Guys, welcome back to my YouTube channel Daniel Rosal here. Today's video is going to be talking about Cold brew coffee, which is my latest discovery. I got into coffee again recently over a month here in Israel that's called a hageem and during this month basically observing Jews, I know you're listening to a video about cold brew I expect to hear about Jews, but bear with me for one second. Observing Jews don't use electricity or cook So I kind of got into Turkish coffee again, then I was like way through so many days I can't enjoy it I should find a way of making coffee that I can that with my religious Views I can make all the time and I hit upon cold brew coffee never heard about it before Now I'm pretty transpired with myself I'd like to think when it comes to the reasons I ingest coffee it is for the caffeine content and What I'm when I'm discovering cold brew at the moment I'm reading a lot about you know different ratios dilute cold brew cold brew Concentrate ready to drink cold brew watching a lot of YouTube videos reading a lot of recipes online there's even a subreddit for cold brew and I'm trying to think the whole time. What are the factors affecting the caffeine now? I'm making one liter of cold brew per day as my like sort of daily You know cold brew to have and my target is to get to approximately the point of caffeine That's going to be equivalent to four drinks of hot hot brewed coffee because for me personally That's like my kind of daily coffee cutoff is for I usually have two cups of coffee in the morning One after one in the afternoon and then if I'm working late I might have one more for a total of four max per day any more than that. I just kind of affects my sleep. I Feel anxious. It's not a good feeling at all. So that's what I'm trying to replicate now I've been thinking about reading all these ratios reading all these recipes. What's actually affecting the caffeine? I did a little bit of research did a little bit of thinking and that's what I want to share in this video three factors One coffee quantity to steep time three steep temperature It's my contention that pretty much every recipe for cold brew that is varying so Considerably in all of these factors has to be changing one or more of these parameters now I thought there was one more parameter grind size, right? You think that well cold brew is typically done with a course to very course grind size but some methods use a Smaller grind size and the reason they do that is because are they're able to do that because they're using you know More filtration as an extra step Maybe running the cold brew through a chemics or cheesecloth or something like that I'm using one of these immersible stainless steel grinders But I I was kind of assuming that well if you're using let's say a medium grind or even a fine grind and filtering It's probably stronger. The reason I thought that was well, you're breaking up the coffee bean into more parts You're increasing the surface area of the coffee and contact with the water So you're gonna extract more efficiently and extract more caffeine I did find and guess what not the case I found a an article in scientific reports called the effect of time roasting temperature and grind size on caffeine and chlorogenic acid concentrations in Cold brew coffee and basically the TLDR is that the grind size did not impact The chlorogenic acid and caffeine concentrations of cold brew samples Significantly indicating that the rate determining step in extraction for these compounds did not depend on surface area So basically it doesn't really make a difference. That's the Translation of that now. It's interesting if you're researching caffeine extraction that stuff like this does exist Online in food science journals The other thing I was thinking so let's move on so we can discount grind sizes factor Let's talk about the three factors we have left Starting with the coffee quantity now one thing I wondered was you know, perhaps What can strange in the cold brew making process is the solubility of caffeine in water and it turns out that's also not really the case It turns out that water can basically hold pretty much as much caffeine as would be safe to ingest So when we're preparing cold brew we're talking about preparing a solution with the solute and the solvent and It turns out basically that That's not really something that we need to think about so it stands to reason that the more caffeine Sorry, the more coffee you're using in your cold brew preparation The more caffeine is going to be extracted regarding factor number two the steep time So I've seen this very just like so wildly some people have done a four hour Caffeine extraction as cold brew extraction. Some people have done 48 hours now what I'm looking for and if you have found this online Please drop me a comment or I will upload another video when I actually source this information online Incredible scientific studies using ideally, you know specta specta spectometry to determine the caffeine content. I haven't seen graphs about at what Time There's no more caffeine being extracted. I imagine whether we're talking about cold Extraction or room temperature extraction that is going to become a point in time at which basically as much caffeine as can be Extracted has been extracted or all the caffeine has been extracted from the beans. Those are not the same thing independent of that that's definitely going to be a factor and You can find scientific papers online basically plotting out up to Short brewing times because they're intended for hot coffee. How long? You know that basically it's an increasing relationship The more time you have that coffee in contact with the water the more caffeine is going to be extracted That brings us on to our final factor, which is the steep temperature now You can definitely find this information online how Brewing temperature affects caffeine extraction again mostly in food science journals Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it in for cold brew in other words. They've looked at this for tea they've looked at this for coffee and it is again a direct relationship in other words the Higher the temperature of the water the more caffeine is extracted and as we go down in Steeping temperature in the temperature of the water the less efficient the extraction process becomes not just a caffeine But of the other many many other compounds and coffee and I think there's something like 2000 compounds and coffee just besides caffeine. There's a couple more psychoactive Compounds like the ophthalene present in coffee. There are There are aromatic oils and cut there's a bunch of different things in the coffee beans So we're only looking here one compound. That's gonna where my research is now I'm going to be continuing to make one batch of cold brew per day Taking notes of the steeping time. I'm using the room temperature at the temperature I'm steeping at and also how much the quantity of coffee I'm using every time I was noting the grind size but in light of reading that study it seems it's not necessary at least from there from the perspective of Accertaining how much caffeine I'm getting from my cold brew Hope that was useful a few that thoughts of your own if you've gone down this rabbit hole yourself And come up with more information than I've been able to offer do drop me a comment Thank you for watching slash listening


Welcome back to Think Tech. I'm Jay Fidel. That's Dora Nakafuji. She's an educator with Kamehameha Schools, and she joins us today to talk about career pathways in Hawaii for students and everyone else, and also, you know, where the future lies for us, for science, for technology, you know, with a kind of look at what we have available and whether we're making good use of it. Hi, Dora. Good morning. Good morning, Jay. Are you? Hi. Nice to see you. You did a great show with Tower Gardens last week, and Wendy Lowe. That was really fabulous. I really enjoyed that. Thank you for doing that. Oh, thank you for hosting. It was really the Wendy show, so I just kind of rode along. Take back your health, wasn't it? Anyway, so let's talk about education. Let's talk about, you know, being innovative and using the assets we have and building not only the sense of resilience, you know, in the economy and in our capacity, in our way of looking at things, but also a sector that can make money and take care of us and give our kids the opportunity to stay here and have good careers, career pathways. So have we got that now, Dora, or are we missing that now? Well, you know, and thanks for having this topic bring me brought up too at this time. I think it's a very appropriate time, and yes, I'm currently working at Kamehameha schools. I'm not a teacher, but in various respects, I think we're all students and teachers in every way, right, because we're always learning and we're always learning new things and teaching our own children or teaching our own ourselves. I think that's all very important that continuous learning. What I've been finding very exciting over the last several months, especially when we've been contending with the COVID crisis is how everyone is continuously learning and this whole medical jargon of COVID is something that everyone's getting much more familiar with. And so from a technology standpoint, I think Hawaii has a lot of a lot of opportunities given that we're an isolated, you know, so what to do with this, Dora? Are you saying that, you know, whatever we have, COVID will incentivize us to make it better. Whatever we have it in the schools, whatever we have in such sciences, we are now practicing and researching and discovering that COVID will somehow help us focus on that. Are you saying that? I think COVID has given us time to really try new things. I think this is a time where the status quo way of doing things isn't necessarily going to get us out of the crisis. And so we are definitely coming up with and people all around me. Look at how we've transitioned and pivoted in education to remote learning. I mean, it's hybrid learning, but it's also remote learning. And everyone embraced that. Yes, it was a struggle at the beginning, but now everyone's getting onto digital platforms, students are helping teachers learn about using different types of multimedia, social media, and the communication channels are really kind of being utilized. The other thing that's really interesting too is it's uncovering where our infrastructure might not be quick enough to help us adapt to these kinds of new technologies. And so that's another area that I think has a lot of opportunities. And certainly something that many of us have been working for several decades on trying to transform our local infrastructure, create that new modernization, that new technologies that can actually help us be more efficient, reduce our costs of doing business here and also bring in new skill sets that we need here permanently here in the islands. And I think it's something that's an exciting opportunity. We're trying to see that shift in the current paradigm. So it's more than just having a little extra time, although that certainly is part of it. It's sort of building a kind of type A approach to things and saying, hmm, I think our regular, our normal is threatened by COVID. So I want to improve our life in COVID to be better, to be more like normal. And I'm willing to put the energy into that. I mean, I think this process is happening all over the country. For example, for example, restaurants. There was an article in The New York Times this morning about the new model of restaurant that is happening all over the place on mainland. I'm not sure it's happening here. Maybe it is to some extent. And actually it was one big Mexican chain, Mexican food chain that's doing this. So there is no restaurant in restaurant. There is only a kitchen. And you walk in there and you take pickup or they deliver to you. Okay, and what's the sophisticated part of that? You guessed it, the website. You get on the website, you buy your food in advance. It's easy, it's quick, it's automatic, you can have an account. It remembers your preferences in burritos versus enchiladas, whatever. Okay, the whole thing is instantaneous. You