The Odyssey Alpha test is at last with us and finally the Elite Dangerous Playerbase gets their first tentative sample of what Frontier's vision for boots on the ground gameplay in the Elite universe should be. In this video we're going to spell out what we know about that vision, where it leaves us right now and what the future may hold. If you enjoyed this video hit like and subscribe and remember to click the little bell icon and select all notifications as that stuff really helps the channel. If you'd like to further support our work you'll also find us on Patreon, links to everything you need are in the description below. We're at an interesting and slightly terrifying juncture for the life of Elite Dangerous, for Frontier's hopes for their flagship product and for the playerbase's expectations for a game that many have quite a passionate sense of ownership about. It's the point when Frontier's vision meets head on with a player's passion and expectations. That vision at Frontier has already had to pass through a filter inside the company made up of design decisions, available manpower and both technical and fiscal reality. So what is Frontier's vision for what they're calling the biggest expansion that Elite Dangerous has ever had? Recently we were fortunate enough to be invited along with a huge sway of other content creators to an online presentation by Frontier about Odyssey. We didn't see any gameplay at the presentation and it wasn't really a content reveal either, what we did see however was a small glimpse of the design ethos behind Odyssey and what Frontier is aiming for its first foray into the world of space legs. Small caveat at this point, I'm not going to claim to know where Frontier is going with this, in that regard they were fairly typically tight lipped and I'm fine with that, I do however have some impressions on what I think they're shooting for no pun intended and a few gut feelings on what Odyssey means and where we might be going on the journey with Odyssey pun fully intended. Odyssey paraphrasing Frontier's own words to us is looking to show the wild west of space a slice of life on the frontiers of Elite Dangerous. If you start thinking dusty outposts and small settlements on the fringe, eking out an existence from the dirt far away from the glittering lights of the federation, Empire and Alliance capital cities then you're in the right ballpark. At one point a question was asked about the large circular city like starport specifically that feature in the game at the moment and it appears that whilst they are still present and will indeed feature interior social hubs they don't yet have any gameplay specifically constructed around their exterior spaces. Odyssey concerns itself much more with the backwaters of civilisation in space than it does main street hustle and bustle. I mentioned at the start of this video about player expectations and how they butt up against developer design decisions. The expectation in the player sphere and indeed in this house was that the launch of Odyssey would see new SRVs or variations on the SRV theme if for no other reason than to add to the participation in the much lauded feature of the sphere of combat. After all the venerable SRV has seen little to no change in its core gameplay since its first appearance in the game way back in May of 2016 nearly 5 years ago as we record this. The way SRVs are used by the player base has certainly changed and I'm not sure they have ever been used in the action packed manner that they were shown in the early horizons gameplay trailers. In the intervening years since their appearance the surface recon vehicle has become a racing car and a platform for planetary surface circumnavigation however no new additions have been made to a chassis that we know is modular by design and no new gameplay has been added for the SRV by Frontier. If we know one thing about Frontier however it's that they quite often go left when we think they're going to go right and the SRV in Odyssey at launch at least certainly seems to be a prime example of that. The question was asked during the presentation about new SRVs and the answer came back that there were none at launch however and this is important a hint was dropped that more would be happening on the SRV front after launch. How far after launch we have no idea but there are the facts for you nonetheless. The SRV issue brings me to a primary point I wanted to make about Odyssey there's a lot in it. When Frontier says it's the biggest update the game has ever had they're not kidding it's huge. The entire crop of currently landable worlds has been completely reworked then tenuous atmospheric worlds have been added on top of that all the ground installations and settlements have been refreshed and given interiors stations all have interior social spaces then there's gameplay around the buildings new missions etc and that's just the stuff we currently know about. We think it extremely likely that New Guardian and Thargoid gameplay is on its way as well at some point. But whilst Odyssey is huge we think more importantly it sets up the future of Elite Dangerous. It's a massive update but it also feels like along with all its new content and experiences it's also bringing a technological infrastructure with it a framework that Frontier can then build on going forward. If you've only joined Elite Dangerous in the last couple of years then you could be mistaken for thinking that this massive expansive galaxy had been largely static since its inception but that just isn't the case. It is true that during the last couple of years the development of the main game has indeed faltered somewhat and aside from fleet carriers there really wasn't a huge amount added to the game at all. If anything when Galnet went quiet and the Thargoid advance suddenly stopped many claimed that Frontier was in the process of shutting down the game but the pit we never believed that was the case and in fact we're now of the opinion that whether it was a good idea or not the reason development on the main game suddenly stalled is in all likelihood because the company poured every development resource it had available into Odyssey. Elite Dangerous is that most of in vogue modern video game experiences a game as a service. In order to survive as such it has to keep the player base constantly engaged in a multi year experience no main feat and in order to keep the player base engaged they require a constant and regular flow of new content, new toys and new things to look forward to. In Elite's early years that's exactly what it did. New features and things to do were constantly added to the game. I've linked below to the Elite Wiki page that details everything added since launch as to list them all here would take too long but the list is huge and contains things like community goals, power play, planetary landings, engineers, ship launched fighters, passenger missions and core mining. It's a huge list and all this was very much emblematic of the golden era of Elite Dangerous when the game had regular quarterly updates and content drops. I've honestly no reason to believe that the game is about to go through some sort of content renaissance and that we're going to see regular content drops like this again. It would be nice but Frontier aren't yet saying what the plan is but if this is what they're planning then we would like to think that many of the much requested player features like ship interiors and spacewalks etc are now in a much better position to be added to the game as Odyssey appears to be laying the foundation that just that kind of gameplay along with lots of other opportunities like thicker atmospheric worlds, more complex alien life, interaction with gas giants or cometary bodies etc could be built on. One last small point. The last paid expansion that Elite Dangerous had was Horizons. It's headline feature being the first planetary landings we've ever had in the game, the moniker of horizons thereby perhaps having a slightly obvious meaning. We are wondering what the meaning if there is one behind Odyssey is. I honestly have no opinion on this but I'm curious to know if you do. Is it just the first literal step on the journey that is Elite Dangerous or is there more to it? The expansion almost certainly contains surprises that we aren't yet aware of. Are we perhaps going on a journey a literal Odyssey of some sort with the expansion that we don't yet know about? Give us your thoughts in the comments below. That's it for now, thanks very much for watching. If you enjoyed this video consider subscribing to the channel and maybe take a look at one of our other videos linked on screen right now.


