And I would like to compliment the Institute for the initiative in organizing this event on a topic which unfortunately seems to be lower and lower on the radar screen and less and less importance attached to it. I hope I can, in my presentation, prove that the country is important. So there are two main interlocking messages that define this year's European Commission reports as well as its proposed enlargement strategy, which was presented just a month ago in Brussels. And there are two very important messages. The first one is the importance of maintaining the credibility in the enlargement process. The second message is maintaining the momentum in the process itself. I would say that the first message maintained that the credibility is probably the most difficult one for two reasons and it has two angles. First of all, the importance of ensuring that in the candidate countries themselves there is a continued effort to pursue effective and meaningful reforms in order to fulfill the criteria set for accession. And secondly, the importance of ensuring continued support within the EU member states and public opinion on enlargement and the importance of fostering a debate that will demonstrate the benefits that have already accrued from the enlargement policy of the European Union over the past years, particularly as regards economic development, but also as regards political stability, extending the frontiers of peace and security to include more and more countries. And to quote just one quote from the strategy that was adopted by the European Commission. It says, all enlargement countries have a clear European perspective. Progress towards membership depends on the steps taken by each country to meet the established criteria based on the principles of its own merits. This is crucial for the credibility of the enlargement policy and for providing incentives to the countries to pursue far-reaching reforms. At the same time, it goes on to say, it is essential for member states, together with the EU institutions, to lead an informed debate on the political, economic and social impact of the enlargement policy. They have a key role in providing citizens with the facts on enlargement policy and in so doing to inform them of the benefits, including its major contribution to peace, security and prosperity, and to address any concerns they may have. This I feel is becoming more and more difficult. And even if we have many examples of the positive benefits that have accrued from enlargement for the European Union, there is no denying the decrease in support for enlargement within the European Union. On the one hand, you have a number, in a number of member states, governments who hesitate to give vocal expression to its support for enlargement for fear of alienating voters, particularly before elections, and on the other hand, you have also the rise of populist parties who equate enlargement with increased levels of immigration. And this is likely to increase, unfortunately, during the course of next year when we have the European Parliament elections, where the loudest voices will probably be the extremist voices regarding the dangers of enlargement being equated with more immigration into the European Union. This is, in my view, a short-sighted approach, which will only serve to weaken the European Union's transformative power and would also have serious implications for the Western Balkan countries themselves, because a diminishing prospect of EU accession would dilute that power of the European Union for much needed reforms, and it would also fuel nationalist, populist agendas in some of the countries, particularly the Western Balkan countries, where the situation remains fragile, in particular Bosnian Herzegovina and Macedonia. So I think this is also, interestingly, one of the important messages that came out from the conference that was hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the IIEA informally at the end of May on the 10 years of the Thessaloniki agenda, which, as you know, set out the European perspective for the Balkan region. And at that conference informally, there were several personalities who emphasized the importance of the enlargement policy, not least the dead minister for European integration, Lucinda Crichton, who made very clear that were the EU to withdraw its prospect of membership, it would lose, and I quote, one of its most effective tools for promoting peace, democracy, and prosperity in Europe. So if we look at this year's enlargement package, we will see that it does reflect the need and the importance of maintaining credibility, but also the importance of maintaining the momentum. It emphasizes the accession process as being more rigorous and more comprehensive than in the past, and of course, it has become more complicated. I think Tony Brown has some interesting statistics about comparing the enlargement negotiations when we joined in 1973 with current enlargement process and how difficult it has become. In the overall report of the commission, it sets out five key challenges which reflect those areas where major reforms are still required in the candidate countries. First of all, economic governance and competitiveness. There of course, there is still a major challenge of trying to ensure legal certainty for business and economic operators in those countries. A legal certainty which in many of the countries does not exist because of political interference, because of public procurement policies that are not being respected, public procurement standards that are not being respected, because of political interference, and also because public financial management remains very weak. And similarly, in the same context, there is the enormous challenge of the unemployment rates. If you look at Macedonia itself, over 30% unemployment, the majority of which are young people, and it does emphasize the importance of priorities in terms of spending by the individual countries themselves, and what the European Union could do to offer in terms of advice and encouragement. In that context also, I would highlight the role of the Regional Cooperation Council based in Sarajevo, which was established precisely to promote economic and regional cooperation in the Balkan region to help them with the accession process. The second important challenge is the rule of law, which is now at the heart of the accession process, the so-called chapters 23 and 24, which focus on judicial aspects, and here the main problem remains the lack of independence of the judiciary, the involvement of politics in the judicial process, and also the problem of the very weak fight against organized crime and corruption, and the need for a much more determined effort to eliminate corruption, which still remains at high level, as well as organized crime. There is also the issue of abuse or preventive detention in a number of countries. If you look at those who are detained very often purely for political reasons, Macedonia is an unfortunate example in this respect, and again, the selective approach in launching of judicial proceedings against individuals very often under the charge of fraud or abuse of public office, but it usually is purely because those individuals have been critical of the government of the day. The third important challenge is strengthening the functioning of the institutions guaranteeing democracy. Of course, the parliament is the main issue, and the fact that in several countries there is still a lack of effective political dialogue. It's so difficult, I remembered my own time in Macedonia to get the politicians to learn to pick up the phone and to talk to each other and to try to resolve differences. Unfortunately, party interests get in the way, and so as we've seen also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the lack of a political consensus driving the national policies of the country. In the same context, of course, there is the problem of very politicized public administration and the need for a much greater involvement, more inclusiveness, I would say, in the reform process, and by that I've been bringing in all the political parties, civil society, so a much more open debate about policy which doesn't exist at the moment, and similarly, a more inclusive approach in the enlargement process. Slovenia is an excellent model in terms of inclusive approach in the enlargement because it set up a core negotiating group which represented all the main factors in society, and really it ensured that whatever Slovenia was proposing in the negotiating process had the full backing of the entire country and so made the voice of Slovenia much stronger. And I understand that Montenegro has followed now the same approach in its own process. The fourth challenge, of course, is fundamental rights and the fact that there are still a lot of examples of discrimination against the Roma community, discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, discrimination against the gay and lesbian community, and the need for the institutions that are often established to deal with this that they should have effective funding, proper resources that they can really ensure that non-discrimination is fully respective of the EU standards. And in the same chapter, of course, there is the issue of media. And there, sadly, all the international media watchdogs plus the international institutions, like the OSCE, which has a special representative for the freedom of the media, are unanimous in saying that there has been very serious backtracking in the Balkans regarding freedom of the media and respect for the independence of the media and that this needs to be addressed in a very more effective way. And it's not just a question of legislation because there is discussion in some countries about legislation, it's a question of changing the mindset, changing the mentality. And the fifth major challenge set out in the enlargement package for the countries is bilateral issues and overcoming the legacy of the past. Bilateral issues, which, of course, the Balkans have produced more bilateral problems, I think, than the region can absorb because of its history, but we have some very positive examples also of how these can be resolved. And perhaps the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is the best example that if they put their minds to it, and of course it was brokered by the European Union, by Lady Ashton, but success can be achieved. And we mustn't forget that these are two countries who were sworn enemies, but nevertheless getting them together to reach an agreement and enable the both to move forward shows that if there is a will, it can be done. But of course there are other intractable, inter-ethnic issues linking with constitutional issues such as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and you also have the problem of Macedonia and Greece over the name issue. And the legacy of the past, of course, is a challenge which doesn't, is not particular to the Balkans, but is facing many post-conflict societies. South Africa is probably the best example of how to address the legacy of the past and how to promote a policy of reconciliation, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa is probably the best example of successful reconciliation process. Northern Ireland still has to face that challenge and the Balkans even more, but there are some local initiatives to try to overcome that. So if we look at the record over the past year and also some of the proposals that the European Commission has included in this year's package, the momentum is nevertheless there. With Turkey, admittedly, it's a modest step, but there has been the opening of a new chapter in the negotiations focusing on regional policy. So momentum moving, the bicycle is turning very, very slowly, but at least it's moving. In Montenegro, we have the negotiations that are ongoing and the process is in place and this demonstrates, I think, the importance of once negotiations are in place, the mechanism of trying to make sure that all the reforms stay on track. Serbia, we expect negotiations, formal negotiations to start in the next few weeks. Already the so-called screening process, which is a technical process whereby all the legislation of a given country is assessed to see whether it is compatible with the EU that is already underway. Kosovo, the negotiations for the Stabilization Association Agreement, which is sort of the first step, it's the parlor before you get into the kitchen, so to speak, is already underway, was started just a few weeks ago. And for Albania, which went through an electoral process this year, which was, okay, there were a few problems, but nevertheless, generally the impression was of a smooth transition after the elections and the Commission on that basis has decided to recommend that Albania be granted candidate status at the December Council of the European Union, and this will give an added incentive to Albania, such a decision, to pursue reforms in those areas where there are still a lot of weaknesses, such as corruption, organized crime, et cetera. There are two black holes, I would say, in this scenario. And one of them is Bosnian Herzegovina that I mentioned, and there the language of the European Commission's report is quite stark, the process is at a standstill. And it does reflect the situation and the seemingly impossibility of the leaders to set aside their own interests and to come forward with consensus approach, and it is this lack of political consensus that has resulted in the country really not moving forward as it should. And next year there will be elections in Bosnian Herzegovina, so there's a major challenge and the question arises, what to do? How should the EU react? Should it be more effective on the