Welcome back to our YouTube channel. My name is Jolie Greenbaum. I'm the executive assistant at care immigration law and today we're going to be discussing our office methodology and flow. We follow a rigorous step-by-step process when filing an application. So I just want to run this through with you guys to show you what it looks like when a client first interacts with their office to the very end, when their application is approved and we close their file. So the first thing that would happen would be that a client would book a consultation with a member of our team and during this consultation the client would discuss with us their questions and then we would propose the appropriate legal strategy for them. Following this should the client decide that they would like to retain us, we would send forward to them a retainer agreement, a list of opening file documents and of course information concerning the initial payment. Once the retainer agreement has been signed and the opening file documents received as well as the initial deposit, then the client's file would become active and they would be assigned to a specific immigration case coordinator at our firm. They're assigned to a case coordinator who will be working with them throughout the duration of the application preparation and the timeline for this is roughly four to six weeks that we like to work on a client's file before we submit it. This might sound like a really short period of time but the reason for that is because when a file becomes active the information on the client and the background and the details of the case are still very fresh in our minds so it's much easier for us to work with the client and you know to write something like the legal submission letter when we have all the information that's fresh and we like to allocate priority to these clients whose files are active so we can do that when it's within a really short period of time because there's you know there's often turnover. There's constantly turnover in our office with new clients so we like to make sure that we completely focus on this client's specific application in that four to six week period and we've found that this has not only allowed for the client to be able to help us submit a very complete application but it helps us in you know ensuring that we have all the documents and the forms and it also helps us in writing the legal submission letter more easily. So once your file becomes active and you're assigned to a case coordinator they will go ahead and introduce themselves to you and move forward in sending you the questionnaire. If you watch our previous video I describe what the questionnaire sort of looks like and how it helps us in building the legal submission letter. So once you receive the questionnaire you will need to fill it out other with yourself or your partner answering all the questions in as much detail as possible. The reason being that all the details are important and they help us in building the legal submission letter because as soon as you send the questionnaire back to us then we do our part in writing the legal submission letter. Once the questionnaire responses are received the your immigration case coordinator will then send you a tailored list of documents for you to collect obviously these documents would reflect the mandatory documents required by IRCC and additional supporting documents that we have found to be very helpful in our immigration applications. And then only at the very end of this preparation process do we send the forms for the clients to complete and sign. The reason being that forms expire obviously to avoid that problem now what we do is we always send the forms at the very end have them signed right before we submit the application so we can completely avoid this problem happening. And then once we receive the documents the forms we will have completed the legal submission letter and have it reviewed by both the client and by Mary. The application will have been completed within that four to six week period and it is then that finally after a final review from the lawyer that we submit the application to immigration. So then you're probably wondering what happens after the application is submitted. There's obviously a processing time so we send a very detailed email to our clients sort of outlining what the processing time is going to look like and what they can expect during this processing time. The processing time can often be the most anxiety inducing I guess portion of the whole process for clients but we always advise our clients to remain calm and just to keep in mind the processing time only if an application processing has exceeded the processing time which was indicated by RCC online will we then send status update letters asking immigration for either updates on the application that we sent or to expedite the process otherwise all processing within the designated processing time we deem normal. So that being said if you don't receive any news from us during the processing time no news is not bad news and we like to outline this from the very beginning this is really important. We will only contact the client if we plan on doing immigration updates where we like to supplement with additional cover letters and additional documents sending this to immigration on a regular basis or when we receive correspondence from IRCC of course when we receive correspondence from IRCC we always advise the clients right away and we act accordingly. And then finally once we you know once we receive that correspondence from IRCC saying that the application has been approved then we close the file but we always retain a digital copy for our records it's required by the law society and then it's also just in case the client has other immigration applications that they would like to submit in the future we have their information on file so it would make future applications much more much easier. And it's also important to remember that during the processing time if you're ever feeling anxious or nervous that we follow our own rigorous process and steps in ensuring that your application is processing normally we regularly check immigration websites, listservs, speaking with other colleagues to ensure that you know the processing of your application is going well. So if you have any questions about the immigration process about a specific immigration application or you would like to discuss with us our office methodology and flow please feel free to send us an email and we'll be more than happy to discuss this with you and as always thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.


Ah, to hear those foundation after Midnight Boys got DJ Skipback? It only took him a year and a half! Oh, okay, good afternoon Foundation staff. This is level 4 researcher Theron Sherman, and today's broadcast illustrates that you can hire the brightest academic minds, and they're still gonna be morons! This is item number SCP-5149, level 4 classified, object class, Keeter. Special Containment Procedures. This demonstrates the source of SCP-5149 around going. Description. SCP-5149 is a radio signal of unknown origin being received by LunarSight 34 every 24 hours. Attempts to locate the source of SCP-5149 have been inconclusive, though it has been ascertained that the signal is coming from outside the solar system. SCP-5149 consists of a short repeating message in UTF-8. The message is constructed of a series of 44 dots laid out in a complex position pattern. Dispersed with empty space in certain locations. Due to the extra-solar nature of SCP-5149's origin, this is believed to be an extraterrestrial communication or language system. At the moment, decryption of SCP-5149 is considered a class A priority. A team of cryptographers, linguists, and radio technicians are stationed at Lunar34 for this purpose. Attempt log. Attempt 1 on January 30, 2014. Ran it through all modern language translation systems for similarities. A formality. Translation failed. Attempt 2 on February 3, 2014. Ran it against dot-based ancient languages. No distinct similarities. Translation failed. Attempt 3 on February 7, 2014. Ran a new task on the analysis computers. Attempting to discern the complexity of a dot-based language. Translation failed. The table then omits 145 lines. So we're moving on to attempt 149 on May 29, 2014. New analysis computers arrived. Broke them in by trying to simulate all possible divisions of the message. Translation failed. Attempt 150 on June 30, 2014. Manipulated based through flips, rotations, reflections, and several stretches and compressions before putting it through previous suite of analyses. Translation failed. Now the table omits another 96 lines. So we're moving on to attempt 247 on October 1, 2014. Not a message at all? Maybe art? Compare for logical consistencies or repetitions of symbols to confirm if even language. Translation failed. Attempt 248 on October 13, 2014. Connect the dots? Worth a try? Translation failed. Attempt 249 on October 20, 2014. Greenhorn suggested we run it through non-verbal languages, Screener. Poor guy thinks it'll really be that easy. Translation success. Within 0.5 seconds of the scanning, Screener produced an English translation of SCP-5149. It was realized that no individual on the project had recognized the transmission as a form of braille. The decrypted message on SCP-5149? Help!  Even the source of SCP-5149 is ongoing. Decryption team have been reassigned pending demotion. See what I tell ya.  Alright staff, that ends our broadcast for today. Use your foundation encrypted YouTube account to like, comment, subscribe, hit the bell. Support our broadcasts at patreon.com so I'll site 42. See you guys in quarantine.


Hey guys, how are you today? So I have a couple more little landscape studies to do. I am going to be showing my daughter how to do some watercoloring. She and her company need some water color images done for a book they're producing and if I can get the link for everything and the name of the company, I'll include it in the description below. So she sent me a couple of sample images to work from and to come up with some samples of the kind of style that they would like and I'm going to see what I can do and then if she likes them, then she's going to come over and I'm going to show her how to do them and we'll work on some other images. So I'm going to speed forward through my process. If you have any questions about what I'm doing, put them in the description below and I will answer them. I promise and I will get this done and then I'll be right back. So let's get going.  I hope that you enjoyed that. I hope it gives you some ideas of what you can do.  Have a good time. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. Support my channel if you can by shopping in the Etsy shop. The link is in the description below. Join my Facebook group because there's lots of fun stuff going on over there. All of that jazz, alright? And the most important thing, go out and have a great day. Do something nice for yourself because you deserve it and I'll see you later. Bye, guys!


