Hello, my name is Norbert Kaminski and today I will tell you about porting FWPD to the BSD operating systems. That means keeping your hardware safe with up-to-date firmware. Let's start with Agenda. At the beginning I will tell you Hemi, then I will tell you some words about FreeMDep and place where I work. Then I will go to some overall information about FWPD. I will show you architecture of FWPD. I will say some words about Linux Vendor Firmware service and then I will go to porting FWPD to the BSD. I will show you how we create continuous integration for FWPD in the FreeBSD. At the end of my presentation I will tell you about FWPD features. At the end of my presentation there will be space for some questions and answers. Okay, so who am I? My name is Norbert Kaminski, I'm an Embedded System Engineer at FreeMDep. I'm an open source contributor mostly in FWPD and the actual layers like MetaPC and DynS in my scope of interest are Firmware Upgrade Tools, Virtualization and Firmware Security and you can catch me under these links. Okay, who is FreeMDep? We are Corbwood Lines Service Providers since 2016. We are Corbwood Project Leadership Participants. We are UFI Adopters since 2018 and we are Official Consultants for FWPD LVFS Project and also we are Open Source Firmware Enthusiasts and Evangelists. Okay, so why we are doing this port? Why we are doing FWPD for BSD? From one side our clients were asking us if there is easy and secure way to upgrade the Firmware in the BSDs. From the other way the community were asking us if there is possibility to port FWPD to the BSD and we've connected this community needs and our clients needs and we've created the project FWPD for BSDs and that project is founded by an all-net foundation. So some words about FWPD. As you can know, updated Firmware makes devices vulnerable to the different attacks but there are a few problems when you want to upgrade your Firmware on your device. You need to know exactly what device is connected to your PC and you need to know if there are possible updates for this device and what version do you need. And here comes the FWPD project which can query the supported hardware for current Firmware version and also it can deploy the new Firmware version to the device. And we've got all the LVFS that is a secure web service which delivers the new Firmware to our PC and OMS can upload the Firmware to the LVFS and sign it to make it secure and to give client or customer or just user sureness that Firmware is secure. And our mission is to port the FWPD to VBSDs to make the Firmware update process easier for VBSD community. Okay, here we've got FWPD LVFS architecture. It could be split into three layers. We've got internal layer, session layer and system layer. In the internal layer we've got LVFS where the Firmware is stored and we've got content delivery network which delivers the Firmware to the session layer. In this session layer here lives FWPD manager which handles all the process of the Firmware update. The LVFS delivers the information about the possible updates and Firmware information and FWPD manager contacts with FWPD daemon which uses a plugin to query the devices and no information about current devices connected to your PC and a version of Firmware that is running on these devices. So typical update process looks like this. We are just sending a comment to the FWPD manager. FWPD manager is checking what devices are connected. Then it's checking if there is information about possible updates in the LVFS. If there are possible updates it's downloading with the content delivery network a Firmware and it's checking the signatures GPG and PKS7 and checksum. If everything is as expected the Firmware is unpacked and sent to the FWPD daemon and FWPD daemon is deploying the Firmware to our devices. Okay so now we've got Linux vendor Firmware service. Let's talk much more about it. As you can see we've got here Linux and we have to think about change of this name because it's not only the Linux it's starting to be BSD as well. But let's talk more about service not about the name. The LVFS is a secure web service that is used by the OME to provide Firmware updates. The LVFS is providing metadata about possible updates to the FWPD manager and the Firmware is packed into a cabinet archives. Cabinet archives contains the Firmware binary and information about the update and it also have jcat file which is used to verify if Firmware update is secure. jcat file contains signature PKS7 and GPG and also it has information about SHA256 checksum. And if everything is correct we can update our device. The only one who is signing the Firmware is manufacturer so we are not trusting the FWPD. We are trusting the manufacturer who is deploying the Firmware. Okay so let's talk about BSD and compilation of FWPD on BSDs. On this slide I will focus on the packaging systems. We focused on four BSD operating systems, Dragonfly BSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. Initially we wanted to create one package source package for all operating system. Following the documentation of package source it declared support for each operating system but after the concept works we met dependency hell and we've decided to create four different packages using the native package managers of operating system. So what we need to do to create the port of FWPD for BSDs? At first we need to create the port of FWPD dependencies. We've got GUSB library which is GLEAP wrapper for LeapUSB. We've got LeapJCut which is library that contains the tools to verify our Firmware. We've got XMLB library which adds the support for additional commands that is need to use with XML in FWPD and we've got an FiBoot library which is used to UFI Firmware update proposals. Okay so we've got all dependencies which we need then we go to FWPD code. So we need to change the Linux related parts of code that was mostly adding the if-deaths to the code but some parts, specific parts of codes need to be changed into the way into BSD way. Okay and the last step of adaptation was adaptation of the FWPD plugins to the BSD needs. I will tell you more about this on the future slides. Okay so current status of work. We've created FWPD packages for all four operating systems and free BSD package is now currently during the upstream process and the rest of the packages will be upstream in the near future. Our initial goal was to develop the FWPD functionalities in the free BSD and our next steps will be testing FWPD functionalities and solving the problems in drag-on-fly BSD, open BSD and not BSD as well. Okay so we began our development with creation of continuous integration. At the beginning of our development we've just used the GitHub action free BSD virtual machine. Continuous integration let us develop new changes to the current FWPD code with the confidence that we do not break anything in the build process. So we've used as I said GitHub action to this propose and we've created the job and now I will show you the demo. Okay so as you can see we've got GitHub CI and now we are downloading the free BSD virtual box VM. VM is loading and after VM yeah as you can see we've got now loaded VM and now we are installing the dependencies for now is installing the dependencies for a virtual machine. Okay now we've got FWPD repository from the current comment and now we are installing the FWPD dependencies. Some of FWPD dependencies need to be built from vSource because they are not already in the upstream so you'll see that in a moment. Also we are updating the package to the latest repository to just have the latest the fresh and the fresh most fresh ports. Okay and now we are cloning the ports to the free BSD VM. We are cloning this because we need to have our fork of the ports because as I said we are currently in the upstream process. As you can see now we are building the dependencies of the FWPD. As I said some dependencies are not in the upstream so we are building it from the source. We've got lib jcat, we've got lib xmlb and now the FWPD is installed for the first time. We are compiling FWPD twice because for the first time we are creating the package info file which contains information about every file that is installed in this comment. Then we are clearing the build and we are building the package once again to have all files in the package that could be uploaded to the GitHub. I will fast forward that. Now you will see the clearing of now you will see the cloning of the build process. As you can see we are setting the package.polis file and once again we are compiling the FWPD. Let's fast forward that. And now we are creating the package and then we'll check if the package is installing properly and if it is it will be uploaded to the GitHub. You can see make install, everything works fine, the binary artifact is uploaded. Let's go back to the presentation. Okay, so now I will tell you some words about the FWPD functionalities. I will start with gathering the information about possible updates. So to update the device we need to know exactly what hardware is connected to our PC and if there are possible updates. For this proposal we are using three FWPD comments, get device which lists devices connected to our PC, refresh which downloads the metadata info from the LVFS and get updates which lists possible updates for devices connected to our PC. So there was a problem with updating FWPD metadata info about possible updates. It was caused by memfd create which was not available in FreeBSD 12.2 but it is already added in FreeBSD 13.0. We've changed that and now FWPD is checking