Rhaid i'n meddwl yw, wrth gwrs yn bywb maen nhw. Rhaid i'n meddwl gafodd am edrych i ni i chi ddych chi, roedd y gallu mew i g churches i gael yn cael ei vadol a'i gael ei beithydd o'i hwn yn cael eu gwyddogennol i hawdd o'r cyfnod yn gweithio y mynedd. Fe'r hyn oedd yn rhan o byd yn adolygu dros ei wneud i chi yn ffylwyd o bobl yn gweithio yma. beth oedd eu croeron ysrwyfiadau'n yn ffylwyd.  Mae'n gweithio'r cyfloddau ar gyfer y Cyfloddau Ysgrif, dylau gyfloddau ar gyfer y Cyfloddau Llywodraeth, .. suspension and self employment support schemes.. ..to make sure companies don't fall through the gaps.. ..by offering the best, most generous, most.. ..comprehensive package of support for businesses.. ..anywhere in the United Kingdom. Our direct action has saved businesses.. ..and jobs right across Wales. In fact we've secured more than 100,000.. ..jobs through the first two phases of.. ..the economic resilience fund between.. ..the Welsh Government, direct support and.. assistance from the Development Bank of Wales, we've come to the aid of more than 14,000 businesses, the vast majority being micro, small and medium sized. And with the fantastic assistance of our local authority partners we've also made more than 64,000 awards to firms through the business rate system providing almost £770 million of support. And of course we are supporting business start-ups, 1,600 of them with grants worth £4 million so that the businesses of tomorrow have a bridge beyond Covid. And proud that we're also going further to protect businesses from eviction by extending the moratorium until the end of this year. And we've set aside an extra £40 million for skills support and announced of course a £7 million scheme to help freelancers in the creative industries. Now we can't save every business and every job to do so would require the sort of financial firepower that only the UK government possesses in its armoury but we've stood steadfast with firms and individuals throughout this pandemic and we've done everything in our power to ensure that a good business in 2019 will be a good business in 2021. Now it is time to look ahead to the future, to the next phase of our recovery bridge. We've pressed the UK government over many months to continue the furlough scheme and that message has only grown and intensified over the last few weeks as the rising number of cases and areas in local lockdown has made one thing very clear that this coming winter will be difficult for all of us. I'm pleased that last week the Chancellor listened to our calls and today I'd like to set out the work we will do once again to put politics aside, to work in the national interest and to put in place an additional package of support here in Wales that complements the job support scheme announced by the UK government Chancellor just last week and once again to give our businesses the best package of support anywhere in the UK. So today I'm announcing a further £140 million to support businesses in Wales. Up to £60 million of that funding will be used to support a new local lockdown fund to help businesses and individuals in those areas experiencing local restrictions. Today we have nine local authority areas under restrictions. By midnight that number will have increased to 12 and it's likely that over the next few weeks and months we'll see a rolling programme of restrictions to help us respond to local increases in cases. So we need to be dynamic in our approach to responding to coronavirus and none of us would wish to see a national lockdown if we can avoid it but we know that businesses in containment areas will need extra help. So grants of £1,500 will be available to retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with the rateable value of between £12,000 and £1 and £51,000 that have seen a material impact on their businesses as a result of local restrictions. Grants of £1,000 will be available to small businesses with a rateable value of £12,000 or less and who again can similarly demonstrate a material impact on their business. Now 5% of this funding will be made available to local authorities to support businesses materially impacted by local lockdown but not registered to pay business rates. There will be discretionary grants of up to £1,500 for those businesses. I'll be making more detail on the qualifying criteria for businesses in the coming days. The second major plank of this support package will be £80 million to help help businesses prepare for the post-COVID economy. Now this is an important and necessary change. The first two phases of the economic resilience fund were shaped in the initial phases of the crisis when the virus was new and when we were all experiencing the shock and awe of the first wave of the impact of a national lockdown. The economic resilience fund provided the cover for firms to hibernate through the lockdown and to help them adjust but the third phase of the economic resilience fund will take a different form. It will be designed to support businesses with projects that can help them transition to the new normal, to the economy of tomorrow. It will be more than just getting through, it's about the potential to thrive in the future, not just survive in the present. It will require co-investment from companies and a clear adjustment plan for a post-COVID economy. So grants of up to £10,000 will be available to micro-businesses, then employ up to nine people for projects on the condition that they match this with their own investment of at least 10%. Grants of up to £150,000 will be made available for small and medium-sized businesses with 10% minimum match funding required for small enterprises and 20% required for medium-sized businesses. And then grants of up to £200,000 will be available for larger businesses employing more than 250 people with 50% match funding required. And I'm pleased to say that all recipients of these grants will be required to sign up to the principles of the economic contract in order to ensure that we do truly build back better. Now some sectors have faced particular challenge, including of course tourism and hospitality businesses, many of which have recorded zero or near to zero income since March. So of the £80 million, £20 million will be ring-fenced to support tourism and hospitality businesses as they enter the winter months to give them a pathway through to spring 2021. We hope to launch the triage system for the new grants that are announced today in the first week of October, with applications open before the end of the month, allowing time for applications to be developed with first payments made as soon as possible afterwards. This £140 million will no doubt make the difference between business survival and business death for thousands of enterprises. It will also make the difference between employment and unemployment for thousands more workers. But nobody should be under any illusions about the scale of the challenges ahead of us. And that's why, as a Welsh Government, we remain totally committed to working with our partners and taking the necessary public health and economic support measures to tackle the virus and to help our economy through these coming winter months. I'm now happy to take questions today. I'll begin with Dan Davis from BBC Wales. Dan. Thanks Minister. The UK Government is reportedly considering stricter restrictions in hotspot areas of England going further than the restrictions we've already seen. If case numbers continue to rise in parts of South Wales where you've imposed restrictions, does the Welsh Government have a plan over what to do next? Well, we very much work with all public bodies and we've responded to calls from public bodies when asked for additional powers in order to ensure that people comply with restrictions. We work with police forces, with local authorities and we will consider whatever measures are necessary in order to ensure that public safety of the population is of paramount importance to us and that we make sure that we also contain this infection in the coming months. We've seen sometimes quite distressing accounts from students in quarantine around the UK. If there are students due to come to Wales this week who are worried about their education and about their welfare, what's your message to them? Well Dan, I can say that public health has always and will always be our most important priority as we tackle this pandemic and the welfare of individuals, particularly vulnerable people like the elderly and young people, is of vital importance. The Education Minister will be delivering a press conference later this week where I'm sure she'll be discussing and answering questions about the welfare of students, but I can say this. The last thing that we would wish for is for students to be facing the predicament of having to stay in university halls of residence over the Christmas period, having to face ongoing uncertainty and anxiety because of the pandemic and we are working incredibly closely with Welsh higher education institutions, with unions, with the workforce of universities and with student bodies to ensure that we respond to the needs of young people in universities and indeed in other education settings. Now I'll now move to Adrian Masters from ITV Wales. Thank you Minister. What's your advice to businesses that have to deal with people face to face and I'm not just talking about in the hospitality industry but organisations and businesses like Cardinalship say. Okay well I'd like to say this actually because I met with the Wales Retail Consortium last week and there was concern expressed about some aggression from the public in terms of having engaged with the workforce within