This is starpstarfront.  From insulin to hormone therapy to in vitro fertilization, there's no better vessel to administer these treatments than a simple needle. Yet with all these legitimate uses for needles, there aren't a lot of great storage options on the market for injection equipment. That is until Braxton Fleming founded Stealth Bros & Co., which makes beautiful storage solutions for that equipment. Braxton got the idea for the company while undergoing hormone replacement therapy. As both a trans man and a nurse administering injections was a daily occurrence. Upon launch, the product was an instant hit. They quickly sold out of their entire inventory and Shark Tank reached out to have him come on the show. He ended up closing a deal with Mark Cuban and Barbara Cochran. But unlike so many of the deals that close on the show but fall through and do diligence, their deal solidified. And it's been an exciting, yet nerve-wracking ride ever since. Today we chat with Braxton about breaking the stigma around injections, how this market is a lot bigger than you might expect, and what it's like getting investment from Mark Cuban, the founder of Cost Plus Drugs. All right, welcome to the podcast on today's show. We're talking to Braxton from Stealth Bros. Co., people who don't know, what does your company do? My company is a luxury medical doc kid that's pretty much trying to break this stigma around carrying around your medication wherever you may need it to be. At the beginning of your story, sort of your entrepreneurial journey, I know I'd watch some stuff about you. Your parents are entrepreneurial, but what made you want to start this product? At what time did you sort of realize this is a problem? You're not the only one experiencing this. And what led you down the road of like one, seeing the issue and then eventually starting a company? What was the thing, the seed? I really believe, I always tell everyone, it's really my life's path. I think there were so many different things that led me to that point. What really triggered it was my own personal need. As I was watching other trans men on YouTube, I was secretly assessing them because I've also been a nurse for the past 12 years as well. Seven years at the time when I started my transition. And I was like looking at the videos and I'm like, where are they? Putting like the needles, like their medication. And then when I started to, I said, I don't have anywhere to place my stuff. So I went to the store and I couldn't really find anything that was like directly fit my needs that I felt comfortable carrying.  And, you know, there wasn't a lot of different colors. So, you know, I was like joking at the time.  And I was like, maybe three months on T at that time. And then it wasn't until a year later that I actually started the company. And for people wondering, just to give us a sense of what are the drugs involved or their needles or what are the applications? OK, so there's there's multiple ways to administer testosterone. You can take it subq, which is subcutaneous into the fat tissue. Like if you're a diabetic, then there's also, which is through a syringe as a needle or an injection, which is directly to the muscle. They also do have pellets. If you want to have an injection pellet, which is a little bit more expensive. Most people don't go that route, but it is an option. And then you can also do gel, too. They have something called testosterone gel where you can rub gel on your skin and you can receive the testosterone that way. But majority of our community takes testosterone through injection, whether that's subq or I am. OK. And I've seen some of the pictures of these things can get they can get. They can be pretty large or I guess larger than most people probably will assume out the jump. Yes. What was your first step in doing this? Like, what was the prototype you went through?  What was the beginning steps of the business? So the first beginning steps of the business really was. I really analyzed a lot of other businesses. I really watched how they were moving. So I knew that the first thing I had to do was like get a cool photographer to help me like bring all these things together. And cool photographer. Number one, we were just talking about that. Yeah, it's the hardest part. Very first thing. And at this time in 2017, when I started photography and like beautiful images was what people were looking for. Video wasn't hot in 2017 yet. Sure. I was really focused on getting like pristine pictures. And I knew that I had to I had to get it to visualize in the right way first. But like I said, the steps, it really happened over the year. Like I created a lot of genuine relationships with a lot of my community. And that's really what helped me push it. So I had only two colors at the time. And I said, hey, look, would you like this bag for your tea? Like, let me know how you feel about it. And I gave like, you know, 10 to 20 bags away for free to a lot of my large influencer friends. And then at that point, that's kind of like how it took off and started, you know, rolling into what it is today. It's interesting that you had a community to start with first. You know, usually with any company, you start sort of friends and family.  And so in my case, it was like bow tie. Whereas mostly men, obviously. And I was just talking about the photography being the hardest part because for me, this was back in 2012 or so. And so I was just using my iPhone, which, as you know, just doesn't do it. Maybe the iPhone today does it actually. Maybe it's like a lot better than it used to be. But at least back then it was like shadows everywhere. And it's hard to be a photographer. So hard work, it's so hard. Yeah. And have you self funded this yourself the whole way? Yeah, absolutely. So it's crazy. Like when I first started the business, I was in a really bad place in my life. I had just got out of like a nine year relationship with my ex at the time, and I had moved back into my dad's house. I was 27 years old. You know, I had been a nurse for a long time. So I had a career. I was making money, but I was like in this place in my life where I poured my life into this woman, basically wasted money. And when I moved back into my dad's house and I said, you know what? I'm living my best self. I've maxed out my credit card on other people. I've never put any investment into myself. So what I did was I took my Capital One credit card and I maxed it out on all the product, the LLC, the website, you know, the small things to get started at first. And it's pretty much been self funded ever since. I haven't put another dollar into it. When you did that at any point, were you thinking like, do I have a backup plan? Do I have a plan beer? Was this it? Like this. No, it was it was fine. It was fine for me because like I said, I had a, I was working as a nurse. So I had a career. I was making good money. I knew that I could pay my credit card payments if worse came to worse, if it didn't work out. And I wasn't in a rush.  And I told my dad, I remember I was outside on the grass and I was looking up at his window and he's like, are you sure 300 bags is going to be enough? I'm like, yeah, I'll sell 300. I'll make just enough. And then I'll be done by the end of the year. And within the first month we sold all 300. All 300. At what point did you think that like, or at what point did it hit you that you had a real business? And so you had to maybe think about leaving the nursing job and just going straight into doing this full time? Well, honestly, like it was very hard for me to leave nursing. I literally just left nursing. And I think if it wasn't for my daughter, I would still be trying to grind it out.  And I'm not working as a nurse at this current time. But I really just stopped right in October when my daughter was born. That was when she was born. That's when I stopped going to work. I was already working per DM, like as needed. So maybe two days a week or whatever.  I want all these things. But for me, it wasn't like that for me. It was more of like, I have a passion that I really want to help my community. I really want to be a part of these people who have, you know, helped me find who I am. And so it wasn't about the financial aspect of it. So I was okay to just, you know, if I made it, I made it. If I didn't, I've been in work situations before. So I knew that I would just continue to move forward in my nursing if this didn't work out. I have this conversation a lot with people. Sometimes I think when they think about starting a business, I think it's like, take the energy off the business and make it about like a movement. Like what's the movement you're passionate about and create a job or some sort of problem to solve that's related to the movement that you've really cared about. And because the movement is unique to the individual whereas a business can be, well it can be run by an individual but in general it's not so purpose-driven. And so it's like, don't find your business more so like find your movement. And that sets you free because it's honest.  