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Hey everyone, I would like to take a little bit of time to Discuss Unity 2020 with you the current state of Political affairs in the United States is One that Nobody Who's tasted even a glimpse of enlightenment? wants waking up on November 4th and having either a 77 year old or a 74 year old who are visibly experiencing Cognition issues and are extremely polarizing both of them is not healthy for Maximizing the flourishing of the entire United States and actually the world at large the United States right now has the opportunity to be a Role model for the rest of the world the Entire world right now is watching what the United States is going to do The statistics are extremely clear that the entire planet is sick of political corruption the entire planet knows that people especially in political offices that are especially incumbents are Relentlessly taking bribes money under the table Self-dealing for themselves rather than serving the people of their country now regarding how to properly architect a justice and a Truth and a sense-making apparatus for Modernity that is still to be as a team figured out yet We have the opportunity to Be a role model in the sense of rather than having this legislative gridlock that has been continued over time and To extremely polarized parties. I would even like to propose that rather than completely shutting down everything that China has done we could actually maybe take something useful from what China has done One person from the center left and one person from the center right as a team is a very smart strategy It's actually a strategy that has the potential to represent the exact ethos of our reality when we have two people that can act literally as a dialectic where they're constantly playing tennis with each other it enables of very well thought-out Decision-making process and critical thinking process and Andrew Yang and Bill McRaven are two exceptional candidates for Unity 2020 we have the opportunity right now To get politically engaged behind something that is actually meaningful that actually tugs at our hearts and makes a smile it Solves monkey politics We're sick of monkey politics.  There's a big exhausted majority of a huge exhausted majority the Amount of friends that I have that say that they will not be participating in this election because it's to its aides versus malaria and they refuse to participate The amount of times that we've heard that from our friends is So egregiously high you are now presented with an opportunity Articles of unity Dot org will give you all of the details you need to see for now Go there Go there and read and go there and share and sign up Sign up with your time Get behind this if you actually want change the way is to do it like Bratweinstein did which was to take a step forward and to actually entrepreneurially creatively artistically organizationally Provide a solution and if we can get people that are heretics that are having orthodox thinking styles if we can get them behind this as well things like the IDW Getting behind this We can experience more and more Success with where we want to go I Want to give you I want to give you something quick to talk to to feed on If you have someone that's courageous if you have someone that's capable if you have someone that's Patriotic if you have these guys governing as a team discussing every decision You have a solution that is jam-packed ready to go and serve you a Success I think Check it out get behind it remember the number one thing that you can do right now is actually get involved That's really it. That's all that That's all that I want to say it's a great idea Go go forth behind it get a collective of Gnostic people people that are self realized that realize the the nature of reality that realize how we can provide entrepreneurial creative scientific spiritual solutions to the complexity of our world participate in a game be style architecture of our future and Engage yourself don't wake up thinking screw this On November 4th Get behind it now get behind it now and share it and let's see where we can go from here So I love you very much. Thank you everybody for tuning in and get behind this Go check it out articles of unity dot org sign up share it and let's provide the solution To so many of our problems. Let's do it


It's like driving. That's right. So it made me think mine should be any different. For people like me who don't know who Boobie Black is, who is that? Boobie Black is an OG from Uptown, Magnolia Project. He also was shot up and had, you know, own amputated. Oh wow. Yeah. So that's coming from somebody who's already been there and know somebody who's been there. Been through it already. I'm alive to be a testimony, to help people. That's hard. Not for me. Not for me to do my thing, to be doing podcasts and all that. That ain't what it's about. That's just, you know, a part of the journey. That's right. So, yeah, but that ain't what it's about. When you think- Well, what I like, sorry, but hold on. But you know what I like about the fact that you said it's a testimony is the fact that it wasn't you weren't the one in the streets or doing anything bad or anything like that. This could have happened to any body. And that's what people don't understand. People think that I'm not out- I wasn't in the streets doing stuff bad. That's why I wasn't able to accept it. Oh, OK. It was just my turn. So you had already experienced, did you have things that- My time was programmed for this. So I got shot and didn't panic or anything. All right, I drove to the hospital. Damn, the hospital right there. Yeah, yeah. Been in the streets for a long time. I want to talk about- So you could help a lot of people because of that. I want to talk about the people that did do the shooting. Did they ever catch them? You don't even know. Never even try to find out. Never try to find out. Because he didn't see who they were or nothing like that. Correct. But it could have been somebody around. But you never know. People talk, investigators. Nah.  Never even came. Because they used it. That's a cold lick there because the streets is where- The streets. Come tell me about who shot everybody else. That's what's crazy. I understand it wasn't for me. Why suffer consequences if I don't have to? I totally understand. If I don't have- Hey, look, that wasn't for you. But you was in the car with the girl who was testifying. You know what I mean? Like, if you're in the streets, you know. You know what I did. I took my lick. OK, that's where they go. I can't be against the winners' beneficial. Yeah. But when it's bad, then I'm- Nah, it is what it is, man. What was the advice that Booby Black gave you? Yeah, man.  And he shows me through his way. His living.  That's right. So it made me think mine should be any different. For people like me who don't know who Booby Black is, who is that? Booby Black is an OG from Uptown, Magnolia Project. He also was shot up and had, you know, unamplitated. Oh, wow. Yeah. So that's coming from somebody who's already been there, no? Somebody who's been there. Enjoyed already. Was it important? How did he even link it? You knew him already or he just found you? Well, we have mutual people that we know. Back again to my same partner, Hall, who I was telling you. Yeah. Free Hall, who hooked me up with Soul the Snip. He also hooked me up with Booby Black, because he's Magnolia. So he had connections to these people. And he also was, his family is from the Florida Project also. So he's, you know, we have connections to both. He was able to connect. Did he come to the hospital or did you see him in the streets? Nah, he was in the streets. In the streets? We had a cover football game. And he just walked up to you and told you? Nah, we know each other. Oh, yeah? OK. Yeah, what's up, nigga? Talked on the phone, you know, you see each other at certain events.  So then went out the situation. Nothing changed. It's the same thing. But I love it for you. It's all good, you know? Yeah. Just do your thing, man. Still do your thing, man.  Don't stop nothing, man.  What about, like, like when you think about the kids and your kids? How old are your kids? I don't have one kid. How old is he? I have a 17-year-old son. And he about to be Mr. Junior. Tomorrow he play for Madison. Come on now. Number nine. Number nine. Yeah, excuse me. That's why you have the nine around your neck? No, no, nine more, nine more. Everything is nine. Earth is nine is the last number, man. There's no other number bigger than nine.  Come on, Bisa, it's a problem. I'm betting whatever. Hey! Always betting on nine, baby. Always betting on nine. When I lose, I'm betting again. Wow. BG comes home. Yeah. He home now. Music and everything. He's getting back to it. Like, definitely, will you excited to see him come back to, you know? Most definitely, man. After 13 years, I'm loving it real much. Be able to go through their situation and be with these back to their family, you know? Yeah, yeah. And especially when you go through your situation and stand on it like the way he did, you know? You got to understand this BG, man. You know, BG have a lot of information if he wanted to indulge in any of it. Stand up guy, you'll never hear anything about anything. And I respect that. Wow. When you look at like today, like down in New Orleans, who would, who, the music wise, who do you see in, who really, like when you see it, you're like, damn, he doing this thing? I'm sure not. Damn sure he is. I'm sure not. Yeah. And then you have another young man in a city called Y.D. the Illus. Know about Y.D. the Illus? I've heard of it. Another up and coming. Got the city buzzing. Got the city back at him. Wow. When you think about like the cash money movement, I got to ask you these questions. The cash money movement, when it first happened, being that you was in music, how big was it for you to see, you know, Berryman Slim, them come from the trenches like that? It was very big. Like I said, when the hot boys coming out, we had the YG coming out. So we really trying to accomplish the same thing. Trying to find the same blue plant. Baby, they do the same exact thing. But downtown. But downtown. Wow. So do downtown and uptown, they don't do they rock or they don't rock? Yeah, man.  Caliobar, you been on there? Little soldiers, Slim. All right, man, that's all my homies. That's hard. So do you, when you think about it, you know, Mack, we had him on the show as well. Mack. Mack is a different man. He did 21 years, right? Yeah. When you see him, you know, he still has his confidence. He never lost his confidence. He still speak with integrity and he still, he has forgiveness and you can see the humbleness all through his heart, man. How is it? How big is that when you see Mack come home? Major. Like since we, uh, Mack, that's bringing me to, I have a movie on the way that I wrote it directly. It's called Sidewalks to Movies. Okay. We're saying for everybody, why they made sidewalks, you know? And Mack is in the movie. Mack in the movie. Mack in the movie, Caliobar in the movie, Whacko, Skip. They in the movie? They got everybody in the movie, man. Snipe. Really? Then Ace, Ace in the movie. Then they can wiggle up. You know, Ace, he be with Vaughn. You know, Ace, Caliobar, Ace have a movie on the way. They do have, yeah. They came in super rich. Yeah, man. Y'all working down there. Working down there, man. New Orleans as a whole, we working, man. Yeah, we on boss talk, one-on-one. One-on-one. Yeah, we gon' talk.


