It's one o'clock on a Monday afternoon, so you must be watching think tech Hawaii research in Manoa. I'm your host, Pete McGinnis-Mark, and today's guest is Hope Ishii, who is an associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at UH Manoa. Hope, you've got a fascinating topic to describe today. It's cosmic dust, and of course, people really aren't familiar with the term. Can we start off, just tell us a little bit, cosmic dust, what does that mean? Cosmic dust, so cosmic dust, the term comes from the fact that the dust comes from elsewhere in the cosmos, and it basically refers to the dust that's produced by bodies like asteroids and comets, comets when they actually release dust as they sublime, and asteroids oftentimes in collisions, and some of this dust actually makes its way between the planets to Earth and reaches an orbit where it actually crosses the Earth's orbit and comes trickling in through a stratosphere, and so we will collect some of it. So when we're referring to cosmic dust, this is material which lands on the Earth, or you go with spacecraft to pick it up, or you are over-driving on Mars, we'll look at cosmic dust. Usually we're talking about the dust that arrives at the Earth. This is the term that was given to us. And the reason that this dust is so interesting is that it comes from the small solar system bodies, the ones that didn't end up in large bodies where it got hot enough and high enough pressure for the bodies to differentiate and for the materials to change a lot. And so a lot of the materials that we're finding coming in this dust have changed very little since the beginning of the solar system. All right, so these represent perhaps some of the earliest parts of the solar system. So their chemistry or their isotopic ratios or their... Yeah, they have very undifferentiated chemistries, so overall their chemistries look a lot like the average chemistry of the Sun, of our solar system taken as a whole. They contain little bits inside them that are actually remnants from their production in other stars that predate our own solar system, so called stardust. So to backtrack a bit, are you a geologist? Are you an astronomer? Are you a physicist? What do you do? Somewhere in between. Somewhere in between. I like to call myself an astro-material scientist. Well, it's off the tongue very easily, yes, okay. Yes, so I basically study these... I study the materials using microscopes as opposed to the telescopes that an astronomer would use, but ultimately we're looking at the same kinds of questions, that is, what were the conditions during the earliest part of the solar system formation? What happened? What was going on? How did these materials come to be in the state that they're in now? And so we do this by almost a forensic study of these materials that we can... So it's a detective story in laboratory, yes. Yes, it is, yes, it's a detective story. So either we can look at materials that come to us, to the Earth, like the cosmic dust, or we can also go out to return to fetch materials and bring them back to the Earth. And for our viewers, when you talk about dust, are these particles the same size as dust in my house, or are they bigger or smaller? Some of the dust can be like dust you would find in your house, some of it can actually be fairly large, but for the most part, most of the dust is small, very small microscopic. The majority of the cosmic dust that we collect is around 10 micrometers, that's about a tenth of the diameter of a human hair. And so it's not the kind of thing you can see with the naked eye, but there are larger particles that do come in, they come in with less frequency, so 100 micrometer diameter particle lands about one per square meter per day. Oh, I don't know that. You brought some slides along just to give us a better understanding of what it is you're talking about. If we can go to the first slide please. And I guess here we're seeing cosmic dust equals construction dust, and we're seeing the sun on the left with some rocky asteroids going out to the cold parts of the solar system presumably, right? Yes, and the materials that I'm most interested in are those that come from comets, and the reason is kind of displayed in this schematic, and that is that the comets formed far enough away from the sun that the temperatures were cold enough that all of the water was present only as ice. And so everything in those cometary bodies was essentially in cryogenic storage. It's a kind of a time capsule, and so the dust that's coming from these bodies, from these time capsules is a way for us to essentially look back into the past and see what was available at the beginning of the solar system to form our planetary systems. And I get the impression that you actually can infer where some of these particles come from in a general sense. There is, yes, to some degree. So the cosmic dust that we collect, because it's just serendipitously coming through the atmosphere and we're gathering it, we don't necessarily know exactly what parent body object that particular dust particle came from. But we can tell something about what type of body it came from. So we can distinguish particles that likely have an origin and a comet from particles that maybe come from an asteroid that would have experienced more processing by liquid water as opposed to having only ice. And you can see that from the chemistry of the particles. And the mineralogy.  We do. Easy, right? No problem. Piece of cake. We do. We have microscopes that are capable of looking at extremely fine scales. And I have a slide later that we can look at in the second half of the segment that shows some of this. But we can actually use electrons to look at both the chemistry and the structure of these materials on an extremely fine scale. Amazing. Now we've got a second slide. I guess here we're looking at an image of a comet that was passing somewhere. It looks like Golden Gate Bridge in 2007. And why is it important? Here you've got a specific comet coming close to Earth. Yes. Yes. This one wasn't quite so super close. I included this slide for two reasons. One was to show what happens to a comet when it comes into the inner solar system and gets close enough to the Sun to warm up. And those ices that are part of the comet start to sublime away. They go from the solid ice phase to a gas phase and that actually releases dust particles. And so this is one of the big ways that cosmic dust is produced and then can find its way to the Earth. And then, yes, there are some dust streams formed by comets and also some formed by asteroids that the Earth passes through and that are known from astronomical observations. And so we can actually go and specifically target collections to that dust stream from that object. And some of our viewers might be familiar with the background here. I believe when we get meteor showers, sometimes in the year, we're actually passing through the tail of a comet. So for most people just looking up in the sky, it's a spectacular light show. But from your point of view, that's where you'll be getting a higher number of these small particles coming out of the surface. Yes. Yes. So I'm sure some of the viewers have gone out to see the Perseids or the Legions and those are named for the, usually for the constellation that the dust stream appears to come from. But, yes, when we have those meteor showers, those beautiful streaks of light across the sky, that's dust coming in. That's the time to go out a day or two later. And how does, you work for NASA, you get NASA grants. How does NASA actually do this kind of collection? Well NASA actually has been collecting this kind of dust for a long time, but starting about in the mid-1980s, NASA began flying stratospheric aircraft. And so these are airplanes that have extra long wings so that they can stay aloft at higher altitudes, almost twice the altitude that commercial aircraft fly at. And they are flown with little flags on their wings and adhesive on it, so silicone oil.  So that was the, historically that's been the way that most cosmic dust has been collected. And would they collect like one or two during a flight or do they get, you know, the wings get heavy with all this dust? How much material is up there? So it depends on the duration of the flight and it depends a bit on how much, how many dust streams for the Earth has actually been crossing through. But so in perhaps an 18 or 20 hour flight, the flags are actually fairly small area. And so you're really collecting over a small area but at very high speeds and for a long amount of time. A large volume of air. Yeah, you're passing a large volume of air over the collector. And I don't know the actual numbers for typical amounts of particles but I do know that a lot of particles are also fragment and so you could probably end up with hundreds of particle bits on a plane. They're being hit by a supersonic airplane with this particle collector sort of thing. I'm not sure if the next slide actually shows one of these airplanes or whether it's the slide after the next but let's take a look and see. So these are the particles, right? Yes. So the... We're looking at a comet on the top left and microscopic views of different scales down to 100 nanometers on the bottom right. Yes. And this is a typical cometary particle that's being shown here in kind of a scale of going up in scales of 10 order of magnitude from about a 10 micron particle. And then on the right hand side there is an image that shows a crystal from within one of these particles. And what you're seeing on that there's some fine lines that go through the crystal and also what looks like kind of a blurry rim on the surface. That's actually the result of space exposure to the solar wind. So high energy solar ions actually pass through crystals in these particles and leave a little track of disorder. They basically disorder the crystal structure by passing heavy, high energy ions through the crystal. And then the lighter solar wind ions, hydrogen and helium, create this amorphous rim on the surface. And this is one of the ways we can prove that these particles were in space for over 10,000 or 100,000 years. Right. As opposed to there's a dust from the Sahara or something like that. And I see you on the slide, 30,000 to 40,000 tons per year. That's a lot of material. That's an estimate of how much mass of extraterrestrial dust is still coming down onto the earth and accreting. It seems a lot of material, I mean probably if it was all in one place that would cause a lot of problems. If it were all in one place it would be a problem. And the last slide from this session I think shows us just our collection mechanisms. Yeah, so here's a couple of different ways we've got the high altitude. They look like an ER-2 or a U-2. Yeah, these are the WB-57s. NASA also used to fly some ER-2s. It's the research version of the U-2. And so these are the planes that are used for the stratospheric flights with the very large wings in order to have enough lift to stay aloft at 20 kilometers altitude. That was the historic way of getting cosmic dust and the comet dust that I'm interested in. And then NASA also of course has flown some comet missions. And there was one that came back in 2006 with comet dust that was actually captured within special titles. That was the Stardust mission. That was the NASA Stardust mission, yeah. You were part of? Yeah, I was part of the science, the participating scientist analysis team on that. That was very exciting. So each of these collection methods has its advantages and its disadvantages. But one of the points that I had wanted to make was that that's kind of expensive. Flying a mission is a very expensive way to get comet dust. And of course the stratospheric flights also are relatively, they're significantly cheaper