Ableton-on-air is sponsored in part by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community. Additional support for Ableton-on-air is sponsored in part by Washington County Mental Health Services, where hope and support come together. Such a terrific job of over the years saying we need to do this differently. We need to make sure that everybody across any spectrum of health issue is treated with respect, with dignity, and given top quality care. We are still on that path, but I think we've made a lot of progress in the last 10 years, and we have a lot more to do. But we are looking to continue to strengthen our community support services and community treatment. We're looking to make sure that we expand the number of beds so that people are not spending excessive amounts of time in emergency rooms or trapped in a place with an inappropriate level of care for their needs. And we want to make sure that we're making sure that everyone is safe. These are really critical issues, and as we see increases in instances of mental health issues, increases in acuity in places, just know that those of us here in Montpelier are hearing that. We're listening. We're really working to solve the problem. I'm really grateful to have all of you and the people that represent you here on a daily basis working on those issues. I'm happy to take a couple of questions and just really, really appreciate all of you being here. Yes, sir. Madam Speaker, one of the things that you failed to mention as far as appropriation of funds is to increase, I mean, what if a person with mental and physical challenges is homeless? We need to increase funding for that as well. You know, homeless services for people that are dual diagnosed, just, you know, to give them housing as quick as possible as well. I think that's another thing we need to look at. Thank you for mentioning that. Homelessness and being dual diagnosed in certain instances. Thank you for that. There are a lot of exciting new housing initiatives rolling out, given the bond that was passed a couple of years ago. We know that we can only pat ourselves on the back for only a short period for that because that money is pretty well close to fully committed at this point. And so we're going to need to keep finding new sources and new ways to address, you know, to address all the different reasons that people are homeless and all the issues that folks struggling with homelessness are dealing with. Yes. Yes, Madam Speaker, I'm Marla Simpson, MA. I'm wondering about respite beds, like a retreat type place, like a lesson or a Christmas place or the cottage in Addison County. I don't believe we need to keep building more and more hospital beds built if they will come.  We need more alternative, more holistic places of respite. What do you feel about that? Some of those beds were in part of the larger plan a number of years ago, and I know that the committees are looking at looking at all the different variety of services. We understand that, I mean, I think that legislators' understanding of the complexity of the problem and all the different facets of the potential solutions were in a much better, deeper place of those understandings than we were five or ten years ago. And so we understand that in order to create the beds for the people that need them, part of that involves some of the respite facilities or step down facilities. And so certainly open to looking at all the different ways we can get a variety of different care providers and care services online to be able to meet people where they are in any place in the continuum. Thank you. One more? Yes. And this past year in the new position, I've really come to understand that homelessness is an important problem.  But it leaves us at a disadvantage because people come with no records and inability to make, you know, very, very complicated diagnoses. And then it leaves the shelter system holding. And it's beyond their ability to serve. So the partnership has really helped.  I think we have a point that we didn't have. But the stress is, you know, that from the shelter, you know, it goes from home to your home. There are things that we haven't thought about. It's the kind of community-based foundation that will address that problem.  Thank you for commenting. All right, I don't know what your schedule is like. Oh, no, go ahead. We have time, but I think there's one back here. Yes. Yeah, are you also, you're thinking about beds and you're thinking about crisis beds and residential beds and so on. So the question was about preventative mental health care. I think I started that list of things that, you know, we were talking about with the community-based system, which isn't necessarily preventative, but it prevents advancing into the system. So yes, it prevents the need for more upstream services. There are some innovative programs that I have just recently been hearing about with partnerships with FQHCs in schools, providing mental health care in schools. Is that exactly? An FQHC is a federally qualified health clinic providing mental health care in schools. I was just talking with the group of providers yesterday about that. That is those kinds of services are certainly the most cost-effective to deliver and they're really critical. We really have to be looking at all across the spectrum because the catch-22 that a lot of people, that I think systems fall into is that you can't avoid the most severe need because that's where we see the biggest impact when somebody is not getting their needs met in a very severe situation. But that's also the least cost-effective. So we've got to be able to come up with the money to treat the full range so that the preventative care and the early intervention care is effective and avoids those more intense needs. But we can't take the money away from up here where there are really dire consequences. So the struggle is coming up with the money that's needed for the full range of the system. Yes? I have an answer for you. Excellent! I wonder if you think that we could be doing... We have 47 groups that are not coming to designated schools. There are a lot of nonprofits that benefit from grants. But the nonprofits that provide some of the services offering support groups for people who then can go to work. They have been struggling because those groups have been under strict budget restrictions because their funding has been strapped for the last five years. We haven't had any budgeting reasons. So those types of things we have to find money for because those are the answers and we have to support people before they have a problem. And that's where I want to have more money. So that NAMI and Vermont psychiatric survivors and Vermont Federation of Families and the rest of them can all get the grant funding that they really need. And that's our struggle here in this building is to come up with that funding for the full range of services and to do that for the full range of housing support services and then to do that for the full range of addiction services. And it's a full, yes. I want to let the speaker go back to work but I'd like to thank her for taking the time. I would love us to hear from is the majority leader in the Senate. And she may have another job. You have another job while you're here. For us, are you going to do another job? I'm going to do another job. Yeah, okay. Anyway, she is the majority leader in the Senate and Senator from Wyndham County, Becca Baylent. Good morning to all of you. It is my tremendous pleasure and honor to be able to stand here before you today to acknowledge someone who has worked so very hard and with so much love and dedication to my constituents in Wyndham County, to my neighbors, to my friends, to all of us who need supports along the way. I have known Julie Cunningham for a very long time, decades in fact. I actually have her son in a program at the camp that I directed and I've known her for a long time in many facets of her world and mine. And I have to say, to be here to help give this award to her for her work is such a tremendous honor. I'm wondering, Julie, if you'd be willing to come up here while I talk to them about the criteria for giving you this award for your work. There are other legislators here from Wyndham County. I'd ask for them to come up and stand with Julie as well. I know many of us would love to be here. We're all juggling committees. So I want to read to you the criteria for this award, the Community Advocate Award. The receiver of the award exemplifies outstanding commitment and service to advocate on behalf of individuals with mental health condition or disability to developmental disability. Demonstrates a passion and commitment to support individuals with a mental health condition or developmental disability. Advocates on state policy and our funding to advance and improve the community-based system of care. Active in statewide committees or groups that address mental health or developmental disability, supports individuals to promote the recovery and or integration in community life. Educates the community about their, excuse me, educates the community about mental health and or developmental disabilities. The other thing that I want to say about Julie is she understands intersectionality. She understands that we have to deal with race and we have to deal with class and we have to deal with LGBTQ issues. We have to deal with disability issues. She is not in a silo thinking about this as only one issue. She is bringing all the constituents together to talk about these issues and how we make life better for all Vermonters.  