Good morning, the first item of business today it is general question and we start with question number one from dairy fee. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government how it tackles discrimination against gypsy travers. Minister Jeal Fee Memphis The Scottish Government recognises that gypsy traver communities are among the most disenfranchised and discriminated against in Scotland. We're continuing with work in a to achieve better outcomes for Gypsy-Gypsy travellers. For example, we fund and support the work of the Scottish Traveller education programme, which works to promote and develop inclusive educational approaches for mobile and settled gypsy and other traveller families. Can I thank the minister for that answer? The 2015 Scottish social attitudes survey highlighted that Gypsy travellers continue to be one of the most marginalised groups in Scottish society and still face disproportionately high levels of discrimination. 31 per cent of people have stated that they would be unhappy if a family member was in a relationship with a Gypsy traveller, while a further 34 per cent of people have stated their belief that a Gypsy traveller would be unsuitable as a primary school teacher. In light of that, it is clear that the Government's Gypsy Traveller strategy is failing, so will the minister agree to an immediate review of the strategy and outline what further steps the Government will take to eradicate the deeply unpleasant and systemic discrimination that is faced by the Gypsy Traveller community across Scotland? I am afraid that I cannot agree with the member that the Government's strategy has failed and therefore is entirely responsible for the attitudes that she outlines. I am sure that the member knows, as well as I do, across a range of discriminatory practices and attitudes and behaviours affecting a number of groups in our society. It is actually the responsibility of all of us, not simply the Scottish Government, to tackle those and to do that at every level in our community. Nonetheless, I accept that the Government has a clear leadership role in that regard. As the cabinet secretary has already said, she is currently consulting with the Gypsy Traveller community and others to reflect on and improve the approach that we take in order to tackle the specific issues that people confront now, but in order to build on the work that we have done in terms of health, education, the suitability of sites and our current work with local authorities. All of that will be reported back to this Parliament in the revise and the development of the work, which, as we have already said, will come forward in 2017. To ask the Scottish Government what specific action it has taken to assist the Roma living in Govan Hill, particularly in relation to the findings of the BBC Scotland study, which found that of the 310 local Roma people interviewed, more than a third of the Roma people were receiving less than the minimum wage. Thank you very much. I would share the member's concern, as I know others on these benches do, with regard to that particular community. Of course, that is also part of the discussions that the cabinet secretary is leading in the spirit that this Government so clearly adopts across a range of things that we do, where we consult directly with those most affected in order to make sure that the work that we undertake is as effective as it can be. The Roma community is part of those conversations and we are looking at particular enforcement activities and looking in particular with respect to housing and integration in that community. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent figures published by SIPA, suggesting that ministers did not meet their 2013 target, what action it is taking to improve household recycling rates. Cabinet Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham. As the member knows, it is for councils to provide recycling services to households. The figures produced by SIPA are a compilation of the figures provided by each local authority. There is a wide disparity between the best-performing authority and the least well-performing. Since 2013, we have agreed the Scottish household recycling charter with COSLA to harmonise recycling and collection services with 20 local authorities already signed up. We have provided financial support for councils to implement the charter, starting with £2 million to East Ayrshire Council announced last month. We have committed to reviewing the rural exemption for food waste collections in rural areas. Overall, since 2011, we have provided some £25 million to councils to support the introduction of food waste services, thanks to which 75 per cent of households now have access to a food waste collection service up from just 300,000 in 2010. Maurice Golden. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Currently, in Scotland, local authorities deliver their own recycling strategies with decreasing levels of support from the Scottish Government and its agencies. That has led, as the cabinet secretary pointed out, to varying levels of service and different outcomes in recycling rates. The most recent SIPA figures show a patchwork of recycling success and failure across Scotland. Compare that with Wales, which has encouraged local authorities to take a consistent approach to recycling. Their recycling rate recently hit 60 per cent, beat their target, doubled their rate in 10 years and leapfrogged Scotland, leaving Scotland the worst recycler in Britain. Does the Scottish Government agree that a unified and consistent recycling collection service throughout Scotland, coupled with the requisite Scottish Government leadership and support to local authorities, would help us to achieve our recycling targets? I indicated some of the actions that have already taken place, including money that has gone to local authorities. Yes, there is a wide disparity. I referenced that in my initial response, but that does show that it is possible for councils to do extremely well. There are councils that have significant challenges. As it happens, I am going to British Irish Council in Guernsey tomorrow, which is on-circuit economy and will be dealing with waste issues. The member raised the question of what Wales is doing. Wales has done a very great deal, but I wonder if he has looked in detail at what their programme means, because, among other things, it involves fines for councils that do not meet their targets and individual targets that are placed on councils rather than a national target. I can imagine that there would be a considerable amount of debate about that. We are currently in a space that is about collaboration and encouragement. I would rather have stretching targets that we do not quite achieve but continue to do so through collaboration than, at this point, go down the compulsion route. You can never rule it out, but, frankly, I do not think that this would be the right time to be starting to look at those. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity will next visit Lochaber. I visited Fort William last Friday, 28 October, for an aquaculture, a fin fish summit. I regularly visit the Lochaber area in my role as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity. Rhoda Grant. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity will be aware that Rio Tinto plans to sell off his melter in Fort William. He will know that it is a crucial industry in Lochaber, with 150 jobs directly employed and many more supported in the wider community. Can I ask what discussions he has had with Rio Tinto? Does he know who the proposed buyer is and what support can he offer the employees in Fort William and the new company in this difficult time? Yes, the smelter is an integral part of the economy in Fort William and, indeed, is a national asset. Of course, as the member knows, I was the constituency MSP for Lochaber for the first 12 years of this reconvened Parliament. I entirely share our sentiments about the importance of this matter. I am pleased to inform the member that the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have maintained dialogue with Rio Tinto throughout the Lochaber strategic review, with a view to securing the best outcome for the workers and the community. The workforce was informed on 21 October that the Rio Tinto board had agreed to consider a sale of its Lochaber assets, and that exclusive discussions with potential buyer would begin. Obviously, the sale is an on-going commercial process, and we must be careful to respect the boundaries of commercial confidentiality whilst negotiations continue. We are hopeful that business will be sold as a going concern and that aluminium production at Fort William, which began around 1929, will continue for many generations to come. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me, as the MSP for Lochaber, that continued operation of the smelter, development of industrial activity and the creation of employment and economic value should be top priorities for Lochaber? Kate Forbes, as the constituency member, is absolutely correct. We need to respect and provide the appropriate space for the commercial process that is under way. However, we are prepared to offer support to any successful bidder that makes the necessary commitment to the local community in relation to employment, industry, commerce and renewable energy sources. Indeed, the ideal scenario for Lochaber, I hope that everybody would share this sentiment, would be the continued operation of the smelter, but also enhanced development of industrial activity in the West Highlands and the preservation and creation of economic value that entails. Alexander Stewart, to ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to minimise antibiotic resistance in livestock. The Scottish Government has signed up to the UK five-year antimicrobial strategy 2014-2018 produced in collaboration with public health and animal health authorities across the UK. The strategy combines actions in the human and animal health environments. A working group CARS that is controlling antimicrobial resistance in Scotland has been set up and is chaired by the chief medical officer and is developing detailed plans to implement it. The Scottish Government also monitors scientific developments in antimicrobial resistance, liases with other Administrations and Public Bodies, with an interest in animal health, public health and food safety, and implements a veterinary surveillance programme that monitors the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in animals. Alexander Stewart. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. He will be aware of recent surveys that have taken place and one of the most rewarding was carried out by Cambridge University when it found that one in four supermarket chicken samples contained antibiotic resistance E. coli. Those resistances are one of the major health challenges of our generation. To ask the Scottish Government what economic assessment it is taking place to improve this whole process and to ensure that any of those resistances are managed and how that is being tackled within the livestock sector in Scotland. I am not sure that this is a matter that has been raised with me by the member, but I would question the thesis, which I think he has just made. If I am wrong, I apologise. He has just said that an economic analysis is necessary to deal with the efficacy of work tackling antimicrobial resistance. If that thesis is made, it is patently untrue. The work that we need to do to tackle antimicrobial resistance is work for experts in veterinary matters in pharmaceutical products. It is not anything to do with an economic analysis. However, if I have, and I do not want to do justice to the question, because it is a serious matter that he has raised, if the member wants to write to me about those complex matters, I am happy to consider them further. Peter Chapman. