how are you today? This is Marc, I'm doing great! Thanks for asking! John has to make up a lesson this week. I wonder if he's up for it. In this lesson I'm going to talk about phrasal verbs, so stay tuned. Great! In this lesson we're going to talk about an exciting topic, that is phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are very important in English. Why? Because we use them every day, we use them informally. So what do I mean by formally? By, for example, talking to someone or by typing an email to a friend. We use them every day. A phrasal verb is a two or more words put together to create a new meaning. The second point that I wrote about phrasal verbs is they're used mostly in informal contests, as opposed to Latinate verbs. They're verbs that have a Latin root. For example, put off. Put off is the same as postpone or let down, as opposed to disappoint and make over, which is renovate. Another, if you want to say renovate is more formal. The third point that I want to mention is that there can be verb plus adverb. The examples here are set off, which means leave, keep on, which means persist, sit down, obviously you know what it means, and the last one catch on, be accepted. Now there also can be verb plus preposition, for example, look after, and it means to take care, or come across, find by chance, and the last one can be verb plus adverb plus preposition. Look forward to, it means can't wait for, or come up against, encounter, and the last one put up with tolerate. I can't put up with this teacher. He gives me the creeps. I'm joking. So also phrasal verbs can be separable, inseparable, or both. Separable phrasal verbs are the ones that you can separate actually. For example, ask somebody out. This means to invite on a date. For example, I asked Mary out last night. So in this case, we separate the phrasal verb. Ask, marry somebody out. Inseparable phrasal verbs are the ones that you can't separate. For example, get together. Get together, or look after right here. Always state the same. For example, let's get together tomorrow. You cannot say let's get tomorrow together. No, let's get together tomorrow. Both separable and inseparable. What do I mean by this? You will see it in a second. Take off the plane took off at 5 p.m. And this is one meaning. Now if I separate the take off, take something off, it means something else. For example, she took her t-shirt off.  Another example, call in. So in this case, we have together, so inseparable. He called in early this morning. This means communicate by phone. Or if we want to separate it, I need to call a specialist in. Summon for assistance. Now a very important phrasal or phrasal verbs that you can find are the ones that have get. And there is a special lesson on get. If you click here, you can watch that lesson. So get by itself means a lot of things like fetch, arrive, buy, etc. If you add an adjective, it takes the form of a reflexive. For example, get married, get thirsty, get wet, etc. If you add a particle, a particle can be a preposition or an adverb, it becomes a phrasal verb. So it changes completely the meaning. For example, get away, it means to escape. Or get back, it means to recover, to retrieve. Or get by, survive financially. I also mentioned get together, etc. So most importantly, how do we learn phrasal verbs? Well, by writing a sentence of your own, for example. Or by reading. Or by watching a movie. Obviously, you need to be immersed in the language. So not just, you know, I'm telling you this, but write an example of your own and then maybe have a teacher or someone who knows English corrected. If you wish, you can write your own example under this video and I will correct it, okay? So now let's recap. In this video we talked about phrasal verbs. What are they? They're two or more words put together to create a new meaning. There can be separable, inseparable or both. They're actually used in everyday English informally, when talking to a friend or when writing an email to a friend, etc. That's it for today. Thank you very much for watching. If you have questions, if you have comments, or if you want to post your own example of a phrasal verb, you may do so under this video. Please, if you liked the video, share it with your friends. And if you have subscribed to my channel, I suggest you do. Next week you'll get a new lesson. Have a great day and see you next week. Take care, bye-bye.


One DFACONI alloy embedded in a carbon matrix framework is rationally designed through an improved electrospinning method to enhance electromagnetic wave absorption performance, resulting in an increasing effective absorption band of 1.3 GHz at an ultra-thin thickness of 2 millimeters. This article was authored by Bintang Yang, Jeffing Fong, Chunyang Su, and others.


Welcome to all to this interview session with Kishore Maibabani. I assume because you're here you probably have some idea who he is, but let me introduce him briefly. Kishore is a former head of the Singaporean Foreign Ministry, twice ambassador to the United Nations, now Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School at NUS. He's a man who's written about how one of the characteristics of Asians is a willingness to avoid conflict, but thankfully he doesn't always live up to that himself, and so it makes for a lively discussion and is prepared to take things on. His most recent book is called The New Asian Hemisphere, The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. Kishore, it's a great read, and I was very struck in the opening chapters, the way in which you weave in your own personal story and the transformation in your life with the broader story of the rise of Asia. Could you perhaps recap some of that for the audience? Well, I decided to begin on a very personal note because I suspect that very few people could realize that you could actually grow up with five of us living in a one-room house in Singapore in a typical developing country with no flush toilet until the age of 10 with racial riots at my doorstep with people cutting each other with bottles, and I saw that as a 10-year-old child right in front of my house. So to grow up in a sort of very typical third world environment and then in the course of my own lifetime to sort of live in a first world society, I believe that the journey that I travel is one that is now going to be traveled by hundreds of millions of people, if not billions of people. And the critical thing I realized that to succeed you actually got to believe that you can succeed. I mean, to be very candid, when I grew up as a child in Singapore and it was a British colony until I was about 11 years old, I actually believed that I was ethnically inferior, that whatever we call the white man, the westerner, was naturally superior, naturally was smarter, performed better and we Asians would always be second class.  And that, you know, you just imagine that, you know, that would have been inconceivable when I was in school or university and now you have this complete reversal and that's why I wanted to put it in personal terms because when you multiply it by hundreds of millions and billions you realize that this really is a big story. And do you think that that's a story in a way that unites very disparate parts of Asia because in a way that's something that the Chinese are going through, that Indians are going through as well and it creates a sort of Pan-Asian sympathy, they understand that there's a sloughing off of old poverty but also psychological burdens. Yeah, well I think that was the big advantage, actually. You know, when you grow up as a minority, ethnic minority within a minority, I grew up as an ethnic Cindy and the Indians only 6% of the population, the Cindy's only 10,000 people and in a Chinese majority society I could actually, I found through my personal experience as an Indian I could connect with over a billion people in India growing in a Chinese majority society I could connect directly with a 1 billion people in China and both our neighbors, ironically, we were Hindu refugees from Pakistan when my mother arrived in Singapore in 1947 and all through my childhood, both our neighbors were Muslims and so again we had a very close relationship with our Muslim neighbors and that enabled me to also connect with the Islamic world and I think it's the capacity to understand the three of the biggest streams in Asia that enables me to write so confidently that when I speak about Asia, it actually applies not just to the Chinese in Singapore, the Malays in Singapore or Indians in Singapore, it applies to much larger societies because I've seen them. And what if I were to say to you, but hang on Keetal, we're talking about 40% or more of the world's population, is it even conceivable that one can generalize about such a huge group? Yeah, I mean I'm