I hate it.  And listen, I loved it. I've seen on YouTube across the last couple years is people getting like cameos from celebrities or video requests from celebrities and like making a video out of it. It's of course the all kind of errors of YouTube. This is a thing. And I know I just thought to myself well I could do that. I thought about it and I knew I didn't want it to just be like celebrities or whatever. I wanted a distinct category and if you watch my videos a lot you'll know that I love drag and drag queens and so I thought I'm gonna get drag queens to tell me what their favorite books are. Yes! Yes! So what I've done is I have asked three of my favorite drag queens that were on what their favorite books are. Okay and we're gonna get those videos back. Oh my god I'm so excited and we're gonna see what their favorite books are and then we're gonna read them in this video. We're gonna read drag queens favorite books essentially and I'm just so excited. I'm a bit nervous. I feel like oh my god what if they like I don't know what what if their books are like something I've already read or I don't I don't know. I don't know how it's gonna go but I've asked three of them for the video. So let's just see what the first drag queen said. Okay so we have our first one back. The first one is from Willem. So when I was choosing which drag queens to request Camry is from I wanted to choose ones that are like gonna give us something. Do you know what I mean? That are gonna be funny or just like give us something in the video.  You want a little bit of something something. So we've gone for Willem first and I'm honestly scared but let's find out what Willem's favorite book is and what we're gonna be reading I guess. Oh my god I'm so nervous. I'm scared. Are you scared? You should be.  Can you bookish bitch? Watch the video this time. Okay I wanted to tell you about my favorite books. Yes. They're right here.  Where there's a Willem there's a way.  How you can fix your vision with balls. I've got to blur that for YouTube oh my god. Pretty things not as pretty as me actually as pretty as me because I'm in here. There's humble brag sections how to get out of a DUI how to cover a cold sore. How to do the right drugs and not fall out. What else? There's Halloween costumes. Ooh I do that. I fit some guy in it so there's lots of instructions. I also support women authors so this is my second favorite book. It's Becoming by Michelle Obama. It was really really good. I didn't know as much about her as I liked and her book I actually liked it better than Brock's. Brock's was great but there were way too many basketball references in it and I was like Brock calm down we get it your mask but um yeah uh I like both of those books. Michelle's has less typo so I will guarantee you that so I hope your pussy's popping severely and if it's not um talk to your doctor. Bye. Bizarre experience of my life. Okay I feel like I'm not like able to talk. I've read Becoming. I have read Becoming by Michelle Obama and I agree I gave her five stars. I absolutely love Becoming by Michelle Obama. I recommend it a lot. I think it's a really interesting book and I do want to reread the audiobook at some point but I don't know. I feel like it's still a bit soon like I feel like in a couple years or so I would like to reread the audiobook. I haven't read Barack Obama's book. I assume William's referring to the Promised Land but actually me and Tom are like it's not my currently reading shelf on Goodreads at the moment because me and Tom are like kind of reading it together a little bit so I don't know if I read that so maybe I should read Willem's book.  Maybe we'll read that. That'll be fun. I feel like that'll be really really fun so well I guess we're gonna read that for Willem's pick because I've read Becoming but Willem gets a point in a sense because I gave Becoming five stars so I agree. That would if I hadn't read it it would have been a success for this video.  Our next video has just come through and this one is from Thorgy Thor. So listen an icon, a legend. I really love Thorgy. One of my favorite memes to use on the channel. Jesus. Gross. Oh Jesus. Gross.  Thought he's gonna give us a good video so I'm nervous but I'm really really excited. Okay let's get into it. Hi! Thorgy Thor here from RuPaul's Drag Race, Susan Ait and All Stars 3, TLC's Dragonificent, Thorgy and the Orchestra Baby and A Million Other Things. Anyway so Megan reached out to me so I'm talking to you Megan and everyone who's listening. So this is a reading vlog so I thought I would talk about a little bit about how crazy I am but also my favorite books that I've been reading recently and the first one is 101 Poe Poems by Dr. Deuce which my nine-year-old nephew gave to me um for Christmas and I'd like to read one for you right now it's called No to Three and here we go one poop is great two poops is fine but three poops I hate it just crosses the line he's nine so whatever but also in all seriousness and on an intellectual level this book has always been my favorite book it's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I've read it a bunch of times oh my god I can tell this is old I always love how the old pages melt anyway uh but this was just an amazing uh journey that I always followed and always read uh every couple years and uh I hope you enjoy it too so that's gonna be my recommendation and I love you very much also any books by shell silverscene any poems and I love you cheers bye Megan kiss my butt bye so cool I can't get around how cool it's how these videos it's so weird it's so weird anyway oh so listen we had a good poop I remember that okay so I guess I'm gonna be reading what is it the motorcycle book zen I can't remember I've heard the title zen whatever I'll watch it and I'll buy it and I guess we're gonna read that I have I don't know what it's about I just overalls heard people talk about the title but that's obviously a book Thorgy has read and read and read like read and read and read you can tell so I like that makes me nervous like obviously I'm also favorite books but like it makes me so nervous like what if I hate them uh anyway that's another book we're gonna be reading so far we've got suck less and the motorcycle book okay our last one has just come through and this one is from Alexis Reteos so I would say alexa mateu was one of my first like favorite drag queens because I watched the series like in order I did obviously like I think series 2 came out when I was like 10 or some shit not 10 but you know when I was really young so um I didn't watch them at the time but I did watch the series in order when I watched the show to be fair changela and alexa mateu were my favorites on season three but I just I loved alexa's like I loved all her catchphrases like I also I also think she's one of the sweetest like kindest drag queens out there and I feel like she'll have a good book recommendation so I'm really excited to see what she's gonna say so let's watch our final video oh my god I actually feel sick watching these though I feel so nervous okay hello Megan it's me alexa mateu and oh my god I'm so excited I can't wait to see your blog I'm gonna check it out now um thanks but yes let me talk to you about my favorite books first one is the secret of course because I really like um readings that helped me with my personal life okay and that one always explains to you how you can manifest things to the universe in order to get them and how to replace negativities in your brain into positive so yeah the secret is one of my favorite books and of course because I'm latino la llamarada from Enrique la guerra is one of my favorite books ever I read it when I was in high school and I still have it so check it out if you speak Spanish if it's not make sure you get a translator for this one baby anyways I love you keep it cute keep a sick name now bam okay so we have two options there we have the secret and we have what was the other book I think it's called the flare up I think so I'll see if I can find like an English translated version for that and I guess we'll either read both of them or we'll pick one of them I guess we'll see but oh my god okay so let me go away get the books and I'll I'll we'll just talk quickly about what we're gonna read before we actually get into reading the video okay I have gone and secured the goods so we have the books so first I am going to read suck less where there's a willam there's a way I think it's gonna be fun it's like I've got to be careful of what I flip through this because I'm gonna have to blur like the video that will have sent but it's like kind of self-help kind of stuff like covering skin problems okay how to do makeup stuff like that I think it's like a self-helpy kind of book so we're gonna read that then we have I found out what the title was then and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert M. Persick I don't really understand what this is I think it's like a self-helpy book but it's fiction it's a story of narrator and his son and their month-long motorcycle odyssey from Minnesota to California and it's like a look at life I think I'm a bit nervous this is like never the kind of book that I would have picked up and it's quite long it's like 400 pages I am really uncomfortable right now and I'm feeling like I want to get up and leave so I'm a bit nervous about reading it I'm a bit scared I don't know I don't know how well me and this is gonna go along so definitely isn't the kind of thing I'd ever pick up but listen Thorgy obviously read this like a billion times for Alexis I could not find her life me an English translation of the flare up I look literally on every bookish website you could imagine and I just couldn't find an English translation anywhere I don't know if it even exists which I'm kind of sad about because it sounds really interesting so we are just gonna read the secret for Alexis's pick and I've always his thing I kind of listened to myself I was never gonna read this because I didn't think it's way of thought necessarily aligned with mine so I'm a bit nervous but yeah I guess we're just gonna we're gonna go ahead and give it a go we're gonna give a go I think I'm actually gonna start with this because it's not very long so I don't feel intimidated by it and I've got the audio book and I'm kind of intrigued as to what I'm actually gonna think of it so we're gonna start with this one and I feel like this one is the most perhaps well-known books have all these so maybe you'll be more interested in what I think I don't know but also can we talk about why why are we all obsessed with self-help books I know I don't like that I can one of you I suppose motorcycle maintenance is fiction but I wanted like do none of you read you like mysteries fantasies horror even romances like why for these celebrity videos do I always always read self help anyways let's let's just go start it okay so I am halfway through the secret and I wasn't I was very nervous going into this because a lot of you have told me like this fucking shit like a lot when I said I was gonna read it a lot of you were like yeah I was really nervous going into it but I don't hate it so basically if you know the secret is essentially the law of attraction so the whole point of this book is telling you you can achieve anything you want if you basically believe you've already achieved it or think positive thoughts whatever and I I think there's some truth to that right like I think there's some truth to if you are thinking positively and are thinking really really focused on your goals then you'll probably are more likely not definitely going to achieve them but you're more likely to achieve them and if you're thinking negatively if you're in a negative headspace if you're anxious about a lot of things that's less likely to happen I know that's true in my own life when you get into certain funks in your mood and there's also then certain times when everything's going great and you feel so lucky and you just feel like you just keep kind of achieving what you would want to achieve but I don't know if I necessarily believe in