shops. Nobody entering a business premises should be aggressive in any way. People should comply with the rules. The rules are in place to protect public health. They're in place to ensure that we get over coronavirus as soon as we possibly can do. So please follow the rules, follow the guidance, do all you can to keep yourself your loved ones and anybody who you may come into contact with safe. Make sure you wash your hands regularly, keep a distance, wear a face covering if you're in an enclosed area or in a confined area. It's for everybody to act responsibly to take action so that we overcome the economic and health impacts of this pandemic. Before I ask my second question could I just narrow that down what I actually meant was advice for those businesses who need to be able to see people in local lockdown areas in order to do their business. Can you advise them how to get through the lockdown restrictions? Sorry if I... No, sure. We're not forcing businesses to close in local lockdown areas so businesses can continue to operate. What's important is that businesses and individuals, members of the public, operate in the safest possible way. Yes, local restrictions are difficult for businesses. That's why we are introducing the £60 million fund that I've announced today so that if a business, whether it be a car dealership or any other type of business, experiences a material fall in turnover, they will be able to apply for and secure a grant from the Welsh Government. The measures that I'm announcing today are designed to offer a bridge beyond the local lockdown arrangements. We have enough financial resource in place, based on the modelling, to go through two waves of restrictions, local restrictions, but we also have the flexibility within the fund that would enable us to operate potentially through a third wave of local restrictions. We're putting as much financial resource behind supporting businesses as we possibly can do. Again, giving businesses in Wales the best, most comprehensive, most generous package of support anywhere in the United Kingdom. Thank you, and sorry I wasn't clear enough when I first asked that. My second question then is about nationwide, as in Wales-wide measures. The Welsh Government's meeting councils in the north is a northern lockdown on the cards, and if so, is that effectively a national lockdown rather than a series of local lockdowns? Well, I'll be meeting with local authority leaders as well to discuss the situation in the north of Wales. Clearly, infection rates are not as high in most parts of north Wales, and actually, if you look at one particular local authority area, Wrexham, back in August, there was much talk locally of the possibility of a local lockdown. But because of the test, trace and protect regime that was put in place, because of the hard work of the public bodies working together, and it has to be said, because of the vigilance and behaviour, good behaviour, of citizens in Wrexham County Borough, we saw levels fall dramatically. We are hoping that in the north we will see a similar reduction in figures that would enable us to avoid local lockdowns or regional lockdown. Obviously, some parts of north Wales are registering higher numbers than other areas, but there is no doubt, based on what I'm hearing from local authority leaders in the north, that while people are concerned about coronavirus, people are acting responsibly and responding to the need to act in a way that prevents a further spread of the virus. But we will be discussing this issue with local leaders in the north of Wales before reaching any decision on whether local lockdowns are required in any of the six local authority areas. And I'll now move to Mike Hughes from LBC. Minister, thank you very much indeed. Does the Welsh Government have a working assessment of what the long-term scarring to the economy is going to be from this pandemic? You've said today that you're not able to save any business. Do you know what the deep-rooted impact is going to be from all of this? Well, Mike, I'm sure you're aware of numerous models, numerous forecasts that suggest that unemployment could rise to 10% potentially more. There were concerns that without an extension or an evolution of furlough that the figure would be even higher. It's not going to be as high as a result of the job support scheme. That's why I very much welcome the UK Government's decision, although the UK Government must ensure that there's flexibility in that scheme. If it has to be adjusted, if they find that the scheme does not benefit all sectors as they had aimed and hoped for, then they have to amend it, just as they amended arrangements for the coronavirus interruption business loan scheme, the so-called C-bills scheme. So, the UK Government has to be able to operate flexibly in terms of the job support scheme. We in Welsh Government have operated on the basis of putting as much financial resource behind businesses as possible, and we will go on doing that. And as a result of our direct interventions, as I said earlier, we've secured more than 100,000 jobs. The latest unemployment statistics show that there is a significant gap in unemployment between Wales and the UK, a 1% difference between Wales and the UK. We are 1% below the UK average in all probability because we have the most generous package of support for businesses. That 1% is the equivalent of 15,000 jobs that have been saved, and potentially more than that because many of the predictions that Wales would be worse hit than the UK overall because we've got sectors that are so much more exposed, including aerospace, automotive, tourism and hospitality. And to put it into context, 15,000 jobs is the equivalent of the entire working population, the entire working population of Ebu Vale and Bryn Mawr or of Mold and Buckley. That is a degree of our intervention today, and we will go on working to secure jobs to save businesses in the coming months ahead. But there is no doubt that we face a huge challenge globally as a consequence of the pandemic. Our aim within Welsh Government is to save as many jobs and businesses as we possibly can do, working alongside UK Government, giving added value to any interventions that UK Government ministers make. Thank you. By the end of the day, a large proportion of Wales will be under local restrictions. Many people living in those areas will be single households who will no longer now be able to meet with anyone else. Are you able to provide us with an update today on whether there will be a change or an exemption to the rule for single households in terms of meeting someone else in Wales? Mike, this is a really important issue for so many people, particularly for the elderly and other vulnerable individuals. The First Minister will be giving a statement at the end of this week. This is the week in which the review is undertaken. We are acutely aware of the stress and anxiety that people living in single households are facing right now. If we can support them in any way, then we most certainly will do. I will move now to Wales Online and Will Hayward. Thank you Minister. Some people in Wales are not allowed to lead their county because cases are too high at 40 cases per 100,000 people. However, people in parts of England where cases are over 200 cases per 100,000 are allowed to travel to rural Wales on holiday. Is this not both a serious threat of spreading the virus and unfair on the people in Welsh lockdown areas? Does the Welsh Government have any plans to deal with this? First of all, it is absolutely vital that people consider very carefully whether journeys are required for whatever purpose. The rules and regulations are in place to inform people as to what they can and cannot do, but people also have a duty to society to consider what they should and should not do. Right now, with the nation facing a very serious second wave of coronavirus, it is incumbent upon everybody to do what they can to minimise the risk of the infection spreading. So if anybody has to travel, then they should do so considering every particular risk that it involves when they stop, when they interact with people and they should take precautions in any way that they can. Whilst it is vitally important that we retain an opportunity for businesses within the tourism and hospitality sector through the coming weeks and months, it is also vitally important that businesses and people who are either going on holiday or offer a service, a tourism or hospitality service, operate in a way that minimises the risk of exposure and transmission. I would say just regarding hospitality businesses in particular, they have probably been hit more than any other sector in the economy, particularly those parts of hospitality that have not been able to operate at all. I was thinking of wedding events industries where they simply are not able to operate because they can't attract the bookings. It's vitally important that the UK government looks to what the Welsh government is announcing with the £20 million ring fence fund and brings forward its own complementary package of support for hospitality because if they don't, then we do face a terrible loss of jobs and businesses over coming winter months. Thank you. So, just in answer to that question, there aren't plans by the Welsh government to restrict people coming from places with large amounts of cases in England. These are local lockdowns designed to contain infections within areas. What's absolutely important is that people living outside an area considers very carefully not just what they can and cannot do but what they should or should not do. It's a responsibility of individuals as much