Okay, so hello and welcome to all our Amherst community members to our chat for Thursday, April 30th. Thank you all for joining us today. My name is Brianna. I'm the communications manager for the town. We'll be holding short live chats like this on Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon for the next couple of weeks. As a reminder, this webinar is being recorded, so please refrain from asking any personally identifying health questions. In this webinar, to ask us a question from the Zoom application, click the Q&A button and type your question into the box. If you'd like to speak, please use the Zoom raise hand button or press star nine if you're joining us from the telephone. We ask that you introduce yourself before speaking and to maintain a civil discourse. So today we have town manager Paul Bachman and health director Julie Fetterman. Welcome to you both. Hi. Happy Thursday. Yes, it's rainy Thursday. Yes, not as nice as Tuesday where we had some sunshine. So before we go into Q&As, I wonder if there's any updates from you, Paul, in terms of town happenings? Sure. Thanks, Brianna. And thanks for organizing this again. So this week, Governor Baker extended his orders for stay at home and essential services from May 4th to May 18th. And the town has extended the same orders and just coincide with the state. So the next target date is May 18th. And that's the earliest possible time we would see any kind of relief on the stay at home order or the requirement that only essential services be delivered. So they, as we anticipated, we talked about previously, they are looking at this in sort of small chunks of time and seeing how things work. They want to see that the curve is starting to flatten and then go down a certain number of days of reduced hospital admissions, I think, is the real benchmark that they're using. And they're not seeing it go down at this point. It's kind of flattened. It's plateaued and it's sort of staying there. So that's why I think the governor felt it was important to extend it. So that's the only thing. I'm not sure if, Julie, you want to add anything at the beginning? Sure. Good afternoon. I have a couple of items I want to address. First of all, some of you are readers of the Hampshire Gazette and readers of our town website and the Department of Public Health website. And if so, you may have noticed that yesterday and today there's a reporting of 83 cases of COVID-19 for the town of Amherst. In reality, yesterday the number of cases was 33 and today the number of cases is 35. This error that has appeared is an accounting error that has happened at the Department of Public Health level. Because testing is done in many places through many different labs, there was an entity whose test results went through inaccurately and generated one address in Amherst for many, many people who do not live in our community and are actually nowhere near our community. So the Department of Public Health is working to go through each one of those cases and determine where they actually do live and assign them to those towns. Meanwhile, this incorrect number is out there electronically. So we wanted to reassure folks that we have not seen a giant jump in numbers in the town of Amherst. So today we have 35 cases in Amherst and that number, you'll be seeing that 83 number go down and that will be accurate. It will go back to what it should be. Now in the course of today we may get a couple more cases. So you will be seeing over the next few days and the next week or so that we have a few more cases likely each day. Part of this is because what we're seeing in Massachusetts is that the number went up steeply in eastern Mass and now we're sort of seeing western Mass begin to follow that pattern. So we won't be surprised to see an increase in cases. So just wanted to clarify that for everyone. You know, Julie, if the website, the state website will be fixed or do they just do that once a week? Like every Wednesday they update it? Will they do it in between now or will they just wait till next Wednesday? No, they're working really hard on it. They tried to get it accomplished for this, for our town by four o'clock yesterday and they weren't able to. So they're continuing to work on it all day today. We're hoping that they'll be able to correct it by the end of the day. Again, they have so much data that they're working with at the state level that we can't be sure. But no, they won't wait until next Wednesday. They'll get it corrected earlier than that. But that's a good question. The other topic we wanted to update people about was we were able through a collaboration with Cooley Dickinson Hospital Lab, Healthcare Services for the Homeless and Craig Stores to test our Craig Stores community and we're happy to report that the result of that is that no one needed quarantine or isolation, which is terrific news. Craig Stores has done an incredibly good job of screening folks who come into the shelter every night, providing them with masks, cleaning surfaces, educating people about how to keep themselves safe, and creating social distance within the shelter. So we're really pleased about that and happy that Hampshire College was there, ready to welcome people if we did need quarantine. So we feel very pleased about this. I just want to mention that I really accredit to our team, you know, DPW and Superintendent Gufford Moreing and Assistant Town Manager Dave Zomac and our police chief, Scott Livingstone. Everybody was on in the fire chief, of course, Tim Nelson. We're working hard to prepare Hampshire College. Again, you know, shout out to Hampshire first opening the doors and then our team for getting those doors ready. We had it all set up and thankfully it's not going to be required. And so we've informed Hampshire College of that and they are very interesting. The President's first response was so good for those people and it was a really nice response, initial response. So that's a really good news story for our town. And I also think just to echo something Julie said about thanking, you know, recognizing the efforts of Craig Stores and the staff for being proactive early on, on educating people, identifying folks, reorganizing the shelter so people were the best they could be socially distanced at night. So they do important work and so thank them for all their work all year round. Great. Great. Thank you for those updates. So we have a question that just came in from Sarah here and shoot. This is probably for Paul. Will the special town council meeting on May 11 include any update or discussion of the major capital projects? Thanks Sarah. It's a good question. So on May 11th, we will be the interim finance director Sonia Aldridge and I will be presenting to the town council, to the school committee and to the Board of Library Trustees with economic information on where we think the town is in terms of revenues going for the rest of fiscal 20 and looking into FY21. People may know that the town council has adjusted the budget deadlines. They said we want to see a one month budget for the month of July and then given us additional time to create a budget for the rest of the fiscal year and I think that's a reason to approach to looking at this. We don't have much new information about the capital projects. We have been in touch with the Board of Library Commissioners and the Mass School Building Authority. They are still actively moving on all these projects so but we will probably identify them but not have any new information to share come May 11th. Great, thank you. We've got another question here asking what are the plans for Amherst restaurants and businesses reopening? Julie and I look at each other. So the restaurants are open in the sense that they're doing curbside pickup. We have also some restaurants are also offering additional things like offering groceries. You can buy groceries at certain restaurants. They're able to offer that. The inspections department has helped them to facilitate that. I know that Amherst coffee you can go get a whole meal from them and take it home and restaurants are able to offer bottles of wine and things like that. They've been really creative in how they've responded to it and I think this is going to be the new normal for a while. I think restaurants are very social and that will be one of the they're going to be operating in a reduced capacity for quite some time and we're talking months not just a matter of weeks but in that time we'll be working with them to figure out new ways that they can be delivering their goods, their meals in ways that are they're meeting the the social protocols that we they're going to be instituted because COVID-19 is going to be with us for quite some time. So you know they were open to all kinds of creative ideas in the business improvement district and the chamber have been scouring the country to look at models that we can follow here. Julie anything you want to add to that? I'll just add to that when we were approached with the idea that restaurants could sell groceries it felt like such a great idea because many of our restaurants are quite well prepared to have the cold storage that's necessary for groceries and then the dry storage and what we learned is that restaurants often have different suppliers than your grocery stores so this will kind of maximize the places where people can get food and the availability of food because we're all seeing at different times whether it's eggs or or toilet paper not a food but still a dry good that they're in short supply and so this will help to open up more supply streams to come into town and make it easier for folks to be able to get what they need and then also give restaurants a revenue stream while we go through this period of time when we're trying to figure out as a state how these very social entities can can open in a way that's safe. We're really hoping that this will help to provide them with a revenue stream. And what's interesting is outside my office you can see Lime Red the bubble tea shop and when the weather warms up they have a little counter outside or that they put the drink you order in advance they put the drinks on the counter and then you come up and you pick them up with your name on it and they're monitoring that so you see more and more people stopping by to get their bubble tea they don't enter the store they don't have to enter