sure when you dig deep into it there will be lots of differences but what's interesting to me is watching the Asian reactions to my writing and I get very large block of sympathy in China. Apparently my Chinese name, Mark Aishaw, is very well known in China, if you Google it, I'm better known in the Chinese-speaking world than I am in the English-speaking world and if I travel to India, of course quite naturally there's an affinity because of my ethnic background but also frankly when I go to Iran or when I go to the Arab-speaking world and when people have watched me, for example, on BBC Hard Talk at the interview, I got emails from Morocco, from China, from India saying, hey, we're glad you spoke up for us. And when you're speaking up for us, so to speak, are you in a sense also telling the West off and saying, look, we've had it with being lectured to by the West? Is that part of the message? Yeah, well, I think, you know, as you know, one of the most significant aspects of the era we're entering now is what I call the end of the era of Western domination of world history and this domination was overwhelming for over 200 years and so it's like layers of Western influence that had been wrapped around the world and now these layers of Western influence are being unwrapped around the world and in the process, all kinds of minds are changing and I found it, one of the things that I found most puzzling is that the Western societies are supposed to be among the most open societies in the world, the most receptive to new ideas, but they've been very resistant to accepting this idea that we're reaching the end of the era of Western domination of world history and part of the reason why, as you know, I write things as sharply as I do the reason I do that is to provide a kind of wake-up call to the West and say stop trying to do things in the same old way that you did before except the fact that you got to share power with the rest of the world and essentially the good news that I have for the Western world and I want to emphasize this because as you know, there's so much pessimism today in the West, it's ironic that I as an Asian now feel obliged to inject some optimism into the Western world and say don't, don't, it's not over, it's not over, you haven't lost everything, you've got hope, you've got hope, keep on fighting, you can do it, you know? So it's sort of ironic that someone with my background is now telling the West, you know, don't give up. Is it also enjoyable in the West? Now that's getting too personal. Now I think, the reason why I studied philosophy at the National University of Singapore is because I like the clash of ideas. So what I enjoy is actually meeting a formidable debater and then having a good debate because it's my nature. And so, and then having to deal with so much Western arrogance, you know, which I can tell you at the end of the Cold War was amazing and it was my good fortune that I was in Harvard in 91-92 at the peak of the Francis Fukuyama Essay, the end of history. And I remember many of the Harvard professors just found it inconceivable that there could be any other road of history except the Western road of history. And that's when I began to realise, hey, they've got to listen to something new. Okay, now you've argued that the West can learn now having dished out lessons for many years to the rest of the world, now needs to learn some lessons. And I think one of the things you think is that the West has become very un-pragmatic, as you put it, that Asians are more pragmatic. Could you expand on that? Well, I think if you look at this crisis, just in the last three years, okay, what's happened? And I think, firstly, if you look at the causes, in the case of the United States of America, to put it very bluntly and briefly, Alan Greenspan actually believed, ideologically, that markets were smarter than governments. Let the invisible hand do all the work and everything will be okay. And that was a huge ideological mistake he made. The Asians never believed that. The Asians believe you need the invisible hand of free markets and the visible hand of good governance. So you have to combine the two. And I always say, somewhat unkindly, in the land of the two-handed, the one-handed is at a disadvantage. So that's why I think, and I think the role of government, and Ronald Reagan, unfortunately, he was a great president in many other ways. One of the worst things he ever said, which I think damaged Western society was his line, government is not the solution. Government is the problem. And I can tell you the one thing that virtually all Asian societies agree upon is that, you need government. Societies need government because if you don't have governments, things will get much, much worse. As you know, in the Chinese mindset, the thing that they fear more is not the lack of freedom. The thing that they fear most is chaos, luan. And that's why having strong governance is so important. And frankly, as it now turns out, the big lesson of this last crisis is that you need to emphasize and develop good governance in all societies. And for the West, it will be very painful backtracking from the ideological positions they used to take. Even further, I think in my own newspaper, and I'll give you that the West is one of its promises, it tells itself lies. Now what do you mean by that? Well, I think frankly, and even listening to Chancellor Merkel yesterday here, I mean the one thing that Asians have learned, because the Asians actually have struggled enormously to escape two centuries of inferior performance. And the lesson that they have learned in the two centuries of struggle is that change doesn't come easily. That to succeed, you have to have painful sacrifice, you have to work harder, and you have to, you know, sacrifice for the long term. And I find not a single Western politician, not Obama in his State of the Union speech, not Chancellor Merkel yesterday speaking to us, will use the word sacrifice and say, I'm sorry, the good times are over, we can't get them back, but let's work harder, let's sacrifice now, and then we can transform and change. But the word sacrifice, I mean, waiting for one major Western politician to use it. But don't Asians, you know, some Asian countries also tell lies just of a different sort.  Well, it is a fact that all governments lie. I have not yet found a single government that doesn't lie to its people. And frankly, if any government decides to be truth 100% of the time, it obviously hasn't read Marquis Valley and doesn't realize that that's not how you run governments. And from time to time, you go to shape messages and all so on and so forth. But the question is the degree of lying. And here, one of the biggest failures in Western understanding of China is that they see the Communist Party and they assume that the Communist Party is a dictatorial force sitting down and oppressing the Chinese people. Actually, the last 30 years of Chinese Communist Party rule have been the best 30 years that the Chinese have enjoyed the last 200 years and they do see the Chinese Communist Party rule as having liberated them from lots of things. As long as the Chinese population considers the government legitimate, right, there is a bond between the two, it can carry on. Because the Chinese Communist Party is acutely aware that the minute they stop performing, the minute they stop delivering economic growth, they can be gone very quickly. So there is a social contract over there that exists. And the difference is that the reason why I say there's greater lies in the West than in the East is because the social contract is broken down because people don't realise that they've got to make some fundamental transformations if the West is going to turn around. Now, a popular debate in the West and also in Asia as well is this contrast between China and India. Who will succeed better? Will it be the democratic system of India or the more authoritarian one-party system of China? Where do you come down on that debate or do you see that as a misleading debate and the commonalities being more interesting? I think frankly both will succeed. But both will succeed differently. I mean, China will succeed because of its government. India will succeed despite its government. And they are very, very different. That's as if you believe that democracy is a disadvantage for India. No, no, no. Not at all. In fact, I do think that all societies have to become democratic eventually and that's actually a competitive advantage that India has over China because China will have to make a painful transition to democracy at some point in time. But the critical thing as I explained in my book is that the reason why both are succeeding is because they're both understood, absorbed and are implementing what I call seven pillars of Western