Welcome to Inside Leather History, a fireside chat. I'm Doug O'Keefe, producer and host of the chats, and today my guest is Goddess Moon O'Neill in California, Los Angeles area. What exact town are you in, suburb? I am in Orange County. Oh, behind the Orange Curtain, or so I've heard. Yes. I am in the Red County of the Blue State. Got it. Okay. So Goddess Moon, tell me a little bit about where you're from and a bit about your family. I am originally from Baltimore, Maryland. I was born into a West Indian family from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago. My mother is from there. My father is from Durham, North Carolina.  But yeah, I was born in the summer of 79 and had a pretty good childhood for the most part, you know, grew up within the West Indian culture and community. And so it was a very good life, but a very sheltered life. I didn't really realize how sheltered I was until we moved to California and it was like, oh, this is how the rest of the world lived. Okay. Well, building on that a little bit, when we were preparing for this interview, you said that you at some point came to terms with not having grown up in a traditional American black household. What does that mean? Well, like I said, I didn't realize how sheltered I was until I came to California because I grew up within the West Indian, the Trinidad culture and life.  My house was a house everybody went to for Thanksgiving and Christmas, you know, I lived across the street from a Roman Catholic church, which is where I was raised, the faith I was raised in and opened my front door and there's the door to the church. Like I didn't get away from it. The way that I was raised, the culture I was raised in was very different from a traditional black American household. Color and race is not a thing within the Caribbean culture, at least the one that I grew up in. It's a classism than race. We're more about what's in your bank account and what you can afford and your children going to the best schools and things like that.  I didn't learn until I was pretty much an adult that my grandmother was born a slave. So slavery as a part of my identity was not a thing.  And it was part of a random conversation the adults were having. And us younger kids were like, back up, what? How come we didn't know about this? They're like, oh, we never told you? Well, it's a thing. And I'm just like, okay. So it was, you know, it was a fact. It was a thing.  But you also lived in Trinidad at a very tumultuous time. Yes. When I was, so my mother and I moved to California when I was about seven, eight years old in that transitional time was rough, you know, spent a lot of time sleeping on floors or couches while we, while she was trying to, you know, get situated and get stable. And so she decided to send me to Trinidad to live with some family because I would have more stability there than with her at the time and she could work on getting herself stable for me to come back and live with her. And also their education is higher than ours, you know, and things like that. That's what she wanted. She wanted me to have a good education. And so I moved to Trinidad to live with an aunt of mine. And while there, they had a coup. And the Muslims led by Abu Bakr decided that they did not like the current government and decided to take it over. Um, they very much didn't have the security that even we had back then. Um, we're talking like 1990, 89, 90, you know, nobody could just walk in the White House at that point. They had stopped that. Um, but you could walk in, you know, their version of the White House was the Southern White House. And the, the president was having a meeting with some people and they walked in and took it over. And yeah, that was a very, very interesting time for me, you know, being this tiny little American child who has never been through something like that or anything even remotely close to it. It definitely left an impression on me. How long did this last? Um, I believe it lasted for like a month or two. Okay. Okay. But as like, you know, an eight year old, it seems like forever. You mentioned PTSD. What, how had that affected you? When it comes to conflicts and especially political conflicts, I would rather just not be a part of it. Um, that definitely is a, is a stress trigger for me. Um, large crowds, I don't go to, you know, marches and rallies and things like that as much as I would love to, because I, I do think of myself as an activist. Um, I just can't, you know, I just, it, it is a physical response to, to, you know, the possibility of violence. And I would just rather not be in that situation. And also I, I'm not really sure what my response, what my body's response would be. Should I go to a march or a rally and things turn violent? And so I just don't put myself in a situation. Um, like I said, I've not been back to the island since coming home from living there. Um, it gives me anxiety just to think about going back. Um, and I am working with my therapist on that just because I, I, not to say that I'm planning on going back to the island, but I would grab, I want to work through the triggers and things like that and try to work through all of that. But yeah, it's definitely, it definitely left an impression on me. Coming back to, uh, Baltimore in the 60s, you mentioned that, uh, things happen to your father as a result of, uh, racial tensions in Baltimore at that time. Talk with us a little bit about that. So my father was, um, actually not in Baltimore. It was in a dorm North Carolina, where he lived, um, you know, the dirty South, uh, where racial tensions were a lot higher than they were in Baltimore. Let me tell you, um, but my father, you know, was just doing his thing, going about life and two Caucasian gentlemen, um, were on the same path as him, but going opposite ways. And back then it was very much, um, understood that if you are a person of color and someone of non color is walking on the same sidewalk, you would move on to the street. And for whatever reason, my father decided he was not going to, and, uh, there was a confrontation, there were words. Uh, one of the gentlemen spit on him, another pulled out a knife. And the ending up of that was my father went to jail for murder. Because the gentleman who pulled the knife, my dad took it away and, you know, there, uh, somebody did not make it out alive. And that was not my father. Um, and, you know, somehow, some way they were able to get him out. He didn't serve a lot of time for it.  And I was like, why don't you people tell us that? They're like, because they're, it's number one, it's that person's story. And number two, it's not, it's not a defining moment in their life.  They don't, you know, they don't make it a statement. And I was like, okay, fine. I understand part of that, but still, y'all need to tell us things.  Yes. But for them, it's like, eh, it happened, we survived, move on. But it brings us back a little bit to your grandmother. You mentioned a little bit ago having been a slave. You, you did mention she brought some very fine life smarts to you. Tell us a little bit about what she taught you. I learned, I didn't have my grandmother for a lot of my lives. I did have, but I did, I do remember, you know, just having someone there who taught me to not let the negative in life affect who I'm going to be as a person.  But you know, it was born a slave, worked as a long dress for the jail, you know, had eight children. Okay.  And so during, especially during the time when my mom was born, we were in the middle of World War II. So she had to take care of all of her kids by herself while her husband's all fighting a war. Not sure if he's going to come home, you know, she, she had to make do with what was available and what she could afford to have in order to make sure that her children were fed, were clothed, were, you know, all of these things and make, you know, during that time, there were off the rack clothes, but most of your clothes you made. So, you know, she's also having to deal with that and having children who are school age and having to make uniforms and, you know, all of that stuff. Like she never, she never made us feel less than she never made anyone feel less than she always wanted those around to feel equal. You know, anybody come to the house, there, she might not be able to give you money, but you would get food. Always make sure there's a pot of food on your stove for when somebody comes, you can at least feed them.  And also, she wasn't one for, for playing games. Like if she said something, she meant it and that was it. A story that my mom had told me that I remembered because I was talking to a friend of mine. My mom, if you said you were going from home to point B, you better go to point B. If you're leaving point B to go to point C, you better tell it because if you go to point C and something happened, she doesn't want to hear about it. And my mom had told her that she was going to one location with some friends and they never went to that location. They went to another location. And on the way home, everybody, including the driver fell asleep in the car and it tumbled off the road into her ravine. My mother broke every bone in her body, including her neck. Oh, she survived though, but she was hurt and was taken to the hospital. They called my grandmother to let her know. My grandmother was like, where was she? Okay. And hung up the phone. My aunts and them found out what happened and they went to visit my mom in the hospital, you know, bring her clothes and food and help her, you know, during her recovery. My grandmother never stepped foot in the hospital. Oh my God. Not a day. But that's the person she was. You did not, you lied to her. And as a result of that, you hurt yourself. Well, fix yourself. I didn't tell you to go there.   Tell us a little bit about that. That was an absolute culture shock because, like I said, I grew up within the West Indian culture. There were West Indians all around me. There were, you know, Americans and different other cultures, but I grew up heavily in the West Indian culture and the West Indian mindset. So coming to California. What is that mindset? What is that? It's a very laid back mindset, but it's also a very family centered, family oriented mindset. We have, you know, traditions and rules and things like that that are very different from Americans. When you go to somebody's house, you basically kind of don't do anything unless they tell you to.  You need to go to the bathroom. You ask. You want something to drink or eat. You ask.  If they, you know, invite you into their bedroom because you're having a conversation and they need to like, you know, change clothes and stuff like that, which friends do a lot of time. You would go into the bedroom, but you just stand over in a corner. You never sit on anybody's bed. Shoes do not go on beds. Shoes do not go on anything but the floor.   