Hey guys, it's Monica. Yeah, it is a rainy drab Memorial Day weekend here in New Hampshire. I don't know what the weather's been like for you but I'm filming this on Memorial Day because Well, it was a wacky weekend So if you're curious Stay tuned So Memorial Day, right? You kind of think about Memorial Day as being sort of that kickoff or a summer At least I always have so it's always been sort of a bittersweet time too because yes I'm excited because summer is here and oftentimes we're camping. We're away from home and relaxing but some were at the same time because You have to always bear in mind all of those people that sacrificed For us so that we can enjoy what we enjoy every day and my brother many of you know is a 100% disabled Vietnam that I am his guardian. I take care of him and I always am mindful of the sacrifice he made For us for our country for us people so that we could continue to live free at least Hopefully we can continue to live free anyways Yeah, so Memorial Day, you know a time of celebration, but a time of deep reflection and this This Memorial Day has been totally Totally different because the weather has been really awful. We haven't even gone camping. None of the camp grounds are open Nobody can find help believe it or not. They can't hire help To run some of the campgrounds at least the state parks. They're just They can't find help. They don't have any help to keep them open So anyways, I could go on a huge rant, but I'm not going to so what I'm going to share with you in this video Is a couple of things that I have been gifted that I bought that I've used that I've Rebought that I loved so I'm going to try to keep it brief. I know famous statement, right? I'm going to try to breathe keep it brief. First of all, I Had an episode with my eye I have dry eyes, you know, and I suffer from in one eye where I have Just it's just an ongoing issue. I've been doing eyedrops. I've been doing, you know I masks I've been doing all sorts of different things that I could well today I went to put the eye drops in my eye and I poked myself so bad in the eye that I just I Just started crying. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't see what I was doing and I just poked my eye deeply and It was it was awful. So anyways, I could my eyes look a little wacky now because it's been two two and a half hours and I've been just trying to Find my balance with my eye the way it is. It's so frustrating But anyways one the thing that I want to show you right away because I absolutely love this This is a bag that I ordered and I had custom made. I love these whimsical characters I mean take a look at Jay calls this the big bum bag because all these ladies have exaggerated Anyways, I had this custom made I think it's so when whimsical it is so awesome I absolutely love it inside. It has a couple of pockets This is deep enough big enough to hold my laptop for work my makeup my sneakers so I can if I ever get Into the right mode that I can actually go for walks at work. I love this bag I had this made custom made for me from the bag lady. I lean the bag lady. She is on YouTube on I'm sorry. She's on Facebook and Instagram. I will link her information below But I bought this bag and I originally seen one very similar very whimsical slightly different Characters or design my lean fab and glam and I loved it I said I kind of get myself that bad and you know what I really love Supporting small businesses whenever I can and I just I just fell in love with this. This is not the cutest. I Love this so I bought this. This is my purchase this month that I love And I'm really so happy I did one thing that has been sent to me and that I have actually tried and talked about in the past is red light therapy and you know masks face masks so this is from the best life company and this is like therapy at home and There are seven different color modes to this mask I could not believe it. There's red. There is blue amber purple green light white light Light blue light and all of them target different areas. So there's several different modes on this mask Including one that massages your eyes, which I was like. Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, that's out of your eyes and the more I read it I wanted to be sure number one because of the dry eye Could a mask harm it, you know, would this be something that could harm my my eyes or make my eyes worse But all the research that I've been able to find is that this actually is good for dry eye Who knew I didn't so anyways when they reached out to me. I said sure I would try this They have sent me another mask in the past This is one that you could charge and walk around and do things with this particular one You do have to be tethered you have to be plugged into a power source And then you can switch it on and you can have the different modes it comes on different colors And then even the vibrations and also on a timer So you can I don't forget here this That's the vibration It's on a timer and you can put this on and you can fall asleep if you want which would be a little bit uncomfortable But you could now you can see when you have this on you can actually see Because they have very cushioned very sanitized iPads here. I'm just gonna a little makeup on here But you can actually see and you could do things if you wanted to but you'd have to be tethered to your power source So for me, this is this forces me to relax So I've been putting this on in the blue light for the anti-aging And then I do the massage at the same time from my eyes and I Absolutely love it. I know that at-home light therapy you can do your research. You can check it out I'll give you all the information below, but I know at-home light therapy can be quite costly and As it is if you end up going to you know, if you go to a spa or you go anywhere and you have professional Red, you know light therapy done on your skin. I do believe in light therapy especially for collagen production and things of that nature, so I Love this.  It's on sale It's a little over a hundred dollars a unit like this on sale regularly It's over 200 and it's it's adjustable. It's super comfortable You can wear this like for 15 or 20 minutes a day You can switch between the different modes if you want. I I would highly Suggest whether it's not this one or another one and I've used this is probably my third different eye mask not I mass Sorry, my LED masks that I've done and used on my skin. I Highly highly suggest that you find when you like if not this one another one, but there's huge difference in how Your skin is when you are on a regular in my opinion routine with this So I love this mask again. I'll leave all the information Below LED Photography mask rejuvenation with eye thermostatic So there are mom a thing with I with I'm just gonna say with eye therapy because you know me I can't pronounce these words Anyways, really good stuff. I'll link all the information below one thing I wanted to give you an update on Was and I will enclose a picture how I keep this this is one of the eye masks that I use This one was gifted to me from Mavogal. They reached out to me and Gifted this to me right about the same time as I had been diagnosed with with the dry eye Now I have an eye mask that I purchased and I put it in the microwave. It's little beads I've actually talked about this because I think I've had this now for I think since February And I have it hanging as you can see here on my bed post and that night this is it's an electric mask It does have two different heat modes and it has a timer as well So it shuts off after an hour, I believe and it just is super super nice I put it on and sometimes I get up in the middle of night. I'll go to the to the restroom Restroom the bathroom and I come back in and I put this on and I just let it go for the hour I fall asleep. It just soothes my whole eyes. I absolutely love it I probably use this every single night in bed. I am going to be purchasing. These are very affordable I'm gonna be purchasing a second one because I want to keep one in the motor home If we ever get to go camping But I want to keep one in the motor home and one in the house I like to do that with things that I use consistently because I don't want to have to go back and forth and and carry in and carry out and all of that Update on my apple cider a gum many gummies apple cider vinegar gummies Anyways, this is the gummies I've used I've talked about this in the past This was recommended to me from Sheila life with Lily. I really like this apple cider vinegar gummy I this is empty. I have three more that I bought I buy two at a time Jane. I both use this we use two in the morning. I drink a lot of water two at night I'm not going to say this is helping me lose weight, but it's helping me I think it helps my gut health. It helps me feel fuller faster So it does have some appetite control aspect to it for me anyways And I love it highly highly recommend it tastes really good You know what? I've had apple cider vinegar that I've tried to swallow or mixed in and it's a gag It just makes me gag but this has a combination of sweet and a sour but very mostly sweet and I chew these gummies up and it's Oh, I forgot is it a thousand milligrams, but two of them or something like that. I chew them up. I have water. I Really like it. So this is the brand I use This is the brand I have repurchased and will continue to repurchase Really good stuff and I'm enjoying that. I have been doing intermittent fasting I've only probably lost about six pounds and and that's okay I mean, I'd love to be able to lose all all the COVID weight I gained but I know that you know what it's just not going to happen that quick at all and And I'm okay with that the other thing I wanted to tell you about is My helium hair This is the fiber flex Multifunction, this is probably the second maybe the third I Don't know if this is going to pick it up Can of this that I've had now I have never seen helium hair in The stores I haven't I've seen it on their website only now I buy the helium hair I really love this this when when I'm doing my bio hair and I spray this into my hair This gives me for a thin-haired gal. This gives me amazing Amazing amazing volume. I absolutely love this. This is hands down my number one And I've tried tons. I've tried tons that were gifted to me from octally I have all sorts of different sprays that add volume add texture I've tried them all but this one and one other one Which happens to be living proof and this is the perfect hair dry, right? This is the bodybuilder the perfect hair dry bodybuilder. I Love this and this is the one where you have the adjustable nozzle. It can go light heavy This is what I'm using currently. This is probably my fourth Bottle of this it is pricey. I look for it on sale. I buy it on Alton only when I have a coupon And when I have the 20% off and I want and sometimes, you know Not all the coupons work for all the different products, but I only buy this on sale Every now and then you can catch this maybe at a TGM apps or a Marshall and if you can Yeah, get it because that last one I got was at Marshall's and It's 1499 for this and I think it's maybe 1899 or 24 something like that in Alta So if you can catch this on TJ Maxx or Marshall's buy it I love this so I always look whether I need it or not I always look in TJ Maxx or Marshall's every time I go in there for this because hands down. I Love this. This is my number one. My number two would be my helium fiber flex This is also expensive, but this will last me a lot longer than this does So these are my two and I Know exaggeration guys. I have probably tried 20 or more in the last year or two Most of them that was sent to me complimentary that I'd like that has given me some volume But it always go back to these and this is what I spend my money on because my air These actually work They actually really work. I love them and I couldn't tell you which one I like the best to be honest with you They when I spray these in and I push my hands through my hair. I get like whoa amazing