Okay, so good morning, and thank you for being here. My name is Emily Hull. I'm from the University of Alberta in Canada. And my presentation today will continue on the theme of previous presentations, a reindeer-themed morning. And I will be covering some of my in-progress research on pathological and osteological differences, both large and small, between ecotypes of Ranga for Turandus. Establishing a baseline that exists in wild animals so that we can look at anomalies that happen in domestic or managed animals. To begin with, I would like to acknowledge my collaborators and co-authors, as well as the experts who have selflessly and generously given their time, energy and expertise in helping me learn. And especially to who are in this room right now, who have been so fundamental to my experience. And I would also like to thank the staff at L'Opital d'Artois for allowing me to CT scan a caribou in the middle of the night. And also Charlie in Geneva, who gave me free time in his internet cafe after my laptop died and without whom I would literally not have a presentation to give you today. For reference, I am coming from a theoretical background of animal agency-based backgrounds with a focus on human-emotional relationships. As my research is focused on differences between ecotypes of reindeer and caribou, it's important to give some background on the species of rengaphorterandis and what the ecotypes of the species are and why they matter in the archeological record. Rengaphorterandis, who are colloquially known as caribou in North America and reindeer in Europe and Asia, are a circumpolar and a circumporial species with innumerable and often debated subspecies, but with three globally occurring ecotypes which, despite the vast differences between them, share similarities in size, behavior, herd composition and habitat. As we currently understand it, these ecotypes formed through parallel evolution as groups of reindeer and caribou underwent ecological niche adaptation into woodland or forest which is the largest ecotype, tundra or beringron ecotypes and arctic ecotypes in arctic environments. My research focuses primarily on the differences between tundra and forest ecotypes as these have had the most historical interactions with humans. Skittish forest reindeer are larger, they live in smaller herds, generally, and in more forested, often mountainous terrain. They have been hunted by peoples in North America and it's been again yet for thousands of years. Tundra reindeer have also been hunted, but their relationship with humans is more complex. And it's important to note that these ecotypes overlap in size and are difficult to differentiate in archeological assemblages. Tundra reindeer tend to live in much larger herd groups. They migrate further distances in general and live on the tundra and beringround areas of the North. While no caribou have ever been domesticated in North America, ancient and modern peoples of Europe, Asia, and North America followed the migratory routes of tundra herds, often influencing these migratory routes for their own purposes. In the Yukon and Alaska, caribou fences were used to funnel and corral herds of beringround caribou and in Philadelphia herding, as we have heard, eventually led to pastoralism and domestication. And it's important to note that all domestic reindeer in Philadelphia are tundra ecotypes. Forest ecotypes have never been domesticated or herded in either North America or Finland, Scandinavia. So it's a pretty big difference. So these ecotypes are distinguishable in life from one another and have different relationships with humans. So what's the archeological issue? Unfortunately, archeologically identifying these ecotypes is actually kind of challenging. Reindeer, first of all, don't show a lot of the traditional markers of domestication that we see in other domestic animals such as cattle, goats, and sheep. Reindeer, I just said that. And even though forest ecotypes are generally larger than tundra ecotypes, as I said before, there are these overlapping sides. This difficulty is compounded by the manner in which we typically find reindeer remains, which is in commingled multi-individual assemblages of processed bone. This makes it hard to determine if a fragmented bone belongs to a butchered domestic tundra deer or a hunted forest deer, or if the assemblage is a combination of both. Reindeer are also usually processed for secondary by-products such as antler, which is distinctive between subspecies and complicates this matter further. Additionally, as landscapes change, we can't depend on modern locality to determine the ecotypes of historical reindeer. Forests move, humans move, humans move animals, animals move humans, and animals move themselves. So despite these difficulties, ecotypes have much to offer us in zoarchaeology. First, they give us clues to what relationships a group of people were having with reindeer or caribou using animal behavioral patterns to help understand or clarify human ones. Secondly, in an era of climate change, ecotypes can give us an insight into regional paleoecology. And thirdly, and I think most importantly, studying ancient animals is a reward in and of itself as we gain insight into the personal lives of individual non-human persons, her dynamics, migration patterns, and the health and welfare and how these have changed over time. So how do we counter the issues of ecotype identifications of archaeology? So the research I'm presenting today is in two areas. Differences in rates and types of trauma and differences in habitual activity as seen through emphysial changes of the phalanges, which seems to be a theme in this session. With pathology, as is seen in study of South American camelids, animals are in different environments are subject to different injuries. For example, a forest reindeer walking down a rocky slope is more likely to injure a hoof or a light than a tundra reindeer walking on a flat, bare and ground area. Humans also influence these patterns. Humans preserve and are often protective of animals, but humans are also quick to kill injured men of our compromise. As for habitual activity, this study focuses on reindeer hooves and as was mentioned by Dr. Ninomaki. It is taking inspiration for earlier studies by doctors, saw me and Ninomaki, on reindeer engaged in different activities, as well as again, taking inspiration from studies of pathological lesions in South American camelid feet. So first, pathology. So the pathological sample, first of all, these are from the Zoological Museum at the University of Olu. There were both domestic reindeer and torrentous torrents, which is a tundra ecotype, while the reindeer and torrentous finicus, which is a forest ecotype. They're all modern individuals. We assess 131 adult individuals, both sexes, but only ended up analyzing 101 adult sample feet who have the most clear data for sex, for being an ecotype. Additionally, I've analyzed all of the available complete or mostly complete caribou skeletons of the Canadian Museum of Nature. These cover wild individuals of all three ecotypes and are supplemented with additional caribou housed at Washington State University. Versaity, however, the rubric used on the finished sample has not yet been applied to these. So the finished samples were assessed with a focus on major traumatic injury, but all pathologies were noted just for comparison. The rubric for a preliminary set number divided into five groups. First was ambiguous. These included samples where taphonomy or potential postmortem damage made assessment inconclusive. Nope, pathology included individuals who were completely healthy. Minor pathology were small pathological lesions, minor osteoarthritis, and other age-related conditions. These were noted, but were not going to be the focus of further assessment as other people have worked on these much better than I ever could. So my focus was on the major pathology and injury, which included broken bones or limbs, fusion of these broken bones or limbs, major sites of infection or deformation. And the last section is trauma and cause of death. This was where the trauma was paramortem enlisted as the direct cause of death. While many of these were vehicular accidents, some were dramatic and almost Shakespearean. One unfortunate forest ranger's cause of death was listed as, quote, starvation, comma, fell off of a cliff, comma, eaten by a beast. When you remove the ambiguous and fatal injury data, the pattern becomes even more clear in the major pathology of forest ranger at the major pathology of tundra ranger. The pattern becomes very clear that forest ecotypes are experiencing much greater rates of major trauma, primarily limb breakage. While the more minor age-related pathologies appear consistent, the levels of trauma are so extreme that we can anticipate that major skeletal pathology is a major factor in the lives of woodland ranger. Most of these injuries are of long-term duration and occur either in the long bones of the hind limbs, the phalanges, or both. Fracture with evidence of healing and long-term use is common. While this data does compare modern populations and may be influenced by animal husbandry of domestic ranger, initial findings from the wild Canadian sample appear to show the same pattern with barren ground and arctic animals experiencing less gross trauma than their woodland cousins. They are more likely, however, to have a cause of death listed simply with two words, polar bear. After completing the analysis of the North American samples according to the screw break, my research plans to analyze the gross trauma by type and atomical location in a new jury duration. I also plan to analyze if the prevalence of major pathologies according to sex. So the implications of this. So the associations of certain pathologies with specific ecotypes can help us have a, not definitively define an ecotype in an archeological assemblage, but the percentage of the long-term trauma may give us a clue as to what percentage in the assemblage is a forest reindeer, especially with the great divide in pathologies between the forest and kind of reindeer. And this in turn can give us information about ecology, migration, human hunting and animal husbandry practices. So next, embecile changes. So this research is on change in the phalangellium theses as inspired by and done in collaboration with Dr. Salmi Aninamaki, whose work on reindeer and theses, Sirva just talked a bit about and is primary and fundamental to this book. So as we've sort of established what an theses is, this study aims to establish a baseline difference in the minute connections of reindeer totes as different terrain movement and forging activity may result in an increased development of different sites. To this point, we have undertaken data collection stages of this research and scored our entire finished sample. So that included initial identification of sites of the theses, cross-checking these sites with the deception, development of an identification matrix to identify thoracic versus pelvic phalanges and establishment of an ordinal scoring system and then scoring the entire sample. Well, further analysis remains initial findings do support that there are differences in some in theses in certain sites, according to ecotype, but we need to dig deeper into this information to find out exactly what that means. So the future plans are a potential addition of North American materials just to counter that domestic wild division. Just looking at sex and ecotype, adding working animals and again looking at animal size for comparison. So why phalanges? The phalanges are important bones in zoarchaeology of reindeer because first they're often recovered intact from site as they have little soft tissue to entice the omnivores like humans or parmivores like dogs. Their hooves are used differently in different terrains and hooves are used in forging and thus used differently by foddered and unboddered animals. And determination of habitual hoof activities can help archaeologists distinguish between ecotypes as well as wild and domestic animals. So thank you kindly for your attention if we have time, maybe some questions, but again, thank you very much.


