for a friendly amendment that this occur within the first 60 days of being seated we're being sworn in to the city council because there's no the yes and we have in our i agree um it should be sooner than should be should be the staff report discussion says there should be a formal onboarding process for new council members all council members and this is this is where i say come on people during the christmas vacation let's get real it lists all this stuff so um staff will have to go off and work on this so i think it's that issue and the real basics so okay great we'll try to expedite that go ahead i just said the reason why i said 60 days was taken into account that council members get sworn in in december they go on christmas break and then in january that would you know be around the 60 day period so for it to work for the onboarding to occur just yeah i mean so that's the motion just as written really with the uh addition of and commissioners okay i seconded the motion and within 60 days okay okay incorporating in 60 days i seconded it okay all those in favor please say aye any opposed okay that passes unanimous and i'll just say um i've talked with lisa about this and um it is a lot to digest when you're new and so much to get a grip on things you never thought about i mean i'd i'd honestly like to be a part of that process and i probably i think maybe someone who's brand new so you get you know i didn't know this and oh you should know that right so i mean that's for you i think that's a great when we start putting this together i'm going to look to people who have been through the process what did they need to know what what did um what was their experiences like that's a fabulous um addition to it so now we get to number did we vote on actually we did vote on that before we get to number two which i think you're reserving for a little bit more uh conversation i'd like to incorporate or if somebody would be willing to incorporate in the motion that we have staff review our harassment workplace policy and if appropriate to or maybe it's our city attorney i guess if it's appropriate to have changes to these policies um that they return back to the council with a recommendation to hold um any city elected official personally liable for any substantiated harassment claims um and remove uh sort of the liability from the city because similar to what's happened at the federal level um they're recognizing that the taxpayers should not shoulder those costs that'd be to number four is that what that sounds like a separate one and that's the city attorney okay is there consensus for for having you explore that or i can't make a motion but that would be something i'd be able to explore i will say i know of that at the uh higher levels of government um never heard of it at a municipal level but i see no harm asking for information on that okay so so maybe you want to report back to tone i'll i'm fine with that if you want to report back with any information on that as it relates to our policies and um if there's any kind of recommendation that we would want to come forward with you can let us know i could report back on options for the council to consider okay councilor brown just a question um you're suggesting that you'd like that to come to the full council and not be considered as a part of the subcommittee process consideration of our ethics and conduct policy in general and i i think we need more information i think what you can do is hear what he has to say with regards to what is your capabilities on the liability side and then the the location that you can drop that in if you choose to do so would be within your own council policy okay so we can we can incorporate it into that and that way you have the um you can determine what you want to put in there so we could to the full council it could right in of the um number five even though that is predicated on any changes in number four it doesn't stop you from bringing that particular policy back at any time because it is your policy okay yeah so can we just agree do we need a motion would you prefer a motion or we just direct him to bring back your information it's a request for information i think is what we're trying to request for information if there's any type of recommendation as it relates to our council policy is there agreement upon the council in that regard regarding liability regarding personal liability um and i'm happy to share with you what i have if you like or that's fine but i'm i'm happy to research that and report back to the council okay we just do that by by consensus agreement okay and then um did you have a question about that no i was gonna discuss number two um well i think oh this number two no no this number two chris is number two i can speak to that uh well i think we covered that didn't we my understanding is that was incorporated into number three i yeah did you have a question about that yeah if i could speak to that a lot i think that there's a difference in the intention behind what chris has brought forward is number two and what is going into um the live training session for potentially new council members within the the first 60 days of office i think what came out of the rose report is that um there seems to be you know there seems to be some issues around um an understanding amongst members of our city council of the respectful workplace workplace policy and the different items around discrimination harassment and so my interpretation of what came out of the rose report is that we as a sitting body have immediate training in the the apo section one b which it sounds like it's going to change if we're going to be um based on what we've moved so far this evening um around respectful workplace conduct and so i think it's a separate issue where what he's recommending is that we all have the training it is acknowledged by the public that we've received this training so that moving forward if there are issues that the public knows and that we all know that we have had the training on this respectful workplace policy so i just want to as elizabeth warren says i have a plan for that well let's go ahead and see we have a very well everybody's supposed to complete it within this first year anyway with the new state law that has occurred so i know many of you have already taken the the course this year i can't recall off the top of my head who hasn't so well i'm more than happy to offer a refresher class if that's what you're looking for i think what's what comes to your mind what the intention of yours is that we take it collectively rather than individually taking the class and so i think we could do that in number two just say all council members will participate in a training on the santa cruz administrative procedure and policy and i mean we're going to do a little training if i could i maybe i'll just recommend that we do that after we have staff review and revise it because that makes the most sense if we're going to have a change to it because there's inadequate kind of elements that we've learned from this process that's missing that maybe we'd wait and as soon as it's been revised and approved then we have a training in it how's that sounds good to me okay potential solution makes sense okay in terms of timing that's how that would then we could just add that number three all members of the city council will receive training in the apo and city council policy upon revision of those policies does that sound like a good deal upon revision of those policies and it could be incorporated into the onboarding process moving forward from here comes around i'm sorry to complicate or to potentially complicate this but i'm a little confused now because the training that i believe miss murphy is talking about is a is an already established training um which happens uh which is structured regardless of what our specifics are this is about the state law so having that refresher isn't going to or doing it together as that training is not going to get us to looking at whatever it is that we know i think our the one when we do it in house we incorporate our policies into it so if they're included so if you do the that's why the recommendation is structured that way because our live courses include the city's policies and that's when they're provided to employees that's what we do with all of our employees okay i want to but great um so should we move on to two yeah okay um i am personally not so interested in spending the large amounts of money spelled out here for conflict resolution and mediation processes they seem very much in depth and kind of going over a lot of ground that's been done in the past by different groups personally i wait for um all members participate in a conflict resolution training uh conducted by qualified conflict resolution professional and by that i i mean a collective training and that the city then make a conflict resolution services available on an as needed basis um as situations arise that to me it's more forward-looking comes over glimmer comes over brown after uh so i can appreciate that just looking at the estimate for say the conflict resolution center which we heard a representative from this evening uh their