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The minister will be aware that the vast majority of farmers are professional and skilled and are already managing antibiotics for livestock in a sensible, proportionate and responsible manner. Does he agree with me that the last thing that he needs is to be bogged down by further Government regulation and red tape? Cabinet Secretary. I have a lot of sympathy for that viewpoint. I respect the work that farmers do, and they care deeply about the health of their livestock. Mr Chapman, as a farmer, is well placed to express his sentiments. What puzzles me is that the approach that he has just expressed appears to be almost directly in contradiction with the approach of his colleague that was expressed just a moment ago. Which is it? Do you want more regulation or do you want less regulation? I think that the Conservatives should cease this apparent schizophrenia on the important issue of antimicrobial resistance. Monica Lennon. I begin by declaring an interest as I am a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. My question is to ask the Scottish Government whether it will amend legislation to extend planning controls on changing premises into betting shops. Minister Kevin Stewart. The Scottish Government will lay the changes to planning legislation regarding betting shops before Parliament by the end of the year. Monica Lennon. Thank you for that answer. I welcome this commitment from the minister, because it has been over two years since a previous minister, Denic Mackay, held a summit on this very issue. It has been disappointing that no action has been taken to extend planning controls on changing premises into betting shops in that time, a measure that was introduced in England over 18 months ago. Given that the clustering of betting shops, particularly in our most deprived communities, has continued in that time and that the Scottish Government has upheld six out of the seven most recent betting shop appeals, when can we expect the US class order to be amended? Can I ask the minister whether the Scottish Government will assess the cumulative impact of clustering on communities over and above not just betting shops but also pay-de-alone shops and fast food takeaways? Minister. Alex Neil, the then Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights, stated in Parliament on 5 March 2015 that we were seeking powers promised in the Smith report, which would have been more effective in addressing the problems of pay-a-day lending and gambling rather than just planning controls. As the Scotland Act 2016 did not deliver powers, we are now introducing those planning controls. The Scotland Act 2016 included a very limited power in respect of the number of fixed odds betting terminals and new betting shops only. That does not include any powers in respect of FOBTs in existing betting shops. That power remains with the UK Government. I would have hoped that we would have had all those powers to deal with that appropriately. Unfortunately, we did not have the support to devolve those issues to this Parliament. Stuart McMillan, the minister will be aware of my campaign against fixed odds betting terminals and how those machines have had such a negative effect upon local communities. Can the minister provide assurances that the new powers that are going to be laid before the end of the year will allow local authorities to have a wider range of powers to help to deal with the scourge all those FOBT machines, not the standing of the comments from the minister regarding the limited powers that are coming to the Scottish Parliament? I reiterate the point that what we are getting is very limited powers. I would have hoped that we would have had wide-ranging powers to deal with that. We will introduce legislation to amend the town and county planning use of classes Scotland order 1997. Currently, the order excludes from planning control the changing of certain premises to betting shops. That exclusion will be removed. Graham Simpson. I think that Mr Stewart, who is struggling with his voice, has probably just answered my question. I was going to urge him to use the powers that he has in the planning review to give councils the authority to say how many betting shops there should be. I think that he has said that he will do that. Minister, do you want to add anything? I will reiterate the point that we will lay that legislation before Parliament. Adam Tomkins. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is advancing the local devolution agenda. Minister Kevin Stewart. Scotland's democratic landscape is being transformed by the implementation of the community empowerment act 2015, the introduction of an islands bill and the development of legislation to bring council functions, budgets and democratic oversight much closer to communities. The parallel and powering reforms are being delivered across Scotland's key public services. Adam Tomkins. It is well documented that Scotland is now one of the most centralised countries in Europe. Just yesterday, the Scottish local government partnership criticised the Scottish Government, not the UK, criticised the Scottish Government for strangling local democracy and castigated it for bossing local authorities around and controlling everything from the centre. The SNP's programme for government commits to working with local authorities to review their roles and responsibilities. Will the scope of the review include the devolution of any identified power from this Parliament to local authorities in Scotland? 96 per cent of Scots think that local people should be involved in making decisions about the design and delivery of their public services. The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across Scotland get a louder voice and stronger powers. During the course of this Parliament, we will introduce a bill to decentralise local authority functions, budgets and democratic oversight to local communities. As I stated earlier, we are consulting on and bringing forward an islands bill to reflect the unique needs of those communities. We will enable community councils that can demonstrate a strong democratic mandate to deliver services. Working with local government to set a target of having at least 1 per cent of their budget subject to community choices budgeting, which will mean that more than £100 million of spending will be influenced by local communities. That is true devolution and true community empowerment.


Ports of Call! On blue horizons far at the world's end, strange fascinating lands back in us, bid us revel in their exotic splendors, come with us as we head for Ports of Call. Sailing southward among the palm-lined islands of the Blue Caribbean Sea, we approach the northern coast of South America and head for tropical Guiana, containing the only European possessions on the continent. The vast steaming jungle stretching inland for miles is intersected by innumerable streams and drenched by huge waterfalls. In the dense undergrowth trees struggle for life, their limbs covered with orchids and festooned with vines. The jungle is alive with the chatter of monkeys, the cries of brilliant birds. Great anacondas lie motionless for hours, awaiting their prey. Deadly bushmasters dart among the roots. Father inland, in a region that even today no man has explored, the inaccessible mountains lift their heads. Our steamer passes the light ship marking the bar ten miles out of Georgetown, capital of British Guiana. Only at high tide can the harbor be entered. As the sun sets, we drop anchor. Son, here we are. We wanted to see the tropics. Yes, Ed, but the only thing I know about Guiana is that they have a postage stamp worth $50,000. They don't have that anymore. I think the King of England has the only one in the world. No use for me to try and find one, then, I suppose. Gee, look at those houses. They're all built on stills. Yeah, to keep out the dampness. Well, we can't see the botanical gardens from here.  You got your camera? I certainly have. If they really do raise those water lilies with leaves four feet across, I'm not going to run the risk of having people at home say I made it up. Come on, Dad. The efforts of Europeans have pushed the jungle back from the sea in some places along the Guiana coast. Georgetown's wide clean streets and gay gardens might almost be those of a European city, except for the ever-present jungle that presses down toward the coast like some crouching animal waiting its moment to spring. Columbus sided Guiana, and America's Vespucious sailed along its coast. But it was almost 100 years later that the first daring explorers ventured to land. It is the year 1595. Under a commission from Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh sails down the Guiana coast seeking the legendary golden city of El Dorado. He anchors near the mouth of the Orinoco River and embarks with his party in small boats. For 15 days, they row upstream through the human jungle, not daring to land. In relays, they relieve each other at the oars. Then, one night... Captain Raleigh's a village to starboard. I see it. I'm excited as running. Shall we risk a landing? I've heard that poison arrows cause horrible death. Hard to stop at men. And remember, there is to be no looting. Up on the beach, men! Come beyond the seas. Are very welcome. He speaks English. Peace to this village. And to you and your men. Peace. My men are weary and hungry. Can you sell us food? Your men are welcome to eat and drink with my people. I will pay for whatever food my men eat. At ease, men. How does it happen you speak our tongue? I learned it from a man who lived in this village for many moons. Who was he? Where is he now? He called himself John. He is dead. Who do you suppose you could have been, Raleigh? Probably a trader lost in the jungle. Must have been. Can you tell us how far we are from Guyana? This land is a part of Guyana. Is there much gold to be found here? The city of Eldorado is built of gold. And the bed of Lake Manoa is golden sand. Can you show us the way? I cannot go with you, but there is something I may do. Will you hear it now or wait until you have eaten? No, no. Tell us now. The mountain men steal our women. If you help us fight them, you shall have the gold and the grey metal and the brilliant pebbles from the mountain of crystal. Gold, silver, diamonds. How many men would be needed? Ten times as many as these would be too few. What should you do, Walter? Do. There is only one thing to do. Go back to England and tell the story to the Queen. Spit out a great fleet of ships and return here. We will defeat Guyana's warriors and win the golden city for Elizabeth and England. But Raleigh returns to a war torn England. Elizabeth dies. James sends Raleigh to the tower. 