There's a level of like you care deeply about this issue which means in some way you'll be successful because it's not work. Obviously some parts of it are always gonna be work but what carries you through to the next level is always the intrinsic drive because it's unique to you. And that's like more movement purpose-driven than dollars and cents, which I love to see. Absolutely. So kudos to you. At what point does the Shark Tank get involved in this? Was it after a year of your business? Do they reach out to you? What did that look like? Oh, so it was, they actually reached out to me. It was really wild. I actually had like a big opportunity a week before from CNBC and they actually emailed me the same day that Shark Tank emailed me and they said, you're not gonna, we don't need you for the position or we're not gonna use you anymore. Sorry, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, you know what? One, I called my fiance, I said, you know what? One door closed, there's another one will open and like not even 15 minutes later, I sat back down on my computer, opened my email, and bam, there was an email from Shark Tank. And I thought it was like fake because it was so like simple. It was just like, hey, I'm an executive producer. Can you just give me a call if you're interested? And I'm like, what? So I called and they just said, hey, do you want to be part of the show? We found you. I asked them how they found me. They refused to tell me. But, you know, I asked. Yeah, and basically I had to just, you know, being on Shark Tank is a serious situation. There's so many steps. And they tell you with every step that, you know, you're not guaranteed to make it to the next step. So I'll give it right now. But next week, if we decide that we don't want you, then that's what happens all the way up until you film. And even if you film, you may not be part of the show. Sure. Yeah, so there's a lot of stipulations in it, but ultimately Shark Tank was a while. I'm still honestly like flabbergasted by the whole situation. When you finally get there. And so when you're finally on recording day for Shark Tank, how many years had your business been around? Was it a year? Was it still pretty young? No, six years. It just happened. It just happened. We filmed in last, we filmed last July and the show aired in September. So amazing. Very quick turnaround. Yeah, I was super, we have no idea. You don't even know when your show is aired. They don't let you know, but they tell you like two weeks before and then you just have to be kind of prepared at that moment. So yeah, it was super awesome.  This is the Shark I want to get. This is the deal I want to be made.  I need to get this person. Right. Honestly, like I didn't, I did have sharks in mind that I really gravitated to that I felt that would help the business the most, but ultimately I didn't go in there wanting one specific person because ultimately I just wanted an investment and I really wanted someone who would help me. And that was my biggest goals to come out of there successful in that. So what I did to prepare really is just like, I like literally watched every single episode of Shark Tank just studied every single one of them, their questions, what they wanted to know about the business. And Shark Tank truly prepared me for other opportunities that I have now within my business, because it really pushed the envelope.  I mean, you have to know, they want to know everything before you're even able to be on the show, which forces you to do that work. And then I took it a step further, which I think most people do is they research the sharks and they ask themselves the questions that they see, they see them asking other entrepreneurs. And I just rehearsed and I did it every single day and night for almost like six months, yeah. What was the original ask when you first got there? What did you want? What were you hoping to learn? I was hoping to get, shit, that's crazy, cause I don't even remember now. It was 200,000 for 20%, I believe, or 10%. I think it was 10%, that's right, yeah. 200,000 for 10%, but I ended up giving 20%, 10% to each and then I got 100 in cash and then 100 in credit. I love Barbara's connection to what you were doing. I really love that because I think, so many trying or women that want to become mothers have to deal with this and there's the syringes and she was very open about her having to leave business meetings and sort of sneak the injections. And that's a real thing for a lot of people. A real thing for a lot of people. And then the other thing is too, is that there's such a stigma around injections because of obviously like drug use and things of that nature, but there's so many people who take injections that are not on drugs, just like there are some people who take prescription pills but they're not abusing them. So it's really important and I feel like that's what my mission really is, to try to break that stigma across all communities, not just within the trans community. And that's my goal like really, and especially because my fiance and I went through IVF therapy and I give her her injection for months at a time and we have two older sons and they have athletics and football and basketball. So we're always on the go. So it was, we needed that junior doc kit to help her with the injections to stay on task and on time with her injections. Even younger women now who are in their 20s and just want to freeze their eggs, it's the same thing. I mean, that's a whole nother, there's a company we add on the podcast called Cofertility. And that's really their mission. They're saying, you know, whether you want to have kids or not, it's better to freeze your eggs in your early 20s and then at least you have to think about it later, but that's not possible without the injections. And so it's interesting how much, at least for me personally, the market was so much bigger than I had thought. And so for Barbara to share that was sort of inspiring, but also just like, oh wow, this market could actually be big. And so just from a business perspective, it's also just was illuminating to hear a whole nother argument, a whole nother side of it. Then I made you wonder like, well, how big is this thing? You know, probably be a lot bigger than even I'm thinking right now, right? Right, right. You know, all the specialty pharmacies and et cetera, you know, and that's what, that's the goal for me now is just trying to really, well, one break the stigma because already I'm black and transgender. So that, you know, that could stare people away from the business and ultimately think that it's just for trans people. But I really highlight that this business was built on the foundation of transgender needs. But ultimately there are so many cisgender people that go through hormone replacement therapy as well. And they also need somewhere to store their medications and feel safe and confident about it. And, you know, and I want to provide that to them. So ultimately, like I, that's my main goal is just, it's kind of almost to be like a matchmaker between communities and to say it's okay. Like even though we're trans and we're going through this hormone replacement therapy, like we all go through something and we all may be to something at one point in time in our lives. So I always love to make that connection. I really love that. And so the deal or on the show, it ends with Mark and Barbara coming in together, which is so crazy, I think to watch. And just like, I mean, I could just imagine what you were going through inside. You'd be like, this is nuts, right? This is crazy. Yes. But you get two. And they're such big fans and advocates. You know, that's the other really nice thing too as much as investing in the business, but it seemed like they mostly believed in you, which is Kudos to you. But, and so when you guys inked the deal, you go after the show, obviously not every deal gets inked, but what happens after Shark Tank obviously do diligence? Does the deal end up working out? Yes. So the deal ended up working out. Everything has been moving smoothly forward. And, you know, everyone always says, well, what have the sharks done for you? And I really think that it's, you know, the sharks are an investment. They're not really there to take over your business and to start running their own plans, how they see fit. They really, just like you said, they believed in me and they funded me so that I could continue to move my mission forward. You know, and obviously the air time on Shark Tank that obviously gets me the exposure and a lot of different opportunities that have came in financially and just for awareness. So there's always that, but it's really on me to continue moving forward and, you know, I even emailed Mark and I'm like, Mark, what do I do? Like, do I hire this person? Do I do this? Do I do that? And he's like, all you need to do is email every single one of your customers and thank them and continue to push forward. That's good advice. Because obviously I had my own thoughts of how things would go and everything. And I'm super happy how everything is going on. You know, if it wasn't for that investment, I wouldn't be where I am right now. But it's hard because you now have this kind of weight on you that you're on Shark Tank, you have Mark and you have Barbara. Now you have to be super successful. And that's the only downside of Shark Tank that I always tell people is that, you know, it's such an immense pressure.  