So, there's an article in the Wall Street Journal that mentioned that new businesses are being formed at the fastest rate since 2007. And I'm curious, how much of that do you think is healthy recovery from the pandemic and how much of that do you think is caused by like Fed stimulus and everything? That's true. We're seeing the highest. Where do you read this? Wall Street Journal. I'll have to look that up. The highest rate of new businesses being formed since 2007. So, I wonder what the number is if you net out bankruptcies. Right, and there's speculation. I think this is what already he's talking about. There's speculation that a lot of this is driven by people who are like, hmm, I'll start a business now and take advantage of stimulus money. Get PPP. I mean, that's possible. It's not easy to get PPP, particularly now, most of the money's being spent. My guess is that it's more related to the fact that the economic policies under COVID have driven so many companies bankrupt that it's created opportunities that people are jumping in to take advantage of. Some of that might be funded by the Fed and PPP and other things. But I think it's a market response partially funded by the government to a COVID which was caused to a large extent by government. Right. So, if look, if hundreds of restaurants are going bankrupt in New York City, New York City will ultimately still have to have restaurants. Somebody's going to have to start new restaurants to fill in the gaps. So, my guess is that net business creation is still going to be way down this year, even with the new business created, but that the new businesses are basically filling in the gaps of the businesses that have gone under. It could also be a play like Donald Trump used to do, right. Donald Trump was very good at our father bankruptcy on that property shield on my other assets from it. Far bankruptcy over there, let the courts handle it, and I'll take whatever capital I can preserve to invest somewhere else and start a new business over here and keep every business separate. So, when I fall for a bankruptcy, they can't come after me. They can't come after my other businesses. So, that could be also what's going on is that the bankruptcies were seeing these bankruptcies as a strategic thing where they're filling capital from the bankrupt company and investing in a starting new companies are basically do the same thing that bankrupt company did before. So, it could be just gaming the system. Yeah, and if you smash enough windows, somebody's going to benefit by having to replace the windows. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. So, what we need today, what I called a new intellectual would be any man or woman who is willing to think, meaning any man or woman who knows that man's life must be guided by reason by the intellect, not by feelings, wishes, whims or mystic revelations. Any man or woman who values his life and who does not want to give in to today's cult of despair, cynicism and impotence and does not intend to give up the world to the dark ages and to the role of the collectivist. All right, before we go on, reminder, please like the show. We've got 163 live listeners right now. 30 likes. That should be at least 100. I figured at least 100 of you actually like the show.  But at least the people who are liking it, you know, I want to see a thumbs up. There you go. If you're not liking it, I want to see that go to 100. All it takes is a click of a thing, whether you're looking at this. And you know the likes matter. It's not an issue of my ego. It's an issue of the algorithm. The more you like something, the more the algorithm likes it. So, you know, and if you don't like the show, give it a thumbs down. Let's see your actual views being reflected in the likes. But if you like it, don't just sit there. Help get the show promoted. Of course, you should also share and you can support the show at your own book show dot com slash support on Patreon or subscribe star or locals and and show your support for all for for the work for the value. Hopefully you're receiving from this.  You'll know what shows are on when they're on. You'll get notified. Right. So, yes, like, share, subscribe, support, like share, subscribe support. There you go. Easy. Do one or all of those, please.


CHAPTER XV. PART II. THE LAST SECTION. When she fed him, and the house spun to her clamour, she caused fowls to be slain, she sent for vegetables, and the sober, slow-thinking gardener, nigh as old as she, sweated for it. She took spices, and milk, and onion, and, with a little fish from the brooks, anon limes for sherbet's, fat quails from the pits, then chicken livers upon a skewer, with spiced ginger between. "'I have seen something of this world,' she said over the crowded trays, "'and there are but two sorts of women in it. Those who take the strength out of a man, and those who put it back. Once I was that one. Now I am this. Nay, do not play the priestling with me. Man was but a jest. If it does not hold good now, it will, when thou take the road again.' "'Cousin,' this to the poor relation, never worried of extolling her patroness's charity, he is getting a bloom on the skin of a new-curried horse. Our work is like polishing jewels to be thrown to a dance-girl, eh?' Kim sat up and smiled. The terrible weakness had dropped for him like an old shoe.   The two old women, a little but not much, more careful about their veils now, clucked as merrily as the hens that entered pecking through the open door. "'Where is my holy one?' he demanded. "'Hear him. Thy holy one is well,' she snapped viciously. "'Though that is none of his merit, knew I a charm to make him wise, I'd sell my jewels and buy it. To refuse good food that I cooked myself, and go roving into the fields for two nights on an empty belly, and to tumble into a brook at the end of it. Can you call that holiness? Then, when he has nearly broken what thou hast left of my heart with anxiety, he tells me that he is a quiet merit. Oh, how like are all men!' "'No, that was not it. He tells me that he is freed from all sin. I could have told him that before he whetted himself all over. He is well now. This happened a week ago, but burn me such holiness. A babe of three would do better. Do not fret thyself for the holy one. He keeps both eyes on thee when he is not wading our brooks. I do not remember to have seen him. I remember that the days and nights passed like bars of white and black, opening and shutting. I was not sick. I was but tired. A lethargy that comes by right some few score years later. But it is done now.' "'Maharani,' Kim began, but led by the look in her eye, changed it to the title of plain love. Mother, I owe my life to thee. How shall I make thanks? Ten thousand blessings upon thy house, thy house be unblessed. It is impossible to give exactly the old lady's word. Thank the gods as a priest if thou wilt, but thank me if thou cast as a son heaven's above. Have I shifted thee and lifted thee and slapped and twisted thy tentoes to find texts flung at my head? Somewhere a mother must have borne thee to break her heart. What use thou to her, son?' "'I had no mother, my mother,' said Kim. She died, they tell me, when I was young.' "'Hi, my. There none can say I have robbed her of any right if, when thou takes the road again, and this house is but one of a thousand used for shelter and forgotten, after an easy flung blessing. No matter, I need no blessings, but—but she stamped her foot to the poor relation. Take up the trays to the house. What is the good of stale food in the room? A woman of ill omen?' "'I have borne a son in my time, too, but he died,' whimpered the bowed sister figure behind the chudur. "'Thou knows he died. I only waited for the order to take away the tray.' "'It is I that am the woman of ill omen,' cried the old lady penitently. "'We go down to the chattris,' the big umbrellas above the burning gats, where the priests take their last dues. "'Clutch hard at the bearers of the chattis.' "'Water jars, young folk, full of the pride of life,' she meant, but the pan is clumsy. "'When one cannot dance in the festival, one must in look out of the window, and grandmothering takes all a woman's time. "'Thy master gives me all the charms I now desire for my daughter's eldest, by reason, is it, that he is wholly free from sin. "'The hakim is brought very low these days. He goes about poisoning my servants for lack of their betters.' "'What hakim, mother?' "'That very duck, our man, who gave me the pill which rent me in three places. He cast up like a strayed camel a week ago, vowing that he and thou had been blood brothers together up Kuluwe, and feigning great anxiety for thy health. He was very thin and hungry, so I gave orders to have him stuffed to him and his anxiety.' "'I would see him if he is here.' "'He eats five times a day, and lances boils for my hinds to save himself from an apoplexy.  He will keep. We shall never get rid of him.' "'Send him here, mother.' The twinkle returned to Kim's eye for a flash. "'And I will try.  At least he had the sense to fish the holy one out of the brook, thus, as the holy one did not say, acquiring merit. He is a very wise hakim, sent him, mother. Priest, praising priest America! If he is any friend of thine, ye squabbled at your last meeting, I'll hail him here with horse-robes and give him a cast dinner afterwards, my son. Get up and see the world.  She trotted forth to raise a typhoon off the cookhouse, and almost on her shadow rolled in the babu, robed as to the shoulders like a Roman emperor, jowled like Titus, bare-headed with new patent-leather shoes in highest condition of fat, exuding joy and salutations. "'By Jove, Mr. O'Hara, I am jolly glad to see you.   Are you very sick? The papers, the papers from the kilter, the maps, and the miralsa,' he held out the key impatiently, for the present need on his soul was to get rid of the loot. "'You are quite right. That is correct, departmental view to take. Have you got everything? All that was handwritten in the kilter I took, the rest I threw down the hill. He could hear the keys great in the lock, the sticky pull of the slow-rending oil-skin, and a quick stuffing of papers. He had been annoyed out of all reason by the knowledge that they lay below him through the sick idle days, a burden incommunicable. For that reason the blood tingled through his body when Hari, skipping elephantinely, shook hands again. "'This is vain. This is vainest, Mr. O'Hara. You have, ha-ha, swiped the whole bag of tricks, locks, stops, and battles.  