains the complex matrix of insanity called New Jersey gun law. Get your copy today. Go to EvanNappen.com. When you get it, scan the front cover. Make sure you get on my private subscriber base, where you can immediately access the archives for any updates. A new update will be coming out very shortly, the 2026 Comprehensive Update of these new laws that Murphy gave us as his farewell present. I’ll be talking about those and explaining those soon. Get your copy today and join in with the subscriber base, which is free, which is free, by the way. So, that your book stays current, and you’ll know what’s going on and be able to keep yourself from becoming a GOFU. Evan Nappen 22:35 Teddy, what do you have for us today? Teddy Nappen 22:38 Well, as you know, Press Checks are always free. And I want to remind everyone that the Democrats and the Left are, in fact, the real racists. No matter. They do not care what bounds they have to do. They don’t care about what lines they have to cross. They hate you, and they want to take away your rights. You know. Evan Nappen 23:06 Well, Teddy, historically, historically the KKK were Southern Democrats. That was a KKK. The Democrats. Teddy Nappen 23:15 Yep, and apparently. Page of 5 8 Evan Nappen 23:16 Well, it hasn’t changed, apparently. Go ahead. Teddy Nappen 23:19 Well, even better, they’re getting back to their roots. We had previously discussed how the they tried to do that whole argument against Bruen and even citing to like, you know, all the racist laws that would deny blacks their rights to carry and ability to possess firearms. Well, sure enough, from The Daily Caller by Harold Hutchinson. Justice Jackson defends Jim Crow laws during Second Amendment case hearing. (https://dailycaller.com/2026/01/20/ketanji-brown-jackson-jim-crow-law-during-2a-case-argument/) If you have that on your bingo card today, you win. So. Evan Nappen 23:59 Your bingo card is Judge Jackson defends Jim Crow racist Black Codes. Teddy Nappen 24:05 Black Code. Specifically Black Codes. Yes, yes. So, this is about the Hawaii challenge. Remember, they’re trying to attack Bruen. And this is our opportunity to really strengthen and end that insanity. Evan Nappen 24:20 Your talking about the Wolford case. Teddy Nappen 24:20 Correct. Evan Nappen 24:22 About sensitive places. Which is very important. That can have great impact on New Jersey, too. Teddy Nappen 24:28 Oh, we’re all very too familiar about the various sensitive places in New Jersey. But this was the part that caught me. During the forum, where the justices are allowed to ask questions and probe the issues of the facts of the case of the law. So, Justice Jackson then turned and decided to go on and say. I just laugh every time I read it. So, I guess I really don’t understand your response to Justice Gorsuch on the Black Codes. I mean, I thought the Black Code, this is Jackson, were being offered under the Bruen test to determine the Constitutionality of this regulation, and that, because we have a test, and that asks us to look at the history and tradition, the fact that the Black Codes were at some point determined themselves unconstitutional, it doesn’t seem to me to be relevant to the assessment that Bruen is asking us for anyway. So, can you say more about that? So to. Evan Nappen 25:35 Do you believe this person is a justice? Teddy Nappen 25:40 Well, I can, I can believe it, because Biden said it himself. He was going to appoint a black woman and regardless of that. So, just take a step back though. Let’s unpack that line right there. It’s not relevant to the fact the laws were found unconstitutional, not relevant to the fact of the constitutionality of the Second Amendment and the and the fact that you are citing, and this is the war on Bruen they are Page of 6 8 making, where they try to say history, text and tradition. Where does history begin? Well, to the Left, apparently, the history begins in the 1860s where you have the various Black Codes and racist gun laws, but you know, to us with the, you know, traditionalists and go and have a little bit further knowledge of history, go back to the very foundation of our country and when the Second Amendment was born. And not only that, this shows you the degree that they hate us and hate guns and are willing to pursue a second amendment oppression agenda, even to the degree that they will utilize unconstitutional purely racist laws of the past to justify prohibitions now that are themselves we can show utilizing institutionalized racism in their enforcement, no less. I mean, they don’t care, as long as they can get the guns and take away the rights. So what if they have to be on the side of racism? That’s fine with them there. Teddy Nappen 27:28 Well, and here’s the reason why I pulled from The Trace where, you know, they absolutely loathe Bruen. This is why they hate it, and this is why they don’t care where length they have to go they cite in. This is from The Trace. (https://www.thetrace.org/projects/bruen-tracker-supreme-court-gun-laws/) 1100 plus. The number of people with felony convictions have used Bruen to challenge the ban on the possession of guns. So, in other words, people that were lawful possession and have unconstitutional laws currently putting them in jail? Oh, now there’s a hammer that is Bruen that can actually help them defend themselves and not be prosecuted. Amazing. Well. And it goes back to race, because blacks are six to one felons to whites, and what is the left pushing? Oh, the disqualifier of a felon, you are sure, because it gets a racial discrimination. It’s six to one again, always pushing the one side of their mouth, claiming to fight for civil rights. Teddy Nappen 28:37 And yet, when it really comes down to the truest of civil rights, they immediately sell it out to pursue a second amendment oppression agenda, yeah, and also the fact they highlight, they highlight this rate of 48% of Republican appointed judges have struck down various gun laws under Bruen, as opposed to the 13 Democrat appointees. So there is political bias for that, you where they’re actually applying the law versus them ignoring the Constitution. But you know, that’s a separate but this is something I want to highlight to everyone. The fact is, if the Left ever take power back, and James Carville has said this, they will pack the court. He said, we’re going to pack the court. We’re going to make a gonna make Puerto Rico a state like everything they can to maintain power. Teddy Nappen 29:30 What are they going to do when they pack the court? Go ahead and read the dissenting of Bruen. I pulled the line right here from buyers, which all of them agree with buyers on this. They refuse, when considering the SEC refuse to consider government interests and just and the challenge to gun regulations regarding the compelling interest to be, in our view, when the court interprets the Second Amendment, it is constitutionally proper and in often necessary. Necessary to consider the serious danger and consequences of gun violence that lead states to regulate when you when they consider gun laws, they have to factor in the gun violence. You know, the propaganda they promote, race manufacturers on a daily basis, by the way, right? That’s what they have to consider when exercising. So whenever you want to exercise the First Amendment, always consider the hate speech. This is why Reagan said, you know, freedom is only what one generation away from being lost. You know, paraphrasing, but that’s what it means. If they get power, they get total power. We’re in for it, so be vigilant, folks. Make sure you vote. Make sure you do your part in our republic, in defending our rights. Page of 7 8 Evan Nappen 30:55 Hey, let me tell you about this week’s GOFU, which is the Gun Owner Fuck Up. We always like to talk about GOFUs, because these are expensive lessons, real cases, real individuals have learned. And I don’t want you, my listeners, to have to repeat these mistakes. And this one is, this comes up at any number of cases, even just this week. And here’s the bottom line on this GOFU, folks. Know what you have. Let me tell you what I mean by that. I get cases all the time where people end up with their property seized and their house gets searched. Now you may say, well, no one has searched my house. Yeah, except it’s so easy in New Jersey to have that happen. All it takes is just some allegation by any party. You don’t even get a chance to say anything till afterwards. After they do the search that red flags you, or puts an unjustified restraining order on you, or just your house has a fire, and the firemen come in there. We’ve seen this happen so many times, so many ways, and something gets discovered that you didn’t even remember that you had. Evan Nappen 32:17 Because remember, New Jersey has turned things into crimes where there was no grandfathering. If you had old magazines that held over 10 rounds, in other words, you could even if you complied with Florio way back in the day and made sure your mags only held 15. Well, if you’ve got 15 round Florio mags, you’ve got felony charges on your hands. Even though they were made compliant way back. Because now it’s 10. That’s just one example. If you have firearm that became non-compliant under New Jersey law and didn’t realize it, there’s just a multitude of things that New Jersey can screw you over with. Please make sure you know what you have and not have anything that you shouldn’t. Because it’s so easy to have boxes of accessories, boxes and you know, lo and behold, what’s in it? An old bump stock or an old large capacity magazine or a trigger crank, or any of the things that were legal, but then New Jersey unilaterally decided it is intrinsically evil and must be turned into felonies for possession. So, folks, know what you have. Evan Nappen 33:37 This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens. Speaker 2 33:48 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Page of 8 8 Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S5 E274_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America's Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it's no wonder he's become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets. Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It's Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News. As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists. He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America. Email Evan Your Comments and Questions  talkback@gun.lawyer Join Evan's InnerCircleHere's your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America.  Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL.  Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits.   Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";

This week Erin and Brennan find themselves in Rockridge watching one of the all time comedy greats Blazing Saddles. We discuss how the trope of the western is turned on its head while laughing pretty much non-stop. I mean, this is a Mel Brooks film, so of course it has Medieval executioners in the Wild West, 4th wall breaking chaos that spills out into the streets of....Burbank. Plus QUICKSAND, a very dirty song sung completely off key, and did we mention the INVENTION of the candygram?!?! 

