Suspense and the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure, William M. Robeson. They call themselves the beat generation by which they do not mean defeated. They mean beatific, which is to say blissful. They're cool, man. They're way out there. They dig jazz which has no melody and poetry which makes no sense, at least to the rest of us squares. They are kids seeking an answer and to the beat generation, the answer seems to be found in inaction, in non-feeling. They couldn't care less.  Listen, listen then to, like man somebody dig me, starring Ted Reed, which follows in a moment. Another visit with Joe and Daphne Forsythe. Joseph. Why, why, why? Who is she? Who's who? Who are you dreaming about? Was I dreaming? You were talking in your sleep and giggling. How about that? What were you giggling about? I can't remember. Joseph, you mentioned a girl's name. Oh, what name? Sposs. Sposs? Yes, Sposs. Candy Sposs. It sounded like a dancer or a striptease or something. Oh. Oh, what? Well, I must have said Candy Sposs. Candy Sposs is a horse. I bet on him once. You bet on a horse? Yeah, we had a pool. I could have won $3. Well, you should have put the money into savings bonds. They're a much better investment. It was only 50 cents. For 63 cents a day, you can buy a $25 bond a month. And one year's worth of bonds will bring $300 when they mature. What's more, they are guaranteed to be winners. The whole United States stands behind them. So don't waste money betting on horses. Put it in savings bonds. Okay. Can I still dream about horses, though? If you do it quietly. Say, why were you giggling about a horse? And now, like man, somebody dig me, starring Ted Reid. A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. Man like crazy. Man, I dig everything. I dig zen and underarm deodorant. I dig Elvis Presley and Sputniks. I even dig people that drive right on by when I'm hitchhiking. People call me the tennis shoe, because I wear them and because I'm always on the move. But mostly, because I'm cool, man. I could stand out here in the middle of this desert all day. It wouldn't bother me. I'm with you, chick. How far are you going? I just stick with Route 66, man, on to the ocean. We're on our way to Las Vegas. You're going to California? Like I wrote a poem, man. I want to read it to the Pacific Ocean. Read it to the Pacific Ocean? Well, I already read it to the Atlantic. Well, if you read it to the Atlantic, why bother to read it to the Pacific? Man, have you ever read a poem to the Atlantic in January? Well, no. We almost didn't stop for you. Well, most people go take chance on hitchhikers these days.  Look, man, I don't know what you want, but I ain't got it.  Dig, I just stand by the road with my thumb up. If you want to pick me up, cool. If you want to drive on by, too cool. If you want to stop the car and let me out, that's okay with me. Because, man, I'm cool. I just don't care. You're the driver and I'm just along for the ride. Dig? Well, I'm just making conversation. If you're going to Vegas, man, you'll have to turn off at Kingman. I don't dig Vegas. Vegas is for squares. Well, right now I'm going to get me some shut-eye. I'm tired, man. The cops run me out of town last night for building a fire to keep warm. So I'm tired, man. You mean just for building a fire? Like how was I to know all that wood was somebody's house? Pulled down the lids of my eyes and made like I was asleep, but it was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing. This was kicks, man. These squares were real kicks. Turn on the radio, Walter. I don't like that man. Oh, don't be silly. Keep your voice down. Do you want to wake him up? I think he's crazy and I think he's dangerous. Honey, he's perfectly harmless. I see his type on the road a lot lately. It's kind of fad. They call themselves the beat generation.  They just drift. He's harmless. Just the same. I wish we hadn't picked him up. Walter, listen. The hatchet maniac's fourth victim was just found brutally murdered in the small Nevada town of Searchlight, not far from the Arizona border. Only one eyewitness has seen the killer. She describes him as being medium height, dark coloring, and wearing a red nylon jacket and tennis shoes. Walter, you've... All you, your head, Mary, we're in Arizona. But the description fits and he could be carrying anything in that bag of his? You want to look in the bag like... I thought you were asleep. Don't jump. Stay cool. I'll put it in the front seat and you can look see. Man, it don't even zipper shut. So what do you dig inside?  Man, I travel so light, I don't even dig toothbrushes. I don't know what to do. Man, I travel so light, I don't even dig toothbrushes. So what am I going to do with a hatchet? There is one thing about squares they never ever learn. This is Kingman, buddy. Where do you want to get out? Anywhere. We've got to get some gas. Isn't that strange? The streets are almost deserted. With that maniac running loose, everybody's probably locked up indoors. Walter, shouldn't we have turned off by now? We're just about out of town. Yeah. Oh, here's a place. See? Pop's food and gas. We can pull in here and ask and get some gas at the same time. Don't see anybody. Like maybe they're closed. Lights are still on. Well, I'll go inside. Don't leave me, Walter. Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of, Mary. Well, I'm certainly not going to stay out here alone. Like thanks, Chick. Walter! Like who was I to stay in the car when the party's inside? Just as we go through the front door, some cat hustles in from the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron. Oh, there you are. I didn't hear you drive up. Walter, he's got blood on his head. Mary, please don't be alarmed.  That's why I didn't hear you drive up. Oh. We need some gas. Yeah, man, like gasoline. Man, like right away I got eyes to see this cat ain't nobody's pop. And he ain't never run no gas station before. But do you think I'm going to tell squares? I drop my bag at the end of the counter and then I walk around to the back of the station to scrub some of the dirt off my face.  And what do you think happens? Instead of turning right to go to Vegas, they turn to the left. When I come in the cafe, I surprise this cat behind the counter. Oh, man, you walk up on people like too quiet. That's why they call me the tennis shoe. Hey, like your hip, they call me the cat. I can tell why. Where did those two squares go? Mexico. Mexico. They said they were going to Vegas. I know. They asked me where to turn and I told them if they drive long enough, they'll wind up in Mexico. Oh, man. You are too cool. I leave the cat and I'm walking west on 66 with my thumb ready. 10 maybe 15 minutes at the most when this squad car with a flash and light screams up to a stop. Right away they pull out those big shiny pistols and right away I know what they're thinking. This is really going to be crazy. Hold your hands in the air. Man, like go away.  That's better. I'm going to search them, George. Easy, man. Easy. I laugh when people do that. He's clean. What do you got in the bag? I got goodies for Grandma. You dig Grandma? Step away from it. See what's in the bag, George. What is it? We got them. Like God who, man? This is the hatchet killer, Charlie. I look over to dig what's in the bag and I almost flip. There on top of the clean shirt with the dirty collar on top of all that cool poetry on top of an almost full half bottle of wine. There's this hatchet I never seen before. Man, like I'd laugh, but the hatchet is all dirty. We continue with the second act of suspense. How can we recognize devotion to freedom? One way is to be able to identify the Navy Cross established by Congress in 1919. A cross made of bronze. It contains a design of an old sailing ship, a caravelle with crossed anchors and the words, United States Navy on the reverse side. It is suspended from a blue ribbon with a narrow white stripe in the center. This rare award is given to any person serving in any capacity with the naval service of the United States, who distinguishes himself by extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy. Individuals who have received the Navy Cross include sailors who distinguished themselves during America's involvement with Japanese operations in China from 1937 to 1938, and men aboard the U.S. gunboat Panai, which was bombed and sunk in Chinese waters on December 12, 1937. The Navy Cross stands for extraordinary accomplishment which a proud nation notes and acknowledges gratitude. Who is next for the Navy Cross? It can be any dedicated seaman who so conducts himself as to be worthy of the great tradition of this honored symbol of freedom, the Navy Cross. And now, starring Ted Reid, act two of Like Man, Somebody Dig Me. I'll look, buddy. You'd better give us your name and give it to us fast. I told you, man, I'm the tennis shoe. I don't like your flip attitude. So flip, man, flip. I don't know whether you realize it or not, but you're in bad trouble. You've been caught with a murder weapon, no identification, and no alibi. I told you my story, but you don't dig it. You expect me to believe you've just been passing through the state? Don't forget that Bronson cat in Gallup, New Mexico. He's all the alibi I need. I was swinging at a party at his place last night all night. He digs me, so I'm not shook. Well, this is a new kick, Daddy-O. I ain't never been up for murder before. It is too cool. Kingman police. Oh, oh. Yeah, he's here. Oh, oh. It's the Gallup police. Uh-huh. Hello. You got him there with you? Put him on.   Hello? Uh, Mr. Bronson, this is the Kingman police. We got a man here that says you know him.  Well, he calls himself the tennis shoe. Huh? Just a minute. He says he never heard of you. Let me talk to him. Hello, man. Oh, yeah, man. Well, this is me, the tennis shoe. Oh, like I know. Well, tell the man for me. I would, but I'll keep forgetting. Bronson, this is for real. They're trying to pin a murder on me. Crazy, man. You're way out there, way out. Murder, what kicks? Like, man, won't somebody dig me? Now, do you want to tell me why you killed him? But I didn't. You were carrying a hatchet that killed five people. How did it get in your bag? The cat must have put it there. Who's that? I told you already. The guy that was at Pop's place. Who else saw him besides you? I told you the two squares that give me the lift. The man and the woman you sent in the wrong direction? I didn't send them in no wrong direction. This cat did. He's cool. He did it for a kick.  