wisdom. So I give the West a lot of credit for the success of Asia and it is these things like free market economics and mastery of science and technology, the culture of pragmatism, meritocracy, all these things they're implementing in their own way and that's why I think both will succeed. What about this issue that I raised in the introduction is a question of conflict avoidance. I mean, you think that the West in recent years has made a mistake by sort of looking for fights around the world particularly in the Middle East and the nations say in Burma have taken a different view. Yeah, I think the thing that's most surprising is that internally within the Western universe, within the European Union, within North America, there's total peace. But the United States has, I mean, I like the United States but to be objective, has emerged as the most trigger happy country in the last 10, 20 years. And I think it's got to learn that war is not the solution. It wasn't the solution in Iraq. It's not going to be the solution in Iran. And if you compare and contrast, when we decide to adopt a long-term policy of engaging Myanmar or Burma, everybody laughed at ASEAN and said, you're not going to change the military regime through this kind of engagement process. And believe me, I'm absolutely astonished at how quickly Myanmar has opened up in the last few weeks, far beyond my expectations. But I think that's a result of this drip, drip, drip method of every day exposing the Myanmar rulers to the rest of Southeast Asia. And then they can ask themselves the obvious question when they fly to Bangkok or Lumpo, Hanoi, Singapore, why are we not progressing? Why are they progressing? And it's by making them aware that things have changed. And that's what I would do with Iran. I would, frankly, and don't forget that Iran, like China, like India, represents one of the oldest civilizations in the world that has its own cultural traditions and the Iranians are among the smartest people in the world. Engage them, expose them to the rest of the world, and then over time, you will evolve. What about those who argue that actually the future of Asia may not be that peaceful and may not always be characterized by an avoidance of conflict because there's a growing anxiety about the power of China and the way it's clashed with the Japanese, over the fishing boats, the Vietnamese, the Indians, last time I was there, were very anxious about their territorial dispute. Aren't things actually a little bit more tensor and more conflictual than you think? Well, I mean, as you know, geopolitics has been around for 2,000 years. It would be around for another 2,000 years. And whenever you have rising powers, it is natural to have rising tensions. And that's why one of the best things that the Lee Kuan Yew School has done is to raise an $8 million endowment fund to study how China and India can avoid conflict. So we do believe that there is a threat of that happening and that's why we're investing money in that. So it is possible. And I would say there's a 10 to 20% probability of some kind of conflicts emerging in Asia. I don't rule that out. But I still think there's an 80 to 90% probability of it emerging peacefully. Because remember one important thing. Fortunately, all the leaders of China and India remember what life was like 30, 40 years ago, right? Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping went through the Cultural Revolution. They know how bad life was then. They know that this is the best historical moment that China has had. This is the best historical moment that India is having. So why waste it on conflict? And you have to, in a sense, be almost devoid of common sense to engage in that kind of conflict. And I think that's amazing in Asia is some brilliant success stories that no one writes about. The Taiwan Strait was supposed to be one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world today. No one talks about Taiwan Strait as a geopolitical flashpoint. That's because of a very slow, patient strategy of gradually linking Taiwan economically with China. So in a sense, we're coming back to where we started, where a certain sort of wisdom comes out of knowing in your childhood real turmoil, real poverty, and then you can recognize how much you have to lose, perhaps from a more advantage perspective. But since we're coming to a close, could I ask you to look a little further ahead? You talk about, in the book, about the irresistible shift of power to the East and the rise of Asia. So what would the world look like? How will it differ and feel different from how it does now, say, in 30, 40 years' time, when China is easily the world's largest economy, when India is up there in the top three or four? A shift of power, will that necessarily make things feel less comfortable for the West, or will it be a different sort of world? I'm going to apologize for my optimism. I actually think that we are headed into the best century that humanity has ever enjoyed. And I actually believe that this century will not just be good for the Asians, because they'll have a traumatic improvement in standard living. The number of people living in the middle class in Asia is going to grow from 500 million people today to 1.75 billion by 2020. That kind of change you've never seen before in history. But the West will also benefit from this change. And if the West engages Asia in a different way, in an equal way, without trying to be condescending or looking down and so on and so forth, then I think we can have a wonderful new era of human history, where I wrote about this incidentally almost 20 years ago in response to Samuel Huntington. I said we will not see a clash of civilizations until the 21st century. I say we will see a fusion of civilizations. And that's coming. What about those who say the environment can't take it, that it may be frightfully unfair, but as a matter of fact, if Asians live like Americans, if they all have cars and fridges, the world's going to fry? I completely agree. And I think the Asians have got to accept the fact that life is unfair, that even though the Americans have a number of cars, they refuse to tax their gasoline, they refuse to make any sacrifices, I think Asians got to accept that they will have to grow differently. And fortunately, by the way, in the case of China, it's got the largest solar program, one of the largest wind turbine programs. India's got larger wind turbine programs. There's an awareness in the governments that they got to grow in a green way. But will it happen fast enough? I mean, the last time I was in Beijing, you look at the car statistics, there were a number of cars coming onto the roads in China, and one can't see that slowing down because everybody, it's a tool of personal liberation, people have wealth, they buy a car. Yes, but I can tell you, you're absolutely right again, but then look at cities like Seoul, okay? It was congested, crowded and everything, and then they decided to build a stream, reopen a stream in the middle of the city. They said, we need to get re-engaged back with nature, so that will come. And increasingly, I mean, if you look at how Singapore is built, the largest botanic gardens in the middle of the city, on some of the most expensive land in the city, that's in itself a very telling symbolic sign. Now, in our last five minutes, I'd just like to come back to this question of values. We were talking earlier, and you said to me, oh, the Asian values debate, it's an old one, I think that as we're looking forward to a world in which Asia is clearly bound to weigh much, much more economically, culturally, and so on, a big question is whether the kind of values that we in the West, a lot of people in the West, have come to believe are universal, beliefs in certain forms of human rights, individualism, et cetera, actually are universal, or whether they stem from a distinctly Western tradition, or whether, in fact, we're right. And in the end, there'll be a sort of, maybe even Dara said Fukuyama was right, and that there will be a convergence around a universal model which does involve individualism, human rights, democracy, et cetera. I mean, clearly some values are universal. I don't like to have my nails pulled out. I don't want to be tortured in Guantanamo. I don't want to be hanged naked in Abu Ghraib. It's true. I mean, none of us likes to be tortured, so I think those kinds of values will be universal. And so, there's no fight over those kinds of issues. I also think that democracy will be universal, that all societies, one way or another, will have to become democratic. But the question is not the destination, the question is the root. And I think the biggest mistake that the West has made is to try and export democracy and to say, hey, I'm right and you are wrong. Whether you do it by the Iraqi road of invading a country, which is a disaster, or you try and preach to the Asians, and I think the fundamental point I make at the very beginning is that we have reached the end of the era of Western preaching. So if these values are universal, and I agree they're universal, let them be absorbed in their own way. Let people choose them and accept them. And what people actually have not noticed, I mean, even if you look at China, right, which is technically still run by the Communist Party of China, the amount of freedom that the individual, average Chinese citizen enjoys today is almost like 100 years ahead of what they had in Mao's Cultural Revolution. So they made an enormous transformation in the quality of life. They can travel around the world. Every year 40 million Chinese leave China freely and return to China freely. Why? Not because it's a prison, but because it has actually liberated the population. So I do believe that it's going to happen. But what's not going to happen if people are saying, hey, you're the West, you're right and you're wrong. And if that's what the West is waiting for, then we'll be disappointed. Okay, good note to end on. Tony, thank you very much indeed.