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! PART TWOOnce a notorious hub of vice, violence, and wild entertainment, the Birdcage Theatre has earned a reputation as one of the most haunted locations in the American West. Opened in 1881, the Birdcage served as a saloon, theater, gambling hall, and brothel—hosting countless tragedies, illicit dealings, and untimely deaths.In this episode of The Grave Talks, we're joined by paranormal investigator and author Steven Blackwell to explore the history and hauntings that still define the Birdcage Theatre today. Reports of shadow figures, phantom voices, unexplained touches, and lingering presences suggest that not everyone who entered the Birdcage ever truly left.Are the spirits said to haunt the Birdcage Theatre dark and malicious—or simply souls trapped by unfinished stories and violent history? Together, we examine why this iconic Wild West landmark continues to draw both investigators and the unexplained, more than a century after its doors first opened.#TheGraveTalks #BirdcageTheatre #HauntedTombstone #WildWestHauntings #HistoricHauntings #ParanormalPodcast #HauntedLocations #GhostsOfTheWest #UnexplainedEncounters #ParanormalInvestigationsLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE!Once a notorious hub of vice, violence, and wild entertainment, the Birdcage Theatre has earned a reputation as one of the most haunted locations in the American West. Opened in 1881, the Birdcage served as a saloon, theater, gambling hall, and brothel—hosting countless tragedies, illicit dealings, and untimely deaths.In this episode of The Grave Talks, we're joined by paranormal investigator and author Steven Blackwell to explore the history and hauntings that still define the Birdcage Theatre today. Reports of shadow figures, phantom voices, unexplained touches, and lingering presences suggest that not everyone who entered the Birdcage ever truly left.Are the spirits said to haunt the Birdcage Theatre dark and malicious—or simply souls trapped by unfinished stories and violent history? Together, we examine why this iconic Wild West landmark continues to draw both investigators and the unexplained, more than a century after its doors first opened.#TheGraveTalks #BirdcageTheatre #HauntedTombstone #WildWestHauntings #HistoricHauntings #ParanormalPodcast #HauntedLocations #GhostsOfTheWest #UnexplainedEncounters #ParanormalInvestigationsLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

SPONSORS: 1) GHOST BED: Get an extra 10% off already-great prices at https://GhostBed.com/julian with promo code JULIAN. JOIN PATREON FOR EARLY UNCENSORED EPISODE RELEASES: https://www.patreon.com/JulianDorey (***TIMESTAMPS in description below) ~ Ryan Niddel is the CEO of Diversified Botanics. He is a egalized dr*g market expert who has spoken out about the 7-OH opioid problem in America. RYAN's LINKS: X: https://x.com/Ryan_Niddel IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegenxgentleman/ COMPANY: https://diversifiedbotanics.com/ FOLLOW JULIAN DOREY INSTAGRAM (Podcast): https://www.instagram.com/juliandoreypodcast/ INSTAGRAM (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/julianddorey/ X: https://twitter.com/julianddorey JULIAN YT CHANNELS - SUBSCRIBE to Julian Dorey Clips YT: https://www.youtube.com/@juliandoreyclips - SUBSCRIBE to Julian Dorey Daily YT: https://www.youtube.com/@JulianDoreyDaily - SUBSCRIBE to Best of JDP: https://www.youtube.com/@bestofJDP ****TIMESTAMPS**** 0:00 – Intro 1:34 – Rocco Vargas, Ryan's Background, Diversified Botanics, Kratom, FDA, Safety Issues 13:29 – FDA “Safety” Process, DEA Scheduling Threat, $1M Product Destruction, "Wild West" 23:55 – Post-DEA Future, System Failures, FDA Barriers, LLM + Blockchain Solutions 34:01 – Supplement Industry Problems, Untested Products, Market Cycles, Post-COVID Dynamics 45:00 – Why Kratom Isn't an Opioid Replacement 55:48 – 7-OH Potency, Addiction Risk, Bioavailability, Kratom vs 7-OH Confusion 01:05:16 – Trade Shows, Smoke Shops, Mass Market Access, FDA Classification Issues 01:14:42 – Ethics, FDA Failures, Regulation Gaps, Lawsuits, Bioavailability Interactions 01:25:06 – Blockchain Validation, Transparency, COA Verification 01:39:08 – Ledger Systems, Simulation Theory 01:45:34 – 7-OH Regulation Debate, Prohibition vs Control, Opium Epidemic Parallels 01:52:57 – Potency Arms Race, Best Friend's Overdose 02:01:38 – Addiction Crisis, FDA/HHS, RFK Talks, Cartel Surveillance 02:10:14 – CCP, Cartels, Russians, Money Laundering Networks 02:21:34 – Corruption, Global Networks, Acceptance of Risk w/ Cartels & China 02:35:37 – Future Model, Research Studies, NSF Approval, Market Structure 02:47:52 – Ryan's Work CREDITS: - Host, Editor & Producer: Julian Dorey - COO, Producer & Editor: Alessi Allaman - https://www.youtube.com/@UCyLKzv5fKxGmVQg3cMJJzyQ - In-Studio Producer: Joey Deef - https://www.instagram.com/joeydeef/ Julian Dorey Podcast Episode 376 - Ryan Niddel Music by Artlist.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"I just want to say one word to you.  One word.  Plastics… There's a great future in plastics." This iconic line from the movie The Graduate is at the top of my mind when I think about where we are heading in healthcare. I've interpreted "plastics" as symbolizing a dystopian, mass-produced future of medicine—where artificiality and inauthenticity dominate in the pursuit of efficiency and profit margins. After listening to today's podcast on the growth of community-based palliative care, I find my perspective shifting on this quote. Perhaps the advice given for a future in plastics reflects the past generation's established worldview, failing to recognize a countercultural revolution seeking transformation and meaningful change, even if it may come across as a little brash. In this thought-provoking episode of the GeriPal podcast, we are joined by Alan Chiu (Chief of Palliative Care at Monogram Health), Mindy Stewart-Coffee (National Vice President of Palliative Care at Optum Home and Community), and Ben Thompson (National Medical Director for Hospice and Palliative Care at Gentiva) to discuss this revolution happening in palliative care. The conversation centers around the rapid growth and investment in community-based palliative care, which has emerged as a key area of innovation and opportunity to meet the largely unmet needs of patients living with serious illnesses. With a focus on expanding access, improving outcomes, and addressing workforce shortages, the guests explore how value-based care models are reshaping palliative care delivery. The discussion highlights the differences between traditional fee-for-service models and newer value-based care approaches, including how they incentivize care. We take a deep dive into the risks and benefits of these models, emphasizing the importance of maintaining high standards of care while fostering innovation. We also delve into the role of for-profit organizations and private equity in driving change, acknowledging concerns about motivations while recognizing that these entities can help spur innovation and improve access when led by clinicians committed to patient-centered care. Ultimately, this podcast serves as a call to action for the palliative care community to help shape not just the "Wild West" of community-based care, but palliative care 3.0 as a whole. Do we sit back and wait for a future dominated by a plastic version of palliative care, or do we help lead this revolution to ensure it maintains the authentic heart of what brought us to this field?  As Diane Meier aptly warns, "if you are not at the table, you're on the menu." Eric Widera Of Note: the views expressed in this podcast are our guests' own opinions and not representative of their organizations.

Is the "Wild West" era of real estate wholesaling coming to an end? With states like Illinois and Arizona cracking down on unlicensed deal-making, the traditional wholesale model is facing an existential crisis. In this episode, Chad sits down with David O, author of Investor Friendly Agent, to discuss why getting your real estate license might be the smartest move you can make for your investing career.David breaks down how wearing the "Agent Hat" actually gives you more leverage, credibility, and exit strategies than being an unlicensed investor. They discuss the "three-option" pitch to sellers, how to use transparency to win negotiations, and why buying rentals is the true path to wealth compared to the transactional hamster wheel of wholesaling.Get David's Free Book Offer: FreeAgentBook.comGet the Seller Script: TrueWealthInvestors.com/CallScriptMore Resources & LinksStruggling to get started in Real Estate or feel like you are struggling to get to the next level? ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out this Free Vision Casting Video⁠⁠⁠⁠ to help clarify your goals and get specific steps to accomplish them! ⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with Chad on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chad on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chad on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow True Wealth on Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠Be sure to leave a rating & review to let us know how this show has helped YOU!

— You durn foolWaves of hot lava washed down my throat, past my lungs, and hit my stomach like an acid avalanche.By day, Nick Sipe works as a mild-mannered IT manager for a Fortune 150 company. By night, he mostly recovers from the workday, but occasionally finds time to write. He enjoys writing Twilight Zone-style short stories, mostly horror and light sci-fi. Nick is currently shopping his debut novel, “Midnight Springs,” to literary agents. “Midnight Springs” is the first in a planned horror-Western series that sends classic monsters (think Frankenstein, Van Helsing, the Wolfman) to the Wild West to tangle with their American counterparts (think witches, the Headless Horseman, the Wendigo). Nick live in Gastonia, North Carolina. He is a member of Charlotte Writers Club.

Online access to information has its benefits and drawbacks. Though we can obtain information at the touch of a button, we can also be influenced and misinformed as to spiritual matters. False teachers and false prophets have seemingly flourished online, and now that individuals are questioning such practices and teachings, they are experiencing the disadvantage of growing Biblical discernment. Now, some leaders are countering by calling "discernment ministries" gossips and slanderers, telling their followers to silence such people and to avoid them. Join me as we look at some recent developments regarding specific leaders within this movement, and we consider the definitions of gossip and slander. Resources:https://www.gotquestions.org/gossip-in-the-church.htmlhttps://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-slander.htmlMy info:Website: http://www.lovesickscribe.comSubscribe to my blog here: http://eepurl.com/dfZ-uHInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovesickscribe/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovesickscribeblog

This video is a clip of my stream "The Real Wild West: The Bloody Truth of Cowboys, Indians, and Outlaws." If you would like to watch the entire stream please click the following link. https://youtube.com/live/1whuZj1ezds

Send us a textLogan Fullmer, a real estate investor who specializes in acquiring distressed properties with complex legal issues, shares how he built a lucrative business by solving title problems, navigating legal challenges, and capitalizing on overlooked real estate deals.⁣⁣Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/uG7gaGYiXtg⁣⁣Connect with Logan: ⁣https://www.loganfullmer.com⁣https://www.instagram.com/logan_fullmer/⁣https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbl7zJs1jt7_Qaq2Xb-o2zA⁣__________⁣If you want to start your real estate investing business, we'll give you 1:1 coaching, seller leads, software, & everything you need. https://www.wealthyinvestor.com⁣⁣Join our private mastermind for elite business leaders who golf. https://www.mastermind19.com⁣⁣Join free Bible studies and workshops for Christian business leaders. https://www.tentmakers.us⁣__________⁣CHAPTERS: ⁣0:00 - How Logan Started With “Hairy” Real Estate Deals⁣4:00 - The Rise of Hedge Funds in Real Estate Auctions⁣8:50 - The Wild West of HOA Foreclosures and Legal Loopholes⁣13:00 - Logan's Unique Deal Strategy: No Title Insurance, No Problem⁣19:00 - $3M Profit from Divorce-Linked PropertyLearn how to invest in real estate with the Cashflow 2.0 System! Your business in a box with 1:1 coaching, motivated seller leads, & softwares. https://www.wealthyinvestor.com/Want to work 1:1 with Ryan Pineda? Apply at ryanpineda.comJoin our FREE community, weekly calls, and bible studies for Christian entrepreneurs and business people. https://tentmakers.us/Want to grow your business and network with elite entrepreneurs on world-class golf courses? Apply now to join Mastermind19 – Ryan Pineda's private golf mastermind for high-level founders and dealmakers. www.mastermind19.com--- About Ryan Pineda: Ryan Pineda has been in the real estate industry since 2010 and has invested in over $100,000,000 of real estate. He has completed over 700 flips and wholesales, and he owns over 650 rental units. As an entrepreneur, he has founded seven different businesses that have generated 7-8 figures of revenue. Ryan has amassed over 2 million followers on social media and has generated over 1 billion views online. Starting as a minor league baseball player making less than $2,000 a month, Ryan is now worth over $100 million. He shares his experiences in building wealth and believes that anyone can change their life with real estate investing. ...

