Creativity requires discipline. It takes a bit of blood, a lot of sweat, and more than likely a few tears. What's most frustrating about creativity is when you see anything that anyone else has done and it appears to emerge effortlessly as if they exhale creativity like carbon dioxide. But this is simply a face bookification of reality, a carefully curated front to make their creative endeavor appear effortless. Because if we're all honest we will all realize that creative work is the morning workout you want to put off but know you need to do. It's not easy but it's essential and no matter how hard it might be it is completely worth it.


The next item of business is an urgent question, and I call Michael Marra, please. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to restore power to households experiencing power cuts following Storm Barra. The First Minister chaired a ministerial meeting of the Scottish Government's resilience room earlier today, which I and others attended to ensure appropriate power restoration measures are in place. There has been no positive activities by either the power companies or the Scottish Government between Storms Arwyn and Barra. The Scottish Government officials remain in constant contact with power companies and ministers are being briefed. Scottish Power Energy Networks announced this morning that all power outages in their area had been reconnected predominantly in the south of Scotland. It was confirmed that welfare support such as food vans had been deployed by the Scottish and Southern Energy Network and resilience partnerships continued to work on a range of welfare issues. The power companies have also restated and published a range of support measures and the compensation that is available to customers. Michael Marra. Thank you, Minister, for that answer. With reports that there are still 600 premises without power principally in my region of northeast Scotland and with further poor weather forecast, it is imperative that the situation is resolved as soon as possible. Storm Barra, of course, comes straight after Storm Arwyn, and many residents have just seen their power supply restored from the damage caused last week. Part of the widespread frustration and, in some places, anger that exists is around the lack of clear communication from the Government and from the energy suppliers. The minister will surely agree that nine days without power is completely unacceptable. When exactly customers expect power to be restored, what guarantee can be given that that will not be pushed back again and again? I acknowledge the inconvenience to members of the public and the hardship that comes. I acknowledge that when I came to make a statement about Storm Arwyn earlier on last week. The issues that we have faced in relation to Storm Barra have been of less gravity than Storm Arwyn. Before I go on to talk about Storm Barra, let me just say that in relation to Storm Arwyn, all Scottish power customers were reconnected to supply by Thursday of last week, and all but a handful of cases in the Scottish and Southern Energy Network were reconnected by Saturday. There were a few isolated properties that were unoccupied that were completed on Sunday morning. The total number of customers that I have been advised just at eight minutes past three that are of supply is 511. The expectation, most of those are in the north-east of Scotland, indeed the Scottish power network is back up and running entirely, subject to the fluctuations that take place in any normal day. The final restoration time of the last fault is expected at 7 pm tonight. Michael Marra, I thank the minister for that further information and the progress that has been made even in these recent hours. I understand and know that there will be an awful lot of hard work from the power companies on going on the ground to reconnect properties. Concerns for vulnerable residents do still remain and lessons must be learned as these weather events look set to continue. Can the cabinet secretary tell us the proportion of those deemed vulnerable who have been contacted and offered support? I believe that it was quite slow in places for that to happen last week. When can we expect to see results from the promised inquiry so that greater resilience can be built ahead of future storms? It is impossible for me to give a figure to Mr Marra about the number of cases that have been contacted because, obviously, people were offered different lengths of time and had varying levels of support provided to them. However, there is a substantial issue that I have been discussing with the power companies and local resilience partnerships, whereby the power companies have an assessment of vulnerable customers. Local resilience partnerships have an assessment. I am not confident that, in all circumstances, they are the same grouping of individuals. We have to make sure that we have a good understanding of the vulnerability of individuals and in what circumstances they are vulnerable. An individual who has access to electricity supply may be able to cope with their vulnerability, but the incident could be about another particular interruption to service. We will look closely at that question because it is important—it is vital—that we are able to deliver support to individuals when they are affected in this way. I have commenced the review already. I expect that the terms of reference will be finalised in the course of this week. I have discussed it already with the power companies. We will, of course, update Parliament as that review makes progress, recognising that we have an immediate necessity of ensuring that we strengthen arrangements, wherever we possibly can do, because of the fact that we may face further incidents of that type over the period of the winter. I have a number of supplementaries. I will be keen to take all of them, as brief as possible, with the questions and the responses, starting with Maurice Golden. Flooding has been a serious concern as those two storms have battered Scotland. Can the Deputy First Minister outline what assessment is being made of damage to flood defences and what extra measures are being put in place over this winter to deal with further storms? Obviously, there is a system of alerts that SIPA operates, which looks at all of the questions about flooding of different forms, whether it is about coastal flooding. That is the particular worry that was acute in relation to storm Barra, but as we found in the south of Scotland, in the Annan area that is river-based flooding in Mr Golden represents a region that has a number of different and challenging circumstances to bear here. The issue of flood defences will be reviewed by the relevant authorities. Obviously, the Government will engage in that exercise, and SIPA undertakes a lot of work in surveying the flood risk across the country. Ministers expect to be updated on any licence to be learnt from that. Emma Harper I have been contacted by constituents regarding the disruptive impact of storm Barra on parts of the south-west in the Renza Galloway, such as Ardill, Sandhead and Dremore. Can the cabinet secretary outline what engagement the Scottish Government has had with Dumfries and Galloway Council regarding the impact of storm Barra and what support the Government is able to offer to the local authority and to help those living in affected areas? The Government's regional resilience co-ordinators are in place, and they are supporting local responders across Scotland, including in the Dumfries and Galloway area. I recognise the challenges from coastal flooding that will have taken place in those communities. In relation to financial support, my colleague the public finance minister who sits alongside me on the front bench here has activated the bellwind scheme in relation to both storm Barra, so that opens up the opportunity for local authorities to put legitimate financial claims to the Government for consideration. Finlay Carson The Deputy First Minister is well aware that there has been severe damage right across the coast of Dumfries and Galloway. In particular, 40ft of Dremore harbour has been destroyed. It is a huge setback to the community group that recently took over ownership of the harbour with a view to providing more marine-based services to support the local fragile economy. Can the Government commit to engaging work with the community to address this devastating setback to its ambitions? I would be delighted to give that commitment. As Mr Carson will perhaps recall, I visited Annan a few weeks ago in the aftermath of a previous storm incident. One of the issues there was the loss of two very significant footpath river crossings. Footbridges is the word that I am looking for. I agreed to engage constructively with the local community once they had an opportunity to consider their next steps in the circumstances at Dremore. Obviously, the involvement of our community group is a really welcome endeavour and we will certainly happily engage with them to see what we can put in place to practically support their efforts. After storm Arwyn, it is estimated that in excess of 1 million cubic metres of timber has been blown down in Scotland. That is around about 20 per cent of the annual harvest. After visiting the devastation in Berwickshire yesterday, constituents are saying that felling legislation urgently needs revisited in light of the storm to help the industry with the clear-up and replanting. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister what additional resource is being provided to Scottish Forestry to fast-track those applications? We will obviously look at that issue. I acknowledge the reality of the point that Rachael Hamilton puts to me. Some of the aerial footage is terrifying about the loss of forestry stock that has happened. Obviously, there are very practical steps that have to be taken to try to resolve that. We have, of course, a great deal of expertise to bring to this discussion and I will make sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs is able to engage appropriately with the industry and the Government will take whatever steps are necessary to assist in any way. Thank you very much. That concludes this item of business. It will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business.


This is the VOA Special English Education Report. International students have a lot of questions about studying in the United States. But what do you suppose is the most common question? We asked an expert right here in our building. Jessica Stahl is editor of VOA's Student Union blog. Jess blogs for international students interested in American higher education. She says the number one question she gets is about financial aid and scholarships. Money is everyone's biggest concern. But unfortunately that question is also the one with the most complicated answer. The short answer is this. Financial aid programs are often just for American students. But programs for international students do exist. You just have to look for them. Jess says probably the next most often question is about language skills. People want to know how to improve their English. Of course one way many students improve their English is with special English like this program. But we like the Student Union's glossary of confusing words used in education. Readers can send in suggestions. One newly added word is catalog. An international student advisor wrote to say that new students generally have no idea what a university catalog is. So the glossary now includes this definition. A university catalog or college catalog is an official publication that contains all the information a current or prospective student might need about academics and student services at a university. Jess has a group of foreign student bloggers at American schools. Even they were unsure what a catalog is. The students share their experiences studying in the United States. For example, how they feel when they face cultural stereotypes. Simba from Zimbabwe recently wrote about going to lunch with a group of American students. Simba said he felt hurt when one of them was surprised to learn that Facebook is available in Zimbabwe. Jess says the Student Union and its Facebook page get a lot of comments. She hears from a lot of students from China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, pretty much all over the world. Jess gave us a list of websites where you can research colleges and universities, financial aid, and more. You can find that list at voaspecialenglish.com. She says the only must know site for all international students is EducationUSA from the State Department. The address is educationusa.info And if you only know one other site, it should be Study in the States from the Department of Homeland Security. That address is studyinthestates.dhs.gov. For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn Presuti.