than a NASA mission, but also a fair amount of money to manage. Well we're about ready to take a break, hope of it. Right now I'm looking forward in the second half of the show, we'll actually look much close to the Hawaii and what you're doing at the university. But let me just remind the viewers, you're watching Think Tech Hawaii Research in Manoa. I'm your host Pete McGinnis-Marc and my guest today is Hope Ishi, who's an associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. And we'll be right back. I'm DeSoto Brown, the co-host of Human Humane Architecture, which is seen on Think Tech Hawaii every other Tuesday at 4 p.m. And with the show's host, Martin Desbang, we discuss architecture here in the Hawaiian Islands and how it not only affects the way we live, but other aspects of our life, not only here in Hawaii, but internationally as well. So join us for Human Humane Architecture every other Tuesday at 4 p.m. on Think Tech Hawaii. And welcome back to Think Tech Hawaii Research in Manoa. I'm your host, Pete McGinnis-Marc, and my guest today is Hope Ishi, who is an associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. And we're talking about cosmic dust today. And I hope, is there a connection with what you're describing about dust collection in Hawaii? Why are you here, for example? Well, it's actually very exciting because we have just started a new collection of cosmic dust right here in Hawaii. And as I was saying just before the break, historically, our ways of collecting cosmic dust, this dust from asteroids and comets and extraterrestrial sources, have been pretty expensive and difficult to do. What we are actually doing now is taking the same concept that's used in the stratospheric flights of sampling high volumes of air. And we are doing it here at Mano Loa, the Mano Loa Observatory. Interesting. Why Mano Loa and why not at Waikiki Beach? Well, that's a good question. Much better to be at Waikiki Beach. Ah, it depends. And we've got a picture of Mano Loa here. And I think that's you in the top right and your husband, John Bradley, correct? Yes. Yes, we set up this collection together. So Mano Loa Observatory is at an altitude of about 11,140, I think, feet. And the picture on the lower left there is the high volume air sample that we're using. And so the air actually goes through a very fine pore filter, gets pulled by a pump through this filter. And it's attached to the setup is also basically a device that measures the wind direction and the wind speed. And so when the wind is blowing down the mountain, down slope, and is a high enough speed, we turn the pump on and we collect cosmic dust. The reason that Mano Loa is so much better than Waikiki is because the slopes of the mountain actually heat up during the day and cool off at night. And this, because of the high altitude, this ends up generating a down slope wind at night that is strong and that actually overpowers the prevailing winds coming across the island. And the down flow of the wind actually brings a clean layer of the stratosphere. The lower troposphere actually ends up descending and being pulled down to Mano Loa Observatory. So I would imagine it helps that the observatory is a relatively high elevation, so you're above a lot of the water vapor and the dust. Yes, during the daytime the up slope winds actually tend to bring some of the credit that we don't like up to it, and we don't collect during that time. And then the down slope winds actually push that down. And so instead of getting material from what's called a planetary boundary layer where dust and dirt gets kind of stirred up, we are actually sampling winds right from the lower troposphere. And this is the same reason why Mano Loa is so great for measuring carbon dioxide. And why at the Weather Observatory in Mano Loa, is that the infrastructure or is it because they're doing meteorology or? Yeah, a combination of these things. So again, this unique meteorological condition is, here's the. Here's the slide we chose in the cartoon of Mano Loa. And we've got winds coming in off of the northeast and there's the Mano Loa Observatories and things like that. Yeah, so this unique atmospheric condition is ideal for getting clean air. That's relatively clean of terrestrial contaminants. Also, because we're in Hawaii on an island in the Pacific, it's fairly remote. We don't have a huge amount of anthropogenic that is human made, industrial contaminants. And we get a lot less terrestrial what is earth particles as well. So it's much cleaner. The astronomers will often look at either monocare or chili. But in this case, if you're trying to collect clean air, it appears as if Mano Loa is much a better site than Chile. Is there anywhere else in the world which is also a good site or? Yeah, Mano Loa is great. The other reason why Mano Loa is amazing is because there is this National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration facility there that is already collecting a lot of the weather data. The meteorological data that informs our collection. The other place where this approach is being attempted is in the Antarctic, where again, the air is significantly cleaner. But much more expensive. Much more expensive to go to the Mordo Station. Just to be very difficult, particularly during winter, for example, yeah. So terrific. So yet again, Hawaii is an ideal place for scientists to come and do. You're here, you've got national awards, and you're trying to do research here in Hawaii. Yes, it's a terrific site. It's a wonderful site. I think we've got another picture of one of your sites up next. And let's take a look. So here we see, yes, I recognize a monocare in the background, I guess, at the weather station, right? Is this one of your students? Yeah, this is actually Leante Adoro. She's a student who's been working with us on this project. She's a Hawaii Space Consortium student and space grant, excuse me, Hawaii Space Grant Consortium student. So she actually went up to the Montelua Observatory to exchange a filter one month. And on the right-hand side in the picture is Marty Martinson, who's on the staff at the NOAA-managed Montelua Observatory, who's helping us take care of the collection and actually helps send us filters. So it's a very... And they change the filters every month? Right, now we're changing filters every month. We're also looking at doing these targeted time to collections where we collect to coincide with dust streams crossing the Earth. Fascinating. Yes, it's been wonderful to have this infrastructure with this cooperative element. How much material do you find? A dozen particles in a month or hundreds? We're actually still fine-tuning our collection parameters a bit to reduce the amount of extra... There's a delay in the time when the winds change from upslip to downslips. We're still refining that a bit. But we're getting plenty of particles, but not too much of the terrestrial material so far. And of course, another advantage is, I believe you've got a fantastic lab here at the University at Monho, right? And the next slide, I think, will show either you or one of your students. We've got a lot of capabilities here in Hawaii not only to go and collect cosmic dust, but also to analyze it. Can you describe... Here we've got another one of your students, it seems, as if this is the space grant student, what she's looking at. Yes, so this is Leanne. She's actually looking at one of the filters that we collected that's been mounted to image it and carry out chemical analysis in a focused ion beam instrument, which is a specialized electron microscope, electron-flush ion microscope. And so she has been surveying particles that were collected and looking for ones that have compositions that would be consistent with primitive materials. And on the computer screen there, she's looking at enlargements, presumably, of the particles which are inside that gizmo with lots of... Yes, the thing that looks like a bit of an electronic porcupine microscope. And then she's using the controls to move around and analyze different particles. But this raises a question in my mind. How did you get involved in this kind of work? Or how do students, what career paths do they have? I mean, this is top-flight research science that you're doing here at Hawaii, right? And how did you get started? I think this is a great way to get started is undergraduate research programs, getting undergraduate students involved in actually doing hands-on research themselves. This is a terrific way. This is how I got interested in doing research and how I really got my start. And then in terms of this particular field, I kind of fell into it, actually, as I suppose a lot of us do. So I started working on the NASA Starter mission to begin with, actually. And so I was looking at ComaDust and interested in looking at other types of... Would you count yourself as a technologist or somebody who studies cosmic chemistry so you're more of a chemist or what skill is that? I like the big picture. I like to understand the big picture. And so although I do manage a couple of fairly specialized microscope tools, I prefer to be able to use whatever tools I can get my hands on to try and understand a story. Now, you like the big picture, but any discoveries yet? What would be a game-changing discovery from your point of view? Right now, we are trying to understand... We're trying to get enough sample and big enough sample to be able to analyze the organics in primitive comet samples to a level where we can say something more definitive about the inventory of organic materials that was available for the initiation of life on Earth. And that is something that scientists have been able to scratch the surface on, but because most of our comet samples are so small, we just don't have enough material to do the... Do you find anything which hints at being from outside our solar system? That would be quite a find if you had a piece of material from... Well, now, some of the dust that is found in comet samples is definitely remnant from Earth and other stars outside our solar system before our solar system formed. It's very similar to... We've had Ed Scott on talking about meteorites in the formation of the early solar system. This is just another piece in the bigger jigsaw puzzle of how our solar system formed, where the planets come from, what else is out there. It must be a fascinating career to be involved in this sort of thing. And from the sound of it, Hawaii really is at the forefront of this new low-cost technique in trying to collect dust. And this low-cost technique is going to end up being important. This high-volume sampling here on Earth is going to end up being important because it's just getting very expensive to do this kind of work. And it's great to see that you're bringing in young students to sort of pick up where your research is going and get to be more familiar with some of the instrumentation. That's exciting. We all have this desire to understand where we came from and how our world came to be. And this is the piece of it. Okay, well, I last hope we're getting near the end of the show. And I know you've got lots of other things which you could tell us in particular about some of the instrumentation that you have. So let me just ask you now, would you be willing to come back at some later time just to tell us about some of the cool equipment you've got in the basement of the university? Of course. Of course, I'd be delighted. Excellent. Well, let me just remind the viewers that you have been watching Think Tech Hawaii research in Manar. I've been your host, Pete McGinnis-Mark, and my guest today has been Hope Ishi, who's an associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. So thank you for watching, and please join us again next week at the same time. Goodbye.