ground? Should it be more proactive like occurred in Serbian Kosovo, et cetera? The second black hole, sadly, is Macedonia. And even though the commission for the fifth time recommended that negotiations to start, you will recall that in 2009, on the basis of good progress during that year, that was a good, I always call it a good vintage year because really progress was made and Neve, who's there, was working with me and knows how difficult it was. But we felt that the country was making progress and a recommendation for opening negotiations made 2009. That has been repeated five times and the negotiations have not yet opened. The situation in the country is extremely serious and I would say personally that the danger of instability is more real than in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And we saw the events of the 24th of December in the parliament, in Skopje, when all the opposition members of parliament and the media were physically forced out of the parliament chamber. It was quite a dramatic situation and dramatic scenes, which reflected the total lack of political consensus of political dialogue and the totally polarized situation in the country. In addition to that, public administration continues to be extremely politicized and the government control of the electoral process is unfortunately very real and the official report of the OSCE spoke of allegations of voter intimidation and misuse of state funds for electoral campaign. And if you look at this year's progress report, you will see also references to the political interference in the judiciary, selective approach in the judicial process, as well of course as the lack of a media freedom. And all of this has created a climate of fear in society and I traveled there regularly and it's very sad to see that independent minded organizations, civil society, simply adopt a self-censorship approach because they are afraid of being the subject of harassment or intimidation. In addition to that, of course, there is the name issue which is on the one hand, it's a very convenient excuse for the prime minister of the day and the government to say that all the problems of Macedonia are because of the name issue. And it is true that the longer this name issue continues, the more serious the situation gets and also the more it strengthens the current government's populist agenda in the country. So the message really is that this name issue needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. It has gone on for far too long. But of course, the only way it can be resolved is if there's a dialogue between the two sides, if they sit down to talk, we all know the difficulties of reaching agreement from Northern Ireland, if both sides don't sit down and talk. And the general impression is at the moment that Greece is reluctant to engage in a dialogue. And this is very difficult to understand because it means that the overall situation there is going to deteriorate. And so there is no other alternative to engagement between the both sides on the basis of the UN mediation. At the moment, the mediation is limited to the odd meeting every three or four months between the two chief negotiators, but it's very perfunctory and nothing happens. There needs to be a much more determined effort. And I do believe that member states also must exert more pressure on Greece and use the opportunity of its presidency of the EU for the first six months of next year to really resolve this issue once and for all. In conclusion, just a few words on possible reforms in the enlargement. Next year is an interesting opportunity because there'll be a new parliament, a new commission, a new high representative. And so it's always a good moment to review, to be self-critical and to see what lessons we can learn from the past and how to improve it. And while definitely the overall record of enlargement, as I said at the very beginning, is very positive, nevertheless, there is no doubt that there are ways that we can improve that. Certainly, I think there needs the European Union and the European Commission in particular needs to find ways of using its leverage more effectively. It was effective in Serbia and Kosovo, but in other places, not as much. So there needs to be more consistency, more leverage, a more effective way of using that leverage. It's easier said than done, of course. But nevertheless, there are definitely ways that can strengthen the European Union's role. Also in this whole debate about how to strengthen the EU's role as a peacemaker, as a mediator. At the moment, the OSCE, one of its principal mandates is mediation, but it needs or very often support from the European Union, from the UN, and all of this can together could make really an important, have an important impact in the future. And to give a more effective role for the European Union foreign policy. I would also say that the European Commission needs to preserve rigorously the objectivity for which it was always known in its annual assessments. There is an impression sometimes that the Commission has a tendency to tailor its assessments to suit the policy objective. And this is, I think, not very conducive to the end result. For example, at the moment, the trigger for the member states to determine whether negotiations will start is the phrase, the country sufficiently meets the political criteria. But as we have seen, there are some countries who are there where there is a recommendation for opening negotiations, but who do not meet the political criteria. Macedonia is a case in point. So therefore there needs to be perhaps other triggers. And I would say that one should be the issue of stability. If, as in the case of Macedonia, there has been efforts at reforms in several areas, there has been a recommendation for opening negotiations, but for many reasons it's not possible. I do believe that the only way that the Macedonian situation can be resolved is for negotiations to start, because then you lock that country into a process whereby it's impossible for the country to go off track. If it does, then of course the negotiations are suspended. So that's a strong leverage that the European Union has. So locking a country into the negotiating process ensures that the reform process remains on track. And I do believe that there needs to be some internal discussions in the European Commission on that and how to improve. There also needs to be, I think, a much greater focus on how to enhance the cooperation between the European Union and other actors, such as the OSCE and the Council of Europe, who have proven expertise in areas where the European Union doesn't have. Media, for example. Education and all the issues dealing with ethnic minorities. The European Union does not have a key, as it's called, established legislation on minorities. Council of Europe and the OSCE have a lot of expertise. So there needs to be more effort to cooperate, not only at headquarters, but particularly out in the field between the OSCE Council of Europe and the EU to make more effective the role of these organizations on the ground. And also to avoid what we call forum shopping of the host country who might see nuances between the EU and the OSCE, for example, in the areas of media or education and plays on that for its own advantage. And the final important area where I believe there should be more focus is to involve civil society much more in the process. And encouraging that, not just through funding, but also to get those countries like the ones I mentioned, to involve civil society much more in the policy development as well as in the accession process. And this also has an important role in terms of resolving internal disputes, resolving conflicts, internal, inter-ethnic, intra, within a given state, or between states. And again, there the OSCE has a lot of expertise in how to, and the EU I think needs to develop that how to bring in civil society much more into that process because this helps then to ensure greater acceptance of whatever is agreed. And we've seen it in Northern Ireland. If you bring in civil society at the earliest possible stage, you can ensure much greater acceptance of whatever is agreed at the national or regional level. And I firmly believe that the contribution from civil society can play a very, very constructive role. And very often civil society is way ahead of the politicians and can act as a control over them. But of course in some countries it's difficult because they are themselves controlled. So I have gone longer than my 20 minutes. I apologize, but I look forward to questions. Thank you very much. Thank you.


So Mr. Kelly. Oh, dude. Mr. Kelly. Is my father. Name's Machine Gun. Really? Machine Gun Kelly is off the hook these days for things both good and bad. He earned his first number one album on the Billboard 200 chart with his last album Tickets to My Downfall. He's painting the town red or pink in his case with his girl Megan Fox. He almost had a scrap with the Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor at the MTV Music Video Awards, and as if this wasn't enough already, he punched a fan during his last concert. Hey guys, it's Christine and welcome to another episode of Before and After. And today we're going to talk about Machine Gun Kelly, his recent transition to punk rock icon, and also drop some interesting juice about him, so don't go anywhere. MGK may have spent the last year beaming over his romance with Megan Fox, but has anyone else noticed another change in his life? The rapper actor has been rocking a full head of hair. You might be surprised to see that this wasn't always the case. One glance at his old pictures, and the difference is quite evident that he's done a little something to his hair. Now, experts believe he opted for a procedure known as follicular unit transplantation, or foot. In foot, a surgeon removes a strip of skin from the scalp and grafts it onto the balding area. The procedure takes between 4 to 8 hours and costs anywhere between 4 to 15,000? Personally, I just assumed he was wearing fake hair. If he'll wear nails like this, I'm not surprised he'd wear a wig either. Kelly's never gone on the record about a surgical hair transplant, but it sure looks like he went under the knife. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. If it makes him feel and look better, then more power to him. He isn't the first man to do it, and he surely will not be the last. Now, MGK's not your regular rapper. While white rappers are generally associated more with beanies, bleach, and bling than a sense of style, Kelly is cut from a whole different set of clothes altogether. He's not only responsible for the recent high-profile revival of pop punk and rap rock, but also quite known for his creative, yet stylish wardrobe. From rocking a blue zipper one piece to a head-to-toe all-pink ensemble, or dyeing his hair every color under the sun, this guy's done it all. I guess what sets MGK apart from others is his willingness to experiment in a deep sense of retro-American fashion. After all, your sense of style comes from your inner self, right? But also, Machine Gun Kelly just doesn't give a flying f**k. Big fit number one. Insert bagpipes here. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Thank you. Confidence is one of the most important factors when it comes to style, and looks like MGK has that in spades. MGK may have started his career as a hip-hop musician, but for the past year or so, his flavor has sure shifted. He's been swaying back and forth between rap, punk, and rock styles, leaving some critics wondering which genre he's going to commit to. His latest album, Tickets to My Downfall, is pop, punk, and sound and subject matter, and it appears that the fans love the change. Me included, the only time I've willingly listened to his music. The album not only earned him as the first leader on the Billboard 200, but also cemented his fifth top 10 on the tally. So what does the title mean to you? I felt like I had more friends around me at the worst time in my life personally than I ever had when I was succeeding or having a great time, and I was kind of like, why is everyone here for me crashing and burning? Fresh off the release is his latest single, Paper Cuts, from the upcoming album, Born with Horns, featuring Travis Barker. Kelly again received some flak for switching genres, this time back to rock. In response, he posted this video on TikTok for all the critics. Me drops to rock, saying, oh, he doesn't rap anymore. Me drops to rap, so, oh, he doesn't do rock anymore.  I just dropped music, bleh. Well, Machine Gun, why stick to one when you can do it all? Now, Kelly shares a love-hate relationship when it comes to healthier choices, but thanks to his better half, Megan Fox, things are changing. Whatever Daddy said, are you proud of him? Very proud. He's the most talented boy in the world. In a radio interview with 104.3, The Shark, the rapper dished on his girlfriend's gluten-free and all-organic diet, praising her for her super-healthy dietary habits. He said, my menu's like Shake Shack Cheeseburger. However, he confessed that he's trying to get on that wave when it comes to healthier options. Better late than never, right, Kelly? For those who are wondering if I even trained fair enough, because this wasn't the case years ago, but a lot of years of doing a lot of stuff has led me to believe that I gotta keep on living, gotta get stronger. Now, MGK turned 31 this year, and staying in shape is more important to him than ever. He admits that he has no desire to just be a muscly version of himself. But since he needs to be in good shape for touring and other projects, he works out five days a week now. Two upper body sessions, two lower body sessions, and one active recovery day. Not much of a recovery if you're living with Megan Fox.  