Hey friends and happy Thanksgiving today. I'm gonna be dining at a restaurant I've never dined at it on Disney property and they're actually gonna be doing a special Thanksgiving dinner And then we're gonna follow up with the trip to the Magic Kingdom to check out all the Christmas cheer and To end it with my little holiday special I've been working on so Let's go do this The restaurant that I'm talking about is the Garden Grove and as you can see they're doing a special Thanksgiving dinner And it's right here at the Walt Disney World swan hotel I've never been here, but I don't think any other restaurants on Disney property are doing a special Thanksgiving dinner So when I seen the opportunity to grab this I grabbed it and I'm excited to try a new restaurant But one thing I want to point out here in the swan hotel is the gigantic Holiday chocolate Santa display that they have here look at this isn't it beautiful? I don't even know they were doing that this year, but it gives you all the specs right here including 960 man hours to actually make this that's a lot of time time well spent I say Normally this restaurant is an all-you-can-eat character buffet and like I said, I've never been inside of it So I don't know what to expect. I know they're probably not gonna do the buffet But it's probably gonna be like family style kind of like how Liberty Tree is or wishbone came in cafe And that's okay with me. I like listening to the Christmas music They have in the walkway here and as you can see we have kimono's which is the karaoke sushi bar Which we will definitely be visiting sometime soon and then the garden Grove. I Am excited to go to the Magic Kingdom tonight But it's not gonna be till a little bit later The only time I can get a reservation today was like at one o'clock So we'll go there once he gets a little darker out because I like looking at all the pretty lights at Magic Kingdom Here's a quick look at the Thanksgiving dinner menu, and I have to say the price is only 3699 that is super cheap compared to like the other offerings that they have like if you went to Liberty Tree be about $55 we have bottomless cup of soup with turkey noodle soup and then presented family style to the Table all you can eat Yep, this is what I'm talking about turkey ham stuffing mashed potatoes sweet potatoes green bean casserole, and then even Desserts this place looks so cool. There's a gigantic tree right in the middle of the dining room And it's got little lanterns that flicker really cool. I'm liking it here They have a selection of different wines and beers, but no blood light But thankfully enough they have some Miller lights and a nice family over there who watches the videos Just sent this over to me and said happy Thanksgiving. It literally made my day. I Think I'm gonna actually start off with the turkey noodle soup But also I noticed that you have to actually choose between turkey and ham So I definitely went with the turkey and you can actually get white meat dark meat or a little bit of both I asked for a little bit of both They also give you an option between the mixed green salad and the Caesar salad. Oh looks like My turkey noodle is here. Thank you Look at this. I love turkey noodle soup. Oh, wow. I can just see the turkey chunks right in there This is what I'm talking about. This is bottomless. Oh boy The turkey soup is so delicious I absolutely love chicken noodle and I don't get turkey noodle that often but a little mixed up good for Thanksgiving Just the way I like it Along with my soup. We got the rolls. We got the cheddar biscuits We got the sweet rolls and the corn muffins. Look at these sweet rolls. Oh, oh my lord. Oh These are gonna be so amazing. I can tell already Definitely on par with Texas Roadhouse rolls very very delicious And now the salad has arrived. This is a feast and this is just me guys Holy moly see this is what they do. They try to fill you up before you get to the good stuff. I know the tricks Regardless, I'm still gonna probably eat all the rolls. That's just how it is Now the food has arrived. Oh boy Thank you. Oh No, this looks good. Oh, this looks really good And look at that main course has arrived. We've got turkey Greenbee casserole mashed potatoes or gravy sweet potatoes and then stuffing. Oh This is this is much too good. Oh boy. I think I'm gonna go stuffing first Because I absolutely love stuffing and I think it's a crucial Thanksgiving Item even more important than turkey sometimes. So we're gonna give this a go That's good stuffing. Oh, that's good stuffing So now we're gonna do a little stuffing and sweet potato at the same time mix the little little turkey gravy. Oh And now for the turkey Gotta get down to the turkey. Oh wow. That's good turkey looking already a little bit of mashed potatoes. Oh Yeah, a little bit of stuffing Probably not that big of a bite. That's perfect Okay, so if I was to rank this I would have to say the stuffing is my favorite Then followed up by the turkey Then the gravy then the mashed potatoes the least thing I like most is the casserole But you know casserole sometimes is hit or miss any hoos. I absolutely love this and this is Endless or bottomless. So I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get more because I ate those two rolls already Plus this in my soup and then we have like six desserts coming later. So I don't know. We'll see how this goes But who am I kidding? I'm probably gonna get another helping maybe just the stuffing the turkey and the mashed potatoes I feel like if I get a whole other like just gigantic portion. I probably will waste it So we'll stick to just what we like round two I am so happy. I'm not going to magic kingdom until later on. I need time to digest I feel like everyone gets that way on Thanksgiving. Definitely need a good hour. Maybe I'll take a power nap. Oh A power nap on Thanksgiving sounds amazing. Oh boy But this is just so good Honestly, this is way better than what I was expecting but I also figure places like Liberty tree tavern and Garden grill and all those other places you can get that Thanksgiving meal all year round This is only a one time a year of thing here. So like that's what makes it even more special, you know. Oh boy What did I do? I Think I feel a little bit of the meat sweats happening, but now time for the desserts. Oh Boy, I was not prepared for this So we've got apple pie Pecan pie pumpkin pie and then we've got a creme brulee Which is kind of a little fancy way that they display that creme brulee the cheesecake and then the chocolate brownie cake Oh, I'm gonna have so much fun tasting each one of these first things first. It's the apple pie. Oh It's like a tart apple. Oh look at that center. Oh Boy, oh Kind of butchered it There you go. Get in there get in there. There you go Apple pie was very good. Now it's time for some pecan. Oh That came apart real easy Now it's time for the pumpkin Out of the three different pies, I have to say the pecan was my favorite apple was pretty good But which much cinnamon still very delicious though And I think I'm gonna start with the creme brulee on this side first Vanilla creme brulee. Oh wow That's pretty smooth. Oh Yeah, creme brulee is delicious. Now. We're gonna try the chocolate brownie cake This one's a little hard. Ooh fancy this and now the pumpkin cheesecake There it goes, I Guess I'll just go like this For those the creme brulee all the way all the way creme brulee that was absolutely amazing Oh, I am so full now though. So so full. I have to say for my first visit here This was a very good experience. I absolutely love the atmosphere. They're playing Christmas music I love the tree and the lanterns and the food was phenomenal very good. I'm happy Oh, there's a little Christmas tree right there too That was so delicious now. We need to make our slow walk out of here. It's so beautiful in here though Like look at the swan following and the ceilings even I've never been this deep into the swan I usually just come up a little bit like where the garden grove was but I've never seen any of this before and I like it a lot When I like how they have Christmas trees in the spinny doors Come on tree. Let's go for a ride. That's what I feel like is happening right now. Oh, there's a tree and here's a tree How really awesome is that and after a short little nappity nap? We're at the Magic Kingdom I am so happy to be ending the night on Thanksgiving here at the Magic Kingdom. This is like Probably one of the best places to be I'm not too sure what I'll be doing tonight at the Magic Kingdom I know that they were actually testing fireworks in between the castle projections last night So maybe they'll do them again today, but man, I'm just happy to be here So we'll definitely wait around to see if we get to catch any of those fireworks And maybe we can squeeze in a ride or two But I also told you guys in the beginning of the video that I was planning a little holiday special was something that I was working on and I'm gonna show you that at the end of the video I matched up a bunch of different lyrics and music and put it to some pretty amazing video and I don't know. I guess I'm gonna call it Walt's holiday special So I'll show you that at the end of the night a good way to tell when the castle projections are gonna happen Is at the end of the night one last cavalcade will come out It's usually Santa he'll come up Main Street and then back down and then once he's in those doors But I'll boom I think it's gonna happen here guys But now it is getting dark here in the Magic Kingdom And this is what I've been waiting for all night just to see all the different multi-color lights They're at the Christmas tree stare at the castle. This is a perfect way to end the Thanksgiving The temperature outside is beautiful. In fact, I think I might actually try to squeeze in maybe an outdoor ride that'd be fun and Since astral orbiter is probably the closest outdoor ride to the hub I think we're gonna do that and see if we can see some fireworks as we ride because that'd be really cool The crowd levels in Tomorrowland are amazing thinking. This is actually Thanksgiving night here Look at this and look at astral orbiter taken off. That's what we're gonna go ride Look at that from up here. You can see the contemporary resort and bay lake tower I'm so excited to get a castle shot. Hopefully with some fireworks. It's so amazing up here, isn't it? This is one of those rides. I feel like it doesn't get enough credit I just