Rhaiddiw, roeddwn i'n meddwl i'r eisteddfaith o'r ddafodol i'r cyflawn i'r cyflosio'r cyflosio cyfeirio i'r ddafodol i'r ddweud o'r cyflawn i'r gwaith cyflosio a chyflosio'r ddweud o'r cyflosio'r cyflosio'r cyflosio. Mae'r cwmpasol i'r ddafodol yn cael ei gael o'r ffordd yn ddechrau. Mi ddweud, dwi'n maslygu o'r 1 ffgau miliwn cyflosio. Galloddod, lle mae'r ffordd o unedol ar gyfer yw'r cymdeithas gyda Wales, y cyfwyr yma yn cael 600,000 oes yn cyflawni'r cyfrifol yma. Mae'r ffordd yn ymgyrchio effeithio a'i gwirio ag ydych yn ysgrifes. Rwy'n meddwl i'r ffryd yn ymwybod i'r targetynau ar gyfer yw'r cyfrifol yma yn y gwael yma yma'r cyfrifol yma'r cyfrifol yma'r cyfrifol. We now have 43 mass vaccination centres operating across Wales, more than 400 GP-led clinics providing vaccines, and there are clinics taking place in 38 hospitals across Wales. You can see from this slide that is just coming up just quite how quickly our vaccination programme in Wales has accelerated. On Friday and Saturday, our incredible teams vaccinated the equivalent of 1% of the population of Wales on each day. We've now vaccinated a larger proportion of the total population than any other part of the UK. But as we have regularly said, this isn't a race between the four nations, not a race between the governments, it's a race against the virus. This is a phenomenal effort, and as we know, every vaccine delivered is another small victory against the virus. Tomorrow, I'll be joining a round-table discussion about COVID vaccination with community and faith leaders. This is part of a wider ongoing piece of work to answer people's questions and to counter some of the misinformation about the vaccine, which is common among some groups and communities. We're closely monitoring the vaccine uptake to make sure that there are no barriers to take up. I want to be clear to everyone. The vaccine does not contain pork products or traces of fetal matter that is safe for all ethnic minority and faith communities. Having the vaccine will help to boost immunity against this awful virus, and it will help all of us to limit the spread within all of our communities. We are considering whether we need to make it easier for people to access the vaccine by using mosques and other places of worship as clinics, especially in predominantly Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, which as we know, have been hit so hard by coronavirus. I want to turn now to the wider public health situation. Overall, we continue to see cases of coronavirus fall. Today's figures show that there are around 115 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people in Wales, but this does vary across Wales. In Wrexham, rates are still above 220 cases per 100,000, although this is falling. In Kerrodygan, the rate has risen slightly over the last seven days, but is standing today at 56 cases per 100,000 people. The positivity rate, that is the percentage of tests which return a positive result every day, is also falling. That now stands at just below 10%. Now these figures are still high, but a lot lower than the very high rates we were seeing just before Christmas. When we had overall rates of more than 650 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people and a positivity rate of more than 25%. The R number is below 1 in Wales. The most recent estimate from SAGE is that R is between 0.7 and 0.9 in Wales. We know it takes a while to see the impact of what's happening in the community in our NHS, but there is some good news here too. There are encouraging signs that the number of people needing hospital treatment for coronavirus is starting to fall. The number of people with confirmed coronavirus in our hospitals is at the lowest number since 8 November, and we've also seen a reduction in the number of people with coronavirus who need intensive care. All of this is as a result of everything that you have done over the last couple of months. I know that lockdown isn't easy for any of us, whether your parents who are juggling work and homeschooling. I know that businesses would much rather be trading and that business owners and workers are worried about the future. But because you're staying at home and following the rules, doing the right thing, cases of coronavirus have now fallen back from the very high levels that we saw before Christmas. You're staying at home and you are saving lives. It's really important that we all keep going and continue to drive infection rates down even further. Before I take questions, I do want to say a few words about cancer services. Our NHS has worked really hard to maintain cancer care throughout the pandemic. Investigations and treatments are continuing. As we emerge from the peak of the second wave, we're looking at the long-term recovery of cancer services. I'll be meeting leads from all health boards this week to discuss this in more detail. In the meantime, I urge anyone who is worried or has symptoms to contact their GP. If you've been invited for cancer screening, please go. And if you have ongoing treatment, please continue to attend your appointments as normal. Thank you, all of you, for your hard work and effort over these last couple of months. It's thanks to that that we can look forward to a time when we will soon be living with fewer restrictions on our daily lives. The new variant strains, which have been discovered recently, are of course worrying. Yet another unwanted twist in this pandemic. But we do have a world-class genomic sequencing system in place here in Wales to help us detect these. However, we also do need strong border controls and quarantine arrangements to help stop them entering the UK in the first place. Whether our cases, we will do everything we can to identify them, to investigate and to prevent their further spread. That is what we're doing in the two cases of the South African variant in Conway and Neath Patalbot, which have no apparent links to international travel. We all need to carry on taking steps to protect ourselves and each other. That means keeping our distance from others, washing our hands regularly, wearing a face covering where we are in indoor public spaces and ensuring good ventilation indoors. And of course staying home as soon as we have symptoms and arranging to get a test. Thank you for your ongoing help and support to help keep Wales safe. I will take questions for journalists now and as always the answers will be broadcast live on our social media channels. The first question today is Dan Davison BBC Wales. Thanks Minister. Boris Johnson said he was deeply sorry when the UK recorded 100,000 deaths and that his government did everything it could. Today Public Health Wales has recorded more than 5,000 deaths. Does the Welsh Government apologise for the lives lost in Wales? I'm deeply sorry for every single life that's been lost, every family who's been affected. And right from the outset of this pandemic we made a point of recognising that these aren't just numbers, these are people who are loved and valued and leave others behind. Now I don't think you could ever put a figure and say what is a good or a bad figure from the pandemic. But what I do want to make clear is the reason why we have taken all of the extraordinary measures we have is to reduce the number of people coming to harm. And despite all of that we know that more than 5,000 people have lost their lives. I'm afraid we can be terribly confident that without the measures that we've all taken together more people would have come to harm and more families would be grieving the loss of a loved one. That's why it's so important we all stick with what we're doing to help drive down rates even further. And it's also important why within the government and our health service we continue to learn and to understand the slightly changing picture to increase our knowledge to help us to make the choices that we need to make to help keep everyone at home safe. Thanks. Given the findings from South Africa and the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine being less effective at preventing mild illness, what changes if any does the Welsh Government think may need making to the vaccination programme? How likely is it that people will need an annual vaccine jab for example and could that even involve a third or a booster jab at the end of this year? This is one of those challenges about our knowledge-based chain. I think there are a couple of important things to set out. The first is that the study in South Africa is a relatively small study and the findings you refer to actually refer to younger people but also that's about the response to mild to moderate impacts of coronavirus. There isn't any evidence yet that it has an impact on the South African strain and the protection that that vaccine offers for people against hospitalisation or indeed mortality. So there aren't findings that undermine the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine when it comes to protecting people from hospitalisation and death. It's also worth reading, not just that, but returning of course at the dominant strain of coronavirus in Wales today and indeed across the UK is the Kent strain of coronavirus and the AstraZeneca vaccine is highly effective against that particular strain of the virus. So we'll continue to learn and we'll continue to understand what more we need to do to protect people. Now we said from some time out that the virus will mutate. You've heard Chris Jones on a platform here explain that several times over and indeed Robert Orford too, our Chief Scientific Advisor on Health and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer respectively. So we know we're going to need to reconsider what we do at various points in time. That may mean that in the future we need to have booster programmes or an annual programme as we do with flu every year but we don't know that for certain yet. That's why it's so important to keep our foot on the accelerator and keep going with the vaccination programme to provide the maximum amount of protection as quickly as possible as our amazing vaccination teams have done just that right across Wales for weeks now and that's why we're in the position we are relative to other UK nations. We'll need to see more of that to reach our mid for every milestone and then to continue to work through all of the other priority groups and the rest of the adult population. So we still have an altar marathon ahead of us but I believe we can take comfort in the effectiveness of the vaccines we still have available to us against the dominant strains of the virus but the continuing pace of our vaccination programme and urge everyone, when your time comes, be ready and make sure you take the vaccine. Thank you Dan, I've now got James Crichton-Smith from ITV Wales. Thank you Minister. As Wales passes that 5,000 death milestone and of course now has more deaths than even China do you feel you've done everything you could have done to keep that number as low as possible? Well I don't know that we really can compare our figures in the same way that you suggest with China we're not entirely sure about the efficacy of or the effectiveness of all those death figures reports in other countries what we do know is that the UK's had more than 100,000 deaths we know that figure will rise we've had more than 5,000 deaths in Wales and I'm afraid that figure will rise further as well. I have said at regular points that one of the things that I found most difficult during the pandemic is the knowledge that the choices we make really can make the difference between whether people are alive or not and I've never tried to understate the importance of those choices or the impact not just on me but on our advisers and on the whole team of ministers for the choices that we make. So I feel real sorrow when every death is reported I do think we've done everything that we could have done at the time but that's not the same as saying that looking back we wouldn't want to do different things I think that's a really important part of the honesty that we need because we have learnt our knowledge has developed and it's important that we then use that to make different and hopefully better choices in the future so it isn't just about saying we've done everything we could in the past it's about being humble enough to recognise that we have better knowledge now and we can make even better choices in the future and that's why we ask the public to stick with this to stick with what we're all doing to keep each other safe our case rates are falling, our hospitalisation rates are falling our death rates will fall and our vaccination