as it is for businesses or for governments in terms of how we respond to coronavirus and people have to do the right thing. And back in March, back in April and in May, people responded incredibly well and we were able to reduce the infection rate. We were able to drive down transmission levels. It's absolutely vital in the coming weeks and months that we see a similar effort undertaken by individuals as well as by businesses. Thank you. And what is the best and worst case scenarios for over winter for Welsh jobs? You must have done the modelling. How many jobs could Wales lose? And on that, is a grant of £1,500 a sticking plaster? Can you tell us what the forecast say that will save in terms of jobs in Wales as well? So, Will, you've given me an opportunity to highlight how we've been learning from other areas of the UK in regard to local lockdowns. So, in other parts of the United Kingdom, similar grant awards have been made and they are in most circumstances sufficient to give that short-term bridge as we get through local restrictions, as we get through local lockdowns. They're not designed to keep businesses operating for an entire winter season or beyond. They are designed to get businesses through local lockdowns and we've learned particularly from places like Leicester and Aberdeen, as well as other major urban areas, and we are confident that sport that we are announcing today will be sufficient to prevent businesses from dying as a consequence of coronavirus. And I'll now move to Rob Taylor from rexham.com. Afternoon Minister, you've touched on North Wales in forthcoming meetings, but what's your current understanding of the situation here as the positive proportion of financial redemption now matches areas that have been locked down elsewhere? And if that's not the data that the public should be looking at, what is? And is there any detail on these figures? Are they rising due to specific issues in care homes or the issues in hospitals or is this due to wider community transmission? Well, Rob, the data shifts quite swiftly from one day to the next. Our understanding is that in many instances across Wales, across the UK, particularly earlier in the autumn period, transmissions were taking place largely in domestic dwellings rather than in restaurants or pubs or cafes. We were finding that transmission was taking place because people were gathering in pretty significant numbers within homes. We've been pressing people not to do that. We introduced the maximum £10,000 fines for illegal gatherings as a consequence of the police asking us to introduce that particular measure to drive down the possibilities of domestic gatherings adding to transmission rates. And as I've said repeatedly, it's absolutely vital that people behave in a responsible way, that they adhere to the rules, the regulations, the guidance and that they think about their own health and safety. They think about the health and safety of their families and their entire community. Thank you. And three on the announcement if possible very quickly, the third tranche of the economic resilience fund has been referenced. Is that this £140 million or is it going to be something separate? You've mentioned a pledge to go with it. What's the aim behind that because it doesn't seem to be an enforceable thing that some of the people opt into? And finally to speak about one specific employer, what is the latest on Welsh criminal talks with Airbus? Well discussions with Airbus are ongoing. Obviously Airbus and its unions were pressing for an extension of the furlough scheme. That was one of the reasons why we were so insistent on it continuing. So we were pointing to the German model as an exemplar in this regard. The UK government system is not quite the same as the German model. That's why I said earlier in this press conference that I think it's vitally important that the UK government keeps its eyes open and mind open as to any adjustments that may need to be made to the job support scheme to ensure that businesses such as Airbus can retain as many staff as possible. Yes, the third phase of the economic resilience fund is the £140 million package of support that I'm announcing today. There's great flexibility built into it so that we can respond to emerging scenarios, but it will make a huge difference now to businesses across Wales, but particularly to those businesses in local lockdown areas and to those businesses that have been able to generate virtually no income since the start of the pandemic, in particular hospitality businesses. And in terms of the pledge, the economic contract, the economic contract has been in place for a short period of time, but it's already attracted more than 12,000 businesses. 12,000 businesses have signed up to the principles of the contract and they will be developing over the coming year with Welsh government officials, firm contracts to be put in place that we will be testing behaviours against. The economic contract is hugely important in driving improved skills, decarbonisation, better mental health in the workplace, and we all know, based on reports that we regularly see in the news, just how challenging the situation is regarding mental health within the public realm. And so there's a role for businesses to play in that regard as well, making sure that their employees' welfare is prioritised. So the economic contract is hugely important, and I have to say that in the vast majority of instances businesses have been incredibly proactive in demonstrating innovation in how they apply the economic contract in the workplace, showing really good business responsibilities and responsibilities towards their workers, which I think we should be proud of in Wales. I think we should be proud of the fact that we have moved from a position of coexistence with business to one of collaboration with business, where Welsh government is able to invest on the basis of a something for something approach. Thank you, Rob, and I'll now move finally to Jess Hemmings. You managed that. I wanted to touch back on a question that Will gave you and revisit that again really, if I could. It's one o'clock. We all want to see trade return to north Wales, but you saw the scenes on Snowdonia this weekend. It's clear that lockdown, there are problems in the north west of England, that's right on our doorstep. So isn't it time that Welsh Government actually grasped a network and restricted non-essential travel into north Wales at a time when you say yourself cases are rising in north Wales? Well, there's a very fine balancing act in ensuring that you maintain economic activity, that you don't end up with a long-term scarring effect of a pandemic, and then also on the other side ensure that public health remains a priority and that you protect the public during the course of a virus such as coronavirus. What we're saying, and I've said repeatedly today, is that people have their own role in judging what they should and should not do, not just what they can and cannot do. And it's vitally important if anybody decides to come to Wales on holiday or for a visit that they do so in a safe way. And I've seen tourist businesses respond to the virus in an incredible way, putting in place measures to protect their customers, to protect their workers. I'm confident that those businesses in north Wales have done all they can to protect the public, to protect their employees. So it's vitally important that anybody who visits Wales acts in a responsible way to prevent any transmissions from occurring and so that we can get through the coming months without a huge rise in coronavirus whilst at the same time maintaining activity in these important sectors. Just to come back on that for a minute, what was your view of the scene system down here at the weekend? Well, look, some people act irresponsibly, but the vast majority of people act incredibly responsible, not just towards their own health, but the health and safety of others. Unfortunately, a small minority of people can sometimes be disruptive, but we are willing to respond to the calls of any public body who wish to have more powers in order to crack down on irresponsible behaviour. We've done that when the police have asked for those £10,000 maximum fines to be introduced. We've done it when local authorities have come to us and asked for powers to ensure that they can contain the virus by cracking down on illegal gatherings. We will go on responding to public bodies who ask us for the powers and for the equipment to be able to respond to irresponsible behaviour. Can I just ask you a question about testing then? Back in April, testing was being done mainly in Cardiff, and we endured some delays in north Wales. Bang University offered its labs expertise and support. Finally, on 18 August, Welsh Government announced funding for 24-7 COVID testing in hospitals, including in the Spudigland period up here. One would assume that's something to do with the problems we've had in the lighthouse labs. Can you absolutely assure Welsh voters in north Wales that we'll have a testing system that's fully fit for those coming into it? Well, I think the FM has already spoken extensively about this and reassured people in north Wales that we will have that. We'll see capacity increase next week to 5,000 a day and then 8,000 a day a week after that. We're assured that, by November, the lighthouse labs, which, yes, have faced problems, will deliver capacity to the degree of 19,000 tests per day in Wales. That's a significant figure. Of course, all parts of Wales will benefit from that, including north Wales. Thank you. That brings us to the end of today's press conference. Thank you.


