From Nice France, it's theCUBE, covering .NEXT Conference 2017 Europe, brought to you by Nutanix. Welcome back, I'm Stu Miniman, and this is theCUBE's live coverage from Nutanix .NEXT in Nice France. Always love when we get to dig in of some of the practitioners, the users at this conference, because a lot of them have shown up for this show. Happy to welcome to the program first time guest, Mohammed Ibrahim, who's the head of IT with Securities and Investment Company, or SICO, headquartered out of Bahrain. Great to see you. Hello, how are you? Good to see you too. It's really my pleasure to participate and to be here and joining the .NEXT conference. It's actually very lucky to be here. Thank you so much. Yeah, and you've been at both of the European shows that they've had. Exactly, yeah, I have attended last year in Vienna, and that was really good as well, and this year I really see a very big development and enhancement and the difference between this year and last year, which is a very good progress. All right, so Mohammed first, tell us about SICO. How long's the company been around, kind of the breadth of coverage in locations in the lifetime? SICO, it's actually a wholesale bank, headquartered in Bahrain, and we are a premier wholesale bank in the region Middle East and North Africa. We do business in two different lines, like asset management, because we manage more than one billion US dollar as asset management and portfolio managers, and we are also a custodian house, and the brokerage business, this is one of our main business lines as well, because we are brokers, and we started as a broker, and now we are a wholesale bank. Our coverage, as I said, is MENA, Middle East and North Africa, and we have our also subsidiary brokerage arm in United Arab Emirates. It's SICO UAE, it's our brokerage arm there, and they are also working under SICO. Okay, you were telling me SICO's been around since 1995.  Yeah, actually, yeah, SICO established in 1995, and I joined SICO in 2007, and in that time I'm SICO, I started as a head of infrastructure, and now I am the head of IT, looking after the whole IT and services in SICO. Okay, maybe explain to us those roles, infrastructure in IT and kind of the, how many people, how many data centers, that kind of stuff. Yeah, we have actually one data center, which is the main site, and we have another data center in our DR site, the recovery site, and yeah, it's very sophisticated because we are operating as a bank, and we have a core banking system, we have a trading platform, we are serving more than 1900s customers, and our customers are government, the Bench and Fund, high-worth net individuals, corporates, so we have fund managers, this all our customers, and this is actually very critical customers for us. This is mainly, we are in IT, of course we have a couple of units, we have the infrastructure and application, I was actually entitled for the infrastructure looking after the platform, security, network, and recently from couple of years back, I have been promoted to be the head of IT and looking after the applications as well as infrastructure. Great, so you've got security under your preview, which I have to imagine is taking a lot of time and budget these days. Exactly, this is actually, it was a very again critical task and a critical position because handling the security, it was really important for the business and for our data and our confidentiality, so it was really a good practice and a good experience and now we are actually enhancing more in our information security policy because as you know, cybersecurity is one of the important topics, especially when you go to the digitalization and this is our main purpose and our main target is to do digitalization, automation and enhancing this domain plus ensuring the security is very standard, very high level, matching the whole expectations from the regulator as well as world-wide standards. Yeah, brought up a great point, Mohamed there. I want you to explain to our audience, what does digitization mean to SICO? For us, digitalization is actually, it's more than giving online services, automation for our services as well, make it easy because the whole sale bank, it's actually have different line of services and getting into access to your data, to your portfolio, managing your orders, placing your orders, getting your positions, getting your cash statements, this is all actually transferring your cash, this is all something that it's very important for the customer and in many places, even in the Gulf, even in the area, it happens manually, okay? So we are trying to be more automated, more smart, okay, and this is for us, is the digitalization in the time being. Okay, so let's dig into your, part of your job, your old job too, the infrastructure itself. What's the role of infrastructure when you're doing the digitization? You've probably gone through some transformations there. If you can tell us a little bit about kind of what it was like and kind of what led to where you are and where you're going. Yep, mainly this is a very important question actually and I love to answer it because when I John Seaco, it was a traditional infrastructure, I mean, as many people did, okay, it's a physical implementation, you have servers, you have network switches, okay, so it was a very traditional and this was actually the challenge, is to move Seaco from the traditional way of the infrastructure into very simple way and very standard way, allowing you to grow, allowing you to add more applications, allowing you to really develop and focus more on the functionalities other than infrastructure and this is, since you have also have limited time, our limited resources in terms of IT resources, so you need really to think about a simple infrastructure giving you the functionalities you expect, giving you the stability, the data resiliency and as well as giving you the opportunity to add more sort of critical applications on top of that. Okay, so I have to imagine your time, virtualization played a role in this and when did, you know, kind of Nutanix come into the picture? Actually, yeah, Nutanix came into the picture when we decided to go with our online trading platform, Seaco Live. Seaco Live, it's actually a very important and a critical product for us because it allows our customers to get a direct market access and we are currently online with seven markets and we are going for the globe as well because we are planning to go for Europe and US markets. So to build this kind of critical system, you have to have a cloud, you have to think about virtualization because again, following the traditional implementation of infrastructure, it will not help you and it will take a long, long time and it will be very complex in terms of administration and support. For this reason, we have to add actually our private cloud because again, you will stuck with the regulator if you go with the public cloud. If you tell him, I'm going for the public cloud, he will tell you, again, it's the confidentiality, you cannot take the customer information and put it somewhere. So we said, okay, we will go for our private cloud and this was a challenge. We need a hyper-converged infrastructure. We need infrastructure that is smart enough to be hosting all our VMs with a central monitoring, central sort of administration and easy as well. So we have compared actually a couple of, more than a couple of solutions around the world, okay? And Nutanix was one of the proposed solutions coming to us and we have done a very sophisticated vendor selection and I think we have taken the right decision when we have selected the Nutanix to be our infrastructure for trading platform. Yeah, so before I get into the Nutanix a little bit more, some people when they hear I've built a private cloud and say, well, you virtualized some environment, you did some things, what were your internal requirements? What makes it a cloud versus just, okay, I've automated some things or I've done some things. You know, did you have certain criteria that you went through or what did you do and how do you feel kind of, did you benchmark yourselves against the public cloud from kind of the usage and the agility or how do you sort that out? Again, it's very important question because this was a strategy when I joined SICO from the beginning. As I said, we had actually a traditional infrastructure and the market and the standards was ahead, actually. So you have to bring SICO infrastructure into the standards. Traditional infrastructure, it doesn't give you the facility to grow and to add more sort of systems. It's very difficult. So this was actually the criteria and the requirements from our side. We need to have a simple infrastructure where we can add additional servers seamlessly. We can grow, we can expand, we can add more resources without rebuilding the whole infrastructure because the physical implementation, if you're stuck with the capacity, you have to shut down the server, bring a new server, do another implementation, bring everybody involved to do the new implementation. But with the virtualization, it's easy. It's a virtual server, it's a data. You take it somewhere, just only you need to provide the infrastructure that can host it. And with the Nutanix or with the hyper-convergent infrastructure, you can, whenever you need additional resources, you can add resources and you can keep your application running as is, you can keep your data as is and without interrupting the business, without interrupting the operation and without interrupting customers as well. And this was actually the criteria when we selected and when we decided to go with the hyper-convergent infrastructure. Okay, that's great. Do you have any metrics as to kind of, you know, operations or how many headcount you have working on things? What's been the impact of the Nutanix? This is what we have done, actually.  