Hats don't go on tables. It's there's a lot of traditions and superstitions, the things like that, that's just part of everything. Like, yeah, uh, and it's, and it's interesting because. And also, you don't just go over to somebody's house. You have to be invited to their house. Doesn't matter how long you've known that you don't just show up at someone's house. You have to be invited. Uh, a friend of mine who's also, uh, from a West Indian culture, we knew each other for a good two years before the first time I went in our house and a good portion of that time, we used to spend outside in one of our cars out front of her house, just chilling and talking. Wow. And her front doors right there, but we never went in. It was just, that's our culture. That's how we do things. And it never crossed my mind that it was weird or strange. It was, it's just what we do. Yeah. You know, so coming to California and, you know, when we moved, we moved, we first, uh, moved to Fullerton and the neighborhood we lived in, there were a lot of kids, so there were a lot of kids around and everything else. And I remember the first time one of the kids came to our front door and our front door was open and we had like a little gate, metal gate thing. And it was closed, but not locked. And he literally just like walked in the house and was like, Hey, can you come play? And I'm like, what are you doing in my, get out of my, and he was like, what's wrong? And I'm like, no knock, no, can I come in?  We don't hang out with these people. I was like, why can't I talk to them? Oh, because they're so himself. And I'm like, and I don't get it. Like, but I don't get it. Like, you know, did they do something to you? Well, no. Then why am I not talking to them? Those kind of things like never made sense to me.  That was another thing for me, because like I said, my family, our skin tone runs the full gamut of skin tones that are available.  And they weren't mixing. And then you may have like a small cluster of kids over here who, you know, they were all different and they were mixing, but nobody else mixed with them because they were the weird group, like, and I usually mixed with the weird group because I was like, I'm just going to hang out with people who are cool. And we'll talk to them.  But that was a definite culture shock. And I asked my mom and she was like, well, you know, some people are like that. I hope you're not like that. I didn't raise you to be like that. But, you know, if people are like that, just leave them alone. And my mom came to that kind of way because my mom moved, moved to America in the 60s during the civil rights movement, you know, she was, she came, she started out as a nanny for a lawyer. And then he helped sponsor her and then she went to nursing school and worked as a nurse and was working as a nurse in Baltimore when Martin was, the king was assassinated. Okay. So she went through all of that, you know, but like again, like my family, I didn't learn about this until I was older, you know, I was like, why y'all need to tell us things like this is information I need to know. That's fascinating to me.  It's what you went through. I'm like, yes, but it's life. That's fascinating, you know, and I, and I wish that as the younger generation, we knew that the older generation has stories and we just need to ask them to get those stories. Because, you know, as the younger generation, we kind of expect our older generation just to tell us things. And, and then, you know, that person passes away and all of those stories are gone. And then the rest, the rest of the family is like, oh, yeah, well, you know, grandma used to tell us about this or that. And you're like, tell me more. They're like, I don't really remember. And you're like, why didn't I even know to ask? So that's the thing that I definitely, you know, I'm thankful that when I did hear stories, I would ask, but I would get information, but I really wish that I knew more and that the older generation would just, you know, set us down and tell us the story. Yeah, because some of us really want to know. Was there anything that really stands out for you? One of the things that my mom during the time right after Martin Luther King was assassinated was she was working as a nurse and they were kind of put on security. Like they, if they were working three days on, they worked and lived at the hospital for those three days. Oh, they didn't do the back and forth like everybody else does. They went, they did their three days and then they went home and they were transported by police for safety. Yeah, because, you know, businesses were being destroyed like Baltimore burned when Martin Luther King was assassinated. And that's where she was living at the time.  Please don't destroy it. You know, she definitely, you know, dealt with the, you know, she she had to deal with some of the racial issues of that time. When she was back when she was a nanny, she was, you know, a part of the group where, and there are pictures of it. And when I saw pictures of it, I was flabbergasted of, you know, the white woman would go into the store and the black nannies would or the health would be standing outside waiting because they weren't allowed in the store. My mother went through that, you know, stories like that. And I'm just like, that is insane. Yeah. And also the the it made sense to me because heck, heck company, which is a company that used to be back on the East Coast. I don't know the the conversion of whatever store they are today, but my mom never set foot in the stores because they were one of the last businesses to segregate, to integrate. Sorry. Oh, it's yes. They were one of the last business after, you know, segregation was abolished. They were one of the last stores to integrate. And my mom was like, I don't need their business. They don't need mine. She never stepped foot in their stores. And so, you know, it kind of puts perspective on that thing for you. You know, my we we had several of my cousins who graduated high school and wanted to go to universities. They came and lived with us while they went to university. And one of my cousins did very well in school and graduated first in her class or was graduating first in her class. And then the university contacted her and let her know that there had been a mistake in the record. And a dawn person of color had had actually made two points more than she did. And so she would not be graduating valedictorian. And my mother was very much I don't think so. And so my mother called the NAACP and the ACLU and somewhere I do not know who has a picture. If anybody has the picture because it was used to hang up in our house. There was a picture of my mother and these two gentlemen standing in what looked like an office. And I saw it close to my childhood. And finally, I was one day I was like, who are they? And my mom was like, Oh, well, that's Jesse Jackson and that's Al Sharpton. Oh my gosh. And I was like, what are you doing? Because my mother's standing in between those two in this office. And she goes, well, and she told me the story. And she goes, so we went to the dean's office and basically made them show us the proof and they really couldn't. And so your cousin is the first black woman to graduate from the University of Maryland, Chapel Hill, valedictorian. Wow. I was like, okay, that. So that happened. And I was alive and I remember that there was some kind of something going on during that time. But nobody tells the children anything. Like, monumental historical events and you don't bother telling the child. If it was me, I'd be like, come here. Like, you know how she's been going to school? Well, she did very well. And so she came number one, but they're trying to take it away from her. So we're working to get her back her number one place. That's what I let the children do. That's what I let the child know that like, this is happening. Yeah. Because it frames the mind. It frames the story. Yes. And no, they waited until you're older or you're inquisitive and ask a question. And it's like, I love my family, but they're crazy. Yeah. But coming a few steps ahead now to the Leather King community, tell us about, I'm not sure how to pronounce it, O-C-L-A. And how did you discover that? I took a human sexuality class in college and the professor would have people come in to discuss or answer questions on the different topics. So like, when we talked about homosexuality, she had people from PFLAG and the college's Gay-Straight Alliance come in and talk. When we talked about porn, she had porn stars come in and talk to us. All the different topics that she was able to get people to come in who were living whatever we were talking about, she would have come in and then we got to King and she had members of the local community come in and basically what would happen is they would do like, everybody would have like five minutes to kind of go through like, this is how I got into King and you know, kind of thing, their spiel. And then we would have question and answer time and then we would take a break, come back, and then it would be show and tell where they would bring out some stories that they liked or that they used often enough or that they thought would be interesting to ask and they would talk about them. And one of the toys that was brought out was the electric splice water, the old one, the one that if you touched it, you got zapped. Yes. Not the new ones that saw it. So he brought it out and he was like, if you would like to try it, raise your hand and leave it up there. And so he went around and zapped everybody and when he got to me and he zapped me and I went, do it again. And he did and at the end of class, the teacher was like, there's some people you should meet. And that's how she introduced me to OCLA, which is the Orange County Lother Assembly. Okay. And I started taking classes and workshops. And this is back during the time and it sounds so weird to say because like, you think like, when you say like back during the time, it was like many, many years ago and things like that. But this is 1999 when this happened. But it was back when, you know, everybody had a steam name. Yes. And it's the goddess moon. Like everybody had a steam name. Those who didn't was like, okay. So you're the trailblazer, good for you. But like everybody had a steam name, you know, play parties and things like that were in people's homes.   You know, it took me a year and a half before I picked up a toy to do anything more than clean it and pack it. You know, I learned how to pack her toy bag.  