So I'm delighted to be and honored to be doing this lecture in the institute in the name of my old friend. I think I'm going to start by maybe putting you off a little bit because I have to say, if I'm to be honest, that close investigation reveals irrefutable evidence that there was one very successful surgical strike. It completely took out the spine of the Indian media while leaving the spleen and other organs intact. It didn't have to take out the brain because that had been lobotomized a long time ago. And that was done by the corporate owners and this was done by governments. This was done by governments, but it was a very, very good surgical strike. Any vestige of spine vanished in the last 30-40 days. Many years ago, Professor Prabhat Patnaik made a very lovely presentation in the ACJ called The Media and the Market, in which he concluded that something has shifted, this was 15 years ago, shifted in the moral universe of the media. What Prabhat said was that the moral universe of the media has shifted and linked it to issues of philosophy, of market, of ideology. Today that moral universe is a different galaxy. And how much that shift has taken place, you can see in a number of ways. One, I mean we will look at various benchmarks tonight, depending on how much time we have to go through. But just one very recent one, say three months, four months ago, you had the chief economic advisor of this country, the chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanya. And Mr. Vivek Professor, Vivek Debroy, chief advisor to the Rajasthan government and God knows who else, in what purported to be a debate with Thomas Piketty on television. Any of you have caught that debate? Yes. In which Piketty said that inequality in India is desperately gaining ground and that you want to worry about it. And the anchor threw in her two pens and said, Raghuram Rajan, will you have to cite a certified authority to be able to justify your question. Raghuram Rajan has said that people should not be flaunting their wealth, especially those who are in serious debt with public money. Both Debroy and Arvind Subramanya pooped the whole issue. They didn't think that inequality was something important. And Debroy said that if people make pots of money and they flaunt it, it's no business of ours. And the chief economic advisor to the government of India said, I'm with Vivek on this one. He's probably with Vivek on everything, but I'm with Vivek on this one. Someone's flaunting their wealth, this inequality thing, it's not important. It's not our business. Just even in the early years of the reforms, I promise you, even in the early years of the economic reforms, I'm saying early 90s, had the chief economic advisor to the government of India said that flaunting of wealth was not an issue at all and that inequality was, you know, Piketty was making too bigger thing of inequality, I promise you, that person would have been looking for a job the next morning. It's how much your universe has shifted. There is no way, no way that an economic advisor, chief economic advisor in the 80s or early 90s, would have justified flaunting of wealth and inequality. But here's another thing. Most of us from the middle classes accepted it. It did not raise a big furor at all. Nobody wrote a single editorial. Nobody wrote anything, even on the opinion pages, saying that the chief economic advisor of the government of India believes inequality isn't such a great issue, believes that flaunting of wealth is okay. That's how much our universe has shifted. The media has shifted with that. The particular reference which the anchor was using was, of course, Raghuram Rajan's veiled comment was probably directed at Vijay Malia. Now I have great pleasure in telling you that on July 7, 2013, oh yeah, please, that Vijay Malia was lionized and valorized in the media for 15 years. Don't forget that. Nobody ever made an issue of the fact that he bought a Rajasabha seat. Nobody ever wrote an editorial on it at the time that this man purchased a seat in the Rajasabha. That's how he became an editor. The Kingfisher calendar, the advertising, these things were important to the media. In 2013, the problems had begun, but one particular story of which I'm very proud to say I was the author created a, pushed it to the next stage of the situation. We had a story on the front page of the Hindu, I did it, on Malia looting the bank of Maharashtra. Now the bank of Maharashtra is the lead bank of western Maharashtra. It is a bank of small peasants, workers, masdus, your retired government pensioners, teachers, retired employees. It's a small bank of small people. And he had already looted some 150 crores, which by the way was retweeted after the story. But the important thing is that after that, he never got a single paisa from any bank, public sector or private after that story appeared. The response of the bank of Maharashtra was to go after the whistleblower, who is a major union leader in the bank. He was the whistleblower. And it was very difficult for them to get him. So before they got him, they punished seven innocent people who had nothing to do with it. And finally got him by opening up a case filed by the Patipavan Sangatna in 1980s for an anti Gandhi poem that had appeared in the bank employees union in 1994. And it went all the way to the supreme court on obscenity charges. The poem is by a famous Marathi poet and appears in at least four anthologies of Marathi poetry. So nobody wrote anything about this or about the fact of the victimization of these employees, nothing. Except of course those who did the story. Indeed there were tweets from some of the editors of your pink papers defending Malia and saying Sainath doesn't understand restructuring of loads. Now they're very quiet. And of course after he falls, then everyone rushes to dismember the corpse. But that's how it has been. The biggest and most important shift in that moral universe is driven by the material universe of corporate ownership. That's something we will keep coming back to in the next hour. So you have that. You can also look at how the media have functioned. And for me the ownership part is very critical. Who we are, what do we cover? Who owns us? What are their interests? Is the media some kind of independent neutral entity or who are they anyway? We'll come to that. But you can look at coverage of say in the last two years of very major events which are actually processes covered as events. You can look at say the coverage of JNU and the fallout of what happened there, how it was covered, where a couple of channels went after the university's progressive elements, created this national hysteria on anti-national and lack of patriotism and everything else. You can look at it in the completely, completely inane and vapid way in which they have covered and continue to cover the murder of the three rationalists, Dabholkar, Pansareh and Kalburgi, two of whom were known to me. Well, I didn't know Kalburgi, but of course Pansareh was very well known to me and Dabholkar as well. Where were those great investigations that you should have seen? Where was that serious digging? And that will bring me to another point about who runs not only the media, but the country. Or you can look at the fact that how we have covered the fastest growing inequality in the world which is happening in your country, greater than anywhere else in the world. India is not the most unequal country in the world. There are countries where inequality is greater including, say, South Africa. There are countries where inequality is greater than India. But there is no country in which between 2000 and 2015 where it has grown faster, no major country where it has grown faster than it has in India. I'll give you the numbers on it and then we'll come back to this. Some of you have seen Oxfam's analysis of credit suicide data. Have you? Yeah? What does that tell you? It tells you that ten years ago, 388 billionaires owned wealth equal to or more than half the population of the world. That's what the analysis by Oxfam of credit suicide data and Oxfam's independent analysis of human development reports and everything else told you that now 388 became less than 105 years ago. As of 2015, the number of billionaires in the world whose wealth is equal to that of half the world's population of 3.5 billion is 62. 62. So 62, now I want to know does that figure offend you? Actually yours is a lot worse. That's the globe. In India, 15 individuals, one five, own a greater share of total wealth than half the Indian population or 650 million people, 15 individuals. What do the top 100 individuals own in India? They own what? The bottom 69% of the Indian population owed. How are these numbers derived? Credits we say, and by the way to save you the time, it's a free report. The analysis is done by a young economist working in Gurgaon. Her name is Srujana Bodhipatti. And what she's done is something, I used to do this every year in terms of comparing Forbes billionaires list. That's my favorite magazine by the way. And favorite website, it's bookmark. It's the only thing I've bookmarked. And the Forbes billionaires.com shows you 93 Indian billionaires. So the wealth you have is estimated from Forbes 100 richest Indians and its billionaires list. And credit, the credit we say doesn't go there. It gives you share, it looks at, it uses your national sample survey data which gives you decile-wise wealth, holding of wealth. So the top 100 individuals own more wealth which is about, those 100 individuals own about 10.56% of total wealth. And the bottom 69% own about so much. So what the data is not just about how rich the rich are, but how poor the rest are. It's also about that. How little they have. One individual owns wealth, no prizes for guessing who, owns more wealth, owns more wealth than the bottom 20% of the population. If you want the exact figure, he owns 0.55% and the bottom 20% owns 0.52%. That's their share. So one individual owns wealth roughly equal to all your Dalits and Adivasis put together. I mean that would be 24% of the population. So this is the kind of inequity. In 1991, you did not have a single dollar billionaire. Now you have 93, you have 93 which is, makes you the fourth, makes you fourth in the rankings of the world in terms of dollar billionaires. Yeah. Now where does media come into this? All this inequality reflects massively in the media as well. It reflects in the ownership of media, it reflects in the content of media. It reflects in the last 25 years in the changed beats that reporters are made to cover. It reflects in the social and class