Today we are hosting former admiral Harry Harris. Harry Harris was an admiral in the United States Navy where he served in every geographic combatant command region. He was commanded of the US Pacific Fleet from 2013 to 2015. He then commanded the US Indo-Pacific Command until 2018. And most recently, he served as US Ambassador to South Korea from July of 2018 to January of this year. Today he is coming to speak about general East Asian and US relations specifically about US foreign policy in that area, especially with guards like the South China Sea. So without further ado, I'll give it up for former admiral Harry Harris. Okay, everybody. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to this allies group. I want to thank co-directors Hadir Ali and Konar Akhyama for the invitation to come to speak with you all tonight. Happy Cinco de Mayo Day. This is May 5th and those of you that you all are watching me instead of party hardening speaks highly of your interest and it's quite amazing to be sure, but I want to have a drink anyway. All right. Now I can't think of a better way to begin the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Get vaccinated if you haven't that's my public service announcement for the evening. In my post government life, then to share with you my thoughts on the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, or are okay. Now before I get started, let me say just a few words on the deplorable events of January 6th in Washington. The violent actions of the mob that attack the US capital and attack on US democracy itself serve as a sharpest reminder of America's challenges but also America's ultimate strength resilience and longstanding commitment to democracy. This quote from Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem that our nation quote isn't broken, but simply unfinished and quote. President Biden is now the 46th commander in chief of the US. I emphasized to my interlocutors and South Korea, before I left last January, that the noble work of the Alliance will continue. To express my confidence that President Biden and his team will continue to work with leaders there to strengthen their relationship in all its dimensions, not just the security one paraphrase and Gerta divide and rule is one approach to governance and unite and lead is another. I'll also add that may is national Asian American Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. I bring this up in the context of the deplorable acts of violence. We see aimed at Asians and Asian Americans in our own country. So let's each of us commit to doing what we can to end this and all forms of ethnic violence and ethnic. Now as I've said on countless occasions in uniform and now in Mufti international relationships matter and alliances matter. They are the most integral element of US foreign policy. I hope you've had the chance to read the Biden administration's new interim security guidance, interim strategic guidance brother. It recognizes that alliances are not luxuries. They're essentials. President Biden calls alliances are greatest asset. Last month in a joint op ed, Secretary's Lincoln and Austin made it clear that alliances are vital to our national security. They deliver for the American people. In my opinion this guidance underscores that when working with allies, give and take is preferred to slash and burn. Case in point, they're almost 71 year US ROK Alliance was forged during a devastating conflict. It stood the test of town. I'm going to consider how much has changed in the world in general, Northeast Asia in particular, and North Korea and the Korean Peninsula, especially since 1950. Some changes have been for the better, such as ROK's miraculous growth into an economic and cultural powerhouse, a high tech innovation nation which is leading by example in a battle against COVID-19. South Korea faced a third wave of COVID-19 outbreaks at the end of 2020 centered in the capital and surrounding areas. Korea went on virtual lockdown when they had 1000 cases a day across a country of 52 million people. Now as of today, Korea has experienced a total of about 125,000 cases and only 1847 deaths since the pandemic began 15 months ago. Contrast those numbers with ours 32 million cases and almost 600,000 deaths. The approach in COVID-19 has been lauded, rightly so as a global model. It's not that complicated, follow the rules and follow the science. Other changes have been for the worse, such as North Korea's unrelenting pursuit of nuclear weapons. If the PRK may no longer be the ROK's official enemy, it's helpful to recall that in January 8 workers Party Congress Kim Jong-un talked about strengthening North Korea's nuclear deterrent and military capabilities. Just last March, the IAEA expressed real concerns about the trajectory of North Korea's nuclear program. And just last month, the US intelligence community formally assessed the Kim Jong-un views nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent against foreign intervention. And that over time, North Korea will be accepted as a nuclear power. That doesn't sound to me like KJU is willing to get rid of his weapons anytime soon. But throughout the years, the US ROK Alliance has remained and continues to be the bulwark against North Korean aggression and the linchpin upon which regional security and stability depend. There's a satellite photo out there of a nighttime view of the Korean Peninsula. This photo and the stark contrast between the beaming south and the pitch black north represents choices and their outcomes. What 67 years of our strategic alliance has brought to the people of the Republic of Korea. As ROK has changed and developed over the years, so too has the US ROK Alliance. This alliance is dynamic and multi-dimensional partnership reinforced by shared values, shared concerns, and shared economic interests and underpinned by the deepest people to people ties. It's lasted generations and will continue to thrive for generations to come, as long as we together nurture it, resource it, and remain committed to it. Today there are over 2 million Americans of Korean descent, including four members of Congress, senior officials in our military, US diplomats, state and local government officials, entertainers, and wildly successful business leaders. American music and movies have long been popular in South Korea, but now Korea is a cultural force in the USA and around the world. Last year, Parasite won the Best Picture Oscar, and this year, Yoon Yoo-jung was the first Korean actress to ever win an acting Oscar as she took home the best supporting actress Oscar at this year's Academy Awards. These strong and growing people of people ties not only constitute the essential fabric of our dynamic bilateral relationship, but also provide the resilience for us to overcome any and all challenges together. Naturally, there are disagreements within the US ROK Alliance, which should be expected in any co-equal partnership spanning over seven decades. The US ROK continue to work at the highest levels on issues such as defense cost sharing in the future command structure of Korean and American forces on the peninsula as envisioned by the transition of wartime operational control or OPCA. I'm glad we've reached an agreement on cost sharing. Now we can move on to other issues. The US is fully committed to this alliance and it stands firmly with the ROK. So I believe the outlook for the US ROK Alliance is good. This is important because as you are all well aware, North Korea and the PRC will continue to test the resolve of this alliance. We face to weaken our strong ties and so doubt in order to divide us. Now, while we hope for diplomacy with North Korea to be successful, we all recognize that hope alone is not a course of action. US ROK joint military training is designed to support peace on the peninsula and in the region, while ensuring that we maintain readiness and never let our guard down. The dialogue with the North must not be made at the expense of the ability to respond to threats from the North. Dialogue and military readiness must go hand in hand. Idealism must be rooted in realism. There are ample historical examples of what could happen, including what happened on that fateful day almost 71 years ago, if we're not ready. Just read TR Farmerbacks, This Kind of War, if you remain skeptical. It's unfortunate that North Korea has not yet embraced the opportunity presented by three US and three ROK presidential summits. The US continues to seek transform relations between Washington and Pyongyang, lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the complete denuclearization of North Korea. All of which were agreed to in Singapore in 2018 and will set the conditions for bright and future for the North Korean people. While I believe that Singapore was not a perfect agreement, it's a good starting point for which to pursue peace on the peninsula. I hope Chairman and now General Secretary KJU seizes this opportunity. And now a word about the People's Republic of China. I'm often asked whether the ROK is being forced to choose between its own security ally on one hand, and its number one trading partner on the other. This is a false narrative designed to sow doubt about the history and the strength of our lives. The US has partnered well with China on several important fronts, but the United States and Beijing fundamentally disagreed on how to approach the current international order. The Chinese government does not keep its word from its treaty with the British on Hong Kong to its human rights abuses against Uighurs, Tibetans and others to its attempts at commercial espionage and its quest to first isolate than dominate Taiwan. As former Assistant Secretary of State Dave Stillwell recently said, the Leninist Politburo that runs China wants to set the rules for the whole world, which is why it's essential to free nations exercise vigilance. This is why we've made it very clear through our Indo-Pacific strategy that the US rejects foreign policy based on leverage and dominance and seeks instead to strengthen relationships based on respect, equal footing and fair exchange. We believe in partnership economics. We won't weaponize debt. Instead, we strive to build environments that foster good productive market economies. We encourage every country to work in its own interests to protect its own sovereignty. As a former Secretary of State said, China's bullying in the South China Sea reflects a broader choice for nations in the region, coercion and control or freedom and the rule of law. By how to regarding dealing with Beijing was certainly changed with the Biden administration. I note that the fundamental understanding of the PRC has not. Consider the Secretary of State Blinken testified at his confirmation hearing that the previous