plane there are also various mind mapping apps I am planning to use free plane which you may know about it allows students to analyse the information contained in the maps and this is going to be useful with my research study will provide participants with the free plane software and instructions on how to use it the mind map file will be shared with the researcher and images of the learning design map will be shared with the class in this approach mind mapping technology is helping learners to share and communicate their learning designs by sharing they are working as a collective pooling together resources and knowledge of a topic this approach may also help students recognise the value of sharing and talking about how they learn so how do we enable students to create their own learning designs the template is created by the researcher using existing knowledge on the learning process it covers areas of planning, monitoring, evaluating and improving learning it has prompts to make the learners think about the different aspects of their learning process the questions of the map are shown on this slide I will read out some of the prompts because the screen is probably not big enough why do I need to learn this topic how does this topic link with other topics in my module how is this topic relevant to the program I'm studying how could this topic be useful to me in my future career new knowledge links what do I know about the topic that I didn't know before how do new things I have learned link to what I already know what did I find interesting about the topic what aspects of the learning process worked what aspects of the learning process didn't work what would I change next time so initially I designed the template and then it was reviewed using a panel of experts the panel was invited to review the template using an instrument to reduce fullness of each section and prompt the comments from the experts were analysed and used to edit the template experts on the panel included module and program leaders and professors professional support staff graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate students all together there were 14 members in the panel so moving on to introducing the learning maps to students the idea behind the intervention is to get teachers who are the expert learners to share how they would learn the topic with student novices the sharing is enabled by using learning design the teacher externalises the way they would learn the topic using a mind map of their learning design the learning design is shared with students teachers demonstrating the processes they use to create their learning design then students are asked to adjust the maps created by by their teachers to highlight their own individual knowledge gaps and as they learn the topic they use the learning design to record how they would monitor, evaluate and improve their learning module leaders provide support during this step and in the final step the teacher starts to fade into the background and the student creates their learning design independently so just a overview of the research design I'm using a mixed methods approach the diagram shows the exploratory short design used to collect the data first student experiences explored using focus groups and then the data from the focus groups are used to create questionnaires which are administered to the module population so the study is using three different topics within a module the first topic is used to collect baseline data before the intervention the second is where the metacognitive learning design map is introduced to students the third is where students are asked to create their learning designs independently and the module leader data is collected using exploratory sequential design so all that means is first of all question is sent out to module leaders and then both are analysed and participants are chosen for interviews so something that I'm planning to do is once the data is analysed from the interviews a module will be chosen to implement the intervention so I'm just going to talk to you just give you a brief glimpse at some of the initial data coming in from module leaders so in the pilot study 25 module leaders were sent questionnaires 15 responses were collected overall the module leaders seem to think that students see them as the key to achieving the required grades a source of knowledge that they can tap into and select and organise of their learning materials and as far as staff expectations go there is general consensus that the main expectations teachers have of students is for students to take responsibility for their learning so hopefully this intervention will be welcomed module leaders clearly believe that the responsibility that the students learn evaluate and improve the way they learn lies with the students but module leaders also seem to believe that their role is to encourage, motivate and inspire students to take responsibility for their own learning so the next stage is introducing the map to students so thank you you have to do that thing of waiting for the microphone to run around the room the microphone is attached to our help any questions or comments can I ask you about the mind map tools that you use am I right in thinking students have yet to try this tool or some students mind mapping is used at a university currently they are familiar with mind mapping but not on this scale and not that they have been collected from those maps I was just interested in how students get on with mind mapping if it's something that's been introduced institutionally because I've got students who've used it really well and successfully and I know that I came to mind mapping a bit late really and I quite like it now as a tool but intuitively I didn't find it a natural thing to do to do that have students been sort of coached in how to use that tool I think first year students because of the spider biogram aspect tend to like mind mapping it's quite easy to take notes using mind mapping mind maps as well so I don't think the technology really kind of forces problems for students I think more of the academic staff who will struggle with mind maps thank you thank you again it was a really interesting session so thank you


The fun side of group teaching. Can you imagine being in a foreign country and you don't speak the language?  You haven't made any friends yet and you don't have confidence in your speaking skills. A classroom could be a terrifying place to be which is why the role of the teacher is so important. Since most non-English speaking students are typically shy in English class, teaching English through various types of methods such as groups can be beneficial to the students. Learning based on real life communicatin. When listening to students in groups, a teacher will notice the everyday language skills being used. These are the natural conversations amongst the students and not their classroom skills. This type of communication in another language helps promote confidence in non-English speaking students as well as getting students to talk to each other. They are putting their English skills to good use. Group teaching is a way to build camaraderie amongst the students making everlasting friendships. These friendships are an important part of classroom management where a teacher can get a feel for who the leaders of the classroom are. These leaders can then be used as mentors to the other students in the classroom. Grouping techniques. There are various grouping combinations that foster difference outcomes. One way to group students is by varying skill level. This type of group encourages more skilled English speakers to lead discussions, mentor less English skilled students and share their knowledge with others. Grouping by the same skill level will help the entire group as a whole, understand the topic and will promote more talking because they can all understand each other. They can be grouped by the same first language. This type of grouping helps students learn more difficult tasks or lessons that can be translated into their same language. Once they understand the project in their own language, they can translate it and work out the answer. Another way to group students is in different languages. This can be a challenge but maybe a simple activity is introduced. Choice of activities. Once a group is established, there are many types of English lessons or games that can promote the opportunity for students to practice their English skills. Having a group project is a way to accomplish a difficult task which requires communication. Solving a problem and sharing information stimulates conversations on how to find solutions which they may use in their everyday life. While playing can be used with any topic that can be recreated, which the English conversations can be used in practical and realistic ways. Some non-English speaking students learn best when they're interacting with other people. They can do this by learning in a variety of group activities. Practicing their English skills in groups encourages their school relationships to develop into friendships. Students who are excited about teaching non-English speaking students in a variety of ways helps nervous and shy students to enjoy learning English. The creative and fun activities that are introduced in the classroom, help students to relax, make new friends and then use their English outside the classroom. This is both beneficial and fun for non-English speaking students. Do you want to teach English all over the world? Speak with an ITTT advisor today to put together your personal plan for teaching English abroad. Send us an email or call us tollfree at 1-800-490-0531 to speak with an ITTT advisor today.