background of journalists. When Appan Menon, Sujit Dutta and I entered the United News of India and Ritambara Shastri and I entered the UNI in 1980 Appan and Sujit entered before me and Ritambara. We were the first MAs, MFILs to be in Indian journalism. Three years later PTI was advertising no one, those with anything less than an MA need not apply. Most were high school graduates that did a couple of years of college. The chief editor was a BCOM and the chief news editor had a bachelor's in arts. So the education of qualification going up as you know in India also means that the class composition is changing. My first day in journalism I was witness to a very prophetic brawl between two veteran journalists fueled by very high spirits but guess what happened in that brawl? It's prophetic. The business correspondent beat the living daylights out of the Labour reporters who promptly went extinct thereafter never to be heard of again. So there have been major changes in the media also composition wise, structurally all these changes have occurred in the media. The single richest man who owns more wealth than the bottom 20% of your population Mukesh Bhai is also the biggest owner of media in your country. He's also the biggest owner of media in your country. He owns more channels than he knows. He can't name all these channels. I probably might because 19 all those channels you see called ETV they are no longer ETV they are not Inadu TV. Inadu TV had some 24 channels the largest regional geographical spread. Ramoji Rao sold more than sold about 19 of them in my opinion to a front organization that had been set up to purchase that. So they are now the property of networking as far as I understand it's a very contorted thing but all those channels are now the property they are in the bouquet of networking which owns millions of other things and some of the more famous journalists of the country is when it owns them too. So you have a national election and you have a national election and you have a Delhi election where a channel could take a decision that it would not mention the name of the Ahmadi Party and it would not call any of them for any of the panel discussions. Never mind that that party went on to win 67 out of 76. That only shows you how arbitrary that decision making process of the media is. They could actually in one particular day when I was going there for a panel discussion I learned that somebody some anchor who must have really been pulled up later by accident had called one of the Ahmadi people who was turned away at the gate. Now this is not a question of whether you like Ahmadi Party or not. It's outrageous journalistically. It's completely outrageous. And there is not a semblance of shame when you are humiliated and that political entity takes 67 out of 76. What is it that you covered? What did your panel discussions do? What were they about? What was the subject? What were they all about? Now the same person as I said owns that channel. Mukesh Bhai owns that. He owns a lot of journalists and editors. Even some who are not working for him. And he also owns what I will certify as the single, the most, the costliest residence in the world and without a doubt the ugliest. So, but again, I'm taking this because we're talking about the single biggest entity in media. Now, I wake up like all you guys did about a month ago and I see for the first time in the history of the Indian Republic I see a prime minister peddling products on the front page of the newspaper. Now, who owns that product that's been peddled? Mukesh Bhai. Mukesh Bhai owns the product that's been peddled. So, well, the earlier product he peddled was Mr. Narendra Modi. So I think it's only fair that Mr. Modi, you know, that there's some payback in all this. Okay, so by the way, it's a violation of the National Emblems Act. It is a violation. It hurts law. But even the newspapers that didn't get the ad and therefore didn't cover it wrote nothing about it. They wrote nothing about it. It is a violation of law. There was the prime minister with, you know, we were fulfilling his digital vision and cyber vision with GEO. So that day, I mean, from that day I have been using a different national salutation, GEO HINT. Now, as from the 80s, the structure of media started changing in ownership, in content, in beats. Who were we, by the way? Where did we come from? The modern Indian media. You came out of the freedom struggle. And, you know, I'm sorry for those of you who were born after the 80s, but there was something to be proud of in Indian journalism. There still is.  They delegitimize when they start. I'm not talking about myself. I have someone very specific in mind and I'll come to that. Oh, but let's go back to the owner of GEO HINT. The current editor of the Economic and Political Weekly, Paranjoy Guha Takurtha, produced a book which I say without hesitation is the best piece of investigative journalism on the Indian corporate world that I have seen in 15 years. Absolutely the best book. I strongly recommend that every one of you buy it and read it. It's called Gas Wars. The book is in process, one publisher after the other pulls out. So, Paranjoy self-publishes the book. That's, by the way, that's why publications like, that's why publishing houses like Leftward Matter. Paranjoy ultimately self-publishes the book. I believe he sold 20,000 copies which is remarkable for a self-published effort, even for a house-published effort. It's a remarkable thing. And it's out in three languages. It's selling in all. Nobody wanted to touch it and he got a notice for 100 crores. This, by the way, is the urban intimidation tactic. I'll come to the rule later. He gets a, now nobody knows, nobody believes that you're going to go to the court and make him pay 100 crores of which he doesn't have 1% or 0.1%. What is the meaning of that? The meaning of the notice to Paranjoy is a signal to every other journalist. Don't you dare. Just as the FIR filed against Neha Dixit for the trafficking story in Outlook is not so much just about putting Neha Dixit behind bars.  When I broke the paid news story and people were speaking about it, I believe when Arun Shauri got a notice from that wonderful newspaper group, Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd. And each see the, again, so one is that this is one track of intimidation. There are others, but the power of corporations to sue you and break you. Now once you're under that kind of a threat, your hands are tied. Publications don't want to use what you're doing because you've become controversial. And so you get stuck worse and worse and worse in that thing. You become a kind of outcast within the media after a while because people are scared. I do this and then Mukesh Bhai's lawyer sends us 100 crore. Notice what I do. It's not meant to get 100 crores from you.  There is no doubt that you, your next story, you're going to think about this. You can't write without thinking about that legal notice. It is going to have an impact. But there have been very brave individuals who have had their FIRs, their notices, everything else. And this happened in the paid news scandal also which I will come to again in a minute. So let's look at how, what we covered changed and then I'll tell you about the numbers and what we covered. In the 19, in 1918, when I walked into the United News of India, every journal, every newspaper had a labor correspondent. Every single newspaper had a labor correspondent. I knew many of them. And from 1980s onwards, especially after that prophetic brawl that I witnessed, which took place in the UNI was far more famous for its coffee and its canteen than for anything else. And in fact, when Vithambra and I used to say we worked for UNI, they would say, ah, that canteen. I think we, I hope, I'd like to believe we made some difference there. So that fight took place there. Today, look at your, who your correspondents are, what you cover. There is no such thing as a labor correspondent. Labor is covered in the major newspapers. It's covered by a business correspondent who handles what is called the industrial relations beat. The business correspondent, who mostly functions as a spokesperson for business, is then going to give you the labor version also, which he gets from the PRO of the corporation. Because most of your business correspondents have never spoken to a labor leader in their lives. They wouldn't know who the major trade union people in that city are. Because they're not required to talk to them. They're not required. That beat went. The agriculture correspondent vanished. Something like the Yeti. Sightings are reported, but no hard evidence. And well, there are a lot of people called agriculture correspondents. A lot of people called agriculture. They cover the agriculture ministry in Delhi, and they're called agriculture correspondents. Either in the states or in the capital, they cover the ministry. They don't cover the mandi. They don't cover the fields. They don't cover the farmer. They don't cover the farm laborer. They just, and of course they cover the seed companies, which is quite easy since it's all based on reproducing their press releases. And that's what happened to the agriculture. Now, no newspaper or channel today appoints a full-time agriculture correspondent or a full-time labor correspondent. But even a general newspaper can have 14 people covering business. Various aspects of it. I used to know a guy in Mumbai who, when I was creating on my freelancer's existence, his only job was to cover futures. Now, it must have been the most, I actually started out being very sympathetic because it must be the most miserably boring existence that you can conceive of. But when I realized that he was earning eight times what I did, I was a little more cautious in my commissuration. So that was the business correspondent. Look, when we say we will not have labor correspondent and we will not have agriculture correspondent, we are saying that 75% of the population are not worth talking to. They don't make news. That is the statement you're making. You're making that statement structurally by removing those beats when Kisan and Mazdoor do not make news. Actually, they do. Once in five years they do. And that's why you get such bad election reporting because people go back to talk to people they've never seen. They're slumming for that 90 days of the campaign. So it's not their fault either. It's not that reporters fault either. He or she has not met such people and not been required to meet them on a steady, structured basis. So you're saying 75% of the population do not make news. Just take