devaney presenter of the dl debate hi brendan are you there brendan no we aren't joined by brendan devaney so we'll come back to that in a moment we're going to be speaking about the potential eight-week ban from all g activity to do with the seniors of jim mcginnis that's going to be coming off in a while we want your views on that as well by the way oh 86 60 25 000 whatsapps and texts to that number but we've loads of issues stuff coming in on different topics of course we were speaking about scams josephine's listing instrument josephine great to have you on board scammers are ringing me to say that they're taking over the heating in my house they were looking for my bank details they rang me multiple times a day yesterday they were ringing every five minutes i know they're not legit as the council pay for my heating and the council don't ask for money how do i go about trying to get them to stop it's a tough one any any advice please pass it on on investment scams every day a man rings me looking for 250 euro in investments i complained to the banks and thankfully they gave me my money back i should have known better as he called me mr george nobody in this day and age calls you that indeed well listen i'm glad that you got the the money returned to you but yeah we have to keep our eyes and ears open brendan deveney's there now good morning brent good morning greg right okay we were talking about this yesterday and the speculation what we were speculating about came to pass finbar rorty he was 17 when he played against our mile last wednesday night a day before his 18th birthday in the way the rules have been enforced since 2016 that would preclude him would it from playing for donny gol for all of 2024 yeah that's the rules greg you can play for his club now so you could have a scenario where he obviously has a very successful club and they were kicked up all the way from the austere final which we seen played out uh a few weeks like with massive crowds and that so he potentially could play in games as big as that but not first county but this and this this is about protection of young players and and you know i agree with the with the stance and g have taken on protecting young players but i think in this instance this is this is a redacted so i come to this situation um but the rules are the rules uh should someone not have known that this was the situation and um double check triple checked and made sure that we weren't contravening the rules yeah but also there's rules greg and there's rules right every competition needs framework and rules but let's put this into context for a second here these rules were brought out to protect young players right it was changed in 2016 who exactly is going to know when this rule was changed you know it's in a massive rule book it's a small change the thing that a lad can't play and as you said until the following the season from the county year detour and see a thing so this this was the the rule was brought on nobody really knew about it now if you look at that game the kennacob game pretty irrelevant our math sent down their under their under 20s team basically cure mcginney wasn't even there i mean our math played doubly and friendly in the same week i don't know is it the same right but they weren't even there so so really this was uh a mistake by people that maybe should have known the rules as you said but it was really a small small glitch now the blame john mcginnis this is some way i mean let's just say across the water man said he had an issue with a registered player the registration wasn't through properly do you think pep got a little gets banned for eight weeks i mean it's absolutely ridiculous and and if you look at it doing the bigger picture in this why was this rule brought him to protect young players therefore at the start of the season if somebody makes an error and then a relevant game then you just say here that lad can't play okay throw out a fine or say something or give the county board a slap on the rest of secondary river which i just say here you that that that can play you're not exposing them to a season you're not exposing them to what this rule is about which is protecting the player so the nobody at week ban and jim mcginnis i i think that's absolutely ridiculous i mean there's no doubt that they'll you know they'll ask for a hearing on this and and it's not just a sideline ban brendan either this would be uh taking him out of of of training and and coaching and what have you so if i understand it correctly i mean it's an incredibly tough uh sanction isn't it for fielding a player one day off the 18th birthday in the throwaway competition yeah and i'm going to talk about this i i don't even want to mention the young lad really because again at his age this is a lot of hype he put on him and what should have been a very happy occasion for him and you know we've from jim's time in the past if you if you look at it you know he obviously gave patriny birdie's debut in the same day he played for dunagall miners against android michael murphy played for dunagall when he was 17 you know there's certain lads that are ready but then the rules were changed and all in agreement and if you look at the young flits you know potentially like in any season there at his age if he's good enough he's going to play like with his club underage his school his county he could play with two county teams and then he'd be pulled in the senior team and sure you're on of its five or six teams could be pulling at the lad so the g.a is trying to say right hold on this can't happen but that's a long-term rule to stop long-term abuse of young players that are getting pulled everywhere by managers so if in one game if if something if there's a mistake in there why is there all this hype around that should they not just a went to dunagall said hold on a second that bad actually can't play you broke the rule and let's say here and everybody in the country now would wake up and go wait hold on that can't happen yeah but even they need to look at this rule don't they have of the age on the first day of the year that rules this young fellow for an amazing potential experience over the course of 2024 even that needs to be adjusted where it's middle of the year or end of the year or something I don't know but but to rule someone out for the whole year because their birthday just happens to be at the start of januaries because you talked about all of the different directions a player could be pulled in but your your your club and your county if you could line them up that would be one and two yeah 100% and following right from when we were growing up you know I was born in December which was a disaster because you must a full year but listen right you usually born in januaries a brand new thing because you have a you have a whole year nearly and some other you might be planning it but but listen it the rule it's but I don't understand the fact that they tweaked it between club and county you can understand how somebody might miss that and again look if this is a big game and somebody comes on that's not properly registered in the influence a game and I get all that and rules have to be adhered but at first rules meant they protect over exposure of young fellas and as soon as it the fellow plays it's highlighted then it's done its job for me it's already said he can't play we want to protect and he's too young to be done they go near the rules but listen at the end of the day though at the end of the day brandon isn't this how it works really the the powers that be will want to be seen to be implementing the gea rule book so they've done that but there is a process to be gone through now they don't want to surely be seen to be taking Jim McGinnis out of the scene for eight weeks for donnie goll especially with the excitement and build up heading towards the game against cork and beyond that so there's bound to we're bound to come up with a middle ground here aren't we where by his job doing his job as he wants to but also the rules are seen at least in the first instance to have been fully adhered to isn't that how it works we'll come up with a wee solution here won't we yeah well but but you're great why the need for that why don't why isn't there a better sense here as I say when you look at the bigger picture of the rule you know we've had instances there with players and situations and you know if you look at the club final last year with the 16 players in the pitch like their proper instance is where someone has messed up and the actual outcome of the whole competition or the game which which was a final is a question mark around that so they're they're pretty big things and you can see all the furor and with this here if you look at this rule which is about protecting players long term you are young players if someone makes it and straight away it's highlighted then the rule for me is already done its job in terms of right he can't play we don't want that to happen why isn't this need for a sanction and listen I think it's a touchstone thing but listen it could be wrong but again even that as you said with with all the hype that's around Jim now and and with the GAA and that I mean rather to that when people say it shouldn't matter who does or what the situation is but I just think there has to be I mean we're looking at common sense Jim for one if you look at the team Jim around him he's a massive team around him why because he needs that and what has his job he's concentrating on developing those players on getting them to their their best and and getting a group set and getting their tactics in place and getting everybody in their position we're done it all done it all can compete for honors okay well listen the sideline the sideline of of registration or that rule that was changed in 2016 how would he be aware of that who did blame him for that I don't know that's okay I have a sense that a feeling the common sense will prevail but in the first instance the rules were seen to be to be put in place but look at you were at the game at the weekend I'm not sure if you're at the rmar game or not it's two games the rmar game for what it was I don't know it's always good to beat Tarone if you're a donnie golfan what's your takeaway in terms of how he's put in the team how the playing how they're pressing do you do you think he's he's changing changing the game playing a different way what's he trying to achieve there and from your perspective great story you can see a different vibe in the team the fitness levels and I think particularly if you're basing on last year the team came in very late and there obviously was issues around training and even s and c and donnie gol got off to such a slow start that they were playing catch-up and that's why you had the horrific league campaign that you had and you did obviously stabilize coming into the championship obviously after the first round exit to