it in that it's like guaranteed essentially if you like truly truly believe you've already got that car then you're gonna get that car within a certain amount of time but I think you know what I've tried really hard with this book and what I'm still trying to do with when I'm reading it is to not just switch off to it you know because I think with stuff like this if I just go into it with the opportunity that it's entirely bullshit and I don't believe in any of it then it's a waste of my time like what what is genuinely the point of me reading it what is the point of me coming here and vlogging about it if from the beginning I go into it thinking it's mumbo jumbo it's not real it doesn't work like what you know who am I to say that you know and also who am I to really say what I think in this book if I don't put it into practice if I don't try what it's saying because like when I've had problems with other like self help or like spiritual books like the four agreements I didn't really like that much for example I felt like it was just ideas that didn't really amount to much but this is like a way to live your life that kind of suggests you're gonna achieve certain things and who am I to say oh it's bullshit if I don't try that do you know what I mean I don't think I can really say that even if I think certain things about it if I don't actually try to implement it because like otherwise you don't know this could hold the secret alive and I just don't know but I was like reading it I did you know it does feel outdated like there's a whole section of losing weight and it's like you gotta think thin you gotta think thin thought and you can't look at fat people if you see a fat person stop looking at them which is like I mean come on girl I mean it's very 2006 2006 chick films magazines they all had like kind of you know obviously it's a more like spiritual version of that but they all kind of had that attitude but it does have flaws in it in like it says anything that anything bad that happens to you is your fault you you basically bought that onto yourself and in some ways I mean there's in minor parts of that perhaps I do agree with that if you are in a negative headspace consistently I know this I mean I'm only speaking on personally what happens to me if I'm in a negative headspace things start falling apart and it's easier to sit in that negative headspace and break out of it basically but you know when terrible things are happening in the world right now like they are in Ukraine for example like can can you say that that's like you can't say that people have bought that on themselves and all they need to do is picture themselves with money or with or literally believe that they have their house back and it will but it will happen like that's not the way that life works and do I really think the book is trying to say that or if someone's murdered they bought it upon themselves or whatever I don't I mean at least I hope not I hope that's what he's trying to say but it's very easy to bend what they're saying into that because it does say anything negative that happens to you is your fault and I think that is where this book falls apart is is with the yeah the bad things that happen in your life are a direct consequence of your actions and of your thoughts you know and that's just not true when there's so many moving parts in the world and this says like you know when you think the way you do the universe will make that happen or whatever and I just don't agree with that aspect of it but I feel like this book is written for people with fairly safe lives safe lives that they may be feel a bit disillusioned by do I think that this could work people like that probably like I think if you think if you're in that kind of situation where like outside factors aren't necessarily affecting your life in a negative way if you're benefiting from outside factors in your life do I think that thinking positively can work perhaps and do I think in my own life if I were to implement stuff like this and I think well I think if you have belief in yourself which is what this whole book's about in terms of work in terms of life in terms of relationships I think that does have an effect so I think on a personal level yes there are things that you can take away from this but I think the theory as a whole there's some there's aspects of it that take away from it as a whole does that make sense I hope so so I finished the secret and I have I have such mixed feelings about it I have such contradictory feelings about it that I really don't want to say to you also my window is open I hope that's not annoying it's spring it's spring anyway this is a reason to set up here's the thing right this book I think there's a lot about it that is very beneficial on a personal level I think it can really give you that like kick up the arse to think positively to to aspire for what you want believe you can achieve what you want and I think when you are in that headspace things do come more naturally you achieve things your life's better your life's on this kind of flow but I don't know if it's some of its wider ideas are very good I got particularly annoyed when it's talking about like the world section where it talks a lot about war and you know that's obviously very applicable to our current situation in the world it talks about when there's a conflict in the world we shouldn't like talk about it in the news or read about it or like pay attention to it because that feeds that gives the conflict energy and makes it continue on for longer there's certain times you read this and you just think that's a bit of a affluent sheltered view of life you know what I mean in that regard I don't enjoy it but I do think on a personal level it has some teachings in it that are beneficial for people to implement in their life you know the whole thing about losing weight don't look at fat people like it's fucking ridiculous like there's a lot about this work that makes you go like what oh there's this whole bit when talking about attracting money she talks about whenever she got a bill she would like she wouldn't let herself open it until she believed it was a check and she'd like dance and go I'm so thankful for my checks and she'd add an extra zero on to the number and feel like oh I'm so I've got so much money and then she started getting so many checks in the mail out of nowhere and like just stuff like that I was like girl girl girl but I think when it comes to a particularly like attitude towards life for like entrepreneurs and stuff I can see where people who are more self-employed on a bit of like a hustle kind of mindset are into this because I think at its core it does have some valuable insights for the individual person so that's my that's my view on it there's a lot of it about it that annoyed me but there's also a lot about it that I could see the value in so I can see like I feel like this book often people are out here giving it like five stars it changed my life or one stars this is like ridiculous and I gave it three stars and I generally can see both sides and I think both sides are very valid and I can understand both people's opinions so that is my opinion on the secret now I am gonna start suck less by Willem right so I finished suck less I didn't love it I didn't love it and I feel bad I mean Willems A not gonna watch this video and B not gonna care what I think but like I still feel bad because you're really like Willems in this video and I'm like yeah giving it two stars sorry okay here's the thing I think it's a very different reading experience I felt like difficult to separate myself from like being like a booktuber or book reviewer when reading this I think if you're someone who like very rarely reads or is just a fan and doesn't have to have like you know when I'm reading a book I'm constantly thinking like what am I gonna say about this what am I actually thinking about it rather than just having like a passive reading experience and I think that for me is what I didn't enjoy about it and it's like the book was particularly structured well I don't think that's Willems folks Willem isn't like a author I feel like the publishing house wherever the team behind this book I didn't feel like the structure of like this kind of self-help thing actually it didn't continue throughout necessarily it wasn't sustained I feel like I would have much preferred like a memoir or something but this book felt like it constantly like we couldn't be sincere at any point like it was just kind of funny do you know what I mean I also think I mean this whole book I mean Willem is kind of like the dark humor isn't the right word probably but like controversial humor right and this book has that and you're going to expecting it but I just think like reading it isn't the best form to to consume it in and something that I kind of struggled with and kind of actually made me switch off from the book halfway halfway up to that it was Prokka 3.5 I was quite enjoying it and then about the halfway point there's like a lot of chapters kind of joking about eating disorders and like vaguely encouraging them and like yeah explaining like the methodology behind eating disorders and I just felt very uncomfortable reading that and found it like triggering is the right word but you know like it made me uncomfortable and I didn't really want to read it and then from that point onwards I was kind of switched off the book I'm gonna be on this the last like 20 pages I just skimmed it I didn't really read it so if like you're someone who that wouldn't bother go ahead and read it I think if you're a fan of Willem go ahead and read it it's got good reviews but for me that section just like hit enough and then it meant my experience the rest of the book wasn't as good I'm not going to go into detail about what is said because I don't think that's like responsible for me and like you know my audience but um yeah it just made me uncomfortable and it also just felt like very like this book came out in 2016 so it would have been written like 2015 and the problem with like contemporary the contemporary romances have this as well the problem with these kind of books is it is written to be read when it comes out right so the humor I really love humor books but the humor in this was of its time and you can tell that you can I mean like 2015 is seven years ago now I'm getting older I don't know if I can if I want all this drama all the time if I'm being honest do you think 2015 you don't think it's that long ago but that's seven years ago and there is a marked difference as to what humor is in and what humor is out from 2015 to now if that makes sense I will say perhaps I think I would have enjoyed it more had I had the audiobook I just think williams humor you have to like hear said otherwise it doesn't land if it's your own voice in your head saying it so yeah I gave it two stars I'm sorry I'm so sorry I feel really bad I feel really bad but yeah it just wasn't for me and I just found it difficult to reconnect with the book but anyway we're gonna read the final book now which is zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance which I'm scared about I was actually speaking to my patrons about this and they reminded me that Kayla from books and lala gave it one star I completely forgot she'd read it I actually like I'd watch the video where she read it I obviously I didn't really know the book so I think I didn't make the link I just gave it one star so I'm really I'm gonna try and get maybe like halfway through that today I don't really want to spend that long reading it I'd rather just like get out of the way quick I fucking hate it I like could be worse no not really beyond hate it like I was only gonna check in with you halfway through I'm only a hundred pages in I'm already like mm-hmm can't do this can't fucking do this I wasn't even I wasn't expecting to speak to you tonight evidently but genuinely out the window I can't I can't I can't read this I hate it I hate it firstly I don't understand anything anything there is no reading comprehension going on here I'm just reading words at