And we compared two different vendors and actually, to be more honest, four vendors actually, monitoring and developing and comparing different technologies, okay? So if you go with the traditional infrastructure and implementation, how it will go, in terms of support, in terms of implementation, time, lines, the cost, post-implementation, support, okay? Even with the convergent infrastructure, because I remember in that time we had the convergent infrastructure where some people like well-known companies were talking about convergent infrastructure and we had the hyper-convergent infrastructure solution, which is actually, was a very new into the market. For this reason, we had taken, I think, a decision where everybody said, Muhammad and Siku, I think you are taking a very, what you can say, it's a very new decision. It's something that you can- You can say it's risky, yeah? Exactly, some people consider it little bit risky because you are doing something is still not yet, many people did it, especially in the financial services and the banking sector.  Why? Because you have to host whatever VMs you need, okay? Whenever you need to add a VM, it will be very easy for you. Whenever you want to expand, it will be also easy for you and with your resources, current IT resources, you can still handle these sophisticated systems and the critical systems. And this was a challenge because again, you cannot, every time you implement a new system, you add to payroll, additional resources and you hire more resources. The business will be killed. Yeah, well, something I've heard lots from the financial markets these days is the business is changing, so you need to have the agility to be able to respond and deliver what you need and if you don't make a change. And to be honest, I want to tell you frankly speaking, now the management and the business decision makers, they look to the IT that they have a buttons. When I tell you something, you should press the button and bring it to me. They don't actually think about how much sophisticated that your system has already in the background, so you don't care about the technicality. They care more about the functionality and the deliverables. So IT is very now challenging and the decision makers and the IT management and the technical resources, they have a very challenge, very high challenge that whenever they get the requirements and a lot of priorities are coming from the business, they have to be always ready. So if you don't have a symbol and a proper infrastructure that can really flexible, help you achieve all of this kind of deliverables, then you will stuck and people will look at you like you are in 19th century. So we are now in 91, we are growing, we have to grow, we have to be very fast like others. Yeah. So it sounds like you're saying Nutanix provides the easy button for the infrastructure. From my experience and from the implementation we have done, I think Nutanix with our systems could really achieve our target and we could really implement the training platform in a very good time as we expected even less. Okay, and we could really do this kind of performance, we could really achieve the deliverables as we expected. We have more than expected performance, we have the right choice in terms of expansion. We have also good support from Nutanix, which is really helping a lot in terms of critical systems because it's a 24 by seven, I cannot actually afford the couple of minutes even down time, it's a market, I'm accessing the markets. So I'm placing orders and these orders are money. And if the customer while placing the order, his order did not reach the market, okay, because of the system, he will kill us. Okay, so exactly, this is how much, and actually it's a seconds because the price in the markets is changing and the customer is placing the order. So if I did not give him the very stable platform that he can really place the order into the market with this moment and then it got delayed, then he will lose money. Okay, then I will lose the customer and I will lose the business. For this season, it's a very critical and it's very important to have such a simple, flexible, reliable solution for your system. Mohamed Ibrahim, really appreciate the updates on what SICO has been doing. Thank you so much and best of luck. We'll be back with lots more programming here. Thank you so much. From theCUBE's coverage of Nutanix.next. I'm Stu Miniman, you're watching theCUBE.


To be all-in means that your only priority is to always manage your state of being. If you wish to generate a different life, you need to start paying attention to your state of consciousness and you have to let go of circumstances. You have to become aware of your vibration and learn to very, very consistently and constantly choose your preferred state of being, regardless of what you see. If your state of being is 100% your chosen preference all of the time, reality will have to reflect that. Physical reality is like a mirror. All it ever does is reflect you. All the time, it's constantly mirroring your state of being, your vibrational attitude, your consciousness. Step back fully into the Creator's seat, take control of yourself and become more deliberate in your manifestations. We are here to create things that have never been created before. Generate a presence that is of your preference. You have to overwhelm what is appearing as your circumstances with your chosen vibratory presence. You have to manifest and generate the experience that you want consciously. This is actually one of the most powerful keys to becoming conscious again of the fact that you are God, that you are the Creator. It's to actually practice inundating and overwhelming your reality with your chosen presence, your chosen frequency. Then you will really fall in love with your reality, with your creation. You will start to become one with it. What I'm talking about is a really high, finely tuned, intentional state of love-light that can have any shape. Choose one of the facets of that high vibrational love-light of the One Infinite Creator. Tap into it and dominate your reality with it. This is your creation. It's not your reception. You are never receiving anything ever. You're only ever giving life to creation. It is a mechanical impossibility to experience someone else's energy. It's always your version of them. You need to counter what you've been doing for decades, which is, I'm over here and you're over there. Ultimately, that is the only love there is, the One wanting to know itself. Existence doesn't desire me, is the feeling of unworthiness. All of this creation is really the One looking at itself. You are that One that wants to know itself and so you are generating this reality. This is just one of your many realities. You are everywhere, all at once, moving at infinite speeds while remaining absolutely still. Consciousness is always here. Every experience you have meets inside of consciousness, inside of you. You can never change you. You can never leave you. You are inescapable. You as consciousness. You as awareness. You as that witnessing principle. You as that ever present being are inescapable. Your vibrational attitude is how you view yourself in any given moment.  It determines your state of being. Your vibrational attitude is what you are constantly emitting, the energy or frequency of your being, the state of your consciousness.  Realize that your consciousness has the ability to change the picture, to shift into a parallel reality intentionally. The more awareness you bring into your experience, the more you can change your thoughts, your consciousness, your attention, your vibratory state. What is the next most exciting, uplifting, empowering thing to generate? For myself and for the rest of myself. The rest of my creation. You have to enter willingly into your creator's seat. Step into the vibratory state where you know that you are responsible for the reflections you see. What you see is what you are. What you choose is what you see. What you feel is what you create. What you see is a reflection of what you are being. You have to become aware of your vibration and learn to very, very consistently choose your preferred state of being, regardless of what you see. Regardless of how things appear, do not flinch. You can still communicate with others and accept the conventional appearance of reality, but internally, subjectively, your state of being is 100% your chosen preference all of the time. Using your state of being, overpower your experience of what is with only your preference, while maintaining complete respect for the seeming existence of other people's free will. I want to inspire you to constantly desire to stay alert and be aware of what you are sending out until you reach a super satisfactory state where your life is no longer generated randomly but consciously. To be all in means that it is your only priority to determine and direct your own state of being at all times. The resonance is what it's about. The frequency, the state of being is what you really want. You want the feeling of it. You want the beingness of it. You can't really know what that's like. You can't really know how to respond or interact from that space. You can't really recognize that integrity until you start actually experiencing it. You can only experience what it's like when you expand beyond your bubble, beyond your biases, beyond your preferences and you remember your true preference. Place everything you desire in your past a little while ago as if it already happened and feel what that was like. To be in the future generates more presence than to be in the present which is based on the past. There's nothing more beautiful than to be in a state of pure desire without doubt. Knowing that you are connected to all that is knowing that you are infinitely powerful and infinitely abundant. That state itself becomes your home. That state itself becomes your freedom, your liberation, your source of power and well-being. It becomes your ability to manifest the things truly relevant for you. Quickly, rapidly, often as if magically so. That state itself is super accelerated living.