Welcome to Think Tech on Spectrum OC16, Hawaii's weekly newscast on things that matter to tech and to Hawaii. I'm Rachel James. And I'm Michelle Daigle. In our show this time, we'll visit the lanai at the other side of the Neil Blaisdell Center just before a performance of Carmen for a talk about that opera. The talk was by Lynn Johnson, a member of the board of directors of Hawaii Opera Theater and a retired member of the music faculty at UH Manoa. The concert hall at Neil Blaisdell Center is home to the Hawaii Symphony and the Hawaii Opera Theater, HOT. It has 2,100 seats, and in mid-October they were all filled for Carmen. Carmen is one of the most famous and popular operas in the world, composed by George Buzet in the 19th century. It is one of the ABC operas, as they say, along with Aida and La Bohème, ABC, get it? The opera was performed in 1875 at the Opera Comique in Paris, where it scandalized its audiences, featuring a liberated woman so unusual for those times. After the premiere, most reviews were critical and the French public was indifferent. Buzet died 90 days later, unaware of the fame his opera would later achieve. In fact, in the next few years, the opera became famous in productions outside of France and was revived in Paris in 1883. After that, it became more and more popular at home and abroad. Since then, it has become one of the most famous and popular operas in the world, and the Habanera and the Toria d'Or song are among the best known of all operatic arias. The story is set in southern Spain. The fiery gypsy Carmen seduces the young soldier Don José, but their tour de faire turns sour as he attacks his leader, deserts his duties, and abandons his lifelong sweetheart, Micaela, to join Carmen's band of smugglers. Carmen soon grows tired of Don José, however, leaving him for the glamorous bullfighter Escamillo. At the end, in a jealous rage, Don José kills Carmen. The tragedy is complete. The music of Carmen has been widely acclaimed for its melody, harmony, atmosphere, and orchestration, and for the skill with which Buzet musically represented the emotions and suffering of his characters. Prior to the opening of Carmen, Think Tech did several video talk shows of Lynn Johnson, including one with Micaela Nash, Repetitor, who has returned to Hawaii to provide voice and language training for the players at HOT. He is our, what we call, a repetitive, or repetitive tour, if we're going to do the slight French thing, which means that he coaches all the singers and he runs the rehearsals, all the rehearsals before the symphony comes in. So, when you put a cast together, you have all these talented people coming from all over, they have to come together and create an ensemble, a group that works together, and he helps make that happen.  Yes. He can sight-read like a demon. I mean, that is, I studied piano. I've studied for 40 years. I can play hymns on Sunday if I really work at it, you know? And he sits down and just plays this stuff. So, tell us, how did you get into being a coach like this? Well, I mean, it was kind of by accident. I went back to school and I was, I knew I didn't want to be a solo pianist anymore, but there weren't a lot of options that I knew were available for me, and I took a class that was called Song Interpretation. And in that class, it was all about how to connect with your singer and to work more in that. And my teacher at the time, the teacher of the class, after the first couple of classes, he said, well, you should be doing this. This is obviously very simple for you and like a good fit. So you were a natural. You were a natural. It was a natural fit. It was a natural fit for sure. And right then, I went to my current solo teacher at that time and said, I need to switch. I need to switch into this other program. So where were you studying? That was at McGill University in the Schulich School of Music in Montreal. In Montreal. So I made the switch and I haven't looked back since. Can you tell us the relationship of your character and Carmen? So I kind of, I'm a little bit jealous of Carmen sometimes because I have a very big crush on Escamillo, the Corridor. But we're best friends. We're her Mercedes, who is like my counterpart. We're with her all the time. We're the three female thieves. There's a point where the three of us are like singing together, trying to lure Don Caillero, or like flirt with him. And it's fun. It's just like, we're three best friends. The girls out, yeah. And then there's one point where Micaela comes in and we're all standing just sneering at her. So we're like the mean girls. That's my favorite part. Right, right, right. I said that. I'm reducing a quintet, which is very, very fast. And I was like, how many, I couldn't get all the words I be able to. And I'm like, if I just put my mouth like I'm kissing the whole time, I can do it easily.  And then it's much easier. This is very French. Right, that's a cultural French. And that's a wonderful quintet. And that's in the second act. And you are with Mercedes and Carmen and then these two smugglers come in and they need help moving merchandise. They need to help. And they say, nous avons besoin de vous, which means we need your help. And so it's very rhythmic and exciting. And it's wonderful, it's just a great quintet. So we're going to have a break in a minute, you know, but Leslie, could you sing us out into the break? I want to do a little toriotore. Okay. Toriotore, guardi, toriotore, toriotore. Lynn regularly presents her opera talks on the blazed L&I before HOT performances. And she's very good at it. For many people, her talks are a high point of their opera-going experience. Here is the talk she gave for Carmen. So welcome to George Bizet's amazing opera, Carmen, probably the most popular opera of all time. And for good reason, it has everything. Fascinating, passionate characters, a gripping plot and most important, fabulous music. So let's start with George Bizet. He was born October 25th, 1838. He showed such talent at an early age. His parents decided he should enter the Paris Conservatory at age nine. Bizet was determined to make it as an opera composer. Now, although he composed a number of operas, not one of them was a hit. Nevertheless, he was still young. He was still considered a good, a very fine composer. Well, by the end of 1872, he was thinking seriously of composing an opera based on Prosper Merime's popular novella about a passionate gypsy named Carmen. It's important to realize that during the 19th century in France, Spain was considered an exotic country. Well, in the place of the Spanish conquistadors, new symbols of Spain came into being, the Spanish bullfighter, the Spanish smuggler, the Spanish gypsy, and most of all, the Spanish female dancer. Well, the French went nuts over Spanish music and Spanish composers came to Paris. So what makes a piece Spanish? Well, you have a Spanish scale. It's in between a major scale and a minor scale, and it begins with a half step. That's a white note going to a black note on the piano. So there are a lot of half steps in Spanish music. The opening of the famous Abanera at the beginning of Act I is a good example.  Men cannot resist these descending half steps. Then you have Spanish rhythm. A common technique is to have a dotted rhythm in the accompaniment and then triplets in the melody. So here's your dotted rhythm. Everybody try, ready, go. Okay, now I'm gonna have you do that, and then I'm gonna sing the Abanera with its triplets.   You keep on with that dotted rhythm. Ready, go.  Very good. Bizet chose as his librettist Ludovic Alevi and Henri Mayak, a duo team who was well-known. However, the Opa Comique was considered a family theater and a wanton gypsy did not fit with this image. The Louvain protested, Mary May's Carmen, isn't she killed by her lover? And that background of these gypsies and cigar makers at the Opa Comique, a family theater, the theater where marriages are arranged, you will frighten off our audience, it's impossible. Well, Alevi, the librettist, fought for Carmen. He said, we're gonna soften Carmen's character and we have introduced a chaste young woman into the story who embodies family values. There will be gypsies, but there are comic gypsies and Carmen's gonna die, but we'll sneak it in at the end after a brilliant act played in bright sunlight. Well, the Louvain was not convinced. Please try not to have her die. Six months later, he resigned in protest. Well, now the key was to find the proper Carmen. Bizet settled on Celestine Gallemarie, a French mezzo-soprano. Like Carmen, Gallemarie was very much a free spirit. She had been married at 15, a widow at 21, and was the lover of another composer at the time she was hired for Carmen. Rumor has it that she and Bizet had an affair. Well, Carmen premiered on March 3rd, 1875. Bizet and those who believed in his talent knew that Carmen could and should serve as a turning point for his career. Much has been written about the reasons for the failure of this premiere. It was certainly not what the audience expected. It was though they went to see the little mermaid and they got Lolita. Well, one critic described Carmen as, quote, a savage, half gypsy, half Andalusian, sensual, mocking, shameless, behaving and believing in neither God nor the devil. She is the veritable prostitute of the gutter and the crossroads. Then there was a problem with the music. The popular genres on which the music was based were not those of good French homes, but of vagabonds. Gypsies and others thought to be socially undesirable. Charles Gounot, who attended the opening, along with numerous other French composers, had yet another complaint. He accused Bizet of plagiarism. He and Bizet were actually very close and Bizet considered him as a friend as well as a major influence. Gounot apparently complained, George has robbed me. Take the Spanish airs and my melodies out of the score and there remains nothing to Bizet's credit, but the sauce that masks the fish. Well, Bizet had the feeling that all was not right. In the interval before the last act, he told his friend Dandi, a well-respected French composer, I sense defeat, I foresee a definite flop. This time I am definitely sunk. Well, Dr. Leslie Wright, a former head of the musicology department at UH, is a world-renowned Bizet specialist and she wrote, a few critics were thoroughly vitriolic and dismissive, but overall, Carmen was damned with faint praise. In other words, it was okay, but not great. Not one critic spotted a masterpiece. Bizet died three months to the day after the premiere, never realizing Carmen would be considered as one of the greatest operatic masterpieces of all time. Since it was written for the opera Comique, the original version of Carmen included spoken dialogue. Now, later, after Bizet's death, his friend Ernest Guillot substituted spoken dialogue with recitative. As a result, there is no definitive version of Carmen. The production, you will see this evening, has spoken dialogue taken from the original production. So let's move on to the opera itself. Many romantic operas have a plot that boils down to A likes B, but B likes C. So this is kind of the way it was in high school.  