13 years pass before he can be freed to stake his whole future on a successful expedition to Guyana. Ten ships manned by the scum of English ports. Criminals cut throats good for nothings. Sail from Plymouth. Six months later, five of them anchor off the Guyana coast. One, Raleigh's own ship, the Destiny. Raleigh is ill with fever. Now look outside the Spanish ships, sir. Let it pass, un molested, Gilbert. But it may be filled with Spanish treasures of water. I will tell you why I have refused to attack the Spanish ships. We have already sighted. His Majesty ordered that if I violate the peace with Spain I will be turned over to King Philip himself and hanged in a public square in Madrid. Is that enough for you, Gilbert? There's a boat setting up from shore, Father. Shall I allow the men to come aboard? How many men? Two, an Osmond and a passenger. Let them come aboard. It may be a messenger from Topiawari. Impossible. How could he know when we'd arrive? I let the landing party, Gilbert. She did the votes, our provisions and be ready to go ashore when I give the word. Aye aye, sir. You're too eager to go ashore, Walter. Must I sit here idle while you and young Walter lead the men through the jungle? What else is there to do? Then they mutiny if we delay it. My father's waiting for you down there. Father, this man has won Martinez. Spaniard? I have been awaiting your coming, Sir Walter. How did you know of it? A word has come from Spain. What? Are Spanish soldiers here? They were here, Senor, but they have gone. For a petty offence I was abandoned in the jungle among the wild animals and serpents. If I had not made friends among the savages, I would have died. I have come to help you, Senor. To help us? Yes, Senor. The village chief, Topiawari, is dead. But he sent me to lead you through the mountains to El Dorado, the city of gold. For I am one who has seen it. You've seen it? Tell us. I was taken there by a native who, blindfolded me for many days before we arrived. The emperor, who is brother to the Inca chief, possesses more gold than his brother ever knew. A man may walk for two days together without coming to the boundaries of the city in which everything is overlaid with gold. You will permit me to guide your men to El Dorado, Senor? Yes. Yes. The party must start at once. Father, you're not fit to travel. Yes, I know. I know. You and Kimus will lead the men. I... I must wait here until you return. Oh, yes, Father. To the Boltzmann. We're off for El Dorado. How much farther to the village, Kimus? Not much farther now. But I don't like the sounds we've heard from shore. The jungle growth could screen an army, and we'd be none the whiter. You're right, Kimus. I'm farther involved then. Return the fire. No, no. Let no man tear the fire. It will cost your father's life if we fire on them and there's penyards. Pull harder, Min! We must breach the village. Harder, Min! How far to the village? Just around this pin. Harder, Min! Here we are! On the beach, Min! Come on, Min! Come on, Min! Come on, Min! Come on, Min! Come on, Min! Don't dissent us now! Peter! John! Alfred!  Let them go! Oh! Water, my boy! You've been hit! Go on. Go on. Lead me. You did our best, Raleigh. They cut us to pieces. And carried him into the jungle. And buried him there. So here you all are now. The captains of my ships. Well, this is a council of war. What is proposed? Captain Hayward and I are leaving your feet, Sir Water. We're going to clear our hand at Buckaneering. No. You mustn't do that. We must go back into the jungle. We must have the gold at any cost. I leave to myself. The provision's almost gone. We're all half-starved. I'm sailing back to England at the turn of the tide today. Today? Without even a handful of gold? No, without a spoonful. My men are at the point of mutiny. The Spanish trade of fleet will be passing this way soon. And I mean to Raleigh and get my share. And I? Go then. All of you go. I want none of your company. I'll sail the destiny back to England alone. And so the fabulous golden city of Guyana went undiscovered. And in the vast jungles, the fuma and the jaguar killed, and the chattering monkeys swung from the trees, unmolested by white-faced strangers. But the rich land had won the attention of traders, and stories of its wonders had spread over Europe. In 1664, Lord Willoughby, an English planter, sits on the veranda of his house near the humid Guyana coast. His overseer stands before him. Sit down, Hinden. It's a bit too hot to stand on ceremony. Thank you, my lord. It's partly the heat I've come to see you about. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that, Hinden. Oh, quite so. I only meant you're loosed too many labourers under count of it. I know. But let's leave that for the moment. What about the sugar cane? It's doing very well, my lord. I made a small planting of a new strain I had from a Dutchman who called here last summer. And I think it's the best of the lot. Indeed? Yes, my lord. If we could find labourers, I'm sure you'd be well-repaid for cutting back a bit more of the jungle, you know, and planting it at the cane. Oh, come, Hinden. If it weren't constant chopping and hacking, or the jungle would overrun the cane fields. Ah, but we have bad labour, sir. But we haven't. That's the point. Perhaps your partner could send out more men from England, sir. Well, perhaps. It's astonishing. The natives can't be got to work the cane. Oh, it's no use thinking about the Indians, my lord. The moment you take your eyes off them, they sneak her away and they'll never turn up again. I can't see the advantage of importing shipload after shipload of Englishmen. I'll have them die of the heat in a few months. I agree, my lord. But I thought I should call your attention to the profits that might be made if some scheme could be devised to furnish labour. I appreciate your suggestion, Hinden. Lord knows you've done wonders with this wild land. Why doesn't the heat affect you? You dash about in it like a native, perhaps because I have southern blood. My great-grandmother was stolen from her father in Constantinople by a scotch sailor. Ah, I see. I'd like just to hide in account of our progress and see if he can find us at least one more shipload of men. Yes, sir. Is that all? That's all, Hinden. Now, wait a moment. What is it, Fernando? Master, a ship has anchored in the bay. A ship? An English ship? I've got no master. Well, has it a flag like the one that flies over this house? No, oh, no, master. It is not. Two colours, yellow and red? No, master. Not Spanish, then. It is three colours, and the captain ordered me to come to you at once and say... There is no, my lord. We are party of our men. And a flag of truth. Why, Joe, they must be Dutch. Shall I share the girls to them? No, no, we're not equipped for fighting. Oh! You are Lord Willoughby? Yes. I am Captain Peter van Gilder, the Netherlands merchant ship sealer. Oh, yes. Come up on the round, captain. Oh, thank you. Fernando, bring us a jug of the Spice Pineapple Wine. Yes, master. This is my overseer, John Hinden. Oh, it is pleasure to meet you, sir. Thank you, sir. No, if you gentlemen will excuse me. Certainly. Come down, please, captain. Yeah.  I am satisfied to be well out of it. If you'd like to send your men back to the ship, I'll have a servant to row you out when you're ready. Oh, you're very kind, Lord Willoughby. Uh, Pwenker, take the men back to the boat. Yeah, yeah, my dear. Forward! Ah, here's the wine. Put it out, Fernando. Your very good health, sir. Ah, thank you, my lord. Ah! Lord Willoughby, may I ask if you own this land? I own it with the Honorable Laurence Hyde, son of the Earl of Clarendon. Oh, I've not realized your connections with the King were so close. I assure you, whatever you say to me will be held in the strictest confidence. Thank you. I came to see whether you'd be interested in laborers to work in your keen fields. You mean you know where they can be held? Yes, I do, my lord. Africa. Blacks? Yes, the African bush is teeming with men. Ships can be sent to bring them here several hundred at a time. As slaves? Exactly. So all their labor will cost you will be what food they eat, and that they can be taught to raise. I believe you've hit upon the very thing. Of course, it would not be profitable for me to import only a few hundred for this district alone. But down the coast a few miles is a Dutch settlement and still farther down a French one. And I would pay you a certain price per head. Are these men delivered here? Just so. Are the Dutch and French also raising sugarcane in large quantities? Dutch are doing well. The French, as usual, have made little progress, but there will be a good market for blacks even there. I see. Then I may assume you will agree to give me an order for what men you will need? Indeed you may. How long will it take you to deliver them here? Eh, with favorable winds, perhaps three months. I'll make my plans accordingly. I think you will agree with me too that our dealings need not be reported to our governments during the form. I'm sure you're right. I'm not afraid to consult my partner because I know he'll trust my judgment. Good, good. Fernando, pour us some more wine. Captain, let us drink to the success of our new venture. Yeah. Back and forth across the Atlantic plied the ships of Captain Van Gilder. The Guiana slave trade drew to enormous proportions. Thousands of Africans were poured into Guiana's fruitful acres. One morning in 1667, Captain Van Gilder lands as usual at Willoughby's Plantation. Walks up the path toward the house. Good morning, Captain Van Gilder. Oh, good morning, Hinton. Oh, what has happened? The work seems to be in a standstill this morning. Yes, it is, sir. Your men come in this way, sir. Oh. I saw two ships a short distance offshore about a cent said yesterday. Not knowing what ships they might be, I sailed past and anchored in a cove to the west.  