can get on a meal plan. I mean, all these things really could have done before. But now in the time of COVID, we're thinking, how can we make this more efficient? And I'm sure the people putting the money into these new model of restaurants and chains for that matter, they're looking to the future. They're not assuming that in six months or a year, this is going to go away. This is a new model of competitive restaurant we will have with us going forward. And I think that kind of adaptation, that kind of innovation is what we're talking about, isn't it? I have to agree, and I think it's allowing us to do a lot more of that learning and prototyping and then quickly checking out, is this going to help us get what we need done? Because I think this, it's really strange, we've been at it for eight months now and COVID hasn't really changed and we've gone on to, this is our third cycle. So I really do think that the learnings that we've gotten so far, the data that we've learned from other states, other countries, it's helping us be much more adaptive, especially here in Hawaii. And I think what we're finding is that our environment is ready. People are receptive for the changes that are going to bring new ways of doing things. What is our environment, you say? That's interesting, I want to drill down on that. For example, I always believe for a long time that Australia, for example, it's remote, it's certainly remote from the UK and because it's an island and so remote and so far away, it has a different way of looking at things, a different view of innovation, a different view of many things. And actually that helps, it's not stuck in something. So I've come to believe that islands are different. An island state is different than say, Nevada or Florida. An island state, you have to be self-reliant to some extent. We grew up in that, we Hawaii grew up in that. And now we have a kind of a local culture of mindset that makes us look inward to a certain extent. We depend on each other, hopefully. We don't depend on external cargo cope. We have a way of looking at things that actually helps us in innovation. Do you agree? I agree to some degree. I do believe that our efficiencies and our ability to do things as an island, we have to be self-contained in certain things, like agriculture, like our environment for growing. It is something that right now the statistics say we're importing 90% of our foods and 10% grown here. Well, there's definitely a lot of opportunity for us to be much more efficient in the way we grow things and the way we produce things. Now we have to also reduce the cost of doing business here. And that is completely dependent upon the imports and the market structure that are outside affecting that. So in some ways we have to have that symbiotic relationship with the internal and the external, the balance of the two. We cannot just say, hey, we're going to shed our own borders and we're going to have everyone do their own thing here. I don't know if that is a realistic picture for the future because just as electricity was brought to Elani Palace way before it was brought to Washington, DC, it is something that is indicative of the culture here. But there is that learning, but it's also finding the technology that's right and appropriate for our place. Being an island, we have to be that much more cognizant of the upstream and the downstream impacts of whatever we do. I think that's where our infrastructure, our infrastructure, our technologies that we bring here to the islands need to have that much more well-rounded awareness. I always say that upstream and downstream, it's really kind of a 360 view because whatever we bring here, we have to figure out its life cycle and how to even get it off the island when it's met its, you know, serve its useful purpose. Yeah, true. Nothing is forever. Or at least some things are forever and other things are not necessarily forever.   How does that help you analyze this? What's your area of study? How does that make you different from ordinary people? Yeah, so I'm actually trained as an aeromechanical engineer. So I'm basically an aerospace, aeronautical engineer. A lot of people say, oh, you just developed planes. And I'm like, well, not really. I mean, if you think about an aircraft, it is a flying city. It has everything from structural, electrical, power, sanitary. We even have to know how the plumbing works in the bathroom. There's food, comfort, aesthetics, air quality, everything. So making, and that's where I kind of got the bug for flying was really about having grown up. Actually, I was introduced to the aviation field really early on in high school. And I think as far as career pathways go, it was really through my counselor in school that said, oh, you're good in math and science, but what do you want to go? What do you want to do? And I'm like, I don't know. I was a high school senior. I don't know where I want to go. But so he introduced us to these career pathways. And it was an opportunity to really kind of see what else was out there and see how the rest of the workforce and everyday life and these everyday infrastructure that we see and are exposed to every day, we need to learn about how they work. Not just take advantage of them or use them, but also understand how they work. And so having an opportunity to be working for the airlines, I was introduced to customer service. That was my first real job. And then from there, I was exposed to engines and mechanics and flight crew and all this stuff. And I realized, wow, this is really an exciting opportunity to learn more. And they all encouraged me to continue on my learnings. Not that they didn't want me to work. It was just that they said, hey, if you want to learn more about this, let me show you this. They were excited to teach me. They were very excited to show me. And then when I went into school, I realized, wow, this is a lot of stuff to learn. But at the same time, there... And I worked as I went to school. So I was continuously shown how people are actually using what engineers design. So I became an engineer, but I was also inspired by all the people who use technology and getting feedback. That kind of two-way interaction, that kept me going. Because as an engineer, you're gonna do a lot of math and science and doing problems all day long and all that stuff. It can get boring and it can also get very tedious. But the motivator to understand that foundational science and really be grounded with the physics and all of those skill sets was really so that we could come back out and look at what are the things that means maybe some innovation or design or technology to help and make it easier for people. To hear about what people need and help them with what they need to do their jobs. I've always thought that Hawaii was a state in terms of the culture of the state. It was an early adapter state. I mean, you go back to the electricity at the palace, early adapter stage. And everybody wanted to have it soon and first. And whatever the new model was, let's have it. But at the same time, it was a kind of consumer science. In other words, let's buy the package. Let's buy it as it works and we'll use it will be great consumers. But we won't be designers and we won't know what's inside. And as you say, how we can innovate a better model. You're talking about innovating a better model. You're talking about unpacking it and seeing what's inside. And that's different than just being a consumer. And I think that's where you're coming from. Am I right about that? Yeah, I think you put it way better than I did in terms of unpacking this process. And I think this is an opportunity for us because now we're talking about changing the landscape of how we do a lot of things, whether it's energy, agriculture, how we bring things to the islands, really is going to define our new infrastructure going forward because a lot of our infrastructure is aging. So a lot of our designs were built probably from the 1940s, 1950s during a different era. And today we're in the 2020s, right? So when we look at our technology and what we have in the field, that is an opportunity for us to bring modernized infrastructure here. Maybe just bring it up to 1990s quality. And that will help us. I don't have to tell you anything you don't know. That's 30 years ago, Dora. But that will help us transition. And I think there's a lot of transitions that need to happen. I think from a technology standpoint, one of the things that engineers tend to forget about is the psychology of change. And just like on an airplane, you change that screen that everybody loves and you give them something else, they're going to go, what is this? And if it's going to help them relax, it's going to help them to enjoy that experience coming from wherever to Hawaii, flying that five hour gap from West Coast to here. And they're going to be entertained by their next two programs. Hey, you know what? They're going to enjoy that trip that much better. It's not about what you showed them, it's about how they enjoyed it. So who are the innovators? Is everybody an innovator? Do you have to be trained to be an innovator? How do I infuse a sense of innovation into you so that when you enter the workforce, you will actually innovate things? I mean, is it for a few or the many? Oh, I think it's for the many. I mean, it's got to be for the many. And I think people play different roles. And we just recently had the Lacey Beach Day of Discovery on October 24th. And that was really an opportunity where we brought together people from all sectors, science, engineering, navigators on the ocean and actual spacefarers, people that are traveling and living in the International Space Station. We also had community folks that are working in different jobs all over the world who are graduates from here from Hawaii and they wanted to partake in sharing of that information. So that those kinds of efforts, we bring back knowledge from elsewhere. And then gives us a glimpse of what our future might look like. So everyone I think has a role. The other thing is, you know, back when, at least when I went to school, it was not multidisciplinary. You studied chemistry or you studied biology and the two did not necessarily mix. They were not related. There was no connection, there was no interaction. Each one was in its own silo, but that's not possible anymore. Not in the world of science as it has emerged. It's all about collaboration between disciplines, multidisciplinary and it's all about collaboration between scientists in various places who are working on various things, you know? Like for example, Moderna came up this morning in the paper with a new candidate for a vaccine and they're pretty well advanced on it. And it's 94.6% effective as opposed to the Pfizer which was only 90% effective last week. And I'm saying, wouldn't it be better to have all these guys collaborate? We need global collaboration, you know, World Health Organization and the like. And I think we've seen that happen. And I think that's part of what you're talking about, isn't it? We have to collaborate in groups around the country, the world. We have to collaborate among disciplines in science between energy. You have lots of experience in energy, aviation and of course in growing things. All these things connect. They can all help each other, am I right? Yes, the collaboration is key in partnerships across the communities because no one person knows everything, right? And so the thing that we try to teach the students and at least my kids too is like, you have to leverage what other folks around you can bring to the table. And it's funny because we have a course called optimization, right? And optimization isn't about one parameter, one thing. And so much here on the island, you have to optimize it for a whole collection, you know? And that whole solution at the end of the day doesn't optimize on any one parameter, but you optimize it for the actual needed that you want. So your solution at the end of the day may be very different if you optimize on a parameter, like a lot of folks optimize around costs. But that's all you want. It will look very, very different than when you optimize around what you want.  