This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. It must be Monday. Think Tech Hawaii here at the 11 o'clock clock. And we're going to talk about opera here in Community Matters. We're going to talk about training, rehearsing, coaching opera stars in Hawaii today. Okay? And let me just say a word about opera. Okay? We have two heavyweights here. We have Lynn Johnson. She's a member of the Board of Directors of Hawaii Opera Theater. We have Maikai Nash, who just joined the opera, actually, came back home to help on rehearsing and coaching opera singers in Hawaii today. Very, very important people, and we're going to talk about opera. But a word about opera, which is what distracts me, I just need to say this, okay? Opera is multi, multi-arts, multi-cultural, multi-everything. You think about it, you know, it jumps from one country to another, there's art coming from so many places in the world, really, and more places now than ever before, actually. People are writing opera. It's alive and well. It's an art form that has not only traction, but evolution right now. Okay? And it involves, and think about all of the disciplines involved. You're talking about stage management, you're talking about stage sets and scenery, you're talking about props, you're talking about wigs, you're talking about costumes. All these are art forms. You're talking about, I started acting, and singing, and you're talking about writing a brilliant libretto. I'm talking about studying history and putting it in the context of history. I know I missed a few things, but I'm talking about the music, instrumental music, and the way you play it, the way you sing it, the way people, when I say stage management, I meant the whole director thing, and all of these are being more refined now than they ever were, even in the heyday in the 19th century. So wow, this is something to watch, it's something to learn, and we have it. We are so lucky to have this here with all the panoply of all of these disciplines all coming together. And Lynn, you are in substantial part responsible for this. Lynn was a teacher of faculty at the School of Music at UH Manoa, and now she gives these fabulous lectures on the Ward-Linai, I write the Ward-Linai every hour before the opera begins at Blaisdell. So welcome to the show, Lynn. Thank you. To be here, and to talk about the most wonderful genre in the world, far from dessert. Yeah, it really is. And it makes me cry. That's the way it is. I have to tell you, I saw a brand new opera in Santa Fe, my husband and I went to the Santa Fe Festival, and we saw a brand new opera that was all about Steve Jobs. It was about Steve Jobs, and you know what, I cried at the end. It was beautiful and moving. Well, he dies, you know, he dies. But you know, his vision, I mean, every one of us has a phone that is now silenced during the show. Disruptive technology for the world. But it was a beautiful opera, and it just got written. It was premiered here, and the reason, part of the reason I went is that it was starring my first cousin once removed. It was starring the daughter of my first cousin, Sasha Cook, and her husband. And her husband played Steve Jobs' father, and she played Steve Jobs' wife, Lorraine, who basically is the redemptive figure in his life. And the two of them are going to be coming here in January and doing another relatively new opera. It was written in 2014 called As One about a transgender, and her husband will play Hannah before and she, no, he will, no, wait, yeah, he plays Hannah before and she plays Hannah after. So he goes from a man to a woman, and what he told me, because I got to meet both of them and talk to them, and what he told me was that people who have seen this show come to have a deeper understanding and appreciation about what it means to be a transgender and what it means to make that choice. There's a couple of points in there that I respond to. Number one is, I forgot to mention, literature. All of opera is literature. That's right. It's great stories and not only historical context, but literature that can be right now. That's what I'm talking about. This current events almost. So it can follow. That's my second point. It can follow the events, the news of our time, the change in our global culture. So Lynn, so we have Maikai Nash. We have the best guy here. We at Hawaii Opera Theater are so lucky to have Maikai Nash. So often, if you want somebody to be in Hawaii and to work in Hawaii, it can be a challenge. You know, they come from the mainland, right? And we get them from the mainland because they're so talented, right? Oh, gosh, I don't know if we have the talent here in Hawaii to have somebody come and do this important job. He was born here. He took, who did you take piano from? Ernest Chang. Ernest Chang. And tell us about some of the rewards that you won as a piano player. Well, I did all the local competitions and I played with the symphony when I was a couple of times when I was younger. Piano. And so I debuted with them, I think when I was 11, right there.  Yes. Well, somebody's got to do it. I mean, that's super talented. That's super talented. And then you taught piano. I taught piano and then I left in my early 20s and just back. Where'd you go? I went to Seattle and then I went to Montreal and then I went to Toronto with a couple of years in between in Vienna, in Paris, and in Italy studying. And you didn't call me. You didn't write me. You didn't take me along with you. Never. Not once, but we can change that. So, more. Introduce. Yeah. So I guess I have a question for you because he is our, what we call, a repetitive or repetitive tool 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've 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 spiritual. But you were natural. You were 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? Yeah. So I made the switch and I haven't looked back since. So interesting. One class, one teacher, one mentor experience, a revelation, and bingo, your life changes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I had always been interested in working in opera to a certain extent, but I didn't realize it was, it's an entirely different profession. I thought it was just something you kind of did. You played piano and you kind of did some opera stuff. I didn't realize they specialized, they went so heavily into their own art form. So once I knew that, I was like, well, this is it.  I committed myself. It was opera. That was it? Yeah. Opera and art song, yeah. So you started with art song. Remember you telling me how much you love doing art songs, right? And so did you work with all different kinds of singers in art song? Yes, I worked with all the different singer types, personality-wise and their voice types. And I really, really wanted to make a career at that, but that's just not really possible. And I remember speaking to somebody at a summer program once and I said, well, I really want to be, she was an opera coach. So I really want to be a song pianist and she said, we all want to be song pianists. But you meet the good singers through being an opera coach and from there you can be a song pianist. So what is art song? Isn't all song, music, art song? No, art song is kind of like little gems of music where an opera takes you through a character over a two-hour period or a three-hour period. Art songs are a story in two minutes. It's a poem. It's a poem set to music. So you have two or three minutes to make that character come alive for the audience. Or sometimes they can be longer, five, six, seven minutes, but you have a shorter period of time to make that character something. Just thinking about interpretation, really, it sounds very important. I wondered first, I mean, isn't it primarily the job of the singer himself or herself to find interpretation in the art? Why do they need somebody else to help? That's a good question. It is a good question. Why do we need you? Why do we need you? No, I mean, the singer, you know, it's unlike any other kind of instrumentalists, right?  You have the working parts and the mechanisms that are already working on its own. You just have to coax the music out of it. A singer has to figure out how to use the mechanism here, how to use the mechanism in their breath. They have to figure all of that stuff out. So because they're so concentrated on making instrument work, they actually don't have as much time as instrumentalists to work on style. So it happens as a slow progress, a gradual thing that they learn over time, and that's what they use their coach for. This is not the same thing as acting, nor is it the same thing as singing, as you said. It's something else. It's something else. Like the opera coaches and voice coaches in general, I mean, I guess we don't call them opera coaches. We call them voice coaches. Voice coaches deal with interpretation, style, diction, language. All of the stuff that the opera teacher, the voice teacher doesn't work on. The voice teacher works on the mechanism, for the most part. How can I tell if a given star, right up there, in Carmen, coming soon? How can I tell? Are you working in Carmen? I'm just starting to work with some of the singers. I want to hear about some of that. How can I tell that a player in Carmen has got this interpretational mode, has made the necessary and excellent interpretation of the music and the song? How can I tell? Honestly, you may never be able to tell. I mean, the people that are in the business know the differences between that kind of stuff. But as long as that person communicates and makes you feel something, that's important. And that's what we try to bring them out. Some of them do it out of style. Some of them do it within style. I mean, it really depends on the house and how far they want to really be specific about how things go. But in my opinion, as long as they're bringing something to the table and the audience feels that, that's just really the important thing. So if I cry, it's likely that the interpretation has been pretty good. Yes. So when somebody comes to work with you, and let's say you bring in Carmen and she's a very professional, what's her name again? Kate Eldridge. Kate Eldridge. And what can you do with someone?  