if the function is available, if not it emulates in-file memory file by unlinked temporary file. Here is the patch which changes this. Okay, as you can see now we've got FWPD manager get device. That's the comment which lists devices connected to VPC and supported by VFWPD and it lists current version, it give us some summary information about a device and it give us information about install duration. The most important thing is GUI IDs which give us information what exact device is it and GUI IDs are used by the FWPD plugins to make sure that this device is a specific device which could be updated with some firmware that is given from the OM. That is generated differently from FWPD plugin to FWPD plugin. For example GUI IDs in UFI are read from the S30 in for the USB devices it's generated from the USB information given by the manufacturer. Okay, the next thing is FWPD manager refresh. As you can see it fetch metadata about possible updates from the content delivery network and also it fetch signature which is used to check if metadata that was downloaded is trustworthy and if metadata is downloaded successfully it shows if there are supported device and if there are possible updates. Okay, now we've got FWPD manager get updates. As you can see it lists device as it does FWPD manager get device and it also lists possible updates. Okay, so now we can go to the updating USB devices. So our first step in the updating devices was updating USB devices. We want to enable updates for color hack that is color image that is our test device which we use to develop every update for USB device and we've encountered a problem with FreeBSD Leap USB which prevented USB devices from returning to operating system after reboot. FWPD uses the LeapG USB library which is G-Leap wrapper around Leap USB. The usual follow flow of an update is as follow. The first step is issuing the comment to the device to enter putloader mode and in the case of color hack 2 that is a custom HID based flashing mode then we are writing an update to the device and if it's successful we are going back to the running mode, runtime mode to the operating system and our problem occurred after the first step. Okay, so we were unable to reattach the device to the host after issuing the comment to reset the device to get back to the normal operation and operating system does not recognize this device and it could not reattach it. It just stay as gone because LeapG USB uses Leap USB Synchronos API. FWPD would close the device after an update before all events had been processed. Even processing such event Leap USB would detach the device is gone and mark it with a device is gone flag and this meant that on all future requests Leap like USB would fail with like USB error, no device error. So we fixed that by clearing device gone flag in the case the device was open after reattach to allow a new transaction. And now we've got to the next demo. So we are updating Colorhack and we are logging to the FreeBSD. The FWPD is asking us if we want to update the device. We are saying yes. The update is downloaded and it's decompressed, verified and installed. As we can see in the end everything works fine. The firmware is updated. So let's go back to the presentation. The second firmware update that we want to provide was UFI Device Firmware Update from our perspective and perspective of security. This UFI updates were crucial to implementing and this functionality was our priority for FreeBSD. So there were a couple parts that had to be implemented to make it work. We need to add the UFI S30 table support that was like in FreeBSD. Also FreeBSD FIVAR backend for FWPD needed to be implemented. The FIVAR support on Linux is implemented via SSFS interface while FreeBSD has a C AP and that needs to be implemented to FWPD. Also BSD we need to add BSD support in FWPD and also adding support for UFI Update Capsule Plugin in FWPD for FreeBSD. Okay so what is UFI S30? S30 is an FI system resource table which is a standard interface for FIMER updates available since UFI 2.5 it exposes among data information about the currently installed FIMER version and status of the last update attempt. It's used by the FWPD for detection, matching and giving information about available updates. Support for this table was missing in FreeBSD and we've added with in this the patch. Okay so FWPD applies FIMER updates by installing a small FI binary along with the update capsule into ASP and setting the FI bootnext variable to point it. So the machine reboots and launches the FE binary which then calls update capsule which tells the UFI to apply the capsule and the actual flashing is handled by the UFI implementation itself. This requires FIVAR support and FreeBSD has a different programmatic AP so this support needed to be added in FWPD. Furthermore since FreeBSD has a disk management AP that differs slightly from the Linux standards this supports also need to be added. Okay and now we've got UFI demo so as before we are logging to the FreeBSD and we are updating our FIMER. Once again the FWPD is asking us if we want to update the FIMER. We are using the once again we are downloading the FIMER. The FIMER is installed by the UFI capsule and as you can see the capsule is downloaded. The FIVAR bootnext is set and at the end of the process FWPD is asking us if we want to restart now. So let's back to the presentation. If we click yes we are just rebooting and we can see the update process which is handled by the UFI implementation and if everything is working properly we can see that FIMER update is successful and the UFI will reboot us to the operating system. Okay so thank you for your time and for your attention. If you want to contact us you can reach us under these links. I also like to send many thanks to our engineers who make FWPD for BSD possible especially for Mihal, Sergi and Pavel and it's time for the questions. Thank you so much. There are a couple questions on the shared notices but I would like to ask a question first. You said you were working on package source packages but I haven't found any have you upstreamed them yet? We've got the package source package in our fork. I can link that. Just give me a second. It should be in our fork on FWPD on GitHub. Okay, it's it's it. Yeah, have the FWPD package source. Here it is and it's not like here. VAP. Okay we've got it and have the FWPD BSD. Okay it's a little bit VAP, but you can look at that. Okay. And that's a few comments. Yes. Okay. I linked that in public chat. What was the main reason for dependency hell when trying to package on FWPD on package source? We will use package source for NetBSD because it's native for NetBSD. But when I was trying to install the package source on OpenBSD and DragonflyBSD, there were problems with the dependencies that needs to be built from the source. And some dependencies do not build as expected, and that give us so much more work to fix that dependencies than just using the native package manager. And that was the main reason to use native for native package managers, and not only the package source. Okay, short notes. How high is the risk to break brick hardware using FWPD on FreeBSD at this stage? Okay, so if you're using the UFI updates, there is a low risk to break your hardware because you're only downloading the archives that are deployed by the manufacturer. All the flashing work is done by the, all the flashing work is done by the UFI. It's a very cheap test device that one can be used to test safely and repeatedly. We are using Colorhug. That's a Richard Hughes device, which is maintainer of the, who is maintainer of the FWPD. I have no idea how much it costs, but I will link you this device. Okay, that's open source, open source hardware, which could be, I'm not sure if it's available in this say, but you can just build it yourself. Okay. Website seems to be, okay, what is the status for other BSDs? I will answer first to this question. The status for other BSDs. Currently, we are building the FWPD on every BSD operating system. The other functionalities of FWPD are not tested on the Dragonfly OpenBSD and NetBSD. We are aware of that of differences between free BSD and other BSDs. So the main problem with UFI updates is that SRT support needs to be provided for every operating system, and we need to upstream the driver that will enable the stables in the Dragonfly BSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. For the USB updates, it should be so much easier, and we just need to make some proof of concept work and just try to flash our devices and just look if they are working correctly. They may happen some problems like a USB problem in free BSD that may need to be solved by us or by us and community. That's the current status for the rest of BSDs. Okay, I will go back to the question of chip device. I will check that and I will give you somehow information about this. The easiest way to check if you have such device is just looking at LVFS and just trying to Google devices that you have. Okay, yeah. So here is the LVFS service and you can just search Firmware for your devices and just try to search some Firmware for your device. Is there a QT-based front-end yet? No, there is no QT-based front-end and I guess that is a question from Pro Bono. Is any information collected and sent to the server telemetry? Which information about user devices collected and what is shared with the Firmware vendor? Yes, there are information that are sent to the server telemetry. Okay, every user which is downloading the Firmware from the LVFS is sending the information