They think you have a bunch of money, but ultimately it's allocated for the business. It's not allocated for me. So that's the hard part. That's the hardest part is just wanting to overachieve, wanting to, you know, make everybody proud and continue to move the business forward in the best way possible. I mean, I think that's the hardest part about Shark Tank. Do you think you're still dealing with that today? Or do you think? Absolutely, absolutely. I'm a growing entrepreneur. And, you know, every day is a new struggle. Every day is a new lesson for me. And I'm super thankful for it, but it's really hard. It's not easy. And for me, my business isn't a business with, you know, 10 to 15 employees. It's just me. And now with the funding, me and my marketing consultant, we work really well together and really close together. So I've been doing a lot more for him. He's been doing a lot more for me. So I do have one other person that I'm kind of, you know, holding on with, but it's super hard. It's really, really hard. There's two people that I've spoken to that have sort of opened up the pressure of this. So one was the guest shark that went on the show, Matt Higgins. He was super like, he felt imposter syndrome going in as a shark on the show. Yeah. Because he felt like he hadn't accomplished that much. And it was really interesting to hear that take. Yeah.  Like you have to perform to some extent. Yeah. It's interesting. You know, I think for me personally in business and in life, it's like I try to have the moment of like, of just gratitude one, you know, grounding and also just reminding, I guess, you as the entrepreneur, like they also have you, right? And so as much as you have them and obviously they're famous and blah, blah, blah, but like they have you. Right. And that just kudos to you. Like you're one of the three people that people can talk about this company.  And I think that, you know, at least that helps me sleep at night when I think about it that way, because without you, they would have allocated that $100,000 or $200,000 to who knows what. Right. But you're moving a mission, you're moving a movement. And so there's something really special about that. Absolutely. And that's like one of the things. I'm just grateful to be here. I'm just grateful to be in this position. Even when things are hard and I feel that pressure, you know, I just, I pray about it. I just say, you know what? I know you didn't bring me this far to leave me here. So. Yeah, it's exactly right. You know, I'm gonna take it another day and we'll see what tomorrow brings. And that's really all you can do even without anything in life, anything in life. Totally. For sure. What happened the day you guys aired? Give us a sense into the sales, the website, all that crazy. Oh wow. I mean, it went bazooka. It went crazy. I mean, there was just so many, there were so many sessions. We literally pretty much sold out of everything because like I said, they only tell you two weeks before. So it's not like I can say, okay, I'm gonna be on Shark Tank and let me make a huge order and then it's within a month. So I wasn't really ready for it. I didn't have all this product. I was already selling well. We've been increasing on our e-commerce site even before Shark Tank. So I was already low on inventory, waiting for inventory to come in. So I pretty much kind of had to put inventory on that I didn't even have until like two weeks after the show. But it was just within a nice soft spot where people weren't waiting so long where I could add a little bit of extra on. But no, we did, we did extremely well. We did like, I think it was like 40K in like three days or something like that. Oh wow. That's amazing. Yeah, it was pretty cool. Yeah. Was there like, I always ask people if there was like a surprise city where someone purchased your goods that you had never even heard of or been to? No. I mean, because honestly, we've been international before Shark Tank. So I've literally shipped and I do all the shipping and packing myself. So I've literally anywhere you can think of, I feel like I've shipped to. Like it's been that intense. It's so crazy. And people are, I mean, the shipping is expensive but they're willing to pay for it to get it because there's just really, really isn't another product on the market like it. So I think people really want to get their hands on it. You know, it's just about getting it in the front of the right audience. That's it. I always hate asking this question but obviously entrepreneurs are visionaries and the whole question of what's next is a real thing. As you think about the future, obviously you have a lot of exposure now which is amazing for you and the company. I don't know if there's a play where you can maybe partner up with like a Walgreens or a CVS or some sort of pharmaceutical maker to push the envelope a little bit further. But what are some of the things that you can give us a window into coming into the end of 2023 and maybe 2024? So right now we're actually in 4,000 CVS stores nationwide. Oh, wow, okay. And that was actually before Shark Tank. That was all my work. Thank you. Yeah, congratulations. Yeah, yeah. I spent a lot of time almost three years before I got into CVS but yes, we're in CVS and I just spoke about this too. Retail is also very hard. It's not a turnaround, it's a huge investment but retail for sure we're trying to move into another major retailer right now as well that we're in talks to. So the longterm is just to have a successful running business where I can step to the side a little bit and focus more on like my speaking events and really catering to my community and really diving more into like my nursing background and just doing like overall educational health on proper injection and just like usage of the product.  That's my big thing right now. That's your North Star, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And will you raise more capital for this or you have what you need and you're focusing on profitability for the time being? I always could use more money. I always use more money I think. And I've really been looking into like because I've always been that person which I'm trying to break this mindset is that I don't wanna be in debt. I don't wanna be in debt.  You really should be leveraging your credit and you should be leveraging the money that the capital that can be given to the business. And I think that as these months like literally in this day today really trying to figure out how can I leverage more credit so that I am utilizing that instead of using my cash. Let me hold on to this lump sum that I have and let me use the credit so that I continue to build the business in the proper way. So that's my goal, I think. That's what I'm really trying to focus on. I think that's the smartest thing to do. It's just about making the appropriate moves and that's it. That is smart. I like it. Well, listen man, where can people find you? Where can they find the company? Where can they buy the product? CVS, 4,000 locations. Yeah, you can go on CVS.com and find it and find it in your local CVS store or you can visit us at stealthbrosco.com or at stealthbrosco. All social media handles. And if you wanna find me personally you can find me at sire.brex. I appreciate you coming on the podcast. Thanks so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for the support and making it to the end of the episode. If you haven't already, please do review and show the episode with your friends. If you never wanna miss a beat on all things entrepreneurship, make sure to follow us on socials for daily content. See you next Tuesday for another great episode.