this point like what is the fucking point of this it's pretentious sorry this isn't any shade thorgy don't take this personally don't take this personally so essentially we're following this dude on a motorcycle I fucking is getting me a headache on a motorcycle journey um with some friends I'm with his son and it's kind of the story of their journey alongside some like philosophical life advice essentially and this dude he's like I know the secret to life I know the secret to happiness I understand everything in the world but you fucking idiots don't know a thing you know a thing I get it and I'm the only one is I actually I can't take it I never dnf and especially not for video for not for vlogs right especially when it's a vlog like this which I've been like this vlog I've been gearing up to do for months and I've been so excited to do it and the fact that I'm now like I I generally can't read this we can end this problem right now I don't know what to do you guys I never dnf but like I've been in such a bad reading slam and this is just putting me more into one like I I hate it I hate it I hate the narrator I hate the structure of the story like how we're flitting back and forth between like him talking about putting his motorcycle back together and then some fucking weird philosophical thing that I just don't understand there's a thing I don't read very intellectual things so what do you call this intellectual I don't read intellectual things I don't read classics I don't read like shit like that I'm here for a good time not a long time I think I'm a bit young this is no shade no shade no shade I think I'm a bit young to be reading this like I think this is a kind of book you don't want to read until like your late 20s max because it is this guy who is like is looking back on life and there's like figuring stuff out and I I just can't relate and I my brain is like what the fuck like this this concept is like fake like what the I hate the way he's acting towards his son I just hate the way he talks but I don't want to let you down by not reviewing this book like what the fuck like other people dnf they're like well dnf like it's so easy but like I paid money to to recommend readers but and then I'm like no I'm not reading this shit but I hate it I hate it I hate it so much you've lost me dude you've lost me so I really want to dnf this I just want to I don't want to read it anymore but I feel like I'm failing you in the vlog if I dnf it so I'm gonna I'm gonna get to at least halfway I'm gonna get to at least page 200 so another 200 pages which is actually over halfway and then we'll see but if I'm still not enjoying it by then I think I am just gonna quit and I think you guys can forgive me because I'm in an awful reading slump and I just like need happiness in my life and life's too short you know so I'll see you in the morning I'm gonna try and read the 100 pages tonight so it doesn't bleed into any more of my life I dnf'd it I'm sorry I read like 10 more pages I couldn't do it I couldn't do anymore I'm sorry it's a no from me I just genuinely wasn't understanding anything I wasn't connecting to the book I don't want to talk about it that much more because I I don't like dunking on like a book that obviously has changed people's lives including it's been a big inspiration for Thorgy like I was like oh my god Thorgy I failed you but like it's one thing talking about a fiction book that you didn't like but it's another thing talking about a book that obviously a lot of people you know have taken inspiration from and insight from and I just think I'm generally not in the right place my life be reading this it's not my kind of thing it's just a no from me and like I could feel I'm so deep in a slump right now if I tried to finish this book I would genuinely never read a book again it would be the end of my channel you would never see me again like I can't do it my heart is saying no so it was an act of self-care to not finish this book because I just yeah nope not for me sorry but I felt bad about this right and so I went back on Thorgy's video and at the end Thorgy recommends any poems by oh my god I forgot the name Shell Silverstein and so I went on script I found like a pdf of the giving tree by Shellville Silverstein and listen I loved it I loved it this is like a poem or a children's book and I gave it five stars I loved it I cried this morning when I read it it took me like literally two minutes to read it by the way I counting that which took me two minutes to read towards my Goodreads goal and I'm counting this towards my Goodreads goal I don't care usually when I dnf I don't but what this put me through is a valid you know it's valid I don't care what anyone says anyway they put me through purgatory yeah they put me through hell on this earth anyway back to the giving tree I absolutely loved it it's basically a story of this boy and this tree I love each other and like the tree gives to him and it was just beautiful it just made me cry I think it's a gorgeous you know book for children or people of any age really and I just absolutely loved it so listen Thorgy is out here with a five star and a one star who can have predicted it and to be fair Willem recommended Becoming which was a five star for me as well so although the books I read in this video weren't super successful apart from that little bit of the giving tree at the end which is difficult to talk about because it's literally like 10 pages yeah we had some success in it um I just would really recommend everyone like just go out and read the giving tree or take you two seconds and it's just gorgeous and I really I really want to try more of his poems out um because they kind of all seem to be in that vein it was just absolutely so touching and just so like poignant and just oh it made me cry it made me cry like I was not expecting that I was like let's go read this so listen Thorgy pulled through in the end I just obviously had picked the wrong thing but I hope you guys enjoyed this video let me know down below or you thought of it who your favorite drag queens are there are other drag queens I would love to do this with again in the future if you want to see it um obviously not all my favorite drag queens are on cameo and also some of them listen Shangela the price is too high I can't do it I can't justify it but let me know if there's any people you would like to see on this go on cameo and have a look who's on there and tell me who would you most like to see and keep my my bank account in mind please I really enjoyed doing this video it was so much fun to get those videos like it was absolutely just amazing it was really great like I never imagined I could do something like that but it was really fun to hear them give me book recommendations if you're new here make sure you subscribe down below I upload Tuesdays Thursdays and Sundays with bookish videos and if you go on to this video comment a lipstick emoji um so yeah I'll see you very soon in another video bye


Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke to delegates at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos today in a much-anticipated appearance that didn't disappoint. Renouncing the use of nuclear weapons, he reaffirmed his country's right to peaceful nuclear development but welcomed engagement that would lead to economic growth and defeat terrorism. Events and developments of the past six years in the global economy have shown that no one can live alone. No country can solve its problems on its own whilst disregarding others. No business can achieve sustainable growth without adhering to its social responsibilities and no power can regard its domination as permanent. The message to delegates crowding the Congress Center here this morning was firmly that Iran is open for business. Already a number of Western oil executives here met with the President this morning for talks about re-entering the country. In the plenary session, President Rouhani underlined how engagement with the West linked into improving growth and defeating terrorism. It is true that extremism and violence gets its rank and file from the Army of the Hungry and the Unemployed. Thus, I believe that the fundamental approach in fighting terrorism should commence with development. Only through cultural improvement and job creation is it possible to replace suicidal hopelessness with hope for the future and use faith in God to serve humankind instead of destroying it. Finally, the President reaffirmed Iran's right to peaceful nuclear development but he said this on nuclear weapons. To those who are under the influence of propaganda and still believe that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, I strongly and clearly declare that nuclear weapons have no place in our security strategy and that Iran has no motivation to move in that direction. Rouhani's speech is bound to be a major talking point at the annual meeting today. Tomorrow the US gets the chance to respond as Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to the delegates here in Davos.


A group of soldiers is gathered at the motor pool on Naval Air Facility Atsugi, checking on their vehicles. They are chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialists, or C-Burn, assigned to the Army's 340th chemical company in Japan. But that's not all they have in common. I'm a business owner. I own a pest control company. I'm a senior systems administrator. And I'm a police officer in Nevada. And I'm a student at University Houston. They are all Army reservists who have full-time civilian job back in the United States. I joined the military when I was 30. I needed something more in life, I guess. Sergeant Kavi Klengon Sumit, a father of five, runs several businesses in Las Vegas. He has also been serving as a reservist for 13 years. They call me dad. They call me grandpa. I'm showing the young guys what you can do in life when they come to me for advice. Most immigrants, the taxi drove for a little while and drove a taxi around. Then I became a school bus driver. Specialist Neil Quinn, originally from Scotland, immigrated to the United States after marrying an American woman he met in his home country. Coming in Holland, thinking what's the best way to serve the American people and join the Army, it's the best way to integrate into society. It's been a very great experience. I'm from India. Specialist Sam Rathobarra said he has developed his professional and teamwork skills since joining the Army. The teamwork which you do, it's the same thing when you are in the back in the civilian job, when you are dealing with the projects and the deadline, stress and the pressure you handle. So I think I'm in a better way before joining the Army and now. If we see any bad guys or if anything happens, we would have to go and take reports. Sergeant Ashree Haakiyo Mendoza, who is a police officer in her civilian career, has been a CBRN specialist in the Army for 12 years. She has already decided to continue serving as a reservist until she reaches retirement. After the whole 9-11 thing, I kind of wanted to be a part of the military, you know, just to do my part. Being an Army and being in the force is a very rewarding job, especially that I get to serve not only my country, but also my city. There's so many people, so many different backgrounds where they come from. Corporal Tony Nguyen, born and raised in Houston, Texas, is a college student measuring in biochemistry. Prior to being assigned to the 340th, he had never been overseas before. I never thought that I was going to come to Japan ever. I think I'm just very fortunate and glad and lucky to be part of. The soldiers of the 340th deployed to Japan from Houston, Texas in order to conduct various training and participate in bilateral exercises that reinforce the U.S.-Japan alliance. Their nine-month mission is almost complete and the unit will return to the U.S. shortly. I will do at least 25 years and I've loved almost every minute of it and I'll have stories to tell my children, my grandchildren. I love it. I absolutely love it. Reporting for U.S. Army Girls on Japan, I'm Aya Watsuzi.