about that he has this device and that information is just, that information do not are not connected with specific users. So we are just sending the information that you have this device and it could not be connected with you. The vendor got the information if the update was successful and vendor has information about which version have you run and which version you update and it could be used to just set the stable version because when you are updating your Firmware if everything is working fine. So the vendor can set this Firmware version as stable. When do you expect to land packages for FreeBSD 12 and 13? We are currently in the upstream in the upstream process. So it will be, I could not give you a precise date but we want to do it until the end of the Coofree. Firmware downgrades are possible. Yes, Firmware downgrades are possible. Okay, and I guess we've got our older devices without UFI able to use FWPD to update biases. Yes, they are available to update the biases. It all depends by the bias it runs. For example, the Corbwood bias is updated with a plugin called Flashroom that use Flashroom tool to update the bias but currently we are not guaranteed that this Flashroom plugin will work with FreeBSD and other BSDs. We are now focusing only on the USB devices and UFI updates. We'll have FWPD work with known x86 architectures assuming there is Firmware updates available. Yes, it will work. Okay, do we have any more questions? I think the discovery support... There's a question about support for non x86 architectures, did you... Yes, there was something. Okay, have you had any experience success with RAID controller Firmware? No, we did not try to update the RAID controllers Firmware but I guess if you have some questions you can always create an issue at FWPD FWPD on GitHub. Let me link that. Here are the maintainers which got much more experience than me in FWPD. They can answer most of your questions. I guess there are some possible updates for RAID controllers in the LVFS but I cannot precisely answer your question. Thank you very much for your time and for your attention.


Let us resume our lecture series on bioelectricity. So, now we are into the last two lectures 39 and the 40th one. So, as of now in all our 30 almost 30 up to the 34th or 35th lecture we have talked about the overall animal electricity. When we talked about the plant electricity in the form of photosynthesis where the electron transfer takes place. Then we talked about the movement of the plants form of a venous fly trap and touch me not plants. Then we talked about dye sensitize for solar cells followed by this we had a brief exposure about some of the very ancient molecule iron pyrite or iron disulfide and their electrical properties. So, we will close in this section or this course with some of the lesser known electrical phenomena which are observed in nature and one such material or biomaterial which is getting very huge prominence in last two decades a little more than that is silk. Silk as such the way it has been you know understood does not have when it is dry does not have certain like does not really carry charges, but it behaves in a very different way. So, what we will do today is we will devote two lectures now talking about the silk what is really silk is and how it has evolved and what are the different forms of silk and what we know about its bioelectrical properties and how this could be used for some useful applications and what are their implications in nature. So, let us start the 39th lecture on the broad heading of silk biomaterial and electricity talking about silk what really is silk. So, whenever we think about silk there are what the first thing you get is about silk saris or silk clothes or you know silk garments nothing else really comes in your mind, but this is a kind of a mass conception among the general audience that is not really silk silk is a broad name for all those insects which exude certain things from their mouth and form a protein or network or mesh of protein or proteinaceous network that is called silk. And as a matter of fact if you really go through the plethora of different silk we have talked about we will be talking about the spider silk which is also a silk we talking about hornet nest that is also a silk we will talk about bombics and plus our silk which is also a silk. So, just to give you a kind of feel what silk is. So, if you look at this slide which shows a spider net you are seeing this wonderful net. So, this material of net which is forming that specific net is a silk. Now, I give you a second example hornet nest you all of you have seen this kind of nest the honey bee is hornet you see this net some of the see this nest some of these nest if you see this picture you will see some of the nest which are closed with a white cottony coating or a cap and whereas, the other ones are without any cap this cotton cap what you are seeing is also silk. And then the most traditional ones which most of us understand is a silk cocoon a bombics and thread I have just given you two such examples these are also silk. Now, coming back to the world of silk now if I have to come back. So, how really what how the silk is produced first of all let us answer this question. So, there are series of insects which goes through a four stage life cycle. So, the adult lays the eggs these eggs just put it on the board to make more sense. So, these insects the adult lays the eggs and these eggs hatch and form something called larvae like this all of must have seen this kind of you know these larvae eat very gregariously they eat on plant material upon eating the plant material from their mouth from this part they secrete a series of kind of you know sticky materials. And these materials is essentially what we know as silk and there are almost 4000 to 5000 such species which produces silk we only know handful of them. And eventually this larvae goes into a dormant phase called pupae and this pupae is an inactive phase of their life and this pupae has to be protected from the surrounding. So, that protection is offered by this material because what it does essentially it covers around this larvae something like this which leads to the formation of called cocoons silk cocoon or you know in the case of hornet nest you see that white covering on the hornet nest like this that hornet nest covering that is also a silk material. So, this is the coating what we talked about the silk cocoon in the hornet nest if you look at the hornet nest hornet nest there is something like you know those hexagonal things and you see that white coating on top of it those white coating is also silk. And then you have seen those python net something like this this is also silk. So, this is the basic thing what I wanted to clarify those insects which goes through this four stage life cycle the egg followed by a larvae which I have shown here followed by a formation of the pupae or which is also called the dormant phase of their life. And then this emerges out as a butterfly. So, this four stage life cycle during their four stage life cycle during this phase they secrete the silk material and this material is nothing, but a rich matrix of proteins embedded with lot of elements and few other organic molecules depending on where they are being grown if they are rare under a specific kind of tree then there is a consistent material, but if they are you know evolving in the wild depending on what kind of tree they are feeding the protein quality changes not only the protein quality the quality of the silk changes. And as of now why the silk becomes so prominent with garments is there are two or maybe you know maximum there are four or five species which have been which have been domesticated very thoroughly one of them is bombics moly and from there we get the pure silk apart from it most of the other species whether they are found in Africa or you know India or Asia likewise wherever they all are partly wild or you know semi domesticated species like anthria myelata which from the tassar silk then you have anthria perinite there is a bunch of such species which are still in the wild and still considered as a wild or semi wild species, but they are all silk likewise the spider silk, but then now again let us revisit this. So, this is also silk if you look at this like so this is also silk this is also silk this is also silk then what is the difference between these silk they must be a structural difference. So, that is what we are going to come first what is the basic difference between these silk. So, I told you silk is nothing, but a protein measure and these proteins are something like this it forms a measure of proteins. So, this these proteins consist of two different kind of proteins. So, if you really take a cross section in the case of silk cocoon silk then you will see this protein is made up of something like this inside one chamber you see inside one big cylinder there is another cylinder and this big the cylinder which is inside is called fibroin protein F I B R O I N and outside where I am putting the hatch line this is called sericine this sericine protein is a gummy protein kind of a gum or sticky protein. So, whenever one such so these two can stick with each other because of the gummy nature of it. So, this is what we talked about the regular protein fibers are. So, they have a fibroin protein which forms the core and then they have a outer shell which forms the sticky protein called sericine. So, thereby several of these fibroin cylinders are attached to each other and form the very complex