Hey stampers, welcome to watch it weekly Wednesday. I'm Jill and I'm so excited to show you some simple stamping it's just paper ink and stamps Just super simple and I love this set to show simple stamping with the soft seedling stamp set And I'm just going to use two colors Actually, I'll do one color on one and then two on another card So you can see the variations of what you can do So I love that there's four sayings in this stamp set just two main stamps and There's a lot of options you can do with this So let me show you with garden green and Cajun craze are the two colors I'll be using But I like also just doing a card monochromatic in one color So this is the cards and envelopes. They're three and a half by five. They're a perfect size to mail and The nice things you get 20 and they have the envelopes right in there They're perfect for simple stamping. They're already scored and they're ready to go So let me go ahead and show you this particular stamp set what I like to do with it It's got that distinctive look on it Where you have the higher and lower so it makes it darker and lighter So I'm going to go ahead and stamp my envelope first I move the flap and I'm just stamping this right here in the corner So it looks really cool for the envelope and it's just really pretty So we've got that envelope already done and I'm just going to reink this again and stamp my two images the dark and just Just ink to paper and just up here in the corner just a little bit of that Now what I'm going to do is ink it and I'm going to stamp off a couple times because I want it super light just a bear like showing the shadow of the stamp and That's the cool thing with stamping Simply is you can use your stamps in more than one way make a background So I'm just filling that whole thing in and stamping on top of each other And you're just filling that color in So that's basically the stamping goes and then you're going to do full strength with the thinking of you And I'm just going to stamp it right on top of everything There you go. You've got a card that's super simple An envelope all done with garden green and I love the way that looks now changing this is With the color of the stamp pads to make it more look like autumn So I've got a whisper white color Right here, and I'm going to go ahead and show you the same look but just a little bit different Go ahead and do our two like I showed before and The background Just going to blot that off a couple times Just to get the color on it and the shape of the Relief is kind of nice to have too Okay, so we've got that now.  It's okay The thinking of you in the Cajun craze and I'm going to add the other stamp in Okay, so the Cajun craze it's like a little seedling piece and We're just going to add this other color in and it kind of makes it look more fallish and Kind of just adds a different Focus with the colors and I kind of don't really want this full strength at all. I just want it Just kind of like in the background So there we go. We have the difference of Monochromatic and then adding the Cajun craze. So it's just kind of totally a different look now some other samples I've done I made one that so grateful and This one is kind of like the one I just showed you These were all just stamped lighter This right here was done with the green and then taken the Cajun just on the tips of The actual leaf and this is not done super clean And that's just custom coloring right on the pad just using your pad on the corners And this you can also stamp on the back of your Envelope the flap so there's a bunch of different ways you can do simple stamping And it's super fast and easy So hope you've enjoyed this video on simple stamping of our stamp set the soft seedlings stamp set If you like these products and you'd like to order them go to stamp and Jill comm or click below And you can see the products that we used Thanks for stamping with me, and we'll see you next time on watch weekly Wednesday


Holy heck a brand new Spider-Man trailer just launched. So we're about to check it out We're gonna see what it's all about and gonna let you know our thoughts and reviews about it I'm working on my iPhone tonight. So don't judge me. Let's get a watch of this Here we go So to become an Avenger are there like trials or an interview do me a favor Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood spider-man? Just stay close to the ground You're the spider-man on YouTube Can you summon a number of spiders? Oh, no, no, do you know him too? Can I try the pseudom?    That was about two minutes and a half full of trailer There wasn't so much I man in this show, which is kind of cool, but there was a hell of a lot of spider-man I found it really interesting that he got his suit the brand-new suit the eye man suit the one that I man gave him But then he lost it halfway through it And so we're seeing him being in the original costume Which has a bit of a feel for the scarlet spider from the 90s If you remember that from the clone war series or the clone spider series not clone war Star Wars We're gonna mix it up But very cool trailer super interested I'm not loving that he needs help from Iron Man all the time But still kind of cool nonetheless bringing Iron Man to this universe and also spider-man bring him all together How could you not love that? It still hurts me that his friend drops that Death Star Lego So much how long that would have taken to put together and probably how many takes they took putting it back together Then doing it again The trailer looks awesome. I'm loving the music. I'm loving the look Tom Holland fits spider-man perfectly to a tee everything that got going in this trailer. I'm loving Michael Keaton He's unreal. He's perfect as his villain vulture Something I really wanted to see in the Maguire series back in the Toad Maguire series but never happened It was apparently gonna happen in number four, but you know, not so much this time around So here we are seeing the vulture this time and also shocker. There was a little bit of shocker there If you don't know him he's been one of the lower grade spider-man villains. Yeah outside of that Awesome looking trailer can't wait for it July 7th 2017 in America July 6 here in Australia Awesome spider-man homecoming coming to cinnamon to you. I'm Ryan from so is any good. Thanks so much for watching Hey, I'm Ryan from souls any good. Thank you so much for checking out this video We'd love it if you'd subscribe to us and comment below and let us know a little bit about your thoughts on what we're talking about And until next time we'll probably catch you in the cinema


In this video, we'll be looking at how to calculate the internal component resistor of an ammeter or the shunt resistor. Let me show you what I mean. When we're dealing with a meter, we're dealing with what's called a galvanometer. So it's this little fella right in here. This one has a full-scale deflection of 50 milliamps, meaning that when it sees its full current, the maximum you can see without getting broken, really, is 50 milliamps, and an internal resistance of 100 ohms. That's why I've got it circled and I've got the resistor drawn with the coil here. So this is our galvanometer. What we want to do is, if we're reading current, is make sure that this side here will never see more than 50 milliamps. That will be its maximum. So we need to get rid of the rest of the current going through there. If we're reading one amp or nine amps or 100 amps, we need to make sure that that 100 amps doesn't go across here. It needs to shunt across another resistor down here. So what we're going to do is learn how to calculate out what this resistor value is. So let's say that we're trying to read one amp. We know that our galvanometer here can only read 50 milliamps, so that means that we need to determine how much current is going to be going across this shunt resistor. Our first step to do that would be to calculate out 50 milliamps times 100 ohms using Ohm's Law means that we will be seeing 5 volts across this coil. So when we have full scale deflection, 50 milliamps flowing through here, we will see 5 volts. Once up, we're going to determine that this resistor down here will only see 0.95 amps, or 950 milliamps across this one. We did that by saying, okay, we know that we're trying to read one amp. We know that this has a full scale deflection of 50 milliamps, therefore the rest of it has to go across this resistor here. If you don't understand why that is, make sure you go watch the video on Kirchoff's Current Law, but our current needs to split off across these branches. So now we know that we have a 0.95 amps running across here when we have full value. We know that if we had 5 volts over here up top, we've got 5 volts here because they're in parallel, so the voltage remains the same again with Kirchoff's Voltage Law. So we have 5 volts here, 5 volts here, same voltage. If I have 5 volts and 950 milliamps or 0.95 amps, I can determine that my resistor value is 5.26 ohms just by using Ohm's Law. 5 divided by 0.95 gets us 5.26 ohms. Typically, these shunt resistors are going to be very small because you want to get the maximum amount of current through them, so they're going to be quite small in their size as opposed to a voltmeter resistor, which will end up being quite large.