Going on everyone Sam here with late sports car driven 22 top scrum staff our edition baseball five box break number 28 It's a random team style so look again at your random results as always you can find these on the website under the results tab As well as the link that's in chat currently so good luck. Everybody. Let's see a pop idea Jeff asked for the spot in select H2. Thank you Jeff. Appreciate you buddy That's gonna be a fun one. I like I like select H2. They really really really juiced it this year, too They added higher number parallels. Yeah, they added higher number parallels, but they also added that autos in it So you'd like theoretically pull a Well, that's awesome. He's gonna jump right in here before the break goes.  Yeah, I might have a couple of dice rules to do in this. We will see potentially potentially not Logan Gilbert future stars. There's a Jayrod rookie.  Those are those are decent right there the Jayrods Marco Gonzalez golden rookie Jonathan Diaz going to the angels to 50 It's nice about this dude. Nothing is numbered higher than 50 Grom angels Kesson here a Buster poosie Zach Thompson's that gallon orange Jonathan scope. I just want that's a bit of a throwback for the Tigers to 25 Yanni Hernandez Andrew Young Justin Brule and Josh Chisholm future stars Roman Quinn Austin Barnes, Sandi Alcantra Another gold is Ronnie Dawson rookie to 50 for the Astros This one Houston Lamont Wade, Shawn Manayaga. We will sleeve and top load everything in this break as well You'll have time because we'll finish this much quicker than 20 minutes. This does not take long So you'll have some good enough time to top load everything too after which is always nice We got a red do the red last Hunter Renfro Lucas G. Alito. Whoa Marcos de Plon Boston Red Sox on the red. That's sick Dude, that's really cool three of five nice one there. Congrats Red Sox. That'll be going to Nick L congrats Nick Awesome, right? That's I mean even though I hate them that's that's a teen color match right there dude That's kind of clean Not gonna lie Jacob Robson Drew Smiley on Moncada Dylan Carlson Pablo Lopez and a powerful trio Just bend on my base cause not really now Bobby Whitgavin Lux Andrew Keeney gold I swung there to 50 for the inks power Stephenson I would next time if you get like a huge delivery from us Mitchell, would you do because you're overseas? So it really comes once a month. There's Antonio Senzatella I swung there to 25 for the Rockies Don't cease Frank Schwindel. I would definitely look in if you have like a local children's hospital a lot of times They'll take them. That's what we do with ours like a lot of our bowman paper and stuff will do that with I would check that they take them Something I don't know if it's different in the UK. Maybe not but I would I would check into that potentially too It's always a good use instead of just getting rid of them. Oh, it's piguero Wade. Miley Jason. Hey, we're On to box number three now Yeah, no, I mean, I'll sometimes they take them again. Sometimes they don't so it's just just an idea Gold Kevin Polar nice one there to 50 going the Mets and three scuba Willi Adamus Perez and DJ LaMahoe the machine DJ LaMahoe Steven writings Colton Welker and Julio Ulyas Of here say our rookie nice one there and Blake Snell say a Suzuki You know, it's kind of wild to to think about if say a Suzuki catches that ball the Dombex might not even make a playoffs And then they made the World Series many Margo. I was thinking about like I saw somebody like the butterfly It's kind of insane Jalexy Matthew Boyd and Christian Yeltsh One drop We're watching that too Josh now, I think me and your dad were here. I think it was on a Wednesday I'm really bad going. Oh, we blew it. He blew it. See is a good player Fairchild Manny Machado gold to 50 for the Padres. Nice one there. I Think it's possible Henry Ramos and John Heasley. I would always it never hurts to email I can send it over to Lane Lane and Rich will make money makes God mainly take care of that I'm trying to say mainly and mostly and came out Macy's Macy's take care of that. Yeah, I can always email us Mitchell and I can shoot over them It depends on what our soccer inventory is at that point turn bowl. Nice. Yo, help ozo. Nice one there to 50 I mean to 25 on the orange rookie for the Rangers strider rookie and Fernando Tatis One nicest cards ever pulled out. This was a purple strider rookie to time. That's pretty sweet Pull the purple economy one still Papadilla fold was a Ryan Zimmerman, which was kind of fire Volgobock New York Mets scope Criswell White Sox Nelson Cruz Danny Duffy Tom Murphy JD Davis Bolton Varshow Max Fried Lily Gurriel Tucker Davidson and Trey Turner Shria Williams ranger Suarez braceful. All right last box here on the break everybody. Good luck Good luck. Good luck I'll type the random into the next one anyway Better seen in the box and certified fair Very fair CJ with a spot in Bowman chrome choice. That's Larry selling us out on the first certified Thank You Larry Larry P for certified now off the board Another orange coming up here. It's gonna be Travis Darnell for the breaks. Nice one there at Lanza 25 Josiah Gray Lujay's Willie Peralta Austin Gomber See ya cause Schwabba Justice Sheffield Romero and Max Crannock rookie Purple to ten Carlos Santana a nice one there for the Royals. Congrats KC ten of ten Basin base Contreras Jonah Heim Charlie Barnes reindeer Rosa Raina base We got a gold of IKF Isaiah Keener-Felefa going to the Rangers Pre-trade pre double trade Connor Crawford rookie and last team our last box last pack Newman, Sandy Leon and Sammy long I'll do a quick recap of our color here. Nice one. There's all your bait some of your base at least Thank You sir. We've got gold of IKF Mani Machata that is Stephen or Kevin Pilar Andrew Heaney Ronnie Dawson Yonatan Diaz we've got orange shot in scope to 25 red Red Sox so cool man to five Nice one there again Boston Orange as well Antonio San Zetella Yoel Pozo Travis Darnell and then purple to ten was that Carlos Santana So I'll do it for the break everybody. Thanks again for the fill coming up next is the Bowman mixer


I'm not how you say good morning in sign language good morning. Oh, this is sunset. Good morning Or is this just hello in sign language? I I don't speak sign. I'm sorry Find it pretty interesting watching people though that know how to do it properly. So I'm just doing All right, well, I'd better get out there doing my pre-trip and Headed over to Auburn, Alabama from here in Waynesboro, Georgia. It's just a few hours down the road We've got to load their first thing tomorrow morning So we're taking the back roads Well, what passes for back roads in Georgia? These are like main highways where I come from but Avoiding all the big cities wherever we can This way is actually 100 kilometers or 60 miles shorter But it takes the same amount of time So if I have the ability and opportunity to avoid the big cities It had me going around Atlanta my main route or the if I would have taken the interstates Like I said, the interstates was further distance wise But the exact same as going through the countryside the exact same time So if I have the option, I avoid those cities right now if possible.  Who's that? Okay, come on establish yourself in the any intersection. There you go. I don't know what town. This is exactly But we're on Georgia 24 westbound going the small town countryside scenery See if I ever moved Or lived down here Karen you can never let me just talk You're always talking over me What do you you just said that What I was gonna say is if I live down here or if I had the opportunity or whatever if I just happened to live here This is the kind of area I would live in We're all small town.  Doesn't matter what country you're in I'm not a fan of big cities so With what's going on in election year here 2020 it's pretty much the same thing that went on in 2016 election year Truck route this way. Okay. They want me to go this way Truck route Like all this chaos going on right now like, you know, it's because of election year, right? You remember the last time we had riots and we had big protests. We had chaos Violence breakout everything, you know, everybody's at each other's throats. Everybody's race baiting. Everybody's you know trying to divide everybody The last time this happened was 2016 remember Last election year. See I'm old enough now to start remembering the pattern every four years. This happens so every four years I Avoid the cities It's too bad. It's too bad because America is such a beautiful country filled with so many amazing people What do you think diesel making bacon sir? I just can't I can't roll through making without saying that Now my mouth is watering now. I want bacon over this hill. Maybe that's where the city will be I'm doing pretty good. You know when you think of taking the back country you sort of think Oh, it's gonna be super slow speed limits town after town after town actually, no This has been a too late highway for the most part, but the speed limit has been like 55 to 65 mile an hour All the way through So it actually saved me quite a bit of time Coming through here rather than going all the way up on the freeways to Atlanta and then back down towards Auburn Alabama you get to see the back country sanering Sales small towns that you usually would never know even existed. It's beautiful out here. It's so green So I've never actually been through making like directly through usually I just Slipped through on the freeways, but the scenic route is uh, oh That was red that that was definitely red. Wow Whoa, but yeah, we're going right through through the city now apparently red lights are Suggestions here Okay, so I'm turning on to I 16 I think this is gonna take me up to I 75. I'm not sure. I thought I was going through downtown I'm pretty