Boom What's up, I'm the geeks. It's a V here. Welcome to another video. So in this video, I want to show you guys One of the key indicators that I use in my trading that's gonna help you be consistent Or at least guide you to know when to go in or when to go out Alongside my VWAP strategy this indicator is really one of my key ingredients or one of my secret sauce that makes me Consistent trader so I want to talk about that one into this video But before we get started guys if you're new to the channel We talk about how to earn money how to save money how to invest and build wealth So that's something that interests you go ahead and hit that subscribe button any notification bell So you don't miss out on new content So when it comes to trading these different strategies again, I've done a video here on the channel where I show you guys My VWAP strategy So if you haven't already I'm gonna hook that video here so you can definitely go check it out And I have an updated video coming up about the VWAP strategy, but this particular indicator I want to show you today I want you guys to add these to your arsenal of tools that you use for trading So every trader has here on things that work for them. So this is not a one-size-fit also Usually when I tell you about stuff that I'm doing I expect you to go Try it in paper trading in some shape or form before you can start implementing it And even when you start putting it into Practice I want you to start small don't go a bigger position start trading small buy one or two shares Sell them see what your entry point is see what your exit point is then check Did you stick to your script if you stick to your plan? Did you go in with an idea as to let's say you go Getting in at $10. Did you get and don't want you're gonna get out She say you want to get out at 12 or $13. If not, what is your backup plan if it doesn't get to 12 or 13? Do you're gonna use a trailing stop? You're gonna use a bracket order Those are some of the things that you have to work in combination But again, those are things that I can cover in a separate video But today is all about this one indicator that I want you guys to know and this indicator is no order one But the stochastic indicator so as you can see here Stochastic you can go read about it. It's a momentum indicator and you guys know that I'm a momentum trader because I Like you when the price of the stock is gapping They call it gap and go strategy or momentum or momentum trading. That's my strategy again You find what works for you find a strategy that works for you So this is again for people that do momentum trading. So stochastic indicator you can go out read about them They actually explain how they do the calculation. I don't really care about how to calculate it because It's it doesn't it does me no good But I just want to see how it works. So I'm gonna work you guys through a particular example here using a stock So we can actually see how this indicator actually helps me to be consistent Or at least guide me to be consistent and again guys This is not just like a one indicator again when it comes to trading You know very well that you use this particular indicator alongside other indicators So I use it alongside obviously my secret sauce here is the V web this yellow line You can see right here. I'm walking this one right here That is the main thing first the second and then you have volume and then my stochastic indicator come in So again, let me walk you guys through it So V-wap strategy which uses V-wap so if you can see right here again My personal take if it crosses V-wap I start looking at opening a position if it's below V-wap, I'm not trading I can buy below below V-wap for a potential string trade, but not for day trading I don't trade below V-wap. So let me show you guys how this works. I gave you can see down here Now this is really clear. Okay, so you can see down here. This is volume. So stochastic. So V-wap stochastic Volume that is a deadly combination as to pinpoint when to get in and when to get out again in my experience So if we can just start right here, I'm gonna show you guys so market opens if you can see right here pulls back So this is a ticket symbol RIV and Rivian that just came out Like yesterday, so if you see market opens a pullback so for me I'm not looking at getting in at this particular point, but see what happens here. Okay, watch this When it pulls back if you can see K line and not in the D line So K is blue on my stochastic and my D is yellow or orange if you can see right there So watch what happens. So my K line is the goal line and my and my D line is the outline So in and out K is indicating to get in and then my my D line is indicating to get out So depending on which one is on the upside again, I'm gonna walk you guys through here So we can actually see how this really works. So see right here Market opens it pulls back. Okay, watch where my K line start crossing over My D line to the upside if you can see it crosses right here at this point and somewhere right here Look at how the stock bounces as that's squeezing back to the upside And you can see it continue that squeeze out to the upside and then test is V-wap So for me if I was looking at trading I'll wait for this thing to test V-wap But watch is how it fails right a V-wap. So the first test on V-wap it fails And look at that K crosses back to the downside, which means don't even attempt it So I'm like sitting there watching and this stays underneath V-wap and then give again right here It gets another attempt of V-wap and it rejects. So no confirmation for me So I'm not getting into this talk at this particular point again It pulls back watching what it does bounces again. Look at now K crosses to the upside Look at that cross right there. It crosses to the upside as we can see right here This is where it crosses and then test is V-wap and this is where the magic begins Confirmation first one many kind of to make a new high right there and we're up to the races So you can see here crossy look at that volume High volume comes right in and it pushes this thing to the upside So after after breaks V-wap here is kind of first one many kind of makes a new high the next candle I'm getting in somewhere here So I get my order you get in and then watch what happens. So in here I'll have a stop loss or I'm gonna have a trailing stop In this case, you can do a bracket order depending on your style again. You get in watch it right here It's just I'll call this a yo-yo's so it goes up and down up and down But notice the trend is heading up. So at this point my stop loss is somewhere down here So I'm not worrying about up here. So I'm still giving you room to breathe so it keeps it keeps trying and At this point watch where it goes all the way to let's say 121 122 Right here at the top here watch stochastic again right here stochastic. It's like you see high volume Spike and then the next volume drops drastically that is a good sign like hey time for you to take profit watch again volume spike and Then the next candle look at that volume completely drops. That means get out So at this point you get out and look at stochastic again. K is crossing to the downside and what happens Flushes so you could have sold up here and take some profit secure some profit if you probably were using a trailing stuff or whatever You'll kick you out when it flushes down here So and then it flushes down look at his grant again so Right here consolidated along this line and then crosses back to the upside and then the trend continues again Stats to go up again Get to the top here Crosses to the downside flushes or pull back I wouldn't say flush right there because that's not this is a flush right here But this is just kind of a pullback and then Another good entry point for this that you can probably see I'm gonna bring this right here So you guys can actually see so watch this right here It pulls back all the way below VWAP which obviously means do not touch Crosses VWAP fail why I would get in here because even at even the crosses VWAP it didn't give me the confirmation You see the doggies right there. I'm gonna zoom in so you can see see those doggies I don't like that. I want to see a full fully formed candle That would tell me that it's confirmation at least at that point so it crosses all these doggies I'm like no, I'm not gonna touch it. So I'm gonna wait as you can see obviously my weight was good because Right here pulls back below VWAP again and then test VWAP here doggie doggie doggie Still, I'm not getting in right here When it pulls back a little bit right here Next one minute candle set a new high next another next candle again set a new high So at this point, I'm looking for an entry somewhere right here And you can see if you get in here it goes up there if your stop losses way down here So you get it pulls back a little bit, but it's still trending up as you can see Still a training to the upside and at this point I'm if I if I'm in a trade I'm moving my stop loss and I'm following this slowly or you can just set a trailing stop But the reason why for a stock that I really move this kind of zigzag way a trailing stop will probably kick you out Faster if you put in a very tight trailing stop So usually somewhere between three to five percent would be ideal for a trailing stop But you make your own decision because if you if the money is in your town, you see that you're profitable You don't want to give back five percent of that Unless you are a greedy savage so you can collect that money and wait for another opportunity Because what kills a lot of people is they get in see profit. They're not thinking about securing that They all they to see like green everything is like it's green all the way It doesn't work like that it can turn around and flush it so always make sure that the birthday you have in your hand That's secure before you start chasing another one. So That's it. That's it for this video, but again, I just wanted to show you guys so again the combination Yeah, would be volume and then my my Actually VWAP volume and then stochastic. That's how that combination Really does work and then one little nugget for you guys each time you're trading and you happen to see you see volume spike drastically like right here You have to keep an eye on that one, but then one trick when there is a spike in price Let's say the price is certainly jump and the volume doesn't follow suit That is a no no that is a classic sign of a reverser So at that point some people would probably like all the volume just or the price just spike I want to get in before it keeps spiking No, the price will spike and then volume doesn't follow that means is reversing and the next thing You know, it's gonna turn around and flush right in your face again. You can see that right here Where you can see right here price jumps up, but volume doesn't follow And this candle right here and reverses and all we had was a downtrend So stochastic indicator That's a really good tool to have in your tool set of volume and VWAP those three indicators Will guide you to know exactly when you want to go in and when you want to you want to go out So that's something that you want to keep an eye on and again guys These are tools that you have to try them They work for me doesn't mean that it's gonna translate to working for you You have to try them in maybe in a simulator or paper trading and then also once you start trading using these indicators Make sure that you actually start small try maybe with one or two shares Before you jump in and start buying bigger size So start small test it see if it works so that way your losses are really minimal if you have any loss So that would be something that you can definitely do that would help you which you're trading again Let me know in the comment section what you think about is do you currently use stochastic or do you currently use any of the indicators? I mentioned here VWAP as well as volume. Yeah, let me know again in the comment section What you think if you're new here, we took about how to earn money how to save money How to invest and build wealth so that's something that interests you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and the notification bell too You don't miss out on your content also guys if you're looking to get started with investing Mumu right now has a crazy promotion where if you sign up and deposit any amount $1 all the way to $100 you get five free stocks at no cost to you have the links in the description below And as always guys, do your due diligence.