And I was like, whatever you say. When you physically feel good, mentally feel good, we wanna play more, the rapper said, explaining that being fit allows him to perform extended live sets. And extended live sets on Megan, am I right? Now MGK's had a bit of a busy week between fighting with Connor McGregor at the MTV Video Music Awards and the following feud with Corey Taylor. It's not the first time Kelly has attracted controversy with another artist. Back in 2018, Kelly made comments regarding the lose yourself rapper's daughter and accused Eminem of having him blacklisted from his radio station. The duo went back and forth dissing each other via Twitter and their tracks. It's not bad for him, he has some good lines in it. MGK also had an infamous back and forth with American rapper G-Eazy. The two traded repeated insults over their respective relationships with musician Halsey. Now, if you ask me, it sounds like someone's f***ing salty because young Gerald's f***ing deep inside of Halsey, but that's just my opinion. And adding to his long list of controversies is his latest encounter with a fan. The video shows MGK getting into a physical altercation with a concert goer during his Louder Than Life Festival performance in Louisville, Kentucky. While several attendees booed MGK during his performance, it was speculated that the booze at the Hard Rock Festival were due to Machine Gun Kelly's comments about Slipknot's Corey Taylor. Taylor earlier made a jive at the rapper turned rocker on Cutter's Rock Cast saying, I hate all new rock for the most part. I hate the artist who failed in one genre and decided to go rock. And I think he knows who he is, but that's another story. MGK fired back at Taylor at Riot Fest, telling the crowd, Hey, you wanna know what I'm really happy that I'm not doing?  Looks like Slipknot's fans aren't too thrilled about the comment and decided to take the matter into their own hands. I gotta say, I side with Machine on this one.  That's so much cooler, right? So what are your thoughts on MGK's recent transition to punk rock icon, him switching genres and his string of controversies? In my opinion, the rapper needs to tone things down a notch. And if he doesn't, well, I'm sure Megan Fox has no problem putting him in his place. Do share your views in the comments section below. My name is Christine Zulet and that wraps it up for this episode of Before and After. Feel free to suggest to us who else we should do. And if you appreciated this video, please hit that like and subscribe button if you haven't already. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and we will see you in the next video. Bye.


Thank you all very much, and thank you, Ken, and welcome to the White House. I'm delighted to have you here to wrap up what I know has been a whole series of meetings and briefings that you've had with top officials of the administration. The Young Presidents Organization has an extraordinary membership. I can't help but admire men and women who are already being called president when they're 40. It took some of us a little bit longer. Come to think of it, though, I've often wondered, does President of my Union, a screen actor's guild, before I was 40 count? So I'm one of you. Well, what you've accomplished so early in life means that your biggest success still lies ahead. I know that you're... Well, now that you're used to being called president, no one knows where you might wind up. We certainly need risk-taking, bottom-line chief executives like you to serve in government. I've been very fortunate to have in my administration former members of YPO, like Jack Cortimanccio, who isn't here with us this morning, but three others that are Carl Kovitz, Bob Tuttle, and Joe Wright. And without men and women drawn from the private sector, it's easy for the federal government to become unresponsive and out of touch. Soon after we got here, I commissioned a task force to reduce excessive government regulation, which I asked Vice President Bush to head up. And thanks to that effort, we were able to eliminate some of the needless regulations that had built up and to subject all new proposed rules to the most careful scrutiny. And the results have been pretty practical. The federal register, which lists all regulations, is just a little more than half the size that it was when we came here. And the estimate is that we have eliminated, among people, just citizens, small community and state governments and so forth, businesses 600 million man-hours a year of work filling out government forms in answer to the regulations. A lot of you know personally the sort of paperwork the federal government can require. I remember the old story about a businessman who after many years of dutifully keeping the records and documents required by the federal government in his particular business. And with the files really piling up, he wrote the government asking if he still needed to keep all the old documents. And the letter came back saying, well, it's OK. You can throw away any papers more than eight years old, provided you make copies of each one of them first. Here in the old executive office building, you know, they tell me that officially we're in the White House. But I'm still not used to that. You see, back before the federal government was a growth industry, this one building housed most of the executive branch of government. But after a couple of world wars, that changed and existing federal departments grew and new ones sprang up. And when each agency got its own complex, the White House sort of adopted this beautiful old building. After all, it's just across the street. Well, I'm happy to report that the federal government is not growing that way anymore. But many of your businesses are, and that's the best sort of news for America. In fact, I'll bet that it's been your companies that have needed the new office space in the last few years because the economy is in the longest peacetime expansion in U.S. history. April marks the 65th straight month of economic growth. And during this period, we've created nearly 16 million new jobs. And they're better and higher paying, too. And in fact, the U.S. has created about two and a half times as many new jobs as the other leading industrialized nations all put together. No government program can do that, but companies like yours did. Today, a greater percentage of our citizens is working than any other time in our history. I have to try something out. Did you ever know, I didn't know before I got here, what is considered the potential employment pool in America?  Regardless of whether they're going to school, regardless of the other end, whether they're retired, they're all considered a part of that pool. Well, when you say the highest percentage of that pool is employed, 62.3% of all of that group presently are employed in the United States. It's no coincidence that while we've held down the rate of growth in government, the private economy has been booming. Real GNP grew by nearly 5% in the fourth quarter last year, and inflation remains low. And because you're out there in the vanguard of American business, I don't have to tell you that economic growth is more than statistics. It's the cumulative daily efforts of men and women like yourselves. As Business Week Magazine reported recently, basic manufacturers once considered a dying breed are selling products many thought wouldn't even be made in the United States any longer, escalators to Taiwan, machine tools to West Germany, lumber to Japan, and shoes to Italy. Well, since the third quarter of 1986, the volume of American exports has been growing some four times as fast as the volume of imports. And it's thanks to you, not the government, that since 1980 the United States manufacturing has increased its productivity roughly three and a half times as fast as in the previous eight years. The result is that, as one German manufacturing expert put it recently, the United States is the best country in the world in terms of manufacturing costs. It's thanks to the private sector that the real income of the average American has been rising steadily for the last six years. The federal government did one thing to contribute to this. We got out of your way as much as we could. So when American business created new wealth for the country, it flowed to the American people and was not diverted to Washington to fund new bureaucracies and spending programs. What the federal government needs to do now is what each of you always does, balance the budget and not by raising taxes, but by controlling spending. If we can continue the pro-growth policies of the last seven years, I believe that the next decade will be known as the roaring 90s. Our country is poised for even greater economic growth in the years ahead because we've opened up the economy, lowered tax rates, and restored the ideal of limited government and free enterprise. America will face choices this fall that will determine what lies ahead for American business and the economy. And I want to ask you to become active and involved this year because the stakes are too high and the choice too clear for it to be left up to others. If the policies under which your companies have flourished are reversed, how could your company's bottom line not suffer? We cannot afford to have American businessmen once again treated like a bunch of hired hands laboring on the federal farm where the folks in Washington act as if what you produce belongs to them. I can't help but say once back when I was governor of California, you interject here about how that attitude can grow in government. We, when you gave back $850 million of surplus in California to the taxpayers, just told them to reduce what they gave us in their taxes and we'd make it up with that surplus. And one senator stormed into my office one day and he said, I think he said there is no excuse for giving back that public money to the people. Well, we've cut the top personal income tax rate by more than half, making U.S. tax rates among the lowest in the world, and revenues have increased, not decreased with those cuts. And right now all of our trading partners and neighbors are going through the same thing and making the same kind of tax cuts. We've proved that lower rates enhance economic growth and greater growth results in higher tax collections. We've demonstrated that American business and entrepreneurship are second to none. Let's keep America moving forward. I ask each of you in the coming months to direct some of your talent, energy and leadership to the choices that lie before us. In doing so, you'll be serving your country as citizens, serving your companies and industries as corporate leaders, and helping to preserve and build the jobs, growth and opportunity that working Americans depend on. After you leave here, I want you to remember this building and think whether next year and beyond, America will be constructing new plants and offices for expanding businesses like yours, or will we be raising more and more federal office buildings to tax, regulate, stifle the energy imagination and enterprise of the American people. The choice we face is a very simple one. Is the federal government going to grow, or is your business going to grow? I want to let you know that I'm on your side. Thank you for all that you've done, too, to make America stronger and more prosperous. Thank you all, and God bless you all. President, on behalf of the other presidents organization, it gives us great pleasure to present you with this report. President, on behalf of Warren Bustin, who organized the 6,000 YPO's around the world in 66 countries, we have this commission to view in Queen Elizabeth on horseback outside Windsor Palace by a portrait artist in England, Terrence Gilbert. Terrence has done 19 paintings of your friend, Charlton Heston, from different movies that he's been in. One of Sir Lawrence Olivier, who was commissioned by Margaret Thatcher to paint King Hussain of Jordan on his birthday. It's our great pleasure to present this to you. I agree. I can't tell you how happy I am, and yes, the Queen of the Magical Riding when we were guests there at Windsor Palace on a visit. She's a good rider. I have to take a second and tell you something about her. That I knew about her and her riding before she invited me to join her, and I have known it because earlier, when I was in England way back in 1949, I was invited to visit the Royal Muse at a Buckingham Palace in the city of Windsor and she had just become the commander of, as there's, I can't remember which regiment it is, but it's not only the regiment, and therefore she had to ride leaving them, parades and so forth, as a princess. And the man that was taking me through that was in charge of the circles was telling me about her and how they trained her. They got all the household help down there with towels and so forth all around the riding hall and they would bring her in and she would ride around that haul while they made all that battered and mornin' so that the pasta couldn't be described by force. And then she was ready for the first parade in London, but he spoke very of my idea of her courage and said, now quickly, she would get out of the civilian ride, like all those that expose ourselves to horses. Once you've learned how, what you have to do, she found out she'd left it, so she's now, that's one of her sports, but, oh, I'm, I'm glad to give that to the presidential library or not. And I hope to keep that in mind. You will, I've already made up my mind. Thank you, sir, thank you, sir. That does conclude our program for a minute. If you want to remain seated for just a minute while the press leaves, that would probably help move everything.