There are no waiting for you to arrive before they begin the ceremony. Who? Why, what? Well, that's General van Rijn of the Dutch Army. I had to have used the cove. And the Englishman, William, sir, is Sir Robert Stanep. But why are all the plantation workers gathered around them? Well, you'll see in a moment, sir. They've seen you. They'll begin the ceremony now. Ceremony? Where's Lord Willoughby? Well, he's gone back to England, sir. The government took his land from him. I don't know the way. And in the war settlement, it's no being traded to Holland for a great act of land in North America. In a war settlement? Then the war is over. Aye, sir. That's what the ceremony is for. No other British flag. Voice the flag of Holland. Good morning. Good morning, General van Rijn. May I present Captain van Gilder, Sir Robert Stanep. Good morning. Were you entire for our ceremony? Yes, but if it hadn't been forhanded here, I might have been hidden in a mongrel's farm thinking it was a battle. I didn't know the war was over. Shall we send for drinks to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty? By all means. Mr. Stanep, what territory in North America was it we gave you for this part of Guyana? It was called New Devon Neverland. Oh, I knew it well. Did the treaty also include the city of New Amsterdam? Indeed it did. But of course the names have been changed. What did they call now? The city of New Amsterdam has been re-christianed in New York. In honor of the king's son, the Duke of York. I think old Dutchman will be very content with the exchange. Don't you, van Gilder? Quite content, General. I'm sure. Everyone in Holland was glad to be rid of your New York. It will never amount to anything in comparison with this rich country. No, you're right. Back and forth through the years, the lands of British and Dutch Guyana passed in trade and in the settlement of a dozen wars. But meanwhile, on the northeastern tip of the country, the French had established a settlement for royalists exiled during the revolution. In 1852, Devil's Island, just off the coast, became a penal colony for incorrigible French prisoners. Month after month, the prison ships landed their miserable cargos. Disease, unbelievable degradation, man-killing labor took their toll of wretched lives. Death, the only way of escape, was welcomed by these hopeless outcasts. Forty years passed, during which the island's very name became synonymous throughout the world with humanity at its lowest end. 1894, the prison ship has landed one more load of desperate men. One by one, they are brought before the commandant. Captain, this is the call of Toulouse for the crime of murder. Put him in number four. Yes, Captain. Thanks, prisoner. Your name? Dr. Dreyfus. Oh, yes. Here are the commitment papers. Captain of artillery sentence for treason. Of which I am innocent, Monsieur. You were tried, were you not? Yes, but the evidence, those letters were forged, Ray. That's very easy to say. But it is true. I tell you, I had nothing to do with those letters. They're not concerned with anything that preceded your sentence. Justice has undoubtedly been done to you. What mockery!  Why should I sell the figures of crimes to German agents? Put this one in number three. And if you have it in your mind to make trouble among the others, because you pretend you've been unjustly sentenced, I'll soon show you that. See that he passes by the punishment cells. I have no idea of making trouble, Monsieur.  What's the matter with you, my fine captain of artillery? Nothing. He thinks he's too good for us. Oh, no, of course I don't. I'm the same as all of you. Why do you never speak?  I cannot help it. I must constantly go over the scenes of my trial and wonder what I might have done to prove myself innocent. We all say that when we first come to Devil's Island. But now I wish I'd killed and robbed ten men instead of five. I might have had a taste of life before I came to this hell. Island! Island! If you have been condemned unjustly, you should be willing to join us in our plan to escape. Escape? Silence. Would you betray us to the God? There's no hope for us here. I must go on and on working on the roads and the sugar cane until we die. And in this place, that'll be soon. But I must not attempt to escape. My wife and my brother are working in France for me. They have interested Emile Zola and other writers on my behalf. Soon the government will be made to see I am innocent.  You would be wise to join us.  How can you think you will escape? I thought I heard you talking of escape. Why, you are mistaken. I heard you. Encouraging these other men to plan and escape through the jungle. Stand up. Come with me. We have a good medicine for the flocking sickness. 20 laces. Years pass. Four years of horror and agony, during which the wife and brother of Alfred Raphous work unceasingly to free him. All France is aroused. The people riot in the streets. Government officials lose their offices. At last, in September 1899, the most famous prisoner ever held by Devil's Island embarks once more for France to be retried. The Dreyfus case has made the name of French Guiana known throughout the world. Pardoned, restored to his rank in the army, Alfred Dreyfus never saw the island again. Today, Guiana remains one of the last unexplored regions in the world. Its untapped wealth and gold in rare and valuable woods, medicinal plants, precious stones, every year draws adventurers to challenge death for possession of its secrets. And still, no one but the savage jungle men know whether the golden city of El Dorado really exists, or is only another legend of the vanished past. Once more, our steamer awaits us in Georgetown Harbor. As we pass through the city, the markets are bright with exotic flowers on every hue. Fragrant with the scent of great mounds of oranges and pineapples offered to sail by shy, black-eyed descendants of the people who watched Sir Walter Raleigh's strange ships drop anchor to change the history of their race. We're homeward down once more from another journey to Ports of Call. We invite you to join us again next weekend this time as we journey to another of the world's fascinating Ports of Call.


I'm Shannon, and today on another Voltron History, we're going to be taking a look at the frequently requested history and origins of Keith, so stay tuned. In the original Beast King Go Line, Akira Kogane was a short-tempered young man and leader of the Go Line team, piloting the Black Lion and wearing a red uniform. A strategic thinker, he was usually seen reading or fighting with team members who disagree with him. He is the frequent enemy of Sincline due to the fact that Fala is attracted to him. Kogane is a Japanese word for gold. In Voltron Defender of the Universe, Keith was the leader of the scout team sent to Planet Eris by Galaxy Alliance. His team's ship was shot down and they were captured by the forces of Planet Doom. After escaping imprisonment as slaves of King Zarkon, the five space explorers would make their way back to Eris where they would meet Princess Elura and Koran in the Castle of Lions. The team was organized into the Voltron Force, with Keith leading the team and temporarily piloting the Green Lion until the key to the Black Lion could be found. Keith developed a personal rivalry with Lotor, whom he first met face-to-face in a duel a few miles from the castle. In Voltron the third dimension, which is set five years after the original Voltron series, Prince Lotor was defeated by the Voltron Force. In the final battle, an explosion destroyed Lotor's battleship. Lotor's body was heavily damaged in the wreckage. Alliance doctors healed and repaired Lotor using bionic parts. When he was recovered, the Galaxy Alliance's highest court found Lotor guilty of war crimes. He was sentenced to life in maximum security, solitary confinement. The judges said they would reduce his sentence if Lotor would reveal the location of his secret fortress, which he had hidden in his final battle with Voltron. In one episode of third dimension, Keith pulls a gun on Lance in a fight between the two Lion Force pilots over authority in the episode A Rift in the Force. In Nicktoon's Voltron Force, Keith had become a fugitive wanted by the Galaxy Alliance after Voltron's decommissioning. Keith eventually manages to infiltrate Sky Martial Wade's secret base and searches for the Black Lion. He finds and frees Black Lion, contacting Pidge and trying to escape Wade's security, as Pidge and Hunk go to rescue Keith from drifting into space due to the fact that Wade's experiments on the Black Lion had left it almost completely drained of power. Pidge and Hunk manage to save Keith and Black Lion and send them to Eris, accidentally decapitating the roe beast that was attacking the rest of the Voltron Force and destroying it. After investigating a centuries old Erujian distress signal, Keith learns that his great grandfather commanded the ship and was a knight of Eris, proving that his family is originally from Eris, not Earth. After the fight with Lotolider, the merged form of the Lighter and Lotor, Keith stepped down and promoted Daniel to be the Black Lion's pilot. After Daniel showed he could lead the Voltron Force and Keith became King of Eris. During Daniel's first mission, he proved he wasn't ready to lead the Voltron Force. Keith came out of retirement and took back the Black Lion. In Legendary Defender, Keith is hot-headed and temperamental, which makes it hard for many to work with him. In this new series, he was actually more of a loner as opposed to the fearful leader we know him as in the other series. Even though a loner by nature, he's incredibly loyal to his team, especially to Shiro who he views as an older brother. In Legendary Defender, Keith was born on October 23rd to a Galra mother named Brolia and an unnamed human father on Earth. Keith originally piloted the Red Lion which forms the right arm of Voltron, and then piloted the Black Lion which forms the body of Voltron. Before joining the Blade of Memora, a rebel Galra organization which fights alongside the Voltron Paladins. Following his reunion with his mother, Keith matured considerably over his two years in warped space.  Keith was known to have been close with his father, and now having known his mother, he is far more at ease with his heritage, feeling at peace at last. Keith's latent leadership abilities came to surface along his journey. Though he is less decisive and more aggressive as a leader than Shiro, he is quickly calming down into a leader of great skill, as noted by the Black Lion who only allows born leaders to partner with it. Keith's leadership style embodies the more aggressive traits of the Black Lion. In Beast King Go Line, Akira Kogane is a Japanese human and wears a red uniform, while having piloted Green Lion, Blue Lion, and eventually Black Lion. He was voiced by Kazuhiko and Al. In Voltron, Defender of the Universe, Keith is human and wears a red uniform while piloting First Green Lion, and then taking his place as the pilot of the Black Lion. He is voiced by Neil Ross. In Voltron, the third dimension which is widely considered the true sequel to the original series, Keith is once again voiced by Neil Ross, and wears a Black uniform with a Black Lion helmet while piloting Black Lion. In Voltron, Force, Keith is voiced by Giles Patton. In this series, he is part human and part out hand, wearing a Black uniform while piloting Black Lion, and eventually becomes King of Arras as Alura's husband. In Voltron, Legendary Defender, Keith is part human, part Galra, and wears a red uniform while piloting both Red Lion and Black Lion. He is voiced by Steve Yen. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode of Voltron History, and Season 2 as a whole. In Season 1, we dove into the origins and history of the different Voltron series. In Season 2, we took a look at the histories of Pige, Hunk, Lance, Spin, Shiro, Alura, and Keith. In 2019, Season 3 will dive into the history of the villains such as Zarkon, Lothor, Urak, Kossak, and Hagar. So make sure you hit that subscribe button and the notification bell so you can stay up to date on all our videos. Hey guys, if you enjoyed this video, make sure you hit that subscribe button right there, and also go ahead and check out one of these two playlists here that goes along with the video you just watched. I'm Shannon for Come Again TV, the only place on YouTube where all geek culture collides. Take care, my friends.