total estimated cost for a holistic multi-tier approach to conflict resolution is eleven thousand three hundred and twenty five dollars we spent over eighteen thousand dollars on the report that we're talking about right now which gave us the instruction to do holistic and complete conflict resolution so i really don't think um i'm a little concerned i'm just reframe that i'm a little concerned about us making a decision based off of price when we spend seven thousand dollars more than the estimated total on the divisive aspect of not addressing conflict reconciliation and this whole concept of conflict resolution and reconciliation is near and dear to my heart because i firmly believe that conflict in itself is neutral we experience conflict every day the way that we determine what conflict is is how we deal with it whether we address it head-on or through mediated conversation or whether we let it brew up inside of us and rack up all kinds of different complaints and then bring them all at once without even talking to the other person so i would encourage us because i didn't hear a second to that motion that i would make a motion to move number two and which is to engage in conflict reconciliation or resolution training with a qualified professional and approach the conflict resolution center to use their contract or proposal that they provided in addition to conflict resolution training to instruct staff to come back with options for nonviolent communication training unless that's already incorporated in the conflict resolution training and then in addition specifically race class gender and power issues training with an emphasis on implicit bias second okay i was going to second it i was writing my note but i would i was going to second that but um i also wanted to ask uh if the maker of the motion would incorporate the part of the of council member matthew's motion about have making services available on an as needed basis i think that doing something like what the conflict resolution center is proposed although we don't know exactly what that is because we have a price but not a whole lot of detail on what there's plan that's pretty good there is a plan but um in terms of how it might get at some of the things that um council member glover you're talking about i guess is what my what i meant i think i haven't that we can say suggest yes that we'd like to have i mean i'd i'd be interested in having all of those included it would be worth asking the just for information mrs bradovic is here from the conflict resolution center so if you have any questions yeah i'm sure if you can answer your questions um maybe we could ask that question then oh and or just provide direction that we would like to have that included in whatever comes whatever training we get as well as make making the services available as needed and i want to make one more comment about that because i feel like it's really important that we have some kind of accountability mechanism built into that because part of the problem is even if they're available and nobody's making use of them because not everybody's on board with doing it we end up here and so i'd like to have you know somewhere maybe in the subcommittee some space for having uh bringing us a proposal that kinds of holds us a holds us accountable for for using those services as they are needed and not um just kind of if we decide we want to take um someone up on the offer i will that was yeah there's a lot but yes i will tell you i'll take all of that um we'll go ahead and i'm gonna go ahead and acknowledge vice mayor Cummings just wondering if you could just repeat the motion because i was looking at number two in the staff report um which is what you said and then i wasn't in that was something different so could you just repeat because i wasn't sure where you were reading from yeah i'm just uh looking at the recommendations number two to move all council members agreed to attend mediation conducted by qualified conflict resolution professional and approach the conflict resolution center um to use the quote that they provided in the agenda packet which cites the 11,300 and change number but then also to incorporate um if it's not already in the training and maybe the representative from the non the conflict resolution center could come up and let us know um if there is aspects of nonviolent communication training incorporated in that conflict reconciliation which i'd imagine there probably is um but then also uh where it comes down to race class gender and power issues and if they're incorporated in there and then with the implicit bias training and i want to make sure it's cool with the secretary of my motion i specifically want the city of santa cruz to approach the santa cruz county community coalition to overcome racism uh and engage them in their cracking the codes implicit bias training which has proven to be incredibly effective at opening up people's minds and understanding about the systemic racism and implicit bias we all carry with us that's score right yeah yeah maybe we could do it for the interest of trying to get this through that we could look into that at the future we do actually do offer uh an implicit by implicit bias training class for uh here but i would be very interested i'm always looking for new trainers different varieties so i'd love to get that contact information i think we can achieve what you're looking for from the staff's perspective which i think council could attend to um i'm always willing to like i said let's let's try another group if it may be better than one we're using i don't i can't recall who we're using but send that to me that'd be great okay so it seems like there's some interest in um kind of now understanding the direction that the council is interested in going in that i think could be fine-tuned hopefully as we move forward with what the next steps would be based on the contract potentially with the Conflict Resolution Center i'm happy to allow the opportunity if the director says that she can't do that or does want to do that if not i'm assuming that it's going to work since she's here and and hasn't said no i'm not going to be able to do that and hopefully we can just get that fine-tuned in terms of next steps um councilmember matthews and then councilmember glimmer um that piled on a whole lot of more stuff than i was anticipating um and i'm just wondering about the time because even the um the training conflict resolution training for council members involves private one-on-ones and then a five-hour training of facilitation so that's a six-hour training right there and then there are all these other trainings that have been suggested so i i know they're all good but um i i don't know uh how much we want to pack into the expectation for every year or if there'd be different trainings offered uh at different times the other question i have is the language here says all council members agree to attend mediation conducted by qualified conflict resolution professional did that mean when there's a problem you agree to mediation or did it mean that we agree to a training on conflict resolution principles and so forth um i've used the conflict the city council has used conflict resolution center in the past very very successfully with parties that appeared to be at war with one another so i have a lot of respect but i'm just wondering what we intend here maybe i could if i could maybe just interrupt and then i'm going to go ahead and acknowledge councilmember clever and then i'll go ahead to vice mayor Cummings i don't think we need to go through sorry but i had my hand up and you acknowledged me but it's hard for me to keep track of everybody sorry but i'll just make if i could i'll first start with councilmember brown but i guess what i'll say is that instead of us going through the nuances of the contract at this time perhaps we could have the ethic subcommittee look at what that would look like work with the hr department and our um contractor to fine-tune the next steps and bring forward the next iteration of it councilmember brown forgive me we have been um kind of speculating about what's possible with the conflict resolution center we have a representative here i would ask that um invite the director up and to just respond to the discussion that we're having to see if we can maybe just resolve it now instead of leaving wondering what's possible and i think you're trying to figure out what to do next sure good evening so um my name is layla bratowicz and i'm the director of the conflict resolution center and uh you all have the submitted proposal already and the proposal is really threefold with an opening for future um future needs as well so there is it seems that there's an immediate need that needs to be addressed which is uh the the training in conflict resolution in communication in breaking that spiral of conflict and uh that's really the first step and even before that can be done first it would be really necessary to talk with each of you individually so that that way this is a tailored custom training for you specifically so to make sure that we're addressing exactly the issues that you need you need addressed the differences