Please welcome our national adjutant, Mark Burgess. Thank you, Burl, and good morning, everyone. It is great to see so many faces at our 2023 midwinter conference. I want to start us off by acknowledging how wonderful it is to be here in person and what an important event our midwinter conference is in demonstrating our collective strength. Thank you for coming out to take an active role in veterans advocacy. Our objective in being here today is to show our elected leaders our determination and commitment to the veteran community. At last year's midwinter conference, I was excited to announce the acquisition of DAV Patriot Boot Camp, which was formerly an independent 501c3. With this acquisition, DAV absorbed a community of thousands of entrepreneurs, supporters, and mentors who participate in formal and informal training and mentorship. In the program's inaugural year, we hosted two significant in-person training events and provided monthly training and resources to empower founders to succeed. This initiative complements DAV's ongoing efforts to support and advocate on behalf of service disabled veterans on small businesses. In the coming year, DAV plans to host at least three in-person entrepreneurship events and will continue to work with business leaders to make the business world accessible to those who sacrifice to make the American dream possible to us all. As founders achieve their business goals, we know they will hire more of their fellow veterans and spouses and help one another succeed in their careers or as entrepreneurs. There are so many ways DAV touches the lives of veterans and their families, but the work you do this week amplifies our voice and goes as far as anything we do throughout the year in our push to ensure justice for our brothers and sisters. Our federal lawmakers just across the river have the sacred obligation to care for those who have worn our nation's uniform. No matter where their battlefield was, in the mountains of Afghanistan, the deserts of Iraq or Syria, in the skies over Europe, the islands of the pacifists, the jungles of Vietnam or elsewhere, there is a place for everyone and DAV through advocacy. Some of what makes America stand apart for much as the world is the ability to do what we will do here this week and that is to get together, walk into the offices of our elected officials and ensure our voices are heard. It's a hallowed pillar of our democracy and something every veteran has served to protect. Our advocacy isn't just for show nor is it done in vain. Each year DAV advocates like yourself gather on our nation's capital to discuss the issues most important in our community and create impactful change. With plenty of advocacy is done through our team here in Washington DC, there is no more effective method than having all of you here to speak with your elected representatives. They need to hear from you. Over the next few days I encourage you to speak honestly and directly with your elected officials and their staffs. Your experience and that of your families is invaluable in shaping their priorities and influencing policies that will touch the lives of everyone in this room and the millions of our brothers and sisters who are not. To put it another way your presence puts an authentic face on the needs of the veteran community. I can't think of any other group of people who are better equipped to advocate for improvements in veteran health care than those that use the VA regularly. One issue that continues to be paramount in our community is the tragedy of veteran suicide. Last July the Veterans Crisis Line moved to a simpler format where callers now only need to press 1 after calling 988 to reach a crisis counselor. By the end of the year the line had handled a nearly 10 increase compared to 2021. Calls have shown no sign of slowing into this year with counselors answering nearly 4,000 calls on New Year's Eve and the first day of 2023 a 30 increase compared to the previous year's holiday. We applaud efforts to make the hotline number easier to remember by simply dialing 988 and pressing 1. That's 988 and press 1. And while approved access to mental health crisis services is key there is still so much more work to be done. Everyone here is under a firm understanding that the stressors of the pandemic have not subsided and that suicide prevention is more than just having easier access during an emergency. Veterans and their families continue to struggle financially with the rising costs of rent, food and other basic goods. These households continue to face difficult decisions on whether to pay rent, keep the power on or buy groceries. Far too many of our fellow veterans have been impacted by these trying times but so many DAV and auxiliary members are doing wonderful impactful work in communities nationwide to ensure that no veteran is left behind. And for that I am grateful and could not be prouder. In addition to keeping up this important work remember to check on your friends. You never know what someone might be struggling with so remember to make that occasional phone call or buddy check. You can be the difference in that person's life and potentially save it. It's hard to believe that next month marks the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. While the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may have come to a close lingering ailments from these combat operations remain. We are also marking 15 years since DAV brought the subject of burn pits to the attention of the American people and we've led the way from the very beginning. As a result of our long-term advocacy today we know more about the effects of service-related traumas, adverse health effects from toxic exposures and ramification from blast exposure injuries than we did two decades ago. While the VA has the responsibility to care for our nation's veterans it is our responsibility to ensure that VA has the resources necessary to do it effectively. We at DAV get firsthand experience at protecting the benefits veterans earned during their service. But it is also our duty to make them easier to access. As you engage in important meetings this week I want to keep in mind DAV's critical policy goals and legislative priorities. While hundreds of thousands of disability claims have been submitted to the VA under the PACT Act far too many veterans who have suffered from toxic and environmental exposures still do not qualify or are awaiting benefits. We must ensure these veterans get the care and benefits that they have rightfully earned. DAV is also committed to strengthening benefits for veteran survivors stopping unjust offsets in veterans benefits advancing equity in health care and benefits for women and minority veterans and ensuring the VA delivers timely comprehensive world-class care to all veterans. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time out of your busy lives to come here to advocate for those who defended our freedom and for future generations of veterans. Thank you for your leadership and willingness to step up for our community. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all of our DAV auxiliary members who serve and advocate alongside their loved ones. All of you are the lifeblood all of you are the lifeblood of DAV and we could not do this work without you. That's why it's so vital important that we have a full room of DAV members on Capitol Hill Tuesday when Commander Parsettich delivers his testimony before Congress. Our lawmakers need to see you because you are our strength. Thank you. Now let's get the work and make a difference in veterans lives. Thank you.