employment correspondent. Take the labor correspondent. The average over the last ten years of job seekers registered at employment exchanges in India, you know how much that is? 44 million. To give you a sense, 44 million is a numbing figure. Let me visualize 44 million for you. 44 million. If you put the 44 million jobless or job seekers in a single queue, it would be three and a half, almost four times your coastline. Let's say two grown guys like me, two to a meter. You can't fit more than two of me into a meter. Two to a meter is 2,000 to a kilometer. So you do the math. 44 million by 2,000. It's 3.8 something times greater than your coastline which is 6,082 kilometers for the mainland coastline. If you include India's coastline, Peninsular India's coastline is 6,082 kilometers or 6,087. If you include all the islands and everything else, then it crosses 7,000. We're not interested in that. Even then it would be three times. But that's the figure. We don't think this is important to cover. We don't think it's important to have a full-time correspondent. A country with one of the biggest homeless and housing problems in the world doesn't have a correspondent on that. We don't have correspondent. What we do have correspondence for is glamour, fashion. My favorite, which I've always tried to get, is the eating out correspondent. I haven't succeeded. But you don't have, in a country with the largest number of absolute poor, you have no correspondent looking at poverty full-time. You have the most horrendous attempts to minimalize, trivialize the agrarian crisis by people who've never stepped onto a farm, never stepped onto an agricultural household, never been in one. Just know this. The average farm household in India, which is 4.9 people, rounded off at 5, average farm household in India, its income from all sources, all sources. This is an NSS figure. Income from all sources means from agriculture and from non-agricultural work as well. The average income of the Indian farm household is 6426 rupees, less than 1,300 rupees per person. You don't have a person to cover this. A few good journalists write about it when the NSS round is out, when the NSS situational assessment of farmers is out, then people write about it. So what then do we cover? What is it that we do cover? Let me give you some of the numbers. I also tell you about the process worldwide. You know the big story of 2010-11, 2010-11 was the gigantic DP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Just about destroyed the Gulf of Mexico, destroyed half the marine life, everything else. The US Coast Guard then held hearings and there was record attendance of reporters, journalists, everything. David Barstow of the New York Times attended these meetings and wrote a very good piece which appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review as well. He was completely taken aback, I would have told him not to be, but he was completely taken aback that the people with notepads, scribbling and taking most copious notes in the hearings were not reporters, but PR people, public relations officers. They had come to learn from the master because tomorrow they were going to be facing similar issues, right? They needed to know. So they were there not to ask questions, but to get answers which they could use. The public relations people in the audience, in the note takers, vastly outnumbered the journalists and reporters. By the way, he is absolutely correct. It's not just true of that hearing. In the US for over 20 years, journalism jobs, I mean, public relations jobs have been growing at almost a three to one ratio. PR jobs are growing almost two to three times faster than journalism jobs and journalism jobs being shrinking has made the gap wider, but it was two to one, even 20 years ago that public relations, the same is true worldwide. Public relations jobs are growing much faster in India than journalism jobs. And I'm not counting all those journalists who function as PR guys anyway. We're talking about the formal delineation between journalists and public relations people. So that's what happened with... that's what happened with PR jobs growing much faster. In 2014, Time Incorporated, publishers of sports, sports illustrated of Time Magazine and all these huge stable, laid off hundreds of employees, 250 at a single stroke, and then a memo of theirs was published by Gawker, an offbeat publication which, by the way, has gone into bankruptcy. And the memo was fascinating. It summed up brilliantly the idea of being politically free and imprisoned by profit. The memo actually produced a table with it. I mean, sorry, the story produced a table which they had got out of the memo. Journalists were ranked, not on how good they were as reporters or what kind of stories they broke, they were ranked amongst other qualifications. Product is beneficial to advertising relationship. Product is beneficial to advertiser relationship. And many journalists, according to the newspaper, were laid off on the basis that they were not beneficial to advertising relationship. I have the table with me. We don't have the opportunity to cast that thing for you, but you can look it up. It's available online. My favorite part of the table, they had all these qualifications, right? Prolific writing, I mean, output, quality of writing. They had one column said quality of writing and one said beneficial to advertising relationship. I loved it. That the guy who scored highest on beneficial to advertising scored lowest on quality of writing. And the guy who scored highest on quality of writing was second from the bottom in beneficial to advertising relationship. But here was a giant corporation telling me that this is what we are about. The memo was leaked and of course time said it's out of context. They didn't deny that it was there. They said it was being misinterpreted, et cetera. It's absolutely the same in our media as well. It's absolutely the same. Who owns what? What do they do? Now, come back to Mukesh Bhai. We love him so much. We keep coming back to him. There is a gigantic difference between media monopolies of 25 years ago and media conglomerates of 20. There's a huge difference. 25 years ago, media monopolies were monopolies that existed in the media. Ramana Goenka had a monopoly of a kind. It was an oligopoly, really. But he had a monopoly of a kind. Bennett Coleman and Cole, when I was a young journalist in Mumbai, and nobody uses that kind of irreverence these days because they're intimidated by legal suits and stuff. In the tabloid where I work, the frequent reference to BCCL was not Bennett Coleman and Cole limited. We used to affectionately call it Bandit, Coleman and Cole. But that was another era. They had a monopoly over certain markets in the media, in the newspaper world. None of that is true anymore. Today, your giant media monopolies are small departments of much larger conglomerates involved in hundreds, if not thousands, of activities of a commercial kind. Now, Mukesh Bhai may be the biggest owner of media in India, but is his media holding, does it figure significantly in the size of his corporation? No. Oil and natural gas, fiber, whatever, all those things are gigantic. So please understand that your media is actually incorporated like a PR department, like a bargaining tool that you're able to bargain with governments.


Welcome everybody to another episode, another installment of a week in Geekdom Reviews, your YouTube series where we review all the geeky stuff that you can possibly want on today's episode. This is episode four, by the way, on today's episode we are going to be reviewing. We've got it right here, folks. It's Justice League, Doom on Blu-ray and DVD. We've actually delayed this for quite some time as our YouTube series in and of itself. We were doing some things, our podcast is up and running again, thankfully. You can go check that out at www.weekingeekdom.com and we're back and we decided to review a title close to home and it's kind of funny that we've basically been reviewing, you know, DZ Comics and DC related products and this is no exception. We planned on reviewing different things but they just sort of kind of happened and it's, I don't know, it's out of control, I guess, out of our hands, if you will. But yes, onto the review itself, as you just saw, we've got a little box here and this is actually the latest attempt at another original animated movie from the guys at DC. As of this post, as of this video message, if you will, oh and yes, if you're hearing this music, it's actually the badass credit song from Mass Effect 3. We will be reviewing that really soon. I'll give more details on that as we progress. But yeah, this is the latest attempt at a DC animated universe movie. In June, July, I'm not quite sure right now, of 2012, Superman vs the Elite is supposed to come out on DVD and Blu-ray so but as of now this is the latest version and basically this movie tries to adapt or encapsulate the great Tower of Babel story from the Justice League of America books and it does so in quite a spectacular fashion, if you will. It's not, but let me get it straight, it's not the best DC animated movie out there. Probably my favorite would be Under the Red Hood and Superman and the Superman and Batman movies, those are my personal favorites. I don't know about my guests and co-hosts and such on our podcast. But this movie in particular is worthwhile in my opinion. You get a stellar cast, all the veterans from Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and all the guys from Justice League Unlimited and the old TV series. They're back, some of them are new like Nathan Fillion. He's doing the voice for Green Lantern. He's actually a good voice, but then again most of the Green Lantern picks they've done over the past have been good. I mean, it's not like, oh, he's superior to the rest. They've pretty much stayed along the same route, if you will. And this time around, we get a trimmed down cast for the DC Justice League lineup. Excuse me. We also get the introduction of Cyborg in the Justice League. And this was this came out a couple months after the new 52 craze started. But the actual movie was made well beforehand, you know, the script and everything was done way before September and excuse me, August 2011. That's when the new 52 debuted and let me turn this right off. Yeah, sorry about that, folks. Yeah, it debuted in a couple of a couple of months ago. But yeah, this is the latest version of the Justice League, which kind of reflects what you've been seeing on the new 52, except we still have the Martian Manhunter in there. It was a smart move. It was a nice transition between the old JLA and the new one. I am not a particularly big Justice League fan.  