That's it. You don't need to press the whole hold. Is it going? I don't think so. It's recording. No, there's no red dot. Red light on your right. Oh yeah, okay. My man, do you? Oh my god. All right, hi guys. Welcome back to another video on our channel. It's been such a long time and this is actually a second take. Okay. We wanted to record a video and do a live quiz about our love languages. And we're using our phones because it was easier to just be sitting here and talking to you guys. And it didn't work. So we went all the way through the whole quiz and then it didn't give us the score. Yeah. But maybe nice to tell is that it was actually my sister who suggested to make a video. So she sent me the quiz and said it would be interesting or she would be interested to hear. What our love languages are. Yes. Yeah. And so shout out to my sister for suggesting a video. We are very democratic. We will always listen to the comments. Yeah. So we're going to take the quiz live and then determine what each other's love language is and talk a bit about it. And we're doing it on our computers. Yeah. So this time hopefully we'll get a result. Yeah. I want to sit here. So maybe good to explain that anybody can take the quiz. So it's for couples, singles, teens and children. Which is what we find or we found strange. But I guess it makes sense. Children are people too. So. Yes. Children are people too. So we're going to take the quiz. Yeah. One person is going to read and we're going to answer and then take turns in reading and answering. And then later find out what our love language is and then we can talk a little bit about it. Yeah. I will put the link of the quiz in the description so you can. Also check it out for yourself. Yes. With your partner. Or even individually you can just check it out for yourself and know what your love language is. And we also think that knowing a love language of somebody makes it easier to love the person. It's stronger knowing that, you know, this is what the person appreciates or find important in, you know, being loved. So. Yeah. Start the quiz. Start the quiz. First, how do you describe yourself? I think I'm taking the quiz for my child.  Shit. Okay. Let's go. I am single. Oh yeah, yeah. I'm single. I'm in a relationship. Oh, is yours also not loading? It's loading. Mine's loaded. My God. This quiz. My loaded. One second. One second. I'm an adult in a relationship. Okay. Yeah. It's more meaningful to me when I receive a loving note text email for no special reason for my loved one or my partner and I hug. I think I love the special text for no reason. Same. Let's go. It's more meaningful to me when I can spend a long time with my partner, just the two of us, or my partner does something practical to help me out. I want a long time. I like the practical things that help me out. It's more meaningful to me when my partner gives me a little gift as a token of our love for each other.  I'll go for an uninterrupted leisure time. Is that with or without clothes? Okay. Somebody's on fire. Okay. Cool, cool, cool. My partner gives me a little gift or a token. Well, the gift can also be without clothes. Okay. Slow down. Why is this one difficult for you? The leisure time, I often want to be present, like when we're talking about what men actually wish women knew. I can be there with you and still be on my phone. I just love you being there. So I'll go with the token as a gift. Okay. Here. The uninterrupted is a bit too much for me. It's more meaningful when my partner unexpectedly does something for me, like filling my car with fuel. You really like that when I do that. Or doing the laundry. My partner and I touch. Please. Don't do it. The laundry I really like. Yep. It's more meaningful to me when my partner puts their arm around me when we're in public. Oh, my partner surprises me with a gift. I think I'll go with a gift. No, public arm. Okay. You never do that. So I think I'll go for the gift. Wow. My gosh. The shape. Wow. Okay. When it's more meaningful when I'm around my partner even, if we're not really doing anything, that's your favorite. I hold hands with my partner. I'll go for the hands. I'll go with when we're around each other and not doing anything. It's more meaningful to me when my partner gives me a gift or I hear I love you. I'll go for I love you. I love you, yeah. Okay. It's more meaningful to me when I sit close to my partner or I'm complimented by my loved one for no apparent reason. I'm going. Sitting close to my partner is almost. It's normal. Yeah. So complimented for no reason. Yes. I'll go for sitting close. It's more meaningful to me when I get the chance to just hang out. I don't know what this means, hang out with my partner. I unexpectedly get small gifts. I'll go for the hang out anytime. Yeah, just hang out, you know. It's more meaningful to me when I hear my partner tell me I'm proud of you or my partner helps me with the task. I like that I'm proud of you. Me too. Yes. It's more meaningful when I get to do things with my partner or I hear supportive words. I'm going for the things, man. Let's go to do something together. Okay, I don't know what things with my partner is. Sometimes we clash in doing things together. So I like supportive words and do my own thing, please. Thank you. Okay. It's more meaningful when my partner does things for me instead of just talking about doing nice things. Well, that's a bit weird. Yeah. If you talk about nice things and never do it, then that's weird. I feel connected to my partner through a hug. So I think I'll go with my partner does the things for me instead of just talking about it. Yeah. I still find it a weird statement. Yeah. Who has a partner who only talks about nice things but never does it?  Okay. It's more meaningful to me when I hear praise or my partner gives me something that shows they were really thinking about me. Yeah. Praise is not something I crave. So when you give me something that shows you're really thinking about me. Because it's not like this is going to be like a car or something. We wish. Yeah. It's more meaningful to me when I'm able to just be around my partner or get a back rub or massage. No, just be around. I'll go for the around. Yeah. It's more meaningful to me when my partner reacts positively to something I've accomplished or my partner does something for me that I know they don't particularly enjoy. That one. No, I don't want to enjoy that when you do. Positively, reacting positively to something I've accomplished. Yes. I agree. It feels good. Like you celebrate together. Yeah. It feels good. It's more meaningful to me when my partner and I kiss frequently or I sense my partner showing interest in the things I care about. I want to kiss, man. Yeah. Okay. Show interest in the things I care about. Thank you. I'm more meaningful when my partner works on special projects with me. So does that slurping sound? Is that how you kiss? The hell? My partner, it's more meaningful to me when my partner works on special projects with me that I have to complete or my partner gives me an exciting gift. I think working on special projects with you. Special projects. Yeah, I'll take that. Any day. Especially when these projects bring in the money. It's more meaningful to me when I'm complimented by my partner for my appearance or to take time to listen to me and really understand my feelings. Understand, please. Okay. It's more meaningful to me when my partner and I share a non-sexual touch in public. Oh, my partner offers to run errands for me. I think I'll take errands. I'll do same. It's more meaningful to me when my partner does a bit more than the normal share of the responsibilities we share around the house or a gift. Yes, do more. Or do more when you can. Do more when you can is nice. Yeah, it's always nice. It's more meaningful to me when my partner doesn't check their phone while we're talking. Or my partner goes out of the way to do something that's release pressure of me. Release pressure. I'm going for the phone. You can be on your phone. I don't care. I care. Please do not be on the phone. It's more meaningful to me when I can look forward to a holiday because of a gift I anticipate receiving. I don't get the statement. Yeah. Is the gift a holiday? Because I like receiving it, yes. Or when I hear the words, I appreciate you from my partner. I'll take appreciate you. I don't get the other statement. I don't get it. So I'll go for appreciate. Yeah. It's more meaningful when my partner brings me a little gift after they've been traveling without me. But that really happens to me. Well, you brought me a small Gini file. That was really cute when you went to Camelay. A key chain. Yeah. Don't say a small Gini file like it was alive. It wasn't alive. Gini file without the parents. No, a key chain. My partner takes care of something I'm responsible to do, but I feel too stressed. I'll go with that