I definitely learned service and I found that that is something that I'm into. I'm definitely, I'm a service bottom. I'm not submissive or slave. I just, I don't have it in me to be either of those things, but I'm definitely a bottom. I like things to be done to me and I'm definitely service. But I went through all of that. I went through it kind of how it was traditionally done. And then, you know, she started teaching me how to do things and it was like, you know, you start here and then you learn how to do this. You learn how to do this. You know, you work through it and at the end of it, I was gifted my leather boots and sent on my way because she was actually looking for a service submissive and I was not submissive. And so she was like, I don't have anything else to teach you. So I am sending you on your way into the world to do and learn and continue on your journey. And I will find somebody who works for me. And I was like, okay. So yeah, that's how I started back in 1999. All started from a human sexuality class and I started in the leather community. And it just happened to be that's where I started. I could have easily started in the kink, the more hetero kink community, but I started in the leather community in Orange County and kind of was very like, this is a cool thing, but it's not who I am. It's kind of what I'm doing and I'm kind of learning. And so I went through that. I think all of us do at the beginning. It's the, we find it and we're like, yay. And then, you know, we start, we hopefully find someone to mentor us and kind of guide us. But we all go through this period where we believe that kink is not, BDSM is not who we are. It's what we're doing. And so we can put it down and walk away and go about our lives. And we do and then we find ourselves back into it and then we walk away again. And some of us, you know, it's a once or twice. Some of us, you know, over 10 years of just going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.  And that's kind of what happened with me, but I was back and forth, back and forth. And then a friend of mine was working registration for Don Con and she'd been bugging me for a couple of years to come. I was like, I don't know, you're working. I don't know anybody else. And finally she was like, just come. And I was like, all right. So I went and it was, they had just moved to the LAX Hilton. And so I went and I had a good time, you know, took some classes, you know, walked around the vendor hall, but I was by myself. I didn't know anybody. The one person I knew was working, you know, she didn't have, you know, time to like hang out with me. And I was out front. I think it was day two, or it might have been the first day. I was out front of the hotel having a cigarette. And this woman, a very tiny statue, but very long, slowy red hair, came bounding out of the hotel with all of this energy. And she was like, whew. I need a cigarette. And she goes, do you have a lighter? And I was like, yeah, sure, here. And I added her my lighter and she lit her cigarette. And she goes, thank you. She's just bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. And she's like, I'm Alyssa. And I'm like, Moon? You know, I'm like, who is this lady? And what does she want from me? And she was like, that's awesome. Are you near here? And just, you know, kind of just this grandiose energy. And, you know, we kind of talked for a little bit. And she finished her cigarette like really quickly. And it was like, all right, gotta go. Talk to you later. And like, bound it off again. And I was like, okay. And, you know, so I went to the play party that night. And, you know, came back the next day and saw her. And she was like, so how are you doing? Everything good? Big brother, that and kind of bound it off again. And I was like, please. And then went to the party again that night and saw her.  And sometimes during that weekend, she introduced me to a couple of people and I was like, oh, hi. And I got to meet all of these people by their, by who they were as people. Not their sonas, not their reputation, not, you know, their name. I got to know them as, you know, Dan and, you know, Oh, and Melissa, and all of these things, you know, she was like, Hey, you know, it was great to see you this weekend. I hope you take a round, you know, come we have play parties. We have events. We have chill days. You know, you should come hang out. And it took me like a month or two to go back to sanctuary. And I did. And I went to a party and, you know, started going to different things and meeting these people and talking to them and saying, hi and everything else. And then I don't remember, I think it was just a regular play party. And the, um, actually it was called passive arts back then. It wasn't that far. And the passive arts crew used to go in the big back room when everything was like slowing down to closing and they would close that door.  And, um, it was at the end of a party and I knew that they were like, you know, starting to get everybody out. And so I walked in the back room to say goodbye, you know, being who I am. I'm like, right, well, bye. Thanks. Everything else. And, and Mr. Melissa was like, where are you going?  And everybody's like, get in here and close the door. And I was like, are you sure? They're like, yeah, come on. And that was when I started hanging out with the passive arts crew. And, you know, I still knew them by their, I started getting to know them as their person. And then I think it was the next year, Don Khan, I was outside. And by then I knew the crew. I wouldn't say we were like awesome friends or anything else, but I knew the crew. And I could hang out with them and not feel awkward. We were at that point. And it's just Melissa comes down and out as she does. Red Bull in one hand, cigarette in the other, you know, litter, cigarette. And she's saying, she's like, all right, I got to go because I got this, and I got that, and I got this, and I got that. Good. All right, talk to you later. And back inside, you're just like, you get used to it after a while, you're just like, that's who she is. And somebody goes, do you know her? And I'm like, well, yeah.  And I'm like, her? Why? What's up? And they're like, do you know who she is? And I'm like, she's a cool person who has way too much energy. What you trying? And it was, and it was at that point, like I started getting to know her son. And personalities and reputation.   You know, you know, entropy and Master entropy and Mr. Melissa and all of these things. And I was like, I've been hanging out with these people for a year and I had no clue. I'm such a goober. You know, but that's, I was fortunate in having that opportunity because if I had known their personas before getting to know them, I never would have gotten to know them.  And so I'm very thankful that I got to know them. And, you know, Mr. Melissa is my sir and my mentor and love them greatly and miss them. I wish they would move back for it, but I'm very thankful that, you know, these people I got to know and become friends with. And it definitely helped to round me in a space. Because up until that time, I was going in and out of the community and then out of the scene. I was back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. This is what I do. It's not who I am.  And it wasn't until I found a group and within finding that group and having some kind of like solidified space, I also then started in my personal life finding people who were kinky. And then what has now become my village, my family, you know, I have a leather family. I have, you know, extensions of friends and families who, you know, because I found this, I found the past of arts group and they accepted me and invited me in. And it kind of gave me a space to flourish and to grow and to just be. Like I didn't have to do anything. I didn't, you know, I could just be with them that it allowed me to then kind of start putting together the pieces of, oh no, this is actually who I am.  I had a year where financially I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't do the things financially. And, you know, life was happening and I just, the things that I was doing, I had to put on hold and I didn't attend Don Con and I didn't attend any events.  And I was sad and I was depressed and I just could not settle in my own skin. And that was the turning point for me of realizing, oh, this is who I am. This is part of me. And by taking away that part, I'm not whole. And so that's when I started realizing that, like, even if it's just going to a play party and hanging out and socializing. You were twice a title holder. You were Ms. Sanctuary Leather 2015 and Ms. LA Leather 2016. Tell us about being a title holder and those specific titles. Being a title holder is a very interesting part of life. It, I would say it equates to being a celebrity. Like if you want to have an equation of vanilla life to kink leather BDSM life, being a title holder is like being a celebrity in that you're all of a sudden thrust into a spotlight, whether it's just your local community or bigger, you're thrust into the spotlight. You know, everybody has assumptions of who you're going to be, how you're going to act. Everybody wants a piece of you, any which shape or form they can.  And will do anything in their power to bring you down. You have to be ready for that.   And I've seen it happen to people where it is absolutely to ruin them who they are. And it may be it who they truly were as people came out because of being a title holder. I don't know, but I have seen it ruin people. Me becoming a title holder is a very crazy thing because I never, I started in the leather community, but really and truly my growth within BDSM was through the kink community. And then I started finding myself getting back into the leather community, just based on who I was with and who I was hanging out with and things like that. But I didn't consider myself a leather person. Even though the things I was doing, the people I was around, the events I was attending and assisting and things like that and supporting were leather events and were leather people and things like that. But I didn't make the connection for myself. My title mother, Shay, for the sanctuary contest, is a lovely woman. And I can't say no to her, hence why I was a title holder. I knew a lot of title holders like, you know, my sir, Mr. Sponza, Narya and Amy, the Ch'Amy, you know, Shay was a title holder. There were a lot of title holders around me. I never really knew what the title holder, what the title system was about. I just knew the people that I knew were title holders and that they were amazing people who did amazing things for our community. And that was it. And then Shay spent three hours talking to me on the phone one night about how I should become a title holder or I should run for her title. And I was like, no, I'm not title holder material. That's not who I am. I'm the behind the scenes. I will help you. I will support you. I will do the things I don't stand in the spotlight. No. And she's like, think about it. Let me know in a couple of days. And I was like, I just said no. Like what? No. Well, no. And then I went to talk to, I talked to my daddy. I talked to Narya. I talked to my sir. I talked to a couple other people, both title holders and not title holders. So I'm considering doing this thing. What do you think? And all of them basically said the same thing. How can we help you run for your title? And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I've not decided to run for the title. I need to know what are your thoughts on me running? And all of them were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, how can we run for you? How can we help you run for your title? And I was like, is nobody listening to me? And I sat down with my leather sister. And I had earlier been trying to get her to run for title, but then her vanilla life just went crazy and she just quit. And so we're sitting, talking, and I am telling her like all of this, I don't know. And I'm not worthy of running for your title. I'm not worthy of representing sanctuary. That is my home. And, you know, I have some respect for it. And I'm not worthy. And she looked at me and she said, if you're not worthy, what makes you think I am?  