What might you do with her? She might think, well, why can you do to teach me? So how would you work with her? So you have to kind of test the waters with every singer that you work with and you have to see what they want from you. My first teacher, my first vocal coach teacher, always said in your session, do what they ask you to do. Don't do more than what they ask you to do. So if they're not asking you for a new interpretive idea for a phrase, don't give it. You know, you're there to bring to the table what they want you to help them with. Suppose I'm a star, but I submit to you. I say, Mike, tell me everything. Help me from ground zero. I want to know everything you can give me about this piece. What would you do then? Well, generally I come to the table with having researched the piece, having knowing the background of the piece, knowing the librettist who wrote it, why they wrote it, how they wrote it, if that's possible, it's not always possible. But understanding all of that, because it really matters. You know, there are these people who write these pieces and they just, authors are inspired by something too. It's something in their life or something that they've experienced or something that they've seen. And knowing those things are super important, because if you understand, well, I wrote this because my mother, you know, had a situation with a man at a certain age or whatever. It helps you bring something different to the table, realizing that it's connected to something. It's not just some fiction that came out of the sky. So we start with those kinds of things and we work on the style of Carmen. Carmen's a little different because there's a specific French style, but Carmen kind of breaks some of those rules because of the character herself. So we don't have to follow those styles as nearly strictly as we do, let's say Daughter of the Regiment, which we're doing later on this year. Those styles will be a little bit more adhered to, it's kind of a free-for-all in a certain way. So does that mean that Carmen is more difficult to coach than Daughter of the Regiment? No, actually in some ways it's easier to coach, because there are less rules that we have to adhere to and the rules are being broken all the time. We don't have to worry so much about what is right and what's not. For instance, you know, we use a lyric diction in French that has flipped and rolled R's, but in France and sometimes in Montreal, we're using the colloquial spoken French for Carmen because her and her troop are of the lower class, right? So they bring a little bit more of that lower classness to it. Oh, that's wonderful. You know what they say about opera too? It's attention to detail. Yes. This is the kind of detail that really is. It's great. Yeah, and it's all the stuff you don't notice, except that it's there. So you've got to be in a fiscionato to appreciate the detail. Some of it, yeah. I guess it's like a movie, you know, they always have those articles like, did you see this in this movie? I'm like, no, I didn't see any of that. So yeah, if you know it, you know it. So we're going to take a break now then. But during the break, I think we're going to decide whether we're going to do the rest of the show in Italian, French, German, or Spanish. I think we prefer French. Absolutely. I'm a Franco file, so. Okay. It's settled. We'll be right back after this break. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Ted Rawson here, folks. You're a host on Where the Drone Leads, our weekly show at noon on Thursdays here on Think Tech. And we talk about drones. Anything to do about drones, drones, remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, whatever you want to call them, emerging into Hawaii's economy, educational framework, and our public life. We talk about things associated with the use, the misuse, technology, engineering, legislation with the local experts as well as people from across the country. Please join us noon on Thursdays and catch the latest on what's taking place in the world of drones that might affect you. Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, where we motivate, educate, and power and inspire all women. We are live here every other Thursday at 4 p.m. And we welcome you to join us here at Sister Power. Aloha and thank you. Okay, we're back. We're live. Can you say something in French just to start this segment out? Mon nomi mai kai. Excellent. Sabu? So, Lynn, you were talking about, during the break, talking about stereotypes and talking about colloquial dialogue and all this. Can you pursue that? Yeah, just, you know, he works with Sopranos and he works with Metzos and he works with Tenors and he works with Bases. And just, you know, are there any differences among them in terms of how you coach them or are there some traditional sort of stereotypes that no longer exist or... Yeah, there are traditional stereotypes, certainly. I mean, the generation, you know, maybe a generation or two ago, Sopranos used to be known as very diva-like. And I'm sure you'll still get that in the industry nowadays, but it's less and less because there are so many singers that the more you are diva, the less you are hired. And there's always somebody else to go to. But in the past, that wasn't necessarily the case. You know, these great singers, there weren't scads of singers around to replace them. So they got quite a reputation for being difficult and diva-ish. So there are changes. And what about the Metzos? Well, the poor Metzos, the poor Metzos always generally, with the exception of Carmen, she's coming in and she's playing the seductress, Metzos generally play the old woman, the hag, the witch. So that's kind of their track in life when they take that role on. There are exceptions to that, like Carmen, but they generally have to play these not-wonderful characters. Or they're kind of the handmaid or something. Yeah, exactly. The secondary character. The secondary character, yeah. But not always. There are some wonderful, like Il Trovatore, which we had a couple of years ago, where the secondary characters are fantastic characters and are evil, but they're generally evil. Well, I think my cousin who played Steve Jobs' wife is a Metzos. And I think they wanted that slightly lower tone because maybe it's a little bit more mature and centered and she was sort of the savior of Steve Jobs. So they chose a Metzos and she did it beautifully and she was a strong woman, but very beautiful and tender and all those things. Modern operas are using Metzos in a different way than they used to be, which is nice. So you have to fill in the outline of the character with the moves. Are you also going to talk about stage moves and facial expressions? Are you also going to talk about body language? Yeah, we can. I mean, there are certain... No, no, do you when you coach. Do I when I coach? Sometimes, it just depends. I try to leave that more to the acting professionals, but there are, of course, times where we have to talk about, hmm, that's a little too much. There was a singer I was working with recently that does a lot of kind of interpretive dance as she's on stage and I question, like, ooh, let's maybe cut that back a little bit, you know, because we're here to communicate with the audience, not to give them a dance show. So it just depends on what it is, you know, and how much they're working with an acting teacher, how much they're working with a movement teacher, because, you know, for singers, I feel sorry, it gets pricey. They have a voice coach, they have a voice teacher, and then you're asking them to possibly have specialized diction training, you're asking them to see an acting teacher, and that's for professionals just all on its own, whereas an instrumentalist has to see one person. But there was a time in my life when I was trying to learn the ski. You had that experience? And people tell you everybody's got a different piece of advice for how you conduct yourself on the skis. And after all this advice comes in, you can't remember any of it, and you don't take anybody's advice, and you wind up, you know, without the benefit of advice. And I'm just wondering, when you finish, and you're watching the final performance or the final result of your efforts, are they taking your advice? I would say most of the time they do. If they're coming to you, it's because they want your advice.  They don't come to you and ask for your advice. It's their choice. Yeah. And there's certain kinds of questions that you tend to get more than other questions. I mean, when they say, like you said earlier, I do what they ask me to do. What typically do singers ask you to do? They want to know that it sounds good first. Oh. And then from that, they want to know if it communicates well to the audience. If they're angrier about what they're saying is reaching the audience, if their sadness is reaching to the audience, and if it's not what I can do to help them figure that out, then sadly, the third thing they want to know is about style. Style's not necessarily the first thing they want to know about. But then is it within the style of what the composer was composing at the time? So it just depends. You get a wide range of singers. Some singers come to the table, not really meeting. There are a couple that I worked with that don't really need a coach. They've got a lot of that kind of stuff figured out. They are rare, but I mean there are the ones that come really knowing how to make that all work on their own. And then there are ones that need kind of, you know, hand feeding all the way and from learning the music to understanding the music to researching the music. And I think the most important thing is that the singer knows who they are and what they need, you know? And if you're the one that needs that hand feeding, accept it and move forward with it. Do you have any time that anybody resists what you have to say? Absolutely. Absolutely. So there are times where, yeah, they don't agree with what I have to say. And for me, it depends on what it is. If it's an interpretive choice, they said, that's fine if you don't agree, but then sell me on what you actually want it to be. And if you can't sell me on what you want it to be, then you've got to make that change. And if