the store and so I think there'll be more creative ways for businesses to meet the needs of the customers and allowing people to safely travel into town and be able to get those things and a note that there is no charge for parking and there's no enforcement of parking unless you park in a handicapped or loading zone or something like that. Great, the next question we have has been asked and answered a few times so I'll ask it again just because it does keep coming up. Why are we not requiring masks at this time? Thank you for the question that is definitely something that people are continuing to ask about to talk about so I'm going to sort of address the whole mask issue broadly and they get more specific so there are basically three different types of things we're calling masks so there's N95s those are the ones you've heard about that are rather expensive in short supply and those are specifically for healthcare workers and even within the healthcare setting there's such a shortage of them that they're being really targeted towards certain types of procedures where the healthcare staff really need that kind of protection. The next type of mask is called a simple mask or a surgical mask that's a you know you've often see them they're often blue sometimes they're light yellow they're made of paper they open up and they slip over the ears sometimes they're called a procedure mask so these types of masks again are prioritized for those who are working in some type of healthcare or high risk setting it's also hard for hospitals long-term care facilities and other entities to get those types of masks so they're really prioritized for those entities and that leaves us with the cloth face covering which is sometimes being referred to as a mask also so what that refers to is anything that made of cloth that someone can put over their mouth and nose a bandana a tightly tightly knit cotton scarf as opposed to wool or any type of yarn the reason I'm emphasizing that is anything that's stretchy like wool or yarn that's been knitted together really is too porous to give any type of protection to anyone so what you're seeing a lot of people wear are homemade masks which first of all should be made out of a very tightly woven cotton and or layered with a tight flannel both of those types of fabrics have been found to be the least porous there's also some recent research out of I believe it's the University of Chicago that shows if you layer two different types of fabric like the tightly woven cotton and the tight flannel that you're also creating a type of electrostatic static between the two fabrics and so that not only are you getting two layers of protection that can trap possibly microbes there's also some static action that's happening between the two layers of fabric that may also contribute to trapping the tiny microns of virus that being said there is really no data yet to support the effectiveness of this type of face covering so that is why we are not requiring them in the town of Amherst if people want to wear this type of covering when they can't or they may not be able to social distance six feet or more then it's possible that this type of face covering may provide a little bit of protection but what we really want to emphasize in Amherst is the importance of that six feet of social distancing we're still asking that you stay home that you only go out if necessary to places where you may come in contact with other people and when you do to be six feet apart now that doesn't mean that you can't go outside this really is referencing going to a place that might be crowded like a park or going into a store if you want to be outside and exercise absolutely there's no reason to not be outside breathing the fresh air as long as folks are six feet apart great thank you for addressing that again Julie I appreciate that yeah but I think it's interesting because you had some new information I hadn't heard before about the electrostatic information and but I think that that speaks to how you continue to scour the research and educate yourself and and talk to your colleagues in public health about what is the best practice so if there is evidence again we've been trying to align all of our policies along with the best scientific evidence along with the State Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and so as we align those things and keep our best practices following those those principles I think will be we're in the best shape so but it doesn't it means that we're always thinking about this and reviewing it and on a daily basis saying what we may change this or any of our decisions going forward based on new new evidence so just put that caveat in there today this is and this is we said this early on when we started meeting like we'd make a decision and then make a different decision the next day and it was like you know we made this decision yesterday and we made it differently today it doesn't mean that yesterday's decision was wrong it was like it was based on the best information we had and the decision we make today might be different based on the new information we have so I think people should you know it's an evolving situation and you know we continue to scour and look around for new evidence that might support a different position if that's what's required. Great I'm just going to take a quick chance to remind our attendees who are on the call live use Q&A button to put your question to us or raise your hand in the Zoom application to ask your question live so the next question we have I think a lot of people are think projecting to the warmer weather will pools be allowed to open as the weather gets warmer and what will that look like? Thank you for the question I think one of the things that's very interesting about the about swimming pools is that they are chlorinated and so I think a lot of folks are asking about well we know that chlorine affects the virus neutralizes the virus I think unfortunately the real issue around pools is the fact that it will mean lots of people will gather together so again we're looking at the social distancing what would it mean to gather people around a public swimming pool so the state is getting many questions about this also and so we're following the state's lead and at this time there isn't a plan for swimming pools opening and when there is we will be right on top of that information because we know while it's cool and rainy today that that wonderful warm weather is right around the corner in the town of Amherst our pools don't usually open until the end of June so and I guess the new England in general it certainly takes a while to heat up so but this is a a topic that's being closely watched because we know how important it is to people. Great thank you and kind of along that same vein another question is can we use puffers pond are we going to be able to swim there again or at least use the beach? Well I'll talk about the beach part so we have closed the beach to people for static or stationary sitting and things like that you're fine to walk through puffers pond we want to keep that open we want to encourage people to exercise it's okay for solitary fishing things like that but we don't want it to become a gathering place and we'll be monitoring that with police officers on a regular basis to make sure that we don't start we don't see groups starting to gather there it's still cold but as we all know that as soon as that first you know 75 80 degree day pops that puffers becomes a very attractive place for people to attend from all over the region not just Amherst obviously we have not restricted parking there at this point in time we again that's one of those things that we will continue to monitor and review and and see how we can best achieve the public health benefits of keeping crowds keeping people from gathering together especially people who don't aren't used to seeing each other family households are one thing but it's people gathering from multiple family households uh uh together um but in terms of swimming Julie I mean usually puffers isn't ready to swim there's some hearty souls that get out there early though aren't there there are yes and um so I think Paul um explain that well it's it's tight quarters at puffers so if you've got people gathering there they're going to be too close together um I think it's also worth putting out there that at this time of year even when it's really hot the water is very cold and it's really never a good idea to go boating too early or to swim too early because um frankly your risk of drowning in cold weather cold water is much higher than when the water warms up so we wouldn't want to see people swimming yet anyway um and uh because of just the way puffers is set up it's it people are just going to be too close together so I think we'll be a ways from allowing people to be able to swim at puffers great thank you one of the last questions I have here is um how do both of you see us coming out of this what's the next phase it's a nobody knows for sure the way has a crystal ball but I do think that uh we are all looking at ways that we can move our our exit our exit strategy in a sense I think that what we will recognize is that this is a new reality that we will have we don't know if the university and colleges will be open or if they are open what they will look like uh coming forward after in September um it will come in phases I think that hopefully the state will you know as they talk about turning the dial open things up a little bit I you don't want to open up too much and then have to retract and retrench things that you had previously achieved so we want to do it in a step by step with the um it's kind of been amazing to me to see how creative people are especially the business community because they've been hard hit and you know teachers who are teaching at home or teaching students remotely students who have been figuring out ways to new ways to learn and new ways to explore the world um I think there's lots of new things happening and those might become part of the norm going forward so but I think in for in terms of town of Amherst we're really heavily dependent on restaurants and um and you know bars and things like that things that are by definition social and I think you're going to see that uh and it really um open up very slowly uh the town who is working with the business community