Everybody forced here ripping 2021 top Star Wars bounty hunter a hobby box here for Matt. Oh, thanks for the order Matt. Hope you're doing well Let's see a sketch Let's get sketchy. That's a bit fortuna blue Those are not numbered in the fortuna Boba Fett Got a green Chewbacca 46 out of 99 on the chewy on solo blue. Yeah, man The Star Wars releases coming up pretty soon here. We've got a red Max Rebo 50 out of 50 There is Max Rebo What's this band called the Max Rebo Band? It might just be Green Django Fets. I think it is the Max Rebo Band He's like a deep voice, right? Cheyenne on the blue. Oh, yeah, personal is now. It's a midnight blue Mandalorian a Zamwessel blue green feared mercenaries a Zuckus blue Zuckus Do you know when it is Kirk? I haven't been told I've even told and Assajj Ventress blue yellow feared mercenaries Cad Bane There's a rally card bounty Han Solo and carbonite numbered 80 of 199 Target of a bubble fence Yeah, it's like a manufactured like patch A Star Wars almanac will be fire L337 blue Green Fennec Shan bounty one Number 12 of 150 and it should be fairly soon Kirk I keep hearing about it, but I don't know if it keeps getting pushed back or whatever But it also it has to be a time where we're not ripping a bunch of releases, you know C21 high singer blue, so we just got to find time to rip it really Purple is on car plucked 68 of 75 That was the guy in force awakens, right? the guy on jacu Oh the portion guy. Yeah Mandalorian purple Bounty one four out of 99 Pretty good box here so far some nice color Me throw a blue not numbered. Yeah, he was the food supply guy Okay, are a sing blue bounty one not numbered Han Solo blue bounty to not numbered See Cad Bane blue bounty one Cad Bane color match on the blue A blue Han Solo that's pretty cool Han and carbonite Sarlacc blue bounty one and a princess Leia Organa auto the animated one is Julie Dolan Not numbered on the Leia auto last pack auto And that'll do it Matt appreciate it again. We'll get these out too shortly


If you weren't in the gym at Crosby-Irenton last night you missed an exciting finish with Evan Edmondson knocking down a three at the buzzer to win it. The Rangers are now 23-2 heading into their regular season finale against Aiken and as our Clayton Castle tells us this team has high hopes at making a run in the playoffs. It's been no secret this basketball season that the 2016-17 edition of the Crosby-Irenton boys basketball team is talented at an astounding 23-2 overall record. The Rangers are going into its final regular season matchup against Aiken with momentum on their side. Head coach David Galovitch credits his stellar group of seniors for this team's success. They provide good leadership and I think they all bring something a little different to the court. Now there are a lot of good players on this team but one thing that this team has that not a lot of other teams have are 2,000 point scorers. Those two 1,000 point scorers are seniors Jack Silgeon and Noah Gendorf. Noah reached the 1,000 point mark as a junior and is closing in on 1,000 rebounds for his high school career. Great system here and ever since you know I started as a 10th grader my role has been really defined. Trey Jacobs and Evan Edmondson are two seniors who have also put invaluable minutes for the Rangers with Evan even hitting the buzzer beater game winner against Esco last night. His prowess behind the arc is undeniable as he is one of the top three point shooters in Minnesota. Evan says each member of the team knowing their role is vital to the success of the team. We all have our roles and we do our jobs pretty well. We have good coaching and they just really pick it up when it comes to playoffs in every game. Going forward coach Galovitch says it's important for this team to get healthy if it wants to make a run in the playoffs. So rest is important because our depth is not what we'd like to have but it is what it is and our guys are well aware of that so we need to get healthy for the playoff stretch. The team's final regular season game comes on Thursday night as the team tries to defend its perfect home record this season. The match up against Aitken tips off at 7.15 from Crosby Clayton Castle Lakeland News. And that game again tomorrow night at Crosby Ironton 7.15 p.m. tip. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.


Welcome to day 11 of CN Live's continuing coverage of Julian Assange's extradition hearing at the Old Bailey in London. This is Joe Laurier reporting for CN Live. Today, we had one witness on the stand for the defense, Professor Michael Koppelman. He is a professor emeritus of neuropsychology at King's College, London. Professor Koppelman and the defense attorney Edward Fitzgerald made an appeal to the media before the testimony began that we exercised judgment in what we were reporting. They were basically, they were speaking on behalf of Julian Assange's family and friends because an enormous amount of medical history of Julian Assange and his current conditions was discussed in great detail during this entire day of testimony by Professor Koppelman. So we are limiting what we say about it to what has already appeared more or less in public. For instance, we have already heard that Julian Assange has had a tendency towards suicide and that he's suffered from depression. So we're limiting to the reporting. To that, in fact, that was the bulk of the medical points that were made, except there was an enormous amount of detail that we've never heard before that we will keep from public in interest of the privacy of Julian Assange, the medical privacy as we all would expect for ourselves. So Professor Koppelman examined Julian Assange several times at Belmarsh Prison and he's made a report that became his sworn testimony. And he had said that Assange is suffering from severe depression with a loss of sleep, appetite, weight loss. And he found a high risk of suicide, especially if extradition appears imminent. Koppelman said he had a history of clinical depression and that the risk of suicide would increase if extradition was about to happen. Of all the efforts that the defense are making to present to Vanessa Barreza, the magistrate a case why Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States, all the issues of the YesPrinage Act of the First Amendment has never happened before. Everything we've heard up until now, whether this is a political case or not, we heard yesterday President Trump directly ordered his arrest. The issue of the medical condition of Julian Assange might be the least controversial for a British court to decide not to send him to the United States. It would evade all these other very, very controversial and sticky issues if it can be demonstrated in an establishing court that Assange indeed is suffering this severe depression and is at high, high risk of suicide if you were to be extradited. But of course, the defense was not going to let Professor Koppelman get away with simply making these statements based on his examination and his long, long history in examining patients in neuropsychology. Of course, our friend James Lewis then had Koppelman on the stand for gross examination. As he's done with virtually every witness, he's tried to undermine his credentials, in this case saying that Koppelman was not a forensic psychiatrist, meaning one who works normally in prisons with prisoners, but that he was a neuropsychiatrist. Lewis had some very strong moments of getting back at, sorry, I'm sure Koppelman got back at Lewis and it turns out they know each other for some time, because Koppelman turned the tables on him when his credentials were being questioned, when he told a story of a few years ago, when he got an urgent call in his office, that his services and expert witness were needed in an extradition case, and the person making that call was James Lewis QC. So the court burst out into laughter, including Judge Vanessa Bereica, the first time I saw a smile on her face, since these proceedings began. She laughed, it was quite a funny inside joke I spoke with lawyers, that here was Lewis trying to undermine the credentials of Koppelman, and Koppelman talked about the time that Lewis called him up and said, you got to come over here because I need your expertise in my extradition case. So they go way back, it seems like, but there's no love lost for them on the stand this day. Lewis basically then went through a line of questioning that Kristen Hefferns and the current editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks told reporters outside Old Bailey during the lunch break, he found it appalling. And what Lewis was trying to do was to prove that Assange is faking it. And there's a term for that, and it's called exaggeration and malingering. And basically he went through, there's one of the strategies that Lewis had today to prove that Assange is faking this, that he has a motive to fake this, because as I said, this could be a reason not to extradite him to the US if he is determined by the court to be not mentally capable of enduring such an extradition, let alone imprisonment in a US maximum security under the special administrative measures, as we've heard discussed previously and also this afternoon with Coppelman. So he was saying, Lewis, that Assange when he first arrived at the prison refused to answer basic psychiatric questions unless he saw a lawyer first. He thought that was highly suspicious and also that he found out that Assange was reading the British Medical Journal.  Studying British Medical Journals to find out more about illnesses that perhaps he could fake. This is the line I'm questioning that he was going through. And it was a bit much, I suppose. However, there were two instances that Lewis brought up that took place some time ago in the prison. And one of them was an instance where in the report, the written testimony of Coppelman, Assange tells Coppelman that he had hidden a razor blade in his cell. And on another occasion, there were two cords that he was hiding in his cell. And both times they were discovered. The inference, of course, is that he may have been trying to use these to actually commit suicide, as Coppelman said he has a high risk of. The prosecutor, Lewis, was able to demonstrate that Coppelman did not really do his full homework here. He was unable to cooperate that with the court. It was only a self-described evidence or self-evidence of Assange. In other words, Assange told Lewis this and Lewis never went to the court to see whether he'd reported it or not. So as lunch ended, one had the feeling that Lewis was backed up on his feet, that he should have and did not cooperate this with the court. So he left open the question of whether this was a legitimate instance of whether Assange was making up. The government is not saying there wasn't a razor blade there, but they thought it could have just been a normal razor blade that are allowed in the prison, a safety razor. So that wasn't a great moment for Coppelman. But then Lewis started another line of questioning in which he compared the notes of other examiners, doctors, psychiatrists within the prison who had examined Assange. What they wrote down and what the testimony of Coppelman is. Now the thing was, and Coppelman made this point over and over again, is that the period that Lewis was looking at, about April of 2019, just as he got to when he was arrested, and the month of May when you first arrived at Belmarsh, until 31 May was the first time that Coppelman actually examined Assange. So the whole period was before Coppelman ever examined Assange. And it was before July 8 when as Coppelman went out, Assange went into solitary confinement in which his conditions, his depression, completely deteriorated. So we would have this thing where Lewis was saying, well, they said he was being friendly and cooperative and he went out and played pool with the other inmates. Is this a man, professor, who's thinking about committing suicide 100 times a day? Is this a man who's severely depressed?  