No, I'm innocent. It's all a collection of circumstances. I'm just a victim of the world, man. Take them down and book them for first degree murder. Hey, what's going on out there? Most everybody in town is out front. They're yelling for the hatchet killer. You aren't going to let them in here, chief. If they're making up their minds that they're coming in, it's going to take more than me to stop. Well, you can't let them get me. Don't pay any attention to them. I'm going out there and trying to talk them out of it. They give me a chance to speak my mind. Now, quiet down. Quiet down. What are you going to say? Now, we're all friends and neighbors. I know how you all felt about Pop Daniels. Well, he was a friend of mine, too. But I know you're all well enough to know that you want to see justice done. Here, that's what we brought this rope for. That's why I love the killer. Now, quiet down a minute. Now, just a minute. We want the killer. We want the killer. It's like a nightmare. A million hands pull and drag me out of the jail across the street and into this sleepy little park in the center of town. I try to laugh, man. I mean, it's a new kid being carried around like that. I try to laugh, but no laugh comes. And then I see this rope, the one with a long knot in it. And all of a sudden, I know that the only cat that's going to be swinging at this party is me. In a moment, we continue with the third act of suspense. We have together ample capacity and freedom to defend freedom. This is NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Day after day, month after month, since April 4th, 1949, the activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have moved steadily forward on many fronts. This complete cooperation must and will continue because the concept of national self-sufficiency is out of date. Countries of the free world are interdependent and only in genuine partnership. And by combining their resources, sharing tasks in many fields can progress and safety be found. The United States of America is a part of NATO. You should be aware of and alert to the objectives and programs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. And now, starring Ted Reid, Act 3 of Like Man, Somebody Dig Me. I wonder whatever possessed that man at Pops Place to give us the wrong turn. Oh, I should have paid more attention to my own sense of direction. Oh, that driving and here we are right back in Kingman. Only there was nobody in the street when we came through and now look at that crowd over there in the park. Probably a political rally of some sort. No, look at that rope. They're going to hang somebody. Hey, old timer. Yes, sir. What's going on? Well, he caught that fellow who's been going around chopping up people over in Nevada. But he sure made a mistake when he killed old Pop Daniels here in Kingman this afternoon. We don't put up with that kind of stuff. Look at that man they're putting a rope on. Isn't that the thing? Yes, that's our hitchhiker. They're making a terrible mistake. He was with us all afternoon. Walter, where are you going? They'll hang him if I don't stop them. Walter, come back here. They'll hang you too. Wait! Wait, this man is innocent. All right, let me through. Let me through here. He's innocent. I can prove it. Listen to me. Give me a chance and listen to me. If you hang him, you'll hang an innocent man. I can prove he's innocent because he's been with my wife and me all day. Man, am I glad to see you. After that, it really wasn't any trouble. They told the cops where I'd been. The cops were mad because I wasn't the killer. But there wasn't anything they could do about it. And the next morning I walk out of jail into the sunshine and the fresh air. Like man, it's really great to be alive. And the world looks good. Well, even people look good. But I walk down the main drag and in less than five blocks I pass a little kid that tries to con me into buying up all his newspaper so he can go home early, a neon sign that screams good food and dance, a hundred cars driven by guys that don't own them, and no apology from some guy I bumped into. And then I start wondering what I'm so gone about. Young man. Yeah? Like? I wonder if he'd be so kind. My daughter let me out of her car. She told me the optometrist was straight ahead, but somehow I got turned around. Would you lead me to the right door? Optometrist? Yes, I broke my glasses three days ago. Well, Grandma, I don't know how you did it, but you just drifted yourself down about two doors here. You take my arm. Thank you so much. You're such a kind young man. Now, watch it. There's a step here. My, it's a cool in here. Well, I didn't know you were hip, Grandma. And what nice music on the radio. Yeah, Mom, it's way out. Now, here's a chair.  Oh, thank you so much. Whatever would I have done without you? There's a sign over there says quiet, please. I'll tell the receptionist you're here. Don't go away. Help you? Yes. Are you family or a friend of the deceased? It's my mother. She don't want to view the body. She just wants to sit here and meditate about the dearly departed. I see. So you just leave her alone with her thoughts, and I'll be by and pick her up in a while. Why, we do our best to be a comfort in a time of trial and stress. Man. Oh, I get out on the street and I put it way out in the desert before I fall down and bust out laughing. I think of that old chick sitting in that funeral parlor waiting for a pair of glasses and I just about crack up, man. One thing about Squares, man, they just never, ever learn. Suspense. In which Ted Reid starred in William M. Robeson's production of Like Man, Somebody Dig Me, written by George Bamber. Supporting Ted Reid in Like Man, Somebody Dig Me were Lillian Bief, Bill Quinn, Dawes Butler, Barney Phillips, Jack Moyle, Sam Pierce and Norm Alden. Listen. Listen again next week when we return with another tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.