between the training and facilitation is training is a training and then facilitation is not quite the mediation it's really getting everybody sounds like uh some of the work that you've already done on shared values and how do you how do you really want to approach conflict when it arises again what are the next steps so that can be this discussion that you're having now like the next step is like when a conflict arises we'll try to resolve it privately first if it doesn't work we're across the street pretty much we can call the conflict resolution center we can have a mediation within a week whatever works for you it's for you to decide for us to facilitate the the decision um there's also the part of doing the training with with the staff same thing same breaking the spiral of conflict getting everybody on the same page it's really what we're trying to do is change the culture of how we address conflict at the at the city council level at the city at the city so that when the future situations arise there is common ground already so and then there's the of course the mediation the mediation that have been proposed right now relate directly as i as i understood to the to the two cases from the report that have been substantiated and that gives an opening also that potentially other mediations are needed it's really again it's up to you it's a voluntary process so that's if you have any questions yeah well i'll just say thank you for being here and for being available to share and it sounds like what you have before us is a good first step and we definitely have more to learn from that so i'm comfortable moving in that direction at this time personally okay just want to say that it does include parts of the nonviolent communication it's not fully just nbc it does not necessarily include the implicit like it touches but it's not an implicit bias or any sort of racial gender training specifically it's really communication so thank you councilmember clever thank you um yeah so as much as i appreciate subcommittees and stuff um i feel that this needs to be moved on almost immediately especially because we've been waiting for months and months to be able to address the situation so um i think that we should move forward immediately with uh the conflict reconciliation training uh to answer the question of councilmember mathews i think that we should all agree to participate in this mediated uh conflict resolution training with the professional at the conflict resolution center as a group uh and throughout the entire process also with the individual ones but also as was mentioned and added to the motion make it an ongoing process so that we can have that available and so that there's a level of accountability to make sure people are using that as a first option before they go and file complaints or launch investigations and all this other kind of stuff and then i also do as much as i appreciate director murphy's implicit bias training i've heard from people that it definitely could use some updating and i am very familiar because i've gone through the score cracking the codes training so i would prioritize that one to make sure that all the councilmen receive that specific training because of how holistic and thorough it is it runs about four hours and so that gets back to the question of time i think that this issue deserves a large portion of our time because it has slowed down and impeded the ability for us to move forward on the super important issues that we should be dealing with as a city so if that means investing 10 15 hours of training in understanding all of these different nuanced issues and uh different areas of interaction i think that it is uh it would behoove us all and the citizens of santa cruz for us to invest that time vice-mercames yeah i just wanted to say that for for clarification i think that number two is pertaining to the current city council members and that this is enough that because we have issues right now that need to be reconciled and yeah even needing to so yeah i just i think what i was hearing before some confusion around that is something that all city council members have in the future but i think it's just i just wanted to clarify that it seems like that's specific for us as a body currently okay so that seems to be essentially what was also affirmed by the executive director okay did you have additional comments yeah i just want to put it for the record that while i do believe that it's important for this group to go through the training because of the issues that currently exist i think having preemptive training for council members just like the other trainings potentially every two years since that's the overlap of the time that people are on on city council uh that may be beneficial because that will not only reinvigorate the knowledge in the minds with people that are continuing after those two years but also give a very robust and clear understanding for the new coming uh or incoming council members council member rathios um i do want to get some clarity on the nature of the motion um as spelled out here it's um 10 hours of training just interviews and training and follow-up facilitation on the conflict resolution and then additional training on other topics and so if i could i think it's essentially accepting the conflict resolutions contract or proposal and then um council member glever was going to be working with uh our director lisa murphy from hr on implicit bias training and if there's a training that the council members can take as well as soon as possible would also be incorporated that does that summarize your motion yeah just uh but also the race class gender and power uh which is kind of in the implicit bias training so we'll start there and then if there's more we want to expand on we can bring that secondary training back but okay so knowing that we can expand training beyond that at a certain point that's essentially the motion council member brown i'm just wondering where the incorporation of some accountability to utilize um conflict resolution and mediation as needed uh i believe it was a friendly amendment yeah for the amendment you made it and we both accept it okay got it thank you but thanks for clarifying nice merecomings i'm a little confused because currently we do receive race and implicit bias training so i'm just kind of curious as to how incorporating that again into this like what's the intention behind it since we've all to my knowledge we've all gone through that already and that's already incorporated into the city council policy yeah the implicit bias training is a specific and in-depth four-hour process that's paired with uh video and incorporate small breakout sessions with discussions and exploration into personal biases and unconscious behavior so it's just a lot more in depth and it i think it really carries a lot more weight because i've been like i said before i've been through it a couple times now but also watching people go through it and the transformation that they have just in their understanding of the situation i guess if i could i just think that we can look into that and move forward but for the interest of the item before us around the conflict resolution maybe we can instead of trying to go in that we can just kind of maybe focus on that tonight and knowing that there could be more opportunities to look at what we've already had what you're suggesting what could be contracted with through our human resources department how it might fit in for the purposes of this evening's item particularly as it relates to what's agendized this evening having it go through some of that conflict resolution components at this point seems appropriate does that work for you in terms of the direction that's been taken in as long as we're working on it to potentially implement implicit bias training through score and cracking the codes then sure it sounds like that's what our uh we require like i said we require the cultural diversity class that you have to take and maybe it's time to update refresh try something you do another look that's that's something we can do but you all are required to take that and then just reiterate again the implicit bias which we do have that class it's not required to take but we do offer it but it can be time we're saying to look at it again revamp it go another with another vendor or have you say i have that's absolutely fine we don't require that class is what i'm is the distinction what i'm making so we can look at our policies around that is that fit okay okay so essentially um moving forward right now though at the at the time with the recommendation of two and moving forward with the the um conflict resolution center excuse me right okay do we have a time certain i mean 60 days are we gonna you know that's our deadline to do this as soon as we can figure it out i'll start scheduling you know how difficult it is for it to get you all together but that's that's the first role to overcome but we we can start right away okay all right so just to clarify with respect to the conflict resolution we'll get started in that right away that'll be the priority with respect to the other trainings we'll look at how we might incorporate that or update it within our existing uh programs and in in classes just to be clear okay okay great and i had a question does this incorporate mediation because i mean i hear a yes it does resolution training yes yes yes as described by uh mish bradovic yeah packet yeah okay any further discussion all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed okay that passes unanimously we'll go ahead and adjourn the meeting at this time