one. My love has been stressful people. Yeah. It's more meaningful. Am I the reader now? Because please go ahead. It's more meaningful to me when my partner doesn't interrupt me while I'm talking. Gifts giving is an important part of our relationship. No. Doesn't interrupt, right? Yeah. Okay, go ahead. It's more meaningful to me when my partner helps me out when they know I'm already tired or I get to go somewhere while spending time with my partner. I like going somewhere, man. You are not liking going somewhere. I'm not like a go-in somewhere person, so help me out when you know I'm already tired. It's more meaningful to me when my partner and I are physically intimate. My partner gives me a little gift that they picked up in the course of their normal day. Well, I'm going for physically people. Yeah. Own your truth. It's more meaningful to me when my partner says something encouraging to me or I get to spend time in a shared activity or a hobby with my partner. We don't have shared hobbies. But we do stuff together. Yeah, okay. I will also go for activity. Yeah. I like it or I'm more meaningful when my partner surprises me with a small token of their appreciation. My partner and I touch a lot during the day. No. We don't do that. It's more meaningful to me when my partner helps me out, especially if I know they're already busy and then you go. I hear my partner specifically tell me I appreciate you. This is a repeat, but I'm more likely not to help you out if I'm already busy. So yeah, especially if I have. So it's just the reality that it won't happen. It might not happen. This is not real to me that if I'm especially busy I'll still. Maybe helping you out here is maybe, okay, you came home while I was editing something and I still get up and take the stuff. I will go for the busy. Yeah. And take the stuff from you. That's the thing. Yes. But I'm not going to stop my work and then do something completely different. Okay. It's more meaningful to me when my partner and I embrace after we've been apart for a while. Yeah, that's nice. Or I hear my partner say how much I mean to them. I like the first one. Yeah. I like the first one. The people need to know. Oh, I have the same thing. Okay. No. Oh, I thought it was break down again. Okay. So we need to share maybe in the edit you can share what we're seeing now. So we need to print screen it. Yeah. Okay. So what do you have? Share with us. So I am 33% act of service. That's my top. Act of service is my top. 23% of worth of information. Quality time is my third love language at 23% also. So worth of information and quality time are on the same level. Physical touch is only 10% and receiving gifts is only 10%. So my love language is actually acts of service. Yeah, maybe you can explain what acts of service is. When somebody, so acts of service is being at the top. Here it says can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely. Anything you do to ease the burden or responsibility is weighing on a loved one. It's acts of service. So the words he or she, the words he or she most want to hear is let me do that for you. And that laziness is broken. Yeah. And then laziness, broken commitments and making more work for them tells speakers of this language they're feeling don't matter. Finding ways to serve, speak volumes. Okay. So. And then what's this? Oh, you're going to read some books. Okay. Good. Yeah. So acts of service is my love language. Can I challenge this? I don't know. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Maybe you can put your computer away because it doesn't look nice. Acts of service. It doesn't look nice. Should I read mine first or do you want to respond first? No, you read yours first. Okay. So mine is surprise, surprise, quality time. That's not surprise. We already knew that. It's not surprise, surprise, yeah. Then acts of service is 22%, but that's probably because I'm a bit stressed at the moment. Yeah. So does that also count that maybe in a time you're taking the quiz? Yeah, I think so.  So you are more inclined to take those answers. Yeah. And then acts of service, 22%, words of affirmation, 17, physical touch, 17. I do really like physical touch though. And no, let's do this one. We are not shooting. He's going to send the form to himself. So that I can have it on his screen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can, we do it. And physical touch, 17, and then receiving gifts, 10%. But the funny thing is for me, I really like to give gifts. But when I receive them, I don't know what to do with myself. So it's funny, right? So receiving gifts, it's true that it's the last thing. It's not your favorite thing. Okay. So quality time, what does it mean? Nothing says I love you like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there with the TV off, fork and knife down and all chores and tasks on standby. Makes our significant other feel truly special. Distractions postpone dates or the failure to listen can especially hurt be hurtful. Quality time also means sharing quality conversations and quality activities. Well, that's nothing new. I think that was one of the things we really had to get used to. Because I feel undivided attention in Ghana. It's a bit difficult to get because you always get the phone call or something is happening outside and there's a lot of noise. There's always so many activities get grabbing your attention. So I think that was something that you also had to learn. And he's saying that we're going to get dinners where we leave our phones like on the side, but that hasn't happened yet. Yeah, so we'll work on that anyway. But I think acts of service for me, like I know you are acts of service, but I really had to get I had to read it as a love language because first I just thought you were doing chores or he's like, oh, yeah, let me drop you off. And I'm like, I can take a bolt. Like, no, don't be silly. Yeah. But then he's like, no, no, I want to drop you. I'm like, you don't have to drop me. You can take a bolt. Then you really want to do it. Yeah. But it's also nice. I just want to take care of the person. Yeah. But sometimes it feels a bit functional. Yeah, so I had to learn that it's not only functional. Yeah, it's not only functional to me. And when I'm doing these things, it comes easy. I don't feel it. I don't feel like I'm doing something out of my comfort zone. Yeah. So for me, doing chores or tasks, that's very functional. So in my brain, it's like function. It's not love. So I had to rewrite the repattern that's a little bit. Right. And it's still not like complete. So let's just I am a work in progress. We're still working on it because I think we'll do a separate video on chores and some of these things. But yeah. Yeah. It's one of the things that we do like clash. But I think it also really relates to how you have been brought up because for us as a family, we would have really have like brunch and everybody would talk about their week. How are you doing? What are you going to be up to? All these things. And also with dinner time, we would do that. And chores would have just been chores. Like you do this, you do that.  Yeah. It's just something that is required of you. But for us, it's much more like I'd rather clear the table. Everybody don't worry. It's fine. Yeah. I think I had to learn that. But now I think I'm I'm growing in it. Also, so Krami's mom is here now. So now I really enjoy making your tea or cup of tea in the morning then bring it. You know, I am getting there. It's not something that's going to be really natural. So I think it will be also good to do a video on how our cultural differences have, you know, how we've navigated our cultural differences living together. Yeah. I think, yeah, yeah, yeah. We can definitely do that. I want I want to add something. You know, it's going. Oh no, it's no way. Oh, yeah, I think with the Axel service. So before it was purely functional. So like this side of my brain. But now it's also something I'm learning that I am. It's okay to ask if you're not managing. So for example, with sometimes I'm really like focused on work. And there's a lot I need to already do. And it's okay to ask him, like, could you please get the laundry for me? Or yeah, like it's okay to ask these things. And at first you wouldn't. I would not because how I grew up, if you couldn't do your task, that's not good. Like you'll get not punished, but it wouldn't be nice. And now I'm learning that it's okay to share. And of course, if I'm lazy, you will tell me, like, please, you're lying on the couch. You can do the laundry. But that almost never happens. You know, I'm not really lazy in a way. And also me doing it. I don't, unless I'm doing something else completely, and then I have to stop and go and do it and different. But me doing it when I'm not doing anything, it doesn't bother me. So I don't really mind. And yeah, I think it's nice that I