Slaughter's my name, Luke Slaughter. Cattle's my business. It's a tough business. It's a big business. I got a big stake in it. There's no man west of the Rio Grande big enough to take it from me. Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. Civil War cavalryman turned Arizona cattleman. Across the territory from Yuma to Fort Defiance, from Flagstaff to the Wachukas, and below the border through Chihuahua and Sonora, his name was respected or feared, depending on which side of the law you were on. Man of vision, man of legend. Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. It was a long, hot ride to Laredo. The last day I pushed it hard, eating dust all the way. I didn't know if I'd be in time or not. When I rode up to the cantina in town and went inside, I saw I was, barely in time. The two of them were sitting at a corner table. From the sound of it, the deal was just about closed.  Hell, I hope so, Hancock. The association's pretty worried about all the trouble we've had on these drives before. Excuse me, gents. You've been Wilkins? Why, yes. President of the Cattleman's Association? Yes, that's right. I don't think I know you. Look, mister, we're talking business. That's why I'm here, Hancock. How come you know my name? Wilkins, I understand you're aiming to bring a herd of cattle up from Mexico into Texas. Well, what's that to you? You're missing a good bet. Why don't you drive them west to Arizona? Arizona? That's right. Haven't you heard about the new mines openin' up around Tombstone?  That means a good market for beef. A lot better price than you get around here. He's crazy, Wilkins. That's too far to drive a herd. Yeah, sure. Too dangerous, anyway. Wilders, banditos, rustlers, even Indians, maybe. I took a herd out there last month. There wasn't near enough to take care of all those beef eatin' miners. I'll drive your herd out there for you, for a percentage.  Whoever you are. I'm the one drives Wilkins' herds. Wherever they go. Oh. Wilkins, you can't afford Jess Hancock anymore. What do you mean? The last herd he brought across the border for you. How many did he, uh, lose along the way? Why, 43 head. Could've happened to anyone. Banditos, that's what it was. Mexican bandits, huh? Here's a bill of sale might interest you, Wilkins. Seems last week a rancher named Hollister bought 43 head in good faith. Paid for improper. Man who sold him was Jess Hancock. That's a lie. Take a look, Wilkins. That Hancock signature? Sure is. Nobody's gonna accuse me of wrestling. Don't try it, Hancock.  You just try it, man. You convinced Hancock? Who are you, mister? Slaughter. Luke Slaughter. Oh, I've heard of you, Mr. Slaughter. I didn't know you was in these parts. You don't have to mister me, Wilkins. Just Slaughter's good enough. Hancock, the association's gonna hear about this. If those are the same 43 head... You got no proof. We'll see about that. Slaughter, you said Arizona, huh? A lot of hungry miners in Tombstone. Bigger price, huh? Half again as much. Meet me back here in an hour. You got yourself a job. I'll be here, Wilkins. You hear me, Slaughter? I don't care what your reputation is.  Here I am, Hancock. And now's as good a time as any. Go ahead. You can talk mighty tall with my gun laying there on the floor. Oh, yeah. Your gun. There it is, Hancock. And I'm just as far from that table it's sitting on as you are. Now go ahead. He's, uh... He's other ways, Slaughter. Other ways. Alex Slaughter, when you signed for this job, you guaranteed me six good trail hands. I didn't know you were just gonna pick them cold on the bar here. That's a difference, Wilkins. They're not good hands and now they will be by the time we get to Tombstone. I'll sue to that. Yeah, I guess you will. How many you got so far? Two Mexican boys who know the country pretty well and a cook. Still leaves you three shy. I'll get them. Say a mystery. Your name, Slaughter? Yeah. Mine's rusty. I hear you're looking for trail hands. Maybe. You ever been to Tombstone? Not with a herd, didn't know anybody had. This'll be the second. I've been almost every place else you can take a herd, I guess. Dodge City, Cheyenne, the Panhandle. You name it. Alright, I'll take you. You the one that's higher than Mr. That's right. But you look a little old for the drive I've got in mind. Tombstone's a long way. Don't worry about that now, I'll keep up. What's your name? They call me Wichita. Alright, Wichita, you're on. Got room for one more, Slaughter? Who are you, son? Name's Carson. Jim Carson. You ever ridden trail before? No, but I don't figure it'd be too tough. Besides, Slaughter, I come in handy when there's trouble. Oh. How about when this will work? I'll work. I need the money. I want to buy me a gun. You already got a gun. I want to get me another one. Alright, I'll put you on. You say your name was Jimmy? It's not Jimmy, it's Jim. I don't like being called Jimmy.  I guess you didn't hear me, Slaughter. I said I don't like being called Jimmy. You want to come along or don't you? I want to come. Then get moving, Jimmy. I don't like that one, Slaughter. He's on the prod. Could be, Wilkins. I take a chance with him then. I don't want any trouble with this herd. Now, just a minute, Wilkins. I didn't guarantee no trouble. Matter of fact, I'd be surprised if there wasn't. I guarantee just one thing to bring that herd through. That you can count on. I have seen young punks like him before, Slaughter. They go running with a chip on their shoulder trying to show how tough they are. He probably heard about you. What about me, Wichita? Since you've got a kind of reputation, that's all. Punk like that sooner or later, you'll probably want to find out how tough you are. Maybe. I heard him shooting off his mouth at the bar earlier about how he'd gunned down a couple of men here and there. Oh. I bet he's awful green on the trail, though. You can show him the ropes, Rusty. Maybe the trail will take some of the toughness out of him. Anyway, I need what men we can get. He goes with us. You're the boss. Where are we heading from here? Wichita. Little town below the border. That's where we pick up the herd. When we're leaving. Soon as we settle up. Tonight? Yeah. We should be able to hit the trail with the cattle tomorrow afternoon. Make a few miles toward Tombstone before dark. What's a hurry? There's a man named Jess Hancock who wouldn't mind making a little trouble for me. I want that herd all in one piece. To start with, anyway. Pretty good-looking herd, Rusty. Yeah. But no herds worth pounding leather like we did all the way down here to Delgade. Slaughter said he wanted to make it, but this afternoon he did. Where is he, anyway? Sign the papers over there at the pins. I don't see why we can't hang around town tonight. Leave in the morning. Well, why not take it up with the boss? Here he comes. You think you're pretty funny, don't you, Wichita? Just once in a while, son. Well, I guess we're already. Rusty, how about the cook? Oh, he's got all the grub loaded in the chuck wagon, ready to roll. Good. Senor! Senor! What? You're Slaughter? Yeah, who are you? I'm Carlotta. And you are going to Arizona? Yeah, Tombstone. Why? Take me with you. What? I want to get away from this place. I want to go to Arizona. Please, take me with you. Sorry. What are you doing here, Carlotta? Come on, back to the canteen to where you belong. Well, well, Jess Hancock. How come you're down here? This is my stamping ground, Slaughter. Or was? I ain't forgot. I didn't figure you had. First you take my job, now you try to take my girl. Just a minute, Hancock. Don't get things any more twisted up than you can help. Get moving, Carlotta.  Get! I hope you have a real pleasant trip to Tombstone, Slaughter. I better have. Getting pretty dark, Slaughter. Don't you reckon we'd better get that herd better down for the night? A little further. You've been avoiding the regular trail. Expectin' trouble? I usually do, Wichita. I've been watchin' you around horses, Slaughter. Been thinkin' you was in the cavalry. Oh. I heard about a man named Slaughter once. Commanded a regiment from Illinois in the war. Yeah. Raiders, they was. Used to raid across the line. This Slaughter I heard about, he always used to come back leadin' a string of confederate horses with their saddles empty. I've been thinkin' you're the same Slaughter. And I've been thinkin' you're a pretty nosy old man. Yep, that's me. Oh, this is far enough. Last egg. We'll bet down here. Wichita, that chuck wagon of ours. I just saw the tarp move. There's somebody inside. Yeah, I saw two. All right, Carlotta. Get outta there. Please, senor, I want to go to Tombstone. You picked the wrong way. But you don't send me back now. It's night. It's wild country. You wouldn't do that, would you? You counted on that, didn't you? All right, you'll go with us. Ah, gracias. But you'll earn your way. You'll help the cook. You'll clean up after him. You'll wash the dishes.  