Carmen is no exception. In Carmen, A likes B and at first, B likes A, but then B falls for C. Now C is at first taken with B, but then she falls for D. So B ends up killing C. So let's take a look at this love quadrangle. Carmen, Carmen is a Spanish gypsy. She's seductive and passionate, fearless and independent, and she wants what she wants. In many ways, she signifies the exotic woman whom European men find irresistible and European women find threatening. Mikaela. Mikaela is a character not in the original story by Mary, but brought to the opera as a foil to Carmen. She is Carmen's opposite, modest and chase and devoted and dutiful and young and lovely. In short, the type of girl Don José should marry. So then you have Don José. It's supposed to be José, not José, just so you know that. This is the French being Spanish. Okay. Don José is a corporal in the army of dragoons or calvary. He comes from a nice family and he adores his mother. He's ready to marry Mikaela, but is seduced by Carmen. Carmen to him is like heroin to a drug user. He becomes completely addicted. It is his fate rather than Carmen's that interests us and the music characterizes his gradual decline, scene by scene, act by act, from honest soldier to deserter to vagabond and finally to murderer. Escamillo.  He decides to go after Carmen. He has no illusions about the kind of woman she is but pursues her just the same. Though the plot is simple, it is still riveting and it's made all the more powerful by the music, the opera begins with one of the most exciting overtures in all the repertoire. You know, and it's energetic and captivating and includes tunes from the famous melodies. You'll hear, and suddenly the music stops and you have Carmen's ominous fate theme, a theme that sets forth the simple fact that Carmen is doomed. Notice how the music builds and builds and builds and ends with what can only be described as a violent climax. Notice that this theme returns at various points throughout the opera. The curtain opens to a group of dragoons relaxing in a square waiting for the changing of the guard and commenting on various passersby. Young and lovely Micaela appears looking for Don José. Morales, the corporal, tells her José is not yet on duty and invites her to wait with him. She declines promising to return later. José comes in with a new guard while a group of working class urchins have fun imitating the soldiers in a delightful children's chorus. The factory bell rings and cigarette girls emerge from the factory singing an exquisite woman's chorus. Then Carmen enters and she sings her famous abanera, a highly seductive aria about the unpredictability of love and she warns, if I love you, watch out. As the young women go back to work, Micaela returns and shares with Don José a loving letter from his mother and passes on to him a kiss from her. Well, Micaela is lovely. What other woman could he possibly want? Suddenly, there's a commotion, a fight has broken out. Carmen has attacked a fellow worker when challenged she's completely defiant. Zuniga, the captain, orders José to tie her hands while he prepares the prison warrant. Left alone with José, Carmen beguiles him with another seductive Spanish aria. The seguidilla, he is smitten with a promise that she will meet him later at Lila Pastia's tavern, she persuades José to let her escape and as she runs off, José is hauled off to prison for a dereliction of duty as act one closes. Act two opens two months later in Lila's Pastia's tavern, the place Carmen had promised to meet. Don José, if he let her escape, she is waiting for him and passes the time with the officers including Zuniga who has his eye on her. Escamillo, a famous bullfighter, arrives with a bit of fanfare and sings the famous Torridor song. Well, he's clearly taken with Carmen. Two gypsy smugglers, Revendado and Dan Caillers show up and they implore Carmen and her two companions, Mercedes and Tresquita, to help them move some merchandise in a wonderful, rhythmic and energetic quintet. Nusavob is wonderful, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. We need your help. Well, Carmen, who's awaiting Don José, refuses to join them. He finally arrives, the rest retire and José and Carmen are alone together. He is thrilled to see her and she dances for him. Then he hears the bugle calling him back to the barracks for roll call. He must go. Carmen insists that he doesn't love her. If he did, he would follow her. He must now make a choice. Zuniga bursts in and orders him to leave and José refuses to yield to his rival. Well, they start to fight but Carmen summons the gypsies from their hiding places and they hold back Zuniga and Don José as an open mutineer against a superior officer is forced to leave Seville and follow Carmen and the gypsy smugglers into the mountains. Well, as you might imagine, things don't get any easier for Don José. He ruins his career, goes against all the values he cherishes, abandons his family and the good girl he should marry, all for Carmen who ends up falling for someone else. This opera is a tragedy, not only for Carmen but also for Don José who loses all sense of dignity and self-respect. Carmen remains who she is, strong, willful, free and passionate to the very end. Don José becomes a broken man. You cannot help but be moved by each of these characters and the incredible music that accompanies them. Two other operas will be performed in the months to follow, Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment in French in February next year and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onyagin in Russian in April. Opera is a demanding and multidisciplinary art form and we are so lucky to have HOT in Hawaii. Opera is at the center of our cultural experience and it's incumbent on all of us to learn about it, to attend its performances and to encourage our children to be there too. If you wanna know more about Carmen the Opera, just Google the name Carmen. If you wanna know more about HOT or get tickets to the other operas this season, Daughter of the Regiment and Eugene Onyagin, check out hawaiiopera.org. Yes, attend and support the opera. And now let's take a look at our Think Tech schedule of events going forward. Think Tech broadcasts its talk shows live on the internet from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Then we broadcast our earlier shows all night long and some people listen to them all night long. If you missed the show or if you wanna replay or share any of our shows, they're all archived on demand on thinktechhawaii.com and YouTube. For our audio stream, go to thinktechhawaii.com slash radio and we post all our programs as podcast on iTunes. Visit thinktechhawaii.com for our weekly calendar and live streaming YouTube links. Or better yet, sign up on our email list and get the daily docket of our upcoming shows. Think Tech has a high tech green screen studio at Pioneer Plaza. If you wanna see it or be part of our live audience or if you wanna participate in our programs, contact shows at thinktechhawaii.com. If you wanna pose a question or make a comment during our shows, call<PHONE_NUMBER>. Help us raise public awareness on Think Tech. Go ahead, give us a thumbs up on YouTube or send us a tweet at thinktechhi. We'd like to know how you feel about the issues and events that affect our lives together in these islands. We wanna stay in touch with you and we'd like you to stay in touch with us. Let's think together. We'll be right back to wrap up this week's edition of Think Tech, but first, we wanna thank our underwriters. Grateful thanks to our underwriters. The Annie Sinclair-Newton Memorial Fund, the Atherton Family Foundation, Bernice and Conrad von Hamfun, Kassel and Cook Hawaii, the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education, Collateral Analytics, the Cook Foundation, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners, Hawaii Energy, the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Hawaiian Electric Companies, Gailin Ho of BAE Systems, Integrated Security Technologies, Kamehameha Schools, Carol Mon Lee and the Friends of Think Tech, MW Group, the Omediar Ohana Fund, the Schuyler Family Foundation, the Sydney Stern Memorial Trust, Yuriko J. Sugimura. Thanks also to our viewers like you. Okay, Michelle. That wraps up this week's edition of Think Tech. Remember, you can watch Think Tech on Spectrum OC16 several times every week. Can't get enough of it? Just like Michelle does. For additional times, check out oc16.tv. For lots more Think Tech videos and for underwriting and sponsorship opportunities on Think Tech, visit thinktechhawaii.com, be a guest or a host, a producer or an intern, and help us reach and have an impact on Hawaii. Thanks for being part of our Think Tech family and for supporting our open discussion of tech, energy, diversification and global awareness in Hawaii, and of course, participating in the cultural life of our community. You can watch this show throughout the week and tune in next Sunday evening for our next important weekly episode. I'm Rachel James. And I'm Michelle Daigle. Aloha, everyone.