Everyone, Julie Cunningham, glitter on there. To be able to know me now that this is an opportunity for me to talk so of course I was going to become prepared. I will say the last few days since I have been honored with this award it has been a little bit like being at my own funeral. You are saying really nice things about me. So I would like to thank my dear friend and colleague Beth Sightler. Is Beth here? Thank you. For nominating me and to Julie Tesler and all of my colleagues from Vermont Care Partners. It's an amazing organization that we have of working together for people with disabilities and people with mental illness. I have been struggling in my advocacy in the last few months in both the world that the majority of my advocacy takes place. Civil rights for people with disabilities and racial justice for African Americans. So I would like to talk for a moment about the intersection of ableism and racism and some thoughts I have about addressing and dismantling both. I don't look it but I am African American. Both my parents are fair-skinned blacks who went to segregated schools. My mother in Washington DC and my father in Atlanta, Georgia. The indignities and trauma that were inherent in a segregated society negatively impacted my parents profoundly and so of course affected me as I grew up in the 60s and 70s. Even though the society had passed laws that created a better life for me and my kids. My father knew Dr. Martin Luther King. They lived in the same segregated neighborhood in Atlanta. Since no one has changed my life more profoundly than Dr. King, I have been a student of his teachings for most of my life. There is often a misunderstanding about Dr. King that he was stalwart and certain of the ability of nonviolent philosophy to dismantle racism. In Dr. King's final book, Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community, he said, We have proceeded from a premise that equality means what it says and have taken white Americans at their word when they talked of it as an objective. But what most whites see equality as a loose expression for improvement. White America is not even psychologically organized to close the gap. Essentially it seeks only to make it less painful and less obvious, but in most cases in terms to retain it, to maintain the power structure that exists. Eight months before Dr. King died, he said that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously. This is a hard truth, but one that has been brutally affirmed through the years and in every state including the rest. We can desegregate schools and lunch counters, but a self-described white nationalist can drive former representative Kaya Morris out of office. Several of the Bradmore Air Community Equity Collaborative, of which I'm a founding member, met with Kaya after a speech she gave describing the two years of threatened violence she and her family had through. Former Representative Kaya Morris is from Bennington. During the televised press conference a few weeks ago, the white nationalist who had been threatening her the previous two years came into the room wearing the weapon and wanted his opportunity to give his side of the story. Even in that moment she was not offered protection. Apparently there are no laws to protect Kaya or any representative from a marginalized community. I call on the legislators here in the State House to change this during the current session. Similarly we can close the Brandon Training School, which at its core was segregation and confinement based solely on having a disability. But the people I serve in love experience ableism every day. This occurs from both blatantly getting called the R award. And suddenly people looking away are dressing a staff or a family member instead of looking at them, the person. We have an excellent community based system, the pride of the nation and even the world. But it is undervalued and it is underfunded. The consultant hired by Dale, who is collecting data that will be used to inform payment reform, offensively and repeatedly stated that our staff is well paid compared to other states. His data did not consider that we have staff that are eligible for fuel assistance and food stamps, that after paying for childcare I have staff that are bringing home six or seven dollars an hour. As Bernie Sanders says, a job should be a ticket out of poverty, not keep you in it. Support professionals are doing challenging and vital work. I actually feel like the name is wrong. They are ambassadors for the civil rights of people with disabilities. Last year, actually I'm sorry, two years ago, the legislature approved of what we understood to get a two year cycle to raise the wages of the direct support workforce. To 14 an hour last year, thank you for that, that did happen. But last year when it was, in 2018 when it was supposed to go to 15 an hour, that did not occur. However, some of the mental health system did receive a needed increase. Why the disparity? As a mental health and addiction services, our needs in developmental services are increasing. They increase because more people need help. I ask you as our legislature to examine the unconscious stigma and fully fund all vulnerable grand planters who rely on our system of care. Whether for short term acute needs or lifelong services and supports for people with disabilities. Setting policy and passing laws is critically important, but it is only one aspect of what we must do if we are truly committed to fundamentally changing our society into one which everyone is included and everyone is valued. It means looking into our conscious and unconscious privileges and prejudices and the way we have all been taught to other eyes, to turn somebody literally from a person into another. It means having hard conversations, it means truth telling and it means taking individual and collective responsibility. For advocates it's supporting each other when we're discouraged and exhausted. It's taking turns on who has the courage in the moment to speak out against injustice even when your voice is shaking. I'd like to end by shouting out to my comrades who do this dance with me and I really wish my people from Families First were here. I don't think they made it through the snow. But there's an advocacy group at Families First called the Wild Hope's Advocacy Group. Amazing courageous advocates. Green Mountain Support Advocates has probably been my best teacher through the years in terms of advocating for people with disabilities, especially Tomber and Max. Did I see you all here? Community equity collaboratives of the Brattleboro area and our goal is to make Brattleboro free of racism and discrimination of all kinds. We've got a lot to go, but we're working towards it. And some of them are right here, Representative Emily Kornheiser, Senator Baha Bayan, Representative Nader Hashim, and Senator White have all contributed to our work in that effort. Thank you all for staying in the course with me. I would like now, she's been very patient and probably has somewhere else to be. How are you? Great. Sarah Squirrel is our new Commissioner of Mental Health. I've worked with Sarah in the past a little bit and have high hopes for her new role and for her. So Sarah Squirrel. It's so nice to see people recognized for their incredible work. So thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. It is truly an honor to serve as the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health. And I want to thank all the sponsors for this important day, our state and community partners, advocates, peers, and family members. You have all stood with unwavering support and advocacy for the mental health needs of our monitors.  I've had the opportunity to work in community mental health for most of my career. And as a community member and as a family member, I understand the importance of access to high quality mental health care.  I was asked to talk a little bit about the future vision for mental health in Vermont. And from my vantage point, we're at a critical juncture of the mental health system and as a state supporting vulnerable Vermonters. And the path of status quo is likely not an option. And the alternative path will require trust, collaboration, innovation, and a collective vision. And a fundamental commitment to keeping those we serve at the center of our work. And let's be clear, there are no easy answers to the challenges we face. Needs will always outpace resources and given the complexity, no single group or approach will solve this. We need a collective answer. Our communities and service delivery systems must commit to work together to improve the mental health care of Vermonters. But first, I think we must pause and bring an appreciative eye to the people needing care and the landscape of our mental health system. We must move away from the view of people and systems as problems to be solved, but focus on the power of resilience and recovery and our opportunity to build on the strengths of our existing mental health system in a more proactive, coordinated, and integrated direction. And I think we have to acknowledge that we still tend to identify need as a deficiency. And I don't know many Vermonters who like to be defined by problems or illness, but rather it is our courage and strength that designs us. And if there is one thing we have a lot of in our brave little state of Vermont, it's strength, determination, and hope. So, broadly, we need to strengthen the overall capacity of our system, a continuum of promotion, prevention, early intervention, treatment, and recovery, paying attention to several key priority areas, focusing on right-sizing our inpatient capacity for children, youth, and adults. Longer wait times in emergency rooms are symptomatic of a larger problem, which is not having flow in our system. We need to improve our ability to support those seeking care and moving them through stages of care. We have to address this by having adequate inpatient and community capacity. And while inpatient capacity is an important component, it's not the only answer. We have to build and expand our community mental health supports and programs, step-down facilities and programs that support short-term and long-term housing, particularly those that emphasize peer support. Expanding community outreach, diversion, and mobile crisis programs that are being delivered in our communities and our incredible partnership with law enforcement, and I'd like to take a moment and thank those who are joining us in the room today, because we are demonstrating great outcomes and represent an enormous return on investment, not to mention diverting people from emergency rooms and reducing the need for hospitalization. We have to of course focus on our workforce and training, including working with our hospitals to build partnerships with our community mental health agencies, to collaborate around training and staffing to ensure that people who are experiencing a mental health crisis receive the fast stabilizing and therapeutic care they deserve. And we also need to continue to build capacity for early intervention and prevention. We have a key opportunity to go upstream and intervene earlier. We know that children are setting long-term health trajectories in their earliest years. We can intervene earlier, mediate the impacts of adversity, promote resilience, and prevent larger problems from developing later on. The bottom line is the earlier we intervene, the better the outcomes. And we have to continue to collectively address stigma. Many people who would benefit from support or treatment don't access it because of fear of judgment, of labeling, and prejudice. We have to recognize stigma as a real barrier to accessing care. And addressing stigma is not an overly complicated endeavor and simply requires us talking openly about mental illness, educating ourselves and others, and encouraging equality between physical and mental health. And finally, I think we need a vision. We need a clear 10-year vision for our mental health system in Vermont. And the question we should be asking ourselves is, what is the future of Vermont mental health system look like in 2029? Because if we don't know our end state, we don't know our next steps. We have to be smart, build a system for the future and the