can ask. Like I'm allowed to ask you and you will tell me yes or no, whether you are up for it. So I can trust that if you don't want to do it, you will tell me. Oh yeah, I will tell you if I don't want to do it. Yeah. I'm straightforward. But I think I also, on the other, to talk in my defense on quality time, I think I also taught you a lot on quality time. Oh, I'm still learning. Yeah. I'm still learning. Because you have like your monkey mind sometimes sticks over and then there's a lot happening. And then I'm able to say, okay, let's sit down. So what about the fly? Yeah, butterfly monkey mind. Just stop on different things. I'm constantly. And one of the things I really, how to say, put you out of your comfort zone was with the traveling. So when we go a weekend away, that was something really new for you. I mean, you've traveled, but more to see family and other things, not to. So here, travel for us is more functional. You're going to a place, you're going to visit family, you're going for a specific reason. You're talking about Ghanaians, right? Yeah, mostly. Travel is not leisure. I think it's now picking up this whole culture of travel for leisure, for the sake of it, it's now picking up. Yeah. I think, yeah. And also going out for dinner and having a moment, just have a beer together, talk about the week, eat some nice food. I'm not sure if that was really in your system already before we met. I don't think so. Maybe to a certain extent. Yeah, not so much. It's grown. So yeah, you guys can also try your hands on your love language. And I think it's very important to know who you are. I have one more story. You have one more story. Will you finish? I think it's more important to know your love language, know who you are, know how to be loved, and not feel like you're disturbing the other person or your partner by telling them what you appreciate the most. And how you also say it also matters. Yeah, definitely. I wanted to ask, because for me, the quality time also really translates into my friendship. So when I meet up with my girlfriends, like for coffee, we are one on one. And I want to know all about your life. But for you, how does it translate into your friendships? With quality time? No, with acts of service. Do you let people do things for you? I'm not sure. No, I do when it's within the hour. For example, when mom came here first, and I made her bring me food because she was on her way. I wouldn't go out of my way to send you. Go here to pick something for me. You know, if it's on your way, if it's within your... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, then I do accept it. But I think it's rare that you let people do things for you. Yeah, it's rare. So it's even more special when you let me do things for you. Yeah, right. Okay, no, I have one more story. Oh my gosh. It's actually about this dress. So this dress is a good example of acts of service because there was one morning and I just came out of tea meeting Monday morning. And I was just chilling because Monday is my working from home day. And I was like, oh, just chilling. I have another meeting at 11. But that one will be virtual. And then I got a call from my colleague, like, are you on your way? And I was like, I'm not on my way because I thought it was virtual. And I was like, oh my God, error, error, error, error. Like everything went like, oh my, oh my, oh my. So I ran out into the living room and I'm like, I have a meeting at 10 minutes. And then I ran back because I was like, no, I'll just make it virtual. Don't worry. And then I ran back at the living room and I'm like, can you drop me? Because I know he's really fast in the car.  No, you are telling them now. So that's not on to me. I was like, okay. And he was like, okay, yes, we can do it. So he dropped everything he had to do. And he wanted to drop me at that particular place. And we were there only 15 minutes later. So it was like a miracle. Because we did leave. Immediately. Yeah. But leaving immediately also means that we left on time the meeting was supposed to happen. Yeah. So we left at 11 when the meeting. And I texted them that I would be a bit later and they were fine. So I was like, okay, cool. So I went to the meeting. I was like, okay, slay. So I slayed the meeting. And then I texted them again when it was done. Like, okay, it went well. Thank you so much. And then I came home when it was like, and I was wearing this dress. And it's like, yeah, I'm happy you worked out. But I have to say this dress is really see-through. But I didn't want to bring it up at the time. Yeah. So he didn't want to bring it up because he didn't want to stress me out. But apparently you can see what underwear I'm wearing. Like what color. Yeah. Because she was already panicking. I didn't want to say that, oh, you might want to change your. That would have been another like 20 minutes of, you know. 20 minutes of really fast. But it would have added to already the stress of. So I just allowed it to go. Yeah, see. So it's a nice act of service to not tell me and just draw everything you wanted to draw. Because you really could see I'm like in error, error, error mode. So that's a nice expression of your love language. Wow. I think we should stop it here. Exactly. So yeah, it would be nice to know what your love language is. And like I was saying before, let your partner know whoever you're going to be in a relationship with. Even if it's family, they should know what makes your. Clock tick. Yeah. So that they know how to. But I'm also curious to know if people find it useful or not. Because for us, it clearly differs. But is that a problem? Yes or no? Is it a helpful thing? No, I don't think it's ever a problem. Well, maybe people find it a problem. You don't know. Because for me, knowing your differences, knowing makes for learning. Yeah, that's true. Learning makes for being better. So if you know and it rather you see it as, oh my God, no, I can't do this with this person because they like gifts or because they like acts of service. And that's your boom deal breaker. Instead of trying to learn, come on. Yeah, that's your approach. But yeah, unless the person who has maybe, for example, gifts as their love language is the kind of person who demands specific type of gifts that are within, not within your financial means. Yeah. So but there is a possibility that you cannot live up to what the other person wants. Like if I would be like 100% physical touch and you only have 10% and you'll never touch me, I'll crumble. Yeah, okay. So it is like, for us, we try to make it, I say, compatible. But if somebody is really physical touch and the other person is like, I am not like that, then- Is there a possibility that there's somebody who's like 100% out of all the things that happen here? I don't think anybody can be- I only want gifts. I don't think anybody can be- But in Ghana, in Ghana, especially when you're dating, the gifts thing is a thing, right? It depends on the person, honestly. Okay, okay. I thought it was a thing. No, it depends on the person, honestly. But like buying dinner as a guy is really a thing, right? But that's a cultural thing. It's not an individual thing. But it can be part of receiving gifts. But I'm saying it's still a cultural thing. I don't consider it as a love language. Yeah, but I mean, the culture is intertwined in your love language, right? Yeah. So it can still be- That would be interesting if we could ask couples all around the world to do it, and then we analyze. Really? That would be so cool. Yeah, but like you said, culture plays a role. Yeah, so it would be cool to see in maybe different parts of the continent, or different continents, maybe in America. You see that maybe out of service is more. Yeah. You see that in Europe, people prefer more quality time. It becomes something that's like a trend. Yeah, and maybe it would be really funny that in the cold countries there, they don't like physical touch. Or maybe they do, because they have to stay warm. Together, yeah. That would be really cool, right? Ooh, the temperature is rising, so less physical touch. It's too sweaty to touch. Yeah. Okay. This went on to a whole other level. If somebody's interested in testing out the research, let us know. It would be really cool. For now, I think we leave it at this. I'm curious to read the comments. We do read the comments. So if you have a suggestion for a video, or you have another interesting insight, I would really like to read it. For now, I think we wrap it up here. Thank you so much for watching. Like, subscribe, become a member. A member of what? A member of our fan club. Fan club. We don't have a fan club. But just subscribe to our channel and follow our journey. Follow our journey full of quality time and acts of service. Okay, that's enough. Bye bye. Subscribe to the channel if you already haven't done that. And yeah, peace out. Peace out.