Last week was the magic of manganese. This week is the mystery of Malibdanum, and I'm certainly having fun with these titles, but like manganese Malibdanum is an essential trace mineral in the body and it's also a metal. People don't really think about that because certain negative metals like aluminum, iron that occur in the diet in excess can be very damaging. So keep in mind any metal, including Malibdanum manganese, can be bad in excess. However, Malibdanum is far more important than manganese because it's harder to get from foods. It's usually deficient in the diet as it is specific to legumes, beans for the most part, and the medical literature states that deficiencies are rare. However, the job of modern medicine is to keep people barely alive and breathing as opposed to optimal health. Because of modern lifestyle factors, soil depletion, poor microbiome health, we aren't absorbing as many minerals from food and our bodies need more minerals as they're under more stress, including Malibdanum. So Malibdanum is stored in the liver and kidneys and you might be thinking can I eat animal organs because hypothetically if we store it there do the animals store it there? And the answer is no because of synergistic and antagonistic minerals, mainly copper. You're getting an incredible amount of copper with that Malibdanum. I was carnivore for almost eight years eating plenty of organs and my Malibdanum levels were incredibly low on a hair mineral analysis test and I did a video on hair mineral analysis several months ago if you guys want to learn more about that. As we see the primary food sources are those legumes, particularly beans and the Malibdanum content of organ meats it's pretty high up there, but as I just said not really viable, but due to lack of testing we don't know if Malibdanum is in every food you know pasta could be high in Malibdanum is anyone actually testing it and there's not money and it usually people only test the mineral content of their product when they want to sell it and as we did last week with manganese I've put the foods that I wouldn't really consume in red and stuff that I would eat in blue white beans aka cannellini beans oats brown rice cheese these three aren't really super high the white beans not something I eat every day which is why I still tend to supplement it and I say this about every mineral guys get a hair mineral analysis see where your levels are follow a diet for a few months get it retested see what you have to supplement and when you take it for several weeks even just several days of Malibdanum your next hair mineral analysis test might be adequate and you want to be careful because you don't want to throw things out of balance if you're unable to get a hair mineral analysis test you can just take a Malibdanum supplement maybe two three days in a row and see how you feel and that should be enough to do every few months when we look at studies on Malibdanum absorption it's very effective you know people take supplements almost all of it is absorbed and correspondingly excreted in the urine when an excess amount is consumed it's pretty safe to supplement as long as the dose is low to moderate nothing crazy and the problem with most Malibdanum supplements is they have like several hundred times what you normally get in the day therefore might only be safe to take once a week and as I said in the past you don't want to take that much of a mineral at once I think it was with selenium because it's just so much stress on the liver because it has to process all that at once which is why on organ supplements.com the trace mineral supplement we have has a very moderate dose of Malibdanum and you can even just cut the dropper amount in half unlike a pill or capsule so the main synergistic minerals with Malibdanum are sulfur and copper and if you guys missed my video on the mineral wheel I don't know maybe a year ago at this point definitely check it out so excess amounts of Malibdanum can cause copper deficiency which leads to anemia bone deformities central nervous system issues and excess amounts of sulfur can cause a Malibdanum deficiency which results in just a ton of oxidative stress and there's many more interactions to read about but the thing to understand here is that even if you're fixing one mineral deficiency hypothetically Malibdanum you have to be careful not to cause another issue because you could be like oh Malibdanum is great I fixed my deficiency and then six months down the line you're supplementing copper and Malibdanum just like manganese is vital for several essential enzymes in the body one breaks down sulfites another breaks down toxic aldehydes such as alcohol one more breaks down purine xanthine and the final one is a mitochondrial cell antioxidant so Malibdanum's main function is breaking down certain amino acids and after that it's needed for fat and carbohydrate metabolism in addition to helping the liver detox extreme amounts of Malibdanum can cause kidney failure infertility diarrhea seizures hallucinations even brain damage poor bone health does occur too but it's hard to measure and the main thing that would pop up first is gout because of the altered purine metabolism that enzyme interaction we spoke about deficiency of Malibdanum causes sulfite toxicity symptoms being tachycardia and tachypina which is elevated heart rate and shallow breathing headache nausea vomiting even coma and those were actually symptoms I experienced on carnivore particularly when I ate foods high in sulfur especially eggs that was you know after several years so it does take a long time to manifest a deficiency and if you are carnivore you definitely want to be mindful of your hair mineral levels and what you should be doing to ensure that nothing goes too out of whack so thank you guys for joining me today as with my entire youtube channel I have bits and snippets of information that you know once you accumulate them together you're able to really fix your health and there is a lot to understand but in regards to practical day-to-day stuff it's incredibly simple once you understand it so you guys can go to frank-define.com to check out all of my businesses we have the trace mineral thing on organ supplements.com I'm wearing my wi-fi shielding shirt as always check it out guys lots of interesting stuff on frank-define.com if you guys can please also drop a like on the video leave a comment down below subscribe so that youtube can unsubscribe you next week and be sure to check that notification bell so they don't notify you of my videos therefore as I said check out frank-define.com


Environmental enrichment can reduce the incidence of subclinical spondylolisthesis in broiler chickens by providing them with additional stimulation and opportunities to explore their surroundings. Additionally, these enrichments may also benefit the bird's health and behavior, as well as their overall productivity and yield. This article was authored by Marconi Italo Lorenzo de Silva, Ibiara Corea de Lima Almeida Paz, Andresa Silva Jacinto, and others.


This study examines the mechanisms behind the rapid release of stored water from macropores into streams. It uses a tile-drained field site to combine macropores soils with controlled lower boundary conditions. Three experiments were conducted to measure the effects of different initial conditions on the amount of irrigation water needed to increase the tile-drain discharge above the base flow level. Additionally, oxygen, 18 and deuterium data were collected to determine the contribution of pre-event soil water to the tile-drain event flow. Finally, mixing calculations were used to estimate the percentage of soil water that was irrigation water. The results showed that the pre-event water in the tile-drain was mobilized in 20 to 40 cm soil depth, where the macro-pore matrix interaction initiates macro-pore flow once the moisture threshold is exceeded. This article was authored by J. Klaus, E. Z., M. Ellsner, and others.