to say is there a way we can have people sit outside properly socially social distance so there can be more of a sense of community can we um grab back more some of the street to create more areas that we can have for dining or um but again all these things it all depends on being properly distanced from other people um and because there's so so much that we don't know about the disease and how it spreads we know a lot but we don't know everything we want to be conservative and how we approach it because we we've done really well in Amherst and I think Julie has said this before that we really want to thank everybody for how well they have done but we want don't want to lose our path we want to stay on this really good path that we're on and Julie you want to talk about how this is yeah I I think you explained that really well and I think one of the things that I'm really excited about is the fact that several states are working together because um in New England you know all these small states were also close together New Hampshire Vermont Connecticut even New York are all Rhode Island are very close to us so the fact that we're all working together on how to open means um that let alone all the towns around us all working together all following the same sort of gradual opening up I think we'll really pave the way for um keeping ahead of this virus and it's just this delicate balance between trying to bring our economy back trying to get folks back to work um get our kids back to what they're usually doing and at the same time making sure that we don't slip back in some way as we control the spread of the virus so it's really a delicate balance there and I'm I'm so happy about the way folks are working together in Massachusetts and then in the surrounding states I think it's really a recipe for things moving forward in a safe and effective way so I was on a call um earlier this week with other mayors and managers and one of things that we talked about was sort about sectors and you know like um restaurant sectors and things like that but also geographical regions that what might be happening in eastern Massachusetts might be slightly different than western Massachusetts or on Cape Cod and then there might be some variation so you might read something is happening in this section of of the state it's not happening here or vice versa so um you know so I think that there'll be some variation um but it has to be thoughtful has to be based on your the best assessment of our communities and that's why I think the governor's office has been doing a more aggressive job of reaching out to municipal officials to say how would this work in your town how would it work in someone else's town uh the only other thing I want to add beyond I know we're at the end of our time is that the our inspections department and health director have been working with the farmers market as well in the hope of getting the farmers market open and reviewed by the town council we anticipate that they will be there to the town council on May 18th for that for the review of their plans hopefully that will all come together so they're anxious to get started they're looking at a virtual farmers market where you can pick up you can order groceries in advance pick them up on farmers market on a totally touchless system and the farmers market will look different it will not be a social setting it will be about getting groceries in an outdoor setting um properly distance and things so the farmers market folks have been really good at saying how can we make this happen and they've been working really well together with our inspection services to lay out a plan that's going to look different but be really robust I think oh that's great um before I before I wrap I just want to say um Steve sent us a message saying thanks Julie Brianna and Paul very useful and interesting thank you Steve thanks for joining us and everybody who's on the call I just want to say that next Tuesday May 5th at noon we're going to be chatting with assistant town manager and conservation and development director David Zomac so please tune in same link same phone number all of our recordings are posted to our youtube channel on our playlist um and we have one last comment coming in from library director Sharon Sherry we think you rock too thanks for tuning in stay safe everybody we'll talk to you soon


Just one of the many fine programs brought to you Sundays on NBC. Later this evening, listen to the NBC Star Playhouse with one of your favorite stars. Here, meet the press, America's number one newsmaking program, and be sure to keep tuned for the dramatic story of communism in America on Last Man Out. A wonderful lineup of great programs, all of them heard only on NBC.  The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-died brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother of pearl. Its handle unmarked. People call them both the sick shooter. The NBC radio network presents James Stewart as the sick shooter. A transcribed series of radio dramas based on the life of Britt Ponsett, the Texas Plainsman who wandered through the Western Territories, leaving behind a trail of still-remembered legends. Now in just a moment, you'll hear Act One of the Sick Shooter. But first, I want to be sure that all of you know that beginning next week, we change our day and time of broadcast. Instead of Sundays, we'll be on the air Thursday evenings. In other words, our next sick shooter program will be broadcast Thursday, April 1st, and every Thursday thereafter. For time of broadcast, please consult the listing in your local newspaper. We hope you like our new Thursday evening time. Now, Act One of the Sick Shooter, starring James Stewart. West, Miss Singer, you know where I can find him? No, ma'am. He ain't in town this morning. I just come from there. The jail in Lockwood. That's where he might be. Now, Miss Singer, West ain't in jail this morning. That's all over now. All over? Sure. And nobody's have to try arresting him again, either. They'll arrest him again, Jim, someday. Don't make no mistake about that. They'll arrest him or they'll kill him. We all gotta go sooner or later, Granny. Oh, West, if I was as close to my time as you are to yours, I wouldn't be talking about killing and dying so much. Your time's closer than you think, West. Maybe even closer than mine. Doggone, West?  Ah, Granny's getting cantankerous in her old age, that's all. What do you want? Nothing special. Nothing special. I just thought maybe you'd like to know Britt Ponsett's in Lockwood. Ponsett? Yeah. He's staying at the hotel. Why didn't you say so before? Well, what's the difference? You wasn't serious the other day. Why, West, you couldn't have been.  You'll find out whether I was serious or not. I'll be in Lockwood at four o'clock this afternoon. Maybe Ponsett will be gone by... He won't leave. Not if he hears I'm coming in to pay him a visit. You mean you want folks to know what you're aiming to do? Sure. Why not? Well, Sheriff Hittleman ain't gonna like the idea. He made that plane enough last week. You think I'd let Ben Hittleman get in my way? Well, I grant you it wouldn't mean much, killing an old geezer who should have been put out to pass you ten years ago. West, you didn't... But if he asks for it, I reckon I'll have to oblige him. Now go on, spread the word. We ought to draw a good-sized crowd. The sick shooter and me. Well, as soon as we'd finished fencing in the last couple of thousand acres on the Tip Top Ranch, old man Jeffers sent me into Lockwood to get some signs printed up. He wanted everybody to know that he owned the biggest spread in this part of the state, and he figured posting these signs every quarter of a mile would do the trick. Of course, the word had to be just right. He wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget it. Tip Top Ranch, property of Rex Jeffers, keep out. This means you. Trespassers will be shot at sight. If you ain't able to read this notice, keep out anyway. Rex Jeffers means what he says, signed Rex Jeffers. Well, as Thursday night when I got into town and the office of the Lockwood Clarence was closed, but first thing Friday morning I headed over to give Pete Drum the order. Pete was the owner of the Clarence. What in thunder is Rex thinking of, Britt? Folks all know the Tip Top starts in where it leaves off. Besides, I thought he had a fence around it now. He has, he has, but I guess maybe Rex feels that ain't enough. No, 2,000 posters just so he can see his name in print. All right, all right, I'll do them. But it'll cost him $15, that's my price. $15? Can't be done for a cent less. Paper's expensive, Britt. Well, how soon do you figure you can get out of here? Oh, I don't know. I've got me a few more of these auction handles and all. I suppose I can shift over to your order. That's a good thing you're coming to town today. Monday I start getting ready for next week's paper. That ties me up clear into Thursday morning. And the way things have been happening around here lately. Well, what do you mean, Pete?  No, no, can't say I have. Sir, Lockwood's got a brand new gunfighter. Oh, gunfighter? Just a kid. But he's faster in grease lightning. The first thing you know, Wes Singer, will be just about as well-known as Sam Bass or Bill Longley or any of the rest of them dead eyes. Wes Singer? Two killings in less than a month. That's what has got to his credit so far. Wyatt Barker, he was the first. Wyatt and Wes got into some kind of a mix-up over to Charlie Jensen's place. Well, sir, Wes beat into the draw and pumped four shots into Wyatt's body before it even hit the floor. You don't say. And afterwards, he just stood around there and he waited for Sheriff Hittleman to take him in for questioning. Why, he acted like he didn't have a worry in the world. And as things worked out, he was right. There wasn't nothing the sheriff could charge him with, seeing as how Wyatt was already drawn his gun when Wes cut loose. Oh, just that's enough of them handbills. Yeah, yeah. Now, what happened to that paper you give me, Brett? All that? Will you know the wording on it for your post?  Right here. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Now, let's see. I suppose Rex Jeffers wants his name in the biggest type I've got. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I rec... He liked to have it stand out good and plain. Oh, yes, he would. Well, I guess this'll have to do. It was big enough for Lincoln's assassination. It ought to be big enough for Rex. Anyhow, like I was saying, folks just didn't know what to make of Wes's singer in the way he'd killed Wyatt Barker.  Or if Wes would take up gunslinging for a whole career. About 10 days later, they found out. Oh, man. It was on a Wednesday down Main Street again. And we was all kind of curious to see how he'd behave. So some of us sort of moseyed over to Charlie Johnson's place when he went inside. And we'd known more than got there before he was in a mix-up with Todd Appel. That's all. Britt, I'd tell you if I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Wes outdrew Todd by almost a full second. Now, you've got to give the devil his due. Wes Singer is a fast man with a six-shooter. And I ought to know I've seen the best. I've seen that gun of yours in action. Well, that was some time ago.  That's a pretty good sign you ain't completely out of practice. Well, what about the sheriff? Didn't he arrest young Singer after the second shooting? Oh, sure. Oh, sure. He arrested him. Take a look at last week's clarion. It's the orchard right there on the counter behind you there. Mm-hmm. Oh, Wes Singer acquitted. The jury finds Todd Appel killing was self-defense. Well, I guess they had to rule it that way since both men was armed. But Sheriff Hittleman, he sure didn't like it. He told Wes the next time he'd come into town stirring up trouble, he wouldn't be alive for no trial afterwards. Well, Ben Hittleman's a man of his words. Singer ought to know that. Sheriff ain't as young as he used to be, Britt. And he slowed down some of these last few years. He slowed down a lot. Well, you take last winter when he went after Jake Gordon. If Jake's gun hadn't been jammed, Ben wouldn't be here now. And believe me, Jake couldn't hold a candle to young Singer. Oh, no. Not a candle. What happened to that other K? I was sure I had two of them. Yeah, you're speaking of the Sheriff. I think maybe I'll wander over and see how he's getting along. His office still around the corner? Yeah, same place as always. I'll drop by and see you later, Britt. Okay, Britt. But you take it easy. Well, Lockwood never had been what you might call a real peaceful town. They'd had their Sheriff gunfighters and shootings. I don't know about that. But Ben Heldman, he'd managed to keep things pretty well under control, so I figured he'd find some way of handling this West Singer. As I turned the corner, I got a little glimpse of Ben through the side window of his office. He was putting on his hat, getting ready to go out somewhere. George Pete was right. Ben had age. Even more than I expected. He was carrying some extra weight around his middle, too. That's what made him look shorter than I remembered him. His mustache had turned to kind of a brownish gray. Well, I opened the door and stepped inside. For a minute or so, Ben didn't say anything. He just sort of stared at me, frowning. Then he sighed and took off his studs and... Hello, Britt. Hi, Ben. I heard you was in town. I'm just going to start looking for you. Oh, well, I guess I saved you the trouble, huh? Yeah. How long you figure on staying in Lockwood, Britt? Oh, the rest of the day. Maybe part of tomorrow. It depends on how fast Pete Drum finishes up some print and he's doing for me. What's the matter? I should get rid of him. No, no, no. You have to run off now. That would turn him into a holy terror for certain. So you left because you were scared of him. You know, holding him back after that. Well, not just what the Sam Hill are you talking about, Ben? You ever hear of a fellow called Wes Singer? Lives out east of town? Yeah, yeah. Pete was just telling me about him. Well, it seems he's spoiling for a gunfight with you. With me? Yes. Well, I never laid eyes on the man in my life. Well, he knows you. Pleased for a reputation. Oh, wow.  One of the boys who was listening brung up your names said he'd bet you could teach Wes a few things about slapping leather. I see. Of course, Wes had to back up his bragging. He told him if he was ever to come around Lockwood, he'd show him who was the best shot. He'd show everybody. Oh, well, I imagine I'd just so much talk. At the time, maybe. But you're in town now. And if Wes don't do something about it, well, he ain't going to look like much. Besides, you're kind of a tent and target, Britt. What are you talking about, man?  Any young gunfighter would put a bullet into you. Well, that'd give him a real claim to fame. Oh, well, it's crazy, Ben. He doesn't have any cause to pick a fight with me. They're all crazy, Britt. Gunslingers like Wes. The idea of getting killed themselves, it don't even enter their heads. It did, there wouldn't be gunslingers. Well, you better get over the hotel. The word is, the singer will get to town around four o'clock. I want you out of the way until I've finished with him. Until you finish with him? I warned him the next time he come into Lockwood and the prod, he'd have to answer to me. Oh. You, uh... Are you going to shoot it out with him? If I have to. You sure you can handle him, Ben? Of course I can. And... No, Britt. No, I ain't sure. He's young. He's awful fast. Yeah, yeah, that's what Pete said. But I gotta try. But it turns out that I ain't still man enough. Well, I... I always knew that sooner or later one of them would come along who was younger and faster. Now listen, Ben, you know, he's gunning for me, not you. That ain't the point, Britt. I'm the one who laid down the law. Told him what I'd do if he ever tried to pull off another shooting spree. Sure, sure. So it's my job to stop it. Oh, you might be a better match for West. I don't deny that. And if he should get past me, not that he would, you understand. But if he should... Well, then... Yeah? But I just couldn't step back and let you take him on first. Why, the folks would never pay no heed to me afterward. They'd say I'd talked big to West, but it was your gunning to listen to. You see my point, don't you? Yeah. Yeah, I see your point, Ben. We'll return to James Stewart as the six-shooter in just a moment. Be sure you're tuned to NBC Radio Thursday evening, March 25th for the Academy Awards. At that time, you'll hear the entire Academy Awards ceremonies direct from the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, where the finest artists in the motion picture industry will be assembled. Donald O'Connor will be your host, and during the evening, some 25 Academy Award Oscars will be handed to their new owners. It's Hollywood's most thrilling night of the year, jam-packed with glamour from beginning to end. And you can hear every moment of it when you tune to NBC. Right now, of course, the names of the Oscar winners are a highly guarded secret, but any number of Hollywood actors, actresses, writers, musicians, and directors would love to know. Remember, it's a date with NBC Radio this coming Thursday evening, and that means be tuned to the station to which you're now listening for the Motion Picture Academy Awards ceremonies directly from the stage of the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Act two of the six-shooter, starring James Stewart as Britt Ponsett. You sure couldn't blame Ben for feeling the way he did. He was the sheriff, and if Wes Singer came into Lockwood, bound and determined to have another gunfight, well, Ben would just have to take a stand. And I sure didn't like the idea. A young fella I've never even met up with was gunning for me, and somebody else was gonna try to hold him off. No, that's just... Not that I was anxious to get mixed up with him or anything, but... Well... Anyway, as long as Ben had made up his mind, there wasn't much I could do about it one way or the other, at least for the time being, so I... I moseyed over the hotel. The clerk stopped me as I was passing the desk. He pointed to a woman sitting on the other end of the lobby. He said she'd been waiting for me to come in. Elderly lady, white hair, wrinkled yellow face with a blue straw bonnet tied under its shin. Uh... Uh, ma'am... Yes? Uh, my name's Ponsett, ma'am. Rick Ponsett. Oh... Would you... Would you mind sitting down here, Mr. Ponsett? Sure, sure. It's, um... It's about Wes. Oh, yes, yes. Wes Singer, that is. I'm his grandma. I see, uh-huh. You know what he aims to do this afternoon, Mr. Ponsett. Well, I'd heard some talk about it, yes, ma'am. It ain't just talk. He means it.  No, no, don't get too upset about him, Mr. Singer. There's probably... There won't be any trouble between me and Wes. What do you mean? Well, uh, Sheriff Hettleman will be waiting for him, and if Wes starts anything, he'll more and more likely land in jail. There ain't no jail could hold him anymore. And Ben Hittleman won't be able to arrest him again, neither.  I'm afraid I don't understand you, Mr. Singer. I figured you were worried about Wes. I thought that's why you wanted to talk to me. Worried about him? I'm worried about all the men he's gonna murder if somebody don't stop him. Men like Wyatt Barker and Todd Apple. Ben Hittleman, he'll be next. Uh-huh. Well, uh, just what is it you want from me, Mr. Singer?    You're the only one who'd have a chance against him. Well, now, Sheriff Hittleman's the law on this, Thomas Singer. It ain't a play. Law? What kind of law is it that turned Wes loose after his other killings? He ain't fit to live, Mr. Ponsett. Maybe it's my fault he turned out the way he did. Maybe if he's more and poor, I'd been here to raise him. But they wasn't. I'd done my best. Of course you did, Mr. Singer. Of course. He couldn't have been born mean. The meanness wasn't in his blood. I don't know how it got into him. Uh-huh. Well, sometimes pretty hard to explain a thing like that. There's only one way he can end up. He'll be killed sooner or later. I'd even thought about doing it myself. Maybe it's my duty. You shouldn't be talking like this.  Today, this afternoon, before anybody else's blood is on his hands. Well, now I understand how you feel, Mr. Singer, but my trying to kill Wes wouldn't... It just... I just don't see how that would be the answer. Then what is the answer? I'd rack my brain, ask God's help on everything I could think of. What is the answer? I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm afraid I just don't know. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when Mrs. Singer left the hotel. I watched her get into her buggy and drive off. She sat there stiff, tall. Her eyes straight ahead, not looking one way or the other. And I waited until she dwindled down to just a little speck, and then I walked outside. There was a kind of a stillness in the air, like on a hot summer day just for a thunderstorm. The town was practically deserted. Nobody was in the stores, nobody in the street. Nobody but Ben Hittleman. Britt, I told you to keep out of sight. Yeah, yeah, I know, Ben. You get back to the hotel before it's too late. I'm not waiting in the hotel, Ben.  I've decided to take a little ride this afternoon. What are you talking about? Well, I thought maybe I'd head over that way, toward those hills over there. And run right into West Singer? Well, I suppose we might meet up if he's coming in that direction. You know darn well he's coming from that direction. I told you he lives east of town. Not of the thinker, I guess you did, yeah. Well, I'll be saying it. Now, you listen to me, Britt. Now, I have listened to you, and I see your point, Ben. If there's a gunfight here in Lockwood, or if it looks like there's going to be one, well, it's up to you to do something about it. Well, ain't that what I've been telling you? Sure, yeah, but on the other hand, whatever happens outside of town, beyond the city limits that is, well, I don't see that that's any of your business. Officially, no, but... Well... Britt, I won't let you do it. I know what'll happen between you and Singer.   But if he gets the draw on you... So on, Ben. Britt. Britt. I didn't ride very far, just a couple of miles. Then I rained up near a clump of spruce. Whoa, boy. Whoa, whoa, boy. The scar wandered around nibblenets and the tufts of dried-up grass. I settled down in the shade to wait. Now, ten minutes later, I saw him coming toward me. Not hurry, I'm just plodding along, slow, easy, like... Of course, I couldn't be sure that this was Young Singer, but it seemed more than likely that it was him. And when he got close enough so I could see his face, well, there wasn't much doubt about it. He was young, all right, afraid to be younger than his years, just a kid. Not a bad-looking boy, either. But there was something about his eyes and the way they kept darting from side to side like an animal on the prowl. When he saw me, he rained up and slid out of the saddle. Howdy. You right out here from Lockwood, miss? That's right. I hear Britt Ponsett's in town. Is that a fact? He was in town. Was? I might have known he'd run out on me. You got any idea which way he headed? Yeah. I'm Britt Ponsett. What? That's right. There's something I can do for you. For a second his eyes stopped moving and just stood there as if he didn't quite know what to do. But it didn't take him long to make up his mind. His right hand whipped down toward his holster so fast that it was all I could do to get hold of the shotgun before he finished his draw. And even then it looked like he might just go ahead and squeeze the trigger, but he managed to hold himself back. We weren't more than about eight feet apart staring at each other. His revolver aimed right at my face and the shotgun I'd bored from Pete Drumpoint and straight at his belly. What are you trying to pull, mister? How's that? That shotgun. What's the matter with your six-shooter? Nothing. Nothing at all. All right, go ahead.  You couldn't mess me. Go on, you couldn't mess me not at this range. Sure, sure, but, but... But I'd still be able to let go with a blast, too, you know. Is that what you're worried about, Wes?  I ain't afraid. You think I'm a coward, don't you? I'll tell you one thing, I think.  As long as you got off the first shot, you figured the worst the other fella could do was just to nick you if he was lucky. Now, you can get off the first shot now, but if you do, I don't need to be able to aim this shotgun. I just couldn't help hitting you. You're local, Ponson. We'd both be dead. Yeah. Well...  All right, I'm waiting, singer. You know, there's no way to... You know, I don't did... That's right. But what do you expect me to do? I expect you to put your gun away and get out of here. And you'd better not come into Lockwood again looking for trouble, because this isn't the only shotgun in town. Well, after a minute or so, he turned and he climbed on his horse. And I... I don't know for sure what happened to him after that. I heard that he moved on farther west and finally got into a gunfight with somebody who outdrew him. I guess it was bound to happen, of course. I just don't understand what gets him to a fella like him. During this month before Easter, crippled children are making their annual appeal to you. They are appealing to you to continue to support the medical, therapeutic, educational, recreational and vocational services which are indispensable to them. The services which are given by the Easter Seal Society in your community. Won't you answer the appeal of crippled children by giving generously to your Easter Seal Society? You may be assured that your gift will be used to provide services that would not otherwise be available to crippled children. Mail your gift today. You may send it to your local Easter Seal Society or to crippled children in care of your local Postmaster. The Sick Shooter is a transcribed NBC radio network production in association with review productions. It is based on a character created by Frank Burt and is written by him. Mr. Stewart may currently be seen in the Universal International Picture, the Glenn Miller story. Others in the cast were Elvia Allman, Sam Edwards, Will Wright, Howard McNeer and Bert Holland. Special music for this program was by Basil Atten and the entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. All characters and incidents were fictitious and any resemblance to actual characters or incidents is purely coincidental. By the way, you'll be interested in knowing that the Sick Shooter has been chosen for broadcast to our men overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Services. This is John Wall speaking and reminding you once more that next week, beginning April 1st, the Sick Shooter will be heard on Thursday evening. Listen to Jan Murray and Sunday at Home on the NBC Radio Network.


All right, the sunshine fee, right? Question. If a man says he doesn't wanna get married anymore and it's your wish to get married in the future, should one cut off the relationship? If a man says he doesn't wanna get married. Okay, so this is a great question and this is really important for those of us in midlife. Okay, so let me just say why that is. So the thing is most folks in midlife, which I say midlife is after baby making years and before retirement, roughly 75% of singles who are actively looking for love in this age demographic are divorced. And a lot of people right after divorce are very reluctant to ever wanna get married again. I'm gonna repeat that. People that have just come off of divorce are very reluctant to get married again. I know after my divorce, it was a good five, six, seven. I said, I never wanna get married again. I never wanna get married again. I never wanna get married again. And now it's funny because now I so wanna get married but it's been 15 years since the ending of my relationship. So one is oftentimes people that don't wanna get married it's because they had a really bad experience in their marriage. Now that doesn't mean that they may not change their mind at some point. But I think ultimately what you might want to find out is why they don't want it to get remarried. Why don't they wanna get remarried? Because if someone is really reeling from pain in their past marriage, it's understandable. I was reeling with a lot of pain from my marriage, the divorce in and of itself because I want you to think about it. Divorce is an unraveling of the tapestry of an old life and then you have to learn to create a new tapestry on your own. And a lot of people just go right back together with someone else. We human beings are rather co-dependent. In fact, if you're not familiar with the book co-dependent no more, people oftentimes gravitate to new relationships very quickly without healing from their past relationships. That doesn't mean that they wanna get married. I'll show the book one more time, co-dependent no more. Doesn't mean that they may just because someone wants to get into a relationship right away doesn't mean they wanna get married. So going back to the original question.  I know my friend says, one of my dear friends says, what's the point of getting married if I'm not gonna share assets with someone? And that's a really good point. Ultimately marriage is going to be about a commingling of assets. This is why I said to you earlier, I'm looking for myself, I'm looking to either get remarried or live with someone at some point because I don't wanna have a relationship where we're living in two separate houses. Now some people can do that. Some people can live in separate homes and carry on for years in a relationship. Now, as I just said that some of you might be thinking long distance. Let me just be clear about something. It's fun to do long distance when you're young and you have the energy but I just want you to think 10, 15 years in the future. Do you wanna be constantly getting on a plane to see each other? At some point, if you're not either moving towards getting either in the same home or at least live close to one another, relationships are very problematic because how can you be there for a person during the tough times? For example, later today, I'm a dear friend of mine. She needs a ride home from the hospital and her boyfriend can't make it. Now I happen to be a dear friend, okay? And she's blessed to have that but her boyfriend does it nine out of 10 times and I just happen to be there. That's what proximity can do for you which is very difficult to do when you have distance involved but that's a whole nother conversation. I'm going off on a tangent. Anyway, go back to your original question. What was the question centered around marriage? Listen, you've gotta decide for yourself. Just because someone says they don't wanna get married, I at least ask a few more questions to determine if you're on the same page or not and if you are, you may wanna explore it and if you're not, you may wanna move on. Great question sunshine, thank you so much.