absolutely love the views and just the whole concept of it right over there is the castle Do you see it peeking out? We got to find ourselves a space rocket. I don't know which one to pick Maybe this one. Yeah Look it right there. She is We might not have time that's right. Oh boy. It's happening. We're gonna catch the fireworks. Oh No, but what's up? I miss him on the other side what it is about that ride I absolutely love it and it's like one of those rides where if you're at night time I think it's ten times better I'm gonna keep moving along because I want to catch more of the fireworks burst I love that they added those to the castle. It just makes it so much better And one of my favorite places to actually watch the projections this year is right here in front of the following It can't go wrong with a good old water following shot that was so much fun I like how they change the colors in the water following and I'm just having fun sitting here in the hub on Thanksgiving and I'm just happy to be here. I'm thankful for today and I'm thankful for tomorrow And I think that's gonna do it for me I'm gonna play you guys my little holiday special. Like I said, it's just something I've been working on and I like matching up different Walt Disney speeches with some music and with some beautiful footage and Hope you enjoy this and I hope you have happy holidays. We'll see you next time. Bye And I must agree with my grandchildren. It's just about the neatest time of the year One of the nicest things about the holiday season is exchanging greetings with our many friends For these messages from all over the world represent the true spirit of Christmas in many different ways and once again, we put together another Christmas show for you So let's turn back the calendar to the days when it all started During the Christmas holidays or any other season here at Disneyland Main Street, USA is the happiest busiest Main Street in the world Everything ready for a big Christmas for everything but the weather Personally, I feel right at home in this snow that it's not so good for a parade Today Santa so make the most of it, you know, I got three hundred sixty five Yeah, I see what you mean. Well, since I'm gonna be in that parade. I'd better get ready Santa here's a little present from Walt to Santa Claus. Oh, thank you very much. It's just what I needed I See you later Santa for me to say except to wish you happy holidays and the best of everything for the new year


Lakeland Public Television presents Currents. And welcome to Lakeland Currents, I'm Bethany Wesley. It's now summertime here in the Northwoods, which means droves of tourists and residents alike have been heading to area lakes to fish and recreate out on the water. But these days, a trip to the lake frequently includes a visit with a local watercraft inspector, someone tasked with keeping an eye out for unwanted hitchhikers that could further spread aquatic invasive species throughout Minnesota's waterways. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, about 5% of Minnesota's lakes are listed as infested with invasive species. And that number is growing. In August 2016, for example, Starrie Stonewort was found at the Big Turtle Lake Boat Access in Beltrami County. In June, the DNR reported the first new confirmation of zebra mussels in a Minnesota lake in 2017, when an adult zebra mussel was found in Cedar Lake in Wright County. But what exactly does it mean when aquatic invasive species are found? And is there anything that can be done to eradicate them? To answer these questions, and many more, I welcome to the program Nicole Kovar, an invasive species specialist with the Minnesota DNR. Welcome. Thank you. Nice to be here. As we get started first, let's talk about, generally, what exactly aquatic invasive species are. How are they different than just a non-native species? Well, an invasive species is, like you said, a non-native species. But for some reason, they cause a problem. So that's the key in that definition. They cause a problem, whether that's an economic problem, a societal problem to society, or an environmental problem, something that we're dealing with aquatics. So a problem to the lake itself. So that's the two parts there, non-native and causes a problem. And they're both plants and animals. They can be eaten. It can be a plant or an animal. And in fact, it could also be a virus. And within the animal category, falls fishes and things of that nature. So generally speaking, like how many aquatic invasive species are there that are on your radar that you keep an eye open for? Oh, goodness. On the radar. So not in Minnesota. Oh, in Minnesota. Yeah. Let's speak. We have, yeah, we have those two sides. We have on the horizon, which we don't have yet. And we have the ones that we do have. So in general, there would be the biggest ones that we put on the designated infested waters list, being faucet snail, zebra mussel, spiny water flea, Eurasia water mill foil. We do have starry stonewort now, which is an algae, not a plant.  There's also others. And we'll talk about, if you want, a prohibited classification and a regulated classification. Those are some of the prohibited. And then for regulated species, we have things like mystery snails, banded mystery snails, rusty crayfish, curly leaf pineweed. So there are quite a number of aquatic invasive species in our state. And there are others that we don't want either on the horizon than other states have. We know that there are some new ones. You talked about them there on the horizon that could come, some that are relatively new, like starry stonewort. But they've been around for a while, right?  I mean, they've been coming here for time. Oh, right. In fact, there are starry stonewort. We just had the first infestation in 2000. I've got to get my years right, 2015, in Minnesota, down in Lake Cronus. While actually in the United States, starry stonewort was first documented in 1978 in St. Mark's Seaway. And actually, when they look back to herbarium samples, 1974 was the earliest. So if you think of it in that perspective, as the United States, we've been dealing with invasive species for quite some time. Curly leaf pondweed has been in Minnesota for over 100 years. So it's been here. Just new ones come in. And we're now realizing the impacts of these species that have come in earlier. We're just realizing those impacts now and how important it is to stop any spread. Fair to say it can take years sometimes to see some of the effects that an AIS can have. It could. And it also takes many years to do research on them and study them and compile enough data to understand them as well. So you talk about the ones that are on the horizon. I'm assuming are those places that you've seen, you've seen them in other places that could come to Minnesota? How do they get here? The major route of transport is human activity, fortunately, analyzing the infestations across the United States and across Minnesota. Fish as the S can travel upstream, but the infestations follow highways, if you would. The greatest use lakes, we're getting infested first so you can see like spokes of a wheel to the highest use lakes and then along the highway corridors. The greatest risk is ourselves spreading it around. Are there certain geographical locations that a certain species will do better? Like when you look at the region that you represent, is that do you focus on a different AIS than perhaps somebody might in southeastern Minnesota or are they pretty much the same throughout the state? Well, I wouldn't look at geographical region more than I would look at, say, specific lake conditions. So different lake conditions will be more suitable for a species than another. And there's been risk assessments done by different entities to look at the composition, the chemical composition of the lake and the lake water and the nutrients available to look at, say, for example, zebra mussels, how well they could do in different lakes. And calcium is their limiting factor. And so if there isn't a lot of calcium in a lake, zebra mussels can't grow a shell. So there isn't enough for a high population to grow a shell. So I'd look more at those characteristics than geographic location. Are there some AIS that are more dangerous, that are more threatening perhaps would be a better word? Like a homeowner would certainly not, or a property owner would be upset to hear about a certain one more so than others. Are there more dangerous ones? Well, I don't know if dangerous is what I would use, but I think that they're scarier to people based on information that they've heard or things they've seen happen in other lakes and other places. Zebra mussels is very scary for people. There's information out there that talk about the property values of a home on a lake that has zebra mussels and things like that. And I would say that one would probably be that species that everyone's zebra mussels talking about. And that now starry stonewort is so new to our lake, and we don't know a lot about starry stonewort because there hasn't been a lot of research on starry stonewort in the past. So that's very scary. We don't know how it will react in our lakes. And actually, a species could react very differently in different lakes. So it's unknown and we are all afraid of the unknown. So I would say that those two are probably, we have a handle on species like Eurasian water, malefoil, how to control if an infestation has happened, how to control them with treatment. So that's, for me, the less scary I can get a handle on that one. I want to talk a little bit as we move forward and talk specifically about some of the AS coming, but talk about your role. What is it that you do then? What is an AIS specialist? What is it your job duties? Well, as a program as a whole, we were created to prevent the spread of invasive species across Minnesota, prevent any new infestations of any new species into Minnesota, and then minimize the impacts that those species cause to us. So my job up here, so I'm specific to region one, and the regions are split into two districts. So I'm in the North District of region one. Basically, Whitinga County line, Cass County line up to the borders. All of those counties. And I work on our goals within my district and our region. So prevent the spread around Minnesota, prevent any new and minimize impact. So we work on permitting. There's a permitting system out there for lake associations that do have an infestation. Like