Hey everyone, so we got a couple stories to talk about today, one of them dealing with Capcom and Resident Evil and maybe something else I don't really know. The other one dealing with one of Nintendo's major partners. This is the sort of thing that Nintendo might actually get directly involved in now. Before we talk about what's happening, I got a reminder we are giving away a Nintendo Switch OLED, a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X to one lucky winner this month. Head to the Gleam.net, I'll link down in the description or the pinned comment to enter for that. Now what am I even talking about here when it comes to these stories? Well first let's start with the one that's really really interesting but we don't exactly know what it is. So Capcom has a teaser countdown up on their website. At the time of recording it says six days and three hours. So there's basically six days to go before whatever Capcom has to announce on their main page is announced. Now what's interesting is they also have some sort of teaser splash page up on the Resident Evil page. It seems to be teasing Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3. Potentially a collection. I have no idea. It also could be completely unrelated and be just leading into Resident Evil 4 Remastered Remake. It could also be Revelations 3. I don't know what's happening, okay? Nobody really knows except Capcom. Nothing seems to be leaking about this anywhere. So I'm very curious to see what these two different teases are. Are they teasing the same thing as Capcom teasing multiple game announcements really really soon? I don't know but it's really exciting and obviously we'd have to find out if anything is happening with Nintendo in regards to this or is this just going to end up being for the other platforms which is totally fine as well. But obviously as a Nintendo channel it would be cool if we got some Capcom action on Switch. Now the second story is kind of interesting. I'm going to read this and we're going to talk about this. It comes from Platinum Games, CEO Asushi Inaba and he talks in an interview with Videogame Chronicle suggesting the company might actually be open to acquisition. Let's actually read what he said and discuss why this matters for Nintendo. The most important thing for us is to have the freedom to make the games that we want to make. What I hear about the recent acquisitions, I don't think Microsoft is going to start Micromanaging Activision to where they take away all their freedom. I don't think it's going to be a relationship like that. I think there's going to be a lot of mutual respect there and I think Activision will be able to continue to do what they do best. That's also what's most important to us at the end of the day, whatever form that takes for us and our company. So I would not turn anything down as long as our freedom was still respected and this is a really interesting ideology here from Platinum Games because essentially what Inaba is saying is, hey, you know what? You can buy us as long as we can maintain our freedom. Obviously that's going to interest Microsoft and Sony who are mimicking acquisitions because Platinum Games is a very well respected company that makes high quality games. Here's the thing, remember the words of Shintaro Furukawa at the recent investors meeting when he pretty much said, look, we're not against acquisitions. We don't think we need to make any, but if one of our key partners starts to be involved in such a thing, Nintendo is going to have to get involved as well. Platinum Games is a pretty big partner for Nintendo. They make Bayonetta 3. They also made Astral Chain. So Nintendo likes to partner with Platinum Games. I got a feeling Nintendo isn't going to sit back and go, you know what? Yeah, Microsoft. Yeah, Sony, you just buy Platinum Games. Let's just let that happen. This is very interesting, of course, because Nintendo of the three companies is the most likely that if they bought Platinum Games, they would say, look, you're only making games for our platforms. But it depends on what sort of freedom Platinum Games is looking for. Are they looking for the multi-platform freedom? Or are they just looking for the creative freedom to make the games they want to make? That obviously seems to be at least what I'm getting from this. But the bottom line is, man-o-man, they seem very open to being acquired by Microsoft. Obviously, they'd be willing to be acquired by Sony if they're willing to respect their freedom. And, you know, hey, Nintendo always said if someone, if one of their partners is affected, Nintendo is going to get involved as well. So this could be an outright bitty war by the end of this year for Platinum Games. And I'm obviously a bit worried as a switch owner that we're going to see the Bayonetta franchise and others go away from Nintendo. I'm obviously excited to see what they could do as owned by Microsoft or Sony. But I'm always going to worry that when these acquisitions happen, and this is the first one that might impact Nintendo directly, that I'm actually scared. So we'll see what happens. I can only hope that Nintendo's built a strong enough relationship with Platinum where they would trust Nintendo to be a purchasing company. But you know what, there isn't really a whole lot we can do about this. This is just the way the industry is going right now. And I, you know, hey, let the chips fall where they may. Obviously as a Nintendo guy, I would love for Nintendo to get a hold of Platinum Games. But I do play on everything, right? I play on Xbox and PlayStation and PC. So I'm going to get to play their games wherever they go. I just, man, the idea that Nintendo will lose a major partner like this, like this is almost as big a blow to me as Capcom. I know Capcom has bigger games and bigger sales. But still, I just, it's hard for me to imagine Platinum Games no longer working with Nintendo. They've had such a long working relationship over the years from the wonderful 101. They helped us Star Fox Zero. So like, it's just, I really, really sincerely hope that Nintendo does get involved, at least in this. And we don't see them just sit back and let one of their major partners go to the wayside. Now that Platinum Games has literally dropped their stance, they used to say, we are unwilling to sell the company.  That seems to be what Platinum Games is doing. It's opening the door, open conversations with whoever interested in them. And I guarantee you, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will both or all three will be calling them. So let me know what you think about this obviously down in the comments below, because this is obviously, to me, one of those Nintendo shifting moments is Nintendo obviously gets some exclusive games out of Platinum Games. So I don't know. I'm just going to sit back and watch the fireworks and watch all three companies duke it out and see who comes out on top, because Nintendo has the lead platforms in terms of sales right now. Obviously, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X are doing incredible. Game Pass is growing at an amazing rate. PC gaming is larger than it's ever been. Obviously, mobile phone gaming has, you know, billion plus people playing it. Like gaming is in a really good place. Esports are popping up. Nintendo is not supporting official smash tournaments, although like they're still not technically 100% getting behind the whole cash thing. Nintendo get on that, stop pissing off the smash community. The whole reason people got excited about you actually getting involved and sanctioning stuff is that they thought you would actually provide cash prizes.  But whatever, the point is gaming is in a very, very good place. It's bigger than it's ever been. So, let the chips fall where they may. Whatever Nintendo has next for hardware, whatever the other platforms have next were, but they're hard. They'll have slim versions and mid-gen refreshers at some point. Whatever's next for video games, Horizon, you know, comes out this week. That's really exciting. Horizon Forbidden West is going to be a really big game I'm really excited for. Kirby, obviously, Malfoy mode coming. We got Project Triangle Strategy. You know, we have Starfield coming for Xbox. There's so much exciting things happening this year in gaming. The only question is, what am I going to find the time to play at all? Oh, man, I need to go to the future and clone myself into like three different people, maybe four different people, because maybe five. Give one to my kids, give one to my fiancee, and then three of them to play video games. All right, folks, I am the Fandor of a chance from Nintendo Prime. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll catch you in the next video.