structure of a silk cocoon something like this what you see out here, but if you see this one here also the same thing it is a fibroin and the sericine coating which is forming, but here the story is slightly different in the case of a spider silk in the case of spider silk they do not have these sericine. Sericine is missing instead they only have fibroin. So, they do not have any sticky things that is why you see those thread fibers they are separated from each other they are separated from each other because there is no sticky material and the protein what is forming the core or called the fibroin core I am putting my F this protein is a beta sheet protein extreme beta sheet protein. So, that much what you needed to understand about the basic structure of silk, but then why we are interested in this problem there are and where this whole electricity comes into play this basic introduction was very essential for you to understand let us summarize what we have talked just now. So, silk is a broad class of protein which is essentially secreted by at least five to seven thousand or eight thousand species of insects during at a specific phase of their life and most of these insects are four stage life cycle insect they have a egg larvae and the dormant phase called pupae and after the dormancy is over they become an adult butterfly and this dormancy phase last from 10 to 20 days to even eight or nine months depending on the species and the kind and where they are. There are species found in United States where the dormancy phase goes all the way up to you know eight or nine months whereas, most of the species which are found in the tropical and subtropical wells in and around India, China and all these places they last you know 2021 days likewise. So, this thing varies third thing what we talked about is the difference between the different silk in terms of their fibrin and the serocin. The silk what we understand really like from which the clothes are being made it is basically originally that silk consists of two proteins there is a fibrin core and there is a gummy coating called serocin and these fibrin cores are attached to each other side by side or crisscross whatsoever way because of the gummy coating which is present outside them. So, this is what we discuss now why we are getting into this problem now in order to understand this let us get into this slide. So, this is the first silk what we are going to discuss today the hornet nest the whole idea about you know trying to understand the properties or electrical properties of silk comes from a very fundamental question which has been raised by the entomologist for a long period of time. How most of these insect nests which are present in the environment could regulate their temperature they indeed have a thermal regulation because these hornet nests are living at a temperature say you know 50 degree centigrade. So, if the 50 degree centigrade remains inside this goes a small structure what you see the pupae won't develop there will be defects. So, there is a way by which the temperature inside the these nests are being regulated and this is the genesis of this asking this question. Then who is helping it because in the case of hornet nest if you see this hornet nest if you see this slide very carefully you will see there is this hexagonal structures which are formed here they are made up of clay whereas, that upper coating is made up of your silk. So, who is really taking care of it. So, since 1920s and 30s this remained a very interesting question and till date this is very interesting question and people started to you know address this question. So, today we will be talking about some of those pioneering discoveries or first attempts and I will be referring to these two papers which are produced which were published by Jacob late Jacob is he was working in Israel he was in Tel Aviv University. So, he was working on understanding how the thermo regulation takes place in the hornet nest this was his basic idea. So, there are two very nice papers which he published one of them is the thermoelectric effects in the hornet that is the vespa oriental cell and thermo regulation in the hornet and the second one is a review paper of all his work what you see here silk produced by hornets thermo photovoltaic properties. So, the basic idea was about these papers even before you get into it is silk membrane has certain thermoelectric properties. So, let me just get on the board for this just to give you an idea what is the basic premise to start these kind of studies is. So, you see the hornet nest something like kind of structure side by side and on top of this you have this and the pupae is growing out here for this pupae to grow there has to be an ambient temperature how this ambient temperature is being maintained this was the fundamental question there are two possibilities somewhere or other this membrane this clay structure is helping it or silk cap which is covering it is helping it or both of them are helping together the both the silk cap this one and this clay both of them are helping both the silk cap and the clay both are playing the role. So, the hunch was that it is the silk cap which is playing the role. So, how to study it? So, one of the basic idea which was kind of tinkered by Ishey and his colleagues was the silk cap. So, if I kind of you know put this it is a cap like structure which is nothing but a mesh work of silk protein out here. So, this is structure is somewhere or other has the ability to you know change these two things thermal to electrical vice versa and they added one more thing they say based on the light they respond. So, what was the kind of beginning of this is of this kind of study was this membrane is thermosensitive membrane this is light sensitive membrane. In other word it is almost like a T T V thermo photovoltaic membrane will come across this and one more thing I wish to request if I go to the slide I wish you guys please download these papers or I will try to add these papers at the end. So, that go through these papers. So, this membrane is acting as the thermo photovoltaic membrane which is helping this is structure to maintain the ambient temperature. So, this was the premise with which all these things were started how to study this this is a very challenging problem this is not something. So, easy you know first of all you have to collect these hornet nest. So, professor E. Shea collected all these things from the in the Mediterranean region and after collecting. So, the hornet nest that the silk top comes like this. So, then what he has to do is in order to understand this he has to connect electrode like this and electrode like this across this particular membrane just is having this silk cap like this electrode is connected on this side and an electrode is connected on this side. Now, this is exposed to different kind of light because you are studying the photo effect as well as different kind of temperature and what you are monitoring is depending on the temperature and the light on this silk cap electrode 1 this is electrode 2 you are monitoring the voltage this is the basic premise what they wanted to do. Now, think of it now if I show you the picture again. So, this is what you are doing you are removing this white part what you see in the slide and on either side of it you are connecting those electrodes. Now, I will show a real picture. So, this was the whole idea was this thermo regulation is regulated by charge transfer. So, it has been observed this hornet nests maintains a temperature. So, if you see the middle line at 28 degree centigrade irrespective of anything whether the air temperature is changing it may go up it may go down across the day, but the hornet nests temperature remains at around 28 to 30 degree centigrade there is no shifted. And as a matter of fact, this is the same thing which is being observed in the silk cocoon and I will give you the reference in the silk cocoon also they could do the same thing and we will talk about talk later about that experiment. So, it means and as a matter of fact, let me just take the liberty to explain that experiment. So, this experiment was done like this. So, here is a silk cocoon and this is a pure cocoon now it is completely there is no and this was done with the anthria myelita or this is also called tassar cocoon. So, what was being done is you kept a thermocouple inside. So, here is this thermocouple and now you are just changing the temperature. So, you keep this cocoon. So, for example, at a temperature of a 50 degree centigrade and vary it all the way to say 5 degree centigrade, but what you will observe inside the cocoon is without the by the way when you are doing these kind of experiments realize you have to remove the dead animal you have to kill it and you have to remove the dead animal because you are only studying the property of the membrane. Now, if you measure the temperature inside it you will see at the 50 degree this is will maintain at around 30 degree centigrade and when you are keeping for long period of at 5 degree it will maintain around 20 degree centigrade. So, from starting from these two I was showing you these two pictures whether it is a silk cocoon or whether it is a hornet nest the temperatures are being regulated they all have certain thermo regulatory mechanism and this reference I will add this reference for you people at the end you can go through that paper this is a much more recent paper this was published in 2012 coming back. So, this is what inspired Ishii at that point of time this was the slide which this was from Ishii's paper itself that it maintains the temperature inside it and how it does so. So, what Ishii pretty much claimed is that this particular membrane transfer transform the electrical energy into thermal energy and thermal energy into electrical energy and same with the light light to electricity likewise which essentially is a photovoltaic property now we will see what are the results you obtain and how far we have understood about this process. So, now if you look at the ultra structure I was telling I will show you the ultra structure this is how the ultra structure of the silk looks like it is a mesh work. So, basically what you see here is a mesh work and this is basically taken a scanning electron microscopic picture which will give you an idea that it is almost like a porous membrane on the right hand side of the picture you will see the hornet nest in black and white and those white what you have done is we have taken those white caps and these sections were made and this pictures were taken this is how the ultra structure looks like and this ultra structure consist of both februin and the sericin protein. Now, if you look at the photo properties of hornet nest exactly the same experiment.  