I said, get a control and management of that species within their lake. Also a lot of education during the downtime or off season and the winter and fall. There's a lot of going on of presentations and conferences and seminars and water festivals and even a request from an elementary school we go to. So a lot of that going on. And then also this time of the year is when we start doing following up on reports. So we're looking for new infestations. We wanna find them as quickly as possible in order to contain them at the point of infestation. So if a person becomes aware that that lake that they're visiting has something, then they could be even more diligent on what they're supposed to do. So the rest of my summer will most likely be a lot of that. And then looking at story stonewort and treatment options and things like that. Interesting. I wanna touch on those two that we've kind of hit on a little bit, but I just wanna kind of focus on them a little bit more, starting with the zebra mussels themselves. Because we know that they are in various lakes in this region. We know that they're, right, correct me if I'm wrong, Cass Lake Beach Lake. Cass has a verified adult population. There were other lakes designated infested precautionary because of their connectivity to Cass. And that means that they're found in a lake or a waterway that's connected, right? Right. And the water bodies around Cass Lake are highly connected and navigable and there's movement between them. We have had some verification of adults in those connected, a few of those connected waters. Not all. Leech Lake was found with villagers last, well, the samples were taken in the summer as part of our large lake program in Fisheries Department and analyzed later on in the fall when workload permitted. And villagers are? Villagers are a juvenile form of the zebra mussel. Tiny. So the baby zebra mussel. Microscopic. So those two we have around a direct vicinity and then Detroit lakes, to where I'm in Park Rapids, Cass is just as far as Detroit lakes. So I bring that up too. There are very, quite a few lakes in that area that have zebra mussel confirmation. What is it about the zebra mussel that is threatening or that is concerning? What does it do? Well, the zebra mussel itself can, for the impact to the environment, it can filter out that necessary part of the food chain that our natives need to survive. So that lower part of the food chain with plankton. So the zooplankton, it's removing from the food web and the phytoplankton. It's filtering that. It ejects nothing that anything, nothing wants to eat. And then it's removing things that say, our native mussels need to eat. Even larval fishes need to eat that smaller part of the food web. So it's removing that. And then also to humans, it can follow the equipment. It can get into the intakes and motors and basically ruin a motor. The shells are very sharp when broken and like a shard of glass when weight is applied to them, puncture, a foot for sure. Yeah, cause you've heard people who said if they swim where they are, water shoes or something to protect the bottoms of your feet. Yep, and you know, to feel them, I'd say they're about the thickness of your, of a fingernail just to feel. But if you put all your weight down on that and it had an angle on it, you definitely could cut yourself. So there's that problem to beaches and things like that. And then really to the economy and tourism, you know, that is another whole issue there. If a municipal municipality is taking water from a zebra mussel-infested source, they have the issue of cleaning out their lines. You know, if it gets fouled up with zebra mussels and calls millions and millions of dollars to do that. So there's a huge economic issue as well. And then turning our attention to the, we've talked about it a little bit here, but Starrie Stone worked, which is one of the newer ones to Minnesota. What is it about that one in particular that is threatening or what does it do that is caused to pay attention to it? Well, like other aquatic invasive plants, there's a possibility that it could displace natives. So it could colonize a certain area and then no other plants could grow. And the importance is to keep diversity. When you start to decrease diversity, you start to increase the system's inability to buffer itself, to adapt to new things. I liken it to say a forest of all one species of oak and oak will comes in and kills all the oak where you have no forests left. So when you have a multitude of different species, it can buffer itself against those environmental conditions if you want. So there's that. And then there's some anecdotal evidence out there that when it does colonize areas, it is areas where fish like to spawn and have their beds. So it could cover up spawning beds, whether or not that causes some decrease in the fish population as a whole. We don't know that because there isn't enough research on that very one specific topic. So there's possibilities. And also the impact on recreation.  It wraps up on the propeller and pretty much ruins fishing if you can't put your line in, you're getting weeds. Swimming is difficult if you're getting caught up in weeds plants. Actually, I tend to stay away from the use of weed because I think of it as a dandelion in your yard. Plant, aquatic plants are good. And we need aquatic plants for the center of our ecosystem. But if it's something you don't want, that's when people start using that word weed. So that's a major thing to us as humans that recreational impact that the plant could cause. So sorry, stonewort, it mats much taller than our native carous because we do have cariacea species in our state. And this is part of that family. So it likes that same habitat, but it can grow much taller and denser. So in shallows, and we've seen it from one to 10 feet, and it can grow up to that depth, whereas our natives would stay shorter at two to three feet. So it's really an issue when you have that amount of matting up to the surface. Does it grow quickly? And then again, not a lot is known. I've watched the plant for two months, I keep saying plant there, it is an algae, sorry, stonewort is a macro algae. So it looks like a vascular plant, but it's actually a combination of cells. So individual cells connected to each other. And it's just like a planktonic algae or blue-green, those are very small algae. This is actually big enough, a macro algae, we can see with it, each cell with a naked eye. But it looks like a plant. It looks like a grassy plant. And I'll say plant a lot because it's a common name, I guess. So, not much is known about it, but last year when it came into our region, I watched it through those two months. And we're starting to watch it and now that it started growing again, we started watching it in June. And again, it's going to depend on environmental conditions, how fast it might grow, nutrient available in whichever lake, a number of things and how fast it could. Even our own climate, precipitation patterns or light availability could influence how fast it grows. But when it does get going, it grows well, let's say, because it starts to create cells and then every one of those cells can create another cell off it. So when you start with one, you multiply and you have two, but then it increases exponentially. Is that what the benefit is then in trying to catch AIS early? Is that there's hopefully less of it? Oh, I would definitely say that's an important piece of early detection. The sooner you can detect it and get a handle on it, the less of it you're going to have to deal with. And that's true for starry stonewort and that would be true. Eurasian water milk was a prime example. We had a lake last year, just found it in their lake and immediately got on it and started to look at chemical treatment of that infestation in order to keep it a manageable size because the more it is, the less likely it is to be able to treat it all or get a handle on it, the more there's left to spread and create new infestations around that lake. So if we could keep it at one acre instead of getting to 250 acres before we start thinking about what to do about it, it would be cost effective and much easier to control. So when a body of water is identified to have a new AIS in it, is the goal always going to be to eradicate? I mean, are there treatments that have proven effective to the point where eradication is potentially an option? Unfortunately, there is no case study proven to eradicate an aquatic invasive species from a lake once it has been infested. I would hope that at any time that we could eradicate and we're not going to stop trying if a new species comes in and we'll give it that try. And once we realize that what we had tried through the attempted, thank you very much, attempted wasn't the best avenue then either we'd step back and look for more options and maybe we combined all our options, maybe we used the best option we thought there was out there at the time. So if that wasn't so successful in eradication and you'd step back, you'd take a look. And also you'd look at how many lakes have that infestation and we can like to talk about starry stonewort in Big Turtle Lake, being that it was the second lake found, well, coronas mud is connected to coronas. So technically the third, but the second in so great a distance from coronas second lake in Minnesota found the starry stonewort, we had to attempt something to get it out of there because we found it at 0.755 acres. We do a survey around the lake to determine if it's localized. And so at that point, it's, you know, there's that slim chance it's possible. You gotta try, you can't not try to do that. So what was the steps that was taken or what were the steps that were taken? Well, that time in our Beltrami County the IAS coordinator had found the infestation there at Big Turtle Lake. And we work in very close partnerships, the counties and everybody involved really, I indirect communication most of the time with our neighboring counties as well. And so you immediately text it and a picture was attached. And at that point it triggers our ready response plan. And what that is is our response. I don't want to say reaction, but response to a possible infestation. And it is immediate identification and then determining whether the infestation is localized or lake-wide has spread around the lake. And with that involves meander surveys around the littoral zone of the lake where plants might