sure I got to go down the freeway just a little bit And then we'll end up downtown We're going through the city anyway Oh my satellite radio suction cup keeps falling off the window Every time I stop I've had to put it back on there It lasted for like a month and then suddenly now I can't get it to stay stuck It's the maybe it's too hot down here. I don't know we got to get into the left We're gonna turn left here I 75 south Maldosta Maldosta Way ahead of you Karen. Now what's going on here here? Nobody cut out in front of me You've chosen your exit and I'll stick to it. I ain't got this car right here. That's a terrible place to park but terrible place to park Dude, that's why they make parking on interstates illegal It's dangerous How is it that I know these laws but so many other people don't I guess I do it for a living. I mean I'm I'm supposed to know these laws, right? Parking on the shoulder of an interstate for anything other than an emergency Is illegal for a reason There's a law there to prevent people from getting hurt Okay, so now we're going through the city And apparently making is no exception They're not just making bacon They're also making lots of construction Making construction every day So what about two miles or so? Always got to shift myself because the transmission on this truck doesn't know what it's doing That's a solid white line my friend solid white line, but that's okay. I forgive you I'm not the law on these parts. I just try to follow it construction construction Nothing but construction right diesel Always building stuff, which is nice because it gives truck driver something another guy parked on their shoulder Vans just ripping up beside me. I couldn't get out of the lane Minivan late for soccer practice again those minivan drivers I tell you I've said it before the most aggressive drivers on the road drive minivans I'm sticking to that What do you think diesel not getting involved fine? I'll speak up So I thought we were actually going to see some scenery. This is going straight through the city. Apparently they uh They don't want us to actually see the city.  No sightseeing for us. Okay Kind of nice though in the south how they sort of have like all the trees are sort of built right into the forest That's different than up north where they just plow down anything that's green and replace it with concrete Seems like they try to keep it as green as possible We're right in the middle of the city right now like dead center in the city almost you wouldn't guess it Okay, buddy. Come on.  There you go.  This is more than a slight right Karen. This is like a hard 90 degree corner slight right slight right You can't get more of a right turn than this without it being a u-turn Oh, I can just barely fit through here And there's cars coming All right, are we on the curb there? Nope. We're not missing the Okay, good. We're missing the curb. What are we on now on this road for 59 kilometers? 59 kilometers We've got to be getting close to the alabama state line Still in georgia here Well diesel we got the second last spot There's only two spots left. I fuel as quickly as I could and uh Drove as quickly as I dared without speeding through the parking lot to make sure that no one else would take my spot Well, it looks like the last spot is being taken now too, so 5 30 p.m Smith station georgia. Nope Smith station alabama Let's get that right full 5 30 I should tell the trucker path app That way it creates a record of that the truck stop is full at 5 30 So the next time when drivers look up this, uh Truck stop on the app they can tell oh wow this thing this place fills up at 5 30. There we go Okay, so I'm gonna go in have a shower do some laundry. I hear they have laundry here, so Do at least one little laundry and then uh head to bed 7 a.m. Tomorrow we got to be down the road in aurora, alabama Loading so we'll see you then


Hello, my name is Matt Clark, and I'm a lieutenant in the Denver Police Department's Major Crimes Division. This critical incident debriefing is intended to provide you with information regarding an officer involved shooting that occurred in the 2400 block of South Colorado Boulevard on Tuesday, September 15th, 2020. You are about to see relevant video footage and learn about other evidence and police procedures related to the case, so you have an understanding of the details of this incident. The use of deadly force by a police officer demands a thorough investigation be completed. The Denver Police Department is committed to ensuring a full and timely investigation of these serious incidents. This allows for a comprehensive examination of the officer's actions to determine compliance with state statutes and department policies. In accordance with legislation passed in 2015, the investigation of police shootings in Denver are conducted by a multi-agency investigative team made up of members of the Denver and Aurora Police Department homicide units, as well as the Denver District Attorney's Office. All critical incident investigations are actively monitored by the Office of the Independent Monitor. A word of caution, the images and information you are about to see may be disturbing. When a police officer uses force to arrest a suspect or defend against an attack, it can be graphic and difficult to watch. In addition, there may be strong language used by those shown in the video. Viewer discretion is advised. On Tuesday, September 15, 2020, at approximately 10.30 p.m., a female called the Denver Police Department's non-emergency line and provided second-hand information regarding an intoxicated subject with a handgun in the parking lot of the apartment complex at 2499 South Colorado Boulevard. The caller explained that her family observed a handgun fall out of the subject's pants. She expressed concern that the subject with the handgun may hurt himself as he seemed to be in distress. My brother and my brother-in-law and my grandpa were downstairs outside. Nothing happened but there was a guy out there that he was visibly impaired. He tried to hug everybody and then a gun fell out of his pants. District 3 patrol officers were promptly dispatched to the call. When the officers arrived at the apartment complex, a bystander standing on his balcony advised the officers that the subject had walked northeast from the location. Officers located the described male in the 2400 block of South Colorado Boulevard on the east side of the street. The officers observed the subject was staggering and appeared to be intoxicated as he walked across Colorado Boulevard to the west side of the street. This person was later determined to be 22-year-old Mack McPherson. When officers approached Mr. McPherson, he was on the sidewalk in front of a small strip mall at 2401 South Colorado Boulevard. Since Mr. McPherson was believed to be armed, the officers parked their police vehicles against traffic in the southbound lanes of South Colorado Boulevard with their emergency overhead lights flashing. The officers exited their vehicles and initiated a high-risk contact. A high-risk contact is utilized anytime officers confront an individual they believe may be armed and may pose a threat to the officers. This method of contact creates distance between the subject and the officers and generally allows officers an opportunity to issue verbal commands to obtain voluntary compliance from the subject. Mr. McPherson turned toward the officers when they contacted him. He placed his hands in the air and verbally began interacting with the officers. Mr. McPherson was walking around in the street and on the sidewalk while questioning the officers. The officers repeatedly advised Mr. McPherson to raise his hands and get on the ground. At one point, when Mr. McPherson turned his back to the officers, an officer observed the grip of a semi-automatic handgun protruding from the front right pocket of Mr. McPherson's pants. The officers communicated the presence of the handgun to each other, at which time Mr. McPherson verbally acknowledged he had a firearm. Mr. McPherson then moved his hand toward the firearm and began removing it from his pocket. The three involved officers, Corporal Robert Corelli, Corporal Anthony Gutierrez-McCain and Officer Dennis List, feared for their safety as Mr. McPherson was drawing the firearm from his pocket. Each officer fired their duty weapon at Mr. McPherson. Mr. McPherson was struck multiple times by the rounds that were fired. The officers stopped firing their weapons when Mr. McPherson dropped the firearm and they believed he was no longer a threat. The officers immediately rendered medical aid and continued doing so until Mr. McPherson was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. Mr. McPherson was pronounced deceased at the hospital shortly after he arrived. Following a police shooting, any officers involved in the incident are separated and assigned to a supervisor once a situation is stabilized. Involved officers remain in the company of the assigned supervisor throughout the initial investigation of the incident. Through the investigation, it was determined that the officers fired a total of 13 rounds. At the scene, investigators recovered Mr. McPherson's firearm on the ground along the west curb line of South Colorado Boulevard. This firearm was a Glock 17 Gen 4 9mm semi-automatic handgun with a magazine and a gun. There were no live rounds in the chamber of the firearm. The magazine contained four live rounds of 9mm ammunition. A toxicology report revealed the presence of cannabinoids in Mr. McPherson's system. His blood alcohol content was 0.259 grams per milliliter. For reference, this level is more than three times higher than the legal limit to drive in Colorado. All officers assigned to uniform patrol duties in Denver have been issued body-worn cameras. These devices are generally worn at chest level by patrol officers and are capable of recording both audio and video. Prior to being activated by the officer, the body-worn camera maintains a 30-second video buffer. Once the officer activates the camera, the 30-second video buffer is captured and the camera starts recording both audio and video. It is important to note that a body-worn camera captures a general perspective of what is in the camera's view. However, this footage may or may not be what the officer actually saw or perceived. At times, an officer's movement or hand positioning may inadvertently block the camera's view. Additionally, the camera may not capture light in the same way as an officer's eye. Here is the relevant raw body-camera footage that was captured by the involved Denver police officer's body-worn cameras. Again, viewer discretion is advised. Get on the ground! Get on the ground! Get on the ground! Now! Don't walk over here! Tony, I need less sleep there. Get on the ground!  