down which which really looked like we were going down a terrible path it was like a right off season but they did stabilize so what you see now we don't ignore it and you can see it in the legs and some runs were made during that match by a lot of the players have already upped the gears in terms of training so instead of coming in the league a bit flat it's going to be a direct opposite this year you know your players back that hadn't played last year you know legs around the cue she ended on there the last day flying pattern moving you know injury free moving brilliant you know lying in as well injury free so a lot of the players are coming back players are injury free you can see the training and the buzz is up so the mechanic up there's loads of different things been trialed you know it's it's early January but I think it's going to be a completely different dunnig all this year and based on what the lads did last year and they keep going back they really pulled it together in the group stages of the championship to come through and you know they give Derry that Derry team a great game for for 45 minutes or so without all those players missing so you know that's where I think a lot of people dunnig all are really positive get into this season because there's no doubt in that dunnig all be completely different force this year and they'll have another six or seven eight players added to what they had last year so listen looking forward to this and this is why it's a bit of a how do you say it's a wee bit of a sickness in terms of the great buzz around dunnig all now we have this silly situation happen so as you said hopefully a common sense I think it will without a doubt because as I say the game needs the gym beginners as well it's not just about county it's that it's the national element to it as well as always brandon thank you very much indeed take care of yourself brandon donnie there uh who is brand presenter of highland radios dl uh debate 08 6 60 25 000 is the whatsapp and text number if you want to get involved in the conversation or give us a call on 07 4 9 1 25 000 right let us take a break back with more after these the county's number one talk show the nine till noon show on highland radio the nine till noon show brought you by kelly's toyota where you can now test drive the new toyota chr combining standout styling and engaging drive and class leading efficiency what's the menswear's big january sale is now on in store and online with great discounts across top names in menswear like andre tom penne and grimozumo also big savings on super dry penguin and tommy bow footwear don't miss out on some great bargains in the big january sale now on at what's the menswear mean street editor kenny and online at what's the menswear dot com every year about 2600 people in ireland get bowel cancer bowel screening helps to reduce your risk of developing it the age range for bowel screen is changing if you're aged 59 to 69 register for a free bowel screen test kit once you've done the test at home return it by free post and we'll test your sample if you need follow-up tests we let you know register today at bowelscreen dot ie or free phone 1 800 45 45 55 from the hsc the life of a charlie's chip is never dull once they're selected they're off to charlie's where they lose the jacket have a nice wash and once they get into shape and get ready out they go to meet the public side by side with a nice burger some fish or chicken enjoy charlie's chips to sit in or take away daily from 12 to 8 a pierce rolled letter kenny when the hunger hits pull into charlie's highland radio time checks with expressway travel route 32 from letter kenny to doblin when you book online and travel for less expressway bringing you the time the time is 11 23 you're very welcome back we got a note in from st joseph's hospital uh st joseph's community hospital in strunaller and it says dear nine till noon show i'm writing you uh in relation to your very generous donation of 500 euro to the patient's comfort fund and the gift hamper hamper thank you for your visit to st joseph's uh and it made our residents day memorable i'd like to take this opportunity to thank you as this is greatly appreciated well listen in the run-up to christmas it was one of uh the highlights for me anyway in that christmas week uh we visited a number of uh nursing homes community care settings and it was wonderful and we were able to leave a lovely big hamper and 500 euro for the comfort fund for each of those places too right okay we're talking shop okay now and if you're watching the program you'll see over my back of my shoulder under my telly on top of the radiator um 5.7 million euro and change we're going to put that into context now because we're joined in studio by two guests they are namely tony forester ceo of letter kenny chamber and our own finula rabbit who's president of letter kenny chamber both of you thank you so much for joining us it's been great to have you in right shop okay uh tony i'll start with you if that's all right a huge success uh this year absolutely delighted um i i kept being challenged you know will it go over five this year and i'm like no no i don't think we'll make it last year was 4.1 no but i am stunned by the figure we've got today and over five 5.7 million is just a huge figure for considering this a letter kenny card you know it's it's just to be sold to be used in that kind of yeah and finula rabbit um that's a really important part of this it's not really about oh look we've created a card look how popular it is it's actually where the money goes as well it's feeding in this is where it this is this is why it's such a wonderful initiative well that's what it's so fantastic i mean we're heading into the 20th year of shop lk scheme that was set up by the chamber long before my time me even being here in dunny gall and it's just grown and grown all the time and i mean that 5.7 million this year was such a tremendous figure to hit but i think the other thing that people need to realize is is that very rarely do people just spend what's on their card you know stats have shown us that people actually spend almost for up to four times what's uh what the figure is which means that this is going to be anything up to 20 million that will be spent in or around um the letter kenny area in the letter kenny um shops and services you know both retail and services we've members uh shop lk members from all different areas um that take that accept the card and it just means that that's a huge figure that will be spent in the next year two years another card's lasted i think it's five now isn't it with the new thing but to be honest i'd say most people have them spent the time i want to focus on that because it's important people get out and spend the money on the cards as well too you know because we are some of us are can be quite laxadaisical in that regard and just have it sitting there and then we realize a year later oh which there you know that one is there to be spent absolutely and i know you know i know myself you sometimes you get christmas presents or different things through work because a lot of this might be vouchers and bonuses people got to work and it kind of goes up in the press and then you might forget about it until you're clearing out the press one thing to remember is yes they do last up to five years but the other thing is is it's no good having the money sitting there it's not earning you any interest is not earning you any it's not feeding into the local economy exactly it's not doing anything uh it's not doing anything to help you or to help the local economy as you say so people should be you know get out and spend it and think about it and as i said it's not just you know sometimes people think with these cards it's just retail it is obviously retail but it's not just retail there's a lot of services and you can check out um the chamber website and you'll see the list of all the shops and that or check out our socials and that you'll see them all the time listed the different uh businesses across letter kenny they're involved yeah no um in relation to um where the cards are being bought obviously with tax and all that kind of stuff a lot of them are businesses uh who would be buying them um as bonuses but it's not all that i mean that that's obviously going to be a significant part of it but there's more to it than that we think about 75 percent are corporate but that's anything from the big corporates buying for all their staff to the tiny tiny businesses who buy directors by them and whatever now the government incentive of the thousand euro tax free is huge you know and that that probably it's um increased the program last year probably fairly substantially but we thought that would sort of stabilize but that seems to be keeping on going and it's great that the Irish government do that so with 75 percent but also our our ordinary person buying it has increased as well it's it's phenomenal we had a pop-up shop in the courtyard shopping center they're very good to to keep us there um and we had only had it open for December and that it just blew our socks off you know in terms of it was a queue every single day um 10 people long and people were um our young people spend them in the young people's shop yeah i know i'd be in there spending mine and i bump into other young people as they as they did yeah of course i meant you as one of the youngest broadcasters here just going to the first page of where you can spend these and this is just to emphasise the the point you make it's a minimum of 240 254 outlets uh gibbons tires gaugly tires do you know what i mean tires in the car abracadabra get yourself a kebab haven't had one of those for ages uh financial advice aldi uh amazon is outdoor store brilliant store actually that is um if you just want to go and look around you'll come out with something the theater tickets to a show arena seven uh i'm on the a atlantic travel do you know what i'm about like if you have one of those say you got a couple hundred quid that's a big chunk of your you know your early summer break or something i would say that some people joined us a number of years ago when the larger companies buy them for their staff and some people joined us purely because they knew these were going out and they would raise so so people go in and they say to the cost to the outlet do you take these and then we might get phone calls and could we take these so and and it's brilliant we see that's why it's that's the important that's why it's successful you see because it's it's a competitive advantage now to accept them you know you're starting to get into a winning formula and if i would say years ago you know people when the scheme was first set was poor my time but um they talked about you know should this just be local should just be you know independence but we've always agreed in the chamber that this would be everybody