Look, here is a letter from the hill-ass.' He entoned a line or two of court Persian, which is the language of authorized and unauthorized diplomacy. "'Mr. Raja Saib has just about put his foot in the holes. He will have to explain officially how the duos and all he is writing love letters to the Tsar. And they are very clever maps. And there is three or four prime ministers of these parts implicated by the correspondence. By Garse, the British government will change the succession in hill-ass and Boona and nominate new heirs to the throne. Trees and most base. Do you not understand? Eh, are they in my hands?' said Kim. It was all he cared for. "'Just you jolly well bet yourself they are!' He stowed the entire trove about his body as only orientals can. They are going up to the office, too. The old lady thinks I am a permanent fixture here, but I shall go away with these straight off immediately. Mr. Lurgum will be proud man. You are officially subordinate to me, but I shall embody your name in my verbal report. It is a pity we are not allowed written reports. We Bengalis excel in the exact science.' He tossed back the key and showed the box empty. "'Good. That is good. I was very tired. My holy one was sick, too. And did he fall into? Oh, yes. I am his good friend, I tell you. He was behaving very strange when I came down after you, and I thought perhaps he might have the papers. I followed him on his medications and to discuss ethnological points also. You see, I am very small person here nowadays in comparison with all his charms. By Jovo Hara, do you know he is afflicted with infirmity of fits? Yes, I tell you. Cataleptic, too, if not also epileptic. I found him in such a state under a tree in articular mortem, and he jumped up and walked into a brook, and he was nearly drowned, but for me I pulled him out.' "'Because I was not there,' said Kim. He might have died. Yes, he might have died, but he is dry now, and asserts he has undergone transformation.' The Babu tapped his forehead knowingly. I took notes of his statement for royal society in posse. You must make haste, and be quite well, and come back to Simla, and I will tell you all my tale at Lurgens.' It was splendid. The bottoms of their trousers were quite torn, and, O Nathan Raja, he thought they were European soldiers deserting. Oh, the Russians! How long were they with thee? One was a Frenchman, or days and days. Now all the hill-people believe all Russians are beggars by Jove. They had not one damned thing that I did not get them, and I told the common people, O, such tales and anecdotes, I will tell you at all Lurgens when you come up. We will have a night out.' It is a feather in both our caps, yes, and they gave me certificate. That is creaming joke. You should have seen them at the Alliance Bank identifying themselves. And, thank God, mighty God, you got their papers so well. You did not laugh very much, but you shall laugh when you are well. Now I will go straight way to the railway and get out. You shall have all sorts of credits for your game. When do you come along? We are very proud of you, though you gave us great frights, and especially Mabub. I, Mabub, and where is he? Selling horses in this vicinity, of course. Here? Why? Speak slowly. There is a thickness in my head still. The Babu looked shyly down his nose. Well, you see, I am a fearful man, and I do not like responsibility. You were sick, you see, and I did not know where Deucenor the papers were, and if so, how many? So, when I had come down here, I slipped in private wire to Mabub. He was at my root for races, and I tell him how case stands. He comes up with his men, and he consorts with the lama. And then he calls me a fool, and it is very rude. But where for? Where for? That is what I ask. I only suggest that if anyone steals the papers, I should like some good strong brave men to rub them back again. You see, they are vitally important, and Mabub Ali did not know where you were. Mabub Ali to rub the Sahiba's house? Thou art mad, Babu! said Kim with indignation. I wanted the papers. Suppose she had stole them. It was only practical suggestion, I think. You are not pleased, eh? A native proverb, unquotable, showed the blackness of Kim's disapproval. Well, hurry shrugged his shoulders. There is no accounting for the taste. Mabub was angry, too. He has sold horses all about here, and he says old lady is paka, thorough, old lady, and would not condescend to do such un-gentlemanly things. I do not care. I have got the papers, and I was very glad of moral support from Mabub. I tell you, I am fearful man, but somehow or other, the more fearful I am, the more damn tight places I get into. So I was glad you came with me to Chini, and I am glad Mabub was close by. The old lady, she is sometimes very rude to me and my beautiful pills. A lobby merciful, said Kim on his elbow, rejoicing.  And that man walked alone, if he did walk, with robbed and angry foreigners. That was nothing after they had done beating me, but if I lost the papers it was pretty jolly serious. Mabub, he nearly beat me, too, and he went and consorted with the lama no end. I shall stick to ethnological investigations hence-forward. Now, good-bye, Mr. Ohara, I can catch for 25 p.m. to Ambala, if I am quick. It will be good times, when we all tail the tail up at Mr. Lurgans. I shall report you officially better, good-bye, my dear fellow, and when next you are under the emotions please do not use the Mohammedan terms with the Tibetan dress. He shook hands twice, a Babu to his boot-heels, and opened the door. With the fall of the sunlight upon his still-trampened face he returned to the humble Dakar quack. He robbed them, thought Kim, forgetting his own share in the game. He tricked them. He lied to them like a Bengali. They gave him a chit, a testimonial. He makes them a mock at the risk of his life. I would never have gone down to them after the pistol shots, and then he says he is a fearful man. And he is a fearful man. I must get into the world again. At first his legs bent like bad pipe-stems, and the flared and rash of the sunlit air dazzled him. He squatted by the white wall and the mind rummaging among the incidents of the long duly journey, the lama's weakness, and, now that the stimulus of talk was removed, his own self-pity, of which, like the sick, he had a great store. The unnerved brain edged away from all the outside, as a raw horse once rowled sideless from the spur. It was enough, amply enough, that the spoil of the kilter was away, off his hands, out of his possession. He tried to think of the lama, to wonder why he had stumbled into a brook. But the bigness of the world, seen between the forecourt gates, swept linked thought aside. Then he looked upon the trees and the broad fields with the thatch huts, hidden among the crops, looked with strange eyes unable to take up the size and proportion and use of things, stared for a still half-hour. All that while he felt, though he could not put it into words, that his soul was out of gear with its surroundings. A cog-wheel, unconnected with any machinery, just like the idle cog-wheel of a cheap behia sugar-crusher, laid by in a corner. The breezes fanned over him, the parrots shrieked at him. The noises of the populated house behind, squabbles, orders and reproofs, hit on dead ears. I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim? His soul repeated it again and again.  Things that rode meaningless on the eyeball an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads were meant to be walked upon, houses to be lived in, cattle to be driven, fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They were all real and true, solidly planted upon the feet, perfectly comprehensible, clay of his clay, never more nor less. He shook himself like a dog with a flea in its ear and rambled out of the gate. Said the Saeba, to whom watchful eyes reported this move, Let him go. I have done my share. Mother Earth must do the rest. When the Holy One comes back from meditation, tell him. There stood an empty bullock cart on a little knoll, half a mile away with a young banyan tree behind, a lookout, as it were, above some new plowed levels, and his eyelids bathed in soft air grew heavy as he neared it. The ground was good clean dust. No new herbage that living is half way to death already, but the hopeful dust that holds the seeds of all life. He felt it between his toes, patted it with his palms, and joint by joint sighing luxuriously laid him down full length in the shadow of the wooden pinned cart. And Mother Earth was as faithful as the Saeba. She breathed through him to restore the poise he had lost lying so long in a cot cut off from her good currents.  The many-rooted tree above him, and even the dead manhandled wood beside, knew what he sought, as he himself did not know. Hour upon hour he lay deeper than sleep. Towards evening, when the dust of returning kind made all the horizon's smoke came the lama and Mahbub Ali, both afoot walking cautiously for the house had told them where he had gone. Allah! What a fool's trick to play in open country! muttered the horse-dealer. He could be shot a hundred times, but this is not the border. And, said the lama, repeating a many-times-tongue tale, never wore such a chela, temperate, kindly wise of ungrudging disposition, a merry heart upon the road never forgetting learned, truthful, courteous, great is his reward. I know the boy as I have said, and he was all of those things. Some of them, but I have not yet found a red-hatched charm for making him overly truthful. He has certainly been well nursed. The Saeba is a heart of gold, said the lama earnestly. She looks upon him as her son. Half-hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see the boy had come to know Hamam was a free agent, as though most he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage together. That is a bond between us, the lama sat down. We are at the end of the pilgrimage. No thanks to thee, thine was not cut off from good and all a week back. I heard what the Saeba said to thee when we bore thee up on the cot. Mahbub laughed and tugged his newly-died beard. I was meditating upon other matters that tide. It was the hakim from Dakar broke my meditation. Otherwise, this was in push to for decency's sake, thou wast have ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of hell, being an unbeliever and an idolater for all thy child's simplicity. But now, red hat, what is to be done? This very night the words came slowly, vibrating with triumph. This very night he will be as free as I am from all daint of sin assured as I when he quits this body of freedom from the wheel of things. I have a sign! he laid his hand above the torn chart in his bosom. That my time is short, but I shall have safeguarded him throughout the years. Remember, I have reached knowledge, as I told thee only three nights back. It must be true, as the Tirrapri said when I stole his cousin's wife, that I am a Sufi, a free thinker. For here I sit, said Mahbub to himself, drinking in blasphemy unthinkable. I remember the tale. On that day he goes to Janatula Aden, the gardens of Eden. But how? Will thou slay him or drown him in that wonderful river from which the Babu dragged thee? I was dragged from no river, said the lama simply. Thou hast forgotten what befell. I found it by knowledge. Oh, I, true, stammered Mahbub, divided between high indignation and enormous mirth. I had forgotten the exact turn of what happened. Thou disfined it knowingly. And to say that I would take life is not a sin, but a madness simple. My chela aided me to the river. It is his right to be cleansed from sin with me. Ah, he needs cleansing, but afterwards, old man, afterwards. What matter under all the heavens? He is sure of Nibbán, enlightened as I am. Well said. I had a fear he might mount Muhammad's horse and fly away. Nay, he must go forth as our teacher. Ah, now I see. That is the right gate for the colt. Certainly he must go forth as our teacher. He is somewhat urgently needed as a scribe by the state, for instance. To that end he was prepared. I acquired merit in that I gave arms for his sake.  He aided me in my search. I aided him in his. Just is the wheel, o horse cellar, from the north. Let him be a teacher. Let him be a scribe. What matter? He will have attained freedom at the end. The rest is illusion. What matter when I must have him with me beyond bark in six months? I came up with ten lame horses and three strong-backed men, thanks to that chicken of a babu, to break a sick-boy by force out of an old trot's house. It seems that I stand by while our young saib is hoisted into Alunot's water-venide-dollars-heaven by means of an old red hat. And I am reckoned of something of a player of the game myself. But the madman is fond of the boy, and I must be very reasonably mad, too. What is the prayer? said the lama, as the rough push-to-rumbled into the red beard. No matter at all. But now I understand that the boy, sure of paradise, can yet enter government service. My mind is easier. I must get to my horses. It grows dark. Do not wake him. I have no wish to hear him call the master. But he is my disciple. What else? He has told me. Mahbub choked down his touch of spleen and rose, laughing, I am not altogether of thy faith red hat, if so small a matter concerns thee. It is nothing, said the lama. I thought not. Therefore it will not move the sinless new washed and three parts drowned to boot, when I call thee a good man, a very good man. We have talked together some four or five evenings now, and for all I am a horse-copper, I still, as the saying is, see holiness beyond the legs of a horse. Ye can see, too, how our friend of all the world put his hand in thine at the first, use him well, and suffer him to return to the world as a teacher, when thou hast bathed his legs, if that is the proper medicine for the cult. Why not follow the way thyself, and so accompany thou, boy? Mahbub stared stupefied at the magnificent insolence of the demand, which across the border he would have paid with more than a blow. Then the humour of it touched his worldly soul. Softly, softly, one foot at a time, as the lame gilding went over the umbala jumps. I may come to paradise later, I have workings that way, great motions, and I owe them to thy simplicity. Thou hast never lied? What need? O Allah, hear him! What need in thy world? Nor ever harmed a man? Once with a pen case, before I was wise. So I think the better of thee. Thy teachings are good. Thou hast turned one man, I know, from the path of strife. He laughed immensely.  House robbery with violence. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off what he desired. Ah, great foolishness!   I do not understand! Allah forbid it! Some men are strong in knowledge, Red Hat. Thy strength is stronger still. Keep it! I think thou wilt. If the boy be not a good servant, pull his ears off. With a hitch of his broad book-carrier at belt, the pathan swaggered off into the gloaming, and the lama came down from his cloud so far as to look at the broad back. That person lacks courtesy, and is deceived by the shadow of appearances. But he spoke well of my jailer, who now enters upon his reward. Let me make the prayer. Wake, oh fortunate above, all born of women! Wake, it is found! Kim came up from those deep wells, and the lama attended his yawning pleasure, duly snapping fingers to head off evil spirits. I have slept a hundred years! Where? Holy one! Has thou been here long? I went out to look for thee, but— He laughed drowsily. I slept, by the way. I am all well now. Has thou eaten? Let us go to the house. It is many days since I tended thee. And the sahiba fed thee well? Who shampooed thy legs? And what of the weaknesses? The belly and the neck, and the beating in the ears? Gone! All gone! Dost thou not know? I know nothing, but that I have not seen in a monkey's age. Know what? Strange, the knowledge did not reach out to thee, when all my thoughts were thee-word. I cannot see the face, but the voice is like a gong. Has the sahiba made a young man of thee by her cookery? He peered at the cross-legged figure, outlined jet-black against the lemon-coloured drift of light. So does the stone-boatysat sit, who looks down upon the patent self-registering turnstiles of the Lahore Museum. The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary, and a flate-clop-clop of Mahbub's retreating feet, the soft smoky silence of evening in India wrapped them close. Hear me, I bring news! But let us outshot the long yellow hand compelling silence. Kim tucked his feet under his robe-edge, obediently. Hear me, I bring news! The search is finished! Comes now the reward. Thus, when we were among the hills, I lived on thy strength till the young branch bowed and nigh broke. When we came out of the hills, I was troubled for thee, and for other matters which I held in my heart. The boat of my soul lacked direction. I could not see into the cause of things. So I gave thee over to the virtuous woman altogether. I took no food. I drank no water. Still, I saw not the way.  So I removed myself to a hollow under a tree. I took no food. I took no water. I sat in meditation two days and two nights, abstracting my mind in breathing and out breathing in the required manner. Upon the second night so great was my reward. The wise soul loosed itself from the silly body, and went free. This I have never before attained, though I have stood on the threshold of it. Consider, for it is a marvel! A marvel indeed! Two days and two nights without food? Where was the Sahiba? said Kim under his breath. Yea, my soul went free and wheeling like an eagle, for indeed that there was no Desulama, nor any other soul. As a drop draws to water, so my soul drew near to the great soul which is beyond all things. At that point exalted in contemplation, I saw all hind from Ceylon in the sea to the hills, and my own painted rocks at Suitsen. I saw every camp and village to the least where we have ever rested. I saw them at one time and in one place, for they were within the soul. By this I knew the soul had passed beyond the illusion of time and space and of things. By this I knew that I was free. I saw the leg in thy cot, and I saw the falling downhill under the idolater, at one time in one place in my soul, which as I say had touched the great soul.  Then my soul was all alone, and I saw nothing, for I was all things. Having reached the great soul, and I meditated a thousand thousand years, passionless, well aware of the causes of all things. Then a voice cried, What shall come to the boy if thou are dead? And I was shaken back and forth in myself with pity for thee, and I said, I will return to my chela lest he miss the way. Upon this my soul, which is the soul of Desulama, withdrew itself from the great soul with strivings and yearnings and wretchings, and agonies not to be told, as the egg from the fish, as the fish from the water, as the water from the cloud, as the cloud from the thick air, so poured forth, so leaped out, so drew away, so fumed up the soul of Desulama from the great soul. Then a voice cried the river, take heed to the river, and I looked down upon all the world, which was as I had seen it before, in one time, in one place, and I saw plainly the river of the arrow at my feet. At that hour my soul was hampered by some evil or other, whereof I was not wholly cleansed, and it lay upon my arms and goiled round my waist. But I put it aside, and I cast forth as an eagle in my flight for the very place of the river. I pushed aside world upon world for their sake. I saw the river below me, the river of the arrow, and descending the waters of it closed over me, and behold, I was again in the body of Desulama, but free from sin, and the hakim from the gah bore up my head in the waters of the river. It is here, it is behind the mango-tope here, even here. Alakarim, oh well that the babu was by, was thou very wet? Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for the body of Desulama. He hailed it out of the holy water in his hands, and there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the north with a cot and men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to the Sahiba's house. What said the Sahiba? I was meditating in that body and did not hear. So thus the search is ended. For the merit I have acquired, the river of the arrow is here. It broke forth at our feet as I have said. I have found it. Son of my soul, I have wrenched my soul back from the threshold of freedom, to free thee from all sin, as I am free and sinless. Just is the wheel. Certain is our deliverance. Come!" He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled. As a man may, who has won salvation for himself and his beloved.