Section 31 of the Life of Samuel Johnson, Volume 1. Next day we got to Harwich to dinner, and my passage in the packet-boat to Helwitslois being secured, and my baggage put on board, we dined at our inn by ourselves. I happen to say it would be terrible if he should not find a speedy opportunity of returning to London and be confined to so dull a place.  It would not be terrible, though I were to be detained some time here. The practice of using words of disproportionate magnitude is no doubt too frequent everywhere, but I think most remarkable among the French, of which all who have travelled in France must have been struck with innumerable instances. We went and looked at the church, and having gone into it and walked up to the altar, Johnson, whose piety was constant and fervent, sent me to my knees, saying, Now that you are going to leave your native country, recommend yourself to the protection of your Creator and Redeemer. After we came out of the church we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Barclay's ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that everything in the universe is merely ideal. I observed that, though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone till he rebounded from it. I refute it, thus. This was a stout exemplification of the first truths of Père Bufier, or the original principles of Reed and of Beattie, without admitting which we can no more argue in metaphysics than we can argue in mathematics without axioms. To me it is not conceivable how Barclay can be answered by pure reasoning, but I know that the nice and difficult task was to have been undertaken by one of the most luminous minds of the present age had not politics turned him from calm philosophy aside. What an admirable display of subtlety united with brilliance might his contending with Barclay have afforded us. How must we, when we reflect on the loss of such an intellectual feast, regret that he should be characterised as the man who, born for the universe, narrowed his mind, and to party gave up what was meant for mankind. My revered friend walked down with me to the beach where we embraced and parted with tenderness and engaged to correspond by letters. I said, I hope so you'll not forget me in my absence. Johnson. Nay, sir, it is more likely you should forget me than that I should forget you. As the vessel put out to sea I kept my eyes upon him for a considerable time, while he remained rolling his majestic frame in his usual manner, and at last I perceived him walk back into the town, and he disappeared. Utrecht, seeming at first very dull to me after the animated scenes of London, my spirits were grievously affected, and I wrote to Johnson a plaintive and desponding letter, to which he paid no regard. Afterwards, when I had acquired a firmer tone of mind, I wrote to him a second letter expressing much anxiety to hear from him. At length I received the following epistle, which was of important service to me, and I trust will be so to many others. Dear sir, you are not to think yourself forgotten or criminally neglected that you have had yet no letter from me. I love to see my friends, to hear from them, to talk to them, and to talk of them, but it is not without a considerable effort of resolution that I prevail upon myself to write. I would not, however, gratify my own indolence by the omission of any important duty or any office of real kindness. To tell you that I am or am not well, that I have or have not been in the country, that I drank your health in the room in which we sat last together, and that your acquaintance continued to speak of you with their former kindness, topics with which those letters are commonly filled, which are written only for the sake of writing, I sell them shall think worth communicating. But if I can have it in my power to calm any harassing disquiet, to excite any virtuous desire, to rectify any important opinion or fortify any generous resolution, you need not doubt, but I shall at least wish to prefer the pleasure of gratifying a friend much less esteemed than yourself, before the gloomy calm of idle vacancy. Whether I shall easily arrive at an exact punctuality of correspondence I cannot tell. I shall at present expect that you will receive this in return for two which I have had from you. The first indeed gave me an account so hopeless of the state of your mind that it hardly admitted or deserved an answer. By the second I was much better pleased, and the pleasure will still be increased by such a narrative of the progress of your studies as may evince the continuance of an equal and rational application of your mind to some useful inquiry. You will perhaps wish to ask what study I would recommend. I shall not speak of theology, because it ought not to be considered as a question whether you shall endeavour to know the will of God. I shall therefore consider only such studies as we are at liberty to pursue or to neglect. And of these I know not how you will make a better choice than by studying the civil law, as your father advises, and the ancient languages, as you are determined for yourself. At least resolve, while you remain in any settled residence, to spend a certain number of hours every day amongst your books. The dissipation of thought of which you complain is nothing more than the vacillation of a mind suspended between different motives, and changing its direction as any motive gains or loses strength. If you can but kindle in your mind any strong desire, if you can but keep predominant any wish for some particular excellence or attainment, the gusts of imagination will break away without any effect upon your conduct, and commonly without any traces left upon the memory. There lurks perhaps in every human heart a desire of distinction, which inclines every man first to hope and then to believe that nature has given him something peculiar to himself. This vanity makes one mind nurse aversion and another actuate desires till they rise by art much above their original state of power, and as affectation in time improves to habit, they at last tyrannize over him who at first encouraged them only for show. Every desire is a viper in the bosom, who, while he was chill, was harmless, but when warmth gave him strength, exerted it in poison.  Vacant to every object and sensible of every impulse, he thought that all appearance of diligence would deduct something from the reputation of genius, and hoped that he should appear to attain amidst all the ease of carelessness and all the tumult of diversion, that knowledge and those accomplishments, which mortals of the common fabric obtain only by mute abstraction and solitary drudgery. He tried this scheme of life a while, was made weary of it by his sense and his virtue, he then wished to return to his studies, and finding long habits of idleness and pleasure harder to be cured than he expected, still willing to retain his claim to some extraordinary prerogatives, resolved the common consequences of irregularity into an unalterable decree of destiny, and concluded that nature had originally formed him incapable of rational employment. Let all such fancies, elusive and destructive, be banished henceforward from your thoughts for ever. Resolve and keep your resolution. Choose and pursue your choice. If you spend this day in study, you will find yourself still more able to study tomorrow, not that you are to expect that you shall at once obtain a complete victory. Depravity is not very easily overcome. Resolution will sometimes relax and diligence will sometimes be interrupted, but let no accidental surprise or deviation, whether short or long, dispose you to despondency. Consider these failings as incidents to all mankind. Begin again where you left off, and endeavour to avoid the seducements that prevailed over you before. This, my dear Boswell, is advice which perhaps has been often given you, and given you without effect, but this advice, if you will not take from others, you must take from your own reflections if you purpose to do the duties of the station to which the bounty of Providence has called you. Let me have a long letter from you as soon as you can. I hope you continue your journal, and enrich it with many observations upon the country in which you reside. It will be a favour if you can get me any books in the Frisic language, and can inquire how the poor are maintained in the seven provinces. I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate servant, Sam Johnson, London, December the 8th, 1763. I am sorry to observe that neither in my own minutes nor in my letters to Johnson which have been preserved by him, can I find any information how the poor are maintained in the seven provinces, but I shall extract from one of my letters what I learnt concerning the other subject of his curiosity. I have made all possible inquiry with respect to the Frisic language, and find that it has been less cultivated than any other of the northern dialects, a certain proof of which is their deficiency of books.  I have not yet been able to find these books. Professor Trott, who formerly was of the University of Vranikon in Friesland, and is at present preparing an edition of all the Frisic laws, gave me this information. Of the modern Frisic, or what is spoken by the Boers at this day, I have procured a specimen. It is Gisbert Yappix's Remellery, which is the only book that they have. It is amazing that they have no translation of the Bible, no treatises of devotion, nor even any of the ballads and story books which are so agreeable to country people. You shall have Yappix by the first convenient opportunity. I doubt not to pick up Scotanus. My dear Trott has promised me his assistance. 1764. Eittat. 55. Early in 1764, Johnson paid a visit to the Langton family, at their seat of Langton in Lincolnshire, where he passed some time much to his satisfaction. His friend, Bennett Langton, it will not be doubted, did everything in his power to make the place agreeable to so illustrious a guest, and the elder Mr. Langton and his lady being fully capable of understanding his value, were not wanting an attention. He, however, told me that old Mr. Langton, though a man of considerable learning, had so little allowance to make for his occasional laxity of talk, that because in the course of discussion he sometimes mentioned what might be said in favour of the peculiar tenets of the Romish Church, he went to his grave believing him to be of that communion. Johnson, during his stay at Langton, had the advantage of a good library, and saw several gentlemen of the neighbourhood. I have obtained from Mr. Langton the following particulars of this period. He was now fully convinced that he could not have been satisfied with a country living, for talking of a respectable clergyman in Lincolnshire he observed, this man, sir, fills up the duties of his life well, I approve of him, but could not imitate him. To a lady who endeavoured to vindicate herself from blame for neglecting social attention to worthy neighbours by saying, I would go to them if it would do them any good. He said, What good, madam, do you expect to have in your power to do them? It is showing them respect, and that is doing them good. So socially accommodating was he, that once when Mr. Langton and he were driving together in a coach, and Mr. Langton complained of being sick, he insisted that they should go out and sit on the back of it in the open air, which they did. And being sensible how strange their appearance must be, observed that a countryman whom they saw in a field would probably be thinking, if these two madmen should come down what would become of me. Soon after his return to London, which was in February, was founded that club which existed long without a name, but at Mr. Garrick's funeral became distinguished by the title of The Literary Club. Sir Joshua Reynolds had the merit of being the first proposer of it, to which Johnson acceded, and the original members were Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Edmund Burke, Dr. Nugent, Mr. Bokelark, Mr. Langton, Dr. Goldsmith, Mr. Chamier, and Sir John Hawkins. They met at the Turks head in Gerard Street, Soho, one evening in every week, at seven, and generally continued their conversation till a pretty late hour. This club has been gradually increased to its present number, thirty-five. After about ten years, instead of supping weekly, it was resolved to dine together once a fortnight, during the meeting of Parliament. Their original tavern, having been converted into a private house, they moved first to Princes in Sackville Street, then to Lateliers in Dover Street, and now meet at Parslow's St. James's Street. Between the time of its formation, and the time at which this work is passing through the press, June 1792, the following persons now dead were members of it. Mr. Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, Mr. Samuel Dyer, Mr. Garrick, Dr. Shipley Bishop of St. Assoff, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Thomas Wharton, and Dr. Adam Smith. The present members are Mr. Burke, Mr. Langton, Lord Charlemont, Sir Robert Chambers, Dr. Percy Bishop of Dromor, Dr. Barnard Bishop of Killaloo, Dr. Marley Bishop of Clonford, Mr. Fox, Dr. George Fordice, Sir William Scott, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir Charles Bunbury, Mr. Wyndham of Norfolk, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Gibbon, Sir William Jones, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Stevens, Dr. Bernie, Dr. Joseph Wharton, Mr. Malone, Lord Ossary, Lord Spencer, Lord Lucan, Lord Palmerston, Lord Elliot, Lord McCartney, Mr. Richard Burke, Jr., Sir William Hamilton, Dr. Warren, Mr. Courtney, Dr. Hinchcliffe Bishop of Peterborough, The Duke of Leeds, Dr. Douglas Bishop of Salisbury, and the writer of this account. Sir John Hawkins represents himself as a sissida from this society, and assigns us the reason of his withdrawing himself from it that its late hours were inconsistent with his domestic arrangements. In this he is not accurate, for the fact was that he one evening attacked Mr. Burke in so rude a manner that all the company testified their displeasure, and at their next meeting his reception was such that he never came again. He is equally inaccurate with respect to Mr. Garrick, of whom he says, he trusted that the least intimation of a desire to come among us would procure him a ready admission, but in this he was mistaken. Johnson consulted me upon it, and when I could find no objection to receiving him, exclaimed, he will disturb us by his buffoonery, and afterwards so managed matters that he was never formally proposed, and by consequence never admitted. In justice both the Mr. Garrick and Dr. Johnson I think it necessary to rectify this misstatement. The truth is that not very long after the institution of our club, Sir Joshua Reynolds was speaking of it to Garrick. I like it much, said he, I think I shall be of you. When Sir Joshua mentioned this to Dr. Johnson, he was much displeased with the actor's conceit. He'll be of us, said Johnson. How does he know we will permit him? The first Duke in England has no right to hold such language. However, when Garrick was regularly proposed some time afterwards, Johnson, though he had taken a momentary offense at his arrogance, warmly and kindly supported him, and he was accordingly elected, was a most agreeable member, and continued to attend our meetings to the time of his death. Mrs. Piotzi has also given a similar misrepresentation of Johnson's treatment of Garrick in this particular, as if he had used these contemptuous expressions. If Garrick does apply, I'll blackball him.  I am happy to be enabled by such unquestionable authority as that of Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as from my own knowledge, to vindicate at once the heart of Johnson and the social merit of Garrick. In this year, except what he may have done in revising Shakespeare, we did not find that he laboured much in literature. He wrote a review of Granger's sugarcane poem in the London Chronicle. He told me that Dr. Percy wrote the greatest part of this review, but I imagine that he did not recollect it distinctly, for it appears to be mostly, if not altogether, his own. He also wrote in the critical review an account of Goldsmith's excellent poem, The Traveller. The ease and independence to which he had at last attained by royal munificence increased his natural indolence. In his meditations, he thus accuses himself. Good Friday, April 20, 1764. I have made no reformation. I have lived totally useless, more sensual in thought, and more addicted to wine and meat. And next morning he thus feelingly complains. My indolence, since my last reception of the sacrament, has sunk into grosser sluggishness, and my dissipation spread into wilder negligence. My thoughts have been clouded with sensuality, and except that from the beginning of this year I have in some measure for borne excess of strong drink, my appetites have predominated over my reason. A kind of strange oblivion has overspread me, so that I know not what has become of the last year, and perceive that incidents and intelligence pass over me without living any impression. He then solemnly says, This is not the life to which heaven is promised, and he earnestly resolves an amendment. It was his custom to observe certain days with a pious abstraction, vis New Year's Day, the day of his wife's death, Good Friday, Easter Day, and his own birthday. He this year says, I have now spent fifty-five years in resolving, having from the earliest time almost that I can remember been forming schemes of a better life. I have done nothing. The need of doing, therefore, is pressing, since the time of doing is short. Oh God, grant me to resolve a right, and to keep my resolutions for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Such a tenderness of conscience, such a fervent desire of improvement, will rarely be found. It is surely not decent in those who are hardened in indifference to spiritual improvement to treat this pious anxiety of Johnson with contempt. About this time he was afflicted with a very severe return of the hypochondriac disorder which was ever lurking about him. He was so ill as notwithstanding his remarkable love of company to be entirely averse to society, the most fatal symptom of that malady. Dr. Adams told me that as an old friend he was admitted to visit him, and that he found him in a deplorable state, sighing, groaning, talking to himself, and restlessly walking from room to room. He then used this emphatical expression of the misery which he felt. I would consent to have a limb amputated to recover my spirits. Talking to himself was indeed one of his singularities ever since I knew him. I was certain that he was frequently uttering pious ejaculations, for fragments of the Lord's prayer have been distinctly overheard. His friend, Mr. Thomas Davis, of whom Churchill says, that Davis hath a very pretty wife. When Dr. Johnson muttered, leadeth not into temptation, used with waggish and gallant humour to whisper Mrs. Davis, you, my dear, are the cause of this. The Life of Samuel Johnson Volume 1 by James Boswell Section 32 He had another particularity, of which none of his friends ever ventured to ask an explanation. It appeared to me some superstitious habit which he had contracted early, and from which he had never called upon his reason to disentangle him. This was his anxious care to go out or in at a door or passage by a certain number of steps from a certain point, or at least so as that either his right or his left foot, I am not certain which, should constantly make the first actual movement when he came close to the door or passage. Thus I conjecture, for I have upon innumerable occasions observed him suddenly stop, and then seemed to count his steps with a deep earnestness, and when he had neglected or gone wrong in this sort of magical movement, I have seen him go back again, put himself in a proper position to begin the ceremony, and, having gone through it, break from his abstraction, walk briskly on and join his companion. A strange instance of something of this nature, even when on horseback, happened when he was in the Isle of Skye. Sir Joshua Reynolds has observed him to go a good way about rather than cross a particular alley in Leicester Fields, but this Sir Joshua imputed to his having had some disagreeable recollection associated with it. That the most minute singularities which belonged to him, and made very observable parts of his appearance and manner, may not be omitted, it is requisite to mention that while talking or even musing as he sat in his chair, he commonly held his head to one side towards his right shoulder, and shook it in a tremulous manner, moving his body backwards and forwards and robbing his left knee in the same direction with the palm of his hand. In the intervals of articulating, he made various sounds with his mouth, sometimes as if ruminating or what is called chewing the cud, sometimes giving a half whistle, sometimes making his tongue play backwards from the roof of his mouth as if clucking like a hen, and sometimes protruding it against his upper gums in front as if pronouncing quickly under his breath too, too, too. All this accompanied sometimes with a thoughtful look, but more frequently with a smile. Generally when he concluded a period in the course of a dispute, by which time he was a good deal exhausted by violence and vociferation, he used to blow out his breath like a whale. This, I suppose, was a relief to his lungs, and seemed in him to be a contemptuous mode of expression, as if he had made the arguments of his opponent fly like chaff before the wind. I am fully aware how very obvious an occasion I here give for the sneering jocularity of such as have no relish of an exact likeness, which to render complete, he who draws it must not disdain the slightest strokes. But if whittling should be inclined to attack this account, let them have the candor to quote what I have offered in my defence. He was for some time in the summer at Easton Mordit, Northamptonshire, on a visit to the reverent Dr. Percy, now Bishop of Dromel. Whatever dissatisfaction he felt at what he considered as a slow progress in intellectual improvement, we find that his heart was tender, and his affections warm, as appears from the following very kind letter. To Joshua Reynolds, a squire in Leicester Fields, London, Dear Sir! I did not hear of your sickness till I heard likewise of your recovery, and therefore escaped that part of your pain which every man must feel to whom you are known as you are known to me. Having had no particular account of your disorder, I know not in what state it has left you. If the amusement of my company can exhilarate to the languor of a slow recovery, I will not delay a day to come to you, for I know not how I can so effectively promote my own pleasure as by pleasing you on my own interest, as by preserving you, in whom, if I should lose you, I should lose almost the only man whom I call a friend. Pray let me hear of you from yourself or from dear Miss Reynolds. Make my compliments to Mr. Mudge. I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate and most humble servant, Sam Johnson. At the reverent Mr. Percy's at Easton Mordit, Northamptonshire, by Castle Ashby, August the 19th, 1764, 1765, Eittat 56. Early in the year 1765 he paid a short visit to the University of Cambridge with his friend Mr. Beau Clark. There is a lively, picturesque account of his behaviour on this visit in The Gentleman's Magazine for March 1785, being an extract of a letter from the late Dr. John Sharp. The two following sentences are very characteristical. He drank his large potations of tea with me, interrupted by many an indignant contradiction and many a noble sentiment. Several persons got into his company the last evening at Trinity, where, about twelve, he began to be very great, stripped poor Mrs. Macaulay to the very skin, then