So, if you look at the photo properties of hornet nest. So, this is what you will see is if the cocoons are excited at around 249 or 290 or 312 nanometer you will see the emission spectrum. So, emission spectrum is coming at you know at around depending on what you are if you are if you are exciting at 290 nanometer you are seeing at seeing an emission spectrum. So, at around you know near to 350 and there is a slight shift at 249 nanometer there is a slight shift. So, it is pretty much it is all concentrated around 350 when you see the emission there is something very interesting depending on which side is exposed whether the inner side say for example, what I mean by inner and the outer side and you have to again go back to the structure this is how it is covered. So, it has one face which is facing downward another face which is facing upward. So, if you take the downward face the one which is facing inside the nest it has different luminescence property as compared to the face which is outside. So, this is the surface which is exposed to the direct exposure to the sun or to the light the other one is kind of underneath it is something like this is the one which is getting exposed to the sun the other one is different. So, if you see these two plots now on the slide you will realize that they show a different kind of intensities in terms of it, but in terms of their emission spectra they pretty much remain constant. Now, moving on to the next slide this is how I was trying to explain you people through this diagram. So, here if you go through the slide you will see how these connections in the real life connections are being made again these are all from the issues paper what I have already described you people if you see this. So, you will see this is the cap like structure what has been removed from a from a hornet nest after anesthesizing it. So, that all the life insects are not biting you or whatsoever and then you connect using colloidal silver you are connecting a wire on either side of the membrane. Now, let us see how the electrical properties are changing. So, we talked about the photo and thermo electrical properties of hornet nest. So, if you look at this slide this is this is you have to really look at this side very carefully. So, look at the light and the dark situation while there was light. So, there are two symbols here one are the filled circles what you see here and the under ones are the empty circles the empty circles are the one which is indicating the voltage which is on the left hand left hand side on the left hand axis. So, there are two y axis here on the right hand side you are seeing the current on the left hand side you are seeing the voltage. Now, if you see it during the light the voltage was very high as it dark as you are moving. So, it is a diaruminal. So, during the day. So, there is a light phase then there is a dark phase because it is a day and night during the night the voltage drops down and in between while the voltage drops down there is a spike of current which you see there is a spike in the center there is a sharpest spike and then it falls down. So, if you go through it is a measurement of electrical charge and cell the white dots typically the voltage measurement of the cell cap initially exposed to light at which time 15 to 200 millivolts were recorded. Now, then exposed to darkness where upon the voltage sharply this decrease to a very low value that you could see here that it has fallen down. Whereas, the black dots which is the current measurement which shows that during the exposure to light the current was almost 0. However, as soon as the light was switched off a current appeared whose maximum value attained 1.6 milli ampere, but gradually in the course of several hour reduced to 0 and this all this measurement was done at 30 degree centigrade. So, now what we are talking about these natural materials what you see out here response to temperature will sorry temperature response to light as well as temperature will coming to the temperature, but definitely they respond to light and as we are dark as the dark approaches darkness approaches as we are day to night the voltage changes. So, it means what it looks like as if you know they are just inert cover they are not inert cover they are electrically active cover and this is the picture which is taken from all those two references what I gave you given you this is from the second the review paper by late Jacob is a shame. So, for his time these were some of the very very seminal studies what he conducted like you know this was never done before. So, this material has some very interesting thermo photovoltaic property. Now, next we come about the dark current and photoelectric effect look at this trace this is a very interesting study the dark current and photoelectric. So, what you see out here you look at carefully there are spikes there are you see this underneath line what you see. So, the result of the exposure of the light cocoon cap to intermittent light at 365 nanometer with the intensity of 100 mega hour per centimeter square the light pulses induces a current flow between the two electrodes up to several nano amperes and if you see the time constant which is shown by tau tau a and tau b you see 18 seconds and 30 second. So, you see when you are exposing you are giving a light the. So, if you if you remember the previous light when there is light there is no temporary there is no current and whenever there is a darkness there is a spike of current. So, light dark light dark and you will see whenever there is a dark there will be a spike of current whenever there is light the current will fall down. So, this shows that this membrane what you are what we are talking about this self membrane is a light sensitive membrane it has photo properties because we saw about the photo characteristics about its absorption and emission. Now, we are seeing the functional properties that it indeed shifts its electrical it there is a charge movement based on the exposure to light. Now, let us move on to the next light which is the thermo current. So, as of now we talked about the light we have not talked about the thermo current. Now, let us talk about the thermo current. So, if you see the membrane has been varied from a temperature of say 20 degree to 30 degrees. So, here they are using 33 degree if you look at the slide 20 to 33 degree. So, if you are if you observed it carefully you will see as you are going to 33 degree centigrade there is a increase in the current as you are bringing down the current falls down again there is a increase again it falls down again there is a increase again it falls down again there is a increase you see there is an cyclic fashion. So, it means just like the light if you see the previous light just like the light as the light increases current falls down as there is a dark the current rises. Same way as a temperature goes up there is you really can you know shift it as it falls down you see. So, this is how there is a cyclic fashion this is happening. So, this is very interesting that they have another thermoelectric property which is fairly unique, but you have to keep on shifting this temperature there is to be a shifting temperature without if you do not shift the temperature this you would not be able to observe this kind of effect. So, now moving on there is a temperature dependence resistance in cell cocoon. So, this is what is being shown here. So, if you see follow this graph very carefully. So, see at on the y axis sorry in the x axis you are seeing the temperature. So, if you see the temperature very carefully at around 20 and 30 degree centigrade there is some the whole resistance goes down. So, the typical temperature dependence of the electrical resistance of the pupil cell cap plotted versus the absolute temperature can be seen. There is a sharp drop approximately 3 orders of magnitude in the resistance with temperature in case of between 1 to 21 degree centigrade. Following that there is a plateau between 21 to 32 degree centigrade that roughly coincide with the optimal temperature of the hornet activity. If you remember if I go back to this slide the optimal activity could be seen at around 28 to you know near about 28 to 30. Now, if I follow this one that is exactly what you are seeing at around 20 to 30 near