amazing volume Love it. So this is empty. I will be buying another one again This one the only place I've ever seen it Has been on their website I've never seen it anywhere else if you guys have seen fiber flex anywhere else in the store. Let me know I have not but I do love it. So that's always been Yes, that's a yes for me Vitamin C's now I'm gonna do more of a full review on the truth The truth treatment systems because I do have their vitamin C. I have their hyaluronic acid I have a little tub a very very very moisturizing bomb. Oh my gosh is that stuff heavenly and this is their Mist this is their mineral mist, which I completely used up and I also Before I started the truth truth treatment vitamin C. I finished up my Timeless and my matrix all I have not bought these yet re-bought this. I have another bottle of this in my freezer and I think in the big yellow the new container But I've not repurchased I am using a peptide that I get from the ordinary rather than the matrix all right now And I'm just going to go through those products and use them until I make a decision But the truth treatment the vitamin C It is the texture is Thick and that was a super surprising to me because I am so used to My vitamin C that I get from timeless and I have vitamin C from a few other companies as well And I have some really expensive vitamin C But the truth treatment vitamin C's tiny little bottoms bottle super super thick and you mix it with them the mist now I use Use another mist because I'm all out of this I just use any kind of a mist on it just to to get the moisture and then I put it in the vitamin C I'm almost done. I will tell you I love it. I love it Have I noticed a super big difference between that and any of my other vitamin C's? To be honest with you, no, I haven't But I love how it goes on And I love how it feels. I think it's probably an amazing amazing product I'm almost done and then I will do a full review on how I how I feel about it But like I said, I have a number of different vitamin C's other than they're all much more watery The the vitamin C's at least the timeless have always really liked and they placed really nice with my makeup now the truth treatment Plays fantastic with my makeup and then many of my other vitamin C's do not So to me that's a measure of something because I use my vitamin C in the morning only I don't use it at night so Anyways, this is empty. I didn't buy the mist all over again. I'm just using an other mist and You know and I in like I said, I'm I'm using a peptide From the ordinary so I'm going to wait a while before I've reordered my matrix But I've always loved matrix all and the matrix of 3000 serum I know I will buy this again, and I probably will my timeless vitamin C Again as well. So that's a few empties a few things that I thought I really wanted to share this bag with you because I Don't know, you know just so cute. Don't you think this is adorable? I absolutely love it. So Anyways, I'm not to share when this is going to go live. I'm going to try to get it edited It's been a funky weekend. Like I said, we thought we were going to go away We ended up not going away rained all weekend. We did have company We kind of tried to camp in our backyard, but that we got rained out as well And I said to Jay well, you know, it's kind of a good thing that we didn't find a camp spot because we would have Been like kicking ourselves spending money camping in the rain. So I Don't know guys. It's just just like anyways That's it for now. I I've been bored with myself lately, you know, and When I get bored with myself, I'm like Everyone else is gonna be bored with me too, and I don't want to just do a video to do a video You know what I mean? So and sometimes I know my videos don't have a consistent theme Like I don't always do empties. I don't always do this or that This is sort of a mixture, you know stuff that that I like, especially that bag is so cute I really love it, but Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if it's just me going through a little bit of a Thing, but yeah, I'm a little bored with myself And I hope you I hope I don't bore the heck out of you guys either and sometimes I think YouTube can be boring Because I look at it and go, huh? Same old same old same old. I don't want to be the same old same old But I know I am at times. So anyways, thank you so much for hanging in there with me And I will talk to you all later. Bye. Bye


Turns out, Freedom is the only MCN that even bothered to ask the music libraries. Can the channels that YouTube will unlink on February 20th continue using the music to help them grow? I spoke to AudioMicro, Epidemic Sound and Position Music, and each of them said we were the only MCN to even bother to ask for those small channels. How does that make you feel, Freedom Family? Actually, YouTube asked a very similar question that I want you to answer, because we will present those answers to YouTube directly. How does music help you grow? Tell us by filling out the form behind me, the link is down there in the description below, and meaningful responses I will feature to YouTube directly to answer their question, how does music help people grow in general? The reason they're interested is because I told them we are the only MCN to offer music to everybody who gets unlinked by YouTube on February 20th. In case you didn't know that was happening, click that I to learn all about the 4K 1K rule. It is important. And of course, they wanted to know just how much does that help people reach the 4K 1K milestone in order to be part of YPP and monetize. We already got confirmation from AudioMicro that you will be able to use their music library even if you get unlinked on February 20th, as well as physician music confirmed you can do the same. Epidemic sound hasn't yet confirmed, I'm still waiting for their final response. Now let's read your deserving comments, Freedom Family. Cosmania asked, so once we reach the 1K and 4K hours thingy, we don't need to do anything, you guys will see it and the channel keeps monetized then, right? That's right, once you reach 4K watch hours in the last 12 months and 1000 subscribers, YouTube will not unlink you and you will remain in the YPP and you will remain partnered with Freedom. Did you also know if you don't need it, you will be unlinked from Freedom? Click that I to see the confirmation where YouTube announced publicly that they will do this for all MCNs, not just Freedom. The Screamin' Goat wrote, Honestly the countdown till Feb 20th is exciting for me. A new dawn opens as we rise up to the challenge of the 4K 1K ruling. I hope I'm not alone on this. That's a great attitude and I've seen many of you share that attitude in the comments. It's like bring it on YouTube, I'm up for the challenge. Some of you sadly have said the opposite. I'm giving up, there's no way I can meet that new threshold. Guys, we started on December 1st 2013 with zero subscribers and zero channels in the Freedom Network. We grew quickly by never giving up. Even if you have a very small channel, it will grow. The only way it won't is if you give up. So don't. And use the Freedom family to motivate yourself. Look at the comments of the people who are, just like the Screamin' Goat, up for the challenge. Bring it on YouTube is the motto. This guy, George, wrote something about join the crypto family team. That helps each other grow together as a family in crypto. Click that I in case you missed yesterday's video where I introduce the crypto family. Answering your questions like, is this crypto thing legal? How can I get involved in the crypto family? There is a nice Google form, which many of you filled out. I looked at the stats and one in five of the people who watched that video, click the link to fill out the form. And about one in 15, 15 actually filled out the form. That's a lot more than I expected, guys. So I'm going through all of your submissions and I'm going to start replying to you who left a meaningful response. Boosted Studios wrote, George, I think you're late with the crypto because Bitcoin is going really down. That's true. Currently, Bitcoin is on a downtrend. See? Behind me. I'll hide myself. There was a huge dip recently where we are right now, about $8,000 per Bitcoin. But look at this huge rally, guys. Do you think it's just going to drop down to what it was here? I don't think so. I think it's going to bounce back. As with any new industry, there are ups and downs. This is a down. It will come back up. At least, I think so. What do you think? Tell me down there in the comments below. Master At It asked an important question. Is there a minimum hardware requirement for mining like a graphics card? Crypto is all about modern GPUs, GTX 1070s, and the RX 470s are better to get a good return on investment. We are building a piece of software called Crypto Miner that we will share with all of you with a download link in the shiny Freedom Dashboard when it is ready. And it will run in the background while you're sleeping mining crypto. We will pay you for renting your CPU. This is not paying you in crypto. This is paying you in cash. There will be a cash out button that you can click at any time where you'll get all the money that you've accumulated so far for renting your computer to us while you're not using it. This is our solution to all of you who will be demonetized on February 20th. We hope this will replace all the earnings that you had on YouTube by letting us wrench your computer power and pay you for it. Now, depending on how good your GPU is, is how much you'll be able to earn every second that the Crypto Miner is running. I will share more detailed stats about exactly what kind of hardware creates exactly how much money in future episodes. But don't go out there and buy a brand new GTX 1080 Ti just because you heard this, because your current card may be good enough. Stay tuned. Music Factory Music Factory wrote, I think it would be a great... Music Factory wrote, I think it would be great to have a Fiverr. Music... Music Factory wrote, I think it would be great to have Fiverr, where you can help others or earn money by doing things you might do on Fiverr, but for crypto instead. That's an interesting idea. I will consider it after we launch the Crypto Miner to create a marketplace where instead of receiving cash for your mind crypto, you can pay for goods or services that other people will offer. More on that soon. Guys, Freedom Family. Freedom Family. Freedom Family. Today, I've been throwing up. I threw up three times and I'm starting to feel bad again. I bought Bakari Sweat. This is like a Gatorade popular here in Southeast Asia to keep me fluid after throwing up. But I think I'm going to have to cut this video short here so I can go do the deed one more time and hopefully last time. And I'm not sure what I ate. My second daughter was also throwing up today, Eve. But my other three daughters are all fine. So let me do the little last part. Who am I? I am a little sick, George. I'm throwing up sick. Papa George, George Sunpai. And many other names you, the beautiful Freedom Family has given me. Also soon to be called Crypto George, I bet. I'm George, CEO and founder of Freedom for Freedom and the Freedom Family. And all the amazing things that we're going to do to continue helping each other grow together as a family. Oh, excuse me. I am George. I am George and you've been watching. Click that I to partner with Freedom and join the Freedom Family so we can all grow together. You get many perks like position music. You also get epidemic sound, a lot of other access to royalty-free videos, sponsorships and many things to help you grow. Just click the links down there in the description below to get involved in our community, our forums, our Discord chat servers, Meet Our Graphics Team, Meet Our Community Team, all of that on Discord and the forums. What are you waiting for? Get started. And we will grow together as a family because this is the Freedom Family. You are part of it, we are all part of it and we're all growing together.