Or worse. Maybe you like the horses better. There's one big difference. I invited the horses. After we betted down the herd, the cook wrestled up some grub. Carlotta was plenty sullen, but she worked. Jimmy kept eye on her, so I figured I'd better put him on night herd. I turned in around midnight. Everything was peaceful. But I didn't stay that way very long. Slaughter, you hear that? Yeah, where'd they come from? Well, I don't know. But it's got the herd growled up. There they go. They stampede in, Slaughter. They stampede in. In a moment, Luke Slutter of Tombstone returns. Somebody ought to set Jack Benny straight about how to make a movie because he's at it again. When you join him later on today, CBS Radio's misguided Matt and A. Idle will attempt his own version of a famous movie. To make it even better, Hollywood producer Stanley Kramer, who made the movie, will be right there when he does. For a hilarious example of how not to make a motion picture, here the Jack Benny show later today on most of these same stations. Henry Morgan and Mitch Miller will be around following Jack Benny. Henry Morgan is host on the fast and funny guessing game, Says Who. His star-studded panel of experts spark one laugh after another as they try to identify memory-teasing mystery voices. And speaking of stars, you'll find an hour of fast and funny conversation with the biggest name stars of Hollywood and Broadway waiting for you on CBS Radio's Mitch Miller show tonight. And now, act two of William N. Robeson's production of Luke Slotter of Tombstone. Wichita, turn him in. We gotta get him turned into Miller. You're getting too close, Slotter. Okay, rest here. Over there. I can't turn the bunch in the lead. Slotter! Watch out! They'll run you down! Yeah! Yeah, get around! Lead stare! That's it. That's good of us. That was close, Wichita. Yeah. I thought I'd seen everything, Slotter. But I guess I was wrong. What do you mean? Well, riding into that hurt the way you did. You know a better way to turn them?  Maybe. To me. Come out over here. Look! Look, Slotter, up on the ridge. Small fire. Could be Indians. We'll go up and take a look in a minute. What do you want, Slotter? Those two shots that started the stampede sounded like they came from over near where you were. You fire those shots, to me. I said, did you fire those shots? Yeah. Why? Well, I thought I saw something moving in the dark near me. Figured it could be trouble. So you just holed up and blasted away, huh? Pretty spooky with that six gun of yours, aren't you? I tell you, I thought someone was coming at me. You almost cost us the whole herd. You want two of those guns, but one's too much for you. I'm taking your six gun, Jimmy. No, you ain't, Slotter. I'll leave you your rifle in case you run into trouble with that tombstone, but I can't take any more chances on that itchy trigger finger of yours. I'll hand it over. Ain't nobody gonna take my gun away from me.  No, you won't. I'd... Maybe you ain't heard about them two-man-eye guns, Slotter. You were shooting off your mouth about it in a saloon, but I don't believe it to me. You never gunned a man. And you're not gonna start now. I'll hand it over. But first... I... Let's have it. All right. I'll get back to the herd. You've taken a lot away from that kid, Slotter. First calling him Jimmy and now taking his gun. I had no choice. Even so, you cut him up and he won't forget it. You're trying to be my conscience or something, Wichita. Oh, like you say, I'm just a nosy old man.  There's dirt on that fire, Wichita. Get it out. This could be a signal fire. Think it was Indians at Lyric? I doubt it. I think it was intended as a signal for Jess Hancock, so he could locate the herd. You suggesting somebody in our outfit set off the fire? Could be. But the stampede, we was all there. The fire could have been lit just before the stampede. You say somebody in the outfit, that it included me? Yeah. Right now, Wichita, there's only one person in the outfit I'm sure of. Who's that? Me. I tell you, I didn't start the fire, Slotter. I wouldn't help Hancock. I told you I want to get away from him. I know that's what you told me, Carlotta. But you don't believe me. You think I'm still Hancock's girl. Why don't you trust me? Why don't you be nice to me, huh? Maybe I could be your muchacha. Sorry. Right now, my job's riding herd on cattle, not women.  You don't care about nobody but yourself. Is she right, Slotter? What? Oh, Wichita. I might have known you'd be listening. Yep. Well, Slotter, the herd's quieted down. Two Mexican boys are keeping an eye on it. Did Carlotta admit anything? No. I wouldn't trust her, any. Don't, Rusty. You want us for anything more, or can we turn in? In a minute. I want to lay out the plans for tomorrow. I think we're in for some trouble. How so? We've got two possible routes through the country ahead, Rusty. Through a narrow pass or along the river bottom. The question is, which way to take the herd? You expecting to be drag-goached? I wouldn't be surprised, Jimmy. That narrow pass would be the logical place for a bushwhacking. Why not take the herd through along the river bottom? Well, there's one thing wrong with that, Rusty. It could be just what Hancock wants you to do. Right. He might be trying to out-figure me. There's a lot of willows and underbrush along that river bottom. He could be holed up there. That's why we're going to take the herd through the pass. We'll start right after sunup. I didn't know if my bluff would work or not. It was the only way I could find out who Hancock's spy was. I ran away from camp toward the herd. Whoever it was, I had to give him a chance to make a move. And it didn't take long. Pretty soon I heard muffled hooves moving away. I ran back to camp and took a look. It was Rusty. He was gone. Carlotta's gone, too, slaughter. I guess she wasn't so anxious to get away from Hancock as she let on. So Rusty's gone to tell him that we're bringing the herd through the pass? It's just what I wanted him to do. Unless he knows this country a lot better than I do, he's going to lead me right to Hancock. You're going after him? Yeah. They should give me the slip. We're going to be in for some trouble. What do you want us to do? Split the outfit in two, which is to take half the herd through the pass, the other half through the river bottom, and be ready for trouble, especially in the pass. Let me take the pass, Slaughter.  Yeah, real sure. And I think I can handle it. I think you can, too. Oh, and, uh, you might be needing that six gun of yours. Here it is, Jim. Thanks. Luke? Slaughter will do. Get moving its son up. Join up on the other side and wait for me. I picked up Rusty's trail. He was headed for the ridge between the pass and the river bottom. He was getting light when I reached a shortcut where I could gain some ground on him. But I gained too much. Just as I got back to the trail again, a horse came pounding around the bend carrying Rusty and Carlotta. He pulled up when he spotted me and shoved Carlotta off. Then I saw I'd been holding a gun on her. His slug burned my shirt as I dove at him. Oh! Slaughter, you... You all right, Carlotta? I think so. Rusty made me go with him. He was taking me back to Hancock. Slaughter. This came from all those rocks up above there. Take cover. All right. Behind this rock, you'll be all right. There. Sit here. You'll be safe now. I was wrong about you, Slaughter. What do you mean? Gracias. It's got to be Hancock up there in those rocks. Here. Take my rifle and stay put. I'm going to try and circle around behind him. It was a big shoulder of rock above me and to my left. I could get around that. I might be able to get behind Hancock if he didn't hear me coming. There he was. 20 yards away. He's back to me. His gun in the holster so he could get a better handhold as he edged his way along the rocks. The holstered me. Hancock's. I hosted my own gun and stepped out into the clear. Hancock. Yeah. Here I am, Hancock. Now go ahead. Draw. I don't like it, Wichita. Slaughter should have been here by now. He'll belong to him. Maybe we ought to head up there and see if we can find him. He could be in trouble. He said wait for him here. Even so, maybe. Oh, Carlotta's with him. Ain't that Rusty's horse? She's riding? Yeah. Slaughter is leading another one. Uh-huh. With an empty saddle. Heard all right. Yeah, all in one piece. No trouble. But it looks like you had some. A little. Is it Hancock's? It was. But how come you... Jim, you've got a couple of things to learn. It isn't getting your gun out of your holster that's the most important thing. It's what you do with it once it's out. Uh-huh. You figure Hancock was after the herd or after Carlotta. I didn't take time to ask him, Wichita. Next week at this time, we return with... Slaughter's the name. Luke Slaughter. When we meet up again, you can call me that. Luke Slaughter.