I am now I'm starting to read and I'm really digging it and looking through all the old stories and such. But yeah, I wasn't a big fan. So at least I appreciated the fact that Cyborg was in there and added so much needed diversity to the team. So you go from the token alien to the token Cyborg or Black Man. I don't know how you're going to take that. But but yeah, either way, it was a nice addition because he brings so much style and finesse, if you will, to the team. When it's super hacking abilities that I particularly found off because I'm a huge Teen Titans fan, so we're present right there. But yeah, on to the movie itself. Again, my complaint with every single DC Universe original movie, it is way too short. And I know times are hard and they can't run on too long because they don't got the mula for it. But come on, I mean, it says it right here. It's 77 minutes long that, you know, for a story so epic and grandiose as this, I think it would have benefited for an extra 20 minutes or so. It would have done a whole bunch and added a little bit more texture to the whole thing. But overall, it was a great movie, great cast. The picture quality looks amazing. And it's if I'm not mistaken, it's done by the same animation team as the young Justice series that's airing on Cartoon Network and it's out on DVD. It's one of those great classics. What can I say, you know, I think this this version, if you will, was planned well before. I think it was after the Justice League Unlimited ended and as recent as the All Star Superman movie came out, which were the last efforts of the great underappreciated and the masterful writer known as Dwayne McDuffie. And this, my friends, is sort of like a tribute in my own little humble words because this guy was pure genius and certainly one of my inspirations to pursue a career in writing and eventually voiceover and all the other fields that emerge from that.  And certainly Dwayne is up there as one of the greats and he will forever be one of the greats. Yeah, this is was a this was a story that was planned a little while ago, if you will. And I think Bruce Tim and Party did a great job of bringing this last great effort from Dwayne back to life. And it was a great movie and and certainly something that every DC fan should not miss, you know, as a tribute to the man itself and and the body of work that is DC Comics. You know, it's a great film, nonetheless, regardless of running times or and whatnot and lineup changes. But yeah, onto the movie itself. I thought, you know, there's a particular scene and I don't want to spoil it for everybody, but there's a particular scene because in a nutshell, certain bad guys try and hack the Justice League infrastructure security, what what not? And eventually somebody is able to debunk or decrypt the infamous Batman and steal all his files on countermeasures and on how to take the league down, a member at a time. Of course, if you read the actual comic, the methods to go about this are totally different on some occasions and other members were there. I sincerely missed Aquaman. He's one of my favorites and he was not in the movie. I don't know what happened. They could have easily added him, I think. And yeah, there's a particular scene where eventually the heroes find out, you know, that this was indirectly caused by Batman himself. And what proceeds from that to the final battle was like, like, hey, Mr. it's your fault, but let's go. And they, I don't know, the final battle ensues and I'll leave it to you to watch it if you haven't watched it yet. But it felt a little disjointed, in my opinion, you know, from that scene to the other one, it got way too quickly resolved. And I think such an epic event like that should have been prolonged a little bit more.  But I just felt it was kind of missing something, that little extra dramatic overtone or exaggeration, if you will, that comic book stories are known for, but in a good way. And I just think it would have benefited from a longer running time. That's basically the main jits of my complaint with this movie. You know, the overall is it was pretty good. The villain was changed. It's a different main villain. But nonetheless, it was a great change with all the henchmen and all the league action. The fight scenes are amazing. Kudos for them for animating such great fight scenes. It's the sort of things you really want to hear when you do or see when you do a superhero film like this. But yeah, you know, if you're wondering how does this stack up to all the to like the other Justice League animated ventures that they've done, it's pretty good. It's out there with the rest of them. I highly recommend it if you've seen all the movies that they've released so far, why stop there? You know, it's it's great, you know, to have all of all of these stories with you. And I certainly appreciated the effort. You know, as I said, the voice casting was awesome. The packaging itself is pretty neat. The standard Blu-ray folks. I mean, look at it. It's all shiny. Yeah, it's all shiny. It's got a lot of exclusive exclusive content, as always. Something that I thought was kind of funny was there's a since one of the main issues in this movie is about mistrust and security and whatnot. There's a small little, I guess you would say, like an expose or a documentary, if you will, about the mistrust in society and how we live our lives, filled in a post-9-11 world and all that stuff that you already, that you've heard up to the wazoo about. But I just thought it was funny because if you were hearing it and it's telling you about the early days of mistrust and politics and national security and all that stuff, it sounded like a weird history channel or a discovery channel documentary. And not in the good way.  I don't know if that's the word. It's just a minor complaint. The information was fine, folks. I did not have one bit of problem with it. It just sounded a little bit weird. But yeah, one of the main highlights in this movie and this Blu-ray disc and DVD, of course, is certainly a small but really well-done taste into the life of the legendary Dwayne McDuffie and an interview with cast and friends and all the people that he, all the talented people he worked with and all his accomplishments, his upbringing and the stuff that he really did that just changed a lot of people's minds and lives. It certainly touched me with all the stuff he did and I can certainly appreciate the work that he put into from his early days in comic book writing to animation to everything. You know, the dude was just a friggin' genius and he will be forever missed. Certainly check that out and it's well worth your money. I believe this is like 20 bucks or something. I got this at Amazon for like 16 bucks or something. So you should definitely check it out. Not only are you getting a great movie, you're getting an awesome special feature that I highly recommend in and of itself. He's one of the greats and yeah, I'm just a big fan of him. So Dwayne, rest in peace wherever you are, buddy. And there's also a preview for, let's see, it says, yeah, Superman versus the Elite. That's gonna be coming out soon in summer 2012. It's almost here. So I'm gonna try and get that as soon as possible and do a review. I'm not gonna wait, because this came out in February, I think it was 28 or something. And as of this recording, it's mid-April.  Justice League Doom, a great movie. Certainly go check it out. If you like Justice League, if you like DC, superheroes, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter and Gang. So yeah, Hilarity ensues. It's a great film, great acting, great plot. Cons, it would have been a bit better if longer, but in the end, I highly recommend it. A straight four out of five. The only things I were not liking was, of course, the running time and certain aspects of the plot that didn't quite fit well with me. As I said, like 20 times already, a bit longer would have been fine, but just all minor tweaks that while they work for the crowd that hasn't seen the movie or excuse me, hasn't read the story. If you have read the story, I would have certainly appreciated the original villain. It would have been way cooler in my opinion. And by the way, be careful watching it with the kiddies just in case, cause some of the stuff is pretty intense, if you will. I didn't mind it, but yeah, it's not a movie that I, it's not my first pick for a toddler to see. You know, if he's into superheroes and whatnot, there are other series and other movies that you can show him. But this, it's a little different. Just keep in mind, it's PG-13 for a reason, folks. So yeah, there you go. Four out of five, four Justice League doom. As always, folks, you can comment down below. You can tweet us, poke us, whatever it is you kids do on the social network sites. As always, tweet us at aweekandgeekdom. Look for us, like us on Facebook. That's a week in geekdom. And of course, let me remind you to visit our brand new spanking site called aweekandgeekdom.com an interactive sort of blog where you find all the curious posts and all the editorials that we'd like to publish around and all of our geeky opinions. And of course, our podcast is uploaded there as soon as we record an episode. Actually, episode 19 just aired a few weeks ago. You can go check that out, leave us some feedback. Write to us aweekandgeekdom.com. It's really accessible, folks. You can really reach us if you try, cause trust us. If you find us, we will be there. So yeah, this has been episode four of aweekandgeekdom reviews. Reviewing Justice League Doom and of course a four to five. So I'm gonna close it up and I will see all of you later. Probably by next episode, if one of our co-hosts does not appear reviewing something, it will probably be me with another, I guess, video game or movie or book or something. And I promise geeky friends, I must discuss Mass Effect with everybody, but I am holding out a little bit cause they just announced the extended cut this month. They did this and that and that and I'm just waiting for the whole picture cause I don't wanna be informing while there's still info coming out.  So I'm waiting on them to actually play them. Just replayed the trilogy for a third time, I guess, a couple of days ago. It's certainly one of my favorite video games of all time and I am looking forward to the flame wars of Reviewing Mass Effect. So folks, as always, this has been episode four of a Week in Geekdom Reviews. I've been Diabona Menendez and I will see all of you later.