So I'm gonna go on over and just say, okay, let's go into this one and I'm just gonna open it up and I'm gonna say this is gonna be a category. Okay, I'm just gonna copy the Udemy and the Memo, put that in the customer, making a new customer for it just as we have seen in the checking account. I'm gonna make a new account for it, naming it after this particular customer due to what we just discussed. I'm gonna add it and I'm gonna make it an income account. Money's coming in, so it's income. And then it's gonna be other primary source, let's say I'm just gonna call it Udemy income. Okay, Udemy income, boom, let's save it. Let's make a rule for it and just have our standard rule, just like we did before, I'll just call it the Udemy rule and then I'm gonna say that there it is and let's take it, I like taking it from the bank text. Udemy, if it contains Udemy, then apply the rule, deposit Udemy income and looks good, I'm not gonna automatically apply it, I'm just gonna add them because I wanna double check them at least for the first couple times out. So then if I sort up top by the ones that have been recognized, six of them have been recognized, there they are, I'm just gonna select all of them or you can select them that way or holding down shift and pick them up and then I'm gonna add them and accept them, so accept. So then if I go to the tab to the right and running it, so now we've got in the PayPal account, we've got transactions in the PayPal account going into it and we've just recorded these deposits, if I go into any one of them, they are recorded using a deposit form, just as we would expect after seeing the checking account transactions in a similar fashion. Let's go to the tab to the right and the income statement, running it to refresh it, so we're looking at fresh stuff, I don't like looking at moldy old reports, it's like fruit, they spoil, they're gross when they're old, get them out of here. Any case, Udemy income, there it is. So there it is, on that side, normally income is recorded once again with a sales receipt or invoice, not a deposit form, but if we're using this kind of system just to platform gig work situation, then we might just use the deposit form although losing some added detail and data like the sub ledgers, it's quite useful and easy and therefore it's a fair trade-off. So okay, let's just do the rest of them, I'll just do this one, Skillshare, so I'll just copy that, Skillshare customer and boom, save it. And I'm gonna make a new account just called Skillshare income because it's another platform thingy. Daniel, let's make it a income account and let's make it other primary and let's just call it Skillshare income or skill success income, whatever, you know, it's different, that's different, I know, but it's just practice here. So we're gonna credit and create a rule, let's make a rule, I'll make it from the text, as long as it contains skill success, I want you to do what I just said to do, put it into that new income account, I don't want you to apply the rule automatically, I wanna double check it and so let's do that and then if I was to go up and say, I wanna check out the recognized boom, I'm gonna select them, I know I'm doing this fairly quickly but we've seen it in the past, so I just wanna show you how we can do a few of them in a bit more rapid fire fashion. So now we've got the checking account, which I'm sorry, not the checking account, we're talking pay to the pal account, pay to the pal, so then we've got these two deposit forms, everything's a deposit, cause that's all we've been dealing with thus far, tap into the right, run in it and now we've got another income account for this one, I believe this is the one we just made. So there is that, let's keep it rolling, keep on rolling, rolling, rolling, I'm gonna close up my filter and let's do this one, teachable, so teachable whoever they are, that's like a, let's copy that and put that here and boom, customer, services, another add, and I'm gonna make this income account, income, boom, and then it's gonna be another primary income, teachable income, cause teachable paid us. So we'll say save it and add the rule, every time it's gonna be a teachable rule, money in, if you see in the text bank text that contains teachable, then apply the rule, put it to that teachable income account, por favor if you please, and then we're not gonna, I'm just gonna double check it, so I'm not gonna auto add, not gonna auto add, and then I'll just recognize the recognized ones and then boom, boom, and accept and then let's just check it out on the income, let's just check the income statement side of things, this time income statement, teachable income, isn't that?


So if you aint aware of this moon veil katana, it is one of the best. If you are aware of it and you have it, you will know how good it is. If you are aware of it but can't get it, you know how hard the boss can be.  How's it going guys? My name is DPJ and if you do enjoy the video leaving a like really helps out and if you like what you see and want to see more, be sure to subscribe. So this katana is incredible. It does however require 12 points in strength, 18 in dexterity and 23 in intellect if you want to use it. Now I don't have those attributes but thanks to my power, Eric's Gaming, whose channel can be found linked below, he allowed me to use his for each of this thing in action. So do check him out and show him some love. So all this katana as you can see on screen now has this special move of transient moonlight and as you can see this thing looks incredible. So this weapon drops from a boss called magma worm who I will state for the average Joel like me, he is pretty difficult. Without this exploit I wouldn't have beaten this early on. So what you need to do to beat this dude pretty easily is get the rotten straight ashes spook summon where if you don't have this yes you'll see the location to this on screen now. It's from the salary layer I'll under stare so come here where I am on the map right here guys and follow where I go. Now I've already picked this up but it should be there for you. Now if I were you I'd upgrade this as much as you can using runes and the grave glow war via Rodriguez via the table of last grace but I'm left of your map to upgrade this as best you can guys and once you are set up this is how it works. The rotten straight summon causes scarlet rot upon its enemies which slowly poisons them. So if a boss or enemy is susceptible to this rot this poison will indeed just keep draining their health down even after the spook is long gone. The effects stay intact and will continue to deplete their enemies health. Great thing about this is guys this boss the magma worm is susceptible meaning if you use this within the fight and it does enough damage to the boss you actually don't really have to do anything besides keep the boss a distance and it will take care of itself. This is how I did it after ages of trying and failing and it basically worked for me after my second try. So to get to this magma worm boss you need to come to the uh gaol tunnel as you can see on the map right here. Now travel down this tunnel to the very bottom activating the graces on your way down. Now you can take the enemies out if you want to or run straight past them it's up to you. Now this boss fight is located at the very bottom but there's also a grace just left of the entrance to this fight through another door so make sure you activate that before starting this encounter. Then guys as soon as you enter this fight summon your rotten straight spirit. Now if you can grab the attention of the boss so your summon can get to work it's going to be more efficient and work better for you. So try as best you can to get the attention so your summon can do enough damage to get that rock to kick in. You will know it has when it starts to slowly deplete the boss itself by itself. Then guys all you gotta do is avoid the boss as best you can.  And while there we have it people the simple way in getting the moon veil kitana for those struggling with this fight and well I hope the video helps you out. If it does leave a like it really helps me out if you're new around here and want to see more be sure to subscribe and hopefully people I will see you on that next one.


Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me leave to make just a brief intervention on this very important motion. I think the motion proposed by the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy, Justice and National Security to this honorable House is as follows. Be it resolved that the House by affirmative resolution approves the value added tax, alteration rate of interest order which alters the rate of interest on the tax paid up to the financial year of 2021 during the period commencing from the first day of May 2023 and terminating on the first day of May 2024 to 0% of the tax paid. Mr. Speaker, in his budget policy statement for fiscal year 2023-2024, the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance informed this honorable House that 3,169 tax payers owed $600 million in taxes, fines, penalties and interest. He further advised Mr. Speaker that in the majority of cases these taxes have been collected on behalf of employees and the government of St. Lucia. Mr. Speaker, we will inform that a total of 175 million in fact unrelated penalties and interest are due on value added tax deductions. I am sure that we will all agree with the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance that government should strengthen its ability to collect these taxes as it hinders government's ability to meet its own commitments. And as you know, Mr. Speaker, we are not in ordinary times. The Prime Minister and Minister for Finance took over this country whilst we were still grappling with the objective reality of COVID. And he, whilst presiding over the orderly recovery of the economy, we are yet to get back to pre-COVID GDP levels. As we were trying to plan the post-COVID trajectory in comes the war in Ukraine, Mr. Speaker, that drove up the prices of oil and of course interest rates and the inflationary pressures, Mr. Speaker. So therefore, in an effort to ensure the continued prudent management of the economy and to encourage taxpayers to settle the taxes, the Minister for Finance proposed that for the following categories of taxes, namely hotel accommodation tax, pay-as-you-earn, hotel accommodation tax, oil inclusives, other withholding taxes and value added tax, the waiver of oil penalties, interest and fines, if the taxes are paid by May 1st, 2024. This resolution, Mr. Speaker, provides for the rate of interest payable on the tax paid up to the financial year of 2021 during the period commencing from the first day of May 2023 and terminating on the first day of May 2024 to zero percent of the tax paid. This in effect provides a waiver of the interest on the value added tax. This is consistent, Mr. Speaker, with the general policy pronounced by the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance on extending the waiver of interest, penalties and fines on taxes up to May 1st, 2024. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it's very easy for anybody, including a Martian, to agree that we need to support this motion, support the Prime Minister as he continues to put our national house in order to continue to deliver to the people of this country in keeping with our manifesto promise to put people first. And no doubt, Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is on course. And of course, during this year, when we return to this honorable house during budget time, we shall have a tremendous success in putting back this economy on track because we all know that a stable macroeconomic framework is necessary to address the pressing but legitimate needs of the people of this country. And so I commend the Prime Minister for presenting this motion and I give my full support, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.


It's Milford GA and Milford Athletics Club have again come together and this time they bought nine acres of land to develop a pitch and all weather pitch and an astroturf training area. And I'm joined now by two gentlemen in the studio to talk a little bit about the development because nine acres that's a sizable development and Joe McNulty is assistant treasurer and a lifelong member of Milford GA and then there's Kevin Mills, one of the founding members of Milford GA. Gentlemen, thanks for coming in. John, good morning. Thank you. Good afternoon. That's right. But anyway, this is a big nine acres. You know, don't enter into something like that lightly, but you know, there's a need for it. There's a bad need as it goes. In a way, is it to secure the future? Yeah, probably before we start, John, this is a Milford GA club development as an exclusive development. Now, the other clubs in the area is also doing developments in and around that area as well. This is an exclusive GA development. And of course, if we go back to when the club was formed in 1983, prior to that, we used to be playing with Downins, Kerman, Fannet. So there was a regrading done of clubs in that area, and we're all regraded. So Milford was tasked with developing a club of its own and separating from those other clubs who also had to develop and evolve. So in 1983, the club was formed in the old Milford Tech in Milford by some stalwarts, some of them unfortunately aren't with us today. And there was an embarked on the journey of developing a GA club in Milford, which was no main task at that time. So the club has evolved and developed on and off the pitch since then. And so that's really where the bit of the background to it. The casual observer, Joe, would probably look down at the grounds and go, they're fantastic grounds on the edge of town, a lovely setting, nice pitch. But you need more. We've grown that pitch, unfortunately. Or fortunately, as I say, we have grown that pitch. Our membership in 2014 was 248. Our membership today is 766. Big increase, yeah. No, that's broken down roughly half and half male and female. And we have 188 youth members this year and 159 female members this year. This growth has put a lot of pressure on the existing ground. And during the summer time, especially, it's very hard to get a slot for training and for underage and parish league and foundation coaches. It's for training and games. Training and games, yeah. Multiple games in the one day. Yeah. So about eight years ago, we did a survey of the area. We looked at the population, looked at the schools, the demographics, the number of pupils and all the rest. And as a result of that, we put in a full-time coach into the schools. And that's when our numbers really exploded on the rage level. And you know, it's great to see at any club, but it also brings its headaches because you've got to put in the facilities then to accommodate all these members. Yeah. When you're developing and especially in capital projects, football can suffer, you know, your energies and your all your energy is going into development, raising bonds, looking at grants, looking at this, that and the other. And you're inclined, football can go on the backbone of it. So it's a balance of night to try and keep both. Absolutely. It is a job in itself and it can tie up a committee. I understand, whereas they would prefer to be focusing on the actual playing side of things. But this has to be done and it is to bring the club forward. So the the the new ground that's been developed right beside the existing. Yeah, they were the first phase one was kind of go out, source the land, procure the land, fundraise initially for phase one. So we're kind of ticking it in phases, John. So we purchased the land, the nine point two acres. We got the legal aspect of it, got the plans drawn up for the overall project. So that is kind of done, dusted over the line. So now we're embarking on the next phase. And again, that's a significant journey that we're embarking on. And when you think of the stalwarts in 1983 that's embarked on the initial journey, we as a club could have stood still and said, listen, things are fine, they're grand, but we can and need to look at beyond us and our grandchildren and look at the bigger picture. So we're taking the next phase and chunks from one of a better word. So we're now looking at developing of the AstroTurf because that is our most need. And because only for the local resources like Rathmell and Celtic, Shrolly Rovers, Remelton Community Centre, Rye, Loretto Convent, Community School and Mulford, these are keeping us going. We are depending on them. They have all weather pitches, all weather pitches. So our mayor board is going out looking for those actually begging for the use of them. So this is going to be a pivotal part of the next phase of getting the AstroTurf all weather available and being able to play underage games on that is massive. All right. And then the next phase of the development will involve Wachio. The next phase will be development of the full-size football pitch, which stand and lighting. That will give you a second pitch. It will give us a second pitch and we will be able to use our existing pitch for the plan is that most underage football will be played on that pitch. And then the final phase will be the building of an indoor centre. This is down the road a couple of years. We have the ground. We have the planning, everything's in place, but it's a long term project and it's going to take a lot of money. That's I was just going to say, it all takes money, hence the big development draw. Great idea for a first prize, BMW car. Yes, there was a separate committee set up to look at that aspect of it. And they felt it was attractive. It was any car, any substantial prize. Yeah, so we opted for a BMW. Mm-hmm. There's other prizes as well. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the first prize is the BMW 330EM Sport. Second is a holiday voucher for 3,000. Third is a two night stay in the Ivy Gardens Hotel Dublin plus five hundred pound component expender money. Port prize is a two night stay in the Downings Hotel plus green fees in Port Salon Golf Club. And the fifth prize is two tickets to a home man United game. Right. Mightn't be too happy after last night. Those are the list of prizes. And I mostly know the response has been tremendous so far. We've had great support from surrounding clubs, or ribbon clubs, especially have all bought into it. It's a very attractive ticket and it is. It's priced very well, like one for 25, three for 50 and seven for 100. So if you're struck for Christmas prizes coming up or Christmas presents, a good gift to give. Yeah, you'll be given a gift for all the community when you buy one. Yeah. And I think I think, John, as well, when you look at the club and this applies to all clubs now, there's the on the pitch activity goes on in the club. But certainly what is more important now is the off the pitch facilities and off off the pitch events like health and well being initiatives, mental health, suicide prevention, health checks, charities, charity walks, different things that all the clubs are involved in. And we actually embarked on that journey as well back five years ago. And we now are a gold club from a point of a healthy club perspective. So that is why the pitch is important and the underage. But also you have to look at bigger picture senior members of the parish charities are struggling. So we're very much immersed and based in the parish. And I think that's something that the club executive really embarked on that journey as well, to as a parallel to the bigger issues. It's great in Milford that the three clubs, the ethics club, the soccer club and the GA are all at the one location. And it's it's important that facilities like we're chatting about are available. It's just it brings a community on, doesn't it? Big time. And even even a very simple thing like, yeah, as I say, they're all separate developments. But certainly, like we know the same individuals, we know the same people that's deriving these. So we're all very supportive of one another. But even, for example, the very basic thing like a walk and track round or Mildview Park, that's for everybody. You don't have to be a member of neither of any of those clubs. So again, that's the simple thing that can make a massive difference. And if you were down there any morning and seeing the people that use that facility, it's amazing. Great in any town and any community. Well, the best of luck with the draw for five good, well, four good reasons under United to one then to buy a ticket. So the tickets are available from any club member, I presume. Yeah, unfortunately, probably people's tired. We're not been knocking the doors, John. Every night, there's cars hitting out. And I really appreciate and thank people for their tolerance. We knock on doors. We set seal about half six. It has to be done. It has to be done. We're shopping centers, shops have been very good, the community. So if we're out and about, bear with us. Thank you for your support. Our patients, we have about three weeks leading to the draw, which is on the 30th of December. OK. Our four weeks really leading. So bear with us and we really appreciate your support. And as Joe says, the Christmas gift seems to be a real winner. And on Saturday, a farmer on the way from the market walked in and bought seven tickets. He said they're going to his family. And we talked about the price of cattle and different things. As he walked out, Dory turns and says, give me another three. That'll cover my cousins on the way home this evening. So only in more visitors like that. I said to him, have you any more cousins or nephews? That's great. That's great. On that, John, the tickets you can buy the tickets online at www.milfordgadraw.ie. OK, Milfordgadraw.ie. Yeah. And do we have one to give away? Yeah. All right. We have five to give away. Five to give away. You're being extra generous. Well, that is brilliant. So a question. And unless you boys have one, how about the there's two secondary schools in Milford, Loretta was one. What is the name of the other one? So 086, 60, 25,000. Zero. Not asking you, Joe. It's OK. You're looking at me like I'd pose the question directly to you there. There's two secondary schools in Milford, Loretta was one. What is the name of the other one? And 086, 60, 25,000. But your own name and where you're from with your entry for a chance to win one of those tickets with five prizes. The top one being a BMW 330 M Sport. That is worth 60 grand. And then there's a holiday voucher from Globe Travel and two nights stay in the Ivy Garden Hotel in Dublin and 500 Euro and spending money. Fourth prize, two nights stay at Downing's Hotel and four green fees for Port Salon Golf Club. And finally, two tickets to a man United home game and an overnight stay in a hotel in Manchester. 086, 60, 25,000. Good luck with the development, gentlemen, and good luck with the draw. Thank you, Joe. Thanks very much.