This is called a mother's journey. It's not particularly a message, it's not an outline, it's not a public speech, if you will, where there are points and sub points and notes that you can take as much as it is a story. Since our son passed away about 14 months ago, I have heard thousands of stories, thousands of stories from desperate people who are themselves struggling with a mental illness from the family members who love the desperate people who are struggling on the edge, from those who have lost family members to mental illness, those who hit the brick wall of mental illness and the brick wall one. I've heard thousands and thousands and thousands of stories. Some of them talk about the losses that mental illness can cause. Jail, addiction, homelessness, broken relationships, families torn apart by the chaos and the conflict, the confusion that happens between a mother and a father trying to figure out how to raise a child who has a mental illness, what a wife, how does she respond when her husband has a mental illness, how does a husband respond when his wife has a mental illness? What do you do when your best friend that you've loved all your life has a mental illness? Thousands and thousands of stories. But the story that I know best is mine and that's the story I wanna share with you today. We walked through mental illness for most of my son's 27 years. It wasn't a path that any of us, including Matthew, would have chosen. Given a choice, we would have gladly exchanged the path that we walked for nearly 27 years for one that had smoother walkways and fewer pitfalls, fewer hairpin curves, fewer precipitous cliffs. But we couldn't, not without abandoning our beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend. And so we walked with Matthew day in and day out for 27 years. I'll tell you right now, I'm gonna cry. This is fresh, so we've been 14 months. In the spring of 1985, I was in the second trimester of my third pregnancy and other than extreme morning sickness, pregnancy was going pretty well. One day I stood ironing, we used to do those things. I stood ironing some of my husband's shirts and I noticed that my ankles ached. But I didn't think too much about it and I continued to iron. And I started thinking I've just been ironing too long. That's why my ankles are hurting, but I reached down at one point just to kind of touch my ankle because it started to ache a little bit more. And when I did, I noticed there were these red, like mosquito bites all around my ankles and moving up my leg. But I still didn't think too much about it. But by the end of that day, my ankles were so painful I could barely walk. So the next morning I called my OBE and I said, I don't know what's going on, but something is happening, I can barely walk. And my ankles and these red bumps are getting larger and they're moving up my leg. And he sent me to a rheumatologist and the rheumatologist took one look at me. I was feverish by then, feeling very badly. And he took one look at me, looked at my legs and he said, I think what you have is something called erythema nodosa. He said it's an allergic reaction similar to hives in that it's what's a self-limiting illness, something you ate or came in contact with or something going on inside your body created an allergic reaction. And just like hives, it'll be problematic while it's here, but it'll go away on its own. And I said, well, I'm pregnant. How long can this last? And he said, I don't really know. It's a self-limiting disease and when it's over, it'll be over. I can't give you anything for it because you're pregnant. I can't give you steroids or anything that I might naturally give you. So go home and wait it out. Well, as I barely walked back to the car, that became the last time I walked for three months because by the next morning, every joint in my body was on fire as though I had rheumatoid arthritis. I had gigantic red nodules on my legs. Each one of them were fiery, feverish. I couldn't get out of bed to even go to the bathroom. Rick likes to say that we went in our marriage from bliss to bedpans overnight and he's not far off. That's pretty much true. So in those months that I was in bed with this pregnancy, I was reassured by the doctors that I would be okay and that my baby would be okay. You have to know that ultrasounds were not part of a pregnancy in 1985 or routine pregnancy didn't qualify for an ultrasound. So I had no idea if I was carrying a boy or a girl, but I was so anxious that my illness, because I was so sick. I couldn't quite imagine that my baby was going to be okay, even though the doctors kept reassuring me that I would and I was very frightened. On Easter morning of 1985, as I laid in my bed, Rick was at church doing Easter services and I was in my bed, sick, couldn't move, had people coming to check on me while he was gone, but it was so difficult to even pick up the telephone because every joint was on fire, but I managed to pick up my Bible that day and it fell open. I would love to say that it fell open to this passage in Habakkuk because I read Habakkuk all the time, but that would be a lie. So all I know is that you don't know where Habakkuk is in the Bible. It's this little kind of obscure book that nobody reads. And so for it to just fall open to that book was like, really? So it fell open to this chapter in Habakkuk and I wanna read to you. As I said, this is my story and this is what I read that day in Habakkuk 3, 17 to 19. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God, my savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength and he makes my feet, which weren't moving, like the feet of a deer. He enables me to tread on the heights. And for me in those moments of extreme pain, extreme anxiety and fear about what was gonna happen to me and what was gonna happen to my baby, I realized that whether I ever walked or not, again, I would rejoice in the Lord. That whether my baby lived or died or was impaired by the illness, I could rejoice in the Lord. I would trust him and it was a turning point in the way that I handled a very difficult pregnancy. Well, Matthew David Warren was born on July 18th, 1985 and Matthew means gift of God and David means beloved and he was instantly our beloved gift of God. His birth was normal and I recovered.  In spite of that very difficult pregnancy, he was a really easy baby and that was great because I'd spent so many months completely in bed and he was incorporated into our family and older sister and older brother and we were quickly a happy family of five and I have very sweet memories of a quirky, goofy, hyperactive kid with a hilarious sense of humor. He was exquisitely sensitive. He could walk through the aisles of Target as about five or six years old and look at the, this is gonna sound really strange but those of you who work in this field will have some measure of understanding about it but he would look at the gift wrap. He would look at the gift bags that might be for children's birthday parties that might have little animals or cute little figures and he would cry and it was the most mystifying thing and would say, buddy, what is sad about that? And he would say things like, somebody worked really hard to make that bag, what if nobody ever buys it? Yes, yes, that's the way he lived his life, exquisitely sensitive to life and the things that happened and he had an innate sense of justice for anyone left out on the margins or alone. We did the normal family things, we were busy at church and in sports and in dance but at one year old, his personality, this easy going little baby began to change. He held his breath and turned to blue anytime he was hurt, anytime he was angry and he passed out many times. He developed a negative mood, hurling, candy land and shoots and ladders if he didn't win. I can see him as a two and a half year old calling the game board across the room if he ever lost and he would stay in that negative mood for hours and we were unable to distract him or copes him out of it. He was active and he was irritated and he cried a lot, sensitive to lights and sound and by the time he was seven, he started showing signs of depression. He would come home from school telling me he was sad and when I would try to figure out why, he couldn't say, he would just keep repeating the words, I'm just sad. We had moved across town at that point and my husband and I just assumed that maybe it was because we had moved and he was getting used to a new neighborhood and so we didn't really pay a lot of mind but when that became all that he said, when he stopped playing with his toys, when he stopped playing at school, when he was lethargic and apathetic, he began to realize this was something more than just sad that he was clinically depressed and within a year or so of that diagnosis came the diagnosis of panic disorder, he had his first panic attacks, ADHD and even Tourette's. Even though he was extremely bright and creative and inquisitive, school was a challenge as his hyperactivity interfered with learning and he had a sleep issue and he slept in the morning, slept in the day and couldn't sleep at night and just felt like every year brought one other additional mental health challenge to his portfolio and at 12 he was diagnosed as having early onset bipolar. By that time he was seeing a pediatric neurologist at UCLA because we didn't know where to go in our county, we live in Orange County, a county of three million people and there was nothing coordinated and it was just the same as opening the phone book and just sticking my finger on the name because I had no idea where to go, who to call and everyone I called didn't know what to do so finally we took him to UCLA and I talked to the doctor one day and I said something is still missing, this is what the ADHD and the sleep disorder and panic attacks and depression but something still wasn't fitting and one day he and I were running through the house chasing, he was about 11 years old, we were running, we were playing, we were laughing, we were chasing, we were having so much fun, it was a tickle fest and he was hiding and we were just having this great time and all of a sudden I realized after a few minutes I couldn't find him and so I began calling him and looking through the house and trying to figure where he was and finally getting a little anxious because he wasn't responding and I couldn't figure out where he was, I'm looking under the beds and I eventually opened a closet and he was huddled in the corner of the closet and he said I wanna die and I did not know what to do with that, we had just been laughing and playing and having a great time, how could he go in the space of two minutes from great fun and enjoyment to suddenly disappearing in a closet and telling me he wanted to die? And when I called his neurologist, that's when he said, I think he has early onset bipolar, I've just come from a conference and I think that's what's wrong with him. We didn't really know what was wrong and we didn't know how to fix it, we did everything we knew to do but it was with this increasing heavy weight in our heart that things were not right with our buddy and they were pretty severe. Our family and our friends were supportive but they were very puzzled in his behavior. I know that as has already been said, we got some of those questions of well, it's probably your parenting. I mean, people didn't say it quite that boldly but it was implied and you could tell by the look on people's faces that it was surely a parenting issue and if we were better at discipline, if we were more consistent, if we were just better parents, our son wouldn't be struggling like this and so we lived with that and sometimes because his behavior happened in the privacy of our home, other people would look at him and say, it's really not that bad, is it? We're all the time we knew how terrible it was. Teenage years had the normal awkwardness and angst but it was compounded by this growing depression and by that time he was taking handfuls of very powerful psychotropic medication designed to elevate his mood, calm his hyperactivity, reduce anxiety, help him sleep, then the medication to counteract the side effects from the medication that was supposed to help and sometimes when I would look at his pill box that he had every day, I would weep, I would weep because there were 30 pills in a day and he was still depressed. We changed schools, we changed therapists, we changed medications, we changed everything we could think of over and over to find relief to very little avail. Even so his creative spark remained bright, he loved ceramics, he was a fabulous writer, art, video games and anime became one of the loves of his life and during those years he alternated between a very passionate pursuit of his faith and anger at a God that he felt had let him down and we all limped along the side of him. My daughter mothered him and nurtured him and worried constantly about him.  