Foreign Minister, welcome pleasure to have you on Let me ask you you represent a new government in Iran In many ways seems different from the last one. Certainly watching the campaign. You were very critical of the last government What is this new government's foreign policy and how does it differ from the last one? In the name of God the most beneficent the most merciful the doctoring of the foreign policy of the new administration in Iran is based on a Balanced foreign policy a dynamic an active diplomacy and a smart interaction with all the parties in In the foreign policy of the new administration of Iran We have put on our agenda the development of our ties with all the parts in the world east and the west But in prioritizing We are taking a special look at our neighbors in Asia It's a special attention. We are paying to our neighbors in Asia But also as an important country in the Asian continent We are also having a special attention towards Asia We believe that the 21st century is the century that belongs to Asia but also maintaining relations with the West with the African continent all parts of the world and Developing our political and diplomatic ties with Europe and On all the countries in the West There are also parts of our balanced foreign policy and we are paying serious attention to them So let me ask you about the burning issue at hand The Russia's invasion of Ukraine Iran has often said that one of the consistent themes of its foreign policy is it does not Condone aggression. It does not condone the changing of borders by force You were yourself victim of Saddam Hussein's aggression Why is the Iranian government reluctant to come out clearly and simply and condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Adam or it regarding Ukraine first of all what happened there the war and the military Operation it was something that we strongly condemned Even the supreme leader of Iran at the highest level in the Islamic Republic of Iran Clearly and then publicly declared that we are opposed to war as we are Hope sir Being opposed to war is different from condemning The country that began the war what I'm looking for is a simple statement that says you Condemned Russia for beginning the war we all oppose war but do you do you condemn Russia for starting the war as We condemn the war against Ukraine and we believe it is not Appropriate also war against Afghanistan Iraq Yemen and Palestine. We believe that war is Inappropriate everywhere, but Ukraine there is this reality The United States and NATO they were involved in provocative actions in the region. I think the what is There were provocations Done by the United States and NATO in order to justify their presence and also their enlargement and provoke Kremlin into this. This is a reality that has to come to our attention, but but this This solution For that is it war? No, we Support dialogue and diplomacy. I have to talk twice with Mr. Lavrov also the Ukrainian foreign minister last week I I proposed to Mr. Lavrov that we are ready to host both of you Ukraine and Russia war has to come to an end and those Ukrainian Displaced people and this humanitarian tragedy It pains every human being's heart and I hope that our efforts will be will help to bring the war into a halt and help the political process We don't have any double standard Ukraine Afghanistan Yemen anywhere in the world if the human rights are violated anywhere There is war and a creation. We are opposed to it and we condemn it The Russian Foreign Minister take you up on your offer because Russia does not seem at all interested in negotiating right now It's in truth. It's in it continues to fight and take territory from Ukraine You know Mr. Fariz Akaria where the problem is Russia is blaming Ukraine that Ukraine is not After the negotiations and the top of the war and Ukraine is doing the same and accusing Russia Of the same thing, but I am of the belief that we should all try so that you the Ukrainian war will come to an end as soon as possible and That the problems will be set up between Russia and Ukraine through Political dialogue that is affecting vastly the whole world Let me ask you about the the so-called Iran nuclear deal the JCPOA Rob Malley the American official who is in charge of handling that portfolio Said recently that the the prospects for the deal are being renewed our tenuous at best fragile Cast doubt that it would happen. Do you share that view that the Iran nuclear deal is unlikely to come back into force? Just Just like the foreign minister of the United States the foreign secretary and also Mr. Rob Malley, I Am facing a lot of pressure coming from my parliament And they are a strong people Inside both countries that are against the the revival of JCPOA for for their own reasons, of course We are receiving messages from Rob Malley and some some of the officials of the United States at the highest level mr Biden himself that are a little bit different From what we hear from them that the publicist statements that they make it is understandable to me that mr Rob Malley is also considering Domestic purposes and you know, we know how he's speaking before the Congress But what we are exchanging messages through non papers through Mr. Enrique Mora or Mr. Borrell of The EU or some of the foreign ministers in Europe in my region there are messages that are exchanged between us from the beginning of the new rounds of talks in order to Revive JCPOA and bring them back to their commitments that the parties the son of public of Iran has put on the table a different initiatives recently we put on the negotiating table a new initiative, but we think that mr Biden is Facing some kind of inaction I hope that the the American side will act and behave realistically The the subjects is important to us the most important thing is that In the in the return of all the parties to JCPOA We need to we need to benefit from the economic gains of JCPOA the elements of the Trump's a maximum Pressure policy should be removed This is something that mr. Biden said from the very beginning of his presidential campaign You cannot return to JCPOA, but at the same time Iran will be deprived of his Economic gains you cannot return to JCPOA, but the elements and the factors of Trump's a maximum pressure policy are still there Mr. Biden has to choose one of these he has to decide We are very serious about reaching a strong and good and lasting deal and we are committed to it Our nuclear program is totally peaceful. This is the American side that has to make the decision We are keeping the window diplomacy open and we hope that If the Americans have a realistic approach We will get to the point where we can make the deal, but Mr. Faris a career. I have to say that with Some regret and that the national interests of the United States have been taken hostage by designers There are so many reasons to believe so let me ask you about the What what is reported to be the central issue that is the obstacle now the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization the Iranian Republican guards It seems to me from the outside that this is an issue outside of the nuclear deal in other words, there are things that Iran or the revolutionary guard have done which are which are Have triggered this designation rightly or wrongly, but they have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal So why allow the issue of the revolutionary guard to interfere with whether or not you push you you go ahead with the the deal if As a person who is responsible for our diplomacy team and negotiating team honestly What what is the hurdle what has caused the pause should I say or a cessation in the talks is that Economic guarantees that we have not come to the point where we can trust the American side the We have not been convinced yet that if on the ground and in action we have not been convinced that We have not seen a behavior that is different from Trump's approach You see We should not diminish things or reduce them to just one Subject FTO thing is is just one level of our talks between us and the Americans Indirectly, but before that there is still remaining issues which are also important We say that we say that the return to JCPOA is that We should the economic natural economic and trade activities of Iran Should become normal and natural In the international sphere, this is important to us We should be able to do so and we have said this to the American side, but unfortunately this FTO thing the Israeli side and made it public magnified it and now this issue is Being portrayed as the main hurdle. This is why I'm telling you clearly that the main obstacle Is that we are not convinced that the people of Iran and we are Going to benefit to fully from the economic against of JCPOA Because this is an important point you're saying that if you had confidence that the US would in fact Way wave remove the sanctions that were put in place By Trump and and as part of the his pulling out of the Iran deal That would that is the core issue You would not let the designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization Become the obstacle you see Mr. Zakaria Since last September when I was in New York and Also recently in the Munich security conference and also on on the path of the indirect talks between my colleague dr. Bagheri and Mr. Enrique Mora and Unofficial exchange of messages We are facing repeatedly This request from the United States Let's see let's sit down and talk directly and settle the remaining issues including FTO I have said that if Mr. Biden is you know, he's he's giving us messages If he really has good intentions and if his intentions are genuine Mr. Biden should show this Underground they asked me how is do you expect him to show this? You just take a look at JCPOA. Okay We are we are having these big nuclear Achievements we have to bring them to a halt. What is that the United States going to do ultimately? They have imposed sanctions on us and they have frozen their assets They are not going to pay anything from us from their own pockets. They're just going to release our own assets Things that were that are rightfully ours. They're going to return them to us They are not going to pay anything from their own pockets at the best scenario This is going to happen So we told them if you're talking about direct talks, then you have to prove to us that you're different from President Trump there is a difference between Biden and Trump. You have to show it to us in practice What we are still feeling here that the the maximum pressure policy of the Trump is it's still