Here's our fifth dance lesson. Get the personal stuff right. You know, I once worked with a man who's tremendously successful, a very, very capable guy in the financial community, and he was famous for his work ethic, and he would work long, long hours, and then every Sunday he went into the office and worked late on Sunday night. He was totally devoted to the company, and everybody thought that was just great, you know, his legendary commitment, and but he wasn't very home very much, and I thought, well shoot, I anybody can do that. I mean, I could do that. That'd be easy just to have one dimension to my life and have that be caterpillar, but that's not living life. So you got to get the the leaders I've always looked up to are those that manage, you know, to climb the career ladder, but they also have a personal life because one of these days that man is going to retire and when he does retire, he's just going to be a normal old guy. And what is he going to have is his foundation. So get that personal stuff right. One thing I think about here is your whole person. So think about your physical health. It's important if you don't keep yourself physically healthy, then you're not going to be able to have the stamina and the energy that you need to travel and to do your job. Think about your mental health. That's important and a big part of that. I think we all know is friendships. I have a number of friends including my my exercise lady Betsy and her dog and a number of friends and I go out of my way. I can't do a lot with them. I try to get double-duty friends. I probably wouldn't admit this to them, though they probably know it. If they if it works out like, okay I need a workout partner, then I'll make that person as a friend, you know, to kind of find a way to smush those things together. So my two closest friends, one's a running partner. The other one is my workout partner. But that's an important part of life and maybe you're or maybe you're involved in a church group. Faith is an important part of many people's lives to make sure you get your hierarchy of needs met. Stress relief is important and my my coaching here is don't wait for the stress to build up like you're gonna explode. You know, take a little bit.  And then I think the most important thing in this kind of fulfilling our hierarchy of needs and being a whole person is forgiveness and forgiveness of yourself. I maybe I was ready to forgive myself for having to throw some of those turkey breasts away if I couldn't get them all cooked before my trip. But you know, this is, that sounds silly, but that's the kind of thing some women think about when you're laying in bed and like I've got to do this. I got it.  So learn, learn to accept that and forgive yourself for those things that you don't. Another thing about getting the personal stuff right is outsourcing. I have a colleague who's excellent at this. I don't know really all of her secrets, but I can tell you we don't live in a big city. She lives in a small town. So it's not like she's gonna have the green grocer show up at her door, but she's paid somebody. Take care of a dry cleaning. Somebody delivers her groceries for her. She was getting, she's got a very busy job. She's getting ready to move and I thought, oh my gosh, how was she gonna get that done?  And you know, if you can't pay for the dry cleaners, that makes me sick to do that when I could do it myself. But just, if you, some, a friend said to me one time, if the problem can be solved with money, it's not a problem. Okay, think about that. It's very true. And I already have my outsourcing planned for my Christmas baking. I finally concluded I am no good at that and my daughter has a friend who now does baking on the side and I've already got lined up for beautiful Christmas cookies. Then finally, a final little note there and getting the personal stuff right is the idea of a ledger. You know, there's a kind of, try to keep a little mental running list of my family wins, my company wins. And some days, Caterpillar's gonna win. They're gonna get the bulk of me. Other days, my family's gonna win and I might spend a little bit more time there and cheat a little bit on the work side. Maybe cheating that day, but in the aggregate given, giving quite a bit.


The Jack Benny program, presented by Lucky Strike. Gentle tobacco, smooth tobacco, tobacco that's deeply enjoyable to smoke, puff after puff. That's Lucky Strike tobacco. Yes, friends, at the tobacco auction, Lucky Strike buys truly fine tobacco and pays millions of dollars more than official parity prices to get it. And you are the reason Lucky's are so particular to get fine, ripe, mild tobacco. For it takes fine tobacco to give you a fine cigarette. And L-S-M-F-T, L-S-M-F-T, Lucky Strike means fine tobacco. The kind of tobacco you smoke with deep down enjoyment. For it's mellow, mild, from first puff to last. Yes, there's never a rough puff in a Lucky. Surely you want all the enjoyment you can get from a cigarette. So why not smoke the smoke that's famous for fine tobacco? For enjoyment, for taste, for mildness, Lucky Strike. So round, so firm, so fully packed, so free and easy on the draw. Yes, make your next carton Lucky Strike. Ladies and gentlemen, on last week's program, everybody made so many mistakes in reading their lines that Jack felt it was necessary to call a special meeting. At the moment, we find the cast assembled in Jack's living room. Now look, kid, I want you to take what I'm going to say in the spirit in which it's given. I'm not angry, I'm not upset, but I did feel it was necessary to call this meeting. All right, Jack, what's the meeting about? Yeah, let's get it over with, huh? Well, Phil, as I said before, I'm not angry. But on last week's program, I never heard so much. Dennis, Dennis, you're not paying attention. Get away from that fishbowl. Well, last time I looked in this bowl, there were only two goldfishes. I know, I know. Now, kid... How come there are three of them now? Because the first two fell in love and got married, that's why. Now, kid... But they just got married while they take in a border. Look, if they didn't take in a border, the little one is a baby. Oh, yeah, the one on the right is the mother. No, no, Dennis, the one on the right is the father. He could have fooled me. Dennis, will you do me a favor? Oh, for heaven's sake, Jack, you call us over here for a meeting, so let's get on with it. Yes, Jack, tell us what's on your mind. I'm trying to. I call this meeting to find out why there were so many mistakes made on last week's broadcast. All right, so we made a few mistakes. Is that a reason for you to get mad?  Let me just write, Jackson, you're burned up and you know it. I'm not burned up. Jack, there's no reason for you to get so upset. Upset? What makes you think I'm upset?  All right, you kids can have your little joke. And one couldn't be a star of my magnitude without being able to take a few jibes from his underlings. But, as I said before, I'm not mad. All I want to do... There's too many. What do you want now? Are you sure the one on the left is the mother? Yes, Dennis, the one on the left is the mother. The one on the right is prettier. All right, all right, so the father is prettier than the mother. Well, that doesn't make sense. Sure it does, kid. Take me an hour. Phil, be quiet. Okay, Jackson, okay, I'd like to get this meeting over anyway. What kind of mistakes did we make last week? Well, for one thing, Phil, you don't even know how to speak the English language. If a word has over two syllables, you don't even know what it means. I may not know what it means, Jackson, but when I speak, I have perfect diction. Phil, as long as you brought that up, I've got news for you. I've heard better diction coming out of the exhaust pipe of a greyhound butt. Believe me, Phil, the only thing that sounds worse than Harris the Speaker is Harris the Musician. Hold it, Jackson. Hold it. It may interest you to know that I just got an offer to make a guest appearance with Arturo Toscanini. You? You got an offer from Toscanini? Yes, he wants me to be first whip snapper when he plays new friends. Well, that you can do, I know.  Because you all made mistakes last week. Wait a minute, Jackson. That didn't make no mistake. Oh, you didn't, eh? Rochester. Yes, boss. Open the phonograph and play that record of last week's program. Okay. Now, put the needle where I told you to put... Could you cut your coup, baby? Could you cut your coup? Dennis, get your hand out of that fist ball. Anyway, you're tickling the father. Now, go ahead, Rochester. Start the record where I've got that little chalk mark. You say you didn't make any mistakes, eh, Phil? Just listen. This is the part where we were talking about your picture, Warbash Avenue. Now, listen. Well, it ain't exactly retakes. You see, there's a scene in the picture of me singing that's what I like about the South. And because of the foreign market, I've been down to the studio dubbing in the lyrics in French, German, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and Italian. That's all, Rochester. Did you hear that, Phil? Did you hear that? Portuguese. I thought it sounded cute. Play it again, Rochester. Never mind. Jack, I don't think it's fair of you to ball fill out. I've been waiting for you to speak up. Yes, sir. Put that other record on. The one marked Mary. Jack, you're trying to tell me that I make a mistake now and then. You needn't bother because I know it.  You make little mistakes like that every now and then. But Mary, what do you think was your biggest mistake? Leaving the maid company. Well, I won't argue that point.  