administration's tough approach on Beijing is right. That what is happening in Xinjiang is genocide and the democracy is being trampled in Hong Kong. Secretary of Defense Austin testified that he's focused on the pacing threat posed by the PRC and he promised strong support for Taiwan. They'll be declared the son of Nagrata by Beijing also to protect the maritime domains. The US will continue to cooperate with their Indo-Pacific partners as we've always done to maintain freedom and navigation and other lawful uses of the sea, so that all nations can access and benefits from the maritime columns. In this time of COVID, there are concerns that the PRC is seeking to coerce its neighbors and press its provocative claims in the South China Sea, as well as to bully Taiwan. There are also concerns that the PRC will exploit nations in need of assistance by dangling medical aid in exchange for support of PRC talking points. We all must remain vigilant. Since the end of World War II, the network of US alliances and partnerships has been at the core of a stable and viable Indo-Pacific. No nation can shape the future of the region in isolation and no vision for the region is complete without a robust network of sovereign countries cooperating to serve their collective interests. So let me highlight the importance of trilateral cooperation between the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan. It's crucial for our three nations to work together to enhance our security cooperation and preserve the international rules-based order. Now we're standing the current tensions between Seoul and Tokyo. The reality is that no important security or economic issue in the region can be addressed without both the ROK's and Japan's active involvement. Now folks, let me finish by saying that I was given an amazing opportunity to be the ambassador to Korea. Though some of you may beg to differ, I believe there's no better place to serve as a US ambassador and no better partner and strategic ally for the United States than a Republic of Korea. Finally, let me thank you all for your interest in America's national security. It's organizations like allies and people like each of you that assure that we have a well-informed citizenry of which Studeau Roosevelt spoke so eloquently. If Thomas Jefferson rather spoke so eloquently. And well-informed citizenry is indeed the best defense against Tehran. So thanks for your attention. And I look forward to your questions. I'll take 15 to 20 minutes for the questions. Over to you. Thank you so much for those remarks. As a Korean American myself, I particularly enjoyed all the comments about the great impact of Korean Americans. And my first question. Oh, by the way, anyone if anyone has a question, please feel free to raise your hand. I'll call on people. If you have questions. I'd like to start very quickly. And I was wondering if how if you could describe how it was like to take to become the ambassador to South Korea at a time so shortly after the domestic turmoil. What was it like today surrounding President Park, and how that affected your time in Korea and how that affected when you first. So that's a really broad question Jackson and I'll just just kind of talk a little about it and maybe it'll, it'll stimulate some, you know, more precise questions. So, you know, I spent 40 years in the Navy as you have hinted at in my introduction. You know, I ended up as a forester so that was a pretty, pretty, you know, rank in the military. And I went from that and pay calm has about 400,000 people in it. Take on then now into pay calm. And I went from that to the embassy and so which has about 400 people. So a little bit different in scale, but I will tell you that no difference in scope of responsibility. The scope of the job was completely, you know, as you'd expect different and into pay calm at pay calm in my time now into pay calm I was, I knew a lot. You know, a little bit about a lot of countries, you know, we have 36 countries in the pay calm or area of responsibility. And we have five treaty allies, a couple of major competitors and hotspots and friends and partners. So in that group of stuff. You know, I wasn't too deep on any one issue, but I knew a lot about a lot. I knew a little bit about a lot of the issues in Korea. It was all Korea, all day 24 seven, every day. Korea, North Korea, China and Japan. And it was really focused on that. The role of the ambassador in a in any given country is different than being a command and commander because you're the president's personal representative on boy, you know, the title is I'm very extraordinary and plenty of potential and all that kind of stuff.  So the ambassadors, my position title, the ambassador carries a lot of weight. And but, you know, so I tried to balance all that.  At pay calm I had my own aircraft in fact I had to add a g five and a 737 tricked out and comms wise and accommodation wise for me. You know, so everything was short, if you know what I mean. But yet at you know when I flew back to states I did quite often before COVID. You know I flew back in 43d, you know I was sitting back in economy class sandwiched between two larger people. And you know I got used to that pretty quick, but that's just the scope of the difference. You know, the budget, you know, the DOD's budget is is almost a trillion dollars. And, you know, the State Department's budget is not so you know I had to get used to that aspect of it. And, you know, so there's a lot of different things in in the in the military. I was rarely attacked for who I was personally. I didn't like me because I'm an American I'm carrying you know I'm an American flag officer or maybe maybe before I was a flag officer you know during combat and all these things. You know, I didn't like me because I was American, but they didn't focus on the fact that you know I'm Asian American or something like that. I got it from both barrels in Korea, I got it primarily from China. I got I actually got it from China at the end of my time and uniform and I was back fleet. And then pay calm, because I took some strong stances against the PRC which someone which I alluded to my remarks tonight. And so they, they took me a task, not just because I you know I criticize them. And they didn't take me to task because I was an American, you know, flag officer, I don't criticize China they took me to task because I was Japanese American. And then in Korea, anytime that I took a position that ran counter to what they wanted, what the Koreans wanted politically, you know this is because I was President Trump's ambassador. So he took some, he had some very unpopular positions in Korea they loved that he was proactive for leaning with Kim Jong-un and try to bring peace to the peninsula and transform relations between the United States and North Korea they love that. But they didn't like that, that he wanted a larger share of for from them from for burden sharing cost sharing and things like that. So, you know, when I had to deliver the hard message, you know, we talked about Huawei and 5G. And, you know, how we wanted Korea not to, not to allow Huawei into their 5G infrastructures they were getting ready to do that. They went after me for being Japanese American, of course, I had a mustache then. And that was a particularly focal point for them, you know, it was the mustache that I couldn't believe it, you know, that that that a better facial would not create that much interest, shall we say. So, you know, that was a little bit difficult and unexpected. But you know the reality is the reality and you know you work through that. You asked about President Park I got there after President Park had been impeached. So I got there in July of 2018, a month after the Singapore summit. The Pyongyang Chang Winter Olympics. So President Moon had already been in power. So when I presented my credentials I presented them to President Moon. Okay, I'll stop there. You know, I'm not sure what direction, how far you want me to take this but I'll just wait for further on questions. No, that was great. Thank you so much. Sean, feel free to ask your question. Hey, good evening, sir. My question is, so a robust trilateral relationship between the US, Japan and the ROK is, you know, clearly a key to combating the security issues that we face in Asia. So there are historical animosities between Japan and the ROK, which is rooted in what happened in World War II. So, you know, trust is still a major issue. So how do you think these two countries can get over this, I guess, pump and able to reconcile and strengthen their relationship moving forward. You know, we can be helpful but we're not going to do it for them. You know, we can't want it more than they want it. And right now, you know, I don't see the one wanting it greatly because they have the domestic constituencies to worry about.   Ditto in Japan, former Prime Minister Abe stepped down, Prime Minister Suga is now in control, elections coming up, you know, and so, you know, it's an issue. So I just don't see it happening anytime soon. I do hope though and there is hope that the two can reach an accord to the degree that that the relations with each other affecting the relations with us and other partners and allies. They don't have any other allies but with other partners and stuff won't be counterproductive. So we have it requires work. We have to continue to work at it but we can't want it more than they want. And so, you know, we went through this, this really hard spot in 2018 and beginning of 2019 over the the bilateral defense intelligence sharing between Korea and Japan where Korea threatened to pull out of this agreement. So we got involved in it because, as you correctly noted, this, the roots of this conflict between Tokyo and so are based on history. And it's the history of the colonialism, the colonial period where Japan colonized Korea from 1905 roughly to 1945 pretty brutal brutal colonization, and it was during that period that that that these attitudes hardened. And so, even after World War Two and the colonial period ended, and, and all of that, the historical animosities remain. And then these historical animosities, you know, rose up to the level affecting economic relations between the two countries and even then we said, Hey, you know what, we're not going to take you all need to work this out. And then, you know, Korea then threatened to pull out of the to somia that the information sharing agreement with Japan. And that then affects us security and the security northeast Asia of which we are allied with Tokyo. And so, you know, independently not not try later. And so the State Department at the time made a very strong statement, where we said that if Korea were to pull out of the information sharing agreement with Tokyo. Make our ability to