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is affecting every aspect of our lives, including education. When it comes to the impact of AI on kids' learning and overall wellbeing, we don't have the luxury of waiting on long-term studies. There is, however, a new “pre-mortem” study out from Brookings, looking at whether AI does more good or more harm in education. Here with the answers is Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution. She helps make sense of this new landscape and the best way forward for schools, policymakers, and parents.  Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Building PA Podcast, co-hosts Jon O'Brien and Chris Martin welcome back Michael Kline, a seasoned marketing expert and AI enthusiast, to discuss the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on various industries, including construction.We kick off the episode with some light-hearted banter about Chris's decision to stay with the podcast for its sixth season, dispelling rumors of his departure. Jon then introduces Mike, reminiscing about their long-standing professional relationship that dates back to the early 2000s when they worked together at the Steel Structures Painting Council.Mike dives into the core topic of the episode: understanding AI and its implications for businesses. He provides a clear definition of artificial intelligence, likening it to a sophisticated calculator that processes vast amounts of human knowledge. This analogy helps demystify AI, emphasizing that it is not about inventing new concepts but rather about leveraging existing information in innovative ways.As the conversation unfolds, we address common fears surrounding AI, particularly the concern that it will replace jobs. Mike reassures listeners that while AI will enhance efficiency in certain roles, particularly in marketing and software development, it will not eliminate jobs in the trades, which remain essential and irreplaceable.We explore practical applications of AI in business, with Mike sharing his own experiences of using AI tools to streamline processes, such as generating meeting notes and creating proposals. He emphasizes the importance of identifying specific business challenges before diving into AI solutions, encouraging business owners to evaluate where AI can provide the most value.Throughout the episode, Mike highlights various AI platforms, including Cloud AI and Chip AI, which allow users to build custom applications without extensive coding knowledge. He shares insights on how he has utilized these tools to create agents that assist him in legal, marketing, and writing tasks, effectively substituting for a full team.As we wrap up, Mike encourages listeners to embrace AI, suggesting that they start by identifying their pain points and experimenting with AI tools to find solutions. He also touches on the future of AI, predicting that while we are currently in a "Wild West" phase, regulation and consolidation will eventually shape the landscape.This episode is packed with valuable insights for anyone looking to understand and leverage AI in their business. We invite our audience to reach out to Mike for further guidance and to keep an eye out for his upcoming AI 101 presentation.Join us as we navigate the exciting world of AI and its potential to revolutionize the construction industry and beyond!

Show Notes: "Before You Give or Take Financial Advice, Read This" [SMMC Blog Post]: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/862829868 FTC Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers Investor.gov professional verification tools: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/getting-started/working-investment-professional/check-out-your-investment-professional Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation: https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx IRS guidance on choosing tax preparers: https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional “Hack-Proof Your Holidays #GetSavvy Webinar Recording” [YouTube Video]: https://youtu.be/p2Leqox64cY?si=VAKsFJTuZFcCvyEF Related Episodes: Ep. 14 – Short-selling: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/433822269 Ep. 25 – Choosing a Financial Professional: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/518681996 Ep. 65 – Financial Planner vs AI: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1933077943 Ep. 76 – What is Crypto Anyway?: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1253298616 Ep 78 – Is Crypto the Wild West?: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1888916702 Ep. 99 – Financial Socialization: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1342187809 References: American Institute of CPAs. (2024). AICPA.org. https://www.aicpa.org/ Benson, J. (2016). Cognitive bias codex. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Cognitive_bias_codex_en.svg Center for Advanced Hindsight. (2024). Resources. https://advanced-hindsight.com/resources/ CFA Institute. (2024). CFA Institute. https://www.cfainstitute.org/ CFP Board. (2024). Code of ethics and standards of conduct. https://www.cfp.net/ethics/code-of-ethics-and-standards-of-conduct Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. (2024). CFP.net. https://www.cfp.net/ Dictionary.com. (2021). Parasocial relationship. https://www.dictionary.com/e/tech-science/parasocial-relationship/ Federal Trade Commission. (2019). Disclosures 101 for social media influencers. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers FINRA. (2024). FINRA.org. https://www.finra.org/ Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation. (2024). License lookup. https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx Internal Revenue Service. (2024). Choosing a tax professional. https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. § 80b-1 et seq. https://www.sec.gov/about/laws/iaa40.pdf Investor.gov. (2024). Check out your investment professional. https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/getting-started/working-investment-professional/check-out-your-investment-professional Klayman, J. (1995). Varieties of confirmation bias. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 32, 385-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60315-1 National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. (2024). NAPFA fiduciary standard. https://www.napfa.org/fiduciary-standard Pellegrini, A. (2025). Before you give or take financial advice, read this. University of Illinois Extension Blog. https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/862829868 Securities and Exchange Commission. (2022, October 3). SEC charges Kim Kardashian for unlawfully touting crypto security [Press release]. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-183 The Decision Lab. (2024). Cognitive biases: A list of the most relevant biases in behavioral economics. https://thedecisionlab.com/biases Yakoboski, P. J., Lusardi, A., & Sticha, A. (2024). The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index). Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC). https://gflec.org/initiatives/personal-finance-index/

In this episode, we chat with Michael Rawlinson, one of the most experienced and well-known figures in mining finance and our industry. Michael's career spans multiple decades and cycles, from growing up in a mining family to early roles in investment banking and equity research, co-founding Liberum, senior roles at Barclays, and now a portfolio career as a non-executive director across the mining sector. Few people have seen the industry from as many angles: advisor, analyst, investor, and board member and in this conversation, we'll reflect on how mining, capital markets, and leadership have evolved, what's genuinely different about the current cycle, and what still hasn't changed at all. KEY TAKEAWAYS Michael's extensive career was heavily influenced by growing up in a mining family and witnessing the inherent volatility of the industry firsthand across Africa. The mining industry has undergone a massive shift from a "Wild West" mentality to a highly regulated environment where ESG and safety standards are fundamental to operations. Modern mining finance has transitioned from a reliance on traditional London equity markets to more sophisticated private equity firms and the robust superannuation system in Australia. Despite technological advancements and new ESG requirements, the industry remains governed by 20-30 year "metronomic" cycles of supply and demand BEST MOMENTS "The world of mining is the oldest, most boring, most basic of industries, and in a sense, it never changes. It is the most volatile sector there ever was... the cycles are brutal, they are relentless." "We've gone from a Wild West to having better safety, environmental, better governance, and regulation. It's overall a better place, a smaller industry in terms of people and share of GDP, but the tons grow for most commodities." “The globalisation of Britain has actually just meant that money's gone elsewhere." "The next 20 years, for the people who've learned the skills in these technical industries, they're going to do well... This is revenge of the high-viz vest land." GUEST RESOURCES https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rawlinson-244750101/ VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠rob@mining-international.org⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ CONTACT METHOD ⁠rob@mining-international.org⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people's experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

No new episode this week due to some unexpected conflicts, but since we're celebrating classic western movies, here's a collection of western tales from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills!" Alan Ladd hunts for his brother's murderer in "A Killing in Abilene" (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950). Then, Richard Widmark fights a bloody feud in "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1951) and he tracks a deadly panther through the snow in "The Track of the Cat" (originally aired on CBS on February 18, 1952). Frank Lovejoy stars as one of the west's most infamous gunslingers in "The Shooting of Billy the Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1952) and Richard Widmark returns - this time as another notorious outlaw - in "The Spencer Brothers" (originally aired on CBS on January 26, 1953). Finally, Victor Mature stars as a legendary bandit in "The Love and Death of Joaquin Murietta" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1953).

The path to the top is not always linear. For Jill Costanza, it included returning to school and stops in collegiate and military performance before becoming Director of Sport Science and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the National Football League (NFL) Detroit Lions. Costanza describes today’s sport science landscape as a “Wild West,” where definitions differ by perspective. Her focus centers on assessing the athlete and program effectiveness against the demands of the game to identify holistic interventions. She outlines how intentional systems, a clear communication funnel, and data visualizations help athletes and stakeholders understand the “why,” build buy-in, and tap into competitiveness. Addressing common misconceptions, Costanza clarifies that elite athletes can still have foundational qualities that need rewiring. She emphasizes movement quality, proprioception, and breathing while adapting for individual needs and neurological fatigue. Learn how to build sport science systems, turn insights into action, and keep progressing on your professional path. Reach out to Jill by email at: jill.costanza@lions.nfl.net | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs   Join the NSCA Football Special Interest Group (SIG) and explore 24 other specialized communities designed to support your development on the Special Interest Groups page.Show Notes“For me personally, my philosophy is educating the athlete and giving them the why. It's their body. It's their processes that they're having to go through. So we can get buy in from the athlete, and they understand, even when they're away from us, how to take care of themselves, how to lead a healthy lifestyle, that buy in from them where they care and they're asking questions, it definitely makes the process much smoother, and they become proactive.” 12:00 “There are certain qualities that still need to be built that can sometimes be overlooked at this level because you just assume, well, they're the best of the best. They're the elite. But sometimes, we really have to regress and go back to basic motor learning, motor control, and reingrain and rewire some of these foundational movement patterns.” 14:30 “I connected with myself. I think that was probably the biggest lesson. I began to learn who I am and really formed a comfortable relationship with myself and trust in myself. I was guided by my intuition. I didn't chase after opportunities. I just focused on what I needed to do to continue to grow as a person, as a coach, and just trusted that the right people would come into my path at the right time with the right opportunity.” 22:30

Our resident Wild West historian Jim Dunham joins us once again to discuss two characters of the Old West, one an outlaw and the other a lawman.