being repeated By Biden there are still important issues remaining, but we are but they just we will want to make it simple Okay, you have good intentions. You claim you have good intentions. We are ready. Give us economic guarantees and Remove the elements of the maximum Pressure policy of Trump if you remove these these are the important issues that are the most important issues to us That we have to focus on but in the hewing cry of the media there are things that are raised which are not right let me ask you When you look at relations between the United States and Iran Is there it is there in your view a path to a Real rapprochement better relations You know, you are still representing a country that chants every year death to America that still has slogans plastered on on the walls Painted by the government sponsored by the government that say death to America Do you want to have better relations with America? usually when a new administration comes into power whether in Iran or in the US the first thing that is raised is How the relationship between Taiwan Washington going to be we have said this All the time that we have this specific and clear a principle in our foreign policy secondly and The issue of this relationship between Iran and the US the criterion is the behavior of the American side And over the last 40 years a lot of Indicators have been given to us by the United States that make us Distrust them you see right now. We are involved in intensive Vienna talks, but they are imposing fresh sanctions against Iran by Mr. Biden's team with his Signature against some real entities of Iran or some organizations in Rome. This is like area Maybe for you or for the viewers or the audience here It might be interesting to know that the Americans that have been so extreme in in sanctions that sometimes That sometimes a person's name has been repeated three times This is why the person passed away ten years ago. He doesn't exist anymore. This is like a mania of Sanction mania that the US is facing In order for a relationship between on Washington to get to return to normalcy We are going to decide about it based on the behavior of the US and it is important for any kind of dialogue to have at least some Semblance of trust between the two sides if you return to the the deal And you know this question is being asked in the context of Russian oil Potentially being more more more difficult to get If you were to return to the deal how much oil could Iran pump out a day? First of all, you know that the Islamic Republic over one has a lot of diverse potentialities In the in the field of energy including petrochemicals oil and gas and also in geo Politically and economically in the area of transit east to the west north to the south We are we are enjoying very good infrastructures and very good capacities. I I think the capacities of the son of public of Iran, especially In the post-covid era can come to the serious attention of the whole world less than three Months ago. We we had the we had the Doha summit A kind of gas opaque and my president set forth an initiative there He said that the opportunity of gas should be should be utilized in order to mend the economic shape of the world in an appropriate way and Amongst all the producers and exporters and the consumers of gas in order to revive the economy the global economy We we set forth and Propose very good ideas in that event, but the son of public of Iran When it when it comes to trade and economy we have to get back to our natural status and standing and naturally we don't want to replace others or compete with others we just We just want to use this capacity to help The the global economy both in energy and transit Let me ask you about your relations with the other big Country in the Middle East with which you have had tense relations Saudi Arabia the Saudi foreign minister says that there is a New opening is possible Or some words to that effect. Do you believe Saudi Iranian relations are moving in a in a Strikingly positive direction Some days ago. I was in the United Arab Emirates Mr. Muhammad Ben Zayed and in the new chief of UAE I told him that a lot of things can change But geography cannot change the things that we have in common. They cannot change You see Iran and Saudi Arabia are two major important countries in the region to influential countries in the region We We didn't totally sever our diplomatic ties in a retaliatory move it was the start of the new rule of mr. Malik Salman that it made a decision based on it wasn't a kind of Emotional one and sever ties with Iran not based on logics But we have always remained we have always kept the doors open And if the Saudi Arabia is interested in that to bring it to a normalcy We will welcome it of Are you have they been more positive in recent months? Manfic I think In recent talks especially in the last round that we held we made good progress We also we even agreed that in the near future at the At the level of some officials at the foreign ministers or even the foreign ministers We can have Some meetings in a third country or in another in in a place that is agreed upon mutually The progress is minimal, but good I think so far Made good progress. I think that if if the Saudi Arabia Moves more rapidly then Our relationship can be put back on the normal path We do welcome this the return of our relations To a normal estate and we hope that we will have the the participate with the participation of all the countries of the region and As a result of which we will have more peace and stability in In that very important region of the Middle East Specifically in what has often been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis Certainly until Ukraine was was Yemen Millions of people on the verge of starvation because of a war in which Saudi Arabia backs one side Iran backs the other Is there going to be a Deal I can do you think you and Saudi Arabia will be able to come to a deal to permanently end that conflict we Which regards with regards to Yemeni developments we have always been on the positive side and We believe that all the parties all the Yemeni parties Should play the role in the future of the Yemen not just one faction or one Current or one group of course and sorrow law and his allies in the capital and the north of Yemen over the past years they have been able to stand against an aggression and and Somehow established the safest regions against the terrorists in the in the south They were facing a lot of terrorist Attacks so in the very beginning we thought that we we declared that That the start of the war was something wrong and we believe that the ceasefire has to go on And the human blockade of Yemen should be totally removed all the Yemeni parties should sit around the table and Decide for the future of their country We do will come the continuation of the ceasefire and any progress in those areas Let me ask you about a report that's been out recently about Something that happened 20 years ago in Iran, but it's still important which is the report says that Iran obtained secret documents from the Secret IEA documents international atomic energy agency and used them to systematically and intentionally Lie to the weapon to the inspectors to conceal its nuclear program I ask this because of course so much of this agreement depends on trust and This is the kind of thing that makes people very wary of trust in Iran Um, unfortunately Designists Are spreading a lot of lies This is a scenario That has been repeated Many times before it is fabricated 20 years ago The prime minister the then prime minister of design is regime claimed that Iran Iran is going to have access to nuclear bomb in less than one year 20 years later. We have said this many times That it is not in our beliefs. It is it has no place in our doctoring in our defense or foreign policy nukes have no place After 20 years a lot of inspections are carried out by IAEA And and they have said that Iranians are not after developing a nuclear bomb, but designist regime is repeating this lie In different fashions. Yes In jcpua we come to the point that if the american side Decides realistically then the deal is at hand But this is something that designers don't want to happen. That is why they're coming up with these stories these tales Let me quickly ask you about another hot spot in the region. There are so many ones. We could go on for another half hour, but What do you think is going to happen in syria? Assad is firmly in control, but in firmly in control of only a part of of his of what was syria What is going to happen? What is happening in those other parts and how will this issue get resolved or will will syria essentially permanently be divided now You know that In less than two or three weeks mr. Bashar Assad the president was in turban You know that uh in the war against the terrorists in syria. We helped syria. We helped the people of syria We didn't allow the terrorists To become rulers In syria if daesh or isis Would be brought into power in syria or in iraq the world would be different now We do believe that when it comes to syria There has to be a focus on the political Dialogue and political solution. Yes in edlep In aleppo in edlep The the terrorists are depot there. They are stationed there and they have the support of the americans When I was a deputy The foreign minister in iran and I was in charge of the the file of syria They were they were Making use of the united nations tools So that there will be no harm to the terrorists that there were parts of the strategy of the united states Likewise in in afghanistan intelligence shows that The making and instrumental use of the terrorism is one of the methods that is Used by the intelligence services of the united states is still doing so despite the fact that They're there's in the media. They're Saying that they're fighting against the terrorists But they are not in practice in syria. They have to they have it has to be made make clear What kind of country accepts that one of his Biggest provinces will become a haven for the terrorists. No country Number two the foreign occupation of some parts of syria should come to a stop And on the path of interaction and dialogue the people of syria Should be able to decide about their future We're We are we are against the presence of terrorists in syria and at the same time we believe that through dialogue and political process And getting away from the interferences People should be brought in so that they can decide for the future and this is something that we support the decision made by the people