What's up everybody welcome back here to the channel, I'm EvilRabbit We're here on need for speed hot pursuit remastered here on the PC We are rockin the Xbox one controller because we don't have wheel support yet So make sure you guys follow me on all social media all of which found in the description box below So we get a race we're gonna go right for it Okay Against other drivers and a race along the secret county coast. I'll do it driving skills to outmaneuver the opposition and take a medal Your reputation is measured in wanted levels. All right. Where's the script right to it? Requirements you can choose any it's just any of these cars None of them oh I can unlock these Later, but we're just gonna hop right into that Porsche and We're gonna go red no no We're gonna go below So need for speed hot pursuit remastered here on the PC Gonna be doing a little bit of a let's play for you guys if you guys want to see it Let me know in the comments if you guys want to see a little bit more here of hot pursuit remastered and We're gonna hope the controller and everything's already linked up. It looks like it's working. So we're about to find out Skipping right through all this stuff. Don't remember that from the beginning from the first one. I Guess we're gonna go right to it. I guess we're in automatic mode. Let's go to change some game settings The honor miles for our controls Steer left right hand handbrake We got to go to the keyboard. What is my handbrake? Your break is X nitrous is Hey, all right got it. That's what we need to know. But what is change view? Can we change views? Headlights steering ignition change camera is right button got it. That's all we need to know. Let's go back to it So need for speed remastered definitely a game. I used to play a lot when I was younger need for speed hot pursuit fortunately Throw a little spray on that straight Unfortunately, oh, we don't have wheel support, but we will hopefully getting wheel support soon. I hope I Do like to mirror how it all like I just died and I followed him into it and we just died Luckily they just let us come back I Wasn't paying attention.  So it's not echoey There we go. So we are catching back up for the first race here in Hot pursuit remastered definitely very different being on a controller and racing game, but you know Some games you can't have wheel support. So unfortunately, we don't have this for yet Maybe it will come in in the future press a for nitrous Like everybody's spraying or I would be able to catch these guys Porsche's got a little bit of a little bit of drift going, but we got a lot of damage unfortunately from Impacting that other car. Oh, there's some more damage taken What could be I don't have to deal with cops at the moment? So need for speed games like I was saying earlier is some one of the games I used to play a lot of need for speed. Oh I Mean you can help me drift. That's that's cool, too I played a lot of the original hot pursuits and a lot of the games I spent hours and hours building cars and things of that nature. So it's definitely cool to see remastered version looks extremely pretty Traffic collision is okay when you've got nitrous to spray. I like how we can look around everywhere on the car though For pay attention where you're going on the road Because that'll happen.  Oh So the races know we're near over. I thought it was only 2.6. We still have 1.6 to go In the first race here This car is definitely worse for wear I do like how the mirrors have you know, just the red or orange cars in the background It's kind of like almost a radar style mirror One mile to the finish So you guys are playing need for speed remastered high pursuit or High pursuit need for speed hot pursuit remastered. Let me know in the comments What do you guys think about it? It's definitely kind of a very fun game And I kind of want to get online and do some online stuff with it and we'll take that win We will take our first win in the game gold awarded. It wasn't too bad of a race I thought it could have been a lot worse, but a new car new car new car Mazda RX-8. All right Another new car awarded dodge Dodge Charger SRT-8 That's it. Just RX-8 and a SRT-8. All right, so we did complete that race. We do have another race But we also have So an SCPD event Heretic driver in a smashed up car should be an easy Bus for the new recruit. I want to be an ultimate enforcer. So we get a factory crown Vic All right, and then we can get better cars as we progress. So Let's see if we can get a Suspect bounty bus here Real quick. Are we chasing in our take? Yes, we are So what do I come to play because those are mustangs so we start off right behind him We don't really have nitrous, but we're gonna have to draft him I guess to catch up and then take him out. They said all all my Okay, this this crown Vic does not handle the greatest, but when you blindside an RX-8 They die So instant bus real quick That was quick. So came down right away I'll take it 24 seconds in the first bus if you guys did this challenge Let me know how quickly you got that bus because I mean I'm happy with 24 seconds New vehicle procured a Subaru. So now we have a Subaru police car I Like that a lot better than the crown Vic because we can go off-road So we do have another police mission another race mission So I think we'll tag another police mission here for today, and then we will continue this on another episode Why would we go back into the crown Vic of course we're gonna take the Subaru out Let's go bring the Subaru out from the police garage But we got escape to the beach hop pursuit traffic police shut down the race and earned the most bounty Ah, so we got a bunch of different bus we got to do all right Definitely cool to go back and forth between racing and police busting So now we got a bunch of We got a bus pass and bust a couple cars up here that are doing some illegal street racing Try and take out this Porsche first. That was a pretty light hit But it kind of kind of hurt that Porsche a lot We got Subaru so we can go out into the gravel.  We should have been able to cut that Catch back up to the Z for when you have a rally car. You can go off-road Apparently, I don't have any lights. Apparently. I've broken all my police lights Because that's that's a thing So that's two That man's also dead Unfortunately, no cars have roll cages Now that car's got a full roof. So we should be able to hopefully Not kill this man He's throwing a little spray to get away from us, but I feel like we can catch him and shove him into it a truck if we don't know and We'll take the third take down to end this episode off You guys want to keep seeing me for speed hop pursuit here on the channel Let me know down in the comment section down below three busts in a minute 50. I'll take it We did get that gold award. So first attempt one minute 50 seconds I think that's a 350 one minute and 50 seconds. We're able to take down that instant bounty so we got a achievement unlocked so we definitely got a bunch of Money and things of that Congratulations officer. Did we unlock a new car? new vehicle required An RX-8 I don't know if that's the best cap car to have but We might use it or we might continue to use the Subaru, but we did get another one procured So we did get the Ford Interceptor That could be a good car another one We got the Porsche. So the Porsche Cayman S police car will probably be using that in a later episode So make sure you guys follow me on all social media all of which are found in the description box below. I Like to appreciate you guys coming back and watching another episode as always. I thank you guys for watching. I'm evil rabbit. I'll see you guys on the track


Episode 7 COVID Lockdowns and One-Size Fits All Policies In December 2022, the Scientific Journal Biological Psychiatry published a study that compared adolescent brain scans taken before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Teenagers scanned after the pandemic showed reduced cortical thickness, larger hippocampal and amygdala volume, and greater brain aging than those scanned before COVID. This kind of adolescent brain development, the study noted, is typically associated with exposure to early life adversity, including violence, neglect, and family dysfunction. The post-COVID scans showed something new. As a result of social isolation and distancing during the shutdown, the study concludes, virtually all youth experienced adversity in the form of significant departures from their normal routines. Only in the COVID-19 outbreak, it became clear that unless somebody was immunocompromised, age was the primary determinant in the risk of severe health complications from the virus. Yet for many policymakers, the country needed a one-size-fits-all solution to COVID, with no regard to individual circumstances. The prudent policy for a 70-year-old with respiratory problems, the thinking went, was equally appropriate for a healthy family of eight. The efficacy of masking and isolation mandates remains a matter of controversy, but the mandates unintended consequences are becoming increasingly clear as more studies document the harmful effects these measures had on childhood development. In 2022, the journal Frontiers in Psychology published an article exploring masking's implications for infants. Human faces convey critical information for the development of social cognition, many authors explained. But with masks, the facial cues available to the infant are impoverished. Other studies have documented the consequences. Columbia University researchers found that babies born during the pandemic showed reduced motor and social-emotional development compared to pre-pandemic babies, for example. And the medical journal Contemporary Pediatrics reported that pediatric speech disorders more than doubled. The deleterious effects of isolation mandates on school children was dramatically captured in a photograph that went viral of French preschoolers sitting alone in chalk squares during playtime. Numerous studies have since confirmed that children exhibited increased rates of depression, anxiety, and indignation during the lockdowns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mental health-related emergency room visits for adolescents increased by more than 30% between 2019 and 2020. Other students have documented the dramatic spike in teenage substance abuse as a coping mechanism during the lockdowns. We are still discovering the damage that masking and lockdown mandates subjected children to.  Can you trust even the most qualified bureaucrat to design policies that are appropriate for the unique circumstances of your household? Or does it make more sense to make your own decisions about what's best for you and your family?