So let's do the reviews first and then we're going to look at the comic book hauls. Okay the first comic book right is the one that I ended up getting in the spring and I and I've shown this to you guys and I showed it a couple of times during the live streams and this book is Monk by Yosef Dak Udi. Okay this book right here. Now I don't you know I'd never heard of Yosef Dak Udi right. I tried looking him up and I did look him up and it looks like he's not a fair bit of work. I believe he's releasing the books in French. I'm not absolutely sure on this right. I didn't dig too deep into who the creator of this book is. Know this name. I'm gonna keep my eyes out for this this person as well from now on for anything that they're putting out right. But the reason I bought this book was because of Monk. Thonomius Monk and I've mentioned Thonomius Monk before right. And as soon as I saw this advertised in previews because I look at the catalog that comes you know I get the previews catalog every month when it comes to the comic book store. He basically supplies free previews to anyone that has a subscription box at his comic book store so I get that every month and I flip through it and at the beginning of this year I believe 2019 I saw this, solicited it and I ordered it through the comic book store and it arrived in spring right. Now this book hands down is brilliant really. Let me show you some of the artwork right. And the reason that I picked up this book is because of Thonomius, this is the way you pronounce his name or Spella's name, T-H-E-L-O-N-I-O-U-S. Thonomius, hopefully that'll focus, Thonomius Monk. He was a jazz pianist, composer from the 19, I shouldn't know because I read this but the dates you know escaped me but from the 1950s, 60s and I forget when he passed away right. I believe it was last decade or so maybe 90s or 2000s like again I should know because I read this but I finished this a few months ago okay. And if you want to read an amazing biography on an amazing musician consider to be one of the greatest musicians ever really in some of people's top five greatest American musicians ever, top 10 greatest musicians ever, greatest composers ever, just an artist really. This is it, you need to read this okay. Now for me I had heard of Monk through a documentary that Dave Chappelle put out called Block Party right and Block Party was a sort of documentary Chappelle put out where he invited a whole bunch of musicians to come and basically have a block party right. He sent out some invitations and stuff and brought in Jill Scott and Dead Prez and Kanye West and Talib Cuell and Most Def right. They were also playing and there was a few other people playing right and I knew some of them and some of those people I sampled their music after watching that documentary okay. Now during the documentary if you haven't seen it I highly recommend watching it right it's called Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Now during the documentary Dave Chappelle mentions Phenomius Monk. It's just a really it's like a 30 second little or even a 15 second little rant that Chappelle does regarding Monk and then when I watched that documentary that sort of stuck with me and I checked into Monk back then but because I was sampling some of the other music that other musicians that were playing during a block party and he really didn't get a chance to go off on Monk right. When I ordered this when the book arrived right in spring of this year what I ended up doing was I already had Miles Davis on my MP3 player right. So I started listening to a lot of Miles Davis I started listening sort of looping that with Scars on Broadway the person that came up for System of Down right. So I was listening to Miles Davis and Scars on Broadway right. As soon as this book arrived thanks to recommendations from people on Twitch that know their music they recommended I had listened to John Coltrane as well. So I sampled a few albums from John Coltrane right. So I started looping Miles Davis and I started looping John Coltrane right in preparation to listening to Phenomius Monk and what I ended up doing I sampled some of the albums from Monk. Let me give you the list of the albums that I listened to right. Genius of modern jazz volume one and number two okay. Live at five spot. Mysterio Monk's music plays Duke Ellington. Straight no chaser. Columbia collection. Complete prestige recording and underground okay. Those are the albums of Monk that I ended up looping. So basically the way I prepped myself really and you have to prep yourself for this okay. The way I prepped myself I looped Miles Davis Scars on Broadway together and then I kicked into John Coltrane looping about five of his albums right a few times and then I listened to these albums from Monk okay. Once I had gone through one iteration of this because I needed to have an appreciation for what Monk's music was about right. Just a just a 15 second little rant that Chappelle had of Phenomius Monk. It was praise like leaps and bounds beyond one hour speeches of people praising other musicians right. It was amazing. It really stuck with me right. So I knew it was gonna be magnificent. So I looped these albums once or listened to them once. Once I had gone through one iteration I started reading this and I listened to the albums multiple times right. I'm not sure how long it took me to read this. I savored it. There's times where I would just read a few pages right. Really just read a few pages and then I would listen to the music right. And this is basically a biography. There are other musicians that have appearances in this book right. Some of the stuff Miles Davis, John Coltrane right. They talk a little bit about it. There's a little bit of New York history with Roth trials being in here. That's how it started which blew me away right. And this book is created in a way that reflects Monk's music. Like I can't explain it beyond that because well let me try. This thing is sort of goes into sort of a dreaming to a certain degree. And that's what I found myself happening or what was happening to me when I was listening to Monk's music. Because when I was listening to Monk's music some of the stuff is offbeat. Some of the stuff is very mellow. Some of the stuff just goes chaotic. So basically I would go for two hour walks and listen to the music. I was traveling somewhere for an hour trip or hour and a half trip. I was listening to the music. And what I found myself feeling, experiencing was basically the same type of experience you would have if you were in a room with a lot of people where all of a sudden the conversation picks up and the volume in the room becomes grows and grows and sometimes just becomes overwhelming and then just dies down and there's whispers in the room and quiet where you can just sort of meditate and lose yourself in your own thoughts and then slowly the music picks up again and all of a sudden you find yourself sort of carried away in some kind of experience or conversation where it's picking up and it's lots of excitement and then all of a sudden boom. Right? That's the feel of Monk's music to me. Okay. And that was exactly the feel I got from this book. I know I'm giving it, like I'm really, I'm losing some of my words, right? Because reading this and looping Monk for, I don't know, it took me a couple of weeks, right? To, I took a little break in the middle and I looped Monk a few more times these albums and then I went back to this again, right? Because I really didn't want it to end and it was finding that I was reading parts of this and then I would have to go back and listen to the albums again and trying to catch some of the description, some of the feel of what the music represents, interpretation really of Monk's music represents and then try to listen to it, hear it on the albums, right? And I would, you know, they drop a few names of albums and songs in this, right? So I would go back to my playlist to make sure, you know, I had the music that I was, you know, that was being mentioned here in the albums that I was looping and some of them I did, some of them I didn't, right? Because Monk has, his library is enormous. I don't know who's a larger, Nino Simone's or Monk's. My guess is Nino Simone produced 38, I believe 38 unique standalone albums with a whole bunch of compilations of the best of and whatnot. I haven't looked into how many albums Monk released, his discography, but what I had, what I've been looping, what I mentioned, the albums that I listed, that's just a fraction of how much work he's produced, right? And a lot of those, well not a lot of it, but a fair bit of the classic stuff that they're supposed to be, they're considered to be classic are mentioned in this graphic novel. Highly recommend it, really, I could sit here for an hour talking about this, flipping through this, but I don't want to give too much spoilers if I've given too much already, hopefully I haven't, okay? Highly recommend reading this if you like amazing biographies, comic book, graphic novel biographies, and if you're a music aficionado, if you want to listen to someone which is unique, unique, unique, it will blow you away if for sure read the graphic novel at the same time because you'll have an appreciation for what's going on with the music, right? Because at first, first few loops that I did, I really didn't appreciate what was happening until I hit certain parts of the graphic novel that was talking about some of the tracks that I was listening to and then I would go back and listen to those albums, I would go, oh my God, that is brilliant, that is amazing, right? And then you can sort of try to focus in on the piano because Monk was the pianist in all of these, I believe, right? You can listen to the piano and try to catch the notes that Monk is playing, right? And then no matter how hard you try, you find yourself sort of lost in the music and the piano drifts away from you and the other instruments kick up and then once the sound, the rhythm hits a certain place where I haven't figured it out yet, but it's most likely when Monk is sort of slowly coming back into the conversation of the music you see it pick up again and you go, oh wow, wow, wow, boom, drop, right? Absolutely brilliant, highly recommend it, highly recommend it. Okay.