And I decided to run for the title. And like I said, I didn't know anything about the title system at that time. So I had 30 days to learn about the title system, to learn a lot of leather history, to prepare for a contest that I had really no clue what it was about, and do all of these things in 30 days. And I had a great support system who literally threw everything and the kitchen sink at me during my interview practice.  It was bad.  And all of these things, it had to put together a fantasy, which I was like, I don't know, what? I don't know any of this stuff. And thankfully had my family who was there to support me and be like, what do you need? How can we help you? And all of the things. And I went up and competed against some very lovely people. And during my speech, I had this whole 90 second speech written out. And the very first, like, small paragraph ends with me saying, and I now stand before you a strong leather woman. I said those words. I got a standing ovation. And I said, thank you and walked off stage. Only three people knew exactly what my speech sounded like. And they were all confused because they're like, but there's more.  There you go. Yeah. Let's not try to screw with this. You did say that your title holding tenure contained a lot of firsts. For example, what were a couple of them? Everything. Like everything that I did, standing on a stage, being in a spotlight, running for a contest. That was a first that I never thought I would do. You know, I was very much behind the scenes person. I don't want the spotlight. I'm good. I will help you. I will support. No, don't put me in the spotlight. So having to be that person, you know, having to speak in front of my mentor and people that I hold to that have seen in my interview and speak from my heart and be brutally open and vulnerable and, you know, not burst into tears because I'm afraid terrified of disappointing my mentor. Like I was gutterly terrified of disappointing her. And, you know, she did not make it easy because she gave me a very difficult question in front of my panel of judges, but I answered it honestly. I answered it truthful to myself and that's what was important for that. You know, I did not see myself winning my title, either of my title. I did not see myself winning. I went there to do the best that I could and to positively represent myself, my community, my family, and when they said, and the winner is God is smooth.  I probably should have just ugly cried. I look like I'm having an aneurysm in my in my winning.  You're fine. That's the photo that was taken. I was in utter shock. I could not brain. I could not brain. I'm very thankful that I did not have to say word after winning because I've seen that. I've seen other titles where the title holders have to make some kind of like congratulatory speech for winning. I am very thankful that neither of my titles made me do that because I could not brain. My brain was not working. I remember my sister screaming. That's my sister when I won the sanctuary. She was so happy. She was so supportive and having that support system, having my family there was amazing. I got to, I had done a pride parade very early in my coming out as bisexual. But then being bisexual during that time in the 90s was very difficult. The straight community doesn't like you because you're not straight enough.    And I got tired of defending the right to be a part of the alphabet and walked away. I literally just walked away from the gay community. And that was the time when I began being really and truly a part of the gay community and doing things with them because they didn't care. Well, you mentioned that you had very strong thoughts about the perceived image of female title holders and how do you see that? When I started being a title holder, I realized that there weren't a lot of female titles. And female title holders were not very welcome in a lot of spaces. Women weren't allowed or welcome in a lot of spaces. That has greatly changed since my title years. Was I a part of that? I don't know, maybe. Hopefully, I hope that I was a positive, you know, a positive in that change. But I think that it was just time. It was just time that things changed and things changed radically. And, you know, a lot of the people who were not okay with women being in their spaces were not so gently told to shove it. That it's not their choice. They weren't told by women. They were told by other men. You don't like it.  This is what you know. And I think also a part of that was we weren't us women. We weren't coming in, claiming anything. We weren't claiming space. We were just there. And we were quiet and we were supportive and it just kind of happened. And once, you know, one title had a female title holder, and then there were a couple others who would see it and be like, why aren't we doing that? And then, you know, they would have female titles. And then a couple others would be like, why aren't we doing that? And, you know, it just kind of snowballed into that. So that now we have started to include a next title, which I think is amazing and wonderful. And then let's define it for any audience that may be watching this. Oh, MX titles are for non-binary and gender non-conforming folks in our communities who do not, it's basically for anybody who the title of Miss or Mr. does not sit with them. We now have a mixed title, which is an MX title. Which I think is an amazing thing because I do know a lot of people who would be amazing title holders, but do not fit the Miss or the Mr. titles. And there are a lot of titles, including the titles that I held that, you know, and a title that I'm very supportive and thankful to be a part of their family. But they say that, you know, are you willing to have the conversation under that title? So before they had like the MX title included, like, you may not identify as a Miss or you may not identify as a Mr., but are you willing for one year to have the conversation? Yeah. And if you were willing to do that under either of those, then you could run with them. Yeah. They weren't, you know, looking forward.  They don't care. Like that's not what they're for. And I very much respected the titles who kind of ran that way. Are there titles that are specific and very gendered? Yes. And they hold their place. I'm not going to say that they, you know, should not be allowed to happen or be. I am a very, I hold very true to, you know, speak with my feet, speak with your pocket. If I agree with something, I'm there to support you. If I don't agree with it, I don't have to support you. Am I going to, you know, go out of my way to end your contest just because it is not something that I agree with or that, you know, would be supportive of me?  I wholeheartedly believe that we can have our own spaces. But what we need to make sure that we're doing is not only if we have our own, we make sure that there's space for everyone. So that those who aren't able to be in those specific clicks, they'll have a space to be. What's the biggest misconception about you? One of the things that I definitely heard about myself that people assumed was that I was all about myself, that I was very self-centered and anybody who actually knows me or gets the, or takes the time to get to know me is that I am very not self-assured or self-centered at all. I'm very concerned about, you know, how I'm perceived and whether I'm good enough to, you know, have the positive accolades that come at me. I am a warrior. I worry about everything and about everyone in my life. So, yeah, those are misconceptions, definitely. But, you know, I'll take it as you will. Well, God us from us. Thank you for such an amazing interview. I'm so glad we were finally able to meet and do this. And I'll look forward to meeting you in person sometime soon.


Here they are in front of you the Dallas renegades are currently the favorites to raise that championship trophy They're sitting there at plus 300 with the New York Guardians Los Angeles Wildcats not too far behind there then the odds for the other teams on the screen as well So let's get around the horn here get one more time everybody's pick Ed. I'm coming back to you here first Who's winning the XFL championship in April? At some point Landry Jones will return to the Dallas renegades And if I recall correctly, I do believe that he and Bob Stubbs had some magic at Oklahoma as one of the better Offenses in all of college football add to that how a mummy and that offense will be dynamite and also don't sleep on the second Running back Lance Dunbart. He was versatile with the Dallas Cowboys And I feel like Stubbs will do some creative things with him as well. I like the renegade to win it all I'm gonna go with an underdog here and that is the Houston Roughnecks one of the bigger prices here at plus 900 I think they get off to a hot start when their first two games and we'll see if June Jones can take them the rest of The way their defense is gonna be focused on making some turnovers getting field position They have a very good offensive structure. Give me Houston. I'm gonna middle both of you guys right here Ed you went with kind of a chalky pick is one of the front runners Dave Maybe a little bit of a stretch there. I'm gonna go right in the middle at plus 500 with the vipers I told you I think they're one of the sleeper teams of this league They've got great skill positions the running back the wide receiver Sammy Coates And then of course, I'm very high on Aaron Murray and what he can do with this vipers team. Give me Tampa Bay


I try to focus on what's the difference between being busy and being productive.  Being productive is getting the things done that matter the most. And so I always ask myself, in this moment, what I'm doing right now, is this getting me closer to or further for my goals? If it's going to be closer to it, I continue doing it. If it's going to be further from, cancel it immediately and figure out the next thing I need to switch to is.