Live from the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco, extracting the signal from the noise, it's theCUBE, covering Structure 2015. Hey, welcome back, everybody. Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. We are wrapping up two days here at Structure 15, the rebirth of Structure, the second kind of inaugural structure here in downtown San Francisco. And we're really excited to be joined by Charles Bieler from Rally Ventures. Kind of one of the driving forces to get Structure back. So, first off, Charles, welcome back. I don't think you've gone since like 2012, no, something like that. I missed you guys. So congratulations on a good event. Hey, congratulations to you all. So, talk a little bit about why this event is important to the ecosystem and the community. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so eight years ago, right, you look at where Oam started, what he was trying to do with GigOam, which was all purely about content. We go to the people, a lot of the Fortune people who were GigOam, but now are Fortune here. They were front and center, it was all about quality content. It was getting great people, talking about interesting things. The net result of that is today, the CISO from the FBI who spoke yesterday morning, hasn't left the conference for two days. A lot of these conferences, people come, they do their bit, they walk away, here they stick around because they want to hear what other people have to say. They want to network and meet. And so it was a phenomenal event. The team over the course of eight years that built it did an incredible job. And it was really, I mean, everyone was disappointed when it went away. So, we had an opportunity to help a little bit with Claire, Tom, and Derek and the whole team. But really, it's been so much fun to see what they got done here and to see the quality of exactly, exactly what we hope to see, that quality of content. For us, we're early stage enterprise investors, as you know, this is right up our power alley. It would an awesome place to get to hang out for two days. I'm thrilled it worked out. I'm thrilled structures back. Got a long, long ways to run now. And I think everyone who's been part of GigOam for those eight years should be incredibly proud of themselves for what they built and the fact that it really does have this kind of compelling staying power. Well, thanks for inviting us too. I don't think you've ever been at a prior structure event, so we're really excited for you. No, I'm glad this'll be a new addition, hopefully for all of them, would be my goal. I mean, you guys have been great at Node Summit, but it's the same kind of thing, right? I mean, it's what you're trying to do, getting interesting people, sitting in front of the mic, having quick conversations. It's the content that makes this stuff compelling. There are plenty of tech conferences. We all go to them. We all sit in here what vendors have to say. It's really taking those clear lucid moments of true insight that someone like I can go and deal with, someone like you can follow up on it again and so, oh, it's great. I mean, it's a perfect fit for you all with structure, right? Yeah, we're psyched and we're joking internally when we looked at the guest list and who we would have on. I mean, it's just basically a parade of founders and CEOs, which is what we really love to have because they provide the insight and people want to hear from them. Who's inventing the technology? Who's building the companies around the technology? And then, like you said, the FBI, who's actually putting the technology to place in the marketplace? So we're psyched. Actually, a ton of CUBE alumni were here, so, you know. Well, and it's fun that your audience can't see it, but the hallway right behind the camera is where all these speakers are walking. They sort of stop and they look over and they wave and they look at their watches to ask what time they get to come on the CUBE. It's been fun to watch. Yeah, it's great. We have a really active community and we're psyched. So just share some of the insights. So any kind of breakthrough things that you heard this over the last couple of days that you weren't expecting? Anything that was particularly prudent or kind of hard hitting? Yeah, the thing I heard that I was pleased to hear, and I wasn't sure I would. Everyone's talking about containers. I was expecting to hear just a tremendous amount of hype, just container, container, container. A lot of people talking about it, but a lot of realism about where Brian Cantrell's talk today. I thought, really frankly, all the people went through Jason Hoffman who was up there talking about, here's where we really stand today. It's kind of the history of containers. Here's where we stand today. Here's where the opportunities are, but here's the reality of what still needs to be done. I think there's phenomenally compelling opportunity there, but there's still a lot of work to be done. And oversimplifying that as a traditional startup VC thing where it's going to be hot, it's going to be this year, it's going to be next. It was refreshing to kind of hear people are really dealing with it, sit there and talk about that as an issue. And then the other thing for me, and it's close to our, because we love security, love security companies, was the amount of conversation around not security as kind of the afterthought or the end thought, but security through that whole framework. And going back