could be in this anybody who's based in letter candy could be in shop okay and it's it's proven to be the right way to do it because everybody you know if you you were saying about maybe putting in the press people use it for their groceries even before christmas you know we can see them being spent in various places and or they use them for their daily shopping um because you know you can then put the other few hundred the few hundred you maybe got on the card in a way something special and i think too there are people who would be a little bit oh do you take them like i wouldn't be the type that would ask you know so that's why the website seems for you can check in advance it can be air uh curries into sport highland and on it goes and on it goes and as i say just it's important now to transfer that into the potential 20 million in the local economy because these are the businesses for the most part that support our charities that offer prizes for raffles and that employ our children employers pay our mortgages okay so that's good um all right okay i think that's a really huge number um as we had into 2024 uh what do you think 2024 holds for us uh finula uh things seem to have held up we are looking at what are you laughing at i don't know i do you suddenly think i turned psychic over to christmas but i appreciate your confidence in me well maybe you could look at your sentiment reports maybe look at the fact that interest rates might be coming down maybe try and spread a little bit of positivity do you want to swap seats well come here oh no god no i definitely end up in court i couldn't even talk to talk her into to an evening show i did try about three please tell me no not that i have the power but i thought you should be doing i definitely get into trouble no i think look at i think the the the year is starting what starting strong and hopefully that's what's going to keep going through and i think that's the main thing what it is what we are here to do is to support business as part of the chamber we want us to support you know businesses local businesses here in letter kenny but also and businesses throughout the county a lot of the work that we do is not just local but it's also national and international you know through chambers arland we do a lot of um work i know there's trips to brussels and different things that are coming up during the year we hope to be going up and down to um the doll and that in the in the near future you know we've got a few elections coming up now this year and um we'll be seeing a national election within the next 12 to 14 months or so so i think that that's why the chamber is so important that we have a strong voice and that we're there to be able to promote um not just the good things but also to be able to highlight the things that need to be sorted out and and worked on in the county but all in all i think the the beauty of dunny gall is the um the way that people work together for the you know for the strength and for the growth of the county you know there's a great kind of collaboration i think between all uh not just businesses but other stakeholders like we've always getting great support from the council we get great support from um businesses you know our relationships with letter kenny letter sundary dairy chamber of commerce and ourselves you know we do projects with sligo we do projects with gallway and these are all things that are all about promoting the west of arland i think that's that's really what i look forward to for the next years that we keep this possibility going i suppose we're we're always trying to be there on the positive side so we've had our challenges businesses have had their challenges god knows i tried to set it up for that she wouldn't bite she did her way i don't have a crystal ball i'm very positive person i think i've lost my true you were gonna talk about 2020 yeah so and i think there were challenges yeah last year and there will be challenges there's just a few like bits of legislation coming in for businesses that you know will will cut put their costs up and you can only pass so much of that on to customers but i suppose i was saying this is somebody yesterday i i look back at all these years i've been around for this is my 17th year and you kind of go through all the adversity and all the stuff we've gone through people our businesses who want to be there and they want to be a business and they keep on going you know and they they they just have to sway with whatever's happening um they can't change we can lobby which we do but we we can only change certain things now there's a few things that we definitely know the housing needs to be sorted it's a childcare all our business is all of that and the cost of childcare big big things like that we we need to sort but and the chamber will do what they can for that you know i think really it's having the environment finula that allows the growth potential that's there because it's frustrating if you have an area that can grow and grow and grow and i think letter kenny and donningall is that but the the uh the the infrastructure and not mean physical uh necessarily it has to be there to permit that growth as well we don't want to be stymied here do we want to be able to not hit a glass ceiling but to to realize our full potential and that's where the chamber's relationship with with the government or whatever government might be coming in or the the business minister or whatever that's why that's really important that lobbying well i think important for us as as we always say when we go to any of these events in which there's opportunities for us to lobby is we're not asking for people to give us any handouts the people here in dunningall and the businesses here in dunningall as tony says are very resilient you know they've had a lot of ups and downs over a longer time than even i would know of but that as long as the the region is brought up to a level that's of a standard to everybody and then we're just left to it really what we want is we want to take care of any of the historical issues that are that are in place as you say infrastructure not necessarily the physical but just everything you know with our with regard to having the schooling you know health different things like that as well that once we're given that given a fair playing field we're good to go we were calling it uh i suppose one of the things we've been using the term we've been using is enabling investment so if if we got what we were sort of entitled to this was over the years and and brought up to a level as panilla said we believe that this place can fly you know there's lots of stuff um i would go back we've been infrastructure and say we do need our infrastructure to get us in and out you know the the road to doblin all that can't stop a five that's important and the tenti you know we really we'll keep keep on batting that drum um until such times as it started what was the feedback from business um through with with the traffic issues and stuff because there were you know like it's a tough one from in this chair right because i if you've got you know 12 13 14 000 people feeling they're being discriminated you can't ignore that voice but at the same time you have to ensure that you're not amplifying it to the point where it's damaging to to let a penny in and of itself businesses seemed not to be as concerned maybe as uh commuters uh were with the traffic disruptions i think greg to be fair and see that first week of poll star being turned on it was tight anyway and we had businesses large companies phoning us to say what's going on and who's going to manage this stuff being late and everything but actually after that it calmed down pretty well um there's there's still letter kenny's at capacity in terms of of how we move around it it's not infrastructure's max it's yes it is and and everybody would agree that um i suppose i always say i have a bit of patience you know we we will get through and the thing with the traffic light seems to be you'll get through as opposed to you'll sit there for the last like even the council put the cars on the table they said look at and for the reason you've just outlined we're not really likely to make anyone's uh experience quicker that's not what this is about this is about managing the traffic that's there because you can't reduce the amount of vehicles and until such time as we get the infrastructure that you talked of this is the hands i would suggest that over christmas um there was very much less locking up than there had been in other previous years um that i used to see and i suppose where our office as you can see it locking so there was one maybe day one or dare and a few weekends were just got a bit tight but it's christmas and if we were sitting here going there wasn't any traffic at christmas we were we're in i know some people that that they moan like they don't want anyone else to be using the road except them at the particular time that they choose to use it at the end of the day you know some of us go we go to other places um doubling for example i had to go down i i wasn't doubling a lot the more last year than they have been before and i'm sitting in traffic for a good half an hour in between trying to get into the city centre so letter kenny actually isn't as bad as as that and i'd not be a little in it but i i um you know i come in the in the forlain road every single day in terms of the nice thing is can i just say this the nice thing is i can go home that road every single day whereas i used to maybe go off and do a little back road i take it just off the back of a couple of comments the chamber is actively uh campaigning and making representations on the new bridge or the 10 t more generally speaking because it's the 10 t generally speaking because um it's it's a package it's gone to government as a package and my understanding is that i would hope that before any election is called our local elections even that it would get a positive response from government fairly quickly yeah okay fenula how long is your left in your term now oh just until the end of february oh really yes wow year flew into i know it did it went very fast really yeah so by the end of february now we will have a new president so um it's been a great year i've really enjoyed it it's been fantastic i definitely recommend to people um you know business people out there even people who are thinking of setting up a business to contact the chamber and and you know one in ways that we can help you and engage with us but two to even think about ways in which you might be able to help the chamber as well you know we're always looking for new members it's good to have fresh voices coming in and and you know talking about what they feel that they need or and that has been great growth in membership over the last uh oh it's been absolutely tremendous we've hit uh you know record breaking figures for ourselves so