about 30 you see an optimal temperature. So, there is a temperature dependence. So, the membrane itself changes its property. It is thermo active membrane it is a light active membrane and there are lot of things to be understand that you know how with temperature the current is changing how with light along with temperature the properties are varying. Now, yet there are several things which it is believed that this is what is regulating this kind of temperature regime. What we do not know as of now is is it what we are seeing is a biological semiconductor thermo photovoltaic membrane or what are the charge carriers we really do not know how to correlate it with traditionally accepted N and P type of semiconductors. We know this far that it indeed shows a thermo photovoltaic membrane it acts like that, but what we do not know what are the charge carriers that needs much more better understanding. So, in order to summarize this. So, we talked about today we started with the basic problem of thermo regulation how thermo regulation is being conducted and we saw the ultra structure of the hornet self. Then we talked about the photo properties of the hornet self followed by the electrical properties and electrical properties we talked about in the presence of light the current is less, but as you take it to the darkness the current increases. So, there is a light and dark situation, but in case of temperature what you see as it as you increase the temperature to certain optimal value the temperature kind of goes as the current goes up and then it falls down. So, there is an optimal range for this kind of material to function and that is why I told you that and then we talked about the temperature dependence resistance in cocoon and that at a specific temperature range 20 to 30 degree centigrade you see there is a significant fall in the resistance of the membrane and there is a sharp rise in the current followed by these some of these interesting questions which in future will be able to answer is this a biological semiconductor what are the charge carriers how to correlate with traditionally accepted n and p type of semiconductor. So, I will close in here and we will go to the part two of this where we will be talking about the other membrane what we have not talked about yet is this membrane we will be talking about the bombics and the anthrae amylata which we have not talked yet we have only talked about a wild species which is this one. So, I will close in here in the 40th lecture we will talk about this section. Thank you.


Hello and welcome to special discussion with Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Chastney as we look back at the achievements and challenges of 2019. This is the final part in a three-hour discussion with the Prime Minister looking at various key areas as stated in his 2019-2020 budget presentation. And so we are now down to the areas of citizen safety and later on we'll be discussing what's happening with infrastructure. But for citizen safety, for St. Lucian's, many considered it to be a very dismal year, dark and gloomy looking at the rise in violent crime and homicide. I think we may have ended the year at number 51 for 2019. Very very troubling and you've indicated several times that for you it is a very warring situation. So as you look at what your strategy has been over the last year and looking forward, do you believe that all was done to create that sort of buffer between the perpetrators of crime and the low-abiding citizens of St. Lucian? So this unfortunately is a recurring theme in that I have to make reference to what we inherited. So we inherited a situation in which radar system was not working, forensic lab was shut, there was no DPP. In fact, the office itself had been depleted significantly. Courthouses were shut, no ammunition, policemen's morale was very very very low, lots of problems. So again to say I'm going to push a button overnight and all of a sudden things are going to get resolved, wasn't, wasn't going to happen. So when I first came in and I got my first briefing, I was just, I mean speechless and I immediately moved security up very high. It was a high on the priority list but I said we're crisis point at this at this point and one of the critical things was we, a thousand case backlog in criminal cases. Let's put that in perspective. That would take two judges almost three years and cost about 13 and a half million dollars to just deal with that backlog and every year we're adding more onto it because of the backlog. So it takes almost somewhere between four and six years for a case to be able to be heard. Now are you really going to have an effective justice system and a criminal security system if in fact a person is arrested, is either put on remand and waits in jail for that period of time or is let out on bail until their case is being heard. So the cry that crime doesn't pay was changed to crime does pay and so there was no fear of being caught. Forensic lab in terms of getting the evidence wasn't there, right? Courthouses so when you did in fact want to get your case heard that courthouses were inadequate, we're constantly having to be closed because of problems, massive, massive problems. So we've systematically looked to rebuild the police system from everywhere so we've gotten now three or four of the marine boats working, the radar system is working, the forensic lab is back up in operation and I'm very excited fingerprinting and DNA testing are now fingerprinting is already operational by later this year the DNA testing will be a huge where DPP's office has been replenished and is functioning. We're now working on the communication system so for instance policemen didn't have any ways of communicating with other than using their own cell phones. We now have a proper VHF system that's in place that people can walk around with walkie-talkies, there's access in your vehicles, training for policemen, adding new policemen so we've added 40 new recruits into the police and we have now 42 policemen in the city that are helping the city police, added new vehicles, new motorbikes. So there's a lot of work that's taking place. What I've said is one thing I know in life is that wherever there's effort eventually there's going to be results. And speaking about all that work so we now want to share with our viewers how all of that was able to unfold over the last year and so we go to our special production there looking back at some of the events in citizen safety for 2019. High on the agenda for government in 2019 was citizen safety with a focus on tackling the root causes of issues in that area. To ensure more boats on the ground especially in identified crime hotspot areas, 80 new police officers were sworn into the Royal St. Lucia Police Force with an additional 42 to the city police unit. In addition to ensuring a larger police presence, government also addressed the issue of failing equipment and transportation hindrances with the purchase of new vehicles, motorbikes and communication equipment. Operation of Coast Guard vessels and radar equipment were restored after an extended period of in operation. Those interventions now ensure quicker response times and better communication between officers and units. Recognizing that accidents and crimes can happen without witnesses, government undertook the task of installing 180 CCTV cameras with over 525 to be installed at a cost of $5.8 million. To date crimes have been solved and vehicular accident disputes resolved using this technology. After two years of the forensic lab being closed, government undertook much needed refurbishment of the building at a cost of $700,000. The lab is now reopened and functional with 13 staff members and the latest industry standard equipment necessary for solving crimes using DNA and other technology. The lab has given us solutions to at least two cases. One at Marysale will be elderly lady and one from Gefort, a young lady called Sabi. So we have the forensic on that and it was found out that those individuals were the ones who committed the crime. And this is the way we have to go. Forensic evidence is going to be the way forward.  