defend the Republic of Korea under the treaty with Korea, and it would make it would put us forces, you know, we have 20,500 troops plus your families on the peninsula will put us forces at greater risk. And that is a very strong statement for the United States to make not taking sides, but saying hey don't be pulling out of this agreement because it affects our ability to defend you and it affects our ability to to protect our people. So that that was a strong statement. I had to deliver that statement. And the outcome was, you know, that and other things contribute to no doubt. But the outcome was South Korea did not put out the information sharing agreement. That was a good thing. So, you know, that's kind of where we are. There's this talk about the quad and whether South Korea will get into the quad the quad is this informal. It's the black-minded nations. It's United States, Australia, Japan and India. It's not an alliance. There's no treaty. There's no rule set. There's no codification of this thing. But should Korea be a member of the quad? You know, and so that's an issue that's playing out in real time today. Thank you so much. I believe Simon had his hand raised next. Thank you so much for coming. This has been super interesting so far. My question is about your involvement in the deployment of FAD in South Korea. And I know back in 2017 that you said that you thought that it was useful as a deterrent to North Korea. Do you think that position you still take that position? Do you think that it's now mostly designed for deterrence against China because of the sort of range issues with it? Or like how do you say? Great question. So I was deeply involved in the deployment of FAD to Korea as the PAKOM commander. And then as, when I got there as the ambassador, FAD was already in place. There was a lot of protest activity against it, resupply of the FAD battery, the troops that are down there, and all that kind of stuff was a challenge, big challenge. I said in 2017, as you correctly stated, and I still say today that FAD exists for only one reason, and that's to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles, short range, intermediate range ballistic missiles. FAD had no capability and has no capability against Chinese missiles. You know, and it's a single battery. I mean, it doesn't, but even if it did, you know, the Chinese could overwhelm it easily just in numbers long. And so FAD was never designed against the PRC and has no capability really against PRC. It is there to defend southern, the southern South Korea against the North Korean missile threat. Not the Seoul area, not the Gizma, the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area, because there are other weapons systems in the Gizma to do that. We're talking southern, central and southern South Korea, where all the espads, the seaborn ports of debarkation, the APODs, the area ports of debarkation, where all the stuff that's going to flow in to Korea if we go to, if the war resumes with North Korea. All that stuff is going to come in. And so that is there to protect that and the people who live in southern Korea. That is the only reason we have that is there for a big reason. And it has everything to do with North Korea, nothing to do with the PRC. Okay, thank you so much for that answer. Nicholas, I think you had your hand up next. Hi, yeah. I wanted to ask a question about our foreign policy towards North Korea. I guess, in regards to the options of either maintaining like a really hard line stance against North Korea, or trying to pursue some kind of cooperation, which would you think would be more advantageous in the future. Yeah, so that's a really important question. So let me just kind of parse it a little bit here. So, first thing is to understand what does KGU Kim Jong-un want. And you know, we had to, before that I understand that Kim Jong-un is in control of North Korea solely. It's not, it's not a power sharing thing. It's not a, it's KGU himself. So what does he want? I think he wants four things. He wants sanctions relief. He wants to keep his nuclear weapons. He wants to split the US ROK and lands. And he wants to dominate the peninsula in a way that the whole peninsula looks like North Korea under his control. So those are four things he wants. I think that sanctions is very important. I think the hard crushing sanctions is what brought Kim Jong-un to the negotiating table in the first place in 2018 in Singapore. So I think it's important that we maintain sanctions. I think that those voices that are calling for sanctions relief or easing of exercises, military exercises with South Korea and the United States. You know, that sort of thing as an enticement to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table is a completely flawed approach. If we keep the sanctions on and encourage Kim Jong-un to come to the table again. And if as a result of negotiations, there are some lessening of sanctions, there are some reduction of or elimination of certain exercises and all of that as an outcome of the negotiations, I'm all for it. But let's not give away stuff just to get him to negotiate. I mean, this is, this is Einstein's definition of insanity, right? You know, you repeat the same experiment and hope for a different outcome. We've been down this road before it has not worked. It hasn't worked, whether it's a Republican administration and Democratic administration, whether it's a progressive party, conservative party in Korea, South Korea, I mean, it hasn't worked. So let's let's have the negotiations. Let's build on Singapore. You know, there's four outcomes pretty pretty darn good outcomes case you signed on to them. And let's build on that and go forward. I like what I've read. I haven't seen it in writing. But I like what I've read in the newspapers and the media about the policy review that the Biden administration just finished. I think they finished it last Friday, Jen Psaki, the spokesperson talked about it. It's sort of a position between the previous two administrations positions. If you think, according to them, that the Obama minister or the Trump administration's approach was all or nothing. And the Obama's administration's approach was strategic patience. The Obama's approach is somewhere in between that diplomacy is important. Let's have a discussion. Let's encourage negotiations and go from there. Thank you. Lionel, you want to take it away. Hi, yeah. Thanks very much. I'm more habits for speaking with us. I'm Lionel one of the first allies online. I sort of had two questions for you going off your marks. The first one speaks more specifically to the quad and five eyes arrangement. So just in the other New Zealand Prime Minister is currently under coming under a lot of flak for her pushback over expanding the ambit of five eyes to counteract China. I want to hear what your view is on the use of entities like five eyes and the quad to counteract China. And you see this as reflective of some of the challenges perhaps peripheral countries might face and maintaining their relations with China. That's the first question. Let me ask that question and then we'll get to it. If I let you continue on, I'll forget the first question or I want to answer it all because it's a harder question. Thank you. There is every reason to have these formal and informal groupings the quiet as it is today is an informal grouping five eyes is a formal grouping. FPD I the five powers defense arrangement, which Singapore is a part is a formal grouping. And this is a formal treaty. You know, we, we decided we the United States decided not to afford treaty protections under and just to New Zealand, even though the NZ and answers is New Zealand, because of their stance on nuclear powered warships. But what's what remains is about is a treaty with Australia and defense treaty. So there's every reason to have these groupings they're helpful, they're helpful in in hard scenarios and not post 911 Iraq Afghanistan all that they're they're helpful in humanitarian assistance disaster response scenarios you know we're not part of FPD as you know, but but that that organization does really really good work. There are there are other groupings in the region. And important this is not getting into TPP and RCEP and CPTPP and all that you know these are more more defense oriented I guess, and in certain their origins. They're not. Most of them are not certainly not in their beginnings anti China, you know they existed before China. It's the empire that it is. Some have come along, because of China, in my opinion, because countries recognize that China left to its own devices and its own wishes will set the conditions and set the real set real real set for the international real space and we see that playing out in northern India and on the frontier, we see it in Tibet. We see it as I mentioned in my remarks, certainly in South China Sea, East China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, I mean you name it, and China's actions and activities in the region are not helpful for the good of the order. And it's not just in the region right we see China's activities in South America and even in Europe, and, and on the continent of Africa. So we see these issues. I think to get it that to provide an answer to your specific question yeah there's every reason, good reason to have these formal and informal groupings of like minded countries. And I find them all helpful. Thanks. So my quick second question is regarding us form policy towards China under Biden. I mentioned this previously and how you know the fund, the fundamental understanding towards China hasn't really changed. And mainstream understanding has also been that there have been more continuities under the Biden administration towards China, then there have been differences since Trump's administration. I don't really expect any differences, you know, in Biden administration's approach towards China as we move forward as the ongoing administration continues. I don't know why you think that I could answer that question right I mean I'm not part of the Biden administration they haven't reached out to me to ask my advice on things. You know, all I know is what I read in the papers. And you know, and one of those things is, is, are some of those things are those statements that Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin made. I know the players. You know, I was the military guy who traveled with the Secretary of State Clinton and Kerry before I went to Hawaii in 2013. So, you know, I know Kurt Campbell very well he was my professor when I was at the Kennedy School. He was assistant secretary for East Asia Pacific EAP in the Clinton State Department.  