That solution that addresses a multiple means is gonna look very, very different. And you have to have those folks at the table. I think that's some very important things being an engineer is that you have to always be looking and listening to what people want. A lot of it is product development. This reminds me of design thinking out of Stanford. You know, Ocean is in a partnership with Kamehameha Schools for various things, including AI, education, and the like. Ian Keddejima there, you must know him. And you know, what's interesting about, you know, what they do is they're, when they do design thinking, they're not looking for a specific function they're trying to find out what's really useful. And they start from the usefulness and work back. And it comes out differently. It's not the problem you thought it was. It's a different problem. And thus it's a different solution. And thus people actually use it. This is part of modern science, isn't it? Absolutely. And I think that these career pathways that we're talking about for many of the students, you may start in a particular pathway or direction, but you realize that, hey, what you're learning actually can cross over into another sector. And that actually has so many other additional pathways that you'd never have imagined. Cause you know, the applications are that much broader. A lot of times, you know, my kids always ask me, it's like, well, you studied in this area, so how are you applying it today? Well, like I said, aircraft is almost a flying city. You have every facet that you can imagine on it. And so a lot of what I do today, we might be working with communities such as farmers and growers. And we're looking at ways to kind of improve their ability to grow. Well, side by side growing is one of those platforms. I mean, I always tell kids as they imagine growing and farming in an air conditioned environment. And then they're all looking at me going, what, you know, some things can grow in a more controlled environment. Cause we have now in space, on the international space station, we have aeroponics, hydroponics where things are growing side by side. So that technology of how you grow or the science of how you grow is still just as relevant here on earth as it is in space. So- It brings it all together, doesn't it? It brings it all together. Aviation, space, environment, you talk about environment, you talk about thinking out of the box, you talk about Hawaii's special place in the sun because we know about agriculture. And then of course, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do that, the kind of thing that you guys were talking about on the tower garden, where you don't have to worry about the problems in using soil. And you can develop techniques to grow things in space on Mars What have you? I'm thinking of the movie Mars. I'm sure you watched that. So my point is, we have all these things coming together. Now we know what's in the soup. Query, what are you doing about that? What are you doing in Stacey Beach? What are you doing in Kamehameha Schools? What are you doing with kids to infuse a sense of discovery on agriculture, indoor agriculture, aquaponics and so forth? Yeah, so one of the things that we have is this tower garden, which is an example of a platform. And we have a couple of slides that shows kind of the side by side growing where you can actually see a tower that's growing kale next to a farmer who's growing kale in the field. It's not one or the other, it's both. You actually need it in both environments because we have a lot of folks living in urban environments who may not be able to, as I don't wanna call it a food desert because we are much closer to our farms than some of the other states. But the example is that you can actually now show these platforms in our educational spaces where the teacher is learning from industry. Industry can actually help the teacher train the next generation so that they can be inspired to learn about these new jobs that are gonna be out in our communities because our farmers are learning to grow differently. They're still growing in the field, but we also have these types of platforms. Our children also become teachers. They help the next generation learn. So when we harvest from these kinds of towers, there's an opportunity to also share with them and share those produce from the, that they've grown to the community. Food safety, shipping, all those things that are part of the market, that upstream and downstream that I was talking about, all can be then introduced with industry sector playing together with the educators. We also have opportunities to not only look beyond agriculture, agriculture being one of the infrastructures that we do care about for these career, sorry, these businesses and economies that are important here in Hawaii, but tourism is also very important. And one of the things that you think about for tourism is you have aircrafts, right? And so in order to get that playing here, we need mechanics, we need aircraft mechanics. And so one of the examples of the images that we've shown is side by side, we learn about jet propulsion. We know about all the pneumatics and all of the things that you need to do in order to maintain an engine, but we can actually cross over into what we're looking at now, which is really diversified energy sources, fuel resources, not just fossil, not just renewables, but maybe hydrogen as another technology. So our cars and our car fleets are now looking at electric and fuel cell powered vehicles. That is a whole other sector. Imagine getting a hydrogen vehicle and not having a lot of infrastructure here that we need in order to jumpstart that economy. So understanding electricity and understanding those kinds of new modern power systems is, they're all opportunities for us to work together. Well, and not only opportunities, but they have a direct and possibly a profound effect on our economy. I mean, we're looking forward to a time when tourism may not be what it was. We're looking forward to a time we may have to be self-reliant or more self-reliant in growing our food. And the old notion of the plantation with all that work out there and the soil and the issues about growing crops that you may not be able to eat. You have to ship it out. You have to export it. Diversified agriculture, truck farming agriculture. We really haven't paid attention to that. But with these new technologies, maybe we can and maybe the next generation will go and do that. Furthermore, in terms of energy, we have issues about energy. We really better reduce the cost of energy, reduce the efficiency of our energy generating systems, all those things. And they have a direct effect on our economy and thus our future, as well as jobs. And these are all our social, I call these our social infrastructures, right? They're essential for us living here on the islands. And yes, there is a degree of that that we can actually begin to be more self-reliant here on the islands and be able to reuse.  Does it have to be? That's the question, right? And maybe it doesn't have to be. Maybe it will always be a blend. But so long as we understand how it is integrated into the fabric of our society, doesn't mean that we have to forget about the past. It's really about looking towards the future. And here's kind of that's the other thing that I always think about. I was, our kids, they weren't, they're, I know it's taking us navigating across the oceans as navigators on the ocean. So from the land to the ocean, we also have spacefarers that are going into space. And so how do we explore that arena? I mean, that's an arena that really will require international collaboration.  You're gonna have to work together in order to survive. That environment is the most extreme. So the big question, the big question is how you and your situation with your background education, training, experience in aviation and energy and now in commandment schools. How do you make this happen? How do you A, make these kids, make these appreciate science and learn the basics of fundamental points of science, even in silos. And then how do you make them collaborate? And how do you give them the vision that they can and should improve our sustainability, improve our economy, improve our world and why? How do you make that happen? I know that's a hard question here at the end of our show but take a whack at it, would you Dora? Well, I think every one of us, when we wanna learn something, you gotta have to make it fun. And you have to make it purposeful. And you hopefully have that deep grounding that the values are there so that that next generation will care. And that isn't just about a technology, that is about making that person whole.  I think that's the kind of resilience that we're gonna need in our future generations, our future leaders and our future as all humanity going forward. I think that's gonna be a very challenging aspect of all the education, I mean, culture, tradition, that's all gonna have to matter to you. Yeah, so how do you change? In order to achieve that, you gotta educate kids and you gotta give them exposure, time together and time to learn, time to collaborate, time to teach their teachers. I love that part, to teach their teachers, who in turn can teach them, you know? So how do you do that? I mean, that's a different educational paradigm, isn't it? Yeah, and I think that that's part of why this whole digital media kind of thing with COVID is really interesting right now because we're now learning from all over the world, industry and through some of the, you know, Lacey Beach Day of Discovery, we're doing these virtual field trips and there's a lot of online learnings that are being offered. Now, I don't want to spend all the time online and so that's why some of these things, you know, if we can have platforms that folks can actually utilize in their own environments, it's almost like a lab at your own home or a lab in your school environment. When we return back to school, it may be that there's certain activities we have to do at school, that what makes it purposeful there. So we have to return to those environments and be able to connect the students and the learnings to purpose. I think that making it purposeful, impactful. The first thing is to make sure that it impacts them. I like the growing is because you can immediately eat that stuff. And so we're already seeing kids wanting to do more of it because they see how that benefits them. Now, the space technology and other things like, you know, maybe hydrogen and all those other things, when the vehicles come that uses hydrogen, that will be another connection point where then folks can learn more about that technology. But I think as part of strategy and transformation, we always are looking for that cutting edge that next, you know, before it becomes mainstream, how do we stay in front of that to be scouts out there and looking for that next greatest thing to kind of bring back? Does it make sense for us here in Hawaii to have it to help us solve some of our current day problems? It may not be a problem, but it may be an opportunity. And I think that's, those are all things that a lot of these kids are looking for these new opportunities, right? To kind of spread their wings and try things out and do it in an environment where you still have the values because their families are strong in that or the culture and they have mentors that bring that with them, but you also have the opportunity to try. I think that's where schools, our communities, our internships, all these things are helping to bring those kinds of skill sets where you can explore and try. Yeah. But do it safely and have some mentoring and, you know, interning opportunity. A perfect laboratory. It's a laboratory. It's a laboratory to get these kids excited and you're right in the middle of it, Tara. Thank you so much for sharing with us. I don't think our conversation is over. There's much more to discuss about this and much more to watch as we go forward. Dora Nakafuji, MIMAS Schools and Educator and a Scientist helping us understand the future, actually the future of Hawaii. Thank you so much, Tara. Thank you. Thanks for this time.