And it's time for our first hot topic as we take a look at the state's huge debts, low revenue and how they are continuing to raise concerns as both local and external debts hit trillions of Naira. Now this poses lots of questions. Are the states within reasonable debt to GDP ratio? Did they borrow for consumption or production? These are some of the things we want to take a look at with Dr. Frank Abagan, who is a senior lecturer and specialist in international economic relations, strategic studies, and public policies, Benio State University. Good morning to you, Dr. Abagan. Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me. It's so good to have you join us. You know, between 2015 and 2016, revenue to the states dropped because of the drop in oil revenue. And then in 2020, it dropped because of COVID-19, almost all the countries across the globe experienced recession. But then the debt profile continues to build, local and international. The unfortunate thing is that according to DMO report, which revealed to us last year, 2022, the second quarter of 2022, sub-national debt stood at 5.28 trillion Naira for domestic debt and external debt accounted for 1.89 trillion Naira. That's just second quarter of 2022. Now, the states, debts in itself is not a problem, as I asked, if the ratio is good. But that's not the case, because some of these states, as we have seen, they do not even generate enough IGR to even pay salaries. And so this making the debts pose very huge burden for the states. Let's start with that. Yes. Yeah, thank you very much. We've talked about this a couple of times till the states and the federal government itself, which is in the lead, gets into production. What are the states producing? The only state that you could say that has a potential. I still put it as a potential. We think that as part of the Nigerian GDP platform, it's a very good state. It's viable, but it's Lagos. Lagos is the only state that has the capacity to exist outside federal allocations. Karno in the north would have been able to do so, but production has gone down seriously due to other factors. Desert encroachment will have poor planning of the domestic economy in that state and many other factors. So we have seen a situation whereby states are just collecting money and spending without getting into production. The world is a marketplace. Our foreign creditors want us to collect loans from them because we have to pay. You know, you create a very steady stream of passive income when you take loans. You have to pay those loans back at compound interest. This is the situation. So for them, it's a windfall. They're going to make money. They have the product they are selling. The main deal we'll buy from them now is the PMS, such as the one that has impacted our economy. None of the states is producing goods that they have added quality. That means we are not processing our raw materials. So what are you taking to the international marketplace? We don't have that. All we're doing is just pumping more money into the system, and that is going to create inflation. Of course, so many other scholars who are looking at this issue are saying that the amount now, the total, this palliative that President Chinobuja has announced, it's about a total of 185 billion. That's five billion to the states and the FCT. But the process is still the same. We are going to give the states cash and then one billion for grains. Knowing from the past behavior of our governors, I don't see any difference. What states are going to do, they're going to go into more debt. You can even see, if you look at the conditions, we're going to do moratorium for this is just three months, and then you have to start paying 120 million monthly. With the huge budget profile and the whole debt profile of the states, how can we get out of this situation? But our political leaders don't seem to care. It's so unfortunate. The pressure is going to be much. We're going to see a slide of the value of the Naira more and more. Now it's even floating. Although we could say the stock gaps that will protect our currency are not there till we get into production. We're not into production yet. So you're going to see this slide for a while. I'm even worried because we're thinking of a war. Wars are very expensive. I wonder how we're going to do this. So the situation is bleak. I don't have any sentiments about this. The situation is not so good because what you're doing is you're just transferring debts from one particular account to another. And then unfortunately, we saw some governors borrowed money recklessly in the past, even some few weeks to the end of their tenure. They were borrowing money without clear-cut plans of execution for investment. And so that means that it also brings to mind the legislature, the legislative arms in those states, how responsive and responsible they've been in approving some of the loans that they approved in the past, doesn't it? Most legislative houses, unfortunately, most legislative houses are just robber stump. They are not trying to, they are not protecting their people very well because it is the legislative houses that quickly, you know, approve these loans when the demands for them are made by the executive branches of government. Because it's like a sharing thing. They are in the same boat together. So if the executive collects the loan, the legislative houses also get a share of it too. Because if they are going to exercise their oversight properly, they will exercise caution and also carry out extensive oversight. You've collected this amount. You're asking us to give you to approve this amount. You collected this amount in the past. How did you spend it? What were the sectors? What is the impact? Want to see a performance profile of how much you expended?  These are some of the questions, but which of the houses of assembly are asking this question? No one. So this is the situation. They are supposed to help, yes, they are supposed to help, you know, the people who elected them by making sure that they exercise their oversight, that the executive is accountable for these monies they're collecting and expending. You can see, this is one of the reasons why they do state governor, got to know Berserking, was criticizing this new package that you see, that the state governors are just, it's a jamboree. They're getting money to spend again. Because for the grains, it's just one billion. That's what the total package of five billion they are getting. They're giving the states more money. And even the allocations from the federal allocation account has increased. About this month alone, we've got about 540 billion extra. So I mean, if we need prudence now, if there's anything we need, we need prudence, then each of the states has, what I've been saying, it has a comparative advantage. Each state has a particular, you know, factor in terms of economic production. Yeah, in Benway, it's food. So we need to get into processing, food processing. Then we can now approach the international market and earn the foreign exchange. We're not doing that. And we also need to also increase trade with our sister African countries to earn foreign exchange. These are the things we can do to improve our economy, our domestic economy, all the debt will still continue to increase. And there's always a payment date. We're already filling the pact as it is. And the new governors also should be reviewing the activities of their predecessors, isn't it, with a view to bringing them to account for the monies they borrowed while they were in office? Yes, yes. That is the step. That's the step they should take. But you know, some of these decisions carry political implications. So it's unfortunate that some of the new governors are not going to carry out proofs of their predecessors. But it should be done, even if it's for record purposes. I know that some governors are especially since some of these new governors are their master servants, those who left the office put them there. Some governors are doing so quietly. And you see that kind of proof going on when, let's say it's another political party that took over. For instance, if you had a state that was ruled by, let's say the PDP and an APC governor takes over, you see a semblance of a probe. But you know, the interest in politics changes. Sometimes the probe goes to its conclusion, but it ends there on paper. Although we've seen a bit of that in the North, right? Benwell state and which other state, where they went to recover, even the vehicles that the former governor took away. Yes, yes. But we expect to see more of this. If we're really serious, we can recover much more than what we've seen so far. Because a public office means that you should be accountable to the people. Since whatever you held, the money is the assets of the state you had it in public trust. If you spent correctly, you spent wisely, you don't have anything to fear. You're so clear that no, this is what came. This is what you're able to spend. This is what you were able to generate. Or have a situation whereby it's still the same old culture of getting into public office so that you can have access to public wealth while the people suffer. The things that are happening around us with our countries, you know, Niger, I know that should be reminded to us that it's not going to be business as usual all the time. There's a