you can't make that change, then... What happens? Do you report them till then? No, they go up there and they do what they want and it's up to the audience to decide whether they believe it. Yeah, and sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. So what does that mean that you, when you coach, you have to know if somebody is speaking French properly too, right? Yes. Or speaking German or speaking Italian. What is the most difficult language to have singers sing properly? Does it depend on the singer? It somewhat depends on the singer, but you're going to laugh at this, but English. Oh, really? Because English speakers, I mean, I think it's the same in every language. French is one of the harder languages to speak in. Because it's such a natural language for you. You don't think about the sounds. I remember taking English diction for the first time and going through pronunciations of words and thinking, that's how you pronounce that word. Like I had no clue that's how you pronounce that word. And I've been saying it wrong. I mean, just slight changes. You know, I've been saying it wrong for years. And you don't think about that. You just come to... You think you know. You think you know your language. You think you know your language. So you don't study it as well. You live in your own bubble. Yeah, you live in your own bubble. So that's one of the hardest ones. And we were talking before the show started about how in English there are three accents that we generally... Why don't you explain that for a year? There's the... We have the American accent. We have the British accent. And we have this funny mid-Atlantic accent. And that's difficult for singers to glum onto, you know. When you're singing in French, you don't have to sing in three accents. When you're singing in Italian, the same thing. You don't have to sing in three accents. Sometimes they sing in Venetian, but that's almost a different language. Spanish, however, you do have to sing in two accents. But we have those three, so that makes it a little difficult for them. So you had to develop your ear for all three. Yes. And you have to have them develop their ear for all three, too. And you have to catch them when they're off. As much as possible. So that we have an American opera coming up as one. Yes. Which accent is that? Pure American. Pure American. Yes. Pure international American. Yeah. I mean, if it was, you know, like we did Streetcar Name Desire last year, if it was in the South, we would have a more southern accent going on. But I mean, this one is just a general American accent. New accent. New accent. Yeah.  Sure. So you're not on the stage. The player is not on the stage. Most of the time. You're in a room. Yeah. A rehearsal room. Yeah. Okay. And you're, the person is standing, I guess. All right. At the piano. Oh, at the piano, of course. You're playing the music so you can hear what the singer does. Yes. And then you'll stop and say, wait a minute, wait a minute. That's not quite right. Yes. Let me show you a better way. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I'm one of the coaches that likes to hear them sing the entire thing first before we start talking about it. Because I think it's important to see what their journey is and what they're trying to do as a whole. The journey. The journey. It's not a song. It's a journey. It kind of is. It's a journey. It's a journey because whenever you have an aria, things happen during that aria, right? Yeah. You're usually not at the end where you were in the beginning. It's dynamic. Yeah. I'm wonderful. An aria is a level of interpretation. Yeah. An aria usually is a problem that the character wants to solve. So they start with, here's my problem. And by the end of the aria, this is how what I'm going to do about it. This is how I'm going to achieve what I need to achieve. So yeah, it is a journey of thought. It's kind of, you know, I tell this to the singers all the time. It's kind of every day. This is how we work every day. You know, you wake up in the morning and you think, oh, well, I have that meeting at two and then I have that appointment at three. How am I going to get home? And you know, you go through this process and it's going through that process on stage and having them realize that it's real life that they're singing about. We're almost out of time, Mike. But can you take a look at Vivian over there? That's the Camera 2. We call Camera 2 Vivian. Is he the character in the opera? Ask him. So can you talk to Vivian and tell our listeners, our viewers what they should be looking for in terms of seeing the result of your effort? What they should be looking for is just a really fully fleshed out character on stage. Somebody who really understands what the character wants to say and how they interact with everybody else. Somebody that's real, really. And then as my co-host on this, can you summarize what we've learned today, what you've learned today? Because I know I could tell you were really interested. Well, I learned a lot. And I learned what it means to have a real opera coach and a repetitive and somebody who's going to make the opera really come alive in a way that makes us not only hear beautiful music but be moved by what they're singing. Can you tell us just one more time about Carmen coming soon? We have Carmen coming soon. And I guess it's, I think, Friday the 13th of October. You know, she dies at the end. It's not a good night for her. But April, I mean, October 13th, 15th and 17th, we have Carmen. So come and bring your friends. I mean, it's going to be fabulous. And it's a timeless story. And I was thinking, one more thing about her being a mezzo. A mezzo is exotic, right? And so you have Samson and Delilah. Delilah's a mezzo, too. And somehow that slightly lower voice is irresistible. Yeah, wonderful. Lynn Johnson, member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Opera Theater and the faculty, former faculty at the music school and teaches on the lanai, the word lanai before every performance. And Maikai Nash, who just joined the opera recently and who is going to be the coach. And I wish you could coach me, but who knows? We can. Anything's possible. Thank you both for coming down to Think Tech. Thank you. Thank you. And say it in French. What say what? Aloha. Merci.


So it's my great pleasure to introduce Rachel Stevens-Smith, who is the Minister for Health, Families and Community Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in the Australian Capital Territory. Minister Steven Smith was first elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly as a member for Kurojong in 2016 after a 20-year career in public policy across federal and ACT governments and non-governmental organisations. In her time as Health Minister, Rachel has been responsible for implementing nation-leading drug and alcohol reform. This includes decriminalising personal possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, opening Australia's first fixed-site drug-checking service and making record investments in the alcohol, tobacco and other drug sector. Welcome, Rachel. Thank you, Naomi. I want to start by acknowledging that we meet on the unceded lands of the Bannerong Boon Wurrung and Wurandjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation. I'm thanking Uncle Bill for his wonderful welcome to country and encouraging everyone to listen to hear and this year, if you're Australian, to take the opportunity to give a new voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this country. I want to acknowledge all of the many eminent people, committed professionals and activists in the room. It's really an incredible honour to be here among so many national and international leaders, including those who are bringing their valuable lived experience to inform the vital work of harm reduction. It's a real pleasure to be here to be able to shine a light on the drug policy reforms we've achieved in the Australian Capital Territory or the ACT. I feel I should for international visitors explain that the ACT is, as the name suggests, home of Australia's capital city, Canberra, and of our national parliament and institutions. We're a self-governing territory with a single level of government that covers both state and local responsibilities. So perhaps you could think of the ACT government as slightly similar to the Washington DC Council if you're familiar with that, although we have somewhat fairer representation in our national parliament. The ACT's population is around 460,000 and we're an island within New South Wales and it's unusual for the ACT to speak ahead of New South Wales. We also serve as a hub for employment and services from people in the surrounding region and it does create a range of cross-border issues that we need to manage. But over the last few years the ACT has developed a number of evidence-based policies in partnership with experts, people with lived experience, and our local alcohol, tobacco and other drug sector. Canberra is a very progressive city with a highly educated population and a disproportionate number of policy wonks. This contributes to levels of public support for decriminalisation and harm reduction measures being the highest in the country. And as just one example, the recent Australian survey of social attitudes found that 96% of Canberrans support the availability of pill testing services at music festivals and appropriate health settings. Now it wasn't like that before we trialled pill testing in 2018 and 19, we demonstrated it as well as building on an existing base of community support. So not only do we know that drug checking is good harm reduction and health policy and that's been detailed by independent evaluations from the Australian National University of our music festival pilots and an interim evaluation of our new static site pilot. But our constituents see the sense in it and they recognise that it can save lives. Now I'm not going to talk very much about the pill testing facilities but there are a great team here from pill testing Australia representing the ACT and if you want to hear about it they will be here and please go and talk to them about the experience. But taking a harm reduction approach is not something new in