Do you understand that? No, please don't. Get on your knees! Right now! What do I do? Get on the ground! Get on the ground! I'll tell you about it! Get on the ground! Right now! He's got something in his pocket. I see it. It's a gun. Get on the ground! Right now! Fifty-five Sam shots fired. Officer involved. Tony, you want to work your way over to me? We'll go up this way? Both of you guys, come over here. Lock around this way.  Keep them out like an airplane! Get the gun on the left. I got it. Don't move! He's got a knife right here! Stand by! Stand by! Don't move! Which side? Roll him which side? Pull onto your right side. I'm not mad, please don't. Okay! Hands behind your back! Hands behind your back! Why'd you shoot me? Right here. Right here. Why'd you shoot me? Here you go. There you go. Alright, get gloves. Why'd you shoot me? Let's get him onto his seat of position. Why'd you shoot me? Hey! Hold on, pal. Listen to me, partner. Why'd you shoot me? Can you sit up? Yeah. Are you able to sit up? Why'd you shoot me? That's all right. Why'd you shoot me? I got a good cloud. Come on! This side's empty. Why? Hey, JD. His waistband's clear. To your side, bud. There you go. God, please help me. I got some. Back here. Alright, sir. God, please help me. What do I look like in a way? Just start this back one. Yeah, you're good. Sir, just keep breathing, okay? More quick. Where? Did you shoot? I did not shoot. Can you pull with him to the ambulance for now? Or were you here when this happened? We pulled up and you fired. You'll wait here. Right there. Okay. I got an extra. No, no. Okay, you got gloves. Hey, bud. What's your name? What is your name? Hey, what's your name? Max. He's got an injury in his leg. Let me see. Let me get some light on here. Can you just help shut down traffic and start throwing some tape for me? Thank you. Hey, tell me your first name, bud. No. Mac? Mac, what's your last name? My first name. Mac, you got to talk to me, buddy. If you got cheers, help them with the leg. Hey, have we got a seatbelt cutter or anything like that? That's fine. I got one in the leg. You want to just finish with your shirt here? You got a tourniquet? Yeah. Perfect. Right here? You got it? Yeah, I'll just cut this so we can see. Hey, what's your name, Mark? Keep talking, okay? Shed it. Hey, what's your friend? Get ready. I need you to go to the hospital with him. Yep. Yes. He's got one in his right shoulder. Right shoulder? Right here. I got it covered. Chest. Right there. I need another tourniquet. No. Mac. Chris. His name is Mac. His name is Mac. Shinin, me, him, and their group. Shinin is going to go to the hospital with him. No, no. He's ready. Me, Tony, and their group. Okay, cool. Go to this here. He had another knife. It's right there. Come with me on separate. Yeah. All right. Just hang on to it. You're going to need it. Williams and I were here at the onset of the shots. All right, cool. All right, no worries. So they're with his officers. Davis is ready to go with the bus. I'm going to get the ID and then take it with you. Joe, can you start getting some tape up for me? Yep. Thank you. Just across. All right. Then can you do me a favor? We're going to get separated. Can you watch this? Done. And knife. Yep. Right here. Where's tape? Hey, get it. There you go. He's got shots in the back. Looks like one in the chest, couple in the leg. Yeah, that's why I'm standing here so they don't knock it over. One in this right shoulder. Hey. On the bus? Or just I'm going with a snake on it. LIS, L-I-S-S. 20016. Shannon. I don't know, partner. And minus 13. 036. We're off the red now. 13, 036. I don't know, partner. I don't have Tony. He's 13. Hey, Marino. Can you follow me down? Can I have someone on this side? Yep. I got a gun right here. Got a knife right there. LIS, LIS. Hey, can I have somebody just lift this into the cot? This in here? Yeah. Ready? All right. Yeah. Let's back out. LIS. Seen secure? Seen secure? Turn off the camera. Get on the ground. I see it. It's a gun. Yes, sir. I'm going to go hands on. I'm going to go hands on. I'm going to go hands on. Which side? Roll on which side? Okay. Got that hand? Right here. Right here. What is this? Seen a position. Okay. Hey, hold on, pal. Listen to me, partner. Can you see it up? Yeah. Guys, I've got a quick clot. Or that's not going to help him too much. I don't think so. I got a quick clot. What? This side's empty. We got one that looks like in the legs. Let's start this back one. All right, sir. Where is it? I can't see the hole. Okay. Guys got covered. Will I do this? Sir, just keep breathing, okay? I got more quick clot. Right here. Can you put pressure on this, somebody? Yeah. You got it? Right there. Yeah. I got extra. No, no. Okay, you got gloves? Okay. Hey bud, what's your name? He's extra quick clot. Matt? What do you need a quick clot at? I'm not sure yet. He's got an injury in his leg. Okay. Let me see. Let me take, let me get some light on here. Let me see if I can get it. Is it through? All right, I don't see where. All right, yeah. He's got it. Tell me the first thing, bud. All right, he looks like he's got one. Let's do his pants, yeah.  All right, 33, go check. If you got tears, help him with the leg. Hey, and we got a seatbelt cutter or anything like that? I got it. I got one in the leg. You want to just finish with your shirt? All right. You got it? Yeah. Okay, yeah, yeah. You got it? Yep, just got this one. Take his pants off, man. All right. Lift his leg. Yep. All right. What's up, friend? Get ready. Have you got any other holes? He's got one in his right shoulder. Right shoulder? Right here? I got it covered.  I need another wave. Anybody need another tourniquet? I have another one. Okay. I got an extra one in my right pocket. I think it's Christopher. Chris. His name is Mack. His name is Mack. Mack. So wake with me, buddy. He got any other down on his right arm here? You guys in any more quick spot? Hey, Sarge. Williams and I were here at the on set the next hour. Yeah. Sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Sorry to see you making a mistake. We got another opportunity. No. I don't need another tourniquet. It looks like we got most of the bleeding stopped in the leg. Okay. He I think is like spoken though. Okay. Yup. We got stuff to put back to go to the chest couple of legs. Did we do it in the erst? Okay, how do you want us to help? I think we're just going to have to grab peace and go for it. Okay. I got the right side. Let's go. Come on buddy. Let's get him up there. Throw a couple of these on for right now. We'll get everything churched up in there. Okay. Why no part in order to get chills? Hey, can I have somebody just lift this end of the pot? This end here? Yeah. Ready? All right. All right. Let's get him on to his seat of position. Okay. Listen to me partner. Can we sit up? Yeah. But it looks like in the legs. He's got one in his right shoulder. Right here. I got it. Anybody need another tourniquet?  The Denver district attorney will review the details of this incident and determine if the officers actions were in compliance with Colorado law. After the district attorney renders the decision, the Denver police department's internal affairs bureau and conduct review bureau will complete an administrative review of this case. The details of the case will be presented to a use of force review board, which is made up of community members and police command officers. This board will determine whether the actions of the Denver police officers were in compliance with the high standards expected of every Denver police officer related to policies, training and tactics. For additional information regarding the investigation of critical incidents or the Denver police department's use of force policies, you may visit denvergov.org slash police. Thank you for taking the time to view this critical incident briefing.


The wind. The songs of birds and insects. 100%. And you can figure out a lot of things when you're doing that. Really? I know I did. Shit. Big time. Another place to take reading material into the toilet. Serious. Watch the dragonflies hunt. 100%. 100%. Cheryl, after two days in the woods and meadows this weekend, I highly recommend it. Go dancing. Go to a music, if you like music, go to a music festival. That you camp out, right? Not that you sign, well you can go into a hotel and stuff if you want. But camping, music festival, go dance all night.  I do.  Alfie, taking a break is exactly what I'm doing and I feel so lifted from the stress of it all. Alfie is on it. Look, sleepy waves. Go to my website. Do a search for Bill Hicks Break. Chichou Bill Hicks Break. I wrote an article on that just saying what that means to me. That I need to take a Bill Hicks Break at a time. Sometimes it's a couple of days. Sometimes it's a couple of weeks. Sometimes it's a couple of months. Sometimes it's a longer.