limit to human suffering actually. And then we've also seen states like Abia State fish out ghost walkers, which should be one of the things that the state even even here in Benway State. The government announced that it had saved close to a think of 1.2 billion, I think, from ghost walkers. And the process is going on, you know, the biometric verification and some of the government departments and agencies. It's ongoing. So if many states are this proactive, you'll be able to plug some of these, you know, leakages that you have in the Spanish of public funds. But like I said, overall, I guess in the modern international economy, you cannot help but borrow. Even United States borrows. But the thing is how you pay back. And you can only pay back if you have something to sell. We need to get into production, whatever it is. And we can, if we have a plan, there are many things that Nigeria has a comparative advantage. And I keep mentioning food processing is one of them. That's the thing. Because the West African corridor buys from us. Just as little crisis with Niger, you can see the number of trailers. If you see the videos parked at the border that could not go into Niger, because they buy almost all their food stuff from here. I remember recall a few years ago when former president Buhari also closed the borders. We had crisis right off the corridor, right, even reaching Senegal. So this is something we can take advantage of, we'll get more into production, and then we'll be able to have something to sell on the international market and make money enough so that we can offset these debts. Well, having looked at the new governors that have come in and those who returned to office to complete terms, would you say you've seen any remarkable change with regards to them going into production, with regards to them increasing their internally generated revenues? I'm aware that some governors are asking questions. They're also trying to take proactive steps. It starts with asking for what happened. You want to see the records, knowing the IGR capacity of the state, and then trying to create a basis where the IGR will be able to take care of the basic expenditure, the current expenditure of salaries and the cost of governance. Many state governments are trying to do that, but I don't think this is the story for all state governments. Even as far as the five billion that the federal government has given to states in terms of palliative, some states already complain that it's simply too small because of the populations they have. A Kanu who's complaining, I think you are hearing that kind of complaint from Lagos too because of the kind of populations they have. Some of them say that they've only gotten the two billion. Some of them are saying they've only gotten the two billion dollars. Quora has said to Gombe, Katzena, the ministries that have acknowledged that they've got the two billion and they've instructed the local governments to also commence the purchase of grains from the grain reserve. The grains are going to be sold. The one billion is like a sale. CBN is the one doing the sale on behalf of government. The one billionaire will be the debited, you understand, from the states and they will give them the value in the form of grains. But the four billion is going to be given out in cash. And this is where the problem is. We've seen what many governors have been able to do with cash, you understand. But the main thing I keep saying is all states need to create a basis for going into production. That's the only way we can get out of this. What are we selling? What do we have to sell? Even amongst, even within the domestic economy, what do you have that you give? What are the services you have, you understand. And we need also need to exploit. I'm also a bit happy that we've created the blue economy that was an untapped area. We're not even tapped into tourism, which is a money spinner. So there are many other factors, many sectors of the economy that can give us what the kind of income we need. But we're not doing so yet. And this is where the worry is. I just hope many states will realize that you have to create the nebulous environment. We've said that states, governments rather, should only go into partnerships with the private sector. But they should create a nebulous environment for the private sector to come and invest. But the state needs to also accelerate the increase in the space of infrastructure and services. You need electricity. You need roads. Those ones are the responsibilities of the states. You need more of those. You have to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. Then allow the private sector to come in and then engage in production. Then you can now collect your taxes. And when you do that, you create jobs, jobs that will take care of people you reduce the social pressure and also add a particular time increase the IGR profile of the states. I think this is the fundamental path to recover the most states have to take them. Many are not there yet. Well, we've also seen some states, governors, new ones who have bloated their governments even before you say Jack Robinson. Some of them are having as many as that is something personal aids. There was one that has already gotten up to 40 aids, media aids. I'm not talking about the commissioners, his own media aids. And when you look at such governors, you wonder exactly why are they there in the first place? Can these ones even create any form of, go into any kind of investment that will boost the IGR of the states? Well, a lot of our leaders are morally ambivalent. That's unfortunately does the truth. They are morally ambivalent, for a lot of them is business as usual. These are the people who didn't sleep, who are the polling units, so they must be compensated.  If you improve the economy, you can now get many people involved in the economy. But because there is no production, the economic production is zero. So only the state now can cater for those needs, because the state has the wealth. So the only quick solution now is to have an over-bloated structure of the state, where many of the political supporters of the governors, the ministers have positions so that they can get access to funds directly from the public post. If there is production, if the economy is working fine, the economy will absorb most of these people we're talking about. So it's still the same problem we're talking about. Many of the governors are looking at quick solutions, you understand? So the main thing to do is just increase the size of the structure of governors. And we've said this so many times that the cost of governors is simply too high. It's affecting the performance of the states. But you have a situation where the supporters too are important and they're putting pressure. And these are the people who help these governors win elections. So it's a vicious circle. But if the governors are pragmatic, more pragmatic than they are, you see a difference over time. So I don't see any change to that. You may even see states with very huge, you know, employment profiles with their supporters. Unfortunately, this is going to be the situation till we see an improvement. Well, let's hope that some states will actually give us reasons to rejoice and be hopeful that things will change. That won't be business as usual. We're watching them and taking note of what they are doing. Thank you so much, Dr. Frank Abhagan, Senior Lecturer and Specialist in International Economic Relations and Strategic Studies and Public Policies. Thank you so much for your time. Now, thanks for having me. Okay, so you're still watching The Breakfast on Plus TV Africa. We'll take your break and come back with our second hot topic. Stay with us.


I'm excited to introduce FISM 1700 Connecting Academics to Careers, a first year seminar course that's available for students who are within the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carlton University and are in the first year of their undergraduate program. This is a course where students are going to be working in a very collegial and shared environment where they are able to support each other and learn more about what careers are and possibly could be within public affairs. So we'll be learning more about what it's like to work in public affairs and also the types of skills and expertise that you might need in order to be able to successfully obtain a job in public affairs. So students will work through a process of learning more about themselves and the skills that they already have and the skills that they will be developing through their undergraduate program and the knowledge and expertise that's subject specific and how these transferable skills can help them to secure employment of their given or chosen pathway. The course is intended to be very collegial and supportive and highly hands-on even though we may be in an online environment, students will have the opportunity to work in small groups and pairs and learn more about each other's programs, where their commonalities are but also where their unique pieces are and how this is important for them in their learning and development. We engage with a range of readings within the class and these are intended to support students to learn more about what it's like to work in public affairs and how they might achieve a job at the end of their undergraduate program.