we're just delighted with it but uh i think we we can always accept more people we're always happy to have more people and plus we're always happy to have more people involved in you know in the board and if you don't feel able to take take on a commitment to the the board which even it's not a huge commitment but if you're not if you feel that that might be a step too much for you but that you can contact um also become part of our committees you know we do a lot of social stuff as well as doing um uh events with our members we also do the you know we'll have the same patrick's day parade now it'll be coming up um in march that's how the year goes and invite size chunks it actually is it is amazing to think of this that is adding that's going to be starting uh tonight is our first meeting back and that's going to be one of the main things that'll start is when uh when does the when are the dates or what do we do and when do people have to have applications in it's amazing how quickly it comes around really is but the chamber is involved in a lot of stuff and i think that it's good for people to get involved to uh you know come on board engage with us yeah and just see what it is that we do listen brilliant stuff uh tony forrester ceo flutterkenny chamber thank you very much for your time thank you uh and also finula rabbit president of flutterkenny chamber lovely to see you uh back in studio again we'll be back with more after these watch the show live now on youtube facebook and at highland radio dot com the nine-toned show brought you by kelly's toyota with over 45 years of experience trust us to help you on your electric journey oh kira congratulations look at her tiny fingers she's beautiful just like her mommy oh thank you have you got a name yet well we're thinking 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what's best for sore throats or flu just ask at your local brennan's pharmacy if you need advice on the best vitamins and tonics to put a pep in your step just ask at your local brennan's pharmacy whether it's about back aches headaches or tummy aches your brennan's pharmacy team can help if you need advice from someone you trust we're here for you at your local brennan's pharmacy boncran a clamani and creasel eye motors are your main nissan dealership in the northwest a trusted japanese brand for generations contact i motors to find out why people who make the move to nissan never change to check out our two phone offers visit i motors dot i e weather updates brought to you by grant building a new home choose grants a triple plus rated air owner air to water heat pump and you flex under floor heating visit grant dot i e okay cloud will gradually break up as we head into the afternoon with some good sunny spells developing staying mainly dry too with easterly breezes but it's still rather cold temperature struggling to reach highs of just two to four degrees staying mainly dry but it'll be very cold tonight as skies clear and winds fall like temperatures will fall to minus three to zero degrees with widespread frost and some icy patches so extra careful if we're out and about in the morning we're joined on the program now by uh cancel me whole column of gull and aspect good morning to you thank you for joining us it's good to have you on board okay thank you we are talking about uh road safety here particularly in certain conditions what happened uh yesterday well this is unfortunately an ongoing story since i've been elected as a counsellor in 2014 yesterday a young father was dropping off his kids at a school and after just dropping them off up the road he went to get on with his business and the road in particular we're talking about is many a dollar and he slid on non-gritted road and the van that he was driving coped in the middle of the road not on the field or in the ditch running but in the middle of the road itself this is a road that is probably one of the main arteries common from i suppose the week he got to hike in that direction and take it over it's an extremely busy road in relation to a number of reasons there's lesbis quarries there there's jim's call there's no kelly or declin kelly and there's a lot of other businesses there's aris kiddo or the old folks home we have schools there we have no dock there we have the funeral home there we have the chap hobble the chapel the caclic chapel there a number of house knee states it's an extremely busy road but unfortunately it's graded as a secondary road now the surface of the road there's no doubt about it there's been works done and thanks to the council over this last number of years on it but what the problem here is which is a number of things first and foremost is the fact that this road is not on a gritting program and since i got elected as a councillor and i'm not and i'm just to be very clear but this year i'm not the only one that's been raising this but since i got elected as a councillor in 2014 there has been other roads that we were successfully able to work alongside the community who put on a huge amount of work and making sure that their own community was looked after in terms of the grip and one of them i was very proud to work on and and get on the list was around the first year and over one year and heading over her follow and and it's really important that we organize for this many another road as well to get it on the grip and program because if you have people who are delivering maybe in choppa valoi or diva key or any of them shops down in daribaga that's the main road that the leverage comes to it's an extremely busy road extremely busy road and and it's not acceptable in 2014 that we don't have it on a gritting program can it go on a get a gritting program if the will is there or do because of the the status of the road it being a secondary road it can't be gritted no it can it's down to a number of things first and foremost what it's down to is as the as if the fianna fell from the gale government would adequately fund our government our council if they would fund us in a manner that wouldn't that we need we can't absolutely and i appreciate that you can't correct every road and so does the public the public very much recognizes that but what we do recognizes that the roads that are extremely busy are roads that are extremely important to us as a community needs to be on a gritting program it's not acceptable that we have a road that is that we have the main church in the area we have the main school in the area we have at us good door we have house in these states we have a huge number of businesses in the area and just the general community itself who are working day in and day out trying to get to work and farm on the road and so on that it's not on a gritting program anybody that knows west and they call will know the many in all the road and and what we need is like it says that the fianna fell from the gale government to adequately fund us so that we can actually buy the additional vehicles like more lorries to give us the more capacity because even though that and then some were saying the other day that well the yard is up the road from this very spot and yes the yard is council yard is up the road from it but it's far more complex the gritting program is quite a complex and mathematical why you start where you can go when you're in the crossover the mountain and our staff do fantastic work and the staff who goes out and risk their own safety and during frosty times to to make sure that roads because they're driving on non-gritted roads to greater roads so you have to recognize that but it's not acceptable and we need to move towards getting this road as other roads like going out to the Mahara and other roads that needs to go on it and buying additional lorries would mean that means then allowing us more capacity lorries what the capacity is what bigger spreaders and then the capacity the ability to offer for senior staff to calculate where and when and how and all that there is a second nature to them I mean obviously the the next solution though beyond that that's the aim is having grit available for locals if they choose to spread it have you not been able to secure that during your tenure in the council well yes we do we do generally what happens and unfortunately to what I could see yesterday there was no grip left on the side of the road and generally there is grip left and on the sides of the roads there is a program there for any community that wishes to come up to the to the council yard and pick up grit granted there are a case where maybe people don't have that ability or capacity so generally there are grit left on the side of the road and the community is quite good to spread it but that said we have a community and then I'm not going to be people listening to me on Monday night not going to be happy with what I'm going to say but we have an age in population in west and Ego and it's not acceptable that we are expected at a certain age to go out on the road and start spreading grit what we need to be in a position on roads that are key infrastructure roads that are that are that are important to our community needs to be on a grit and program should be gritted based on the amount of traffic and facilities and amenities in the area rather than sort of their status you know when it turns into sort of like a an auction then when it comes up for discussion annually I mean the busiest roads should and roads that have a certain level of traffic and amenities should be gritted by default it shouldn't be something we have to bang a drum about surely would that not be a better way to look at it yes I fully agree with you Greg absolutely and and if you look at that road to many another and if you look at the footfall that's on that road it's absolutely massive even our staff going to work to add a ski door our staff going up to the negall shores our staff going up to james calls or to gillespie's quarry or wherever the staff are going or people coming and going to their own homes it's a massive massive footfall and and yes the main artery would be to head down cross clarity coming around one big over by derry beg but that's not the way things happen the way things are happened that people look for the shorter route and that's understandable that's why we invested as a council and quite a lot of money over the last x-men years to give it a good service that it has now there's all the works that needs to be done on that road in terms of there's pinch points that needs to be widened because you have to slow down at certain points to allow all the cars to pass and if there's two lorries passing well that's just a stop and wait do we see how we get on here so there there's a lot of work that needs doing that the community demands and i used the word demand because it is after all our community and they have every right to demand that the proper investment is invested into the community considering the fact that our