rates will rise to protect more and more of us and enable us to make different choices in the future Thank you Back at the beginning of this pandemic the Welsh Government was saying that the risk from Covid was low the Chief Medical Officer was saying that Wales was well prepared for these sorts of incidences and could see obviously what was happening in China could see what was happening in mainland Europe before it reached Wales Welsh Government was naive at best wasn't it in getting ready for this I think that's a significant mischaracterisation of what we said James with respect At the time there were different risks to the UK and to Wales from coronavirus at that point in time we never said that if coronavirus arrived on our shores in larger numbers then there wouldn't be harm caused far from it and you'll recall from very early on in the pandemic as our preparations changed as we published plans about what might happen then the reasonable worst case scenario talked about the potential for hundreds of thousands of deaths across the UK the reasonable worst case scenario at the outset talked about the potential for I believe 26,000 deaths in Wales and you'll recall the health committee meeting where I told health and social care committee members that things could reach the point where individual burial may no longer be possible now we haven't reached that scenario in reality but it does show how much worse this could have been we have always had to look at the evidence and as I said in answer to your first question we've always had to be prepared to change our decisions our knowledge has developed and moved on that's what we need to continue to do not just for the weeks and months ahead but for the years ahead as well because we can't be certain at all that we'll be able to eliminate coronavirus we may live with coronavirus as an endemic condition that we need to continually protect ourselves against the first part though is to do the right things in the here and now to keep people alive to make sure that case rates continue to fall to make sure vaccination rates continue to rise and we protect our people and learn the lessons for the choices we'll all need to make in the significant job of recovery that lies ahead of all of us thank you James next on our mail line-up today is Mark Smith from Wales Online thank you very much indeed Health Minister the consistent message from the Welsh Government throughout periods of lockdown has been to do the minimum rather than the maximum that the regulations allow we've all been told to work from home unless absolutely necessary as well does that also apply to Welsh Government ministers and could you explain exactly what work Lee Waters has been doing that's required him to travel between his first and second homes on a regular basis throughout this lockdown well Welsh Government ministers are doing the great majority of our work remotely I'm here today because I'm delivering this press conference I regularly work from home as you will see from the regular interviews I do with you and other media colleagues at various points around my home we do know though that I'm in a different position to other Welsh Government colleagues because my constituency is where I live and it's very close to where I'm speaking to you from today other members of the Senate, whether ministers or not have a different set of constituency and regional arrangements that they need to service so there are times where there will be a need for essential work travel and it's not unusual at all for Senedd members to have a home near to where the Senedd sits and indeed their constituency or region and as you know Mark because we've provided several answers to Wales online there are times where Senedd members will need to be in their constituency during the pandemic and that will necessitate essential travel there's no suggestion in the article that's been published any rules have been broken and I really think that this is a distraction but not actually something that tells us something that is essential to help keep people well here today in Wales and the challenges we have for the future the good news is that because the great majority of us are doing the right thing only travelling and going out for essential purposes or exercise permitted reasons that means we are seeing a significant fall in coronavirus rates despite the even more contagious Kent variant of the virus being the dominant strain of the virus here in Wales so all the steps we're all taking together really are making a difference OK, thank you very much indeed and secondly now that the testing positivity rates has fallen below 10% which was a key marker set by the Welsh Government to remove from an alert level 4 to a level 3 is there any further prospect of restrictions being eased here in Wales or have perhaps the new variants moved the goalposts so to speak on those alert levels well we've spoken a lot about the headroom we have available to us and how we'll start to ease out of the position we find ourselves in today with a significant number of restrictions placed on all of our day to day lives we made clear that schools would be our first priority to make use of that headroom that's why you've heard from both the First Minister, the Education Minister and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer over the last week or so about our plans to restart education for our youngest children so the foundation phase up to year 2 should be going back into our primary schools after half term and that's really good news for all of us whether you have children in school or not it shows from the positive perspective we're able to make a step forward in returning to unlocking some of those areas of activity we'll then understand the impact of what that means as there will be more mixing with children in school but it's actually the impact on adults and adult interactions that probably makes an even bigger difference so people around schools, in schools and what adults can do if they don't have young children in the home that they do need to care for so that's why the message about all of us continuing to do the right thing is so important and as we move forward, as we see further falls to see those falls sustained as we hope they will be even after schools open we can then take further steps too because there's quite a lot of children and young people who have missed out on a great deal throughout the last year or so including those who would be looking forward to achieving a qualification at the end of this academic year so there's lots for us to think about and do as we further unlock not just in the world of education but I hope we'll have further options in the future I won't forecast when those will be because we need to see the evidence before us good news on the falling rates of COVID cases but still, even with the good news in reducing hospital admissions we're actually still at about 123% of our critical care capacity today so the headroom we have is still limited that's why we'll take a measured, managed and cautious approach as we do, I hope, take further steps out of the extraordinary control measures we've had to introduce to keep well safe Thank you Mark, we've now got Dan Bevan at LBC Thank you Health Minister, good off The UK government's vaccine minister, Nadim Sahawi has said that he's got no plans to introduce vaccine passports saying it would be discriminatory is that something the Welsh government have power to introduce here if so, is it something that you're considering or if you don't, is it something that you're going to lobby for? I haven't checked the powers available to the Welsh government or the Senedd to see if we could introduce a vaccine passport but it isn't something we're considering in particular it might make great headlines for some people it's not very helpful in terms of where we are in the here and now driving down case which requires us to do the right thing together increasing our vaccination programme requires supply to continue flowing to Wales and our fantastic vaccination teams will then help to protect the public we can look forward to different times ahead in the future where other choices will be open to us but I just think a conversation today about vaccine passports is an illusion, an unhelpful distraction but it's going to be more important things that we can do and should do to help keep Wales safe Thank you, and I know you've talked about it a little bit in your opening statement but we'll just get the latest on the South African variants and with that in mind, how likely is it that a new strain of the virus could mutate that's immune to the current vaccines and potentially derail the vaccine rollout? Well Dan, as I've indicated or heard last week we had 13 cases we had three where we weren't certain of travel history that's now down to two, we're still investigating those cases public health Wales are undertaking that work with the individuals and their contacts and as we work through that we're looking to make sure those people get tested and supported to isolate and to do the right thing when we do have a further update about those cases we'll of course make sure that's available there's lots of public interest in this I understand but within the cases we're reporting those 13 cases are a very small number the dominant strain is still the highly contagious Kent variant making progress to drive down cases despite that variant now being dominant across Wales that doesn't mean that we're complacent about the South African variant we are still watching and looking very carefully at what's happening and we have further measures we may need to take and if we do as I said we'll be completely open about them on your question about how likely is it that there'll be a further strain that will undermine vaccine efficacy completely that's entirely speculative and I'm certainly not qualified to answer that speculative question Dan I think that what we know we know that the current vaccines we have available are highly effective and provide good protection for all of us that's why it's so important that we take up the opportunity to be vaccinated when our NHS comes calling be ready and please take up the vaccine you help protect yourself and people around you help to take pressure off our national health service you'll help us all to get to a position where other choices are available for us but scientists across the world including here in Wales and across the UK are continuing to look for those variants of concern as the virus continues to mutate and when we know more about different strains the challenges they provide will then have to respond to them but I just think that trying to speculate on an entirely different future is not something that it's helpful for me to do so with respect I'm not going to take up the opportunity to do so but encourage everyone to keep on doing the right thing because that is what is helping to keep Wales safe Thank you Dan and I've got Steve Bagnell from The Daily Post Thank you Health Minister We've heard conflicting reports over tourism in Wales possibly opening by Easter What's the latest on this? Is this a realistic possibility? Well these things are possible but as we say we'll work through each of our reviews every three weeks to understand the headroom we have available to understand our first priority being reopening, face-to-face learning for children and young people and we'll then work through to see what else is possible We'll have more choices though if we can be successful together and continue to drive down coronavirus case rates and continue to make sure there's room to ensure that our national health service is not overwhelmed So that's part of the point and the purpose of all of this is to make sure we're all doing the right thing because we'll all benefit from getting the end of this sooner rather than later but that means do the right thing and as I said that's about washing your hands regularly it's about keeping your distance when you're out wearing a face covering in public, good ventilation and please do get a test if you have symptoms and stay at home if you have symptoms we know that actually there are still lots of people who recognise symptoms but aren't necessarily getting regularly and promptly tested when that happens and that is a really effective thing to do for yourself but for everyone around in the community that you live in Thank you Minister As you've mentioned there are still areas in north Wales particularly within Wrexham and Flintshire that have much higher Covid levels than the Welsh average How much is this a concern and