All right, so you've been making these calls, right? Okay. Okay. Cool. Cool Okay, okay, and then maybe A couple of handfuls of the emails, okay Okay, cool, cool. All right, so let's let's do a role play. All right, I'm gonna be the owner of the house and I know it's an awkward thing role-playing and stuff But um, I just want to hear what you know how you how you you know what you're saying and how you Transitions are and stuff like that. Okay, so you're using my phone script, right? Yep. Okay. Okay. So here we go. All right ring ring ring. Hello Yes, mr. Johnson I'm doing fine. How about you? Yeah, not really right this second No, we had one, but you know we bought the house, but he you know we hadn't heard from him a while So no not really Yeah, I'm making notes on your script. Okay Okay, here's the thing. It's good, right? Like like it's good you You're hitting like most of the key points Okay But here's what here's why people there's why where it's going wrong. Okay. Okay. I'm fixing to tell you it's it's Okay, the biggest thing is this you just haven't called enough people to get enough experience, right? Okay, that's the first thing that's like the biggest thing I want you to understand this like you're doing great But the biggest problem is lack of experience So the only thing you can do to remedy that is to keep making the calls so you can gain that experience, right? That's the most important thing I want you to get out of this. Okay, but that's long term, right? That's the that's the macro. Let's talk about the micro your your what you're saying, okay, so Number one and this comes with experience It does kind of your tone your tonality and Your speed of your voice and stuff it does kind of sound like you're reading from a script, right? whereas if whereas if you if you If you watch the videos of me making calls it all sounds very natural You know, even though even though I'm saying those same words that you're saying It's how I'm saying them that makes the person feel comfortable See when a person when a when so you're talking to somebody and they get the feeling that That they that they you know You're reading off a script if they if they if they get any hints of that Then they're gonna that you know, they're automatically gonna be kind of on the defense, right? Okay, so that's one thing Okay, so the only way to remedy not sounding like you are talking from a script is to maybe practice The lines in your head, right and do some more role-playing and to where you kind of got the The lines memorized Whereas you don't have to even look at a script when you make calls You just know exactly what you're gonna do every time it's time for you to talk and it just comes natural, right? Okay, that's one that's one thing so you got you need experience What you're doing that you're making all the calls so you're doing great there You need to not sound like you're talking from a script and that right there could be what's messing you up that that right there It could be what makes people have that You know rude kind of tone or whatever because they feel like you're just another realtor kind of thing because of they if they Feel like you're just another realtor They could you could you sound like another realtor? Then they're gonna have their guard up, okay? So what you got to do is you got to get you got to get into your zen You got to feel you got to make them feel like you got to pretend like you're calling a friend or a family Like you have to have that same tone that you have when you're calling like your mom or your uncle or something like that, right? Okay, so that so that's like that's like the big picture stuff, okay Now let me let me talk about what you actually said that you need to work on You went too fast into the real estate stuff Like there's a part of my script where you kind of chat about the weather for a second and See and see that part. I know it's a little awkward, but it's so cool Like it really works because it doesn't have to be about weather like right now You could be set you could you could say hey, mr. Johnson. Yeah, mr. Hey, this is Ricky remix orange speech. How you doing doing good? Oh, yeah, I'm doing good too, man Just getting ready for Christmas y'all have a good Thanksgiving You know you could say it doesn't have to be weather weather is just like the general like term for Anything like you could you could talk about like if you know like if Thanksgiving just happened if New Year, you know Valentine's Day, you know, you know springtime fall The weather changing time changing You know it but see like if it's raining hard outside or if it's sunny and beautiful It's all the same stuff. You see what I'm saying And so it's in so what I'm saying is is when you go really fast into the real estate part of it They kind of shut down because what happens is you got on the call you get right on the call and then You see how you're doing all that and then you jump right into the real estate thing They're like, oh crap, you know, like it's like because they didn't know exactly what you're calling about and then boom But if you give them a little bit of breathing room just a little bit of breathing room with the small the small talk for a second It's amazing how they open up to you So that that's one thing Okay Okay, another thing is is when you get down to where you're asking them if there would be an agent that they would work with When they say they when they say they don't When they when I said I didn't I think you said I think you just right went right into is it okay for staying touch? And that's another thing that you need to do a little bit of small talk right there Because if you just say if it's okay for staying touch and then ask for their email They're not really they're not really going to be giving it to you because you didn't really say What's going on and so when they say that they this is in the script too when you said when they say they don't have an agent You should say I Got you. Well, look, I'm sure at some point. You're gonna want to buy or sell something You know, I would love the opportunity to work with you and that day comes would it be alright if I stayed in touch with you See how that rolls off the tongue and it just makes them feel comfortable You know when you say it like that So so make it more of a conversation and add some more small talk in there And then just keep making calls like just keep making calls and keep getting experience and really try to find out Like where you're comfortable, you know like get get into your comfortable zone because here's the thing When people feel comfortable with you then they're gonna do business with you and they're gonna give you their email So you're not getting very many emails because Your delivery is not where it needs to be yet on them making them feel comfortable. See what I'm saying Yeah, so that's why I wanted a role play with you and hear what you were saying exactly because I wanted because I saw your results and Or I think you said something like there's some rude people or today or something And I wanted to know what you're saying because I get rude people and stuff I mean you can watch the videos where I was making calls I get people that hang up on me and all that stuff but I Don't focus on those Like I work on trying to make people feel comfortable And if they do great and if they don't I don't I can't I don't even think about them. So You know, I I mean, you know, I post about Losing a deal because I want you guys to learn from I want you guys to know that I lose deals and that I This is how I handle it, right? But if I wasn't coaching, I wouldn't even be talking about losing a deal like you can always you all you can always spot an agent that that a Low producing agent or one that's just not gonna make it because they're always talking about the one that got away or You know stuff like that instead of focusing on the The positives, you know, like the one that they actually got and where that relationship is going the referrals that's coming from it The the the next person that you know, like when you call a hundred people You're probably gonna find two or three people that will do a deal with you today or in five years You know and that that's where it's at Like it's the five year like you'll get to a hundred deals in five years But you can do if you you know, you can do 20 or 30 or 40 Doing what you're doing and it's a like a snowball because you got one buyer You got one seller for January and you got 18 emails. That is actually Huge like if you if you only did that level of results from here on out And you consistently you didn't you didn't quit and you got to year two year three You would have a like crazy bit bit huge business Yeah, it just depends like if it's a um if it's an LLC, you know, then I'll just say hey This is Ricky Kuru the remix of Arms Beach. How you doing? I don't do the whole. Hey, is this so-and-so? You know what I mean? I just I just go straight into it You know and then if it's somebody I can't pronounce their name Whoo, if I see their first name and I can pronounce that I'll try that or If I can't pronounce their first or last name, then I'll just then I'll just go straight into hey This is Ricky Kuru the remix of Arms Beach. How are you doing today? You know like I'll like sometimes if I if I don't know who you know If I can't figure out how to pronounce the name. I'll just go straight into my the second part Yeah The latter I do just my contact stuff and then I got my website on there. I think hold on Where's that thing? Yeah, I got my website and I got all my stuff on there. Here's the thing Maybe I should do a landing page, right? You know make maybe I'm behind the times when it comes to that Maybe I should have one set up and be capturing leads that way and all that good stuff But I don't and so What I would say you is is it doesn't matter you can do it either way because if you're sending postcards to your Whatever neighborhood you're going to I mean, this is that obviously going to be a subdivision that you're gonna cold call too So, you know the the the relationship is developed in the conversation You know like making them feel comfortable and and seeing how you know seeing how you get along and that you know I'm saying like that you both feel good about each other. You can't do that unless you actually talk So You know, so my my answer is it doesn't matter I think it's okay to do the landing page stuff, but at the same time I wouldn't I wouldn't be like If I'm not doing it then I'm then I suck. You know what I mean? I got you Yeah, well, you know That might be a good and you live there that might be a thing that you can door knock You know, I'm not a door knocker. I've never door knocked So I don't know what you are as far as door knocking goes But you know since you can't find the numbers and stuff, you know That could be a thing if you if you do door knocking that could be a thing for you to door knock, you know But if you if you do a landing page, here's the thing about a landing page That that landing page is just designed for you to get their email address. Okay, I Mean that's that's the whole point is they go there and they sign up You know to find out how much their home's worth They put the address of their home in their email address and their name or whatever and then you get an email That has their information and then you look up Then you find comps for their house and you get back with them, you know, that's the whole thing So it doesn't have to be anything fancy you know It can just be a you know a Just a Any of them any of the landing pages. Do you have a website? Yeah, see I have a website. I can actually go in and create a landing page And I can tell it what information I want from the people and stuff um And You know, I can create all that myself and set it all up and then send it out but There's no right or wrong answer there to tell you the truth Yeah Yeah, it's who it's who it's who's most consistent is the bottom line Like like if you do postcards for a year and then quit because you didn't get any deals Then you're not going to get any deals, but if you did it for three years every single month You know, you're going to get deals You know because you outlasted all the rest of the realtors and everybody in the neighborhood knows that you're not going To stop that you're consistent.  