A cannabis company tries to help veterans, and we have among us, Brian Buckley, who is a veteran. This is Think Tech. I'm Jay Fiedel. Welcome to Tuesday morning. Brian, welcome to the show. Hey, it's great to be here. Thank you for having me.  Tell me about your veteran experience, your military experience. Yeah, I served nine years in the United States Marine Corps, started off as an infantry officer, and then I moved on to Marine reconnaissance, and then spent a majority of my career as a team commander in Marine special operations, also known as Marine Raiders, and conducted deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, and as well as Africa. You've been through it. There's not too much you can't handle, though. Yeah, you would think that, but the cannabis industry is a very unique business to be, and I don't think there's anything quite like it. How'd you get into it? Why did you get into it? In 2016, I just started seeing what was going on with our veterans, and myself being 100% disabled. I'm a very big fan of the VA, but I know they have some limitations being a federal agency. And it was at that time, we started an organization called Battle Brothers Foundation, where we wanted to provide a holistic approach to help our veterans, just so they could have that same sense of purpose like they did while they served in the military, with the hopes of avoiding a mistake that they couldn't come back from. During that time, I discovered the plant, a good friend of mine, Andy Myers, just started telling me how amazing cannabis was making him feel. He said some infamous line to me where he's like, I gave up a fifth of Jack for a joint, and started telling me, he's like, listen, I'm getting a great night of sleep. I'm not blacking out at night. I'm not drinking and driving. And when I wake up in the morning, I feel great. And furthermore, he said, I started to get into cultivation, which is really helping me transition from a warrior to a gardener. So I just thought I was really impactful, and I tried something for myself that night, and it was the first night, and I don't know how many years, I just went to sleep and stay to sleep and just started feeling really good. So I decided to say, hey, let's maybe move this forward a little bit, and not just be an advocacy group, but maybe see how far we can push the dial, and had the opportunity to talk with some members of Congress and ask them, what do we have to do to get medical cannabis into the VA system? And they said, if you can get data and get American doctors, you're gonna have a good argument. And we've done that so far. We launched our adult use brand here in California called Hellman Valley Growers Company, where 100% of our profits goes back to fund veteran medical cannabis research. And we were very fortunate to partner up through our nonprofit with a firm out of Israel called Niomedic Healthcare and Research Services, as well as University of California at Irvine Health. And we've been approved for an institutional review board, which means we've been clear to conduct human trials. And our first study is gonna happen here in the upcoming months to see if medical cannabis can reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Let me unpack some of that with you. Where is Hellman Valley? The Hellman Province is in the southwest part of Afghanistan, is an extremely volatile area. The reason being is they have the Hellman River Valley. And that is where they will throw out their poppy seeds, grow poppy, cultivate it into heroin, and it'll be sold in the Taliban will tax it. So it's a very big financial source for the Taliban.  So we really wanted to keep a military niche to what we were doing here. And we threw the letters HVGC up on the wall. And it came to us relatively quick where we just said, Hellman Valley Growers Company. I was like, well, that really works. Let's go brief the guys, make sure they're good with it. Kind of told them the whole scenario. We got a trademark this and this is our mission. Are you guys good with it? And they said, not only are we good, but when we get out of the military, can we get a job with you? So that was a pretty easy situation right there. That's great. So your materials talk about PTS. I always thought of it as PTSD, but tell me the difference and tell me what it stands for and tell me what it is and tell me whether it's the central party or the other party. Yeah, so post-traumatic stress or post-traumatic stress disorder, medically in books, you'll see it as PTSD. Really the first time I heard it called PTS was from President George Bush where he just said, this isn't a disorder. These are things that people have to live with and we shouldn't make them feel like they have some sort of problem and that bad things are happening to them or whatnot. They should be kind of open to talk about what they went through. And I'll just share on my own personal experience like I said before, I'm a 100% disabled veteran and I have 100% post-traumatic stress. And for me, it really was, I had no qualms what I did on the battlefield. The people that we engaged and had to fight with, that's just the nature of the business. However, you do see the non-combatants like IE the women and children, unfortunately get mixed up in the type of warfare we now fight. It's no longer like I tell people like the Napoleonic Wars or Civil War where you showed up on a field and two lines and you guys just fought or anything like that. You're literally fighting in people's neighborhoods. That's just a way a counter-incertancy works. And we would always go above and beyond to do what we could to protect the non-combatants even to put ourselves at greater risk. But unfortunately, we fight some very evil enemy. People should and need to realize that these are not very good people at all and life is very meaningless to them.  And to me, that really kind of struck me, especially after I started having kids, I started kind of having a little bit more anxiety, just kind of thinking back to those days when you saw some of the horrific events. One thing that you tend to do in the military is compartmentalize information. When you're on the battlefield, things happen, terrible things happen, but you kind of just see it, observe it, stash it somewhere back in your brain-housing unit and you just drive on to the next objective. But it's when you come back to America, it's really when things slow down and you have time to reflect some of those demons start popping back up again. And that's just kind of been my personal experience. And you can talk to every other veteran, they'll probably have some sort of thing that kind of hit them in a weird way. But the main thing we really wanna press here is post-traumatic stress isn't just a military issue, it's a human condition. It can happen to any of us. And we just see the benefits of medical cannabis that is helping with everything that encompasses post-traumatic stress. I mean, they're still trying to break it down like with pain, anxiety, sleep, things of that nature. We just think instead of getting someone maybe 15 pills, you might be able to solve this problem with just some sort of cannabis product that could really help them and benefit them and do some great things. You know, I heard a piece not too long ago about how living in modern society, not war even, just living in modern society can also give you PTSD, the stress and strain, especially in COVID and all the anxieties that surround people. So, you know, the process you're describing, let me throw a thought at you, would apply not only for veterans, but for everyone. 100% agree. You know, one thing we are doing here, I mean, obviously we're pushing this through in terms of our research, utilizing veterans and working with Congress to do so. And it's not just gonna be a benefit for the veterans, but, you know, we make this federally legal on the medical side, it's gonna benefit all patients throughout America and could really have a great positive impact on the medical landscape here. Yeah, and on society, I would say if it was generally available and ubiquitous, you know, in Hawaii, we have medicinal, you know, medicinal marijuana cannabis is legal here. And you've been talking about medicinal cannabis and it sounds like your company is directed there. But, you know, the next step, at least in Hawaii would be recreational cannabis. And what do you think about that?  Is that where you think the country is going?  And that's where, again, we take the profits from our adult use brand to help fuel our research. You know, but I look at in terms of, what is the big deal if you do allow recreational or adult use?  I mean, that's very common.  What's the big deal if someone goes home and smokes half a joint and goes to bed?  So I think it's really just normalizing what cannabis is. I mean, we're fighting obviously uphill battles, like trying to push a refrigerator up the stairs by yourself and that's all, you know, manifested with the drug war and all the way up through to where we are now. But what I think you're really starting to see is, you know, I say in my generation, we are probably pretty well open to it, but I really think it was particularly interesting to see, you know, Vietnam veterans that era who were living, you know, in the Nixon days and all that stuff. And really we're like, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's just bad stuff. I shouldn't touch it. Well, now you're seeing a lot of these Vietnam veterans who have retired. And again, I kind of go back to those moments of law where you have a lot of time to maybe think and process stuff. And they're starting to have some things kind of creep up on them from the war that they fought. And they're starting to turn to medical cannabis or some are just using adult use cannabis because they're afraid to go out and get a cannabis license because that can tie in all stuff with gun laws and all that stuff as well. So I think it's starting to get opened up in, you know, as more and more people kind of talk about how they're good with it, they can accept it. You know, I always tell people, it might seem strange at times, but believe it or not, the government works for us. We don't work for the government. And if we start pushing things and saying we want this, that's what our representatives, it's literally in their name, should go out for it and do and help us so we can do what we wanna do. Couple of other things to unpack. So if I have BTS, how does it affect me? How does it affect my life? How much of a disability is it for me, whether from war or any other purpose? But let's talk about war. Let's talk about, you know, a really traumatic experience in war to see death and dying. And I come back and, you know, I begin to unravel, what is it like for me and how disabled am I by reason of BTS? You know, it really is kind of individual independent, I would say. Not everyone has kind of the same story, but maybe similar circumstances. And I have a great opportunity to meet with a lot of fellow veterans, both male and female, who are suffering post-traumatic stress or have lost limbs or even, you know, some of the families who have lost their loved ones, it all kind of impacts us similar, but yet different. And some of the worst cases I have seen are sometimes when the veteran really moves into a state of isolation. That's when you gotta really become concerned because they can be sitting there with a bunch of pills that were prescribed to them. They're living off some government benefits and they can go out and buy a handle of vodka. And that's when sometimes they sit there and they're just kind of doing the same thing over and over again, numbing themselves out. And they start thinking about, well, what's my purpose? Why am I even here? Maybe they make a mistake and do something not to becoming out in town or whatever it may be. And they just think, maybe it's just time for me to leave. And that's what we definitely want to try to avoid.  