Vice President Yemi Oshibajo has disclosed that his main priority for joining the presidential race is to serve Nigeria selflessly, and not for personal or political pursuit. Professor Oshibajo spoke at the Palace of Awi of Aduakiti about Rufus Adegume in Aduakiti, the Aduakiti state capital. This was in consideration of his consultations with stakeholders and APC delegates across the country ahead of the primaries. His head remains the most outstanding in terms of experience and preparedness to be the next leader that would rate the country of corruption, insecurity, and other rules among the presidential aspirants. Oshibajo added that working on the president, Bohari, whom he described as a transparent and honest leader, is one of the things that has prepared him for the bigger task in leading the nation in 2023. When the opportunity arose for contestants to put their names forward, to run as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I believe it would have been remiss of me and almost irresponsible after seven years in the office of Vice President, after having acted as president. I'm being clearly, and I say this with deep humility, being clearly the one person of all the other contestants who has the experience and knowledge at the federal level to do this task and to be able to hit the ground running on day one. So I believe that, you know, God has given me all of these experiences and this knowledge and this exposure so that in due course, and I believe the time has arrived, I will be able to put myself forward and put forward all that God has given me to learn and to experience in the service of our country. We are praying, by the grace of God, you are there. Remember the traditional institution. We want a place in the position of this country for the traditional last so that it's not every four years that you come there, which will have a role in the position of this country, not a passive position at all, so that when there's a problem that you have now, you have a voice that will be disrupted.


Hello, and welcome to the Tuesday market update with me David Madden. Today's date is Tuesday the 28th of August 2018 and the time has just gone 11.30 British summer time Well, the big news over the last couple of days has been the strong session in the United States in the only on the Watery last night after the US and Mexico reached a trade agreement. There's really boosted invented sentiment in the US We saw the S&P 500 which are new all-time high But as I can composite also here in an all-time high and the Dow Jones closed above 26,000 is the first time the Dow closed north of 26,000 since early February this year And it's also managed to lift sentiment in Europe and in Asia as well, but to a lesser extent Also, what's been the news as well that the US dollar continues to be weak at the back end of last week We heard a several several updates from central bankers at the Jackson Hills Symposium over in the in the US I suppose the main one was from Jerome Powell the head of the Federal Reserve and Mr Paul gave an upbeat view of the US economy, but it wasn't it wasn't exceptionally hawkish. It was as hawkish as investors had expected and given that the US dollar saved Beginning of last week or maybe two weeks ago wasn't quite decent It wasn't was it wasn't quite decent shape. Traders use that as excuse to kind of cash in there put their long positions on the US dollar and the dollar index has been weaker ever since Mr. Powell's update, but by large US dollar in the grand scheme of things isn't fairly strong and It is traders are expecting Majority traders respecting a rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month and then on this and even the Bloomberg Probability interest rate probability is factoring in about a six-day probability of a rate hike for the Federal Reserve in December So things are second quite optimistic for the US But just it just seems to me that the word at the Mr. Powell's update wasn't as hawkish as investors had hoped So taking a look at the week week ahead events the week ahead can be found on our website If you go to cmcmarkets.com and under news and analysis, you'll find the week ahead article So looking ahead to tomorrow Wednesday, we have second quarter Growth figures GDP figures from the US. We have first-half figures from restaurant group on Friday And also on Friday. We first have figures from all mutuals. So as you can see, it's a fairly quiet week In terms of actual updates this week. So moving on to a few of the major markets Oh, like I said, European stock markets are getting out of to a fairly decent start Today the footsie was obviously closed yesterday as his bank called in the UK So the the footsie it seemed to actually kind of pay to catch up as content Europe did it had a fairly probably speaking I had a fairly positive session yesterday As we can see here from the footsie 100 it's been largely range bound for the last number of months But one that holds north of this red line here the truth a moving average which comes into play at seven thousand four hundred and ninety Well, we remain north of that It's likely that the outlook for the footsie is going to remain positive and we can see here in the past session The market has been edgy higher. It's at a level not seen as high today I'm not not seen since the middle of August So let's go to show you that there's a slight increase in policy sentiment The markets managed to kind of move back above the one of the moving average Let's now look if you see a line here as heading towards the 50 moving average this blue line here If you do manage to clear the 50 moving average which comes into play at seven thousand six hundred and thirty four Let's definitely watch out for to the upside will be seven thousand seven hundred and if we go beyond beyond that It turns it will be looking towards seven thousand seven hundred and ninety four It's only about a size of a break south of this red line here the 20 moving average Which comes into play just south of seven thousand five hundred. It's only to massage the break south of that But then actually we actually open the open the paved the way for further losses Take a look now. What's going on over in Germany with the tax So that's so the tax has been in in in In an upward trend for the last number of sessions But still we haven't actually gotten back up as far as high as a turn the moving average So while we remain south of this red line here the turning moving average which comes into play at just just north of 12,700 or she apologize. Yeah, just just just just shy of 12,700 the outlook is likely to remain To remain negative, but if you do manage to take to retake 12,700 next year to keep on that for would be the mid-July high of 12,888 and we'll go beyond that big cycle as important 13,000 number will then come into play Move to the downside of the tax may find some support from this blue line here The fifth day moving average which comes into play just north of twelve thousand five hundred Keep it and if you go south of that we could be looking heavy back down towards this Consolidation here in around the kind of twelve thousand three hundred and forty twelve thousand three hundred thirty region there And if you go south of that we could be heading back down towards The idea the the August law which comes which comes into play just north of twelve thousand one hundred and twenty So as I mentioned the SP five hundred a certain old fresh all-time high last night Take a look at the SP five hundred now If the market's heading an all-time high that is a various that that is a that tells you everything needs to know about how How bullish the rocket is as you can see here at the market is pushing higher here which you know, it's an all-time high If you look at the maxi indicator of the maxi histogram We can see that momentum recent sessions that smoke from negative territory to positive territory So the market pushing higher the rate of positive momentum is increasing So the momentum is with fires is with the bulls so you can more confident That's the upper move is going to continue if you're gonna need to push in higher from here We'll be looking at safe. I'll be next increments of two thousand nine hundred and ten twenty someone's a fourth Any moves to the downside may fight to support in around the two thousand nine hundred area or perhaps back as low I'll back it down to towards the two thousand eight hundred and seventy seven area which would be in the kind of out-of-hours high back in January Take a look now at the Nasdaq one hundred service duration here for by the nasdaq one hundred without to Close it. I have a record close last last night. I will also saw is that the market here is looking towards It's heading is pointing for another rather all-time line on the nasdaq one hundred So get an indication of our positive sentiment is service duration here By the on the Mac the indicator Mac the histogram momentum as a slow deposit territory is actually expanding So as a rocket pushing higher will be that that's being confirmed by the steady increase in positive momentum So the rocket's moving up and the rate of positive momentum is also increasing as well So we'd be more confident that that this move is going to last if you do continue to push on higher from here Makes me love to watch out for will be