what else can be done to try and bring these areas in line with the decrease in other parts of Wales? Well of course it's a concern but you'll also see that there are falling rates of coronavirus in north east Wales and that's really good news for all of us again Now we can't really tell about what happens in terms of cross-border interaction but you'd have covered on a regular basis you'll be aware being a north Wales publication of the fact that you can walk across the border in their communities where the line between the two countries doesn't actually make much sense in terms of how people live their day to day lives but what we need to do is to concert on what each of us can do within our family, within our community, within our individual choices that's what's helping to drive down coronavirus rates the rules the government has put in place and the extraordinary measures we've had to take are only effective if people follow those rules and act within the guidance that is what's happening, that's why even with the highly infectious Kent strain of the virus we're seeing those case rates fall and it's giving us the headroom to open up face to face learning after half term for our youngest children so that's a measure for everyone in every part of the country whether you're in Anglesey, Ceredigion, Wrexham or here in Cardiff please do the right thing it'll help to protect all of us and yourselves and together we're all doing what we could and should do to help keep Wales safe Thank you Steve, I've now got Rob Taylor from Wrexham.com Good afternoon Minister the number of vaccines being issued to the over 80s and care home staff appears to have slowed in the last few days is there an issue with the take up of the final people in these categories and if so why and related to that the First Minister has spoken of a vaccine hesitancy for people in a younger age group is there any fresh insight on that now with deeper into this process? Okay, so on the take up of care home residents we've essentially practically completed our programme in care homes we're still mopping up the last few where we know we couldn't get in to vaccinate either the whole care home or people within those care homes so you'll see that rise but only on a very slow basis because we're literally dealing with much much smaller numbers it's also the case of course that not everyone will take up the vaccine but we're not going to force people to take the vaccine up but I think people will be really proud of the significant and very rapid protection we provided to our most vulnerable citizens and when it comes to vaccine hesitancy in younger people this is partly because of the significant misinformation that is being spread on a range of different forums social media in particular there are people who are worried about concerns on a range of things from fertility and there's absolutely zero evidence that vaccines affect male or female fertility but some people are concerned about this in different scare stories and it's why it's so important that we're responsible in what we say about the vaccine that we're responsible in how we report what happens politicians, members of the public and indeed of course members of the press as well so I do think though that as we see much greater levels of population protection I hope that we'll see more and more people doing the right thing for themselves and everyone else around them too so I'm looking forward to having my vaccine when the time comes and I'll certainly be making sure that I can have my appointment on time and I look forward to being protected I look forward to playing my partners in this role but in the individual responsibilities I have too Thank you and in today's Welsh Government published survey of public views on the coronavirus people are asked if they think Welsh Government are doing a good job to contain the spread of the virus those answering very good or good job is in recent weeks the lowest it's been since the survey started back in March why do you think that is and how do you act on that feedback? Well as you go through you understand that there'll be more people who will be concerned about how quickly we can move out and the environment has been much more competitive in the first sort of four to six months of the pandemic there was a large amount of agreement on what to do there were very similar measures taken across the UK there's been a bit of a parting of the ways and fraying of some of the messaging has come back I think much more effectively since just before Christmas and the way that the four nations worked together and that should mean that there is now more effectiveness in the joint messaging as well as the individual messaging as well and I think we'll start to see a pickup in that response I also know that to be fair at the start of the vaccination programme there were significant criticisms made of the Welsh Government at that time we had a very difficult few weeks with lots and lots of criticism now we're in a position where our vaccine programme was really going great guns very very quickly and effectively so the next time we look at survey evidence we may see a change but it's still the case of course Rob that our positivity ratings from the public about the job we're doing are very high, extraordinarily high in a competitive democracy only months away from an election but the election coming the opportunity to see different perspectives on this will all mean of course that people will have slightly different views on what the government is doing the right thing to keep people safe, alive and well more importantly than that it's important that every one of us in our own lives does the right thing to keep ourselves and each other safe thank you Rob, we've now got Tom Moody from the South Wales Argus good afternoon Minister we've heard from the family of a 95 year old woman from Cwm Carn who's currently house bound and was unable to attend her vaccination appointment there will be many people around Wales in this same situation who are reliant on others who may not themselves have been vaccinated yet visiting them and caring for them can you offer an update on what's been done to ensure these people aren't being left behind in the vaccination process? I want to reiterate again the NHS is not going to leave people behind we know that there are a relatively small number of people who are effectively house bound and I think I addressed this last week in my statement in the Senate as well but that's why we do have mobile teams we've got a range of particular teams that are going and not just care homes about house bound individuals too some GPs are also undertaking home visits to deliver the vaccine as well so we know that for some people being house bound means they can't get out to a local centre or a mass vaccination centre that's what we've built in from the start this range of mobile teams will be going out to deliver the vaccine to people so you haven't been forgotten you're not going to be overlooked we will make sure that we do provide offer the provision of the protection that vaccines offer that's going through our first jab of Covid but also in the way we then deliver the second jab because of course in the coming weeks we're going to be delivering a significant amount of second doses as well so a programme that is still moving on at real pace and is absolutely not going to leave people behind thank you you announced last Friday that daily testing in schools was going to be paused and replaced with twice weekly lateral flow testing for staff you talked about how the scientific advice was that daily contact testing was no longer appropriate would you be able to share that advice and why that seems to be made and can you understand why that might lead to some concern from staff members with daily testing no longer taking place I think it's important not to confuse the different things that we're talking about but daily testing was about people who would otherwise be contact and asked to stay at home and to undertake isolation at home so that daily testing was a possible way to avoid people staying at home we've had advice from the regulator and our own scientific advisers across the UK not just here in Wales that we need to look again at that so it's not something we're taking forward at this point in time what we are doing though is we're making sure that we have twice a week testing with lateral flow devices for our staff in education as well and that again should provide extra assurance for those staff that we can quickly and rapidly undertake that testing so that people can have the assurance that they haven't got at the virus themselves and that then means they can go into work with greater confidence and you'll actually see in our care home testing programme the fact that we've had regular asymptomatic testing has been part was given people confidence and it's also helped people to isolate when they didn't know they had the virus as well so we're adopting a model that I think has a good track record behind it we've got more devices available to us and it's in accordance with the way the regulator says we can use those tests and the scientific and public health advice is that this is an appropriate way to deploy those tests to make sure that our schools can continue to do what I think has been a fantastic job in really difficult circumstances for those people who are in hubs in every part of Wales today that's only possible because our staff are going to staff those hubs the return to school for our youngest children after half term is only possible because of the job that our teachers and other education staff are prepared to go in and do to help to recover some of the ground we've lost in children young people's education so good news I think for all of us including of course good news for our staff with twice a week testing being made available thank you Tom and I've got the other Tom Tom Magner from Carersworld Live over to you Tom thank you health minister the first phase of vaccination is certainly being welcomed by our viewers but I'm hearing about practical issues not just about being health bound that are delaying or preventing some people getting their jabs it's exemplified by one of our viewers in Glyn Neith she's an unpaid carer for her husband her husband has complex needs he can only be moved in a wheelchair they were told that they had to go to the Bayfields Vaccination Centre for his first jab that's 16 miles from home they have no car, bus isn't possible the only option was to take a taxi and it cost them 60 pounds for the first trip his band was not being done at the GP he was told, GP is a mile away so the total cost for all of their jabs both of them will be 240 pounds beyond the reach of most especially the elderly what steps of the Welsh Government taking to ensure that it's not just about jabs in arms but the arm in a way can always and easily get to the jab for example the flexibility to step outside rigid band arrangements and go to the GP or possibly use the mobile bands that you've been speaking about well that's exactly what we're trying to do Tom, we're trying to adapt as we're going at real pace with the vaccination programme to learn how we make it as easy as possible for people to access a convenient location that's why we've got 43 vaccination centres so are there 38 hospital based clinics or are there over 400 GP locations where GP led clinics that are delivering the vaccine as well and the great majority of people should have their vaccine particularly if you're vulnerable and find it difficult to travel through one of those local GP led clinics and as we see what we hope to see in terms of supply with even more supply available to us in the months ahead we should then see an expansion in local provision because we haven't made significant use of community pharmacy yet but as we go through and deliver first and second doses in large numbers we're anticipating be able to make much greater use of that too and I hope that next week I'll be able to give some more detail on what the first stage is of a more significant round of community pharmacy are going to look like so that should expand access and should I believe help to deal with people to understand will be anxious and concerned just like your viewer in Glenneith Thank you for that we'll obviously look forward to hearing more but in the meantime they have a particular or they experienced a particular problem I'm waiting to hear from the Bayfield Hospital with their response but I'm told that when you get there you'll find that the disability access features across the carpark