I mean, if I do a squat, it's gonna sound like a crack sample pop commercial. I mean, it's just a lot of the creaking and cracking with me right now. But, you know, I always tell people it's like, with cannabis, it's more of a precision strike versus kind of a boat trying to stop. You know, with cannabis, you kind of feel it. You know, when you're there and you have a good euphoric feeling and you're like, I'm set and good. You know, with alcohol, a lot of times people drink and they feel good, but then they kind of float right over the X and they're a little bit more inebriated than they want it to be or need to be. And that's when some problems gonna occur. So I just see nothing but upside potential for what we can do with this plan, not just on the push from X level, but if you look at all the other medical benefits that I think could come from this plan, it's really an exciting time. And, you know, unfortunately it's a schedule one narcotics. So hopefully we can knock this thing down to a schedule two or even better a schedule three and really open up the research so we can really discover the power of this plan. Yeah, I wanna discuss that with you. But one of the things is, you know, you have some stats on suicide and I suppose there's, you know, the stats are at least conceptually a connection between PTS for veterans and homelessness for veterans, which is so tragic. Can you talk about that? Yeah, I think one of the most alarming stats I saw and I believe it was a Boston University study that came out either in June or July this year, where it's stated nearly, I think it's like 41,000 veterans and active duty personnel have committed suicide. And during the same time, you know, during from October 2001 until recently when we were involved in both Iraq and Afghanistan, we've lost about 7,500 military personnel on the battlefield. So if you look at that stat, it's actually more dangerous for us to be back home in America than it is for us to be in the battlefield, which I just found that to be just, I mean, I knew it was high but I didn't think it was that high. And to be honest with you, the number is probably even greater. Just due to when a veteran might commit suicide through a vehicle accident or a motorcycle accident, they'll just call it a vehicular accident, but chances are if there's a guy just crashing into a wall, they probably had some alternative plans on their mind at that point. And homelessness? You know, homelessness, it's a very big moving target in terms of, especially with Vietnam air and everything up to now. I have not seen the exact study on it. I know it's a lot. I would say unfortunate times, I think some homeless people try to say they're a veteran. You don't really know if they are or not. They just kind of wear camis and say, I'm a vet, can I have money? But it is a grave concern. And I think it's kind of goes in hand in hand with a post-traumatic stress where they are just kind of isolated and they might not go out into the workforce and things might happen and they just kind of give up and say, hey, I don't care. I'll just take it to the streets. And it's very concerning, but I think what you're starting to see now is there's a lot of programs out there that they want to help out active duty members' transition into civilian life, which is going to give them a step forward and having some hard truths with them. What I always see people in the military, they want to be the best. They set goals, they have to do this, they have to do that. Well, if you actually look at some things of your disability benefits or if you retire or you got retirement benefits on top, you could be making the same amount of money doing something that isn't some C-suite type level job, but might be something you just like and you're going to live comfortably and do well. So that's some of the things, I really stress to veterans is, discover who you are, what is your passion and what do you want to do? Don't go work for a paycheck.  It's now it's your time to go live the American dream you fought so hard to defend. You bet. A little more detail on your schematic, the relationship of the profit and the nonprofit, the relationship of the two companies with the Israeli company and why an Israeli company, what can they do for you? Just like to see a sort of a schematic of your corporate organization, okay? Yeah, absolutely. So with Battle Brothers, like I said, that was started before and really went through, it was a three tier approach I came up with, a personal medical and economics. So personal, it's a lot like a big brother, big sister network. You were active duty, you're getting ready to transition. It's a lot more difficult than you think it is. You know, you'll have a battle brother there to kind of just 24 seven. You know, you want to pick up the phone and talk and just maybe voice out some issues you're going through. Chances are that veteran was there too and they can help talk it out with you. On the medical side, we help out the VA disability claim. So if a veteran did not get the disability they thought they could serve, we can look at it, take it over, resubmit to the VA and see if we can get them the disability percentage that they've earned. We also provide treatment centers. So if a veteran is suffering from alcoholism or drug abuse or post-traumatic stress or all the above, we can get them into a treatment center, let them take their need for a little bit, kind of recalibrate and get themselves right and get back out there. And obviously we've discussed some of the medical cannabis research. And then the last part is really the economic phase is where we help the veteran find a job just so they have that same sense of purpose like it did in the military. And that's where you really see the difference happen. And I really wanted to make sure like, hey, you don't have to start from point A and get to point Z. It's custom to that veteran. Sometimes a vet just needs some help with their disability or they might need treatment or they might be like, hey, I'm just trying to find a job, you guys got anything like that and we can kind of custom to them. And really the big thing too is, I'll never say every veteran needs cannabis. I don't know, if it makes sense for you, yeah, you should be able to get it. But what we wanna do is at least provide that as a tool and a toolkit for the VA to use if they deem it's necessary at that point. And when we really were looking into this research concept, we just realized how expensive it was gonna be. So it was actually the idea came from a Paul Newman salad dressing bottle where it says 100% of profits to charities. So we talked to our lawyer and our CPA and we're like, can you explain this? And you guys can totally do that if you make profits and you wanna put things back into a nonprofit, go for it, it's totally legit. So that's where we started. And then with, in terms of the Israelis, we all know how far ahead they are. They're probably about two to three decades ahead of us on their research. And I was literally at a UCLA cannabis symposium back in 2017. I went out for a coffee break and I met this gentleman named Alon Blot and he worked for a firm called Niomedic Health Care and Research Services. So he was a veteran, I'm a veteran, we just started talking and I told him about the idea and he loved it. And that's when we started working with him and they come with a very well-respected team. Our head guy is a gentleman named Dr. Victor Novak who at one point was in charge of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute. He's done numerous FDA trials. I mean, we lost him last year during the height of COVID for a couple of months because he had to take over the second largest hospital in Israel's COVID clinic. And then, like I said, the big thing we were kind of missing was the American face. I mean, we know we need American doctors to kind of validate the research. And next to you know, we got UC Irvine who said, hey, we really appreciate what you guys are doing and we'd like to be a part of this. So really the, you got the Israeli team who are going to be running the research and the American side is going to be the principal investigator basically taking notes as we're going through everything and validating it. And once we get through we figure it's going to be about three trials. We'll have a formulation, a treatment protocol. We're going to do it in multiple states. That's when I'm kind of rounds complete, if you will.  Can we proceed with FDA trials? Great, wonderful. Let's take a moment for a picture show. Okay, Brian, I'm going to flash some pictures we have of you, the organization and can you just give us a running narrative of what we're looking at? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so those are myself and two other Marine Raiders, Andy Myers, who I talked about before. He was the one guy who said, hey, I gave up a fist of Jack for a joint and he's actually our head of cultivation. So we're getting ready to start up a cultivation site here in California and he's going to be a guy running the show and what's going to be a lot of fun about that is we're going to be bringing more veterans in to work with us. So it's really just going to be a kind of special thing having veterans making medicine for veterans. Okay. And this is what we would say, we call these patient appreciation days. We would go out to certain dispensaries, we'll offer some site of sort of a promotional deal and it's a great time because we get a lot of people coming out, a lot of veterans and we get to just kind of talk to them one-on-one and that's what we really like is we like to talk to veterans and say what is working for you or what would you guys like to see? And from that, we take some more ideas and we'll come out with either a new strain or a new delivery system, whatever it might be, but we're just here to service the veterans. Yeah, there we are. That's, I think that's the first time we actually started filling some of our distillate cartridges. So that's us in the lab just cleaning up some of the carts right there. And there we are in the lab again. Usually isn't that happy down there but I'm glad they're smiling. So usually a lot of hard work in that area but you can see the guys are in there putting everything together, just kind of pressing the caps and just getting everything to a finished product which Andy's holding right there in his hand, one of our boxes. And that's just us holding some oil right there that just came in. So that's actually our live resin which was really exciting. I love live resin. It really just started to take off here in California where you just chop the plant, you do a fresh frozen and then you manufacture the plant as it, you add nothing to it and really just gives you a great turkey profile and you get the full entourage effect. And it's not really that huge of a head high if you will. I mean, you're gonna feel good but it really does nice work on your body and it's just almost like smoking the flower itself. And there's one of our finished products right there. So that might be our Afghanimal strain that has done very well. That's one of our sativa packaging. So one thing we like to do is we have a black packaging for Indica, lighter packaging for a sativa and a green one for our hybrid. And yep, there's our hybrid one right there. So it makes it very easy for the consumer to kind of find what they're looking for. Okay, let's move on. Let's move on to the political side of things. You've been making peripheral statements about that and I wanna get deeply into it if we can. This country has said on a national level it is really not backed cannabis for veterans or anyone else. On the other hand, a number of states that must be well over a dozen now have made cannabis legal from a medicinal point of view. And of course, as from what you were saying, you wanna change the national scene. So what is the national scene? What was it before Trump during Trump and what is it now with Joe Biden? You know, I think a lot of things were kind of taking place. I look at 2016 as kind of a big year where I think a lot of the things on the ballot we're getting a lot of attention in terms of, you know, for example, California was looking to pass Proposition 64 which would allow adult use, even though California was the first one to move for medical reasons back in 1996. It took a little while, but to me that was kind of a big tipping point. And you know, I would say towards kind of the end of the Obama administration, it was kind of like, hey, it's a state issue. There were some bills kind of getting kicked around but