My name is Diana, and I'm the social media manager at IEA. We are live from COP26 in Glasgow, and we are here to share how nuclear science can help the world fight climate change. And here with me I have Ambassador Peter Thompson, and he is the UN Special Envoy for the Ocean. Ambassador Thompson, thank you so much for being here with us today. Thank you. I would like to know a little bit how you got to be the UN Special Envoy for the Ocean. I was appointed by the Secretary-General in 2017 after I finished being President of the General Assembly of the UN. Prior to that I had been the former representative of Fiji for about six years, seven years in New York, and I was very passionate about the Ocean's formation of SDG-14 and the UN Ocean Conference to keep the implementation of SDG-14 honest. SDG-14, life underwater. SDG-14, to conserve and sustainably use the Ocean's resources. Not balance. Very well. And I've heard the Ocean being called the buffer. What exactly does this mean? You know, I don't really know what they mean by buffer. I guess like most of our language it's quite sort of anthropocentric. The Ocean to me is the planet.  We came from the Ocean and we belong to the Ocean, not the other way around. So a buffer, no, I feel actually part of the Ocean. I think what they mean by buffer is where they're talking about its absorption of CO2 and absorption of heat from global warming. But yeah, it's not an expression I use much. All right. And how is exactly climate change affecting our Ocean? What I've got things in question. Okay, first of all, here's my mantra. My mantra is no healthy planet without a healthy Ocean and the Ocean is immeasurably in decline. And you can take the measurements like around fishing, around habitat destruction, around pollution, but it's principally related to greenhouse gas emissions because that's what's causing the deoxygenation, acidification, fastest rate in planetary history, acidification in the Ocean and the warming of the Ocean. It's the same GHG emissions that we're pumping out from our coal and power and all the rest. So that is the main factor, you know. That's why the Ocean climate nexus is so important. You can't have an Ocean meeting without considering the climate and vice versa. Why we're here fighting in Glasgow. What is the climate, its interaction of the Ocean and the atmosphere? And why are people linked to the Ocean regardless of where they live? And here you have a quite complex word to tell our audience. Oh, okay. We were talking about this earlier, pro-chlorococcus. It sounds like a Roman senator about we stabbed in the forum, you know, pro-chlorococcus. But I learned about pro-chlorococcus recently and it's become my hero because, you know, it wasn't really discovered until the 1950s, but pro-chlorococcus is the smallest photosynthetic organism. But its size is a non-indication of its contribution to us all. It produces 20% of the oxygen in the biosphere. You know, we wouldn't exist without pro-chlorococcus. I want to learn how to say, can you repeat it again for me, please? Pro-chlorococcus. Coccus. Coccus, pro-chlorococcus. Yeah, exactly. Well done, well done. You come from Fiji, as we already said. Why does ocean change matter so much for people from small islands? Well, yeah, I guess it's an obvious answer. You know, you're surrounded by the ocean and it's called as Canaries in the coal mine, but I think, you know, everybody in the coal mine knows now we're in deep, deep trouble. But, you know, you notice it when the fish are leaving your waters. You notice it when your reef gets bleached. And you notice it when your beaches start filling up with plastic, with labels on. You don't even know the language that those things have got on the side of the plastic. You know, they've come thousands of miles across the ocean to pollute your beaches. So, you know, we've been seeing that since the turn of the century in a big way. And that's all around the world. So, yeah, everybody's in on it now. And, of course, these people, they all depend on the ocean to survive as well, people that live in the islands. Very much so. When you're talking about food, talking about transport, you're talking about, you know, your daily sustenance, but also the thing that you've got to respect because that's where your weather comes from, that's where the big storms come from. So, you know, it's people in the Pacific islands that don't talk about the ocean in a possessive way. We belong to the ocean, not the other way around. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And you also mentioned coral bleaching. Can you tell us a little bit more about that phenomenon? Yeah, well, as I said before, no healthy planet without a healthy ocean. If you take coral away from the ocean, that's 30% of its biodiversity. What's the effect on the health of the ocean? Obviously, it can't be good. So, you know, we're very worried about the coral situation because the IPCC has said that when we go to 1.5 degrees, we lose 70 to 90% of the coral in tropical coral reefs. So it's a very worrying situation. The good news is that there are some resilient areas where it looks like because of ocean upwelling of colder waters and currents, that I was looking at the list today, Cuba, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Indonesia, Madagascar and Tanzania all fit that category where there's likely to be resilient reefs, which is really important. You know, it becomes sort of, you know, the bank of living coral for the world. So that very, very, again, it's a hopeful thing that not all coral will go. So when we stabilize climate and we need to go and get the genetic resources and so on, those reefs will still be there. If we look after them properly, if we look after the property. Because they can recover. They can recover, but maybe not as strong? Well, no, they are resilient. Those reefs, we hope, as long as they're looked after properly and then the recovery can be taken out to other areas with what remains of the coral. So that is actually a message of hope. It's one which has given me quite a bit of hope and I think that, you know, we may be only working with 10 to 30% of the coral that we used to have, at least we'll have it. And we can protect it and use it to restore. Yeah, we should protect them. That's perfect. And what do countries need to do today to secure the future of our oceans for generations to come? For? What do we need to, I mean, the ocean will always be there. That ocean will always be there. Will we be here? We don't know. That's the unknown. But the ocean will always be there. So what we're talking about is, you know, how do we maintain conditions that are good for us in relation to the ocean? So we don't want it to become too acidic because you can't have calcium carbon at life in acidic conditions, right? Shellfish, vertebrates and so on. And that's one thing. And that's greenhouse gas emissions. Stop burning coal.  Net zero by 2050. All the things that this conference is about. And we can get on top of ocean acidification and warming of the ocean. But the bad news is we've set things in train. Those things are happening. But instead of going that way, we can bring that curve down by remedial action now by taking the sensible decisions now. We can bring it down so that the rates don't accelerate the way they're accelerating in the moment that they come down. We can steady things down and get to a stable situation in the future. That's what we've got to do as a species for our own good. So as the ocean is concerned, it will carry on. And are you optimistic about the future? I'm neither an optimist nor a pessimist, right? I think of myself as a pragmatist, you know, get the job done. But in terms of optimism and hope, obviously that is what I'm about. That's why I do what I do. And somebody asked me the other day, where do I get that energy from? And that's why my family put this together. Grandfather of Grace Mirabelle Poppe and Rose, kids rights now. And I believe in that. You know, it's not about us. It's about that generation to come. And so, you know, when I answer that question of where do I get optimism from, I say become a grandfather or a grandmother. Because once you get grandchildren, you can never give up. You have to fight for them because you love them more than you love yourself, obviously. That's beautiful. Thank you for that answer. Last question. You visit the IA Environment Labs in Monaco. And could you tell me more about what you saw there and why the work being carried there is important? It's fantastic work. And I went to the anniversary the other day. Sorry, I can't remember what was the... Sixth anniversary? Or was it the 60th? Yes. Or the 60th. I was going to say either it was 75th or... 60th. 50th. So I was kind of halfway there. Yeah, it's done great work over the years. You know, what do you think of things like nuclear, leaks, Fukushima, that sort of thing? Who do you turn to? You turn to those labs. That's the UN's environmental labs. That's our go-to. And I guess every time I go there, I come away hopeful because I see that great team of scientists is working just on the pure science. And you can ask a tough question, you get a straight answer. And I would say the tough questions I've asked there, I usually get a much better answer than I personally thought because I'm not a scientist. I've given an example on that, you know, the nuclear leaks and so on. But the thing that they always say to me is, Peter, you do not emphasize enough the impact of heavy metals in the seafood that we eat. They trace those very carefully. So, you know, I would say that that's one of the things that I've really learned from the many visits I've made to the IAEA Environmental Labs in Monaco is that we really need to be very careful about what we're putting into our rivers, into our ports by the way of heavy metals because that's being absorbed by sea life and then we take it. And that's actually the most damaging thing to our health of all these things that are out there, including microplastics. I have one more question. Is there anything, any piece of advice, something that me or my colleague or my neighbor can do to help? There's a thousand things you can do. Every individual has a responsibility if they care. If they don't care, they can just go to the beach and drink beers and throw their bottles away, I suppose. But most of us care now, you know. Because of this, you know, we want the continuity. We love those that are coming after us. I don't care what it is. People can sometimes belittle those that are doing beach cleanups. I say, my God, no, you know, we've got to have that. Yeah, the problem keeps coming, yeah, but we still go out and fight it. Walking here, I have to say this, because my father was from Glasgow. My mother was from Fiji, father was from Glasgow. I was ashamed walking along the waterfront this morning to see the amount of plastic which is lining the foreshore of the River Clyde on the quarter of a mile approaching this conference. And that's our responsibility. Yeah, now, I've seen small groups of kids in the Philippines. I've seen small groups. I was part of a small group of kids in New York going around and picking all that stuff, putting it in the bags and taking it away. So, you know, everybody can do something. And I'm sorry, you know, there's attitude of us other people can fix it. No, that's no good. Every human being has a role to play. Everyone can pick up their garbage. Thank you. Yes. Ambassador, thank you so much for being here with us today. It was such a great pleasure. Thank you very much. Thank you. And I'll come back tomorrow. Follow us to Agathans for Climate to see what's happening, what activities we are carrying on. And I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you, Ambassador. OK. My father would be rolling his grave about what I just said.


Meditation is not an act, it's not something that you do, it's something that you can become. If you want to be meditative, this is the most important thing, that your inner most intelligence is lit. Meditation means there is no need to make up anything, just being here is wonderful enough. I thought I will meet Mengal, walk around with you, if you give him some easy space, I could come and mingle with you. This moment when I'm with you, I'm one hundred percent. You are the most important person in my life right now, and that's how I live. I'm only an outpouring of who I am, no matter where I am.