The cavalcade of America presented by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight we announce with pride that the Secretary of the Navy has awarded to the DuPont Company the coveted Navy E for excellence, being one of 14 American companies so honored for outstanding production of materials for national defense. This award so eagerly sought by officers and men of the American Navy is another indication of the all-out spirit of the men and women of DuPont in working toward a goal which has become the common objective of the American people. And now we bring you our play for tonight. A story of Clifford Holland, the great tunnel builder. Our drama written by Robert Talman stars William Johnstone of the cavalcade players in the title role. Our orchestra and the original musical score are under the direction of Don Buries. DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, presents William Johnstone as Clifford Holland on the cavalcade of America. Battery Place Manhattan, a few years after the turn of the century. A horse-drawn ambulance careens around the corner and draws up before a little crowd of people. All right, let me through here. Let me through please. Is this the patient's office? This is him, doctor. Good alcoholism, huh? Down here we call it the blind stag is that. A little dizzy, that's all. Be all right in just a moment. Let me along. You better come along, get sobered up. A little hospital treatment won't do you any harm. No, no, hospitals all wrong. Mr. Holland says never let them take you to the hospital. It's the hospital of the clink for you, Mike. So you better go along in the ambulance. I'll help you get him in there tonight. I'll take his feet. Here we go. Just a minute. Just a minute there. Now what? Where are you taking this man? To the hospital, Mr. Holland. To the street from this condition? A hospital is the worst place you could take him. You think he's drunk, don't you? Thank you, Dr. Holland. Listen, Mr. Holland. Well, he's not drunk. Just smell his breath. Say, I guess he isn't at that. You a friend of the stag? Mr. Holland is one of the engineers on the new tunnel over there. Yes, you see, doctor, this man works for us as a sandhog, a compressed air worker. He's suffering from one of the forms of case on disease, the staggers. The staggers, that's it. You tell him, Mr. Holland. Anyway, you mustn't take him to a hospital. You'll see that he gets the proper treatment. But I can't turn an ambulance case over to you. Not even if it means the difference between life and death. I don't get it. There's only one treatment for what ails this man. He's got to be taken to the tunnel and put back under the compressed air for a while. Are you sure, then? If it's anything about tunnels, you can trust Mr. Holland, doctor. Okay, okay. But the responsibility of not going to the hospital is his. Not mine and not yours, Mr. Holland. I understand, doctor. Thank you. George, we'll be out of these staggers in no time. Much better. And keep your head clear. Hold your nose and force the air back to your airdrums, remember? Yeah. Yeah, my head's clear and I'm fine. What happened anyway? Something that's not going to happen again on this job. Not if I can help it, Mike. Well, Holland, I simply can't do it. The way things are going now, I'll be lucky if I break even on my part of this job. Then you shouldn't have ended such a low bid. You're not building a post office, you know? You're helping to build a tunnel under a river with men working under a pressure equal to three atmospheres. You should be prepared for anything. May I help it if my competitors are optimists? There's another word for that kind of optimism. And the word is criminal. That's a pretty harsh way of putting it, Holland. But it's the truth. You knew what you were doing. The last East River tunnel was an example. 3,692 cases of the bends. 20 dead that we know of. No one knows how many crippled or incapacitated for life. These men know what they're doing when they take tunnel job. That's not the point. When you contracted to do this job, you took somewhere between 500 and 1,000 human lives into your hands. If you don't believe that, where will the state start billing you for workman's compensation? That'll be plenty at the present rate. Compensation is something the politicians understand. This plan of yours, four shifts a day, rest periods, three hours. The men will spend half their working time going on and off the job, sitting in those compression chains. And they should. It's the only guarantee against the bends and the staggers and all the other horrors that doctors are pleased to call case on disease. I thought you were an engineer, Holland. You're talking like a social reformer. I'm an engineer, all right. That's why I hate to see waste in any form. Well, you're new to this work. You'll get used to it.  That, my boy, is exactly the case. I refuse. Howdy, Mr. Holland. How are you, Pat? Mr. Martha, Mr. Holland. You look all in. Little tired, it's all left. Mr. Holland, come on down here. I want you to meet a guy. Oh, yeah, Mike. Glad to see you, Mike. How's it going? Well, if I get the staggers tonight, it'll be from good ride. Well, you better take it easy. Where's this guy you wanted me to meet? Oh, all right here. Timmy Ryan meets Mr. Holland, my boss. Timmy's just visiting. He's a fan-hawk with a Brooklyn crew. Well, glad to meet you, Ryan. How are things going on your side? Away ahead of your crew, Mr. Holland. What about the men? Many cases of the bends? What kind of a tunnel guy do you call this, Mike? We don't talk about them things, Mr. Holland. Sorry, but maybe you ought to talk about it. I said we don't talk about them things, Mr. Holland. You heard me that time, didn't you? Now, listen to him, Ryan.  You're talking to a friend of mine. Keep a civil tongue in your head. Mr. Holland wants to talk about the bends, and we talk about the bends. Okay, you asked for it. But now I'm going to let you have it. Listen, take it easy, Ryan. Let me at him. No, Chief New York Sandhawks is going to tell me how to be polite. Break it up, you fellows. I don't want no trouble in this guy. You want him to talk to you? Come outside if you're so anxious to fight. I wouldn't want to shock Mr. Holland. I can see he's a college man.  I like a guy with plenty of scrap in him. That's why I think we'd better understand each other right now. Hold these specs in mind a minute, will you, Mike? What are you going to do, Mr. Holland? I want to show your cousin a little something I learned at home. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! What happened? Yeah. Let me give you a hand. Say, Mr. Holland, what else did I teach you in college? All right, boys. This one's on me. Mr. Holland, sir. Oh, yes, yeah. I'm on your hand. Mr. MacMillan sent me over to look for you, sir. I just came off the job. Anything wrong? Everything's wrong, sir. The whole shield's flooded. But what about the men? We all got out in time. Pump's working? Yes, sir, but she floods in fast so we can pump it out. Well, did you try grouting and bagging the leak? We tried everything. Nothing does any good. Say that change for me, Joe. I've got a rush. What are you going to do, Mr. Holland? I don't know, Mike. This is something they didn't teach me at Harvard. Yes, sir. I've just been down there. Well, what are we going to do? We'll have to increase the air pressure to at least 48 pounds. And we'll finish the whole crew, Holland.  Custom them slowly to the pressure. Work them in 30-minute shifts. And increase our labor costs six times. Yes. Yes, it will. You're sure this plan of yours will work? Absolutely. All right, Holland. You win. Have it your way. But believe me, if it doesn't work, it was your idea, Mr. Not Mine. We're going to examine the old figure. What? What's the big idea? I got no hard trouble. Mr. Holland said you got to. Well, then it must be OK. Well, Doc. You'll do. Thanks. And no, not him, Doctor. What's the matter with me?  I'm a hard worker. I know.  For some reason, a stout man is more susceptible to the bends. It's a matter of the nitrogen in the bloodstream. And what's that? All right, it's a gas. It blows you up, like. Oh! OK, Doctor. Are these other men all right? Sounds good to me. OK, come along. Now, for the benefit of you and no men, we go into the airlock now.  Can we smoke? You can try.  Well, that's what a cigarette does under pressure. Like that. OK, here we go. Holland. Yes?  All set now, Mr. Holland. Good. Now, you no men, just watch the others. You'll notice that they hold their noses to force the air back to their air drums. That relieves the pressure on the sinuses, too. Otherwise, your head may get blocked. And I can assure you that's very painful. All right, O'Rourke, turn the bell. All right. Any of you feel any discomfort yet? This is nothing, Mr. Holland. Shall I speed it up? Wait, Mike, wait. This new fellow over here isn't taking you so well. Cut it for a second. All right. You all right? You want to go through with the fellow? Sure. I'm all right. It's better now. Oh, fine. Now, I want you all to watch your reactions carefully from now on. We're getting up to the really high pressure. You better count it off on the gauge there, Mike. All right, here goes. 35, 7, 8, 9, 40. Just stop a second. What? Hold it. Yeah. All right. Go on now. 42, 5, 8. Okay, cut it. Well, how do you feel? I feel swell. Like I had a shell of straight brandy. Well, that's what we've got to look out for. Your bodies are getting several times the normal amount of oxygen. It makes you feel peppy, but your energy burns out sooner. So I want you to let me know the minute you feel the slightest fatigue. Is that understood? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right. Let's get to the job. Go, Mendele, listen very carefully, please. This is the shield. It's been out of operation for a while, so you don't see it under actual operating conditions. These are the hydraulic jacks. They push the shield forward through the muck. The muck comes through these openings like toothpaste coming out of a tube. Now, your job is to clean it away and load it on these cars and keep out of the way of that big crane when they start pulling the new steel sections into place. Well, I guess that's all. Mr. Holland, here is my informant. Do you think I have the right to shovel away the purse of the muck? Sure, I guess so. Why do you want it, Mike? I don't know. I figure there have been so many changes on the job. It's like starting all over again. It's like something they might write in the book. How's it going, Mike? All right. Fine, Mr. Holland. That's fine. Good. You boys all feel all right? All right, Mr. Holland. This is fine. This is cinch. All right, I think you better go up and tell the other ship to get ready. It's probably about as long as we should stay under this pressure. You feel punk too, Mr. Holland? Yeah. In fact, I think I'm coming with you. Well, Mr. Holland, it looks like your plan was working out. Yes. How do you feel now, Mike? I'm tired and chilly. You always do when you're coming out of that air in there. Just tired and chilly, huh? Yeah, that's all. We're back in God's air again, Mr. Holland. How's about something to eat? Sure. Where are we going? All right. You know a little Italian place. Right up on Nassar Street. Mike, Mr. Holland, what is it? I don't know. I feel like I was being stabbed at all my time. Let me go. Just keep loud. It must be... Yeah. I'm afraid it's a fence, Mike. I guess my little plan didn't work out so well after all.  