nothing really took hold. When the Trump administration came in, there was definitely a scare with Jeff Sessions when he ripped up the coal memo. But, you know, this is where the power of the people you had to Senator, Republican Senator Cory Gardner from Colorado, and he literally went in and said, I will not approve any more federal judges unless this whole coal memo thing gets put away from Sessions because I got roads and schools tied to cannabis tax. And if you guys take that away, it's going to crush my state. And obviously Jeff Sessions was removed and with the new AG with Trump, you know, pretty much again, it's like, hey, it's a state issue. It's state's rights. If they want to do it, it's fine. But nothing was moving on the federal side. There were some omnibus bills. We thought that might make it through and they kind of got kicked out of the curve. And then, you know, in terms of the Biden and the Harris administration, I'll be honest. You know, President Biden's been around for a long time and he was one of the guys on the crime bill and he was what he was, he was in Congress for 40 years. And Kamala Harris put a lot of people in California away for nonviolent cannabis offenses. So I was kind of like, you know, they might be seeing the right thing out there, but I don't know. And again, once they got into that seat, nothing has really changed. I mean, I look at things with, in terms of social equity, how everyone's talking about that and it's a great thing. Well, the President of the United States can make a huge dent in social equity by just releasing everyone who's in jail right now for nonviolent marijuana offense. I mean, he could make that happen right now. And I don't know, we'll see how it goes. I think, again, you're dealing with politicians, they're gonna use things for political cannon fodder. I think the Banking Act is kind of low-hanging fruit, but I bet- What do you mean by the Banking Act? What is that? So the Safe Banking Act would essentially give FDIC approval to like Bank of America or Wells Fargo or some of the bigger banks so that cannabis companies could actually operate in them. Right now, they can't touch anything from cannabis because once they schedule one narcotic and there's no FDIC approval for it, so you're really limited to working with state or charter banks. But that would be a huge win. You know, if they could do things like move it to a schedule three, that would eliminate Tax Code 280E. Right now, if you're operating cannabis, you basically have to set up four companies within your one company so you can get tax deductions. And it's totally legit, it's legal, it's just a very expensive way of doing business. So those are some of the things that I think they did would make a huge difference. And again, as you move further down the schedule, you can open things up to more research. So I think we're gonna have to kind of hold what we have until the midterm. And then I think they'll start putting some people on record to what's gonna happen. Obviously, you saw the Moor Act as gaining some steam. I'm not a fan of that. I mean, you're putting a 5% federal tax on cannabis that would mature into an 8% tax three years. And if you're looking at the state of California, you have people paying 40 to 50% tax rate.  And then if you look at Chuck Schumer's bill, that had a 25% federal tax on it, which would just kill the industry altogether. So that's where you're- Aside from 25% tax, what's the point of that? What would he say if he were here with us today to defend that? You know, the only thing I think they could say on the upside was like, well, 280 is gone. You could save money here, there and there. But I think it's just not being in touch of the reality on the ground. I really feel people look at cannabis like we're all billionaires walking around with a ton of money. That's not the case. I mean, for example, I haven't even given myself a paycheck yet because I'm just putting everything back into the company. You know, here in California, if you're running a legit cannabis business, you're making enough money to pay your people and to expand your business, but you're not driving off in a Mercedes or Bentley by any means. I mean, really the big payoff for cannabis companies is when you sell. So that's where I think people had to come to a brift with reality and understand what's happening on the ground. And that's even why you have such a problem here, especially in California with the illicit market. I mean, right now, the estimated in 2020, the legal market, cannabis market here in California made about $4 billion. They think that the illicit market made about $8 billion. And I can talk to people who are in the illicit market and they have no desire to move into the legal market just due to the high taxation and a barrier of entry. And that's where you just tell them, like, listen, go with a volume play here. You know, reduce taxes, make them somewhat normal. And you're gonna start seeing people seeing the benefits of coming in. And it's not just so much of a money issue too. You gotta look at it from a safety standpoint. When I send my products out before they even hit the shelf, they're going to a third party state tester and they're gonna go through to ensure that everything's clean, safe, and humans can consume it. You go into the illicit shop, they don't do anything like that. So you have no idea what you're putting into your body. And back in, I think, whether it was 2020, 2019, when VapeGape was happening and people were using Vape products and their lungs were getting shredded, none of that came from any legal store in California. It was all from the illicit market. A couple of other things. You mentioned that what Godner was, was a champion of cannabis for veterans and for the people for medicinal purposes anyway. Are there any other champions in Congress that you can call upon before or in connection with the 2022 election? Well, you gotta look at like Representative Bloom and Howler has been a big one. Obviously, you got Cory Booker, who was one of the people working on the Moor Act. And there's a lot more of them out there that I have been engaged with. People within Arizona, people in Hawaii, people from my home state of Pennsylvania and they're seeing the benefits. And one of the nice things I have kind of in my back pocket is, I'm a veteran. I just say to him, you sent us to war, now it's your turn to fix us. And I think they're very open to the idea, but I always tell people, I'm like, do you think Elon Musk would, we would have what he has there with Tesla if that was a government-run company? And people were like, no way. I'm like, exactly. The private world, you can move fast. I mean, people wanna know money in, money out, how can you do it? Government gets tied in with a lot of bureaucracy and there's elections and new people come in with new ideas. So that's why we kind of wanted to put the burden on our shoulders, approving the medical benefits through data-driven results. And I think once we have it, and we're very bullish, we're gonna do it because the Israelis have already, we just need to put the American face on it. Numbers don't lie. And I just wanna supply both Democrat and Republican all the ammo they need to say this stuff works. Why are we sitting on our hands and not helping out our veterans? Well, that takes me to, how would you think this issue was gonna play in the 2022 election?  There's so many other issues and fights and divisiveness and what have you in this country. The country is being threatened by so much now. How is this issue gonna play and on which side of the political fence is it gonna fall?   It wasn't really capturing the headlines. It was kind of like, okay, another state wants to go with cannabis, which I thought was great. I mean, it's just kind of like, okay, someone wants to put a rename a junior high or high school, like fine, great. So to me, that kind of makes it a little bit more normal. I do think towards the 2022 election, I think you will see things like the Moore Act and Chuck Schumer's bill and things like that come a little bit more to light because I think people are worried about losing power in Congress. They're gonna wanna put people on the record and see how they vote and see if it can be used for them or against them during their local elections. So your constituency politically, you know, I remember, you know, that the number of people in uniform were about a million in this country. And the, you know, the people who are actual veterans or would be what, more or less than that. And are they all in your constituency?  I mean, people who would be beneficiaries. Absolutely, yeah, it's really interesting. I think we're gaining or winning more hearts and minds every day. In 2016, I was telling some high ranking military officers my idea of what I wanted to do. And, you know, it kind of got to pop to eyebrow and like marijuana, like they just weren't really getting it. But, you know, fast forward four years later and they start seeing some of the progress, seeing some of the stories veterans are sharing and some of the benefits are coming from it. Those same people are now coming to me saying, you guys had the right idea back then and, you know, we're in full support. I mean, I had a really good friend of mine who retires a high ranking officer. He just said, he's like, you know, I was meeting with some members of Congress and he's like, I said something I never thought I'd say and he's like, I stood up and he's like, guys I never thought I'd say this in a million years but we need more cannabis research. And he's like, we need to get ahold of my friend, Brian Buckley on California. You know, he opened a door for me to talk to some more politicians. So I think people are seeing it. People are very open to it. And definitely, you know, how long this war was from, you know, 2001 to recently. You just have a lot of Americans who served at one time or another who are dealing with a lot of issues. Again, like I say warfare is not what it once was. It's more of a 360 degree battlefield. There is no front line. So it really has impacts on everyone. And I just think, again, it's gaining more and more momentum and you're seeing that in Congress. And I think people are holding people to task for, you know, to represent them correctly. I mean, I saw it here in California in a local election in San Diego where you had some people who were adamantly against cannabis and what nothing to do with it and thought it was the devil's lettuce. They no longer have that seat. I mean, it's kind of democracy one on that one.  That's my first reaction. You carry that sense of excellence in what you were doing.  But what's the succession plan? You can't do it all alone. You can't do it forever. What happens after you? You know, really the end state for us is to get this into the VA. I would love nothing more to see this into the VA hospital and they just have it right there in the shop and the vet goes there with their script and says I need a gram of Granddaddy Purple or whatever it may be and they get it. You know, it definitely takes a village. I have an outstanding network of veterans I work with in particular a group called the Veterans Action Council where it's vets all around the country. We come together three days a week and we work on dealing with politicians. We review bills, we give our input. We also like to talk to veterans, see what some of their issues are and we hold roundtables. And you know, I think for me it's just kind of, I always want to work myself out of the job. I know there's going to come to a point where I've taken this as far as I can and it's going to have to kind of often run on its own and it's kind of like a kid.  So I just want to take this as far as I can take it and get it to the point where we make it federally legal then I'll gladly take a step aside and go find another problem to go solve and you know, just feel good at night knowing that veterans are taken care of. Right, I'm so glad we got you on the show and I'm so happy we had this discussion with you. It's really, it's a fabulous discussion and your organization is fabulous too. And we wish you well in all particulars. Thank you so much for coming on. Well, thank you sir. I appreciate it. It was a great time. Aloha.