Have Gun Will Travel is a rare example of a radio series that began on television before it debuted on radio a year later. It's also a rare example of a series for which we have the complete broadcast run, especially considering that it was not recorded on transcription discs, but on tape. Tape at the time was expensive and was typically recorded over many times. Somehow, this series avoided that fate, and the complete CBS master tapes were transferred by collectors in the 1970s. The television series debuted on September 14, 1957, and ran for six seasons, lasting until April 20, 1963. It was an instant hit for CBS, and finished third or fourth in the ratings in each of its first four seasons. It starred Richard Boone as Paladin, a West Point graduate and a Civil War veteran, now a gun for hire, based out of the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco. Paladin was known for his business card that simply said, Have Gun Will Travel, Wire Paladin, San Francisco, and it featured an engraving of a white night chess piece. His true name was never mentioned in the series, though in a novelization of the episode Genesis, it was revealed to be Clay Alexander. Paladin is a successful businessman, well educated, and enjoying a comfortable life when not traveling the Old West for his clients. According to the series creators Sam Rolf and Herb Meadows, the title came from an old vaudeville gag, Have Tucks Will Travel, and it was never intended to be the official title. Rolf said it was just a gag with us, and even when we filmed the pilot reel, we figured Have Gun was just the working title, but the more they said it, the more they liked it, and so they went with it. In the radio version which debuted on November 23, 1958, veteran actor John Daener played the title role. Daener purposefully did not try to copy how Boone portrayed Paladin. He said, I didn't pay any attention to him at all, it was whatever came out of me. I know that it would have been deadly if I were to imitate him or do anything that was even vaguely similar to him. His Paladin was strictly Dick Boone, and I'm not about to imitate, so I just did it the way I felt it. There were other differences between the television and radio series. On radio, British actor Ben Wright played the role of Hayboy and Virginia Gregg played Miss Wong, a character that didn't exist in the television version, though they later added a reoccurring character called Hey Girl. At first the radio series reused scripts from the television series, but after a while, series director Norman MacDonald realized that they weren't working, and original scripts were produced starting with episode 23, The Gunsmith. The final television script used was for episode 39, The Lady. The series lasted for two years, producing 106 episodes. Only the audition version of Strange Vendetta is not available. The final episode from here to Boston aired on November 27, 1960, with Paladin leaving for Boston, possibly for good, to settle his aunt's estate. The actors were not told in advance that this was the final episode. There was no feedback really, Dana recalled, saying, and there would have been no way of our getting feedback really in terms of fan letters and audio response that dwindled away to nothing like a dead leaf in the wind, and that was it. This synopsis was written by Brian Kavanaugh and taken from information found in The Have Gun Will Travel Companion by Martin Graham's Jr. and Les Rayburn. From an October 15, 1958 article in Oregon's The World newspaper by syndicated Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson, and from Wikipedia. For old-time radio researchers, I'm your announcer Patrick Andre. Enjoy the show.


one you get excited, hallelujah Lord Jesus, hallelujah.  He's worthy, He's worthy, He's worthy. For just come this morning Lord God in the precious name of Jesus Lord God. We come this morning Lord God, thank you Lord God.  Ross I know you just coming out of Kobe said but you in good shape you in great shape that he's a healer he's a waymaker he's a promise keeper he's my God my God I'm sure you can see Bishop is not with us this morning but he's out on assignment but he did not leave us without a word a man I own Pastor Bobby Alexander she's gonna bring the word today she's gonna bring a word that's gonna change your life I want you to pray for making preaching easy for her you'll say amen you'll say give God praise stretch your hand and hurt the rest of Pastor Bobby preach the word say pastor Bobby preach the word before she preaches we're gonna bring our own minister Merle and Alexander she's gonna bless us with a song is open up our spirit to receive the word that God has for us receive her in Jesus name and after her the voice that you he will be pastor Bobby Alexander I'm still on that is who you are you are yeah yeah I'm still on it I'm still on it hallelujah that's who you are that is who you are that's who you I just the system and our government is in trouble y'all know that it's in trouble the system has gone crazy just start crazy amen people's eyes are in shambles it's difficult now to trust anybody to trust it's difficult to trust anybody doubting and disbelief and questioning God has become a common problem among Christians today I didn't say the world because the world don't believe him anyway but has become a common Christians anyway we have doubting we disbelief and we question God but like the song said there is none like you hallelujah there's none like your Lord God people have walked away from God because of doubt and they lost faith in God amen they have found in times of trouble and distress the easiest thing to do is doubt God in his word they have no regard for what God has to say about what's going on in their lives they don't want to hear what God has to say that's going on in their lives they also doubt when God are not answering the way prayers the way they want them to be answered when God don't do what they want them to do they begin to doubt God born born again believers find themselves at times questioning the word of God you imagine questioning what God has to say amen but I'm here to tell you today the word of God is true and established in heaven if you have you don't have the word of God you have nothing if you don't have the word of God minister Terry about that song about waymaker he say it's answers to all the word of God is the answer to all our problem all our distresses everything in our lives is the answer to everything in our lives even when we're happy and we're sad it's still an answer to it my subject today is if God said it it shall come to pass if God said it it shall come to pass but a lot of times we don't know what God what God is saying you know why we're not read this word we're not listen to the pastor we're not listen to the leaders but God still said it if he said it guess what it's gonna come to pass amen what do you believe it whether you question God whether you doubt it or whatever it is going to come to pass I'm gonna tell you why it's gonna pass Ezekiel's 24 14 say I the Lord have spoken it and it shall come to pass and I will do it I will not go back neither would I spare neither would I repeat according to that way and according to like doing shall they judge these at the Lord God in this pastor pastors of scripture God you know I'm doing something new I've never used my ipad preach with but I bought my notes in cases technology don't work in this passage God is telling Jerusalem I have given you all the warnings I'm going to give you I've been patient with you I want you over and over and over and you've done what you still have done with evil in my sight you have disregarded and forsaken my word and Matthew is 23 17 Jesus the minute over Jerusalem he was sorry over what Jerusalem had done he said old Jerusalem old Jerusalem now they killed the prophets and stolen them which was sent on to thee how often would I have gathered my chickens together even as a hand gather her chickens under her wings and you will not listen you would not listen I'm gonna read it in another version it says I the Lord have spoken judgment is coming and I will act I will not relent or show pity or be sorrow I will judge you according to your conduct and your deeds declare the sovereign Lord God is saying this how does God feel about you and I today and what about America who have turned their backs on God and doing everything in the world they want to do or maybe some of you are doing everything in the world you want to do you're not listening to the word of God you're not biting by the word of God you're not biting by what God has said God has given us with civic instructions what to do what not to do but we don't kind of grade it out made it gray like we the Bible is not telling us exactly what to do what to do God is saying imagine this Christian was talking to America today or you today it would say all America hallelujah all America now have forsaken me you have disregarded my word you're doing your own things instead of doing what I require of you he says follow me and things will be better follow me and things will be better God is lamenting over us our lives over America over the world over the nation I can imagine God feeling that way with us right now but guess what we have an opportunity still so while you have that opportunity we better listen to what God has to say and the reason why we need to listen to what God has to say because in numbers 2319 it's a God is not a man hallelujah that he should lie neither the son of man that he should repair has he said and what and shall he not do it or has he spoken and shall he not make it good or fulfill it this is what the Lord said he said I don't lie that same scripture if you look it's also found in Titus 1 and 2 it's a God cannot lie and Hebrew 6 and 18 and say God it's impossible for God to lie so if he's saying all this why can't we believe his words why can't we do what his word tell us to do why can't we go by the Bible is the our GPS guideline the Bible is what we have to lead us to cavalry I mean lead us to heaven the Bible is what we have for that to get us from here to heaven and if we're gonna mess that up and not do what God has told us to do that's our fault because God has always given us the instruction God is not like man not like us he's not capable of lying whatever he says he will bring it to pass and whatever he command it it will happen the promises he give guess what he will deliver God is perfectly reliable and dependable as we say it would do something you can bank on it you can count on it 100% that's how wonderful I got it that's how big I got it that's how awesome I got it God is a awesome guy he's a wonderful guy he's a just guy he's a good guy hallelujah if God said Isaiah 55 and 11 said so she on my word that goes forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me board but it shall accomplish that which I plead and it shall prosper in the things where to I sent it he said what I have already spoken is not gonna come back to me to whatever I have spoken has been done whatever I have spoken the action has already been taken care so it won't return to me so if I said it guess what it's going to happen if I said it it shall be done if I said it there's no if and but about it God said God said I said it hallelujah I'm a God that won't change hallelujah glory glory glory glory glory glory he's a God that won't change he's a God that won't change why