You know he was the, the George Kennan job, you know SP at the State Department, when Secretary Clinton was the secretary. So, I mean these are really bright people that really understand the public sense. You've got some Kim who's the acting assistant secretary or state for EAP. And he's going to be replaced by Dan Crittenbrink, who's the ambassador to Vietnam who was in the, in the Obama White House and then security staff for Asia. Assuming he gets confirmed I don't want to want to make, you know, put a jeopardy as confirmation, but he's been nominated for that job. These are really bright people that understand Asia. They understand the, the, the challenges. They got to, they have the right site picture on, on China. And I think that, you know, their approach is going to be different. I think they're going to based on based on my understanding and reading and just, just as you couldn't understand to read. You know, they, they, the Biden administration and President Biden himself places great reliance on alliances far more than, than President Trump and his team did. So, President Biden, you know, alliances matters, alliances are essential. You know, they're not luxuries, they're essentials. And so that's going to be helpful. You know, and crafting this policy review on North Korea, they reached out to Japan Prime Minister cigarette. I know they reached out to interlocutors in Korea, even though President Moon and President Trump hadn't, I mean, President Biden hadn't actually met, you know, that, that meeting is going to happen at the end of this month toward the end of this month. And so, you know, so they're going to listen to the Biden team is going to listen to America's allies, friends, and partners to get their view. So I think that's encouraging. I think it's the right thing to do. And I think it's helpful. Thank you very much for that answer. I believe Harrison, you're next. I'm going to answer the seven second class Charlton. So with the increase build up and forces in the region from the bracing aircraft carrier to the Philippines, sending warships into the South Chinese sciences, Vietnam sending more warships in Japan increasing their naval capabilities from building new helicopter stores to a full flexibility the first aircraft carrier since the second World War. So do you believe South Korea will have a more martial role in the future, or do you versus the PRC or do you think they're going to be focused more upon the North Korean threat as forces like from around the world start to build on the area. I don't see South Korea focus using the PRC as a raison d'etre for having a strong military. I think they'll have a strong military because that's the right, and the expectation of every modern industrial, technologically savvy country, which South Korea clearly is one. And their best interests to have the ability to defend themselves against all threats, whether that threat is from the north, or from the west, the corner direction west, not the west. Right. So, I think that that they are going to increase your military capability. For sure. And they're doing that now.  And there are voices in South Korea that are arguing for nuclear submarines, in South Korea rather, arguing for nuclear submarines and greater capability and that kind of stuff. But they haven't done that yet, but they have modern diesel submarines. As does Japan. We see Japan building up its capability because it faces some very real threats. So, you know, I'm encouraging all of this. I think it's good for every country to have its own enlightened self interests and heart first and foremost. Thank you for the answer. That was very wonderful. Heather. My question is going to be on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. I mean, by this administration is going to be like, I believe the fifth administration or all that's going to make this a top priority. But how likely do you think that's actually to happen? Like, what was the situation that you can see where Kim Jong-un would actually agree to that and actually follow through on that? I mean, any analysis I've seen has been like, this is like keeping the nuclear weapons is an essential Korean goal. And there's nothing that you can actually get them to give it up. Yeah, so I agree with with with your basic premise. I mean, it's going to be really, really hard. As I said, I think Kim Jong-un, as I mentioned earlier in response to somebody else's question, that one of his top four priorities is to keep his nuclear weapons and split the alliance, you know, rule the peninsula and get sanctions relief. Right. So I mean, that's, I believe that that's what he believes. I believe that's what he wants. So it's going to be really hard to convince him to give up nuclear weapons that to have an independent free South Korea on his border that doesn't threaten him. I mean, he's threatened the South Korea, but South Korea is not threatening him. So it's hard. But as hard as it is, I think it's okay to be called trying. Right. I mean, we ought to try if we can. And we ought not to give up. And that's why you have diplomats. That's why you have, you know, a lot of people that are putting a lot of brain power to it. COVID might encourage North Korea to come back to the negotiating table.  You know, I think COVID and the sanctions and the decrease in productivity and decrease in illegal trading and legal trading for that matter. All that combines to create a situation whereby negotiations and leading to sanctions relief is a real possibility. Possibly is a darker one, right? And so don't know what direction Kim Jong-un is going to take. We have to be ready for the darker possibility, but we ought to encourage and support the more positive. So do you think like in that view, like the U.S. is just going to keep trying, but we're just going to be in the situation where we're nominally still trying, but we just come to the acceptance that North Korea will never give up its necks? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, that's looking in the future. And if I said yes to that, it'd be a defeats kind of a look, right? So I think we should continue to try until Kim Jong-un takes that darker path or we come to the realization that nothing is going to work. And if we come to that realization, Kim Jong-un might be driven to that darker path, right? So you might have an inverse causing effect thing going here. So I think we continue to try and we continue, and South Korea for sure is trying. I mean, President Moon and his team are out there, you know, trying to figure out how to bring Kim Jong-un back to the table and how to provide some relief for the North Korean people that don't run a file of the United Nations sanctions.  China would like the tensions on the peninsula to be reduced and sanctions to be relieved. Well, I mean, you know, we've said what it's going to take for sanctions to be relieved, to be reduced, eliminated even. So, you know, it's right now, it's up to Kim Jong-un. You know, it always is at the end of the day, I suppose, but more so than ever. You know, the arms are open arms are extended, you know, at the height of the of the short range of provocations during the during the Trump administration after Hanoi, even after the snap summit at Pyeong at Pyeongchang. And even with all of that, President Trump extended the open hand and not the closed fist to Kim Jong-un. So, and so the door is open.  So he's going to have to walk through it. Okay. Thank you so much for answering that. I will ask a final question unless anyone has any objections. I think I think we're good. I think it's time for one last question. My question is more of a broader, more not necessarily predictive but just more general question. How would you describe do you think the trajectory of US Korean relations and also especially Korean and Japanese relations and how do you think that this relation will evolve in the future not necessarily how it could get better but how when you say Korean and you mean South Korea North Korea. Yeah, sorry, I mean South Korea. Yes. You know, as I, as I really said in my remarks, you know, any, any co equal relationship over seven decades is going to have its ups and downs and Korea today is completely different than Korea. In 1953, and throughout the 60s and 70s, and most of the 80s. I mean Korea has been a democracy only since the late 80s, which is kind of hard to believe right I mean you know I look at the picture behind me I look at Korea I think wow, Korea has always been democracy has not been. There was only until the late 80s that it became a democracy so it's a young democracy. The relationship with Korea in that sense has had its ups and downs on the on the alliance sense the military alliance security alliance. You know at the heart of military relationship between the rock armed forces and the US armed forces manifested primarily by US forces Korea. Korea has been extremely close and extremely strong. And now we're at the point, you know, at one time, the US four star had command of had an operation control of everything that the rock armed forces did you know peace time and more time. And that's being looked at to have a path toward returning operation control of the Korean military and more time to the Koreans, and that the combined forces commander the commander who's responsible for us and Korean forces would shift to a Korean general at some point in time. And so, you know, that's how far the military relationship has grown over time and all in a positive way. Now the second part of the question, are you is it US Japan or our okay Japan. Okay, Japan. Yeah, so it's on a batch trajectory right now. The military relationship is good I mean, you know, Japanese forces and military forces and Korean military forces interact a lot. You know, globally, you know, they're in the Gulf of Aden counter piracy North Arabian Sea, maritime security operations there together, not, not, not working in one for the other, but they're working in the same water space, you know same regional area together and they work together really well. So they share a lot of common systems, right he just just strike fighter. All a lot of common systems so the military and military relationship is good, but the military to military relationship is hampered of course, in a democracy or respected in a democracy by the national relationships. The military relationship in my view today is on a downward trajectory. So, and we're encouraging both countries to stop, stop the downward trend, and, you know, come back up together because of the shared interest share threats share concerns, and all that kind of stuff. I'm not pleased with the direction that I see Japan, Korea relations today. Okay, thank you so much. And thank you for joining us this evening. Yeah, everybody. Thank you everybody for coming. What you're doing. Thanks for all that you're doing. All right. Have a good night, everyone.