I have a record here. Well, Mr. Benny, are you sure the one on the left is the mother? I'm sure, I'm sure. I'm sure. And then to stop interrupting. I want to get this meeting over with because I have to go to see Ronald Coleman on some very important business. Now, look, Mary, you say you didn't make any mistake last week. Look, I want you to hear a recording of a program we did a few weeks ago. Rochester, put it on where I've got that little chalk mark. Yes, sir. Now listen, Mary. Mary, all the networks are nice. All the time people realize that there's no animosity between them. There isn't? Of course not. I'll take CBS. They even put Johnson's wax on the floor. CBS didn't put it there. So many stars come over. They tracked it in on their heads. That's enough, Rochester. That's enough. You hear that, Mary? The word was supposed to be shoes. Now, how in the world did you possibly arrive at the word head? Jack, that happened four weeks ago. I didn't deny it. I said I was guilty. You sentenced me to three days at hard labor. I painted your house. Now, let's forget it. You won't forget it until you finish the window sill. I want them green. Jack, is the meeting over? No, no, Don. Not yet. I want to show Mary a fluff that she made on last week's program. Rochester, play that first record again. Yes, sir. The place I'm looking for is somewhere around the middle. Go ahead, play it. Isn't it wonderful out here on the ocean? Yes, Don. There's nothing out there better than an obligation crew. That's not it, Rochester. Move the needle further down. Yes, okay. This is a little rough. Well, it can't get too rough for me. You know, during the First World War, I used to be on the Navy. A little further down. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Play that last part again. What's the matter? Jack, you said you were on the Navy instead of in the Navy. I did not. Oh, you didn't, eh? Rochester, play that part again. Okay. Jack, you better sit down. The ocean's a little rough. Well, it can't get too rough for me. You know, during the First World War, I used to be on the Navy. Shall we dance? How could you make a mistake like that? Yeah, the one on the right is the mother. The man has to be quiet. On the Navy.  Okay, Jack, what have you got to say now? I got this to say I did not make a mistake. What? I said I did not make a mistake. But Jack, we heard it distinctly. You said you were on the Navy. I said it because it's correct. When I became a sailor during the First World War, you kept me on board a ship called the USS Navy. Therefore, I was on the Navy, shut up, and meeting the germs. You and Mary can leave, but Don, I want you to stay. And you, too, Dennis, I want to hear your song. So long, Jackson. Bye, Jack. Tell me I made mistakes. All right, Dennis, what are you going to sing? Well, this is an old song, Mr. Benny. It was written by Ben Oakland and Herb Magnussen, and Georgie Jessel wrote the lyrics. Oh, Georgie Jessel, what's the name of it here? It rose in December. Good, let's hear it. I don't know, it seems that lately, the place is getting better and better. We didn't even say goodbye. Do you want me to wait, too? Huh? Oh, yes.  Well, Jack, what did I do? Every week this season, we've been using the quartet to do the commercial except once. Mind you, only once were you required to do a straight commercial. And the mistakes you made, the fluffing of lines was simply awful. But Jack, I remember that commercial, and I don't recall making any mistakes. Oh, you don't, eh? You don't recall any mistakes. Just sit down, Don. Rochester, play that fourth record over there and start it where I made that trough mark. Now, listen, Don, you don't remember any mistakes. Just listen carefully to this. Go ahead, Rochester. Ladies and gentlemen, luckies pay more, millions of dollars more than official parity prices for fine tobacco. Millions of dollars. But the makers of Lucky Strikes spend it for fine, light, naturally mild tobacco. So when you light up a Lucky, you're always sure of real smoking enjoyment. Yes, when you're smoking the cigarette of fine tobacco, you know you can expect enjoyment. At MFT, Lucky Strike means fine tobacco. Yes, Lucky Strike means... Here to the commercial, boss. It is? Well, certainly, Jack. I didn't make one mistake. Well, I guess I was wrong. Thanks for staying. I could have sworn he made some mistakes in that commercial. Oh, well, it was nice hearing it again anyway. Say, Rochester, I got to run over and see Mr. Coleman now in some business. When I get back, have a little lunch for me. I'd like scrambled eggs. Sorry, boss, we're all out of eggs. Oh, well, as long as I'm going next door to Coleman's, I'll borrow a couple. I'll be right back. Answer the door. I don't think he likes me. Steve, Anita, you look wonderful. Thank you, Jack. Here are the eggs. How did you know I wanted to borrow eggs? Well, I saw you coming up the walk and since it was butter yesterday and sugar the day before, it had to be eggs today. Oh, yes. So we've completed the cycle, haven't we? Yes. Yes, we have. Now, is there anything else you might want? Bread, cream, flour, lettuce, turnips? Well... We're pushing turnips today. No, just the eggs will do. Well, maybe you could use some cookies. Cinnamon, jam, jelly beans. Oh, no, no, I gave you plenty of jelly beans. You gave me jelly beans? You gave me jelly...when? Two weeks ago, that night when you rang my bell and said trick or treat.  God, buddy, I took such pains disguising myself as Little Bo Peep. How'd you recognize me? Because Little Bo Peep had lost her hair. Yes, I did know where to find it. Well, thanks for the eggs. You're quite all right, Jack. Goodbye. Oh, just a minute, Vanita. The main reason I came over was to see Ronnie. They have some very important business to discuss with him. Oh, I'm sorry, but Ronnie's at the studio. He's doing the final scenes on his picture, Champagne to Caesar. Oh. And if you'll excuse me, I was just getting ready to drive out there to see him. Well, that's swell. I'll go out with you, Vanita. Oh, a minute, Jack, Jack. No, I have to make several stops on the way. Oh, I don't mind waiting. Oh. Well, for goodness sakes, we won't be able to go after all. I just remembered my car has a flat car. Oh, well, don't worry. We'll drive out in my car. Your car? Sure. I'll go and get it. You win, Jack. We'll drive out in mine. Good. Good. Let's go. Here we are, Jack. Stage five. Now, you've got to be very quiet in there because... I know, Vanita. I know. I've made a lot of pictures myself. Oh, yes. I forgot. Thank you. Come on. Let's go in. Correct. It says it'll be a few minutes before the next scene. They have to change the lights, Mr. Corman. Thank you. Call me when he's ready, will you? Some extras on the set today. Haven't they, Vanita? Yeah. Oh, there he is. Hello, Ronnie. Oh, hello, darling. Only three more scenes. Hello, Ronnie. Ronnie, how are you? What are you doing here? He came out with me. He wants to see you on business, darling. Yeah, sure. Gee, it's good to see you again. Ronnie, shake. I forgot to take the egg out of my hand. I'm sorry. Ronnie, it isn't my fault. Stop wiping it off on my dress. Jack, normally I am not a curious man and I don't pry into other people's affairs. But how, in the name of heaven, did you happen to have an egg in your hand? Well, Vanita loaned me a couple of years. I'm glad you didn't borrow any vigorous. Now, Ronnie, I have some business I want to see you about. Jack, please. I don't know what it is, but you'll have to wait. This is our last day of shooting. We're behind the schedule and we still have to do the most important scene in the picture. But, Ronnie, this business will only... Everybody on stage. All right, Ronnie. We're already to shoot the scene. I'm ready. Oh, hello, Dick. Vanita, it's good to see you. By the way, this is Jack Benny. Jack, this is Ronnie's director, Richard Worf. It's nice meeting you, Mr. Worf. It's a pleasure meeting you too, Mr. Benny. Just not to him, Dick. Don't shake hands. Don't shake hands. I'll explain it to you later. All right. Now, Ronnie, this is the one we rehearsed this morning. Remember, the main feeling is that you are expressing contempt, not hatred, merely contempt for your business associates. Very good. And, Dick, don't you think it would be better if, instead of sitting ice, stood behind the desk? Yeah, let's try it that way. Quiet, everybody. Quiet on the set. Action. At last, I find courage to speak. I can't let this go on without a word of warning. You men are the forerunners of intellectual destruction in America. And I, for one, refuse to see the educational system of this country ruined by silly, simpering, whoops, brought my other egg. I'm so sorry. Goodness sake. Cut! Mr. Benny, would you please... Let me handle this. Jack, how many eggs did you borrow? Two. Good. He's out of them, Dick. We can go ahead. Yes, yes, go right ahead. Okay. Quiet on the set. Gentlemen, at last, I find courage to speak. I can't let this go on without a word of warning. Sorry, Ronnie, it isn't your fault, but I noticed too many shadows in the background. Hey, Joe, turn up the yorks on the right platform. That's better. Now, Ronnie, go through the speech once more with a new lighting. This'll be just a rehearsal. Okay. Gentlemen, I have finally found courage to speak. I can't let this go on without a word of warning. You men are the poor runners of intellectual destruction in America. Cut! Now, this one will take. Ronnie, try to get a shade more contempt into your voice. All right, Dick, I'm ready. All right, good. Everybody quiet. Quiet, everybody. This is a take. All right, Ronnie. Camera, action. Gentlemen, at last, I find courage to speak. I can't let this go on without a word of warning. You men are the poor runners of intellectual destruction in America. And I, for one, cut! I thought you had a little too much contempt in your... I think that you should have done... You think? Mr. Belly, I happen to be the director of this picture. I know, but I'm trying to give you the benefit of my experience. Mr... Mr... What was your name again? Warf. Richard Warf. Hey, that sounds familiar. Warf. Warf. I've heard that name before. Very likely. My brother in San Francisco named Fisherman. Dick, how could you? I wanted to beat him to it. What? I've heard you on the radio. You pick on anything. Look, Mr. Warf, I'm only trying to help you. I don't need your help. Mr. Warf, for your information, making moving pictures is not a cut-and-dry business. There's no sure way to produce a good picture. The only way we can learn is by mistakes. You better listen to him, Dick. He's made some beauts. Thank you. If you're going to stay here, you'll have to keep quiet. Now, hold it just a second, Dick. I'd like to talk to my wife privately. Benita, will you come with me for a moment? Yes, Ronnie. Benita, why in the world did you bring Benny out here? But, darling, I couldn't help it. Couldn't help it. Couldn't help it. Look, we've been married a good many years, haven't we? Yes, dear. In all those years, we've never had any serious arguments, have we? No, dear. Well, Benita, I'm warning you. If a thing like this happens again, I'm going to pack my Oscar and move back to the YMCA. Now, do you hear?  