include a wheelchair ramp that's too steep and lots of potholes what steps would you take to ensure proper safe disability access at vaccination centres such as the Swansea Bay Bayfield Hospital and in connection with this issued what they call the AM challenge to push or be pushed across this carpark in a wheelchair to experience the problem at first hand will you personally be taking up this viewer's challenge Well Tom what I think I should see is that we should have appropriate disabled access in all of our vaccination centres to make sure that people can conveniently get to have the job available to them so that's what I expect if that isn't the case I'd be interested in not just the response you get from Swansea Bay University Health Board but any other health board areas where you think that access is a difficulty please take it up with the health board in the first instance and if you don't get a satisfactory response please contact my team here so we can have that conversation As for the pushing a wheelchair challenge within the particular site I should say I do have some experience of helping people in wheelchairs a long time ago now but I was a community service volunteer I took a year out after my A levels and I was a volunteer carer for a young man with cerebral palsy and he had an electric wheelchair where I needed to go on a bus or in a taxi I had to push him, I had to get him in and out of his chair and then to be able to push him around so I do have some familiarity with some of the real challenges of practical access and the fact that you don't always think about that until you have to do that either for yourself or for somebody else I don't think though I'll be taking up your challenge in Swansea Bay University facility because I don't think that will necessarily count as essential travel so I'm trying to do the right thing myself but in the future who knows Tom, when the pandemic is over and we can have greater access to travel and do different things I'll be more than happy to do a wide range of things that deny to me and everyone else around the country right now Thank you for your questions today Tom I look forward to speaking to you and everyone else in the future


Everybody, Matt here for Leighton Sports Car Drip, a one box of 2022 Top's Chrome Platinum Anniversary Baseball. This is for Brody C. Good luck. Paul Canerco, Refractor, Madrigal, Corey Kluber, Lucius Fox. Lots of room if you want something ripped. There's Darryl Strawberry and Chris Bassett as Speckle, Tony LaRusa, Refractor, Bill Mazurowski, John Halcerpa, Rookie, Trey Emberghy, Rookie, and Yellow Raywaved, 250, Jim Rice. You have Brody, Trevor Storey, Moise Salud, Bo Willy-Stargel, Refractor, Dale Murphy, Willie Mays, Delgado, and Peter Lanzo, Speckle, Seth Beer, Rookie, Nick Allen, Ryan Mountcastle, Refractor. This is a thumbnail that is Dave Stewart, Chipper, 250, that is Rookie, Gold Wave, Otto Lopez. Nice gold wave, Rookie. Walker Beeler. More telling, how's it going? Joey Bart, Ozzy, X-Fractor, David Cohn, Lung, and Montessy, Baez, and Johnny Bench, Yellow Raywave, 250, Mike Baumann, Ben and Crawford, Ryan Mountcastle, Gary Sanchez, Refractor, that is Rookie, Refractor, Otto, Cal Raleigh, you go Brody, that is number 199. Yeah, that sounds unhealthy, Timmy. Curtis Terry, it's Rookie, Platinum, Twall, and Fuchsia, Atomic, Refractor to 100, Jay Cousins, Piazza, and Paul Goldschmidt. All right, that'll do it for your box. Appreciate it, Brody. We'll get these right out to you.


I wanted to start with the three heroes of the previous three industrial revolutions. And to every age, a relic. And the relics of the three first industrial revolutions were the steam engine, the Ford Model T, and the personal computer. Now there's one common denominator that brings all of these relics together. And that is that they are made of parts, they are assembled out of parts. And that they are ecology indifferent. In the process of their design, their designers haven't brought into account how might they affect the ecology, their natural environment. In the way in which we can today consider these kind of effects. So since the industrial revolution, the world of design has been dominated by a culture of parts. Designers and architects have been trained to think about their designs in terms of assemblies of discrete parts made of homogeneous materials. But we know that nature doesn't operate this way. And when you think about the natural world, when you think about both the biological and the organic, the plant world, you see holes that are made not of assemblies but of heterogeneous parts that constantly and continuously vary their properties. So for example, the skin varies its porosity, its elasticity, its stiffness, right? Its melanin concentration, its color. So as designers aiming to move beyond the age of the machine that has been so characteristic of the first three industrial revolutions, we find ourselves stuck between two representations of the world. A representation that is two-dimensional or binary, the representation of the digital world and the representation of the biological world, that is a quadrocode representation made of the four base pairs. So the binary and the biological, the digital and the biological. And as designers today were attempting to integrate between the material, the digital and the biological domains in order to create products, buildings and cities that are non-ecology agnostic, that are non-ecology indifferent. So you could think about this as a kind of a duality or a dichotomy between the world of culture and the world of nature, between the world of assembly and the world of growth. True, that some of you, the biologists in the room, may claim that growth is a kind of automation without assembly, an automation that is self-assembled. But I'm going to tackle this kind of dichotomy and propose to you a new kind of thesis for design. That is, as designers, we must today bring into account not only the digital but also the biological. So I had a group at the MIT Media Lab called Mediated Matter and we operate at the intersection of the material, the physical, the digital and the biological. These are the four fields inside which we operate. And today I'm going to take you through a very brisk and fast and rapid journey throughout some of our products. And I've sort of organized the projects in an order of complexity. So they become more and more complex. We start with projects that are inspired by biology, projects that are informed by biology, engineered by biology, designed by biology and end with projects that design biology herself. So from nature-inspired design to a design-inspired nature. So let's start with the very, very first set of projects inspired by the natural world. This was a dress that we've designed for Paris Fashion Week in 2012, 2013. And the dress was inspired by the human skin. Again, instead of generating an assembly that is made of parts that are sewed together, we're designing a continuous cape and skirt that can vary their porosity, the length of the parts, their direction, their material composition to provide a wearable that is both structural and also comfortable but can also filter air and potentially sweat. So again, a single system that varies its properties continuously rather than an assembly of parts. This object, as many of the ones that I'll show in the presentation today, were printed with Stratasys, digital materials technology, and their digital materials allowed us to design with preset mechanical combinations, so a wide array of mechanical and optical properties that were integrated into this wearable. Another project was a helmet that was designed for my head, can be designed for any head. This particular helmet, its design is interesting because it allows us to design not only for the shape of the head but also for the material composition. So rather than only taking the geometry of the head as an input, you're taking as input the physiological components that make up your bone, your fatty tissue, your muscle tissue, and you can respond to that in very high resolution. So you can arrive at a helmet that is both protective, the shock absorbent, but is also comfortable. You're mixing and fusing stiff and soft materials together in very high resolution, 16 micron voxel resolution. This is the diameter of the human hair. It's also the diameter of the largest mammalian axon nerve ending known. And so because you have access, because we as designers have access to such high-resolution tools and synthesis, we could map between a CT scanner and a 3D printer, okay? And we can also combine light in it. So again, rather than generating assemblies, we're generating continuities. This chaise was designed for the Dalai Lama, hence the colors. It was a chaise that was designed to quiet the thinking mind. And it was designed out of 44 different materials with preset mechanical combinations that vary in rigidity and opacity and color and respond to the pressure points around the body. A little bit like wearing your acupuncture therapist or sitting in the room, but really a very, very quiet environment that's completely sound absorbent. So from inspired by nature to informed by nature, and also moving up in scale from products to buildings, we ask ourselves, how can we implement some of these principles and architectural scales? Can we design buildings made of concrete that are inspired by the bone where we're varying the porosity of the bone, in this case of the concrete, as a function of the load? Can we, for example, print variable density concrete that is sensitive to a loading condition of a building such that we save material and also design in a new kind of aesthetic, a new kind of design language? So this is the first robotic system that's completely mobile. It's called the Digital Construction Platform. And it is a platform that is designed to additively manufacture a building, hopefully in a single day, onsite continuously as the printer goes about the site. This is a long exposure photograph just to show you the range. This is an 80 feet diameter range for a large scale robotic arm, a hydraulic arm that's connected to an electric arm, five and six degrees of freedom that allows 11 degrees of freedom onsite. And now what's interesting is that these two arms, the hydraulic and electric arms combined, are not only used to deposit materials, but they're also used to scan the environment. So they're used to capture analytic data from the environment, such as optical data, thermal data, magnetic waves, electromagnetic waves, and incorporate this data as part of the fabrication process. So think, for example, about the prospect of mapping or scanning seismic loads, incorporating that on the fly in the printing process and being able to design and print a building that corresponds to these environmental conditions. So again, analysis and synthesis come together in a single tool, in a single compound fabrication technology. But additive manufacturing is today suffering from the material bottleneck. Many of the materials that we use are still toxic, non-environmentally friendly. And to that end, we've started looking into the prospect of using biodegradable and or biocompatible materials for printing. We specifically focused on chitin. Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer on the planet, after the first most abundant, which is cellulose, yes. And it's found in crustaceans, such as shrimp shells and butterfly wings. And what's fascinating about this material is that in this exoskeleton of these organisms, you find very stiff shells that become 100 times more compliant when they reach their roots. So again, they vary their elastic moduli, their stiffness ratios, very, very quickly in a single system. We wanted to mimic this in the design of products and wearables and also hopefully building parts. And so we've ordered many kilograms of shrimp shells. We grinded the shrimp shells and we've generated chitosan by deacetylizing the chitin. And this chitosan allowed us to print in a range of mechanical and optical properties within a single process, similar to the way that nature does it. So here you can see the platform. It's a mixing nozzle that in this case contains five jets that can vary these properties on the fly. We're printing them flat and as we take them off the dry wreck, they find their form naturally upon contact with air. So these structures have been in a way made by water from entirely natural materials that are completely and entirely recyclable. So 40 megapascals at the root, soft, very soft at the edge and inspired again by the crustaceans that are made of chitin. These structures combine skin and structure in a single element. Now think about the prospect of getting rid of plastics, right? Less than 5% of plastics is actually recycled. And imagine what it would mean to start generating your Starbucks coffee out of chitosan or a Whole Foods bag out of chitosan and let them biodegrade naturally in the rain, nourish the fisheries, help grow trees. And this kind of material ecology begins to consider the material world as part and parcel of the natural world. No more separation between products and the natural environment. One of the byproducts of this printing process was that we got lots of air bubbles in our products, which we tried without much luck to get rid of. And we thought, well, every problem brings about its own opportunity. How about we use those air bubbles to contain photosynthetic microorganisms that could capture carbon from the environment and turn it into sugar or biofuel. So not only are we returning this material back to the environment, but we're sort of returning it with a positive carbon footprint, right? We're generating energy, we're augmenting the natural environment in addition to using a natural material. So in a sense, this is like attaching a wet lab, a chemical or synthetic biology lab to a robotic arm. And I think this is where design is going no longer will you see designers going to work with a synthetic biology inside a lab, but the lab comes to the robot. So the robot has a scanner, it has a printer, and it has a wet lab. So let's take this a bit deeper. What does it mean to design with nature and not only be inspired or informed by nature, but actually use natural organisms with which to design products and building parts? So in my lab, we know how to print with biological cells, embed and augment them in structures. But we also know how to additively manufacture microfluidics and millifluidic devices that can allow us to mix and match between different kinds of microorganisms to achieve different biological functionality. The same kind of principles that you've seen in the chair, in the helmets, in the dress are applied here. Only instead of varying material properties, we're varying biological functionality. So we're controlling chemistry rather than just controlling material properties. Same principles, only a level deeper. In order to embed microorganisms in the body, we have to come up with computational algorithms that allow us to contain and direct the movement of those microorganisms in very high resolution. So I'm going to talk about one project that combines two microorganisms. The first is the cyanobacteria that lives in fresh water ponds and oceans. It's 3.5 billion years old, so it's a very old technology. And the second microorganism is E. coli, and it lives in the human gut. So now, these two organisms, one lives in the ocean, the other lives in our gut, never interact in nature. And so here in this project, they're brought together, they're united by design to interact in a wearable device. So I call this evolution by design. Designers now have control of evolution by natural selection, as it were. So cyanobacteria converts sunlight into sugar, E. coli consumes that sugar and produces biofuel. The biofuel can fuel your scooter, it can fuel the building, et cetera. So think about it as a kind of an overall material ecology where one product fuels the other. So of course, in order to contain and direct their movement, we need to design systems that can do this. So you're looking at various systems that we've been exploring. In this particular case, this system is inspired by the gastrointestinal tract to design a kind of artificial digestive system for the human body that in the future potentially will interact with the digestive system. This hopefully will enter the architectural world where we can also digest, as it were, the human environment and correspond to it. So in this case, this was the container that contained our photosynthetic microorganisms. I like this video because you can see the photosynthetic organelas inside the microorganisms. We then grew, computationally grew, these structures on the human body such that they fit the geometry of the body, but they're also responding to the biological functionality that we want to generate. So the orange represents opaque material, the white represents transparent material. In the transparent areas, we place the cyanobacteria that takes on photosynthesis. So they need to be exposed to the light, hence the variation in opacity of the container. All folded end to end, this wearable digestive system spans 59, close to 60 meters. This is 10 times the length of the small intestines and half time the length of the football field. All folded into a single digestive system that is wearable and generates energy for free. If you consider that solar energy is for free, which is another ethical question. So this is the wearable device. To expose your body to the sun, you generate sugar cubes in your pocket. And I like to think of it as a kind of a wearable microbiome that in the future will be able also to filter some of the chemical and biological compounds in our own body, scan our bodies and potentially also repair damaged tissue. Because we have such access to additive manufacturing and high resolution, high fidelity of heterogeneous materialities, we can today compete with the analysis protocols. So in the past, when you would design a car, you would have access to computational fluid dynamics to be able to establish the optimal form of a building or a car wearable. But today, we could do that synthetically. So not only use a high resolution analytic tool, but also develop high dimensional high resolution synthetic tools. And we can match between analysis and synthesis in very, very high resolution. This will allow us to produce better prosthetic devices, building skins, wearables that correspond and respond to the body. And this is just a teaser for one of the collection of wearables that we are about to launch in my lab that shows you how we can scan the face and compute the final breath before we die. So again, we can gain access to extremely high resolution data from the human body and design for it and with it. Designing with nature doesn't stop with a microorganism scale. And it continues with actual organism scale. So I'm going to show you a project which some of you may know, the silk pavilion, which questioned additive manufacturing through the lens of biology. Biology doesn't print stuff except perhaps oysters. But biology grows. It moves about three dimensional space in a way that is way more complex than your traditional printer or even bioprinter. So the silkworm constructs its cocoon in 24 to 72 hours. It's one of the most sophisticated structures, definitely one of the most sophisticated architectures. And what we did is we tried to replicate this kind of logic and behavior in the construction of a bucky dome. Only now the bucky dome would not be made of parts. It would be made of a single fiber that would vary its properties locally as a function of its structural and environmental performance. That was the goal. So that's how we went about it. We placed first to motion capture the silkworm.  It was completely healthy, healthy and more morphosized. We motion captured its movement using three magnetic sensors. We triangulated between those three magnetic fields. We generated the point cloud. And in parallel we did studies that proved that the silkworm, once you place it on a flat patch, it will still spin its cocoon. The cocoon will be spun flat. It would not be a three-dimensional cocoon. We said, great, that means we can use the help of the silkworms in the buildup of the pavilion while allowing them to healthily metamorphosize unlike what happens today in India and China and various silk farms around the world where we boil the cocoons and those silkworms die. In this case they are integrated into the construction process. So here we go. This was the super structure, as it were, that was woven using a robotic arm and silk. We then ordered 6,500 silkworms from an online silk farm. We fed them for four weeks. They fed on mulberry leaves. And after four weeks of feeding they were ready to spin. We placed them at the bottom rim of the structure. And as they spin over a period of three weeks they pupate and mate and lay eggs and healthily metamorphosize. And we co-fabricate by cohabitating. I like this video because it shows the different scales, a robotically woven silk combined with biologically spun silk to form a structure that is again biologically constructed together sort of with man-made machine technology. So 6,500 silkworms given that every silkworm spins one kilometer of silk in its lifetime together spin 6,500 kilometers. This also equals the length of the silk road. We only discovered this in hindsight but it seems to. And of course they all healthily metamorphosize. The eggs that were laid on the pavilion can be used to create 150 more additional pavilions. The last project that I want to show you is in the form of a video. So I will only speak, introduce it very, very briefly and then perhaps interject through the video. In the future, in the near and far future, we need to move from the wet lab and into the real world. As biologists and as designers and as designer biologists, the best way to do this is to transcend the petri dish. And to do that we need to form glass structures, structures that are both stiff structurally sound but are also transparent and that allow us to interact with the environment. To do this we have invented a first of its kind functionally optically transparent glass printer that we launched a few months ago into the world. And that glass printer will hopefully in the near future be able to additively manufacture buildings that could incorporate biological matter and allow us to make better use of solar energy in the scope of this kind of material ecology approach to design. You're looking at the printer. This was the printer that was designed and architected from scratch in my lab. It was a collaboration between mediated matter, the glass lab at MIT and the mechanical engineering department at MIT. Before I show the video, this is how the printer is designed. It has a kiln cartridge that allows us to take in molten glass and control the gradient of temperature thereby controlling the viscosity of the glass, thereby controlling the geometry of the deposition. So it has a crucible kiln. It has a kiln around the nozzle with thermocouplers that allow us to control the variation of temperature as we're controlling the viscosity. Let's play the video and I hope you enjoy. I will interject with a few words as it's played so please volume up, thank you. So the top chamber is the kiln cartridge that allows us to turn the 3D printer into a mini glass lab and it goes about this continuous deposition of layers with a 1900 degrees temperature. This system is also connected to a form generation algorithmic environment that allows us to design the shapes and the parts that we want to print and immediately quantify and qualify how many layers, how much material and how quickly we can generate it. When you pour molten glass in an offset, you get these really interesting auto-coiling patterns. This is basically the structural instability of the glass, it's what happens when you pour honey on toast. And these patterns could be used to control the geometry that is at the external surface but also the internal surface of the product unlike glass blowing which only allows you to control the external surface. Stick patterns that were generated as you shine light through the piece, it's interesting to consider the inverse process where you start with a shading pattern of a building or a city and you inform the shape of the building according to a sun path diagram. So I'm going to end here with a single slide that to me represents nature. Two great maps, two of the greatest maps that were drawn by us. The first treats nature as a geological resource, that is the table of the elements. The second looks at nature as a biological resource, that is a map of the human genome, of course it should represent all species. And those two maps really are the material in the hands of designers today that are shaping the built environment with a true sensitivity to what biology is and what it wants to become and that kind of transition that takes us as I like to say from an age where we personified nature as a mother, from mother nature, from the noun to the verb, to mothering nature, to being able to design with and for nature. So thank you very, very much.