During this episode of ROCKnVINO, hosts Coco and Michelle talk with Alexander Harris (who goes by A3l3xzand3r), co-owner of The Harris Gallery Art & Wine Collection, as well as co-founder of the popular T.O.W.N. Dinner series. It stands for Traveling Off-Season For Wine Night and these wild evenings are not your typical wine dinners. Alex and co-founder Art Murray of Flambeaux Wine put together experiences that include art, performance, wine, food, whimsy and FUN! Past events have turned Geyserville into the Wild West, or celebrated each of the Seven Deadly Sins. Learn about the series and get hints about the next series of dinners during this episode. Be sure to sign up for email updates so that you don't miss out on the fun at towndinners.com. ROCKnVINO is sponsored by American AgCredit.

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The guys break down Miami's interest in highly touted transfer-portal QB Sam Leavitt, including the competition with LSU and whether the Canes have a real shot at landing him. Donno also throws Alabama's Ty Simpson into the mix as the conversation turns to the bigger debate: the impact of bringing in a new transfer QB every year on recruiting high school talent. They discuss the risks and realities of relying on “one-year patch jobs” versus developing freshmen, and how the transfer portal—and modern college football's financial landscape—has turned recruiting into the wild west.

Kris and David ARE BACK!!!!! after our battles with the epic Winter 2025-2026 Flu and discussing the (almost-)week that was January 2-7, 1988. Topics of discussion include:Andre the Giant attacking Hulk Hogan after his match with King Kong Bundy on an otherwise not very newsworthy episode of Saturday Night's Main Event to heat up their match in prime time on The Main Event a month later.King Kong Bundy and his job as the celebrity spokesman for Vendex Head Start Computers, which allowed him to more or less retire from wrestling Curt Hennig defending his AWA World Title in AJPW…in disappointing fashion, at least according to insiders.NJPW kicking off the first ever Top of the Super Juniors tournament with a LOADED lineup of talent.ICW trying to heat up an Iron Sheik vs. Georga Skaaland feud of all times.Renegade Tobacco getting heavily involved with Jarrett Promotions, complete with a press conference on TV.Shawn Michaels being completely hammered on live TV as he's going off on Scott Hall and Ken Wayne.Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee talk about their friendly rivalry and the importance of the Lord of the Ring…ring.World Class starting to heat up with Ken Mantell is back in power.JCP TV starting to get spiced up as Lex Luger is catching fire as a babyface and they experimented with taping the TBS show on the road.Ric Flair accosting photographer Linda Roufa for a TV promo, which was quite the 1988 moment.This was a damn fun show and it's great to get back in the saddle again!!!Timestamps:0:00:00 WWF0:48:23 Int'l: AJPW, NJPW, All-Star, Stampede, & WWC1:07:55 Classic Commercial Break1:13:58 Halftime1:41:06 Other USA: WOW, Continental, CWA/Memphis, WCCW, Wild West, AWA, Central States, & Portland 2:55:24 Jim Crockett PromotionsTo support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/BetweenTheSheets and become an ongoing Patron. Becoming a Between the Sheets Patron will also get you exclusive access to not only the monthly themed episode of Between the Sheets, but also access to our new mailbag segment, a Patron-only chat room on Slack, and anything else we do outside of the main shows!If you're looking for the best deal on a VPN service—short for Virtual Private Network, it helps you get around regional restrictions as well as browse the internet more securely—then Private Internet Access is what you've been looking for. Not only will using our link help support Between The Sheets, but you'll get a special discount, with prices as low as $1.98/month if you go with a 40 month subscription. With numerous great features and even a TV-specific Android app to make streaming easier, there is no better choice if you're looking to subscribe to WWE Network, AEW Plus, and other region-locked services.For the best in both current and classic indie wrestling streaming, make sure to check out IndependentWrestling.tv and use coupon code BTSPOD for a free 5 day trial! (You can also go directly to TinyURL.com/IWTVsheets to sign up that way.) If you convert to a paid subscriber, we get a kickback for referring you, allowing you to support both the show and the indie scene.To subscribe, you can find us on iTunes, Google Play, and just about every other podcast app's directory, or you can also paste Feeds.FeedBurner.com/BTSheets into your favorite podcast app using whatever “add feed manually” option it has.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/between-the-sheets/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Valley of Shadows is a new Pushkin true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park...and never came back. Nearly 30 years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened. Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true—that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up. Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd uncover vestiges of the Wild West in a small California town, where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law. (00:01:04) Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host. A two-part conversation about what it's really like being a woman in tech for almost three decades. Content Warning: The F word probably makes an appearance multiple times. In this episode, Lee sits down with Elsbeth to talk about her long, winding, sometimes ridiculous, often inspiring journey through the IT industry — starting all the way back in 1997. If you've ever worked helpdesk, ever had a customer say “my cup holder broke” (yes, the CD tray)… or ever felt underestimated in a room full of engineers, this one's for you. Because we throw around some tech terms in the conversation, here are a few friendly definitions so everyone can follow along. Terms We Mentioned (in plain English) QA (Quality Assurance) Think of QA as the people who try to break things on purpose so regular users don't break them accidentally . They test software, hardware, websites — you name it — to catch bugs before they cause chaos. If it's glitch-free, a QA person probably saved the day behind the scenes. Content Moderation This is the work of keeping the internet from turning into the Wild West. Moderators review posts, comments, images, and videos to make sure they follow community rules and don't harm users. It's a mix of tech tools and human judgment — and yes, it can get intense. Building PCs Where many IT careers start! Building PCs is basically grown-up Lego: picking parts assembling them hoping you don't zap anything with static electricity praying the cable management gods smile upon you It's one of the most empowering skills in tech and often the first time someone realizes, “Oh hey… I can actually do this.” Gender Equality & Inequality Gender equality means giving everyone the same chance to succeed — no matter who they are. Gender inequality is what happens when that doesn't happen. In tech, inequality often looks like: being talked over being paid less being assumed “non-technical” having to prove yourself twice as hard being the only woman in a room… again Elsbeth has seen all of this firsthand since 1997 — and she's got stories. End-User The end-user is simply the person who actually uses the product. Not the engineer who built it. Not the manager who approved it. Not the QA who tested it. The end-user is the human at the end of the chain who clicks the button, pushes the key, taps the app… and finds entirely new ways to break things no one expected. Understanding them is the secret superpower of tech. Neurodivergence Neurodivergence means brains come in many beautiful varieties — like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and more. Neurodivergent people often bring incredible strengths to IT, including creativity, pattern spotting, hyperfocus, and out-of-the-box problem solving. They can also face misunderstandings in workplaces that weren't designed with different brains in mind — something Elsbeth talks about openly and honestly in this episode. Provide feedback on this episode.

Long before the modern UFO era, settlers, cowboys, soldiers, and newspapers across the American frontier were reporting strange lights, mysterious craft, and even non-human beings in the skies. In this episode of Somewhere in the Skies, we travel back to the late 1800s to explore remarkable cases from Montana's glowing “sky chariots” and New Mexico's ghost lights to early reports of crashes, humanoid encounters, and the bizarre airship wave that swept the West. From silent orbs following cattle drives to alleged crashes in Colorado and Texas, these encounters blur the line between folklore and something far more technological. Together, they suggest the UFO phenomenon did not begin in the 20th century, but has deep roots in the Wild West, appearing in forms shaped by the time, culture, and understanding of those who witnessed it. Please take a moment to rate and review us on Spotify and Apple. Visit Dan Zetterstrom at: https://www.tobehumanshow.com/ Visit the National UFO Historical Records Centre at: https://nufohrc.org/ Book Ryan on CAMEO at: https://bit.ly/3kwz3DO Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/somewhereskies ByMeACoffee: http://www.buymeacoffee.com/UFxzyzHOaQ PayPal: sprague51@hotmail.com Substack: https://ryansprague.substack.com/ All Socials and Books: https://linktr.ee/somewhereskiespod Email: ryan.sprague51@gmail.com SpectreVision Radio: https://www.spectrevision.com/podcasts Opening Theme Song by Septembryo Copyright © 2025 Ryan Sprague. All rights reserved. #WildWest #Cowboys #UFOs #UFO #UAP #Alien #Aliens #Paranormal #WildWestUFOs #OldWest #Somewhereintheskies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon! NEWSMarvel reveals who's still standing in 'Ultimate Endgame' #5, plus new covers & interior art for issue #2Ryan Stegman reveals he's done with X-Men, save for one last projectDC stacks Free Comic Book Day 2026 with Next Level debuts, Sonic crossover, and horror hitsSkybound and Hasbro announce Energon Universe Special 2026 for Free Comic Book DayRam V, Anand Radhakrishnan, and Evan Cagle sign massive global deal for new graphic novel series with Morgen'Baby Garfield' is here — and it's the cutest new comic you'll read all yearExclusive: 'Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees Artist's Edition' revealOur Top Books of the Week:Dave:Absolute Superman #15 (Jason Aaron, Juan Ferreyra)Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts (2025) #4 (Various)Coplan:​​Ultimate Wolverine #13 (Chris Condon, Domenico Carbone, Bryan Valenza)Absolute Batman: Ark M Special #1 (Scott Snyder, Frank Tieri, Josh Hixson, etc.)Standout KAPOW moment of the week:Coplan:  Ultimate Wolverine #13 (Chris Condon, Domenico Carbone, Bryan Valenza) Dave: Venom #253 (Al Ewing, Carlos Gomez)TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEKCoplan: Alice Forever After #1 (Dan Panosian, Giorgio Spalletta)Dave: Pig Wife (Abbey Luck)JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.Dave: Space Ghost #7 (Michael Cho)Coplan: DC K.O. #3 (DWJ Variant)Interview: Jordan D. White - Venom Unleashed #15 uncut!Let's dig into our two poll questions. The first was:Jordan hinted that one moment in Death Spiral has been locked in since the very beginning of planning the event. What are you most excited to see when that moment arrives?A whopping 40% said they'd like to see a major MJ's symbiote relationship (30.8% said a big Eddie vs. Carnage throwdown). Given how strongly readers responded to the idea of Mary Jane's symbiote journey, what was it about pairing MJ with a symbiote that felt essential to Death Spiral, and how early did that relationship start shaping the story?AIPT: For the second poll, we asked:Jordan suggests MJ might be shifting from “anti-hero” to something else entirely. What do YOU think her 2026 role will look like?Over 50% of the answers said they want something they haven't even guessed yet (second place was a full street-level hero arc with 32%). Might they be on the right track? AIPT: Venom #253 is out now (January 7th), and with it's a whole new ballgame with AIM. Madame Masque is a character not often used, at least in the last decade. Might you have a favorite story she's kicked butt in?AIPT: And for our monthly gotcha question: What's a better TV show, Buddies or Friends?Onto fan questions:Spencer asks: What can you tell us about Torment?One more about Torment from Patrick: Was the name of Death Spiral's villain, Torment, inspired by the Todd McFarlane story, or is it a coincidence that the name has a history with Spider-Man?Ol' Monster-Face asks: Last time you got asked about taking the story in a space opera direction… What about a Wild West theme? "Death Spiral" does look like it could set up a classic "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" standoff…Barrett asks: With two big Spider / Symbiote events coming up very soon will the main ASM book and Venom books both be tie-ins for the foreseeable future?Anonomous asks: Will Dylan and Sleeper be an important role in Death Spiral? They are related to both Eddie and the Venom symbiote after all.Murphy asks: Did you look at any prior stories when writing the Rick Jones and Toxin bond? It reminds me of the relationship he had with Genis, especially when he went off the rails.Garlador asks: As a repository of host memories, Venom is uniquely aware of many characters current conflicted feelings - Peter, MJ, Eddie, Dylan, Flash, etc. That's been an off-limits locked box issue with MJ, but can we expect to see Venom share more of prior hosts' buried feelings with her soon, or is that too messy for now?RadiantBlue asks: Which Venom host is your favorite?Midnighter82 asks: Symbie, Spider-Man's symbiote companion in his galactic adventure, is he bound to a host or not? Jimmy has a food and calories question: So, what is it like for Mary Jane in her daily life? The symbiote probably weighs at least twice her weight and leaves a bunch of goop all over after fights, so presumably that would be lots more food than she would be used to having.Anonomous asks: Its kinda frustrating seeing VENOM everywhere and no Carnage. If you could would you tackle a carnageverse? Besides the Anne Lethal Protector universe, are there worlds where carnage is an anti-hero? Jeduwin asks: As a fan of Eventuality, how much is it kept in mind when you're writing Eddie Brock? Its existence seems like it shifts where Eddie's stories are headed, since all roads lead to the King in Black.Another Flash question from Symbiobro: In All-New Venom #10, we got to see a deep dive into both MJ's and the symbiotes relationship with Eddie, but Flash Thompson also played a big role in both these people's lives. Can we expect a similar delve into how he helped shape the symbiote into what it is today?