His brother Josh played endless hours of video games, played with him in the pool, shared his friends with him and you might have thought that as a brother he would have pushed his weaker sibling away being embarrassed or ashamed. He never did. Even as young children and teenagers themselves they stood by their brother and they were his biggest defenders and supporters. My husband and I did everything to distract him and his mood soured, we'd take him on magical mystery tours getting him up at 10 at night and taking places just to try to change his mood, played video games, played in the pool, twisted ourselves into pretzels wanting so desperately for him to be okay. We prayed, we sought help, we devoured books, stuff online, talked to psychiatrist physicians and nothing made the depression any better and for years he was very obedient. He obediently went to countless therapy sessions and he swallowed boatloads of drugs. He patiently listened every time I would explain why this time this is the best doctor, this one, this one is the best doctor Matthew or this medication, this medication I know is gonna make a big difference or this therapy or this school or this whatever and he would listen and sometimes there was a measure relief but never enough and as the years went by the relief grew less effective and his suffering intensified as depression took root in his mind and then the drum beat to the terrible finale. A new adult psychiatrist told him that he didn't have bipolar disorder, changed all of his medications and within months he spiraled down to new lows making suicidal threats a common topic of conversation and the dark times took us to the edge of hell and it was a new ball game. We did everything we do, we engaged in vigorous conversation with him about the meaning of life, the right to die on one's own timetable, the autonomy of the self, the ins and outs of religion and faith and ethics and morality and world politics and the glories of the world of warcraft and the mysteries of relationships and the value or lack of value and meaning and suffering. The inequities faced by millions who didn't have his advantages why scream rock music was so satisfying and why Adam Sandler and Mr. Deeds will be the best actor and movie of all times and we talked about those things over and over and over again and what I've come to realize as much as I knew my son and as much as I loved him. As much as our family loved him as much as his friends loved him, none of us would ever know how deep and dark or how difficult it was to be him. What it cost him to face another day that loomed ahead of him as a repeat of the day before and what a toll that constant effort to just maintain took on his psyche and over the years he grew increasingly weary of the fight and began to seek a way out and his frantic search created frantic responses in us and a terrible cycle of crisis, intervention, hospitalization and recovery began. Wrong diagnoses of his condition only heightened the struggle making treatment ineffective and unhelpful and over the years his willingness to attempt to find ways to live a more normal life slowly eroded until the future loomed over him in unbearable ways. He eventually lost his way spiritually concluding that if God existed he was cruel.   There were so few answers and fewer strategies moving forward it just kept getting worse. This creative whimsical justice oriented people-centered personality got lost in a disorder and yet in the middle of his own agony and torment he reached out time after time after time to people that he met on the internet offering compassion, offering love, offering encouragement to keep going. He found the loners and the outcasts and the one who didn't seem to fit and the new person and the oddball and the depressed and the suicidal and in countless chat rooms he encouraged and doled out relationship advice and actively tried to intervene with those that were considering taking their lives. And he would say to me with almost it baffled him but he would say with Irene his voice I know how to help other people. I just can't make it work for me. After one of his numerous hospitalizations in which he would say it doesn't help mom it only makes it worse. I pulled an old book off of my shelf and began to read it and it was about borderline personality disorder. And I remember sitting on the floor weeping knowing that I had just discovered the missing piece why all of the other diagnoses and all the massive amounts of treatment and medication and therapy didn't make things better. He had borderline personality disorder. And when I asked the psychiatrist who had been seeing him for three years why he had never diagnosed him with BPD he said he didn't fit the profile. And I said because I was new I said what profile? He said he was male and he grew up in a stable home. Yeah and I was horrified that a psychiatrist at a leading hospital in California was working off such old information and my son missed getting appropriate treatment for years maybe decades. But I felt better I felt hopeful because now we had a better diagnosis now there was one that really fit his symptoms but he wasn't impressed. His response, really mom? I mean really tell me that this is the answer. I don't believe you, I don't believe you anymore. There is no hope, I'll never be any different. Why would I hope only to be disappointed again and even if it could help it would be like trying to climb Mount Everest with chopsticks. One of the benefits of going off of so much of the medication was he lost weight. He had ballooned, gained 100 pounds. And going off the medication he discovered that underneath all of that medication induced weight was a guy with a pretty cool body and he began to work out with a trainer and this skinny kid who had blown up into this very large young man suddenly lost 75 pounds and gained biceps that were the envy of anybody who saw him and he's found a new reason to keep pushing himself to live. When he passed away he was in the best shape of any person in our whole family for generations. Just wasn't even fair. You can laugh it was funny. And we had so hoped that the success in achieving his goals in this one area would translate into meeting, being willing to try in other areas. And the last week of his life was actually one of the best weeks he'd ever had. He had a date lined up and he was thrilled. He made a new friend, he started a job. He hadn't worked in four years. He'd been invited to be a part of a select group within MMO Champion and if you know what MMO Champion is you know it's a big deal. If you don't, don't worry about it but it was a big deal. And he was planning to start therapy. He had an appointment with his BPD psychiatrist. He was gonna get a new iPhone the next day, get an upgrade coming. And all I can figure is that he'd gotten so used to drinking life out of a teaspoon and to suddenly to be drinking out of a fire hydrant. So many good things happening at once. Overwhelmed him. He was not equipped to deal with the concept of hope. And he was terrified that he couldn't maintain it. What if it was all false hope? What if all these good things, new job, a date, being invited to be a part of an online group? What if it all would fall apart and he would end up more alone, more depressed, more sad than he'd ever been before?  He and I were texting. He'd come to our house for dinner and told me all these great things but he also laid his head on our table. We said, mom, I'm so tired. I'm just so tired. I said, buddy, maybe you don't have to do quite so much. Maybe you know what the job that you're at. You don't have to go every day. You've gone two days this week. It's okay, you've got the leeway. You don't have to go tomorrow. And I just was trying to like, you know, just slow it down. You don't have to take in all of this.  And if you're thinking this is all so bleak, I can't stand to listen for another second. And my friends, maybe you were catching the tiniest fraction of what his and so many millions of other people's lives are like every single day. And perhaps it will allow you to have even more empathy for someone you know who struggles with depression and you'll begin to take their words more seriously and you'll commit to sticking by them through thick and thin so at least they'll know they're not in this fight alone. Maybe you'll join us and the one in five minds maybe you'll decide to make some noise about the deplorable state of psychiatric care in America and you'll advocate for better treatment and care and support for individuals who are just doing their best to slog their way through the swamp of depression and mental illness and you'll make some noise for the families who love them.  I have to tell you that we as his family are devastated by his death but we're not destroyed. We don't know what to do with Adam.   I wanna see him in one, especially the banana suit. I wanna fix him pancakes and watch anime and eat Korean barbecue and discuss hot button political topics. I wanna watch him snuggle and play with his dearly loved nieces and nephews. I just wanna hear his voice. As a Christian, I have to tell you that my faith forms the basis of the way that I face his death because I believe with all of who I am that even though something very tragic has happened, his death is not the end of him and I am confident that I will see him again in heaven. I completely and firmly believe that he is in a place where his best self is finally released, where smiles and laughter supplant the agonized sobs and the heavy weight of mental illness. It's been removed and I wait so eagerly for the day to join him and I fully expect him to run up to me in his banana costume or maybe a nacho libre mask to meet me saying, mom, you won't believe it. It's even better than you said it would be.  My job as his mother, his chief advocate, his caretaker, his nurturer, the fellow warrior in the fight, the lover of all things Matthew. My job as his mother, is finished.  There is nothing else I can do for him because he's not here. But I can continue to fight in his memory, in his honor, and I will. I'm shifting my focus to seeking a better future for others, the developmental illnesses children. I will continue to fight for better treatment, care and support for all people with mental illnesses but children tug at my heart. Each boy and girl deserves a healthy and whole childhood.  He thought he was a freak of nature. I wanna knock down the stigma and the shame and the ineffective diagnoses, the overuse of medication to advocate for holistic treatment that includes the whole person, body, mind and soul to call faith congregations to action on behalf of the vulnerable and sick among us to develop psychiatric spaces for depressed people like Matthew, who are broken, but they're not crazy, to call our government to take a long, hard look at the existing mental health system and to make sweeping changes in the way that we care for those living with mental illness, to seek much needed funds for mental health research, more psychiatric, impatient beds. I have to pause here. Do you know, this is a travesty. In the United States right now, we are at the same level of inpatient beds as we were in this country 150 years ago. We are at the same number of inpatient beds as there were in the night, excuse me, 18, 15. I wanna beg our country to have the hard conversations about sensible gun control, to stop the ever-increasing violence.  I'll close with this. In the shocking days following Matthew's very violent death, a friend sent me Habakkuk 3, 17 to 19 to comfort me. The same passage, she didn't even know this, it was the same passage that I had stumbled on in great physical and emotional pain when I carried him in my womb 27 years ago. And I can tell you what I have learned to say in these last 27 years. What I said then, whether Matthew lives or dies, whether he receives the healing I so desperately wanted on this earth or not, whether I can understand the mystery of suffering or not. Yet I will rejoice and the Lord, God, is the strength of my life and I will be joyful in God my Savior. I think it's fitting that those verses bookend the life of my beautiful boy, Matthew David, the love and gift of God. And in his memory, I join you today to celebrate the ways that Clarity Children's Guidance Center is making such a powerful and life-giving difference in the lives of so many precious boys and girls. Thank you for all you do on their behalf. Thank you for caring so passionately for all the little Matthews that come here seeking hope. Thank you for equipping families to navigate the rough waters of mental illness more effectively and compassionately. It's a privilege to be a part of your effort and I and thousands of other families. Cheer you on. Thank you.