won't we serve a God like that why won't we follow his instructions why won't we do what he tell us to do God has said we all serving God but if we're not doing what he said to do guess what he's saying oh America oh America why haven't you for why have you forsaken me that was God is saying to us amen now that was just my introduction my main scriptures those are all my main scriptures too but I'm gonna be talking about an incident I was I read my Bible I'm reading the Bible through in a year and not only am I reading the Bible I'm kind of studying it so I don't think I'm gonna get finished in a year I'm studying so I was reading this passage of scripture and I was reading this particular passage of scripture God God you're awesome God in this passage of scripture we can see where God has I'm gonna look here cuz I don't want to go down we can see that God in action it shows us that we can depend on God for everything it shows his love it shows his goodness his mercy his compassion his deliverance his provision how he fight our enemies and make them flee it shows us we should tell others about his goodness and we should always believe here and he to his word that's what all this this passage of scripture show up now I'm not gonna read the whole passage the whole passage is really interesting but I'm not gonna read the whole passage so I'm gonna kind of thumb thumb thumb of it up but the name versus I want to go to is second king chapter 7 verses 1 and 2 second king chapter 7 verses 1 and 2 if God said it it shall come to pass then Elijah said you the word of the Lord does that the Lord to marry about this time she'll imagine a fine flower be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria then a Lord which is the officer of the king on whom hands the king lead lead on answer the man of God and said behold if God would make winners in heaven might this thing be and he said behold I shall see it with dine eyes but that shall not eat thereof that's powerful in this passage of scripture it really starts in second kings chapter 6 verses 24 and goes through chapter 7 verses 20 it's a long story with one simple message and that message is it's about trusting believing and not doubting what God is saying to his people when he speak that's what this passage is about how does God speak in the Old Testament we know that God spoke in different ways than he do now he spoke to Moses in a burning bush right he spoke to Daniel hand writing on the wall he spoke in numbers through a donkey he spoke in visions and green and dreams and then angels deliver the message to Mary and Joseph so he spoke through angels and through his prophet of old that's how the Lord spoke today how's the Lord speaking through his word in a still small boy through our pastors and our spiritual leaders and the Lord because we have a Holy Ghost it speaks to us when we allow it so many times we don't we don't allow the Holy Ghost to speak to us because the Lord is not gonna say Bobby stop that Bobby I wouldn't do that Bobby I wouldn't go there Bobby I wouldn't date that guy Bobby I wouldn't do this Bobby I wouldn't do that that's not the Holy Lord speak the Lord put an unction in your spirit and said that's all he might say you know that's not right you're my child why are you doing that but guess what a lot of times we ignore that still small boy that the Lord is telling us and it's a dangerous thing to ignore the Lord it's dangerous to ignore the Lord it's dangerous it's dangerous to ignore the Lord but he warns us a lot of times we ignore it so when God is speaking to us today let's heed to his word whichever way it form is come if you find out that God don't speak to you no more then you need to come down and confess to the Lord and ask God to Lord I speak to me again please speak to me again I don't want to be lost I don't want to do the things I've been doing so speak to me again because the Bible say God's spirit was not always striving in with man that's what the scripture say I'm telling you what God said not what I say what God said in 2nd Kings chapter 6 verses 24 to 29 Samaria was under siege because they had disregard and forsaken the word of God I'm not gonna read that cuz it takes too long and there was surrounded by the Caesarean army which bought a terrible famine upon the city of Samaria Syrian they jacked the prices up like they're jacking our prices up down the gas the food everything is jacked up now because they say it's the economics but guess what it's because they want to do it a man so they jacked the price up like they doing today fear really tried to starve Samarian the famine was so severe doing those terrible times it was so severe there was murder women's was murdering their children they have something to eat to eat their children and if you look in the if you read that passage scripture you'll see where some ladies said if you bore your kid and eat it I'll do mine that's how bad it was and they start having doing Campbellism I hope America don't get that bad I hope we don't mistake God so bad the things get so bad for us but we're headed that way we're headed that way and it's not all because of the world because I'm some socially saints of God not standing up to God standard and not going with God want us to do cuz the world see us they are they say honey I can do anything I want to do they're not living the kind of life that they profess to be Bible to the world see it's us amen so we have to be careful how we live so that's how the bad condition was but in spite of all this God spoke and deliver the Samaritan's out of this situation in spite of all of this let's see what God has to say about the situation that's going on in Samaria verse one it say I've already read that about this time tomorrow the Bible say he said hear the word of the Lord so the Lord was speaking through Elijah say hear me now God's not gonna come down here and say ever Ross he not gonna come down here and he probably gonna appear in a burning bush he probably not gonna write on the wall but guess what the Lord is speaking to us through his word and he said hear the word of the Lord but in order to hear you got to read it hear the word of the Lord so God was told Elijah told to tell the Samaritan he said cuz you haven't just regarded my word he say he to the word of the Lord so it's not only just hearing it's obeying and doing what I've told you to do a lot of people listen to preaching listen to stuff all the time and go right out that door and do the opposite of what the word had told them they do the opposite of what God has to say or what God told them they can't wait to get out of here and say oh I don't care what that pastor say I don't care what that person say in other words they said I don't care what God say that's what they're saying I don't care what God say that's what they're saying when you when you go against God's word you said I don't care hallelujah hallelujah I hope we're not like that I hope you care I hope you care about the word of God I hope you're gonna obey the word of God I hope you're gonna do what God has told us to do because guess what when he said it and it's not always blessings and promises God give us warning he give us warning in his words and he's also gonna do what those warnings are too that's what he said so I say about this time tomorrow in other words I'm giving you 24 hours this thing is gonna happen he said and what's gonna happen if you go to verse number two he said that he was gonna bless okay let's go down to he said by this time tomorrow I'm gonna change the economic situation in Samaria pride full prices will drop and become cheap instead of like it is now you'll be able to buy it's gonna be an abundant so what this this this this this Lord was saying how can this possibly be if God why don't you just open up heaven and let food drop like you did in the day of Moses let it come down from the sky but Elijah predict that the family would last only one more day look up and he said that the servants of Lord said if the Lord would make winners in heaven could this thing be he was questioning God's ability to do what he said he was gonna do how many times we question God ability to do what he tells us do what he has told us he's gonna do we question that his ability but if God said it it will be done we don't have to fret we don't have to get all been out of shape about things go to the word and see what God said about that thing see what instruction God has given us amen second he did out he doubted the power of God he doubted the power of God God can do anything he wants to do he can do everything and anything he wants to he's all powerful all knowing and he's ever present at all times a man also he doubted the creativity of God because he was trying to tell if God could do this thing why don't he just do it so he don't know what they said idea 5589 that my thoughts are not yourself normal ways your way there's the Lord yes that's what the Lord is saying and we sometimes do that to God he don't do things like we want him to do right he do things like he want it to be done because he sees a bigger picture yes we don't see the big picture he knows the bigger picture amen he said my thoughts are not your thoughts nor my ways your way fit the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your way and my thoughts then your thoughts yes so God think bigger than we do and he knows what the future is all about yes so all we have to do is to relax in him yeah and let him do what he said he's gonna do don't fight against it don't fight against it let God do what he promised you to do third the message doubted that he doubted them the man of God who was delivering the message to him he doubted Elijah he doubted him just like some of us pastor can be a preachy and we look at him time yeah right you're right you know you do it you know you do it and sometimes you think oh he's trying to talk he's talking about me talking about you he's giving you what the Lord said now I haven't preached I haven't preaching years it's been several years since I've preached and when Bishop asked me to do it I said ooh Bishop I haven't preached in years I don't know the Lord spoke to me and you're not preaching I'm preaching it's not you I'm speaking through you so you're not doing it so when the pastor get up and say something he's giving you what God has given him and it's coming from God to him to you and you got to receive it like that and don't think he's talking about me a lot of times we do that he's talking about me he's getting all in my business he did so he that no God is getting into your business God is getting the one that's messing with you God is trying to give you an opportunity God is trying to get you to get it right God is doing that it's doing that and it's because he loves you and he's giving you a chance so this this man doubted the messenger of God doubted the messenger that was giving the message in fact you can see with your own eyes the prophet told him you're gonna see it with your eyes but you shall not eat of it in other words God said I'm gonna prove to you that I am who I say I am I'm gonna prove to you that when I speak it shall come to pass y'all remember Moses right what happened to Moses the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock for water Moses was mad at the people upset at the people hot he was taking his frustration out on the rock so instead of speaking like God told him to speak he strikes the