Let's try to understand the beta sheet the same way we already went through the components of the beta sheet and how this looked This is going to be more complex for a number of reasons It's a two-dimensional structure and in contrast to that simple alpha helix It's going to turn out that this is a proper phase transition. It can't really coexist I'm also going to need to choose to study a particular case So for now I'm going to stick to this structure that we went through this so-called anti-parallel helix But you need to remember that there are more helix than anti-parallel ones We can either organize in this way anti-parallel or we have the other alternative when they are parallel But when they are parallel with typically when we get to the end of this helix I need to have some other secondary structure element to get back to the start of the second not helix to get back to this part of the second strand here and Those extra elements such as helix is complicated things by an order of magnitude So let's keep things reasonably simple at least and stick to this case In particular when I'm at the end of one strand here, and then I need to quickly turn around and move to the other strand It's going to be very useful to have those small glycine turns that I mentioned. So at the end of a Beta strand it's not just some sort of random quick turn But usually a very well-defined structure with glycines and a hydrogel bond in the middle that really Terminates the end of helix, but still Why do I keep calling it helix if you're determined at the end of the beta strand? But it's still going to be Unfavorable in terms of entropy so we will be paying for that the nice properties of beta sheets is that what we pair them up This way they will frequently have well They will have all the amino acid sites is pointing out and if I look at this from the side instead Do you see here that I have amino acids here, and then I have amino acids here If you now pick amino acids with one property here and another property here I have as effectively created a divider here a divider that will have property a here and property B here and A very common such property is hydrophobicity So if I take the sheets and make every single residue hydrophobic and every sorry every other Residue hydrophobic and every other residue hydrophilic I will effectively end up with a sheet that has one hydrophobic side and one hydrophilic side If I then pick two sheets like this, I will end up with something like this So this is something called the fatty acid binding protein that I will tell you more about later but this is a small pocket again an NMR structure and Here we've turned the two hydrophobic faces to the inside while the hydrophilic ones are exposed on the outside and That what that gives is a small bag essentially in your cells where the outer sole side here is soluble in water While the inner side, what do you think it binds? It's a fatty acid binding Protein so it binds hydrophobic fatty acids here So that way we can transport fatty acids and later use them inside to build up the lipids and our cell membranes I'll talk about that when it comes to membrane proteins. So just by using these simple building blocks and pairing up specific amino acids I can create a specific property of a small protein and make it perform a function But we'll talk more about that when I talk about proteins for now And we're going to try to determine how quickly the beta sheet folds


Every non-commissioned officer has a moment where they come to realize the importance of their job and the impact they have as leaders. For these NCOs, that time is now. The First Infantry Division hosted a non-commissioned officer induction ceremony here at the Kansas State Alumni Center. The NCO induction ceremony was the second major event of the Big Red One year of the NCO. The year of the NCO is a year-long campaign dedicated to the division's NCOs. It cultivates ownership through the division and develops the next generation of leaders. Right, we now have the white hand of the letter C, which represents the present and the period. Before we can be an NCO who are owning it every day and before we can have strong co-leaders of teams, every single one of us must first be great teammates. Every NCO inducted is meant to walk through the arch. Passing beneath the arch symbolizes the right of passage into the core, taking on the role of the NCO. The passage into the NCO core has a different meaning to everyone who undergoes it. Honestly, I was nervous, but I'm very, very proud of what and how I've overcome being in lower enlisted to get to the spot. It took a ton of hard work, and I'm so happy that I'm here. The induction was one of many signature events of the Big Red One year of the NCO. For more information, go to 1id.army.mil or Google Big Red One year of the NCO. Army Sergeant Jared Simmons, Manhattan, Kansas.


I mean, you've been through so much. None of us really wanted to talk about it, what we had gone through. We all wanted to forget about it. And we're going to talk about your extraordinary bravery and what you've been through since. Wanted to deal with it, how I wanted to deal with it, which was just shut up shop and take it on the chin. But even if I didn't want to talk about it and the soldiers didn't want to talk about it, there were plenty of people who did. We were British soldiers. We were sent to war to do what we've been told to by politicians, only to then come back and find ourselves fighting another battle this time to clear our names. Mr Speaker, it has been confirmed that British soldiers did not carry out the atrocities that have been falsely attributed to them. There's that quote from Churchill about how a middle glitters, but it also casts a shadow. This is case in point. The shine has gone lost in the shadows of the acquisitions that followed. Brian, how are you, brother? Yeah, I'm good, thank you. And thanks for having me on. Appreciate it. I mean, we've been trying for a while now, so it's good to get on. Yeah, we seem to be passing ships, like I'm with a lot of my guests on social media. We're out there and doing our stuff. And when we finally get together, it's all good, huh? Absolutely, absolutely. I'm going to start by asking, where do you get your drive from, Brian?  But you're so busy all the time. You seem to get so much done. Is there any philosophy we can learn from there? Do you know what? I'm not the oracle, and I'll never claim to be someone who thinks they are. I'm just driven by hard work. I think, you know, we're very privileged to be here. I'm very privileged to have what I've got with a very loyal wife. And I'm a loving family. And my drive to success, really, is for my family. If I'm honest, it's clearly I've got goals. And I really try to achieve each goal that I set out to do. And if I can't, then I'll really put on the lessons that I've learned throughout trying to achieve whatever goal or mission that I set out to achieve. And I have failed in a few, but I've looked at it, pulled out or extracted some key learning points and gone again. So, you know, there are so many people out there who are driven, who are motivated, who inspire me. And it's very infectious because I see this sort of saying people in similar arenas to what I am, whether it be in business or whether it be in sort of my health life, because I do try and keep myself fit, I try and set myself challenges. And but I'm inspired by the people who are doing their thing as well. So I'm grateful for some of the messages I get sent that people look at me as a little bit of an inspiration, which is very flattering because I'm just a normal dude, you know, just trying to do my thing to try and keep the family afloat, to try and stay ambitious, to keep on the plan. You know, I think most people do have a plan on whether want to be in three to five years time. And and I just try and not overwhelm myself with the pressure which comes with that because I'm well aware I can only I can only control the now and the present day. I don't know what's around the corner tomorrow. So there's no point trying to, you know, achieve too much. Just one day at a time, stick to the plan and let's try and achieve. So, yeah, long winded answer. But like I said, I'm just a normal guy. It's not a short winded question, though, mate, is it? And I I know it must be the centre of your life as it is the centre of mine is trying to use our experiences to make a go of it now. Yeah. And there's a billion and one points we could draw out of this. I think they're just fascinating for everybody who's, you know, wants to own their life, basically. But one of them is like there's that old school thing where you put the hours in, isn't it? You know, you work and then you work and you do the 18 hour days and you get up and you work. And that's kind of clashing now with with the more sort of lifestyle orientated, you know, definitely spend time with your kids while they're young. Yes. Yes. And do you know what's really, do you know what put that into perspective for me? Lockdown. 100 per cent. That is a true huge positivity that's come out of the last 11 months, 10, 11 months for me is there is so much more to life than the business, than my self goals and being driven. And we absolutely should maintain that. But what really is important and I'm only speaking on behalf of Woody is the family have got to fit into that so much more now because for me, they were the ones that were constantly here for me when I was going through some real tough times. When I was paid on with adversity, trying to figure out how can I get up in the morning? How can I take another step forward and feeling everything that I was going through the people that were there.  Now, he starts the first two weeks of next month. Then we've just trained together most days. I've tried to give him a steer without not getting involved too much, but just being there for him, if he needs me, testing him in the physical arena and just trying to make him uncomfortable now and again to make sure that he's got a little bit of understanding what resilience feels like, what pressure feels like. And actually, your body is an incredible you know, system that can go that little bit extra when needed, but it's down to you to fulfill that. So I've gone on this brilliant journey. Also, it's reconnected us because my military, like so many career. It kind of had an effect with our relationship because I was away so much. If I wasn't on ops, I was training. If I wasn't training, I was on course, you know, and in that era, we were fighting two simultaneous wars with Iraq and Afghanistan. So I was bouncing from theater to theater then training. So this last 10 months for me is, you know, just revitalizing our bond and getting amongst it. And yeah, we've it's been great. So yeah, it's really important for for me now to figure out how I maintain that life balance because it is now massively factored into the business plan is key. Do you have any sort of key rules? Like, do you turn your phone off at a certain time of in the evening? Or do you have set hours? Do you try and wake up early? I think waking up early is in the in the military gene, I think. I mean, it's so drilled and we've come from this institution where.  