Dolphins from the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program are trained to detect underwater mines. Recently those skills led to a discovery in an unexpected field, marine archaeology. So during a routine training evolution in one of the practice fields off the Hotel del Coronado, the dolphins reported the presence of an object that wasn't in an area that we had anticipated. Once the dolphins had marked the position of the object, as a matter of our routine training the diver had gone down and investigated. The object was recovered shortly thereafter it was discovered that this is in fact a very unique piece of naval archaeology. This discovery was a late 19th century steam-powered held torpedo which arrived at Andrews Air Force Base May 29th for transfer to the Naval History and Heritage Command's underwater archaeology laboratory for conservation. This artifact is what we refer to as a composite artifact, which means it's made up of several different components, several different materials in this case. We have copper alloy, we have iron alloy steel, we have potentially rubber gaskets. So a mix of both inorganic and inorganic materials that all have different methods of degrading, of corroding, and also different needs subsequently for conservation treatment. So we have to keep all those differences in mind when we're developing a treatment plan and take into account all those different components. This has a potential to really give us an insight into how this really early phase of torpedo development took place. And in general, through underwater archaeology we're able to reach the average sailor, we're able to reach the life on board at sea to capture those moments that you really don't see in the historical documents that focus on important events, important people, important battles. For All Hands Update, I'm Petty Officer Joshua Shepard.


This is Stink Tech, Hawaii. Community matters here. Ah, we're back. We're live. We're here on Global Connections. You remember that name. It's synonymous with Carlos Suarez, who has been a host on our shows for years and years. We're all getting to be old since the time he started hosting. And we have him now in his latest adventure, which is in Mexico, where he is teaching in Mexico and he is living in Mexico, although he's still associated with Hawaii Pacific University. Welcome back to your show, Carlos. Well, thank you, Jay. I'm really delighted, excited to reconnect and, well, reconnect the Global Connections. As you said, I can remember years and years ago, before you had so many programs, just the sparkle in your eye of this idea that one day we're going to produce so much content. And now, look at what you've done. You've created this amazing, well, a set of programs that goes on and on. And I'm excited to be able to connect you now. Obviously, I have my heart there in Hawaii, but my body and my other part is here in Mexico. And look forward to sharing with you and our viewers. Oh, same here, Carlos. It's wonderful to see you and have you back. So tell us about your situation. And we got a couple of photographs that can help elucidate that. So where are you? What are you doing these days? Well, thank you so much, Jay. In a minute, I'm going to ask maybe we could look at the very first of the pictures. I have a map here of Puebla, Mexico. And you may know a couple of years ago, I moved from Hawaii and basically settling in Mexico City area, where I still have kind of one of my legs and arms and family, also in Texas and San Antonio. But now home is here in Puebla. Puebla, Mexico is a city about 60 miles east of Mexico City, very important historic city for Mexico. Many of you will recall our viewer Cinco de Mayo, which is not the day of Mexico's independence. It's a famous battle that was fought here in the city of Puebla by the French versus Mexico. Let's leave that aside for now. But maybe the next picture is the city of Cholula, which is a small today. It's really a suburb of Puebla. And Cholula is the home of my university, a university of the Americas. An interesting story itself. It was founded in 1940 by a group of Americans from the U.S. And it's today a very dynamic global university, a lot of connections itself to the world. And the third picture, if we can turn to that. What is what is that mountain behind the picture? It seems to be smoking that mountain. That's right. This is a volcano, a famous volcano called Papua Catepital. And it is occasionally, it does spew some ash. It's not quite as active as Chilauea, but it is most certainly. And it's got a very also important historic symbolism for Mexico. Mexico City is on the other side of that volcano. It's about probably 30 miles from here. And so this is a picturesque view of the town of Cholula, where this university is. So if we're looking at the third picture, it's a picture, I think, of the university itself. And again, it brings people from all over the world, many students from throughout Mexico, different parts of Mexico are studying here. And today about 30, 40% of the courses are offered in English, which is quite exciting. So I'm fluent in Spanish, I certainly can do that. But they actually like my native English speaking skills because it helps them improve their language. So it's an exciting place. And what are you teaching campus? What are you teaching? Well, various courses in international relations, I do one on US foreign policy, never a dull moment these days, comparative politics, where we look at different political systems. And another course on European Union, which is another area of my interest. So a wide range. But especially given my own professional development in the US, mostly Hawaii and California, I bring them a perspective and form from that.  So what's it like living in Mexico? What's it like living in Mexico?  Well, how do you compare it Mexico, the weather, you know, the food, the people, the whole enchilada, may I say? Absolutely.  And I love traveling and seeing it. You always have different aspects of the good and the bad.  I mean, it's an old culture and society, but it's also new and dynamic and very globally connected today. More as a young child, I lived here several years as well. I finished my high school here. But today it's a different world. NAFTA will say a few words about that later really has connected the US to the North America to to I'm sorry, Mexico.  The cuisine and even the city of Puebla here is known for its gastronomy. On the other hand, again, and we'll say a few words about Indian a while, this paradox also means you have, you know, some very difficult challenges. Mexico does have some, you know, socioeconomic challenges of violence and security, real challenges. Now, I want to make clear, you know, most people's lives are very much, you know, comfortable and even happy in the midst of all these issues. It's a good quality of life overall.  I am bilingual, bicultural. I've always been connected to Mexico. It's quite easy for me. But I'll tell you, there are over a million Americans living here in Mexico. So it's been a place that has always attracted many retirees, many other young Americans who see the opportunity here to be a connection to this part of the world. Yeah. Well, I want to cover two other things with you. So let's let's let's only identify what I have in mind. One is I want to catch up in your experiences in India. Last time you and I spoke, you were in Goa, was it? And that's right in Goa. And that was really very interesting. And I want to catch up from that point. I know you have some photos to show us. And after that, I would like to talk about foreign policy and international relations, what you teach. I want to be a student. Okay. And I want to know your thoughts on the thoughts of your students about how things are going in this country and in the world on international relations, which, which used to be, I think, a kinder, gentler kind of experience than it is these days. Yes, we are in a different time and chaos and uncertainty, of course, particularly with Mexico in the US, a very tense moment. So let's come back to that. Maybe we can turn to one last slide I have up here of Mexico. It's a little picture of folkloric Puebla City, this place I am. And it's a very good mixture of the old, very colorful, but also very modern and new. I mean, you don't see it, perhaps in that picture of this folkloric part. But that's what's exciting about this place. You can have this very modern dynamic, you know, 21st century, and then you turn the corner and you're in the 18th century. And they side by side. It's quite exciting. But let me say a few words now and turn our attention to India.  