That he's seen cases like that, that there are moments of lucidity, that there are times when someone can be both clinically severely depressed as well as being able to be rational at times. And Lewis tried to prove that he wasn't, that someone who is severely depressed is not functioning. But of course, Coppelman knows this subject here a lot better than Mr. Lewis does. So in great detail, he explained that what it means to not function, that it's very rare to be someone to be so depressed that they cannot move, basically. But there is severe depression when people can be functioning in some respects, but that their memory, their intellectual capacity has been impaired. And this is what he diagnosed as a doctor from Drilling Assange. Now, going back to the question of whether he was faking it or not, there was a really special moment there for the defense when Lewis, who was quite proud of himself and his knowledge in other fields seems like tried to tell Professor Coppelman that Assange never had a test. There are tests, apparently, to see if somebody's faking it. A malingering test. And he tried to say that he never had one of these. And Mr. Coppelman said, yes, he had what was called a T-T-O-M. Of course, am I saying that right? Yeah, Tom, T-T-O-M test. And Lewis said, that's not a test to prove malingering. And Lewis said, the T-O-M stands for test of malingering. The first T stands for the name of the man who created the test. So it was a bad moment for Lewis, because in fact, he did take the test and he later said on redirect, Coppelman did, that Assange had had one of these malingering tests and had passed. So it was administered to him independently. He passed the test showing, at least in this instance, that he was not faking his mental illness, his severe depression. So Lewis had a couple of weak moments there, but so did Coppelman when it was shown that he could corroborate the story about the razor blade and the cords being found in the cell of Julian Assange. He never went to the prison to corroborate that. However, at the end, towards the end of the hearing, the defense attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, told the court that in fact, the defense would produce corroborating evidence. They didn't have it already to show that the story of the razor blade and the cords was true. So that's gonna be quite interesting to see if that evidence is brought forward. That would certainly bolster the argument of Coppelman and the overall argument of the defense that Julian Assange is too ill to be extradited and too at risk of suicide. There was another instance then where Lewis brought up Nils Meltzer. Now we've talked a lot about Nils Meltzer over the months. Nils Meltzer, of course, still the special rapporteur for torture at the United Nations. This is an independent position at the UN and he was brought in to see Julian Assange sometime, I believe, around that era of May of 2019, not long after he was in Belmarsh. He brought with him a physician and a psychiatrist that he made a report Nils Meltzer did in which he said that he was being psychologically tortured. This was based on the psychiatrist's input and he went further and said that four countries, Ecuador, the United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom had ganged up on Julian Assange, basically, and that they were threatening him with, see if I could find this exact quote here, that they are, that they're vexed the ganging up on him. Yes, that there's a campaign that Ecuador, Sweden, the US and the UK are contributing to a campaign of public mobbing, defamation and also powerful political insults, humiliation, open threats and instigation of violence and assassination. Now, Lewis spoke with this with the most condescending sarcastic tones and said, call this palpable nonsense. Now, I think we're gonna post on consortium news a compilation video that someone put together of American officials and some journalists on American TV over the last 10 years calling for the killing of Julian Assange. Let alone what Julian with Hillary Clinton said in a meeting where she said that he should be drowned. And everybody laughed in the room. And when I first read, I thought that was, she was joking too. But if you keep reading, she wasn't laughing and everybody stopped laughing. So I'm not gonna judge on what Hillary Clinton whether she meant it or not, but there have been numerous threats to kill Julian Assange by officials of the United States government.  The issue though that Lewis was trying to bring here to our professor, Koppelman is that he was quoting from the Meltzer report. How he was cherry picking what he needed. How could he quote from a report that had such palpable nonsense in it? And Koppelman tried several times to explain that he didn't comment at all or used any part of the political part of that report in his testimony, but only that what was taken from the psychiatrist who'd seen Julian Assange in the cell that day with Meltzer. But Lewis continually tried to undermine the man's testimony by saying that he was aligning himself with the political position of Nils Meltzer. And the professor kept saying you have to interview, I'm sorry, examine in the court political experts. I'm not a political expert. This is not my expertise. I'm talking about psychiatry. So it was, I get, I think another weak effort on Lewis's part to try to tear down Koppelman's testimony by aligning him with Meltzer's political views, which as I said can be proven are not that off the wall in terms of coming together and sort of mugging Julian Assange several countries ganging up to torture him psychologically. I think we've come to the end of the report today. There was a, well, we can roll that clip. Is it all set up? Well, then that extraordinary. So my producer here, we're going out live. She's got the clip of these American officials saying that they think Julian should be assassinated. So when she sets that up, we will see that, again, this had nothing, no bearing on Koppelman's testimony. He wasn't going there. He's not involved in politics. He is a psychiatrist. He was only taking from Nils's report the psychiatric part of it. But Lewis insisted on linking him to what Lewis and the US government clearly sees as absurdity of Meltzer to accuse US officials of threatening assassinations. Are you ready to roll? Yeah. It's ready to roll. High tech terrorist. Cyber terrorist. Information terrorism.  We're gonna hang you. We use a drone or something for bulletin' the brain. Illegally shoot the son of a b***h. Information warfare is warfare. And Julian Assange is engaged in warfare. Information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed, is terrorism. And Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism. He should be treated as an enemy combatant. WikiLeaks should be closed down permanently and decisively. Should the United States do something to stop Mr. Assange? We're looking at that right now. The Justice Department is taking a look at that. I would argue that it's closer to being a high tech terrorist than the Pentagon Papers. This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community. The head of WikiLeaks is not a particularly credible source in my mind. He's a criminal, and he ought to be hunted down and grabbed and put on trial for what he has done here. I think the man is a high tech terrorist. He's done in his arms. Yeah. He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And if that becomes a problem, he needs to change the law. Well, I think Assange should be assassinated, actually. I think Obama should put out a contract that maybe use a drone or something. You don't want to act panicked and have the president in his hands. You can act tough and say, if we catch you, we're going to hang you, or whatever. We heard some of that from Holder.  He's guilty of sabotage, espionage, crimes against humanity. He should be killed. How is it that the WikiLeaks die remains free? Back in the old days, when men were men in countries where countries, this guy would die of lead poisoning from a bullet in the brain. And nobody would know who put it there. The way to deal with this is pretty simple. We've got special ops forces.  This guy's a traitor, a treasonous, and he has broken every law of the United States. The guy ought to be, and I'm not for the death penalty. So if I'm not for the death penalty, I don't want to do it.  It's time that the Obama administration treats WikiLeaks for what it is, a terrorist organization whose continued operations threatens our security.     So there you have it. That's our report for tonight, day 11 of the extradition hearing during Sange. Many of those were not politicians. They were members of Congress, Secretary of State, and leading commentaries like Rush Limba. People with enormous information. Joe Biden, and I think he's running for some office, I heard. We're going to leave you with that for the day 11. We hope to see you again tomorrow night. And remember, if you can, go to patreon.com. Backslash CN Live. We're asking for people to donate just $5 more, if you can, of course, to help these videos keep coming during the extradition hearing of Julian Sange, which is going to go at least one more week after this, it seems. And of course, we have every weekend a CN Live special report, looking back on the week previously. And we're going to have another good show this week. We've had two weeks in a row, defense witnesses who were testified, who then came on our show, Dan Ellsberg last week, and the private Tim, sorry, the week before. So signing off here is Joe Lawyer for CN Live. Go to patreon.com. Backslash CN Live. And please help us stay on the air. Good night.