This is Orson Welles speaking from London, the Black Museum, a repository of death. Yes, here in the Grimstone structure on the Thames, which houses Scotland Yard, is a warehouse of homicide, where everyday objects, or teapots, or sewing needle, folding camera, all are touched by murder. Now, here's a handkerchief, a khaki handkerchief, soldier's handkerchief, common enough sort of thing during the war. A handkerchief's stock, fairly clean, if a bit moly. That would be from exposure, Thompson. Looks like army issue. It is, but no hero used it. You can bet on that. Well, that handkerchief can be seen today in the Black Museum. Canals of the Criminal Investigation Department of the London Police. We bring you the dramatic stories of the crimes recorded by the objects in Scotland Yard's gallery of death. The Black Museum. Here we are at the Black Museum in Scotland Yard. Just come to this silent room. Outside, the Thames is busy with London's river traffic, and just upstairs, police communications tap from the teletypes ring from the telephones. But here, as I say, is silence. Now, here's a length of garden hose. Once it was connected to an exhaust of a car, from there up through the floorboards. The time was winter. The driver rode with all the windows closed, and the car crashed. The man died. It wasn't exactly an accident. No, it was murder. Here's a German Mauser, more trophy-heavy gun. Strange, a tiny woman held it with two hands, smudged her own fingerprints. She was found out. Her hands gave her away. The paraphernal test, you know, for gunpowder smoke. Ah, here we are. Here it is, the cocky handkerchief. Originally it was intended for camouflage. Fairly shouted for recognition at the right time in the wrong place. Yet the trouble first appeared as the commonplace ringing of a telephone. Yes? This is Liz Hart. How are you? Fine. And you? All right. I'm a little worried, though. Kathy's so late getting home. Is she with Doris? Well, they're not here. I thought Doris was with Kathy at your house. Or probably stop at one of their friends' houses. Now, don't you worry.  So ordinary, so commonplace. One mother worries the other dozens. And later, around six, the warrior, Mrs. Hart, Kathy's mother, speaks to her husband. You'll have to speak to Kathy when she gets home. Isn't she home? It's practically dinnertime. I thought she was in her room. She's off somewhere. Oh, John, I'm so worried. To call the places where she might be? Hours ago. No one's seen her. Well, we'll have to wait until 6.30. Then I suppose we'll have to start looking for her. Oh, when will Kathy learn to let us know? 6.30. No Kathy. No word from Kathy. This time the telephone rings in the Hart household. Mrs. Lyons is calling Mrs. Hart. Yes. I assumed you'd call me if Doris turned up with Kathy at your house. Oh, dear, I wonder where they can have gotten to? Well, frantic, Mrs. Hart cradled the telephone looks to her husband. Together they leave the house go under the darkening street to ring doorbells. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm trying to find my girl. But the carters haven't seen Kathy. It's you, sir, old man, but our Kathy seems to be among the unaccounted four. No. Bradley's haven't seen Kathy. Sorry to bother you. Have you seen anything of Arlo? No. The Corbett's haven't seen Kathy. Oh, please. I'm almost frantic. Where's my arlo? No one. No one has seen Kathy. No one's seen Doris. Word is getting around. Now the rumours spread. The time grows later. All of Penn, Rustic, Penn, and Buckinghamshire is buzzing now. At the end, the tap room is crowded. Closing time draws near. Still, no word. Oh, Penn Inn landlord speaking. Oh, this is John Hart. Look, Lyons and I are together at my place. Do you think some of the men would help us start a search? Well, I'll ask them, Mr. Hart. I'm sure they will. Now you stay right where you are. We'll be along very soon. Can I have your attention, men? Your attention, men. Hart and Lyons need help. They want to start a search. Now, how many of you fellas will help? After all, neighbours and neighbours, and if we can... So it begins. The long-hired search continues. It's six hours now. They've been missing. It's dark, very, very little moon. The lanterns of the searches move around the village of Penn through the fields and the clumps of trees. In ever-widening circles, the men beat the fields. At the heart home, two mothers wait and wait. Nothing yet. The sun rides high above the fields and wards of Buckinghamshire. The sun passes its course, descending behind the hills to the west. Already the search is hundreds of them now, but moved outward from Penn some four miles out through. The night is coming on. The doorbell rings. Yes? Just on my way to the inn, ma'am, from all entrances. Just to tell you, we'll keep at it all night, if need be. And there's nothing yet? Night again. Now the police are in the search, with a group of soldiers from the nearby camp. Suddenly, monotonously, the men work their voices subdued, the lanterns barbing and weaving over the countryside. Outward, always outward from Penn, five miles now, six miles. As the radius lengthens, there's more ground to cover. False dawn greys the sky to the east, and the morning starlow in the west begins to pale. I found something. Covered up the leaves they were, just behind me here. A tragic news back to Penn. And the little wood with its running stream and the bodies were found. Two of Scotland Yard's inspectors, Thompson and Stark, took over together. Now is the time for professionals at manhunting. I don't think they were killed here, do you? No, chances are against that. One of the men brought me this. A handkerchief, Stark, fairly clean, if a bit moldy. That would be from exposure, Thompson. Looks like army issue. It is, but no hero used it. There are tire marks and an oil patch over to the right. Truck tires, double rear wheels, army truck it looks like. Plastic casts. The men are making them now. Army truck, army handkerchief. Anything else? Not yet. All right, let's get out of here. We've got a killer to find. I mean these two. Grimly, they said about the work. Stark takes the gas mask container, the plastic cast, the handkerchief to the experts at the yard. Thompson stays on in Penn. He visits a different