Hey, this is Brett, and this 2019 Buick Envision Premium is stock number 13590Z. I am here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. You're new and used SUV headquarters. This 2019 Buick Envision has the two liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, puts out 252 horsepower. It's paired up with the nine-speed automatic transmission is an all-wheel drive vehicle. This vehicle has been fully safety and inspected by our service shop has a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been checked and topped off and it is 100% ready to go. I'm gonna go all the way around in this video inside and start it up and take a look under the hood to give you the most accurate representation of the vehicle possible. Shoot all my videos in 4K, so if you have HD capabilities turn them on now because it is your best way to check out the quality condition options and cleanliness of the vehicle before seeing it in person. As you go down this side of this 2019 Buick Envision, take note of how clean that body is. Didn't see any major dents or dings on the doors or fender. And if you like the video, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel which is youtube.com slash summit auto. Click the bell notifications to get updates on the videos I do each and every day as well as access to one of the largest catalogs of vehicle walk-arounds on YouTube. So that's pretty sweet. Comes with the 19 inch painted silver alloy wheels and it has hand-cooked Ventus S1 noble tires. These are 23550 R19s. These tires are like new on here. You can still see the little wear knobs on there. So like new tires on this one. Comes with the projector lamp headlamps, LED running lights and the projector lamp fog lamps. Front bumper is in nice shape. I didn't see any major dents or cracks on there. You get the gloss black grille. The Buick logo looks really good and the hood is in fantastic condition. Didn't see any major dents or dings on there. Passengers side front fender is in nice shape as well. And the passengers side front wheel, no major scuffs or scrapes on there. Now as you go down this side of this 2019 Buick Envision, once again take note of how clean that body is, how reflective and mirror like that paint is. I take these HD videos. So if you are far away or even if you're close by and you just cannot make the trip down, but you're still interested in purchasing the vehicle, you can see the vehicle, hear the vehicle and have confidence in what you're looking at before you even get here. So when you do get here, there's absolutely no surprises and you can make a smart and informed buying decision from wherever you're at. If this video helps you make that buying decision, let your salesman know it. Just saw the video that was helpful and that breath sent you.  Coming around to the back of the vehicle. Rear bumper is in pretty nice condition, does have the chrome tipped dual rear exhaust and the rear bumper parking sensors. Rear gate is in excellent shape as well and it is a power lift gate. Comes with the factory carpet floor mats back here and underneath here is your, this is the storage area and your spare tire. Jack tools are back here as well. And you can put those seats down from right here, which is pretty sweet. Get this gate down, press that button. It'll come on down like so. For full disclosure, there's back wheel, just as nice as the rest. Comes with blind spot monitoring, heated mirrors, built in directional signals in the mirrors, smart access on the door there.  No rips or tears on those seats. Get the power driver seat with lumbar, factory all weather floor mats, auto headlamps, nice wood grain trim on the dash and doors. Memory driver seat, power windows, locks, mirrors and this one does have the Bose premium sound system. Take a quick look at the back seats. You can see those seats go down that flat which is nice, you've got a whole bunch of extra stuff. And then they do recline like that. Get the latch child safety system, no rips or tears in the back seats and all weather formats. These back seats are heated on the outboard side. They're heated seat buttons and rear air controls to USBs and a 12-volt power point. Very clean back here. And the inside and bottoms of the doors all look fantastic. We'll hop inside, check out the miles, the radio and everything that this vehicle has to offer. You can see this one only has 7,858 miles. You get the nice digital instrument cluster. You get the leather wrapped heated steering wheel, audio controls and information center controls on the right, cruise controls and we'll have to figure out if that's forward collision warning or adaptive cruise controls and Bluetooth controls on the left as well as your heated steering wheel controls. This one has the Buick touchscreen radio. Buick IntelliLink, I believe it's called has the factory navigation system. There's highway 41, so that is working nicely. You get AM FM and Sirius XM radio capabilities on here. Then you have your home screen, you have projection where you can project your cell phone to the screen and then you have all these different apps on here. And that works nicely, get lane departure, start, stop capabilities and your parking sensors, you can turn those off and on and you get an analog clock there. So that's pretty cool. Heated seat buttons, climate controls, stability control, stability track right there. Your nine-speed automatic transmission, you get your keyless entry with remote start and power gate button. Get that woodgrain trim on that center console as well and the passenger side, floor mat and seat are in fantastic condition as well. I don't think this thing, this vehicle's ever been smoked in and you do get the second row panel roof, front sunroof controls and then has sun shade and sunroof controls there. Home link buttons for your garage door security systems and lane systems and on-star and SOS buttons in the mirror or up there. And map lights. We'll start it up, then take a quick look under the hood. Starts right up, no check engine lights or anything like that. Didn't want to show you the backup camera. That is working nicely. And then wanted to check, that's just your forward collision warning. That button right there is forward collision warning. Take a quick look under the hood, check out all those lights in front. Looks like it has LED headlamps. And I would personally like to thank you for checking out the video today and hopefully from this HD video you've been able to verify the quality condition options and of course, cleanliness on this Envision. Has a projector lamp, headlamps, LED running lights, HID headlamps. And under the hood, we have the two liter turbocharged four cylinder engine. Engine day is very clean, runs very smooth. Once again, this vehicle has been fully safe and inspected by our service shop as a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been checked and topped off. And it is 100% ready to go. Like new tires all the way around, there's the Envision sticker. And I would highly recommend this vehicle from a quality and condition standpoint. Think whoever's gonna get it, it's gonna love it. And to see more pictures of this Envision or one of our other 550 new and used cars, trucks, SCVs, minivans, Wranglers, you name it. We gotta go to that website right there, summitauto.com. Full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle all at summitauto.com. And if you'd like to check out more HD videos, you can go to youtube.com slash summitauto. Click the bell notifications to get updates on the videos I do each and every day as well as access to that huge catalog of vehicle walk-arounds. In fact, the next second you will see a link to subscribe to my YouTube channel, the upper left link to more Buick Envision videos I've done in the upper right link to this vehicle on our website and the lower left in a link to one of our latest YouTube videos in the lower right. Click those checks out. We're super excited to help you with this Ultra Clean 2019. Buick Envision Premium in Summit Light Clear Co. Thanks again for checking out the video. Remember to like, subscribe and share on the YouTube channel. I really appreciate it. Thanks again.


Renaissance by Anna St. Vincent Millay, read for LibraVox.org by Eva Davis. All I could see from where I stood was three long mountains and a wood. I turned and looked another way and saw three islands in a bay. So with my eyes I traced the line of the horizon thin and fine straight around till I was come back to where I'd started from. And all I saw from where I stood was three long mountains and a wood. Over these things I could not see, these were the things that bounded me, and I could touch them with my hand almost, I thought, from where I stand. And all at once things seemed so small my breath came short and scarce at all. But sure the sky is big, I said, miles and miles above my head. So here upon my back I'll lie and look my fill into the sky. And so I looked and, after all, the sky was not so very tall. The sky, I said, must somewhere stop and sure enough I see the top. The sky, I thought, is not so grand.  I screamed to feel it touch the sky. I screamed and low infinity came down and settled over me, forced back my scream into my chest, bent back my arm upon my breast, and pressing of the undefined the definition on my mind held up before my eyes a glass through which my shrinking sight did pass, until it seemed I must behold immensity made manifold. Whispered to me a word who sound deafened there for worlds around, and brought unmuffled to my ears the gossiping of friendly spheres, the creaking of the tinted sky, the ticking of eternity. I saw and heard and knew at last the how and why of all things past and present, and forevermore the universe cleft to the core lay open to my probing sense that sickening I would feign pluck thence but could not nay, these must suck the great wound and could not pluck my lips away till I had drawn all then'em out. Ha, fearful pawn! For my omniscience paid I toll in infinite remorse of soul. All sin was of my sinning, all atoning mine, and mine the gall of all regret. Mine was the weight of every brooded wrong, the hate that stood behind each envious thrust. Mine all greed, mine every lust. And all the while for every grief each suffering I craved relief with individual desire, craved all in vain, and felt fierce fire about a thousand people crawl, perished with each, then mourned for all. A man was starving in capri, he moved his eyes and looked at me. I felt his gaze, I heard his moan, and knew his hunger as my own. I saw at sea a great fog bank between two ships that struck and sank, a thousand screams that have in smote, and every scream tore through my throat. No hurt I did not feel, no death that was not mine, mine each last breath that, crying, meant an answering cry, from the compassion that was I. I'll suffering mine, and mine its rod, mine pity, like the pity of God. Oh, awful weight, infinity, pressed down upon the finite me. My anguished spirit, like a bird, beating against my lips I heard, yet lay the weight so close about there was no room for it without, and so beneath the weight lay I, and suffered death, but could not die. Long had I lain thus, craving death, when quietly the earth beneath gave way, an inch by inch so great at last had grown the crushing weight. Into the earth I sank till I, full six feet underground, did lie, and sank no more. There is no weight can follow here, however great. From off my breast I felt it roll, and as it went my tortured soul burst forth and fled in such a gust that all about me swirled the dust. Deep in the earth I rested now, cool as its hand upon the brow, and soft its breast beneath the head of one who is so gladly dead. And all at once, and over all the pitying rain began to fall, I lay and heard each pattering hoof upon my lowly thatched roof, and seemed to love the sound far more than ever I had done before. For rain it hath a friendly sound to one who's six feet underground, and scarce the friendly voice for face, a grave is such a quiet place. The rain, I said, is kind to come and speak to me