Is that so? We agree to. To ask the Scottish Government what it's response is to the BBC programme A Forcing Crisis, alleging that in 2014, the chief constable's office suggested edits to a critical report on culture and ethos at Police Scotland. Secretary Michael Matheson. Yes in the evening's BBC documentary explored a number of issues relating to the leadership yn y pryd o bwysig i ddalei llifon ffordd mwy o ddechrau i Llyfridol. Mae cyfnodau gyda'r mynd i'r ddweudio'r llifon fyddennolol, gyda'r llifon bwysig i ddweudio'r brif cangol o'r ddweudio'r ddweudio i Llyfridol. Ieidwch i i, dweudio'r ddweudio ddweudio ar gyfer y rhaglen Slyfridol i fewn o fagorau ac i'r ddweudio i gydagoronwyr, through the BBC programme and note their commitment to addressing those matters through the appropriate governance and assurance routes. The Scottish Police Authority board is due to next meet on Wednesday of this week, where it will discuss on-going efforts to transform policing in Scotland. That transformation is delivering an increasingly outward-focused model of policing, emphasis on officer and staff wellbeing and a continued focus on professional standards and ethics, all of which attracted comment in yesterday's programme. The changes being taken forward will allow the service to build on the significant progress that has been made in recent times. Will that be in relation to the more ethical use of stop and search as a police tactic, the strengthening of Police Scotland's anti-corruption practices or the delivery of targeted activities to support wellbeing across the service? It is clear that the issues that were previously encountered in each of the areas that predate Police Scotland and I am confident that the establishment of a single command structure coupled with the enhanced oversight arrangements delivered through police reform has aided the improvements that we have seen. I welcome the continued focus that Police Scotland has placed on ethics and professional standards throughout the process. That was recently demonstrated through the establishment of a new executive portfolio of professionalism and assurance, which is headed by an assistant chief constable. I am committed to supporting Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority as they continue this important work, ensuring public confidence in policing remains strong going forward. I think that people watching this today will feel that the cabinet secretary's answers are not really good enough. This is a scandal and I do not use that word lightly. It appears that the head of our national police force has engaged in a deliberate cover-up of allegations of corruption and changed the tenses of other problems to suggest that they were already fixed. People and their trust in their employer make our police force what it is, yet it is alleged that an entire section of the report, entitled Culture of Fear, was re-titled, redacted and re-scripted. That goes to the very top, but people will not want to know how far. When did the cabinet secretary first learn about the problems identified and the whitewash? If the answer is in the last 48 hours, does that suggest that he is not on top of his brief? The member will be aware that the report is almost four years old. It was an internal Police Scotland report, which was considered internally within the police service. The member makes reference to the actions of the not previous chief constable, but the chief constable for them, Sir Stephen House, in the changes that were made to that particular report. What I would expect is that, in a report of this nature, there would be appropriate oversight by the Scottish Police Authority on how Police Scotland is taking forward those matters. However, it is worth picking up on some of the issues that were highlighted in that particular report, part of which was in relation to corruption, which I believe the member was referring to in relation to the T side force, a previous legacy force before Police Scotland was created, something that I understand was investigated by the Crown Office at that particular point and looked at. He made reference to the way in which the counter-corruption unit had been operating. The member clearly is not aware of the fact that HMICS undertook an assurance review of the counter-corruption unit within Police Scotland and published its report back in 2016. Within that report, it made some 39 different recommendations, all of which were accepted by Police Scotland. As a result, it changed its model on how it was dealing with anti-corruption issues. One of the things that is now happening, which the member I am surprised as a justice spokesperson is not aware of, is that HMICS is about to produce an update review of the progress that Police Scotland has made in those issues. Another aspect that the report highlighted was the culture of fear, particularly around targets in dealing with targets around a range of different issues, including that in stop and search. We set up the independent oversight group, the advisory group to look at stop and search, which was headed by John Scott QC, and set out a range of recommendations. As a consequence, we now have the new code of practice for stop and search, which was approved by the Justice Committee in this Parliament as a significant step forward in changing the culture around the use of stop and search. As a result, we no longer have the target culture that the report made reference to. The member does not seem to recognise that a range of different areas of significant progress is being made and continues to be made. I am assured that a Scottish Police Authority has given a very clear indication to Police Scotland that it wants an urgent update on the actions that have been taken forward that have been highlighted in the report, and it will then take that through its appropriate assurance mechanism. The member will recognise that the Scottish Police Authority is the body that is responsible for the oversight of the police service, and that is exactly what it intends to do in the issue. Liam Kerr The cabinet secretary seems very clear on what he thinks that I am aware of, but I am not sure that we have got an answer to the question of what the cabinet secretary was aware of in relation to those issues and when. Perhaps someone else will pick up on that. An early draft of the report claimed that, throughout Police Scotland conducted itself using unauthorised surveillance, threatened and intimidated witnesses, unlawfully detained subjects, colluded on witness statements and failed to reveal evidence. There was also a culture of fear. Can the cabinet secretary confirm whether he is aware that, if any or all of those allegations are true, and in any event will he be ordering a full and forensic investigation into the report, its original findings, and ensure that those who created the situation and those who may have tried to hide it are fully held to account? Michael Matheson I have just mentioned how the matter is going to be taken forward and will be taken forward by the oversight body for policing in Scotland, and it is the Scottish Police Authority. It has asked for urgent assurance from Police Scotland on the issues highlighted in the report. The member will be aware that it was an internal Police Scotland report. There is no record that officials have of the report having been shared with the Scottish Government, with myself or previously. On that basis, it was an internal report that was taken forward by Police Scotland. It is a report that I think, in terms of the outcomes of it, that it should have shared with the Scottish Police Authority. The important thing is for the service to move forward. As I have mentioned, in a number of the areas that have been highlighted in the report, that is a matter that significant progress has been made on a range of different areas. I hope that, in going forward, the Scottish Police Authority will make sure that the issues that were highlighted in the report have been appropriately addressed by the Scottish Police Service, and that it addresses the issues in a way that people can have confidence in the way in which it manages matters. I have four more members who wish to ask supplementary questions, so please keep the supplementary questions relatively brief and the answers similarly. Daniel Johnson First of all, I will begin by expressing my disappointment that we are not having a full statement, because this is an extremely serious matter. While the Cabinet Secretary went to some length to explain how those matters have concluded, what he did not say, or make any comment on, was the action of suppression of key allegations in the report itself. That was an action that he had in the very early days of Police Scotland, so what does it say about the organisation's culture and ethos, that those were some of the very first acts of the chief constable? Is the cabinet secretary confident that no such manipulation of reports or suppression of evidence of wrongdoing has taken place since? Finally, let's return to the original question. When did he first become aware of this? Was it before last night, and if so, why has he not brought this before Parliament before now? John Swinney The nature of the report that the BBC published in this matter was brought to my attention when they published information relating to their programme, and the fact that they were focusing on this particular report. As I have already mentioned, the report has not been shared with the Scottish Government. It is not something that we have a record of having ever received. It predates myself when I was in office in the first place. Can I say to him in relation to the content of this particular report that it is a report that I think Police Scotland at that time should have shared with the Scottish Police Authority? The Scottish Police Authority is an opportunity to look at those issues, and I think that it has been a mistake in their part not to do so. It should have done so at that particular point. What I would expect is that the Scottish Police Authority is very clear with Police Scotland that any internal reports of this nature where issues of concern are being highlighted that they should be brought to the attention of the Scottish Police Authority, who are the appropriate body that have oversight of those matters. That is what I would expect to happen in the future, should any report of this nature be brought forward by Police Scotland. Rona Mackayde will be followed by John Finnie. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the progress that Police Scotland has made since its creation is reflected by high public confidence in the police and the lowest crime rate in 43 years? There is significant progress that has been made by Police Scotland. As I mentioned in my response to Liam Kerr's question on this matter, many of the issues that are highlighted in that report, including the actions of the counter-corruption unit and the use of targets, particularly around matters such as stop and search, are issues that have been addressed and taken forward. The structure, for example, about staff not feeling as though their wellbeing has been addressed, has a significant amount of work that has been taken forward in the service to address issues of welfare and wellbeing. Something that the DCC of Livingston has been absolutely keen and instrumental in taking forward in the force to make sure that they are appropriately addressed more effectively and has put in place a whole range of measures to address those matters. Where there have been issues in relation to questions about illegal actions, my understanding is that, at that time, matters were referred to the Crown Office for them to consider those issues in relation to the legacy forces. I am sure that members will recognise that the nature and findings of the report and the title, Forcing Crisis, is not reflective of where Police Scotland is today. It is certainly not reflective of the dedication and hard work of thousands of police officers and staff day in, day out, who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe. I, in my view, believe that that title itself does a disservice to those who work hard to keep our communities safe day in, day out. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for doing so. John Finnie, full about Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you. I share the cabinet secretary's view that that title is a fiction. We need to take reassurance on the serious criminal accusations that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service intervened in respect of those in the legacy case. I take some reassurance from the police authority continuing an interest in that. There seems to be a marked unwillingness from colleagues to move on in issues. A lot of that is rehash of things that, if you care to look into, Mr Kerr, you will see that the Justice Committee or, indeed, the Police Committee have looked at. I wonder, cabinet secretary, when there is not one unsolved murder during the life of Police Scotland, when organised crimes were being tackled and there was a significant conviction recently for very, very vicious people working on an international basis. Were victims of sexual crime—my colleagues do not seem to want to listen to this—when victims of sexual crime have growing confidence in the police service, I have confidence in the police, we will continue to scrutinise. Do you have confidence in the Police Scotland? The member, I think, made a number of important points. I do recognise that the members were not wanting to listen to them because it was good news because, as ever, when it comes to the Opposition parties in here, they are not here to support the police service, they are here to kick it when they can in every opportunity, they take that opportunity. It is reflective of the standard that we have come to expect from just-as-spokes persons in the Opposition benches these days. What I can say, though, is that the member is correct, is that there is no unsolved murders which are caught since Police Scotland has been created. There has been significant progress made in tackling issues around CSN organised crime and the recent conviction of nine individuals at Glasgow High Court. There is a clear example of the very significant progress that we have been able to make, particularly with a single-command structure, in giving clear focus to tackling those types of very significant serious and organised crime groups. How we are not just significant here in Scotland but internationally are significant within the organised crime sector. That, in itself, I believe, is a demonstration of the very real benefits that have come from the way in which the services are addressing those issues. I have absolutely no doubt that the service will continue to make improvements. There are areas in which there continues to be challenges, areas in which they will want to continue to make improvements and address issues of concern going forward. However, I have absolutely no doubt that the service is moving in the right direction, and the reason that it is moving in the right direction is because of the dedication and the commitment of those thousands of men and women each day officers and staff who do everything in their power to make sure that they are keeping our communities safe. I have every confidence that the service is moving in the right direction. Alex Cole-Hamilton I have to say that I take some exception of accusations of Opposition members doing police down when, with the exception of the last two questions, we have actually been holding this Government to account. Up until yesterday, it was clear that this review was still being kept secret by Police Scotland. Indeed, the police rejected a freedom of information request for it five weeks ago. Is not the real reason that the Scottish ministers have shown no interest in obtaining the original of the report because it calls into question the effectiveness of their centralisation of power in the police and, indeed, their toothless police authority? Michael Matheson No, I do not agree with that. For the very reason is that the actual report was highlighting, to a large extent, issues that were related to conduct in previous legacy forces. I am not sure whether the member gave proper consideration to that, but he would probably raise some serious doubts about the quality of oversight of what was going on in those previous legacy forces in addressing some of those issues that Police Scotland has inherited and is having to deal with. I can assure him that, as I said in my original answer, the Scottish Police Authority is very clear that it wants urgent assurances from Police Scotland on the issues that were raised in that particular report and that they are being addressed and have been addressed in the service. I made reference to a number of the areas that progress has been made on. For example, the issue of stop-and-search is former colleague Alison McInnes was at the forefront of demanding the way in which we needed to change the way in which stop-and-search was addressed. Someone who made a very positive contribution to the policing debate and trying to change policing and to improve the way in which it operated in society. That is a legacy that is reflecting the change, and part of the report was highlighting some of the issues around the culture of targets that were set and the culture of fear that that created. Part of that was driven by the targets around stop-and-search, something that has now changed very significantly. I assure the member that progress has been made in a number of those different areas, which is a matter for the producers to decide on whether they wish to reflect that in the course of the programme that they produce. However, I have already mentioned several of them here today, which were referenced in that particular report. I have no doubt that the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland will want to continue to drive all those improvements in the months and years ahead. To ask the Scottish Government what process it will use to monitor the effectiveness of the pricing per unit of alcohol. Well, today is truly a landmark day as Scotland becomes the first country worldwide to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol. NHS Health Scotland is leading the monitoring and evaluation plan for minimum unit pricing. The plan involves an extensive portfolio of research examining a number of areas, including implementation and compliance, price and product range, alcohol sales and consumption, alcohol-related harm, economic impact on the industry and attitudes to minimum price. Some studies will be carried out by NHS Health Scotland and others commissioned. An overarching governance board and evaluation advisory group for the individual studies has been established. For some studies, baseline data collection has already been completed. I look forward to seeing the data from the evaluation programme as we embark on this next phase of our journey to tackle Scotland's relationship with alcohol. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. With the intention of minimum unit pricing being part of a wider health policy, can the cabinet secretary set out the number of lives that it is hoped will be saved as a result of its implementation? I can tell Ash Denham that the University of Sheffield modelling estimates that if a minimum unit price of £0.50 was introduced in the first year, there would be 58 fewer alcohol-related deaths and almost 1,300 fewer alcohol-related hospital admissions. Over a five-year period, we could expect 392 fewer alcohol-related deaths during that period and 8,254 fewer alcohol-related hospital admissions. For some illnesses that are associated with drinking alcohol, it might take a longer time to see the full benefit of drinking less. We believe that it will take probably 20 years for all the benefits of the policy to be realised, but there will be substantial progress made over that period of time. Could the cabinet secretary outline if the model that Scotland has now introduced is one that other countries are looking at and that other countries are possibly considering implementing themselves? The member may be aware that the Welsh Assembly introduced legislation for a minimum unit pricing of alcohol in October 2017 and Ireland is also looking at the policy. I understand that the Australian Northern Territories are currently considering a minimum floor price for alcohol. Minimum unit pricing is a landmark policy that is getting gaining interest across the world and other countries are watching Scotland with interest. I would certainly hope that all other parts of the UK will eventually follow suit. I know that, certainly among the health professions and the chief medical officer in England, I think that he is a supporter of that. I think that there will be growing voices for other parts of the UK to follow suit. I am conscious that we are well over time, but if the members will be brief, I will take two from bench questions to Miles Briggs. Will the assessment process give any consideration to a banded minimum unit price approach, which was highlighted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in their recent report and was submitted to the Scottish Government's consultation on price? As I have said before, we will keep price under review, but it is important to establish the evidence based on the 50p price. Obviously, as the evaluation goes forward, we will keep price under review, and we will come back to look at what is important now, is that we get on with the implementation of the policy. In monitoring the effectiveness of MUP, will the cabinet secretary commit to looking at two other areas—one, the downward trend in investment in alcohol and drug partnerships and the impact that that has on our alcohol strategy? Secondly, where the money goes, so would we look at having a social responsibility levy so that additional resources that come from MUP do not go to supermarket profits, but instead can be invested in our NHS and support services? It is good to finally see Labour supporting this policy. It is an important policy, and he will be aware, as I have said already, that the evaluation process will, of course, capture where any revenues land because they could land in a number of different places, and that will be monitored as part of the evaluation process. I have explained why that would not be the right time to introduce a public health supplement or a social responsibility levy, which, of course, was aimed at addressing local circumstances, rather than minimum unit pricing. Again, of course, we will keep that under review. In terms of spending alcohol and drug partnerships, I would have thought that Anasaro would have been aware that the budget included £20 million of additional spend for alcohol and drug partnerships, something, unfortunately, that he voted against. Thank you. That concludes topical questions. We will turn now to a statement by Marie Todd on the agreement of multi-year funding package for expansion of funded early learning and childcare. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, and I would encourage any member who wishes to ask a question of the minister to press their request-to-speak buttons.


Let's begin our time in a word of prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Almighty God our Father in heaven we give you thanks for the beauty of creation and for the joy of assembling together For the presence of Christ For the gift of your son our Savior and Lord and in his precious and powerful name We ask you now to pour out the Holy Spirit upon us To illuminate our minds with the word of your truth To in kindle our hearts with the fire of your holy love But to empower us to go forth to live out all that we've learned to be informed but to be transformed So hear us as we pray our father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen. Well as Kimberly mentioned, we've been hearing a lot about well fear a pandemic of fear but also How to cultivate a pure and holy fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom We're living in challenging times We all recognize it even the optimists among us. I should say both of you Kimberly and whoever else is so positive as she is You know, we do have six kids at our youngest just graduated from Franciscan in May and He is continuing to read. He just is a lover of books. I don't know exactly where he gets that from But he's really into Charles Dickens and more recently a tale of two cities Which I think all of us know at least the first line It was the best of times and it was the worst of times and Dickens Of course was not simply talking about what London in Paris, you know, or the French Revolution He was describing what it's like to go through history. I'm reminded of A book that a good friend has recently published Austin Roos has published a book under siege Perhaps you recall the movie from the 80s, but he says something like this. Let's face it. We're surrounded We're outnumbered. We're outgunned and We're infiltrated So what must we conclude that there has never been a better time to be a faithful Catholic Are you serious? You really believe that I do. I'd pass a polygraph. I'd get a high a But it