What's going on everybody friends of fan duel and welcome in for your weekly fan duel Monday night preview and Q&A I'm Ryan Williams. You can find me on Twitter at Ryan Alexander underscore W talking all things Fan duel single-game fan duel sports, but anything that's related to fan duel I'm talking about it in the DFS realm that I'm joined here by my good friend Jim Sonnis You can find him on Twitter at Jim Sonnis if you're not following him on already I don't know what you're doing senior writer and analyst for number fire Jim. How are you doing my friend? I'm doing good Ryan I feel like both of us are in kind of like Weird states right now because like I grew up a Jets fan. I've disowned them long ago but like I still kind of I still kind of pull for them and like, you know we finally got Justin Fields starting for your bears and Matt Nagy kind of gave us like the double barreled middle fingers in the first start was like No, you're not gonna enjoy this and so I feel like we're kind of in the same same mental spirit Oh, man, it was it was brutal. It was rough to watch I mean Justin Tucker kicking a field goal that went for more yards than the bears Net offense on Sunday. So very very rough here You know, there's a lot of other issues besides the quarterback position that hopefully they get righted And I don't know what's going on with it with the Jets I mean should have placed the zero and 17 bet on the fan For them just have some action on it Zach Wilson is actually a quarterback who have money on to win rookie of the year Just because he was starting the season and I had a little bit of expectations with Robert Sala coming in there that they could be in games, but it looks very bleak I've got I've got a lot of dynasty exposure to Zach Wilson and I am very nervous right now But hey, you know, it's early. I'll be nervous. I'm not gonna give up hope yet But it's you know, I've got I've got faith still just he's not making it easy Not easy at all guys welcome in we are talking the fan duel Monday night football preview show We'll get into the Monday night football game as I see you guys got your questions coming in We appreciate that make sure if you guys are watching this on YouTube with us Just hit that like button. Just do it one time all it takes is one second Hit that like button You could subscribe to the channel get all the good stuff that we're bringing you here for fan duel to make Sure that your bankroll is getting large. All right, Jim Let's uh, let's talk about this slate here We got Philly coming into Dallas taking on it and with a 51 and a half point Spread that we have here are not spread with the 51 and a half point total three and a half point spread in favor of the cowboys What are your leans coming into this game that we could talk about and maybe kind of start in that room here on the Fandalsports book. Yeah, I mean they tie in together because like my betting thoughts are obviously going to dictate the way I view things from a single-game perspective as well And I think the Cowboys are gonna cover this spread minus three and a half I feel pretty confident in I feel good about what the offense has done through the first two games They've had much tougher matchups than what I know the Eagles played really well week one They disturbed I would say the 49ers week two as well But I still have a lot of faith in this Cowboys offense given how well they played Against the Buccaneers and against the Chargers as well I think the fun thing too is that they showed they could you know They could stand up even when they lost dudes like with no a lot of Collins after he tried to bribe someone in week two Like they were still fine there against the Chargers. They were fine about Michael Gallup So I think the Cowboys cover three and a half. That's kind of where I'm at. What about you? Okay, so I'm actually on the opposite side. Okay. Good. I like it. I am taking the points with Philly I'm also taking the over in this game if you look back at just I mean the games that Dallas has played at Home under the Dak regime. They have put up some monstrous points I think like and then this is against Philly too in home games under the regime I think they've scored 29 or more in like five games that he's played at home against this team So you definitely like them to hit their implied total and that means that Philly's gonna have to do something on the other side To kind of attack this defense and I think that the reason we're getting this lean is because we're gonna have to see what Jalen Hertz can do throwing the football or if he can move in a way You know to to make it so that he's aggressively taking on this defense the Dan Quinn defense Which is what I always like to attack. So I'm good with this to a take in the side I see Drew pretty was in the chat on Facebook talking about Hertz over 55 and a half rushing yards I'm hammering that. I think that he's in a good spot to hit this when you're looking at the full games that he's played And he only has not hit that number in one game and I believe that was when he was pulled Oh, yeah, like two touchdowns in that game, but only 34 yards So other than that I think that this offense goes through him and I love Jalen Hertz Tonight in this game regardless of what happens, right? And number fires projections have it at 41 rushing yards that feels low to me I would take the over on that for sure with 55 and a half I think the good thing for if you're trying to get to an over with that one is that You're kind of hoping that the Eagles throw the ball a lot They did do that in week one like if you look at their at their game plan in week one, they came out and they said, okay You want to throw on Atlanta? So we're going to so I think that you have to decide I Think that maybe this is like a next year on anything Maybe like we can have faith in him in attacking the opposing defense the way you'd want to attack them And I feel like it's probably not a bad idea to go at the the Cowboys in that way So I think the Hertz is interesting at 55 and a half I think that like the tough dilemma I have is like For Hertz then VP or Dak because Hertz is gonna run more Dak's going to run where it counts I don't know if that's sorry to phrase it but like when Dak runs it's almost always in the red zone and I think that that can lead to Some big fangirl point totals to I expect is his passing totally pretty good. So like I'm that's where I'm most torn is deciding like who I prefer for for singling between the two I mean, obviously I could just go both like that's probably the right answer. I guess, but I don't know Yeah, no, I mean that that is the answer But I you know, I Proceed with caution on this because I said the right answer the last time we did this the first week of the of the show That it was you play Lamar and and that's how you went all the money And right you didn't play Lamar and you won all the money against the Raiders So But no, I think that this is setting up in just a great matchup for both of these two guys to be in the You know a top-ten lineup if not the winning lineups that are gonna come in I love that you mentioned the Zach No, Zach the Dak Prescott rushing ability because on the Fandall sportsbook He's coming in at plus 260 to score in any time touchdown and you know how much I love taking the quarterbacks at any time touchdown So I love getting I mean he has less favorable odds to score than Kenneth gain Well, he has the same amount of odds to score as Goddard and raker with a red zone roll and I think that you're looking at it He only has I had this written down here So only for rushing attempts, I believe to start this year that could be because of the mobility and things of that nature and You know, they had a low scoring game against the Chargers They didn't have many opportunities to be right down there inside the five But I think if they're five or closer, I think that taking that shot on him at home Just getting the crowd energized I could see him scoring a touchdown there Yeah And back in week one just so you had those just a couple rush attempts you're talking about But two of his rush attempts in week one were inside the red zone and that's not like a new thing for Dak either like we've Traditionally seen him be a guy who runs most often Inside the red zone and like if you think about like schematically it makes sense too because you're jam-packed in there in the red They don't have a lot of room to operate It's more advantageous to have a running quarterback there than it's always advantage to have a running quarterback But it's more advantageous there from a numbers perspective So I actually I thought that same one of the Dak press got any time touchdown score plus 260 I think given the willingness he showed in week one to scramble once he got in close I think that's a really good number Yeah, I just think it's a number that's going to hit more times than than not and so getting action on that In a game like this where we can project a lot of scoring, you know to come in on the game I think that that makes a lot of sense. Let's Talk about you you were talking about building the teams and the MVP thing and I just think that if we're going to play MVP in this I mean maybe it does come to fruition if Dak does rush in a touchdown and then he You know throws for two or three other ones that he could have some MVP viability I think that people might lean to go there Although I do see that not a lot of times do people put the Quarterback in the MVP slot I was playing in the single game last night on sunday night football and had an erin rogers team going I forget what his percent was but it was low most people went to vante adams. They went erin jones So I do think that it is interesting that jaylon herz comes in at 60 16 5 Um on fan duel and then you have the next closest Philly player being 11,000 at miles centers everybody else's dallas in between there But I think jaylon herz makes a lot of sense at mvp because are you putting above dak for mvp? I think I am um just because like I do love having that shot on Dak to hedge with the rushing ability touchdown So if I get that maybe I do miss out on the mvp points But I think that jaylon herz is going to get The rushing upside for sure and if this is a game where you know, they're playing from Two scores plus behind and he kind of just has to compile points whether that's rushing or passing I just see the pass of him getting there and spiking there more often than not I think that like I think I agree where jaylon has the the edge straight up and I'm like It's tough for me because like I do love dak a lot And I think the the overall takeaway that I would have here is that we