We are frequently asked to cover the intriguing ancient documents of ancient Sumeria, and for good reason. For although the Sumerian king list is officially classified as an accurate and important chronographic document from ancient Mesopotamia, the lifespans of many of the oldest of its rulers are stated as having lived for upwards of 30,000 years. Furthermore, there is a noticeable steady decline in the duration of these ruler's lives, this gradual decline when seen in its complete translated form if, of course, it is indeed an accurate documentation of history, displays a clear example of devolution over many thousands of years. It lists a long succession of cities in Sumer and the surrounding regions. The first fragment of the text, which is largely believed to date back at least 4,000 years, was found in the early 1900s by Hermann Hilbricht at the site of ancient Nippur with its discovery subsequently published in 1906. Since Hilbricht's discovery, at least 18 other fragments of the list have been found, most of them dating from the second half of the Issen dynasty. But this controversial claim of past ruler's ages is a reoccurring theme with many of these fragments, reiterating these incredibly long lifespans. Furthermore, intriguingly, the epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps the most famous still surviving contribution to world history dating back to Mesopotamia, is depicted as nothing short of a giant. Carrying what is perceived as his pet lion, the cat, however, appears far from tame, attempting to take a chunk from his arm. But due to Gilgamesh's relative size to his furry friend, merely appears as nothing more than a kitten when in his embrace. Could these claims of a 20,000-year lifespan be connected to the additional claim of many of the figures from this era's incredible sizes? That heavy research and a subsequent in-depth exposé regarding the reality surrounding the claims of the Mesopotamian civilization finally confirmed the past existence of not only giants, but human beings whom, after their derivation from divinity, initially had lifespans stretching into 30,000 years? For as the list states, and I quote, after the kingship descended from heaven, they were situated within Aridung in Alulim. It is named after Aridung who became king. He ruled for 28,800 years, with Alijar subsequently ruling for 36,000 years after him. Two kings who ruled for 64,800 years, end quote. As one would predict, such claims are simply dismissed by academics the world over. This is, of course, due to the tales of the king's immense longevity, and due to their own paradigms, one they are often funded to regurgitate would have simply been impossibility. Additionally, along with this starched denial to even consider such possibilities within mainstream study, this same fate befalls the countless gigantic unexplained megaliths found the world over. This is a clear example of how valuable academia perceives their illusionary, oracle-esque all-knowing regarding a complete history of human civilization. For if one was to consider such past individuals, having been responsible for the great pyramids, for example, one could finally explain how, and indeed who, accomplish such ancient feats. But I digress. Could Mesopotamia be the key to unlocking many secrets hidden or lost within human history? We find such possibilities as highly compelling. The Terracotta Army, undoubtedly the most astonishing collection of carvings whether mold-based or not, to be found anywhere on Earth. The artistic genius on display within this large Terracotta Army is hard to ignore when, according to academia, they were merely the handiwork of untrained slaves. Not only does the Army display an immense level of detail and thus artistic talent, they are also all seemingly unique as if each soldier was an accurate recreation of an ancient individual in full armor. We have, in the past, covered this astonishing discovery, discussing how the temple in which this army is said to be protecting has supposedly never been opened. This even though upon excavating the original entranceways, sophisticated crossbows tipped with poison arrows were found left each on a butterfly trigger like something straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. Whatever these elaborate defenses we're protecting has, according to Chinese authorities, never been explored. What's more, this same notoriously secret government have also made any future digs illegal, quashing all hopes for anyone who would like to know about this clearly intriguing section of history. However, these incredible features, along with the soldier's average giant sizes, were not the only area of study we have explored regarding the Army. In our first video regarding the amazing sight, we explored the highly mysterious mono-atomic pigment that was found on many of the statues, popularly known as Han Purple. This astonishingly complex pigment, although apparently sourced and manufactured in enormous amounts by a far less capable, more primitive ancestor, was not fully understood until the 1990s. A pigment, that according to scientists who have studied it, exhibits characteristics of, quote, an element of a lower dimension, end quote. And as such, according to mainstream paradigm, is an incredibly difficult artifact to explain. Yet, Han Purple is not the only incredible, highly enigmatic pigment dating from a now lost antiquity. There also exists another, no less impressive pigment, which is highly likely to have originated within the now lost civilization we like to call the Pyramid Builders. Known as Egyptian Blue, this marvelous pigment was found during an investigation by the British Museum.  But this pigment, found during an in-depth investigation of the marbles to discover whether they were once painted or not, was found in varying quantities upon their varying features, not only subsequently proving beyond doubt that the statues were indeed once painted, but like that of Han Purple within China. Egyptian Blue also has a highly curious characteristic, discovered by modern technology. It is not only the sole surviving pigment on the statues, but is only visible within the infrared spectrum, a band invisible to the human eye. Made under the supervision of the architect and sculptor, Phidias and his assistants, the origin of the pigment, however, just like that of Han Purple, is unknown. Where did the knowledge for creating this pigment come from? Why is it now lost? Why does it emit colors invisible to the modern man's eye? We find not only Egyptian blues infrared characteristics, but also Han Purple's intriguing dimensionally deficient resonance as highly compelling. The ancient ruins of Egypt, regardless of their astonishing characteristics, or the often enormous megalithic building blocks used in the site's construction, are still claimed by an academia with no explanation as to how, as the work of our well-studied, yet far more recent ancestors, the Egyptians. It is one of the most crucial ancient locations when it comes to exposing the conspiratorial nature of academia, a denial of the obvious by those who were faithfully tasked with explaining the origins of said sites, or indeed how said sites were created. Any of these long-awaited answers, however, remain elusive. For in reality, no one knows who built the ancient pyramids of Giza, how they did it, when they did it, or indeed why. We simply cannot explain how these feats of engineering and architecture were accomplished. For although such ruins are claimed as a particular group's work, there is no logical reasoning that can be provided to confirm this claim. Additionally, there are many other, no less gigantic megalithic blocks which can be found throughout Egypt, often found used within the many temples, but also seen buried, concealed within the foundations, which make up part of the floor at the pyramid's bases. And Dendera Temple is of no exception. We have covered the temple in the past, focusing on an intriguing depiction which many have come to conclude depicts a lost lighting technology. Some individuals have now created working replicas of this intriguing device. We have also covered the steps found within the temple. These steps appear to have been melted at some point in the past, rather than simple entropy. The