gave her for his toast and drank her in two bumpers. The strictness of his self-examination and scrupulous Christian humility appear in his pious meditation on Easter Day this year. I purpose again to partake of the blessed sacrament, yet when I consider how vainly I have hitherto resolved at this annual commemoration of my Saviour's death to regulate my life by his laws, I am almost afraid to renew my resolutions. The concluding words are very remarkable and show that he laboured under a severe depression of spirits. Since the last Easter I have reformed no evil habit, my time has been unprofitably spent, and seems as a dream that has left nothing behind. My memory grows confused and I know not how the days pass over me. Good Lord, deliver me! No man was more gratefully sensible of any kindness done to him than Johnson. There is a little circumstance in his diary this year which shows him in a very amiable light. July the second I paid Mr. Simpson ten guineas which he had formally lent me in my necessity and for which Teddy expressed her gratitude. July the eighth I lent Mr. Simpson ten guineas more. Here he had a pleasing opportunity of doing the same kindness to an old friend which he had formally received from him. Indeed his liberality as to money was very remarkable. The next article in his diary is July the sixteenth I received seventy-five pounds lent Mr. Davis twenty-five. Trinity College Dublin at this time surprised Johnson with a spontaneous compliment of the highest academic honours by creating him Doctor of Laws. The diploma which is in my possession is as follows. This unsolicited mark of distinction conferred on so great a literary character did much honour to the judgment and liberal spirit of that learned body. Johnson acknowledged the favour in a letter to Dr. Leyland, one of their number, but I have not been able to obtain a copy of it. He appears this year to have been seized with a temporary fit of ambition, for he had thoughts both of studying law and of engaging in politics. His prayer before the study of law is truly admirable. Almighty God, the giver of wisdom, without whose help resolutions a vein, without whose blessings study is ineffectual, enable me, if it be thy will, to attain such knowledge as may qualify me to direct the doubtful and instruct the ignorant, to prevent wrongs and to terminate contentions, and grant that I may use that knowledge which I shall attain to thy glory and my own salvation. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. His prayer in the view of becoming a politician is entitled, Engaging in Politics with H. Blank N. No doubt his friend, the right honourable William Gerard Hamilton, for whom during a long acquaintance he had a great esteem, and to whose conversation he once paid this high compliment. I am very unwilling to be left alone, sir, and therefore I go with my company down the first pair of stairs in some hopes that they may perhaps return again.  In what particular department he intended to engage does not appear, nor can Mr. Hamilton explain. His prayer is in general terms. Enlighten my understanding with knowledge of right, and govern my will by thy laws, that no deceit may mislead me, nor temptation corrupt me, that I may always endeavour to do good and hinder evil. There is nothing upon the subject in his diary. This year was distinguished by his being introduced into the family of Mr. Thrail, one of the most eminent brewers in England, and member of Parliament for the borough of Southwark. Foreigners are not a little amazed when they hear of brewers, distillers, and many similar departments of trade held forth as persons of considerable consequence. In this great commercial country it is natural that a situation which produces much wealth should be considered as very respectable, and no doubt honest industry is entitled to esteem. But perhaps the too rapid advance of men of low extraction tends to lessen the value of that distinction by birth and gentility, which has ever been found beneficial to the grand scheme of subordination. Johnson used to give this account of the rise of Mr. Thrail's father. He worked at six shillings a week for twenty years in the great brewery, which afterwards was his own. The proprietor of it had an only daughter who was married to a nobleman. It was not fit that a peer should continue the business. On the old man's death, therefore, the brewery was to be sold. To find a purchaser for so large a property was a difficult matter, and after some time it was suggested that it would be advisable to treat with Thrail, a sensible, active, honest man who had been employed in the house, and to transfer the whole to him for thirty thousand pounds, security being taken upon the property. This was accordingly settled. In eleven years Thrail paid the purchase-money. He acquired a large fortune and lived to be a member of Parliament for Sovik. But what was most remarkable was the liberality with which he used his riches. He gave his son and daughters the best education. The esteem which his good conduct procured him from the nobleman who had married his master's daughter made him be treated with much attention, and his son, both at school and at the University of Oxford, associated with young men of the first rank. His allowance from his father after he left college was splendid, no less than a thousand a year. This, in a man who had risen as old Thrail did, was a very extraordinary instance of generosity. He used to say, If this young dog does not find so much after I am gone as he expects, let him remember that he has had a great deal in my own time. The son, though in affluent circumstances, had good sense enough to carry on his father's trade, which was of such extent that I remember he once told me he would not quit it for an annuity of ten thousand a year—not said he that I get ten thousand a year by it, but it is an estate to a family. Having left daughters only, the property was sold for the immense sum of one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds, a magnificent proof of what may be done by fair trade in no long period of time. There may be some who think that a new system of gentility might be established, upon principles totally different from what of hitherto prevailed. Our present heraldry, it may be said, is suited to the barbarous times in which it had its origin. It is chiefly founded upon ferocious merit, upon military excellence. Why, in civilised times, we may be asked, should there not be rank and honours upon principles which, independent of long custom, are certainly not less worthy, and which, when once allowed to be connected with elevation and precedency, would obtain the same dignity in our imagination? Why should not the knowledge, the skill, the expertness, the assiduity, and the spirited hazards of trade and commerce, when crowned with success, be entitled to give those flattering distinctions by which mankind are so universally captivated? Such are the specious but false arguments for a proposition which always will find numerous advocates in a nation where men are every day starting up from obscurity to wealth. To refute them is needless. The general sense of mankind cries out with irresistible force, en gentillant est toujours gentillant. Mr. Thrale had married Miss Hester Lynch Salisbury of Good Welsh Extraction, a lady of lively talents improved by education. That Johnson's introduction into Mr. Thrale's family, which contributed so much to the happiness of his life, was owing to her desire for his conversation, is very probable and a general supposition, but it is not the truth. Mr. Murphy, who was intimate with Mr. Thrale, having spoken very highly of Dr. Johnson, he was requested to make them acquainted. This being mentioned to Johnson, he accepted of an invitation to dinner at Thrale's, and was so much pleased with his reception, both by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, and they so much pleased with him, that his invitations to their house were more and more frequent, till at last he became one of the family, and an apartment was appropriated to him, both in their house at Southwark and in their villa at Streatham. Johnson had a very sincere esteem for Mr. Thrale, as a man of excellent principles, a good scholar, well-skilled in trade, of a sound understanding, and of manners such as presented the character of a plain, independent English squire. As this family will frequently be mentioned in the course of the following pages, and as a false notion has prevailed that Mr. Thrale was inferior, and in some degree insignificant compared with Mrs. Thrale, it may be proper to give a true state of the case from the authority of Johnson himself in his own words. I know no man, said he, who is more master of his wife and family than Thrale, if he but holds up a finger he is obeyed. It is a great mistake to suppose that she is above him in literary attainments. She is more flippant, but he has ten times her learning. He is a regular scholar, but her learning is that of a schoolboy in one of the lower forms. My readers may naturally wish for some representation of the figures of this couple. Mr. Thrale was tall, well-proportioned, and stately. As for Madame, or my mistress, by which epithets Johnson used to mention Mrs. Thrale, she was short, plump, and brisk. She has herself given us a lively view of the idea which Johnson had of her person, on appearing before him in a dark-coloured gown.  They are unsuitable in every way.  Mr. Thrale gave his wife a liberal indulgence, both in the choice of their company and in the mode of entertaining them. He understood and valued Johnson without remission from their first acquaintance to the day of his death. Mrs. Thrale was enchanted with Johnson's conversation for its own sake, and had also a very allowable manatee in appearing to be honoured with the attention of so celebrated a man. Nothing could be more fortunate for Johnson than this connection. He had at Mr. Thrale's all the comforts and even luxuries of life. His melancholy was diverted, and his irregular habits lessened by association with an agreeable and well-ordered family. He was treated with the utmost respect and even affection. The vivacity of Mrs. Thrale's literary talk roused him to cheerfulness and exertion, even when they were alone. But this was not often the case, for he found here a constant succession of what gave him the highest enjoyment—the society of the learned, the witty and the eminent in every way, who were assembled in numerous companies, called forth his wonderful powers and gratified him with admiration to which no man could be insensible. In the October of this year, he at length gave to the world his addition of Shakespeare, which, if it had no other merit but that of producing his preface, in which the excellencies and defects of that immortal part are displayed with a masterly hand, the nation would have had no reason to complain. A blind, indiscriminate admiration of Shakespeare had exposed the British nation to the ridicule of foreigners. Johnson, by candidly admitting the faults of his poet, had the moral credit in bestowing on him deserved and indisputable praise, and doubtless none of all his panagyrists have done him half so much honour. Their praise was, like that of a council, upon his own side of the cause. Johnson's was like the grave, well-considered and impartial opinion of the judge, which falls from his lips with weight, and is received with reverence. What he did as a commentator has no small share of merit, though his researches were not so ample, and his investigations so acute as they might have been, which we now certainly know from the labours of other, able and ingenious critics who have followed him. He has enriched his addition with a concise account of each play, and of its characteristic excellence. Many of his notes have illustrated obscurities in the text, and placed passages eminent for beauty in a more conspicuous light, and he has in general exhibited such a