Following a meeting of the National Emergency Management Advisory Committee, NIMAC and private sector organizations, the Government of St. Lucia on Tuesday announced that a state of emergency is in effect for St. Lucia as of Wednesday 3rd February 2021. This as St. Lucia continues to record increasing cases of the coronavirus amid its third wave of COVID-19. Prime Minister St. Lucia the Honourable Alan Chastney on Tuesday highlighted new protocols to take effect in an effort to safeguard the health and well-being of the public and to reduce the spread of the virus. Our country will go back to a state of emergency effective Wednesday 3rd February 2021 for an initial period of seven days. This will allow us to further restrict movement with a curfew from 7pm to 5am effective Wednesday 3rd February. The COVID-19 Act is being amended to reduce operation hours for businesses operations to coincide with this curfew. Visitors to St. Lucia will now require a PCR test within five days of arrival rather than the seven days. Supermarkets will remain open. Let me state again, supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open. So there's no need to panic by. Essential services will also be allowed to operate. The full list will be published in the revised statutory instrument on wwwcovid19response.lc The Government of St. Lucia on January 22, 2021 had instituted new measures in an effort to help curtail the spread of the virus. This included the scaling down of activities and business operations. The Prime Minister noted that as the country experiences a third wave, the strain on the health system is evident. He explained that the Government from the onset had instituted several measures to combat the virus and its impact. In preparation for the pandemic, we fully operationalized OKEU Hospital and converted the VH into a respiratory hospital, specific for COVID. We purchased equipment to create capacity for our in-country testing, reached out to the Cuban Government and recruited 113 Cuban medical professionals. We set up COVID-19 quarantine facilities initially at no cost to the returning nationals. In the early stages of COVID, we mobilized and delivered over 10,000 food and care packages to the most vulnerable, and we launched a feeding program to get thousands of hot meals to the elderly and differently abled. This provided a much needed market to our farmers. By April 2020, we launched our social stabilization plan to help the persons who have completely lost their income and the more vulnerable persons in our society. Income support was provided through the National Insurance Corporation to the tune of over 70 million, while non-NIC contributors received almost 8 million in payouts. Leader of the Opposition Honourable Philip J. Pierre has thrown his support behind the Government of St. Lucia, calling for all St. Lucia's to add head to the protocols. I must tell you that our party has always been in favour of following the professional and scientific advice as it relates to the handling of the COVID crisis. We've always said that we have to be driven by the science and the professional advice. In this regard, we have supported the Government in the protocols that have been verified by science and professionals. Leader of the Opposition Honourable Philip J. Pierre


The five is master the new dynamic arrays and new Excel calculation engine Hmm new Excel dynamic arrays. What do I mean by dynamic arrays, right? So, so this is future. I call this future Excel, right? So this is is future Excel Excel for the future and I can tell you it's super super super amazing. Yeah future future Excel Because Excel has fundamentally changed how how it works how Excel works has really been Fundamentally changed by including certain things called dynamic arrays. So I'd advise that you go learn what they are Google it Check it out. I mean, there are many people have done stuff already on on dynamic arrays You can see how they work and stuff. So it's really it's really cool. Yeah, so check it out let me Let me show you a little bit just a very little bit. We don't have much time So I'll just show you a little bit of what I mean by dynamic arrays and the new calculation engine Okay, so dynamic arrays remember what I said about reporting, right? So I said reporting I said when you use an Excel, they're really How will I put it there really? Three two things you need you need you need past data You either doing something in the path with past data. You're doing something for the future They're trying to forecast the future. Those are the two main things we do in Excel So if I'm using dynamic array is really I'm building More things I think to do with the past but again, it's just a technique for working which is so efficient Take it that what Excel has done with this new calculation engine, which really has fully been released in August So if you have the August version of office 365 if you have August office 365 You will have these dynamic arrays working, right? So what exactly are they? Well, Excel has completely fundamentally changed how it works. Yeah, how just take it that maybe Excel is like I always say 30-story building and Someone has just held that building up gone to the foundations Removed the foundations and put in a new foundation while the building is still standing That's exactly what has happened to Excel the foundations have been ripped apart and put back and the new foundation is Smoking hot excellent, right? So I'll give you a simple task very simple I'll just do one something that we do a lot. So for example, I have a report and I want people to be able to pick Maybe these markets, right? I want people to be able to automatically pick markets from a list So the first thing I will do is I'll go to my control sheet and I'll create a list of Markets, right? I wanted a list of unique list of markets. So in old Excel, I would do this I come to be a copy I Go to control I come and I paste maybe a paste special values here or something Right, then I paste once I paste it. I will now remove duplicates. So I go to data. I then go to This button here, which is removed duplicates and I say, okay, and guess what says remove duplicates. Perfect. Look at them so it's a nice list of Unique values. Yes, but these unique values are static if you look at the formula bar, they are static So look at what the new dynamic arrays help us to so there are if I'm not mistaken six formulas I think there are six new formulas. I must have written them somewhere Let me think I think okay. They're not here. So anyway, I think there are six new formulas So one of them one of the key one six or seven. I'm not too sure. So unique is One of the new formulas. So these are dynamic array So returns the unique values from a range or array unique is one of the new Functions, so if I tab what does unique require it says array by column occurs once So you see these are optional. So I'm just gonna do the simple one. It's just array, right? So what do you mean unique? I'm writing a formula in a cell guys So I go to data now since this is a table I can just highlights it like this so you can see this is unique sales market I close my bracket and remember this is a formula in a cell and I enter Guess what? Look at what it did. It just drops all the values. It just spills it. Look at it So I don't need to do that copy paste and remove duplicates and blah blah blah And I did that in a single cell these cells here. You can see it's kind of grayed out This is the formula. So this is an array formula that spills So if I come here and kind of write something to kind of disturb the spill enter you see his haze complaining There's an error message. I can't spill Right. So the thing is with this engine is even your normal Excel functions are now array functions Okay, so if I do equals to right? I mean typically I do equals on highlight this This doesn't make sense really doesn't make sense in old Excel to give me an error But look at that. I wrote a formula I said equals to and then I just highlighted certain things in old Excel You will never you get an error message, right? Yeah, but there's something called implicit There's there's Well in old Excel, you get an error message if it's not in the same line So let's say enter and I see it spills. So everything kind of spills in older in the new Excel If it sees hey, this is a list that this guy wants to return it was spill And this opens up so many doors so so many doors for example I could do a data validation for market here So for example, I want to do a data validation for market, right? Right. So in here, I want a drop-down for data validation for market. All I need to do is go into data. I Go to data validation Right. So when I go to data validation, I say list and in old Excel I will need to make this a dynamic list and you know, I do all sorts of stuff to make a dynamic list All I need to do is click on this first cell which I know has Right now it's in it's in market, right? So so I don't know why it's in market. I think I named it market So let me I don't want to name it market. I want to show you something else without it being called market Let me just let me just delete all of this All of these names in here is delete delete select all Okay, let's just go to market. Just delete What do you delete them some of them are not deleted. Yeah, I know that so let me just delete what I want to delete So yeah, everything's deleted except that close Great. So what I want to show you is this I come here. I remember the formula was in here I'd not anywhere else the formula was in here. So I come to this cell. I say data. I go to data validation and Then I go to list Here I say this cell that contains my array and then there's a new thing you put at the end is the pound key or the hash Button, so you just put a hash there and say, okay Now when you do that what that hash does it makes it it tells it Hey, this is an array and fill is fills it out So if I if I come to a cell here, right come to a cell and say equals to right I come to this cell and I enter you see it's just this Whatever say equals turn I come to this cell and then I put the hash sign, right and I enter What does it do? It spills So because it knows that this is an array this formula here is an array that hash Which is just a new way of working, right? It's what spills it is what says hey, give me the full array I know this cell returns an array. Give me the full array. That's what hash does So you need to learn The way this works and there are many other functions the sort I would just give you one more for example I can add another new function here and what it does is it sorts So if I say sort and I open my bracket, I say is hey, I'm going to sort using a function So I enter guess what it has sorted automatically sorted the list And if I come to my data and add a new market, let's say I'm adding David as the market, right? I'm adding Gupta as another market Gupta. Yeah, so Gupta So I put David and Gupta right now so David and Gupta is in my list makes no sense I know but let's go to control and guess what Can you see David, right? See David in the list automatically added? Of course, you don't see David in this list This list is not dynamic. Where's Gupta see Gupta, right? So these are dynamic arrays super super stuff in new Excel. Let's jump to our next step


Hey, good morning everyone. Let's start the the formal Communication seminar. Thank you for coming. I'm Dan Clare. I'm your communications director I have some of my team members here not all of them are here And I'll talk about those guys in just a second, but I just want to thank you for a great convention. It's been pretty exciting I'm really exciting when when can you remember a convention that that had an opening session that was that packed? I mean, it's been great. There's a ton of momentum and I just want you guys to know that when It's very much DAV is very much a team. It's a team sport The reason why DAV is doing so well right now while I think a lot of other veterans service organizations are having challenges Even some of the upstart veterans service organizations are having some pretty noteworthy challenges Is that we have a membership out there who's committed to service? service first Communications is great But what we're really about as an organization is making sure veterans get their benefits making sure they get jobs making sure they're able to Take care of their family honoring their sacrifices through our volunteer efforts That is the reason why Everything that I go through today and every sign that we have where we're making progress and momentum The reason why we're able to do it is because we have an active and engaged membership The more we're able to engage the more we're able when we need to any godfather fans in here When you're when you're able they call it go to the mattresses, right? You know, I mean, I don't want anyone in here sleeping with the fishes or anything But you go to the mattresses when you need to do it when we need to fight when we need to fight for legislation We need to go to the mattresses And and to do that we have to have an engage we have to be able to activate We have to be able to get up and go when the time comes we have to be expeditionary that way So that's something that's very important and and I'm I guess one of the other things I'll say and and I'm I don't mean to step on Barry's toes or Mark's toes, but You guys are the reason why we're successful and and we at national headquarters We're trying to honor That's the work that you do with the work that we're doing and it's it's it's very easy I'll get into let me let me get back to my team and I'll kind of get in the meat of the presentation Jim Prok