We have just a small window of opportunity there. So we have to rely on the forensic. Intent on clearing out the backlog of cases and ensuring swift adjusts, the government has fortified the office of the DPP by providing much needed resources. Additionally, the number of magistrates and judges have been increased to ensure criminal and civil matters are brought to a close as quickly as possible. Community after school programs continued throughout 2019 in communities such as Marsha, Auger, Bellevue, Moshi, Barbano, Jackmel, Souffre and Forchaux to name a few. This program keeps young persons meaningfully engaged in sports, music, dance and art. The program also entails mandatory life and social skills training, all helping to serve as a deterrent to the streets. Students are also served with meals during that time provided by the government. The community after school program helps those young persons with self-development as well as building meaningful relationships and camaraderie. Programs such as this aim to tackle crime at the root. So as we saw there, we looked at in the video, we saw that the courts, we're opening up the Naira Court, we spoke about the CCTV, which is massive investment for the government. And most importantly, we saw the recruits which we spoke about. So beefing up the police and wanting as well for more boots on the ground. For the government, as you begin to examine how it is that you could really tackle and because your aim is for 45% reduction of serious crimes by the end of 2022. And so some people looking back at 2019 would believe that we're just not on targets. I think, you know, we're disappointed in the numbers, but the fact is the effort is there. And we're starting to see people starting to believe in the system. So policemen had been given promises of new vehicles forever. Policemen had been given promises that we'd be fixing up their premises forever. Policemen were still suffering from the impacts situation and the lack of proper training and the equipment to be able to do their job. So I think that everybody is starting to get the message that my government is committed and that when we make a promise to them that we're going to deliver on that promise. We now meet on a weekly basis. We've been doing that for almost over a year. Every single Monday before cabinet, the Minister of Security, the Attorney General, the delivery unit, and senior members of the police force, we meet and we go through the numbers. So we're measuring 10 different serious levels of crime, robbery, burglaries, car theft, homicides, a bunch of them that we look at and we're measuring them on a week by week basis trends as well as on a per annual basis and then compare to where we want the numbers to be able to get to. So people now are getting accustomed that they have to answer to these ideas. But as much as I'm putting those systems in, there are some other projects that we're working on, we're equally as important. Cause of the crime in the first place. So one, if you look at the number of homicides that happened late in the year, the vast majority of them were what? Brothers fighting with brothers, cousins fighting with cousins, friends fighting with each other, stabbing each other, shooting each other simply because they couldn't control their tempers. Big problem. Police can't stop that. That's us as a society and people recognizing that things are building up and trying to separate people because once somebody's life is lost, they're lost, they can't bring them back. And so this is a societal problem that we have to be able to resolve. So then the thinking, how we think about crime, when we look at personal responsibility, where does each individual fit into the bigger picture of fighting crime, you're saying that we need to have a sort of shift in the mindset of how the nation views all of those factors? That's on homicide. So we see, if you take gang of violence as well as and combine it now with personal conflict, that makes up the vast majority of the homicides we've had. The bigger one I'm concerned about really is robberies, burglaries, and car thefts. And I think that what happens, it affects a lot of people and it chains their mindset in terms of what the overall safety and the capacity of the police to actually carry out a proper investigation. So look, I'm not telling any tales behind school. I think that most of us who've been in that, I have been robbed in the past. Policemen came in. I have a question how I see they're collecting the forensics, the fingerprinting and the DNA samples and how they inform me in terms of what they're doing. It's not really left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling that these crimes are going to be resolved. So by improving the forensic lab, now creating our own crime unit, a dedicated crime unit that are actually the ones collecting this evidence. And the building of a database because to be fair, if there isn't anything to match it up against, then we're really in the losing battle. Correct. And unfortunately I'm the one who was involved in that discussion. I remember when we opened the forensic lab the first time and I said, you don't have any information in it. Why don't we use the fingerprints from the ID cards? Now solutions have to think about that and have a real discussion about that. I for one would like my fingerprint to be in it because if there's a crime I want to know that I'm not the one who committed the crime. And if in fact it helps resolve crime and keeps me safer, that's a positive thing. But we have to weigh that up based everybody's civil rights. And those that's the discussion that will take place. But I genuinely believe that we should be able to have access to the fingerprinting off ID cards. We're not doing it right now, but that's a discussion that needs to be able to take this here 100% correct. I think getting the DNA lab here. So for instance, a lot of people who are having sex with younger girls, we're now going to be able to provide the evidence as to whether they're doing that or not. We've spoken to the policeman at traffic. I think that solutions, when they start seeing that we're dealing with some of the smaller crimes on a more consistent basis, it builds confidence and starts changing people's overall attitude. Speeding, cars that aren't really suitable to be on the road. All these are very, very important things in terms of maintaining. Loitering, illegal activities which we just let go. So who's making the decision? Somebody's acting as the judge every time to determine, well, this person can get away with it and this other person cannot. We have to be consistent in terms of how we're going to be enforcing. So there's a general attitudinal change that needs to take place. And I think that we're starting to get the buy-in now of the police force to be able to do that. I mean, I'm committed to this police force. I absolutely feel for them in terms of what they've had to do. And I was just saying in a meeting today, you go to a police station, the tiles are missing, the drain is clogged, there's no hot water, the toilet seat is missing, there's not proper towels, the washer and dryer are not working, the mattress hasn't been replaced in a long time, the kitchen is a mess, the furniture is falling apart and they've not walked off the job. I would rather talk about the good things that these guys have done than everybody wants to focus on all the negative things. And so my government has said, let me help. And that's where I'm really proud of the work that my wife is doing in terms of reinforcing in the policeman's mind that we want to celebrate them. And that's why every year at the police ball, we celebrate people who have retired and recognize the policemen, police officers that are achieving great things. And to say to them, we do care, we do recognize what you're doing to be able to get the insurance. And we're looking at duty-free vehicles for policemen because if a policeman is going to be on duty, should he really have to be traveling in uniform on a public bus? But again, these are things that have been outstanding for the longest amount of time and we're now getting through all of them. So building the morale of the police force would result in better protection of the nation? It's one of the things. And that's what I'm saying to you. There's not one thing by itself. It's a multitude of programs and efforts that are being made in initiatives in order to strengthen our police force. Border control. The computer terminals that you see in immigration, there's nothing in them. Nothing in them. No, for years. The company that provided the software went bankrupt. Never been replaced. You know, a simple thing that when I went into the immigration office of the airport and it was just piles of immigration cards and you could smell the ink and they had rats and it was horrible. Even as prime minister, it took me six months to eventually get that to be moved. There's just a malaise, generally speaking, and people are just become so despondent because the systems weren't working and it was everywhere. Victoria Hospital, police stations, in your schools, on the roads, government buildings. So this attitudinal change that needed to take place and that's why I'm saying this Christmas was the first time I've seen in a long time people's confidence and hope was being restored. And you could see people going out with smiles on their face. I went to Asus Square. I went around the island. I went into the shops and saw how packed it was and you can see that vibrancy that was starting to come back. And I think... Because you believe that they felt safe. Not just they felt safe. People were just feeling better about the direction this country was going in and you can see that they're becoming more comfortable with that. And as more and more of the programs that we've been outlining that we're outlining today are starting to manifest themselves, that will continue in my mind to contribute confidence. It's the same thing with the police. Some of them are going to run out of excuses. You have the communication systems. We have the ability to collect the intelligence. We knew who they were, okay? We're getting advanced notice. So in fact, if you're not doing your job, then there must be a different reason. And so holding them accountable would be far easier. That's what I'm hearing you're saying. One of the other pillars or what you call them, 12 game changers within the citizen safety when your budget address, you spoke very passionately about the rehabilitation and so that we can cut back on repeat offenders and so forth. How far a scope of a program you're expecting this to be? Is something confined solely to the bodily correction of a facility or you expect it to be something broader across the spectrum for low enforcement? So we're examining a multitude of different options. So first of all, increasing the number of social workers. We have 12. We've added another three. Want to get to 