kind of yard. Doris and Kathy were once my pupils, Inspector. I have a very personal reason for wanting to help you. But just how can I? It doesn't need me to tell you, Miss, how observant children can be. Now, it occurred to me that some of the kids in your school who live near the heart's home might have noticed something unusual on their way back from school. Of course, it's only a shot in the dark, but a child might remember something that a grown-up would forget. I see what you mean, Inspector. Right then. Now, who in your class lives near the heart's? Let me see now. Linda Carter. Oh, yes, and Kenneth Bradley. They're playing just over there. Come with me. Now then, what's your name, young lady? Linda. Linda Carter. And yours, Milad? Kenneth Bradley, sir. I understand you two both live in the same street as the heart's. Yes, sir. I live next door. Kenneth's a couple of houses down. Right, Kenneth? Yes, sir. Now, I know you'd like to help me if you could. I think your teacher told you I'm from the Scotland Yard. She sure did. You don't look like a detective. Detectives usually don't look like detectives. Now, let me tell you something. We're looking for a truck, a large, heavy truck. An army truck, maybe. Maybe? Why? Did you see one, say, a day before yesterday? Yes, sir, at the crossroads. Just standing there. Well, I saw it too. It was a big one. Oh, any one in it? Just the driver. He had an awful red face. And he had glasses on with silver rings. He was sitting there smoking. Can you tell me anything about the truck? No, I just remembered the man in it. It looked like a wireless truck, but it didn't have any aerial. There were those big double wheels on the back and a number 44 on the door and a red and blue square on one side and a tailboard had some letters. J, B, I think. And on the front bumper, there was bat, C, B, M. Batteries C prime mover. Anything else, Kenneth? Not that I can think of, sir. No, sir. How old do you think the driver was, Linda? Oh, 26. You seem very sure. Did you ask him? No, sir. But he looked about my father's age and daddy's 26. I heard him say so. Thank you, Linda. You too, Ken. You've been very helpful. When you come to London, I'll see to it that you're shown through the yard. You're like that, I'm sure, eh? Inspector Thompson sought out his colleague Stark at Scotland Yards. I've got good descriptions. The truck and the driver. How about you, old man? Lawn remark and the handkerchief. Print on gas mask container, that's all. Anybody seen them in the truck? A man and a woman, about a mile apart, along the line from the school towards where they were found. Any numbers on the truck? Battery, regiment and division insignia. That laundry mark's going through the mill. H-2503 has been checked in every laundry in the county of Buckingham. Good. I'll get on to Army Intelligence. We'll find that truck, the outfit that uses it, and the man who drives it. A leaky axle drips oil, does it? We'll see about that. Well, that handkerchief can be seen today in the Black Museum. It was routine, except for the unforgettable side of leaf- shrouded bodies in the wood. The mechanics of tracing a laundry marker, routine. Preservation of plaster casts of tire marks, that's routine, grim routine. With an inevitability about it, pursuing a routine, Inspector Thompson called Army Intelligence and spoke with a colonel whose main function was liaison with the civilian police. Those are the details, colonel. Well, four, four. That's it. Sounds like one of those fours and six-by-sixes we've been getting for our field artillery.  Thank you. Like war, crime detection is largely a matter of waiting, waiting for information, waiting for results when the wanted alarms are sent out, waiting for a suspect to appear at a certain place. And now Thompson and Stark waited for answers to the inquiries in a matter of hours. The answers began to come in. There's a report on the laundry, Mark Thompson. Ties in with a series, giving an army outfit stationed about five miles outside of Penn Village. It begins to fit. It begins to fit. Patiently and grimly, the two men went along, waiting. Once again, the telephone. Inspector Thompson here. Colonel Gardnight. Here he comes, Stark. Good. Go ahead, colonel. That truck apparently belongs to the 44th Battalion, Devonshire Blues, a battery-sea prime mover. Where is that outfit, sir? The south coast of further field training. Thank you, colonel. Shall I advise the Sierra down there to expect it? If you would, it should take us about... about two hours. You move fast, don't you? Thank you, again, sir. If he's still with that outfit, we'll get him. If he's still alive, we'll get him. Oxford, Stark.  We're going to the country. Traffic was light and gasoline rationed England. Some two hours later, Thompson and Stark conferred with a major, commanding the battalion. Yes, we do have a prime mover with a leaky axle, gentlemen. As a matter of fact, it's in the shed just outside. May we see it, major? Yes, of course. This way. Has the tyre cast, Stark? Good. Our accommodations are still a bit primitive. No proper garage facilities. We just moved into this setup day before yesterday. We understand, major. You've been having much trouble with that truck? Yes, yes. A few days ago, just before we broke camp near Penn, that's over in Buckingham, sir. Yes. We know the plan. We've released the truck to the maintenance depot. Apparently, there isn't much they can do with it. But eventually, there's a problem. Ah. Well, there we are. J.B. on the tailboard. Have a look at the inside, will you? I'll take the tyres and the markings. Check. 