calls for a supernatural outlook and one that needs to be renewed Continuously at least for me But we can take God at his word and we can especially do that if we come to know His word in sacred scripture and we come to know his word in Jesus the word made flesh Who did more than just fulfill every promise? He surpassed the highest hopes of the Hebrew people He brought a fulfillment that went beyond their wildest dreams and it will for us as well But we need that supernatural outlook you go back into the Old Testament and as early as Genesis 32 there is this Fratricidal feud this rivalry between the two sons of Isaac Jacob and Esau and no wonder because Jacob supplanted Esau and So Jacob is trying to figure out a way to be reconciled with his own brother And that's what Genesis 32 describes and he is going with great fear because his older twin brother is stronger and more powerful and so What is he gonna do? Well in verses one and two of Genesis 32 He looks up and he sees Angels of God this is the army of God and with that he can go forth Otherwise he probably would have shrank back and then of course he has in the second half of that chapter an all-night wrestling match a Mixed martial arts sort of thing with an angel and he gets the blessing by the end. I Mean God does right straight with crooked lines Back in Jacob's day, but also in ours and likewise in Joshua's time Here is Joshua crossing the Jordan with the second generation come of age and what does he discover? Oops, we forgot one thing. None of them are circumcised Now I won't go into any details. I promise unfortunately scripture doesn't either but they had to receive this Covenant ritual which they had not received for 40 years in order to celebrate the Passover and now we can get on with the Conquest of the Promised Land and then suddenly this being appears before Joshua and Joshua demands to know are you on our side or on the other side and This angel says as commander of the armies of God at which point Joshua rightly took off his sandals and Then he knew that the battle was the Lord's and so the weapons would be spiritual supernatural And that's how we had that supernatural outlook and continuously through salvation history the Old Testament describes how Elijah take it up in a chariot of fire hands this blessing on to Alisha and Alisha recognizes that God's people have become corrupt. They're infiltrated They're surrounded. They're outnumbered and So Alisha's servant is just cowering in fear and so he prays Lord open his eyes that he may see and at once Alisha's servant looked around and above the mountains Were these angelic armies in chariots that greatly outnumbered all of the Israelite enemies That doesn't happen very often, but it's not just in the Old Testament. I like the The passage that we just read recently in the liturgy in Acts 12 The first of the 12 apostles was martyred by Herod and so Peter was arrested and he looked to be next. He's in jail. He's in chains. He's surrounded middle of the night Oh Get up Okay, get dressed Whatever follow me And he does and the chains fall off the doors all open and Suddenly he finds himself out in the middle of the night Free and then he says something now. I am sure the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me It's about time Peter, you know So often we tend to forget that the Lord is with us more than we are with him We affirm the real presence when we come before the Blessed Sacrament But perhaps it's time for us to admit the virtual absence That is me. I am there, but I am distracted. I am weary. I am sincere, but I'm also divided of heart and So we've got to recognize That God loves us more than we love ourselves He loves our loved ones more than we love them and he calls us he commands us To love him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. How does that work? Who else can do that? Since when can love be legislated Well, really and truly it can't be unless you happen to be the Lord God and then suddenly you don't just slip this, you know Bill into Congress and get it through of the 613 commandments that constitute the law of Moses Even the lawyer agreed with our Lord as to which of them was the greatest Deuteronomy 6 5 following the Shema here Oh, Israel the Lord your God is one Lord and you shall love the Lord your guy with all of your heart mind soul and strength Well, is it really fair? Lord to legislate love to command that. Oh, yeah Because he's loved us into existence out of nothing He's loved us to the present day and he who is faithful get us all the way home and make us holy and So it is only reasonable To respond with love it is right and Just And I think we have to take God at his word I'd like to just kind of create for a moment a narrative arc That would lead us from Luke 24 to the ascension You remember Luke 24. It's my favorite story in all of the Bible. It's the Emmaus road story And I'm always tempted to start there But I'm always finding it difficult to get out because the story is just so exciting for me I get more out of it every year Clopus and his companion are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus It's Easter Sunday and Remember they meet up with an apparent stranger and for some reason they don't recognize them He withholds his own identity the risen Savior and And so he asked them what they're talking about and of course they say are you the only one who doesn't know? Which is a good example of Luke's sense of humor as well as Jesus Is he the only one who doesn't know the things that have happened in this city? He is the only one who does know Exactly what has happened and why and what difference it's gonna make for the rest of all of history But he plays along what things? Concerning Jesus of Nazareth the prophet mighty indeed and word before God and the people and they basically recount all that has happened Because this was the single darkest week of their lives After this amazing grace filled time that lasted days weeks months years following Jesus And at some point you'd expect our Lord to say time out take a closer look But he doesn't he lets them go on until they're finally done as They recount some women from our company who came back from the tomb with a vision of angels and said that he is raised And at this point you'd think he'd give them some comfort. Hey, it's not as bad as you think cheer up trust me But instead he rebukes them a foolish man and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken and And suddenly he begins to conduct this long Bible study that lasted for hours Mile after mile and again press pause and ask yourself if you were the Lord of lords and the king of kings And this was your first day back from the dead. How do you think you'd spend it? I mean drop in on pilot Caiaphas the Sanhedrin, you know pyrotechnics. I'm back It's not looking good for you I mean we could come up with a list of at least 15 or 20 options But I dare say that none of us would have on that list that my first day back from the dead as the risen Lord of lords would be to spend a really long journey Spending hours leading a Bible study with Moses and the law and the prophets To show that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer all of these things before entering into his glory with two lowly people who don't even recognize me You know, I am convinced this is a an aside, but I am convinced that quite possibly we have neglected one of the most Wonderful attributes of God God is all-powerful omnipotent. He's all-knowing omniscient He's present everywhere on the presence But I am convinced that we may be in for a surprise when we enter eternity to find out that he's also Omni humorous That a billion years of joy will pass by like a second and will realize that was the first minute of eternity This is the divine comedy that goes beyond Dante and So they just walk hours Mile after mile and what are they feeling their hearts are burning? But they can't admit it until finally they arrive at the village. He there at the table He takes blesses breaks and gives the bread and finally their eyes are opened to the risen Savior And finally Jesus says it's about time No, he doesn't he vanishes and this is a deliberate disclosure of the real presence of the risen Savior in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread And so that departure was itself a way of teaching and What do they do they admit did not our hearts burn within us as he opened the scriptures and it's a curious Thing that Luke does as he's opening the scriptures and as he's breaking the bread their eyes are opened they go all the way back and Get to Jerusalem they find the 11 minus Thomas and They recount what has happened and I can just picture Peter listening Wondering why wait, what's your name clopus? Okay, and your friend, okay? And we were here the whole time and you're telling us that Jesus chose to spend most of Easter Sunday with you Just saying you know I could feel clopus maybe getting defensive and saying well, you know, maybe if you hadn't denied in three times, you know Well, it wouldn't have taken me hours to recognize him even then, you know This is an opportunity for you know these laypeople like clopus and the clergy the hierarchy our first pope to square off But instead it really is a kind of partnership We're the laity who have seen there is an Lord just bear witness to the spiritual heartburn We had for hours until finally we recognized him in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread And this wasn't a flashback because clopus and this friend weren't numbered among the 12 they weren't in the upper room So it's not just a deja vu Where else have we seen someone take bless break and give no This is the unveiling of the real presence of the risen Savior in the Eucharist and As these 10 disciples are trying to figure out what to do with it Suddenly who appears and leads the second lengthy Bible study of Easter Sunday our Lord Clearly he seems to prioritize the importance of knowing the word of God more than many of us Perhaps we should rethink our priorities But it's not to make them Bible scholars They weren't biblically illiterate they knew or at least they thought they knew because they had kind of read Moses and the law and the prophets and the Psalms, but now that Christ was risen It's almost essential to read the scriptures backwards in order to see How it was Intended from the beginning because we always tend to think usually unconsciously that what God has done through his Son by the power of the spirit has to be plan B because of how badly we blew it But what if just maybe this was plan a and we had to become Utterly convinced that what Jesus says and John's gospel is true that apart from me you can do Nothing, I mean I can I can do a lot of things. I teach you know I can Clean the garage Don't ask I can though But no we can't do anything supernatural we can't do anything worth eternal life apart from him But we don't really believe that until we're forced to and That's what happens and that's why the Old Testament is like a story in search of an ending Because we usually think that God helps those who help themselves right that's in the Bible No, that's Benjamin Franklin and so we have to recognize that God is not our copilot He is the Lord and so We have to learn how to live our lives in a new way. Well, let's trace that narrative arc From Easter Sunday to a sentient Thursday Because there we read in Matthew 28 verses 18 19 and 20 all about what Jesus gives them as their marching orders as our marching orders and it isn't ambiguous verse 18 begins with this announcement all Authority in heaven and earth has been given to me We've heard it so much. Perhaps we haven't pondered it enough Because you know when you step back and really look at it upon closer analysis, it seems like a gross Overstatement all authority in heaven and earth will be given to you at the end of time Lord When you come back and it's no more mr. Nice guy and it's you know payback But no, he says all authority in heaven earth has been given to me all authority in heaven and on earth Yep, that is the announcement as he proceeds to prepare them for his ascension Because he's going to take the throne of the universe Now as the second person of the Godhead Jesus has always been King and Lord But now he has come down to take our humanity and he is going up to divinize our humanity which is now his and To make that accessible by the Holy Spirit through the sacraments But especially in the blessed sacrament the Eucharist all Authority in heaven and earth has been given to me not will be not most of it, but all of it So what well because of that announcement the