Chances of a thing like that happening again are very slight. Oh, so it is, isn't it? And how about my own nephew, Timmy Ryan, who's been struck with a Benz and Fulton Street on his day off only last week? Well, there are still isolated cases. And what do you think you're smart, Mr. Holland, when he found out Timmy had been took to the hospital? What did he do? Well, he comes over there and gives the doctors the cussing out and takes Timmy back into that foul pressure lock that caused all his troubles to begin with. Well, I better look into this. Holland? Yes, what is it? Come into my office, will you? Right away, sir. Oh, I'm telling you, if that man comes in here, I'll not be responsible for my action. Well, calm yourself, Mrs. O'Rourke. At least wait till you hear what he has to say. Oh, he must put my Michael in a hospital bed. You want to see me, sir? Yes, come in, Holland. This is Mrs. O'Rourke. Oh, you're Mike's mother, aren't you? Well, this is a pleasure. The pleasure is your own, Mr. Holland. I'm at the hospital. I'm putting him in the air lock. That's our standard procedure now. First, I heard of it. Your nephew's responding very well, Mrs. O'Rourke. In fact, it's a very interesting case.  No, Mrs. O'Rourke. There's one important difference between Timmy and a guinea pig. Timmy has a will of his own. He chose to leave the hospital. You mean you talked him into it with your big sound and talk? Well, I can talk big too, Mr. Holland. And the assemblyman in my district says if I want to talk big enough, I can put the lot of you in jail for what you're tunneled under Michael O'Rourke and the others. I don't doubt that you can, Mrs. O'Rourke. But what about Mike? Would he want you to? Maybe not for that. Don't change what you've done to him and the others as I see it. I can see it, doesn't it? But it should, shouldn't it? What do you mean? Would you rather have Mike digging a ditch somewhere or doing something he thinks is important? Oh, you're trying to get me mixed up. No, I'm not. But why? Why does it have to be like this, Mr. Holland? Why can't people be safe and live their lives? Oh, it's men like you that cause all the trouble in the world. People was just as happy without a tunnel. Why do you do it? If I knew the answer to that question, Mrs. O'Rourke, I wouldn't be building a tunnel. I'd be sitting on a cloud telling the wind which way to blow. What a bad duty, sir. Mike, I knew you'd be back in the job before we hold through. Had with Tim Ryan me causing the tunnel, sir. Well, how's that? Tim and his bragging. Oh, his gang tunneling from Brooklyn was the head of our gang, tunneling from Manhattan. It ain't true, is it, Mr. Holland? Well, if it is, it won't be for long with you back in the job. Are you coming below, sir? Yes, I thought I'd have a look in. See how things are going. Come on, let's go. Oh, uh, find a way, Mike. Did they give you that bag you're supposed to carry? Yeah, oh, sure, sure, Tim. What's it all about? Well, read what it says on it. Compressed air worker. If this man is stricken with bends or staggers in the street, do not send him to a hospital. Send him at once to Brooklyn Tunnel Hospital Lock. I think that's a good idea, don't you? Yes, I do. That stands to reason. Say you've learned a lot of things since I've been gone, haven't you, Mr. Holland? Yes, Mike. I'm afraid we have. You bombed out of my way there. Mike O'Rourke's gonna bolt this section in place. Hey, when'd you get back? Never mind that. Hand me that lug, you lug. Here you are, Mike. Thank you kindly. Hey, Mike, look out. He's buckling there. It should be the big one, too. All right. Stay back from that opening, all of you. Keep quiet. What is it, Mike? I don't know, Mr. Holland. Tim, hand me a bag of that straw. Yeah. Here's the move, Mike. No use, Mr. Holland. Don't do no good.  Come down from there, Mike. Okay, I... We get a soft spot in the play. The air pressure on the shield must have made a perfect vent pipe to the bed of the river. Mike and the others sucked right into it. Hey, the poor guy. That means there won't be no tunnel, Mr. Holland? Yes, yes. No, no, no. There'll be a tunnel. I guess we can stop that hole by dumping a clay blanket on the barge on top. Right now, I'm not thinking about the tunnel. I'm thinking of those men. Funny. I've been looking forward to holding through for weeks. Now that the day is here, my heart's not in it. Yeah, I guess I know what you're thinking. Mike and the other boys. Yeah. Well, I guess we may as well go on below. All right. Hey, Mr. Holland. Wait for me. Mike! You didn't think you were going to hold through without me now, did you, Mr. Holland? But you're dead. You can't be Mike. Dead I was or so I thought, sir. But what happened? Come on, tell us. Well, when I left you fellows, I didn't know anything more than a little zingo. I popped like a cork up through the water. Might you near scare the crew of Jersey Colbarge out of their wits? What way have you been since then, Mike? Well, I wouldn't want it known generally, Mr. Holland, but I've been in the kind of nut house over in Jersey. Trying to convince a gang of doctors that I'm not crazy, but I really did pop out of the river bed. I hate to see it in your face, but this is the first time I was ever glad to see a relative from Brooklyn. Clifford Milburn Holland had achieved in his lifetime what engineers had been attempting since Ralph Dodd planned the world's first sub-aqueous tunnel under the Thames River in 1798. But Clifford Holland's greatest monument is not any of the six great tunnels built under his guidance or even the amazing Hudson River tunnel which bears his name, but rather the medical report on the construction of his last tunnel completed the year he died at the age of 41. Of the 2,500 sand hogs who drove the famed Holland Tunnel through to completion, not one met death due to compressed air. The Cavalcade of America thanks William Johnstone and the Cavalcade players for their performance of the story of Clifford Holland. In addition to his great contribution to the safety of men on the job, one of Holland's achievements was greater mechanical speed in the assembling of tunnel segments made possible by an automatic ratchet which he himself perfected. Today both safety and speed are of vital importance in all aspects of national defense and in the field of production science is playing a major role. Now in our story of chemistry at work in our world we're going to tell you about a new explosive rivet that is speeding up airplane construction. A rivet is a pin that clamps two sheets of metal together. It may be large like the white hot steel rivets used in putting up a structural steel building or it may be smaller than the tip of your little finger. These small rivets made of aluminum alloy are what are used to fasten an airplane together. Here is good news of a startling innovation. An explosive rivet perfected by Dupont is speeding up American aircraft production today. Now being manufactured in commercial quantities this rivet is of an entirely new type. A small charge of high explosive is locked away in a hollow at the end of the shank. Applied to the head of the rivet by a specially designed electric gun detonates the charge. The explosion expands the charged end of the shank and forms a blind head setting the rivet. Numerous safety tests have shown that these rivets in the hands of trained operators are very safe to handle and may be used without fear of injury. Airplanes of all metal construction require some 40,000 to 500,000 rivets per plane according to size. This riveting job is one of the most exacting and tedious confronting plane builders. For example, the new B-19 Douglas bomber, the largest ship of its kind ever built has something like 3 million rivets. Gang riveting machines, automatic hole punching and rivet driving devices and high amperage spot welding are used wherever they can be but by and large these shortcuts can be used only in places that allow access to both sides. And engineers estimate that from 800 fastening points to a metal pursuit plane to as many as 10,000 and the largest all metal bomber are accessible from one side alone. Here is one place where Dupont's explosive rivets are widening the bottleneck. At the Glenel Martin plant in Baltimore where America's new B-26 medium bombers are made, riveters simply insert a rivet into a hole and touch it with a tip of a Dupont riveting iron. Installation time has been cut to a few seconds. A man can seat 15 to 20 of the new rivets in one minute and so accurate is the explosive charge that expansion of the shank may be controlled within 20,000 of an inch, meeting the exacting demands of American precision manufacture. An additional advantage is that the new rivets weigh only one quarter as much as the old blind fasteners that were used in tight corners where riveting from one side was necessary. In supplying plane producers with explosive rivets a major problem has been solved by the men who bring you in the words of the Dupont pledge better things for better living through chemistry. And now a word about next week's program. Next week, Cavalcade stars Agnes Morehead in the role of Josephine Baker, the great living American woman doctor. Her work in establishing public health clinics and care for children forms a stirring chapter in American medical history. In our weekly story of chemistry at work in our world we will tell you about man-made spinarets that spin delicate fibers that make lovely fabrics possible. Fabrics made from American raw materials right here at home. We hope you'll listen at this same time next week when Dupont again presents the Cavalcade of America. Cavalcade wishes to thank officials of the Port of New York authority for their generous assistance in the technical preparation and direction of this program. On the Cavalcade of America your announcer is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from Dupont. This is the red network of the National Broadcasting Company.