Schultz sent a message to Moscow, show a force won't intimidate us. Despite Russia's revivationist efforts and attempts to turn history back, they will not succeed. They will not be able to intimidate Europe or destroy the continent's largest peace project. Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Schultz said this during an address to the European Parliament on Europe Day, May 9th. The message of this May 9th is not the one that is heard today from Moscow. Our message, the past will not triumph over the future. And the future, our future, is the European Union, stressed Schultz. He noted that the EU, united in its diversity, is the best guarantee that the past, when the right of the strong was decisive, will not return. Schultz noted that 2,200 km east of Brussels, in Moscow, Putin organised a parade of his soldiers, tanks and missiles, but this show of force will not intimidate us. We are steadfast and we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. The German Chancellor assured, according to Schultz, the future does not belong to those who are nostalgic. And above all, it does not belong to revisionists who dream of national glory and imperial greatness. Ukrainians are paying with their lives for these dreams of their powerful neighbour, said the head of the German government.


is a time when fathers vary sons. Peace in freedom is the most valuable possession of any society. And peace, every day of it, must be bought and paid for. As the principal power in a military alliance of the free world, the goal of the United States is to use its strength to maintain the peace against the threat of conquest. In a dangerous and changing world, a massive military establishment is necessary to our common defense. This is the responsibility of the president. And under him, by law, the Secretary of Defense is charged with securing and maintaining that military establishment. The secretary is Mr. Robert S. McNamara. Toilet's rifle. I have here one of the new family of Prime Minister Chinese weapons. This is a light machine gun of their 7.62 class. Ammunition for this can only be supplied from Chinese sources. This gun bears the Chinese arsenal mark. And it's obviously been manufactured in that country, supplied by China to North Vietnam, infiltrated by North Vietnam into the South. A Chinese gun, roots of infiltration. The secretary keeps America informed through regular news conferences. For an informed nation is a prepared nation. And the United States today is prepared against every form of aggression, from guerrilla warfare to ballistic missiles. An American desert. This is an early test before our country, along with over 100 other nations, agreed to cease atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. For today, our nuclear power is such that, in the words of our President, the combined destructive power of every battle ever fought by man is like a firecracker against the sun. And the power we have today is more than that of any adversary or combination of adversaries. The fact that we have it is the greatest deterrent to nuclear war, helping to protect us against nuclear attack, our radar installations, networks of sensitive nerve ends, part of the ballistic missile early warning system called B-MUDES. A nerve center of our defense alert system is this underground headquarters of the strategic air command. No surprise ballistic missile attack could catch us unprepared. Or in underground silos, enough of our retaliatory power would survive to assure the destruction of any aggressor nation. With the terrible power that stands ever ready, this is the awesome power, always under control, as it is here in Holy Lock, Scotland, where a Polaris missile is being lowered into a nuclear submarine. The United States is able to launch ballistic missiles in a matter of seconds from beneath the sea. The weapons can be delivered by air against any enemy to any part of the earth. The weapons this air or monoc can deliver today are capable of even greater destructive force than in this early Pacific Ocean test. This is part of the military strength of the United States, the greatest of any nation in the history of the world. This is the power of retaliation that has made and keeps full-scale nuclear war the least probable of any kind of conflict. There are other kinds of war. Other challenges we must meet, and we must have the capability, the balanced defensive forces to meet any other, to blend this vast array of weapons so that we may have a fully balanced defense structure, the fly swatter as well as the sledgehammer. To understand how we achieve this, we must go back to 1961, when the new president issued two positive instructions to his new secretary of defense. One, reappraise our entire defense strategy and determine the best defense structure in the world without regard to arbitrary budget ceilings. Two, having determined that defense structure, procure and maintain it at the lowest sound cost. And so it began to emerge, a defense structure that could program budget in cycles projected five years into the future. The direction set, new concepts put into action, records compiled into reports, analyzed, rewritten, converted from paperwork into action. Began to talk of tasks to be performed and missions to be accomplished, rather than in terms of four separate military services. The defense effort began to develop into a unified whole. All services cooperating closely, place and time acquiring new meaning. The worldwide installations becoming a panorama for study and observation and along the way, visions becoming revisions, revisions becoming reality. One example, the F-111, the greatest innovation and aircraft design of recent years, a fighter and bomber to serve both the Air Force and the Navy, a new kind of plane with adjustable wings for greater efficiency at both high and low speeds. Other accomplishments were the SR-71, a long range supersonic reconnaissance craft with the most advanced observation equipment in the world. As A3, America's longest range submarine launched ballistic missile, soon to be followed by Poseidon, a missile now under development, eight times more effective against the best protected military targets. And the Nike X, the world's most advanced anti-ballistic missile system, now in development. A test vehicle is launched and seconds later, a Nike Zeus pursues it. In actual photography, the flash indicates a successful intercept of the test vehicle by Nike Zeus. Meanwhile, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff continue to improve America's defense posture, some significant accomplishments. Nuclear warheads in our strategic forces increased 150%. A 200% increase in both the number and total megatonnage of nuclear weapons in the strategic alert forces. A 100% increase in general ship construction and conversion to modernize the fleet. A 1,000% increase in the special forces trained to deal with counterinsurgency threats. A 100% increase in airlift capability. A 67% increase in tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Western Europe. A 51% increase in the number of tactical fighter squadrons. A 45% increase in the number of combat ready army divisions. And all the while, in addition to these increases and others, a constant sharpening of the efficiency of our military manpower. All these improvements, all these new weapons programs, all this vision now give us total readiness for any kind of warfare. There has also been an extensive cost reduction program. Secretary McNamara explains. Last evening, I received the near final estimate for the Department of Defense expenditures in fiscal year 1965, the year which ended June 30th. These expenditures total approximately $47.5 billion. That's three and three-quarter billion less than we estimated when the budget was submitted to Congress over a year ago. A major factor contributing to this three and three-quarter billion dollar savings has been the Defense Department's cost reduction program. The efficiency increases derived from three basic parts of the program, from buying only what we need, from buying that at the lowest sound cost, and from reducing operating cost. One of the most important actions taken to refine requirements is illustrated by this Minuteman missile part. This is the guidance system of the Minuteman missile. It must be replaced periodically. It has been our custom to maintain for such high cost items a 62 days inventory supply. In this instance, we placed that requirement on order. We subsequently calculated, however, that by careful control of transportation and the repair cycle, we could eliminate about 45 days of that 62 day supply. We canceled the order for 32 of these components at a price of 900,000 a piece, and we've saved, therefore, in fiscal 65, about $28.5 million through this single action alone. As an illustration of refining these specifications to eliminate unnecessary characteristics we simplified the design to ensure they're directly related to military utility, what we call eliminating gold plating. There are several interesting examples. Here's a cartridge case. Before redesign, it had six parts. We simplified the design, cut them in half, reduced the price by more than half, and on that single item saved about a million dollars in fiscal 1965. So much then for buying only what we need. The next category of action is headed buying at the lowest sound price. I think we've reported to you before the series of actions that we are taking to accomplish this. They fall under four headings. First, we are shifting from non-competitive to competitive procurement. Secondly, we're shifting from cost plus contracts to fixed price or price incentive contracts. Thirdly, we are procuring where possible directly from the manufacturer instead of through a middleman. And fourthly, we're consolidating more than one year's