roads infrastructure had been very very purely over many years but there has been a huge investment done by the senior staff and then west and negall to make sure that we're using back mac over okay well we have to leave it there councilor thanks for your time bye bye okay that is uh council let me hold column a gallon aspect if you use that road affected by it let us know 08 660 25 000 does anyone know how to register a card for one for all this is a different initiative i've tried to spend but because it's not registered i can't use it this is very unfair uh how do you do it how do you go about doing it i've not done that i went to london mid 80s with one suitcase and 200 pounds in my pocket i worked full-time and in the evening after working all day worked in two different pubs over the week weekends i saved hard and in 1993 i bought my first home with my boyfriend i would never have done that if i'd sat back and listened to what was on the media as that time when i bought the interest rates were through the roof my point is if you want something badly enough knuckle down work hard and you will get there might take a bit longer but anyway all right just time for a brief conversation with finna girl councillor johnny mcginnis uh and we're not talking about politics in this instance johnny we're talking about your family business tell us what happened there over the last uh while break um well we woke this morning to a phone call um just after six o'clock from one of my senior management who had come into work and discovered that um we had been broken into and she was afraid to proceed into the building at that time and i told her to just hang tight and i made my way over there as quickly as i could i got there a few minutes later and uh it was obvious then that um there had been extensive damage down to the rear of the the building uh of the shop and entry had been gained a number of doors have been kicked down into storage areas where high value goods were stored and the place had been ransacked from from top to bottom basically and uh the contents were had been taken along with that quite a large um amount of uh single packet cigarettes from the shop itself also so they do you believe the culprits would have to have been on site for a period of time or there had to be a number of them in other words it's likely surely that someone saw something well uh it would seem like they may have been um they may have been afraid of somebody having seen them because they seem to have left and quite a hurry because they didn't take all of the goods from the from the shop area from behind the counter so i'm not sure if uh if that was by coincidence or or i mean sometimes if a car pulls up there at the junction they're they're looking straight in you know the headlights come straight into the shop so they might have thought they'd been rumbled and and and had to make a quick getaway but either which way um they didn't go empty handed and and there was from what i can see there was three of them at least uh i believe that there's from inquiries that i've been making and from other there's been a number of other burglaries in the area of recent and even last night a farm yard in proximity to us here had had also some good stolen and it looks like possibly some of those those tools and posts and things have been used here on site here at our own premises to gain access into our into our business here right okay um so the loss the damage the damage is significant the loss extensive uh the damage is any of the damage you can always fix the damage uh it's the it's a high value of the goods that have been stolen you know it's it's it's a blow that that that's no business can take and then certainly businesses and and rural don't like ourselves so you know we're we're trying our best to to maintain an existence and to preserve the jobs that are in place for the community and preserve the service that that we've given here as a family for for for decades for for over 100 years it's just it's very upsetting to think that there's there's people out there that are that are profiting on the misery of others and you know they're they're putting all those jobs at risk um for ourselves and for any other businesses that have been burgled and targeted over over the last 18 months i believe this gang are acting in the area here we've had a spate of burglaries in different in different towns of late and i think they're opportunistic to start off with and then the obviously they come across high value targets and throughout their night but somewhere between i think we had we had noises reported by a neighbor here at around 4 50 a.m and another neighbor heard voices sometime between 3 30 and 4 i've had calls about a car being seen in by jackson's lane which is a sort of a a dead end road just outside the village and i've been having calls coming in from the public which very grateful for for all the calls that are coming in i put a post up on facebook earlier seeking any information that might be pertinent to the case and and and i would ask you to do the same if you could ask anybody to to to reach out with any tidbit of information how however so meaningless it might appear to them it could be the missing link for for ourselves to piece together exactly what's what's going on here okay we do have a definite line of inquiry and we have a couple of vehicles of interest and um we will be we'll be garnering uh footage from from um shops in the vicinity where that that think they may have dealt with these people the hours leading up to last night okay there's a lot of info to be working through john and again as listen thank you for your time this morning sorry for for what you and the family are going through there we'll be back with you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock but stay tuned her mckayla's going to join you now with the news at a minute past 12 and after that it's around the northwest with john bresden but as they as they say for me Greg Hughes of the team we'll chat to you tomorrow morning at nine thanks Greg


Hello, Psych2Goers! We just want to take the time to thank you for all your kind support. We are a team of dedicated, passionate, and hard-working individuals who come together every day with one goal in mind. We want to make psychology come alive for you. We are self-funded and recently launched our Patreon. If you enjoy the work we do and find it meaningful, please stick around until the end of the video for information on how to get more involved with us and all the cool rewards you can get from us. We hope you enjoy this video. It's hard to talk about things. That's why sugarcoating exists. Pain, in fact, makes some of the world's greatest actors, because they know which face to put on to hide it. As we go through life, we accumulate more difficulties along the way. It's impossible not to feel jaded at times, and we may often find ourselves on the verge of giving up. But not all hope is lost. Here are five things to remember when your life is falling apart. Number one, pain is temporary. It might not seem like it right this second, but everything you're going through right now will pass. Even the heaviest rainstorms eventually find calm. Whether you're going through a breakup, job loss, or the death of a loved one, things will slowly stabilize again. You may not always fully recover from traumatic events depending on the severity of them, and grieving is never a linear process. Some days you may plunge back into the familiar darkness and wonder when things will stop feeling heavy, but no matter how brief, subtle, or unpredictable, there will always be moments of light you'll find in between. Sometimes pain doesn't listen to our cries for instant gratification, instead it asks for patience. The heart is a strange place, just as much as it knows how to drown, it also knows how to endure. Number two, realize that you have what it takes to turn things around. We don't get to choose where we come from, but we can still manage to do things to take us where we want to be. If you find yourself in a dead-end job or don't feel as passionate about what you're studying, know that the situation won't change unless you make one. Sometimes it may take more than a few tries until you feel satisfied, but people are often scared to make changes because they're afraid of disappointing themselves if things don't work out. Admitting it isn't easy. We've become a world driven by results more than giving ourselves credit for the risks we do take to better our lives. Don't focus so much on what may fall further apart, but rather on what can fall into place. Number three, allow what you can't control to just be. It's great to take responsibility for your own actions and be proactive. This is how you can live an active, meaningful life when you strive for your goals and dreams. But, it's important to recognize that there is only so much we have control over. Instead of analyzing the things we think we can prevent, or taking extreme precaution to make sure something doesn't happen again, we should assess what degree of control is healthy. There will always be some things, no matter how carefully we plan, that happen unexpectedly, and the only thing we can do is wait it out. Number four, you're not alone. When your problems feel unbearable, it's easy to become attached to them and focus only on your pain. But if you take a good look around, you'll come to realize that you're not alone. Someone else in this world is also still up at 3am because their thoughts are consuming them. Someone else, just like you, is trying hard to make it through another day without collapsing. People aren't robots, that's why we face all the confusion and hurt, but also the happiness and victories for times we never thought we'd get through, but we did. Number five, it's okay to break, but when you're ready, starting over is always worth it. You have to be in the right mindset to start over, and if you're not there yet, it's okay. Continue breaking until there's nothing left to break, but when the breaking gets old, a switch will turn on inside of you, and you'll want to get off the couch and face the world again. Things have a habit of coming around when we least expect it. These are the best coincidences that we have to run with when they show up. What do you do to keep holding on? Please share your thoughts with us below. Also, don't forget to subscribe for more content from Psych2Go and check out our Patreon. We started it because we want to grow into a bigger platform that reaches more people who are in need of help. With your contribution, you can receive our PsyPendant, T-shirt, issues of our magazine, and many more membership benefits. Your funding will help us produce quality script writing, voiceovers, and animation that makes our content both entertaining and educational. We want to make sure our community members get the best and only the best. Thanks for watching.