here and yours on our team here Just kidding but pretty close Steve Wilson assistant national director of communications Steve comes to us from the Air Force. I know a lot of you know Steve already Steve is a trainer Among other things he's a historian. He's a PhD candidate But Steve is an Air Force veteran who trained public affairs officers Through the Defense Information School, so he has a really good background Getting people prepared to engage and talk with the media Todd Hunter We stole Todd from the White House. Todd is the is our primary video editor So when you see Gary's Presentation and he thanked me for some of those videos up there between Todd and Ashley Burns who's not here, but she's the deputy national director of communications They're the folks who are producing those videos if you've seen those videos and you like them Please give these folks a round of applause Brian lead is a combat disabled Marine Corps veteran Todd's a Marine Corps veteran Mary and Steve are Air Force veterans I'm both Charity Edgar is right coming right up the aisle Charity Edgar fresh off the boat from Afghanistan. We got her back one piece You get a little emotional if I start thinking about it But charity did just finish a deployment to Afghanistan where she served with tremendous honor and distinction She was mentioned by the president of the United States the other day She carries her own chair up here because that's how we roll Mary Deaver Mary raise your hand Mary is an Air Force veteran We also stole her from the Defense Information School where she was teaching people how to how to be good at public affairs Mary helped us have any are you any of you familiar with the Spartan weekend? Jim up front very very familiar with the Spartan weekend. We we did a very cool event this year where where we went to Washington, DC and We connected with some folks who? FDNY of the fire department of New York Had some steel from the World Trade Centers They took that steel and melted it down into a sword and on that sword at the National Disabled Veterans Life Memorial About 75 or 100 veterans Gathered around on Mother's Day, and we are Gold Star Moms And we also made a pledge to one another Bobby Barrera was a big part of that we made a pledge to one another that before we were going to make a decision That would end our lives. We'd talk to one another And that's pretty cool, you know give her a hand So I'm I'm I'm gushing a little bit, but I'm extremely proud of the work that these folks do they're not the whole team We have a couple folks that are back at National Headquarters who are doing good good work James Killen who I'm gonna talk, you know, I'll pull a slide up on him Joe Chaneli, how many of you are familiar with Joe sat in on some of his seminars? Joe has gone on and we're proud of him. He's taken over as executive director of American Veterans So we're pleased with Joe doing that Create a little vacuum because DAV is the best social networking Charity in the veteran service organization community and that's again, thanks to the work that you guys are doing And I'll get into that a little bit more, but James Killen came on staff He's also a Marine Corps veteran and Air Force veteran He's public affairs officer in the Air National Guard in Kentucky, but he joined the team He's working on social networking And I think that right now one of the differences between DAV and other organizations is that We are legit. Our audience cares about veterans on a level that is Unparalleled with any other group You just won't find people who care more about veterans than DAV who care more about service and just doing the right thing by veterans And that's the reason why We are probably going to have some very very exciting news coming down the pike at some point about some break out break away Big page turners for for our social networking efforts, but we're doing pretty darn good out right now anyway What do we do? What does the communication staff do? How many of you are familiar with DAV magazine? I think and that's another one with these folks Shannon isn't here Doreen isn't here Shannon Doreen Doreen Brionis is our production manager and Doreen is a phenomenal person if you need help with your logos with DAV logos That stuff's available on the membership drive, but Doreen can help you with that if you're working on a billboard If you need just some help some guidance some feedback whatever you want give us a call Doreen Doreen will work with Shannon our senior graphic designer and We're gonna make it happen, but I think DAV magazine and these are the folks who write it I think it's the best magazine also in the veterans service organizations, so please give them a round of applause for that You will not find Therapeutic shoes and DAV magazine you'll find substance about what DAV is doing in support for our mission I like a replica 1911 pistol as much as anyone else But we're sticking to our guns on that and on our communications efforts are doing really well As I mentioned social networking We we had a long-standing goal. We started I think about three or four years ago We were hovering around 78,000 people on Facebook We have one at the time we had 1.2 million members, so Facebook's cheaper to join than DAV why can't it's free to join DAV's Facebook So why aren't more people doing it? We made a concerted effort to get out there and and and do that and we Last year. We were really proud. We got 1.2 million Facebook followers, which is fantastic Unfortunately, you guys Recruited so hard that you made DAV hit 1.3 million members and we had to redouble our efforts But we hit it this year, and I'm really proud of you guys who are part of that. Thank you very much for it One of the things that as I mentioned before engagement is a thing that separates DAV's Facebook from From our competitors there are Veterans groups who have more followers on Facebook, but when DAV or when I'm sorry when Facebook does their metrics and the Facebook changes their metrics every once in a while, but For the six or eight months where they were comparing VSOs on on Which ones were the most effective from Facebook's perspective DAV? DAV was number one above some other very good at marketing in ways very very good Charities who are out there and it wasn't because we have more followers We don't but it was because our audience is so real The people on our audience, you know, they're engaged and they're they're paying attention And there's a give and take and a feedback and that feedback is very important for a lot of reasons Let me just pull up James picture and stuff so you can write down some contact information if you want that Engagement is very important because it goes both ways if I send you the magazine We can talk about what's going on with DAV and and we'll get some emails from feedback at DAV.org And if you have chapter news by the way, we don't get enough chapter news Steve does an internal search all the time. We're looking at what's going on. We have more right now more Interests in the media and more more stories coming out about our chapters than at any time that I I can remember Being a part of DAV and we've been searching for that kind of content for a long time But a big difference now I think is that a lot of you have been told We're a little bit intimidated by the process and you've seen you've attended Steve seminars or you've just seen What's going on and said if I want to accomplish my mission? I Have to get out there. I have to make people know that there's a lot of work that we do all the time But the effort that we make to make the media aware of what we're doing Pays off in dividends because it's I'm gonna use one of those hokey military terms. It's a it's a force multiplier It's getting what it's about it's getting more people to our meetings Having 1.3 million members on Facebook if all we're doing is talking about what we ate for lunch is not doing veterans any good But if I'm able to engage volunteers to that if I'm able to gauge the opinion of our Facebook followers It makes DAV more effective and we can watch when we put out a statement or anything And we know that we're gonna get pros and cons But but it helps us keep an eye on the pulse of what's going on in the veterans community. It's a it's an extremely active group So like I said, it's about meeting the mission and and what we want to do more and more is help you meet the mission We have some programs and things that I'll talk about that. I think are really cool But but Facebook and communications. This isn't glory work unless you're Jim Sersley over here Let's give him a round of applause He Jim told me if I didn't recognize him. He was gonna shoot me with a crossbow. So I had to say something Mark or Barry yesterday went through a video on on think of that and I'm just it's part of our it's part of our Engagement think of that is a really cool way to say. Thank you. It's like sending someone a digital personalized card It's really cool. They they just take your pictures and a few messages and set them to music and you can share we've been working harder and harder because You know, you find out where people's limitations are and one of the limitations was that not everyone had the photos You know, too, they didn't have four or five, you know The two or three photos or whatever that you need to To honor a veteran on their computers. So we made that easier this year. You can just kind of pick a pick a photo from from a list, but It's it's a great program It's gonna be opening up this Veterans Day again and we're excited about it But it is this is a program that's had tremendous success outside of DAV It's not had tremendous success among our members I wouldn't say not enough people are getting on doing this and I don't know why maybe there's some feedback You all can provide us. They'll help us with that but getting involved in these and this type of thing Even if you're just spreading the word to other people to do it It makes a huge difference. We want to we want and we want you guys to own this stuff guys and cows So you want to talk about public service announcements?  I Am a veteran my victory is having a job. I can be proud of America's veterans are on their most important tour the tour of their lives My victory was finishing my education Mine is proving a disability is not a limitation at DAV We're on a mission to help veterans get the benefits they've earned my victory is having my new battle buddy Veterans face their challenges DAV is there to help for victories great and small I'm a veteran and my victory is getting the help I need to put my life back together DAV offers veterans of all generations a lifetime of support. I Am a veteran my victory is being there for my family When America's veterans win we all win Help us support more victories for veterans go to DAV org It's like the 16th time. You've seen it probably since convention started But I wanted to show it just because What I'm particularly proud about with these new public service announcements is that I think that we've made an evolution And DAV's done that over the last several years where we're trying to incrementally get better all the time You know you just want to keep pushing until you're better and better and better And I think that this message is more on track with what DAV does Than anything that we've done in the past or that anyone else is doing anywhere and it is kicking tail out there In an election cycle in an election year. We anticipated that we were going to be down to Two years ago levels, you know we we we looked at at You know what we were doing far before the elections and we tried to calculate well Where are we going to be with our PSAs? We've already succeeded our PSA goals for the year Before the election cycle really began and I think that we are going to kill it this year with this stuff How many of you have seen DAV billboard? Isn't that awesome You fly in here to Atlanta and you're gonna see Jim Sersley hanging out on the wall all the time I don't know why they put it close to the bathrooms. That's something you guys might ask Jim about later on but there's just there's There's a tremendous amount of interest Atlanta Airport I'd been told last time I was here in Atlanta that it is the busiest airport in the world right now And so the busy at the busiest airport in the world the AVs they're hanging out How many of you have met someone because they saw a DAV billboard? I think that's going to change over time You know, I think that there's there as the momentum builds We're gonna see more and more where our public service announcements are gonna help us with with Some of our membership goals with some of our volunteer goals We have I have and I maybe it's something you want to stop up in the communications department and check out But we have some placements of DAVs Especially the one that you see up there on the right of that veteran is family We've we've very intentionally wanted to honor women veterans and be diverse and how we represent Veterans not everyone's visibly disabled and we wanted to make sure that we were inclusive and another thing that Inclusive does for us Is it allows us to get placements places where we might not otherwise? The guy on the left in this placement isn't probably going to end up in ebony magazine This woman is going to more likely end up in women's magazine This one here is going to end up an outdoors magazine or somewhere else the guy on the right there Just and ended up in entertainment weekly and in people magazine full-page ads honoring DAV It's extremely cool to open up a magazine a big national magazine a 60 or 85 Thousand dollar value depending on the publication that was donated to DAV a Difference