30, yeah? And also to give them the resources so that again, potential, I don't want to call them criminals, okay? But potential, yes, at risk individuals that we can address it early enough that they don't choose that path. First time youth offenders, even if it's a criminal case, why don't we use technology? They get convicted, they get an ankle bracelet. Instead of me putting them in border lay, which I call LinkedIn, meaning that they're developing now a new Rolodex of contacts, they're getting a free education in crime and they get a stigma associated to them and that it makes it very difficult for them to choose any other career other than crime that they're now reporting to a counselor, not even a parole officer, a counselor, who's now working with them to be able to get a proper job and they can start now going down a different road. The public is safe because they have this thing. A young person now is not condemned to a life of crime and they're given a new opportunity. And if they're in fact successful, what they get now is they come off of the ankle bracelet and they now have to just report like on a parole basis. Do we even know how much it costs to maintain a prisoner, a border lay? So actually not having a border lay or a minimize border lay means with the same amount of money we might be able to implement a system like that. So creating kind of a halfway system where they're still having to give up some of their rights because they have an ankle bracelet on them. But at the same time, they're being reintegrated and given a second chance in our society. And again, this is why I say as a small island, what may apply as a good program in bigger countries doesn't necessarily work here. So if I was in America and I got caught in Miami, I can go to Orlando, I can go to Jacksonville, I can go to Georgia, I can go to across the country, I can go to Chicago. Yes, I have a record, but people don't know me. Where are you going to go in San Lucia? Right? So we have to have a more compassionate country and address what the root cause of these problems are in the first place. You're never going to be able to eliminate it entirely. But malicious crimes and people who are deliberately threatening people's lives, stealing people's assets, we must do everything we can to rehabilitate. If we cannot, then that's where the traditional system will come in. But these are the kinds of discussions that we're having in terms of looking at a medium term and a long term solution to the problems we have. You know, it's funny because I once had a conversation with a correct police officer and he asked me a question and said that in all of the years that we've had police in St Lucia, boots on the ground and all of those things, policemen come and go generation after generation in the hot spots. We consider to be the crime hot spots. What has changed? And I had to pause and really think and he said, everything remains the same. It's just that you have a revolving door of police officers policing these hot spots and the social economic and the people, but the socioeconomic status remains. And so I had to really give that some thought as you spoke about changing a mindset and the environment that came to mind that in those areas, that's the constant, the socioeconomic status of these hot spot areas. The after school program, that's another thing that the government is passionate about being able again to create that intervention to engage young people. Are we broadening the scope again of this program? We are. It started off basically and it really is at the school, at the schools itself, at the school facilities and I mean, we learned our very, you know, should have probably been more obvious. We had to include food and so providing a meal for the kids went a very long way in encouraging participation in the program. But this club system that we're proposing and building the facilities to be able to do that. So if you have a club and the club can have drama, it can have sports in it. You have primary level and secondary level and you have what we call senior leagues. So a club can have a multitude of different programs and it's in your community. And it's by providing resources. So what we're saying is the money that currently goes into the lottery. So basically what we're doing is taking and dividing the lottery. Taking the regulatory part of what the lottery does, which is to provide the oversight of gaming and putting that into the gaming authority and now creating a new youth and sports authority. And so that entity now will be putting together the programs. So you can have different drama programs, different film programs. You can have dance programs all throughout the country after school. So I can come home after school into my community. I can go to dance class. I can then go to football class. Yeah, all in my same community. We know that when people participate in these kinds of activities, it helps them. So it teaches interaction. It teaches competition. To become successful, you must become disciplined. To create that desire to become successful is competition. So the more competition there is and the higher the level of competition, the more discipline and the more work you have to be able to do. And you build self-esteem there. And you build self-esteem. Some will be concerned about the unattached youth. So not at school, out of school, in the community. Does that also encapsulate these individuals? We have a special program for that. So what happens is that we've talked about creating a social net is how we describe it. So currently in the system, people for the most part, governments for the most part have believed that you can help vulnerable people through taxation. I'm not going to put that on baby food or some of these products. As if somehow you're going to help a poor person. Or we're subsidizing the cost of rice, flour, and sugar. We're not only subsidizing it for the vulnerable person, but we're subsidizing it for everybody else. When we reduce the VAT, we're reducing it for everybody. So we're saying, we don't think that that's the best way. So we're saying, let us use technology where everybody's going to become registered. They're going to have their insurance card. They're going to have their proper ID card. We're now going to keep track of who's working, who's not working, and what their status is by decentralizing government into the local government between elderly health care, mental wellness, and also sports, as well as our social programs to maintain who these people are. So your poverty list right now is not really a poverty list. Not everybody who deserves and deserves to be on the poverty list is. A poverty list is driven by what? How much money has been put into the budget? And so therefore the people who are on are happy. People who are not on, they tell you, why is my government not in government and this and that? And then the minister is getting involved because they're clearly being getting pressured by their constituents. We said we have to create a system in which once you are deserving of it, then you get it. So some of these single mothers who don't have jobs, don't have the capacity to get jobs with multiple kids, right? We need to be able to provide free education, free bus transportation, free food, make sure the kids have more than one pair of shoes and also have their uniforms and have their schoolbooks or their ebook, make sure they're getting inoculated. All these things, the state must become the father. But the equally there are single fathers with multiple children, right? Correct, but and once they are deserving, right, and that they don't have the capacity to do it for themselves, we have to be able to support that. Part of that is also providing them with the clothing and the ability to go to these sports programs. So this is why we're saying a minimum standard for everybody else. It is when kids are discriminated against. When all of a sudden there are kids who have and they have kids who have not, that these kids have to psychologically grow up, not feeling the same. I spoke to some of the social workers. Some of these boys, nobody's ever hugged them. Nobody said, I love you. Who's going to their games with them? We need that. I can't imagine a day going by without me telling my son I love him. Can't imagine not hugging them, yeah? And sometimes I see my son, oh, like he pretends like he doesn't want it. You know darn well that he does. And this is why I say that to all of us as solutions, we see the problem every day in our neighborhoods. Let's go back to the days when we used to help each other out. Because you ignore that problem, that problem is going to come back and at some point it may confront you, right? We must have this love and this compassion for each other. We must learn to give and there are some solutions who I just admire because they give above and beyond what they're supposed to. But not all of us do. And we almost find a way to do that. So the security problem is intertwined with a whole bunch of things. It's not going to get resolved over no one thing, but I want to make it very clear that we have not picked any one thing to solve the problem. Every aspect of it. We're injecting money, injecting resources, and continuing to monitor it. And that's why I say to you, I am confident, right? I can't tell you when, but I am confident that those efforts will pay off. People will see it and the combination of everything that we're going to do is going to resolve this problem.


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