to Arlette, the CISO, from the FBI and others who've been here, I mean, the original CISO for Amazon is here as an attendee. It just came to hear what people had to say, came into town. It's pretty interesting when you get a chance to talk to those people and say, well, what do you think? And they walk through how they think about these frameworks. So to me, it was really refreshing to see that conversation happening on stage. And you guys just bang it out. I mean, it's like talk after talk after talk after talk after talk, a panel of chat, a panel of chat, a panel of chat. If it's great content, people want more. And if it's not great content, you only have to listen for a few more minutes. They're here on stage. Yeah, and they're hanging out. So it's interesting that you talk about kind of the hype cycle and what happened with Docker. We were DockerCon last summer and it was just raging. It's kind of calmed down. And obviously everyone always talks about Moore's Law. But the one I don't think ever gets enough plug is Amara's Law, which is, you know, it's way hyped at the beginning and then it kind of falls off. But we completely underestimate what's going to happen just down the road. And as you really sit back and think what we now do with our mobile phones and that's the primary interaction between a lot of enterprises and their customers. I mean, the future is bright and the accelerant on the core horsepower, the storage capacity, the networking capacity, SDN.  Yeah, absolutely. And I think, I mean, not to say, I think the container sort of revolution, evolution, whatever it's going to be is a hugely compelling one. And the excitement and energy around DockerCon and things is what's going to draw more people in and help improve and fix the thing that needs to be fixed. But yeah, you listen to Facebook announced in today. Last year it was, hey, we're at 40 gig. Now it's a hundred. I mean, the solar powered plane staying in the air for three months doing laser based optics for internet connections in countries where they can't get it. This is really science fiction stuff from just a few years ago. So it's really amazing and kind of where these companies, those types of businesses are pushing the boundaries and it just opens up so many new worlds of opportunity. The more compute you get, faster you can process this data, faster you can push it around. It opens every day, a new idea, a new opportunity. I wish I were the person who thought of it and it never will be. Hopefully I get to find a couple of them, but it's really fun to see the people who actually are thinking of those ideas. It's great. I always think of the poor guy that's got to think of the cool gadgets for the next Bond movie. That would be a very difficult job. Yeah, and trying to actually stay ahead of reality these days. We were at the HP Enterprise lunch today. So what you'd expected, the whole conversation was going to be on HP and we split and we're doing all this great thing. The entire conversation at the car, which was a massive debate was, how soon are we all going to get to have a driverless vehicle and what formula take and what's the most likely winner of it? And that whole conversation was led by one of the senior execs at HP. He said, we can talk about HP whenever you want, but let's talk about this. I mean, it's fun to be around a community of people who get excited about those things and actually have some really intelligent thoughts and ideas around them. I heard it's the next Tesla download that should be on your car in about three weeks from now. Yeah, in all honesty, here's what I'm waiting for. That's just going to happen, right? Here's what I'm waiting for. I'm waiting for the engineer that buys the Tesla, goes home, hacks his own Tesla, uploads their own software, his or her own software, to put in their own self-driving algorithms and without anyone knowing it, starts operating the first personal self-driving vehicle. It might not be great software, but you know people are writing this at home all the time and if you have all the sensors around the car, why wait for the laws? Why wait for the car companies? Someone's going to go do it. Yeah, that's a good point. And we'll probably find out when they rear end someone else in Mountain View, but that'll be. So before we go, let's go, we're having the reception again, great couple of days. For people that don't know Rally, what are you guys all about? What are you investing in? What are you looking at? Let people know kind of what you guys are up to. Yeah, so Rally Ventures, early stage, enterprise-only focus. It's what I've done 17 years, my partner Jeff's done for 17 years. It's what we know. We love consumer. We're just not good at investing in it, so don't take our money if you're a consumer company. We like hard technology. We like the big challenges. SAS is fantastic, we do plenty of it. We really like the people who can come in with a complex problem with a real solution that solves significant issues that people are having. We are investing out of a series of $100 million funds. And for us, we're early stage, we love working with companies, but we're small firms. So what we've tried to do is not just have the power of the firm, but really, frankly, the power of the network. So our investors are mostly institutional investors, but 20% of our money comes from 90 individual investors who really cover all the different aspects of the technology sectors where we focus. And we've got currently seven public company CEOs and across the tech partners, I think 30 different public CEOs at one time or another, people who founded companies from zero to billions of dollars, entrepreneurs, technologists, HR, finance. And so the goal with this is say, look, we've done this a long time, we can help your company, but if you really need help on an HR issue or a finance issue or a sales and go-to-market issue, I'll tell you what I know, but let's go get the three people who really know because they've done it in your market. They're investors in our fund. They have a vested interest in the success of the business. Let's go see what they have to say. And we've been doing this for three years. It's been massively rewarding. 