mode of annotation as may be beneficial to all subsequent editors. His Shakespeare was virulently attacked by Mr. William Kendrick, who obtained the degree of LLD from a Scotch University, and wrote for the booksellers in a great variety of branches. Though he certainly was not without considerable merit, he wrote with so little regard to decency and principles and decorum, and in so hasty a manner that his reputation was neither extensive nor lasting. I remember one evening, when some of his works were mentioned, Dr. Goldsmith said he had never heard of them, upon which Dr. Johnson observed, Sir, he is one of the many who have made themselves public without making themselves known. A young student of Oxford, of the name of Barkley, wrote an answer to Kendrick's review of Johnson's Shakespeare. Johnson was at first angry that Kendrick's attack should have the credit of an answer. But afterwards, considering the young man's good intention, he kindly noticed him, and probably would have done more had not the young man died. In his preface to Shakespeare, Johnson treated Voltaire very contemptuously, observing upon some of his remarks, these are the petty criticisms of petty wits. Voltaire, in revenge, made an attack upon Johnson, in one of his numerous literary sallies, which I remember to have read, but there being no general index to his voluminous works, have searched in vain, and therefore cannot quote it. Voltaire was an antagonist with whom I thought Johnson should not disdain to contend. I pressed him to answer. He said perhaps he might, but he never did. Mr. Burney, having occasion to write to Johnson for some receipts for subscriptions to his Shakespeare, which Johnson had admitted to deliver when the money was paid, he availed himself of that opportunity of thanking Johnson for the great pleasure which he had received from the perusal of his preface to Shakespeare, which, although it excited much clamour against him at first, is now justly ranked among the most excellent of his writings. To this letter, Johnson returned the following answer. To Charles Burney, Esquire, in Poland Street. Sir, I am sorry that your kindness to me has brought upon you so much trouble, though you have taken care to abate that sorrow by the pleasure which I received from your approbation. I defend my criticism in the same manner with you. We must confess the faults of our favourites to gain credit to our praise of his excellences. He that claims either in himself or for another the honours of perfection will surely injure the reputation which he designs to assist. Be pleased to make my compliments to your family. I am, sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, Sam Johnson. October the 16th, 1765. From one of his journals I transcribed what follows. At Church, October 65. To avoid all singularity, Bonaventura. To come in before service and compose my mind by meditation or by reading some portions of scriptures. Tety. If I can hear the sermon to attend it, and less attention be more troublesome than useful. To consider the act of prayer as a reposal of myself upon God and a resignation of all into his holy hand. End of section 32.


Remember way way back when John Stuart used to have this show where he mocked partisan hack media by Ironically being a hyperpartisan hack which he always explained was different when he did it because he's a comedian But it was sometimes funny because he had good writers Well, he ain't funny no more and has become a part of the very corrupt media He used to supposedly be against so this time he's appearing on the far left Democrat Party state media operation on SCNN to baselessly demonize Republicans with nobody to push back and with Absolutely nothing intentionally funny to laugh at After I show you this free coin offer from noble gold noble gold investments has made it their mission to stay on top of the most Important economic news three bank runs in less than a week These are the second largest and third largest bank runs in history The government is taking steps to guarantee all deposits That means more money printing. That's why securing your financial future with a silver IRA from noble gold investments It's such a brilliant idea this month every qualifying IRA of $20,000 or higher comes with a magnificent silver eagle bullion coin visit noblegoldinvestments.com To learn more and make sure to let them know drone tech sent you you can't go wrong with noble gold investments And remember there's always risk in investment and there are no guarantees of any kind So nowadays when you watch Republicans campaign against Democrats They don't campaign much on what they used to which was you know the Democrats or big spenders or whatever, you know what snow It's all about Critical race theory and it's all this cal cancel culture stuff. Yes. No the biggest problem Why does it work and what should the what should Democrats do? Do you are they falling for a bait in doing this? And talking about these issues I mean I Don't know if they're falling for a bait, but I mean I think Again, I don't even think half of the Republicans that do it even mean it Thank you Stuart instead of an actual argument He just proclaims that Republicans don't actually believe what they say they do It's so typical and childish of leftists like Stuart to accuse their opposition of not believing in what they advocate for Okay, so John Stuart doesn't actually believe in what he advocates for if both sides just do this you get absolutely nowhere It's a cheap tactic which he can get away with because they purposely didn't put anybody else on the show that could push back against Stuart's bullshit But nowadays when you watch Republicans campaign against Democrats They don't campaign much on what they used to which was you know the Democrats or big spenders or whatever, you know It's all about critical race theory and it's all this cal cancel culture stuff Yes, look, I'm not a Republican lab dog over here But they do campaign on many issues including Biden's failure in Afghanistan the economy the supply chain the border His inability to handle Russia and China his anti-american oil energy Independence policies and his general inability to string together coherent sentences the Republicans have also been trying to warn about The coming insolvency of social security, but the media just uses that to score political points for Democrats That's just a few things But my point here is that for read and Stuart are just lying to deflect from very real Democrat failures that are real issues If you don't have ideas on governing What do you do you fear monger about a nebulous white conspiracy to hold everyone else down You scare people with prophecies of climate doom You accuse your political opponents of being racist fascist monsters that only your party can save the country from well You do the purposeful distortion field that they create Fabric of reality must be fraying due to the sheer density of the irony here John Stuart on CNN to shill for government control by his party on a propaganda show Where no opposing views are allowed Stuart and for read are quite literally acting as a distortion field against Opposition to CRT which for read just admitted is working, but it and by the way because it's emotional Does it work? I don't know who's the president? Well, but I mean it doesn't necessarily Work it gets people upset. It gets them angry. It makes them fearful about threats and and and and hyper You know hyper hyperbole and thus The problem with white people I was gonna stop for a second and And pose so you can get your memes out. Okay. There we go Get a good picture for your clickbaits. It gets them angry. It makes them fearful about threats and and and and hyper You know hyper hyperbole Is there a little similarity there? Oh, I think there is this is a man who proudly proclaimed that white people are a problem What does one typically do when faced with a problem? They find a solution doesn't necessarily Work it gets people upset. It gets them angry. It makes them fearful about threats Gee, you mean like white people are a threat or global warming is a threat or COVID is a threat or people not wearing masks as a threat or the Republicans are a threat or Systemic racist systems are a threat CRT stands for critical race theory, which I think most people know and is derived from critical theory a Marxist theory that led to the deaths of millions of innocent people during the Mao's revolution CRT and wokeness are all part of the same so-called diversity equity and inclusion cult that is now swept through the Democrat Party and most of our Institutions like a mind virus the sudden widespread belief in this Marxist theory has led to actual racial discrimination against white people That has resulted in actual lawsuits while ignoring So many issues that it's a kind of real appeal to you know a base that you stoke up when Sarah Huckabee Sanders did the response to the State of the Union and notice she she kept talking about CRT She didn't even bother to spell it out.  They're a To pacify and mollify because we won't actually do the real thing We won't actually dismantle the vestiges of all the systemic racism and all the systemic Classism and all the systemic gender issues. We won't actually dismantle that but what we will do is you can have an office in the building and every few months we're gonna have to sit and listen to you talk for like an hour and So we're good, right? What is this rambling bullshit? Can Stewart define any of the end cult lingo flim flam? He just blurted out. I noticed that Stewart didn't have any solutions of his own only Omnously saying that DEI doesn't go far enough, which I remind you has resulted in successful lawsuits for anti-white Discrimination and you really have to wonder how far a guy would go who believes that an entire racial group of people are a Problem all of this stuff could have come out during this train wreck of an interview Had they added a guy like Chris Rufo who Stewart was alluding to but they're afraid of doing so because they'll get wrecked And then guys like me will spread it far and wide Okay, so if you spend your money on weathertech products You might want to stop because they sponsored this ideologically subversive country-destroying propaganda instead invest some of your money into gold and silver with companies that support us like Noble gold. Thanks a lot for watching if you enjoyed it, please hit that like button share subscribe and make sure to leave a comment for the Algorithm. Thanks a lot. I'll see you all in the next one