rock to time boom boom play he strikes the rock that's not what God told him to do God told him to speak to the rock what he did because frustration got into him a lot of times we act that same way God tells us some things that we're so frustrated we get frustrated with our kids instead of taking them and praying with them we want to strike them now I'm not saying you should thank your kids I know that but sometimes you got to pray with they come on kids we're gonna pray we'll talk to the Lord about what's going on in this household we're gonna tell it to the Lord we're gonna see what God has to say about this situation and that's what you do you follow God's instructions and as a result Moses wasn't able to get in the promised land he was like this man here you're gonna be able to see it with your eyes but you're not gonna be able to eat it he told Moses you're gonna be able to go to the mountain and look over in the promised land but you're not gonna be able to cross into it don't you miss our promised land don't miss our promised land because we're not obeying the word of God because I listen to the Lord what is our promised land our promised land is heaven we're trying to get to heaven and if we don't obey the God's instruction we may not see heaven so let's do what God has instructed to do now inverses we gonna see God how God works in verses three and four and five I'm gonna read those I'm not gonna read this whole thing but I have to give you all the background of the story now there was four leopard men at the interest of the gate and they said to one another why are we sitting here until we die and we say we will enter the city the family is in the city and we shall die there but if we said here we're gonna die here now therefore come let us surrender to the army of the Caesarean and they keep us alive we should be alive but if they kill us we shall die and they rose up at twilight to go to the camp of the Caesarean and when they had come to the outskirt of the Caesarean camp to surprise no one was there wow these men were sitting on the outside of gate see they couldn't come in because they were leper they had a contagious disease they couldn't be around people so they were sitting there all sorry and the thing about they was gonna starve anyway because usually they give food to those who are valuable people you know are viable so their condition was terrible they were outcast they was untouchable and they said they were thinking now wait a minute why are we sitting here until we die we're gonna die one way or the other so what we need to do we need to go in and what if they kill us the theory killer they may not they may have mercy on us and I kill us that's all they were thinking if they have mercy on us and I kill us in we got some food but if they kill us we were gonna die anyway so why don't why don't we just take our chances they were in a win-win situation a win-lose situation a lose-lose situation they could go in the city or they could starve to death so they decided to take their chances and go they took the choice God has given us a choice should we or should we not Roman 623 say for the wages of sin it's death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord so you can sit in and die by not listen to the word of God or you can listen to the word of God and live we have a choice we have a choice we have a choice make sure you're taking that right choice our choice is not as bad as these people because maybe if the Syrian had a bit had been there they may have killed them but see if we follow Christ we don't have to worry about that because we know where our heavenly home is but if we don't follow Christ we know where our home is also but you got to follow Christ to the T because of God said it it shall come to pass amen so when they got to the outskirts child they found nobody was there but y'all gonna be amazed why nobody was there I'm not gonna read this I mean research I think I wanted to shout how God worked and I fly for our betterment how he works for us so they went to the camp and nobody was there not one soul was there and the Syrian army was really big it was huge but nobody was there but let's look at verse six and seven see what God did hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah verse number six say for the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of charity and the noise of horses the noise of a great army so they said went to another look the king of Syria this is what the leopard says what's one of the look the king of Syria has hired against us the kings of the Hittite and the kings of the Egyptian to attack us therefore there arose and fled at midnight and left the camp intact this is what the Syrian did for their tent and their horses in a donkey they fled for their lives God scared the Syrian army away with noise and chariot like it was a mighty army approaching army coming to get them so they got scared and they ran away because you know the Lord made that noise so big it seems like just thousands and thousands and thousands of a marching army but guess what could it have been just noise God made in the air like he do thunder or something like that or could have been their perception God made them hear that in their psyche and made them think that whichever way it was God did it and it worked God Almighty did it and it worked because his word shall come to pass so he had to do whatever it was to make his word come to pass he did it hallelujah hallelujah and they left the camp and left everything there all the food all the horses all the gold all the silver they left everything there they ran yeah got out of there cuz they saw this they thought this mighty army of Egyptian and Hittites was coming to bounce on them so they ran out of there they got out of there they said oh no we can't fight this army this or this is too big so they thought people had joined in with the Caesarean I mean the the American thought they had joined in with them to fight them so they ran away they got scared and they ran and when they leopards got there there was so much food they had everything they needed they had food galore and they ate and they enjoyed it was like going to Golden Corral it was like going to Golden Corral I can imagine you know that's probably what it's like all this food oh my god and we've been sitting out here starving they didn't know God had made a plan not only for them but God made a plan for the whole nation at time and I'm not gonna read all this so I'm gonna skip down a little bit so what happened is I'm just gonna give you the details on the next verses 10 to 15 verse number 7 say what the leopard did they say you know we can't sit here and and keep this all to ourselves we got to share the goodness of God that's what God want us to do share his goodness share what he's done for us share his mighty power his mighty word he said we can't sit here we got to share what God has done that's not what they said but say we cannot sit here we got keep be silent about this thing so they shared it with the gatekeeper because they wouldn't permit it to go out into the town they shared it with the gate keeper and then a gatekeeper you know how the story you tell somebody you tell somebody you tell somebody you tell somebody the gatekeeper what he did he told the royal palace he told them in the palace about it but then the king he couldn't believe it so he got up in the night and he thought that no the Syrian had said a trap for us what they have done they said a trap for us so they want us that they want they know we're starving so they have wanted us to think they left the camp but they want us to come into the city and they want to capture us alive as we into the city so they they thought he thought it was a way to lure them into the city but there was God planning all the way so one of his advisors say it's always good to have advisors it's always good to have people who got your back and people who's gonna help you out he said one of his advisor said pick some men's and have them take five horses that are left in the city and if their five men's are killed it's their fate it's no different you know we are gonna die anyway so what's the big deal so that let's send them out and let them scout scout the land find out what's going on let them see if these people have really gone let them see if these leopards are telling the truth let us see cuz they was afraid so but the thing about it they took some horses now in those days the royal horses was fed regardless of people it's not fair they were fed cuz they were royal horses so they were fair you know like I read an article said in during the Great Depression the poor were suffering but the rich they would eat steak but the poor people were suffering same way it is now the rich are doing great and we're the ones are suffering they're hyping the gasses up hyping the food up and all this and we're the ones who suffer it but God who's the whole of Jara shall provide regardless of how hard the gasses go somebody was asking me and my husband one side say you all drive all the way to Long Beach and what about gas prices it's to say I don't care if gas gets $20 an hour I mean $20 a gallon I'm going because we know God it's gonna provide God is gonna help us and so we have to have that mindset that God but God he say he was a party he say he was he the the the ancients were nothing tell us not to worry about tomorrow the Bible said that God said that and if he said it it's gonna happen so the scouts the spies went out and they found that the Syrian left in a hurry and left everything behind first number 16 is when God Elijah prophecy came to pass if God said it it shall come to pass then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syria so imagine and it goes on repeat the prophecies that he gave to him and when the people found that the Syrian cat was empty this is not my note there was no stopping the people because they knew their knees were met they were happy to receive God's provision to meet their needs and the word came through Elijah the market prices went down like Elijah say it was gonna do but during this time remember Elijah said you can see it but you won't be able to eat it during this time the king had made this particular officer a keeper at the gate so when all these people rushed in yes what they did to him they trampled him and killed him and he died so he saw it but he wasn't able to take of the blessing God has provided him because he doubted God and he questioned the man of God he wouldn't pay attention to the man of God you know if you don't pay attention to the God God got something for you and you may not like it he will give you a chance though all you have to do is ask him for forgiveness and he would do it but God did not let him see or have to take of that food amen because God has spoken his word that God said it it will come to pass amen so he died in verse 20 so it happened so and so it happened to him for the people trumbled him in the gate and he died my conclusion we have no reason to doubt God and its promises or ignore his warning the scripture tell us in 2 Corinthians 1 and 2 1 and 1 and 20 for all the promises of God in him or yate and in him amen unto the glory of God by us if if it's God able to help you in spite of your difficulty and as you going through things right now yes and amen if I ask you these questions you say yes and amen it's God willing to able to heal you in spite