You're getting egg on my nose. That's your fault, too.  We're way behind on schedule. Let's finish this scene. Well, I'm sorry, Dick. I'm ready. Okay, quiet, everybody. This is a take. Quiet on the set. Lights, camera, gentlemen. At least I find courage to speak. I can't let this go on without a word of warning. Jack! You men are the forerunners of intellectual destruction in America. Jack! National system of this country. I want to show Ronnie how that speaks. We don't need your help. If I haven't taken Ronnie, can't you get rid of this? This? Slamilk? Look, Jack, I don't mind too much. I'm used to you, but you're new to Mr. Walt. Please leave the set. But, Ronnie, Ronnie, I can't leave now. I came out here to see you on business that's important to you. All right, Jack, all right. You've delayed the picture for an hour. You've ruined three dates. You've upset my director and caused me to argue with my wife. Now, what is this important business you want to talk to me about? Ronnie, Ronnie, do you realize that here it is the middle of November and you haven't ordered your Christmas card yet? Ronnie, I have some cards with beautiful winter scenes. Oh! Oh, my goodness, what happened? An arc light fell down and hit him on the head. He badly hurts. I don't know, but we better work first. Lights! I can't let this go down without a word of warning. You men are the poor. I can help observe the first annual National Kids Day on Saturday, November 19th and you will be helping the underprivileged children of your community. All funds raised in your city remain there for the benefit of the children of your community. Thank you. Jack, we'll be back in just a moment. But first, $60 million more than official parity prices for fine tobacco. And that's mighty important to you because fine tobacco and smoking enjoyment go hand in hand. And L.S.M.F.T. L.S.M.F.T. Lucky Strike means fine tobacco, ripe mellow tobacco that gives you a more enjoyable, a smoother, milder smoke with never a rough puff. Yes, luckies give everyone more smoking enjoyment, including the men who are expert judges of tobacco, the independent auctioneers, buyers and warehousemen, men born and bred in the tobacco business. Take Mr. Linwood L. Sturtevant of Louisburg, North Carolina, a veteran warehouseman. He recently said, when you talk tobacco, you're talking my language. I've seen plenty of tobacco bought and sold, about 150 million pounds. In year after year, I've seen the makers of Lucky Strike by fine light leap that makes extra enjoyable smoking. I've been smoking luckies myself for 11 years. And that's an outstanding tribute to the real, deep down smoking enjoyment in Lucky Strike. So take a tip from the tobacco experts and light up a lucky, so round, so firm, so fully packed, so free and easy on the draw. Yes, next time you buy a cigarette, ask for a carton of Lucky Strike. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank Mr. Ronald Coleman and Richard Warf for being with us tonight. But later this evening, I'm going to be on Red Skelton's program. And be sure to listen in next week, when we will have, as our guest, Sammy the drummer. Thank you. In the name of Sammy, shall we follow the meeting. This is CVS, the Columbia Broadcasting Center.


Hi everybody, Joe for jazby's case race.com. We did it. We got jazby's six-box quick hit football mixer in the books 32 spots all cards in everyone gets a random team in the NFL Six really nice boxes here all 2021 except for one box of 2019 contenders Big thanks to this group for making it happen Thanks to the people who bought their spots straight up and congrats again to the winners and that rookies and stars pack number one and All teams are in let's go. Let's roll it randomized names and teams three and a three six the hard way one two three four five and six and final time After six we got Ryan down to Donnie and then six times for the teams one two three four Five and six good. I'm glad I'm glad Jack. You got to go down to Del Mar. See us at the card show there How was the show itself? Did you get to wander around a little bit? All right, so here's how it shakes out Ryan with the bills Michael with the Raven Steve with the buccaneers Kevin with the Packers Adam with the Dolphins and Broncos Donnie with the Jets Lucas with the Lions Bennett with the Cardinals Donnie with the Saints Steve with the Patriots Greg You got the Panthers Corey with the Commanders Jack with the Rams Corey with the Bears Peter with the Giants Donnie with the Steelers Steve with the Vikings Brett with the Niners Kevin with the Falcons Grayson You got my Raiders Donnie with the Chiefs Matt with the Texans Bennett with the Bengals West with the Cowboys Simon with the Jaguars Wesley with the Seahawks Steve with the Colts Charles with the Chargers Jack you got the Browns John with the Eagles and Donnie with the Tennessee Titans All right, let's alphabetize by team Now we're in a positive video when we come back We're gonna see if there's any trades and then we will have the break so stick around be right back All right, welcome back everybody. No deals were done a little bit of trade chatter though But it's all good. No deals were done here on Sunday the first of The month big. Thanks everybody for getting in. All right, and let's roll So this this is indeed a pretty quick break right here. So let's go with 2019 Contenders football first make sure I collected the right group of boxes. I did uh Let me know what what is what is your team everybody and were you happy with the draft? Now that the dust is settled. I'm a Raiders fan and in spite of not having all we got Devonte Adams for the first two rounds, but But I thought the rest of the pigs were pretty we're pretty good I think for the first time in a long time Raiders definitely went best available as opposed to drafting for need which sometimes they would reach when they drafted for need but Kevin's Alliance fan very happy. Yeah, the Lions I feel like short up everything they need to shore up in the draft Wes is happy bills fan Yeah, I think I want to I want to say that the the so-called experts Agreed that the Lions and bills both had some good good draft a lot of trading up and down happening in the draft Yeah, I would really like to see the bills get over the hump Wes I'd be Not only good for the city of Buffalo, but it'd be good for the hobby hashtag good for the hobby Lot of I'm sure a lot of Josh Allen rookie card owners would love to see him get to Get to a Super Bowl Knock out a Super Bowl victory even all right So we got Trayvon Mullin Jr. Rookie ticket autograph. I think the Raiders also picked up some Some undrafted free agents to help guys like Trayvon Mullin out who's actually pretty solid, but Kind of shored that up Raiders that's a gracing as my raiders. Here's Byron Murphy Rookie Auto for Bennett and the Cardinals. Yeah, Wes has been waiting his entire lifetime something like that, and we've got a Cracked ice eight out of 23 Michael Dixon punter Is he still punting? Yeah, he's still a punter with Seattle and that'll be for Wesley tried to trade couldn't trade mojo and there's Preston Williams for the Dolphins That'll be for Adam and the fish They're not fish, but you know I mean redemption We have one two three four. That's our fifth auto already Is that a bonus auto? No, that's just a number Devonte Adams 43 out of 175 That's for Green Bay. That's gonna be for Kevin. And is that let's see what the redemption is gonna be these are just expired kid reporter cards It is DK Metcalf nice rookie of the year contenders autograph RPS that did expire in 2021 but for a player like this I feel like Wesley it's worth Trying to redeem it sometimes these expired redemptions people have said that they can still scratch these off and I'll still go through Talk to the needy. Maybe they'll they'll get you that card back to you. That's a pretty solid one Tried to trade couldn't trade mojo now. Let's get into some 2021 Phoenix Yeah, keep an eye on our mixer is Wes and try to Just keep an eye on whether we have any like 2018 stuff in there or not Find yourself. Maybe find yourself a Josh Allen rookie card somewhere along the line What's that? Oh the contenders break that we have of a 2019 Where's it 2018? Oh that contenders is 2018. Right, right, right Cory Davis to 250 and there is Ian book Piece of his jersey going to Donnie and the