the ACT. In 1992 the ACT was the second Australian jurisdiction to introduce police diversion for cannabis possession through a modest on the spot fine. A further police diversion program was introduced in 2001 to allow people found with any illicit drug to instead be diverted to an assessment and harm reduction session. And in 2012 the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to introduce a take home naloxone program both for people who use drugs and for other members of the community. The program is still run today by Canberra's peer drug user organisation the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy or CARMA a vital partner for the ACT government which continues to provide emergency response training and subsidised naloxone access and received additional funding in 2020 to expand that access. I'm pleased to say that take home naloxone is also growing across Australia under the national take home naloxone program. And in recent years the ACT government has been working to introduce other harm reduction measures to strengthen health based responses and to continue to reduce the stigma that Helen spoke so eloquently about the impact of. In 2020 legislation was implemented to entirely remove penalties for adults possessing up to 50 grams of dried cannabis or growing up to two plants at home for individual sales or for individual use rather or for household. And of course it was predicted that the sky would fall in but it didn't. In the first month after the legislation came into effect in February 2020 wastewater monitoring showed no change in cannabis use. And it's difficult to interpret the changes in cannabis use after this time because the COVID-19 pandemic had really noticeable impacts on drug use patterns which were likely related to changing patterns of supply and use. However we do know that cannabis related emergency department attendances and hospital admissions appear to be completely unchanged in the three years since the reforms came in compared to the three years before they were implemented again building the evidence base for Australia. But we've now taken a step further and this is what I want to focus my remaining time on. Later this year new ACT laws will come into effect reducing penalties for possessing nine other illicit drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD and psilocybin. This means a person found in possession of small amounts of these commonly used illicit drugs can be cautioned, referred to an assessment harm reduction session or receive a simple drug offence notice. If a person receives a simple drug offence notice they'll be able to choose whether to pay a fine of $100 or attend an assessment and harm reduction session and they can also be referred to treatment on a voluntary basis. The maximum penalties at court for those small amount possession offences will be greatly reduced. Instead of facing a maximum penalty of two years in prison and or a fine of $8,000 the maximum small amount penalty will be $160. Not really worth prosecuting. Maximum prison sentences for possession of amounts between the small amount threshold and the threshold where an assumption of trafficking is made have also been substantially reduced under the legislation. And the aim of these reforms of course is to reduce the chances that people become unnecessarily involved in the criminal justice system for drug possession. This is particularly important for young people although I'd note the changes don't apply to people under the age of 18. For First Nations people and for people who are otherwise marginalised in our communities and that's why we took the very clear decision to include heroin and methamphetamine despite those being the drugs that people most opposed being decriminalised. These reforms also aimed to increase access to health services by reducing stigma and fear or repercussions among people who use drugs. ACT health officials have been working very closely with ACT policing to implement this reform as well as other areas of government and our non-government partners to ensure a smooth implementation over the 12 month implementation period which builds on a lot of consultation prior to the passage of the legislation last October. One of the important lessons from the cannabis decriminalisation we found was the need to communicate clearly what the changes to the law will mean as well as what they will not mean which can be equally important. We also need to use this window of opportunity to publicise harm reduction and treatment services. Which brings me to how we got here and the political lessons learned which I was keen to share with you. First it's really important to acknowledge that this legislation was not a government bill. Like the full decriminalisation of cannabis it was introduced by my colleague ACT Labor Backbencher Michael Pedersen. Like me Michael was first elected to the Assembly in 2016 and he did not run for office with any intention of being a champion for drug law reform. Instead his constituent and his committee work brought him into contact with the incredible advocates from family and friends for drug law reform in the ACT and he started looking into the evidence. He got to know stakeholders and took the time to understand the range of perspectives including those of police. He worked with these groups to develop a position bringing his Labor caucus colleagues along to make an election commitment in 2020 that we would consider the introduction of a simple drug offence notice. Then he developed an introduced legislation that could be thoroughly considered by the Parliament through a committee process, enabling the government to examine the bill and respond to feedback through a series of agreed amendments. While this took time it was in fact undoubtedly a quicker process than if the government itself had tried to develop legislation. And it enabled substantial community consultation and engagement where government officials were working to improve something that was already on the table rather than trying to defend something that they had developed. Ultimately no one got everything they wanted and that's probably a sign of a well balanced policy response in which the community can have confidence. I am certainly confident that the sky will not fall in come October. ACT police will be appropriately trained and supported through implementation and people who use drugs will benefit as will the wider community. In many ways our changes are incremental change but the fact that they are being talked about here today demonstrates that they are in fact nation leading. And it is how large shifts in policy in Australia are delivered. We are not by nation revolutionary we are incremental but we can deliver change that way. So I want to take the opportunity to thank all those who work through this complex policy process particularly the ACT public seventh some of whom are here today, the families whose advocacy is really paying off. And just in closing I want to acknowledge the vital role that the ACT drug and alcohol workforce, peer workers and a harm reduction approach played during COVID-19. In particular the pandemic showed the great value of peer workers and trusted services across our community. Karma used its contacts and access into public housing to deliver key supplies, driving out to deliver sterile injecting equipment, food and other practical support to people who were not able to leave their homes. They also helped to build trust and bridge the divide between community members and a range of government supports in which they may not otherwise have had a lot of trust. Directions health services provided deliveries of opioid maintenance treatment to people in isolation or quarantine after rapid work to develop new protocols for unsupervised dosing. And directions also provided outreach health services including vaccinations while the youth drug and alcohol service Ted Noff's foundation facilitated access to vaccinations for young people. In short our non-government services went above and beyond and I know that this will not only have been in Canberra. Many of you here today will have done similarly valuable work and I thought it was really key to acknowledge that, give yourselves a round of applause. So there'll be a range of speakers during the conference showcasing the excellent work of our non-government sector partners in the ACT. And we know that we still have a long way to go as well as a lot to share and a lot to learn which is why we have representatives from our health directorate and non-government partners here. So finally a plug for Canberra it's an excellent place to visit particularly for anyone who wants to come and work with internationally recognized research institutions and local innovative grassroots organizations. So I'd encourage you to seek out and find some of them here at this conference. Thank you so much for having me here today. I hope you all have an enjoyable and productive few days together. Thank you so much Minister Stephen Smith.


My name is Arthur Till. I'm living in Munich. I'm originally from Luxembourg, a small country. I started as a young man with the age of 18 in photography, in professional photography, and started to photograph big sport events as of 69, 70. And I photographed first Olympic Games in 1976 in Innsbruck, and since then 16 Olympic Games, summer and winter. From here on I went to motorsports, and then it happened that I photographed the photograph which you've seen in the exhibit here. This has been taken in 1994. It was the race in Hockenheim in Pitt Lane, and the car came in for a pit stop, where refuelling was still the thing in Formula One. And the good thing on the picture is the driver has been unhurt. The fire was extinguished within 16 seconds, so it was not much time to take many pictures. The Olympic Committee in 1996 in Atlanta awarded the pictures also as best Olympic picture. Even there, you have normally athletics or swimming and similar things. Motorsport picture was awarded the best picture, and yes, then it's been exposed in Atlanta, and it ended up in this exhibit between Brooklyn Museum, which is very nice, and it's going to tour the USA, so I'm quite proud of, and I think it's an eye-catcher.