The Delta government has chartered the Liberal Party shifting Professor Parto Tommy over his false and misleading claims that the government denied the party venue for its presidential campaign in the state. The Commissioner for Information in Delta State Charles Agniago said, Well, Tommy, a professor of many years, should not resort to telling lies and blackmail to curry sympathy for his party and that the Liberal Party did not write to the government informing it of the rally. The Liberal Party did not write to us as a government that they were going to have a rally in Delta. Somebody as highly pleased as Parto Tommy went to town who alleged that they have been prevented from campaigning in Delta. Our democratic credentials is not what they see in other places. We ask them not to pay a funding that will take your responsibility for even the cleaning after they have left. Yet, in spite of doing that within 10 minutes, we're able to make that venue available to them and ask them to take over the venue and then use it. Sunday morning phone call for an event on Monday. Within 10 minutes, we made the venue available to them.  I'm telling you what's happened between me and them. Yet, Professor Parto Tommy wanted to tell a lie, went to the media station, went to the social media and alleged that we're preventing them from using public venues. That's what I'm telling you, Professor. Lying to Nigerians is not what we need as a country at this point in time. Every political party should be free to campaign anywhere they want to campaign so long as we do not infringe on the rights of any other person.


So, your preliminary statement on the Zimbabwe elections drew a sharp reaction, particularly from ZanoPF officials, some government officials maybe, who thought you were not really fair. What do you think caused the misunderstanding? I think that they misguided themselves, whether it's deliberate or not. You must understand Zimbabwe is one of the oldest members of Sadiq. Zimbabwe knows the protocols of Sadiq. Zimbabwe and government knows that they are the vice chair of Sadiq. They know about this little booklet. And they misguided himself to say that the head of mission, in this case, myself, I wrote that report by myself. Maybe you need to explain. I was going to ask you who prepared the report. So, I'm coming to that. But I think that's their problem. They thought that Neva Smumba is the one who prepared the report. So, they are shooting at the wrong animal in the bush. They are pursuing a totally wrong animal. They killed it. They wouldn't eat it because that's not the animal they are after. Like I said in the beginning, Sadiq is a well-structured organization. And it must add that Sadiq is one of the most respected regional groupings on the continent of Africa. And it's respected at AU. It is respected at UN because of the manner in which they attempt to represent their nations. So, what happens is that from the day we arrived, the process began. I arrived to a whole list of meetings. Stakeholders come to the hotel where we were hosting as the command center. And we met ambassadors, the Sadiq ambassadors. We met European ambassadors. We met political party leaders, both from the opposition and also from government. We met government officials at Tony General, the Inspector General of Police. We met civil society. We met the church. I mean it was a long list, close to 16 different organizations and individuals who gave us feedback on the perception of the election, of the difficulties they see, the hurdles and the unfair things that they saw and they fed that to us. After that, we now had a very robust media team occupying a whole room where they were monitoring all media that is in Zimbabwe and coming from outside the country and they will feed me as head of state and they will feed the secretariat with that information. So that was also added to our investigation of the election. Then beyond that, on the 18th of August, we flagged off and sent 50 of our observers in the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. And then from the 18th, they began now to feed the headquarters with the observations prior to the election and we are receiving these reports every night would sit in front of a big screen using technology, getting reports from other provinces and updating our data and information. On election day, they were busy feeding the centre with all every little development that they saw, they reported to the headquarters and after we get all that information, then we give it to the drafts team. The drafting team was composed of about 12 people from 9 different Sadiq countries. We had South Africa, we had Botswana, we had Malawi, we had Tanzania, we had Eswatini, we had Namibia, we had Zambia and we had 9 Sadiq countries. So this was not a Zambian mission, this was a Sadiq mission and they sat around the table, got all this information together and worked on a draft statement, which we call primary draft statement. And it was that statement that was now brought to the table where it was edited, removing anything that we felt was not supported by other evidence and other facts and I was not even there for that meeting. It was the secretariat of Sadiq, it was the troika, that is troika means that Zambia is the chair, President Hagaende Chilema is the chair, but his representative was Ambassador Chibanda and then Namibia had their representative as well as the immediate past president chair of the troika. Then we also had Tanzania, which are the incoming after President Hagaende Chilema to return to Tanzania. So those are called the troika. So there is the secretariat, the troika, then there is a group called SIAC and this is the advisory council of Sadiq on matters of elections and everything. It's a group of lawyers and we were honored to have a judge, who is an active judge from Eswatini. These are the ones who go through every detail to make sure that we are legally sound in the statement. So these sit around the table and flash that thing on the screen and scrutinize it sentence by sentence by sentence and edit it. After they finish editing, then they call me, I had an office there at Sheraton, they would call me and say, Mr. Head of Mission, now we have finished our job. Can you come? Here is the report. Here is the report. So then I will sit with all of them. We were more than 25 of us in that room with the draft report. I looked at it and I had to compare what they had written to the notes I was taking when we were interviewing the stakeholders. For them, they were privileged because I didn't find anything in the report that was not coming from the stakeholders who had talked to us. So I made no changes in the statement. So just to ask you there, how much influence do you have as Head of Observer Mission to alter and impute things into the report? I think I could suggest if I think that something is not right and is not supported by fact. I don't think you have that unilateral power because these are professionals. This is what they do. So if you are going to challenge what they have written, you really have to have a good reason why you are challenging it. So I think that it is important to make this clear because I have heard people saying that Nevers wrote this statement. Nevers didn't write the statement. Nevers read the statement. So when people rise up to come after Nevers, they are really totally misled and then they are also saying it was President Haka Indi Ichilema who took that report and changed things and gave it to his tujnevers so that he can create an embarrassment for Zimbabwe. Far be from it. President Haka Indi Ichilema looked at the report and just like me he never changed a word of what the technocrats did, of what the professionals did. Not a single word. I must remind you when he sent us to Zimbabwe I was waiting for him to give me a long list of what I must be doing there. He never did. He said to me Mr. Vice President go on behalf of Sadek and all I expect from you is to help to give the Zimbabwans a free, fair and credible election. Those are the only he said it twice. I need nothing from you Mr. Vice President but free, fair and credible election you would have done your job. When I was in Zimbabwe and we were on our way to go and see President Muna Gagwa to pay a courtesy call on him I contacted the president here President Haka Indi Ichilema I said Mr. President we are going to see your colleague do you have a word for him any greeting whatever he said no the only thing you tell my colleague is that let's go ahead and give the Zimbabwans a free, fair and credible election. He repeated the same words. So there was So there was one mandate there was no instruction from President Haka Indi Ichilema he had no input in this speech which is now being debated globally. The preliminary report one of the obligations of observers and observer mission in line with the Sadiq principles and guidelines governing democratic elections which you've referred to is for you to maintain strict impartiality in your conduct not to show bias not to express any bias or preference in relation to the candidates and whatever is happening in that direction but your impartiality was called to question that you sided with Chameza. Just like I said on the issue of saying that Nevers wrote the statement they were looking for anything because I think this report is not common in the Sadiq country some of them they don't expect Sadiq to challenge anything they expect Sadiq to just go with whatever is going on and this is maybe the first time the experience of there was a reaction then they created a story that the Sadiq went to accompanied Chameza to the polling station to vote a total fabrication this was supported by photos not of course not at the polling station but of you sitting with Chameza when I sat with Chameza the next time he came to meet Sadiq with his team and we took pictures just like we took pictures with President Monagawa and these are things that are really shocking me that people think would go to observe an election and not talk to stakeholders Who else did you meet maybe you need to explain We met 11 contenders did you meet all of them We met about 4 of them the others were not coming forth so we met President Chameza and his team we met President Monagawa and also we met the Secretary General of Zano PF at their headquarters with his entire team so these are the interactions we had but let me go back to your question so they said that never and the Sadiq team escorted Chameza I think they were now trying to create a story we never escorted Chameza in any case even if we had gone where he was going it was still in order because anytime you as an observer you find out two things where is the incumbent going to cast his vote where is the leading opposition going to cast their vote then you split yourselves as observers some go where the president is casting the vote the others go where the opposition is casting the vote in this case president Monagawa was casting his vote in Kwekwe which was very far away from Harare so our observers there went and took care of that those of us that were in Harare went where Chameza was but he found us there we didn't go with him I never made any contact with him no eye contact he didn't see me we were observing and the reason we do that is to make sure that when we write our report it's legit he could come up and say they did not allow me to vote or they stunned me but if you are observing you can say no Mr. Chameza that's not what happened we were there we observed it so I think that