44 on the door, yes. Big enough. The leg can hardly miss it. Red and blue square. Our battery should have patched, Inspector. Yes, I thought so. Markings all checked. Let me see now. The tyres. They are falling in here, Thompson. Yes, tyres checked with the cast, Stark. Well, we expected that. Here's something on the tarpaulin. What do you make of these stages? Want a guess, old man? Well, your guess is as good as mine. And it'll be confirmed by pathology. Blood. I think we're through here, Major. May we go back to your office, please? Blood on the tarpaulin. Crumpled up and tossed into a corner of the truck. I don't think there were kill here, do you? No. Chances are against that. No blood around here. But blood on the tarpaulin of the truck. The two detectives in the major went back to the ordinary room. I think we'd better see the driver of that truck, Major. Oh, yes, of course. Sergeant Cattle. Yes. Do you know who drives the prime mover for Battery C? Oh, that'll be Triscoll, sir. Oh, where is he now? I expect he's in the battery day room, sir. Oh, bring him over, will you? With his gear. Duffel bag, the whole outfit. Yes, sir. Sergeant turned and left. The major with Thompson and Stark waited silently. Each busy with his own thoughts. An army is a cross-section of the population, they say. If this Driscoll did this thing, part of that cross-section, I suppose, let blood stain. I hope there's enough for pathology to type it. Lawn remarks. If shirts and underwear all have the same mark as the handkerchief. If he's the man. In the day room of Battery C, the situation is normal. The sergeant walked in without attracting too much attention.  What's up, Sarge? You are. Major wants you. What's wrong now? He didn't tell me. Let's get over to quarters first. What for? Major wants to see your gear. All of it. Oh. Let's go. Was the waiting over? Out of the seeming anonymity of the army, had they found their man, and so quickly? In my office, Sergeant. Yes, sir. Driscoll, Major. Thank you, Sergeant. Dismiss. Please, Driscoll. Thank you, sir. This is Inspector Thompson and Inspector Stark, Scotland Yard. They have some questions, Driscoll. Answer them. I'll try, sir. Oh, he's all yours, gentlemen. May I examine your duffel bag, Driscoll? Of course, sir. Blood is rather wet, isn't it? Caught in the rain, sir. Must have been quite a rain to go through the pockets like this. It was, sir. You're sure you didn't wash it yourself and pack it before it was dried? No, sir. It was the rain, sir. How do you explain the shirt? The cuffs cut off like this. Came back from the laundry with the cuffs all frayed. I cut them off and used a shirt around the tractor. I see. Driscoll, does this handkerchief look familiar to you? Like any other handkerchief, Inspector? Thompson. The laundry marks. Here. Colour of the shirt. I see it. We'll try again, Driscoll. Look at the laundry marks on the shirt and on the handkerchief. Seems to be yours, doesn't it? I wouldn't know about laundry marks. They're identical. Aren't they?  All the army issue is the same, sir. We get a lot of trouble getting things back from the laundry. Someone else could have had this handkerchief. Rather a careless laundry, Driscoll. Sorry, sir. Yes, sir. Have a look at this tarpaulin, Driscoll. Yes, sir. What's your guess about those stains? Grease, sir. That shape? That colour? Might be blood, sir. This tarpaulin comes from your truck, Driscoll. I never saw the stain, sir. Might be someone swapped this one for mine. Driscoll, where were you on the 19th? Three days ago. Maintenance depot. Repairs. Leaky axle. Did they repair it? They couldn't. Not in the time we had before we moved down here. I see. Anything else, Stark? Not at the moment. Major, we'd appreciate it if you'd hold this man and Rescott. There are still a few inquiries to be made. Yes, of course, Inspector. Sergeant, in here, please. There were still the loose ends on identification on the laundry problem. Driscoll wore horn-rimmed glasses. Inspector Thompson asked some more questions. I see, Corporal. He wore army issue and suddenly bought himself the horn frame. You joked with him about it, and he didn't like it. You were angry, didn't you? Inspector Stark visited the regimental laundry depot. No complaints from Gunner Driscoll about losing things for him.  I see. Thank you. Stark stayed with the shirt. A battery made of briskles had noticed the missing cuffs. The night you rolled in here, you noticed the cuffs missing. That was the night of the 20th. Very good. Inspector Thompson turned up an interesting item. Say that again, Sergeant. The night we came in here, we heard about those two in the woods. We were shooting the breeze about it in the day room. All at once, sir. Driscoll looks around and says, 10 to 1 is a murderer in here. That's what. And once again, a telephone. Oh, it's for you, Inspector. Thank you, Major. Inspector Thompson speaking. He did? I see. It's been checked at criminal records. Good. Very good. Yes, of course, I wanted the word at once. Thank you very much. May I find something? The crew we left at Penn turned up the second gas mask container. Metal, this one, had a print on it. They checked in criminal records. The fingerprint belongs to an Oscar Driscoll. It served a term eight years ago for molesting and impairing the morals of a minor. Oscar Driscoll, you're under arrest. The charge is willful murder of Kathy Hart and Doris Lyons on the afternoon of October the 19th. Well, that handkerchief can be seen today in the black museum. The defense, of course, was insanity. The defense tried to prove that Driscoll suffered from schizophrenia, spread personality, that he had no recollection of what he'd done and therefore no legal responsibility. A jury brought in its verdict, and finally this man died with the hands of the public executioner. There was apparently no doubt in the minds of the jury that this man had known and planned exactly what he'd done. At any rate, the khaki handkerchief remains in its usual place. In Scotland Yard, in the black museum. And now, until next time, till we meet again in the same place.  I remain as always, obediently always.


This research examined the effects of land use and land cover change, LUCC, over a 21-year period in the Dongting Lake region of China. It found that the area covered by forests increased while the area covered by crops decreased. Additionally, the area covered by impervious surfaces such as roads and buildings also increased. These changes were associated with a decrease in carbon storage, but an increase in gross primary production, GPP. Furthermore, the researchers found that certain landscape patterns were more beneficial to certain ecosystem services. For example, crop yields were positively correlated with areas of cropland, while carbon storage was positively correlated with areas of forest. This article was authored by Jinluan Zhao, Shiguang Lu, Zhao Wang, and others.