A Pillager High School student was killed Tuesday night in a tragic car crash. Today, those who knew Devin Alexander are trying to pick up the pieces as they deal with this tragedy. Logan Gaye has more. We're like one family and we'll pull together. That was the Pillager High School principal explaining how they plan to heal after one of their students died in a tragic car crash Tuesday night. That student's name was Devin Alexander. He had a great smile. He was a good-looking kid, athletic. According to the State Patrol report, Alexander was driving west on Highway 210 when he attempted to pass another vehicle and lost control and was struck broadside by an uncoming car. His car came the rest eastbound in a ditch. Today, the school had counselors ready to help meet the needs of the students. Our northern pine staff were great. They had additional counselors and things on standby if needed. Our local churches and things brought in people that were able to, you know, pastors that were able to meet with students. Alexander was a senior at Pillager High School and, like many other students, he had big plans for his future after graduation. As soon as he graduated this spring, his plan was to attend advanced individual training through the military. And to show their love for him, his classmates wrote thoughtful messages and posted them on a bulletin board. We do have a board right outside the high school office with, you know, our seniors' photos and what they plan to do after high school and things like that, that students have taken post-it notes and posted messages and things on that. Although this time is tough, the high school plans to focus on being positive. In Pillager, Logan Gaye, Lakeland News. The other vehicle involved in the crash was filled with five teenagers. The driver and one of the passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The rest of the passengers had no injuries. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.


What's going on, Infinite Fam? Welcome back to another video. If you guys are new to the channel, make sure you guys hit that subscribe button, turn on your post notification bell, leave a positive comment down below for a chance to get a what, babe? A chance to get a shout out in the next video. That is right, guys. So, the title, are we meant for each other?  Informative, confusing, probably, to some of you. I feel like this is all a conspiracy theory. I agree. That the app are created. Now, go ahead and tell them what app I'm talking about, how you found the app, and whatever it's asking. All right, so the way we came about this is because we were getting facials, and the person who was doing our facials is really into astrology.  Disclaimer, this is not a sponsor for the app or anything, we simply just did this because our technician, who did our facials, told us about it, and we were just curious about it, but go ahead, babe. I know a lot of you are into astrology, and my best friend is too, and I kinda wanted to just dive in a little bit. I'm not big on it, but I do like believe certain things. So what I did was, I pretty much put Isaiah's information in and my information in, and I'm going to read to you our compatibilities, our issues, and all the stuff that goes on in our relationship according to this app, and we're basically going to dissect it and let you know if it's true or stuff that we disagree and agree on. Bro, if this is really accurate, I'm gonna get a little creeped out, because this is based off of what type of information, like our birthdays and the time we were born and just stuff like that, right? Like kind of zodiac stuff? Yeah, just zodiac stuff, honestly. Okay, so you ready? I'm ready, so I'm going to go ahead and do our little compatibility thing, and then we're gonna read it to you. All right guys, so first things first. On the top of the list, it says things to know. You and Isaiah often struggle with feelings, with feelings shut down and blocked in your relationships, like something's missing. This time is no different, you're both repeating this pattern. Potential conflict between you and Isaiah, what he expects from a partner and who you are at your core, maybe fundamentally different. At times Isaiah might feel especially affected and provoked by you. It could seem like he can't follow his intuition and direct, he could feel undermined. In response to Isaiah, he could become reckless and restless or he gives up on going out on his own. I'm not gonna lie, I disagree with three quarters of that. Yeah, we do, I like to listen. I don't, and this is just things to know, right? We didn't even dive into everything I told us yet. But I'm gonna, what are you doing? Blue, get out of there.  Come here. He thinks that there's T-R-E-A-T in there. Honestly, I disagree with a lot of it. The only thing that I agree with is that we're different, if that makes sense. Yeah, but it says that I'm looking, that you don't have what I'm looking for in a partner. I feel like it's what I got from that and I disagree with that. I wouldn't be with you if that were the case. Right. So I feel like you're everything that I ever looked for in a girl and I'm 100% happy with you, so therefore I just disagree with that. Yeah, I feel like when it says there's potential conflict between us and we are different to the core. I just feel like everybody's different, you know what I mean? I would say we are complete opposites, though. Like your style versus my style, completely different. Yeah, that part I definitely do agree with, but again, I feel like opposites attract and I feel like that's why we were brought together. Let's get into it. We're gonna start dissecting whatever the... So what is it, different categories? How many categories are there? There's five. All right, so five different categories. We're gonna read each one and then we're gonna dissect them and see if we agree with them or not. The first one is friction. So frustration. Okay. Looking to go through life with a partner by your side while Isaiah needs freedom, if there's frustration between you, it could be because the attention you give Isaiah may not be reciprocated. You may also feel like you're doing all the work to maintain the relationship. Nah, I would say this is halfway true. You are 100% more attention giving. You are way more affectionate and more on me versus me on you. You know what I mean? You show more love and you give me more attention than I feel like I give you. You know what I mean? I wasn't always a type to show my feelings and stuff like that and be crazy affectionate. That, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. I don't agree with you're looking to go through life with a partner by your side because I've always been really independent. This is stuff about you? Yeah, this is stuff about me that it says that I'm looking to go through life with a partner and you're not. Nah, yeah, you're pretty independent. Yeah, it's like, if we weren't together, I'd probably just be fine on my own. Like I'm very strong on like, I'm good by myself kind of thing. And I feel like that's one of my downfalls actually because I want to be independent so bad. You think you're good? Boy! You think you're better than me? All right, here's the next one. It says push towards growth. There's a powerful feeling between you and Isaiah and you have his attention. He can feel excitement and drawn into this dynamic like he's headed into the unknown. Alternatively, if he's struggling, he could find himself feeling things more deeply than he does with other partners. If Isaiah usually detaches mentally or just takes off to escape when things get emotional, it could seem like he can't do that with you. It's like, instead of restlessly seeking his own independence, he's being challenged to stay present and deal with his emerging feelings. Isaiah might find himself more reactive to you than he is with other partners. I agree with that. Yeah. More than I don't. So. Yeah, I agree too. I will say that whenever things get emotionally challenging for me, I kind of like just steer off and I kind of like shut the world out. I really don't like talking about my feelings. You guys already know this. It takes a lot out of me to talk about my feelings. But yeah, I would definitely agree with that as far as like me, what it says is like, I don't do it with you.  Like you just have to be vulnerable with me. Kind of, I'm working on that more. So like I said, it's already tough for me to like speak about my feelings and my emotions and all that. But I do feel like you are the first to know them before anyone else. But that's what it says.  That's what it says. Yeah, it's a constant like battle in my head and you guys are probably gonna be like, oh, you need to talk about your feelings and open up and all that. Believe me, I've heard this all my life. I'm just not that type of person and I've been trying to figure out why I can't. I don't know what it goes back to, but yeah. So the next one is trust and comfort. Okay. Isaiah has likely found a haven in you. What is that? A haven? He's big work man. A safe place. Yeah, I agree with that, yes. Your connection has a great sense of security and comfort, pretty much explaining what that means.  Your relationship also has an incredible amount of potential. Definitely I do feel I have a safe spot or a soft spot when it comes to you. Again, that's something I'm still working on as far as opening up to you and all that but I will say I think I have gotten a lot better from when we first started dating. Yes, for sure. So I agree with that, yes. The next one is expectations. Isaiah wants you to be able to take care of practical and material responsibilities. He expects you to be knowledgeable and committed to building something tangible with him. If there's conflict, it could be because you're more interested in idealistic or unconventional pursuits. Instead of providing for Isaiah in a traditional way, you could be in your head a lot more or are more rebellious or independent than he'd prefer. 