in my new home. I would, I were alive again to kiss the fingers of the rain, to drink into my eyes the shine of every slanting silver line, to catch the freshened, fragrant breeze from drenched and dripping apple trees. For soon the shower will be done, and then the broad face of the sun will laugh above the rain-soaked earth, until the world with answering mirth shakes joyously, and each round drop rolls twinkling from its grass-blade top. How can I bear it, buried here, while overhead the sky grows clear and blue again after the storm? Oh, multi-coloured, multi-form, beloved beauty over me, that I shall never, never see again. Spring-silver, autumn-gold, that I shall never more behold, sleeping your myriad magics through, close sepulchred, away from you. Oh, God, I cried, give me new berth, and put me back upon the earth. Upset each cloud's gigantic gourd, and let the heavy rain downpour'd in one big torrent set me free, washing my grave away from me. I ceased, and through the breathless hush that answered me, the far-off rush of herald wings came whispering like music down the vibrant string of my ascending prayer and crash. Before the wild winds whistling lashed, the startled storm clouds reared on high and plunged in terror down the sky, and the big rain in one black wave fell from the sky and struck my grave. I know not how such things can be. I only know there came to me a fragrance such as never clings to art save happy living things, a sound as of some joyous elf singing sweet songs to please himself, and through and over everything a sense of glad awakening, the grass a tiptoe at my ear whispering to me I could hear. I felt the rain's cool fingertips brushed tenderly across my lips, laid gently on my seal at sight, and all at once the heavy night fell from my eyes and I could see a drenched and dripping apple tree, a last long line of silver rain, a sky grown clear and blue again, and as I looked a quickening gust of wind blew up to me and thrust into my face a miracle of orchard breath, and with the smell I know not how such things can be. I breathed my soul back into me. Up then from the ground sprang I inhaled the earth with such a cry as not as heard save from a man who has been dead and lives again. About the trees my arms I wound like one gone mad I hugged the ground. I raised my quivering arms on high I laughed and laughed into the sky till at my throat a strangling sob caught fiercely and a great heart throbs an instant tears into my eyes. Oh God, I cried, no dark disguise can air her after hide from me thy radiant identity. Thou canst not move across the grass, but my quick eyes will see thee pass, nor speak, however silently, but my hushed voice will answer thee. I know the path that tells thy way through the cool eve of every day. Oh God, I can push the grass apart and lay my finger on my heart. The world stands out on either side, no wider than the heart is wide. Above the world is stretched the sky, no higher than the soul is high. The heart can push the sea and land farther away on either hand. The soul can split the sky in two and let the face of God shine through. But east and west will pinch the heart that cannot keep them pushed apart and he whose soul is flat the sky will cave in on him by and by. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. Sonnet 3 by John Wilson, read for LibriVox.org by Delena. Written at midnight on Helm Crag. Go up among the mountains when the storm of midnight howls but go in that wild mood when the soul loves tumultuous solitude and through the haunted air each giant form of swinging pine, black rock or ghostly cloud that fails some fearful cataract tumbling loud seems to thy breathless heart with life imbued amid those gaunt shapeless things thou art alone. The mind exists, thinks trembles through the ear, the memory of the human world is gone and time and space seem living only here. Oh, worship thou the visions then made known while sable glooms round nature's temple roll and her dread anthem peels into thy soul. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. Sonnet 2 by John Wilson, read for LibriVox.org by Delena. Written on the banks of washed water during a calm. Is this the lake, the cradle of the storms where silence never tames the mountain roar where poets fear their self-created forms or sunk and trans severe their God adore? Is this the lake, forever dark and loud with wave and tempest, cataract and cloud? Wondrous, oh nature, is thy sovereign power that gives the horror hours of peaceful mirth for here might beauty build her summer bower. Low, where you rainbow spans the smiling earth and clothed in glory through a silent shower the mighty sun comes forth a god-like birth while, neath his loving eye, the gentle lake lies like a sleeping child too blessed to wake. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. Sonnet 1 by John Wilson, read for LibriVox.org by Delena. Written on the banks of washed water during a storm. There is a lake hid far among the hills that raves around the throne of solitude not fed by gentle streams or playful rills but headlong cataract and rushing flood there gleam no lovely hues of hanging wood no spot of sunshine lights her cell inside for horror shaped the wild and wrathful mood and or the tempest heave the mountains pride if thou art won in dark presumption blind who vainly deems no spirit like to thine that lofty genius deifies thy mind fall prostrate here at nature's stormy shrine and as the thunderous scene disturbs thy heart lift thy change at eye and own how low thou art. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. Spring Wind in London by Catherine Mansfield read for LibriVox.org by Thomas Peter. I blow across the stagnant world I blow across the sea for me the sailors flag unfurled for me the uprooted tree my challenge to the world is hurled the world must bow to me I drive the clouds across the sky I huddle them like sheep merciless shepherd dog am I and shepherd watch I keep if in the quiet veils they lie I blow them up the steep low in the treetops do I hide in every living thing on the moon's yellow wings I glide on the wild rose I swing on the seahorses back I ride and what then do I bring and when a little child is ill I pass and with my hand I wave the window curtains frill that he may understand outside the wind is blowing still it is a pleasant land oh stranger in a foreign place see what I bring to you this rain is tears upon your face I tell you, tell you true I came from that forgotten place where once the wattle grew all the wild sweetness of the flower tangled against the wall it was that magic silent hour the branches grew so tall they twined themselves into a bower the sun shone and the fall of yellow blossom on the grass you feel that golden rain both of you could not hold alas both of you tried in vain a memory, stranger so I pass it will not come again 1909 end of poem this recording is in the public domain we slowly drove, he knew no haste and I had put away my labour and my leisure too for his civility we passed the school where children strove at recess in the ring we passed the fields of gazing grain we passed the setting sun or rather he passed us the dews drew quivering and chill for only gossamer my gown my tippet only tool we paused before a house that seemed the roof was scarcely visible the cornice in the ground since then, to centuries and yet feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horse's heads were to war at eternity end of poem this recording is in the public domain April 2019 though thorny the pathway neath our feet though nothing in life be left that sweet though friends prove faithless in trial's hour and love a cursed and poisonous flower though belial stalk and priestly gown and virtue's reward is fortune's frown though two hearts bleed and a coward's slave tramples in dust the fallen brave think not the unworthy acts of men will scape the recording angels pin the sword of God and ruin and wraith will surely fall o cling to thy faith though worldly wise say it cannot be that there is a heaven for thee and me though logics banner they have unfurled and by its cold light now view the world calling high God to the courts of man rejudged by human reasons span and failing to grasp the power divine will blindly assert it doth not shine thy mother was wiser for than they in twilight hour when she knelt to pray a radiant light on her sweet face from eternal God's high dwelling place low here, low here the false prophets cry pointing out new paths unto the sky far pleasanter than our father's trod with bleeding feet in the fear of God while atheists laugh our faith to scorn and say that no man of woman born ever pierced the evil or caught a gleam of the mystic land beyond life stream that our fondest hopes, our prayers and sighs for life eternal beyond the skies are superstitions conceived in fear and cherished by priest and lying seer the martyr's blood, the penitent's tears the inspired word of Judea's seers the name of God on the sacred mount the river that poured from rocky fount in the burning sands beneath the rod obedient to the will of God the prayers and sighs in Gethsemane the red tide gushing on Calvary the radiant smile when life is done of saints that tell that heaven is one shall we say tis all appusely lie and like soulless beasts lie down to die ah, better to be to ride in mail a we request for the holy grail wield Saxon steel against Saracen sword around the sickle-cur of our lord see cross and crescent and mailed hand plashed with blood in that sacred land then doubt that heaven air shed its light we've been to this world's long, troublesome night that God hears our prayers, knows all our pains that earthly sorrows are heavenly gains that the grave is the gate to lasting life unsullied by sorrow, pain, and strife oh, better worship at pagan shrine or prophet of Islam in a dine to seek nirvana in Buddhist lore or pray to Isis on Africa's shore better the dark mysterious rites of series on Illusian heights better the gevers fear Scott of Fire oh, better to wake the trembling liar to any savior than to be hurled godless and hopeless out of the world to madly plunge in death's dark river lost to life and heaven forever in dark seas where whirlpool rages stands the eternal rock of ages in mid-dangers' dire, mid-wreck and wraith God plants the banner of Christian faith unworthy the sailor whose heart doth fail when the god of storms rides on the gale coward the soldier who shuns the grave and thrice accursed the trembling slave who in life's battles, darkest hour renounces God and denies his power then chant a foie through the bitter strife o' cling to the cross through death to life end of poem this recording is in the public domain The Tiger by William Blake read for LibriVox.org by Cornel Nemish Tiger Tiger burning bright in the forest of the night what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry in what distant depths or skies burnt the fire of zine eyes on what wings there he aspire what the hand there sees the fire and what shoulder and what art could twist the sinews of thy heart and when thy heart begun to beat what dread hand and what dread feet what the hammer what the chain in what furnace was thy brain what the anvil what dread grasp there its deadly terror's clasp when the stars throw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears did he smile his work to see did he who made the lamb make the Tiger Tiger burning bright in the forest of the night what immortal hand or eye there frame thy fearful symmetry end of poem this recording is in the public domain A Voice on the Wind by Madison K. Wine read for LibreVox.org by Nima A Voice on the Wind she walks with the wind on the windy height when the rocks are loud and the waves are white and all night long she calls through the night oh my children come home the bleak gown torn as a tattered cloud tosses around her like a shroud while over the deep her voice rings loud oh my children come home come home oh my children come home who is she who wanders alone when the wind drives sheer and the rain is blown who walks all night and makes