commandment comes next and what is that go there for and make disciples of all nations Again, we've heard it. We call it the great commission We think about it and in my generation. I might describe it as the great omission and Why because listen carefully to what our Lord said to them Go there for and make disciples in all the nations No of all the nations now the Greek term for nations there is ethnic We could translate that Gentiles we could translate that ethnic groups We could translate that communities because it isn't just the gargantuan secular nation states that we associate with the word nation today In any case, what is he talking about go and make disciples of all nations? Yeah, and the word for disciple is interesting, but they taste it comes from on Donald Which means not just to kind of listen not just to kind of learn, but the study to memorize to follow the rabbi as a disciple It means to really allow your mind and your heart to be reconfigured So go there for and make disciples of all nations Not just individuals within all nations But if all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus There isn't a single person on this planet Jesus doesn't point to and say mine. You are mine I bought you with my own blood right father. Yes, son There isn't a family. There isn't a neighborhood. There isn't a town. There is an estate All of this belongs to him as One inner city pastor here in Steubenville said he paid the cost to be the boss Amen, so go there for and make disciples of all nations Which of course includes persons married couples families and neighborhoods But wow the scope of the great commission Eludes us because we don't even think that's within the realm of possibility But it's not a suggestion. It's not merely a divine proposal It's a commandment and so it represents our marching orders, but is it reasonable? come on now as A man in the White House says come on man You think about that? I mean, it's a band of 12 now down to 11 You know and you want to make disciples of all nations in the first century when the Roman Empire is in charge of most of the World then you ought to choose the 12 from the Roman Senate the most educated the most eloquent the most popular Yeah But no you go to the backwaters of Palestine up to Gadda Lee and you choose fishermen and tax collectors Lord with all due respect What were you thinking I? Suspect he knew because God always tends to prefer to do less with more to get all the glory and So these 12 minus one hear him say go forth What are the chances zilch and yet against all odds what happened? Slowly, but surely like a pebble in the pond that sends out the ripples The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church, but especially the Apostles But that's not all folks the command is to make disciples of all nations But how well the promise is Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Why is that a promise? Because we can't do it on our own This is where hope comes in Hope is desire for a difficult good and Eternal life is not just difficult. It's humanly impossible, but with God all things are possible and with baptism We are not just redeemed from sin. We're not just redeemed from hell We're not just redeemed from everlasting condemnation if that was all it was that would be good news But it's far better than that. We are redeemed for Sonship sharing Jesus own sonship for rebirth Regeneration through baptism that makes us children of God more than our six kids are the children of Scott and Kimberly Han Really and truly? So this pledge that our Lord gives shows us that the divine initiative didn't cease when Jesus ascends to heaven and So Baptism is the first of the seven sacraments and that reminds us that the sacraments are the powerful things that God does To make up for what we lack to give us all that we need It doesn't make holiness Automatic or easy it makes it possible and Then comes the instruction further instruction teaching them to observe whatsoever. I have commanded you Not just the natural moral law not just the Ten Commandments, but whatsoever Jesus has commanded us When you look at the Sermon of the Mount turn the other cheek and love your enemy it goes beyond the 613 Commandments So how is this burden easy? How is his yoke light? I mean it just well apart from the Holy Spirit. This would be a counsel of despair We would be hopeless, but because he's going to conclude by saying Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age and how is he with us through the Holy Spirit? And so a sentient Thursday sets in the motion the first novena as the church waits with our lady in Jerusalem Waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit to come down upon them Just as we need the power of the Holy Spirit to come down upon us and then we go forth like they did and Against all odds within three or four centuries the Roman Empire this ancient culture of death corruption Moral relativism and violence Becomes what even secular historians describe as Christendom read Tom Holland's book Dominion He's an agnostic historian Who tries to explain to the people in woke culture that the very Tradition you're canceling you're cannibalizing Without the Christian values of the last 2,000 years this agnostic historian says we wouldn't even have a comprehension of love It's an exciting but challenging thing to recognize that God Transformed the Roman Empire and made it Christendom it was flawed defective never utopian to be sure But it's what John Paul once referred to as an example of a civilization of love I mean we know that the Holy Roman Empire was not holy It wasn't Roman it was moved to Constantinople all of those things we might have learned in public school But the fact is if God could do it back then against all odds There's no reason for us to conclude that he can't do it again or that he doesn't want to he wants to and he commands us to So I think it's time for us to reassess What we do in the mass in the lines that we? Recite and we hear in every Eucharistic liturgy the Lord be with you And with your spirit. Yeah, lift up your hearts and we lift them up to the Lord Let us give thanks to the Lord our God and it is right and just Dig them at Ustam est Dig them it is right. It is fitting. It is proper. It is our dignity It isn't demeaning to give God praise But it's not just right. It's just And this isn't a lower form of justice This is the highest and the hardest but The Greatest justice, you know when we think of justice we often reduce it to commutative justice, which is Transactional you pay for the groceries before you leave We might think of distributive justice for the common good what used to be called equity before that term was hijacked and So those are the two forms of justice aren't they no there's another one there is preeminent justice Because if justice is giving to others what you owe them then commutative justice means checking out paying for your groceries Distributive justice also means paying your taxes and the speeding ticket to for that matter and Observing the laws from that point on and these sorts of things that create for the common good social harmony But what about the debt we owe our parents? Can we ever pay them back by giving them life and love food clothing shelter and nurture? No, so what do we do? We honor our father and mother and so right after the first three commandments in the 10 where we Worship God and him alone. We don't take his name in vain But with sincerity and integrity and we keep the Lord's day Then the next form of justice is to honor your parents and no wonder And this is the ancient virtue of Piatos Piety and Likewise honoring our elders our rulers those father and mother figures who lead us and guide us in the social order But there's a higher form of justice the highest form of justice the preeminent forms of justice is What's Cicero? called Religio To rebind ourselves to heaven to the deity and it wasn't just Cicero. It was Seneca. It wasn't just the Romans It was the Greeks it was Plato an Aristotle who recognized the fact that There is a form of justice and remember that justice is the highest virtue Well, we don't use that word virtue enough these days. And so what do we mean by virtue? Well, I mean virtues are to the soul what muscles are to the body Just as muscles make us strong so that we can do more and more good more for more and more people more and more easily The virtues enable us to do that from the heart with the mind and the will and so it is Right and just Which implies that it's wrong and unjust It's a cosmic injustice to not give God thanks and praise We owe him more than all of our parents put together Than all of the leaders that we have to obey He is the source of our parents and our leaders as well as the grocery store And everything else so Religion as a form of justice is a virtue that Even the pagans in ancient Greco-Roman times recognized Augustine quotes him in the city of God He purifies it because he warns of the danger of false religion Irreligion idolatry superstition and all of that and he shows that the city of God and the city of man are Not two entirely different civilizations because one is religious and the other ones not because the true religion has this unique power To form a civilization of love and he traces it all the way back to Genesis and Then the city of man which is defined by the love of self even to the contempt of God is not without religion But it's run by false religion idolatry Where the rulers want to be worshipped they might not say it in so many words But you can tell by the way they wheeled power that they want to be regarded as The source of law Well, once you identify the source of law and the standard of justice if so factive you've identified the deity It might be a false God But as Dylan Bob Dylan sang in his conversion days back in nine in the 70s you got to serve somebody Homo religiosa, that's what Augustine says. We're not just homo sapiens who seek wisdom We are rational animals as Aristotle said we are social animals, but we are religious homo liturgic We worship either rightly or wrongly and So to worship God with all of our heart mind soul and strength is not only reasonable It is right and just But not to worship the one true God after he's given us his own son is not a misdemeanor. It's not a felony It's a kind of capital offense with eternal consequences And not because God is getting back at us No in time in history. God punishes his people just like Kimberly and I punished our kids.  What does he mean? Well, he's looking at history the same way the ancients did and recognizes the fact that Religion has a unique capacity to form civilizations In fact, if you look at the societies that become civilizations are according to historians Not only are they always with the religion the religion is always front and center Now apart from Israel almost all of them are false Idolatrous and so the prophets have got to warn the people against those errors that come from the pit back then and there but also here and now and So We say these lines, but have we learned them or have we only learned them by road? It is truly right and just our duty and our salvation So it is right and just implies that it's wrong and unjust and it's not a minor injustice, but a massive one But then the next pair is It is our duty and our salvation. Well, which one is it? Is it our duty or our salvation? It's both Why because God is fathering us as beloved sons and daughters and even though we're prodigal sons and daughters Who are wayward and have wandered far off into wickedness? He wants to get us home more than we'll ever want to be home and So it is our duty and our salvation Once a week. No always. Well in the church. No everywhere Do you really believe it? It is right and just It is our duty and our salvation always and everywhere To give him thanks Lord That sets it right Holy father almighty and eternal God through Christ our Lord and then as the prayer continues which we've heard since we were Little in your case if you're cradle Catholics for the last 35 years for me We're described as a chosen race a loyal priest at a holy nation You haven't seen my parish Holy yeah, okay We'll get to that in just a few minutes. I Already mentioned that earlier today that when we speak of the church as one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church We're not talking about the Roman Catholic Church that is just simply on earth global planetary international no The Catholic Church is Catholic because it's universal the head of the church is not the Pope The head of the church is Christ and he is in heaven and the heart of the church is