100% I agree with that. 100%. I'm always looking for her to better herself and always not saying that you don't do good on your own but it's like I always want more for you and I always want you to go to the next level up. So I don't know, I just feel like that's accurate, wouldn't you say? I think it is accurate. I think that's very accurate. That's crazy because it's like I do, I always want you to do everything you possibly can just in case of like one day I'm not here. Like I always tell you that, like oh, what if I'm not here one day? This is stuff that you would have to do. Yeah, I think that's a big struggle of mine is cause like I want to be independent so bad but at the same time it's like certain things like driving. And I'm always pushing her. So that's like a great example. Like I'm always striving for her to like be like better. Like I don't know, just better yourself. And on top of that, I'm a very like in my head type of person and sometimes I don't make practical choices. I make choices off of feelings and impulse which is probably like an eerie thing cause I'm like fired. Like I'm straight like boom, like I don't know. I'm too sometimes too much on my choices. For example, I will decide to go and get a tattoo tomorrow. And I'll be like over here like, all right, chill out.  And if I get the tattoo when I'm there, I'm like, ooh, I want to do more. I'll get three piercings. Like I did that last time. Yes. And it didn't end well. And I'm like, this is kind of what happens when I don't have, when I'm not there to like, yo, like bring me down to earth. Think about this real quick. So yeah, that's 100% accurate. Yeah. And Isaiah is more on the practical side where he thinks things through before he does stuff. I just do it. Yeah. So sometimes I'm like that sometimes. So the next one is possible alignment. You want to read these? Both you and Isaiah are learning how important relationships are to you. Though you both may want to be part of a couple, your approaches could differ slightly. You're discovering that you're driven by the idea of commitment itself and have the ability to maintain the relationship. For Isaiah, it's more about connection in a deeply personal way. He's looking for intensity and intimacy more than driving the relationship or keeping it going. Yes. Yeah. I've always told her that like my love language is like touch. Like I'm very, when I'm in that mood, like I'm very intimate. I really want to like be able to like feel you and stuff like that. You know what I mean? I'm not more so about like the speaking. I'm more about like doing. Yeah. And I'm more of like a, I don't even know. I feel like your love language is like when I help you out with stuff. Acts of service. That's my love language. Yeah. So like whenever, example, like if I help her like wash the dishes or like clean up the house or something like that, even though I do that anyway, cause it's 50-50. But like when I do help her with her side of the chores, I feel like that's what she notices and like that's where she's like, oh, I love him. Yeah. I think that's true. And it's like, I see that as like, okay, we can really work out in the future. Like I'm always thinking about longterm. And I'm like, take things deeper than you would. I'm more like, as far as like a relationship, I'm more for like in the moment. And then she's like more for the future. And then when it comes to like just general life, I think about the future and she thinks about like in the moment, if that makes sense. Intimacy blocks. On your best days as a couple, you and Isaiah feel like good friends to each other, but there might also be a sense that something's blocking you from feeling intimate. This could reinforce a sense of limitations and boundaries that you've both likely felt in your relationship lives. This energy may not be passionate or exciting, but it helps you both learn not to look for all your fulfillment in each other or any other partner. However, it also makes you two more likely to stick with your relationship for the longterm. Alternatively, if you're struggling, you and Isaiah could feel deficient around each other. There could be a sense that your relationship just doesn't feel right. Perhaps you point out each other's flaws and are controlling. Or you could be critical of each other feeling that your partner isn't good enough and doesn't live up to your standards. In both cases, one or both of you might feel trapped and unsatisfied like something's missing, but you can't walk away. If either one of you tries to change the other or fix yourself and do better, it often makes things worse. This pattern can feel incredibly frustrating, but it's important to know that it's not personal. I agree with most of that. Most of it really? I agree with most of that and I'll tell you why, because if we ever get into a disagreement because we're not gonna sit here and act like we're perfect, if we ever get into a disagreement or have a small argument or something like that, I feel like you'll nitpick what I did and vice versa, I'll nitpick what you did. And then we'll try to fix that about each other, like fix that about ourselves and be like, all right, let me try this. But then it doesn't end up working. It's like, you know what? Just stay the way you were. Like I feel like if it does damage, like I said, it makes it worse if you try to change the way we already function. Like we shouldn't have to be changing ourselves. Yeah, I kind of agree with that. Like the other day. What? Like the way I say things sometimes is a little bit aggressive, I guess.  But why are you saying it like that? I really don't have an attitude, but it's like the way I talk sometimes, I guess I sound aggressive. Bro, and I'm a big believer. I tell this to everyone, even my little sister, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.  Why are you giving me an attitude? And then she's like, I'm not giving you an attitude. I'm like, all right. See, but it's crazy because I see it in her and guess what, we're both Aries too. Yeah, toxic. I'm not toxic. Yeah, I agree with that. I don't agree with... Remember, I said I agree with most of it, not all. Yeah, I don't agree with it, saying like the relationship doesn't feel right, because... That's the part I don't agree with. Yeah, because it's like, we understand each other. You know what I mean? It's not like we don't feel right together, because again, if we didn't feel right together, we would have broke up. Yeah, we're six years in, bro. For real, like, damn, that would be a long time. Yeah, we wouldn't be going through this, like. Yeah, but it does like get annoying, I feel. Like we get annoyed with each other a lot when it comes to like, there's a lot of... That's normal, though, that's a relationship, like you're gonna have like ups and downs, but I mean, it's not like, I don't know, man, like... And sometimes Isaiah does stuff on purpose to get me annoyed. Yeah, I do it just to be funny, and then she gets annoyed, and I'm like, I'm gonna do it some more. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, that does get annoying, but that's how I feel about that. So the next one. Ooh, so one of them is friends in a past life. That one sounds interesting. That we were friends in a past life? I don't know, let's see. Isaiah feels like someone you've known for a long time, right away, you may have felt loyal to him, and sense that you could open yourself up to him. It may feel like you were fated to meet and connect, and this pattern is powerful. It may be one of the reasons you initially felt attracted to one another. I kinda agree with that. Let me see that again, hold on. Okay, so after reading it, I will say, yes, I agree with because there was something that was just different in my opinion. There was something different about you. I just felt like drawn to you. I felt like you were different from all the other girls in high school, which I've always told you that. Because I wasn't that little dotty. Not even that, I just told you. I always told you, you're just different from everyone else.  I like that, I like that she stands out. She's not like the others, and I don't know what it is. Besides not being a potty. But. I fell in love with the emo girl. I did, I really did back then, yes I did. So yeah, there was always something that was different about you, I don't know what it was, I felt the same way. I felt like other guys were just annoying. I was literally, I still feel the same.  Or they're demeanors, ugly. And I felt like Isaiah was just not like that. Like Isaiah was just a genuine person. Thanks babe. Yeah, you're welcome. I think I'll read two more. All right, let's shoot for it. And they're gonna be similarities, so I'll read that. You and Isaiah share a similar outlook and approach to life. You can give each other room to breathe. You both have an independent, unconventional, or even eccentric side. It may enjoy being outsiders together. It's likely you connect intellectually and tend to address problems objectively rather than emotionally. I've, all right, see that last sentence, I don't agree with. Everything else was like too a T. We are completely fine with being outsiders if we just have each other. We've always been like that. We were like always just different from everyone else. You know, humbly speaking. But like, yeah, we weren't just like your practical, I don't know, I guess like people from our area type thing. Like we just always stood out. But that last sentence, I will say that I handle things objectively while you handle things emotionally. I don't think so because if we're talking about like world problems, like political stuff, or things that we disagree with, we really dissect them when we talk about them. Sometimes, but sometimes I feel like off of reaction, you tend to react off of emotion. I do. And I'm not like that. I've never been like that. I more so think everything over and I'm like, I'm going to handle this this way. Like I just don't react like that. Yeah, I do.  