There's no snooze button and you're just getting amongst it. But I'll tell you what we did. We had and that's a bit random, but we had a lazy spa for a while during the first lockdown as we were going into it and the weather was really nice. And I thought, do you know what, we were all we were always in there and it was the first time we were having real good conversation. No phones just in the latest one. We were just talking about all sorts and it was just really nice to have this kind of real family time and without any gadgets. So I thought I'm going to get a I'm going to get a hot tub because we use the latest file, which was a trial period. I wasn't going to spend money on this kind of materialistic items if we weren't going to use it and it was just going to be a gadget. It needed to be money well spent. So I did. I committed. We got it. And what we do is we have dinner as a family. And then once we've tidied up, we will go into the hot tub. And that's our time. So we we make time. Yes, around the dinner table is very important. And and we have conversations. But our release time is definitely chilling in the hot tub. And sometimes it's with a beer or a glass of wine. And and we have a conversation with the boys because well, baby around the corner is off and we won't see him as much anymore. And then Charlie is not far behind him. God knows what he's going to do. But it's really important to create them really intimate moments because, you know, we know how fast time goes. And yeah, we're just about to wave away our our oldest boys. So yeah, it's important. Gosh, so much to say there as well. This whole tablet, you know, phone thing is. It's a big thing. And it it's something about it. It's just so ugly. Just the notion that a family and I'm not judging anyone here because you see your own family slipping into that.   Two seconds. There we go. That's good. Go on. Yeah, it's we're letting time slip away on a false, you know, on a false engagement, i.e. the internet, as opposed to what you've just said, real, real family time. Yeah. And I think, you know, for me, I'm a realist and it's not going to get the digital is only going to be more improved, more innovative. So we have to learn to adapt with that. It's it has a great purpose. So it has its downfalls because of just the basics, getting the engagements, going, having conversation, you know, paying attention to the conversation instead of, you know, it's it's a drug, isn't it?  It's forever. It's it's like a weapon system. It's always in an arms distance away from you because it's a habit. But also people rely on it for for their jobs, whether if they're on e-commerce, you know, I have my job. It's it's run off the internet, basically.  So it I have to spend time on that. And and it's not me constantly on social. It's actually it's what brings the money into the household. So yeah, it's I have to. And like other people learn to live with it, accept it. But you can still have brown rules. You can still have rules which encompass your family values, which is, you know, whether or not it can be anything. But the bottom line is you try and make time for one another without devices. And ours is is in the hot tub. How is your your can't call it in a parallel business? That's not being rude, is it? No, it's a yes, a sports and lounge apparel. It's doing really well, Chris, and I.  And I think the reason why it's gone like it's gone is because so many people can relate to it. So many people can relate to the mantra as in keep attacking. It has a sublimal meaning, one that is very personal and unique to the individual. It states in chaos or in calm. No matter what you're experiencing, if you're willing to show up and keep attacking each day, it will surpass. And so many people. Have got the wrong journeys through adversity. That's it's not just me. Life life isn't at one point will draw up some real challenges because it's the beauty of life. Life is stunning, but it's a demand. And it's how you adapt to adversity. It's how you try and conquer what you're going through. And it's difficult. And I think people can relate to it in the way that it's either helping them get through cancer, which I've had messages from that someone has a big board in their kitchen called Project Keep Attacking. And it's Monday to Sunday. Basically, there's a timeline of appeals, appointments, physio, fitness, what they eat. And her project is called Keep Attacking. And it's really emotional because when I read these messages, it's just I'm so proud because when I before I launched it, I wanted to so the logo of Keep Attacking is I wanted it to be personal to the family. So it's the W in my surname. But the mantra I wanted it for everyone to use, you know, because I knew. I didn't know. I thought people would connect with it. But then it just went and the messages, like I said, I was receiving. So I've had messages from mums and dads saying it's really helping their kids inspire and have full sight in their sports and wanting to really achieve because I know talent alone is not enough. They really have to squeeze out five percent and having Keep Attacking on their BMX helmets is helping them do that. And I think that's brilliant.   They need to try and overcome this and beat this. And it's really helping them do that. Or if you're recovering, you know, it's fine. We all go through a recovery stage, whether it be injury or whether it be through trauma or through drug addiction. If you can recover, you can still wear that mantra. Absolutely, you know, because you're showing up every day, you're drawing back them curtains and a little bit of lighting, which sometimes are very hard to do.  So for me, the message, the clothing is a byproduct to the message and people just want to feel it and and get it on and get out and they're running and I've created just a really strong community that people just get it and it's it's going from strength to strength. And I'm just I'm really proud of it. You know, I launched it with zero money with huge risk. But my hard workout worked the risk for me and it's it's definitely paid off. So I'm I'm really chuffed and pleased. Yeah, you've done well, mate. Congratulations. What about the the day to day running of that kind of business? Do you? I mean, I've got my books on my website. And to be honest, it's for someone who's got admin as bad as me. Or it's not that my admins bad. It's like I like doing certain things and others are just I will procrastinate. But when an order drops in, I'm like, oh, I know, I know. Sorry, folks, it's a terrible attitude to have. But but I mean, you kind of it takes a lot to pack all that stuff and send it out and then you've got if the size doesn't fit and the person sends it back, do you have to do all that yourself? Or you you work in the day when someone else does that for you? Now, this is I'm in Keep Attacking HQ now. So this is our headquarters and my spare room is all racked out. And I got to the point that I needed to employ someone. So I said to my wife, Lucy, you've got to come and work for me. I just can't keep up with everything really. I can't do it on my own. So Lucy was the first employee for Keep Attacking. And if I'm honest, she runs the show, she runs the shop, she does the customer service to an exceptional standard. We have to deal with returns. It's nature of the business that I'm in. You know, if people if it doesn't fit or people don't like it, it's fine. You know, it's the courier's in kind. And we continue to do what we do best and with our values intact. So it's yeah, I needed a support, needed help. And I'm glad that, you know, Lucy can come in and take ownership of that. And it's given her a great purpose. She's really passionate and embedded within the brand. So yeah, we're going to strengthen the strength. And hopefully soon we are going into a location that we can really start to grow, scale up and do it properly. Because this kitchen serve this purpose and it's now it's leaking. You know, there's boxes behind me on the floor there. It's it's kind of leaked to within the household. And also, like we said before, I have to find a fine line with work and family life. And I feel working from home when everything is in my house, I can't escape it. It's just too easy to go up and crack something out. Like, you know, 2300 hours, there's an order what comes in. I'll struggle to leave that. And I know it needs to be fulfilled. So it's easy to do that. And actually, you shouldn't. It should be like your normal working hours. It's definitely difficult because at the moment I'm eating, sleeping, keep attacking, which is brilliant because I'm really passionate about it. And I can I know where I want it to go to. But I have to figure out that fine line. And that's what hopefully we're going to be doing in the next sort of month or two, moving out of here and going into a location. It all seems really promising, mate, doesn't it? It's it's a bit like the no fear. Do you remember the no fear logo brand? Those two words, even though it's probably worn by people that were terrified most of the time. It's, you know, it's just a winner winner, isn't it? I see the same for keep attacking. It's it it it sounds timeless. Yeah, and I think, you know, look, I don't know where it's going to go to. I know that it's had really good organic growth. I haven't done overly a lot on marketing, advertising that comes into phase two, which we're going to shortly be going into. And just the organic movement traction that it's had, I think. Yeah, people are really getting a hold of it and thinking this is just really it's just a great.  