is cheap for people to say what they are saying and I know maybe the emotions that are attached to an election but we went to Zimbabwe in order to lift up the hands of the Zimbabwean people and work with them to realize their dreams and ensure that we point out those things which in the next election they can work on look here in Zambia we have received some of the most damning electoral reports from different observer missions and what we do is well we take those things take what we think we can use to correct our ways and those things we don't agree with we diss them why is this so different because Zimbabweans they are supposed to appeal against this through the channels that are created you can't play this game on the streets this is very high level stuff you can't play with this on the streets and I think that I am confident myself that Zimbabwe is going to do the right thing I believe that Zimbabwe is going to follow the procedures and they are going to have their questions answered one thing that is surprising is that with the people that are challenging our statement there is no one who has come to say this issue that you have raised here is wrong the issue of the constitution this constitution we gave to ourselves and you as an observer mission you cannot turn yourself into a constitution review commission and pass judgment on the constitution that issue is in this little booklet in other words the SADIC observer team has got the responsibility to come here to Zambia and if you've made a law that says that you cannot campaign only the ruling party can campaign the SADIC will take note of that law and put it in their report as a recommendation to the member state that that law stands in the way of free and fair elections and your parliament must look into that law because we are a community we have agreed on certain norms and those norms must reflect democratic norms so I think that that question of saying that we are trying to interrogate their law no it's a law that impedes in the free and fair elections and I think that we must continue to be strong to ourselves you know maybe it's the African thing you know Africa we use euphemism to talk to each other instead of saying that you know allow people to look at the for instance the ballot papers it's in our report the stakeholders in Zimbabwe did not see the ballot papers until the day of voting they don't know who they only knew who printed it three days before the elections they don't know how it moved to the police station there's no one who goes with it so these are issues that we feel like we must learn from each other peer review mechanism see how other countries do it remember we can get in a caller Mr Mueva from Lusaka Mr Mueva welcome to the program go ahead and ask your question good evening good evening good evening Dr Mumba let's go ahead we can hear you yes I wanted to find out something I've been listening to Dr Mumba you know writing writing a report is one thing the format and the language of the report is another thing now that report which he wrote rewrote this is a collective responsibility was it in line with the guideline the subject guideline and the policies in other words is there a format in which the the report must be presented and the language in the report because what I'm sensing here is that probably the people in Zimbabwe are offended one by the language and probably the format of the report it was not in line with the the expectations because the subject guidelines give the kind of language that should be used in the report and the format we've got a question is there a format let me help him also by telling him that when he says the people of Zimbabwe that's not true just go to social media and find out what Zimbabwe you'll be shocked on how they have embraced this report so when he says Zimbabwe I do not think that's accurate but let me come to there's a template that is used all the time to report so we did not create a new template it's a template which you populate as they observe and I must say that this is a highly scientific process it's a scientific process because it has a system to it and it has headings already and they populate each one of those headings so to answer our colleague who asked the question yes there's a template that is used by Sadiq and it follows the guidelines of Sadiq one thing I want to assure the Zambians is that this report that was done and I'm talking to Zambians now because some people tried to mislead Zambians but this report that was done was done in accordance with the guidelines of Sadiq we never went out there could be a mistake maybe in a comma a full stop or a word which may mean two things because life is not perfect but in terms of the foundations upon which we built the statement it was built on the constitution of Zimbabwe we had to always have the copy of the constitution and if there was a departure from their own laws we pointed it out like I said it's the electoral act and it guides the Zimbabweans how they are going to handle their elections and if they depart from it the observer says but you departed from this the third thing are the guidelines for Sadiq and these three guided us right away through until the statement was made so it can stand strong and tall in any courthouse this statement the whole issue now is standing to Western imperialism and Marxism should this be the topic of debate maybe before you go there I didn't honor your question which you asked before that and I think it's fair that I talk about the impartiality issue that you talked about I think it's unfair to say that never or Sadiq is impartial and some of the people decided that because Chamisa is a pastor then I'm impartial and I think it's an insult to my integrity and to my dignity that I can compromise my sense of judgment because Gravasio had lunch with me yesterday and if he's done the wrong thing that I don't operate like that I am addicted to justice I am addicted to fairness that's really what I am as a pastor or just as a political leader Zambias know that if you want truth talk to Nevers I will not depart it's painful like I'm paying a high price now there are people that are already in this country that have been sent to look for me and they have been talking to my pastors with cameras trying to create stories about me but that doesn't move me because truth shall set you free it doesn't matter how long it takes I was yes he's a pastor but I don't even know Mr. Chamisa's wife I don't know his children I know he's a pastor I've never heard him preach so I do know him he has a passion for his country but I also know President Munagagwa and I was with him and we had a lot of laughter to do he has a strong Zambian background he speaks most of our languages and when I was at statehouse we were using Zambian language to speak to each other so I have that kodo relationship it has nothing to do let's get in a caller before we lose we'll take up from Mumpika you are through to the program please go ahead and ask your question Good evening Good evening Dr. Momba Good evening I represent an organization called Community Action Agnet Polisko Volumes I'm the Secretary General for that organization Mine is more of a comment than a question I think to begin with it is important that we need to be a brother's keeper as far as the country is concerned one of the reasons that you realize that they are unrests in Afrika and in the country is the issue to do with the governance especially when the citizens feel that the electoral process and governance is not fair so from our point of view I think it is important to applaud Sadik through the president Mr. Hagaide Chamber and also the the observer leader that he said Dr. Nevas Momba because that report like you have said Dr. Momba it is not your report I think that's where we are missing it as citizens and also especially we have seen some sentiments from other opposition political parties that are just alarming that is like Dr. Momba went to Zimbabwe and our current president want to change the governance of Zimbabwe so I think as a brother's keeper Sadik member states should go into an honesty conversation with the Zimbabwe leadership in as far as we have to allow you to go we need to allow Dr. Momba thank you so much for calling in and for your contribution let me help here I think that the narrative that is going on that President Hagaide Chamber and Nevas Momba are being used by western powers to effect regime change in Zimbabwe I think to me is one of the most unfortunate cheap statements that anybody can make first of all President Hagaide Chamber didn't send me there as a president he sent me there on behalf of Sadik and they must respect the chairmanship that is being held by President Hagaide Chamber he has been given that he was elected to be that and all Sadik must respect that role that is playing and he chooses whom he believes and I believe that we did deliver on behalf of not just Zambia but on behalf of Sadik and I think that this usage gravazio of the word the western western imperialism communism papet if you give me four minutes let me deal with this subject to my brothers and sisters in the political field of this country we are not cheapen ourselves to try to divide ourselves as a people between two powers that have nothing or very little to do with us we are not westerners we are not communists we are Africans and if you start to divide the continent along those lines you are cheapening who you are we have our own interests as Africa yes I think that for us as Zambia our approach has been to work with any country who can help us to better the lives of the Zambian people the west for instance there are things we like about the west and things we don't like about the west and we call the western thing the western thought it is a thought of freedom a thought of democracy a thought of regular elections so every Zambian every politician who goes to vote on a voting day he is exercising a western thought so he is a western puppet anybody who goes to vote if you want to use that puppet issue he is a western puppet because voting and regular elections are a western thought it is a freedom the freedom of expression the freedom of association that is why that is very close to the bible where God allows people to freely choose their own things that they want and that's where that comes from the eastern bloc which my colleagues here in this country perpetuate and push we have nothing against them I like the infrastructure projects with us Russia helped a lot of African countries to receive their independence but there are things we don't celebrate about them for instance we think that maxism communism socialism these isims are the ones that control they control the people they want to think for people and people's thinking is actually regulated by government and they are not that chechi that's where you found in China in Russia the persecution of Christians is high there and then also the thing some of us don't like there and I don't like things like homosexuality on the western side we like their engagement with structures but you must understand China and Russia they are the ones that really look down upon black people if you look how they treat black people you cannot say that they are our messias we are our own messias we have chosen God as a leader of our country and we should make sure we do that let's get in the corner Zulu on the line ambassador go ahead and ask your question good evening good evening good evening vice president good evening sir first of all I should