What is Bitcoin, and why are we here today? I would like to start with the Genesis story, and take you back to when this started. In October of 2008, a paper was published called Bitcoin. That paper explained how the system works. It was published under a name of Satoshi Nakamoto. We now know that this is not a real name. We don't know who Satoshi Nakamoto is, or they are. Somebody out there on the internet came up with an idea of how to build a digital currency. They published the paper in October of 2008. They had also written a prototype software program that ran the Bitcoin software, which they launched on January 3rd, 2009, just a few months later. That was the beginning of the Bitcoin system, the beginning of the Bitcoin network, and the beginning of the Bitcoin currency. It was also the introduction to the world of this new concept, which has now become a word that gets set on TV every single day... on the financial news channels, which is blockchain, which is one of the technologies behind the Bitcoin technology. This sounds like a weird story. Some person, we don't know who it is, shows up on the internet, posts a paper, launches some software. Some other people run this software as well, and this thing starts running. Embedded within the very first block that was created on the Bitcoin blockchain, there was a message. This message was handcrafted into the Bitcoin software, and it was embedded in there for a reason. The message is the headline from that day, from a British newspaper, The Times of London. It says, January 3rd, 2009, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the verge of second bailout for banks, or something like that. The headline for that day, the day Bitcoin was launched, was that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is like the head of the treasury here, was going to start a second bailout for the banks. Now, this may have been a coincidence. I don't think it was. I think that message tells us a bit about the motivation behind Bitcoin. Part of the motivation behind Bitcoin was this idea that the financial system that has existed, and hasn't really evolved much in the last twenty years, isn't serving us. It's serving someone very well, just not us.  How many of you here don't have a bank account because you can't get one? Great. The average percentage in the United States is 18%. That means 60 million people don't have bank accounts in this country. I want to take a guess about who those people are. The poor? That's a great answer. Poverty is one of the main reasons why people don't have access to financial services, but also lack of documentation. A lack of documentation may be because they don't have legal documentation. Of course, illegal immigrants are one of the big groups that doesn't have banking in this country. But it can also be because they don't have documentation for other reasons. A lot of perfectly legal residents of this country also don't have a driver's license, or they don't have the necessary literacy or numeracy to open bank accounts. In this country, 18%, that's the lowest percentage in the world for the unbanked. Every other country has more people who are unbanked, with some countries having more than 80% of the population, having no access to banking whatsoever. But at the same time, if you talk to people in this country, you'll already realize that the banking system doesn't serve us either. It doesn't.  More than a million homeowners lost their home in the United States. At the same time, while they were doing the foreclosures, they were using a technique called robo-signing, where they were signing the foreclosure documents. On deeds they didn't even own, no one went to jail. They were packaging toxic securities up in a technique called CDOs that they knew were fraudulent. They were talking amongst themselves and saying, These are fraudulent, so don't buy any, but we'll sell them to the customers. No one went to jail. So who are they serving? Well, themselves, yes. But also not just themselves. Ironically, a lot of the people who work at banks, are part of a middle class who are not being served by the banks themselves either. They serve the weapon dealers. They serve the warmongers. They serve the money launders. They serve the international drug cartels. They serve the multinational corporations, but they don't serve us. And if they don't serve us here in this country, imagine how much worse it is everywhere else. If you can't imagine, I can tell you much worse, much, much worse. So here we are, after 25 years of the internet. The world is more connected than it's ever been. The ability to communicate information instantaneously anywhere in the world exists for a very large part of the human population. More people have access to the internet than have access to clean drinking water. More people have access to cell phones than have access to clean water. And yet, in the last 20 years, banking hasn't gotten better. It hasn't gotten more inclusive, if anything, with backtracking. Over the past 15 years, international finance has become a weaponized tool of geopolitics. It's being used by powerful countries to attack powerful countries in the form of sanctions, currency controls, embargoes, and other forms of economic pressure. So banking isn't serving more people, it's serving fewer people. And more and more countries are finding themselves in situations where, for no fault of the citizens of that country, they're under embargo or facing currency controls. And they can't transact with people in other countries. And they face calamitous economic conditions where they watch their life savings disappear overnight. And this happened to my family in Greece in the 80s, twice. And it's happened again and again throughout South America, throughout Africa, again and again. It's currently happening in Venezuela, it's on the cusp of happening in Turkey, it's happening in Greece again.  So the economic system that we have is not serving people. And the internet hasn't brought us a financial system that connects everyone together. And part of the reason for that is because modern banking has become a deputized system of law enforcement domestically, and a militarized system of control internationally. Our banking is part of the domestic police system, and it is part of the international military system. Just like the banking in every other country. It doesn't serve commerce, it serves politics. So back in the early days of Bitcoin, something interesting happened. There was an organization called WikiLeaks that was publishing secrets that the U.S. State Department didn't want published. Secrets about war crimes committed by U.S. forces. And as a result, they wanted to shut down WikiLeaks. One of the ways they were trying to shut down WikiLeaks is by prohibiting people from sending money to support that organization. So, of course, the U.S. government first appealed to the court system to get the necessary convictions in order to stop WikiLeaks from breaking the law. Of course, they didn't. WikiLeaks wasn't breaking the law, and therefore they couldn't take them to court. They didn't have the basis in law to take them to court. Instead, what they did was they pressured Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, and all the American banks... and cut WikiLeaks off without any legal process. At the same time, you could use your Visa card to send money to racist groups in Alabama. To send money to all kinds of atrocious political groups around the world, but not WikiLeaks. As this was happening, Bitcoin was just emerging. Within it, buried in that first block, was that little message. That little message said to me, and to many others, this is why we are doing this. This is why Bitcoin needs to exist. 25 years into the internet revolution in this world, we are no closer to having a global community in finance... than we were 20 years ago. In fact, we are further. The financial system is not getting better at serving people, it is getting worse at serving people. With control over money comes corruption. We all know that. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and there is no more absolute power than power of money. You have freedom of expression? Great. But if I can control where you spend your money, you don't have freedom of expression. You have the freedom to vote, but if I can control who can send money to political parties... in which political parties, you don't have the freedom to vote. Watch what is happening in Russia or Turkey, that is straight out of the playbook of Putin. Starve them of funds, no opposition. Election with only one candidate, I win. Also, democracy. The bottom line here is this, Bitcoin didn't appear in a vacuum. For many people, it seems miraculous how Bitcoin emerged suddenly in 2009. Nobody noticed at first. It was just the purview of a few weird geeks in a few weird mailing lists. But after a while, people started noticing, and now it has become this worldwide phenomenon. You might be skeptical. Some person we don't know invented something we don't understand, launched onto the world, and now my younger cousins think I should invest all of my money into this thing. My aunt thinks it's a pyramid scheme, and I can't tell who's right. If you think about this as an investment, you may be missing the most important point. What this represents isn't an opportunity to get rich, isn't an opportunity to find the new thing to invest in. It's an opportunity to change the fundamental way that finance, money, and banking work in the 21st century worldwide. If you don't think you need to change it for you, think about the billions of people who have no access to banking, and no hope of ever getting access to banking. Then think about what happens if all of them are able to run a bank on a $25 Android phone, and what that does to our world. Some bad people are going to be able to do some transactions, and that's okay. Because some billions of people or good people are going to be able to do some transactions. That's how it works. On that simple balance, we can change the world. My interest in Bitcoin stems from two sides. On the one hand, I'm a geek. I love technology. It's so cool. I get so excited by it that I can't sleep, and I want to read everything about it. Then I discover something else, and that's even more excited. Then I stay up longer, have some more coffee, read more, and get all excited. Some of you share that with me. You don't have to. It's okay. But some of you I know know exactly what I'm talking about. That's a really cool reason to be interested in this technology. It's the kind of technology you can learn about. It's the kind of technology that can lead to a computer science degree, or a specialization in another field of study. It's something that you could learn as an accountant, someone who works in insurance or finance. It would be really useful and interesting as part of your career. Just like how to use databases, build a website, or whatever else you might be interested in. On the other hand, I look at this technology, and I'm interested in it because of politics.  