the psychologically important number of seven thousand six hundred And if you might to drip lower because some support coming to play in around the 7500 or perhaps even low at this blue line here at the 50 moving average which comes into play at seven thousand three hundred and eleven Notice how in recent weeks and months That blue line the 50 moving average has access support and if it's active that support in the past It makes it all the more likely it will act as support again in the future, but obviously there are no guarantees Take a quick look now at the doll as well as it mentioned the doll close above 26,000 last night the first time a close of all that level since early February So I give an indication of how bullish the market is the markets pushing higher here So it's in a steady upward trend along with other US indices So it's important that the averages can confirm each other is that's a component of doll theory We can see here on the Mac the indicator Mac the histogram is a steady increase in positive momentum So you can be more confident that the upward move is going to last if we push on higher from here next year to keep I'll forward be this region here from late January in around the 26,300 area there thereabouts And he moves to the downside my thoughts and support back in at 26,000 or as perhaps even low as a 20 25,800 820 in around this area here Take a look now at the gold market and the cold market that a fairly decent bounce back in recent weeks This level here of gold this discount will hear off from Thursday the 16th of August Goal fell to us to On that day felt to the law it's lowest level since early January 2017 And as you can see goes at a 30 size will bounce back since then There's a steady increase in positive momentum So it is possible that that this upward move is this upward move We've seen in the last few weeks could continue if you manage to push on higher from here We could be looking at targeting this blue line here at the fifth removing average Which comes to the play at 1226 notice how it's we get that that the fifth removing average has access both support and resistance As way back in April when this downward trend first began So there's possibility that that metric may come into a make me come to play again if we do much to push on higher above 1226 and they're keeping off or as well could be 1236 notice how it actually book them of support and resistance that area 1236 only in June and July If the market does turn over on itself again And does resume the wider downward trend that has been in since April keep an eye up for this area here in around the 1285 233 area are perhaps even slow as down as Sorry, I said 1285 at menace 1185 11 233 area are perhaps even low as 1175 and then if you go south 1175 Recubo looking at retesting the recent low of 1160 Take a look now at the Brent oil market See even though we've seen broadly speaking the mark the Brent the oil market moving lower We've seen hot we seen if you take a look at the highs they're hot They're lower highs and they're lower lows But we can say that the market found decent support from the Trinity moving average this red line here So there is been a small bit of time below the Trinity moving average and the market has been pushing higher We're at multi-week highs right level level is not seen since it's actually early just early July If you do continue to push on higher here, we could be looking heading up towards heading up towards assist in These recent highs here of dish shive a dollars a barrel if you go beyond of those levels which are last seen in Early July beyond that we've been heading up back up towards 80 spot 89 Any moves to the downside may find some support in around the 72 spot 50 area and the big area of support to keep on that For will this be will be this red line here the Trinity moving average which comes into play at 70 spot 85 There's not as how we did find some decent support from it Only a few weeks ago, and if you go south of the Trinity moving average that could pave the way for further losses Take a look now at WTI It's a very similar situation whereby the market hasn't been overly strong recently But I have to find decent support from the Trinity moving average So once again After hitting a multi-year high in June the market has been broadly been pushing lower But in a very good of near-term time frame the market has been edging higher Right level is not seen since early July if you continue to push on higher here And if a retake $7 a barrel killer to keep an eye for will be the late for early early June High early July high of 71 spot 69 if you go beyond that up towards 72 Any move to the downside in WTI may find some support in round the 67 spot 50 area It's an area of in around the block in that area has been very focused on a nation in recent weeks and months But also the big year to keep a lot of work will of course be the the trend line here The Trinity moving average which comes into play at 65 spot 17 Notice of the market actually a fairly decent support from it here and for that distance support in the past It makes it all the more likely over five days in support in the future Tony tension now to The currency pairs So even though you the euro has been in a downward trend against us dollars since April That's in a fairly decent bounce back in the euro largely to do with the US dollar weakness And if you draw a line from a draw trend line from the highs of July down through the high So sorry from the highs of June down to the highs of July we can see that that Trend line I can have resistance and I was respected on a few occasions Trump July, but we've actually now managed to actually break north of it. I think that comes into play in around In around the 116 60 mark and if you manage to hold above that area It's likely we could be heading back up towards once about 1850 and there they're about to that region But if you do manage to drift back below that we could be heading back down towards the 115 area on the euro versus the US dollar But it is worth noting that it is quite significant that the market actually managed to actually break above that Trend line resistance is seeing as that for several occasions show up July that actually managed to act as a as a barrier for the rising euro versus the US dollar And I see if it at least finish up with a pound versus the US dollar The pound has also been in a downward trend versus the versus the US dollar since April since April But uncertainty around Brexit has really kept kept pressure on the British pound that being said sterling has been creeping it creeping a bit higher And we've seen a fairly steady increase in positive momentum So in the near term, we could see the market creep higher. I know that I'll be I'll be keeping up What would be the from the kind of from the mid from the low of mid July Which comes to play at one spot 2957 between one spot 2957 and 130. We could see some resistance coming to play around there If the market does manage To break north of that we could be looking at heading up towards once by 3250 and there even solidation in around here But if the market does fall back into the wider downward trend We could be looking getting it back down testing the recent lows of one spot 2661 and if you go south of that we can get it back down to a one spot 2590. Well, that's all for me this week. Thank you very much


Would you rather pay $650 or $66 for a smart phone? Simple. With the Appalachian Advantage Plan, pay less upfront and then just a few dollars more every month. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless. Floyd County buses were full as they arrived at the Mountain Arts Center Monday morning, but the passengers were not students. More than a thousand faculty and staff from the Floyd County School District gathered for their annual Back to School kickoff. We like to enter our school year with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and this day sets the tone for that. So our theme this year was to be your own kind of rock star. We've had a rock and roll band play and we've got all kinds of great things going on in there. Just so much school spirit and it just sets the tone for what the school year looks like in Floyd County. We're going about changing maybe even the way we approach education in Floyd County. I know they've always been very successful with their test scores and we have kind of changed a little bit of the way we look at that. We're educating now for opportunities and not just test scores. So we're pushing not just college but trade schools, internships, tech schools. I think the average age of a plumber right now is 52 years old. With that being said, what are we going to do? What are we going to do when they all retire? So we need plumbers. We need electricians. We need welders. We need all those folks that step in and learn a trade and I can tell you right now from experience I've got students that have gone into those professions and they're making more money than I'm making right now. And it's not always about making money. It's about being happy with what you're doing. But with that being said, we want them to define their own success, whether it be, again, college degrees, doctors, lawyers, teachers, or plumbers, welders, electricians. The first day of school in Floyd County is Wednesday, August 7th.