As the nation seeks solutions to erratic power supply through alternative means, the Gateway ICT Politecnique, Sapade or Konstate, has become the first Nigerian institution to run a diploma in renewable energy engineering. The rector of the Politecnique, Dr Aizaya Oyayinka, made this known at the force convocation ceremony of the Politecnique involving graduands of the 2019-2020 and those of 2020-2021 sessions. Speaking to newsmen after the convocation ceremony, Dr Oyayinka said the national chairman or the national board for technical education had given approval for the commencement of the program. Oyayinka expressed optimism that the Politecnique would groom renewable energy engineers who would help Nigeria in solving its energy problems. The issue has been granted approval to run that course and from statistics we are the first institution that national board for technical education has granted that course to run and we have seen the only one and we have admitted the first set of students at the end level. We hope to bring them out and I know the advantage of this is that we are talking about renewable energy, we are talking about greening the environment, we are talking about global warming and we need to build enough technical manpower to be able to handle renewable energy in Nigeria. The whole world is moving away from fossil fuel, generating energy from fossil fuel and other sources of non-green source of power.


I wanna talk to you guys about vegetables really quick because I don't know about you but me personally I get asked all the time from people who don't really know me very well whether I eat a lot of vegetables and a lot of times they just assume like hey you're a fitness coach you must eat lots of vegetables and fruits and you must be super conscious of that and you must never eat burgers or pizza or ice cream or anything and I'm like I eat a lot of vegetables but that's not the reason why I'm able to stay lean and so that's exactly what this video is about today a lot of people think if I eat more healthy foods or eat more vegetables or fruits I will be leaner I will lose more weight and that is not the case it is not it if I do this then that happens but I will explain to you today exactly how you do lose weight and what role vegetables should play in your nutrition regimen first off let's set the record straight you don't lose weight by eating more healthy foods you lose weight by eating the right amount of food for your body so we're talking calories and macronutrients so vegetables for example for the most part vegetables they do have a little bit of protein a little bit of fats but for the most part they're a carbohydrate and in general vegetables don't have a lot of calories so when you think about incorporating them into your diet you can eat a lot of vegetables and still not consume many calories which is great because they're very high in micronutrients which are vitamins and minerals and low in macronutrients such as carbohydrates and especially fats and proteins so when you're eating vegetables you're just factoring them into your total daily intake but that doesn't mean you can't eat other foods or you have to eat vegetables every day but there is a very specific purpose for consuming vegetable veggies vegetables the reason why you want to eat vegetables and fruits and other high quality whole foods is because they're high in micronutrients and so what a micronutrient is is either a vitamin or a mineral for example let's look at broccoli everybody loves broccoli right if you put enough sauce on it everybody loves broccoli broccoli is high in a lot of different micronutrients specifically though it's very high in vitamin k and vitamin k is known to help us with bone density bone strength and overall heart health also is high in vitamin c and we know that vitamin c is very good for immune function so we can look at all different types of vegetables and break them down one by one and realize that each one serves a different purpose it helps with your normal body function in a different way does that mean you have to eat all the vegetables in every day no but that's why it's important to consume 70% whole foods so in the span of a week or so you are eating a good amount of vegetables in your diet and you don't really have to worry about eating pizza and ice cream the other things that you do like because you know you're balancing it out with the veggies that you're consuming otherwise in the 70% of the food you're consuming on a daily basis so here's the deal what you need to do with vegetables your responsibility on a daily basis should be to eat around five portions so that doesn't mean you have to go eat a bunch of different vegetables on one day you could just eat a lot of broccoli or a lot of salad but in general to maintain healthy normal function of the body we recommend trying to consume around five servings of vegetables a day and let's say you don't get it one day don't worry about it you can spread this out over course of a week and let's say you're traveling you're not able to get your normal vegetable intake what you can do is consume something like athletic greens it's something we've talked about a lot in this channel because it helps us personally it's not a vegetable replacement but think about it this way each serving of athletic greens is equivalent to 12 servings of vegetables so if you for some reason are traveling you can't get nutritious whole food vegetables in your diet you can replace it for that one day with a scoop of athletic greens or maybe one day you're able to get a salad and you know earlier in the day but you're not able to consume any other vegetables after that you know consume another scoop of athletic greens in addition to that to help you get your micronutrient numbers where you want them to be another reason you might want to use athletic greens on a daily basis even if you do get your other vegetables in is because athletic greens is highly dense in micronutrients and many other nutrients that your body needs to function normally in general so if you consume a scoop of that on a daily basis you know you have your bases covered but it's not a substitute period we want you eating whole foods on a daily basis this is just icing on the cake or if you don't for whatever reason have access to vegetables one day you can use it as a replacement so that's basically what I wanted to share with you guys for vegetables I know so many people think that if they eat certain foods they're going to lose weight or gain muscle or etc etc it doesn't work that way you guys it's all about your total calorie and macronutrient intake which is calories the energy that your body takes to use for energy and normal daily function and macronutrients the distribution of what those calories are made of so carbohydrates fats and proteins if you have any questions about anything I mentioned in this video drop them in the comments below happy to answer them for you we also answer a lot of questions like this in our free four week challenge so I'll link that in the first line description I'll see athletic rings we've talked about throughout this video we'll link that in the description as well and finally if you enjoyed this video please subscribe to the youtube channel and we will continue to make content like this that you asked for you are the fuel of the zendu fitness engine so please give us your feedback and we'll continue to make videos that help you get lean and live in awesome life


First, because we're talking about centering, the parent does need a height, whether you're declaring one, or siblings of the element you're trying to center are creating that height. We can start with the OG of modern CSS centering with a display of flex, a justify content, and align items of center. You could remove those two, and then come in with a margin of auto on the child, and that will also center it. If you want to be one of those cool kids using grid, this margin auto will also work. If you feel like the margin auto isn't obvious enough, you can instead use a place self of center, and that will bring it back to the middle. If you want the parent to have control, we can come up here and do a place items of center over on the parent, and that will center it quickly. If we have multiple children and we want this to work, you can replace that with a place content of center, and it will keep all of those together in the middle. Sometimes you need to have a position of absolute. There are many ways to do this, but the new one that I like the most is doing an inset of 50%. That gets us almost all the way there, but then we can come in with a translate of negative 50%, negative 50%, and that perfectly centers it because yes, translate is its own property now.