temple, however, possesses many more inexplicable secrets, all concealed from the majority of Earth's population, by a field of study that firstly lacks any demonstrative evidence, but also due to the evidence which one can mount to support the positive past stone-cutting power technology having once existed. Thus, these features are effectively ignored, and thus largely overlooked. Copper chisels cannot explain its existence. People who have explored the temple have found that the repeating reliefs within are perfectly symmetrical, identical in form to within millimeters of each other. The leaching of salts between surfaces are the only reasons we can see the joints in the Great Hall. Furthermore, Chris Dunn, a fellow antiquarian, has explored these intriguing clues within Dendera Temple previously. Not only did the precision of the carving stun Chris Dunn, but the finish upon such a brittle stone has led Chris to conclude that high technology was once utilized to create the stone carvings. Who built Dendera? What technologies were used to construct the temple? Or indeed ancient Egypt as a whole? Dendera is undoubtedly a jewel in the crown, a now lost antiquity, one which we find highly compelling. We regularly cover the countless gigantic ancient megaliths which can fortunately still be found within the ruins of antiquity all over the world, enigmatic, often inexplicable relics of a forgotten age that, due to their controversial existence, are either ignored by mainstream-funded explorations subsequently obscured, overlooked by the greater world, or simply attributed to a culture once incapable of such undertakings. Once one is presented with the facts regarding these building blocks, their weights, the precision of the original execution, and the many other characteristics which elude academic explanation, it is easy to see why an academic world who continued to refuse even the smallest consideration in regards to the possibility of a lost chapter of human history. This regardless of the fact that said artifacts are, rather ironically, all undeniable evidence for their existence. One cannot only discover the motivation behind such denials, but the many tactics used to dodge such areas of study. For not only do we regularly explore these incredible megalithic legacies, but they are all too often attributed to a more recent, permitted, and thus funded, subsequently well-studied periods of ancestry. And our next item of interest is, of no exception. We have in the past covered a number of the astonishing ancient megaliths that can be found dotting ancient Egypt, the Colossus of Memnon, which apparently once sung at night, each car from a single block of granite, and each weighing in at over 1,000 tons. We have exposed the enormous stones which form the Great Pyramid's inner skeletons, along with many others found across the plateau and beyond, all of which tell of a lost knowledge and capability, unquestionably indicative of advanced ancient civilization. Pompey's pillar, located within Alexandria, is truly one of the wonders of the ancient world. One of the largest monoliths on Earth, 20 meters in height, and with a diameter of nearly 3 meters at its base. This enormous column was once sourced and carved from one single block of Aswan quarry's pink granite, and it is estimated to weigh an impressive 290 tons. Anyone within heavy goods, modern construction, will understand just how massive this pillar is, and indeed just what an incredible feat it was for this ancient civilization to have once created such architecture. Pompey's pillar is so big, that to claim such accomplishments were made within the Roman era or before, when even modern man has great difficulty moving such weights, even the smallest of distances, we feel is preposterous. Like that of the obelisk of Axum, which was unfortunately toppled, giving the obelisk its modern title of the toppled obelisk. This monolith is estimated to have weighed far more, yet was once erected somehow by an ancient ancestor. However, we feel, although at some time within the past, a concerted effort to destroy this legacy was undertaken. The pillar's enormous base made toppling it impossible by a later, less capable culture. Muslim traveler Ibn Patuta visited Alexandria in 1326 AD, having shot an arrow tied to a string over the pillar he successfully climbed over it. He was later followed in early 1803 by British commander John Shortland of HMS Pandore. After he flew a kite over the pillar, again successfully getting a rope over it, on February 2nd, he and John White, Pandore's master, climbed it. When they got to the top, they displayed a Union Jack, drank a toast to King George III and gave three cheers. Four days later they would climb the pillar again, after fixing a weather vane, they ate a beef steak and again toasted the king. Who built Pompey's pillar? How did they move and erect it? Is this pillar the only surviving remnant of a past enormous ancient structure? Or merely a single standing column? And if so, why? Why create just one pillar? Pompey's pillar is undoubtedly an amazing relic, left to us from a bygone era, and as such, highly compelling. Legeros de Paimatus, located within modern-day Brazil, is an incredible ancient site that, just like Gornia Shoria within Russia, is of such a tremendous age, and the stones incorporated into its structure are of such a huge size, that mainstream academics passionately attest to the site being merely geological. However, the megalithic wall located at the site, which is uncannily similar to many others, each claimed as geological, yet the symmetry in the construction, the fact that the blocks are placed in what we now call stretcher courses, is a technique which can be seen within brick-built buildings all over the world. This unnatural, repetitive technique makes the walls the strongest possible, using single-layer blocks to build with. It is highly unlikely that this repeating pattern would appear naturally. However, there are many other features at the site that not only prove it was indeed an ancient settlement, now all but eroded back to nature, dolmens of a similar age, which litter the site, are arguably proof of an artificial origin, exposing what we have long claimed to have been a reality, that a now hidden civilization's ruins are being actively dismissed as nothing more than geological features. The site is approximately 1.5 square kilometers, and is home to about 100 large, rounded stones, each weighing up to 45 tons. Some of these stones have been placed upon tiny base stones, and others have seemingly been hollowed out from the base, making what is unquestionably some of the most intriguing ancient dolmens to be found anywhere on Earth. According to geologists who have explored the site, yet have seemingly ignored the evidence to suggest that many of these stones have artificial origins, the rock formation is the result of soil wear over millions of years due to natural cracks and large temperature variations. As aforementioned, the most curious and seemingly most famous block is the hollowed out dolmen, which is commonly known as the Helmet Stone. Additionally, along with the Neolithic dolmens which litter the site, on some of the stones there are cave paintings, which are attributed to the Carrary Indians who lived in the region about 12,000 years ago. Legend has it that later, the site became the home of someone known as the Hermit Healer, an individual claimed to have lived in the region in around the 18th century. Many people from this area sought his consult, yet any concrete evidence as to who this individual was, or what they were capable of, has eluded modern understandings. We feel that due to the stretcher courses found within the megalithic wall, currently claimed as a natural formation, along with the evidence at the site of Neolithic dolmens, with surviving art which also dates from this era, are all compelling proofs of an artificial, advanced, yet ancient, and now hidden origin. Who built Legerogipaimatus? What was the site's original purpose? Just how old is Legerogipaimatus? Thankfully, the more people who explore the site and collect and compile photographic studies, the closer we will get to finally answering these burning questions regarding our past. It is a site which we find highly compelling.