congratulate you for the fact that what you did in Zimbabwe thank you the Zimbabwe issue is historical you did Zambia beauty you remember that even during the time of when we were fighting and going to Lancaster house Kenneth Kaunda was accused of favoring Joshua Ankomo Robert Mugabe when president Robert Mugabe became president President Manawasa was equally accused of having favored the opposition in that country so that is not new what we need is to follow what you have done done it very very well for Zambia we need to engage Zimbabwe without fear or shame so that we can find a common ground in terms of democracy we as Zambians are not happy with that what that country has gone through has gone through traumatic period but what you did you did Zambia what your forefathers could have done you could have not done anything better than what you did we need Zambians to do your job in that country I'm sure that Zambia will begin to understand what you stand for and what Zambia stands for we don't favor anybody we favor proper democracy in our region thank you so much for coming through thank you for your contribution maybe doctor you would pick this other question also the importance of free and fair elections to Sadiq and Africa I know according to the guidelines Sadiq oppressed with 5 key concepts looking at credible elections transparent elections peaceful elections free elections fair elections you know why if we don't work hard on ensuring that the elections in our region are free and fair will create a problem for ourselves people will start to find other ways this is why Sadiq insists on all member countries to comply with those that you have just read transparency is one of the biggest problems that we are facing right now and if we don't do that like I was saying when the call came in there are a lot of us in the political world today and I won't mention any names that have become so reckless in trying to divide us between the west and the east and someone saying that Haga indeshlema is a puppet of the west and puppet, puppet every day they are also puppets of whosoever they dance their music to so you cannot call your friend a puppet just because it doesn't believe in what you believe the reason they are doing that is to divide this country and I have to warn the politicians you know our friends all of us in politics Zambians you know our friends people we fraternize with look at the friends each one of us has look what they are doing in west Africa they are trying to create the same situation here they are trying to prepare an atmosphere for calls around Africa and they have chosen certain political leaders to speak a certain language of bringing a division to say this one is a western puppet this one is I don't know what they call themselves like you know they belong to the east they belong to Marxism socialism they belong to communism we have to be careful it's no longer funny what is happening in Africa must be stopped and it must be stopped now when you see the signs in any one of us that we don't have the country at heart we want to become presidents at any cost it does not matter who dies in the process you must stop us as Zambians so I want all of us in politics let us be bigger in our own personal ambitions Zambia must come first let's get in some messages we've got people that have been texting us and trying to participate in the program to ask a few questions so most of them are coming from our facebook page we're going to get them we've got New Life Tanda Varai on behalf of Zimbabwe in masses we are fully behind you Dr. Neversa we've got Tim Jones Dr. Neversa Mumba did a fantastic job the only problem is everyone is afraid to say what the truth was recent Sibu Senga for once you have revived the Sadiq you left a lifetime mark of true patriot Tichafara Yamutawera Sampa Elimusanda you have jeopardized our relationship with Zimbabwe as head of the mission you have jurisdictions to offer any judgment I think you do not have jurisdiction to offer any judgment as the country in question has existing legal system to deal with such the last one it was an embarrassment seeing your statement different from steps man as Nyoma and Chisano there were no statements from Nyoma or Chisano you could react to we can react to the messages this is the problem we have in Zambia very few have read the report that colleague of ours is saying that the statements from Nyoma and Chisano there were no statements from Nyoma and Chisano because they were not observers in that President Chisano was there not as an observer he is working on a program with the government of Zimbabwe so I think that for the bigger part the Zimbabwan people know what we attempted to do we cannot choose leaders for them they choose leaders for themselves we go there asadek to stand shoulder to shoulder with them to ensure that there is credibility in the system that raises their leaders because a 40 and a flawed process produces a flawed result and therefore our concern is to make sure that every saddick nation abides by their own regulations that they have said for themselves so we appreciate those who see what we attempting to do but obviously some people don't read they are saying that you have brought division within saddick we haven't brought division this report because it's best on truth shall become a sign of integrity in the region remember that saddick is coming from a place where it is facing credibility issues it's facing credibility issues because of what happened in Malawi in Malawi saddick gave it their signature that the election was free and fair and it was good only a few months later it was overturned by the courts that it was fraudulent and when the things were coming out it embarrassed saddick to such levels that it's only now that saddick is rising up through this report that we can observe write what we observe face the cameras and tell them that this is what we have found out if we are wrong let Zimbabwe go to the process that has been established by saddick and lodge their complaints and they can be heard at that point but we stand by this report it is rooted in truth it is rooted in the people that were professional when they were working on it over 20 people went through that from different countries you are through the program I think we've lost a period now we can stay on on that other question you've saw the relations between Zambia and Zimbabwe could that be the correct position maybe that is writing from some attacks coming from ruling party members look at the end of the day listen to what the Zimbabweans are saying on the streets I think that's where you can get the judgment of this report we are political animals the political leaders in Zimbabwe there are also politicians kadas and stuff like that they don't think in the line of the order that they have created for themselves and I have no feelings of hatred for those who have spoken against me those who have insulted me insulted my family insulted everything that I stand for they have started investigations in this country it's okay with me it's not the first time it's happening but when it comes to truth I don't compromise on that and the language that was used was moderated in order to make sure that our point is heard and I think that we need to solve the problem that is there and the problem is that we are trying to divide ourselves as a continent alongside western and eastern and that's not our battle and I think Zimbabwe must challenge this report by telling us that point 1 2 3 is wrong then we can go back to their constitution or we can go to this little booklet and show them where we are anchoring that report and for the Zambians I would like to advise them there's no need for us to panic there's no need for us when somebody goes out there out of the country to represent the country to hate I know that you may not like the person that has gone that has been asked to play that task but you are Zambians listen first to all facts before you start to throw so you can make any judgment let's get in a call Mr. Kasama from Mansa you are through to the program go ahead and ask your question good evening good evening Dr. Mumba good evening sir we don't have a question as such I just want to comment and my comment is that I'll be very honest with you I'm so proud of you you are an upright man in Africa I think we are going astray because when we look at leaders we think we are like gods I think this high time we started moving away from that kind of thinking and it can only take upright people like you Dr. Mumba to show the world that we as Africans are able to see through that this is wrong, this is right I'm proud of you keep it up Dr. Mumba thank you Mr. Kasama so doki we're trying to explain and as you explained that look there's no need to divide East and West that's a big topic now and then there's the issue of relations I think you still have to get back to that but then you also have to talk to the politics changing politics on the continent Africa in particular and that's what I want to do last but I just want to go back a little bit on saying that we have divided or rather we have injured the relationship between Zambian and Zimbabwe let me repeat I did not go to Zimbabwe as a Zambian taking the Zambian Electro Act as a Zambian Constitution to observe that election we took the Sadiq instruments to be able to assess that if Zimbabwe at any time has a problem with the report they are not going to come to Zambia they cannot blame President Haka what is going on is unacceptable there is no reason why Zimbabwe should involve President Ichilema in this noble task that has been done he's doing his job to respect him and some of the statements that are coming from they are totally unacceptable whether they have the blessings of the leadership of the country we don't know and that's not for me to say but I think that let's not react so dramatically and drastically to a report that you can challenge through the normal avenues that have been provided for us so I think that we need to run away nothing has been injured and Zimbabwe and the Zambian people will always be brothers and sisters we've always been like that and no politician will divide Zambia and Zimbabwe whether it's a Zambian politician or it's a Zimbabwan politician we are one people and we shall remain one people so you were asking about this message of caution to the Zambians of caution to the Zambians changing trends I have already mentioned here today let's not act like we don't know what's happening on the continent of Africa the coups that are taking place in the western part of our continent these are realities on the ground how do they start they start with unruly political leaders desperate political leaders who start to make inflammatory statements against those in government or their friends who are leading them and they try to make them look like these are people who are being used by other nations to impose themselves here I mean I was very disappointed to hear somebody in Zimbabwe saying that Havendo Isklema was installed by by imperialists how do you explain that to the millions that lined up at 4, 5 o'clock in the morning to those imperialists that you're talking about and we don't take that kindly we don't take that kindly because at the end of the day they're trying to prepare the ground for a swear of people start to say yes he's been placed there by imperialists no, that is not acceptable and I say to Zambians watch us as politicians please watch us stop clapping for us when we make these statements that we are making in order to win political mileage it's not a game there are lives in this country that need to be protected future for our children and our grandchildren and it's not about you becoming president it's about Zambia being protected and we need to be fair in the manner we campaign for the high office of president and I think it's important that all of us Zambians be on a lookout stop clapping for things that are going to destroy the nation let's clap for things that will unite the nation lastly doc and a minute from the Zimbabwe election we're running out of time I think that we have a situation now where Zambia can learn the fact that whenever we are challenged by the community to which we belong in this case Sadiq we should not react like we have no other avenues to react I think that Zimbabwe should show the fact that they are members of Sadiq and I'm sure they will do that and I suppose by saying that I do not want us to go home thinking that there is a break between Zambia and Zimbabwe this was not a Zambian program this was a Sadiq program and we are sure that Zimbabwe will come right after it all settles down tomorrow they're having the inauguration and once they get back to work I'm sure that all the engines of peace making between the two of us and amongst the Sadiq nations will happen I'm very positive we don't need anything to divide us we need everything to bring us to the other It's been a pleasure having you on the program Thank you so much You've been watching signed the interview and this evening our guest was Dr. Nevas Mumba former vice president and head of Sadiq Electoral Observation Mission to Zimbabwe I'll be back next week sometime pleasant viewing