her moan oh my children come home whose face is raised to the blinding gale whose hair blows black and whose eyes are pale while over the world goes by her wail oh my children come home come home oh my children come home she walks with the wind in the windy wood the dark rain drips from her hair and hood and her cries sobs by like a ghost pursued oh my children come home where the trees loom gaunt in the rock stretch drear the owl on the fox crouch back in fear as wild through the wood her voice they hear oh my children come home come home oh my children come home who is she who shutters by when the bows blow bare and the dead leaves fly who walks all night with her wailing cry oh my children come home who strange of look and wild of tongue with wan feet wounded and hands wild rung sweeps on and on with her cry far flung oh my children come home come home oh my children come home does the spirit of autumn no man sees the mother of death and of mysteries who cries on the wind all night to these oh my children come home the spirit of autumn pierced with pain calling her children home again death and dreams through ruin and rain oh my children come home come home oh my children come home and a poem this recording is in the public domain war is a crime from the elegies of tubulus 55 bc to 19 bc read for LibriVox.org who air first forged the terror striking sword his own fierce heart had tempered like its blade what slaughter followed ah what conflict wild what swifter journeys unto dark some death but blame not him ourselves have madly turned on one another's breasts that cunning edge wherewith he meant mere blood of beast to spill gold makes our crime no need for plundering war when bowls of beech wood held the frugal feast no citadel was seen nor moated wall the shepherd chief led home his motley flock and slumbered free from care wood I had lived in that good golden time nor air had known a mob in arms arrayed nor felt my heart throb to the trumpets call now to the wars I must away we're happily some chance folk bears now the blade my naked side shall feel save me dear larrys of my hearth and home yoft my childish steps to guard and bless as timidly beneath your seat they strayed deem it no shame that hewn of ancient oak your simple emblems in my dwelling stand for so the pious generations gone revered your powers and with offerings rude to rough hewn gods in narrow-built taboids lived beautiful and honorable lives did they not bring to crown your hallowed brows garlands of ripened corn or poor new wine in pure libation on the Thursday ground often some votive day the father brought the consecrated loaf and close behind his little daughter in her virgin palm bore honey bright as gold oh powers benign to ye once more a faithful servant praise for safety let the deadly brazen spear pass harmless or my head and I will slay for sacrifice with many a thankful song a swine and all her brood while I the priest bearing devoted basket myrtle bound while closed in white with myrtle in my hair grant me but this and he who can may prove mighty in arms and by the grace of Mars lay shefton's low and let him tell the tale to me who drink his health while on the board his wine dipped finger draws line after line just how his trenches ranged what madness dire bits man go foraging for death in war our death is always near and our by our with soundless step a little nearer draws what harvest down below or vineyard green their Cerberus howls and or this digian flood the dark ship goes while on the clouded shore with hollow cheek and tresses lesterless wanders the ghostly throng oh happier far some white haired sire among his children dear beneath a lowly thatch his dirty son shepherds the young rams he his gentle use and off that eave his willing labor done his careful wife with weary limbs will bathe from a full steaming ball such lot be mine so let this head grow gray while I shall tell repeating off the deeds of long ago then may long peace my country's harvest bless till then let peace on all our fields abide bright vestured peace who first beneath their yoke led oxen in the plow who first the vine did nourish tenderly and chose good grapes that rare old wine may pass from sire to son peace who death keep the plow and herald bright while rust on some forgotten shelf devours the crew soldiers useless sword and shield from peaceful holiday with mirth and wine the rustic not half sober drive with home with wife and weans upon the lumbering wane but wars by venus kindle near have done the vanquished lass with tresses rudely torn of doors broke down and smitten cheek complains and he her victor lover weeps to see how strong were his wild hands but mocking love teaches more angry words and while they rave sits with the smile between oh heart of stone oh iron heart that with thy sweet heart strike ye gods avenger is it not enough to tear her soft robe from her limbs away and loose her knotted hair enough indeed to move her tears thrace happy is the white whose frown some lovely mistress weeps to see but he who gives her blows go let him bear a sword and spear in exile let him be from venus' mild domain come blessed peace come holding forth thy blade of ripened corn fill thy large lap with mellow fruits and fair and of poem this recording is in the public domain Wild Nights Wild Nights by Emily Dickinson read for LibriVox.org by Winston Tharp Wild Nights Wild Nights where I with thee Wild Nights should be our luxury futile the winds to a heart and port done with a compass done with a chart rowing in Eden ah the sea might I but more tonight in thee and of poem this recording is in the public domain The Winter's Spring by John Clare read for LibriVox.org by Phil Shempf The winter comes I walk alone I want no bird to sing to those who keep their hearts their own the winter is the spring no flowers to please no bees to hum the coming springs already come I never want the Christmas rose to come before its time the seasons each as God bestows are simple and sublime I love to see the snowstorming tis but the winter garb of spring I never want the grass to bloom the snowstorms best in white I love to see the tempest come and love its piercing light the dazzle dies that love to cling or snow white meadows sees the spring I love the snow the crumpling snow that hangs on everything it covers everything below like white doves brooding wing a landscape to the aching sight a vast expanse of dazzling light it is the foliage of the woods that winters bring the dress white Easter of the year in Bud that makes the winter spring the frost and snow his posies bring nature's white spurts of the spring and a poem this recording is in the public domain a word by G. K. Chesterton read for LibriVox.org by Larry Wilson a word came forth in Galilee a word like to a star it climbed in rang and blessed and burnt wherever brave hearts are a word of sudden secret hope of trial and increase of wrath and pity fused in fire and passion kissing peace a star that or the city world beckoned a sort of flame a star with myriad thunder's tongue a mighty word there came the wedges dart passed into it the groan of timberwains the ringing of the rivet nails the shrieking of the planes the hammering on the roofs at Morne the busy workshop war the hiss of shavings drifted deep along the windy floor the heat brown toilets cooning song the hum of human worth mingled of all the noise of crafts the ringing word went forth the splash of nets passed into it the grind of sand and shell the boat hooks clash the boat oars jar the cries to buy and sell the flapping of the landed shoals the canvas crackling free and through all varied notes and cries the roaring of the sea the noise of little lives and brave and needy lives and high in gathering all the throws of earth the living word went by earth's giant sins bow down to it in empire's huge eclipse when darkness sat above the throne's seven thunders on her lips the war of cities entered it the clang of idols falls the scream of filthy Caesar stabbed high in their brazen halls the dim horse hoods of naked men the world realms snapping girth the trumpets of apocalypse the darkness of the earth the rap that broke the eternal lamp and hid the eternal hill the world's destruction loading the word went onward still the blaze of creeds passed into it the hiss of horrid fires the headlong spear the scarlet cross the hair shirt and the briars the cloister brethren's thunder shot the errant champion song the shifting of the crowns and thrones the tangle of the strong the shattering fall of crest and crown and shields and cross and cope the tearing of the gods of time the blighted prince and pope the reign of ragged millions lead to wrench a loaded debt loud with the many-throated roar the word went forward yet the song of wheels passed into it the roaring and the smoke the riddle and the want of wage the fogs that burn and choke the breaking of the girths of gold the needs that crept and swell the strengthening hope the dazing light the deafening evangel through kingdoms dead and empires damned through changes without cease with earthquake chaos born and fed rose and the word was peace in the poem this recording is in the public domain written in March by William Wordsworth read for LibriVox.org by Phil Shamp while resting on the bridge at the foot of brother's water the cock is crowing the stream is flowing the small birds twitter the lake doth glitter the greenfield sleeps in the sun the oldest and youngest are at work with the strongest the cattle are grazing their heads never raising there are 40 feeding like one like an army defeated the snow hath retreated and now doth fair ill on the top of the bear hill the plow boy is whooping anon anon there's joy in the mountains there's life in the fountains small clouds are sailing blue sky prevailing the rain is over and gone in the poem this recording is in the public domain


There are many mysteries, either yet to be discovered or have, and are now shrouded in conspiracy all over the Egyptian plateau. Stories of unexplainable finds, many of which have simply vanished, all have continued to be ignored throughout the years. The several centimeters of ancient sea salt sediment quietly removed from the lower chambers of kiosks. Eventually dug out of the sands of Giza in the early 1900s. There are literally endless theories and rumors which surround this tiny concentrated area of the Egyptians ancient wonders there lay countless awe-inspiring sites to be seen, all equally unexplainable over the Egyptian plateau, and the discoveries of ancient tombs is not an uncommon occurrence, and although our next area of interest may be of no exception, it is in its characteristics. The outer layers of this tomb was made up of megalithic blocks of gigantic proportions, far greater than anyone can yet explain how these stones were moved, carved, and perfectly placed atop one another all over antiquity. Yet what these stones indicate is one of two things, either the occupant of the tomb that has now been conveniently easily identified and named as that of Queen Kentakouis the Thirds was indeed an Egyptian queen. BBC News states, quote, the tomb was found in Abusir, southwest of Cairo, and is thought to belong to the wife or mother of Pharaoh Neferefri, who ruled 4,500 years ago. Egyptian antiquities minister Mamedo El-Dhamidi said that her name, Kentakouis, had been found inscribed on a wall in the Necropolis. Mr. Dhamidi added that this would make her Kentakouis the Third. The tomb was discovered in Pharaoh Neferefri's funeral complex. Yet as mentioned, this tomb in particular pricked our interest due to its megalithic nature. This so-called identified queen was again either a legitimately aged 4,000-year-old mummy who used a structure already in existence, or what might make her discovery incredibly special, is that she could, in fact, be a true descendant of a now lost civilization who were indeed capable of these incredible and as yet unexplainable feats found all over Ancient Egypt, regardless of opinions. We find the facts surrounding her tomb and indeed her possible true origins highly compelling.