Give me a ring Yeah, you can put out you can put a landing page on the next postcard or the next one or the next one or the next one It doesn't have to be right now You know like how many people are in your email database? That's really good. And is it is it and it's just it's just random like it's just buyers and sellers and everything, right? Okay, so Your whole thing right now like you should not even be worried about anything except for getting that up to a thousand As quick as you can through it through these through these phone calls See if you have a if you have a thousand property owners in your email database that have given you their email and are Getting this weekly email from you That's powerful That's that's strong, but if you if you have five thousand internet leads that never talked to you That that doesn't really matter.  That's how I operate is through email That's how I stay in touch with people and if you don't have an email address then It's just so hard for me to states, you know, I can't Chase everybody around, you know, I built a business where people come to me, you know They're getting my email and then they call me when they get ready You know, I don't I'm not I can't chase people. I'm gonna chase new people, you know I love chasing new people and getting new emails and seeing what I can do to help new people But all the old people Not all like elderly but all the old people my database I talked to a long time ago They're they're set up to call me when they get ready You know, and I might follow up with them here and there like once every two years or something like that or something I mean, I sent out a postcard a Merry Christmas postcard with the $5 off to a golf shore seafood but You know You just can't too much worry about it, you know, if you want to put it in your CRM or Somewhere to call those people back every You know six months or something Then that's your decision. But to me if they don't have an email, it's hard for me to stay in touch It is man because the time you spend following up with those people you could have spent that time getting more people You know and at some point it has to be about quantity Okay, so No, no, no, no, no, don't change your don't change your you don't you shouldn't go into the call thinking it's gonna be the wrong number Yeah, don't go into the call don't go into the call thinking it's a wrong number go into the call thinking it's the right number And then if it's the wrong number say, okay, I'm sorry. Well, look, do you live in that house now or something like that? You know, are you the owner of such-and-such? You know or something, you know what I mean and what you do is you try to turn that conversation around and try to figure out What you can do to help the person that answered the phone You say hey, you say yeah, you say, okay. I got you. I was looking for the owner of whatever whatever whatever Lane is Is it are you the owner are you the owner now, you know, okay? Cool cool cool. I'm Ricky Karuth remix Orange Beach How are you doing today? Well, fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, man. I'm just enjoying the good weather today in the gorgeous Yeah, well look man I don't want to take up too much of your time today But there was a house down the road that sold just like yours and I didn't know if there's something I could do for you also something you're missing in the script is that Or I don't know. Did you say it? Did you say I don't want to take up too much of your time today? You didn't say no That's that that was a third thing You got to say that you have to say whenever the awkward time comes after the weather part of the call or Christmas part of the call or whatever part of the call you make it You got to say I got you will look I don't want to take up too much of your time today, but a house down the road A property down the road. I just listed a property whatever it is I didn't know if there's something I could do for you because when you say When you say Well, look, I don't want to take up too much of your time today. It's basically Respecting their time and letting them know you're gonna be quick. You just want to let them know something You know what I mean? It just makes the conversation so much more smoother when they know that you're not trying to take up too much of their Time and you didn't ask them like hey is now a good time because then they're gonna say no most of the time You're telling them. Hey, I don't want to take up too much of your time today, but Da da da da You got you got it you got to throw that in there It's these little things that you're not doing is what's messing you up on the emails You could be getting a lot more emails if you'd actually slow down So you're trying to go too fast if you just slow it down Work on making it a conversation and and making it natural slow and just slow it down and Use everything in the phone scripts Then you'll you'll do good Okay, so let's uh, let's talk again in about a month make some phone make phone calls for about a month or so and then hit me back and And we'll do this again and see where see where we are Okay, you good. Okay Okay, okay. Good luck and I'll be here if you need something You welcome you welcome. See ya


I apologise for the delays due to the technical issues that we have experienced this afternoon. I will resume by asking minister Jenny Gilruth if she is content that she has concluded her response or if there is anything the minister may like to add. That being the case, we will conclude general questions and we will move on to the next item of business, which is First Minister's Questions, and at question number one, I call Douglas Ross. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I wanted to hear about the Nairm bypass, but maybe we'll come back to that another day, because quarter of a billion pounds of taxpayers' money has been spent and not a single ferry built. The crucial document, detailing why this awful decision was made, has disappeared. But all we hear from Nicholas Surgeon, is that this is regrettable. Regrettable. First Minister, when you suggested chopping off the bottom of classroom doors, that was regrettable. Wasting quarter of a billion pounds is much, much worse. First Minister, do you understand how angry it makes the public to hear you use weasel words like regrettable, rather than giving them the apology they deserve? First Minister, I know there's a lot of anger in Scotland right across Scotland right now. I'm not sure it's for the reason that Douglas Ross has raised today, and I suspect that he's going to feel the full force of that tomorrow. On the issue of ferries, I've made very clear that the delays, the cost-over runs, are deeply regrettable. I believe that when things don't go right in Government, it is important that leaders say so. If only other Governments followed the same principle, perhaps things might be a bit different. I'm afraid I'm not going to be moved from this. I will not apologise for decisions that allowed the last commercial shipbuilder on the Clyde to continue in business that allows 400 workers to be employed there today, earning a wage, supporting their families. I will not apologise for investment in new ferries, because the Government is focused on ensuring that those ferries are completed as part of our overall investment in Scotland's ferry network. I'll always take responsibility when things don't go right, but I'll continue to act in a way that is in the interests of this country overall. Of course, tomorrow people have the opportunity to cast their verdict on all of that. Nicola Sturgeon says that she's taking responsibility. Those are weasel words to the island communities that are still without those vital ferries. While Nicola Sturgeon won't tell it straight, Jim McCall didn't mince his words on the radio yesterday. He called the First Minister out for lying. He said, and I quote, that there was no danger of the yard going under at that time. The man who this SNP Government trusted to save the yard, who Nicola Sturgeon stood next to and said that this was the man to turn it round, says that the jobs at Ferguson Marine were safe, no matter what, because the yard had other strong contracts. Her only justification for charging ahead against expert advice has been grandstanding that she saved the jobs. Now it's emerged that she didn't. The jobs were never at risk. First Minister, hasn't your main excuse just been shredded, perhaps like that vital missing document? Let me say categorically, I stand by what I said on the radio the other morning—100 per cent. Jim McCall's many things, but he's not a disinterested objective observer on those matters—perhaps something that we should bear in mind. However, let's look at the two key issues that I think he was taking issue with. Firstly, he seemed to claim that I said that there were 400 people employed in the yard back in 2015. I didn't say that, as the transcript will show. I said that 400 people are currently employed there, earning a wage, supporting their families. Who would not be in employment today had the contract not been awarded. That is just a matter of fact. Secondly, the yard would not have been in jeopardy, would not have potentially closed, had that contract not been awarded. That wasn't tested, of course, so that can only be a matter of opinion. However, if Jim McCall is seriously arguing that he would have continued to invest in his money in a yard that had no major contracts, then all I can say is that that is not the Jim McCall I know, so people can make up their own minds. What I know is that the decisions that the Government took have ensured that the shipyard is still open, operating today and focusing on delivering those ferries. Today, there are 400 people working in that yard, 400 people earning a wage, supporting their families, as I say. I think that for all that the delays to the ferries, the overruns to the ferries, are deeply regrettable. I do not regret the fact that there are 400 people employed in that shipyard today. Of course, the ferry scandal is just one example of the secrecy and incompetence that this Government is famous for. Just look at Nicola Sturgeon's rap sheet of damning failures—250 million lost on ferries, 50 million lost on bi-fab and 40 million lost on the ranger scandal, the worst ever A&E waiting times on record, violent crime at record highs since Nicola Sturgeon came to power, the widest ever attainment gap in our schools with the lowest results in international school rankings, the highest drug deaths in Europe. First Minister, surely this is a record you're ashamed of? Of course, bi-fab is still open and employing people. A&E challenges for A&E services across the whole of the UK and Europe, but A&E services in Scotland are the best-performing of all the four nations in the UK for six years in terms of recorded crime at one of the lowest levels since 1974, down 41 per cent since the Government took office. Over the long term, we've seen a reduction in police-recorded non-sexual violent crime of 36 per cent since the Government took office. Homicide cases at their lowest level since comparable records began back in 1976 and those who experience crime down and lower than in other parts of the UK. Education, 1,000 school building projects completed since the Government took office. When we took office, only 61 per cent of schools were in good or satisfactory condition. That's over 90 per cent today. We've got lower council tax than people in other parts of the UK, lower income tax for the majority, free prescriptions, free personal and nursing care has been extended. We've got the Scottish child payment, we've got new benefits, the carers allowance supplement, young carers grant, the baby box, early years education and childcare trebled since the Government took office, doubled in my time as First Minister. More staff working in our NHS than in any other part of the UK, more GPs per head of population. I can go on if Douglas Ross wants me to do. Affordable homes and yes crime rates down. What we had in 12 years of Tory Government at Westminster was Brexit, austerity, poverty increasing, pension cuts, tax increases and worst of all, Boris Johnson. Shameful to the 1,319 individuals who died as a result of drugs in the last year that they didn't even merit a mention in the First Minister's response. 