As part of efforts to sustain the fight against crude oil theft and other firms of criminality in the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large, the Nigerian Navy has flagged off a sea, land and air operation code-named Operation Delta Sanity. Flagging off the operation at the NPA Jet in Wari, the chief of the novel staff, Vice-Admiral Immanuel Ogalla, flanked by the Minister of Petroleum for State, Hennequin Lupo-Biri, said the exercise is to reduce crude oil theft to the barest minimum. I have come here to listen to the officers and raties, listen to them, have a first-hand view of some of their platforms and facilities with a view to looking at how to improve on operations. Key to this is the operation we launched today, which is Operation Delta Sanity. It is a reinvigorated effort to bring crude oil theft and oil theft in Nigeria and other criminalities to the barest minimum within the Niger Delta. It is as a result of the assessments we have done and what we think we need to do. The operation we launched today will be, we have additional assets, both surface platforms, air assets, underwater assets, unmanned area vehicles, our maritime domain awareness facilities and additional personnel have been integrated into the operation with a view to making sure that we turn the tide against the criminals that have constituted the problem with the maritime environment. This is in line with the President Bola Mettinubu, G.C.F.R., his renewed hope. Minister of Petroleum for State Henikin Lokobiri and the Delta State Governor, who was represented by his SSG, spoke on the need to support the Nigerian Navy. The government is doing its full weight to this operation, Delta Sanity. It is important to know, to stay here, that the Nigerian Navy cannot succeed alone. For this operation to be successful, all stakeholders are enjoined to collaborate with the Nigerian Navy. The Nigerian Navy, too, should have the culture of also embracing other agencies in the cost of this fight against it. It is to consolidate successes recorded by the Nigerian Navy in the fight against oil theft, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunker, and other related crimes with the objective of achieving a secure maritime domain. This is a most welcome development and clear demonstration of the vision and dedication of the Navy to secure a... The reduction in oil theft is principally because of the effort of the Nigerian Navy and some other security agencies. You recall that the Nigerian Navy is the lead agency in terms of maritime security. We have the platforms, we have the reach, we have the spread. There is no other organization that has the widespread presence in the maritime environment like the Nigerian Navy. So the reduction in the oil theft is because of what the Nigerian Navy has done in terms of changing the modus operandi of the operation. We have also done what we call self-assessment and self-introspection.


Hello everyone, this is financial author Amit Dan of amitdan.com. On this channel, you'll find financial travel and more videos just like the one you're watching right now. If you like what you see, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing. President choice financial discontinues free banking. Hello everyone, this is financial author Amit Dan of amitdan.com. Today I'll talk about President choice financial and CIBC Bank terminating their contract to providing free banking to its customer. Let's go back 17 years, 17 years ago there's a guy at my work and all of a sudden one day he mentioned to us that there's a free banking which would provide everything we need including checking and savings accounts, free checks and everything for free and the only problem with that banking is that there's no branch or anything and we had to do everything online. Just like myself and my other colleagues, no one believed what he was saying and at first we thought it was a scam or it was a catch, there must be some sort of catch but we decided to go ahead and try it anyway and we started with a small account just to test it out whether this is true or false or this is real or a scam or there was a catch. However, it turned out to be a real thing and since then President choice financial has been my main financial institution and I've been using them since then. But this morning news broke out that CIBC which is the back office provider of President choice financial will discontinue free banking and CIBC open up its own online free banking. President choice financial has been providing free banking for Canadians for approximately two years and it has about two million customers. This is a joint venture between CIBC and Loblaws. President choice financial will provide free online banking. There are no physical locations or branches except the pavilions at Loblaws and CIBC would work as a backbone of the financial service or as a back office providing free banking to President choice financial customers. This morning the news broke out that CIBC and President choice financial have mutually agreed to break the relationship and all these accounts will move over to CIBC slowly. So what is not changing is that your banking formation for example your account number, transit number and all sort of stuff and you don't have to do anything on your side or you don't have to take any action. All the pre-authorized checking or payment deposit plan or monthly purchase plan or anything you have associated with your bank account will move over to new CIBC's platform which is called simply and everything remains the same there's no fees or anything. So what is changing is the brand name starting November 1st President choice products will be called simply and it will have this new brand name your debit card between November 1st to April 13th you'll be receiving a new debit card from CIBC with its new name simply and until then you can use your existing President choice debit card pavilions starting November 1st CIBC will start removing pavilions from Loblaws locations. These are small freestanding stalls where you can do banking at Loblaws and you will not have access to those or CIBC will start removing them in phases starting November 1st. Bank machines CIBC bank machines inside Loblaws starting November 1st to March 31st CIBC will start removing CIBC bank machines inside Loblaws so you'll not be able to use them after that and if let's say any Loblaws has its own bank machine or other bank machine that you'll be charged a fee if you do transaction however according to President choice financial you'll be notified of that fees if it happens. PC points starting November 1st you'll not be able to earn PC points for President choice financial banking or simply banking however you will still remain a program remain a member of the PC points program and the points you have already earned it will remain yours. PC MasterCard PC MasterCard will not be affected by these changes if you are a PC MasterCard owner it will be still provided by President choice financial and you will still be able to earn PC points for using PC MasterCards so PC MasterCards is not a part of the deal and is not moving over to CIBC. Let's talk about what I think. I think lots of people started banking with President choice at the first place because they didn't want to bank with CIBC or other big banks so this is going to be interesting to see how many of the customers CIBC can retain. Because from the daily banking there will be no more reverse points a lot of people will not like that and I have this feeling that CIBC will cut lots of services as well. For example right now with President choice financial you can order free checks or unlimited checks and you can have unlimited transactions but it will be interesting to see what CIBC does with these features and then there is another good thing about President choice financial that their customer service was really good. I have never heard any complaints from anyone so and whenever I call them for any problems or any issues they resolved it right away and their service was really top notch service. So this is going to be another interesting thing to say to see what happens with the customer service and what happens with other aspects. There are other options there are lots of banks offering free online banking and services. I'll just name two of them. One of them is Tangerine which is to be ING Direct and now this is a part of Scotia Bank and they have free online banking just like President choice and there is another online banking which is EQ financial they provide very good free online banking as well and there are many more online banking providing free services. So these President choice customers have options to choose a different provider if they do not like CIBC. For my own bank accounts I'll not cancel anything or I'll not do anything right away. I'll just see how CIBC handles everything and after a few months if I'm not satisfied with CIBC or simply then I'll just close my account and I'll move over to either another free banking provider or another big bank but for now I'll just stay put with CIBC. Let me know what you think whether you're thinking to close your bank accounts with CIBC or you don't mind moving over from President choice financial to CIBC or whether you'd like to just watch it for a few months and then you will make a decision or you don't mind moving over to CIBC and just continue free banking with them. So let me know all your thoughts and everything in the comment below. Thank you for watching and if you like what you see please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing I'll be providing more financial content on this channel and also I provide other sorts of content for example travel and other videos so keep watching please subscribe and please like thank you that's all for now.


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