of syria Let me finally we were we're out of time, but I just want one clarification on this very crucial issue of the Revolutionary guards and the deal So my understanding is that whether or not the revolutionary guard are designated as foreign terrorist organization Makes no difference practically. Iran is in any case under under sanctions And has from the united states from the 1980s. There is no additional Sanction that comes with that. There's no additional curtailment of activity. It's a purely symbolic issue So why would you let that? Distract you from whether or not you can get back into the deal Is that you think about it? I think First of all, the america has known very well that if they want to return to jcpoa, what is it that they need to do? They know very well full. Well, what it is required from them president biden knows very well understands very well What does it what does it require? Just the economic He knows very well what he should do the most important thing is that The economic sanctions Need to be lifted in an effective way The most important thing is that the maximum pressure policy Of the Trump era the factors the elements there need to be removed. We are not asking for much But reducing these fundamental things To just one subject and focusing on it. I think I think this is not a good behavior. This is not a good reaction the americans know Very well what the realities are what is happening on the ground and what they should do We have kept the window of diplomacy open And in order to reach a good And lasting deal we are determined. We are serious about it And it has been us the iranian side That has put initiatives on the table and helped the window of diplomacy open but Let me be frank with you. We have intelligence the designers designers regime They have taken the foreign policy of the u.s. Hostage the interest of the u.s. Hostage Mr. Biden should make the decision Does he really want to kill the time Waste the time or does he want to be brave? And stay true To the commitments obligations of the united states under jcpu a We have been the most serious and most honest And we have done the most accurate things, but now It is the amer the united states that has to make the decision and I think if designers lobby Distances itself from the national interests of the u.s. Just a little mr. Biden Will be able to make the decision required for reaching a good deal, but if it doesn't happen You know In iran in the last 40 years We have withstood these pressures and we have other options on the table as well Thank you for the conversation Thank you so much. Thank you very much Thank you


This video is sponsored by We The People Holsters. They are probably made in the USA and have hundreds of holsters and options for use with or without a belt. We The People carry every holster and accessory you need for everyday carry. Here is an OWB holster I ordered for my Hellcat Pro OSP. They also carry thick and sturdy gun belts that are 1.5 inches wide to fit traditional belt loops. It has a heavy duty talon buckle along with an elastic mag carrier for additional ammo or a multi-tool. And would you believe they also make delicious jerky? Check them out at WeThePeopleHolsters.com and use the discount code Firearm25 for a 25% discount store wide. But they share many common attributes as well as differences so we're going to go through that today. Now it's important to note that the 10mm has been around for a long time. The 40 was developed from the 10mm. They decided to shorten the case, remove some of the dead air within the case, and create the same size bullet. And that's one of the things that is similar. The head space off the case mouth is the same 0.424 inches. So if you were to shoot paper side by side you'd see the exact same size bullet hole because that is the same. The 10mm is larger as you can see. The size of the case is larger. You're looking at 0.992 inches with the case size. Over here you're looking at 0.85 inches so they shortened the case. But the 10mm still wins when it comes to velocity. You're looking at 1,250 feet per second with a standard 180 grain bullet as where with the 40 you're looking at 1,000 feet per second. Also the foot pounds of energy is increased with the 10mm. 624 foot pounds of energy, 400 pounds foot pounds of energy with the 40 Smith and Wesson. Both have earned themselves fine reputations in the shooting world. We're seeing the 10mm rise in popularity as the 40 is kind of decreasing in popularity. The last 5 to 10 years we've seen fewer and fewer shooters out there choosing 40. And I think one of the reasons is because if you look at the advancement of 9mm you'll see something like this. 147 grain 9mm. This is Winchester here 147 grain. You know they've increased the bullet weight and people say you know what I'll take the capacity. But there are still a lot of 40 fans out there and they wouldn't choose anything else. One of the things that makes them unique in a way is that the self-defense loads. Now here's Federal Fusion. Now we have Federal Fusion. You can see there it's a bonded soft point 200 grains. So that's no joke that's a self-defense load. Over here we have Critical Duty made by Hornety 175 grain Flexlock. All right that's a little red thing in there that helps it expand. By contrast the 40 actually goes a little bit lighter. Here's Fioki. This is a 125 grain bullet in self-defense and over here we've got Remington Ultimate Defense and you're looking at 180 grain defensive load. So a little more variety with the 40 Smith & Wesson. Now I took these to the range. I shot them side by side. The firearms I used is right here the Springfield XD40. Excellent hangar. Love the way that tames the recoil. People say that the 40 Smith & Wesson round is snappy and I just don't feel it with this hangar. Over here we've got the Springfield XDM Elite 3.8 Compact OSP. Has a hex dragonfly on there. OSP optical sight pistol. Incredible handgun. And I also spot in the 1911 Ronin. Wow if you haven't shot a Ronin yet you're really missing out. This one's chambered in 10 millimeter and there is very little recoil. Let's roll through some of that footage. You can check out the the recoil differences because that is the thing. The reason why this was developed is because the FBI said we wanted 10 millimeter but then people complained that the recoil was too substantial.  It's traveling faster and more full pounds of energy but let's go ahead and check that out. Another point worth mentioning and this is where the 40 shines and that is ammo availability. The 40 can typically be picked up at the local gun store, the big box store. It's usually on the shelves and available. It's less expensive than the 10 millimeter round as well which is more scarce. You may find it but many people find themselves ordering 10 millimeter online because it's not often stocked. Maybe that'll change but as it sits now the 40 is more easy to find. Also it in some cases the 10 millimeter is close to twice the cost of the 40. So that that recoil if you love it, if you love hunting people will hunt with this. They'll take deer, they'll take hogs, even some black bear if they if you're in backwoods territory or whatever. Not so much with the 40 but it's a great defense round. It's a great target round. It's a great practice round but the 10 millimeter I think is a little bit better. I love them both actually but I love the 10 millimeter and I think the reason why is that I've just fallen in love with the Ronin. Shooting this in 10 millimeter is just so nice. Both of these I've had these guns for a while now and they have both performed flawlessly since day one. So in terms of the function of the handguns or the ammo both are first class. They've earned a very fine reputation in the shooting world. If I had to choose one I'd probably go with the 10 millimeter. I just think with all those applications you could use it for it's an advantage and I like a little pushback but if you're recoil sensitive perhaps the 40 would be for you. Harder to find, easier to find, more expensive, less expensive, expensive both are great rounds. If you like videos like this please subscribe and share. I always appreciate thumbs up button. Thanks for watching and you guys be safe.


अब the question is why to compare learning achievements, why do you want to do it? You want to do it because you want to measure the achievements in relation to other countries. You want to measure the learning achievement of students within the schools and you also want to compare learning achievements in relation to other countries. You want to measure the learning achievement within the schools and you also want to do a kind of comparison with other schools.  लेएकिन कैई तवा आप ऊन लानिन अज्विमन्त सो को रेलेट करना चाते हो, दॉसरे असक्प्त से, by what input processes and what teaching learning dynamics they are taking. एक वजा है एक भाईगर। यह सकता हैं पास इस ण्लीग है। तिर तो प्तरनागा। अपको प्रहींगन ट्रीट प्लेग स कुल्ल। ठाद लूगी प्रहाताा फाब प्रहाताद मिट्र्जा रागा aus ऐसलग प्रहाता आपार ही हो प्रहाता है। जितनी आदर को दूसरे दोमिनेंट कोम्युनिटीस कर रहीं और आप देखना जातो इसी तरा पाकिस्तान में भी, at times you want to do my compare gender, at times you also want to see that the ethno-linguistic minorities are in your schools, or the religious minorities you have, are they performing equally well, learning achievements are equal to their dominant group or not? and you also want to learn actually, and we can sum up it in a way, what can we learn from other systems, we do comparisons because you want to see that what is there for us to learn from their system, whether that issue is of equity, i.e. the issue of all groups is that some groups consistently over the years are performing well, or the issue is that some countries are performing well or not, or the differences of rural-urban are coming, you want to see all these differences, when you see these differences in a country, you will see that these are not your issues, where people are performing well despite being a minority, despite their gender, despite rural-urban contrast, so then you want to bring those things to other schools, then you also want to see other countries, to see how they resolve similar issues, and the problems you are facing in learning achievements, whether they are coming or not, and through this comparison you just want to learn, so that you can improve your own system, and because learning achievement is the main outcome of education, at least what you can measure in front of you, literacy related, so that is a lot of research has been done over here.