Hi this is Sandy Baird a citizen activist and I am here today to talk about a current local issue reminding the audience however while we act locally we think globally so we recognize that this housing situation that we're talking about is not only a housing situation here in Burlington although it's a pressing problem here in Burlington but it's also a problem that is occurring throughout the United States and also throughout the world. With us today is Bob Collins who is a tenant at Decker Towers and a resident there and also Jim Rader another concerned citizen who has friends who also live at Decker Towers and who wanted to talk about the current situation there with us because as I said Jim is a friend of all of us a friend of the people and also a friend of the tenants so he's very aware of all the problems that have been occurring at Decker Towers. Okay so I'm gonna turn this over to Bob Collins who is the resident there and talk a little bit about who he is how he happens to live there and what is the current situation. Okay so Bob. Well we have 161 apartments. Okay let me stop you there so there's 161 residents and where is at least more than that. More than that but that's on many apartments we have. Okay and where is this located. Decker Towers is on St. Paul Street in Burlington. Across from Carey's quick stop. Yep right across from Carey's quick stop. It's a baby blue building it's 11 stories the largest tallest building in Vermont. In Vermont. In Vermont. We're small change right. Always surprises people because it's actually built in a river gully so it's not like up on the hill so people don't think of it as a tallest but it is. It's our our skyscraper. That's right that's right. Well isn't that gonna be changed pretty soon. It's been threatened with the mall and there's another project downtown that's threatened it but so far I think we're holding. If that was all we needed to worry about we'd be in good shape. I know. I moved there about 10 years ago. Okay but when you say subsidized housing some of our viewers probably don't know what that means. Yeah well I'm on disability. I was on disability for health reasons before I lost my leg in the amputee but I'm not there because of that. I had other health issues that qualified me for a disability and because of that I was eligible for subsidized housing got on a wait list and I was offered an apartment at Decker Towers. I moved in there about 10 years ago when I moved in you know my thought is this is great. I'm a Burlingtonian I love Burlington. I'm happy to spend the rest of my days here. Am I asking how old you are? 70 years old, 70 in May and the building is or at least you. How many rooms do you have? Just one it's an efficiency. It's about if you looked at the total footprint about 24 by 24 I would guess. So it's not huge but it's plenty for me and it's a handicapped apartment. I noticed you're in a wheelchair so does that mean that this is handicapped accessible? Yes. And what floor? I'm on the 8th floor. I hope there are elevators. There are two elevators. Yeah we all feel that we could use at least three and elevators do break down down quite often. They're old. Yeah. Is the whole building old or what's the deal? The building was built I believe in 71 so yeah it's an old building. Who owns it? I believe Burlington Housing Authority owns it. As far as I know. And they probably built it do you think or what? Boy you got me there. I don't know all the details. I don't know if it was built by the city or? You know the relationship between the city of Burlington and the Burlington Housing Authority is a little unclear to me right now. When I was looking up BHA I'll call them to check on this meeting. I had some trouble finding it and when you go to the Burlington City site it's not listed as one of the departments which surprised me. So it must be somewhat semi-autonomous but it is run or overseen by a board of commissioners I know that. That I were pointed by the mayor? I'm pointed by the mayor and or the city council I'm not sure whether the city council is involved. Good point. It's not clear to the public it's a little confusing I think. Well obviously if you guys are experts in this situation can't find it. Yeah well I'm yeah I'm not clear. I would I would guess it gets federal funds. Oh it does yeah right okay. Connected with HUD in some way I believe. And to answer further your question about subsidy subsidized housing my understanding and Bob you can correct me if this is not right is that at least most people who live in these subsidized public housing buildings units their rent is fixed at no more than 30% I believe of their income. It was a formula for 30%. So that's the subsidy they're paying less than the market rate. Oh it's way below market rate. What you pay is below market rate. I couldn't afford to live in Burlington. I don't know. I'd be homeless if I didn't have their assistance. I think and that's increasingly the case for a lot of people all across the country. Right. But I understand that in Burlington has especially high rate of homeless people. I think so and I'm not an expert on that area but I believe it's because a lot of it is because we have such excellent human services. Do we. I think so. When you look around the country I think Burlington and Vermont has pretty good services. I think Burlington has a reputation for being a place that's relatively friendly to homeless and people with issues. Okay well let's get to that in a minute. First of all so you've lived there for a long time. You've enjoyed it. You plan to stay there. Until a couple years ago I did. Okay so that's really what we're here to talk about. There's it has been reported also in the press. I believe that Decker Towers maybe with other housing projects increasingly are under you know problems has a lot of problems. So could you describe why it is that it has come to your attention that there are problems and right. We have problems in our building and mostly around the issue of safety. There is a drug problem and a homeless problem in Burlington in general in the country. In Vermont in Burlington no question about it and that's the first thing you'll hear if you talk to Steve Murray who's the director of the Burlington Housing Authority. It's everywhere. We're doing the best we can etc. But I believe from my observation and again I'm not an expert that Burlington the Decker Towers has really become a hub in Burlington. Why? Because it's easy access. For some reason our security system has not been enforced. Okay let's go back. When you say it's a hub do you mean it's because it's downtown or what? Partly because of the location. There's no doubt about that. It's centrally located. It's close to City Hall Park which is another as you know we have observed a lot of activity there. Anybody who's at Decker Towers is not at the same time at City Hall Park. People have been coming and going at Decker Towers freely and I mean non-residents. Homeless people people were there to buy drugs. We have a handful of residents that are selling drugs. Within the building? Within the building. People who have leases who live there who have apartments and they're selling drugs and most of them are in the process of being evicted for non-payment of rent. Who the drug sellers? Yeah. They're not paying rent you don't think? Some of them are not paying rent and their being BHA is evicting them for non-payment of rent. Steve has an explanation for that. I personally feel they should be evicted for selling drugs which is a direct violation of their lease. Immediately breaks their lease and we have cameras all over the building so it's not like we don't have have it on camera. You do have it on camera? Coming and going. They do drug deals right out in front of the building. They're not afraid. The police don't come half the time. More than half the time probably and I know they're short staffed and they have a prioritization of you know what they respond to what they don't don't have the resources for are you know the building managers they're just not enforcing our security system. We have a call box. No guests are supposed to come no non-residents are supposed to come into the building unless they're buzzed in by a resident or a resident comes down from their apartment and opens the locked door and lets them in right now what's happening is people are just following residents in. What do you say people? Who? People who are not residents who are coming to buy drugs or coming to sleep in the building. They come and sleep in the stairways at night in the laundry rooms in other common areas and Burlington Housing Authority their response to that is instead of addressing security at the front door and keeping them out of the building they're locking down the laundry rooms so they're locking down our library they're locking down our observatory on the 11th floor so that after hours we don't have access to those common areas. Okay so but you're talking about security okay so let's go back to that is there a front door? Yeah there's a main entrance right on St. Paul Street and it has a vestibule where you come in anybody can open that front first door then you're in kind of a foyer and then there's a call box on the wall which currently only works one way as far as being voices being understood so it's broken but even when it works it's I felt it was not user-friendly but you know people are before we just got new door locks before that people were just yanking the door and basically breaking in. Breaking the magnetic lock in other words breaking the lock open the door open and coming in if they didn't have the patience to wait and you know it's just like the drug dealers are coming and going freely and I've heard a rumor that there's a drug dealer who's living in an empty apartment right now and the person who's supposed to be there is moving around to different apartments it's not a secret and nothing's being done about it and so I don't have the answers to that because I'm not a management person but it's not good people are afraid they're hiding in their apartments afraid to come out we have what happens if what happens is there violence has there has been some violence yes what kind a few residents have been hit by people coming in there was one woman that was hit I wasn't there she wasn't seriously injured but she basically said to a person that was trying to follow her in no you can't come in and he hit her this is all hearsay but this is what I heard I've heard it from several people we have they'll steal from you they come in with what do you mean they steal from you from your person sure people residents have been like robbed yep was the gentleman that was sitting out front with a walker and somebody reached in and grabbed his wallet right right there right in front of him just took off with it mm-hmm people have been me the other day I'm not surprised mm-hmm people have been threatened with weapons by the drug dealers and with weapons yes no you personally seen weapons no but you have had reports yeah many from other residents and I've been threatened three times by a drug dealer that lives on my floor subtle threats you know what it will like what oh it's hard to describe just like where do we get you when you're alone or something like that why what what did they see in you the person that I'm talking about it doesn't like the fact that I know that he knows that I know that he's a drug dealer mm-hmm and he tried to get in the building once without he forgot his his card or most likely he had given it to somebody else and I wouldn't let him in and he was angry and he yanked the door and busted it open came in he probably I don't know I haven't talked I don't talk to him I like to add here I'm a frequent visitor to the building in addition to because why two two friends including Bob including my friend French who lives there so I visit pretty much weekly and I've observed some of these problems I certainly have not been affected in any way like what Bob is describing but I've heard a lot of reports of what's going on there and I just want to emphasize I think it's not only safety which is a big thing I mean people really afraid afraid for their lives but it also degrades the quality of life for everyone who has big time and that that I have observed and seen some of the effects of and it it is not the kind of thing that residents of a building should have to endure Jim you were former assistant to Mayor Sanders a second right I never had that title but I was city clerk of Burlington for 11 years so I worked in this congressional office you know right so you've seen big changes right I would say so I would uh-huh well so why I'm a citizen and been here since 1968 but boy they're here what that's when I moved here in 68 came in 68 and yeah it was kind of a sleepy town sleepy little town right yeah I wish not to not that I love sleepy little towns no I like cities but it was still a college town yeah right it was a lot going on exactly and there wasn't much crime no and honestly the thing that is so shocking to me is there were no homeless there was one person that I knew of that was homeless and it's because he really drank too much right but I honestly certainly wasn't the way to know and can you imagine a life anymore in a city without the homeless no because I was recently in Pittsfield mass homeless that's where I'm originally that's where I was born oh really I was born and brought up in Springfield well