I'm not like that because it's like everyone, you're entitled to have your opinion. So if that's how you feel, bro, that's how you feel. Unless it's something crazy, like a racial remark or something like that. I'm like, I'm not going to just let that slide. Yeah, that's different. But if we're talking like politics or like religion or stuff like that, bro, you feel how you feel. You have your own opinion. You're entitled to that. So I'm not going to, why would I get mad at the way you view things? I view things differently and you probably get mad at the way I view things. Right, exactly. So yeah, I would agree with that 90%, 95%. All right, so the last one is attraction. Expanding uniqueness. You can be yourself around Isaiah. With him, you feel comfortable showing your unique qualities. He gives you the confidence and independence and you don't have to worry about what others think. He expands your innate ability to be objective. Just don't overdo your need to be different to the point of not connecting with him. I agree with that 100%. I feel like you feel comfortable enough for me where you just be acting all types of weird and crazy. And especially late at night when she gets like really tired. All right. She just being on her BS, bro. Just saying the weirdest things, doing the weirdest things and I'm like, do you, bro. You're going to get tired. Eventually you'll make yourself fall asleep. I don't know, but I don't get the last part. Like don't be too different to the point where- I don't get that either, but I do feel like in my opinion that you are comfortable with me. Like I've seen you at your worst and I've seen you at your best. Yeah. All right. Well, that was that. How do you feel? I feel like overall though, I would say that's like 80, 85% accurate. Everything that it said, obviously there were things I disagreed with. I didn't think it was true, but for the most part, yeah, it was pretty accurate. Yeah. And I'm not a big believer when it comes to like zodiac stuff. You know that. So, but I will say a lot of that was pretty accurate, which is kind of scary. I feel like a lot of Aries things are pretty accurate when it comes to like the fire sign. Like I feel like everything's driven so hardcore with Aries versus Aquarius, you're more chill. Aren't you a water sign or air sign? No, I'm water. Are you sure? I believe so, yeah. Cause I think they're air sign. No, I don't know. You guys tell me January 23rd. Yeah. So I don't know- I'm pretty sure it's water. So let us know down below what you guys think as far as- Like you guys don't see obviously everything that goes on in our relationship, but everything that you guys see on camera, let us know if you guys think that everything was pretty accurate. I say most of it was. And if you guys like videos like this and want to see different types of videos like this, let us know down below. Also hit that thumbs up button. It is now time for today's post notification shout out. Today's post notification shout out goes out to Cody Reynolds. Shout out to you, bro. Thank you for all the love and support. If you guys want to post notification shout out, all you guys gotta do is- Like, comment, share, and subscribe and turn those post notification bells on so you know if I whenever we post a new video. And with all that being said, we will catch you in the next video. It's my girl for life. For life.


Am I looking for a savior or a spouse? You know, am I looking for a companion or am I looking for like a Christ figure that's going to fill every vacancy, heal every wound, fix every problem? You know, if you're looking for someone to fix what's wrong inside of you, no human being can handle the freight of that. No relationship can handle that. This is great advice from Ben Stewart. We shouldn't look for a spouse to save us, but rather find someone that can help us pursue Jesus more closely, the ultimate and only savior. If I enter a relationship with expectations that the other person is going to fulfill those needs that only Jesus can fulfill, I'm going to create a toxic relationship. Your spouse will not be your savior. So start paying attention to the one who actually is your savior.


more annoying things to try and store in your sewing room are things that are really big and bulky and cumbersome. Things like what I'm getting to is like your tracing paper and your craft paper how annoying is it to stack it all up into the corner it falls over the ends get all bent and messed up and it takes up valuable space in the corner of your sewing room. So I came up with this way to wall mount all of my papers to the wall it's really really simple silly little hack basically I took these coffee mug holder hooks I think you put these in like breakfast bars and stuff but basically there's a hook like this here's what the end looks like it will screw on the end and then this side is like padded you definitely don't have to have ones that are padded on the end it's just I literally had these in my toolbox I don't even know why but I had them so I said let's just use what you've got so you just screw those into the wall a distance wider than however long your roll of paper is and then you go to the craft store or the hardware store and you just grab a little wooden dowel you feed the dowel through the hole of the paper roll and then you simply just slip it into the coffee maker holder things and this way when you're ready to use it you can just pull off some length of what you need and you can cut it right off the wall you don't need to pull it off the wall every time so I also have my sweetest tracing paper here and I have my medical paper that I use for like really quick and easy tracing so that is super super quick super super simple and obviously you can continue to like go up you can do like a ton more depending on if you have a lot of like wrapping papers if you have I don't know other crafters what else you guys have out there but this was all I needed for the three little rolls of paper that I had that seemed to be driving me crazy but now they don't now they just stay kind of hidden away in their own little spot but that's gonna do it for me today this is a quick and easy one hopefully you guys will head out and grab the materials you need to get those rolls of paper out of the corner of your sewing room or your closet I will see you all very very soon bye


In this module, we will be trying to define what exactly a complex system is. Before we start, we should note that there is no formal definition for what a complex system is, and thus there remains many different perspectives and opinions on the subject. What we present here is just a working definition. Firstly, a complex system is a special class of system. A system is simply a set of parts called elements, and a set of connections between these parts called relations. These parts can be ordered or unordered. An unordered system is simply a set of things. Because there is no specific structure or order, we can describe a set simply by listing all of its elements and their properties. So a pile of stones on the ground is an example of an unordered set. As there is no pattern or order to the system, we can only describe it by describing the properties of each element in isolation and then adding them all up, with the whole set being nothing more than the sum of its individual parts. If in contrast, through the relations, these parts are ordered in a specific way, then they can function together as an entirety, and out of these parts working together, we get the emergence of a global pattern of organization that is capable of functioning as a coherent whole. For example, if all the parts in our car are arranged in a specific way, then we will have the global functionality of a vehicle of transportation or out of the specific arrangement of billions of cells and the different specialized organs that make up our body. We get the emergence of a global system that enables us to operate as an entire organism. So that is the basic model of a system. It consists of elements and relations. When those elements work together, we get the emergence of a new level of organization. Now, let's start adding complexity to this. Probably the only property that will be in all definitions of a complex system is that they consist of many parts. Many parts that are distributed out without centralized control. Organization is formed out of the local interactions between the parts through a process of self-organization that gives rise to the emergence of new levels of organization. With the phenomenon of emergence that we were previously discussing, a whole new level to the system has developed, which then starts to interact with other systems in its environment. The result being that new patterns of organization develop and once again we get the emergence of another level of organization and so on. People form part of social groups that form part of broader society which in turn forms part of humanity. The point to take away here is that these systems have a hierarchical structure. This is a pervasive phenomenon in our world. Elements are nested inside of subsystems which in turn form part of larger systems and so on. All complex systems have this multi-dimensional property to them. They are composed of many elements on many different scales with all of these levels affecting each other. A business is part of a local economy, which is part of a national economy, which in turn is part of a global economy. Each is interconnected and interdependent with the others. We cannot fully isolate one component or reduce the whole thing to one level and this is a primary source of complexity. So this is our first property to a complex system. Many different parts that are distributed out to local interactions and self-organization giving rise to new emergent levels on different scales. Next, interdependence and non-linearity. The parts to a complex system are highly interdependent and this interdependence creates non-linearity. Almost all well-formulated definitions for complex systems involve the term non-linearity. It is a continuously recurring and pervasive theme. Non-linearity arises from the fact that when we put two or more things together, the result may not necessarily be a simple addition of each element's properties in isolation. In contrary, we may get a combined effect that is greater or less than the simple sum of each part because of their interdependent nature. Examples of this might be two sound waves that are perfectly out of sync, canceling each other out through noise interference in the region of labor as can be seen in many human and insect communities, resulting in synergies which means the output will be far greater than what individuals could accomplish in isolation. Due to what are called feedback loops, non-linear systems may grow or decay at an exponential rate. These periods of rapid change are defined as phase transitions. Thus, complex systems are known to be able to flip into whole new regimes within very brief periods of time. Some small change in input value to the system can through feedback loops trigger a large systemic effect. This is called sensitivity to initial conditions and it is the central idea within chaos theory. Examples of this butterfly effect can be seen in financial crises and the collapse of ecosystems such as coral reefs. Connectivity Many definitions for complex systems involve dense or high levels of interconnectivity between