A preliminary report by Yadda Africa has revealed that Youth Candidacy for the coming 2023 general elections have dropped by 6% since the last elections in 2019. According to the reports, which the group certified accurate as of October 5, 2022, the Youth Candidacy for the coming elections stood at 28.6% as against 2019's 34% representing a good 6% decline since last year. A further breakdown showed that Youth Candidacy for House of Representatives plunged from 27.4% in 2019 to 21.6% in 2023. Similarly, the State House of Assembly has also dropped from 41.8% in 2019 to 35.6% in 2023. Joining us to discuss this is Beniza Wiccanahi, the campaign strategist Change.org. Thank you so much to Beniza for joining us. Great. Let's just go straight to it. Why do you think there's such a decline in youth participation? We were all excited, young people were excited, not too young to run bill, and of course, it was some form of a motivator for young people to get involved in politicking. But then a few years down the line, here we are complaining about the fact that young people seem to have dropped off the chart. What exactly happened? Yeah, I mean, very good premise, but I think that the reasons are very obvious to all of us. Quite a number of parties have continued to lead their nomination forms at a very high price. There's also the challenge of money politics, where people who go for the national convention are swayed by money to vote one way or the other. There are issues like lack of mentorship, there are issues where the certain elites group has sort of decided to stay in various positions, so that the national or space level almost forever. So you just see a situation where a young person can hardly have been shot because of the fact that all of these things, like money and the whole money politics, and everything just stuck against you. I think that's one of the reasons why we've seen a decrease as opposed to an increase. But it's important to also note that we're seeing an increase in civic engagement. Young people are counting for a high percentage of new voters, and we're seeing that there are many young people who are interested in elections more than ever before. At Chain.org, we're seeing a lot of petitions, young people passing petitions on issues around the electoral reforms, issues like the ballot papers should not have pictures of candidates and their parties. We're seeing a lot more young people getting involved in other issues, especially around civic engagement and even voter sensitization. So even though, sadly, we are seeing a decline based on these factors, I think that there's also a win at the other end where we're going to see. And I actually think that as opposed to other cycles where we've seen a turnout of somewhere like 32 percent in the presidential elections, I think this year my house only goes to 60 percent, because there are many young people who are willing to come out, go out there, get their cards and be willing to excise their civic duty here. I like where you ended this, but I want to take you back again. How do we stare the pot if we're not in the kitchen? We're always saying that these political parties throw up all kinds of candidates half the time where we're in a position where we have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. So if we're not really in that kitchen, how do we make sure that that change really happens? Yes, we should return up for the elections. That will be a great turn up, you know, but then why aren't we part of the decision making to also make sure that the right kinds of people or the voteable people are the ones that the parties threw up for the elections? Indeed. Actually, so the way I love to sit, I see it like a spectrum, right? I think that there's a place we used to be before, you know, before not too young to run, and there's a place we are now, and I think that's going to be a gradual process before we get to the level where we have more young people engaged in being voted for, coming out to run and campaign and become candidates of their parties. So in Yaga's reports, Yaga showed that the most youth-friendly party, based on the number of youth candidates that they had in their parties, ADC, right? And that's interesting because the two lists, you know, youth-friendly parties were the two major parties, UAPC and the PDP, right? So it just shows that we still have a long way to go, right? In parties becoming a lot more youth-friendly and youth-centric. And I think it goes even beyond money. I think, you know, parties even need to start thinking of mentorship. How do we even mentor young leaders all across the country? We've left that job pretty much just for CSOs, right? So how do parties even begin to mentor young leaders? Because if the other generation will pass down leadership, who will pass it to? You know, I think that even though we're seeing some progress in the mainstream parties, I think a lot more still needs to be done. So that spectrum, you know, we see have a way to go, but we're nowhere we used to be before. And I think that that progress, with much effort, will eventually get there. Still looking at what the report has to say, the Northwest, if we look closely, has the highest youth candidates, especially for the 2023 elections. Now, what does the North or the Northwest understand that the rest of the regions need to, you know, key into or borrow a leaf from? What do you think it is that, you know, these guys are cashing in on and we're yet to understand the secret? Yeah, I mean, I think that the Northwest seems to be a region that is really politically active and we're even seeing that trickling down to even the younger generation. I think that generally, you know, it does appear that, you know, the northern part of the country seems to, you know, be more inclined into the policies of the country versus the South, even though I strongly believe that, you know, these coming elections would rewrite the whole lot of those narratives. So I've seen a lot of activity and action, you know, on all angles, you know, from all political, from all geopolitical zones, you're saying people all active and getting involved. But generally, you know, the North does seem to have that more inclination towards the politics of the country and the national politics. And I think that's why we're seeing that figure there. The Southwest is picking up too, right? So the Southwest is also picking up, the South side is picking up. I think that as time progresses, we'll see a lot more engagement. I just think we need to give it time, right? And I think time pretty much heals everything. And time pretty much gives us that room to go. And so at Chain.org, one of the things that we're doing is that we're trying to build movement accelerators. So we have two programs focused on women and youths. One of them is called She Creates Change, the other is called We Create Change. And we're trying to see how we can even get people from all parts of the country to start thinking about even their community. How do you think of this problem, come up with a solution, that's a petition, and rally around your community to even solve that problem. And so we're beginning to see how young people from all across the country, you know, applied for the We Create Change application. And we're having the trainings and programs just to get people into that mindset. Because when they start caring about social issues, I think it's easier to make that transition from social to political once they begin to care. But once people don't care even about the drainage, you know, outside their house, or the refuse dump close to the market, you know, it's difficult to make them understand why they should care about politics. But I think once we go from that social, you know, angle and that's what we're trying to do. I think we'll get to that point all across the country, you know, north, south, east, west people and young people who generally care about politics. Yeah. Let me query a few things that you've said, of course. Sure. And then this is some of the things that Yerga also referenced to, you know, expensive party tickets, you know, money politics, et cetera, et cetera. We've seen young people in this country. I mean, I make bold to say that President Bahari in his first coming had people give as low as 100 Naira to support his campaign. We're seeing also a phenomenon that's, you know, blowing across the country with the PTAB people and the obedience. We're seeing that people are supporting, you know, this man. But why can't we get that same support, that galvanizing attitude within young people for young people? And I'm not in any way trying to campaign against anybody. But I'm saying young people need to stand up for themselves. And if we're doing this for the guys in the old boys club, why can't we do that for ourselves? Exactly.  I think it's a value state, to be honest. I think it's a value system. And I think that even just generally as a society, we need to relearn our values and begin to teach people a lot more about civic leadership, teach people about the fact that they have a responsibility to their country, the fact that leadership should be everyone's business, shouldn't be just for the politicians, you know, it should be something everyone is caring about. I think it's just a value thing. And, you know, I think that, again, I think it's a work in progress. I don't think that we're as bad as it used to be a few years ago. I mean, Ensaas really was just one of those ways where you can see that the next generation actually can come together and put themselves together and make a change, right? And begin to speak up and let their voices be heard, not just nationally, but internationally. So I think that, you know, it's a process. But just generally, we need to look at our value system and ensure that even as young as basic school, you know, we need to talk about civic leadership, the fact that they have a role to play in their society and have a role to play in whatever their country becomes. So I think it's a value thing. So it's not something we can just solve by saying, everyone, go vote for XYZ candidates, you know, you take the time, take a while for us to get to that level. Yeah. Still talking about value systems here. Yes, if we say that it's a value thing, then does it mean that maybe the priorities of the 2020, or the New Day Nigerian young person is what? Because I'm wondering if our priorities is to buy things or give money to people who sit in a room for 30 plus days, walk around, eat noodles and just do all kinds of things. If that's where our priorities lie and we give them money still out of the money that we complain that we don't have, then what do we need to do that would stare our priorities in the right direction? How do we reprioritize or reprogram the minds of these young people? Amazing question. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think first, very easy. I think people need to even understand that government can work. I prefer to not blame people who look for escape, like football and whether it's bigger than Nigeria. Any of these things that people are often just looking for comedy. I mean, you look both on Nigerian Twitter or Nigerian Instagram is just full with comedy, right? Because I'm just the story of our country, right? There's flooding right now and there's very little government's, you know, attention on that. I mean, there are just so many things happening everywhere. And people are often looking for an escape. And I think once we begin to make people see that government can work and that not just politicians, but people in office, public leaders can be accountable. I think it's the accountability factor. That's what's leading to that disconnection.  But I think that once people see that government can work and that they can hold leaders accountable, they can vote you in, vote you out in four years if you don't do the right thing. I think that we will then we'll begin to feel a lot more connection. So I think the priorities now are mostly like in escape forms. How can people escape from the tragedies, from the challenges that we see in the country? And how can we really make government to work once we begin to make government to work? I think everything. Let's talk about momentum now. We've seen, like I said, I want to make reference again to the social media movements. We've seen the articulated people. We've seen the obedience. We've seen the Kwan-Kwaseers. We've seen the bat movements. These are somewhat of momentous. Well, we also see that there are, you know, useful efforts in most of these camps. But just as you made mention of the 2020 October 20 situation, which was the Ansars, it seemed to have died down. How are we certain that we can build and sustain the momentum that young people are feeling, the emotions or the bust of, you know, sentiments that we're seeing today? How are we certain that we can sustain that to 2023 and not again have to see the kind of voter apathy that we experienced in 2015 and 2019? Amazing. Amazing question. And I think that that's why, so before I answer the question, that's one of the reasons why Chain.org focuses on democracy beyond the ballot. You know, most people only remember that they have public leaders when it's, you know, another four-year cycle to vote and campaigning and everything. But I think Chain.org tries to engage people on the day-to-day, you know, what is, whether it's the budgeting, whether it's, you know, there's a new loan, whether it's patriot health funds. What are the everyday issues that affect the everyday Nigerian, you know, from every part of the country? And how can they be involved in those issues? So I think that we'll be able to sustain the movements if we're able to move beyond just this 2023. We need to move beyond just, you know, the fact that it's February, March, you're voting for a new president and new governors and senators, to the fact that even when people get in there, how do we engage them on the day-to-day, you know? So moving beyond just who you're voting for, the party you're voting for, you know, accountability on the day-to-day, asking the important questions, and asking them without bias or without sentiments to so on from your region or so on from your party, but just being, you know, just being honest with ourselves, that's okay, this is the amount of money we have, you know, why are we spending on XYZ and how can we make our country better? I think just that day-to-day engagement, you know, will help to make things better. And I think that's the only way we can sustain this whole thing. I don't think the momentum from Ensa has died. I think you kind of like metamorphized to, you know, what we have now with the registrations and people get involved with elections and everything. And I think that if you want to keep this movement going, you know, and not just kill everything, we need to first ensure that elections are fair and fair, that when people actually come out to vote, you know, their votes count, and even when the eventually does emerge, you know, they become accountable to the people. They don't just lock up and, you know, and just get lost. Right now, they're moving all across the country, engaging people at stadiums, you know, asking questions, making promises. But when you eventually get in there, would you still be willing to answer questions? You know, so if you don't have a media chat for eight years, that should not probably happen in 2020. So we want a situation where people are accountable to the people who voted that name and are able to keep the conversation going. That's the only way we can keep this working. Finally, chain.org and the young people that work with you. Is this a promise on national TV that you're going to continue to help young people hold the feet of politicians to the fire so that we can see the change that we desire? Not just politicians, really. It's public leadership everywhere, right? Every nook and cranny. Chain.org in Nigeria continues to work with young people, women, young people, especially those who seem to not have a voice. Changes mantra is that, you know, people need to be given a voice such that they can speak and see change happen. And, you know, the work that change is doing to engage the national assembly, ensuring that we have a stronger petition system so that when people start petitions online, it doesn't just end with signing online, but then there's offline action to follow up and need to change. So yes, chain.org. I mean, it's a promise that has been there. Even before, I would always say there's been a promise online, and anyone who is there can see chain.org, you know, to learn more about the work and start the petition about an area you care about. And there are so many petitions on the platform right now, addressing so many issues around elections and human rights and education. Do we have to check it out and add your voice to it? Yeah. Benizawikina is the campaign strategist for change.org. Always a pleasure to have conversations with you, Benizah. Thank you. Thank you for coming on the show. And that's it on Plus Politics Tonight. Tomorrow we'll be back talking for development on the biggest stories in the political scene, especially in Nigeria. I'm Mary Anacone. Have a good evening.