pistol was a GE town yes and Springfield was of course Indian motorcycle and guns yeah it's a lot interesting yeah however both towns were really working class towns yep very much and people all had jobs and there was virtually no homeless that I never knew about no really until quite recently isn't that true I I don't know how recently but you're right about that it was very different back then when Jim was city clerk I was at Burlington Electric that's how I originally that's where I first met Jim just by going to City Hall and then we dream that at the YMCA swimming but I was working at Burlington Electric when Bernie was mayor and back then it was city was very different yeah there were problems but nothing like nothing like this and you could pretty much walk anywhere you know North Street might be a little sketchy late at night but probably only if you were a woman right it's really pretty safe to walk in where I know it's like totally different in terms of homelessness I yeah what happened I marked the change just around 1980 I was a counselor at the Vietnam Veterans Center before I came to City Hall and I got involved with a group that was trying to start a shelter at that time and what was the group it was a group led by Reverend Ealy Gary Ealy and we or they started a small shelter on Lower Main Street that I think had a capacity of maybe seven people and that seemed to pretty much meet the need at that point but within a year the numbers just skyrocketed and 80 81 the mayor's office mayor Sanders began to hear from a lot of community leaders about people coming wanting to sleep in the churches and it just had become a very visible and very impactful problem and so that's when the mayor asked me to call a meeting which I did and that's eventually led to COTS to COTS yes uh-huh which is the community on temporary shelter committee on temporary shelter we first I won't be great on dates here but I think our first winner was 82 okay so who was present then Reagan it was just harder to it was just when Reagan came into office uh-huh and I believe a significant factor we're kind of getting perhaps off the subject here but a significant factor was the cutting of funds for HUD and for your housing programs yeah what I just try to emphasize that at Decker Towers is that well the problem that we have would be a significant problem anywhere at any yes exactly however Decker Towers is a building that is full of our most vulnerable citizens they're elderly disabled many health problems many many health problems and we just we are not it's not a building full of people that can stand up and deal with this or self-help yes exactly right so you know when we had a meeting the other day and I think there might have been 20 or 30 people there and out of a building of 161 apartments and so you know there's a lot of people they're afraid they don't they don't they just hiding in their apartment waiting for it to get better it's not gonna and that's not gonna happen no and so we've gotten some act some positive things are being done I think it's a reaction to the pressure and of course they'll deny this but I think it's the reaction to the pressure that Decker Towers is putting on and that the general public awareness is putting on the administration of Burlington Housing Authority to fix the problem you know they're it's right in their literature and it's in the least they're supposed to provide safe housing for us it's not safe okay let me let me go back and for one point that Jim made yes I believe in the 80s that homelessness became a problem because programs were defunded I'll tell you the critical problem I was in the legislature in the 90s but the most critical problem I saw was the cutting of welfare assistance to mothers and they're largely to mothers or to single parents who had kids and welfare was cut that was cut though under the Clinton era not not the Republicans and it was a big mistake because what not what I see every day are women and children who are basically homeless or very safe unsafe conditions okay but that was that's one problem which I believe that Reagan exasperated and then the Clintons did after that okay but that was a real problem of the homeless at that point I don't think it was also addiction that much was it no I think and that and that seems to have skyrocketed I agree after the 90s I mean do you think so or not recently I think and I that's what I don't understand is is this incredible level of addiction which I see every day because I go past City Hall every day these people the people who are abusers of drugs I don't I have some sympathy for them but that is even a different problem than people who simply can't afford rent isn't it very different and you know I as I point out in one of the postings I put up on our bulletin board I have great compassion I do too for the people who are homeless and people who have drug problems and however they don't belong at Decker Towers you know they just don't well they can't can they can't deal with them right they shouldn't be able first of all tenants who are selling drugs should be evicted and it shouldn't take a year to evict them but it does well if it does then you know there's a problem with the system because that's a year that they're terrorizing and bring people in the building that might hurt or and or kill someone yeah and the other thing is that the people who are trying to get into the building to buy drugs if they couldn't get into the building the dealers would have to go out and sell to them off property at least that would give us some of our safety back drug dealers need a place to live they have to have an apartment the landlords and then they are just pulled two issues out of a resolution that was going to be sent to the city council concerning did problems with homeless and and drug addicts and it was to hold the drug dealers more responsible and to hold the landlords who knew they had tenants that were dealing drugs more responsible hold them responsible okay which I think are two excellent points if you can figure out how to do it constitutionally well that's you they have more rights than we do it feels like that okay well the people that are coming into the building and basically terrorizing us in our own home this is not just an apartment building for us this is our last home right where most people are going to live there until they die and all we want us to have a safe place to live and we don't have that and I don't think I think we can have that I think it's being mismanaged okay I want to address that in a minute but Jim were you going to say something well I just I don't know how much time we have left but I want to make sure that people know about a meeting coming up of the board of commissioners of the Burlington Housing Authority I think there's a slide probably being put up now and I'd like to urge as many people as care about this issue and are concerned about the safety and the quality of life of people at Decker Towers and actually other places around the city I'm sure other BHA and other agencies yeah normal neighborhoods right yeah I mean I live on Luma Street I mean there's reports all the time of car break-ins of home invasions no I know it come to Decker Towers money to come to Decker Towers yeah yeah so I don't know what the solution or solutions are that are going to effectively address this issue but I think that people who are concerned need to step up and get involved and this meeting of the Burlington Burlington Housing Authority on the 26th Tuesday it is at 9 in the morning I believe which is not the greatest time but where is it at again it should be on the slide I believe it's 101 College Street it's another facility of Burlington Housing Authority here's a September 26th 9 30 Tuesday at 101 College correct okay so we can all go and hear at least what the problem is and possible solutions I do want as a look because I'm a lawyer to say something to you though because I go to the mayor's meetings sometimes and I'm going to try a lot more to go at 8 o'clock at the bagel bakery and every city all the citizens there are concerned about this problem because it's Decker Towers is key I'm not going to minimize that but it's every single neighborhood is also concerned about drug addiction and home invasions and burglaries and so forth I just want to say when you say that they should be evicted I'm an attorney and so I do know there and I'm not saying whether I agree with it or not I'm just saying the legal process for eviction is very long very long and that was put in place to protect tenants so that landlords couldn't boot you out in any moment right I appreciate that I do too I've been a tenant myself however it also has stymied in other words the courts to do really anything about it the other option of course that you're talking about is the police which I agree but police also are constrained by something called the US Constitution and so some of these things you're talking about seem insoluble through the courts and I'm really sorry about that I but I'm really sorry about that from the bottom of my heart because I have to deal with the courts I understand that you know from our point of view and you're right I understand the legalities and the constraints as a resident I'm not going to speak for all the residents but I'm guessing a lot of the field the way I do yeah when you when you're in your home and you're watching and it's supposed to be secure with the keypad and the locked doors and the entrances supposed to be controlled and people are constantly constant flow of people off the street coming to buy drugs walking right into your living room basically mm-hmm okay and you know around the building seeing if there's anything they can steal etc knocking on your door because they got the wrong door when the drug dealers down the other end of the building you know it's very easy to tell them okay you want the other end of the building you know because you know it can tell what they're there for sometimes they knock on the doors at three in the morning I can hear the stairway door all night long they come up the stairs though because there aren't any cameras in the stairway and they know that of course they know that they sleep in the stairways a lot of them so I you know I understand the constraints but I find it hard to believe that something can't be done to at least well one thing is being done as Jim mentions there is going to be a meeting on the 26th correct at 9 o'clock at 101 College Street and I'll tell you it's a huge local concern the only answer I think is organizing tenants is having tenants and residents organize organize organize and make something happen okay gonna get those tenants that are terrorized out of their apartments to organize that's where we're stuck well we'll do everything we can help right it was that's why we need help from outside that's what we're here for right and I appreciate that I appreciate the attention on the problem because the tenants are probably not going to solve it because we don't have enough in a building our size if we can get enough people to band together and be organized we can literally probably do it ourselves drive them out of the building just like our presence okay so we don't have the people that's why I mean but you might on the 26 right we're gonna have some hope okay I think we're out of time for the day but we'll be back I'm sure and I want to thank you Bob for being so forthright and Jim also who's been with the people of this city for a very long time and we'll be back in a month or so or sooner if we have some Thank you both for your interest in your efforts okay thank you thank you


Local business here, they're doing really well, they have a lot of orders and when you have orders, you can often receive financing. You're a banker by profession and receivables-based financing, for example. And if you have to go outside your community to get backing for receivables-based financing, that's great. You may have to look a little bit beyond, for example, what you've done in the past and not just go the traditional routes. This is where sometimes people get discouraged, is they think it's just ABC, but there's in fact a whole alphabet of options out there. But it's work, it's tiring, and it can seem like a full-time job. And so I think sometimes it helps to have partners, what I call accountability partners. So let's say that on your goal list for the year is I've decided I want to make this decision to grow by X percent in my business. I have gone ABC in the past with my funding options. I'd like to look into others. Can we meet weekly so that I can share my goal with you and you can ask me how I'm doing? They may have a goal that they want to discuss with you and then you are accountable, you're their accountability partner as well. People don't get some secret gas tank that they plug into and they go, go, go. These are tricks that entrepreneurs use to trick themselves into staying motivated and keeping going. Even at that one million dollar, that multi-million dollar level, they do this. They rely on each other and beyond that group of five or whether you have eight or ten, many of them will have accountability partners. And they say, you know, I want to do this, but you help me make sure I'm going to do that. And that's an extra little bit of motivation to know you're meeting with that person for lunch on Friday. And you better have called D, E and F on your list by then.