That's how I'm coming to you from the Port of Longview. Witness something pretty cool. So stand by and just follow on. What you're seeing now is a switcher bringing a special car, pulling it in front of us. And we've privileged to have this opportunity to show you. Check this out. Take a closer look at the top, left-hand corner and you'll see something very interesting. Portland Daylight Express. That ring of bell. Take a close look because this is the last time you're going to see it. Quite a special situation and we're thankful to the Port of Longview to give us this opportunity. We want to thank Campotex, National Steel Car, Pacific Western Rail Systems and North American Rail Car Corporation. Thank you Dan. Especially I want to thank Dan Huberman for giving us this opportunity. Usually this is something that just doesn't happen normally. So thanks Dan, we appreciate your help.


Suspense, and the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure, William and Robeson. Paris, city of light, city of gaiety, city of scintillating women, sparkling wine, and the finest food in the world. But this has not always been so. Just a few years ago, Paris was a city of darkness and despair and hunger, where men turned to strange and sinister activities just to keep alive. This was the Paris of the Nazi occupation, a hopeless city, which Marcel I. May has caught in his strangely disturbing story, Crossing Paris, a tale of cupidity and retribution. Listen, listen then to Mr. Hans Conrad starring in Crossing Paris, which begins in exactly one minute. And now, Mr. Hans Conrad in Crossing Paris, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. If you had been in Paris during the Nazi occupation, you would have seen a lot of interesting things. You might even have caught a glimpse of me stealing through the streets at night as inconspicuously as possible for a man carrying a heavily loaded valise in each hand. And these valises were lined inside with canvas to prevent the leakage of any tell-tale drops of blood. And they belonged to my employer, Monsieur Jean Blier, in whose cellar the original butchering was accomplished. My job was hard, but it paid well for the risks I took. Quite often I worked with an assistant carrier, usually Le Tambeau. Well, one winter afternoon, I set out to meet Le Tambeau at the Café Voltaire on the Boulevard de la Bastille. It was bitterly cold and the trees were bright with frost. He promised to be a miserable night for us. A keen north wind was blowing over the canal toward the Seine, and the day seemed dying of cold. It was nearly dark when I reached the Café Voltaire. Ah, dear, what will it be? You look cold enough for a brandy. That I am. Here, this will warm your bones. Your friend Le Tambeau was in. He said to tell you he is not free tonight. Oh, Curse him. How can he behave like that? He has no respect for his work. Respect for what work? Who is this Le Tambeau? Respect for what work? Oh, please, Monsieur, I'm talking to the bartender. It's no affair of yours. It's my affair all right.  I'll teach you respect. Oh, the fellow was drunk. He put his glass down and staggered up to me, fist raised.   They say I throw luck at the protease. Police will ignore him. Well, well then, let's go, my lad. Pay for our drinks now and we'll report to the station for duty. Pay up and let's be off. I don't know why, but I paid. And then, still laughing, the big one took me by the arm and me started out. He was a rough fellow, probably a laborer, but certainly not of the police dressed as he was in a spotted, shiny suit and a dark turtleneck sweater. His small pig-like eyes were bright with irony and the tight blonde curls that ringed his huge head gave him the appearance of a great ram. When we reached the street, the night was already black with high, icy winds. That was a squalid scene. Oh, well, the man was drunk. But I could have handled him. I carry a knife, you know. You did not have to interfere. Oh, no, I enjoyed it.  Oh, but I didn't realize that you were going to cut him. My apologies, Monsieur.   No, no, no. No, no wife. The big thing in times like this is to eat. With me, my stomach comes first, love afterwards. I see. And what do you do? What is your train? I am a painter. Oh, you must find it difficult these days, so little building going on. I manage in a small way.   It pays well, too. How much? Say, 400 francs? You're on. Don't you even want to know what it is? You're probably an assassin. Of course not. Above all, I'm a man of honor. Difference does it make? All right then. Let's turn off here. First we must go to the Our work starts there. Let's walk faster. I'm cool. Who is he? I, Pierre. Who's the other one? Let Amber ducked out at me tonight. So I've asked my friend Grangile here to take his place. He's all right. All right then. You're late.  He proudly removed the shroud revealing a whole hog which had been neatly cut into a dozen portions. Then he stood back and allowed us to feast our eyes. He's a beauty, though. How much does he weigh? 200 pounds. But divided into four releases, you'll manage him all right. It's easy to see.  You're wasting time. Hand me a release under the table there. Where does it go tonight? To Montmartre. Put your shop in a real goulang coup, number 43. And one thing now. To arrange his deliveries, he must have the meat there by 2 a.m. If you are late, he will not accept it. But Montmartre... It's no distance for a young man like you. How much are you giving us? Now, Pierre, bargains are bargains. We are all men of honor in this affair. No one has ever questioned my honor, Monsieur. And I deliver your meat on this side of the same for 400 francs. But Montmartre, that's a different matter. Oh, I see what you're up to. You know perfectly well I can't risk keeping the pig here and that it's too late to get anyone else to carry it. Lugging 200 pounds of black market meat all the way across Paris in the dead of the night with the police lying in wait for us at every turn along the way. You call that profiteering? All right then. All right. You get 50 francs more. I want respectable pay for my work, not just a cheap. I'll handle it then. But not a sumo. It is hard work. It involves great risk. 600 francs. Tell me, Monsieur Chamblier, is this really number 45? What? Why do you ask that? Oh, for no reason at all. Because I know the answer. Monsieur Chamblier, 45, we pull you. Who is this man, Pierre?  I do the talking here. You agree then, sir, to 600 francs? Monsieur Chamblier, 45, we pull you. My share will be a thousand francs. What? Are you mad? Oh, don't pay any attention to him. He's my assistant. So you just give me the two times, 600 francs, I'll settle with him later. All right then. Here, take it. I can't have you here all night. Monsieur Chamblier, 45, we pull you. Give me 2000 francs, or I shall wreck this place. Chamblier looked at him, fearfully for a moment. Then he pulled a fat billfold from his pocket and handed two notes of a thousand francs each to the ram who pocketed them calmly and caught the third one on the fly when Chamblier, in his nervousness, let it slip. It was too much for me. I started to aggrieve to make him return the money, but Chamblier seized me by the arm. He let him alone. I carried him for a row here. I don't want a row, but after all, he's my assistant. And this is my cellar. I've paid out enough money to have peace here, at least. You can settle with him later. But now we've got to finish packing the valises. It's late. We went back to the table and finished fitting the sections of pork into the valises, wedging them in with crumpled newspapers. Grand Gilles paid no attention to us, but sat across the cellar on a wine barrel, eating a thick slice of ham he'd found. When we were packed, however, he got up without a word and came over to pick up his two valises. This apparent willingness seemed to impress Chamblier. And when we reached the door, he stuck a pack of cigarettes into the ram's pocket. That's for the two of you for the drink. Cigarettes at night? It's a fine way to get ourselves picked out. Oh, come now, Pierre. Don't worry so. I have to have two thousand francs more. No! No! No! At the zoo! At the single zoo! Give me two thousand francs for heaven's sake, Chamblier! Chamblier! Two thousand francs, Chamblier! Pete, stop it. You'll have the police on us. Here, you blackmailer. Here, take them.  Here, you devil! Oh, by the door. Let us get out of here. I'll settle with you later, my fine friends. Chamblier! Oh! Chamblier! I now have to have another two thousand francs. Why have I made you stop it? No, don't you dare pull anything like that again. What's the matter with you, anyway? Do you want to go to jail? I'm warning you now.  I don't want any trouble, but after all, I've given you a job. This is my work. You should have some respect for it. Oh, that's for your job. Where do we cross the river? We have to go up to the Île Saint-Louis, to near the railway station down here, to many police patrols and German soldiers around. Let's hurry then, my hands are turning to stone. As we pass by the wine market, deserted and desolate in the night, the winds seem to blow with less vial hands, but colder. Our faces were gnawed and burned by it. The oily water in the sand was black as coal, and along the banks, the bare trees stood bleak and spectral. Finally, we reached the Île Saint-Louis, and we were called, turned into the first side street for a moment's respite from the paralyzing North wind. It's a wonder the air doesn't feel. Why, in the name of heaven, do you work at this job? I met my living this way. Every man to his trade. Now tell me, how much can you get for pork in the black market? For gadgets. Word, 75 francs a pound. For gadgets, I tell you. In that cafe where they thought we were police, I'm sure we could sell Jean Blier's pig at 75 francs a pound.  