procurement and placing it on contract at a single time. Now, the third section of the program deals with reductions in operating costs. Here we saved about a billion and three quarters in 1965. You're familiar with the most important category of actions in this section, the elimination of surplus and obsolete basis, and I'll bring you up to date on our program. By over 700 actions, we have released to other sectors of our society, either the private sector or civilian youths in the public sector of 1,600,000 acres of land. That's an excess of 2,500 square miles. Some 64 industrial plants with annual savings in excess of a billion dollars. Now, all of this, of course, represents a program to increase the efficiency of our operation. This is not our primary responsibility. Our primary responsibility is to provide the forces which this nation needs as a solid foundation for its foreign policy. We believe it necessary to increase those forces. We've done so. Cost reduction, far from decreasing our military might, has steadily increased it. We shall continue to meet our military commitments as we have in the past. 1961, where we responded effectively to the challenge of Soviet pressure on West Germany. Cuba, 1962, where we halted the introduction of Russian missiles, and recently the small-scale war. Conflict held carefully below the threshold of nuclear war, a new kind of aggression which has become a major weapon of the communist forces. Our new defense structure permits us to meet such aggression on its own terms. The Gulf of Tonkin incident illustrates this capability for instant retaliation against unprovoked attack. Our ships were in international waters where they had every right to be when they were attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. We returned the fire to defend ourselves. The task force stood ready to deliver an effective response. Orders immediately came from Washington to protect our ships by striking at the North Vietnamese bases from which the torpedo boats operated. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was quickly over. Our prompt, efficient action, appropriate response, where, when, and in the manner needed. Entirely different in nature was our response to the devastating effect of an earthquake in the Central American Republic of El Salvador. Our reaction to a request for aid was equally rapid, equally efficient. In less than 12 hours, airlifted equipment and supplies were arriving. 250,000 pounds delivered to emergency shelter sites. Three United States Army field kitchens immediately set up to feed the homeless. Tenth cities erected. U.S. military medical personnel supplied to treat the sick and injured in cooperation with local doctors and public health officials. This is but one more example of the capability of the Defense Department to take swift action in any emergency. Whether it be a challenge from an adversary or a cry for help from a distressed nation. Another call for help now from the Dominican Republic as rebel forces turn Santo Domingo into a battlefield. The Dominican government informs our ambassador that the safety of Americans and citizens of other nations can no longer be guaranteed. Again, prompt, decisive response. We landed sufficient forces into the city and deployed them to protect our citizens and those of other countries requesting protection. All American civilians and other nationals requesting safe passage were transported to the airfield under military escort. In a still dangerous situation, we continued to deploy our protective troops along the city streets. American states designated a five nation team to restore order. We began to withdraw our military forces. This assistance to the Dominican Republic extended far beyond military aid. It meant the distribution of food to the hungry. It also meant medical care to young and old alike. All part of our determined plan to aid the distressed, rescue the trapped and speed assistance to independent nations, seeking help. Plains of war are fanned by ever increasing aggression against South Vietnam. Treachery and cruelty by the Viet Cong, not only villages and towns destroyed, but transportation as well. The South Vietnamese military forces have been fighting the Viet Cong for years, wherever they could find them. Sometimes it was across the dry hot planes under a merciless sun. Sometimes it was in rice paddies during the steamy monsoon season. And sometimes it was from the very trains the Viet Cong tried to destroy. For the season, there was always the jungle, tangled, hostile, forbidding. A jungle where the Viet Cong melted away into the dense undergrowth whenever attacked. The South Vietnamese gave no quarter and asked for none. Viet Cong and infiltrated North Vietnamese are flushed out step by step while the search continues by wary patrols day in, day out. And like all wars, this war demands its cruel price in terms of human suffering. At the request of the South Vietnamese, the United States under three American presidents has been providing military assistance and advisors without interruption. In the air, we developed a way to overcome the rugged Vietnamese terrain by making air highways with helicopters. And then suddenly aircraft and airstrips were damaged as infiltrators from North Vietnam grew more bold, striking directly at US equipment and at our men. Living quarters of American advisors to the South Vietnamese are destroyed. The infiltration commanded and directed from North Vietnam increases. Secretary McNamara holds a news conference to tell of our response. South Vietnamese Air Force and US Navy and US Air Force strikes against North Vietnam have been designed to impede this infiltration of men and materiel. An infiltration which makes the difference between a situation which is manageable and one which is not manageable internally by the government of South Vietnam. The airstrikes have been carefully limited to military targets, primarily to infiltration park. Transit points to barracks, to supply depots, to ammunition depots, the routes of communication, all feeding the infiltration lines from North Vietnam into Laos and then into South Vietnam. More recently there has been added to this target system, railroads, highways and bridges which are the foundation of the infiltration routes. The strikes have been designed to increase the dependence on an already overburdened road transport system by denying the use of the rail lines in the South. Summary our objectives have been to force them off the rails onto the highways and off the highways onto their feet. The fighting in South Vietnam continues. Although military targets in North Vietnam are heavily hit, the numbers of infiltrated North Vietnamese soldiers into the South steadily increases. The Viet Cong terrorizes the countryside continually with savage hit and run tactics. Increase of infiltration begins to create an unfavorable manpower balance. Secretary McNamara addresses the nation on this serious problem. According to the latest intelligence information available to us, the number of hard core, that is the number of full-time Viet Cong communists, regular combat and combat support forces in South Vietnam totals approximately 65,000 men. In addition to that, there are between 80 and 100,000 part-time or irregular guerrillas. The regular and irregular guerrilla forces therefore total about 165,000. The secretary goes on to announce that there is to be a build-up of American ground combat forces in South Vietnam to help overcome the unfavorable manpower balance. This increased military support by the United States starts arriving shortly and is the largest free world contribution to South Vietnam's struggle against communist aggression. In addition to these American troops, other nations, great and small, contribute financial support and manpower, including combat troops from Australia, New Zealand, and Korea, known to be Viet Cong strongholds. Once again, the helicopter becomes indispensable in the struggle against the communist terrorists who, like Quicksilver, break up and spread to inaccessible areas when they are attacked. But very little, if anything, is inaccessible to our troops in helicopters. But helicopters and modern equipment cannot be the full answer. For here in Vietnam, it is still up to the individual fighting man to go by foot to seek out, find, and destroy the enemy. Tactical airstrikes support the infantryman's efforts, helping to eliminate the hard-core Viet Cong. This is American effort. Because the people and the government of the United States have a commitment to the South Vietnamese people and to freedom. For us, a commitment is a matter of national honor we intend to keep it. Our objective in Southeast Asia is a limited one. We are not seeking to destroy the North Vietnamese people. We do not seek military bases in South Vietnam. We are seeking to help the South Vietnamese people retain their right to control their own destiny, to develop politically, economically, and socially as they choose, without interference from foreign-directed aggression. This is our commitment in South Vietnam. And every commitment must be bought and paid for. In a world of 120 nations, the defense of freedom remains this nation's duty, all day, every day of the year. As President Johnson has said, upon our strength and upon our wisdom, rest the future, not only of our American way of life, but of the great society of free men. And the President has also said, let the world know we walk the road of peace because we have the strength we need. With our strength, we seek to shelter the peace of mankind. We are armed to ensure our own security. And we're armed to encourage the settlement of international differences by peaceful processes. The United States does have and will continue to have a commanding superiority of arms. But those arms are not for conquest.