Okay, we're back. I'm John Furrier with Silkenangle.com, and I'm with my co-host. I'm Dave Vellante of Wikibon.org, and we're here with Todd Nielsen and Todd Kubellum. I think it's the third time on. You're on twice last year. Yeah, exactly. Welcome back. We were just talking off camera, you were saying. You're just so impressed with the amazing size of the show and the new types of people that are coming to the show. Absolutely, the vibrancy of this ecosystem is incredible, ranging from consumer electronics companies to telcos and everything in between. It's really incredible. LG is up on your sponsor list. They had a nice booth, beautiful booth. So what's changed? Last year you were the Chief Operating Officer. You did the Compellent press conference. We did a couple of interviews. This year you're the President of Application. Give us an update on your role for the folks out there, and we'll jump right in. Sure, yeah, so I'm focusing on our application development platform. Every paradigm or every era in our industry is driven by an application development model, and we think that platform as a service is really going to drive this era. And so I'm heading up our Cloud Foundry and V-Fabric efforts to really reach out to developers and establish the thought leadership and the presence we need to be successful there. How's the reception been? Because we've been monitoring it. It's been off the charts. A lot of red meat in the water and the cloud business. Everyone's going crazy. Is it the right approach? Is pass ready, VMware, competitors? So what's your overall takeaway from the marketplace? We're excited. April 12th is when we launch Cloud Foundry, and that's going to go down as a day that really defined what platform as a service was. Prior to Cloud Foundry, people used to think about, well, proprietary ways to run the cloud and a single language or single framework, and we sort of blew the doors off. We support multiple frameworks. We support multiple cloud instances, either our own service, service provider service, or behind the firewall. And last week, we announced something called the micro cloud, which is essentially, honey, I shrink the cloud and allows you to run your cloud development environment on a laptop, and then when you're ready to deploy, you can push it to a cloud. That's all open source. All open source. So you've been running the business of VMware, now you're doing this. So the question that we've been asking the guests is, is the demand of the marketplace so strong that open source can't catch up? Because there are open stack out there, other initiatives. How do you balance the demand for delivery solutions? And open source is kind of slower. The key part for us is the opportunity we've got with our customers to continue to invest, to continue to focus and deliver value to them. So we think as long as we continue to expand our capabilities, we're going to be able to stay ahead of any competition. Everyone wants the developers. So what's your angle on the developers? Because open stack has got a honey pot out there, great message and everyone's jumping in, Citrix jumped in, HP jumped in. It's kind of building up slow and getting some traction. But people want solutions, and developers don't want a head fake. Developers want real deal. They want an environment where they got distribution for their applications and a stable environment and economics. So what's your strategy for the developer community? The good news is when we acquired the spring source acquisition in August of 2009, we brought into the fold 2.5 million spring developers. So we have a strong heritage working with that community. And we're focusing on both the enterprise developers as well as appealing to the cool new kids that are developing in new types of frameworks to enable we have an offering that allows both to be successful on our platform. Todd, you've been obviously in the application world for a long time, Oracle, BEA, Borland. Can you explain for the lay person, you know, the person who's watching, a CNBC Wall Street Journal crowd. What's changing in application development over the last decade and underscore what's happening now? The amazing thing is it used to be 10 years ago that you were a Java developer or you were a .NET developer. And those were the two choices. And now what's happened is developers have continued to build frameworks that make things easier, that make things more productive, more portable. And really today we could build, you know, a framework, make it open source, and there's another development framework out there. So there's a massive amount of fragmentation going on in the environment that over the next 10 years we'll probably consolidate. But for now you have to be open to everyone's dialect and really support a collaborative open environment. So what's your goals for this year?  We talked to your executive there, Jerry Chen, who was on theCUBE earlier. Top priorities for you as a lead executive. So the big thing for us is taking and helping developers and enterprises modernize their existing applications. So taking our v-fabric offering and enabling them to get out of the trapped or the jail they're in with classic, you know, middleware like WebSphere or WebLogic. And two, we want to expand a data offering. This week we announced something called v-fabric data director, which is pretty exciting about what's happening in the database world. And then third, in this platform as a service thought leadership, we're going to drive mind share and adoption and trial with our efforts there.  You like golf? So you must talk to customers. You got to go golfing with customers. So what are they saying to you when you talk to your customer base, that you're targeting, who are they and what do they want and what are their challenges? These days fortunately at VMware, everyone's a customer. We've got over 250,000 customers and all of them have development needs or trying to figure out how to address their core problems. So it's a diverse set of folks. At this particular show, the majority of the customers are more systems integrators and infrastructure types. This isn't necessarily a developer show. At developer shows, you typically see folks asking for things like more support, more run time, better performance, capabilities to do things that they're trying to do in the cloud that they aren't able to do in middleware. I want to go back to coming, you were talking about the data as a service. Sure. So we're talking about data as a service, databases as a service, right? Absolutely. If I understand it's any Postgres database? Yeah, so essentially what's happened is five years ago, I think we all would have said, you know what, it's Oracle's world and maybe Microsoft and a few others might get the scraps. And there's a tremendous amount of disruption going on right now in the data world. Today people are realizing the relational database is okay for a component. But I also want to have a no SQL option or what's referred to as a big data option. And in Silicon Valley, there's probably 50 startups today focusing on this data disruption opportunity. And so we're excited about how developers are going to build applications that have multiple different database storages, which is what Vfabric data director does with Postgres. Okay, so Vfabric data director, practitioners should think of that as, at least initially, sort of the support for the emerging databases in the Hadoop worlds, for example, you're calling the true big data, but not necessarily an Oracle database, is that right? Essentially today, Vfabric data director allows users to automate and scale and work in the vSphere infrastructure, their Postgres database. We'll be adding in the roadmap support for things like Oracle and Gemfire and Hadoop and those kinds of things going forward. Okay, so I know a lot of guys would love to have Oracle as a service. And you really don't need Oracle to necessarily stand up and say, yeah, we support that, you can just do it in the framework. Now, that might scare people away if Oracle doesn't support it, but still, it works the same way Oracle works in VMware today, right? Yeah, one of the benefits about VMware is we've been really good about being agnostic to the applications.  And the data director will apply the same rules. It'll manage, back up, and do the HA that you need. And people are doing that today with Oracle. Absolutely. It's quite, let's say, Oracle digging teals in. Absolutely. Well, Paul talked about the keynote on Monday that over 50% of the workloads are now virtualized and we're seeing more and more customers move their tier one workloads into a vSphere infrastructure. Well, final question for me is, what's the most exciting thing that you're seeing out in the marketplace today, not just within VMware, in the marketplace? You know, in the channel, there's a saying that where there's mystery, there's margin. And what's exciting for me is the transformation that's going on and the opportunity for the new leaders to appear. You know, the likes of Oracle and Microsoft and IBM are kind of last era's leaders. And now there's opportunities for folks like VMware and other companies to step up and be the leaders of this next era of computing. There's another saying, chaos is cash. And there's a lot of craziness going on out there in the marketplace today. So Todd Nielsen, great to have you on again. Thanks very much for taking some time out with us. We really appreciate it. Thanks guys. Good to see you again. How's your handicap? My job is my handicap.