Welcome to In Reality—the podcast about truth, disinformation, and the media with Eric Schurenberg, long-time journalist and media executive, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.Most of the guests on In Reality come out of the information world: journalists, researchers, a few politicians, but mostly people trying to clean up our polluted news feed and dial down the heat in our polarized politics. Today's guest is, if you will, upstream of that world.Carole House is a public servant who has spent her career trying to bring order to a world in which sophisticated technologies can be (and inevitably are) exploited by bad actors. Think cyberfraud, ransomware, digital money laundering, cryptocurrency and, of course, disinformation. She'll go into detail about her remarkable career, but suffice it to say that if it involves digital technology and crime, Carole has fought it.It's a very broad portfolio but Carole argues digital fraud is all the same at heart: online scams try to steal money; online disinformation aims to steal political power. What she calls the “fraud economy” is a trillion-dollar shadow GDP that erodes trust institution by institution and person by person. And AI is rapidly making it much worse. So today we connect the dots within the fraud economy—where disinformation, social media, cryptocurrency and cybercrime all work together. And we do so with one of the highly necessary people fighting back...Website - free episode transcriptswww.in-reality.fmAlliance for Trust in Mediaalliancefortrust.com Produced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapiensoundsapien.com

Sam and Matt talk through all of the NFL Wild Card matchups at length as well as the latest (or lack there of) MLB news for both local teams and some big trades and rumors across the NBA

How do we prepare Gen Z for a workforce being reshaped by Artificial Intelligence? Recorded live from the National Youth Apprenticeship Summit in Alexandria, Virginia, this episode explores the "Wild West" of the modern innovation economy and the vital role of youth apprenticeships in building future-ready career pathways. This special episode is made possible by our sponsors: CareerWise, a leader in high-quality modern youth apprenticeship systems, and PAYA (Partnership for the Advancement of Youth Apprenticeship), a collaborative initiative assisting partners in developing robust apprenticeship programs across the U.S.. Host Mike Palmer is joined by three experts to discuss the intersection of emerging technology, educational equity, and early career development: Shalin Jyotishi, Managing Director of the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America, explains how technology drives long-term economic growth and why strengthening the link between tech-based growth and economic security is essential. Gina Worthy, owner of Worthey Solutions International, provides deep insights into Gen Z—the "AI native" generation—and their unique needs for purpose-driven work and multi-generational interaction. Steve Jurch, lead of the Center for Policy and Practice at the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), highlights community colleges as an "innovation engine" that can rapidly respond to local industry needs and the AI revolution. Key Takeaways: AI Native vs. AI Fluent: Understanding how Gen Z's lifelong relationship with technology shifts their expectations of employers. The Experience Gap: How AI is changing entry-level work and why work-based learning is more critical than ever to bridge the gap between education and employment. Community Colleges as Catalysts: Why these institutions are becoming the primary choice for workforce development and short-term credentials in the innovation economy. The Future of Youth Apprenticeships: Exploring how these programs combine high school dual enrollment with structured apprenticeship to provide early career awareness and skill development. As we enter the AI "wild west," youth apprenticeships offer a vital bridge to purposeful, innovation-driven careers. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 4:00 Gen Z & Purpose 8:00 Innovation Economy 14:00 Community College Role 35:00 Audience Q&A

College football appears to be out of control, only further highlighted by the news of UW quarterback Demond Williams entering the transfer portal, so Brock and Salk react to it all and how they feel about the way Williams is handling the entire situation. After that, they bring on Joel Klatt of FOX Sports for his weekly segment in which he expresses all of his thoughts on Demond Williams, college football and the Seahawks chances to win it all.

0:00 - Man, we're not used to this feeling. The Avalanche lost their second straight game in regulation! They've doubled their regulation loss total from last year in the first 6 days of January. Even still, it's not time to panic YET. The Avs are still in a fantastic situation.It's Day 2 of the 2026 Moseys, our annual awards show honoring all the worst stuff we did in the previous year. Today's first categories are: Nailed It and PHRASING!20:42 - The NCAA transfer portal is wide open, and there's more and more insanity with each passing day. It's like the Wild West out there. The latest example: Washington Huskies QB Demond Williams entered the portal 4 days after signing a new deal to return to Washington for another season.Next Moseys Category: Worst Toss to Break34:52 - Do you have any specific concerns about the Broncos heading into the playoffs? Don't just say "the offense." SPECIFICALLY, what are you concerns?Next Moseys Category: Vic and Moser vs Technology 

The boys are officially back from their holiday hibernation and football did NOT wait for them. They return to a chaos-filled slate of College Football Playoff drama, NFL insanity, coaching carnivals, and Transfer Portal madness — and yes, absolutely nothing about LSU's Houston bowl game changed the future of planet Earth… or the team. Seriously, that bowl game happened, we promise, and we still don't care.Then it's on to the CFP quarterfinals, where the non-bye teams might actually have the secret cheat code advantage. The boys break down the CFP Semifinal matchups, give their picks against the spread, and argue about who is actually built for January football.And then… the Transfer Portal. The Wild West? Try Wildest West imaginable. NIL deals, surprise exits, commitment flip-flops, and yes — the boys dive into the dark side of the portal nobody wants to talk about but everyone needs to hear.Switching to the NFL, the boys unpack the end of the New Orleans Saints season and explain why Who Dat Nation should actually feel optimistic. The Ravens vs Steelers delivered a Monday Night thriller that may have signed one head coach's unemployment papers in real time. They preview the NFL Playoffs, hand out their ATS picks, and fully embrace the football playoff season.And finally… Black Monday. Head coaches everywhere were fired faster than carts roll on Black Friday. The boys look at which coaches will be reborn, recycled, or rehired immediately.This episode is packed with College Football Playoff breakdowns, NFL playoff predictions, Transfer Portal mayhem, coach firings, Saints optimism, betting picks, and hot takes your group chat isn't ready for. Buckle up — we're back.

When a well-known attorney and prominent cattle rustling investigator vanishes without a trace in White Sands National Park along with his young son, alarm bells go off right away. However, the road to justice would be a long and complicated one.View source material and photos for this episode at: parkpredators.com/the-attorney Park Predators is an Audiochuck production. Connect with us on social media:Instagram: @parkpredators | @audiochuckTwitter: @ParkPredators | @audiochuckFacebook: /ParkPredators  | /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Ethical Voices, Kristin Amico, a writer, editor, content strategist, and the most traveled person I know discusses a number of important ethics issues, including: ·       Why most ethics failures don't start with scandals ·       What the "Wild West" of AI really looks like inside organizations under pressure to perform ·       How fear, job insecurity, and "do more with less" environments quietly undermine ethical decision-making ·       Why mentorship is the most effective ethics safeguard for junior staff