now. And if we don't have a vision, we risk continuing to rely on band-aids and quick fixes that can get in the way of achieving the long-term solutions that we really need. And I think that this vision has to be anchored in the opportunity between integration of mental health and health care in Vermont. Yes, we are moving in the right direction, but fundamentally we still have separate systems for mental health and physical health. And we need to move intentionally towards integration. So as we reflect on all of the opportunities that we have before us as mental health system partners, many of us are likely reflecting on our own family, friends, and relatives who have been impacted by mental illness. And whether you sit in a system seat, a community seat, a family seat, or perhaps all three, we all need to ask ourselves, what is my contribution going to be? What solutions do I bring to the table? And what will people say in the future about what we did today to support the mental health care of Vermonters? And that is the question we all need to roll up our sleeves and get to work on. Thank you very much. I have a few minutes, so will you do one other thing? Okay, thank you. That's just in case you didn't know the lieutenant governor is going to be here in a minute. But right now, Kristen Chandler, if you could come up. Not before I know. Well, good morning. I see this is becoming like a sit-in, which is just amazing. I have so many people here. I'm Kristen Chandler. I'm the coordinator for team two, which is a unique training curriculum that's offered statewide. That is a joint effort between the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Mental Health that brings law enforcement officers, mental health crisis commissions, dispatchers, EMTs, together in a room together for one day to learn each other's language and learn how to collaborate in responding to mental health crises. This program has been going on for about five years. And about three years ago, we created an award called the Frank Silphies Award for Frank Silphies, who was an original member of the steering committee who put together the curriculum for team two, and he was the emergency services director at HDRS. And he passed away in 2015. HDRS is what? Healthcare and Rehabilitation Services.  She was willing to drive up here from Windsor through the snowstorm but unfortunately can't be here today. But we created this award with her blessing in Frank's name because he really exemplified collaborative response and found a way to bring various voices together to respond to mental health crises. So this award is given every year, now in the last three years, to one law enforcement officer and one mental health crisis commission in the state. Team two has a steering committee comprised of lots of different people. I know a lot of you are here today, steering committee members, and I was going to ask them to stand, but I'm not doing that. I'm just going to point them out, all right, because we'll be able to see them. I see Kate Lamphere over there from HDRS. I see Lieutenant Gary Scott from the Vermont State Police. I see Chief Tony Becos from Love Dealer Police. This is here, the deputy commissioner. I know you're here somewhere. I can stand or sit. This award from Chiefs of Police, sheriffs, emergency services directors, the brass at VSP, from all over the state, and the steering committee takes a look at those and chooses somebody. This year we had an enormous amount of nominations, which is just a really great indication of all the good things that are going on in Vermont. We are doing a lot of things right in terms of responding to mental health crises. So let me start with Lieutenant Maurice Lamar.  I'm going to take a look at Lieutenant here in his uniform and turn his stripes. And the reason that he's receiving this award today is because of the day he took it off. Standing with him is Nick Tevitz, who nominated him, Nick as the embedded mental health worker at the St. Albans Barracks, Vermont State Police. There was a day last year where an individual was in a mental health crisis, and a warrant was going to be sought to bring him into a hospital. Franklin County Sheriff's Office was involved as well. And what was known about this individual was that he really didn't like police and that he was armed to the teeth. And if he was in his home, and he had a lot of weapons. And they had to come up with a way to peacefully get this individual out of his home. Franklin County Sheriff's Office was talking about bringing in a tactical unit. You know, the guys and all the equipment and the gear and stuff. That is not really what a person in a mental health crisis would like to see. Lieutenant Lamont sat down with Nick and some other people who were thinking about how to respond to this individual. And he came up with the idea well, if he doesn't like law enforcement officers, how about if I take off my uniform and I go into clean clothes?  But Lieutenant Lamont, it's just one example of the collaborative effort that he has made working with mental health crisis, working with NCSS up in the St. Albans area that he does on a daily basis. And it is with great pleasure that I'm awarding this Frank Sylphies Senior Award to Lieutenant Maurice Lamont. Just one minute. I didn't raise my hand if that's not me. I just want to take this opportunity to say that this only works because of the collaboration we have with Northwestern Counseling and Sports Services in Nick. This scenario gave only work because of the communication we have with Nick and his expertise. We as troopers bring a lot to the table. We do not bring the mental health aspect of this. Again, we have to rely on his expertise and the expertise of people in this room. And we need to bring this to all of our department's agencies here. So everybody in this room, and that's great and very beneficial, but everybody in this room before me that spoke talked about funding and that's what we need. And we need to get this everywhere and that's how it's going to grow and it's going to benefit everybody. That's all I have. Make this project go everywhere. We have in our barracks it's been almost three years. This is the best thing I've ever seen in my 20 years. We use Nick every day. He's phenomenal. Without him I'm not sure how a lot of these scenarios would go. But we rely heavily on his expertise because I don't have it. Thank you very much. The stories really touched my heart. I wonder if you as a team could write up or to help other counties what you have doesn't happen everywhere. The collaborative effort and understanding that you bring of the necessity of that level of communication and working together and really what you did at the end result was to take that digest it and put it in a way that just keeps us human and involved with each other at the end result that we're human that we need each other and you are beyond looking at the circumstance to the person and putting into exchange of working with them. I would like to see this. I don't know a lot about it. I know in the three minutes that you spoke that I'm impressed beyond measure at that level starting to create a response and we need more of it. I live in the Northeast Kingdom and I would just like to see this. I've not heard it there. There are great people I know everywhere. I think it should be more that we can have the positive part. I'll speak later about the balance of that and certainly incorporate this into other things that I may share but if there's a way that even you do a series let's put something great on the news. I just want to tell you that there are a few police agencies in Vermont that haven't been in workers. Just this morning I heard that Newport police up in your area now has two from the Northeast Kingdom Services Agency. The Vermont State Police is spreading around as well. There are other barracks that have this down place and there are other barracks that are in the works that get in place as well. We started it but we're not the last one to do it. It is growing rapidly. The funding is the issue. Northwest Counseling Support Services pays for Nick. The state police do not pay for Nick. The funding is an issue and that's where we're trying to gain the funding through the people in this building. What I learned from you though is how many dollars are saved by having Nick there we are saving huge amount of police officer dollars. And it goes beyond funding. Funding is one piece which is great. Having something in paper and what it looks like when you put quotes on it is really different. I'm also speaking to the spirit in which not just the letter of the law. Yes. We're glad to talk to you. From Washington County Mental Health we're coming to Talia. This is the thing about Talia receiving this honor is it's a testament to her dedication to being a great screener in that. Not only are her current colleagues here but some of her former colleagues are here today. They've retired and they've come from home to be here today to receive this award. Talia was nominated by her supervisor Karen Curly. She's been a screener for 15 years and she exemplifies collaborative response in these ways. She is always available for police whether it's by telephone or in person. She makes sure that she can go out to a scene and that everybody is aware of what's going on with a particular situation. And one of the situations that the steering committee about in her nomination form was just going and things you don't really think about but death notifications by police when they have to notify a family that a member has died. Talia is a screener who would go with them and sit with a family while the police were explaining what had happened. And that kind of collaborative effort that you may not think about I think really distinguishes Talia from the other mental health screeners and there are countless examples of where she has offered her services working closely together with police agencies within Washington County and I am really, really happy to be able to honor Talia Thomas today. Thank you. See everybody here? This is for Tony. This is for Talia. I'm right here. I'm so excited. She's my leader. I just wanted to say thank you so much Karen. Such an honor and privilege. My job has been humbling and it's an honor to sit at the table with all of my colleagues to work with the various police departments that we work with. So I just want to say thank you. I want to introduce once again someone who I can just introduce. It's always nice. I don't have to give a speech. You all know him. Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman. Award recipients and of course they represent far more people that also do similar good work. Sometimes it's unfair that only a couple people get awards when so many do but those two certainly from what little I know from hearing the presentations certainly deserve them in it. As they were being given I thought about a couple different things. One is I don't know if there's any media here but one of the things when we're advocating for more financial support to broaden programs that are working and so forth one of the ways that we support for that is by all of us messaging out to the rest of the state because when that message comes back into the building to each legislator from their constituents then that starts to become a higher priority in the world of who gets funding and who doesn't or can we raise some more revenues to fund the many things that need funding which is really in my mind our biggest challenge. But what also came to mind is a simple but so important word which is the word trust. When I looked at Lieutenant Lamont if I've got his name right the trust that he had in the other gentleman's name I didn't catch, Nick that he could take his uniform off and I don't know whether he also took off any other protective wares to go into a situation that by any account would be considered frightening to many people and risk himself for that person to not have to be put into a situation that was going to get worse and worse and worse and to not elevate that situation for that individual took an amazing amount of trust on his part as a law enforcement officer who had been trained for many many years on the risks of weapons and circumstances and then the trust of the individual who had never met him before to lay down his arms or her arms I don't really know and hopefully come into a system that should be there to help but it isn't always as helpful as it could be there's trust on so many levels in that situation and I think about our support services for so many who need such support and how the support service personnel and staff in state and non-profit and community organizations are so squeezed financially that we end up with such turnover that the ability to build trust is completely knocked out over and over and over again when the thing that is most needed I would think is stability and trust and so that's all come into my mind in the last 10 minutes while I was just sitting here during those couple presentations and it and I say that as someone to remind all of you or to inform all of you remind those that you know that most of the policy makers know very little of the world that everybody in this room is working and living in and so building a relationship if possible with your legislators and your policy makers is one way to build more advocacy in this building to help those people who are here every day advocating for you but to also work together to advocate for yourselves with the policy makers because that's what's going to elevate it and so our success like we had a couple years ago with some more funding for the workers in this field so that there might be a little more stability and then a little more trust and then hopefully through that fewer instances where a law enforcement officer has to potentially put themselves in a risky situation like that and so that's the interconnectedness of all of this and the importance and stability and I will do my part although it's an interesting part as Lieutenant Governor what you do and don't have much power over but people think I have a lot more power than I do but using the microphone is actually the most powerful position I have but I will continue to use whatever microphones I have to speak out to continue to build support for our communities and that trust and those opportunities for everybody in this room to have each day be a better day than the day that proceeded it so thank you for your time Ableton on Air is sponsored in part by Green Mountain Support Services empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community Additional support for Ableton on Air is sponsored in part by Washington County Mental Health Services Hope and support come together


We have all probably heard the quote, and the old quote, knowledge is power. The quote is extremely important to the point where it has become beyond our imagination. Few people understand how knowledge can be so important. Knowledge is what allows us to drive instead of riding horses, and it helps us survive far longer than we could or should. And knowledge is even what prevents us from doing the same mistakes we used to do in the past and learn from them how to grow as individuals, respected viewers, brothers and sisters in Islam. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to another episode of The Ocean of Knowledge with me, your host Ahmad Ali. Sayyid Hussain Qazween is joining us tonight to shed some light upon the life of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir before his Imamah. As-salamu alaikum Sayyidina. Wa alaykum As-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. How are you? Alhamdulillah. Now I would like to congratulate you as well as congratulate our dear viewers, the Imam of Ahl-e-Bayt and our Pious Scholars on this occasion, which marks the birth anniversary of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir. Likewise. Likewise. Sayyidina. Now, some rearrangement happened. Yesterday, we talked about the life of Imam Al-Baqir, alayhi as-salam, and we left off at his worship.  Now, what did Imam Al-Baqir learn from his father? What were some of the stuff that he picked up, the qualities, the merits, the characteristics, that he picked up along the way, you know, from being nurtured from his father? I'll tell you a little bit about Imam Al-Baqir's father was Imam Zayn al-Abideen, alayhi as-salam, alayhi as-salam, alayhi as-salam, known for his worship, known for his piety, known for his long nights spent in prayers and in dua and in sujood and all that. When we look at the life of Imam Al-Baqir, we see that he's a copy of his father, Imam Zayn al-Abideen, alayhi as-salam, he inherited those exact qualities. As we mentioned yesterday, right before we finished, that Imam Al-Baqir, alayhi as-salam, pray 150 raka'at every day, every day, that's in addition to his 17 mandatory, that's in addition to the 17 mandatory raka'at and that's in addition to his, you know, academic responsibilities, his social responsibilities as an Imam. How do you make time for that? Today we hear people saying, I don't have time for this, I don't have time for that, I for one, I'm a person that always says, I don't have time for this, I don't have time for that. Apparently Imam Al-Baqir would make time, you know, sometimes we're very comfortable with saying the word, I don't have time, but we do, we do, but we choose not to make time. Imam Al-Baqir chose to make time for worship, to teach, to socialize, to visit friends, to visit believers, to take care of the shia, he had time for all of them because he made time, it's about making time. Another quality we see in Imam Al-Baqir, then he inherited from his father Imam Zain Abideen, was his sujud. Yes. His sujud. Long prostrations. Imam Al-Baqir, was known for the beautiful supplications in his sujud. For example, Ishaq ibn Ammar, a companion of Imam Sadiq, he narrates from Imam Sadiq. He says that one night I was preparing the bed for my father, you know, putting it on the ground, preparing it, because back then they didn't have different rooms in the house. There's a bedroom, there's a dining room, there's a living room, no, it was all one room. Imam's lived in one room, that room was their bedroom at night, in the morning it was their dining room, during the day it was their living room and all that. So he said I was preparing his bed, but my father was nowhere to be found. He said I went and I looked for him in the masjid and I saw that he was performing sujud. There was no one inside the masjid, the masjid was empty except my, except my father. He said I noticed he was performing sujud and he was reciting Subhanakallahu ma anta I prostrate to you out of servitude, Allahumma anna amali za'ifun fa za'ifhuli My Lord my actions are weak, multiply them for me, make them stronger.  This is the Imam though. This is the Imam. Well, you know, from the history that we learn and from traditions, Imam, they're the ones that, you know, intercede for the people who are going to hell. Right.  Right. Now they're saying, oh, Allah, avoid us being punished. See, first of all, first of all, Ahl al-Bayt al-Aliyum as-salam, they were sinless. So this is a general issue. To teach us? Well, this is one, to teach us, to teach their companions how to speak to Allah as-salam to Allah. He was alone though. Right. This is one reason. And another reason, you see, there might be a behavior, an act. For a regular person like us, we think it's a good deed, but for the Ahl al-Bayt, they would be embarrassed of it. I'll give you an example. For example, if we were to pray Salat al-Layl every night, this is excellent. If Allah gave us the opportunity to pray Salat al-Layl every night, that is incredible. And our Salat would take maybe 30 minutes. That's incredible. But for a person like Imam Al-Baqar, to pray Salat al-Layl for 30 minutes every night, that's like committing a sin. That's something ugly. That's something to be ashamed of. He would seek forgiveness for Allah for praying Salat al-Layl for 30 minutes. You see, something that we would consider a good deed for the Ahl al-Bayt, they would consider a sin. They would consider a misdemeanor or disrespectful to Allah, Azawajah. So that's another possible reason that Imam Al-Baqar is seeking forgiveness for his shortcomings. Although he doesn't have shortcomings, we would consider them to be pious deeds. But for him, why would he consider them pious deeds, but the Imam doesn't? Because the Imam is saying that these deeds are being done for Allah. We tend to neglect that. We tend to neglect that who's on the receiving end. Who are we performing these deeds towards? If it's Allah, we usually don't pay attention. So we think that we've done a great deed. But the Imam is realizing that these deeds are for Allah. Anything that we do for Allah, it's still little. Imam Zain Abideen, Al-Islam, says in Dua Abu Hamza Al-Thamali, Wa ma qadru a'malina bijanbi na'amik. Well, if I do good deeds from morning till night and from night till morning, they're meaningless towards what Allah has provided us and done for us. Wa ma qadru a'malina bijanbi na'amik. Wa kaifan astakthru a'malan nukabilu biha karamik. And how can we say that I've done this and I've done that? Boom, on the other side, we have Allah that's given us so much. How can we assume that we've done it? The Ahl-bayt, they don't have this mentality. They have the mentality that whatever they've done, it's still not enough. And I mean, for someone to actually hear such things, I mean, for Ahl-bayt, Al-Alaym, Al-Islam, they make us seem like we're not even worshipers. We're not even compared to the amount they worship. But shifting back a bit, you know, 38, 36, or somewhat, Imam Al-Baqr, A.S., is distinguished from the rest of the Imams. Right. An idea that both of his grandfathers are infallible. I