The extreme sports arena, the boxing arena, I think, you know, there's it's endless for that mantra to go. And that's what I need to do as well is not get carried away. Just keep it rained in a little bit and then just kind of hit different elements. I mean, the military has been a great connection because what a what a mantra for the military as well. You know, I'm from a front line arena myself. So a lot of lads who, you know, are still serving. And like Woody Pinger's over some kit makes this is quality, like for what we're about and our day to day job is to go on the offensive. You know, we know the best form of defense is going on the offensive action and to attack. And it was born from my back story, like I said, but everyone's got their own journeys within their life. So it's just really related. So what's this space, basically? Yes. So. Brian, was it hard for you then to go? We'll probably best to do this in a bit more of a chronological order. But. I'm guessing the 10 years when you were subjected to these false. Claims. There wasn't an awful lot of attacking you could do other than to just keep keep true to your story. Was that or keep true to the to the facts? Yeah, keep true to my values and what I stood for and my integrity, which was a daily reminder, but where keep attacking came in was. I showed up every day. Some days I didn't fancy it. Some days were tougher than others. You know, when it went in, when the allegations of murder, mutilation and mistreatment are for everything that we had done. You know, on the on that day of the 14th of May, which was the Battle of Danny Boy and being 23 as a young commander, making some huge decisions. And, you know, I'm not the only person in the military which have had to make some real demanding punchy decisions at that age. However. Not everyone went through the aftermath of all of that. And so it was very tough to. To continue moving forward. Constantly reminding myself that everything's going to be OK. Even though, you know, I was kind of, we were left to get on with it on our own. There was no ring of steel round us. There was no phone calls of support. That's both within the M.O.D. and also the British Army. I know I find it hard to criticise the British Army because I've got a love affair with them. I mean, it's definitely shaped me, made me the person I am today 100 percent. But I highlighted in my book that they did get it wrong. The duty of care was shocking and it really it hurt me because I was prepared to give my life for the British Army in a heartbeat and to not have anything in return. When I say this a lot, that I felt that I was fighting a harder battle on the UK soil on my home soil than I was in foreign fields, punching out every single day in 2004. You know, it was it was sad. But that's why I was so vocal about it. And, you know, it took from from 2009 when the allegations were made public because it became a public inquiry. Thirty four million pounds of taxpayers' money went into this inquiry. And it was, yeah, it was such a rollercoaster of emotions. It was draining. But, you know, I was I was willing to go that distance. And I was fatigued. There was many down days, but I got there in the end. And when we were found, well, it was Phil Shiner, the public interest lawyer, was found guilty on 12 accounts. It was a deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility. And it was all to do with money and greed. But the government allowed this witch hunt to to go on and and hurt people.  You know, it ended people's careers early. I've done 17 years and once the summary hearing came out after spending three and a half hours in the dock, getting questioned, getting everything that I'd stood for stripped back and felt like I was worthless, really, everything I stood for and did as a British soldier and a human being. They just stripped me of everything and it was tough. But when the when the. When the summary hearing came out. I needed to go on the offensive. I need to then attack and. Write about it. Speak about it. The injustice, the corruption, the lack of support. Not to hurt people to raise awareness and to try and make change. And recently, you know, we've had that offer. The new operational bill go through headed up by Johnny Mercer. And that wasn't because of me by any stretch. However, I did show up above the parapet. I went into a number of meetings. I was on a panel on lawfare with the biggest influences within the British Army, whether it be American, you know, common dance or British Brigadiers. You know, I was one of a few on that panel to say, you know, we have to protect if British soldiers get it wrong or Marines or airmen or anyone in that arena. And they get it wrong. They need to be punished. However, if British soldiers aren't getting it wrong and doing the right thing, how are they still being allowed to be punished? It's just it's it's beyond me. So we have to have something put in place for a statute of legislation or a law is changed. I don't know. British soldiers or the British Army or the military as a whole organization aren't above the law. And I say this regularly. We have to adhere to the law. We're educated on it. We understand rule of law. You know, we understand rules of engagement. But when soldiers are in extreme environments and are getting it wrong. But still allowed to be dragged over the colds for years and years later. It's unacceptable. So that's why I just went on the offensive with the interviews that I was doing. You know, the book that I wrote and then the film, you know, is around the corner. So that's also highlighting it. So yeah. It's such a it's an area, isn't it, where there isn't always either like a simple answer or a simple way of. Being or or a simple viewpoint that. You know, if you ask someone should I run over a child in my car unilaterally, if that's the right word or universally, you're going to get. No, not not. That's not good. Right. That's kind of like agreed. But when we go to war and acts are committed. Even if the act might be despicable and completely wrong, you're going to get a number of spectators ago. No, that's fine. It's war or. And sometimes that's that's a justified. Like response. Other times it's like, well, no, it's might be war, but there's still like some semblance of rules there. It was a bit like the Al Blackman. I mean, I'm guessing that you. Kept to kept an eye on that when it was going on. Very. I guess I'm trying to say it's not always black and white anyway, Brian, is it. No, it's not always black and white. I mean, war is brutal. War is confusion. And I think that war will have an imprint. On your life for the rest of your life. It's challenging. And like I said, it has it has a lasting print. And I think mine and ours work are very different. You know, when you actually dissect it and I don't really, it's not my place to get into, you know, someone else's story because I don't know the ins and outs of it, but we, it is two different areas for sure. But when, and I can relate to when I was in the courtroom and. I was getting hounded by lawyers who. Had no credibility to me and I don't know that's not as a disrespectful statement to any lawyers because they're very good in their arena and doing what they do. But they didn't know. They didn't know what was going on. The elements of the battlefield. They don't consider. What had been leading up to the 14th of May. What, how many casualties we had taken, you know, throughout that tour. How many times we were getting smashed by the enemy. Daily. Hourly. You know, all of this. Is a lead up. Yeah. I think it's a. A part to play. In your mental state as well. It really does. It has a huge effect. To the point of chronic burnout really, but they don't want to know that they're not interested. So when, when they're asking me questions, I'm trying to create. With my answer under all of this pressure, because I've never been to court before. I'm trying to. You know. Paint them a picture. I was 23 young Lance corporate at the time. And then years later, I'm in the courtroom, which I've then gone through my military. Command courses. So I'm educated a lot better as well. So I can stand up there and try and find that fine balance. But it was. It was so difficult for me to do that. Under the pressure that I was under as well to. To. Answer these questions. And let these people know that. They're not the person they, they think I haven't murdered anyone in cold blood. I haven't.  And I haven't certainly mistreated anyone in any way. Not. On purpose. I mean, they said that my acts of mistreatment was. Not giving. Some of the prisoner of war on the, on once the real had been called. On the way back to. To our forward operating base. I never give any of the PAW is any water. Because we had. Three quarters of a bottle. Left. It was red up. We've just been out in this huge battlefield for three and a half hours. So. I was going to drink that water. And some of my lads. You know, apparently that was the wrong thing to do. Because I was in humane by not giving them water. Plastic us. When we arrested them. It was said that. We put the plastic us on too tight.  Whatever degree angle. And it's, you know, and that they were just like some of the questions that were highlighted, which they put at me being in humane. And there was a few bruises on someone's face or. And, you know. Yeah, there was. Because when you're conducting trench warfare, which hasn't happened for. God knows how many years. You've just launched a full. Frontal, you know, counter attack on this dug in position.  They've gone, they've initiated it. They're all set up on an ambush. And we've counted it with a lot less. Manpower on the ground and what they've got a lot less. Well, I wouldn't say firepower because we had our armored vehicle support. But. You know, there's going to be aggression. There's going to be, you know, that hard fast tempo. And it was, you know, we had to go in and arrest and restrain.  So we've had to let these people know these militia fighters know who's in charge. You know, and if there's a couple of punches thrown, then that's what happens in them. They were still alive. You know, there was still nothing wrong with them. They were just made sure that they we were in business. And it was us that had control of this whole situation. What did they expect? I tell you what, they didn't expect us to get out of that vehicle and launch a counter attack on them. They never expected that for one minute. And when we started to get across that open ground. And we started to have a real good rhythm about ourselves. They started to, half of them started to extract and withdraw because we had the upper hand and we had that aggression. And we had that, you know, I don't even know if it's full hardy, because when I look back at it now, for sure, there was someone looking down on us. Because we were just, yeah, it was just so close. And none of us got hit, you know, and that's a huge defensive position that we were going in against. And we were just very fortunate to be alive. And that's another thing as well. You know, I've tried to explain that in the courtroom that on the way back to where the vehicles were, we had obviously medics attached to as a female and a male medic. These male and female medic were working on some of these militia fighters who had gunshot wound injuries. One was doing CPR and one was putting them in a position, in a W position to make sure, you know, there was, you know, trying to sustain his life and keep him alive for as long as he could before we got them back. So I was just like that because that's what we do. Yes, we warfight. But when it's done, you know, if there's casualties, we have to treat the casualties because it's what we do as British soldiers. But none of that was like even mentioned in that room. They're like, yeah, whatever, we'll skip over that. Why are we skipping over it?  