A recent study has provided insight into the genetics underlying the risk of developing multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological disease with no known cause or cure. Knowledge of how the disease risk is affected by genetics may improve our understanding of the biology of MS, which might ultimately have implications for MS diagnosis and treatment. The risk of developing MS is known to be influenced by variation within a set of genes coding for human leukocyte antigens, or HLA's, which are used by the immune system to distinguish the body's own cells from infected or foreign cells. Specific HLA variants can either increase or decrease the risk of MS. However, for MS as well as other diseases influenced by multiple genes, important questions remain, including whether genetic risk is determined by additive effects or driven by complex interactions between risk variants. In the particular case of MS, although HLA genes are known to affect risk, it is also unclear whether HLA variants interact with non-HLA risk variants to influence MS risk. The new study examined HLA gene variants in tens of thousands of European MS patients. Certain HLA genetic variants were associated with an elevated risk of MS. These variants were consistently of the HLA subtype that generally plays a role in detecting pathogens and other foreign material outside a cell, known as Class II. In sharp contrast, a subset of variants of the HLA subtype that typically helps to detect foreign material inside a cell, known as Class I, protected against MS. These results confirmed both known and suggested associations between HLA variants and MS, and also revealed novel associations. In British patients in particular, two genetic interactions between Class II HLA variants were identified. In each case, one variant reduced or abolished the increased MS risk associated with a second variant. These interactions were the only two cases of Class II HLA variants decreasing the risk of the disease, and they indicate that the variants had non-additive effects on the likelihood of developing MS. HLA genes and non-HLA genes associated with MS risk instead had additive effects, with no apparent interactions. This work has implications for understanding MS. The HLA genes play a key role in the immune system in general and in MS risk specifically, with greater effects than for non-HLA genes. HLA variants thus provide unique clues for further research into how this disease develops. More specifically, if researchers can understand how Class I HLA variants reduce MS risk, or how Class II HLA interactions mitigate the risk of certain variants, they may discover new ways to improve the diagnosis of MS, and even new ways to treat the disease.


The one thing that will make you remain broke forever. I remember when I was a little boy, I hated my parents, especially my father, for marrying each other because both of them have AS genotype and as a result of that, I have SC genotype and that made me a sickly boy. I suffered terrible rheumatism for the first 17 years of my life and whenever I remember that it wasn't my fault to be in such a terrible situation, I hated my father for it. However, when I grew up, I understood that it doesn't matter who caused my problem. My problem is my headache. In today's video, I'll be sharing with you the reason why most people remain broke all their lives and how you can avoid such a trap. If you're new here, consider subscribing so you won't miss other interesting videos like this. Now do this. Go out today and speak with 100 people who are poor and ask them what they think is the reason why they are broke. 99% of these people will tell you something like, I'm poor because the government is bad. I'm poor because there is no opportunity in my country and I'm broke because my employer is selfish. While some of these excuses may be genuine, the truth is that you are broke because you are broke. Just as I knew that my health problem as a boy was my father's fault, you may know that your poverty is someone else's fault. But let me tell you the truth, nobody will bear the pains with you. It's your life and your pain and nobody cares about it. You may think that the government of your country is the reason for your poverty but I assure you that the man who is ruling your country now doesn't know you exist. He may promise heaven on earth but he doesn't know you or experience your pain. You may think that you are broke because your employer is selfish and doesn't pay you well. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but here it is, as you watched this video, your employer is probably thinking about how to pay you less or use you more. If you are like I was and blame your parents for your pains, well, they probably don't have any power to help you, expecting more from heaven than from the earth. I'm a Christian so I grew up in a society where most people expect too much from heaven and too little from the planet earth. Unfortunately, the earth is the primary source of everything we need. Today I see a lot of people who are expecting too much from the outside world and nothing from their inner world. This is a poor life strategy. As a young adult, I noticed how everyone around me complained about everything, what the government does, what the economy does and what the devil does. These people expect their lives to be fixed by external forces. I decided to do the opposite. I decided to expect no favor from my parents, the government or the economy. I decided to build myself up so much that even if I had to live in the poorest country of the world, I'll still be rich. I expected no miracle from the external world. I focused on preparing myself, acquiring valuable skills and building my own life by myself. Yes, it wasn't easy, but because I never expected anything from an employer, a government or my parents, I was able to fight with all my strength and that is the reason why I won. What if you were an animal? At a point in my life, I started thinking, what if I was an animal? What if I was a lion, a bee or an ant? If I were an animal, won't I create my shelter, food and security all by myself? The question I have for you is, what if you were an animal? If you were an animal, would you wait for a government to care for you? Would you have an employer who gives you a job? Would your parents care for you? Of course not. If you were an animal, you'll be strong. You'll know that if you're not willing to fight to get your food, you'll die starving. You'll know that if you don't work hard to create your own shelter, you'll be in danger of some other predators.  If as a human, you can live as if you were in the jungle, you'll be rich and successful. If you're in the jungle, I know, it appears as if you're living in a civilized world. It seems as if you're living in a modern city. But that's not true. In the real sense of it, you're living in the jungle. You're in the jungle because everything that happens in the jungle happens right here. Nobody cares about you in the jungle. Nobody cares about you here. If you don't fight for your food in the jungle, you'll starve. If you're weak in the jungle, the strong animals will eat you. If you're weak here, some strong people will employ and enslave you.  This is the reality, though you may have other opinions. You may think that your employer should care more about you. You may think that the government should make life easy for you. You may think that the rich should give you a million dollars but it won't happen because nobody knows you exist. Be Responsible Most people are poor not because they don't have what it takes to be rich but because they are not taking responsibility for their life. Most people somehow expect that other people should help them fix their lives. This is my advice for you. Be Responsible Take responsibility for your life. Look at the mirror and blame the person you see there because that's the only person who can rescue you. Let me conclude this video by reminding you of the major point in Steve Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. You see, there are two kinds of people in the world. People who wait for things to happen and people who go out and fight for things to happen. More than 90% of the world's population is composed of waiters. They hope to be rich but they think it will just happen. They wish their lives change but they think it will change if someone else can help them. They want to go to heaven but they don't want to die to reach there. No, you have to die to get to heaven. Yes, death is painful and scary but until you die, you cannot get to heaven. Though the journey to greatness is tough, though it's hard to build a business, though it's painful to fall and fail, though it's easier to be ordinary than to pursue your dreams.   If you want to be rich, get out and fight hard, take the risk and make mistakes. Fight, fight, fight hard and never give up.


If you remove joy from the homeschooling process, you've ruined the whole thing, right? And so my whole thrust personally and professionally is to try to help homeschoolers be joyful.