the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Angels and Saints don't form a higher and holier denomination. They are the primary members of the Catholic Church and We are secondary members. We're the pilgrim church. We're called to be the militant church. So often we're the somnolent church sleeping But the fact is there aren't two churches. There's one and it's united by the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and it's holy because the Saints and the angels in the presence of God Live the life of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit. It's one holy. It's Catholic It's universal and it's apostolic because the Apostles aren't dead They're alive in heaven and they're more alive than we are and they pray far better than we do And they're hoping that we would turn to them and ask them for prayers because they're truly our spiritual fathers and older brothers And it isn't quaint imagery that we you know concoct on our own and project into heaven to kind of domesticate the The celestial realm they're more of a family than the haunts could ever be And this is who we are Because this is who God is as our father Sending his eternal Son to give us the spirit of sonship through the waters of baptism to be reborn Again, we're not primarily redeemed from we're redeemed for It's one thing for Israel to come out of Egyptian bondage, but the exodus is primarily ordered to What you're going to find and that is not just former slaves, but sons of God You're going to worship the Lord you're going to find out that this nation is now his family But remember this make disciples of all nations God called Israel My firstborn son at the burning bush go tell Pharaoh Moses that Israel is my firstborn son What does that imply about Egypt and all the other nations? They're younger siblings who have wandered off and so God wants to groom Israel So that through his firstborn son Jesus becoming man he might make disciples of all nations Which means an international family? So this goes back to the Old Testament Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord we read in Psalm 33 But that isn't retired with the Old Testament. No Jesus warns the Pharisees I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it and Among the earliest nations Ethiopia the Armenians even before Constantine was baptized Now I admit we don't really think this way in fact we tend to think that we shouldn't think this way You know or else our enemies are going to be confirmed in the suspicions that they have that you keep using the language of the Lord to be Jesus Christ and that has Social and cultural implications as well as moral and legal ones. Oh, no. No, it doesn't. No, this is just a private matter Is it really? I? Mean we are rational animals We've got to love the Lord with all of our heart mind soul and strength But we're all so social animals and so the catechism is very clear on this it says and I quote from 2105 the duty of offering God genuine worship concerns Man both individually and socially this is the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and Societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ Now you wouldn't begin the sentence This is the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies Unless the ones framing the catechism are well aware of the fact that many Catholics throughout the world have forgotten or Denied or wandered away from the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies Toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ. So how do we do that? We take up arms. No But we receive the power of the Holy Spirit We go forth to make disciples of all nations the next sentence by constantly Evangelizing people the church works toward enabling them to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and more is laws and Structures of the communities in which they live just like Vatican to call lay people not only to the universal call to holiness to become saints But also to sanctify the temporal order not just to clean it up not just to sanitize it Not just to create a legion of decency for everyone who makes another movie Although that would be nice The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken and each person the love of the true and the good It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church Christians are called to be the light of the world Thus the church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies There is religious freedom for other people non-christians But it is not unlimited and so we have an opportunity. No, we've got an obligation We've got a privilege to go share the gospel and yet and yet I'm not sure we really want to It reminds me of what happened back in August of 1974 When these two Swedes invaded a bank in Stockholm and they took four hostages in the vault They held them for five days until finally the Prime Minister reluctantly sent in the sent in force and they used tear gas and they they took these two Captors they took I'm sorry. They they took the two robbers who were holding these hostages and then a strange thing happened and That is the hostages Were upset with the police Not because they were injured they weren't and in the trial they not only spoke out in defense of The robbers their captors they tried to help raise money for their legal defense Why no one knew and so psychologists studied this incident and that's how the Stockholm syndrome entered the American vocabulary Because sometimes you internalize the values of your captors as a coping mechanism as a way of dealing with this stress that lasts for hours for a day and then for days and Either you're going to be humbled and admit the fear or you're going to internalize their values and Suddenly everything is inverted And I would suggest that there may be a spiritual Stockholm syndrome That we have internalized the values of a secularized culture that wants to privatize religion It considers the voicing of religious belief in the public square Religion is irrelevant. In fact, it's dangerous if you appeal to that in any kind of public context well Dr. Mary Healy last night Disabused us of that with the examples of the apostles and we have the martyrs and so we have not just the opportunity But the obligation the privilege as well You know, I'm not saying that every single Catholic is you know a victim of the Stockholm syndrome But I would say that as American Catholics we forget that we have dual citizenship like Paul reminds the Philippians in chapter 3 verse 20 He says our citizenship is in heaven. He's not asking the Philippian believers to renounce their Citizenship in Philippi. He's just reminding them that they have a temporal and eternal a human and a divine citizenship as American Catholics do too and So we have obligations toward our country Patriotism gratitude and all of the respect we owe our leaders and at the same time We recognize that Christ is the king of kings He is the Lord of lords and it's not just a theory or other world here at the end of time People say yeah, but Jesus said my kingship is not in this world He didn't say that in John 18 36 He says my kingship is not of this world if my kingship were of this world My servants would fight that I'm not be handed over but My kingship is not of this world means it's not a majority vote. It's not the power of the emperor Caesar No Pilate says so you are a king you say I'm a king for this I was born for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth everyone who is of the truth Here's my voice and Pilate asks the question which is really not a question But the cynical voice of many politicians down through the ages. What is truth? What is truth when you've got power when you've got money when you've got the Caesar backing you well truth is the essence of reality and So we've got that on our side even if we have people who deny the notion of reality Objective truth and say that's hate speech, especially if it ventures into the moral realm But it's not rude. It's not un-American. It's not wrong. It's not inappropriate Oh banish this illicit thought of bringing credit It's not going to be by force, but it will be by faith hope and love To withhold the faith from a neighbor because you think it might alienate him is not an expression of respect Or friendship. It's a betrayal of friendship To say well, I want holiness for myself It's good But not if you add well not for my spouse. That's up to her. Well, you want it because it's holy matrimony Yes, I want it for me for my wife, but not for our kids No, we wanted for our kids, but not the neighbor's kids No, we want it for the neighborhood, but not the city of Steubenville. No, we want it for the city But not Ohio. No, we wanted for our state, but forget the other 49 We wanted for all 50 states for the entire nation, but not the others We want to make America great, but no other one else. We want to make every nation holy starting with ourselves our Families our neighborhood our parish our town Where does Jesus draw the line say oh not that far? I Didn't die for them And so we've got to rethink this This is what John Paul was calling for the new evangelization that will lead to a civilization of love Because the true religion not only has the power to form a civilization of love like no other religion It has something even more and that is the power to form saints The power to do things for us that we can't do for ourselves Such as happened on May 21st of this year when I saw my son our son Jeremiah Get ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Steubenville by Bishop Monfort and laying his hands upon our son our son It was long-awaited it was well attended But I mean it was special special it was surreal You know the line formed for people to get blessed by our son the priest father Jeremiah I'm the father. I'm the breadwinner But even if I speak the words of consecration at the dinner table, it's still bread I Watched we all did as our bishop in the line of Apostolic succession knelt to get blessed by this newly ordained son of ours who's now our sacramental father and Then the line formed it got long and eventually it came down to Kimberley and me and we were not dry-eyed I assure you and Within the next day we see him say his first mass the words of consecration. Just who do you think you are son?   I Mean this doesn't just call for Eucharistic faith This doesn't just call for Eucharistic devotion This calls for Eucharistic amazement as Pope John Paul said in his last encyclical back in 03 the church of the Eucharist It's amazing how unamazed we are I Honestly believe that the Eucharist is far more unbelievable than we let ourselves believe There is no way it can be true unless of course it is and Then it's amazing how unamazed we are and not just the words of consecration But the words of absolution the line formed on our back porch His niece our nieces and nephews his cousins he heard their confession and then Kimberley's turn and mine and What a good confessor he was to give us the comfort and the encouragement, but above all the words of absolution Our priests become our fathers in the family of God. They raised the dead more than Jesus raised Lazarus He just gave him his body back for a few more years God the Father through Christ by the Spirit raises us up to divine life eternal life. That is the real resurrection The priesthood the words of consecration the words of absolution the real presence Transubstantiation we are so accustomed to these ideas these truths these realities that we don't always see how truly fantastic they are But they're real. They're true. They're beautiful. They're powerful It's what makes us sons and daughters of God. It's what will make us saints and believe me. It is right and just it is our duty and our salvation always and Everywhere to give him thanks and praise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Almighty God our Father in heaven our words fall short when it comes to expressing our Thanksgiving our praise For you excel all creation By fashioning the universe You excel all the other gods the false deities by the truth of your love by the justice of your law and Worship as a command performance for us is our duty, but it is our salvation It is our dignity because by it you get nothing out of it, but you fill us with all of your very life Forgive us for taking so much grace for granted dear father Help us to make up for lost time for the rest of our lives in our in our prayer in our own homes In our neighborhoods our states and nations Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end. Amen. There's never been a better time to be a faithful Catholic. God bless you brothers and sisters