And it was on a Fulbright grant as a visiting Fulbright professor, based in Goa. Goa is an interesting place in the West Arabian Sea coast. But it allowed me as a good base to travel and extensively get some lectures. India is a paradox as well.   It's not for everybody in terms of a place to go and visit it. I mean, it is a shock to the system. The extreme poverty, the chaos and inefficiency, you know, just every day you get inside a taxi or a little rickshaw and your life is being negotiated right there. And yet it is such a paradox. I've got a few pictures will turn maybe to number five, which is a, you know, the classic picture of an ox cart here, you know, being pulled by some oxen. And you'll see this just about anywhere throughout the typically the rural areas.  And I think what's fascinating to me is that even the most humble and poor people, they have beautiful, you know, clothing colorful, they wear it with pride. And a lot of times clothing in many cultures, special cultures tells you a lot about who they are, where they're from, what their religion is. But very fascinating to see, you know, the people, you know, with just very simple life, but very colorful. And you can contrast that we have this other part of India like Mexico, a land of contrast and paradox. The number seven picture is an example of a very wealthy Indian woman. And you know, here's a country that within a few years, we're told is going to be passing China in population. It's got about 1.2 billion, but it's growing faster than China. And you have a pretty sizable population that is very wealthy, very well connected, well educated, basically globetrotting, you know, back and forth to different parts of the world.  Do you think we'll have a movie coming soon called Crazy Rich Indians? Well, many of them already exist. And we know the story of Bollywood. They produce more films in Hollywood. And frankly, there are already many of those there. Some of them have made it into the US market. Even Hawaii, many years celebrating the annual Bollywood Film Festival. It's remarkable how India has this tremendous sort of, you know, soft power, this cultural appeal that is remarkable. And again, I go back to what I said earlier that it's not for everybody. It's a difficult place to get around. It's not easy. And it's a shock to the system, you know, the smell, the horn beeping, the, you know, the danger and insecurity. And yet, obviously, you know, if you can adjust and adapt, it's also exciting. You'll turn the corner and see the most beautiful temple that is just sitting there. Or the people can be very friendly, very warm. But it is, it was hard. It was not as easy as going to, let's say, Austria or, you know, even Mexico, frankly, coming back to Mexico, it was like, ah, almost the first world here. But I had a great experience. I really got to, you know, in that short time. And very much what the Fulbright program, which is a government, US government and India government program of exchange, it allowed me to really be connected to many people there. It opened doors. And if I turn to the next slide, there's a picture I have number eight, a picture at Benades, Hindu University. Benades is also known as Varanasi, a famous city on the Ganges River, very the spiritual center of Hinduism. And this university I'm there meeting with a man who himself, he was a Fulbright scholar to Connecticut. And so Fulbright, again, this exchange program that's been around many decades, it helps to connect you with others who have had opportunities in this state to study and work in the US. And that opens up doors. I visit this guy, he shows me around, I get a deeper understanding that the more people to people exchange. And so this gentleman that there is a professor at this university.  We have a correspondent in Varanasi. His name is Cardiqi Mishra. And he lives, he's a college student. I'm not, it might even be that that school. And he reports to us every month or so and tells us how things are doing on the Ganges. And he's very Akamai, he's very Akamai, he understands, he's a business student, he understands global business. It's really interesting that you were near him if you were near the Ganges and all that. I wish I had known. And this university, this is their premier university at that place, BNU it's called. It's a very important university. And, you know, the Indian Higher Education System, I was there in many ways studying about that too, and how it is that they are preparing their future leaders, like the young person you talked about.  That's why we have call centers set up there, but also their ability to manage multiple languages. Even a taxi driver will typically speak three, four or five languages like nothing. And they learn them on their own. They're not even taking classes. They just figure out how to get by. That's a remarkable skill that again helps them function. I want to share with you maybe two more pictures from India. In the number nine picture, I was then traveling in the south of India, Kerala, a beautiful state in the southern southwestern portion. And here is a place that for many decades has had a very powerful, strong communist party. And yet, as a result, it's had very progressive and very successful sort of healthcare initiatives and poverty alleviation. Compared to other parts of India, this place, you don't see the stark poverty. It's much more developed. And what I found fascinating here is a picture of a campaign ad for the Communist Party. And it has pictures of Lenin and Stalin, which are beyond heard of anywhere else in the world in today and 2018, 2017, during the last election. So the Communist Party still connected to the forefathers founding it from Russia. They took pictures of Lenin and Stalin on their campaign. And I just found that to be quite interesting. The final one I have, it underscores, again, India's connection to the world. There's an interesting billboard that I found, which gives you an advertisement to study, to work, and to migrate essentially wherever you want to go. Germany, you know, UK, Canada, the US, there are places they're ready to help connect you there, find work opportunities, study opportunities. And there's a growing number of Indians today. It's newly emerging middle class that are very mobile and they have the education, the skills, they find opportunities to go out, but also very important to return. And some years ago, you know, one of your, I think David Pina that published his book on the sort of return capital flight, you see it today, a lot of entrepreneurs and leaders who they lived in the UK or in the US for 10, 20, 30 years. Now they're back in India with, you know, the home cooking and the, you know, the local life and yet still very connected to this outside world. It's a fascinating story of this sort of ability to move back and stay connected. So you're full bright there in India. What did you work on? Well, I did a combination of some teaching. I taught a course there at an engineering and science school in Goa. And that was fascinating. These students of, you know, technology, but they're interested in social and political issues. They have a passion for it. So I taught one course, but I also then get a project looking at studying the higher education system and how it is just they are training leaders. So visiting a lot of universities, learning about what they're doing to promote global learning, giving some lectures at some of these other universities in the South and Varanasi in different places. And mainly that focused on what is the higher education system doing there to prepare future leaders. And it's pretty clear there's a national policy, but then India is a federal system. So at the very, you know, state level, there are a lot of places doing, you know, their own initiatives. And that that was just a bit of mixture of teaching and research. So the research allowed me to travel quite a bit to visit many parts of India. Yeah. And that was a good ramp up for coming back to Mexico and being a professor of international relations. So we're gonna take a short break, Carlos, we'll come back and I want to hear your thoughts about international relations these days. Teach me, professor. Be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Foundation for a Better Life. Okay, we're back, we're live with Carlos Juarez, who is the host of Global Connections, Global Connections remounted as it were. Okay. And we were talking during the break about how this is going to work because, you know, he's going to be in Mexico. We use Zoom to connect with him. And then we'll use Zoom to connect with someone else, wherever it may be in Mexico or Goa or anywhere in the world, even Hawaii. Okay. And he'll be able to talk to any number of people that way, but hosting the show from Mexico, Puebla. So we're in great shape here. This is going to be terrific. Let your mind fly.  