Episode 271- New Year – New Challenges Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode 271 Transcript SUMMARY KEYWORDS Second Amendment, New Jersey, gun oppression, Bruen decision, carry permits, violent crime, John Petrolino, high capacity magazines, gun training, NRA classes, self-defense, gun laws, gun rights, gun ownership, legal battles, gun journalist. SPEAKERS Teddy Nappen, Speaker 2, Evan Nappen Evan Nappen 00:15 I’m Evan Nappen. Teddy Nappen 00:16 And I’m Teddy Nappen. Evan Nappen 00:18 And welcome to Gun Lawyer. Well, I want to thank all of my listeners and supporters, because on The Gundies Award for Podcast of the Year, I’m proud to tell you that Gun Lawyer has made the top five. And so, as one of the top five nominees, we are now in the running to see whether or not we win the Podcast of the Year. But I’m very honored to have made the top five, and I appreciate all of you that took the time to vote for Gun Lawyer. It’s a great way of getting a statement out there about what we believe in and what we fight for here. You know, our show does have a lot to do with what’s going on with New Jersey, because New Jersey is, as you know, the worst state in the country when it comes to oppression of our Second Amendment rights. And by bringing more and more attention to it, we shine that disinfectant of truth out there. So, this is important, and we want to keep up the keep the pressure. Teddy Nappen 01:44 Do you know what we should do for when we for the awards, we don’t go to accept it. We instead send a couple people who are recently released from the Gun Owner Gulag to accept the award. Yeah, like Marlon Brando sent Evan Nappen 02:00 Yeah, right. We’ll send someone from the Gulag to accept the award. I spent three months just to get out, even though I was innocent of all charges. You know, it’s just insane what New Jersey is doing. We’ll be reporting on the new laws that the Governor has yet to sign, but it appears that he will sign further oppression of our Second Amendment rights in New Jersey. And what you have to be aware of so you can protect yourself, because it is really just the extreme government action focused on attacking the Constitution. I mean, that’s what New Jersey is doing. It’s a fact. They try to contrive every conceivable angle to further deteriorate a Constitutional right. Instead of doing everything they can to Page – 1 – of 10 try to protect it, they do everything they can to try to diminish it. That’s the evil of what the New Jersey government is all about, and that’s really what it is. Evan Nappen 03:18 It is anti-rights, anti-Constitution. They are oppressors, and good people suffer. Good, law-abiding citizens suffer. This isn’t an academic exercise. Real people go to jail. Real people have their lives destroyed. Real people have their careers destroyed, their freedom taken and their families destroyed, over this garbage that New Jersey does in turning law-abiding citizens into criminals. I see it every day in the practice of New Jersey gun law. And the purpose of gun law, Gun Lawyer, of this radio show, is to bring attention to this. To help you, the listener, protect yourself from the evil oppression that is New Jersey. And they will, without any care, destroy you if they can, to promote their agenda, their agenda of destroying guns and gun owners. And this is what I see. Okay? This isn’t just hyperbole. It isn’t some made up fantasy. It is literally what I see happening to individuals as I practice in the, in this very area of New Jersey gun law. And it shows you when you have states that are following this agenda, how they destroy good people. So, you’ve got to be careful, especially in New Jersey. But do not give up. Maintain the fight. Stay vigilant. It’s critical. In the big picture, we are winning. New Jersey is going to get its head handed to it. I’m confident in the court decisions that we’ll be seeing. We will succeed. But in the meantime, it’s a battle. I want to see the least amount of casualties on our side in this battle, but it’s a battle nonetheless. Evan Nappen 05:24 And on that point recently, there was an article by one of my favorite writers, Dean Weingarten, who posted this in AmmoLand. He makes a very interesting point about what happened to the homicide rate after the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. (https://www.ammoland.com/2025/12/what-happened-to-the- homicide-rate-after-the-supreme-courts-bruen-decision/) So, you know, we have this great Second Amendment decision in Bruen that establishes our right to self-defense outside the home and that actually finally enables the carry permits to have to be issued by the anti-gun oppression states like New Jersey that were using the trick of “justifiable need” to stop law-abiding citizens from being able to have a gun to defend themselves, and the legal barrier that the courts created knowingly to oppress rights was working. Evan Nappen 06:25 You know, we had less than 600 carry licenses. And the Bruen decision handily eliminated that, so that licenses had to be issued. Now we’re in the, you know, 60, 70, 80,000 licenses. The number is hard to pinpoint, but it’s constantly growing. And this is great that so many citizens now can be defenders instead of victims. But New Jersey, of course, embarked on trying to limit where you can use your carry. Hence, the “sensitive places”. This crazy matrix of where you can and can’t carry which is also the subject of a court challenge, and we should be seeing some great outcome there, as the, as the Appellate Court has taken on that issue again. Seeing New Jersey’s gun laws go up in flames and go to the garbage can, the garbage heap of history where they belong. Evan Nappen 07:29 But this article from Dean Weingarten about what happened to the homicide rate after the Bruen decision is really very interesting, because it’s a very interesting question. I mean, what this goes to is, Page – 2 – of 10 every time there is anything that is pro-gun rights, pro-enforcing our Constitutional rights, anything that expands our ability to exercise our rights, the anti-rights crowd, the oppressors, will shout what I call BITS, bits. Which is Blood In The Streets. There’ll be blood in the streets. You know, this is going to be the Wild West. This is going to be, you know, just the sky is falling, right? Every time, every time. And so, of course, the prediction was, if we have carry, we’re going to have blood in the streets. And it’s going to be terrible and all this mayhem. And guess what? The opposite, of course, the opposite. The opposite happened. Evan Nappen 08:31 Because as Dean points out in his article, it says. “As of the latest numbers of October 2025, the 12- month running average of violent crime has dropped 14% since June of 2022. The drop in murders is even more pronounced at 39%. The numbers are from the tools provided by the Real Time Crime Index.” How about that, folks? Murder down 39%. Violent crime down 14%. This is tracking, as you and I always knew it would, when law-abiding citizens can defend themselves. Now, of course, it’s not the only reason that violent crime and murders have gone down, but it is absolutely a contributing factor. And the antis are always quick to say. Well, if it just saves one life, we need to. Well, guess what? How many lives have now been saved by the expansion of our rights to carry and defend ourselves since the Bruen decision? Way more than one life, that’s for sure. Lots of lives, lots of lives are being saved because of Constitutional freedom being expanded and protected and preserved. So, this is important to recognize and to force our adversaries to face the fact that guns save lives. That trained law-abiding citizens are lifesavers, and that firearms are protection that is effective. Not just to that individual defending themselves or their families, but in the big picture, the statistics themselves speak to the benefit of it. Evan Nappen 10:54 Hey, I would also like to mention our good friend, John Petrolino, who does amazing journalistic work. And it’s not just me saying that. I’m happy to mention that John recently was given an award, and actually more than one from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists. (https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/12/30/petrolinos-coverage-of-new-jersey-2a-issues-earns- accolades-from-surprising-source-n1231070) They announced winners of the 2025 Excellence in Journalism Awards. And we’re talking about winners that include the New York Times, the Asbury Park Press and Politico. Evan Nappen 11:39 Well, lo and behold, there’s John Petrolino, one of the contributors for Bearing Arms and a great writer. He really has done tremendous work in New Jersey, and he won first place for “Best Coverage of State Government” for his series of articles highlighting abuses of the “shall issue” carry permit system. These very abuses of which demonstrate institutionalized racism. He documented excessive wait times and how the number of black applicants are discriminated against. And this research was, in fact, corroborated by the group Rise Against Hate, which, you know, they’re normally not a 2A group. And he won first place also for “Best Coverage of Municipal Government for his Bearing Arms story “Permit to Carry Denial Over a Driving Record?” And he’s really gotten praise here from his fellow journalists, and I think it’s great. Because not only does he deserve it, but imagine, you know, we’re talking about real journalism here, not the propaganda that the lamestream media throws at us. I mean, we’re talking Page – 3 – of 10 about real journalism that puts out a product that is otherwise not being seen, and in doing so, aids our Second Amendment rights and helps fight the oppression with the disinfectant of truth. John, congratulations on your awards. That is just really great, because when you win, we win, and it gets the message out. So, that’s a great job, and we’re proud of you. Evan Nappen 13:56 Hey, let me mention our good friends at WeShoot. WeShoot is a range in Lakewood, and they have got some great specials focused on training, including some great price drops. They are putting forward new prices to save money to get folks training. They’re doing it to make training easier and less expensive. So, they’re offering the USCCA and NRA CCW classes now at $225 down from $299. So, it’s even more affordable. This includes the New Jersey concealed carry class as well. You can get your CCARE and get your carry permit. They are great. That’s where Teddy and I got our certification from. And right there at WeShoot. They’re offering dates for both the NRA and doing your renewals for your carry permits, and they even have carry certification for seniors. They do a special seniors class. Evan Nappen 15:14 They are magnificent in their training programs that they offer. They offer also their HSI Adult CPR / AED certification course. You’ll earn a two-year certification on that. You’re learning how to perform CPR and AED, you know, defibrillator use, and handle basic first aid, respond to choking and cardiac arrest and such. So, if you want to get your training in all these areas and many others, and also just learning to shoot better, they are the place to go. WeShoot is conveniently located in Lakewood, right off the Parkway. You can go to wehootusa.com, weshootusa.com, and check out their website. Beautiful photography. They also have a great pro shop. They have lots of great guns and great deals. They will take care of you. You’ll be able to have a great place to shoot and enjoy relaxation at the range. And you’ll know that you are able to defend yourself and your loved ones should the need arise. But also go there and have some fun. Evan Nappen 16:41 Let me also tell you about our good friends at the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. They are fighting very, very hard in a very challenging environment, and they are the key gun rights group in New Jersey. They are the NRA State Affiliate. They’re the umbrella organization of gun clubs through the state, but they also have individual members. Everybody needs to be a member of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. You’ll get their fantastic email alerts, and you’ll get a great newsletter. You’ll also know that you’re part of the solution fighting. They’re going to send you out things you can do real quick to make your voice heard as we continue the fight. And we’ve made a difference. The Association has made a difference. We’re still in a major battle, but the Association is there in the courts, as we speak, fighting on those key issues in the Appellate Courts. Evan Nappen 17:40 As we are talking right now, they’re there in the courts. We’re seeing some incredible results, and we’re going to see even more incredible results. I am extremely optimistic that the courts are going to really deliver for us. The truth is on our side. The law is on our side. The Supreme Court has laid out the groundwork that is all on our side. And the Association is truly on our side, working for the elimination of Page – 4 – of 10 Second Amendment oppression, especially on those key issues that affect so many of us. So, join the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs at anjrpc.org. Evan Nappen 18:33 And don’t forget to get a copy of my book, New Jersey Gun Law. It’s the bible of New Jersey gun law. Get your book today. Go to EvanNappen.com. It’s the big orange book that is the Bible of New Jersey gun law. It’s a book used by everybody, and you need to have a copy so that you can protect yourself. It is the only book out there that describes New Jersey gun law in a question and answer format so that it is actually almost understandable. How’s that? You can almost understand it from that book. Now, I tried to make it as user- friendly as I can, but New Jersey, of course, itself, is just contradictory in many of its own laws. I try to point it out in the book, when they are saying one thing and then saying another. The contradictions seem to just fly out because they just can’t pass new gun laws fast enough, and they don’t bother to make sure that they actually make sense, right? So, that’s where the book comes in. You’ll be able to know these distinctions and protect yourself. When you get the book, scan the QR code on the front cover and join, for free, my private subscriber base. You’ll get updates, and you’ll be able to access the archives for any previous updates that are there. This way the book will stay current because of that. So, go to EvanNappen.com and order your copy today. Hey, Teddy, what do you have for us today? Teddy Nappen 20:11 Well, as you know, Press Checks are always free, and I always want to see what is the Left, what is the argument they are making now? What is the push that they are trying to go for? Well, it seems they’ve gone and changed their tactics. They are now focusing in on high capacity magazines, or as what you know and everyone else knows them to be, standard capacity magazines. Because it’s just another made up term that they use. But going to The Trace to see their newest argument, I love this, by the way. “How Gun Manufacturers Swamped the Market With Large-Capacity Magazines” (https://www.thetrace.org/2025/12/large-capacity-magazine-nssf-gun-study/) Yes, that’s who is to blame for why there is such a high demand of a quote, unquote high capacity magazines. It’s the gun manufacturers. That’s who’s to blame. So, this article is by Mike Spies in The Trace. They start off with “At least 717 million devices like the one used in the Brown University mass shooting . . . ” Oh, well, there you go. Immediately. The first line. Evan Nappen 21:23 All they do is sell emotion. They’re just selling it as emotion. What about, you know. Do you know what a small, virtually, statistically irrelevant, it’s so small, the number of magazines, of a magazine that holds whatever they’re calling high capacity of that day, whatever that may be, was the reason, was the effect for that crime. Because the magazine held a certain amount of rounds. That is somehow the reason for the crime. It is a statistical irrelevancy. It is pure emotion. Teddy Nappen 22:07 I wonder how they, I wonder how they feel about in Australia, where it took, you know, two guys with a couple of bolt actions. And, you know, I think the body count was what? Double from Brown. But no, sorry, don’t talk about that. Page – 5 – of 10 Evan Nappen 22:20 Right. Teddy Nappen 22:21 Mind you they try to highlight this. Oh, man, Dad, did you know that between 1990 to 2021, the gun industry flooded the market with 717 detachable firearm magazines that held 11 rounds or more. You see, Dad, prior to 1990, there were no magazines that held over 11 rounds. Evan Nappen 22:46 That’s what it was? None. There was suddenly a flood. Teddy Nappen 22:52 A flooding, as a flooding. Then describe what the term a magazine, you know, for anyone doesn’t understand. And then tried to make the argument that not all manufacturers of gun magazines provided data to the study to stipulate the figures representing conservative estimates that military and law enforcement sales were not counted, and roughly 46% of magazines were accounted for from some 443 million, including rifle magazines that held 30 rounds or more. Evan Nappen 23:26 Okay. So, if we have millions and millions and millions of magazines that hold over 10 rounds, do you know how few isolated events, just think of how many few events? They get a ton of media coverage, but how few those events are. And even in those events, what statistical difference did it make that they had a magazine that held more than 10 rounds in commission of that crime? It is so rare and to have to this be of anything, of any real impact, of any true impact, yet it’s pure emotion there. So, oh my God, all these magazines are out there. Yeah, well, so what? So, what? They don’t make a difference. The only time it makes a difference is to the individual who needs to defend themselves. Then the issue of firepower is important in one’s own self-defense. So, when magazines are limited, the question you have to ask is, well, how many bullets is your life worth? In other words, how many bullets can you have to defend your life? Your Government has arbitrarily determined that your life is only worth 10 bullets. No more than 10, just 10. That’s all it’s worth. You’re not worth 11 bullets or 12 or anything more. That’s really what they are saying. Teddy Nappen 25:00 They also seem to stress this whole idea that magazines were only at 10 rounds until 1990, and they’re trying to make that argument. Well, thanks to again, always, when the left make their argument, use context and history, and that is how it is debunked. Right here from, I believe, you said this was a very well known writer, Dave Kopel. Evan Nappen 25:29 Absolutely. David Kopel. Page – 6 – of 10 Teddy Nappen 25:30 He wrote a brilliant article, which I highly recommend people read, “The History of Firearm Magazines and Magazine Prohibition”. (https://davekopel.org/2A/LawRev/2015/History-of-firearms-magazines-and- magazine-prohibition.pdf) Evan Nappen 25:33 Well, it must be a short history, since it only began in 1990. Teddy Nappen 25:44 No, no, let’s start with. Evan Nappen 25:46 Oh, really. Teddy Nappen 25:47 Yeah, you know, let’s go all the way back to 1580. Evan Nappen 25:51 Oh, 1580. Wow, how did they miss that? Teddy Nappen 25:55 I know. With the multi-shot guns. And then cut to the patent pending, 1718, of the Puckle Gun, shooting, you know, 23. Evan Nappen 26:05 I love the Puckle gun. Teddy Nappen 26:06 You know, it used 11 pre-loaded cylinders. And then cut over to everyone’s favorite, the Lewis and Clark air rifle, the Girandoni, that had a detachable magazine. Evan Nappen 26:20 And air guns are firearms in New Jersey. So, it would still considered a firearm. Yeah. Teddy Nappen 26:27 Yeah. So, and cut over to the Alexander Hall and Colonel Parry Porter rifles that were 15-shot rotating cylinder. But they may say, oh, it’s not detachable, though. Even though it’s well beyond the capacity, and you know this is only 1850. Cut over now to the 1866 chain pistol fed , 20 round, belt fed chain pistol. Imagine carrying that? Evan Nappen 27:00 I like that. Page – 7 – of 10 Teddy Nappen 27:01 Yeah. And then cut now to 1899 with the, or 1900 when they were commercially available, the Luger semi- automatic pistols that, you know, could use a seven or eight round magazine or a, you know, their version of a high capacity 32 drum mag. Evan Nappen 27:21 Oooh, the old snail drum mag for the Luger. Teddy Nappen 27:25 And then cut to 1927 where you could go to Auto Ordinance for a 30 round mag. Evan Nappen 27:32 Or a 50 or 100. That’s right. Teddy Nappen 27:35 In 1927, you know? Well, we’re getting, we’re getting closer. You’re getting around that time. But now to 1963, with the AR-15 rifle, with the 20 rounds, a little higher than that, to 30 round magazine capacity. Which to the point, where there was a famous (Supreme Court) case, Staples versus United States, where they were trying, where it differentiated from the AR-15 to the M 16. They tried to blend machine gun to semi auto. Evan Nappen 28:06 Well, they did that on purpose — to fool the public. It was even admitted in Josh Sugarmann’s book. He said that was the intention — to fool the public, who won’t be able to tell the difference between full auto and semi- auto. Machine guns and semi autos. It’ll fool them, because that’s what they’re about. They just want to fool the public to get their agenda through. Teddy Nappen 28:27 Because they, because the Left have this whole ideology, which is the people are stupid and we can manipulate them. Unfortunately, yeah, there’s a lot of people that aren’t read up on it and get easily tricked. They play off of emotions and that’s how they play their game. Luckily, now, thanks to the internet and people being able to do their own research. Even though they’ve, you know, censored, but we’ve fought back hard on that, people can actually see and look up and find out. Oh, yeah, wait. They just lied to me. Here’s the proof. It’s very easy now to debunk their lies, and it’s quite hilarious. Teddy Nappen 29:08 And then I love the ending to it all. I love his ending to the whole article, which is we end this story now in 1979. Jimmy Carter is president, and Gaston Glock is making curtain rods in his garage. Now, look right now. Evan Nappen 29:28 Oh, no, the Glock pistol is coming. Page – 8 – of 10 Teddy Nappen 29:30 Yeah, the Glock pistol is coming. And then all magazine which, and then all polymers. It just comes down to this. The magazines, high capacity magazines, have existed throughout history, and they will continue to exist. Because when they try to sell their argument about high capacity magazines, you know, they will forever be out there. Evan Nappen 29:59 What’s going to happen when it is just laser, and it can be endless? Just how much power. There won’t even be a capacity limit. It’ll just be limitless, essentially. Evan Nappen 30:13 I’m so. Sorry, my wife is always about the teleporter, where you won’t even need to load the mag. You’ll just point the gun and it’ll teleport the bullet into you, like. Evan Nappen 30:24 Oh, that sounds like a real accuracy improvement. Teddy Nappen 30:27 I know. So, again, technology will always progress more and more, and they will never be able to keep it. I can’t wait for the National Ray Gun Association. I think it was a Futurama joke. Evan Nappen 30:39 A National Ray Gun Association. That’s good. Evan Nappen 30:46 So, you know, one of the key things we like to do is have our listeners stay protected and not end up a GOFU. And unfortunately, GOFUs are Gun Owner Fuck Ups. They’re expensive lessons that you get to learn on the cheap. You get to learn for free, so you don’t commit the same error, the same fuck up. And so this week’s GOFU, something that, you know these come from actual cases, actual experience, actual folks that I’m representing. And it’s really a principle here today, and that is, don’t escalate the situation. Don’t be the person that initiates a problem that can be avoided. If you can avoid a conflict, you need to avoid the conflict. You cannot engage in a manner the way you used to, let’s say, before you were armed. Evan Nappen 31:56 Because you are armed, you’re essentially having to walk away. If something is just verbal, whatever, don’t escalate it. Don’t engage further. Because then what happens is you, as a gun owner, become the target of the law enforcement action, even though you weren’t the one who may have even initiated it. But if you escalated and went along with whatever this problem was that even got created or started by another person, you end up having to pay the price. I see this often where a law-abiding gun owner has an argument with somebody, and the law-abiding gun owner is in the right. The law-abiding gun owner doesn’t do anything wrong, but the other party somehow sees, notices, believes, thinks, that the gun owner has a gun, and then claims to the police that they saw the gun. You threatened them with the gun. They felt intimidated by the gun, whatever. Page – 9 – of 10 Evan Nappen 33:19 And it’s now escalated to where the gun owner gets charged with threatening, brandishing, whatever, and you just see it take off as an escalation. You need to learn to ignore all the jackasses that are out there that cause trouble, that act stupid. You have to take a different kind of attitude to ignore these people. Ignore them. Unless you are being threatened with serious bodily injury or death, where you have no other option, then ignore these people. Get away from these folks that are just trouble. Because if it comes around that you’re a gun owner, and there’s an issue, I see it. The tables turn on the gun owner all the time. Stay low key. Stay discreet. Don’t escalate. Stay away from these people that get law-abiding citizens into trouble because of the built in bias in the system against gun owners. Evan Nappen 33:42 This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens. Speaker 2 34:25 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Page – 10 – of 10 Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S3 E271_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America's Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it's no wonder he's become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets. Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It's Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News. As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists. He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America. Email Evan Your Comments and Questions  talkback@gun.lawyer Join Evan's InnerCircleHere's your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America.  Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL.  Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits.   Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";