Saints book it to 199 Trade Lance rookie card as well next to Cory Davis with Jets. I feel like had a really solid draft to some weapons improved the defense and got some weapons for Zach Wilson, there's Jalen waddle the 150. What are the dolphins do? I feel like they were a little quiet. I think Bears I feel like we're a little little quiet to just hate manning to 149 I feel like the bear should have Maybe short up to get got Justin field some weapons, but I feel like they didn't oh I guess the dolphins were really active. They got Tyree kills. So I guess that was kind of like their big move Jerry Judy to 199 Mike to sicky to 150 And a one-of-one Rashad Bateman whoo rising rookie NFL shield and Autograph He showed some flashes well in fact now that mark he's brown Which was a draft a deal now that mark he's brown is with the Cardinals Michael Robinson does this open the door for for Rashad Bateman to get some more targets This would be a second year had some injuries last year that kind of delayed the start of this season Came back middle of the season had some moments. Sorry a little wrinkly on the penny sleeve here, but secure So this might be a good a good time to get this guy And out of fives and under get the train whistle. So Michael all aboard the big head Express Nice, I think the stars have aligned For that car now we just need to see him take it to the next level this season There's Des Fitzpatrick to 99 Justin Herbert to 125 DJ shark to 150 For the Jaguar Simon got some hot routes sherry rice We got a mere Smith Marseille one out of 50 autograph for Minnesota That's also a little tried to trade couldn't trade mojo. All right 2021 certified football So so far so good. We got out knocked out the 2019 contenders the 2021 Phoenix now some 2021 certified Think people were saying Ravens had a really nice draft, right? I think uh, I Feel like not a lot of teams had just an outright terrible draft. I mean, maybe there are some teams that have but I feel like See what what are the Ravens do? Yeah Ravens ended up with tied with the Bears Packers and Giants for the most selections Kyle Hamilton safety Tyler Linderbaum center an outside linebacker Oh Jabu so apparently supposed to be really good coming off an injury. I think Travis Jones shoring up the defense the offensive line You know so a lot a lot of defense, but they they love tight ends. They picked up a Charlie Kolar Tie it in Jordan stout a punter another tie it in and Isaiah likely in the fourth round the compensatory round and another cornerback, so it looks like they really really Got a running back in the sixth round They added a lot of pieces You know and it's a pass those guys work out. I mean that's a win Hey, I don't think the Bears helped out Justin Fields at all Brex They had a lot of picks. They got a they got a corner in the second round a safety a wide receiver out of Tennessee Offensive tackle defensive end offensive tackle a six-round running back in a center and another Offensive linemen so nothing too significant. It seems like Robbie answering to 50 279 out of 299 seemed odd considering a lot of teams with the young quarterbacks seemed to try to find some top-end, you know pass-catching help Didn't seem like the Bears really did that although I'm not too familiar with that Tennessee wide receiver the Schuba Hubbard for Greg and Carolina What does everyone think about the Bears draft? How did they do? 23 out of 30 were Sean Evans mirror signatures For Tennessee, that'll be for dining speaking to Justin Fields areas right there That is for Corey and the Bears Matt Ryan to 199 Matt Ryan in a Colts uniform is gonna look weird And we got a Jalen waddle RPA nice 32 out of 149 three-color patch an autograph Jalen waddle on One side Tyree kill on the other side Mike Kosicki in the flats That's Adam and the Dolphins could be a fun team to watch There's Anthony Schwartz to 125 This is for you Jack With Cleveland, I don't know maybe the Bears draft wasn't bad But I just thought they'd do a little bit more Maybe getting like a nice pass catcher or something like that Tommy tremble to 249 It's kind of funny that Chicago always has the worst teams Rex yeah for such a sports Such a passionate fan base Russell Wilson to 199 They've been a little short of success All right 2021 limited a football and then we'll get into some zenith and then we'll close out with that mosaic choice box right there Yeah, I thought the White Sox would be playing a lot better at this Almost a month into the season as well. It's Till and Wallace RPA to 75 another one for Michael and the Ravens Could be some Some upside here on the sky There's Marquez Stevenson for the Bills 91 out of 99 Buffalo Ryan B with the Buffalo Bills Out of 49 Quinn and Williams and we got a Nico Collins relic for the Texans 22 out of 75 The Texans had a fairly decent I almost had break draft Matt with the Texans I Guess they're really they're just like the all-in on giving a Davis Mills a shot he did he did perform pretty well towards the end of last season All right, some zenith two autos in here I got two to at well Trav's at the end to 49 and then a Kyler Murray 159 to 149 guys old old teammate Marquise Brown on the team. So that's got to make him happy Happier that's for Bennett and the Cardinals High-point signatures Jeff Saturday at a 149 Steve with the Colts Behind Derek Henry is an RPA of Kyle Tras 35 out of 50 marinating behind Brady for another season It could be very good for Buccaneer Steve H with Tampa Bay, and there's Derek Henry a little ding in the corner there But that'll go to the Titans Donnie And the final locks mosaic football choice edition Good luck. All right. We got a Malcolm Jenkins to 80 Saints that'll be for Donnie It'd be weird not seeing Big Ben Running out there this season upcoming season That'll be for the Steelers Donnie There's a Mari Cooper To 80 so Dallas edition. It's goes to Wes Kenneth game. Well, John McCall with the Eagles the fly Eagles fly AJ Brown for them And a Jameen Davis Peacock parallel nice nice rookie peacock for Corey and the commanders. It was a Kenan Allen Silver There's a Jeremiah And he reveals a Kyle Trask autograph another auto a little bit of a bend there But that top loader will straighten it out like in a Vizaline that goes to Steve H And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Another rookie Kyle Trask, and this will be for Cleveland right here And there you go ladies and gentlemen a pretty nice break in the books Especially that that one-of-one NFL shields always cool to see NFL shields That's a proper NFL shield the one that's right on the the V of their jerseys right there There you go ladies and gentlemen that was Jaspy six box quick hit football mixer. I'm Joe I'll see you next time for the next football break. Bye. Bye


Here another corner back there, another fed-rex. They go back to... Well, they're at 14. They're at 14. How are we looking? You're going to take over over back here? We're done. Okay. How are we going to move?


Hello everyone, welcome back to another Photoshop tutorial. In this one, I'm going to show you how to do a neon glow effect very quickly. Let's get going. I'm going to delete all the layers here. Bang, gone, starting from scratch. First step, create a new layer.  Let's go with something this size for why not. Now, we want to go to Edit and we want to go to Stroke. On this stroke, we're going to go with a width of 30 pixels color. We're going to go with a neon color. So, we're going to go bright as green, something like that. Okay, good enough. Click on OK. So, we've got our neon bright ellipse. Now, the next step is we're going to go to Select, Deselect. Good. Now, we're going to create a copy and I'm just going to drag and drop it on this plus. And we're going to call this one glow. Okay, just for the giggles. This one, we're going to go ahead and apply a Gaussian blur. Filter, blur, Gaussian blur. We're going to go with a blur of 100. Click OK. Now, take the Layer 1, make another duplicate copy of it.  And this time, we're going down by 50, so we're dividing it by 2. All right, now there's our second blur. Go to the Layer 1, drag and drop it again. This time, Filter, Blur, you guessed it, Gaussian Blur 25. And slowly but surely, let's do one or two more maybe. We're going to go Layer 1, put it over the plus sign filter. Blur, Gaussian Blur. Let's go with 12 and then maybe let's keep going down to 6. Why not filter? Blur, Gaussian Blur 6. Okay, good. So, we've got some blur action going on here. Now, we're going to take all of these glows and we're going to go ahead and we're going to merge them. So, we selected them all. Right click and we're going to go to Merge Layer. So, it's all one fancy layer. Excellent. Now, take this glow layer and make a duplicate copy. This is going to make it extra bright. And now, we're going to apply a blur to this one. So, the top copy, go to Blur. And now, this is the one where we can sort of dial in how much of a blur and a glow we want. Let's go with something like, let's see what this looks like. Okay, that's a bit much. Yeah, maybe something like, let's go with 12, okay? Click on that, Presto. This is a neon glow using Gaussian blur. That's how you do it. Thanks for watching.


The MODIS irrigated agriculture dataset, MIRADUS, was created by combining satellite imagery and USDA irrigation data to accurately map irrigated lands across the United States. The dataset provides detailed information about the extent and location of irrigated lands, which can be used to improve understanding of agricultural water use, local land surface processes, conservation or depletion of water resources, and components of the hydrologic budget. This article was authored by M. D. Sharyar Purvez and Jeslyn F. Brown.