Good morning everybody it is Brett here at Summit Auto We're gonna do the Monday morning lot walk got some vehicles in over the weekend not a ton But a couple trucks couple SUVs and we got a couple left over from last week there that we didn't quite get to So we'll go over all those as always these vehicles are gonna be listed in the description below with links to our website So you can get miles options all that good stuff on there We'll be getting pictures up of these as soon as possible and if you ever want to see anything in these videos You want me to show the interiors more you want me to point out stuff that we're gonna be fixing better, let me know I can cater these to however you guys want and Got a pretty good Viewership on the last video almost 250 views for that lot walk. So that was pretty good Anyways, let's get right into it and I hope your month is going well. We're we're pasting pretty well here So we're gonna keep it rolling with these new incoming vehicles Okay, so this one is one we did last week. This is a 15 ram 2500 Laramie 83,000 miles gasser Pretty nice truck. It's got some dings on it and stuff, but other than that a really nice Condition for 83,000 miles and we're gonna get that in next here, so this is a 2018 ram 2500 SLT and You can see the hoods open because we want to go clean it and for whatever reason the windshield wipers do not turn off so we had to disconnect the battery and we're gonna be putting that into service without pictures because Can't really do pictures when the windshield wipers are going crazy Anyways, here is an equinox. We just took this in on trade. This is a 2019 premiere. So it's loaded up. It's got leather Brown and black leather seats. It's got the touchscreen radio the sunroof actually the Vista roof in here And that's a really nice vehicle that one has 35,000 miles. It is in all-wheel drive now we got some dings on there that we got to fix and That's really the only thing I saw maybe a couple little spots to buff Right here is a 2020 Jeep Wrangler sport This is a pretty much the most base Model that you could get no power windows no power locks and Automatic the only option it really has is backup camera. It has the soft top and Yeah, but it's in really nice condition it has 42,000 miles It is not a Willis package somebody put those stickers on there So I'm gonna take those off so nobody gets confused But overall it's in really nice condition for 42,000 miles pretty much perfect and that'll be getting in today soon This is a 2014 f450. So this is a Lariat ultimate. It has nav moon Heated cooled seats. I think it's guy. No, I'm probably just heated seats. No He didn't cooled seats It's loaded up. It's in pretty nice conditions got a couple little things that we're gonna have to take care of Mainly and stuff like this happens from time to time I was checking out the exhaust tip to see if it was chrome or not and It's kind of just hanging there And I found out that it's missing a pipe Under here so pipe that goes from there To there so I will have to put it that on my notes for Service to look at it just needs a pipe There's not not a filter or anything So should be a pretty easy fix but other than that it's in pretty nice condition and this one has 69,000 miles It's got the FX4 package really clean inside Just needs a little bit of love on the outside and that exhaust pipe this here is a 2022 Ram big horn level one. However, it does have the leather Catskin seats. It's got brand new tires on it and other than a couple little dings in The box here and we got to probably buff the box. It's in really nice shape It comes with the fifth wheel and goose neck prep package and spray and bed liner and Like I said brand new tires, so it's it's a really nice truck and optioned out nicely up There's a ram 1500 Big horn we did that one last week as well That's going to be one of the next ones we get in here this morning now.  It's got a green metallic. It's really a cool color Check that out in the sunlight I've got a couple dings in the door once again that guy loves me anyways Really a nice ride really clean inside this one has 61,000 miles on it and That should be a very nice inventory piece. We have a 2018 Ford Explorer that came in trade. This is a sport. It's got the EcoBoost four-wheel drive. We got to do tires on it Ruby red is the color on this one has the LED headlamps LED fog lamps It's in really nice condition a lot of times you see these explorers in the hoods will be Corroded and stuff this one's in really nice condition. They probably had it warrantied but 80,000 miles on this one and Yeah, that'll be a nice SUV piece too. This is a 7,000 mile ram 2500 crew cab short box Laramie night edition 7,000 miles this thing's just came in literally just brought it over and It's really nice 20 inch wheels Has a bed mat. I'm guessing it has the fifth wheel goose neck prep package because it's got all the wiring over there Really nice condition LED tail lamps and then this is a 2018 Chevy Silverado 2500 crew short this one has 46,000 miles on it. I want to say it's got some aftermarket wheels. This is from Oregon Got this one from Oregon just came in and you can see it brought some Oregon with it Think Jimmy Buffett had a song take the weather with you. Well, this person took the This truck took the land with it Anyways, we'll pressure wash that get that off. That's not a big deal and I just want to make sure Miles on here Yep, 46,000 miles. Yeah, it's low on washer fluid needs an oil change, but 46,000 miles runs really nice Get heated leather seats. I'm guessing this is a LT one with leather But a pretty nice truck Z71 Duramax, it's gonna be the L5 P engine with 445 horsepower Here is a Dodge Durango. This is a 2021 GT plus all-wheel drive. This one has 27,000 miles on it. It's got the SRT hood on it. It looks good Really nice shape 27,000 miles. I didn't see anything Glaringly obvious on this one So that'll be a nice piece. So just took that in the trade on Saturday and then this is a ram pro master This is a 2019 Ram 3500 high-roof Probably the longest wheelbase that you can get I know I was at 172 Not great on my pro master Knowledge, but this thing is really cool.  It's Done up nicely inside, especially if you've got to do a bunch of work This one has 40,000 miles on it, but if you need to put tools and stuff in here definitely a nice setup for that And that is the lot lot walk. This is a Wrangler just did a video on last week That's new. It's sold on Saturday It's a cool package. It's a sport This is an overland. We just got through for pictures. I'll be doing a video on that later today and That one's got 144,000 miles keep leave. So this is after we run it through our process clean them up 144,000 miles Really nice condition on this one That's gonna go fast once we get the video up and that's the lot walk Go to summit auto.com. We got Pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle here and once again like I said if you want anything special done in these videos I can go more in depth on what we're doing or what's What the process is just let me know in the comments below Thanks for watching the video and remember to like subscribe and share on the YouTube channel and Have a great day and finish out the month strong


Well, thank you very much for accommodating me, I apologize I couldn't be with you in person. So I wanted to reflect a little bit on the key questions and challenges that as an outsider I see this program facing, why don't we start with the second slide on key driving questions. So as I think about this going forward, you know, I think we need to ask a very fundamental question like, you know, why study the diverse populations in the clinical genomics setting, you know, what are the potential scientific gains that we hope to realize here. And as a way of setting this up, I thought about what is it that we've learned from, you know, broadening representation in GWAS and Mendelian disorders, and a little bit about what we're seeing as part of ClinGen, and wanted to speak a little bit about that. In particular, if we are going to go down the route of having, you know, multi-ethnic studies, how do we design those so that they have maximum power for discovery and interpretation? And you know, the key question to sort of set up is, do we want proportional representation, you know, should it be, you know, roughly the proportional to the population representation, or do we want stratified sampling, or how do we think about that problem? And then, you know, really as an outsider, and this is something I'm obviously not an expert on, but one that, you know, it seems to me is important, is how do you think about modifying existing protocols, and what you're already doing in recruitment, consent, enrollment, return of results in a multi- and trans-ethnic clinical genomic setting, you know, are there differences that we need to take into account, and how do we set up research in order to make that happen, you know, do individuals with different ethnic backgrounds interpret genetic results differently, and if so, you know, how do we then modify and think about all those ELSI issues? Next slide. So, you know, some of you know we've been interested in this problem for a while, and in the context of NHGRI, probably some of the best data out there are the results of the Thousand Genomes Project, and, you know, what we described in the first phase has now been seen in phases two and three, namely that common genetic variants are actually pretty rare, even though they tend to be shared across populations, so if we think about a common genetic variant that's at about 15% frequency, well, they're nearly exchangeable across European populations, and so you don't really need to think too hard about population stratification because it all ends up working out, and furthermore, what you would learn in a European population is likely to translate into other ethnic groups. However, common genetic variants are very small sliver of all genetic variants, and those rare variants that are now much of our focus and what you end up finding in both sequencing studies, particularly clinical genetic sequencing studies, are pretty rare, and of course, population five it, and now how you design the study makes a huge impact on how you are able to interpret the results, and one of the key issues, and Jim talked about this in Heidi and others, is that the VUS rate is different across different ethnic groups, and so how do we begin to challenge that and think about that problem? So in our work, what we've done is try to pilot broadening representation across global populations, and so we've got active projects all over the place, and try to use patterns of genetic variation to try to draw inferences about what the world could look like if you were to scale up in different ways, and I just wanted to give you one quick example of this in the next slide, which is the back of your slide in HLA, and this is an association that's been known for years and years and years, it's incredibly important, it's on the pharmacogenomics VIP list, and it's actually a pretty common variant, and of course, as we all know, you need to test for it if you're going to put a patient on a back of ear, because if the patient carries a particular HLA haplotype, then they're going to have a really nasty reaction, and if you keep giving that patient a back of ear, then you're going to put their life at risk, okay? And what's interesting from a population genetic perspective about this variant is that its global distribution is anywhere from extraordinarily frequent, so if you happen to be implementing this in India, then you really need to worry about this. This is a 20% frequency, and you should be genotyping everybody all the time, whereas if you are in Japan and oddly enough in West Africa, then it's at very low frequencies. And the point I want to make with this is that there is no real population genetic model out there that would tell you, yep, the Gujarati and the Messiah are going to cluster, and then it's going to be Utah, and then you don't have to worry about your Rubens, right? It's all basically empirical, and so you really need to go out there, characterize these variants, and genotype them in a broad array of populations with good clinical outcomes data so that you can really assess what's important, what's not important, and what populations. And that's really kind of the nuts and bolts of it, right? As you go forward and try to take this project to the next level, you need to figure out where to invest, you know, and how to make those key investments so that the results are interpretable. You don't want underpowered studies, and so, you know, enrolling 2% of the population to be, say, you know, ethnic Hawaiians may give you 10 ethnic Hawaiians, but, okay, you know, is that going to be useful or not, or so how do you think about that? Next slide. So what we are seeing in broadening GWAS results is that it works, right?  