have a pretty strong lean towards the quarterbacks in general of mvp for for this game because I mean like Obviously, there is a scenario where our cooper's the highest scoring guy where cd land's the highest scoring guy zik get there davante smith could get there But I think when it's two running quarterbacks my personal willingness to Deviated mvp is lower. Do you have the same kind of philosophy where you're just like I I love going running back at mvp when I have the right situations I just don't know if this this slate where I have two good running quarterbacks is the right time to do it Yeah, I mean You know, I would Maybe lean to the side of take I couldn't do it with myles sanders. I just don't think that equity is there He's not getting the I agree running back sure that we would look but zik makes for a very appealing mvp spot because nobody is going to play him at that spot If you're playing him you're playing him probably in the flex because you're saying tony pollard is there Uh, I've seen him be more efficient. I've seen him, you know get more yards off of the carries and in targets that he's seeing and so I think that will keep his ownership low Um at the mvp spot and if he's the one who's getting this touchdown equity or they just decide that you know It's gonna be zik's time to shine and we were just using tony pollard in game scripts where it was favorable to him I could see zik really paying off there at mvp in some high Where you're dealing with a field where there's like, you know, 10 000 plus people you're trying to be Yeah, and the good thing too is that zik looks good last week I know part of that's because The chargers want you to run on them like that's kind of like their thing like hey feel free and the cowboys are like Sure, we'll take it. Um, but like he looks good too. It wasn't just tony pollard who was scorched it up there like Zik got to the second level a couple times there and like zik hasn't broken long runs in a very long time But he had a couple last week where he actually like he looked a little uh, looked a little spry It was kind of kind of nice to see that that form version of zik back again So I actually don't think that's a terrible idea to go with zik also last week He had three out of eight red zone chances for that for the for the team. He had 72 percent of the snaps I think that like if I were to deviate from one of those rushing quarterbacks I think like if we're talking about this from a you know term of perspective, I don't think zik's the worst way to do it No, no, not at all. I mean, you know when we're talking about these fields where they're, you know Let's talk about the top tier fields, right? So you're getting on there You know, you can play the milli you can play, you know first gets 40k and you're you're dealing with 20 000 people I mean if you if you want to Split first place because we see that happen a lot of times where teams are just so Like last night Mason Crosby and kyle ushek were in the winning line You know and that team There was only two people that built that team in a pool of 40 000 You know, so you have to think about ways to kind of get a contrarian and have it make sense You know in these Tournaments that you're in if you're not playing in the single entries or you're not playing in cash If you are looking to take home that big payday I do like getting zik there getting action zik there and if you pee Yo, shout out to everybody who's in the chat right now. I see espruner 17 in the chat saying what's up to us I appreciate you coming in on twitch Drew's in there andrew carlson's in there and we're talking about some of the skill position players So i'll kind of parlay this jim Because andrew is asking about zack erz and i've seen a couple questions about davante smith and how we feel about him He's got an over Uh 57 and a half receiving yards line is is kind of what we're looking at at davanta The skill position players for philly are so hard to dissect I mean outside of the running back situation that we have going on here Let's just talk about the the past catching options and what i'd be leaning to do with jaylon And i'd probably only be willing to play him with one guy Maybe i'll make a lineup with two guys and those two guys are going to be davanta smith and dallas goddard if i was going to lean somewhere I mean dallas goddard and zack erz I know that the the shares have kind of been similar But as far as getting onto the field and seeing routes run like dallas goddard has zack erz by a mile there Um, so i think he's he's definitely the one that you would want to take a chance on even if zack erz Falls into the end zone, you know, maybe he only gets 20 yards in a touchdown that might not be enough or might not matter enough in this game To pay off davanta smith is the alpha, but it is just crazy to me. I mean they got jaylon rager running routes They got quest walkins out there. They're running, you know, 12 personnel with two tight ends on the field They got two running backs who can catch passes. So it's very hard to dissect What's going on with philly? How's how do you feel with philly jim? And if you had to attack this side of the football with jaylon herds weapons they're so hard to figure out man like um like I I would I would love to just go all in on davante smith because He's so talented and like I know that he's probably going to get the kinds of targets that that I want The problem is i'm a little bit worried about um About digs. I think that he's been playing pretty well so far this year At least that's that's the way things have sounded and I think there's a decent shot that uh davante smith winds up seeing a lot of digs So I don't know. It's like a little alabama match up there. Just kind of fun. I guess but um A little bit worried about that and the question would be okay if if dig sees a lot of davante What does that do like does that open up targets for goddard as you alluded to is that open up targets for jaylon rager? and like I can't have a level of high level of confidence there so I feel like what i'm gonna wind up doing is just like trusting the talent and going with davante smith, but I have I I have I have questions about that And I have reservations around it that prevent me from being like super enthusiastic in doing so No, and and I think that's with with reason right? I mean, yeah, digs has been incredible for this dallas secondary to start the year so You know, maybe you do take a lean on on dallas goddard. I mean, he's only 9500 Jim and you're looking at the tight end position against this against this team and Gronk scored twice against them and people might be forgetting but like the chargers should have had two tight end touchdowns They got called back. Yeah got called back both of them. I was like I was screaming in slacked about donald parham to to jay j my boss and like I was like so excited I was like, oh man donald parham kind of touchdown. I was like, oh, no I got you excited for nothing and I felt really guilty about that Uh, but like that whole game was so frustrating Like with the way because I had a lot of DAC in that uh in that game Cal our video producer. I love parham because he's a huge xfl fan, which is a very weird niche to fill Cal's a different duck for sure.  So like um, I think that yeah that looking at trying to take advantage of the um, you know linebacking core for The cowboys as you alluded to maybe that's the weak spot We can we can target and that would also play into the Discussion around devontae smith seeing a lot of digs like that that could funnel things towards the tight end too Yeah, no, I yeah, it's it's just very hard. I see that we Brunner um from twitch was in a trash brunner um was asking about maybe I'm sorry. This was drew pretty sorry drew you're asking about the receptions and I do think that I would rather take the devonta smith yards prop at at 57 and a half I believe is what it is over the four and a half Receptions prop just because of how much the ball kind of spreads around in in devontae smith He's a big play ability. He has the big play ability big play waiting to happen I think he could get there, you know unlimited catches um I see somebody some of you guys asking about the profits and lines we uh brunner We do like the over of 51 and a half or at least I do. Um, I think that is Good to hit Tonight gyms in on it too. So you got both of us on there backing you there Um, I want to make sure that we we're already almost 20 minutes in and this is a fun This is what's fun about the single game slates when we have two teams like this because there's so much to dissect on both sides I do want to talk about the cowboy side outside of zeke What are we doing with the past catchers here? We got a mari cooper who is going to go against derrius slay. I think in coverage He struggled he hasn't always, you know, derrius slay hasn't always shadowed him But when he's been on him, he has struggled in this matchup Both when he was at detroit and now uh being in philly And then you have cd lamb who is you know a dynasty darling people just love this guy on cd lamb Love him on twitter Who's going to be on the other side and I both think they're going to see significant ownership Is are they the only two we can trust can we trust the guy like seltrick wilson who looks to be a part time Player he's been on the field to fill in for michael gallup But not really seeing a snap share that michael gallup would see and then you got the two tight ends to dissect as well On this side, um with blake jarwin and and dalton's shows So how do you feel about the past catchers for dallas jim?  