You think if I want to do that, I'd abroad you alone? No, and if I were to decide to do it now, I'd begin by getting rid of you. What makes you think you... Quiet, listen. A patrol back here brings a shout out, quick. In a moment we continue with... Jack Benny acquires a girl's baseball team and Armist Brooks acquires headaches from a school board on CBS radio this evening. And if that isn't enough, Mitch Miller has Jack Webb hiding under his beard. Yes, there's great listening ahead on CBS radio, so keep your dial right where it is. Suddenly aware of the fact that his rivals Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are part owners of baseball teams, Jack Benny will be out to acquire one for himself and the answer will be the Buxom Bloomer Girls. For another key to laughter, join Eve Arden as Armist Brooks as she tries to open Madison High in time to receive an award for good attendance. The key here is the one she loves in a series of mishaps that prevent the opening of the school. Too late to help or find the key, but in time to help Mitch Miller present one of his greatest shows, Jack Webb will be here on most of these same stations, along with producer Otto Preminger and comedian Phil Foster. Remember they're all on CBS radio later today, Jack Benny, Eve Arden and Mitch Miller with his guests, Jack Webb, Otto Preminger and comedian Phil Foster. And now, we continue with Crossing Pervis, starring Mr. Hans Connery, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. We froze against the doorway and the patrol passed without seeing us. Our head of us were still two solid hours of terror crossing Paris. The moon was still hidden, but the night had grown lighter and consequently more dangerous for us. After a block or two, I suddenly sensed that Jean-Gilles was no longer behind me, and turning, I saw him halfway across the street, headed toward a line of blue light that framed the doorway of a cafe. I'm going to get a shot of liquor.  You can't carry that stuff in there! I won't be long. He was already opening the door, pushing his valises past the blackout curtain which masked the lighted interior. Cursing, not telling what he was up to now. But in any event, I couldn't leave him there with Jean-Gilles' pork, and I didn't dare stand around in the street waiting for him, so I crossed over and followed him inside. Several men who looked like clerks were playing cards at the table, and the floor was covered with sawdust and the lights were dingy. The proprietor's wife sat knitting a sock behind the cash register and looking suspiciously at Granger, who was already standing at the bar, one foot resting on his valises. Do cognac, Patroux. This is my closing time. Cognac. What is all that luggage? You're not running into my place with the police at your heels, are you? Give us some cognac. No, no, no, no. Do not cause a row with me. This row. Cognac, Patroux, Remy, Martin.   Ah, if you quiet down, I will get it for you. Thank you, monsieur. The proprietor searched for a bottle of Remy Martin and Granger turned and stared at the four clerks who had stopped their card game. They were obviously avoiding so much of the glance in our direction. All right. You. There are four of you sitting there. You're half-starved on rotten carrots and sawdust pudding. You're smoking corn silk. All of you.  Ah? What's to keep you from making off with it? You know well enough we're in no position to report it. You think the name of haven't gone. She'd come to your Sanctuary.   Rubble, scum. What good does it do to make laws if they're not respected? Blackards, anarchists, disloyal, French... Stop it, Georgie. Have you lost your mind?  You don't say so, eh? You there, patron, patron, patron. I can't wait all night. Give us some cognac. Give us some cognac, guy. He said, here is your cognac. But please, no more. It is past closing time already.   I will carry as far as you are. Unfoot on my knees for you. And then, without warning, the ram reached out, sealed the cognac bottle, and leaves it with only strength against the mirror behind the bar. Ah, excellent, excellent. Now, my releases, come, little Pierre, I never wish to see these wretched people again. Baboons, I ignore you. I erase you from my memory forever. I followed him out, wondering how in the world I could keep this monstrous madman from getting us picked up by the police. The moon had come out now in the center of the street, and it looked like an arrow of brightness by the shadows along the sidewalk offered dangerous possibilities of surprise. At the first street crossing, the black shadow in which we were walking was broken by a streak of moonlight. We just reached the opposite curb, went from the dark only three yards in front of us, a man's voice rang out. Stand where you are. No tricks now. What are you carrying in those releases? Before taking that tone, you do well to identify yourself. It's the police, you saw me well enough. Oh, the police? Well, I'm suddenly glad we ran into you. I've been looking for somebody to show us how to get to the Roussevignet. You're going away from it, and I think that you'll... You don't tell me. Did you hear that, my friends? The Roussevignet is behind us. Well, then we just have to turn back. Later, perhaps, right now, you're going with me to the station. May we rest a moment first? We've worked a long way looking for the Roussevignet. Perhaps I can explain to you. No need for that. Come along now, come on. There was nothing he could do if I put my valises down anyway in spite of him. So I did, thinking he would give me a chance to talk him out of this. And the ram, bending his knees slightly, put his down also, and then, suddenly, straightening up, smashed the policeman's jaw with his stick. The poor man doubled to his knees, fell flat without making a sound. Grangile bent over him for a moment, and then grabbed his hat and threw it into the middle of the street. The vials are shown there in the moonlight. Well, let's go. Well, that was clever. As soon as he comes to, he'll grab his whistle. In five minutes, all the police and the arrondissement will be after us. That would surprise me. I have this whistle in my pocket. Shit. Air read alert. Now, what will we do? We don't dare go into a shelter with this meat, and we certainly can't stay in the streets. I live only two blocks from here. Come on. In spite of carrying a hundred pounds a piece of that cursed pig, we ran all the way. But at last, with bursting lungs, we made it. I stuck the moment inside the door to catch my breath before climbing to the top floor where he said he lived. The ramp went on ahead, and the door was open when I finally arrived. Come in. Come in. I'll have a fire going in the stove in a moment. It was a large, comfortable studio. In the bluish light that filtered in from the street, I could see a huge mirror covered with gauze, hanging directly opposite the entrance over a baby carriage, filled with what appeared to be framed paintings. I sat down my valises near the door and stood there until Grangile drew a blackout curtain over the window and turned on the light. There were several easers in the room, and on a table near the window were spread out a number of drawings and paintings. Surprise. You were a painter. Yes, I said I was. You did all those? I sell most of them around Montmartre. But since the German occupation, musically enough, not all was for money. I bought her.  But here's one I've been commissioned for that'll bring a hundred thousand francs. You like it? No, because it's the portrait of a Nazi. Perhaps, and because it's no good.  Oh, I don't know what to think of you. Think what you like, then.  The stove had commenced to glow, so I sat down in a big, easy chair next to it, and soon became drowsy in its pleasant warmth. And then suddenly a bell went off and woke me out of a sound sleep. I'm here speaking. Ah, Susie. I'm sorry I couldn't make it. Pierre Martin and I were... Huh? No, no, you don't know him. But Pierre Martin is a little gutter snipe who works in the black market.  Oh, a great one. War dirty clothes. Play the role of a tough. The Satan is dirty. No, no, no. It was very easy. After all, it's the weak ones who act tough. You're amusing, I assure you. Huh? No, no, I'm still an amateur. So that's it. Slummy, you are slummy. You're mocking me. Making fun of my work. Laughing to himself all the while. I'll show you. Oh, the Pierre, Pierre. Such temper, little one. You dog. And I thought you were hard up. I want to help you.  Like a stinking tourist. Is there no reward out for you, Pierre? It's stealing. That's what it is. You should have left the work to a man who needed it. You have no honor, no respect for work.  Oh, but I have, I have. Come over here.  Huh? Perhaps you will like this picture. I don't even know what to look at. What do you think I am? Me, I earn my keep. I work hard.  You've done everything to make trouble for me. My work is amusing, eh? Well, I'll show you what I think of you. Pierre, what are you up to? I ran across the room to the ease of the head. The portrait of a Nazi plunged my knife into the heart and ripped down. I was about to slash it across the middle and Grand Gilles' huge body smashed into me. I went to the floor. He had me by the throat and was slowly choking her life out with his six fingers. I began to push out the floor in agony with my open hand when suddenly I stopped the knife with one hand and seized it.  Ah! He let out a hole and sat back, watching the blood drape from one hand. I was too weak to move, so I lay there, holding my knife over my chest, pointing it at him. Suddenly, his eyes went white with insane rage and before I could move he threw himself on top of the gate! Oh, my God! Rolled over with a faint moan. My knife had been driven straight into his heart. His legs twitched a little and then he... He lay still. I looked at him, unbelievingly. I... I'd never heal. I'd never wanted to kill any man. Then I covered my face with my hands and... I worked. Two hours later, faint with exhaustion, I delivered all four balesas to the butcher's shop in Murman. All right, I await it. It is all there. Of course it is. I'm a man of honor, monsieur. I can see that. And you made it on time, too. But did you not have an assistant I understood from Jean Blier? It seems that my assistant, monsieur, did not really need the work. I was... I was forced to dismiss him. Well, anyway you made it. I always finish any job I start, monsieur. It was only then that I remember that Grangile had said my name to his girl over the phone and that my portrait sat waiting for the police in his studio. I put the 5,000 francs, which I'd taken from his body, into an envelope I borrowed from the butcher and addressed it to Jean Blier. I dropped it into a mailbox and then walked slowly down to the big market of Léal. It was almost dawn when I reached it and the heavily loaded pushcarts were stacked up on the side streets, smelling of green vegetables and berries. The gutters were slippery with garbage and a lonely woman in pink satin pumps was staggering virally through the filth at the end of an hour-night's house. I sat down on a curb and I watched her and said to myself, believe me, we none of us do what we wish to do. Hans Conrad starred in Crossing Paris, adapted by John Meston from the story by Marcel Imé and produced and directed by William M. Robson. Listen. Listen again next week when we return with Mr. Vincent Price in The Green and Gold String, another tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. Supporting Mr. Conrad in Crossing Paris were John Daener, Joseph Santis, Ted DeCorsia and Paul Dubov.