between what when you see another veteran service organization who seems to be everywhere? And everywhere you see them. They're asking for money When you look at a charity like that, that's a solicitation There's a mix between a solicitation and and some of that may be considered service on some level because it is Promoting awareness, but DAV public service announcements are donated So every time that you see a billboard did that cost DAV? It cost us material costs, but it was donated the space was donated We ran out of our budget for this year in our first quarter because people like our billboard so much So the first quarter we were done. There's there's DAV in Times Square. How about that? There's a veteran who posted on his Instagram account found a billboard when he is driving by There's the our previous campaign at a busy airport another different busy airport These things are just flying off the shelves We we exceeded our budget and and we took the governor off and did more But this is very a very wise allocation of funds We received a twenty thousand dollar donation recently because a Someone who was in a position to allocate a donation saw DAV at O'Hare International Airport Saw our billboard and said gosh that DAV let me look into that a little bit more Looked us up happened to be a three-star general who's been on CNN a few times And he said that's a charity that I want to support and we were one of the veterans service organizations He supported so if you're if you can get free advertising that makes you money. That's pretty cool, too Here's here's some of those placements. Here's time magazine. I didn't mention them before but that's a full page Donated ad in time magazine our cost for that was the design are the time that we spent designing that and and the Small resources that we spent, you know on on the production of that So we should all be pretty proud of that We have we have now for about six years been working on Spanish Spanish language public service announcements Spanish language resources on the website And I just I don't know why it was a it was a continuous struggle We'd get the track down and then there'd be several different versions of Spanish and it didn't work out Julio Iglesias, Jr. Has narrated DAV's public service announcements In Spanish so right now and this is fairly recent our PSAs are going out in Spanish Spanish audience is very significant. We're proud of that. We're proud that we have a DAV Spanish page now Where people can go and check out DAV and get help at the end of the day. What's it about? It's about getting help if you or or your your Survivors or families speak Spanish. DAV should be accessible for them, too. I think You can play a significant you already do play a significant role But you can play an even more significant role in public service announcements if you help us spread the word about them It is one thing for national from the booming Metropolis of Cold Spring, Kentucky to send out to a nationwide audience a bunch of public service Announcements and say play me it works. It's working very well And that's just part of the outreach that we're doing on public service announcements We're very proactive is Don Syos in here Don's Department Adjutant in New York Don and I just cruised around a couple years back and we'll be doing again pretty soon I think and we're we're getting in front of these folks We're trying to be as aggressive as possible and and be in their face and say hey look here's DAV Here what we look like please help us But when when we're in Nebraska, there's Chuck Ogles Chuck Ogles right here Chuck Ogles daughter just happens to be involved in a in media buying. Oh, thanks, Doreen Doreen bring us give her a round of applause Doreen I'm serious Doreen is one of the hardest working people I've ever met in my life, but here's some DAV PSAs Could Todd maybe could you help me just you guys just kind of throw these out there and people can check them out There's several There's several different kinds so you can go through those Where was I what was I talking about something important Chuck Ogles there he is Chuck's Chuck's daughter sells media Chuck's daughter is doing placements of DAV billboards. I was in my hometown in Lincoln, Nebraska And I was so proud For me it anyway I was so proud to see a billboard there But every one of you should be proud when you see a billboard you have a role because When you're in your community and you are in the face of the media They're looking at you and they're saying here's someone who is providing a true service To veterans in my community. That's the kind of charity that that people want to support at the local level So getting our content out in front of station managers is an important thing We're gonna come out with some guidance a memo and some more information, but just off the top of your heads Our outstanding disabled veteran of the year who happens to be in our PSAs He went all over Michigan on his own initiative and Shared our PSAs they got picked up picked up picked up picked up if you're out there and You're doing this they get picked up So we're gonna have some guidance on how you can do it But all you have to do right now if you meet someone or know someone who has Access to billboard space or you meet the media you want to be building relationships with the media anyway, right? So as part of that if you're telling them about DAV public service announcements after they've You know, you've they've seen the good work that you do That's good for us. So all you have to do really is send someone to DAVPSA.org We tried to make that as easy to remember as possible Actually, if you were to type in DAV PSA comm net dot God knows how many dot whatever's there are out there.  We don't need discs. We don't need thumb drives We don't need anything you can do it. However some of you want to reasonably Hand a PSA to someone when you're doing things Or hand something to them So we do have packages of discs that we are willing to share But the problem is all these things cost money and if I just send out a bunch of PSA discs that aren't being used Well, you know, that's it's it's really nice that we could have them You know during our chapter meetings in a stack, but I really want these things to move I want it to go So if you have Meetings set up if you're if you're reaching out and doing meetings with Station managers and there will be guidance on that if you're willing to do it I'm willing to send you some stuff that you can hand them as a memento They they already have I promise you through many through relationships that we have They have access in a variety of different formats to our public service announcements But you will be able to hand them a disc if you set up a meeting But I'm doing that case-by-case just because I can't afford to send up out a bunch of stuff Especially if I'm not sure that it's gonna go out One of the things we did last year In the last year we did around Veterans Day that we're really proud of is the veterans poll survey It was it was incredibly It was incredibly important It got picked up by the Wall Street Journal as a and part of the reason why we couldn't get to you before Veterans Day would have preferred to have done that was because we had an exclusive arrangement with the Wall Street Journal And they picked it up and ran it But coming out of coming out of that We got a lot of earned media when we released the results of the survey One of the things that we did to promote it and you can see it up top and that we're doing just in general Are these radio media tours? Joe Villalante is not in here, but I forced Joe to do these I don't know if Dave's ever done them Dave Gorman. I thought Dave was in here But what a what a radio media tour is is it's when you get on the phone and you set up Let's see here 26 interviews Consecutively and you go through and and it's us putting DAV in front of radio stations in the biggest markets We can find over and over and over again I don't know if anyone heard I did the last two I don't know if did anyone in here here on the radio anything about the veterans poll survey or heard my Voice made for television face made for radio kind of thing I Don't They they hit a lot of people we had more than 4,000 airings more than 19 million listeners that we hit on radio And Steve Steve covers a lot of media stuff But if anyone out there can just you'd you have no idea how easy it is to start a relationship with a radio station Burl Burl Jimmerson will tell you all about that and maybe I'll talk about burl if we have time I'm in a little bit here But if you start a relationship with a radio station, they will put you on over and over again They love it. They have time to fill and they have Shrinking budgets, but they have a great listening audience and they have an important listening audience because it's a it's a lot of our colleagues so Building relationships is great in that on that front, but let me get back and part of and It all kind of ties together. We did another one on on Memorial Day Had very similar results You do 26 interviews, but you know how wire media works You do 26 interviews, but if you know what a handful of them were live five live, maybe And lives a little bit different Steve can talk about that in his seminar lives a little bit different But the of the 26 if 10 of them are picked up by a wire service news radio or whatever So, you know a radio station will pull in a national feed on on some national radio that comes your way They just get repeated over and over and over again and in the case Memorial Day, they get repeated over the course of the entire The entire weekend and you as a veteran and a DAV member and most of you as DAV leaders You're a subject matter expert That's why I beg you to stay stay in tune with the AV's legislative priorities and resolutions As long as you don't go off the track with with our Resolutions as long as you're by part or not partisan at all You you have the power to go out there and talk to these radio stations and do things and what we had hoped With the veterans pull survey was that when we sent that out to our chapters and departments We're hoping that it'd be a prairie fire kind of thing where people would use that when they're talking to the media It's some really neat facts. It's the only nationally representative survey that covers all generations of veterans and all genders of veterans But here's some of our some of our results and I I can barely see them out there And I'm sorry, but what it says is male veterans and female veterans often report different views Let me pick this up. Okay. I can't read it. We're all in trouble basically How many of you how many of you feel that women veterans get the the attention they deserve? We're we're a better There's there's no one that's raising their hands and that's very good But one of the one of the things we found out through it was More than half of women veterans now you have a statistic to tie to the issue if you're talking to media You have a little bit of a hook you have a subject to talk about when women women's history Come month comes up when there's a holiday or when women veterans issues are up You have some stats and things that you can turn to That you see when you see people on doing interviews all of you have that now veterans pulse Dot or you all have this resource. There's there's no print copies You can go on there They'll pull up a PDF and print out if you want to if you're doing a radio interview You can sit there with that pulse survey right in front of you and pull stats from it But here we have more than half of women veterans feel they don't get the same respect as their male counterparts Men feel a little bit differently about that and and they just don't think about that quite as much But it's interesting that 44% Female veterans would encourage their daughters to serve in the military and Men will tell you based on another survey result that They're less likely to feel that women veterans are neglected However, if you talk to those same men for some reason only 34% of them would encourage their daughters to serve in the military What does that tell you? Isn't that a statement isn't that interesting? This veterans pulse survey is full of facts that are interesting Facts about VA health care About how many veterans feel that Let's see Only one in five veterans agree the federal government treats veterans well Well, you have a stat and you can point to a source and you can drive people to the source and it's positioning DAV as a thought leader which is very important and it's what we are right When you stand up and and everyone works with a lot of ESO's and that's important and there are a lot of there's good work going on and a lot of a lot of our our brothers and sisters and other organizations, but Wouldn't you say that usually the DAV folks are the ones especially when it comes to issues specific to disabled veterans know More about what's going on at VA than other people. Wouldn't you say it nod nod? Now you have some stats that you can go to if you want to do media outreach or if you have an interview set up You can you can go to this. It's still a very valid source. I'm getting some kind of reminder up there. It's probably shut up dummy I'll talk again about grassroots outreach But but I did I did want to say that it's been incredible how much Reporting you guys do you're not sending it into us, but the people are saying it to local media I almost prefer that so when we do our scans sometimes we're reaching out to often we're reaching out to departments and saying hey We saw that great photo that you put in the Bellevue leader Or the store you did on something else and we want to