The thing about playing Yamcha is that was some sick. I'll give myself that. That was very lucky How's it going everybody dotted away here back with some more Dragon Ball fighters online matches? And it is time for the long-awaited rematch at least in Dragon Ball fighters We've played a couple times since in different fighting games But J.M. Profs is here with us today the other Krillin main on YouTube I think there's only two of us that do YouTube. Yeah, there's a few Krillins out there But yeah, there's a few Krillins honestly not much more than two There's like I would say I think I know about 20 of us at this point I think the number is going up though. Don't you think? Yeah, and for good reason We were gonna talk about it in the video, but I'm okay with mentioning it now Since I haven't talked about it on the channel yet, but Goiji's picking up Krillin So it's a good thing we're doing this now because playing Krillin is about to not mean much He's gonna be like the new Super Saiyan Goku before they got rid of his 2M I didn't know we were gonna start the video off with that I was trying to trying to get me in a bad mood before the set. That's crazy Ah the Rock assist. I opted to go with beam just because You know, I'm not the thing about rock assist in me is I've learned it. It's actually taught me I have a very bad habit with assist that I'm just always holding back when I call assist Oh, yeah, I always get sent to you. Yeah, that happens to me a lot, too Definitely something you have to like get used to nice brain. Oh my god. I'm getting bodied Yeah, I've been playing a ton of oh by the way, I guess we should also mention this spoilers for an upcoming video I don't know when this is coming out, but we're also gonna be playing some fantasy strike today Not in this video, but it should be a lot of fun man. It's been a while since we go. Oh, what a bee you see I figured I have we have to play fantasy strike because that's the only way that The viewers will know that I'm not just like a scrub They're gonna watch what happens in this game and they're gonna be like why am I even subscribed to this guy No game I was gonna say I feel like people Obviously, this is a big fighters channel But and people have been supporting the other stuff as well But we've played multiple times on this channel just not all Fighters and my record against you is terrible in other games In fact, I would even go as far to say is I don't think I've won in another game Oh the two age see this is the mark of a Krillin player. He knows Yeah, that's who S into super dashes super fake But yeah, I mean like I think it makes sense.   I mean the online makes me a little cranky sometimes I was gonna say I've oh Yeah, the online obviously could be bad. I feel like that's a big complaint with fighter probably Honestly, I would say probably my only complaint. I know a lot. I saw You've done a lot of videos and I guess not maybe videos, but at least Twitter posts like discussing like a Big problem with fighters is people say yeah, I love fighters, but you know, I think super dash should be removed I think I'm like come on at this point. I think we have to accept it You know, that's just fighters. We just got to accept that fighters is fighters. Oh my goodness working on the wall. Oh Yeah, I was gonna say it's not too often we go I go up against other yamsha's as well. So I'm actually the thing about playing yamsha is That was some sick. I'll give myself that that was that was very lucky. Oh See, I needed that to age there Yeah, I actually am in a bad way right now Yeah, I was gonna try the side switch there, but I think it probably would have dropped in that scenario I'm just gonna let's let's forget. Let's hold the level one. Keep the bar. I'm going for another No baits. Oh I didn't get the block on that Okay, no, I'll take it. I'll take it our cancel. Y'all just pretty weak to it.  Y'all Chad help me. I'm just gonna I don't know what to do Just got to bring him down. I guess I'm gonna be real. I was I was already preemptively blocking cross-up right there Oh, no. Oh, wow. Why did it? I need some I need some excuses here like I had pizza in my eye My button got stuck I'm not used to the ps4 timing. I've been playing on pc Too much pc too much pizza in the eye. I feel it. I feel it if you add it all together I think that it explains how I could possibly use that one It's it's it's a it's how I like to play the game, you know And I don't oh my stuff I hate that the rocks just stuff you now Because honestly a lot of the time I don't see them. I'm just like, what did I get hit by? Something just stopped me my track Oh Nice All right, I like instantly lost 18 last time. So we need to Oh, that hits them Oh, uh, don't punish that. Okay. Oh, we're going all we're going a lot of damage here No, come on.  Oh my god. It was gonna be so good That I don't know. I would argue against it being good I had to assist up. It was gonna happen This would have went from my part to your part real quick Oh, no, I wish Yamcha was not here for this. Oh, don't do this Are you serious Krillin bounce out? Oh, no I totally did. Oh, you did he it looked it looked like he was like too hard I am just playing. What am I doing this round? Uh Oh, no, I didn't you know what I did not see you had to see assist on 18. Yeah Oh, that was uh, that was really clutched though. I was like, I can you get this without the beam assist? I I needed a little bit of improvisation there to make that happen No, didn't get the block on the back half. All right, so it's not impossible to come back. It is looking It's looking mighty hard though. I think I might need to do A bit of moving around on these these pieces I have left here I'm not good at that. I mean if I lose Yamcha then Oh Oh, what a tech Yeah, he need I I have to see assist on my team as well The shoulder tackle. All right, it's going to be up to Broly here to take it. Whoo Let's see if Broly can get it done seven bar. Oh, you know what? Oh my goodness 18. I It's too short No, I'll just spam beams. That's all I need. This is Krillin too It means this is a lot of damage post vanish To be honest, I don't know if oh, I'm not dead yet. Surprisingly. Oh my god Ah, I'm kind of scared. I don't know what to do Oh, I should yep. I was I was trying to get to that dragon ball I thought the only way I was winning that at that range was getting my health back Oh, man, I'm still I'm so salty. I had the tod I'm actually much happy with that. I mean, I did call Yamcha out to get beaten up for some reason That was epic epic Broly's to H I'm actually pretty sure I had a nightmare about it one time I I hate the vertical reach on that thing is too. Oh both rocks hit me Oh, yeah, I can't believe one rock. See that is so different from the last time we flipped Rocks beating Broly's super armor. I never would have thought I saw the day That was unfortunate. Yamcha's just came up. I just didn't think he was up that that's soon All right, bail her out. Oh no I can I get 18 back on the stage, please? I kind of need that I'm just gonna pop it Okay, I guess I deserve it snap is also in a very Snap is in a very different state the last time you played as well. Oh, yeah, that's true. Yeah, snap is oh Oh, I was to be honest, I thought seven 18 did that I was like, whoa 18 just pops in and solar flares.   I was like, damn that I got caught matching No, that's not good. Oh, might have I hit the old ejector button? Hopefully, uh Ah, I was gonna I was like, I do reflect gonna eat that. I was like, who do you think you're playing right here? I know I was gonna say a lot of people against curling don't know what to do there Yeah, I have to eat a level three now. I got to get up No tags. I don't have those I am just gonna be up to you to get this one back Yeah, I hope this kills There we go. Oh Wasn't even the final take to that a lot more damage in it I am just taking it away. I'm like more happy to face Yamcha potential comeback versus Broly comeback I do think that Yamcha is one of the best comeback characters But like Broly is just horrifying for me I didn't think you'd be able to block that Rebars Oh, we're not a good and the Krillin that's that Krillin come in here, buddy All right. Well now now it's real comeback time. He's battered and bruised, but he can still do it Oh, that didn't hit. What a good. All right, two one. Are we oh, we're doing first to three, right? Yeah, okay. Good. I was like, is that it? Yeah, no, not off. I mean I'm I won so that's it I guess that's the end of the video everybody. I know we're doing first to two. All right. Thank you guys so much All right, let's see if I can't make it at least two two Oh my god, my heart is beating so fast Oh the rocks Yeah rocks are pretty good. I'm getting I this is like this match up's good for me because I didn't think I I'm really getting shown that rocks are uh I mean, I knew they were strong, but I didn't know they were gonna be this strong I feel like I'm just getting maybe it's because mainly Broly is really big So I'm getting hit by both rocks Let me see my Oh, I'm just gonna you know what there's too much pressure there and that's the rocks. Yeah Yeah, they're pretty good, huh? They are eating me alive this set Whoa I'm getting eaten alive. All right. Hold on. I don't know Krillin might prove that wrong though Whoa, we did it the final tick. All right. This is bad. Oh my god barely All right one step at a time. We got to make this work. Um I'm gonna try this. I think we're gonna go back into the yamcha Let's see this can be scary in the corner for sure. Yeah yamcha.  Oh, what a move All right I'm not used to it. I was like, what's happening Yeah, I was at 17 by the way to see us just on 18 incorporate 17 Uh, no Oh, I guess I was just seeing 18 kind of teleports around Oh Nice. All right. Well, we're down to one character again I feel like my defense has been the been killing me. All right, maybe I'm wrong. I've that that'd actually be embarrassing I don't know. Well, it might have been To be honest, I have no idea who it was. I just saw what I thought was like you're just getting juggled around by by the whole squad Oh, there it is the bean That's me whenever I use it. I'll take it too long on the beam On a level three All right, I gotta I've been pulling back on the bar Don't do it I had it. I had it Yeah, that is true Oh, no bad beam Oh, if there was ever time for a comeback GG that's it. Well, we are gonna play another set on jm cross channel So if you want to go check that out the link will be down below I gotta get some revenge in that set or at least two wits And then of course, we're also gonna be doing a fantasy strike video on this channel I don't know when that's gonna come out though.  Uh, no, mash that sub button guys Thank you Dato for the matches. It's been a lot of fun. All right. Take it easy guys


What's your sign? My sign? Like astrology? You know that's a new age practice, right? No, it's really not that deep.  You do know that astrology is like a divination practice that originated in old Babylonian times, right? The Babylonians? Yeah, you remember King Nebuchadnezzar when he wanted his dream interpreted? Yeah, and Daniel got it right. Before that, the king summoned the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the astrologers, and none of them could do it. I kind of forgot about that. Look, astrology seeks to predict the future and attribute psychological characteristics based on the formation of stars and planets. The Bible directly condemns this type of divination in Leviticus 1926. Well, I don't really do any of the divination stuff. But bro, when you're buying into all these different labels, you're literally buying into another worldview. I can see your point, but I'll need to think about it. I was wondering, though.


Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. On today's program, you will hear stories from Brian Lin, Maria Ritter Jr., and Gregory Stockle. Later, Faith Perlow presents this week's everyday grammar lesson. But first, Brian Lin has a report on the European Union's new migration agreement. The European Union has reached an agreement that sets new rules for controlling migration. The deal, announced Wednesday, will become part of an EU agreement called the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. The Associated Press reported the document will need to get final EU approval by February and is expected to enter into force by June. The main purpose of the agreement is to set new rules to ease difficulties facing EU nations as they seek to deal with migrant arrivals. The deal also aims to establish a process for EU nations to more fairly share the duties and costs related to migration. The laws cover screening policies for when migrants first arrive in the EU. They also provide rules relating to migrants, seeking asylum and set guidelines for processing applications and dealing with possible migration crises. It's truly a historic day. European Parliament President Roberta Mazzola told reporters in Brussels after the negotiations. She added that reaching an agreement was important because migration is likely to be a major campaign issue ahead of EU elections in June. Let's not underestimate the risk if we had not reached such a deal, Mazzola said. She added that she hopes the agreement will persuade EU members not to establish individual borders because the migration flows can now be more effectively dealt with. Migrant arrivals in the EU are down from a high in 2015 of more than one million. Most of those migrants entering Europe were fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. But the flows started to increase in recent years and reached 255,000 so far this year through November, Reuters news agency reported. More than half of those crossed the Mediterranean from Africa, mainly to Italy. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantadosi called the deal a great success for Europe and Italy. He said it should help EU border countries most involved with migration feel less alone. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said finding agreement on migration disputes was very important and can help lighten the load for the most affected EU states, including Germany. Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he sees the deal improving control over migration and providing a better asylum process for migrants to the EU. Far-right lawmaker Gert Wilders aims to replace Rutte after winning the country's elections last month on a campaign that included anti-migration policies. Under the new system, countries not at the EU border will have to choose between accepting their share of 30,000 asylum applicants or paying nearly 22,000 euros per person to the EU. The screening system seeks to separate those in need of international protection from others who are not. People whose asylum applications have a low chance of approval such as those from India, Tunisia or Turkey can be prevented from entering the EU and detained at the border. People seen as representing a threat to security can also be held at the border. The agreement also sets policies for speeding up the processing of applications. While praised by many European leaders, the agreement also received criticism from groups seeking to assist migrants. The European Council on Refugees and Exiles, a migrant rights organization, condemned the proposed rules on ex, formerly Twitter. The group said the policies were Byzantine in their complexity and Orban-esque in their cruelty. The message was commenting on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who ordered the building of security fences to keep migrants out of the country. Rights Group Amnesty International said it sees the deal setting EU asylum law back many years and leading to greater suffering for people seeking asylum. It also said the agreement is likely to cause more people to be put into de facto detention at the EU's borders, including families with children and other vulnerable individuals. I'm Brian Lin. Thailand is looking for investment to build a land bridge across the narrow southern part of the country. The Southeast Asian nation hopes to provide a shorter path for cargo between the Pacific and Indian oceans without having to go through the Malacca Strait and Singapore. Under the plan, cargo would travel by highway and railroad from the area of Chumpan on the Gulf of Thailand to Ranang on the Indian Ocean to be loaded onto waiting ships. Thai Prime Minister Seta Thavesin has been seeking support for the $28 billion project from investors around the world. At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, gathering in San Francisco, Seta said the land bridge would connect the oceans without requiring ships to sail down along the tip of Singapore known to experience congestion and would cut transport duration. He called it a very important project, not just for Thailand, but also for the world. Thailand says it is open to interest from all investors. After a meeting with Japanese businesses and leaders, Seta said there was interest in the project without providing additional information. Thai Transport Minister Suriya Junrung Rancit said more than ten American companies expressed interest without naming them. China, an important trade nation in the area, has not commented on the plan for the land bridge. For many years Chinese businesses have been pushing for a deep-water project called the Kraw Canal. The canal would cross the Kraw Ithsmas and would permit large ships to pass. The proposed project would cut at least one day of sailing time from passing through the Malacca Strait. Former Prime Minister Preyuchan Ocha set up a Chinese-supported center to study the canal idea. But it has never started because of the cost and possible environmental damage. Sampong Puttivisu Tisak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University, has studied the land bridge proposal. Sampong said China won't give away its position that easily until it sees the other investors. He told VOA there are two reasons that China would invest in the land bridge project. First, financial benefits. Secondly, geopolitics. Financially, this project is not worth the investment. But geopolitically, it could be interesting as China would have control over both seas. At a Belt and Road Initiative meeting in Beijing last October, Thai officials said the land bridge could be connected to another high-speed railway under construction from Thailand to Singapore. Sata even drew a map of the route during a meeting, which he posted online. But critics say the plan is unlikely to win China's full backing. They say a land bridge would require loading and unloading cargo from ships and would not save any time. Sombun Kamhang, chairman of the Coordinating Committee on Development, called it another dreamy project. He told VOA China isn't interested in the land bridge project. Building a land bridge is just way too costly and time-consuming. But China can get behind the canal idea, which could give it more control over the region. I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. A large Swedish study has found an unexpected finding about people diagnosed with extreme fear of serious illness. It found they are more likely to die earlier than people who are not as concerned about their health. Hypochondriasis, now called illness anxiety disorder, is a rare condition with symptoms that go beyond average health concerns. People with the disorder are unable to lose their fears despite normal doctor visits and lab tests. Some may change doctors repeatedly. Others may avoid medical care. Dr. Jonathan E. Alpert of Montefiore Medical Center in New York said many of us are mild hypochondriacs, but he added there are also people on the extreme side of it who are always worrying and thinking about whether they have a serious illness. People with the disorder are suffering and it's important to take it seriously and to treat it, said Alpert, who was not involved in the new study. Treatment can include behavioral therapy, calming methods, education, and sometimes mental health medication. The researchers have found that people with the condition have an increased risk of death from both natural and unnatural causes, including suicide. Continuing stress and its effects on the body could explain some of the differences, the writer said. The study was published recently in JAMA Psychiatry. David Matajskuls of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden led the research. We got lucky, he said, because the Swedish system for organizing disease has a separate entry for hypochondriasis that permitted research on thousands of people over 24 years from 1997 to 2020. Older research has suggested the risk of suicide might be lower for people with the condition. Matajskuls said their research found that statement was incorrect. In the study, the risk of suicide death was four times higher for people with the condition. They looked at 4,100 people with hypochondriasis and matched them with 41,000 people similar in age, sex, and where they lived. They used a measurement called person years, which measures the number of people and how long they were followed. Overall death rates were higher in the people with hypochondriasis, 8.5 instead of 5.5 per 1,000 person years. People with the condition died younger than the others with a mean age of 70 instead of 75. The risk of death from diseases related to body systems, such as breathing and eating, was higher. The risk of death from cancer, however, was about the same. Alpert leads the American Psychiatric Association's group on research. He said more care is needed when suggesting a patient to mental health professionals. Patients can become angry because they feel they are being accused of imagining symptoms. Alpert added, fortunately, there are good treatments. I'm Gregory Stockle. Many Americans will travel over the winter holidays, often to return to the homes and towns of their childhood. For people from the state of West Virginia and wider Appalachia, one song comes to mind on the trip home. Take Me Home, Country Roads. Singer John Denver co-wrote and performed the 1971 song. It became a major hit. Recently, my favorite singer, Lana Del Rey, recorded her version of the song after performing in West Virginia in October. In today's everyday grammar, we will look at parts of the song performed by Del Rey and connect it to grammar and figurative language. Let's look at the first verse of the song. Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River, life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze. In the first verse, we have a couple of comparisons. One comparison uses an appositive as metaphor. The others use comparative adjectives and even a simile. Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that go beside another noun to describe it. Sometimes we can use the appositive structure to create a metaphor. Almost heaven, West Virginia, is a metaphor using an appositive. Here our subject is West Virginia. And the appositive is almost heaven. The appositive is giving more information about West Virginia. The comma takes the place of the typical verb used to make metaphors, be. West Virginia is almost heaven. Almost heaven, West Virginia. Heaven is a perfect place. Many cultures and traditions uphold it as a beautiful holy place.  So if West Virginia is almost heaven, its natural landscape of mountains and rivers and trees must be a holy place of beauty. Next we have a comparison of life in West Virginia. It is older than the trees and younger than the mountains. Older and younger are comparative adjectives. Comparative adjectives compare one thing to another. They help express whether something has more or less of a particular quality. The song suggests the ancient history of the land. Scientists say the mountains began to develop about a billion years ago. Life began sometime after that, but before the growth of trees the song goes. And the mountains and life continue into the future the song then suggests. The writers used the simile growing like a breeze to express this idea. A simile is a figure of speech in which unlike things are compared with the use of the words like or as. Breezes come and go and sometimes grow into a stronger wind. This verse could mean that life and land grow with ease in West Virginia. Let's move on to the chorus of the song. Country roads take me home to the place I belong West Virginia mountain mama take me home country roads In the chorus of the song we have an interesting grammatical feature and some figurative language. We have an imperative structure that is repeated in the beginning and end of the chorus. Country roads take me home take me home country roads Imperatives are predicate only clauses used to give instruction, direction, or command. Imperative sentences use the base form of the verb and may have other information. We know that this song was written about a road trip through the mountains and rural communities. The singer seeks direction from the country roads themselves to find the way home. We also have more figurative language. The writers refer to West Virginia as mountain mama. This is an example of personification or the human representation of a non-living thing. The reference humanizes West Virginia and suggests that it is the mother of mountains. But it uses the more childlike term mama for mother. The word expresses hominess, warmth, and nostalgia. Today we looked at the beloved song Country Roads. We found figurative language like metaphors using a positives and personification which is the humanizing of non-living things. We even found some interesting grammar with the use of comparative adjectives like younger and older to describe life in West Virginia and imperatives or commands to give direction through the country roads. I'm Faith Perlow and I'm Anna Mateo and we're both from West Virginia. You just heard Faith Perlow present this week's Everyday Grammar Report. Faith joins me now to talk more about it. Hi Faith, welcome back. It's great to be back Ashley. This week you wrote about grammar and figurative language in the song Take Me Home Country Roads. You have a personal connection to this song. Is that right? That's right Ashley. I'm from West Virginia and this is actually one of our state's four official songs. I grew up hearing this song a lot and it is actually quite well known all over the world. I was at a bar 13 years ago in the Czech Republic in a little village and my classmates and I were listening to a traditional Czech folk band. When the band found out we were from West Virginia University they started playing country roads for us. It was a really incredible moment. I bet it was. But I have a geographical question for you about some of the places mentioned in the song. Aren't the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River in Virginia a completely different state than West Virginia? That's actually true Ashley. Even though the song mentions West Virginia by name the references to the river and Blue Ridge Mountains are actually about western Virginia and possibly Maryland. Most of the Shenandoah River runs through the western part of Virginia but it does eventually cut into the eastern panhandle of West Virginia before meeting up with the Potomac in Maryland. Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia all kind of meet up around this area. The Potomac is the river that eventually runs through Washington DC and is a natural boundary between Maryland and Virginia. Exactly Ashley. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a portion of the Appalachian Mountains and while the majority of the Blue Ridge Mountains are in Virginia part of those mountains also make up that eastern panhandle of West Virginia. So the writers of the song might have been a bit confused about the specific geography of West Virginia and it's obviously a little complicated and they were actually traveling along a road in Maryland and that's what inspired them to write part of the song. Wow I did not know that Faith. Well thanks for sharing a little geography and history of the song with us. You're welcome Ashley. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.


One of the greatest benefits that we've seen in the classrooms is just student motivation. They are excited about where they are, it doesn't matter the content or what they're focusing on, and they're excited about the growth that they're seeing. They're very much a part of the learning process, and they're just excited to see themselves grow and share that information. I think the student ownership piece has been prevalent throughout the building, and I think that even teachers who are not in the pilot are gleaning some of those ideas from those teachers who are in the pilot. I think another thing that stands out is the learning progression, so we know where students are supposed to go and we know where they are, but what are those benchmarks along the way, and how can we move them along that path. Very good.  Focus the type of feedback that teachers are providing students, so that it is more tightly aligned with the progression and where they need to go. So I would say instructional approaches and the conversations that occur are more targeted. Some of the benefits I've seen in the classroom have been the way teachers interact with their students. They're much more engaged. The children are much more engaged. I mean, you can see the learning taking place as they go through the process. Very often it's just a matter of how the teacher questions the child and how the child stops to think about the question, and then the light goes on, and it's made instruction much more individual. Teachers are much more tuned in to the individual needs of each child in the classroom. The children enjoy learning more. I think we've observed benefits in all of the members' classrooms so far, including my own. I'm enjoying using them. The kids are responsive to them, and it's really making us think and improve our teaching. I know in my class in particular, just the focus on making the learning goals and success criteria student-friendly from the beginning of the class helps. I used to write SOL on the board at the beginning of the day. Now I write an I-will or an I-can statement, and I write one for each subject area that we're doing that day. And then the students read them with me. We reflect on whether or not we know them, so I always have to do a self-reflection before each lesson. And then at the end, we reflect again and see if we improved. I think just changing that in my classroom, for example, has kept us more focused. And the students check me, too, because I tell them, if I'm teaching something else besides what's on the board, then you need to stop me, because those are learning goals for today, and you have to do this to be successful. So I need to get you there. So if I'm not doing it, you help me out, too.