The politics of growing up as a kid in Greece, and seeing what happens when money stops working. This is an experience I don't wish on anyone. It's an experience that is alien to Americans, at least in the modern era. I hope it remains alien, but I'm not sure it will. The bottom line is that money is this magical technology, and as long as it works, we don't need to know how it works, we don't concern ourselves with it, and we don't need to really worry about it too much. If we did, and we actually read about how money works, we would be horrified. Surely, that can't be true. They just make it out of thin air and distribute it to banks. They get to lend out money that didn't exist, and then charge us interest and get richer and richer. No, come on, that's a scam. That's a pyramid scheme. The dollar works on a pyramid scheme? Tell me it isn't so. If we understood modern central banking, most of us would be horrified. It's convenient that, as long as it works, we don't really need to pay attention. Let me tell you something. In 2008, it broke, and we didn't fix what broke. In 2008, the worldwide economy broke, and central banking broke hard, and it hasn't been fixed. In the meantime, the world has issued almost a hundred trillion dollars in debt by some measure. All of which is borrowed from your future retirement plans, from your future education plans, from your future health care plans, from the economy. That money isn't going to be paid back. It's not going to be paid back. There's a very simple reason for that. Everyone's broke. J.P. Morgan Chase is bankrupt. CD Bank is bankrupt. Bank of America is bankrupt. Goldman Sachs is bankrupt. The United States government is bankrupt. Europe is bankrupt. The euro is bankrupt. Deutsche Bank is bankrupt. Japan is bankrupt. China is bankrupt. They're all bankrupt.  Find some other patsies, make it appear like nothing's happening. They're all bankrupt. At some point, there's going to be a reckoning. We never fixed anything that happened in 2008. What we did was destroy currency in order to preserve the illusion of economy. That's going to come back and bite us. You don't have to believe me. You don't have to think that this is going to be important in your life. I really, really do hope it doesn't. But one of the reasons Bitcoin was created, and one of the reasons it's important, is because it is neutral, because it is independent, because no one can control it, because no one can change its issuance, because no one can create it out of thin air. It's ironic that when you see criticism of Bitcoin by mainstream economists, they say things like, it's not backed by anything. Really, the question you should be asking at that point, and the dollar is, of course the dollar is backed. But you really don't want to hear that story as to what it's backed by. Then you have to learn some history about Henry Kissinger and the Saudis, and a little deal made in 1971, some towers fell, some nasty things happened, and we've been at war for 18 years. But anyway, the dollar is backed by something, war, to protect oil. Bitcoin is backed by an international community of geeks, the same geeks who brought you the internet.  I hope you make the right choice. Then again, if you hear some of the people in the whole blockchain cryptocurrency Bitcoin-based talk, you might think that the goal of all of this is to eradicate government money as the first step towards eradicating government altogether, and replacing all currencies with Bitcoin. One coin to rule them all, world domination. I'm not of that opinion. In fact, I think the idea of having only one world currency is a bit of a throwback to our current currency system. We've grown up with a system of currency where all currencies are backed by nation-states. They represent flags, right? They have wrapped up in the commercial mechanism of value, a bit of nationalism, patriotism, and a flag-waving person. In each country, it's a different flag. They can all do their little chant. By the way, if you go to other countries, when they wave their flag, they also chant number one. It's a bit like when you ask people, are you a good driver? They say, yeah, definitely. And then 80% of people say they're an above-average driver. How does the math on that work? We have become accustomed to a world in which currencies represent nations. Therefore, they're part of this battle.  The dollar wins if the ruble fails. It's country versus country. In that environment, it's natural to think that currency as a system is a winner-takes-all system, or zero-sum game. The only way one currency wins is by another currency losing. That's a world in which you cut off your nose despite your face, which is a good summary of our current foreign policy. But also a good summary of the foreign policy of the European Union, China, and Russia. We are currently engaged in currency wars. In those currency wars, we are expected to assume that our currency, which represents our flag, is the one we should be backing. But if you stop and think about that for a second, you suddenly realize that that's not money anymore. That token is no longer representing a commercial transaction, it's not representing value for use in business. It's representing something else. It's representing some kind of nationalistic flag-waving thing that you're trying to beat the other side with. In that environment, if that's what you know, if that's what you grew up with, then when something like Bitcoin comes along, your natural inclination is to think, oh, this one could win the zero-sum game. This one could dominate all the others. But what if that's not how it plays out? What if instead, all along, money was simply a form of language? What if we understood that money is a way for us to communicate value to each other? As a language, there can never be one that wins. There will always be variety. Every place has its tradition and its special needs. We have languages like those of the Inuit that have eight words for snow. They don't need that in the Kalahari Desert. They're going to have a different language that has 20 words for sand, which they don't need in Alaska. The bottom line is that languages adapt to the local environment, and they will always keep proliferating. There isn't one win. In fact, if you speak three languages or four languages, you're better off than if you just speak one. In fact, having variety is what gives you greater value. What if money works that way? What if, in fact, we're going from a world with 195 currencies to a world with 1,000 currencies? To a world with 100,000 currencies? You can use as many of them as you want or not, and you can choose at any moment in time. When you hear that, you probably think, well, that sounds very confusing. I don't want 1,000 currencies. I can barely keep track of how many euros are in a dollar when I go on vacation to Disneyland in Paris. The good news is that we're not talking about traditional paper money, but purely electronic money. All of the world's currencies are going to purely electronic money. At which point, the difficulty of trying to figure out which currency you have, which currency the shop will take, what the exchange rate is, and how to convert them, is something that disappears into your smartphone, your iPad, your smartwatch, or whatever other device is holding your money. The fact that you have 10 currencies isn't an issue, because you don't even know you have 10 different currencies. What if we're going to a world where instantaneously connected commerce is possible by anyone anywhere, and they don't even need to commit to a specific currency, and no currency wins? Because we all win by having choice. That's really what it boils down to. Until now, you get to use the currency of the country you were born in, and you don't have a choice. If you're an American, you also have the choice to use other currencies, but in many countries in the world, you don't. Just one. You still have to use that one to pay for government services, pay your taxes, and things like that. You still have to play the games of geopolitics, because your retirement, education, health care, job, income, and expenses are denominated... in the currency they're using as a weapon. Not that you wanted to be playing in those games, but you get to. What does that look like? It looks like waking up in the morning and deciding to go to the supermarket early, because you know that at noon they change the prices every day. Eggs could be 30% more expensive later in the afternoon. That's what it looks like, and I've seen that in Greece, and they're experiencing that in Venezuela and Turkey today. When you understand that Bitcoin happened in 2009, you might think, why? Who needs it? What are we going to do with this? Is it just about beating the dollar and having a new thing that wins everything? It's not. It's about having a choice. For most of the people in this country, that choice isn't very important, but for the rest of the world, that choice is absolutely critical. Most people live under horrible governments that do not give them the freedom to transact with anybody, but they also don't give them the freedom to escape from whatever crazy war, attrition, trade war, currency war they're playing at the moment. Most people live in countries where it is impossible to distinguish between organized crime and organized banking. Although, to tell you the truth, the customer service from the black market organized criminal who changed my money in Argentina was a hell of a lot better than the Bank of Argentina, where I tried to change it earlier. Maybe there is a way to tell the difference between organized crime and organized banking. Both are criminals, some of them give better customer service. But if you live in a country like that, and suddenly something like Bitcoin comes into the world, not quite yet, because it's difficult to use, and not many people have the tools and skills to use it, but one day soon, for many people, and already for some people, you suddenly have a choice. You can say, you know what?  You want to try and play Russia against America in a currency and trade war, fighting over F-35s and S-400s? If you know what I'm talking about. Great! While you take the lira to trash, I'm going to take just a bit of my wealth and move it into Bitcoin. No one can stop me, because this is an internet currency that doesn't pay attention to borders. If you live in Venezuela and your government is in a death spiral, you can say, I'm going to take some of my money and convert it to Bitcoin, or have someone send me Bitcoin from another country. I'm going to be able to provide food for my children, and I'm going to be called a terrorist by my own government, and I'm going to break the law, and my children are going to get fed. We know of people who actually bought food on Amazon Prime, had it shipped to Colombia and smuggled into Venezuela using Bitcoin. Food. This technology gives people choice. We already have more than a thousand currencies that are trying to find different ways to use that same technology to do different things. It's a very exciting technical space, which has erupted over the past ten years, and created this enormous, diverse environment with a lot of exciting development going on. At the same time, it's a giant speculative bubble with a lot of greedy people running around in circles, screaming, trying to get rich. At the same time, it's an enormously powerful international movement for freedom and choice that can change the lives of billions. Thank you.