grow to determine if we can find anymore. Once we've found it's localized, which we did there at Big Turtle, then we can start to talk about treatment options. So through the whole process, there's communication going on behind the scenes. Emails back and forth, research being collected from Michigan who's been dealing with this species for 10 years or more, Wisconsin, New York, so other places, what they've tried, what worked best, experts around the country and even in Europe where, sorry, somewhere is a native species over in Europe. So there's all that gathering of information until we can formulate some type of treatment moving forward. All right. I want to focus a little bit back up just a second. You talked about some of the partners. There's a lot of different roles, a lot of different people that kind of keep eyes out, help fight AS, raise public awareness. Take us through some of those and how you guys are always communicating because you have the DNR, you have watersheds, lake associations, and now county AAS specialists as well. And I'm sure I'm leaving out dozens other of my apologies. Fill me in. Who else am I missing? Well, and it will depend on what lake, what project, what area, what county, so that it could be a number of different ones. And to give an example, because it's easiest to give an example and big turtles seems to be working well. So there's the Watershed Association. So there's Turtle River Watershed Association. They would become a partner. Because it's in their county, landowner involved, which actually it was at the access. So the landowner was our department. And it was a different division, but our department, it could even be if it was federal land, could be whichever portion of the federal government owns that land. If it's tribal land, it would be the tribe that owns that land there too. So it just would depend where, if there is a lake that has a lake association, then the lake association gets involved. So the number, it could vary and be very different. But it must happen quickly though, in terms of everybody gets involved. Cause you said in Big Turtle Lake, that the Beltrami County AIS individual was the one who located it, correct? But you were alerted to that pretty quickly on then. Oh, within, you know, I'm sure. Moments. You know how cell phones are now, it's immediate. And so it was, and then we found, it's not just Big Turtle in Beltrami County that has it. So I remember being at the access of Big Turtle, dealing with that response. And I believe we were putting in barriers that day. And the area's coordinator through Beltrami County was still looking, and as part of our roles too, and we can skip back to that as part of our roles, he was looking for more, you know, where now, should we check other accesses down the watershed, high use lakes, and I remember standing there getting another text from Bruce with another infestation of Starrie Stonewort. So it is immediate. And back to the partnerships. So it will depend too on which project, who is taking the lead. So there's all this technical expertise out there, but I don't necessarily have the expertise in connecting with all the landowners or the local portion of that. Because I deal with, you know, our county has 21 regions, and I have, I think there's 12 in our district. So I'm dealing with all of those counties. So at the local level, there's a greater connection to that, those landowners, to that partnership, to really even the atmosphere of the local community. So that's huge when you talk about the watershed association or really a watershed district, there could be a lake improvement district, there could be a number of things. So their role helps with education, getting the information out to the affected lake, to setting up meeting places, to the county of permissions for disposal site, if need be, depending on which road it is, if we need permissions along the right-of-way to do any work or have any heavy equipment. So the activity is going on, there's a lot of different roles that someone could fill, and it might not be the DNR taking the lead, and maybe it has to be the county on a project taking the lead, but there's always the DNR expertise role in there, the surveying that would go on ahead of time would always be there and any other help to that nature. Fair to say then, you're also always relying on the public and property owners to keep their eyes open. Oh, and I preach that, if you will, and promote that at any time I talk to a lake association, because I am only two eyes, I'm only one set, and I am only one of me, and I can't be everywhere at once. So the more eyes I have looking, and it only takes one inkling of suspicion and a report, and I can usually identify things off a picture because I'm so familiar with our natives and our invasives. So sometimes something that might not jump out to somebody, but a key feature of a native, and I can rule out any invasive. So it just takes a picture, you'd be amazed at the number of reports that come in that are from young children swimming along public beaches or walking looking for shells, and that's amazing. So when I'm at elementary schools, I really preach, I say, you know, you can help me do my job, and they get all excited, how? So I spend time showing them the pictures for this. So yes, everybody out there can help stop. So I now use the term or the phrase, spread the word, not the species. Just getting that word out there, actually being aware of the issue helps tremendously. Well, I want to thank you for joining us, Nicole, and providing all the information that you have. On the bottom of the screen, you'll see a link to the DNR's website on Aquative Invasive Species, and you can get some more information there as well. Thank you for joining me. Please join me next time on Lake Lincoln Currents.


uh residential customers put their food waste into the yard waste bin uh yeah it wouldn't be an extra cart it'd be collected with the yard waste um and both those materials together could be composted yeah the only problem i have with the composter in our backyard is the raccoons so but anyway other than that it does work really well um to me the biggest problem we're having is i'll go to a fast fast food place we can we can name endless fast food chains and everything goes in their garbage uh you go with uh these uh some of it is recyclable some of it isn't the lid is not recyclable so then we're getting to the fact of if the distributor gives them something that's recyclable then we could have separate we could require fast food chains to have separate sites for dumping either something recyclable or not and then the same would be true with organics we're talking about tons of stuff that will come out of a fast food uh hamburger or coffee or whatever uh establishment so we're we're dealing with that because that's the biggest problem that i say uh yes certainly um to go food uh to go serviceware we have an ordinance in place the acceptable environmentally environmentally acceptable packaging ordinance uh which requires the to go uh serviceware to be either compostable recyclable we'd like to switch that more to compostable type of uh you know plateware napkins so forth so all that that formerly went in the trash could go into like the food waste uh bin and be taken as food waste and composted uh yeah i guess what what is alarming to me that the fast food chains uh you almost have to tell them that they have to do it because they don't cooperate on their own they've seen this coming for a long time and uh they account for a lot of a lot of the stuff going into the Buena Vista landfill uh and especially organics now the organics actually will break down and that's not really if we do separate the organics that's actually going to be a plus to uh Buena Vista correct correct yeah just a side note i know somebody people in Watsonville the coffee grounds and all the coffee places that's good for your garden and they some people will go there and they'll ask them to you know save the coffee grounds so they go dumping in their garden but uh again that comes down to the fast food chain whether or not they'll cooperate um let's see uh okay on paper recycling uh i think we need to look at i know in uh district four with bingo uh if they separate the paper from the garbage the paper is all recyclable from the bingo now they don't have the old cards they have paper throwaways so uh in just by letting people know that uh the two bingo sites in Watsonville area they're saving uh one is at the church site and they're saving about $700 a month in what used to go in the garbage and what now goes into the recyclable that's a very good incentive to whoever has the site if we can get that out in the other areas of the Santa Cruz county that they'll actually save money by reducing the dumping of their regular garbage and increasing their recyclable so we're not talking about raising the price on recycling uh are we is that part of this are we going to charge more money for recycling than we did in the past no but we definitely we want to consider all the waste streams the recyclable materials the stuff that has to currently go to landfill the stuff that gets composted um we can't just all base our revenue on what goes in the landfill that was our current rate model we want to address kind of the whole service like the stuff you have to recycle and divert may require you know to be a source of revenue to help pay for that service because it doesn't make enough money to support itself yeah and it comes down to having enough containers for the public to be able to put it in one container for recycle at these different sites and also put it in the garbage area uh an example of that would be uh the city of Watsonville Scotts Valley Capitola Santa Cruz when they rent out a facility there's a cleaning deposit but I and people are very good about getting their deposit back I think a problem that I've seen in the south county is when they do the cleaning they don't have a clear idea of where to put the recycle and where to put the garbage so let's say they have a wedding they have a keen senorah they have some kind of a rental if we can if we can somehow make sure that and the cities will cooperate I'm sure but when somebody is doing a cleanup to get their deposit it's very clear that they're told that please put everything in the recycle and then please put the garbage and something else yeah I just wanted to speak to that real quick so we