The Bible says don't give place to the devil and this speaks to Christians, that means Christians are capable of giving place to the devil. Last year around summer, we all had a service in the park and I had people that lived with us and one of the requirements that anybody who lived with us, I always asked them please lock the windows and not just close the windows but lock the windows, because how many of you know you can close the window and not lock the window? And so, but because people have hard hearts, sometimes they would not check, double check, you know. And when it's not your house, you don't care as much as it's in your own house. So sometimes I would even walk into the rooms and double check just in case and find out the windows to be open or doors left unlocked. And we were all worshiping God in the park having a fabulous time and I come back to the house and I see in the house a wind. At first I thought it was like the wind of the Holy Spirit, you know. So I was like, oh, this is awesome. I felt something different. But I quickly realized the Holy Ghost isn't in this house yet. And so I check one of the rooms and I find out the window is open, wide open. And I see fingerprints like a glove prints on the walls right away and the screen is removed. And I quickly realized that our house got broken into. One of the reasons I realized the house was broken into is because the car was missing. It's kind of, duh. I looked through my stuff and I see all of our drawers are open. And for the first time I felt it almost feels like you're being violated when you just realize somebody went through your stuff. Nothing was taken except the car. And the car happened not to be mine. So there was a sense of relief. And the car was supposed to be given to somebody. And so if you can switch, that's actually the guy, that's the car that the person took. And so the person, the ironic part is the room that this person broke into. This person who lived with us happened to drive around Pascoe downtown the midnight. That's another ironic thing which we can go for another time. And so and then this person finds out this car parked in downtown Pascoe. There, with the note inside of the car, and I want you to see the note. I'm sorry for stealing. Now, unfortunately, Satan is a thief. You will never experience this with Satan. That's what I'm going to tell you. I'll blow it away. But the person who stole in my house and broke into my house was studying me. They knew. They watched for nobody to be there. And they got me figured out. And it took me once, or someone in my house wants to make a mistake. This person didn't attack me. I've never seen him physically. And I have never seen him before, never seen him afterwards. He never stabbed me. He never urged me. The only thing he did, he slipped into a window that was open, took something and left. It's interesting when Jesus talked about Satan, he says one of the first characteristics of Satan is he comes to steal. As a thief, he remains anonymous. As a thief, his goal is not to stay, but to steal. See, Satan comes to kill. That's when the demonic oppression and demonic possessing comes in. But the first strategy of Satan, if he cannot possess you and oppress you and torment you, he wants to sneak in, take stuff and leave. That's why sometimes you will feel like something is missing in my life. You know what's missing? It's whatever Satan took. How did he take it? There was an open door. I have about six windows and two doors and one garage door. After that, I realized I cannot rely on me or people living in my house to keep the windows and the doors locked. So I invented this Russian reinforcer. I'm giving you tips today of how to secure your life. The blood of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Ghost and wooden sticks from loaves. What you do is you put this in. So even if you forget to lock the window and close the window, you stick them in so that nobody can open your window because they have this wooden piece. I installed cameras in my house. I bought fake stickers that say I have security in my house. And those of you who are getting ideas, I have cameras. You can't break in. And I started to, I bought locks that the moment I get out of my house, they self-lock in 30 seconds. And so I reinforced why? Because I have valuables in my house and I don't want thieves to break in. Just last week, 25 break-ins happened in one week in Kenwick.  The Bible gives us at least 10 different windows to your personal life and your soul. And I want to mention them today, not just to, but maybe to, if you're noticing something is missing in your life. To maybe to double check, is this part of my life open to demonic influence? And if it's not, to just reinforce.  The reason why we don't sin as Christians is so Satan stays away from us. If there is no heaven and hell, if there is no eternity, I would still not want to sin. Just because I don't want to have a thief in my house. The same way I keep my windows and doors locked, why? Because I want safe things in my house to be safe. And so the first open door that many times is mentioned in the Bible and that is a cult. That is the biggest one, horoscopes, Ouija boards, dream catchers, talking to the dead. All kinds of Ouija boards and connecting with the dead, a levitation and every shape and form of a cult. Any teaching or a religion that does not believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is in a cult. Is in a cult. They might be good people, but deceived. Number two, the open door is disrespect for parents. Bible clearly indicates contempt for your parents is open door for curse. You can mark my word, no one who dishonors their parents will have a blessed life. You can have a PhD dishonoring your parents, but not a blessing. On your life, there is a curse. The Bible clearly states that you may say that's an old testament and everything. It's all over the Bible where disrespect for your parents is an open door for the devil. He might not oppress you and possess you, but he will take stuff. Number three, open door is injustice to weak and helpless. It's when you hurt the needy or people who are weak. I definitely believe if you commit abortion, you open the door to the demonic. God can forgive you, but you need to renounce that and you need to find freedom and reinforce your life by never doing it again. Because it's a murder. It's hurting someone who is weak and helpless. And that is an open door for the demonic intrusion. The next one is illicit unnatural sex or incest. It's when people participate in sex that is not natural, illicit.  The things that are just unnatural and things that are illicit and especially having physical relationships with animals. The next one is anti-Semitism. If you notice that in your family or even in yourself, you have this contempt or you have this hate toward the Jews or disrespect for the Jews. I truly believe you really need to double check how you became a Christian. Because every author of this book is Jewish. Your savior is Jewish. He was born to a Jewish people. And he's coming back, not to America, New York, Washington DC. He's coming back to Jerusalem. And the Bible says the whole history is going to be around that nation. And so you might not be part of that nation. You might not understand that nation. But you have to have deep respect for that nation. Because that brings the blessing of God in your life. Can somebody say amen? The next open door and that we need to reinforce is accursed things. It's when you and I invite things into our house that have been dedicated to Satan and demons. In the form of charms, in the form of dream catchers, in the form of things that have been, Bible calls it a vulnerable or cursed. They've been dedicated to Satan and demons.  Sometimes actually there are accursed places. Places where somebody committed suicide or places where murder happened could become hunted. Demons, they get locked in that place and anyone who moves in there, they seek to torment. For us as Christians, it's very easy. If you have a title deed for that place, anointing oil, anointing water, any other that's anointed, you come, and you tell the devil you're not paying bills, get out. And that's it. And you take authority over that and you live for the glory of God. I remember when me and my wife, we bought our second duplex and we moved in there and it was a drug house. I checked the title and make sure that they didn't have a lien toward the duplex and they said the lien is clean. But the whole neighborhood knew. This is where they did drugs. I even know some people who got saved in the church who did drugs in my previous duplex. So I knew it was a drug house. And so we took spray, we sprayed it with vinegar first. Then I sprayed it with anointing water. Vinegar was for the walls and anointing water was for the spirits. And so we cleaned it up. As we started to clean the house, I found out that in the basement there was a hole and a dead cat was buried there. And so I sent somebody else to take it out. And so we took it out. I remember I sprayed it and I knew that there was something unnatural about that. So I took the anointing water, sprayed it, anointing water and everything. And I just dedicated that house and everything unclean. And I know God on purpose allowed us to find that cat to remove every cause. Because the last thing I wanted is sleep. I didn't have nightmares and all kinds of demonic things that happened in my life. It's my house. We paid the bills and we're going to enjoy God's blessing. But we have to remove the accursed things. Can somebody say amen? The next thing that opens the door is stealing and perjury. On your home group you will read the Zikariah chapter 5 verse 4 where God says, Person who steals will have a curse on their house and that the frame of their house is going to fall apart.  And it's an open door. If you steal, whether it's cyber stealing, whether it's shoplifting, whether it's just taking things from your boss that you don't earn, you must understand that is an open door for demonic intrusion. He might not possess you or torment you, but he will take the opportunity to steal things from you. And God doesn't want that to happen. The next one is stinginess toward God. We hear that verse all the time. The next one is offense. The Bible says the person who had unforgiveness was delivered to torturous and tormentors. And today in this message, I just want to take a moment and pause on the last one. Murmuring.