And I'm like, well, they're just the questions that I can't answer.   So I don't read in any pamphlet say one or two rounds. And then that's it. That's what you can fire. You do what you do to eliminate that threat. If that's five or six or seven or eight rounds, then that's what it takes to eliminate that threat. It was just, I don't know. It was just chaos in that courtroom. And yeah, it was just tough being in there, answering these questions, thinking, I've just given every single thing that I've got for this organization being a British army from my country, you know, the Iraq war was unpopular. I know that, but we don't choose to go to these, you know, foreign fields. There's a decision made and we have to go there. And when we're in someone else's back garden, people don't like it. They then become the aggressors and we have to react to it.  We go out there to try and figure out what it is we need to achieve, build up reports with either village elders or local militia and try and figure it out. Try and calm things down and what can we do to rebuild, restructure and put some hearts and minds in the process. But it doesn't work like that. And Iraq was, you know, 2004 especially was, was so tough, such a tough tour. And for have, like I said, to then come back and then in 2013 be, you know, stripped of everything and within that room it was just a betrayal. Yeah, on a level that I think us mere mortals could never understand, Brian, you know, I get kind of, you know, I get it a little bit just because of my own experience of being in the military and how quickly you can just be a number in the military.  And of course, yeah, describing what, what, what, what you've been through. But it's what, but Chris, it's what we do, isn't it?  And if you want to excel within that organization, the world is your oyster. There's, there is no, you know, there's no one going to tell you you can't do that. You can go and do as much or as little as you want. There is so much out there. And when you start to, you know, do your build up training and do all your posts or pre deployment training, you just grow so close to one another. And because it's what we do, we just need to know what makes us tick, what, what make, what doesn't make us tick, what maintains our morale, how the family is back at home. You get educated in this at such a young age that I don't think any other organization, organization does better than the military. However, that being said, when it's done, it's done. When your time is done, you know, you said it, a number, we've all got a regimental number. And that's kind of what you stand for. So, and that's why I think it's so, or it is hard for a lot of people when they transition from having a clear direction daily from, from daily detail, from being in this institution for being told what to do for a long period of your life to all of a sudden when you come out into the real world, like, where do I start? Because there's a, there's an element of loss of identity. There's, there's a gap that needs to be bridged. But you can achieve it. It's, it's, it's different, you know, you need to get your head around that. It's going to be different. You can't rest on your laurels. It's a whole new chapter.  You know, I was a senior color sergeant, just been selected for promotion to company sergeant major. And I could have probably gone to the pinnacle, but enough was enough for me. Once the inquiry hearing came out and I was like, I'm done. It was a huge risk. But I wanted to break away from that organization. I wanted to start fresh.  There's a little bit of anxiety a little bit. And I was, you know, worried a little bit because I've got family mortgage to pay. But I just used that as a real bit of fuel for me to achieve. And so many people said to me, what are you mad? What are you doing? You've got your pension and you just picked up company sergeant major.  What, why would you even do that? It's like, because I need to, and I want to. And it's going to be better for my family that I do. And to be honest, it really has. And there has been a lot of hard work, but it just goes to show that. And I've got zero education for none, really. I went to school with, you know, I wasn't the best in school. Didn't have a lot of grades. Seen the military as a great opportunity when in there worked hard within that organization, done a lot of cool courses. Went on a number of different operational tours, gained so much experience. And then when I broke away, I just tried to use as much as I'd learned to what I'm doing to current. Yeah. Was it, was that just to put in the time perspective, were you still serving while you fought these allegations? I went operational. Join these allegations again. Yeah. As a leader. Yeah. As a platoon sergeant. I went done my second tour of Iraq. Yeah. It was crazy. And for me, it's like taking it. Sorry, Afghan. I did not Iraq. Or did I do Afghan and Iraq? I did. I don't reckon Afghan on the relegation. Yeah. Yeah. Crazy, isn't it? You know, and the thing is, I look when I look back at it now, and the soldiers who were in my platoon in my company, they could have really said, I'm not going to be working on the woody. I mean, these allegations were all over the place. You know, his leadership ability could be in question. His allegations are barbaric. Murderer is the most serious of allegations. So I don't know if he's going to be stable. These are the questions that they would be entitled to ask. Absolutely. But the minute you're like, it's not, it's a thing of beauty. Come on. Soon, Sergeant, you're all over it. You're an inspiration to men. Or if I then look back at it in a different way, maybe I could have questioned the chain of command. And I never did. It's insane. I won't even do a podcast if I've got up and I'm having a bad day, because I can't give it. I just physically cannot give it the attention it needs, right? Yeah.  What you were asked to do under that extreme stress is just, things must have changed now. I can't see. Yeah, they would have now, definitely. Surely. I would like to think so. If you were in a civilian job, you would have been bonded off on some sort of sickness package. Yeah. Or, you know, you would have, you would have been put away until the hearing had been done. You know, to whatever was going to, whatever was going to happen with the inquiry. If you were a civilian, you would have been put on guard and leave and wait to the outcome. If you were in the military, I was punching out on operations again. Twice. So, while these allegations were hanging over your head, did that jeopardize your MC? Only in my own head, I think. Because I'm very self-critical also, and I don't go off about the military cross, because it's in the past. And I'm proud, absolutely. 100%. It was probably other than my kids being born and my marriage. It was, it's definitely up there as my greatest achievement for sure. You know, the whole day was remarkable going into Buckingham Palace Gates and, you know, lining up with other remarkable people who have been honored for, you know, whether it's their time and effort within the charity sector, whether it's their sport and accolades, and a lot of some military great, you know, sort of recognition of hard work. And I was in amongst that.  It was phenomenal. But then obviously later on. Can we just clarify for our American friends so you're meeting the Queen? Yeah. So she, yeah, she basically pinned the military cross on my chest. And we have, we had a little bit of dialogue and you can see I've got, I think a little video on my Instagram. And we have decent amount of seconds on dialogue. You know, she said to me, it's not very often. Because 2004 honors and awards were far and few between.  And when you wear it, you wear it with pride. And it's just like, it was just a very surreal day because I've said it before. I'm just a normal guy, you know, and now all of a sudden I'm in the palette of my mom and dad and my wife. It's like, what's going on? So it was just, it was class, brilliant. And then, you know, the allegations had come up and it was all over the news as well because it was a public enquiring because it was such, I've spoken about battle for a number of reasons. It just had the press were fixated with it. And it went into panorama release something. And it was called on whose orders, which made British soldiers out to be barbaric murders. It was unfair, really unfair, but we had to deal with the repercussion from that. And then the newspapers were printing. I just didn't do any, any sorts of favours. And it was the first time that I started to get messages from people that I knew and a few family asking if what they're reading is true. And it just, it was so heartbreaking. And then they're mobilising it.  And actually my military class is just, it's not even out on display anywhere. It's in a real subtle location that you can even imagine that it's, that it's not just because, is there a shadow over it? But maybe I think Winston Churchill once said that middle glitters, but it also casts a shadow. And for me it's case in point, really. So I wear it on remembrance for reflection, you know, it's, it's a representation of me and the other fellow soldiers who were there that day, sure. And just to clarify, Brian, so you were awarded the military cross for your actions on this day. Is this leading the first bayonet charging? Was it 25 years? Yeah, I mean, that's what they, that's what they say. I don't know whether that's true because bayonets being fixed is just a normal procedure. Like they said that they, they went on about this in, in the inquest. And I was like, it's just a standard procedure. When you're conducting CQB, which is close quarter battle, you fix a bayonet. It's just a drill. You know, I never had a bayonet fixed on my weapon system because it wouldn't allow it. I had an underslung grenade launcher. You can't fix a bayonet on that. But the other lads, whoever could, would have had a bayonet fixed because it's, it's drill. So, you know, I, I can't comment on has it done, been done since, I'm not too sure, but trench war fight hadn't happened since God knows when. I mean, this was world war type stuff getting up over the top and going across open ground like they would have been doing, you know, the greatest generation would have experienced. So I can definitely say that that hadn't been done and probably won't ever happen again. I know it's a big shout, but, you know, going and conducting a real conventional attack across open ground into a stronghold. It doesn't happen very often. And was it textbook as, as you're taught in training or did, did the rule book fly out the window? No, it was, it's very easy for me to sit here and say it was the perfect textbook attack. You know, we did the basics. Well, what we were trained as, as young private soldiers to then being a Lance Corporal because I was a Lance Corporal at the time. There was a lot of confusion when they surrendered. It was like, kind of, you know, what's going on now? We need to get a grip of the situation.  