This is the first video in a series on how to play football. As you can probably already tell, we're talking about American football here. Sometimes it's called gridiron football and not association football or soccer. If you know nothing about American football, you're in the right place. So this is football. We're just going to start with the very basics in this video. Take a look at the field itself. What do all these lines and markings mean and numbers mean? We're going to break down and explain all that in this video. The first thing you'll notice is that there's all these little lines on the field. These are each three feet apart. Each one is called a yard line because three feet are obviously one yard. From this line here to this line here, this distance here is going to be 100 yards. This is 100 yards. So typically people say the length of a football field is 100 yards. So that's all this distance in here. You can kind of see in the middle here that that is divided in half by the 50 yard line. Each of these numbers on the field represents the number of yards. So it kind of is counting down. It starts in the middle with the 50 and then 40, 30, 20, 10, and then obviously the same thing on both sides. You could probably tell by now that each side of the field is identical. So we start in the middle with the 50 and then the 40 yard line, the 30 yard line, 20 yard line, the 10 yard line. And all this is counting down to is the two lines on both sides here. And these are called goal lines. So this line right here, this gray one, and then this gray one here. These are called goal lines. Each one is just one goal line. And so what the goal line does is it serves as the separation between the rest of the field and then these two unmarked areas on either side. And so these areas here, this one over here, and then everything inside here. These are called the end zones. So then we have another end zone over here. So the distance of the end zone, we saw this was the field itself was 100 yards. The end zone actually leads to the white line there. This distance here will be 10 yards. And then the same thing on the other side. So we can see the total distance is actually 120 yards with the 10 yard end zones on each side. And then of course we have the width of the field. So from this side line here, this line that goes up the side, and then this line there. These are both called the side lines. And in football, these side lines are out of bounds. So if you step on the side line, you're considered out of bounds, which obviously same as in some sports, different in other sports. Football on the line is out of bounds. The two side lines are 160 feet apart. So that's about 53 yards. And so they're about, it's about, obviously the field is about half. I'll put this in here. It's about half of the width as it is along. Or long as it is wide, whichever way you're looking at it. And so those are all, that's the basic rundown of the football field and how it is laid out. One thing, one term you might hear, it's really nothing special as far as markings on the field or anything like that. But anything inside the 20 yard line. From the 20 yard line to the goal line, and then of course the same thing on the other side is this area here. These are some kind, it's sometimes called the red zone. And that is basically just signaling that the team, as we'll see, when you have the ball and you're on offense, and your goal is to get the ball to the end zone, so that means the team would be going this way. So if the team has the ball inside the 20 yard line, we say they're in the red zone. It's basically just, they're getting close. So of course their chances of scoring are increased when they're that close. So maybe it'll make more sense if you see a picture. So here's a photo of a typical NFL game being played. The NFL stands for the National Football League. That's the highest level of play. At least in the United States. So you can actually see in this picture, the team up top here, these guys, they're on offense. And they're heading here down toward the end zone. What you can see is it doesn't have the yard lines. Here's the yard lines in the 10, in the 20, in the 30. So then the end zone is kind of decorated and usually in whatever the home team's colors are. And then you can see the sidelines. Going down the sideline is the real thick one. So of course we said sideline is out of bounds so they make them real thick. Kind of easier to see because plays will often occur along that sideline. So the red team here that's heading toward the end zone is the offensive team. And then this team back here is on defense. And so they are, as we said, the 20 yard line is here. So they are inside. They're actually inside the red zone in this photo. So that's basically how it's set up. And then one last thing to point out. And those would be the field goal uprights. Sometimes usually called the uprights. You wouldn't call it a field goal. It's what happens when you kick the ball through it. And so these uprights, the uprights are at the end in the back of each end zone. So they would actually be located. You can kind of see the little markings here. They would be from here to here. So we'll get into the point of these. Eventually the ball will be kicked through the uprights. So if the ball does go between the uprights, then that will mean points for the team who kicked it. So that's the basic overview and layout of a football field. And so in the next video we'll start getting into how does this whole game work. So we'll see you then.


Wow, fantastic, fantastic. Beautiful, say Jalal. Really, really appreciate your time. It's so nice to start off the day. It is. I really do enjoy the mornings with Maulin Baraka when we have such a blessed start. Especially when it's recitation of the Qur'an, it's really, really great. So the viewers are enjoying it as well? Yeah. So from Qur'an, we're going to now be focusing on du'as and supplications and how to really speak to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and here to kind of shed light on some of the supplications and the du'as. Or even the Ziyarahs that we don't really know much about is Ibrahim Al-Ansari. Ibrahim, Assalamu Alaikum. How are you? Everything okay? Alhamdulillah. Thank you. Thank you for joining us again. Thank you very much for having me once again. So today's a Friday du'a, last Friday du'a. Friday du'a, of course, it's a Friday today. A beautiful way to start the day is through supplication, through making a closer bond, a closer connection to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and it's whenever we start the day by calling out to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala we are saying that we are starting the day in your mercy. We are starting the day for you to protect us. It's like for example when a young person wakes up and he or she goes to their parents in the morning and kisses them before leaving the house and kisses them when they come back and kisses them before they go to sleep it's the same thing with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.  You speak to him when you're wanting to leave the house because there's du'as for that. You speak to them when you're on a journey. There's du'as for that.  You speak to him. This is the beautiful thing about the school of Ahlul Bayt. There is a du'a for every single little action even for entering the house, for going to the bathroom, for washing, for whatever you may think of. Even in wudu, there are specific du'as for every step in wudu for washing the face, for washing the arms, for wiping the head, for wiping the feet and every single one of them is just so beautiful because the imams tend to put the supplication in such a way where they include lessons and show us how to live our life as well as making sure that there is always a special bond between us and the Creator. And they also show us, don't they, the etiquette of speaking to God because I have so many people often saying, well, you know, I just struggle to know how to approach God. This is God. So even if they're not from the school of Ahlul Bayt, introducing them to the du'as of Ahlul Bayt is a really nice way to sort of break that barrier that people have.  So to build that relationship is so important, isn't it? No, definitely.  There's Allah SWT. Now, when we speak to him, once there is speaking with respect and once there is speaking while being taught from the best, there's a difference because once, I think I am respectful in the way I am speaking just because this is how I have grown up, for example. I have been taught that this is okay. As we know, the same way I can speak, for example, in my Arab culture, if I go to a different culture and speak the way I do at home, they might find it rude. Ahlul Bayt, A.S., are the closest to the culture, let's say, of Allah SWT, and they tell us exactly how to address him, Almighty. Beautifully said. This is a Friday Dua because it's a Friday Dua. I'd really like you to recite it and then perhaps you can talk about what it means. Inshallah, definitely. Inshallah. Inshallah. Inshallah. Inshallah. Inshallah. Is this the whole Friday Dua? This is the whole Friday Dua. One of the beauties of these daily Dua is that they're all short and concise and easy to read, and every single day of the week has a Dua like this. As well as a Ziyara. Ziyara of whom? So on Fridays, Friday is the day of Imam al-Mahdi. So on a Friday we perform Ziyara, this specific Ziyara for Friday, is the Ziyara of Imam al-Mahdi. This Dua itself is from Imam al-Sajjat, A.S. And in this Dua, he starts off with Tawheed. He starts off with talking about the oneness of Allah SWT. Then he moves on to his belief in Muhammad because our religion stands on two, the belief in Allah SWT and the belief in his messenger. Of course, there's the Quran and there's the thing else. However, in terms of the shahada itself, so he's performing his shahada and then after which he goes back to making Dua for himself. O Allah, do not allow me to go astray. O Allah, make me stay steadfast on this religion. And then of course, he moves back because the result of being steadfast is to be of those who follow Prophet Muhammad SAW and his true message which leads us to the Imams. Fantastic. Because it's really fascinating tonight that there's a Dua or a supplication for every single day. I'm assuming there's a specific Dua and a Ziyara for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Yes. So there is the Ziyara, for example, of Monday which we've been through is actually for Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein because it is their day. And then you have a Dua for that day as well. On Tuesday, there's a Dua and there's a Ziyara on Wednesday, etc. for every single day. And like I said at the start of this episode that it is always about when waking up you're making that connection with Allah SWT and you're telling him, I am going to start my day at your mercy with your blessings and this is how I want to start today. But don't you think there's already, for example, Dua as Saba'ah that takes care of that specific need in the morning? Why do they need to do Dua as Saba'ah and then Dua as Ziyara? There seems to be a lot. You see with Dua as Saba'ah, for example, Dua as Saba'ah, as beautiful as it is, it is called Dua as Saba'ah, the Dua of the morning. Insha'Allah, maybe if we get the chance to go through it on one of the episodes, the recommended time is actually after Salat al-Fajr and insha'Allah we'll get into detail if we have an episode on that. Whereas this Friday Dua, there is no recommended time for it, doesn't say do it in the morning, doesn't say do it in the afternoon, this is a general Dua for the day. I said it is best to kickstart your day like this because of the beauty of it, because of mentioning Allah SWT in your mornings. So many of us, especially living in the west, we wake up for Salat al-Fajr and we have another one or two hours of sleep before we head off to work, school, whatever it may be. So maybe a Dua as Saba'ah one can recite after Salat al-Fajr, then once you're waking up and you're