want to talk about his parents. Now, on one side, his grandfather is Imam Al-Hasan, A.S., and on the other side, his grandfather is Imam Al-Hasan. Now, we don't see this from the rest of the Imams of Ahl-bayt, A.S. Random, you know, they're not random, but, you know, they're chosen to be the mothers for the Imam. Who were the parents of Imam Al-Baqr, A.S.? Ahsad. Imam Al-Baqr, A.S., as you mentioned, his father was Imam Zain Abideen, the son of Imam Al-Hasan, the son of Ali Ibn Abdul-Ital. Yes. From his mother's side, his mother was the daughter of Imam Al-Hasan, A.S., Fatima, the daughter of Imam Al-Hasan. Fatima and the daughter of Imam Al-Hasan was his mother. Thus, both Imam Al-Hasan and Imam Al-Hasan were his grandfathers. Grandfathers, one paternally, the other was maternally. We all know about Imam Zain Al-Abideen. Yes. As for his mother, historians say that she was the best daughter out of the daughters of Imam Al-Hasan, A.S., and Imam Zain Al-Abideen, Imam Zain Al-Abideen would call her As-Siddiqa. Yes. She was his wife. He would call her As-Siddiqa. This is a title given to Fatima al-Zahra. Fatima al-Zahra, A.S. This was a great title. She had the same name as her grandmother. Correct? She had the same grand. Yes, she had the same name and the same title. Same title. As-Santh. Imam Al-Sadiqa had stated regarding her, It was as-Siddiqa, She did not know As-Siddiqa in the family of Al-Hasan. Wow. Imam Al-Sadiqa would call her Siddiqa. He would not call her Fatima. The title was like a name to her. He said from the children of Imam Al-Hasan, there was none like her. A father like this, and a mother like this, The result is like Al-Baqara, Al-Sadiqa. Imam Al-Baqara, Al-Sadiqa. Right. Regarding his birth, you know right now we're celebrating his birth on the first of Rajab. The first of Rajab. This is according to one narration. According to one narration that he was born on the first of Rajab. Another one. On Friday, year 57. And another narration says that he was born In Safar. In Safar, Ahsan. Second? Third. Third of Safar, year 56. Year 56. Third of Safar, year 56. Another narration says the first of Rajab, year 57. And this is the more popular narration. Yes. In one of the du'as of Rajab that we recite, that is highly recommended to recite. Of course, the month of Rajab is a blessed month. Very blessed. It's a highly spiritual month and there are several du'as and supplications to be recited on a daily basis. One of them is this. Allahumma, Inni as-saluka bil-mawludaini fi-Rajab. Muhammad ibn Ali, who is Imam al-Baqir and Imam al-Jawat. They are both mentioned in the beginning of the du'a. And this is a well-known du'a that all scholars have accepted. So this is the more popular. This is the more popular narration that he was born in the month of Rajab in Medina. Yes. He was born in Medina. And as, right. When was he born exactly? Or to rephrase the question, how long did he witness Imam Hussain, his grandfather? Some narrations say that he was three years old. Yes. On the day of Ashura. I'm sorry. On the day of Ashura, Imam Hussain died. Other narrations say that he was four. And other narrations say that he was five. So either, They're close. Yeah. Close. Either three or four or five, depending on the year. I believe the most famous one is the three-year-old? Three. Yes. Insha'Allah, we'll get to touch upon the events that he witnessed and what happened in his childhood. But Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him, was born under extreme difficult circumstances.   Now, growing up as a child, and now you just mentioned, in Karbala and Ahsai Islam, being three years old, Imam al-Baqir, the other aspect of childhood. What was the childhood like of Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him? Was it rough? Was it smooth? How was it? It was very rough. Why Imam al-Baqir was born at a period when Muawiyah was empowered. Yes. Imam al-Hussain was the Imam, but it was a time of Taqiyah. It was a time of fear for the Shia. His father, Imam Zayn al-Abideen, along with Imam al-Hussain, he lived in times of fear.  He was supposed to witness killing and beheadings under bloodshed, and being cursed, and being beaten. Imam al-Baqir saw all of this. He witnessed all of this. He saw the beheading of Imam al-Hussain. He saw all of the events of Karbala. Not only that, but he was taken as captive with the women and children. We tend not to mention this. We only mention that Imam Zayn al-Abideen was taken captive, and Imam al-Baqir was also with him. This was not easy for Imam al-Baqir to be taken as captive and to see your father and to see your father in chains and in al-Jama'ah, which was that painful, that long wood where the neck and the hands of Imam Zayn al-Abideen were tied. This was not easy.  After that, at the time of Imam Zayn al-Abideen, still living under fear, under persecution, as we mentioned yesterday, the Ahl al-Bait were persecuted. They were cursed on the member. This was the upbringing of Imam al-Baqir. With all of that, yet he turned out to be a pious, successful scholar for all Muslims. Many state that because he's an Imam, he's appointed. But normally as a child, as you mentioned, a child expects comfort, love, the majority of the children that grew up with mental disorders in the way they were nurtured, whether they were abused when they were a child, whether their parents did not treat them in a proper way. This did not affect Imam al-Baqir. Although he witnessed something. He witnessed trauma. It's beyond tragic. He went through trauma, but it didn't have an influence on him. And this shows you that you can overcome trauma. You can overcome tragic events. There are some people, they let those events affect them into adolescence and adulthood. But this did not happen with Imam al-Baqir. Imam al-Baqir was determined to lead. The Muslim population, the Shia population, that's exactly what happened. Out of the childhood, a childhood goes from a three year old up to a 12, until you're a teenager, if you consider teenagers still a childhood in our communities today. The only thing that is mentioned about Imam al-Baqir is what happens in Karbala. What about after? Up to the age of 12, up to the age of 10, what happened to him? History hasn't mentioned none of this. Perhaps nothing significant occurred. Historians don't discuss the details because nothing significant occurred. There is no examination to read through history. But before we go into a break, I want to mention something that's nice and they give credit to Imam al-Baqir. One of the books mentioned that when the captives arrived in Sham, Yazid looked at the woman and he said, the women are to be sold as slaves and the men to be killed. The only men were who? Imam Sajad al-Islam and that's it but yeah. Right away, when Imam al-Baqir heard this, he said, at least when Pharaoh captured Moses and his brother, Aaron, he asked the nation what to do with them and you're treating the descendants of the individual who brought religion in this manner.  He was calling out the most powerful individual at that time. So we do see his courage from a very young age but insha'Allah we'll get the touch upon more about the life of Imam al-Baqir before his Imam but after a short break if you will say it. So respected viewers, do stay tuned for after the break for insha'Allah continue our discussion revolving around the life of Imam al-Baqir prior to his Imam. Respected viewers, once again As-salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh I congratulate you once again on a special occasion which marks the birth anniversary of our fifth Imam, seventh infallible Imam Muhammad al-Baqir peace and blessings be upon him.  This was discussed with my dear guest, Sayed Hussain al-Qazouni. As-salamu alaikum Sayedan. Once again I welcome you to the show. Now before the break we touched upon briefly about his parents about the events that he witnessed and we mentioned Karbala but there was one significant individual that really was so lucky enough and he's considered as the longest living companion to Prophet Muhammad after witnessing seven infallibles. It's incredible. He should be written in a world Guinness. And then I mean because individual meeting seven historically known figures it's something remarkable. But as tradition was tell us that Prophet Muhammad prophesied to this individual that he will meet the fifth descendant from his progeny being the Imam al-Baqir peace be upon him. We always it's Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari this individual we always mention him during arba'een the birth or martyrdom of Imam al-Sajjad and barely people mention him in the birth and martyrdom of Imam al-Baqir peace be upon him. Who was this individual? We only hear of him once or twice a year. The rest of the year nothing about him. It's like your character just randomly put in a story which appears once or twice. Who was he? Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari was one of the companions of Rasulullah and he was one of the close companions loyal companions. He was present at Badr he was there one of the soldiers at Badr he was present with Rasulullah in the most difficult times. He was from Madina he was a native of Madina hence called al-Ansari. He was from al-Ansari. When we read history we see that Jabir had some great qualities. One of them was that he was very brave. He was outspoken. He was brave. After doing no, not after doing the Khilafa of Imam al-Khattab the second Khalifa. He banned Zawaj al-Mut'ah temporary marriage. He banned it Jabir? No, Omar. Omar banned temporary marriage. It's a famous story, it's a famous case that he stated that there were two mut'ahs that existed during the time of the Prophet but I banned them and I will punish anyone who performs them. Wow. Which would require a lecture. Yes. And which is temporary marriage. It was banned. Historians say that Jabir questioned Omar al-Khattab and he had verbal battles with Omar on banning and he would explicitly people were in fear. Omar banned Mut'ah. That's it. Jabir spoke out that Omar banned Mut'ah while Allah in the Quran stated Omar al-Khattab says that it's haram. Enough? That was not enough.  