1,319 lives lost and families destroyed and Nicola Sturgeon yet again ignores them to get cheap applause from her SNP back benchers, because we know when Nicola Sturgeon takes her eye off the ball Scotland suffers and at a local level their record is just as bad. They have cut hundreds and of millions from council budgets. They've overturned hundreds of local planning decisions. They've brought in controversial sex surveys in schools. They've hit drivers with new taxes. They've let Scotland's biggest city be overrun by rubbish and rats. The SNP have let people down and Labour have helped them. In councils across Scotland they share power. Tomorrow's election is a chance to get the focus back onto the things that really matter to people. Improving local services, rebuilding roads, investing in schools and cleaning up our streets. Scottish Conservative councillors will focus on local priorities and stand up to this SNP Government when they waste a fortune on ferries, when they slash council budgets and when they cut vital services. First Minister, why should SNP candidates be rewarded for your failure? First Minister, when Labour property each other up in Aberdeen the last time a looked or North Lanarkshire, for example, but let's get back to the issue. On drugs death, £250 million of investment pledged and secured by this Government to turn that around. Council budgets, the other issue that Douglas Ross mentioned there. The Scottish Government budget in this financial year, and this comes from the Scottish Fiscal Commission, cut by Westminster in real terms by 5 per cent, but due to the decisions taken by this Government of course, the total funding package for local councils is up in real terms by 6 per cent. That's the difference between the SNP and the 40s. You really know that Douglas Ross is desperate and scraping the bottom of the barrel when he starts talking about sex surveys in schools. The fact is, and I suspect that this has been well noticed across Scotland in this election, Douglas Ross has spent far more time standing up for Boris Johnson than he has standing up for the interests of people in Scotland. When it looked as if the Tories were actually going to get rid of Boris Johnson, Douglas Ross bravely at that point called for his resignation, but when that changed, Douglas Ross allowed himself to be hauled into line and has just become the cheerleader in chief for Boris Johnson. No consistency, no principle, no resolve, no backbone. That is Douglas Ross. He's not a leader, he's just a follower. Question 2, Annasala. Colleagues, across Scotland, local authority budgets have been slashed since the SNP came to power. Can the First Minister tell us what is the total cut in council core budgets since 2013? In terms of, I've just said to Douglas Ross, of course, this year the Scottish Government's budget cut by over 5 per cent and council total funding package up by 6 per cent. Those figures are real term. In terms of the period since 2013-14, local authority revenue fund is up £2.2 billion, that is 22.9 per cent higher in cash terms this year than it was in 2013-14. That actually compares with where Labour is in government in Wales, of course. That 22.9 per cent increase in cash terms over that time period in Scotland is 7.3 per cent in Wales. Councils are doing rather better under the SNP in Scotland than they are doing under Labour in Wales. Annasala. You always know when the First Minister is desperate when she starts talking about Wales. I remind her that she's the First Minister of Scotland and reads Scotland's national party. The answer she was looking for was £6 billion. That's what's being cut from core budgets of councils. That's what this Scottish Government's own figures tell us. 6 billion pound cut from local budgets since 2013. In Glasgow alone, that cut has been over £1 billion. What does that mean in practice? Across Scotland it means a First Minister that tweets about reading books, but it means one in eight libraries shut since 2010 after a £210 million cut to library budgets, a £320 million cut for street cleaning, meaning fewer staff, more charges and less frequent collections. It means £1.7 billion backlog in much-needed pothole repairs, leaving motorists to foot the bill for damage. The First Minister has taken a Tory cut, multiplied it and handed it down to local government. Even when her budget goes up, she still cuts local government budgets. Nicola Sturgeon can spin all she likes, she can read out the stats in her little book all she likes. The reality is that she's failing communities across the country. I'm prepared to bet, Presiding Officer, the facts in my little book are not going to suit Anna Sarwar. I'm pretty confident about that, because she doesn't like me talking about Wales, but Anna Sarwar stands up here and tries to say that if Labour were in government here, things would be so much better. I think it's perfectly reasonable to look at where Labour is in government in the UK and put that to some scrutiny. A moment ago, I gave him the cash figures comparing Scotland and Wales for that period that he has picked of 2013. Let me give him the local authority real-terms revenue figures now as well. Since that period, 2.3 per cent higher in Scotland in real terms is local government revenue funding in Wales, 10.7 per cent lower. Where Labour is in government, local authorities do much worse. His £6 billion figure is selective and highly misleading, because it completely ignores £3.6 billion of cumulative revenue funding since 2013. So let me tell you what Labour—what Anna Sarwar—is deliberately ignoring to get to his figure. £2 billion of additional funding for expanding early learning and childcare, and £720 million that goes directly to headteachers to support the most vulnerable children in Scotland. That, Presiding Officer, is why Labour doesn't like the facts. Lastly, we'll take no lectures from Labour when it comes to funding in Glasgow, because the SNP administration has had to pick up the pieces of the equal pay scandal that Labour presided over. Labour robbed women across Glasgow of money that was rightfully theirs. I'm proud of the fact that the SNP administration paid them that money back. That answer might have sounded good when you were practising it on the gravy bus on the way in, but I think that communities across the country can see how you've decimated local communities. While SNP councils across the country nod through SNP cuts and failed to put up a fight, Labour councillors here in Scotland are doing everything they can to stand up for their communities and protect them from the cost of living crisis. In Inverclyde, a £350 payment to 8,000 low-income households delivered by a Labour council. In Glasgow, in contrast, the SNP has cut the £100 payment to help pensioners with the winter fuel payment. In Westlothian, discounted rail travel for the over-60s delivered by Labour, but across Scotland, the SNP hiked rail fares and hit hard-pressed families. In North Lanarkshire, Labour has topped up the welfare fund, supporting hundreds of families. The SNP Government have refused to back Labour's plans to do the same across the country. While Labour leads on the way on tackling the cost of living crisis, the SNP prefers to make it a constitutional debate. After 15 years in government, maybe Nicola Sturgeon should stop pretending that she is in opposition and act to stand up for the people of Scotland. In terms of 15 years in government, just on some of the things Anasarwar has talked about, let's look at benefits. It's this Government that supports the welfare fund. It's this Government that has established the Scottish child payment and increased that child payment. It's this Government that has created new benefits, the carers allowance supplement. The young carers grant don't exist anywhere else in the UK, including where Labour is in government. It's this Government that has increased welfare payments by 6 per cent, not 3 per cent, with the UK Government. It's this Government that's introduced the baby box that has trebled early years education and childcare, all of that, delivered by this Government. Of course, people will have the opportunity to cast their verdict on all of this tomorrow. I think that it speaks volumes that Labour, after five years in parts of the country working hand in glove with the Conservatives and council administrations, is in a scrap for second place with the Conservatives. That's the summit of Labour's ambition. My ambition is to win the election so that the SNP can go on delivering real improvements for people right across Scotland. I am happy to let the people of Scotland be the judge of that. I will now move to supplementaries, and I called Jim Fairlie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, a recent report by the London School of Economic Centre for Economic Performance has indicated that Brexit-related trade barriers have driven a 6 per cent increase in UK food prices. Adding to the squeeze in consumer spending power, despite Scotland not voting for Brexit, it's clear that this damaging Tory policy is continuing to exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis for people right across Scotland and the UK. Does the First Minister agree that the UK Government has shown itself totally incapable of providing adequate support to the people facing the brunt of this cost-of-living crisis? Does she also agree that it's only with the full powers of independence that we can protect Scotland's incomes, tackle poverty and build a fairer society for Scotland? First Minister. Jim Fairlie is absolutely right. In so many ways, this cost-of-living crisis has been created by the Conservatives. Brexit has exacerbated that crisis and is exacerbating that crisis each and every single day. The Scottish Government, alongside many others, repeatedly warned that Brexit would be damaging to businesses, damaging to trade and would put food prices up, and we are seeing all of that right now. Had Scotland been independent, we couldn't have been dragged out of the EU against our will. When Scotland is independent, we can become part of the European family of nations again. More and more people across Scotland want to see that happen. Jamie Greene Thank you, Presiding Officer. Nearly 1 million hours of unpaid community sentencing has either been written off completely or not served at all to put it into context. That's 100 years of sentences. Does the First Minister, off the back of the statistic, still have full confidence in her policy on community sentencing? Let me assure her that the victims of crimes that I speak to don't. Yes, I do. I think that it is misleading to cite hours in that way, because there will always be hours in a system of unpaid work that haven't been done, but they will be done. Obviously, there has been a Covid impact on that. Sentencing, ultimately, is a matter for courts community. Payback orders, though, are a credible community sentence that makes individuals pay back to the community while being punished for the crime that they have committed. I have confidence that we continue to work with the