So one of the questions that's come in from participants in our training courses actually is around this idea of how do we mitigate the risk of developing PTSD or anxiety or depression for people living in these kind of conflict zones or around them, people that are aware of it. I would have to say I mean it's complex to give one single answer to very complex problems and sometimes can be foolish. But you know if you want a protective factor that we have found around the world that is a huge protective factor. I'll give you a story. When researchers went into war zones looking at you know thinking you know these people are so distraught about bombs around them and they were, they were. But what they found is the conversations of little girls were still about whether that boy likes me or not. It wasn't about the bomb that had just exploded two blocks away but does he like me? Does he not like me? So that highlights the importance of close relationships where you feel supported, where you feel that you can be yourself, that you can talk to someone. Not about your problems but just connect the human beings. You don't want to be talking to someone about your problems all the freaking time. That's true. That would make you really annoying by the way. So what you want to do is you be having close relationships where you can feel connected, you feel like you matter as a human being. Like if you if you were missing somebody would miss you. There's something about that sense of like normality that despite what's going on around us life continues and there's an importance to being present in the moment of the everyday life that's continuing because otherwise it's so easy to get sucked into all the negatives that's going on in the world. Whereas for most of us right here right now we're still healthy, we're still safe, we've still got our family, we've still you know we've got our day to day things that we can appreciate and enjoy and participate in so make the most of it you know. Be present in your life. Start with your closest relationships. Some people say oh I need to get more friends. Well are you part of a couple? Are you married? Are you have a partner? How about shoring that relationship? How much time do you spend together? With parents and children. To make it really really tight, really really solid. What about your kids? Make that relationship with them. They know that they can count on you. Show that up. Spend more time with them and then look at your relatives, look at your family members who is willing to to shore up that relationship with you. Not all of them would like it. Not all our girls and aunties and cousins are the same. You know but some of them do will appreciate that. So shore up those relationships.  Don't wait for other people to come to you. They say that everybody has a story that they don't talk about their causes and problems. I don't think so. You know most people are not that concerned about their negativity in story but there are some individuals that that is true. But what I have noticed is how little we connect in our communities these days because we're so self-sufficient. So we don't have to go next door for a cup of sugar anymore. I remember the days when that happened. You don't have to do that anymore. You can just go and buy two or three kilos of sugar anytime you want. It's cheap and people have that those means. But that's besides the point. What do you do when you go to the shops? How many people do you connect with?  Do you say talk to the cashier to the girl behind the counter or the boy behind the counter? Do you ask them how their day is going? Do you give them a smile? You know what? It sounds so simple but it is it's so powerful. I mean I can't tell you the number of people we had calling us up over the last 12 months saying we need to support our frontline staff who are dealing with the public who are working in retail with customers or in other public facing roles on the phones perhaps. Because the levels of stress seem to be so high. People are on edge. People are anxious. Just one little thing goes wrong and they're ready to attack and we need to support our team members to deal with that because they're bearing the brunt of it every day. So we know that that's happening and yet last weekend I actually managed to get away for a very quick trip to the snow and had a great time. It was wonderful. But one of the things that I observed as a new skier completely amateur was just how many people were actually willing to help. Like you know funny story we made an accident went down the red slope. Apparently that's the expert's only slope. So for my third hour of skiing got stuck on the side of the mountain. But you know took it slow and managed to come down alive. But thanks to a lot of people stopping and saying oh can I help with this. Can I do you need a hand with that. Here I come this way or I'll carry this for you. You know there were so many people and I hadn't experienced that in a while because we have had so many people on edge out there and so what you're talking about those simple you know camaraderie things from complete strangers. Loving is simple. To be loving is simple. The reality is to be loving is hard. It takes experience. It takes maturity. It's a choice. To be loving is a choice.  That's true.  And it takes effort to make that decision. I'm gonna go out there in the world today and you know instead of just you know in zombie mode as a robot go about my grocery shopping or whatever and just getting what I need if you actually make the decision to go out and connect with the people around you and be in that moment I think it can make such a difference if collectively we do that. And now I'm going to make it proviso. Of course this is at the social level this is something that we can do that is very very practical for our mental health and for other people's mental health. However if you need more serious help to deal with an issue of course access therapy. Access therapy or coaching whatever with a qualified coach of course whatever is needed to get some clarity to get some stuff out of the way. Okay so we're not saying mental health is trivial and it can be easily fixed. What we're saying is that there are things we can do in a very practical way that are hard to do because the choice to be loving it's a hard choice. Yeah it's not a simple choice. But we come we can do it. Everybody's capable of that. And then there are certain things that we need extra help.  Yes. Not that it's exactly like us. And sometimes a friend who's going to tell you something that may not be so comfortable to hear but you know they come from a loving place. Yes but you may need to work on those things that that might be additional. Okay but don't think that if you feel bad it's always because something that happened to you. We can feel bad because of the things that are happening today. It's okay. Look well I mean just a little bit of research when you look at trauma and PTSD in particular what they've found is particularly there was a study around Australia and New Zealand with thousands of people found that up to 75% of people will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime. I mean it's not that uncommon for people to go through stuff. Having said that only 5 to 10% of people would actually go on to develop PTSD as a disorder where therapeutic help is needed. So the big question then is why some people completely find the majority of people are fine even with a traumatic event like a war an earthquake or something and yet there's this small percentage. What's the difference? What is it? And so far it's not like you can pin it on one thing there's a number of different factors. It can be age, age plays a role, gender plays a role, personality plays a role. Not much we can do about those. This is what I was going to say. The things we do have control over are coping skills, belief systems and our resilience. So that's what we can be doing. If we want to fortify ourselves for whatever may come is about build our coping skills, build our resilience, look at our belief systems. We can all do that no matter where we are on that mental health continuum. We can all do that and that's some of the skills that we teach in training. So there is hope. We don't know where the world is going but we do know that if we stick together as much as possible we can make our part of the world a little bit better. And that's what we encourage you to do. Make the choice to be loving. Nicely said. Yeah. Hi, I'm Amy Golding, Director of Psychology for the Workplace Mental Health Institute. We hope you liked the video. If you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up. We have more and more videos being released each week. So when you subscribe you'll get a notification letting you know when a new one's just been published. So make sure to hit that subscribe button and don't miss out on this vital information for yourself, your colleagues and your loved ones.