Cool. He would announce that I had I performed Mut'ah marriage and whatever they want to do let them come and do. So why is it secretly done? That would require a lecture. Yes. He would announce, he publicly announced that I am performing Mut'ah marriage out of, of course he wasn't doing it out of lust. He wasn't out of lust. It was out of objection. It was a political objection to the time and he couldn't do anything to him. Why? Because he's one of the top Sahaba. He was in bedr. His position was known to everyone, his position to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So this is Jabir. It was known to even in the Ziyar of the Arba'een the Ziyar of the Arba'een Imam Hussain was slaughtered him and his companions. Who would dare at that time and of course the Ummah of Papaganda had spread the news that who was killed in Kirbana. It was not the Grandsir of Rasulullah but they were Khawarij. The rebellions. They were a rebellious group of people that were trying to create fitna inside the Ummah. And there were there was no mass media for people to get their news correctly right away. So for a long time people really thought Khawarij under such circumstances he comes to Kirbana and he visits Imam Hussain. This shows his bravery. This shows his courage. This shows that not only did he have love for Ahlul Bayt and that he was loyal to them and he was a genuine follower of Ahlul Bayt but he was he was making a political statement that although you killed this man although I am blind and it is difficult for me to come, I will come. He came to Imam Hussain He came to Imam Hussain's grave and he made a tradition he made a tradition imagine a man that creates this major tradition Imam Ahlul Bayt emphasized on it. He emphasized on it and he made it one of the minds of a believer one of the senses of a believer Subhanallah a regular human being a regular individual he wasn't infallible yet he set this tradition and every year people how many millions 10 million, 50 million people every year follow the tradition of Jabra bin Abdullah al-Ansari Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam which reminds us of the Hadith by Rasulullah that that he who sets a tradition he will have its reward and he will be rewarded for ever whoever practices that tradition whoever sets a tradition he will be rewarded if it is a good tradition and on the contrary whoever sets a bad tradition he will be punished for it and he will be punished for whoever practices that tradition until the day of judgment now Jabra bin Abdullah during the life of Rasulullah Rasulullah had foretold about Imam al-Baqir in fact he named him Imam al-Baqir he had mentioned that my grandson Muhammad al-Baqir will be born and he called him al-Baqir he called him al-Baqir he gave him this title now why did he give him this title and some say he will rip through knowledge and disperse knowledge and spread knowledge others say no al-Baqir comes from he slipped through his forehead slipped through his forehead because of sujud because of his long prostration he caused damage to his forehead his skin started to peel and there were cracks there were cracks in his forehead from his long sujud and they could both be right he was called al-Baqir maybe for both of these reasons but the first reason is more is more famous Rasulullah he told Jabir that you will meet with Ali that means he told Jabir that you will live a long life that you will live through my reign my prophecy and my prophethood and you will live through Imam al-Hassan, Imam al-Hassan, Imam Zain al-Abideen until Imam Muhammad al-Baqir this is one of the merits of Jabir ibn Abdul Hamid that he met seven of the ma'asumi seven of the infallibles Imam Ali Imam Al-Hassan Imam Zain al-Abideen Imam al-Baqir this is one of his merits of course I forgot to mention among his merits is that Hadith al-Kisa is narrated by Jabir ibn Abdul Hamid by whom he narrates it from whom and no one else narrated from Fatima al-Kisa that's how close he was he narrated Hadith al-Kisa from Fatima al-Tazara what does that tell you that he heard it from a public lecture of course not that means she said it to him privately so he didn't witness it Fatima al-Tazara he didn't want to know on Fatima al-Tazara he heard it from Fatima al-Tazara and he narrated it that means he was a student of Fatima al-Tazara who would sit with Fatima al-Tazara Fatima al-Tazara is known for her hajj she didn't have private sessions with men Jabir ibn Abdul Hamid was an exception he was a private student of Ahli al-Bait including Fatima al-Tazara to that extent we always hear about this from Fatima al-Tazara from Jabir ibn Abdul Hamid or from Jabir ibn Abdul Hamid we hear it but we don't analyze it this shows that he was a private student of Ahli al-Bait he would enter their homes he was given knowledge that others were not given Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa alaihi he told him you will live enough to witness my grandson Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqr and when you do so give him my salam give him my salam this is a merit four Jabir and this is a merit four Imam al-Baqr one is that Rasulullah trusted Jabir ibn Abdullah with this with giving a salam he trusted him with this two Rasulullah is giving his salam to Imam al-Baqr although Jabir ibn Abdullah he witnessed Imam al-Hassan, Imam al-Hussain Imam Zina Abideen, Imam al-Baqr he gave his salam to Imam al-Baqr and as a child this took place as a child and he told him after that you will die shortly once you will see my grandson Imam al-Baqr you will die shortly historians say that Jabir ibn Abdullah he lost his eyesight he was blind he would sit in the markets and he would shout whereas Imam al-Baqr he would shout every day he would come in the markets and he would call for Imam al-Baqr until one day according to a hadith that Imam al-Baqr he says I went to visit Jabir ibn Abdullah as a child this is another merit and Imam visits him he went to him he said who are you he couldn't see so he said may my mother and father be sacrificed for you come closer to me I came closer to him he said he grabbed my hands and he started kissing my hands and then he bent to kiss my feet he told him no and then he said your grandfather passes on his salam decades decades ago he says and made a piece of Allah upon my grandfather he said but how how did Rasulullah say salam he said I was with him one day and he said perhaps you will remain until you will meet a man from my progeny he is called Allah will grant him light and wisdom give him my salam and another narration that once you will meet him you will die shortly afterwards and in other narrations that Jabir ibn Abdullah died that same evening after meeting Imam al-Baqr and he passed on his salam he performed his duty he passed away some say that his mission was to actually get the salam to Imam al-Baqr that was his mission mission accomplished according to one narration according to another narration he spent time with Imam al-Baqr but during his early days he was still a child once Jabir ibn Abdullah was sitting with Imam al-Baqr now this shows Jabir ibn Abdullah's humility and lack of arrogance he is an old man he is over 100 years old Imam al-Baqr he is still a teenager he is 5, he is 6 he is very young a man who has surpassed 100 sitting with a child more than 5 or 6 but he is treating him like the other way around as if he is the child and the Imam is the old man this shows a lot of humility Imam ibn Abdullah tells Imam al-Baqr he says just like the Quran the Quran speaks about and he says you have been given wisdom at a young age at a young age this was one of the chapters on the life of Imam al-Baqr now it's great that you mentioned because Jabir ibn Abdullah a huge disservice has been done to him because not a lot of people do talk about him and explicitly mention what you mention right now the virtues of Jabir we read Hadith al-Qasab every single Thursday night Friday Eve we don't even recognize that this is Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansadi narrating it from who now lastly if you can briefly we did mention about the events that he witnessed if you can briefly tell us about other events for example like the caliphs the rulers that ruled during his time who he came across and such events first of all he witnessed Ashura and the events that took place after Ashura he witnessed Waqat al-Harrah which was the event that took place one year after Ashura in the city of Medina when Yazid sent his army to Medina and he told them you could do whatever you want there were many tragic events that took place in Medina and women were violated and according to some historians that so many people of Medina and who were the people of Medina Sahaba and they say you the Shi'a you violated the Sahaba who killed the Sahaba Yazid killed the Sahaba and their children and violated their women according to some historians that there were rivers of blood to the point that the blood reached the grave of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam Imam al-Baqir saw this he witnessed these events Imam al-Baqir witnessed the Khulafa he witnessed the Khulafa including Muawiyah of course the outerly Khulafa the ones you served Muawiyah Muawiyah Ibn Yazid Marwan Ibn al-Hakim Muawiyah Ibn Al-Zubayr who revolted against Ibn Umayah Ibn Marwan Ibn Abdul Malik Hajjaj Ibn Nusuf Al-Thaqafi Hajjaj Ibn Nusuf Al-Thaqafi Hajjaj was in Al-Khalifa he was the governor of Medina Kufa sorry the governor of Kufa of Iraq Ibn Abdul Malik Sulaiman Ibn Abdul Malik Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul Malik and Hisham Ibn Abdul Malik and it was Hisham Ibn Abdul Malik that sent poison to Imam al-Baqir so he saw a great deal a great deal of Ibn Umayah of their oppression of their persecution of of the Shia the persecution of their followers this was very difficult times very difficult and we could compare relate to the times of Imam al-Baqir during the days of Saddam those who lived in Arawah during the days of Saddam it was very similar cases times of fear, persecution death mass murder, mass graveyards that we see today very similar times the days of Saddam and the days of Ibn Umayah had to witness all of this but patiently he stood by the side of his father Imam Zain al-Abideen to lead the Ummah until the death of Imam Zain al-Abideen until he became the Imam himself insha'Allah we'll continue the discussion revolving on the knowledge of al-Baqir al-Assalam and what he had to offer which really you know surprised me when I was reading through his biography but I would like to thank you very much for joining us tonight may Allah SWT and Imam al-Baqir give you the ability to visit the house thank you very much for tuning in tonight if you are not able to view this episode or the previous episodes you can visit our YouTube channel at Imam Zain 3 TV Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh


Governor Mark Dayton announced today his recommendations to fill a vacancy in Minnesota's ninth judicial district. The vacancy will occur upon the retirement of the honorable Earl E. Mouse of Brainerd. The governor has succeeded has suggested three candidates to fill the spot. They are Matthew Molley, a solo practitioner who serves as the city prosecutor for multiple cities in Crow Wing County. Stephanie Shook, who is the assistant county attorney for Crow Wing County. And Sarah Wingey, an assistant county attorney at the Aiken County Sheriff's, sorry, County Attorney's Office. Minnesota's ninth judicial district consists of 17 counties that include Aiken, Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Atasca and Red Lake. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.


Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. So today I wanted to do a haul video for you guys. I know it's not like a normal video that I do on my channel but I'm trying to expand my content into more of like lifestyle, life as a teacher in all aspects, motherhood, womanhood, teacherhood, princesshood, all the things. So I know that you guys already know this but I am so excited to go on our cruise for spring break. So I've been doing a little bit of shopping and collecting of items and I wanted to do a giant haul for you guys because I think I'm pretty much done shopping. I might have a little bit more shopping to do but I'm pretty much done. So the first place that I wanna talk about is an online shop and it is called patpat.com. Hey guys, sorry for the interruption but Pat Pat and I have actually collaborated in this video and what that means is that I get to offer you guys $10 off your purchase at patpat.com.  So head on over there after this video and give it a check out. Because they have matching family outfits. They also have daddy son, daddy daughter, mother son, mother daughter matching outfits and we wanted to get something super cute and matching for our trip. So we decided to jump onto patpat and check out a couple of their items. So the first thing that I got for Scott and I and Cash was this adorable pineapple set. So this is Cash's shirt and it looks a little wrinkly cause I did wash it but it's in size, I think it's 18 months to 24. But this is Cash's shirt. And then Scott's is actually exactly like Cash's. So this is Scott's shirt and this is a large and my husband is six foot, about 170 ish pounds. He's kind of bulkier on top and this fits in a little tight but he actually really likes the way it fits. It's like perfect. But this matches Cash's shirt and then I got myself this adorable dress and it's like totally off the shoulder so it wears like a tube top and then your sleeves have the bell and it's like about knee length but if you brunched it up here on the waistline it would totally like hug you at an empire waist so I got that. Love this. I also grabbed this little outfit for Cash, it's just the smalls t-shirt and I thought I ordered the, you're killing me smalls shirt for me but I don't think I ordered it so I'm gonna go back on there and reorder it but this is the one I got for Cash and it just says smalls on it. Those are super cute. So again, those matching outfits are on patpat.com and they actually have a ton more matching outfits for mother and daughter. They have a ton of mother son and again daddy son. So that is the first place that I went. Then another online shop that I found some really cute shirts on is Thread Tank. Thread Tank.com, I was able to score you guys 10% off your purchase using the same code, Apple's 10. So two really awesome online shops for you guys to find some cute outfits. And I'm actually wearing one right now. This is the off the shoulder long sleeve and it says mama shark so I'm definitely taking this on the cruise with us for sure, especially for those kind of chillier nights on deck. And then the second one that I got from Thread Tank is this tank top and it has like kind of a ruching racer back. And on the shirt it says, sorry, trust in God with all your heart, lean not on your own understandings and that is Proverbs 3.5. So I love that Bible verse and when I saw this tank available on their site I just had to get it. It like spoke perfectly to my heart and I just love this. So I got that. And then the last t-shirt that I got from Thread Tank is this really cute one.  And it's just this like rosy kind of pinkish. I forget what this color is actually called but I love how it says kill him with kindness and it's just there on the left side. And I thought this would be super cute with like a pair of shorts and a hat and some converse. So that would be perfect for like short excursion day. Okay, so now I'm going to move on to my Amazon shopping. So on Amazon I got a couple of dresses and the first one that I ordered was this blue. It's a t-shirt dress and it's by BTFBM. I'll link everything down below for you guys but I love this dress because it ruches on the side and then it has like a crisscrossing detail on the bottom. It goes down to my knee but if you bunch it up it gets shorter. But what I love is that it has this ruching so it doesn't show all my imperfections. I also love that it has an inside. It's got like a double layer. So it really does hide all of your bulges. So I got this one in blue and then I loved it so much that I had to buy it in black. So I bought it in black as well. And then I actually ordered a rose pink one but it's a tank top but it's not gonna come in time for our cruise. So I'm a little bit sad about that but I'll move on. So then another thing that I bought from Amazon was just this really cute swimsuit cover and it's knitted and it's kind of like a creamy like, you know, kind of tan looking white and then it comes down like this. It ties and I just thought this would be super cute like either over one of my swimsuits that I have from Cupshe with a pair of shorts or even just, you know, on top of the swimsuit itself. So I bought that. Then on Amazon, I also got this pair of earrings and I saw a lot of people wearing these at Get Your Teach On and I don't know if this is exactly the pair but they're from Cavani, I think. Like I said, I'll link everything down below but they're so cute. They have like a blue kind of top here with the stripes and then all the colored tassels. I thought those would be so cute either during the day or just to dress up one of those dresses for dinner. So I got those. And then the last thing from Amazon is this really super cute C necklace. It's probably not the right way. I don't know, is that the right way? I can't tell. Anyway, Ashley from Lipstick and Little's was wearing this. Also Hope King from Get Your Teach On was wearing one of these and so I just had to get one. So basically it's just a C but when you wear it, it's kind of like crooked and I really love that. Actually my husband got me this for Valentine's Day but it was on my Amazon wish list. And then I also grabbed some of these ponyos. These are those ponyo things that you see online on Instagram.  So I got one of those and actually came with two of them. Okay, so the next place that I went was American Eagle. And I only got a few things from American Eagle but the things that I got, I'm really in love with. So the first thing is this adorable shirt and it's just white with pink flowers and you can tell the kind of fabric is like super bunchy. It has this tie down the middle. You could probably wear this as a tube top or as a tank. I thought I would wear it as a tank. It is kind of like, how do you call that, a belly shirt? I don't know. But I do have a bunch of high-waisted bottoms to wear with this. I don't just like let my mid-drift hang out but I love this shirt from American Eagle. And then I also got a pair of, they're called mom shorts. They say right on there, mom short. These are gonna size eight. I have a bigger bottom so I have to get a larger bottom things but these are super high-waisted. They go up past or like right below my belly button and I thought these would be super cute with like everything. T-shirts, that shirt, wearing a swimsuit top, one of the ones from Cupsheed that are a little bit longer. I thought that would be really nice. And then I also got this scrunchie bunch. It came with all three scrunchies and I really wanted it for this one because I thought when I have a bun or a ponytail I could just plop this cutie on. But yeah, I got all of these scrunchies from American Eagle and then the last thing I got from American Eagle are these earrings. Now I'm not usually an earring person but I've been trying really hard to use earrings as an accessory. I just think they're awesome and super cute. So I found these and I love them. They're adorable, I can't wait. I'm probably gonna get my ears tugged on by cash but you know, maybe for dinner or like nights out. My parents are going on the screws with us so they'll be able to watch cash for me. And then I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and this is completely random because my nephew wanted to go there for an Adidas sweatsuit, I don't know why, but I found these cute shorts and I don't know. I really liked them. I thought they would be nice to wear on deck like on top of a swimsuit or like I said on excursion days or just around on deck with a T-shirt or I can wear them to the gym. I really could wear them for any reason but I really liked them. They were on sale so I got them. Okay and the last place that I'm going to share some things from is my favorite Target. So I did purchase this tank top and I was wearing this today and then my thread tank stuff came in the mail and I got excited. So this is just a simple tank top and it has the stripes on it. I got this in a large. Then I know that five foot one teacher, Brittany from five foot one teacher has this skirt. She posted a picture of it and I went to Target looking for it and I couldn't find it but then I went again and there it was. So it's just like kind of like T-length high-waisted skirt and it is like a burnt orange almost red with leopard print and it has a tie in the front and then it also has kind of a high low but it definitely has like a slit looking effect. It's super duper cute. So I got that.  I really only want to pack like these and then those jean shorts and that's pretty much all the pants I want to bring. Probably bring like my Lulu lemon leggings and like a pair of like really heavy duty sweats maybe one pair of jeans but I only want to have like two pairs of shorts. The last things that I bought from Target were some shoes. I got these. I've seen a teacher at my school wear these and they are so cute. They look better on me with long pants so I was thinking with jeans this would be cute or with leggings but they're super cute. They make my feet look, well they make my ankles and my legs look a little bit skinnier but I love these. They're like kind of a platform sandal. And then I also got these little heels and they're just those ones from Target. Anything that straps around my ankle is going to make my leg and my feet look a little bit better because I have kind of chubby legs and really big feet. So that is everything that I have purchased or found for my cruise and if I do get anything else maybe I'll do a second follow up haul but I just wanted to share everything because everything is so super cute especially these Amazon links that I will put down below for you guys. They are awesome. Those dresses are... Okay guys, well thank you so much for watching. Ignore my messy living room. All those toys behind me but this is mom life so I'll see you guys in the next video. Bye guys.