justice sector to ensure recovery from the Covid impacts. Sarah Boyack Thank you, Presiding Officer. I draw members' attention to my register of interests. The First Minister may be aware of the story of Edinburgh resident Callum Grevers, who has muscular dystrophy and needs a suitable home, with two bedrooms in the ground floor close to his family and care team. After being told that he may have to wait three years to access social housing, he crowdsourced £32,000 for a deposit to buy his own home with the help of the Government's lift scheme. With average prices in Edinburgh being double that of the scheme's limit, what does the First Minister say to Callum, who now feels left at the mercy of an out-of-control property market, and will she and the Scottish Government now take urgent action on the housing crisis facing our capital city? I thank Sarah Boyack for raising this case. I do not know all of the details of Callum's case, although I am certainly happy to look into it, but Shona Robison is indicating to me that she is aware of the case and is already looking into it. She will write to Sarah Boyack with further details when she has the opportunity to do that. We are working more generally—obviously, I am upset to hear about Callum's situation and want to do anything we can to help more generally—we are working with councils to ensure a continued supply of affordable housing. We have a very good record on that and want to build on it. Once we see the councils elected tomorrow, we look forward to renewing that constructive partnership. First Minister, will you join with me and I hope the chamber in celebrating Poland's national constitution day, which was yesterday, 3 May, celebrating and commemorating the declaration and adoption of Poland's first constitution on 3 May 1791, particularly in these days when Poland is doing so much to support its troubled neighbour, Ukraine? I am very happy to take this opportunity to congratulate Poland and the Polish people on their national constitution day. I recently had the opportunity in London to meet the Polish ambassador and express directly to him the gratitude that many people feel to Poland for the help that they are giving to Ukraine and, in particular, the help that they are giving to those displaced from Ukraine. We wish Poland and the Polish people well. Maurice Golden Thank you, Presiding Officer. This makes a total mockery of the six-year campaign battle for Frank's law. The buck stops with the Scottish Government no matter what excuse it comes up with. Ministers need to explain why I was misled in this way, or dare I say it, even lied to. That was Amanda Cappell's reaction when she heard the SNP had broken their promise to double-ring friends funding for Frank's law. Amanda is in the public gallery today, so can the First Minister answer Amanda's question? Why was she misled in this way? First Minister, I would take the opportunity, as I have done personally to Amanda previously, but, since she is in the chamber today, I will do so again to thank her for her campaigning. I do not consider that she was misled in any way. I would be happy to speak directly to her about this. Frank's law is being will be implemented in full. The funding has been made available, but more important than that, there is a statutory entitlement to that. It is the law that Frank's law—that is why it is called Frank's law—has to be met by councils. I consider that to be really important, as I know for obvious reasons that Amanda does. I want to reiterate the commitment to her today that Frank's law will be implemented and implemented in full. NHS staff have received a temporary increase in their mileage rate in recognition of the substantial increase in the cost of fuel, and that is welcome. However, there was no similar increase for social care workers, many of whom in the private sector are only being paid 25 pence per mile, so they are effectively subsidising their employers, and they are leaving the sector because they cannot afford to do this. The minister's response to me in a parliamentary question was that the Scottish Government was in discussion with COSLA about this. However, I have correspondence here that directly contradicts that claim. There has been no engagement with COSLA about this. I am sure that the First Minister will agree with me that being disingenuous with the Parliament is unacceptable, but will she insist on urgent discussions now to ensure that care workers get an increase in their fuel allowance that they absolutely deserve? First Minister, we will do everything possible to ensure that social care workers are treated fairly. There is a difference, of course, and Jackie Baillie is well aware of this. In fact, I think that she referenced it. Government is not the direct employer of many social care workers, because they are employed by local councils or indeed by private operators, so it is not as straightforward as it is with the NHS. However, I will ensure that, after councils are re-elected tomorrow, there is engagement with COSLA to see whether we can take forward an agreement that ensures that social care workers are treated fairly in these difficult times for everyone. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on what the Scottish Government is doing to support households through the cost of living crisis. However, we are currently doing everything that we can, and we will continue to do so within our powers and resources to help people facing the impacts of higher energy bills, increased food costs and, of course, the UK Government's national insurance hike and interest rate rises. However, it is a fact that most of the resources and levers to tackle this crisis lie with the UK Government, and we need to see the UK Government do much more. However, through our own cost of living support through our spend on Scottish social security, payments many not available elsewhere in the UK, we are set to invest almost £770 million to tackle the cost of living crisis this year. Of course, we will also live an estimated 50,000 children out of relative poverty through the Scottish child payment. I thank the First Minister for her answer. A Tory hard Brexit has hit food supplies, Tory social security cuts have hit household budgets, and Tory obsession with fossil fuels means soaring energy bills. People are struggling with the cost of living crisis that is entirely of the UK Government's making, and in Scotland we are doing what we can to mitigate. I am proud that the constructive and collaborative work by the Scottish Greens has led to free bus travel for young people more than doubling the Scottish child payment, the biggest investment in energy efficiency in the UK and mitigation of the cruel benefit cap. Does the First Minister agree that constructive politics should be practised at all levels of government and that tomorrow voters should think global and act local by electing councillors who will work together to deliver more of this progressive agenda? Yes, I do agree with that. I also think that Gillian Mackay is absolutely right to point out that, in so many ways, this cost of living crisis is a Tory-made, Tory-created crisis. However, the actions that have been highlighted are very good examples of constructive partnership working between the SNP and the Scottish Green group in this Parliament to tackle inequality and poverty. We have worked together to ensure that we are supporting households through the Scottish child payment, mitigating the UK Government benefit cap, which disproportionately impacts on families and, of course, introducing under-22 bus travel all action supporting households. We are doing all that within our fixed budget. That is in stark contrast to the UK Government's failure to act, which is exacerbating the crisis. Removing the £20 universal credit top-up failing to match our action in upgrading benefits and the height to national insurance are all placing much more pressure on households. The time is now to provide immediate financial help to tackle the cost of living crisis. People across Scotland, of course, tomorrow will have the opportunity to see that very loadily and very clearly. Last week, the Chancellor said that it was silly for the Tory Government to help households struggling with their bills. Yesterday, Boris Johnson admitted that he has not done enough to alleviate the pain of the current cost of living crisis. Today, the UK Environment Minister said that, to cope with the cost of living, people should choose value brands, and the Government intervening would be throwing money at a crisis. Does the First Minister think that the Tories do not understand or they simply do not care about the pressure that people are facing just now? Is it that they do not understand or that they do not care? To be honest, it is probably both of those things. I do not think that they understand at all. I think that they are deeply out of touch, but we know from callous Tory policies down the years that they do not care that much about those struggling either. Their actions and words in recent weeks show that they do not understand and I think that their failure to act shows that they do not care nearly enough. I think that we have seen various herd, various Government ministers admit this, and I am shocked. I think that many people are shocked that they think that it is okay to describe supporting families facing hardship as throwing money at people or even worse, silly. There is a desperate pressing need to act now to support households who are feeling the cost of living pressures acutely every single day. The UK Government could act, they could cut that on fuel bills, they could tax all companies on excess profits, not just energy companies, they could increase benefits as we have done where we have been able to and they could reinstate the £20 universal credit cuts. All things they could and should do, what is not and shouldn't be an option is for them to continue to sit with their head in the sand and take no action to support households so much in need at this time. To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government plans to mark Deaf Awareness Week 2022. Deaf Awareness Week 2022 is an important time to reflect on the barriers that deaf people face every day and it is an opportunity to highlight the very valuable work that many people across Scotland do to raise awareness of the experiences of deaf people. We want to make Scotland a really good place for BSL users. I was proud that this Parliament was the first to legislate specifically for British Sign Language back in 2015 and since then we have published the BSL national plan, the first of its kind in the UK. In addition we have provided over a million pounds of funding from the Equality and Human Rights Fund to the British Deaf Association Scotland, Deaf Blind Scotland and the Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Club and a further five million pounds to organisations working to promote disability equality. It is estimated that one in five of the population in Scotland are living with some form of hearing loss. Deafness does not discriminate and can impact anyone at any time in their life. Will the First Minister agree that the key aims of Deaf Awareness Week will help to increase visibility and promote inclusion for all in the deaf community? Yes, I agree very much. The key aims of Deaf Awareness Week are to recognise and highlight the barriers that deaf people face in their daily lives but also to promote discussions about how we improve the lives of deaf people. I agree wholeheartedly that Awareness Week will help to increase visibility and promote inclusion for everyone in the deaf community. Of course the BSL Act has been in place since 2015. We continue to take forward a range of actions to promote equality and inclusion for deaf and hearing impaired people and for BSL signers, including investing in support services, hearing dolls projects and a