Operation Atlantic Resolve shows the American commitment to our NATO allies and builds collective security in Eastern Europe. Continuous exercises are Marine Forces Europe's dedication to enduring peace and stability on the continent and shows the U.S. commitment to meeting Article 5 NATO obligations is an unwavering priority. Marine-led training engagements support UCOM's objectives by enhancing previously scheduled exercises to maintain partnerships and strategic capacity with allied and partner nations.


Teen gives up baby for adoption 35 years later. She receives this letter from a stranger Welcome to viral stories secrets facts and strange stories from around the world If you find yourself amazed at what some of our fellow humans and animals can do This is the place for you This is a channel. You're gonna want to tell your friends about be sure to subscribe and hit that bell icon to be notified of our new uploads Now sit back relax and enjoy viral stories Marathon racers say that when you get on the track, you're always prepared for the worst Anything can happen once you tie those shoes onto your feet Marathons are really exhausting and require a lot of willpower and injuries are simply one of these things that accompany it However, when she was ready to run the marathon of Philadelphia and mother had no idea what she would be in for It wasn't due to any injuries. However, this time it was for an injury of her heart That was just waiting to finally be healed. It was one of those days that simply turn your life around for the better Get some tissues ready because you could cry after this incredible story Stacey Faye is a super mother and maybe in her fifties though It didn't stop her from competing in the half marathon in Pittsburgh. She's been an avid runner for several years now It's just one of those things that have been with her as long as she can remember and she always used running as a way of Decompressing would followed on this particular day are unforgettable events. After all, she didn't know how memorable this day would be The lady is the happy mother of two daughters and an active member of a war veteran organization red white and blue She has fully supported the United States Army for years now and does whatever good she can Helping the veterans once their contracts expire She knew nothing about the fact that she was about to meet a very special Organizations member a veteran that she knew but has not seen in a very long time That was the day her life changed completely This photo was taken seconds after a secret letter was handed over to the mother from Philadelphia The letter was passed on to her from a friend of hers and she had no idea what it was On top of that the woman didn't know what the note had written on it or who had written it It was a quick mystery for her and one that she was about to resolve just by reading it She didn't know that the note was in fact from her own son a son She hasn't seen in 35 years She had her first child when she was 15 years old the son that she chose to give up for adoption She knew full well that she couldn't raise a child when she was that young It was undoubtedly a very hard decision to make and one that not a single mother out there wants to live through But she knew that it was in the best interest of the baby for it to grow up in a healthy environment She's been searching for her son for decades hoping that she would be reunited with him Then the letter is read and it slowly dawns on her Stacy begins to read the strange thing in her hands and can't believe what she sees The note contained a message talking about someone looking for her for decades and she knew it in her heart She couldn't believe it. It could not be happening to her It felt like she was in a movie, but it was actually all too real Keep listening because your spine will be shaking with the next photos There was her baby boy ready after all these years to embrace her He'd been hiding in the crowd and waiting for the green light He had to wait out for her to read the letter first After she bore her son the paperwork was lost in a flood and there was a very slim chance for them to meet again It was an unfortunate turn of events, especially for a mother who wanted to meet with her baby boy sometime in the future But she learned in 2017 about the new law allowing adopters to request a birth certificate Steven got his biological parents names and received the birth certificate with assistance from the authorities He went the extra mile in search of his own mother We now live in a new age and in the age of social media So his first thoughts after learning her name were to check if she's present on any of them Afterwards on Facebook.  Did you put a baby boy up for adoption in 1982? It didn't end there Steven told her he believes that he's her son He only managed to get the name from the birth certificate And there were many others with a name just like hers out there So it might have seemed like a long shot at first. She replied that it was her She was ecstatic that her son not only managed to find her But that he decided that he would reach out to her as well Both kept on talking online and Steven found his mother would be participating in the marathon So he felt it was the perfect chance to meet her The woman sees him and goes to embrace him without giving it a second thought As you can see from the photo Stacy can't believe what's going on She picks up her son so fast that he can no longer breathe It was the first time since she'd put him up for adoption that she could finally embrace him again All those years of tears and sadness were replaced with tears of happiness Accept that or not Steven is also an RWB group branch of Ohio member The next image may be responsible for tears running down your face The two of them don't speak a single word and only embrace They both waited a long time for this moment and they enjoyed all words were meaningless at this point There was nothing that could have been said that would have made the whole experience any better Silence speaks and this was just a nice proof of that Meanwhile the meeting was being filmed by a local media crew who arrived at the scene and it was already being filmed by the Association as well Steven knew he was adopted from a young age, but didn't learn Stacy's full name from his adoptive family They unfortunately had no idea who his actual mother was It wasn't that they didn't want to help him out But it was just due to the fact that the adoption was done in full confidentiality and no personal information of the mother was shared with the adoptive family Fortunately though it took him 35 years. He managed to finally find her Stacy starts to cry thinking about how much she hunted for him Of course He was not the only one who was searching for her But her search ended abruptly with the loss of the documents and she thought that it would be nearly impossible to actually find him after that Finally faith took them together and this is what happens Steven said in an interview within her edition. We must have hugged about ten different times Those two had a tough time because Steven and Stacy avoided hugging over and over again They were still holding each other's hands and Steven said that it just felt really surreal that it was finally happening Because it happened so fast It was just one of those moments where you want to hold the person forever and at the same time You know you can't because you need to share some words as well What's next is more wonderful than you've ever seen before The two decided to carry on the marathon together for about an hour after speaking for the first time in 35 years They could have just left and gone for lunch But they both decided that they would run the marathon as they'd signed up for it But this time they wouldn't do it alone. They'd do it in the company of each other for Steven This is a dream come true because he loves to run and his mother shares the same passion Stacy was still in shock following the marathon all those miles and all the exhaustion didn't shake her up one bit After such a long time She couldn't believe that Steven succeeded in finding her both had plenty to talk about and now they finally had time and knew each other Running the marathon was a piece of cake in comparison to the heartbeat that both of them were Experiencing prior and after the fact their hearts were racing and for a good reason Although Steven has never stopped loving his real mom. He didn't know her real name He was not the one to judge how or why she'd put him up for adoption He was mature enough to understand that she was only looking out for his best interest instead of forcing him to live In a dysfunctional family with a young mother who had yet to start her own life and stand on her own two feet Both are glad to be together and Stacy thinks she's fortunate that Steven has come back to her Steven wrote this letter to his mother. It reads it has been 13,075 days since you last saw me. I did not want to make you wait for one more It can be clearly seen that he counted the few days before meeting his biological mother It must have been one hell of a wait for him, especially She had no idea she would be meeting him while he had all the planning to do and not to mention all the anxiety that accompanied it all If that's not love, then we don't know what love is As I mentioned earlier both of them met during the Philadelphia marathon Stacy has been a runner for years now and her son is one too, but he wasn't always a runner himself He actually had a different job prior to this great hobby It's cool that the marathon is open to veterans and Steven is one too Stacy was encouraged to find out that her son was formerly in the Air Force and he's an American veteran She'd been supporting the army and the veterans for the majority of her life and knowing that her son was one too Simply filled her with delight She would never have expected that her own son was one of the true American heroes out there Although his mother Stacy was not there to guide him He took the right path in life and made a name for himself One of the coolest thing to see in Steven and Stacy's meeting is to know that they both share the same enthusiasm Running marathons is not an easy task to compete and anyone who's tried running one will gladly tell you that they are not mistaken We think that it's safe to assume that Steven gets his mother's love for marathons It was simply in his DNA from the time he was born