I've just, you know, pulled together some here. There's the work by the Broad, for example, in Mexican populations in SLC-16A11, which is a very common risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and largely absent from non-American populations, right? So this is an allele that arose on a Native American background. Interestingly enough, it actually comes from Neanderthals, but, you know, to make a long story short, you basically only see it in populations of Native American ancestry and low frequencies elsewhere. And that's a totally new diabetes gene. From our work, we've looked at skin and hair pigmentation, and we found that in different parts of the world, skin and hair pigmentation actually may be under different genetic influences. And so the same may be true for lots of other traits that you'd like to study. And so, you know, I think the NHGRI investment here has been quite successful in broadening representation, and I just want to give out a special shout-out to Paige, next slide, where the next round of Paige, we've been, you know, privileged to be part of this design of the new multi-ethnic genotyping array, where we've put together, you know, variants that are clinically relevant, we've created a GWOT scaffold that will, you know, be properly powered in lots of different populations by giving a lot of thought as to how we do that, and have kind of set the stage to make this happen, and we've got the first bolus of data in, and are beginning to see really cool results. So, if we turn to slide A, you know, I would say that the current state of the field is that, you know, 1,000 genomes population-based sequencing has taught us that common variants are rare and shared, and that rare variants are common and largely population-private, right? So, we've kind of solved that population-genetic question. Secondly, that properly powered GWOT studies and understudied populations are leading to novel variants of previously associated genes, and new genes underlying previously studied phenotypes. So, this will work, and it'll help, and it definitely makes sense if, you know, what we're seeing in common diseases and now rare diseases is going to translate into a real kind of clinical genomic setting. I would say that the other piece of data that for us has been very interesting is we've been working with the California state testing program for CFTR and have now about 4,000 CFTR variants that are the variants that we see here in California, and what you see is that, you know, yes, you know, we still have, of course, our Delta 508 in European populations, but when you look at, for example, you know, Hispanics that don't have a lot of European ancestries, they have a whole different set of variants that are actually also really important, and the only way that we can break that BUS curse is to actually bring in the clinical data, and so it's, in fact, because through the Stanford CF clinic, we've gotten access to several hundred patients that have been carefully followed that can actually go in and make good clinical determination for those variants. Now, you know, in many ways it's a very modest step, you know, we've taken a well-studied gene, a well-studied system, and have begun to break down the BUS rate and help ameliorate some of these issues, but it's going to be a kind of boots-on-the-ground effort. You know, I'm afraid it really is likely to be a slog to make this happen, and so, you know, to properly think about the program, we're going to have to make some tough decisions about where to invest. So, you know, I'm, of course, very supportive of building diversity and disease, and it's likely to yield new opportunities to learn new biology and improve patient care, but we've got to really think hard about how to do it. You know, just kind of going out and getting the samples you can, the samples of convenience, may not be the best way to go, and so you may want to pilot, for example, investing in the next Caesar site to be a minority Caesar site, because then you'll have one properly powered site, and if you think about the ESP project, you know, they did a very nice job of having equal number of whites and African Americans, right, because we wanted a properly powered study, and I'm sure Debbie can speak to that. So, my last slide is just some thoughts as to how to frame the discussion, and what I see is the key challenges. I think the first one is do we want representation to be kind of proportional, so 65% whites, 15% African Americans, 10% Hispanics, whatever, or do we want stratified, right, and how do we think about that, because those are tough decisions to make, and you know, because you're in a clinical context, you may not even be able to get stratified sampling if that's what you want, so you have to think hard about the next set of sites. I'd say the second big challenge is how are we going to break the higher VUS rate in non-white populations? I think that's actually a really important question, and one that's going to require some deep thoughts, you know, and some pilots to make that happen. The third point is that, of course, inclusion doesn't just mean ethnic diversity, right, and we can imagine that socioeconomic status, education, are all going to impact enrollment, maybe genome interpretation, and certainly return of results, right, so if you're dealing with a topic as complex as genomic medicine, and you're dealing with vulnerable populations, individuals that may have variable insurance coverage, and we know what they're going to do with this information, you know, it's a very deep LC question, and something I'm no expert on, but even a naive population geneticist like me can see that this is going to be important. And then the last point is that, and we had a meeting about this two weeks ago, that new technologies pose a risk to broadening health disparities, and so while genomic medicine could improve, and we hope it's going to improve health outcomes across all populations, the rate of improvement could really be different in different ethnic groups, by ethnicity, by race, post-economic status, and so, you know, are we going to accept that? How do we study that? I actually think that this is an area that a bit of LC funding could go towards, and really think about how to develop the countermeasures to exactly that issue, and so, without, I just want to thank you all for allowing me to give my thoughts, and as always, it's a privilege to participate, and happy to take any questions you might have and be part of the discussion going forward. Katrina Armstrong from MGH. I guess one of the things I've interested in the panelists are Carlos on the phone. One of the things that I struggle with in this area is we spend a lot of time working on community health and health disparities, and you know, we spend decades really working with the community on what are largely now seen as the critical determinants, which are the social determinants in our communities that play a huge role in health disparities, and so, one of the challenges, Jim, I guess- I unfortunately can't hear the question, so I'm going to need someone to just repeat the question for me. Is that the question for me? Well, maybe I'll defer to the management on that one. So, Jim, maybe, I guess as you think about, you know, the, let's say, the challenges of participation, I think one of the challenges is we've worked, let's say, in precision medicine and communities, is that on their list of problems to solve, precision medicine is not high on that list, let's just say. And so, how do we also, I would argue, maybe bear responsibility for figuring out how precision medicine is actually useful to some of our most disadvantaged communities as we ask them to participate in that, and how did you deal with that, and do you have thoughts about how to do that? Yeah, I think that's, you're dead on. You spend some time in a general medicine clinic, and you realize that people, opportunity costs matter, and they're real.  So I think that's a challenge for our field, and I think that we do probably, we are probably guilty of excessive boosterism when it comes to the value of precision medicine, when we know that we could get rid of a lot of diseases that are out there through techniques that are, you know, if they could just be applied, it would be effective. I think that the answer to that is that if the gains aren't gonna be as great as some of us would like in precision medicine, we have to try to make sure that what gains we do get are equitably distributed, right? So that's, so I actually think that pessimism, or I would say realism, towards the potential for precision medicine is an even stronger mandate to make sure that we include everyone, because if we don't, the smaller than expected gains will be absolutely minuscule in those populations. You know, would you say that, you know, maybe some areas like, you know, pharmacogenomics are ones where there is a pretty direct benefit, and so, you know, we wanna make sure that, you know, at least in that context, we're giving people the right medicine if we know that they've got a genetic predisposition that would not be, you know, not a lot of the good responders, right? I mean, is that a particular area that makes the focus on, or are there other areas? We, I guess, Carlos, we could quibble about that all day. I'm not sure pharmacogenomics has really shown the promise that many hoped it would. I think that it is an example where specific populations can be dramatically affected and others not. So the best example of that would be, you know, some of the HLA alleles associated with Stevens-Johnson syndrome being vastly overrepresented in Asians. So it might be an opportunity, but I'm not sure I'd wanna put all my chips into pharmacogenomics. I don't disagree with the point because I do think that social determinants are really important, and in my experience, I haven't seen any of the communities with whom I work say I really want more genetics. But I think that, but I think what excites me about precision medicine as it's being defined now is that it's beyond the scope of genomics. It includes data on social determinants and understanding the ways in which genomic or biological factors interact with social determinants. And one thing that strikes me just from the previous session is that even with a well-defined conceptual model of psychosocial and behavioral outcomes, I would just make an observation that there perhaps is not sufficient attention to social determinants and ways to link and integrate that data with the sequencing enterprise and activities. Carlos, can you hear Debbie? I can't hear the question. Will I be like, Debbie Neves is trying that. Hello. Hey, Carlos, I know you can hear me now. This is Debbie here. I don't disagree that we need lots of ways to bring in populations into medicine in different ways, and in precision medicine in particular. But I also think we need to increase the diversity of our workforce. We need to work really hard at this. Harder than we've ever worked in our whole lives to do this. And I think Cesar, with all of the many clinicians that are in this room and will be here tomorrow, could really impact and change this. And I think bringing some of the populations in as new groups in the future is so key. I mean, if we don't have the information, we can't provide new insights. You could have a lot more of VUSs like Carlos is talking about, but they'll never move from being VUSs to anything else if they just stay there and are not linked to phenotype. So I would urge us, more than urge us, it's past time that we did some large-scale studies in the many populations that are representing the United States that have not been presented in genomic research at really significant levels. You know, I would agree. I mean, I would say that in talking to my CF colleagues at Stanford, I've totally been one over to that point that CF manifests as a somewhat different disease in Hispanic Latinos, and that could partly be because of the different variants that are segregating in that population, but it could also be due to all kinds of socioeconomic factors, access to care factors, getting identified early on. And so if you really wanna put this into practice in perhaps some of the communities are most effective, then it's gonna happen by bringing in and linking the clinical data to the genetic data. And I wholeheartedly agree, I think we're in violent agreement, Debbie.