share it on our social networks Or we want that picture. We want you to send it in to feedback at DAV org So that we can consider it for the magazine We just need a little bit of information that goes with it We're usually pre-proactive. We'll come back out to you, especially because we're not getting as much as we'd like But we're getting a ton of grassroots outreach And I was talking before about goals and how you achieve goals How many of you have a challenge? staffing fulfilling Volunteer drivers is that an issue at all? Yeah, I mean let you know they fly through the physical process at VA So I don't understand what the concern is really well We want to help you with that too If you go to the media and you say look we have this great program That helps people helps people get to and from their hospital appointments veterans This is a feel-good story. You can pick it up anytime you want come with us We'll take you on a trip go with us and and and take a ride and and Burl Jimmerson just I Don't want to say stumbled is because your department does great work But you you got engaged with the media and they did a series produced for them a series of public service announcements about the Transportation Network in his area had a huge impact in what they're doing in Denver, Colorado's Paul Jackson in here in Denver, Colorado. Oh, there we are Denver's or Colorado's represented here We had CBS cares when they found out about that program Donate a van to the Transportation Network and run a series of public service announcements for us If you if we can give you the tools to go use the media to recruit volunteers How many of you by show of hands would use them? So thank you and I'm gonna hold you to it and we're gonna get some some template press releases and things together and some Guidance that says hey Here's some talking points and things that you can say that'll help you recruit volunteers Because at the end of the day what goods communications if we're not helping the organization achieve its goals So that's something that we want to work more towards as well Steve Wilson here's Steve's contact information Write it down if you want if you can't see it come up and and Steve will hand it off to you But there's a couple tips I have and I give these over and over again If you have an event or you get a call from the media, and it's about something good or something positive that you're doing Give us a call if you want and we'd be thrilled to help you If you're in a crisis situation Where there was a crash of a van or? someone Borrowed a little bit of money from their chapter if you're in a situation like that I'm definitely call us because we need to get Our reputations are greatest asset, and we need to protect it So if you're in a crisis communication situation Give Steve a call give me a call If you want some you know how many of you a lot of people have told us over and over again Conventions great these seminars are great and the fact that we're we have so many people in here tells you about the commitment DAV has to service And people you know People people in this room obviously are substantive people who want to help out But if you get a chance call Steve if you need some help and And our training our seminars not just this one but across the board our seminars are made available online This one will too if I don't break the camera We'll be this one will be posted too and you can share it with your members back home so that Conventions not just a one-time deal. We want to make it as worthwhile as possible. I Just want to go over a few things. We did last year Barry hit on a lot of those. We had a great relationship with Leanne Rimes I don't know if you're saying I don't I don't remember much about the relationship with Leanne Rimes I'm not going to tell you more.  That's awesome. So what you're doing every time you read DAV magazine cover to cover is you're absorbing talking points you're learning You're learning the facts behind issues and when there's a national story your local media want to pick it up they want a local perspective on a national story and Going through DAV magazine will give you some ideas on how you can approach that but again if we can help you We will the DAV What we did this year, I'll just tell you straight up what we did We did there was a mix of a donation and there was some cost to DAV for that race And when we ran out of our budget in terms of being able to provide the the products for signs What we did was we just doubled down to do more billboards because we thought that would be more helpful for you guys Then a one-day race Web traffic was up almost 10% last year across the board Twitter We're blowing it out of the water We just we need to keep our foot on the gas on all this stuff for next year and this has been preempty You know Barry I think mentioned this we are thrilled. We've been thrilled Mike Wolf has been a tremendous friend to DAV But we're you know We're always focused on what's really going to move the needle for DAV and and this year we had an opportunity with ABC Where we're going to have a full week on on millionaire So we're thrilled with that good morning America segment ABC news is a big national outlet It's gonna have a much larger footprint We won't see as many things But we'll see a we'll see a bigger audience when we hit it We evaluate all these things based on the return on investment whenever we're spending a dime on Anything in DAV but especially on on things that might seem a little bit Distance distant from providing a direct service for veterans. We're extremely careful because what we're doing is taking an investment that donors have made in DAV and Stewards we're trying to get the very most for DAV that we can out of those dollars, and I think we're doing a pretty good job out I'm proud of all the stuff that we're doing A lot's going on we need to keep going we need people when you get those memos from national We need you to open them. We need you to check out your leadership emails Because when we need to activate we need you and I hope that you guys will step up on that I just I have my staff here I've talked right over the top of them as I often do so I'm sure they're thrilled with that But if you have questions, I have my experts up here And we want to help and if there's ever anything that we can do for you And Mark will back this up because he's the one who told me this is how it works If there's anything that we can do for you we want to help you If it's going to help DAV you're going to do you're going to be more effective often than national can be So do I have questions?


I am MS Balakrishna, professor of chemistry at IIT Bombay. I have been teaching main group chemistry, transformational chemistry, structure and bonding aspects and interpretive spectroscopy. My research interests are main group chemistry with emphasis on phosphines and phosphorus nitrogen compounds, coordination and argumentary chemistry, homogeneous catalysis and biological studies involving gold and copper compounds.  If you recall, previously I made two lecture series, one on main group chemistry and other one is advanced transformational chemistry. On both the occasions, many of them who took those courses or listened to lectures requested me to give insight into the methods of characterization with emphasis on spectroscopic methods and interpretation of data in a simple and easy manner without having much theoretical knowledge. Although I had decided to incorporate interpretive spectroscopy into these two courses, because of several topics I had to cover in those lectures, I could not get a time and always I felt that these two courses lack that interpretive part. So in this context, I decided to float this course to focus exclusively on interpretive aspects of four important spectroscopic methods, such as NMR, UV visible, IR and mass spectrometry. So I am here with this package as a part of this course without digging deep into theoretical aspects. I shall try to make you familiar with the interpretation of multi-nuclear NMR, UV visible and IR spectra and also mass spectral data. These are very powerful tools, not only for synthetic chemists working in the areas of inorganic, organic and organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis, but are equally important for biochemists and also those who are working in the area of environmental science, materials, forensic science, chemical and pharmaceutical industries and also those who are working in R&D laboratories. Apart from these, this course is even more useful for those who are studying BSC, MSC in chemistry and biochemistry and also for PhD students and more importantly for those who are preparing for JOM, GATE and CSI examinations. So in NMR, I shall give examples of most of the NMR active nuclei with emphasis on 1H, 13C, 19F, 31P and also considering nitrogen, both 14N, 15N, boron, silicon, lithium, platinum, rhodium, selenium and mercury and whatnot. It's a very interesting and useful course. I have included numerous examples to interpret multi-nuclear NMR and at the end of this lecture series, I devote at least five to six lectures to solve problems containing all these four spectral data. I'm sure you like it and learn interpretation of structure of new molecules with authority and with easy method. I shall tell you one more thing. As long as you have greed for learning, I come up with courses like this. When you think that you have learned something from this course and benefited in achieving your objectives that brings immense satisfaction to me and also it inspires me to do more in this direction. This makes me even more humble student of learning. The reason why I tell is I never call myself as a teacher but I want to remain as a best student of learning. Whenever I float some courses like this or go to classroom and teach, always they make me having more greed for learning more. So with this, I welcome you all wholeheartedly to this course, Interpretive Spectroscopy. Thank you and see you soon. Hello, everyone. I am Kilesh Chandru Divedi. I completed my master's degree from Luxembourg-Singhmer Government PG College, Pythoragal, which is affiliated to Kuma University in the Nital, Uttarakhand. After that, I appeared for CSIR net exam and I secured all linear rank 11th. Currently, I am doing my PhD from IIT Bombay under the supervision of Professor M.S. Balagrishnan. My research interest includes synthesis of phosphorus and nitrogen based monodentate to polydentate ligands as well as their metal complexes and find out their applications, especially in homogeneous catalysis. It's my pleasure to be associated as a TA with this course titled as Interpretive Spectroscopy. Thank you. Hello, everyone. I am Ghazal Sabarwal. I have completed my master's from DAV College Chandigarh, which is affiliated to Punjab University. Currently, I am pursuing my PhD from IIT Bombay under the supervision of Professor M.S. Balagrishnan. My research interest includes synthesizing phosphorus and nitrogen based ligands and their transition metal complexes and then studying their photophysical and catalytic applications. Earlier, I was associated as a TA for the previous course run by Professor M.S. Balagrishnan titled as Advanced Transition Metal Chemistry and it's my immense pleasure to be again given the opportunity to be a TA for this new course brought to you by Professor M.S. Balagrishnan, which is titled as Interpretative Spectroscopy. Thank you.


I think the competitions are an awesome opportunity. The guard is a whole to collectively come together and compete, raise them a good morale across the states. I think there's a lot of good shooters out here. It gives you a great opportunity to take those TTPs back to the line and start bringing that back to the force. I think for the new shooters it's an opportunity to build confidence, a lot more trust in their shooting abilities. As far as the old shooters, I think it's an awesome opportunity for them to develop and mentor future shooters, future competitors coming up through the ranks to succeed past the WPW into bigger and deeper waters. Absolutely. I think the match is an awesome opportunity for soldiers to get out of their comfort zone, get out of their state, see that even the guard is big, it's a lot bigger than I think a lot of soldiers perceive it to be.  A lot of the guard is networking and knowing who's out there, so this is going to be the first or last time that you see a lot of these soldiers, whether it's on the competition field or back in the rear garrison or on mission. It's good to know where people are, who they are, who you need to call, if you need to call somebody. In the state starting position, watch and shoot, watch and shoot. The importance of these matches and marksmanship in general is to improve our lethality on the battlefield, so this is a good place to test what we're capable of, what we need to work on, and just generally see what the force is capable of doing. Just improving myself, what I can do better, I take all the stuff, I have data book, I write down everything I did good, everything I did bad and take that back and I train on the things I didn't do well on and I keep hitting on the stuff I did do well on. I've been shooting for about five years now, it's actually really good, I've seen a lot of guys that I've seen at previous matches, got to talk to them, see what's working for them, what's working for us, shoot ideas back and forth for training, for matches in the future, how we can just improve this program as a whole. It also opens it up for when I need help from another unit, whether it's Marks and Shipper-Lade or something else, I already know someone at those units has talked to me.