As we step into 2026, weight loss conversations are changing - there are new tools, new knowledge, and that means LOTS of misconceptions and fad sales.  I'm here to help you navigate the Wild West of weight loss in 2026 and make the best decisions for YOU.  In this episode, we're cutting through the noise of trends, hacks, and quick fixes to talk about what actually works for weight loss in real life—especially for women who are tired, overwhelmed, and done fighting their bodies. If you've ever felt stuck, ashamed, or exhausted by weight loss fads, this episode will help you see your body—and your health—through a wiser, more hopeful lens. In This Episode, You'll Learn: What it means is that obesity is classified as a chronic disease The difference between managing symptoms and building sustainable health How emotional eating, stress, and anxiety affect chronic weight struggles Why awareness and nervous system regulation are essential tools How faith-centered care supports long-term healing, not quick fixes This episode is for you if: You've tried everything to lose weight and still feel stuck You blame yourself for your weight struggles and are ready to change that discussion Emotional eating shows up during stress or exhaustion You want weight loss that honors your body, faith, and season of life ✨ Reminder: Healthy weight loss in 2026 is about choosing tools that support your body's long-term health while you lose weight. That is possible for you in 2026!   Ready for more guidance and support? Head to www.emilyvinzantmd.com  or Follow Dr. Emily on Facebook and Instagram for more science-backed common sense when it comes to your health.