did hire a couple of program coordinators they are going out to the businesses to educate them on all that's going to be is currently required of them and what will be required of them in the future to address those exact types of issues you know actually you're right I want to thank you about four years ago we did it in south county with what I'm talking about we don't have that many places but it was your department that came out and actually talked to the public and said this is what we're going to do and talk to the church that owned the you know site or even the city that owned the site when they rented out so a lot of it is the public's not aware so thank you thank you chair I'll try to be brief the I appreciate the presentation there are these are big issues that we will be facing I was wondering you talked about being sensitive to tipping costs versus increases in illegal dumping what do you do how do you determine what that price point sensitivity is good question we there's there are studies that are are done that conduct that have conducted when when the point when illegal dumping starts increasing it it actually kind of I've noticed a correlation I helped manage the illegal dumping program so I've seen a correlation almost at the beginning of every year when we do increase our rates of a slight uptick in illegal dumping then it levels out once people get adjusted to it but I think that if you were to if you have small incremental increases that people can expect like based on CPI every year that's one thing but if you were to go forward with a rate increase of the size that we need to to to fund these unfunded mandates we'd see a few people would either go to marina or and we'd lose all revenue or we and probably we'd see a much larger increase in the illegal dumping at what point do I think that that would occur I I'd have to get back to you on that I'm not sure of at what cost people is just too much for people I think small I mean we hear complaints about small incremental increases of just of a dollar but again it levels out sure yeah well I think it's obviously something you want to keep track of in the in the presentation you also talked that we spend over $200,000 on street sweeping and I'm wondering is that a how do we run that program is is there beyond construction sites who gets that those services well we're we're mandated for stormwater for stormwater compliance and so we have different routes that they go on to make sure that the that the that the leaves and there's not much anything in the gutters to make sure that keeps our stormwater clean enough to be in compliance with the state state regulations it's also based on we get if we get it's driven by complaints to to us as well if there's an area that hasn't been swept in a while and it's backing up we'll we'll get out there um it's we mainly keep the program running on the on the main arterial roads so you won't necessarily see a lot of street sweeping on on just your small road local roads but the main driver of of the street sweeping program is due to this the stormwater regulations yeah I just uh I've lived in my house that 26 years is only once that I can remember street sweeper coming by and I don't think that unusual I didn't you know I didn't I don't see the I haven't thought of the county of having a street sweeping program so it was a surprise when I saw the street sweeper but there was no notification to people in advance so there were lots of parked cars and it was a lot less effective and I'm just wondering if we have a program and we could say we're gonna we're gonna be in your neighborhood or we're gonna be in this part of town or whatever that is um it seemed to me that you could do a better job of street street sweeping we can work on that internally to work on a program that kind of like to have up in the you know Berkeley in the East Bay areas where you can't park your car on one side of the street would probably be welcome yeah um the the the bigger issue here obviously is how do we pay for uh both the mandated new responsibilities that we're gonna have uh and just the ongoing um upkeep of our infrastructure be it equipment and the landfill and I guess is really a question for our CAO um in terms of uh I don't think we could answer it here today but I think it would be helpful for us to look at our debt capacity and how many different departments have interest in being part of some new debt issuance uh I could think of at least three departments that are you know sort of counting on um uh some of our debt capacity to make infrastructure investments and I don't and we've never really had a conversation about um what's the vision for that and how and and how we're going to manage that but when you hear about 17 million dollar facilities or or or new jail space or new juvenile hall or new health pieces and the housing that we want to do on our sites that I can see that debt capacity going away pretty quickly and I just think it would be good for us to have a a plan or at least start talking about it so we know what kind of choices we're making and and also departments to know where where those limits might be yes I agree and um part of our facilities master plan process we actually are conducting an analysis of our debt capacity right now and so when we do have that analysis we will come before the board and share it with you and talk about the needs of the county and the different options we have yeah I think that's critical because we can be proud that we're reducing our our debt um over the next 10 years uh and we do have to make investments in our infrastructure but uh there's a limit to that obviously um and I just want to go into it with eyes wide open rather than we need to do it and we gotta issue debt um and you know it's nice that we're that uh that we're not looking to the green waste fees as a way to pay for this nine c to the average person's pocket book though it's it it's more money out of the pocket and so uh being thoughtful about that uh and making sure it doesn't tip the the scales uh will be important do you have an idea of a timeline of about when you'd be talking about this we've we've been talking about it for a while internally um with our consultants hf and h who are here to answer any questions as well uh we we've we started this process of studying nine c and um bringing it uh into the you know it's been grandfathered pre-prop 218 so yeah where we've been studying it and and we we had to stop uh for a variety of reasons and we have been given the okay to start studying it again and to uh we could probably have it to your board we're we're looking at maybe uh early next year yeah well I think uh I'm not rushing to raise uh fees uh but I I want to get some senses to when we're going to be talking about that so if the first quarter or second quarter of next year that that seems like uh reasonable time okay great is there any public comment about this item all right seeing none there's no recommended action because I want to thank you for your uh thank you for your work on this is obviously a key issue and we look forward to hearing updates as we go forward mr chair I I wonder if um under the circumstances though for the board to express its concerns about this if we shouldn't um write a letter uh to uh the chair of uh Cal recycle and our legislative representatives about our concerns um you know what uh bringing this uh true fruition you know and what challenges it has I'd like to direct the board to um ask the chair to write a letter can we take action can we take action yeah your own rules allow you to add things to your agenda um I think this is fine okay great so uh so motion direct the chair to write a letter to Cal recycle and state representatives um about our concerns let me just ask a curiosity question what happens to a battery when it ends up at the right site okay well so we got a motion and a second on the floor so let's excuse me I think there is action on this item it's to direct public works to return with the report back okay so you can add it to this so let's so is that okay to add that so that will the recommended action recommended action plus a letter to Cal recycle with our state legislators okay so we got a motion and a second all those in favor please say aye opposed that passes unanimously you'll tell me later on yeah okay all right um moving on to item number 13 is consider a final appointment of captain craig consular to the emergency medical care commission as the outlawed representative of Santa Cruz county law enforcement chiefs association for a term to expire April 1st 2023 move to approve second motion a second and seeing no public comment bring it back to the board all those in favor please say aye aye opposed that passes unanimously uh item number 14 to consider final appointment of robin mackentire to the emergency medical care commission as an outlawed representative of consumers for a term to expire April 1st 2023 uh and seeing no public comment bring it back motion by leopold second by friend all those in favor please say aye hi we'll now move into closed session will there be any reportable action no all right