So I just got some really bad news about my leg. I am a below the knee amputee, meaning I rely on a prosthetic leg right here to be able to walk. And my leg is having major issues internally that are probably going to require surgery and it's just really painful. So I probably won't be able to walk for the weeks leading up to surgery, at least reliably. And when I heard that, I was like, that, that can't happen. That can't be the case because I have to be able to walk. I live on my own. I have a dog. My house is not accessible. I don't have a wheelchair right now. You don't understand this can't happen. And then my mind went to all of the things that I won't be able to do it that I can't do. I won't be able to survive this even though I know I will. But I was able to pause myself for a moment, breathe and think about getting through the next 10 seconds and realize that I've done hard things before and I'll do them again. It doesn't mean it's going to be comfortable or easy, but all of the envisioned scenarios that seem impossible, once they're put into reality, I will find a way through them. I'm still not happy or thrilled about it, but realizing I'm just going to take it step by step, do what I can. And I will find a way through this, help me to kind of breathe and get through the next moment.


5 Reasons Why You Should Teach English and Role Japan Japan is full of vibrant, world famous cities that many people dream of living and working in. However, when I first decided to become an English teacher in Japan, I never held such a dream. I am an introvert who prefers quiet spaces, and being close to nature is especially important for me. This is why when my goal of teaching English in Japan came true, I was ecstatic that I could find a place to work in the Inukka, countryside. Japan's Inukka is full of small, rural towns and reasonably populated, but little-known cities. My living and working situation is in the latter. Since moving here, my little rural city has been everything I hoped it would be and more. Aside from my personal preferences I've noticed that there are several advantages to living in Japan's countryside rather than its larger urban centers. If you're considering teaching English in Japan, here are 5 reasons I can give you from my experiences as to why teaching in rural Japan is worth considering. 1. Smaller Towns Have Cheaper Rent After hearing that friends of friends who lived in Tokyo were spending most of their paycheck on rent, I did a quick search of apartment prices in Tokyo. The first results I found advertised one-room apartments for as much as 100,000 yen a month, about 1,000 US dollars. However, when I switched my search from Tokyo to prefectures like Gunma, Hokkaido, and Miyazaki, I found apartments that were the same size or bigger asking for half of that price. Quick notes from people around me have always confirmed trends like this. As a general rule, the further you live away from urban centers, Tokyo especially, the cheaper your living expenses can be. Additionally, you don't have to be intimidated by apartment hunting in rural areas because resources exist to help foreign residents find housing. In my case, the education program I work for provided me with housing. In cases where you might be on your own, online search engines and support systems such as Gaijin Pot Housing Service exist to help foreigners through the renting process. In short, if you're hoping to save money on living expenses, searching in rural areas could be a good option. 2. Fewer People, Fewer Crowds During my last spring vacation, my mom and I made plans to experience cherry blossom viewing. This is one of the most lively times of the year in Japan, and as we discovered, one's experience of it can be completely different depending on where you spend it. Since this was my mom's first time in Japan, we made a stop in Kyoto. The cherry blossoms were close to their peak bloom, and seeing them against the backdrop of one of Japan's old capitals was spectacular. Once you ignore the crowds, of course. Where we went in Kyoto we constantly brushed shoulders with strangers. In the worst cases, trying to move felt like wading through a river. This didn't stop us from having a good time, but the crowds were constant nagging. A few days later, my mom and I found ourselves on the other side of the country in Shimein prefecture. For cherry blossom viewing in western Japan, we stopped at Matsu Castle, Matsu City's most iconic tourist spot. Many people gathered to see the flowers in Matsu, but the environment was completely different from Kyoto. Several families had picnics on the castle lawns, but there was enough space for kids to run around and play. People bustled around the walkways, but each of us had our own bubble of personal space. My mom and I could walk wherever we wanted without fighting a crowd, and the atmosphere was noticeably quieter. In short, Matsu Castle was a stunning and popular spot, but the crowds there were nothing close to the mad gatherings in Kyoto. Outside of annual events it isn't likely you'll encounter overwhelming crowds in rural Japan. This makes daily life and weekend travel a whole lot comr. 3. The market for English is everywhere. In order to enter high school or university every student in Japan is required to pass entrance exams. English is always included on these exams. This testing environment coupled with increasing numbers of foreign tourists creates a strong need for English proficiency all over the country. In other words, English teachers can find jobs anywhere in Japan. Student sponsored education programs, private education programs, and Akewa, privately owned English tutoring centers, have a strong presence in every prefecture. Each of these employment options has different benefits, and with just a little research you can undoubtedly find a job opportunity that fits your needs and experiences in a location that fits your personality. 4. Your presence can have a big impact. In areas that are tourist hotspots, it is likely that students have many opportunities to interact with people from different countries. This often isn't the case in rural areas. For this reason, your presence as a foreign teacher has the potential to make a big impact with your students and your community. In a rural area, you may be one of the only foreign people your community will have the chance to spend an extended period of time with. This makes you a cultural ambassador as well as a language teacher, which is especially important going into the future. By 2020, Japan will implement new national English education requirements. These will require schools to begin formal English education from the fifth year of elementary school. Measures like these aim to increase Japan's ability to be active in an increasingly globalized society. Alongside such efforts there are many things foreign teachers can add to English curriculums, especially in communities that seem to be far from the rest of the world. For example, Japanese textbooks mainly teach standard American English, and a teacher who uses any dialect other than this one is in a unique position to introduce students to the diversity of the English language. Also, your knowledge of conversational English is incredibly valuable since this is something that can be difficult to teach through textbooks. Any language or cultural knowledge you bring with you to Japan can turn into a teachable moment. This will have an effect on your students however small. 5. You may discover a hidden gem. As repeat visitors to Japan often realize, this island nation is full of well-kept secrets. Many fantastic travel destinations are simply out shown, but moving to Japan can be an excellent opportunity to discover a new side of Japan you wouldn't have otherwise seen. This is exactly what happened to me when I moved to Japan. I joined a government sponsored education group called the Jet Program. Jet applicants can request certain prefectures they would like to be placed in, but they may not receive one of their choices. In my case, I was placed in Chimaine, a rural prefecture that I didn't request and had never heard of. However, this ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me. I am a major mythology and history buff, and this prefecture I had never heard of turned out to be Japan's hub of mythology and ancient history. On top of that, my community can't be beat. My co-workers and neighbors are all friendly, helpful, and often go out of their way to invite me to community events. My friends and various other rural prefectures have recounted similar stories. Even if the place you live in Japan is completely unfamiliar to you, it can quickly become an element of home. When are you heading to Japan? If you consider living in rural Japan for no other reason, consider this one. Living in a foreign country is a valuable, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and my own experience has taught me that venturing some place new makes everything all the more special. Speak with an ITTT advisor today to put together your personal plan for teaching English abroad. Send us an email or call us toll-free at 1-800-490-0531 to speak with an ITTT advisor today.