This is Jimmy Powers ready to bring you another story from the tumult and the shouting Hello fans. This is Jimmy Powers transcribed bringing you some of the never-to-be-forgotten anecdotes and stories from Grantland Rice's autobiography the tumult and the shouting Today we go to the first tee with one of the most colorful figures in sports golden age or any age Walder Hagen the Hague Sir Walder whatever the appellation Hagen handled it with the debonair charm of a Jimmy Walker another dazzling ornament of the golden 20s Walder Hagen through his golf and his color amassed more than a million dollars and managed to blow about every cent of it Now the inference is not that Hagen is broke far from it It was simply that Hagen like Ruth Tilden Dempsey and so many other top headliners of the dazzling 20s Could burn up his earnings as fast as they flowed in So with a bow to the spirit of granny rice beloved dean of sportswriters I pick up the tumult and the shouting Turn to the chapter of Walder Hagen and in first person tell you the story of the incredible man It was in 1912 while I pouted out my column the sport light that Hagen a young caddy then was pounding the fairways of the country club of Rochester in those days golf was still pretty much restricted to the exclusive social centers around Westchester County in Long Island Blessed with a pair of strong quick hands Hagen was trying to choose between golf and baseball as a career Extraordinarily keen at shagging golf balls on the fly or on the bounce young Walder caught the eye of Andy Christie the club professional Christie promoted the youngster to the pro shop sweeping and cleaning up But before long Hagen's hands were busy wrapping straightening and mending hickory shafts and burnishing iron club heads in 1912 the national open was to be played at nearby Buffalo and Hagen then Christie's assistant asked if he might enter not a chance replied Christie I don't mind giving you three days to go up there and watch and perhaps learn something But I'm not letting any 20 year old kid make a fool of himself in the fast open crowd When Hagen returned from his short sabbatical he told Christie, they're not the players. I had expected Hagen's first open competition was in 1913 at the country club in Brookline, Massachusetts Years later we met an all-time amateur told me about Hagen's entrance There was a crowd of us including McDermott the defender in the locker room when this black haired youngster came in and blithely Announced the name is Hagen. I've come down from Rochester to help you fellows stop Varden and Ray We met did the stopping but Hagen out scrambled and out scored every American pro except McDermott whom he tied for fourth place In 1914 I suggested I cover the open at Midlothian, Chicago the desk was Unenthusiastic although some 350,000 people were playing golf in America at that time Probably less than 5,000 of them were around metropolitan, New York Hagen won that 1914 open without any assistance from me All told Hagen won 11 national and international crowns a record second only to Bobby Jones He won the United States open twice the British open four times and the PGA five times Archie Compton the raw bone, British ear humiliated Hagen in a 72 hole exhibition match a week before the 1928 British open a stint before the Hollywood cameras and the subsequent boat ride had rusted Hagen's game more than he had realized While the British press chartled over Hagen's downfall Walter retired to a secluded seaside course where he went to work in earnest a Week later. He won the open at sandwich Compton finished third three shots behind The British changed slowly if at all but Hagen by his tact Department style and overall color did for the professional golfer what Babe Ruth did for the professional ball player After winning a tournament Hagen was often invited into the clubhouse where he was the picture of debonair charm The Hagen polish and unaffected ease was as real as it was apparent But he was not the pushy type and never sought an invitation With the then Prince of Wales tagging walrus footsteps somehow he didn't have to During the Florida boom in 1926 Hagen defeated Bob Jones in a 72 hole challenge match 36 holes at Sarasota and 36 at St. Petersburg Bob's nerves were badly shaken by watching Hagen's ball disappear into the Paul Meadows Only to hear a crash and see the ball come whistling out and land stiff to the pin on One short hole Hagen was 20 feet from the cup and Jones also strong was nearly 60 feet beyond the pin Jones hold his long putt for a two Hagen turned to the gallery. What do you think of that? He smiled? Bob gets a half after all then Hagen sank his put Hagen was the first golfer to make a million dollars in the first to blow it I was riding in a high-priced car with him in Los Angeles. He had a leverage chauffeur You see this car. He asked you see my driver. What about it? I replied just this I haven't got a dime not even a dime, but I'll still get by Had a golf club been the vogue when Hagen was at his peak. I doubt that he would have worn one He never had a callus a testimony to the basic correctness of his grip He was also old-fashioned about shoes until the advent of knickers forced him into oxfords Hagen preferred high laced shoes for the support. They gave his ankles. I Followed Walter and perhaps his bitterest match and certainly one of his greatest It was at Pelham, New York in the final round of the PGA championship in 1923 In a match play final with Gene Sarazan the defending champion Gene was then 21 years old and at the top of his game. He had just beaten Hagen in a challenge match This particular match was dog eat dog all the way in one spot Sarazan asked for a ruling from the referee Why don't you read the rules or can't you snarled Hagen? Sarazan missed the putt and lost the hole I'm glad I missed that said Gene.  He looked at Gene expecting him to concede it Holit said Gene. I'm giving you nothing but the works today Well, that's the way it went they finished the 36 holes all square They have the 37th with two birdies at the 38th Hagen hit one of his greatest tee shots a 290 yard hook that stopped whole high 20 yards from the cup with a shallow sand trap intervening Sarazan hit a wild hook and his ball crashed into a tree at the out-of-bounds mark The ball was finally located in a wheat field in bounds, but in wheat up to Gene's neck I Was standing next to Hagen when Sarazan played the almost impossible shot from the wheat the ball rocketed out and finally stopped 18 inches from the cup I looked at Walder He looked like a man who had just been bludgeoned He then popped his short approach into the trap at his feet and Sarazan won But this I'll say for Hagen he had won five PGA matches going into that final in the 1923 PGA He then proceeded to win in 1924 1925 1926 and 1927 he went to the final round in 1928 that means that Hagen won 34 of 36 matches from the greatest golfers in the world 29 of those matches in succession Hagen was the match play king and that goes for all time He had no equal when it was man to man before world war two during the open at Canterbury Cleveland I gathered such golfers as Ben Hogan Sam Snead Byron Nelson Jimmy de Merritt and others for a dinner I wanted Hagen matter of fact. He was the star attraction I asked Freddie Cochran the energetic manager of the PGA circuit swing to pick Walder up at a nearby club The anecdote is Freddy's I arrived and spotted Hagen in the bar relates Cochran Walder was wearing a handsome white shark skin suit silk shirt purple tie and the inevitable carnation in his buttonhole He was immaculate as we were leaving Hagen decided he had to have one for the road While we waited for our drink some old grad spotted Walder and commenced to make a fuss over him He had a tall rum drink with fruit in it in his enthusiasm He jostled Walder spilling the drink and the fruit salad all over him Hagen never batted an eye instead. He called to the bartender see here. This fellow needs a drink mix him another will you The same Fred Cochran also tells what is probably the most revealing anecdote about Hagen It was in 1936 Cochran's first year with the professionals as tournament manager The tournament was the Los Angeles open and Freddie was half crazy trying to iron out all the last-minute details He was walking down the first fairway when Hagen joined him Walter knew that Cochran was worried Freddie he said relax. Don't worry. Don't hurry.  Be sure to smell the flowers That's the Hagen philosophy and I'll give him credit He's lived it now for more than 60 years and when he gets around to putting down his life in words in a book He's going to give a lot of readers a bushel of philosophical chuckles Walder Hagen a great competitor a colorful golfer a great fellow and my friend and Now this is Jimmy powers transcribed and reminding you that next time from the Grantland rice story I'll tell you how granny rates his all-time pitchers until then hasta la vista