components. As we turn up the degree of connectivity, it becomes the nature and structure of these connections that define the system as opposed to the properties of its components. How are things connected and what is connected to what become the main questions? At some critical level of connectivity, the system stops being a set of parts and becomes a network of connections, and it is now all about how things flow in this network. Networks are the true geometry of complex systems and this connectivity reshapes our traditional three-dimensional Euclidean conception of space. In complex systems like the global air transportation system or the financial system or the internet, space is redefined in terms of topology created by connectivity. What matters is your position in the network structure and your degree of connectivity. Connectivity again leads us into the world of complexity as the number of relations between elements can grow in an exponential fashion. If we take just a handful of elements, they can become connected in possibly thousands or even millions of different ways. Lastly, autonomy and adaptation. Whether we are talking about a flock of birds, the internet or our global economy, there is no top-down centralized mechanism for coordinating the whole system. Within complex systems, elements have a degree of autonomy, often through their capacity to adapt to their local environment according to their own set of instructions. Without centralized coordination and with a degree of autonomy, elements can synchronize their states locally or cooperate resulting in the emergence of patterns of organization from the bottom up. With autonomy and adaptation, also comes the capacity for a variety of different responses for any given phenomenon, meaning complex systems are often heterogeneous with high levels of diversity. Ecosystems and multicultural societies are good examples of this. Without centralized coordination, complex systems develop on the macro scale through a process of evolution. Elements within complex adaptive systems are subject to the evolutionary force of selection, where those that are best suited to that environment are selected and replicated while others are not. Products are subjected to selection within a market environment. In democracies, politicians are subject to selection by voters and creatures and ecosystems are subjected to natural selection through competition. In such a way, the whole macro scale system manages to adapt to its environment without centralized coordination and develop to exhibit higher levels of both differentiation and integration. The greater the autonomy and capacity for adaptation that elements have, the more complex the system we are dealing with. In summary, we have been trying to lay down a basic working definition for a complex system while remembering that there is no formal consensus on the subject. We firstly talked about how a complex system is a special class of system. We defined a system as a set of elements and the relations between them. We saw how when these parts are arranged in a specific order for them to function as an entirety, we get what is called the process of emergence, whereby a new level of organization emerges. We then began to add complexity to our model of a system by defining it as a product of four primary parameters. Firstly, talking about the number of elements and different levels to the hierarchy within our system. We then discussed non-linearity as another dimension to complexity, where non-additive interactions and feedback loops over time can give us exponential relations between the input and output to a system and lead to phase transitions. We also talked about connectivity as another driver of complexity, as heightened connectivity within complex systems means they often appear to us as networks. Lastly, we discussed how autonomy and adaptation enables self-organization in the process of evolution that shapes complex systems on the macro scale.


Welcome back to the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. Now let's go back to a little bit of history. I'm going back to the year 2000 to tell you one of the greatest tennis players in history. The elder sister to of course Serena Williams her name is Venice Williams. On this day she became the first black I believe or rather on this day she won Wimbledon for the very first time. Her victory was over the defending champion at that time Lynse Davenport. She made Williams the first black Wimbledon champion since Arthur Gibson won back-to-back titles in 1957 and 1958. Yes I was right first black. Overcoming a very tough childhood in California she became a champion women's tennis player with seven Grand Slam titles, 16 Grand Slam doubles titles and four Olympic gold medals. She and her sister Serena are considered two of the greatest tennis players of all time. She also won the French Open women's doubles tournament with her sister. When she of course won it in 2000 she stated it had been a very very very rewarding trophy because of how hard she had worked all her life. The same year she went on to win the US Open two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney and of course signed a very very massive deal with Reebok. She of course later on revealed that she was battling a chronic incurable immune system disorder. Just to quickly also share this is a story that started from when they were little kids as young as eight to ten years old. They started training to play tennis and then in 1995 they moved from a training academy that they had initially been attending and stayed at home to be trained by their father in 1995 and of course also she played overtime against her sister Serena 31 times, won 12 of those games and Serena won 19 of them. But it's a very very interesting story of her time as world tennis number one, female number one tennis player in the world. She lasted about 16 weeks as number one. I'm pleased about our topic today in history because we're basically celebrating women who are first in the future to talk about Venus Williams. The first female to win the first especially the black, exactly to win that Womborden and I'm going back to the year 1947 the 9th of July to tell you about the first female army officer to be appointed her name is Florence Abbey Blantfield. She was a nurse in the United States. She was superintendent of that army nursing corps from 1943 to 1947 and then she was a member of that you know since 1917. She secured that commission when she passed the army following the passage of the Army Navy Nurse Act of 1947 by Congress. She was instrumental in securing that passage of that act which was advocated by some reps and in 1947 Blanchfield became the first woman to receive a military commission in the regular army. By 1951 she received the Florence 19 Gill Award from the International Red Cross and Colonel Florence A. Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Camp in Kentucky was named for her in 1982. Interesting fact about Blanchfield she comes from a family of nurses and doctors you know they all you know were in the medical line in her family and she was the only one of them who was able to combine a nursing career with a successful military career you know she she broke records shattered a glass ceilings and became the first female army officer. I mean look at right now I have so many women doing great things serving the motherland both in the US and here in Nigeria and thanks to women like Florence Blanchfield who paved the way and blazed the trail for others to follow. Yeah this you know would would easily flow into the conversation about you know how much women can actually achieve if they truly you know desire and desire it you know and you know and stop those you know feelings that oh the world is you know you know it's unfair to women and it doesn't let them thrive and it doesn't let them achieve. Which is true to some point. Yeah yeah I get I agree you know but at the same time you know there are certain things that if you will work hard for it you will get it. Someone put out it's a very very long conversation but someone put out you know something yesterday a couple of days ago talking about how in Nigeria today there's many many salons where you go and you see male hairdressers hairstylists you know make up artists on some of all of that and that happened very easily without anybody you know forcing them or beating them into it you know they found themselves in that place it wasn't you know the place where they were most skilled but they trained themselves and they got in there but you know if it was a different case I'm just trying to be I'm trying to look for trouble this morning because you know the tables were turned you know a lot of women say oh why isn't there enough women in this space why don't we have enough women in this space go ahead and do it I'm sure that you know she herself you know just worked hard and got into that position and today we're celebrating her controversial anyway our first major conversation today is moving to emo state where there were gunshots fired yesterday after the suspension of some members of the state house of assembly including the chief whip and we're going to be speaking this morning with one of those suspended members to share with us you know what exactly is going on in emo state house of assembly that comes up after this short break


The aim of Breathe is actually towards the air pollution and the country like India is mostly affected So at the moment I am in Bangalore, the situation is here completely locked down for our members, some staff from and asked to go back to home Personally, we are not going out So we're playing with the kids X-Prize is the biggest advantage as a finalist of X-Prize We have got a lot of attention, Carbon X-Prize is a stamping for our technology So it is actually given the proof and approval of your technology is excellent We have got a beautiful earth, but we did all this image, but the question is how to control that one


So many things that they get lost in translation. An Amharic proverb is Kas per kas Uncleal ver gerui hedal My favourite Amharic phrase is Arateu It means like really stop I'm from Ethiopia Heidku And I'm from Gondro, Agirno Studying language is more than learning how to speak the language It is about understanding people in their own culture Studying Amharic in Suas is really great I'm half Ethiopian Suas has really given me the opportunity to learn my language and go home and be a local