Scottish sensory hub. We will continue to do everything we can in support, but I want to take the opportunity to congratulate everybody involved in Deaf Awareness Week on that, because it will do, I am sure, a lot of good. School leavers with additional special needs, including some deaf pupils, have always been below the average percentage of school leavers in a positive destination. First Minister, with an increasing number of pupils with ASN and decreasing special teachers in publicly funded schools, do you agree that your Government should be doing more to solve those issues and help pupils with ASN to succeed? Yes, I think that all Governments, including my Government, should do as much as we can and indeed should do more all the time to help ASN pupils. That is partly about specific ASN teachers, but it is about ensuring that all teachers—everybody who works in schools—are able to support young people who have additional needs. We will continue to take a range of actions to do that so that we have a situation in Scotland that I hope we can all agree is one that we want, where everybody has the chance to succeed and to fulfil their potential in life regardless of their circumstances. I agree with a number of my constituents that waiting lists for NHS audiology appointments remain unacceptably long. One thing that the Scottish Government could do in the spirit of deaf awareness week is to commit to addressing them. We have a review of audiology under way, which I think is really important. I think that I would concede, as is the case in many countries, that waiting times for access to NHS services in all areas is too long right now, partly down to the Covid impact. It is important that we work to invest in services, but also to redesign services where that is appropriate. That is important for audiology, as it is for a range of other conditions. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to support the return of disability sport in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through Sport Scotland, we are providing almost £600,000 this year to help to deliver the new plan of Scottish disability sport, which is the sports body for people of all ages and abilities with physical sensory or learning disabilities. It is launched in April 2021 and sets a clear vision that sport and physical activity in Scotland is welcoming and inclusive for participants with disabilities. That comes in addition to last summer's get-into-summer programme that includes targeted sessions at grass-roots level for children and young people with disabilities. Brian Whittle I thank the First Minister for that answer, but the sport in general has taken a significant hit during Covid from any being unable to participate, the impact of which we are already beginning to see in both the nation's physical and mental health. Disability sport has been disproportionately affected with sports like power chair football, which I think is a fantastic sport, allowing the inclusion for some of the most disabled athletes, struggling to regain and recruit players. First Minister, those crucial outlets for inclusion will not recover and thrive without direct intervention from both Scottish Governments, local and national. So can I ask the First Minister what specific consideration has the Scottish Government given to actively encourage and enable disabled sports recovery from post-pacademic? First Minister, I agree very much with the sentiments of the question and I agree about the importance of sport generally, but also ensuring that people with disabilities are able to fully participate in sport if that is their wish. But also physical activity. I already spoke in my original answer about the funding that we have made available, and I am very happy in light of that question to look at what further action we can take to try to support the recovery from the Covid impact of sport in general, but disability sport in particular. I will ask the minister in due course to write to the member with further details of that consideration. To ask the First Minister whether the medication-assisted treatment standards have been fully embedded across Scotland. Work to embed the match standards by local services and alcohol and drug partnerships is on-going. It is a crucial and significant undertaking. The Minister for Drugs Policy committed to providing updates to Parliament on the progress of the match standards on a six-monthly basis and will provide a full update and report to Parliament next month. It will follow the on-going evaluation of local progress from each health and social care partnership area and, later in the summer, a subsequent report will provide further detail of the work undertaken in each area. That work, of course, is being supported with annual funding of £10 million over the next four years. In March 2021, the drugs minister pledged that the match standards would be fully embedded across the country by April 2022. In reality, it is increasingly clear that the target is not going to be met given the wholly inadequate funding of drug treatment services, health and social care services and the workforce over the past 15 years. That failure is leading to lives continuing to be needlessly lost. That is supposed to be a national mission, but, instead of delivering the standards that they promised, more families are going to suffer while they continue to wait for action. What does the First Minister have to say to them? I recognise the importance of the match standards. The Government is doing what it committed to do. It is important that those standards are embedded in every local area and that they are then properly implemented. That is the work that is under way and the work that the minister has committed to report to Parliament on regularly. The standards—and it is important to be clear—apply to all services and organisations responsible for the delivery of care. Access to treatment is a key part of supporting those who use drugs and, of course, is a key part of our overall strategy to reduce deaths from drugs. The minister will report next month, but that work continues to be of the highest priority for the Government as a whole. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on any discussions that the Scottish Government has had with the UK minister for Brexit opportunities in light of the potential impact on Scotland of his reported comments regarding the Northern Ireland protocol. We remain very deeply concerned about the on-going dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol. The protocol is, of course, part of the EU-UK withdrawal agreement. At the time, Boris Johnson signed it, he described it as a fantastic moment. The European Minister, Neil Gray, has written to the UK Government making clear that invoking article 16 of the protocol, or unilaterally introducing legislation to breach international law, would be deeply irresponsible and would probably trigger severe trade and economic impacts for the whole UK, but Scotland included in that. In light of the very serious implications of such action, we would certainly expect the Scottish Government to be involved in discussions in advance. However, despite a repeated request that the UK Government has shown to date, there is no willingness to engage on those issues. First Minister, we now know that the Scottish Government has decided to make HIE fund the additional repairs to the Cengorm for Nicola Railway. That will have to come from HIE's annual budget. We know that the repair bill will be well in excess of £20 million. When the Scottish Government made that decision, it knew that, as a consequence, some highland businesses would lose their financial support from HIE. Will the Government review the decision, which I believe will cripple HIE and highland businesses? First Minister, we want to support highland businesses, and we will continue to work with HIE to make sure that we can deliver on its priorities. I will look at that particular issue in light of the question in more detail, and I will be happy to come back to the member in due course once I have had the opportunity to do so. Police Scotland's international development and innovation unit continues to provide training to some of the world's most serious human rights abuses. In Colombia, where there is evidence of human rights abuses committed by the national police, including the killing of protesters, police Scotland officers continue to provide training. Given the evidence of human rights abuses committed by the national Colombian police, can the First Minister explain why the Scottish Government approved the deployment of police Scotland officers to Colombia? Operational matters are for the chief constable, and I am sure that the chief constable will pay attention to this exchange. I recognise that those issues can be sensitive and controversial, but it is really important to recognise that where Police Scotland provides support and training to police forces in other parts of the world, it is about enhancing human rights and ensuring that police forces in parts of the world, where that has not always been the case, are trained in a human rights approach to policing. However, I recognise the concerns that can be addressed here, and I will ensure—or I will ask the chief constable, of course—is independent of the Government, but I will ask the chief constable to write to the member in more detail about those particular issues. Scotland has been trailing behind other parts of the UK for some time now on the resumption of breast cancer screening for those aged over 71. That is having a real impact on women aged over 70. Just last week, I was contacted by a woman from Edinburgh who had a request for a mammogram twice refused by NHS Lothian. Margaret was able to get an appointment, however, at Newcastle, where screening revealed an invasive, lobular breast cancer that needed to be removed by surgery and follow-up radiation. I ask the First Minister three simple questions. If other UK nations can continue to screen, why can Scotland not do it? In the meantime, does the First Minister think that it is acceptable that Scots should have to travel to England for screening? Does the First Minister agree with my constituent Margaret that her cancer might have been detected much earlier and with a much more favourable outcome if her request for screening had not been refused in Scotland? Those are really important issues. It is important for me to be clear on aspects of them. I will try to address all three of the questions. In respect of the individual case, of course, I understand the concern and the anxiety of the individual concerned. Breast screening is recommended for patients between 50 and 70. The clinical recommendation is that that should be routine breast screening every three years. Our advice has been, as we have sought to recover those services from the impact of the pandemic and the brief cessation of all screening services at an earlier stage of the pandemic, that we focus firstly on those for whom breast screening is specifically recommended to make sure that we can catch up on any appointments that have been missed there. The first question in terms of whether other UK Governments will take their decisions is that I have heard a concern that reintroducing the optional screening for women over 70 has perhaps had an impact in other parts of the UK on ensuring catch up in those for whom it is recommended. I do not know whether that is the case but I have heard that concern communicated. We have sought to prioritise those for whom it is recommended. However, we are currently working towards the reintroduction of self-referos for those over the age of 71 later this year. We intend that that will be resumed in the autumn of this year and we consider that that will enable that to happen, while ensuring that any impact on the eligible screening population is minimised. That, of course, is really important as well.