The Daily Beast has the scoop on a new story pertaining to Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert's ongoing beef, and this one might be the funniest one yet, because it truly demonstrates how hilariously immature these individuals are, so they reportedly nearly got into a screaming match in the bathroom on the first day of Congress. The Daily Beast explains, on the first day of Congress this year, January 3rd, the mounting tension between Green and Boebert reached its boiling point. According to multiple sources, the two women were nearly in a screaming match in the speaker's lobby's ladies' room, just off the house floor. Green questioned Boebert's loyalty to McCarthy, and after a few words were exchanged, Boebert stormed out a source familiar with the fight told the Daily Beast. According to another source familiar, while in the bathroom, Green asked Boebert, you were okay taking millions of dollars from McCarthy, but you refused to vote for him for speaker, Lauren. The first source said Green was in a stall, and upon coming out confronted Boebert about taking money from McCarthy for her reelection, and then turning against McCarthy when it came time to vote. The Colorado Republican was allegedly unaware that Green was also in the bathroom at the time. That's when Lauren said, don't be ugly, the first source said, before she, in the words of the source, ran out like a little schoolgirl. So these are the type of individuals who are making it to Congress. People with the high school mentality who still resort to high school tactics where they talk smack in the bathroom. It's just, it's so embarrassing. Nevertheless, incredibly predictable and exactly what I'd expect from these two individuals who are typically pretty unhinged. Now, there was somebody who was, I believe, in the bathroom there to witness this all Democrat Debbie Dingle, although she's not dishing on the details because she says, quote, what happens in the ladies room stays in the ladies room. Okay, fair enough. Now look, let's let's circle back to reality here. Okay, because these types of stories are fun. But these stories, I think, prove an important point. And that is that these individuals who are this unhinged and immature, they hold an immense amount of power. And what they do greatly affects your life. Marjorie Taylor Green was assigned to the Homeland Security Committee. So she'll be overseeing policy regarding foreign policy and national security, despite the fact that she's not just unhinged, but she's personally invested in the defense industry. So it's fun to laugh at these types of stories with salacious headlines. But I want to remind you every single time we talk about these types of stories that these individuals have real power that can greatly affect you usually for the negative. Now the way that these individuals can do the most harm within this session at least is using the entire US economy as leverage to get what they want. And it seems as if the entire GOP caucus has collectively agreed that Social Security is their number one target. But don't take it from me. Take it straight from the horse's mouth. How do y'all plan on cutting Social Security this week? Sir? How do you guys plan on cutting Social Security this Congress? We're not gonna cut Social Security. You're not at all? What reason to age for retirement? You know, that's interesting that you asked that question. People come up to me, they ask if they want to work on it. Mm-hmm. So that's on the table you're saying? Well, you know, if people want to work on it, maybe you need to give them an incentive to do it. Okay. That was Republican lawmaker Rick Allen from Georgia, and he kind of just said the quiet part loud. And I did a full breakdown on what he said and why it's harmful yesterday. So check that out, I'll link to it down below. But he's not the first Republican to broadcast their intent to cut Social Security. Now, oftentimes they don't explicitly say we're going to cut Social Security, but they'll use coded language to suggest that that's what they want to do. We'll reform entitlements or raise the retirement age when in actuality, that just means they want to cut Social Security. Now, even Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican Party and Speaker of the House, said the same thing essentially. And what makes it worse is what he is implicitly saying he's willing to do to get what he wants. Truth out reports last fall, then House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that the debt limit legislation was a time for lawmakers to eliminate some waste. He was likely referring to the GOP's plan to cut Social Security and Medicare, two of the US's most effective anti poverty programs, which Republicans have been attacking for months. So within the context of talking about the debt limit, knowing that you have to raise the debt ceiling in order to stop the United States government from defaulting on its debt, which would be catastrophic, he is going to use that opportunity as leverage in order to push through something that would harm the American people, as he calls it, eliminating the waste.  That's not the government's money. That's your money. And these Republicans are broadcasting that not only do they want to take your money away from you, but they want to hold the entire US economy hostage in order to do that. And if you think about it, Kevin McCarthy strategically has an incentive to use the debt ceiling as his moment to push this through, because this is a divided Congress. So if they just passed a clean bill saying we want to raise the retirement age from 67 to 70, well, that's not going to pass the Senate and Biden could certainly veto it. But what he can do is play a game of chicken with the Democratic Party and say, listen, we want this, which is going to be seemingly a cut to Social Security. And if you don't give it to us, we are willing to not raise the debt ceiling and have the entire economy collapse as a result. So the question is, who's going to budge first? Now, the White House is already saying that they're not going to play this game. And they warned that this is not going to be something that they accept. But when we're talking about what will inevitably be a dangerous game of chicken, ask yourself this question, which party is crazy enough to actually let the US default on its debt, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, the party where they're literally yelling at each other, nearly yelling at each other in bathrooms. The Republican Party is absolutely willing to do this. And I don't think people fully understand the ramifications if this actually were to happen. So let me play a clip from Congressman Ro Khanna, who was on Democracy Now, and I think that he eloquently explained why this would be catastrophic for a plethora of reasons. It is important for people watching to understand this is debt that the United States already owes. We're not debating how much should we spend in the future. This is obligations that the United States government has. I believe that in this country, we should pay our debts. And this should not even be a debate. The consequences of not doing that will be spiking interest rates at a time where the economy already is vulnerable. The consequences will mean that some Medicare checks, Social Security checks, food stamp checks will not go out. So if push comes to shove, I believe the administration should act within their own power, such as increasing the interest rate on bonds to be able to raise revenue. There are other avenues, but really the Congress should do its simple task of paying past debts. But we're not seeing that going in that direction. I mean, isn't that what the conservative Republicans and a number of Democrats actually want is to go after Social Security, to go after Medicare, to privatize. And this will be used as a way to do that. Yes, this is what the Freedom Caucus wants. Of course, the consequence of that is also a massive default of the US economy and higher interest rates, probably a severe recession, and jolting the global economy. But they don't care. They don't they don't care about breaking the institutions, breaking the economy. You know, this was just a debate about Social Security spending. I'm for increasing the spending for John Larson's act that would actually increase benefits and not tax some of the benefits of Social Security for working class families. We can have a debate and they can say why they want to cut spending. But what they're doing is saying they want to hijack the entire US economy, subjected to collapse in order to get their goals.  And frankly, Kevin McCarthy is going to be in a very difficult position because they may threaten his speakership if he does what's right for the country. Yeah, so it's going to get ugly. And there were other Republicans on Fox News saying, look, the full faith and credit of the United States is on the line. So, of course, Democrats, they're going to give us what we want. Because again, this is the only way they can get something passed in this session. But the one thing sickeningly so that we have working in our favor is US corruption. Corruption runs rampant in the US Congress. I'd say that 98 percent of lawmakers are corrupt and exclusively beholden to their donors as opposed to their constituents. Now, the reason why, in this instance, it may benefit us and avoid catastrophe is that the donors of the Republican Party would not want to see the United States government default on its debt because that would be catastrophic to them. So that's the one thing that is kind of working in our favor. If the Republican Party is going to listen to anyone, we know it's going to be their donors.  Yes. So this is going to be something that I want everyone to pay attention to. The debt ceiling showdown is going to be the most consequential moment of Congress when it inevitably comes up and people need to pay attention to it. So understand that all of these stories that we cover where we're talking about the dumb things that Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz says, these are all pointing you towards their character and what they're willing to do and their temperaments. And as you can see, individuals like Matt Gaetz, they would be willing to go to the mat to get their agenda accomplished, even if that means throwing their own constituents under the bus. I mean, they've done it multiple times. Matt Gaetz voted against capping the cost of insulin. So they're psychopaths. And that's what I really want to reiterate when we talk about these videos and stress when we talk about the dumb things and the more, I guess, entertaining headlines about Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who are arguing in the bathroom. These are the people who control what happens within the next couple of years. And you have to pay attention to it because it affects you greatly. And if you don't, you do so you do so at your own peril. So let's all make sure that we are savvy consumers of media and we acknowledge that these folks.  And that's what I want to leave you with.