No matter what you've done, nothing can separate you from the love of God. Ryan Stevenson's double award-winning breakout hit, The Eye of the Storm, was an overnight success, but his path to success was decades in the making. Ryan always knew he was called to be a musician, but career changes, failed label contracts, insecurities, and his high stress days working as a paramedic challenged his dream. Ryan describes the many ways his faith was tested and how each trial helped him to become more reliant on Christ. This is his story. This is today's Nashville. This is faith. Ryan, I absolutely love all of your songs. Thank you for inviting me into your home here in Nashville. You're welcome. Honored to have you. You know, you have some mega hits out there. Eye of the Storm, No Matter What.  Let's start from the very beginning. Oh my goodness. Well, thank you for saying that. My journey has been unbelievable and unconventional. I'm from South Central Oregon, born and raised in a small little farming community of about 250 people. It's called Bonanza, Oregon. I grew up with farmers, grew up in a little small country church, grew up in a great home, and when I was probably seven or eight years old, my mother put me in a kid's choir at our church. And I didn't want to sing and I was so mad at her for making me do that. But I feel like that just her doing that kind of instilled this love and this small birth of passion to sing and developing this love for music. There was always music going on in our house. My mother was always singing. She wasn't a very good piano player, but she tried. When I got into high school, my youth pastor gave me for a high school graduation present, gave me an acoustic guitar. And it didn't make any sense to me because I'm a drummer. Like, I started playing drums in the third grade and so I just, I always wanted to just be a drummer. And so when my youth pastor bought me an acoustic guitar and he showed up at my house. It's like, I felt like the Lord was just telling me to give this to you and I want to be obedient to that. So here you go. Did you even know how to play? I didn't. I didn't. And I didn't sing. I didn't write songs. I didn't play guitar. I was just playing. And if one person in the world knew that I had dreams to be a drummer in a rock band, it would have been my youth leader. But he buys me an acoustic guitar and goes on his way. Now did you want to be a rock? Yeah. Oh, that's all I ever wanted to do is I just wanted to be a drummer in like a Christian Christian band. And so that was my true pursuit was just really getting good at the drums. And so when he dumps this guitar in my lap, it just, it didn't make any sense at all. But when I went to college, so after I graduated, I go to college, my freshman term, all the guys who lived in my hallway in our dorm, they all playing guitar. And my next door neighbor was walking down the hallway one day and he peeks in my room and he sees my guitar sitting there. He's like, Hey, is that your guitar?  I said, No, I don't. He's like, Oh, cool. And he leaves. And then he comes right back with his guitar. He just started showing me where to put my fingers and how to play chords. And it just clicked like it just made sense. And I could just do it. And that right there was really, I think the starting point of just this where I've been for the last 20 some odd years. It was really that youth pastor giving me that guitar. My neighbor teaching me to play. And that opened up just such an amazing, unforeseen chapter for me. What were you going to school for? I originally went to school for pre-med. I wanted to be an emergency room physician. And I straight off course got put on academic probation right when I got to school, almost got kicked out. But when I got my act together, I was so far behind in my credits and in my grades that I ended up getting my bachelor's degree in education. And I actually taught school for two years right out of college. Eventually went back to school, became a paramedic and really pursued a lot of the medical world after that. Now from Oregon, how did you get to Nashville? We moved from Oregon to Boise, Idaho. My wife and I met in college. She's from Boise. We were living in Oregon on the day before our one year anniversary. We moved over to Idaho to be a little closer to her family. I went back to school, got my paramedic license in the state of Idaho and I worked as a paramedic for eight years. And all the while I was working as a paramedic, I was playing acoustic open mic nights in coffee shops around town just as a hobby. And that just kind of, I just kept growing and getting better and working on writing songs. And I feel like those years of having a job that allowed me the time to pursue my love for music and still work a full time job, it was like this perfect scenario, an amazing fit. And so I ended up getting signed to a record deal through a crazy series of events which ultimately years later led us out here to Tennessee. So as you're working on your music, and where was your faith at this time? I mean, my faith, I've always just had a deep rooted sense that God is always ever present with me. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was seven. I never doubted that. I knew the love of Jesus. I felt like I just had this sensitive spot spiritually for God and the things of the Lord and just this desire to walk with him. So taking music and stories and testimonies and the Bible or my journals, my prayers, everything that you would use to create it. I just created in a way that my faith and my love for God and my perspective on life and the way I grew up, the things I'd seen as a paramedic being with people in their loss and suffering and tragedy. I just found a way because of I feel like my sensitive spirit and my tender heart, I think. I'm a lot like my mom that way. It was easy to write songs about the human condition and talk about our faith in music. It just seemed natural. You know, we have a lot in common. Because I used to be an ER nurse. Right. And I've seen a lot of tragedy. And I'm sure as an EMT paramedic, you have seen a lot too. Yes, ma'am. How have you dealt with that?  I think there's just things that you see. Like that job woke me up so fast. Immediately. It was such a life-changing chapter for me. I got to see firsthand just how precious life is, how fragile we are. There are no guarantees. And truly how I got to see so many people in the process of their suffering still have peace in God. And there's so many things that I could say about my time there. I feel like after all these years since I haven't been on the ambulance. You know, that season for me changed my life so drastically that still all these years later, I feel like it's such a huge part of who I am. And it's easy for me to see people in their current situation. It taught me not to judge people in a real big way. Well, you know, there was a storm at one point as you were working as a paramedic. Lightning struck and it changed your life. And we're going to talk about it when we come back. Ryan, a bolt of lightning changed your life. Yes, ma'am. Literally. What happened? Like I said, I was working as a paramedic. I was on shift. For 24 hours, we worked 24-hour shifts. We get a call at early in the afternoon. I remember we were driving this. It was a beautiful, beautiful fall day. It was an October gorgeous day. But all of a sudden this crazy storm, like the skies just went black.  Big storm, torrential downpour. And it only lasted for a couple minutes. And then it was just clear, super clear again. And right about then, I don't know, a couple minutes later, our tones went out and we got dispatched to a 39-year-old female who was code blue, not breathing, not responsive, no pulse, no heartbeat from a lightning strike. Cardiac arrest, lightning strike. I mean, when we heard it come over the radio, I was like, Hannah, did I hear that right? I asked my partner, I was like, have you ever seen a lightning strike? He's like, no. This is the first. So we go buzzing up in there and it was way up in the foothills, a couple miles outside of town. So it was kind of a trek to get up there. This is Idaho, right? In Idaho, yeah, in Boise. And so we arrive on scene. Sure enough, here's a 39-year-old female laying on the side of a hill in the rain, you know. She was out hiking with her mom and her two little boys. They were looking at some property to potentially maybe build a house on. Storm comes out of nowhere. They tried to make it back to the car just to get out of the rain and bolt of lightning just gets her right in the top of the head. And she goes down.  And I was the paramedic that responded to that call. We get there. Crazy scene. I remember seeing her boys. Everybody's really shaken up. We move her to the back of our ambulance. And I pretty much knew she wasn't going to make it. And we were 10 minutes away. And that's a long time to be away and not have cardiopulmonary resuscitation, breathing, airway, all that stuff, which we get her in the back of the ambulance. I put IVs in her. I intubate her. I put a tube into her lungs. Start breathing for her. We start doing really good CPR, just driving to the hospital.  Let's just transport her. Long story short, I ended up reviving her in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She makes a full recovery that she recovers. She's in rehab. She's on a ventilator for a while. She's in a rehab center for a while. She eventually comes out with some neurologic deficits. It's hard for her to walk now. But mentally, she's right there. She's fine. And so we actually met. Her and I met up at a banquet that the county, our ambulance service, put on about the most noteworthy calls and local heroes that intervened in crazy situations. Well, we were one of those. And I met her. She finds out that I'm a local... Like what I do on the side, I'm just this local musician guy who's playing coffee shops around town. The profound thing here that I love talking about is she and I are opposite in so many ways. And we don't share the same faith. Politically, we're probably on opposite sides of the planet. But here's this lady that just sees me for who I am. And she says, I want to help you. Like, what's your dream? I told her it was playing music. I'd love to help people with my music some day somehow. I don't know what that looks like. She's like, well, how do you do that? I said, well, I'd love to start by going into a recording studio. I've been writing songs for 12 years. And I have a big batch of songs. And I think I have maybe five that I think are worth recording.   She's like, if you ever need me, I want to be there for you. She gives me a check. This check arrives at her house. It was a retroactive disability check.  But the insurance kicked out this check to her one day. She didn't have any clue why. But she just knew. She's like, oh, this is for Ryan. So she gave me that money. And I went into a recording studio and recorded a few songs, which ultimately like that got, I sent that to a record company and got signed to a record deal.  