If you'd like to get new clients, one of the most useful methods to do that is to have more people experience your work and to describe that work in their own words. So in this short video, I'm going to give you two methods that have worked really well for my clients to get their own new clients. So the first method is to share on social media a request, a gift, in fact, of several sessions for people to experience your work and to describe it in their words. And I'm going to share with you how one of my clients actually language it because I felt that she did it really well. She says, and she posted this on Facebook and she doesn't post every day on Facebook, but she posts regularly enough where people still see her every now and then and they engage with some of her posts. So this is what she wrote on Facebook. She says, I'm deeply grateful to be doing the amazing, body-centered hard work that I'm doing in the world with many wonderful clients and I realize that most of you here on Facebook probably don't know what I do. The work is vast and deep such that you really need to experience it to know what it is and I'm looking for fresh language to describe it. I've decided to offer three free 60-minute sessions to three people who have yet to experience my work. Please contact me by October 31st. She posted this I think two weeks before October 31st. Please contact me by October 31st to claim a session. Actually, no, she posted this just one week before. I think that's a little too soon, maybe I think two weeks is good. And then she goes on to say, I want to give you the opportunity to experience it directly and I'd love to hear how you would describe it. Please message me to schedule a session in November and that was the following month. I look forward to being with you and blessings and actually, she gave me permission to share this and so I'll say her name is Padma. She's a wonderful client of mine and you can find her website at PadmaGordon.com She really does profound and transformational work, so check out her work. So anyway, she posted this on Facebook, her three sessions, free sessions got claimed pretty quickly and out of those three, two of them said yes to becoming her client. Even though they weren't previously, they might have thought about it in the past, but anyway, she got new clients and that's the main point. And she did it again and got new clients as well and of course she's now going to be doing this on a semi-regular basis. In terms of how often to do it, I would say probably once a month is probably a good maximum to post something like this on Facebook, unless of course you post all the time on Facebook. If you post every day on Facebook, in other words if you post 30 to 60 times a month on Facebook, then maybe you could make this kind of offering every say three weeks, but I would say every couple weeks is really the maximum rhythm for it, but I would say definitely do this once every three months is a great idea to do. So the second method is particularly useful when you're just starting to offer a new service. In my client who used this so well, what she did, I worked on her with the languaging. She reached out to her warm contacts, people who like her, maybe they don't even know that she's doing this new work, so she reached out to them and said, hey, you know, I'm now doing this new work of this particular awesome service and what I'm really needing right now is for people to give me their feedback on how the session is. And so she said, would you be willing to meet with me for 30 minutes and experience my work and give me your feedback on what it is? Give me some suggestions, tell me what went well. And she says, I'm aiming to fill 20 such feedback sessions by a particular date. And I'd be grateful if you could take one of these sessions or share it with a couple of people who might be interested in this. And she got new clients from it, from doing this. So I invite you to try one of these methods or both of these methods as long as you're trying it sort of not with the same audience at the same time, of course. But maybe with the 20 session method that I just mentioned, you could, this is something that I would invite you to encourage you to email people individually about it. And then the social media one you could do, like I said, once every three months up to once a month. So I look forward to hearing if you have any questions about this and if you try it, how did it go for you?


We are right now in a geopolitical recession and what causes that is actually very simple. You create institutions and architecture and when you do, it aligns with the balance of power and the values and priorities of the countries in the global order at that time. Over time, the balance of power changes, but the institutions don't, they're sticky. And over time, those institutions become so far removed from the new evolving balance of power and different priorities and different values that the institutions erode. They start to break, they become delegitimized. I'll give you an example. When the United States first put together the United Nations, the permanent vetoes in the Security Council were given, were allocated on the basis of the victors of World War II. So of course, the Soviets were at the table. The Germans and the Japanese were not. In 2022, the Russians are led by a war criminal. They're not here at the World Economic Forum and the Americans want to throw them out of the G20. Meanwhile, the Germans and the Japanese, who are the two major economies that are most committed to the rules and precepts of the United Nations Chartered, a multilateralism to rule of law, cannot be given permanent seats in the Security Council because they lost World War II.  Inability in the unwillingness to adapt institutions inside a country to reflect a changing balance of power of that population will lead to a lot of anger on the part of people that are left behind. When we talk about disruptive technologies, climate change and the pandemic and the Russians invading Ukraine, we're talking about crises that are global and they're crises of scale, they're crises of urgency. And so they do lead to, they compel serious response. When you ask me, what are the institutions that we need to respond to these challenges, I say a lot of those institutions need to be built. Another example, when I was growing up, the most important disruptive technology that we needed to contain were nuclear weapons. We were concerned that these weapons would destroy the planet if we did not stop them from being proliferated to other governments, to rogue states, to non-governmental actors. And we did stop them over the course of 80 years. Now today, we have a lot of other very dangerous technologies that are being developed, lethal autonomous weapons, for example, cyber weapons, for example, algorithms for disinformation. And yet we have absolutely no architecture, not only to prevent them from being proliferated, but even to understand the nature of the problem itself. So for example, we need an intergovernmental panel for artificial intelligence, just like on climate change, where every year all of these experts get together and they say, you know what, we have 1.2 degrees centigrade of warming. And here's the impact on the planet. You can't effectively respond to a crisis until you all agree on what the crisis is. How did you create such a body for climate change? And the answer is it required incentive. And the mobilization was not going to get done until people recognized that it was a serious and urgent problem. I wish it were different. I wish that we could create these institutions out of whole cloth. But the reality is that people are busy and they're focused on their own lives. And understandably so. But we also know that you get the best out of humanity when you're challenged. So for instance, mothers don't really want a four-day working week. What they want is different, flexible time at the beginning and the end of the day. So I think it's really important to start this conversation about what is predictable flexibility. A four-day working week is a kind of step in the right direction. But it isn't necessarily the kind of end goal, is what I would say. My work is in communities where generally people have got low incomes. You know, I've worked a lot with people with very precarious work. And I think the biggest challenge for people is to have predictable work. Because if you don't have predictable work, you can't plan care. You can't even plan what food to buy and you might be on a low income and this is a kind of big struggle. And I think that we've confused the idea of flexibility, which is a good thing, being able to kind of work in different ways, from different locations, with the idea of predictability. Some of the most successful gig work changes have been where people can organise with the consumers of those services and kind of build different relationships and begin to argue for something different. So it is true that you could be a worker and you could, you know, in your company, sort of come together and ask. I think one of the things that we're also looking for now is where are the companies, where are the business leaders who are almost going against the logic of their peers to begin to set the new norms of this century. Because absolutely this is going to happen and the rewards will come to those leaders of businesses who step up first and begin to kind of change those norms for their workers. Thank you.


We have students from a number of schools that we're writing on bus 25. We have students from the Red Lake area, as far as attending Northern Elementary School. There were students that attend Paul Bunyan Kindergarten Center, students that attended Central Elementary, and I believe there was a student that was listed for transportation from one of the charter schools.