sleeping in his own bed in his own room you have a good night oh it's gonna be a good day such a good day yeah I wanted to show you our plans for our countertop now I've shown you those panels are those pieces that I bought already right the 370 inch pieces of butcher block we're gonna be putting new counters in here sometime this summer I have an uncle who did this for a living as a career and he's going to hopefully be able to make sure that I don't mess it up he already gave me some really good pointers so I think I know what I'm doing already I have to go and get them cut I want to get them cut by a professional who cuts countertops regularly so that I do it right you don't want to mess up those cuts because if you mess that up the whole thing's garbage right our countertops are gonna be starting from here so we're gonna shave this off just a little bit there because this is just a piece coming out the cupboard actually ends right here so we don't need this piece the reason I want to do that is so that we can move this fridge in a little bit closer to this and because it sticks out on this side the countertops will go from here around here sorry you guys who have kids know there's always dishes speaking of dishes I do have the dishwasher installed I did it myself pretty proud of myself actually I had never installed a dishwasher before now I know how to install a dishwasher and it works great so the countertops are gonna extend past here to the stove here and then what we're thinking of it this is just our pantry right we're thinking of building cabinets below here and up above here and then using the rest of our countertops because I think we'll have enough to put another counter in here we'll see we also have the window right here too right so it may just be like a smaller little countertop on the corner that's just about as deep as that that's the plan anyways so small house it's it gets cluttered very easily that's why we have plans to buy a bigger house but we're trying to be smart about it and make sure we save up a massive down payment so that we won't be broke after buying a house so we can afford to furnish it and live and still going vacations sometimes maybe Disney World once every year two or three you know so that we have money to do fun stuff and not just every single dollar we have goes into our mortgage payment right interest rates are going crazy right now inflation's going crazy if you're watching this far in the future this is 2023 I don't know what the future holds maybe it'll get better maybe it'll get worse we're just sort of holding tight right now and saving all the money we can so eventually we'll have a bigger house right that'll be in a couple of years for now we're making do with what we have this is a very small very affordable house right very affordable house right now it's cheaper than rent and we own it so there's no reason to move we don't need the extra space right now we want it once we have another child or two there's gonna come a point where we need it I want to be prepared for that point yeah the countertops are gonna extend over this what I did was I like I've told you past videos I secured this dishwasher to the floor to the subfloor so that we can still use it right so it's operational I just need to put the countertop over here and it'll be nice butcher block all the way around we'll keep the same sink that's fine I would like to have a unless if unless if we find something nicer and we want to spend the money into it I want to be careful what money we do spend into this house course we're already doing our bathtub in our bathroom our next no this month actually in a couple of weeks shoot yeah we're getting that redone so pick and choose where we invest money into it because we know we're only gonna be here for another couple of years so anyway yeah that's the plan this is all just baby stuff all just baby drying rack dirty baby bottles and stuff that need to be washed yet this actually needs to go to the baby I was just warming that up he's hungry at least he was five minutes ago it's nice and warm but not too warm good speaking of the baby Theo Theo look what I got oh are you telling me you're hungry because you were a second ago what do you think yeah just looking in amazement and wonder okay let's get your bib on let's feed you Britt is still sleeping when I'm at home I'm on baby duty and that's her chance to just relax and take it easy so I'll let her sleep as long as she wants to we went to bed pretty late already so she's probably awake already just you know relaxing in the bedroom I'm pretty sure she's probably wake already but that's okay let's take care of business out here can you see it right behind that pole says on terrible I mean sorry no I read it wrong says Ontario welcome to Ontario welcome to Ontario and we're in a personal vehicle it feels so weird driving down this road in a personal vehicle and not in a truck we're going to Brits mom's boyfriend's cabin we're gonna go check it out he has a cabin in the canora area there and we're taking Theo with us to go see it Brits just inside it taking a rest break a little man is sleeping he sleeps just like any other baby on road trips but if he realizes we're stopped he gets very mad he likes to be driving he's my kid he likes the sound of the tires humming down the road so we're just going up for the day cottage country out here is just two hours from where we live so it's not too long of a trek we're talking about it you know we would love to have a cabin out here one day we're thinking like distant future right now we're focusing on buying a new house and once we get a house you know pay it off and let the kids grow up a bit then maybe one day for lucky we can have a cabin out here that'd be so nice just to be able to just have somewhere to go on the weekends have a boat go fishing until then we can always rent you know there's lots of Airbnb cabins around here you go on Airbnb you can rent a whole cabin for however long we might start doing that next summer once he's a little bit bigger that should be fun for now I'm just looking forward to getting in the water I haven't been in the water this year yet you can see them all dressed up for the occasion I got the palm trees out and everything I'm ready to get in the water this rest area we're at right now we've stopped here many times on the other side with the trucks park this is the car side I've never been on the side before actually feel kind of special we stopped here all the time we're just inside of Ontario from Manitoba so we got about another half hour to go or so to the Canora area there and it's all two lane highway but the four lane is coming along just well here very well here we're gonna have a four lane highway all up to the Manitoba border and then it's Manitoba's turn to four lane it it's probably about maybe a 10 mile stretch from the Ontario border to where it's already four lane and we'll have a four lane highway all the way from like Winnipeg actually the four lane goes all the way to BC then but anyways from us where we live four lane all the way to cottage country that'll be nice because this two lane road gets so busy in summertime so many people from Winnipeg have their cabins out here it's sort of sort of like you know Wisconsin in the summertime all the people from Illinois coming into Wisconsin plugging up all the highways it's the same thing here all the people from Manitoba coming into Ontario plugging up all the roads so it's a good thing that they're widening it they needed a lot of traffic and when you're driving a truck and you're trying to make good time like I do during the week it's very annoying because everybody's on vacation like we are right now no rush you know having a good time meanwhile the truckers are like we want to go Ontario is like Blue Lake I think maybe slightly further but I guess Knorr, because Knorr is not very far in. It's two days of driving down this little big civilization. Provinces are much bigger than states. Thankfully it's not too busy going into cottage country right now because it's it's a Tuesday it's busy coming out though as you can see people are all going home. Suckers. Well we're kind of the suckers we we don't get stay the night or anything it's just a day thing I wish we could but you know puppies you carry four so okay the more I bring her out here the more she talks about how we should have a cottage. Well it was within five minutes across in the border honey. I know. It didn't take much convincing. For a drive in Ontario. I love Ontario we always when I was a kid we always went camping at West Hawk which is still on the Manitoba side right yeah and just at the border though kind of and then Blue Lake where our main camping spots pretty much grew up there in the summers so I'm really really wanting Theo and whatever future children we have as well to grow up doing lots of camping and hiking and swimming and building those core memories like I have. True Manitoba childhood. Yep. Winters are brutal but summers are camping cottages, lakes, fishing. That's what you do when you're Manitoba. Absolutely. I mean the West side is a little different. Yeah. This is life here it's just like that's why I say we're so similar to Minnesota even Wisconsin. Very similar. Summers are all about lakes and swimming. Yeah. Yeah. We will do everything in our power to make sure that Theo gets a taste of that at least even if it's just renting cabbets and just pulling our little trailer to spots we'll do it. For the first time today Trekker Josh drove a jet ski on his first boat ride. Yeah. He slept through 75% of it. Chill baby. She's like yeah I'm cool. Just hanging out on relaxation. Relaxation. Better than a day at the spa. Yeah. Cheaper too. Well for us not for the people who own it or they're at their winter homes or at their other summer homes.  They have cabbets on Lake of the Woods and Cottage Country. We're here in like Falcon Lake but they go in this general area so there's a lot of very influential people in the area. You all thought you knew who number one mom was. No now you know.