Yeah, so there wasn't a lot of safe spaces or microaggressions or any of that nonsense in a sparta. If you listen, you did what you're told and if you didn't, you got that beating.  This is Chris Pike. My friends, call me Big C. I'm back in action today. I'm back using heartbeat and I want to show you some awesome moments from this very cool Spartan video that I was watching the other day. It's awesome. I got 21 moments. So if you're following along with me, just go to H.ki or H key as George pronounces it.  And under moments, under, you'll see here, I've got my page open up here. I've got a whole bunch of moments that I really like, but this is the one I want to show you. It's the Spartan training system. Great video. I think it's about a year old now, but holy smokes that I learned a lot in it. So I've selected some of the best moments from it. Join me. Let's do this. All right. So here we are inside heartbeat and we're going to start off talking about the Spartan training system. But the one thing, an interesting moment that caught my eye was the Spartans, while they're known for being strong and militaristic and all these other things, they weren't always like that. There was one particular person who wrote up a code of laws and a code of, I guess, conduct. And that's when it started. So let's check that out here in my first moment for the Spartan training system. Herodotus even says Spartans were the worst governed people in all of Greece. That is, of course, until Sparta came under the influence of the legendary law giver, Lycurgus. It was he who supposedly came up with the Spartan constitution, among which was the Agoghe, a system of education and training to be completed by every Spartan citizen. So there you have it. So prior to Lycurgus, it was a little bit to each their own. But once he came into, once he created his system, it applied to all people in Sparta. And that include men and women, although to a little bit of a lesser degree, they didn't have to necessarily fight in the battles, but they went through the same physical training as the men did. So let's skip forward here. We're going to talk a little bit next about, it's going to talk, the next moment part of me is about Sparta becoming dominant. And boy, did they ever get that right. Let's click on that one. It was Lycurgus' that was so revolutionary for its time that it allowed the Spartans to dominate everyone who dared meet them in the field. And in their prime, allowed them to stand undefeated for over 150 years.  Like, it's one thing to win a battle. It's one thing to win a war. It's one thing to go 150 years without losing that. That's pretty wild. So they seem to have gotten something right, at least at the time. We're going to skip forward now a couple of minutes here, and we're going to talk about a need or a new need for a different style of upbringing. What made Spartans different than other Greeks? Let's check that out.  He decided that his people were in need of a different concept of upbringing. At the center of this idea was his belief that healthy, disciplined, able-bodied individuals are integral to a successful and functioning society. So there you have it. He broke it down into health, discipline, and well fitness. So the system was to be extended to every young Spartan citizen, male and female. And though the girls were excluded from the more rigorous and extreme system of the agage, they were still expected to perform the same exercises as the boys, like fighting and running. So there you have it. They had to perform the same exercises as the boys. So the boys and the girls and the men and the women, they were the strongest, fittest, most like just absolutely amazing warriors. And in some degree, women warriors, even though they didn't fight, they still had all that strength and everything going on here. So let's skip forward a little bit more, and we're going to talk a little bit now. They're going to talk about how boys, younger boys, how they were initially trained. For the boys, the system was divided into three categories, children, adolescents, and young adults. The first category was very similar in idea to a modern boarding school. Young Spartans would leave their families to learn letters, music, poetry, singing, and sport. Other Greek city-states had a similar system, but relied on private pedagogues to teach their children. The Spartan system, on the other hand, was more communal, in which one man was chosen to be in charge of the boys as their paedonimos or supervisor. So that's a big difference there. In Athens and other cities, in other city, or Greek city-states, they would have one on one for the richer and for the more nobles. But for the younger, for, you know, the people didn't have money, they couldn't afford to hire, you know, maybe a tutor or a paedonimos, I guess in this case. But in Sparta, it was communal. This was for everybody. So everybody learned the same things from the same teacher, and it turned out quite well. Let's skip forward a little more now until they talk about the obedience side of things, what made them so disciplined. Ryder Plutart nicely puts it, the agogue was a school of obedience. The supervisor was given power to punish the boys as he saw fit, and always commanded a group of older boys with whips to enforce his punishments. And to make sure the boys were never left without a supervisor, he allowed every citizen to take on his role when he wasn't around. Yeah, so there wasn't a lot of safe spaces or microaggressions or any of that nonsense in a Sparta.  There wasn't even rulers. This was, this was a crackdown on the whip. So there you go. And if the teacher wasn't around, another person could go ahead and do that as long as they were a citizen. They could crack the whip. So yeah, they were very obedient and they were very disciplined, maybe in contrast to today's youth, myself included when I was in school. So here we go. So that is the first thing I wanted to talk to you about. Now we're going to switch forward to the Spartans as teenagers, the second stage. Let's see what set them apart. Spartan teenagers, however, only entered into their second stage of the Agoge. Lakergus recognized that it was in this age category, when going through puberty, that boys are the most adventurous and troublesome. So in keeping with his system, he enforced even more hardships and labor on the boys.  For Lakergus believed that if their feet were properly accustomed, they could run faster and jump higher than anyone in footwear.  That is just nuts. But hey, that's how they made you tough back then. Let's get forward a little bit more and let's get into the weapons and silent marching. To fight with weapons and march collectively in full silence under the rhythm of music, these silent marches would be used as a psychological weapon in battle. As most armies did not have the discipline to pull this off and it would be offsetting for anyone to witness a seemingly emotionless and confident army face off against them. Yeah, so if you can discipline and marching silently following orders, you just, you know, if you're an old school Greek warrior that's, you know, goes out there with your hop light and you engage in one to one battle like in the Homeric hymns and the Homeric poems, this was a totally different type of style, different type of group. And when they can march all the way up to you to attack you without saying a word, yeah, it's on. Apparently Alexander the Great did this. He had his army do this in front of, I can't remember, but I thought it was the Thebans or the Illyrians, one of the two, and they did all of these routines and they were swishing the grain with their weapons and the army, the other army just said, oh my god, these guys are just too much and they laid down their weapons without even going into battle. So it's, it's a real thing. So let's get forward a little bit more and now get into the juicy stuff. Let's talk about their training. Now Spartan training was not focused on extensive muscle growth of any kind. Yeah. Instead it was aimed at improving speed, agility and muscle memory. So we could expect the average Spartan body to not be overly muscular, but instead nimble and lean, carrying just enough weight and muscle for optimal physical performance. So there you have it, 300, notwithstanding the movie of course, yeah, Spartans were, they were built to task. Like think about a gymnast, their muscles are big enough to do the things they need to do and that's kind of how the Spartan training seemed to be set up as well. No unnecessary muscle that's just, you know, gets in the way. No bodybuilders in there so to speak, but very fit. So there you go. Now watch this. This is another part I want to talk to you about. How were the Spartan youth and the Spartan teenagers fed? This is going to catch you by surprise. Spartan youths were never fully sated and were always hungry to some degree. Xenophon explains it was to encourage them to steal, but if any were caught stealing, they received a beating. Not so much for the act of stealing, but for being caught doing it. Yeah, so they were encouraged to steal and take things even though they would be punished if they got caught. So it wasn't the doing the act, it was getting caught was the problem and they were underfed, which is kind of weird and dark, but hey, they made these boys tough. So that's kind of what they were going for. All right, so now let's get forward now to the young adults. So they've got through their teenage years. Now they're young adults. Let's see how that went for them. So there you have it. The he competitiveness. That was the biggest thing like he looked as young men, young adult males as the biggest asset. And maybe back a couple thousand years ago, that was the case because of all the war and hostility that existed in the world back then. And war was fought with hand-to-hand weapons primarily as opposed to modern war, which is missiles and such. So anyways, there you go. Let's go ahead and skip forward a little bit more and we're going to talk about how this compares to the Roman legions. This is another moment I really liked. Unlike with the recruitment of the Roman legions, where men were selected based on stature and strength, it can be said that each Spartan male or female would be in great shape as they enter adulthood. And anyone slightly shorter or slimmer than the rest would know how to compensate and speed and vigor. We can safely say the Kirkus system made sure that every citizen was a worthy recruit for when the need arose. So there you have it. That kind of goes against what I was expecting was the weaker, the smaller were cast out kind of the myth. But it's not entirely true, it appears, at least according to this video. So definitely something to keep in mind. And finally, let's talk the last moment or two here, talk about war and particularly cowardice and fleeing battles and how that was frowned upon. Let's skip forward to how that worked. Cowards had to endure the most dishonorable lives, which motivated many to rather die in battle than take their place. So there you have it. So it wasn't so much as if they lost in battle, they would be killed or or anything like that. When they got home, most of them just didn't want to live that life of shame. So they would come home or they would either die in battle or they'd come home on their on their shields as they called it. And well, there you go. This was because of the way they were shamed in society. So that is my, you know, really enjoyed this video. I believe most of it's true. It kind of, you know, keeps up with some of the things I've read. But there you go, guys, those are my heartbeat moments for Spartan training system. Let me know what you think about this in the comments below. Thanks for watching.