of your health is God able to meet all your needs in spite of your financial situation it's God able to comfort you in your hour of sorrow and confusion can God set you free from sin and grant you eternal life can God save your unsaved loved ones yes he can and he's willing and he's able God yes and amen to every promise to always be our prayer rather God answer to your prayers no yes or not now we need to trust him whether you understand what is happening or not understand we need to trust him see this this Lord of the King he didn't understand what was going on he had lost faith in disregard for the word of God he had lost faith anyway so he didn't understand what's going on but we can't get like that regardless of what we can begin to doubt God I never doubted God that he wouldn't heal me never doubted it I was talking to my in my time is almost up I was talking to my daughter Eileen and I was saying she was talking about how she when her baby was born at one pound and six ounces but 85 days in the queue she was talking about how at times she the devil make her think that baby God's not going to do this thing for her he was an oxygen he was having all kind of problems and then she said the Lord spoke to her said the Lord spoke to her and told her gave her a promise and this was his promise told he said he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in this season his leaves all shells are not withers and whatsoever he does show proper she said the Lord gave her that promise and when the Lord gave her that promise she said I knew God had my back at that time and look at baby Brock today amen amen amen so God all we have to do is just take hold of a promise the high has given us about whatever situation we're in God would do it Ephesians 3 20 say now unto him and who's able that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we act or see according to the power that work it in in us right according to our state so shall it be some of the promises of God which I told y'all already are not only promises but they're warning God has given us has already happened some are happening right now and some are going to come there's one event that's cut that's going to come and that's the coming of the Lord God is coming back he said in this word he I'm coming back he can return for who his people those who are ready those who are paid attention to his word so let us be ready by listening and believing and obeying his words do not lose faith do not doubt the promises of one of our great God just believe them act upon them take God at his word because if he said it it shall come to pass that's the end hallelujah come on a bless God for the word come on a bless God for the word stand on your feet and give God praise for the word if God said it hey I said if God said it if God팅 I don't care what it looks like if God said it I don't care what it feels like if God said I don't care if it seems to be impossible in shall come to pass tell somebody it shall come to pass someone said God said it I believe it and that settles it sounds good but the truth is if God said it that settles it. I don't care what you believe. If God said it, that settles it. And together, if God has spoken to your heart and made a promise to you, but it hasn't come to pass and you're struggling to believe God, I'm about you to come down to the altar. I was listening to Pastor Bobby and even as she was sharing the story, it occurred to me, Pastor Bobby, we might be just one day away from our miracle. We might be just that close and turn around and walk away. If God promised you he was going to hear you, it's coming to pass. If God promised you he's going to give you a better job, it's coming to pass.  He said, but I will move people out of the way. I will open doors. I will push things back to make it happen for you. Our love of Sister Bobby was preaching that God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent. If God promised you, if he made you a promise, it's coming to pass. I was thinking as Pastor Bobby was preaching how the Lord took just the sound of war and defeated the enemy. He said, and they left their donkeys and their horses.  You scared. They ran past their ride, but God did it. If you haven't been born again, born of the water and of the spirit, if you haven't been baptized, if you've been baptized, if you haven't received the Holy Ghost, it shall come to pass. If you will take the step of faith and come down and pray. If God said it, see I've made some promises to my children that I couldn't keep. It wasn't because I didn't want to. I just couldn't. But if God said it, Sister Sharon, if God said he was going to heal you, it shall come to pass. If God said it, and he says, I'm Jehovah Roth for the Lord that healeth all of your diseases. So if you are believing God for anything that hasn't happened yet, now I said, hasn't happened yet. I declare to you by the word of God, the Pastor Bobby, that it shall come to pass. If God has spoken something over your children and it hasn't happened yet, bring your children to the altar because it shall, it shall come to pass.  Pastor Bobby, I love it like you done lost your mind up in here. Because God said, I'm gonna heal you. He says, I've given you to the world and I'm gonna bring you out of this because I got something for you to do. It shall come to pass. I'm a little bit weak today, but it has already come to pass. I'm getting stronger every day. Because God said it. Let's pray, Father, we thank you for the word of God. It has touched our hearts and it has changed our lives. We have discovered that you are a waymaker, a promise keeper.  But most of all, you're our God. You belong to us and we belong to you. So Father, I pray that you will take the word that has been spoken to us through the woman of God. We thank you for the woman of God. We thank you that she has been a yielded vessel. We thank you, Lord, even for the miracles that you've done in her life, that she has been an example of what it means to walk by faith. And if you did it for her, you'll do it for us. We thank you for your presence that has been with us all day long. Because we sense your presence and we were waiting in anticipation for your word and you did not disappoint us. You sent your word and healed us. And so we declare that it shall come to pass. Every miracle, every healing, every breakthrough, every deliverance, prosperity, healing, favor, wisdom, understanding. You've given it to us. And we decree and we declare, we receive it by faith. In Jesus' name, if you believe it shall come to pass. Clap your hands and give God praise. In Jesus' name. Sister Merlin, won't you come? If he said it, I believe it. Come on, let's sing that. Come on, Sister Terry, I don't know all the words. If you said it, I believe it. You're not a man. He said it, we believe it. Oh, oh, oh, we believe it. You're not a man. You should lie. All things are possible. When we believe, all chains are breakable. When we if you said it, we believe it. If you said it, because the grain, you're trusting and believing. I'm gonna trust him and I'm obeying. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I trust his words and I'm gonna do what he said do. Hallelujah. I'm gonna hear what you say. I'm gonna hear what you say and I'm gonna do what you say. Hallelujah. Because I know you're not a man that you would lie. Hallelujah. Let's give the Lord a hand and what a blessing. Saints of God, we are just, I know you're full. I know you're full. And the Lord has been good to us today and been father. We thank you for the offering. God, we thank you. Hallelujah. God, you're so good to your people. We thank you for the offering. God, bless those. Bless those that gave and even those that couldn't. God helped them to believe and to walk in faith. Amen. To to stand on your word according to how you said to give and it shall be given unto you. Good measures. Press down, shaking together, run it over. You are giving God. You set the record by giving your only son. Hallelujah. So, we thank you and we praise you. God, let it be meet in this house. We give your name, praise and glory in Jesus name. Hallelujah. Amen. I guess we can go on, go home. Hallelujah. Amen. Come on. We're going to sing a couple verses of I'm Determined. God bless you.  Thank you for tuning in. We will see you next week. Amen. God bless you. Hallelujah. God keep you.  We'll see you next week. Hallelujah.


We followed over 180,000 people aged 45 and over in Australia and we looked at the outcomes for people who were smokers compared to people who had never smoked and people who had smoked in the past and we were looking particularly at cardiovascular disease not just whether or not someone had cardiovascular disease whether they had a heart attack or a stroke but what particular kind of cardiovascular disease they had and what we found was really chilling. We found that looking across all the different types of cardiovascular disease and we examined more than 36 different types there was nowhere in the cardiovascular system that was untouched by smoking. What we did really see was a much greater depth of harm than we had considered and we've worked out that over 6,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease in Australia every year are attributable to smoking that's 17 completely preventable deaths every single day. What we find from these data is that even people smoking five cigarettes a day have a doubling in the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease so what that tells us is that there's really nowhere to hide we're not we're not talking about cutting down there's really no safe number of cigarettes now and that it's really important that if people are smoking that they actually give up completely. What we're seeing is if you compare people who've never smoked with current smokers the relative risk of AMI is 2.45 and when we look at stroke it's over 2, peripheral vascular disease is about 5. This is the largest and most comprehensive study of cardiovascular disease ever done worldwide and I think what we can now safely say is we have really robust information about what smoking does to Australian smokers and I think a lot of people are kind of underestimating the harms it's doing them and particularly people who smoke relatively few cigarettes a day. There was good news and that was among people who quit they had a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease than people who kept on smoking and the earlier the better so people who quit before the age of 45 had 90% lower risk of cardiovascular disease than people who had continued to smoke so that's great news.


How do I lift weights and then I'm also training for my sport and we're always encouraging them to reduce the amount of weight training, traditional weight training they're doing in the gym and increase the skills training. Nothing is going to make you better at playing soccer than playing more soccer. Nothing's going to make you better at playing basketball than playing more basketball. And what you don't want to do, which is a mistake that a lot of athletes make is they do so much of both. And then what ends up happening is the weight room stuff that is supposed to support or accelerate your progress as an athlete ends up hindering it because you're doing too much. And so that's the idea of this is that, listen, we're going to do what we need to do inside the gym, but then focusing a lot on the skills.