He goes back home I don't like to look at home road splits too much because like there's a lot of noise in them, but Like if you've you were talking about dak and what he's done at home Amari is like just as extreme in terms of home road splits So yes, I feel like because amari has a higher salary because the twitter sentiment is not as high on him I want to try to be Pretty heavy on amari because I think that that upside like that true true true ceiling that favors amari too So it's not like an anti lamb thing. It's a pro amari thing for me Yeah, and I and I'd be willing to take you know teams that have Jalen hurts and a pass catcher whether that he's at mvp or or maybe it's dak But then taking like zeke on the other side and then one one of these guys probably leaning cooper who's 500 dollars more expensive than cd lamb and has that Yeah, I wasn't even thinking about his home road splits. Uh, jump that you're talking about which have been absolutely astronomical Being there in dallas, even when he was uh with oakland raiders Um, so I love getting action on amari kudapura and just taking those chances where you know You're building these teams and people are like, okay, let me jam in the guys that I know are Going to get me points or I know I can feel confident in them and by even just writing out a guy like cd lamb You can already make your lineup unique in that regard. I see that uh bet okay on facebook Um, he likes getting action on the amari cooper anytime touchdown So he's he's in on the amari cooper train as well I think amari cooper coming in at plus 105 To score a touchdown and he's actually or no, he's behind cd lamb. Okay, so he's the third Best, uh, he has the third best odds on dallas to score a touchdown here So even more sentiment that's gonna be Leaning if I have to cut one of these guys out. It's gonna be amari. Yeah, like that's that's a little short I don't think I can bet that number. I still think the the dak anytime touchdown one is the best one I wanted to ask you because I had no take on this. Um, I can't figure it out Do you have a problem between jarwin and shaltz between the two? Um, I Don't only because I I won't be playing either of these guys, but I guess like jarwin just because he's the cheaper option um, and he has You know, he's only getting these Couple catches a game, but I feel like he's always in When there's a significant play that needs to happen like I always feel like he's catching these plays later down Um, just and that's just me going off of the top of my head and going through the games that watch for dallas Um, but I think he you know, he is seeing the field and is running significant amount of routes the same as Is delton shaltz too. So I'll just go with the cheaper guy and take a chance on blink jarwin there Yeah, those two guys, um If you look at the routes run at next gen stats They've actually both run about half the routes so far shaltz at 47 out of about 83 and jarwin's at 44 as far as depth of target shaltz at 2.8 average depth of target and jarwin 7.1. So jarwin's getting a little bit more Downfield loves maybe I should just go jarwin. Maybe I should make that easier on myself and just go with it Fair so that means it'll be shaltz Yes, correct. So everybody make sure you had wish shaltz. I want to make sure we get to dj cassie's chat here Um coming in from facebook. He's talking about his team. He he has dak at superstar mvp Um, it might be there for him and then cooper elliott lamb as well So just the cowboys onslaught and the only bringback piece would be davanta smith on the other side DJ I I think that Is a good way to go in in tournament lines for sure Because you're you're pretty much taking all of the equity of the cowboys implied total there by getting the main guys From the lineup and then you're taking probably the best skill player on the other side as far as numbers go with davanta smith So I think that I think that lineup could you could see some dupes You could see some people running that same lineup too, but if you're playing single game entry if you're playing um In cash games as well on fan duel. I feel like that should pay off dividends With the strong field there. I would say that you know just by not having hurts I could see that you know paying off a little bit in tournaments if that were to hit and philly Just comes out here and lays an egg because I think hurts People will find ways to talk themselves into getting hurts on the other side Yeah, I think I still want to personally But like I think the other thing that dj is that's good for you there is you are taking a stand and saying Hey, I think the cowboys win this game and like that's kind of again We talked about this two weeks ago ryan where like, you know, we we talked about how we want to Have a story for how the game plays out and if you dj think that the cowboys just torch them That is the route for going there I was curious like What are we looking at is in terms of like value plays Because like if I I know I want to go dack and dack and hurts and like At a certain point. I've got to find some lower salary dudes. Are you a quest walkins kind of guy or what are you looking at Down here. Oh, yeah, so I thought we were sharing your screen not my screen Yeah, I was definitely I was looking at quest walkins as soon as you said that he's 7 000 right now If you're looking at this a single game and I was actually looking at some props Uh on him I saw people were asking about props and we'll get to those before the show closes out But this guy to get in any time touchdown. He's plus 380 and he he's the big play guy, right? Like he's the guy that's going to take the top off of the defense And if if you're saying gem that we do get digs kind of limiting Devonta Smith and what he can do the next piece to go would be quest walkins the Preseason darling the guy who's getting all the hype Coming into this season. He he's a big play waiting to happen and you love getting exposure to these big play guys I mean, I was salty about van jefferson Yesterday because I had a lot of him and then dish on watskin or dish on jackson just takes my My heart away from me, but uh He uh, yeah, I love getting guys who can score from anywhere on the field and quest walkins to that guy for filly Absolutely, I think that he's really interesting and just given that like again Like you said like if we do get digs limiting Devonta that could open up stuff for him too Yes, um, I do want to talk to uh, the tony pollard side of things real quick And then we could just briefly hit on myles sanders before we we close it out and with tony pollard He has a receiving prop of of over 20 and a half Um on the on the fan dual sports book I believe I did get action in the same gay parlay with that With that line as well. I love that I think he's averaging over 30 receiving yards to kind of start the year And has really just been explosive with the touches. He's getting how do you feel about that line, jim? Yeah, he's had 29 and 31 receiving yards the first two games. He's gone over that bowl of times I think the one Concern I might have is if the cowboys get ahead Because that's a script that favors zeke being on the field and it favors rushing So for me where I think that the cowboys, you know, I'm comfortable laying three and a half It's tough for me to get to the over for pollard But with you if you're going the eagles plus three and a half that I think that that correlates well to Pollard going over his his receiving prop Yeah, so I think that pollard makes sense if you if you're talking Let's talk about the single game if you're playing a team that has three or more eagles on it I would probably only go three just because of How condensed the scoring is probably going to be from the dallas side I want to get action on somebody else besides pollard, but pollard would be an interesting pivot off of zeke Who is, you know, he's up there 10,000 but $2,000 difference from zeke so he could probably maneuver you Into getting to diva to smith with jalen hurts with dak Line and then mile sanders real quick jim What are your thoughts on him? He's the second highest price player On this slate for philly Coming in at 11,000 for them, but I just He's just the guy to me like I just I kind of like him like I watch the games And I'm always just like how's this dude not killing every week But just the way he's utilized in the offense and like we talked about earlier The the running back share is just not what you would want to see from a stud running back Or rb1 on a team. So how do you feel about him? It's that everything you said combined with the fact that the reds and usage has not favored him so far this year He had 107 chances last week and in week one yet Oh of seven so one out of 14 red zone chances have gone to mile sanders so far Compared to three out of 14 for kenneth gain well And I feel like gain well was the guy who was in on the two minute drill in week one I didn't get to see enough of the week two game But in week one they brought gain well in for the two minute drill That limits the chances for sanders to beef up his target Oh, he's still gotten work in the passing game, but like, you know Not as much as I would want so I think that's my concern is How likely is he to have a big game? I don't think the odds are that high so I'm with you where I can't really Get out Get super excited about him just because like It's harder for him to manufacture a big game because of the kinds of touches he gets Fair enough. Yeah, that's the same lean that I have on him. I know this question was start Miles Sanders. I'm not sure if you're talking about, you know fantasy for your teams I think you start him because it's a Monday night and you probably don't have a good replacement But um, but yeah, lastly Kyle. I see you on youtube. I see you asking about Jalen rager I just can never find myself getting to Jalen rager with devonta smith and and a guy like quest walkins on the other side But I think Jalen rager does come in He is going to be on the field. He is seeing a good rapport with Jalen hurt So maybe we get the Jalen Jalen connections Yeah, the Jalen stack is smart. We lost the the darnold arnold stack earlier today. That's pretty upsetting But we still have the the mills miller between davis mills and anthony miller stacks at least we've got something still working That is right. That is right guys. We're we're getting ready to wrap it up here On the fan duel Monday night football preview and q&a. We appreciate everybody who's coming in guys make sure you guys Like the video make sure you guys are subscribed to the channel. We're doing this every monday's i'm hosting these You can follow me on twitter at ryan alexander underscore w ryan williams here for fan duel Jim any last words before we sign off. Yeah, I mean i'm just excited to watch this game. I love watching Dak Prescott. I love watching amari cooper. I love watching jalen hurts So like from I know that like it used to be a joke how bad the nfc east was to have in prime time But like I actually had bummed when they're not on the main slate now So and i'm also excited tomorrow with mlb back. No mlb today because it's a bad slate DJ for looking for mlb I did talk about it in the solo shot this morning. You can check for the time stamp just to not it's not a good slate man So we'll be back tomorrow to talk mlb at 4 30 Perfect and we'll be back next week on monday to talk the monday night football preview for that game as well in week four But signing off for myself ryan williams again You can follow me on twitter at ryan alexander underscore w jim sonnis You can follow him on twitter at jim sonnis and we'll catch you guys next time on the youtube channel until then Good luck with your bets. Peace