Afternoon AJ. You you talked to us back in May about how you're wanting to work on everything to become a better player What's at the top of the list now that you're here in camp and and able to pick up what you're doing? First off It definitely had to be like to try to get in the bed shape of you know Be able to go through the entire game and my routes look the same You know, so I definitely got to be well-conditioned and that's exactly what we coat We preach on here with the time A key thing with because very so John Glenn AJ wonder, you know, most of us know about you and Corrie and adam and maybe a little bit about khalif but wonder if you could talk a little bit about The guys who are battling for the maybe some of the lower spots at the wide receiver position You know any guys that that stand out to you? And for you know for any reason any any impressions they've made Are you are you meaning like the rookies or yeah, you know, rookies are undrafted free agents Even guys like, you know a cody Hollister who was around last year um To be honest everybody everybody's looking really good, you know We really haven't got got a chance to get on the field live yet with everybody But we all been working. We all be putting in work helping each other out But I definitely would say um and everybody's looking really good. I mean everybody looking ready to go Proud of the rookies too because they coming in and they know what to do. They know where to be so I give them advantage so they can just play fast and I think Okay, and uh one other topic I was gonna ask you about I know you worked out a good bit with Logan Woodside What are your impressions of Logan and have they changed, you know, since you've known him from uh from last year Um, Logan has definitely been a hard worker, you know, uh, every time every time I hit him up throw Are you down? Yeah, he doesn't hesitate. You know, uh, I'm building that companies with him too You know god forbid anything happened around but if so, I definitely still be in good hands because He's a leader, you know, he loves to work man And he'll be he'll do just fine Chris Harris Hey, jay, how you doing man? Where are you? Just fine. I was just wondering I'm sure I would imagine at least you've been following along with everything that's going on With that with college football right now. Have you had any conversations with some of your buddies back back in school? Who are still there just to kind of see how they're dealing with it? And then if you can like even think if you were in this position, you know, 18 months ago what you had thought Um I have I have been talking to some of my friends back back at school To be honest, I'm just hoping for the best, you know They're trying to figure out a way for us to play They figure out a way for them to play too as well You know, because that's big sitting out a whole year, you know, you can work out all day, but Until unless you're really out there playing you don't really get better, you know You know, so you gotta be out there, you know, I hope for the best for those young guys and to be honest I don't I don't even know how I deal with it or something because I wouldn't know what to do I probably go play baseball Everybody don't have that option, you know, so Thank you. Jim go ahead chris No, that was that just saying thank you Jim what? Hey, Jay, you talked at the beginning. It's about being in shape this year. You know last year you're on the I guess the pre-drive visits you had to get ready for the combine a lot of other stuff going on in addition to football what what is your Conditioning your shape your football ready to slide heading into this year compared to maybe where you were this time last year I'm definitely in a better place better place mentally too as well you know Last year I was flying and going places and number really just could just sit still and just put in the work, you know, so Definitely man. I got time. I had time to really get my feet up under me You know really put in the work and and get myself in best shape as possible coming into camp because You know, it's only going to get tougher. So, you know, we're going to Denver, you know, the air is really thin up there, so What what is the best advice somebody has given you since you've been in the league? Um, definitely still have to be what Tom Brady told me. Um, we're going to things you need, you know, you need improvement on So you won't have no weakness Everybody works hard, but but everybody knows what their weakness is. So we're going to your weakness. So you have no weakness credit to him How his long career and everything he didn't he didn't did so, you know, it's all a favor Paul karsty Hey, Jay Wondering with with everybody now having a year of film on you. How do you expect defenders to approach you?   Yeah, james jones who played in the league for a long time was on NFL network And he said you're gonna lead the league in receiving yards and touchdowns I'm curious is that is that realistic and do you set specific individual goals like that for yourself? I never I never tell my goals before the year, you know But why not why why not me, you know, that's that's my approach with anything, you know Other guys do it. So why not, you know, that's as far as your goals for me That's all I say about that Uh, David, Claire Hey, j on the the idea of making your routes all look the same. What's the key to that? Is it like your stride? Is it your shoulder position? Like like how do you how do you keep a defensive back off balance that way? Definitely just not giving just not giving little hints here and there, you know Making like my pad level the same all the whole way through the whole route, you know Just not put on your turn signal before you turn, you know, you know, so uh buck Hey, AJ, uh, I've seen tana hill or at least last season when we were, you know, things were normal I've seen tana hill, you know, come to your locker sometimes and talk with you after practice or before practice To refine certain things go over details with you Where would you say that he helps you most at as a player? Um Um, he's definitely leading on the field. Um But I would definitely say it's the influence off the field. Um, how he talks to me off the field and like around and And him be leading by example Just being a pro telling me to be a pro all the time because a lot of guys looking at me, you know, so I always be a pro and Like I said, he's a great leader and most definitely when we on the field he demands what he wants and he got to be in This right spot and he delivered. He's gonna deliver a good ball. So Terry AJ you've talked about wanting to Build on last year and all do you feel like that you're gonna be more of a marked man by opposing defenses and And uh, how do you react to that?   That's that's fine. We still gotta play. I still gotta do my job They gotta do their job, you know, that's that's my pros with it. So yeah, that doesn't bother me Luke AJ a name that we've heard a lot about this offseason from some of your coaches and some of your teammates is Richard Davis If he's someone that we saw a little bit up toward the end of the season, especially in that Texans game But what have been your impressions of him? Working with him in practice in the past and I guess recently Getting back with him in that receiver room um Richard has really been on point this this whole virtual spring. He's been on point in the means He's been he's been really sharp and uh And the rocks once we got together the rocks are looking better than ever I definitely feel like he's ready to take the next step On for the team, you know, I really feel like he's headed in the right direction Teresa Walker Hey, jay, when did you get that advice from tom brady? Was it last august or after the playoff game and you mentioned the weaknesses? How long is your list of your perceived weaknesses? Um, I um, I learned um, no, he told me that he told me that during uh during camp One day after practice and um And it's and it's always something it always something that comes up that you didn't know there was a weakness And you just got to you just got to work through it and And it's day to day it never stops. It's day to day You find something new to work on it each and every day It is my approach with it Last one, uh, john glennon So did you call me robby of that my connections going in and out? Yeah, uh last one for you. Okay. Yeah, a jay, um, I'm not Forecasting this at all for you, but but the words sophomore slump. What what do they mean to you? And is that kind of thing keep you motivated? Uh, so that you don't have a sophomore slump Uh each and every day I come out and try to be better than I were yesterday. I don't look at all that I really don't care about it.  So it is what it is


Hey guys it's Julia and welcome back to my channel and for today's video I'm going to be doing the booktube giving tag so let's jump right into it. This tag was created by Elliot Brooks so I'll have her links down below and I was tagged by Jay from Caption Words who is very lovely so I'll also have his links down below as well. What's a book you would give everyone if you could? For that I have orange and this is just a really interesting light but also very intense manga series, it's only two volumes so it's really good for people who aren't used to a very long series of manga so I think this would be a great read for so many people and it deals with suicide for trigger warnings so trigger warnings for that but it's actually such a great read and really touching and has a kind of little cute romance in it as well but it is more focused on the series topics. The book you could give a rat's high knee about. For this I have the program series by Suzanne Young which some people may not agree with me. I haven't read them, I don't want to read them. All I've heard is that they use suicide as a disease. Pretty much bothers me so much so I haven't looked into it but as soon as I heard that I was like nope, never, well probably not even that the holidays are coming up. What's a book you hope someone buys for you? And for this I have Cheesweet Home Volume 3. I bought Volume 1 and 2 myself, they're very expensive because they're colored bind ups so they are about like 30 to 40 dollars so I really don't have the heart to spend it myself but hopefully I can get it. Or like if I get money I can buy it because I want it so bad, they're so cute. What is a book or series that you have given up on? So for this I have the Lux series by Jennifer Armentraut. I read the first book and thought it was hilariously bad and loved making fun of it but I won't continue because I don't care. Who's a character who you wish the author gave more time to? And for this I have Libby Day from Dark Places. I would love like a sequel, a companion, I would love to see more of her. She's very much an unlikable character in this thriller but I liked her. But she's like supposed to be an unlikable character but like I really admire Gillian Flynn and her writing and by the way when is she coming out with a new book? Can someone, can she write a new book please? Like I've read all of them and I'm just here waiting. A character you wish an author would give less time to. This I have two answers. I have Minon from Arafire. I only read up to Arafire and I was not a fan of Arafire personally it just this season went go in the direction that I personally was interested in and that I wanted it to. So I didn't like Man in Chapters. Also I have Merit by Colleen Hoover. Just that whole book. Can it just go away? If you had to give up almost all of your books, which book would you keep? And for this I have The Averton Suicides, My Annotated, Highlighted and all the stuff I have in it. Copy. My one true copy. I have a video on it if you're interested but I would keep that copy. So sentimental to me. I would keep it. What is the best book or bookish gift you've ever been given? This is the addition. This is the Penguin Whore edition. This is the Rayman and Edgerlin Poe story that's a collection. It's absolutely beautiful and it has black pages and my friend just randomly gave this to me. She's like I don't want it. Do you want it? I'm like yes. So thank you Alina. Lots of love. What's a book someone gave you that you wish you could give right back? For this I have The Hunger Games. I received it a long time ago. Honestly I don't care to read it. I know it means a lot to people for nostalgic reasons and I'm very like happy how many people got into reading through this series but it's not just personally something that I will never read. Probably not. Maybe time in a book that a character was given something really meaningful. So for this I have Under Rose Stage in Skies and this is not like a physical object. It's more like a message. It's more of a learning experience that she was given which I don't want to say too much about it but it's such a great book. I would highly recommend it. There is some trigger warnings I would look into but it's absolutely beautiful and definitely in my top 17 of this year. So there you guys have it. That was the booktube giving tags. I'll have the creator again down below and thank you so much to Jay for tagging me. And I'm going to be tagging Peter from Peter likes books. Olivia from I live you for books. Kate from girl reading and Ali from hardback quarters. So I'll have their links down below so you guys have been tagged and I'll see you guys all very soon with a new video. Bye.