Absolutely. So, you know, I can think back when I was when I was a student years ago, just the idea that we're going to be in this connected world. Well, it's here now. It's not the future. We are in it now. We are living that, that world. Quite, quite a great. And then we have to look forward to the next world too, every, every day. So let's talk about the next world or at least the world that's changing so dynamically all around us from a point of view of international relations. I mean, it's, it's different than it was in the 50s or the 60s or the 70s. But what's different about it? How do you describe the dynamic of international relations, relations between countries these days? Well, it can take many forms. And, and, you know, as someone who's been now in the education world for, gosh, the last 40 years, from a student to now an educator directly, the technologies, of course, are one effort. Look, our ability to do this. But even more to that would be the average student that I have even here now. These are people who are more mobile. They have been to Europe, to the Mexican, to the U.S., to, you know, South America, to Asia. And so for them, studying about the world is not abstract. It's not just the textbook, but they were there, they've been there and they are raising different questions, different issues. And of course, the, you know, just like this process of globalization that we often associate with economics with, you know, technology, it's also happening in education. We were thinking differently. We're educating differently. What are the skills we need? Of course, languages is indispensable if you're crossing the world. But let's say for a student in Mexico, it's not an option whether you want to know English. You need to know it. And so I teach courses here in English. They actually very much benefit from that. It prepares them. Beyond that, I guess, the reality of the technology so that today is supposed to challenge, but an opportunity because sometimes students just assume everything's online. And yes, it is, but not always. Sometimes you actually have to open a book and read it. And I have to remind them, you know, here, let's look at this book, for example. But of course, digital information, it has changed the way we do everything. Even I teach a course on diplomacy, diplomacy is now impacted in ways so that if you're a government official, a diplomat negotiating, you have got to use social media in ways that, guess what, they didn't prepare you for that in your studies to be a diplomat. But suddenly you need to know, you know, the importance of that. And that allows you a bridge to civil society directly. So instead of just people, the people, or no, no, I'm sorry, instead of government to government, diplomacy is now happening in different ways, you know, going directly to society. And, you know, some of my former students from HPU, who are young diplomats now are involved in this and they're having to do that, both explaining and maybe building support for foreign policy through social media, very different world. Beyond that, I think it is, again, this global education that anywhere I go now, my classroom here or in Austria or in India, maybe a little bit less India. But in general, we have so much mobility of students now are like at HPU in Hawaii, people come from everywhere. Look how many Swedish and Norwegian students we have there. Here I have students in my class from France and Italy and from Ecuador, from Switzerland from Canada. And that dynamic changes everything when once you have several international students, they both contribute to the dialogue and they bring a different energy, a different perspective. And so I'm teaching about political systems and I have a Swiss student and they have a fascinating, you know, consideration, a very, you know, plural executive. They don't have a single leader. And then I can not just explain that, but ask him, well, how is this, you know, how does this reflected in your day to day life? I mean, what's different living in Lausanne versus Zurich or whatever it might be, but this both practicality and a real world perspective. And back to the idea that the students today, particularly at a more elite university, this is not the case maybe at a, you know, different type, but at a school where the students have had opportunities to travel growing up, they have seen the world. And now they're reflecting on it in a different way, like, ah, that explains why, you know, they do this differently there. So we bring, I think I always like to think of the classroom, it has to be a dynamic environment, not just me top down telling them, but instead, I like to learn what do they know, what do they bring to the table. And those experiences, they can help connect them more and personalize it more. And I think I like to tell the students they often learn more from their own peers than just from, you know, Mr. Professor here. It's really more helping them teach each other and raise questions to have curiosity about the world. I'm remembering your time in Austria. You spent a lot of time, another Fulbright as I recall, yeah, you were three years ago. HPU's man in Austria, it was really amazing. We talked to you a number of times when you were in Austria. But all this suggests, all this, you know, change in international relations and the art, if you will, of diplomacy, you know, it all suggests that the students that you have, or who would be going to school and some other school, another country could be anywhere, would like to be involved in diplomacy, would like to be involved in making international relations, would like to be involved in connecting countries with the kind of, you know, connection, the kind of guanxi that makes a better world, a safer world and all that. So when they come to you in Mexico, in Pueblo, do you Pueblo, excuse me, they they are they seeking positions in the diplomatic service? Are they seeking work in Mexico or the U.S. or some other, you know, State Department organization by which they can practice diplomacy? Well, yes, all of the above. Now, the reality is that the diplomatic service, whether here in Mexico in the U.S., it's a small elite there. There are very few diplomats every year in these days in the U.S. with the drastic cuts to the State Department even less. But what I like to make very clear to the students is you can do diplomacy, you can do international relations and not have to be a formal official diplomat, more likely they're going to have opportunities in NGOs or an international organization. They can even establish their own organization that obviously deals with government, deals with civil society. And I think it's fair to say that while diplomacy, the traditional view is that, you know, government to government, we really have, I mean, whether it's an issue like human rights or environmental issues, there are so many players now, international organizations, there could be a small NGO that's very localized and they are still able to engage in. And again, using the technologies, understanding how policy gets made. So these students are going to be able to engage in and again, using the technology, understanding how policy gets made. So these students are very few of them, whether here or in the U.S. are going to become diplomats, but some of them do, and we have, of course, a handful. The reality is that most of them will move on to different private organizations, different non-governmental type of, some of them even in the private sector, perhaps with companies that are doing business and you need somebody who understands obviously how culture, society, politics work. You need finance people, you need accountants, but you also need people who really understand negotiating across cultures. And that's fundamentally those are the kind of skills that I think a student of international relations is learning. But again, like everything, they have to be able to be resourceful in more areas. It's not just knowing a few facts. It's people-to-people knowledge, it's learning how to be creative, problem solvers. And so, yes, the students here, for example, many of them have opportunities to, during their studies, to spend a semester or a year abroad and then even to work. Some of them will have opportunities to find work outside or in other parts. And given Mexico, Mexico City is the center, the hub of particularly government and finance and all, but even provincial cities, like