My wife and I at that moment, we had just had our first child. I was just getting signed to a record deal. And we were, it was this, this crazy whirlwind of events. That's really was the jumping off point. Yeah. From a strike of lightning. Yep.  She really, she really intervened. Now from Idaho to Nashville. You've written and recorded some amazing songs. I have the storm. Can you play a little bit? Sure. Absolutely. This song seems so fitting because I remember I wrote this one just to, I wanted to talk about the storms of life and things that people were actually going through. And I think my time as a paramedic really helped shape a lot of this.  Thank you, ma'am. Isn't the Lord just wonderful? He's brilliant. So do you ever stay in contact with her now? I do. Regularly. She's my biggest fan still. It's just top, she has taught me so much about how we don't have to always agree to love each other to be there for one another. Here's a lady, a person who intervenes so profoundly in my life and yet we're so opposite in so many ways and it's just such a testimony to me how God doesn't care about that stuff. He doesn't care about all the labels and restrictions we put on each other but God uses anybody and everything to accomplish His purposes and I'm just so grateful. She every year, she texts me on the anniversary of that lightning strike and just says thank you, love you. She comes to my concerts when we're out there in the Pacific Northwest and yeah, she's always watching from a distance and just always been such a huge support even after all these years. You know, God had you healing the hearts of others physically but now He has you healing the spiritual hearts through your music and we're going to talk about it when we get down. Ryan, let's talk about from Idaho to Nashville. What's your life like? Crazy. My wife and I, we've been married 20 years. We have three kids. We have three kids now. I should say we didn't. We have our little two-and-a-half-year, two-and-a-half-year-old corona season surprise. So we have three kids now moving to Nashville from, both of us are from the Pacific Northwest and we were born and raised out there so coming to the South, coming out to Tennessee, no family, not really knowing anybody was a big adjustment. You know, and we did it, we lived in Idaho for years. All the while my music stuff was kind of taking off and getting a lot busier and it was easier to do it when our kids were younger. As they started getting older, my boys, I knew they were just becoming way more aware that I was gone a lot and I was gone a lot and just constantly on the road touring opportunities and I felt like all we did was, all I did was commute from Boise to Nashville every week and I was just never home and it got to a point where we knew we had to make a change. So we found this house and moved lock, stock and barrel to Franklin, Tennessee and we've been here for a few years now. What do you think about us? Yeah, I love it out here. I really do. It's great. It's great. We love it so much, yeah. Tell me about No Matter What. I think this song in particular is one of my favorites, one of my favorite songs I've ever written. For me, it's... I thought I was writing it for other people and I really ended up being for me and I feel like probably six years ago Holy Spirit just stopped me in my tracks from the performance-based hamster wheel of approval approach to God and I grew up in kind of a religious environment where I only felt as good to God as my last ability to perform really well and I was always just stuck there, never knowing where I stood with God. Always feeling like, man, it was kind of explained to me that Father God is disappointed at humanity but he sent Jesus to clean up your mess and drag you back across this big chasm of separation and back into God's good graces and you'll always still be a piece of garbage but at least you have Jesus you know, repeat this prayer and hopefully you'll go to heaven when you die and I just didn't know how to reconcile that and I lived in that dysfunction of performance for years even into my adulthood even into being a dad and a husband and several years ago I felt like the Holy Spirit just in his kindness came to me and said, stop like just stop you can stop all of that striving like it is finished it was finished I need your heart to be pierced with the revelation that the finished work of Jesus is paramount you need to settle that right now and I was reading Romans 8 at the time and there was a it's my favorite book of the Bible my favorite passage is Romans chapter 8 but in one of my favorite pieces is where I'm convinced that there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God and then he just starts to go on to list all of the things you know, height or depth angels our future or past nothing in all creation some translations say will ever be able to separate us from God's love revealed in Christ Jesus and I just had this this thought like, man is it as simple, is the gospel as simple as 2nd Corinthians 5 says you are the righteousness of God in Christ and that's not up to you it's what Jesus did no matter what you've done you can't erase his love nothing can change it and you're not separated like these truths just settled on me in a way that just melted my heart and began to reveal truly Abba's heart like a dad's heart for his son, for his kids that it wasn't my striving or my working or my performance or my perfect behavior that changes anything it's what he did and who he is and who I am in him and it was just this revelation that I can't go back to the way it was before and so songs like No Matter What really came out of that Can you just play a little bit?  Thank you ma'am Where is God lady do you now you have some new music coming out tell me about it yeah wow I feel like I'm just laser focused on helping people realize what has been birthed in me and the fire that's just brewing in my belly these days it's just the message of the finished work of Jesus and I feel like so many of us especially a lot of people who grew up in my generation who grew up around a religious environment or a legalistic slant where we all just kind of got sent into our adult lives with that performance based approach to God my heart is just burning now with a passion to help people not deconstruct and not come out of that but just to really maybe unlearn some things that have been unhealthy and dysfunctional about the character and nature of God and truly just using my music using these songs praying through all this and releasing these songs that just talk about that very thing about the heart of a dad and our place and our status of who we are in Christ and that's his beloved ones first thing Paul says in Galatians 5 beloved ones and I just I love that and that's just kind of all I want to do from here on out is help people have that personal revival and awakening and that revelation that they are they are Abba's child and awakening says God loves you as you are not as you think you should be we are Abba's children and I didn't understand this for the longest time people always said Ryan you just wait till you have kids then you'll begin to understand the heart of a dad you'll begin to understand Abba's heart for you and I didn't get it I didn't understand it for a long time and then when I had kids and I see my babies now I just realized man even on a human level my kids this much my fascination with my kids has nothing to do with their behavior they're just my kids whether they think they are or not right now no matter what they're doing and I just I believe that that's exactly the same way Holy Spirit relates to us you're my daughter you're my son I love you with the same love that the father has for the son and that's where I'm headed Ryan thank you so much you're such a blessing I know God's going to use you in a mighty mighty way thank you my friend are you in the eye of the storm no matter what Jesus loves you this is today's Nashville this is faith


On December 7th, the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Award winners for 2021 will be crowned in a special luncheon at Nissan Stadium. Tonight, we have the privilege of presenting the three finalists in all 10 categories, and let's start in Division 1 with Class A. Kaleek Ganaway, Peabody DeAndre Kelly, South Pittsburgh Marquez Taylor, Mackenzie Class 2A Cameron Huckabee, Megs County Cameron Miller, Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Ty Simpson, Martin Westview 3A Kayden Buckles, Alcoa Jacob Dooley, Waverly Keaton Herig, Loudon Class 4A Barry-on Brown, Pearl Cone Mason Gudger, Greenville Kayden Pope, Hardin County Division 1-5A Deshaun Bishop-Carnes Jamarius Brooks, Memphis Central Walter Nolan III, Powell 6A Jordan James, Oakland Destin Wade, Summit Keaton Wade, Summit Moving now to Division 2, Class A Bradford Gaines, DCA Steele Haines, USJ Joshua Strickland Jr., Nashville Christian Class 2A Alexander Broome, Lipscomb Academy Langston Patterson, CPA Luther Richardson, Lipscomb Academy Division 2, Class 3A Gallon Hayden, Christian Brothers Kenny Menchie, Pope John Paul II William Riddle, Macaulay And our three finalists for kicker of the year regardless of classification Upton Bellingpot, Stewart's Creek Justice Chadwick, Telehoma George Laster, Brentwood Academy Let's take the opportunity now to go through the finalists one more time, again beginning in Division 1 with Class A Kaleek Ganaway, Peabody DeAndre Kelly, South Pittsburgh Marquez Taylor, Mackenzie 2A, Cameron Huckabee Megs County, Cameron Miller Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Ty Simpson, Martin Westview 3A, Kayden Buckles, Alcoa Jacob Dooley, Waverly Keaton Herrig, Loudon 4A, Barryon Brown, Pearl Cone Mason Gudger, Greenville Kayden Pope, Hardin County 5A, Deshaun Bishop, Carnes Jamarius Brooks, Memphis Central Walter Nolan III, Powell 6A, Jordan James Oakland Destin Wade, Summit Keaton Wade, Summit Division 2 Class A Bradford Gaines, DCA Steele Haynes, USJ Joshua Strickland Jr., Nashville Christian Division 2 Class 2A Alexander Brun, Lipscomb Academy Langston Patterson, CPA Luther Richardson, Lipscomb Academy Division 2 Class 3A Dallin Hady, Christian Brothers Kenny Menchie, Hope John Paul II William Riddle McCauley and Kicker of the Year Upton Belinfonte, Stewart's Creek Justice Chadwick Telehoma and George Laster Bretwood Academy Those are our finalists for Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Awards for 2021 Coach, that's an incredible list of 30 young men I'll tell you what man, there are some really cool names in there I haven't seen a lot of these guys play but I'll tell you what they got it in the program and these guys are ready to go There's Kickers, that's the greatest group of Kickers names I've ever seen Congratulations to all you athletes For those of you that are still playing find a way to help your team win a championship Any way that you can Congratulations on behalf of our coaching staff, our football team and our organization and best of luck to you guys still playing Can't wait to see you guys over at Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium, December 7th for the luncheon Those are your 30 finalists for Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Awards for 2021