Okay, hello YouTube. Every brother and sister out there, guy and gal, whatever. Ah, hey there guys. I had a couple of junked radios given to me. This is from a Roberts. I can't remember which one it was because the case was junked at the back. It was pretty much covered in paint. So I just tried to get it working. At first it didn't work. I don't get anything particular on medium wave or long wave. I think the oscillators are going to be nuts. This has all been fiddled and puffed around with. I don't know if you can see. Probably not, but it's chipped. So someone's had a metal screwdriver in these cans. But I have myself because I managed to get FM working, but I'm not showing you this right now because it's all disconnected. This is another... this is actually a toolbox. And my mate, who's a painting decorator, it's never worked. The radio, he's had it for like years. I ripped the radio part off the toolbox and gave him the toolbox back. I took the radio out and this is the actual radio. And now it does work. It has a bit of an issue, but it does work. The wire is here. We've got a speaker. It's a 4-ohm. Oops, that's a bit of a capacitor. I probably shouldn't have thrown it on there. That's my old... that's the amplifier. We've got music. This is the little music player. Let's get in through this little amplifier, which is... I don't know if you can hear it, but I can. And that's what I want. It's just a little bit of music in the background. So as you can see by the speaker, it's managed to get quite dirty. It's a 4-ohm 2Watt. There's two of them. I cut this one off. Because when I got a bit of life out of this thing, it sounded so awfully tinny that I can understand why my mate didn't really care whether he had it or not, because it sounds terrible. But if you put an 8-ohm speaker on to it, even though, I don't know, it might be doing it some damage or something, it sounds a lot better. So just for the experiment, you know, I stuck the 8-ohm speaker on to it and it did sound better. And I'll do that again, isn't it? But I've left this one 4-ohm 2Watt speaker connected. I don't know which channel it is. It's left or right. And to be fair, I don't actually think that's connected anymore. Okay, so... I don't know if you can see that, but it's dirty. It's dirty, mucky dirty. Down a bit closer. Let's see if we adjust. It's pretty grubby. This is a Sony CX-A1691BM. No, I've not looked it up or anything just as yet. I don't know if you can see all this. It's really, really dirty. Let me turn this down a bit. Now, all of this music comes from this Jemendo. Jemendo, yeah? Music site where it's all royalty-free. You're going to give them some credit, so... For everybody that plays, I'll probably just copy and paste the whole list of stuff. That's in this...  I'm not getting a profit. I'm not getting a profit for what I'm doing. I'm just a pellet putting stuff on the internet, because everyone else is. That's all I can't like. Anyway, so back to the seriousness of the business. I've got a funny thing. This is the whole FM radio. As it doesn't appear to be any other IC or transistors on here. I don't know if you can see in there, but as you can see, look... There's not a great deal to it. Pastors and doctor... IF pops. Cans, whatever you want to call them. Headphone jack. Oh, I can actually pull that off, can I? I'll probably take that little board off and use that myself. Just an ideal thing, but... I don't know if you can... I don't know if you can see inside there. And the little coils. But the wax... At least I think it's been in perfection. You know, even if it's just a bag of poop, I get to salvage that tuning capacitor. And as I've been building little radio circuits and stuff that are coming quite handy. Because they're a lot of three and a half pounds to buy up for eBay.  Considering I can get... Well, okay, let me have a look at that capacitor. Considering I can get like a Super Hedgstein radio sent from China for three and a half pounds with a tuning capacitor in it. And of course with the spare parts. I've got one, but I've had to decipher a little bit of Chinese to... To know where to put the RF cans. The potential parts, whatever you want to call them. I call them transformers. But I know which ones go where now. So I'm going to finish building that up and they... With this, the actual capacitor didn't work. It was stiff, it wouldn't move. And when I did move it, it just bent up the dielectrics in between. I've chucked it all out now. I wish I'd... It's part of it here. Because I took it apart. So I wanted to see what was inside, but I chucked all the rest of the bits out. I've only got this bit. There's only this... There's only this little bit left. It's one of the... One of the plates, parts of the plates. Yeah. So I chucked the rest of it out. Maybe I should... Took it apart and showed people, but... I'm the next one. The next one that I get, that's damaged or whatever. Yeah, I've got one here, but... I don't really want to take it apart because I use it for my little AM radio. I've got another one here. I like this one. Yeah, nice bit of kit there. I like that. I'm going to get myself some special cleaner for it. And go all posh on it, you know. Oh yeah, look at this one. It's spanking. I'll salvage this the other day. I'm going to build computers and fix some stuff. And this was a gaming machine that came in. The board was naked, so I built it with a new machine. They let me have the old machine. So I got a nice graphics card out of that. I put that in my computer because I had a nice G-Force 780. A nice graphics card, but I sold it so I could buy me a silencer. So I'm not allowed to have too many things for getting trouble out of. Look at that look. So I can put myself a little MOSFET CVS drive on there. And the warmer it gets, the more it will cool it. I love scrapping some of these machines, but... Yeah, I've lost track now.  So yeah, this is my little Super Hedgehog on radio. It's a Chinese little jobby. I'm just waiting for this other capacitor that they're sending me, apparently. But I've got one of my cans, I'm going to pop them on, and that's all ready to go. But I believe there's a few solder connections. You've got a bridge across for it to actually work, which they don't tell you. Well, they do tell you, but it's in Chinese. Unless, you know what I say in Chinese, it's in Mandarin. Unless you understand Mandarin and can, you know, do that language. Which I can't because I'm quite ignorant. There you go, anyway, so that's a little job going to get finished off. It's always good to have these.  So I like these little things because people chuck out these little radies, so they don't even think about it. To me, there's some good little parts on there for playing around with. You've got the switch for starters, which, done this one, is the issue. The old tuning capacitor. Of course, you get a knob. Always handy to have these knobs, I'm telling you. One handy. Anybody that's got anything you know that when you get near it, sometimes it makes a difference.  Nice switch.  This is the aerial wire. We've got a little aerial somewhere. There it is. This isn't the one-off it. I think this comes off that little radio. I can't remember. This one comes off that little radio. And I suppose I could just change those out. Even though it doesn't look it'll fit. It's different size. I've noticed that a few times with these aerials from China. Got a couple of little kits here. I'm a bit confused about ordering them, because I don't actually remember doing it, at the clock, and I think this is a clock too. And the reason I say that is because look, it's got no thing to put the battery, which means it's memorising something. And they've got displays as well, which gives an indication of how many of these things have I bought? Ah, look, there's a crystal there, so let's pull it out so we know a little quick look. I know this ain't getting around to sorting this little radio-receiving thing out, whatever. I'll tell you what I bought off eBay the other day. I bought a Benito in 1960s. I think it's a 7 or 9-band receiver. And I'm really looking forward to getting it. I paid £8 for it, and then about £4 or £5 shipping. And I'm really looking forward to getting it. Ah! I'm even that frustrated when you've ripped through the plastic rather than the ceiling part open. What is this? Ah, right, I see, yeah. I understand now what it is, yeah. I can't believe this video is 13 minutes long and I've done nothing. Right, okay, so you get wasted time projects, this was a wasted time video. And really, it's pretty sad I'm meeting people and not having a great deal I was to do. You don't laugh at me, it's pretty sad for you lot watching it. But, yeah, so that's that. That looks interesting, doesn't it? We'll have to build that and power it up and see what it does. Just not right this minute. So I'm supposed to be flapping around with this radio. I'll put that there, but I've got another one here as well. So it's in the diode. Momentary switch. We've got a bit of a chip IC going on there. There's going to be a clock in it. It's going to be, I don't know what it is. I still reckon I should put a breathalyzer on eBay. I've made a big hole in the bottom of this now. All the components are going to fall out. Ooh. Are you joking? Haven't I just built one of these? How do you know? I'm sure I just don't know. I really need to lay off the pop idea. I'm sure I've just done that. Look at this, look. What have we got going on here? Ah, it's not the same thing. Okay, that's not so bad. But it does look quite similar, doesn't it? I've got the same thing but it's slightly different shape. Ah, no, no, no, no. This one hasn't got one of these bloody awful noise things on it. Okay, that's more promising because I don't think there's a noise thing unless it goes here but it doesn't look like the same round symbol as that one's got. Because this is just awful. This is like a clock which doesn't have a battery backup anywhere. Which maybe I could adjust that. Oh no, look. It's 12-volt input. Oh, sorry. I shouldn't swear. Between 12-volt, sorry, 12-volt input. And this one. Oh, this is the same thing. But it's got a battery backup. So if I've got a battery backup on here with 12-volt input, I should be able to hack this with a battery onto it, shouldn't I? I wonder if I can figure that out by looking at how this is an entry work out if it's the same. Especially if they're the same ICs. 889C2050. 889C2051. 2051. My life, these are the same. So do you know what we're going to do? Not right now. But what we're going to do is because this takes a battery backup system, I'm going to put a battery backup system on the back of here and hack into this chip where this one leads in the battery backup system onto here, whatever it takes necessary. I'm going to make this one battery backup too. But just not right now. Because right now the video's got too long and we're not even going to look at this radio. We're going to do that in the next one. We're going to sort out why that's not actually switching on. Even though I've not wired it up. So trust me, this thing does not work. And we're going to get it working. Anyway, I'm sorry for not actually doing anything in particular. And I shall see you in the next one when we will do something. I love it. It's getting more and more like English every time I look. Yep. More and more like English. So I can't believe how many times crack time and how little I've done. And I shall see you in the next one. Bye for now.


It's a common misconception that slavery and forced servitude are memories of the past. Unfortunately, these crimes are still committed on a daily basis in the United States and abroad. Some members of the armed forces, their family members, DOD civilians, contractors and subcontractors unknowingly participate in activities that directly and indirectly contribute to human trafficking. In support of National Security Presidential Directive 22, the Department of the Navy is dedicated to aid in the fight against human trafficking through the creation of the DOD Combating Trafficking in Persons or CTIP Program and Task Force. The program works towards the adoradication of trafficking in persons within the military. Annual Combating and Trafficking Persons Awareness Training is mandatory for all Navy personnel. If you would like to learn more about the CTIP program, visit their website.