Hey everyone and welcome to Norris Cove. I'm Yoshida here at the Cove. We're all about budgeting, finances, business, minimal and functional planning, but today we're going to be doing some cash-stuffing and along with our budgeting. So let's get started. I don't like to hold you.  I think now that I have more to work with, you know, as far as income wise, this is working for me. I can really see my money. I put my money up, you know, during the week. That's why I have all these three different wallets here. So here, let's pull up this money. This is like leftover from today. Okay. This, like in the middle of the week, I had some cash on me. I said, get it out of your wallet because I want to spend it. So I stuck it here in our pretty much bills wallet. So we got that. And we had, let me go through. What do we have there? I think we have like a hundred and sixty. 20, 40, 60, 80, 150 and 60. Yeah, we have like a hundred and sixty. That was so close. And then here in my little cash-stuff bag, I have some money like I broke some chains. If I break change, I'll put it in here. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, seven, eleven. And also the reason I carry this is so that if I get tips and cash, I can break it up, put it here. And then that way it's not mixed in with my other money. That's another way for it to kind of be out of sight, out of mind. And what I like about this is I can bowl it up and it goes in my person. I just don't know that it's there. So anywho, let's get this money situated. The cash tray is back. So let's get started. I did not go. I went to the ATM just to get like the rest of my booth when I thought that I had cash on me, but I wanted to get a 50. And my ATM allows 50s. So that's all that I have. Everything else is I've kind of tried to get something to break change. And we're just going to work with what we got and pray is enough and that we can have enough in our envelopes to kind of cover steps. So let's count 50, 70, 90, 110, 130, 150, 170, 190, 210, 230, 250, 270, 290, 310, I got a little lost, 310. Then I raised my calculator, 310, 20, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 40 month. So we have 341. Let's count it again. 50, 70, 90, 110, 130, 150, 170, 190, 210, 230, 250, 270, 290, 210, 20, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41. So let's put our money right. So the first thing we're going to do, we're going to stuff our wallets. I have my handy dandy cheat sheet and here's a surprise. This sticky note will be in our May budget box. So, oops, show my cards. Garden is going to get 10. I had to make some change out of garden. So this is what I'll do. Let me see. We're going to get some change out of garden. I'll take a 20, put it in. So now garden has to borrow from it. And then I added something back. So we'll see what we got. We have 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25. Oops, 26. So we're kind of just an extra dollar. I had to borrow from it for something like make change for one of my customers and I just didn't do it. But it's OK. We added 10. So we're kind of caught back up. I want to get like some rocks and something to make my house look better than not looking like the house, the trap house in the front. Products we're skipping today, gas we're skipping. I just got gas. Again, I think I'm just going to let gas be a digital envelope. Eating out. I'm up in my budget because I can and when the 60 20, 40, 60 because I see that I have the money for it. One, two, I'm always kind of over the budget and I'm only getting like two lunches out of what I was using. So we're going to do that. Give miscellaneous is getting 20. And one time like I use miscellaneous for different things, like I took my son to like the convenience store, got him some water before going to the gym, me a snack, you know, stuff like that. Even once I got my car washed and I used gifts to tip them. But I had like a dollar to linger in here and miscellaneous. So I add that to tip sometimes when I go out. So we're done with this wallet. I'm looking for a new one of these wallets because these really work for me. OK, we're done with the wallet. Let's get into this binder here. Which one? Yeah, this is the right binder. One month ahead is getting 50. So we're just going to take this 50. So one month ahead now has 50, 100, 20, 40 and 50. One 50 in the one month ahead. Excited. I'm going to have to catch that up. Next, we're going to go to the 52 week challenge. I realize I'm a week 14. So I'm going to put $17 in. Fifty two weeks. That'll make me even, I believe. And I still may just have extra. So we have 50. Let's get it together. In 52 week challenge, we have 50, 70, 80, 90, 95, 105, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. So we have 118 and 52 week ahead. I mean, 52 week challenge. I think that I'm a little bit ahead, but it's OK. I want to keep the triangle rolling. So proud of myself. Next up is the one and five and one and five is getting $10. So I'm going to see if I can make change in the one and five. But everything else, I think I'm good. I do need to make some change. So we're getting 10 and one and five. We'll see five. This is what I can do 20. Here, I'll do this 10, two, five, and I'll just add a 20. And if we need some more change, we'll. We'll do that. OK, Christmas. I'm a family friend Christmas. Christmas is getting 25. Christmas is getting 25. OK, we're doing with savings. Our rate is getting five. Now that next up, let's see birthdays. So I forgot my mother's not doing no idea by some of the stuff I'm just going to wait and add to this. My mother's 70th birthday is in November. Me and my sister are planning her party and we have things we have to pay for. My sister's pretty majority of it on her. All right, and I'm just paying her back. So this is 20. So my sister's birthday is actually today. So I took money from my mother's birthday fund, which was $50 and sent it to my sister for her birthday. So I'm putting 20 in here. And then the next birthday is my my birthday, of course, is the 23rd. And then my nephew is my sister's grandson birthday is the 29th. So I want to kind of build this up. I got a few weeks to build this up. So if I got to take away from here to get him a gift or something, that's that. So the quick next, we're going on to our business binder. So I'd already did a business video, but and I wasn't going to stuff this, but since we have money left and we had some money to stuff, we're going to stuff taxes. First of all, taxes is getting nine dollars. Let's hope we got. So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to put this 20 down. Wait a minute, Texas will be getting nine dollars. And then I'll take a dollar. That's it. You should take the dollar. Oh, OK. What else we got? Equipment, LLC. Are we doing LLC today? We are LLC is getting 50, 20, 40, 50. Oh, my God, I got to get this. I actually need a call because I think it's three hundred dollars that I need. So we had a hundred. So LLC has 50, 20, excuse me, 50, 70, 90. One hundred and five dollars. What do we have here? Equipment is getting 20 and shipping is getting 20. I'm trying to save weekly for that because I know this next budget box is going to be the boxes are going to be a little heavier. So the shipping is going to be a little more costly. So that's that. And then the rest is my this is what I'm paying myself to this week. Twenty twenty one, twenty two, three and forty five. And I'm actually going to take this and put in one and five. I was supposed to have in business supplies.  But even though I purchased products for the shop, I didn't reach in here. It's just there like hundred dollars. So what I'm going to do, I'm going to put these in my one and fives just because I'm going to just pay myself twenty dollars. I may just add it to the miscellaneous fund. This is not the binder here, she did. I feel like I'm kind of all over the place, but whatever. I'm just going to add this to the one and five challenge. But should I add it to one month ahead? I'm going to add it to the one and five. I'm going to do it. It should be up there. That's why I had to work. That's why I took you to go upstairs. I'm sorry. It's OK. It's OK. I pay extra five dollars. That's all right. They're packed. I'll just get them up there. Thank you kindly, sir. We don't leave them upstairs there. Thank you. OK, so about that, you guys, that's my son. He's helping me with the budget box. So he packed the box, shipped the ring, fixed the boxes for me. So, yeah, so this twenty, I'm just going to put it in my wallet and I just may put it to I'm just going to put it in the bank part. But yeah, we like I'm so proud of myself, like really, really proud of myself. Like as I was doing my breakdown, I realized that I was like, wow, I've never like stuffed this money. I remember stuffing sixty five dollars. Yeah, I think I'm going to go that twenty in here. My little bill wallet so I can be a month ahead. I think that's what I'm going to do because it's like out of sight out of mind. You know, I have a 10 here. I'm saving in car. So I'm going to put this one in T-Mobile since I've started on car with this in T-Mobile. We have maybe one set of these envelopes left in the shop and more are coming where they'll be hole punched. Those are coming soon. So, yeah, so this will be here. I'll let y'all know I need to just go ahead and put it all in one thing. But once we get a little bit extra in our one month ahead, we'll start that. So here we go. That is it. Thank you all so much for watching. If again, if you enjoyed today's video, please do me a favor, hit that subscribe button. Also hit the notification bell and I'll see you guys in the next video. Bye.


The Mason Cup Minnesota State University versus Bemidja State University. I don't think I pronounced that right I've never heard of it, but this is a big important game. It's in overtime It's the Mason Cup and the winner goes to the dance they go to the tournament They get an automatic bid who's gonna win also this one is brought to you by candidates 50% off Site-wide with code jamboy it ends April 1st candidate CBD comm 50% off their entire Store you've never seen something like this happen before guy takes it up wraps it around puts it in they win They're dancing the stick throw was elite watch the stick right here after he scores the stick goes in the air One full rotation.  He's jumping to his teammates I love the dude on the left here in the yellow hat because he just steady clapping doesn't miss a beat Rhythm is there. They're celebrating because they've won. They've won the game. They're going to the tournament. They're hugging They can't believe it the crowd is going wild the goalie can't look he can't watch he's so upset They shake hands. They say hey good game good game good game good game. Hey good game. Hey good game guys Good game.  They announced the players of the game And then the guy who scored the winning goal he is the number one player of the game With the game winning goal for the Mavericks number 12 Josh So Josh Grohl got that trophy for being the number one player of the game for scoring the game winning goal and overtime They get the trophy. They are announced Please show your appreciation to the 20 22 Ccha playoff champions the Minnesota State Mavericks It's official. They do the laps with the trophy. They pass it around. They kiss it. They cry parents are excited They take the team picture with the hats on next to the trophy They're going to interview the coach to get his thoughts on winning Proud of the guys and then they're going to throw it to commercial in the highlight package. They can break and We're going to keep it right here. I guess Don so we'll head to Confusion the highlights and a whole lot more is the Mavericks real confused. What's going on the place is empty They're saying the goal is still under review. Oh, no, well The goal is under review after all of that maybe review it first before you do the entire ceremony Let's watch. Is it a good goal? Is it a bad goal? It is Not a goal it went underneath the net net off the moorings Look at the puck there and then under the net right you can see obviously right there That is not a Goal so do they what do they do they did the whole damn ceremony? Do they have integrity? Do they say hey we need to get this right? It's a big important thing Or do they say we already did the ceremony whatever screw it? They say it's overturned We're gonna redo the ice because it got chopped up in the ceremony and we're gonna run it back players get out There's the players get out. They do their warm-ups. These guys were probably just Sipping on beers if they're allowed to probably young.   Bsu got sucked in deep and he takes the shot and bam now they have won it It's real the goal. He has to be sad all over again. Damn it again Number 20 just fell. I don't think it mattered much It was still a really nice pass and a nice shot and a clean goal and the refs are gonna make sure Hey, we got to get this right this time. We got to get it right. They do they don't do the whole ceremony again They just say thanks to the fans for coming back out and then celebrate But my question is the game-winning goal now is number three, right? So what happens to the number one? Player of the game trophy because they didn't do the ceremony again. Does it get switched? Does number 12 have to go walk in the in the locker room and say hey, you know what? I don't deserve this you do because my goal didn't count and yours did Love to know he had to give it to him, right? It's hockey. They're all about sportsmanship and teammates and Canadips that's what I've heard and you can get some for 50% off the entire store with code John boy canadips CBD comm 50% off the entire store ends April 1st code John boy, and I just love the coach. He's got to do the speech a second time He's got to talk to the guy again. I think I already said this one But Minnesota State wins 2-1 over the beavers of Bemidji State coach incredible finish The Mavericks get it done in the end. Congratulations. Yeah, you know what? Thanks


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