Send us a textBack in 1926, south Texas was still the wild west, and Dr. J.A. Ramsey was a prominent citizen of Mathis, Texas. After a late night call to a patient's bedside, Dr. Ramsey disappeared. Soon, Harry Leahy, another promising citizen of Mathis approached Dr. Ramsey's wife, trying to claim the reward for his return. Only, he couldn't return Dr. Ramsey alive.This case has cowboys, an elaborate plan, rumored hitmen, Ma Ferguson again, Texas Rangers, a whole bunch of corruption, two rich widows, a victim that lit up the ranch with his wonderful personality, a dumbass criminal, and a whole bunch of side crimes. We're starting 2026 with a bang! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/badactspodPodMoth: https://podmoth.network/Ad: The ODDentity Podcast — https://linktr.ee/oddentitypod Episode Source List:https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/leahy-v-state-no-891058101https://authentictexas.com/the-dead-mans-gun/https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p9020coll2/id/9830/ https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth289161/m1/5/ https://www.txgenwebcounties.com/sanpatricio/Bios/Timon_Walter.htm https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/41 https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/16022NCJRS.pdf#:~:text=The%20first%20woman%20convict%20was,occupation%20upon%20entering%20the%20penitentiary. https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/s/p/a/Lacey-Sparks-Texas/GENE84-0005.html https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104698225/james-abner-ramsey https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216434091/harry-john-leahy 

Why do we romanticize historical outlaws and con artists? It is difficult to write about Wild West outlaws because the myths surrounding them bear little resemblance to the truth. Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith was one of those characters. Smith often donated money to good causes, but he earned that money by cheating and robbing people. When he relocated his criminal enterprise to Skagway, Alaska, during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, the citizens soon grew weary of his cons and threats. The animosity led to a confrontation and a shootout, and soon, Jefferson Smith's life ended, and the legend of Soapy Smith began. Sources Charles River Editors. Soapy Smith: The Life and Legacy of the Wild West's Most Infamous Con Artist. 2019. Independently Published. History.com Editors. “Conman ‘Soapy Smith' Killed in Alaska.” November 16, 2009. History. Sauerwein, Stan. Soapy Smith: Skagway's Scourge of the Klondike. 2005. Alberta, Canada. Altitude Publishing Canada, Ltd. Smith, Jeff, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, 2009, Juneau, Alaska. Klondike Research. Spude, Katherine Holder. “The Fiend in Hell.” Soapy Smith in Legend. 2024. Norman, Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma Press. _______________ Wishing You a Healthy, Wealthy, Wonderful 2026! ___________ For More Stories of Murder and Mystery ___________________ https://youtu.be/7Fv52Bf8yfY ___________________ Join the Last Frontier Club’s Free Tier ______ Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master's degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman's Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing. Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net Subscribe to Robin’s free, monthly Murder and Mystery Newsletter for more stories about true crime and mystery from Alaska. Join her on: Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Visit her website at http://robinbarefield.com Check out her books at Amazon Send me an email: robinbarefield76@gmail.com ___________________________________________________________________________________ Would you like to support Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier? Become a patron and join The Last Frontier Club. Each month, Robin will provide one or more of the following to club members. · An extra episode of Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier is available only for club members. Behind-the-scenes glimpses of life and wildlife in the Kodiak wilderness. · Breaking news about ongoing murder cases and new crimes in Alaska ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Merchandise! Visit the Store

From 12/30 Hour 4: The Sports Junkies break down some crazy storylines in college sports.

If you've ever looked at Amazon and wondered how some brands scale effortlessly while others disappear into a sea of competitors, you're not alone. Amazon can feel like an unpredictable giant—full of opportunity, but also packed with complexity. And as more entrepreneurs jump in, the brands that win aren't the ones chasing trends…they're the ones building with intention. Today's guest, Pasha Knish, has lived through every era of Amazon—from the Wild West days of early e-commerce to today's data-driven, hyper-competitive marketplace. With more than 13 years of hands-on selling experience and over $30M in revenue generated across dozens of categories, Pasha has mastered the science and art of sustained Amazon success. In this episode, Pasha pulls back the curtain on product selection, brand-building, organic ranking, and the future of AI-driven e-commerce—and what sellers must get right to scale smarter. Building an Amazon Brand That Solves a Real Problem Pasha's journey into Amazon began with experimentation—selling random products, discovering early opportunities, and launching a successful private-label brand long before the platform became saturated.  But the landscape has changed dramatically. Today, sellers can't simply pick a trending item and hope for the best. Amazon rewards solutions, not commodities. According to Pasha, the first step to a scalable product isn't creativity—it's clarity. Successful sellers reverse-engineer demand by digging into negative reviews, identifying gaps in the market, and building a product that solves a meaningful, proven problem. That's the difference between a product that launches and one that lasts. The New Era of Amazon Advertising and Organic Growth Beyond product strategy, Pasha shares how Amazon's ad platform has transformed and why focusing on Amazon's built-in tools is more effective than spreading efforts across outside channels. Instead of relying on other platforms to drive traffic, he uses Amazon's own customer data to reach buyers who are already interested and ready to take action. But ads are only one piece of the puzzle. Pasha explains why organic visibility matters just as much, especially now. Many sellers overlook the backend fields of their listings, yet these details are what help Amazon understand exactly what a product is and who should see it.  This philosophy inspired the software Pasha is building: a tool that simplifies and automates backend updates so more sellers can improve organic performance without drowning in technical work. At the heart of it all, Pasha believes Amazon success comes from constant learning and resilience. Every setback becomes a lesson, and every lesson creates an opportunity to grow stronger. Enjoy this episode with Pasha Knish… Soundbytes 10:59 – 11:16 "If you can give Amazon the most accurate representation of your product in those backend fields, you're going to show up better organically." 28:13 – 28:19 "If people like you and they find out you have a product, they'll probably buy it because they like you." 30:15 – 30:20 "You have to know exactly who you're advertising to. In a saturated market, going after top keywords will just lose all your money." Quotes "If you don't have a product differentiator, you'll spend all your money and never succeed." "The failures are what pave the way to success." "Backend optimization matters. Amazon is a categorizing system, and you need to fit cleanly into it." Links mentioned in this episode: From Our Guest Website: https://amzoptimized.com/ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/pasha-knish Connect with brandiD Find out how top leaders are increasing their authority, impact, and income online. Listen to our private podcast, The Professional Presence Podcast: https://thebrandid.com/professional-presence-podcast Ready to elevate your digital presence with a powerful brand or website? Contact us here: https://thebrandid.com/contact-form/

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! In the heart of Tombstone, Arizona, stands a building where the Wild West never truly died. Opened in 1881, the Birdcage Theatre was a notorious crossroads of entertainment, crime, and vice—serving as a saloon, brothel, and gambling hall where fortunes were lost, tempers flared, and lives ended violently. The walls absorbed it all. And many believe they still remember. Today, the Birdcage Theatre is considered one of the most haunted locations in the American West. Shadow figures move through empty rooms. Voices echo long after closing time. And presences linger that feel far too aware of the living. In this episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator and author Steven Blackwell takes us deep inside the Birdcage's dark history and its ongoing hauntings. Are the spirits here dangerous… or simply trapped in the roles they played in life? Some stages never go dark. And some performances never end. This is Part Two of our conversation. #BirdcageTheatre #TombstoneArizona #HauntedWildWest #ParanormalHistory #TrueParanormal #GhostStories #HauntedPlaces #TheGraveTalks #WildWestHauntings  Love real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! In the heart of Tombstone, Arizona, stands a building where the Wild West never truly died. Opened in 1881, the Birdcage Theatre was a notorious crossroads of entertainment, crime, and vice—serving as a saloon, brothel, and gambling hall where fortunes were lost, tempers flared, and lives ended violently. The walls absorbed it all. And many believe they still remember. Today, the Birdcage Theatre is considered one of the most haunted locations in the American West. Shadow figures move through empty rooms. Voices echo long after closing time. And presences linger that feel far too aware of the living. In this episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator and author Steven Blackwell takes us deep inside the Birdcage's dark history and its ongoing hauntings. Are the spirits here dangerous… or simply trapped in the roles they played in life? Some stages never go dark. And some performances never end. #BirdcageTheatre #TombstoneArizona #HauntedWildWest #ParanormalHistory #TrueParanormal #GhostStories #HauntedPlaces #TheGraveTalks #WildWestHauntings  Love real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

Buffalo Bill's Wild West first started touring outdoor arenas in 1883. What started as a western themed circus soon grew in ambition. In the quest to appeal to respectable middle-class family audiences Buffalo Bill was soon promoting his show as an educational experience. The Wild West was supposedly an authentic exhibition of Western American history and culture. Elaborate historical reenactments became key parts of the program. However, these reenactments were rarely accurate and were often totally fictional. What kind of a story was Buffalo Bill trying to tell about America? Tune-in and find out how tiny sharp-shooters, signed pictures of Sitting Bull, and a bow from Queen Victoria all play a role in the story.Join us in Greece in 2026! Check out the itinerary and book HERE!Check out the merch at out T-Public store HERE! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.