But when, when they surrender, it changes. And there was a little bit of confusion there because all of a sudden there's bodies and around this trench position that had been hit by all sorts, hit by, you know, 5.56 caliber from the SA80 that we were using from 7.62, which our vehicle was using to 30 millimeter, which you get hit with that, you know, there's going to be not a lot of left and this was all over the place. It was the first time I'd really seen that type of trauma. And, but I had to kind of suppress that and blank that out because I was dealing with this situation now that there's a lot of dead bodies and around. There's militia fighters who have also left this, this main holding position. And, and now there's a lot of vocal people who are shouting at us. We're trying to calm it down.  And there was confusion. You're vulnerable in that moment to getting snot, to getting shot in the back. Huge. We're vulnerable with, with being in this situation where we'd only trained, you know, on exercises to do now all of a sudden we don't know what else is out there in the battlefield. There's hideous sites, you know, of militia fighters who had been killed like not just a gunshot wound. These were in extreme, you know, can't even explain how bad it was. And then you've got to try and arrest these militia fighters who are going berserk. There's weapons everywhere all over the front of the trench. There's ammunition. And I know I go back to my social media but I've posted a number of times on my Instagram of, you know, I think it was a second position with all the ammunition laid out, weapons systems, RPG, still RPG, warheads on their weapons that hadn't been fired off yet. And a number of other things. So that's all on there. And just yeah, so was it textbook? I don't think so. Did we achieve our mission and RA? Yeah.  If it's not normal in any scenario in life to hear that those immortal words fix bayonets. And when you do, you kind of in the shit, right? Well, or you're attacking your way out of it. Yeah, I mean, it's very brave stuff. It is close and personal. It is, you know, it's extreme warfare.  However, I still will always say, you know, it's just a stand and operating procedure to do that. And I'm not going to be none of the wise. I'm not, there's no point me glorifying something or massively big enough saying, yeah, you know, fixing cold steel and punching straight into it and smashing it into the malicious chest. And that did it happen?  These are enemy fighters, you know, and I can only control what I can see and what I was doing and moving and and really under a lot of pressure to do what I'm doing. But yeah, it's it's a weapon system. It's a secondary weapon system that we use when we're conducting close, close flying. So yeah. Gosh, it's just beyond belief really. And I'll say that in all just utmost respect to you guys, you know, it's the same in the Falklands, isn't it, when they had to crawl up to the Argentinian trenches and it's it's there's that quantity in there as well, isn't it about being a service person?  And then it of course says that the living with it after and that's a whole another whole less whole of a battle. Yes, whole of a battle. And it's a battle that we're not really educated on how to fight and it's different. It's different pressures. It's a different enemy. It's a silent enemy. But, you know, you can manage it if you want to do something about it. And it's down to you as the individual to make that step and and creating a toolkit, you know, and going on a bit of a growth journey, you know, post dramatic growth is a big thing and to grow from adversity and and really wanting to help yourself to then potentially help others is is really what it's about. And that's what I've tried to do. And I'm no magician. You know, I have my own problems now and again. And I have to manage my own demons now and again. But I'm in a really good place of late. I've got, like I said, a great family around me, great network around me. Got brilliant business and you know, I've just got to manage when I need to manage. I mean, for me, the highlight in recent months was for sure going on set. You know, and watching my life story kind of come together into this motion picture. I don't even know if that's the right word. It's going to be a 90 minute BBC two drama, which is crazy. Are the BBC going to do it justice bearing in mind their sort of links to the establishment? Yeah, I mean, I I had made sure that any of the battle scenes I had full consultancy control over, which they knew was the right thing for authenticity for, you know, and it's definitely the right thing. I think they could have went harder on Phil China, but I like what they've done. If I'm honest with it, I really really do. And they've done it justice. I promise you, it's going to be epic. I mean, how they have, because don't forget as well, it's I never knew this until I went through it myself, but the BBC are just the broadcasters. They don't make the film. They show it. And if they wanted to change everything or wanted to change it, I would have agreed to even allow that to be shown. I wouldn't have signed it. So they, like I said, because I've had so many questions like the question you just said, garden the establishment, and it's because it's the BBC. But it's the producers which get hold of the story, then it's the writer that creates this incredible, you know, narrative that is then going to be put on set and then, you know, acted in the film. So when I when I agreed to go with expectation who the producers I would just love the two individuals who come to pitch to me, I just really love their drive, their energy, their passion for the story. They wanted me heavily involved, which was really important for me. And it was a great experience to then get Robert Jones, the writer who he's a BAFTA Robin in writer, you know, he came in and wrote this incredible script. I mean, it's so it's so different to the book, but clearly the content within the book is in the script, but it's so different to the book, how they've done it. And it's it's pretty epic. So we're just around the end. The trailer is going to be shown soon. And we're looking at spring, but I haven't got a TX date, a transmission date yet. I'm still waiting for that to I'm still waiting to be told, but we're in pitch a lock now, which means that all of the, you know, changes and if there's any tweaks and stuff, it's all been done. It's locked. So we're going to get some music and stuff in to the film now. So we're just around the corner. Can't wait. It's going to be epic.  I've got a clue myself if I want to. So this just see what happens. And how has the book gone? Because that was in the last couple of years you released your book. Yeah, it's actually my anniversary on the 21st. It super exceeded my expectations. It's it went on to the Sunday Times bestseller number three. And then we cracked up, but I couldn't shift Michelle Obama because she was number one. So I was never going to shift her from the top spot, but I can live with that. That's fine. And it's just continued to shift, you know, it's I'm really proud of the book and the feedback that I've had from it and what people have written about it on Amazon. It's just very humbling and I'm very proud of it. So I think the book may get a second wave from what's going to be showing on TV. I think the publishers are gearing up for that and actually they've sent me a cover for it that they're going to be releasing at the same time. So they're gearing up for another sort of wave. If it doesn't happen, it's fine. I mean I'm just so proud to even get to this point and it's just been crazy, crazy journey with so much emotion having to show a lot of resilience using the Keep Attack and Ethos on a daily basis and trying to maintain some sort of sanity and positivity at the same time and trying to be a dad because there were some situations where it was starting to affect my family and my son was going to school and all of a sudden this school yard gossip was my son's dad was a murderer and he'll be in the thick of that and then he'll come home upset and I'll be asking what's going on and he'll say that they're saying that you killed innocent people there. Because for me you can take chunks out of me all day long I'll try and bounce back and just try and stay positive but when it goes into the family that hurts, it cuts deep and when there's someone so innocent like my son to be up against this it's just like it was tough really tough. Brian this and I'm glad it's all working its way good for you I think you thoroughly deserve it mate I appreciate it thank you very much, really appreciate it it's great to finally get to meet you as well so thank you for that what I'll do is I'll put links for your website below this YouTube video and then well we can have this conversation off camera or off record but yeah we'll put all the links for your book and your parallel below and on behalf of the bought the T-shirt podcast keep attacking absolutely, thanks for having me on I'll never take anything for granted so I appreciate you having me on and hopefully it'll be some half decent content for your listeners and viewers so yeah thank you very much the pleasure is all ours, thank you mate no worries everybody at home, massive thank you again big love to you all, look after yourselves if you could like and subscribe and I should mention that now we've got our own a parallel I don't even know if that's the right word but if you look at the video a parallel is it called? a parallel, yeah I'm 51 years old do you think I would know that by now but there we go ciao ciao everybody no worries


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