Puebla. This is a city of maybe about two or three million, so it has its own connection to the world. It has a large community of European immigrants, Germans. There's a huge factory here of Volkswagen and Audi and, you know, many of the managers are brought here from Germany directly. So they actually sometimes even will hire managers that they will send back to Germany to train and help them then come back and be more effective leaders here. So it is a little bit of everything and it's both exciting, but it's also daunting because the challenges are very big. You need language skills. You need adaptability skills. You need to know a lot about a lot of different things, sort of a general knowledge. You have to have a world view and you have to be able to get out there and travel and appreciate the relations. And so it's like going to law school prepares you to practice the business community and make deals in any capacity. It's the same thing here. But you know what we've been we've been seeing for the past 18 months the U.S. State Department degraded from Tillerson on and right now they say that you know there's nobody there anymore. There haven't been hiring to replace you know the attrition and the State Department is at very low levels both in numbers and in morale. And it's really a sad story for the United States. And I wonder you know what you're thinking is about that and I wonder what your thought is about how ideally a State Department should work. How ideally diplomatic relations should work and whether this is a compound question and whether this room in today's you know flat world multinational world for isolationism and tariff barriers is there room for that? How badly are we of course is what I'm asking. Well this is a tough time and a case in point Mexico there is no U.S. ambassador here 18 months of this administration there's not even a designated there's no candidate basically a country as important as Mexico one of the leading trade partners for the U.S. and there is not an official here who represents the president. Now we have a different president in the U.S. different in the sense of you know he doesn't he's diplomacy in the same way doesn't respect the you know elites and the professionals at the end of the day yeah there's you know there's a lot of concern right now that the U.S. is definitely veering off its tradition now you mention isolationism and the U.S. has a long history the whole history of the country is one of a struggle between isolationism and internationalism these are recurring themes you know at the end of World War 1 there's a huge in conflicts and yet we find ourselves spread all around so there's always a powerful force for that but sadly when it comes to these complex issues of diplomacy and trade and all that I mean they require experts they require people to negotiate and as we speak now there is an ongoing negotiation between Mexico the U.S. and Canada that was brought back today to the table but you know even the teams that are leading the current U.S. administration are being very bullying a style of negotiation that might work in Queens or you know in reality TV show but unfortunately it has eroded a lot of the credibility and prestige of the U.S. increasingly the Europeans are now saying look we can't depend on the U.S. we can't even trust what they're saying and we've got a president currently under so much pressure and tension and you know if we try to think about understanding the Trump and such a thing as a Trump I don't know approach or philosophy or guiding principles it's hard to find it's chaos it's uncertainty unpredictability and that is not the way you either do business or that you can negotiate across borders you know solutions to problems so it's a tough time and Mexico a very important partner today is also going through a political transition they're about to inaugurate a new president in December and so you have negotiating this deal the new administration will come in are they going to want to you know fine-tune it themselves it's a tough time and like you said particularly for the U.S. the diplomatic corps the diplomatic services that's the lowest point of morale that we've seen in decades and how much damage is going to be done before it can be turned around we will have to wait and see but right now we're definitely at the bottom of a pretty tough hopefully the bottom but it's in U.S. foreign policy credibility image it's a tough time well Carlos there's one last question I can't resist asking you and that is you know when you have a bad administration like this bad in terms of so many things but bad in terms of foreign policy and that administration ends for one reason or another maybe somebody else being elected who is more progressive and international in his approach that follows how hard is it to put Humpty back together again if I destroy and undermine you know long-standing diplomatic relationships around the world including my own long-standing allies how hard is it to put those relationships right to mend those fences later yeah it is hard it's not easy and so there is obviously a sense that you know the damage is not going to change even whenever the administration does and I even tell my students look there will be a day believe it or not when Donald Trump will not be the president of the U.S. maybe it's in six months maybe it's in two and a half years maybe it's in six and a half years I don't know I mean looking pretty grim for him today but there will be a post-Trump world and you know the U.S. is having a lot of criticism that it has sort of abdicated its leadership role obviously it will take time to turn around it won't be overnight but I also think this that there is a growing awareness at least among many who do understand the U.S. that Trump is an anomaly he's not the norm and while he may you know reflect some of the frustration and maybe you know anxiety in certain sectors of American society there's also you know there's a long a good part of American you know government and business understand that the U.S. it's got to be engaged in the world and have to be a global you know positive contributor so my hope is that over time much like we say the institutions you know I think you had a discussion earlier about you know how you become an authoritarian or you know you know I have long taught in courses about transitions from authoritarian rule to democracy that's been the trend today in the U.S. and in parts of Europe we have an opposite we have democracy becoming authoritarian rules and let's just hope that the institutions of the U.S. I believe and hope hope that they are strong enough to withstand that and to sort of bounce back but it won't be soon it'll be you know the damage will be done the credibility will be hard to earn back I think it will happen and I think that at least among experts and elites there's an awareness that there's you know enough I don't know enough desire to want to see the U.S. back on a more positive footing obviously in a different world because the U.S. will no longer be you know calling the shots the way it did after World War War II or you know it's a different reality today but you know the U.S. has been a source of inspiration for many other places places and you know and providing leadership for the international system today that has eroded will it come back gradually yet but in the same way no it'll be a different reality I think we're going to have to be more humble and more well I think we I'm saying you maybe because I'm now here in Mexico but the U.S. I think in the future leadership it's going to have to be very work hard to try to regain the trust and but again I think that out in the international community whether here in Mexico and Europe people are aware that you know the U.S. is always going to be a global player and that this Trump experiment is a very strange aberration and anomaly and some day we will be in a post-Trump world let's just hope it's not totally broken maybe we can put it back together without taking too long from your lips to God's ears how do you say that in Spanish Carlos from your lips from your lips to God's ears well de tu boca las orejas del Dios something like that so Dios is the God and oreja would be the ears and from your lips de tus labios las orejas del Dios something like that let's hope the response to that I say hasta luego we got to go hasta luego, yeah and so two weeks from now you'll be back I can hardly wait to see your you know your whole international discussion flower internationally be great thank you so much Carlos very much thank you J. great to see you and aloha to all our listeners thank you so much ha ha ha