ready to go to your normal routine, we can recite this Dua as an example. I mean, you could be on the train, you're commuting somewhere and you could be reading that. It's a beautiful way to start the day because actually I was thinking that not everyone has that time and if you feel overwhelmed and even if you get a couple of these in the week, Friday is obviously the day that is blessed for the Muslims and it would be beautiful to start at some point to recite this. But again, it's as much as we can do, isn't it? Obviously a lot of people have busy schedules so not to feel overwhelmed that I'm not getting a list of Dua's done. No, of course, you see with Dua's, they're not wajib. Dua's are mustahab. They're recommended. They're favorable by Allah SWT. If we cannot get them in, then we can't. But if we can, there's unbelievable amounts of blessings. Therefore, there is no wajib act to it. But to get these kinds of blessings to allow your soul to overlook such beautiful words to make, you see, with these Dua's, there are unbelievable amounts of blessings and I know I keep repeating that sentence but it's the truth of it. Hey, I just learned about Tawheed. Hey, when I first started reading the Dua, after praising Allah SWT, I know that he is the first. Like he says, and then, and to shall continue exist after all things have perished. Now, these are lessons for me. This is me. This is the Imam teaching me about the attributes of Allah SWT. Then he carries on. The all-knowing, the one who will not forget the one who remembers him. And here we're remembering Allah SWT and the Imam is telling us that part of the attributes of Allah SWT is that if you remember him, you will never forget him. Excellent. And I was just going to say, it makes such a difference to someone's day if you start it off by actually connecting to Allah SWT by just as simple as Dua is this. It makes a major, major difference to the rest of your day. A lot of people, again, you're right, it's so embroiled with the hustle and bustle of the world and the commuting and everything. They're probably watching a series or maybe listening to something or whatever it is on the way to work or even thinking too much about work. But if you just want to take a step back, it's a morning, it's still dark, especially in the UK. It's still dark. You leave the house. I don't know, it depends on what time you guys leave the house. I leave around 7am. So it's still dark. It's dark at the moment, isn't it? By 7.40, 7.50 the light's out. So depending on, it's even better if you leave at 8am because the sun is just rising. And to have that special feeling of just reciting a small Dua, it makes a massive, massive difference to someone's day. I think it's centralising your thought process, isn't it? To always go about your day remembering God because it's not that he's absent and only at times of prayer we think about Allah. It's like you say, even you see the sun, those signs of creation could be metaphors for who you resonate with. Maybe you think of the Imam at that time that inshallah he's shining his light on our lives. And there's little things that you can really connect to. And obviously this Dua, it's a beautiful Dua genuinely. To start your, it's the start of the week, it's the start of the Friday. Having these Dua's and always remembering Allah, especially because throughout our day we go through different kinds of trials. Like some of them is seeing, haram, listening haram, being around haram. Now so having this constant God consciousness, remembering Allah SWT constantly, that will always help us by refraining our eyesight, our hearing from these haram acts. And that is the best way to get to a word that we call taqwa. And taqwa is the only way that we can get the closest to Allah SWT as Allah SWT mentions, إِنَّ إِكَرَمَكُمْ عَنْدَ اللَّهَ اَتْقَاكُمْ Beautiful. Thank you so much. I'd love to recap with your permission, Zahra. I think I'll take the notes. Just to recap. Wouldn't want to deny you. Yeah. All the effort. It's my special moment of the segment. So the Dua that you chosen was Friday Dua. It's actually called Dua Juma. That's it. Dua Yom Ujjuma. Dua Yom Ujjus, the Dua of Friday. Narrated by Imam al-Sajjad. Yeah. So it first starts off with Tawheed. Yeah. And then it goes on to him testifying to the oneness of God and that Muhammad is the messenger. Yeah. His grandfather is the messenger. But then it goes on to praying for himself. Yeah. So then he asks all the words. I know it down. So it goes on to praying for himself. And something that you mentioned as a key takeaway, I think, from what you guys were having discussion about in the beginning of the program was these are ways to speak to God. But you were saying that this is, you know, speaking to God from the way of the Ahlul Bayt spoke to God. And that's the most perfect way of speaking to God. I think I've brought everything together. Yeah. I think that's about it. That's about it, right? Yeah. Anything else you wanted to add? No. No? I think we need to move on to our... Brilliant. Thank you so much for your time. I really, really, really appreciate it.  Thank you very much likewise to both of you. We'll see you next week. Yeah. So after the break, we're going to be joined, or Zara's going to be joined by Barak Hussain, who's a psychologist and a counsellor. And it's going to be in the specialist segment. So please, stay tuned.


During World War II, American propaganda got really bizarre. Some of the most dark and disturbing propaganda stories were aimed at the Japanese. Media often described them as a yellow vermin, and an official US Navy film called them Living Snarling Rats. These stories were intended to dehumanize the Japanese and were effective to a scary degree. Expert historians know from first-hand accounts told by American servicemen that troops often had the habit of taking trophies from the bodies of Imperial Japanese soldiers. These morbid souvenirs often included teeth, ears, nose, and other parts. In some of the darkest moments of World War II, the most common and scariest trophies were entire heads, which were boiled down, essentially preserving them for years to come. It wasn't uncommon to find American World War II bases covered with such disturbing decor, and some parts were even mailed back to the victims' families.


Your Honours, distinguished colleagues, on behalf of the United States Institute of Peace, it is a privilege to welcome you to USIP, which was established by the U.S. Congress in 1984 as a national, nonpartisan public institution dedicated to helping prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict abroad. We are honoured to be joined today by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Mohamedu Buhari. We share the privilege of co-hosting this conversation with the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, and the National Endowment for Democracy. We are honoured to welcome the distinguished members of the Nigerian delegation, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment, Environment, Health, Justice, Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Minister of Federal Capital Territorial Administration. We are honoured to welcome the Governors of Bouchi and Kauawa states and the permanent representative of the United Nations and the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States. All distinguished representatives of the Nigerian government are warmly welcomed. His Excellency, Mr. President, it was an honour to host you in 2015 at USIP. Just a few months after the historic election, when you became the first opposition candidate to unseat an elected Nigerian president through the ballot box. And it is a double honour to host you now a few months away from your country's national and state elections. The 2015 election was a milestone for Nigeria and multi-party democracy in Africa. Everyone watches what happens in Nigeria. When Nigeria upholds democratic principles, tackles corruption, creates economic opportunities and shows the way forward, other countries follow. Excellency, your leadership in signing the historic Electoral Act and empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission, your commitment to political pluralism, and the legacy you leave of non-interference and electoral processes have created the conditions and set the stage for credible, free and fair elections in Nigeria next February. We are very pleased to welcome Ambassador Johnny Carson, who is USIP Senior Advisor and has just been appointed as President Biden's Special Representative to promote and facilitate implementation of the agreements that have been reached during this week's summit. Ambassador Carson will be moderating our discussion and will be reflecting on your Excellency's leadership of democratic renewal and the important lessons for Africa and for the world on the value of strengthening democratic institutions, expanding the electorate and protecting the vote. Excellency, Mr. President, we invite you to the podium. President of the United States Institute of Peace and Co-hosts, head of the International Agency, Nigerian delegation, ladies and gentlemen, let me first thank Ambassador Johnny Carson and his team from the Institute of Peace for inviting me back to interface with the Washington community of global thought leaders and democracy advocacy groups on developments across the world, especially in developing nations that are grappling with the challenges of embedding democratic processes and systems. Specifically, I recognize the representatives of the United National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral System and the National Endowment for Democracy. All of you are our able co-hosts for today's conversation. I recall, Mr. Selya, our last meeting at this institute in 2015, shortly after I assumed office, following my victory in the historic general election, that witnessed a seamless transition of government from an incumbent ruling party of 16 years and people's democratic party to a young, off-start opposition party, the All Progressive Congress. You will recall that the election in 2015 in Nigeria were adjudged to be free, fair, and by both the domestic and international election observers. That visit in 2015 offered me the opportunity to underscore the significance of the attestation by the international elections observer groups. The credibility of those elections, its demonstration effect, and the impact such as for peace, not only in Nigeria but in the sub-region and the continent, hence a major contribution to international peace and security. Remember that Nigeria is a nation of over 200 million people. Therefore, instability in Nigeria has grave consequences, not only for Africa but the whole world. That first interaction with you in 2015 also afforded me the opportunity to unveil the vision and focus of our administration in three critical areas, namely security, economy, and fighting corruption. I am therefore very pleased today that this stage which served as my opening act has once more presented itself as the curtains are almost being drawn for the opportunity to share experiences and discuss the last seven and a half years. When I met you in 2015, I was not unaware of the enormous domestic and international goodwill that I attracted. Although I am a converted Democrat and not to your run of the mill for a tissue and therefore less inclined to engage in double talk, my advisors may not be happy with me in this regard. I am, however, majored in speaking but always certain that the truth I shall speak and this has huge consequences in a political space wherein this is the exception rather than the norm. Politics in our country is generally an argumentative and the rancorous business. These two characteristics does not necessarily diminish the value of democracy whose impact on governance is a product of rancorous debates to ensure the buy-in of the majority of the people or representatives. More importantly, such an outcome represents the will of the people and not only of the leadership. Our political journey over the last seven or last years has pretty much been guided by this attribute of democracy. This process does not endear itself to speedy decisions. No formulation of easily implementable policies. The characteristic trade-offs in democracy necessarily makes governance an extremely slow process. I am sure that you are familiar with the reference to me as Baba Goslo, majority of my compatriots would rather prefer that every day new policy decisions or actions are reeled out to our government in a manner of a military administration. But we are in a democracy and a converted democracy like me must listen and or be guided by majority opinions and most importantly must learn to understand the knock on effect of actions before they are undertaken. All these contribute to the grind that characterizes a deliberate process. And of course there is a low factor that we must all turn there in mind. Without adhering to its basic tenets, you cannot be characterized as democratic in your actions or conduct. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, you may all recall that when I was elected in 2015 on the float form of all progress of Congress, our clear promises and commitments were to end the rising insecurity and violent conflict by Boko Haram in the northeastern part of Nigeria, fight corruption and build strong and resilient national economy. Regrettably, when we assumed office on May 29, 2015, our administration inherited a tragedy with various leakages, dwindling oil revenues triggered by the decline in oil prices in the international market, which is a major source of foreign exchange. This inevitably forced Nigeria into an economic recession. Our concerted and coordinated actions enabled Nigeria to quickly exit the recession. These actions were our deliberate policy in the economy recovery and growth plan facilitated our exit from the recession. This policy focused on effective economic planning and managing expenditure to checkmate socio-economic vulnerabilities of the citizens. We remain convinced that this would inevitably weaken and break the vicious cycle of insecurity. Similarly, our administration had to refocus its attention to the pursuit of citizens-driven reforms and appropriate intervention programs in responding to challenges of violent conflict, insecurity and criminality in order to cushion the impact of economic hardship on the burnable groups in the society. Such efforts included boosting investors' confidence and diversification in the non-oil sector. We recognized the need to jump-start domestic production and through various intervention programs, we focused on channeling capital to micro, small and medium enterprises which are the building blocks of successful economies across the globe. As you may know, our nation has a youth bulge. Among our many blessings is that of an extremely industrious, creative and hard-working youthful population. These youth symbolize the energy and promise that innate in the Nigerian. In recognition of this and to give sufficient oxygen to their growth in start-ups and technologies space, we have gained immense foothold in Nigeria and we see its steady contribution in our growth domestic product. We signed into law the Nigeria Start-Up Act, a landmark legislation that lays the groundwork in supporting our start-up enterprises. I earlier made reference to our policy to jump-start domestic production and through our agricultural sector focused interventions driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria, we transitioned from being a net importer of our staple food rights to becoming self-sufficient in its production. This same scheme has financed the establishment and operations of our 50 integrated rice mills, 50. It has also financed over 4.5 million small holder farmers and showed the cultivation of almost 6 million hectares of farmland and almost 700 large-scale agricultural projects have been funded. This agricultural revolution has led to the creation of over 13 million direct and indirect jobs. The takeaway from our focus on the agricultural sector is as follows. We are in a better position to handle the systematic shock caused by both coronavirus and the Russian Ukraine war on global food supply chains and related prices spikes and while also improving our capacity in the agroalide sector such that we now need to be more efficient in enhancing and maximizing production yields and post harvest losses. Distinguished guests and friends of Nigeria, this step is one amongst several that we have taken towards expanding our economy. The non-oil sector remains the future of our economy and I hope successive governments will consolidate on the gains we have recorded under our administration. The Russia-Ukrainian has compelled many economies to carry out reforms and readjust policies to cope with the challenges posed by the conflict. In this regard, we are paying more attention now to energy transmission and distribution through targeted collaboration with global companies like Siemens to improve our efficiency in the far-value chain. I would also like to briefly seize this opportunity to touch upon a few points regarding our view of recent events in energy space. As a member of the global community, we have participated in several rounds of talks regarding climate change and various decisions emerging from COP26 and the just concluded COP27. But as I stated in my Washington Post article, there can't be double standards where in Western nations use their influence and weight to turn the types of global financing for fossil fuel transactions, which are much needed by developing nations. Yet when they feel the pinch, they are quick to turn on their coal-powered plants. We owe it to our people to create jobs and livelihoods and we can't accomplish this without maximizing our comparative advantage in energy to build up our manufacturing and industrial base. Therefore, stronger commitment needs to be made to the fund for climate adaptation and mitigation if indeed there is intent to establish equity and fairness. Despite glooming outlook in the global economy and the ongoing war in Ukraine, Nigeria's economy continues to register positive growth, especially in the last two quarters. Government spending on infrastructure has also been a critical aspect of our overall strategy. Our infrastructure deficit is widely known and with the volatility in capital markets, we devise creative ways of finding this infrastructure gap to build roads and thus improving connectivity between markets and facilitating trade. We devise investment tax credit schemes and the use of Sukuk bonds to reconstruct, develop and rehabilitate over 20,000 kilometers of roads. Additionally, we have revitalized our once-come-a-towards railroads, such as the trains are now up and running along critical corridors in different parts of the country. Our efforts on corruption continue to fail off as the relevant agencies continue to make impressive recoveries as well as secure court convictions of those sabotaging Nigeria's efforts for sustained development and growth. The major cash recoveries will be deployed in a transparent way towards funding these infrastructure gaps. On security, global terrorism, mandatory and other transnational crimes, these continue to pose enormous challenges not only to Nigeria, but to global peace and security, as these acts have become the renal threats to sustained economic development and growth, which ought to be dividends of democracy. Nigeria and other regional bodies in Africa and the rest of the world are working assiduously to deal with these existential threats to the very existence of humanity. As a country, Nigeria continues to engage bilaterally and multilaterally to comprehensively win the war on Boko Haram and related terror groups as well as overcoming the evidences of kidnapping and mandatory in Nigeria. You may recall that when I assumed power, Boko Haram held about two-thirds of Borno State, half of Yobi State, and a couple of local government areas in Adamawa State. Today, this is no longer the case, but if a country and sub-regime will continue to be negatively impacted by the events in Libya, Central Africa Republic, the Sahel, and the war in Ukraine, our region is awash with small and light weapons that continue to freely circulate as well as cope with the influx of foreign fighters. Our armed forces, and those of our partners in the multinational joint task force, consistent of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin Republic, and Nigeria continue to demonstrate great bravery while paying the ultimate price in securing our collective freedom. Despite the difficult times we face, we continue to spend very scarce and lean resources to ensure that we have a well-resourced military force to take this task. Ideally, these are resources that could be spent on education or health care or other social services, but without peace, we have learned the hard way that our children cannot go to school or seek good health care. We are nonetheless willing, winning the war, and making significant progress in dealing with the threats to Nigeria and the sub-regions, safety, and survival. This steady progress is in spite of the negative reportage in international media, as well as the non-talented actions and attitudes of some of our friends and allies to sufficiently appreciate our efforts in the fight against terrorism. Rather than focus on negativity, which is the trouble adversaries have become, Nigeria, the sub-regions of Africa, and the rest of the world can work more constantly together to combat terrorism and prevent violent extremism, both of which are challenges to global peace and stability, and not just Nigeria and Africa alone. Not to withstand these institutional deficits from some friends and allies, Nigeria remains open to working with the international community and other deployment partners to enhance global security and stability. Nigeria has always maintained that secured and stable Nigeria is indispensable for overall peace and prosperity of not only the country, but Africa, with huge implications for global peace and stability. There lies the wisdom of the persistent efforts by Nigeria and calls for strategic partnership with the United States of America to fight our common challenges together. Such challenges are terrorism, climate change, and entrenching democracy in Africa. Presently, Nigeria has collaborated with the United Nations counter-terrorism entities in several areas, including building capacity and critical justice responses through training of judges, prosecutors, and investigators. Nigeria is on the verge of commissioning her new counter-terrorism center, and it would serve as a hub for counter-terrorism coordination and research in West Africa. Our efforts are driven by our Terrorism Prevention Act 2022, the national counter-terrorism strategy, as well as the policy framework and national action plan on preventing and countering violent extremism. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the stage is now set for Nigeria to conduct another general election in February 2023. And I am resolute in my determination to enable the conduct of free, fair, and transparent national elections in the first quarter of 2023, whose outcome would be largely accepted to the contestants. Since 2015, the conduct of our election continued to steadily improve. From the 2019 general election, the bi-election and the off-season election in Edo, Ikiti, Anambra, and Ocean States were conducted in largely improved contexts to the satisfaction of contestants and voters. That is what we hope for in 2023. Through the observatory rules of the international community, the credibility of the election can be further enhanced to make the acceptability of the outcome to the contestants and political parties a known issue. Nigeria and the United States of America share many attributes, apart from being among the largest democracies in the world. Nigeria's constitutional framework and brand of democracy are patterned along the United States of America and the two countries are the largest economies, as well as most populous on their respective continents. With respect to the subregion and the need not to cave in to the democratic setbacks in Mali, Guinea, and Bikini Faso, there is the need to aggressively work together to improve the quality of governance in the West African subregion, where the survival of democracy is currently challenged. This can be done through targeted investment that can enhance dividends of democracy and creations of robust means of livelihood for the people, as well as for more accountability and transparency by the political class. I call on all of you here to present, to continue to partner with us and our electoral body for the needed collaborative efforts, which are critical to defining and stabilizing democracy in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. The recent reversal, which is in Mali, Bikini Faso, Guinea, are most unfortunate. Indeed, and Air Force continues to effectively remain engaged with these countries in order to restore democracy to all the member states of Air Force, as indeed the entire African continent. Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention. Mr. President, thank you for a wonderfully comprehensive speech. It's a pleasure for me to be here with you, as I was in 2015, to be able to share this stage and to enter into a discussion with you about what has been a very comprehensive speech. There is no doubt that the United States and Nigeria share some fundamental values and principles together. The one that you most deeply enunciated is your commitment to democracy and the legacy that you yourself have committed to ensuring that happens. I would like to start our conversation this morning, or I should say this afternoon, with the issue of democracy. You clearly are committed to ensuring that it continues to move forward. You stated so this afternoon, and you were equally eloquent in New York in September in your speech at the UN General Assembly. The question that I would have with respect to democracy is the issue of whether INEC, which is the National Election Commission, is it ready and prepared and able to carry out the kind of election that's necessary in Nigeria to keep the process moving forward? Thank you very much. INEC, as you asked, whether INEC is prepared to conduct the election next year, I would say they are. Because I made sure they were given all the resources they asked, so I don't want any excuse that they were denied funds by the government. So they were given the money, although some of their offices in 102 geo-political zones have been attacked. But all the same, INEC has not complained, and certainly they could not complain that they were denied resources to make sure that their infrastructure is firmly in place. Mr. President, you've alluded to the issue of security. In recent weeks and over the last month, there have been a number of reports that say INEC offices have, in fact, been burned and vandalized. Will this insecurity around INEC's offices impede the election process? Will it slow it down? No, it will not. I think there are only two incidents. And don't forget, we have six geo-political zones. We have 31 states from the federal capital. And if two offices out of these states, 31 states in Abuja, if two offices in one geo-political zone were attacked, I think in relative terms, the security is good. And certainly, the result of elections in Anambara, I mentioned it, Anambara, Oshin, and Akiti prove that Nigerians have appreciated that the administration is defending them to choose whichever person from whichever party. And that's the fundamental good thing about democracy. Let's say people have the choice. And I think Nigerians are realizing that because of the result of elections in Anambara, in Oshin state, and in Akiti state. If I could carry on with the issue of democracy and extended to the broader West African region, you alluded to that in your speech, how can the United States and Nigeria and other democracies work with the region to strengthen democracy across West Africa? You've mentioned the democratic backsliding that has occurred in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Conakry. How can the countries committed to democracy work more effectively to promote democracy and build democratic resilience to democratic backsliding? I think the developing countries, especially in Africa and West Africa in particular, are very much our offer, the United States' power. And that's why we virtually adopted our constitution of policy based on the United States of America. Success, as they said, determines the efforts of developing countries. United States, with its resources, its enormous influence is the world over. We, when I say we, I mean the developing countries, especially in Africa, cannot afford to be on the wrong side of the United States. That's why we adopted its system. Because its system, it is proven that their system is working. So we better try to copy the system that works rather than those that are very doubtful. So I think my answer is quite clear. We are sure that certainly the United States is the most powerful country in the world, both military and economically. And technology, again, is helping us. And again, that is making sure that we get across decisions and so on. From other less developed countries, for example, Nigeria, we have a coup, counter coup, civil war, coup counter coup. And we have gone through that. We found out, as I kept on saying, we can't do half step and jump. We have to go through the painful stages of development. We are learning the hard way.  I was not expecting any military takeovers in my region, in Air Force region. But there it is. It has taken place. So I think we are acutely aware of our state of development. And we are doing our best to make sure we stabilize the quality and the economy. And we are grateful for the United States understanding and the health of that life. Mr. President, can I shift a little bit to the economy? You mentioned that oil is not the future of Nigeria's economy. I'd like to ask about diversification. But I'd like to ask about diversification and innovation. Nigeria is frequently cited as having one of the largest film and communication industries, not only in Africa but globally. What is your government doing to help to strengthen this industry? And what are you doing to support innovation in technology and digital technology and information? Well, as I mentioned in my speech, our population is more than 200 million. And the expectation by the population for government to make life secure, economically vibrant is a major challenge. We in Nigeria, if you collect the whole of air course in Nigeria in terms of population and for urban resources, we are more than the rest of the world. So really, we have to deal with sympathy. There is a problem of strong cultural influence on the quality. Otherwise, how can you? Luckily, I did geography in school. If you look at the map, you see the volume of Mali. Now, the people in the Sahel, from Mauritania to Central Africa Refabric, are moving southwards. Southwards towards the coast. Why? Because of weather problem. If the rainy season fails, people just go hungry, automatically. So people are pushing southwards, where there is rain throughout there, where they can try and grow food and survive. And then animals, again from Senegal, Central Africa Refabric, there are people with cattle going across countries and creating really problems between the settled farmers and the cattle realists. So we have the problem of underdevelopment and cultural problem, which I think the United States is well represented in every country, no matter how small. And I believe they know that the cultural problem we are facing in underdeveloped countries is so enormous. And we insist on making mistakes. We don't seem to learn from saying, OK, my neighbor overthrew the government. What did he get out of it? More people were killed. More people were taken off the farm. They are for less productive. They are for less food. We seem to refuse to learn from that. As I told you, our own personal experience, which we went through in Nigeria, cool counter cool, civil war, cool counter cool. So it's a set of development. Mr. President, you mentioned two words that are heard around the world these days with some alarm, climate change. Obviously, climate change contributes to migration, contributes to the desertification loss of agricultural land. And equally, it can contribute to conflict as well. I'd like to ask, what Nigeria is doing to work to build up its resilience to climate change? What is it doing to adapt to the changes in climate? I noticed just in the last two months, Nigeria suffered from unprecedented flooding in Yobay and a couple of other of the states in the Northeast. How is Nigeria working to build resilience and adaptation to climate change as it hits your country? It's an enforceable task, let me put it that way. I've not been pessimistic about anything because you can't control your population in a underdeveloped country like Nigeria. You could keep on producing. But there is a limit the land can take. For example, if I say we inherited our farm, which may be about 50 hectares, when we are only seven of us, when we grow to become 30 and we have grown the same land, we have got a problem. And I think there is a need for investment in agriculture, in technology, so that seeds, we can get improved seeds that can do within a shorter time with less rainfall. I think that is the biggest health the technologically advanced countries in the United States can do for us to improve. Because you cover so much of the weather that you can help us to do that. But it is extremely difficult for us to improve on that. Because as I told you, and then the animals, especially in most of the agricultural area of the country in Nigeria, there are people with cattle. And there is this cattle reirors and stagnant farmers problem, generation after generation. The efforts made, say, by the fast republic leadership is much more realistic than what follows. In terms of routes where the cattle riders are guided through the route, grazing areas and control. For example, Aubrey said not more than three, four months ago, two governors of states from the south came and reported the cattle reirors to me. Because they knew I was also a time a cattle reiror or something. They came and reported them to me. I said, when they were going on campaign, did they go and speak to them? They said, yes. I said, after I get in their boats, go and solve their problem. I sent them away, of course, without telling them anything. So really, we have the problem of culture. That's the movement of cattle reirors, stagnant farmers, and large population. Nigeria has really a problem on that. Mr. President, we are running out of time. I want to thank you enormously for your time and for your commitment to democracy and to a stronger relationship between the United States and Nigeria. Many of us recognize the importance of Nigeria and what it stands for, not only on the continent, but as a member of the global community. For many of us, we see Nigeria as the most populous country in Africa, the strongest and largest economy on the continent, the largest producer of petroleum on the continent, but for all Americans and for all those who believe in inclusive governance, you are the largest democracy on the continent. And that ties Nigeria to the United States in the most meaningful of ways. Countries that are democratic resolve all of their differences through discussion and not through combat, they generally work together effectively as partners. And I hope that your commitment to democracy and your commitment to ensuring that the elections in February will be free, fair, and transparent give you a legacy which all of Nigerians should be proud and for which all of us who believe in democracy should support. So we appreciate you being here. We recognize that this has been a busy week, but for us it's a capstone. You were here in 2015 to usher in your democratic governance over the last eight years. We're proud to have you back as you look at transferring power in February. So thank you, Mr. President, for being with us. We appreciate you. Thank you.