40% of our investments have actually come from that group and we've had more than 100% coverage. About seven tech partners involved in every one of the companies. And so it's really been great to be able to work with these companies and work with that group of tech partners. I think we have about 15 of them signed up and came to the event, which was also pretty fun to see. All right, so if you have a great idea, you want to change the world in the enterprise space. There's really only one firm. Give Charles a call. Again, so Charles Beeler from Rally Ventures congratulates us on the event. Thanks for keeping structure alive. The community is really excited. We forgot to mention that we were classmates back in the 90s, so we've been doing this for a long time, the drinking part at least, the interview part, somewhat new. Well, I don't know. Go Quaker. So big shout out to what I'm actually going to a Wharton event later this evening for the incoming class. They don't invite me anymore. I don't even know what they're coming. All right, cheers. All right, Jeff Ricks signing off from two days at Structure 15 at the Julie Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco. We'll see you next time. Thanks for watching.


The first time for business this afternoon is portfolio questions and the first portfolio is constitution, external affairs and culture. I remind members that if they wish to seek to ask a supplementary question they should press the request of speak button or enter the letters RTS in the chat function during the relevant question and at question number one I call Sharon Dowie. To ask the Scottish Government what feedback it has received from the arts and culture stakeholder following its announcement of the Scottish budget 2024-25. We are increasing funding to the culture and heritage sector by £15.8 million next financial year to £196.6 million. That is the first step on the route to investing at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by the financial year 28-29. In 2025-26 we aim to provide an additional £25 million to the culture sector and this commitment to additional funding despite the challenging budget situation signals our confidence in the Scottish culture sector. The board of Creative Scotland welcomed the proposed settlement for Creative Scotland of just over £68 million in grant and aid funding for 2024-25 which compares to £55 million for the current financial year particularly given the continued pressure on the public finances and I welcome views from other stakeholders as part of the Scottish Parliament budget process over the forthcoming weeks. The SNP Government claimed the increased culture funding by £15.8 million in the latest budget but the campaign for the arts said that £13.2 million of that funding was restoring cuts so cutting through the SNP spin barely any of it was new money. Campaign for the arts director Jack Gamble said amid a perfect storm the Scottish Government needs to go much further, much faster and it's nowhere near the 100 million extra for culture that the SNP pledged. Cabinet Secretary, is this just another broken promise and what does the SNP have to say to disappointed businesses and organisations in the culture sector? Well I would point her to the answer I just gave which was the welcome of Creative Scotland for the increased funding that they are receiving. If the Scottish Conservative Unionist party has specific suggestions about additional funding that they believe the culture sector should require I'd be very very pleased to hear that for Sharon Dowie or from the front bench and be pleased to hear from them where they would identify cuts elsewhere to make those additional commitments. This government has made commitments for increased spending, we're delivering it and we're going to be delivering it more over the years ahead and I would welcome the support of members and other parties in recognising that as a fact. Question number two, Graham Simpson. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of its overseas office. I was pleased last month to publish an annual report on the work of our overseas offices covering the period 2022 to 2023. This showed how Scotland's international network delivers crucial benefits to Scotland's people, to its businesses and institutions at home and abroad and through international investment and growing our exports to facilitating cultural exchanges, promoting tourism, building our diaspora network and we continue to enhance our international reputation across the world. Most recently that included delivering a successful series of events to celebrate St Andrew's Day and preparing a programme of events for Burns Night later this month and I hope Graham Simpson will join me in thanking all of our international network staff and Global Scots and wishing them well for 2024. Well it's good to see the cabinet secretary here in parliament today. I wonder if this year he's planning to beat his record of travelling to six countries in the first seven months of last year which costs £5,500. Now the S&P government's overseas budget for their offices overseas is increasing to £7.8 million and that is why budgets for transport, councils and housing are being slashed. So what's the return on that investment? Well I think that's a very good question and I would point him to the report that I've already mentioned. I'm clearly from the tone of the question that Graham Simpson hasn't read it because in it it lists the benefits which are significant. Scottish Development International for example shows that this work is predicted to generate £1.7 billion of trade revenue. The report goes on to list 1,000 Scottish real living wage jobs through investments from the United States of America, 500 such jobs from Chinese investments, £120 million of planned capital investment through our presence in Canada, making 190 new connections for Scottish businesses through our Ireland office and I could go on. I really would welcome some consistency from the Scottish Conservative Party on this because from the front bench we hear requests for us to increase our presence internationally but from the back benches we are criticised. I make no apology to this chamber to promote Scotland internationally. I wish that members on his side of the chamber would welcome that. Can the cabinet secretary provide any updates regarding what assessments have been made as to the real benefits that Scotland's international network brings to our economy? Well I repeat that I think the report that was published last month on the work of our overseas officers is extremely important and I would recommend all members to take the opportunity to read what it does and I would want to pay tribute and I'm sorry we didn't hear that from the Conservative benches and they had the opportunity to do that, to welcome the hard work by those who work on our behalf whether in Scottish Government offices, Scottish Development International offices, global Scots networks or trade envoys, they are out there day in, day out, weekend, week out, promoting Scotland, promoting our economy, promoting jobs, promoting tourism. We should get behind them rather than undermine them. Scotland's international offices are a great opportunity to connect Scotland with its diaspora and share Scotland's unique culture across the world. It also provides a unique opportunity to seek out funding and collaboration opportunities for projects here in Scotland. I asked the cabinet secretary when the Scottish Government last reviewed the location office, international offices and if it measures the availability of funding opportunities in comparison with countries where there is no international offices. Well may I commend Faisal Trowdry, not just for the positive question that he asked there and recognising the good work that goes on promoting Scotland, our economy, our culture, our tourism sector, but also the thoughtful query about the network itself in terms of where do we have offices, where do we have people in situ, this incidentally also being asked very positively in committee by the front bench spokesperson for the Scottish Conservative Party. There are parts of the world that we don't yet have presence and I do think it's worthwhile that we look at those. We are committed to maintaining the network as it currently exists. We are committed to opening a presence in Poland, which I think there's widespread agreement why that is a good thing, but beyond that questions have been raised about presence in South America by Donald Cameron, for example, or in Africa. No doubt Faisal Trowdry, given his expertise in the region, would make a strong case for the Indian subcontinent covering India, Bangladesh, Pakistan. I think that this is very much worth looking at and I would welcome the positive contribution by those who wish to promote Scotland internationally as opposed to those who want to undermine it. To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, whether any of its future publications on independence will cover any constitutional lessons that can be learned from structures used in parliaments elsewhere that include unelected members. Minister Jamie Hepburn has set out in the paper creating a modern constitution for independent Scotland. The written constitution in independent Scotland we found it in democracy, human rights and equality protections. We can learn many lessons from Westminster's House of Lords with its membership of over 800 unelected lifelong members, largely around practices that we would seek to avoid in independent Scotland. Only with independence can we ensure sovereignty rests with the people in Scotland. We have no plans for any unelected element in an independent Scotland's legislature. I thank the minister for his reply. Will he agree that, following Baroness Mone's disastrous television interview last month, the lesson that no parliament should have an unelected house if it wishes to be accountable in any way whatsoever to the electorate is once more clearly if rather painfully made? I agree with that. I should of course say that it is not just Mone who has acted in a manner that is unbecoming of a person in public life as a member of the legislature of the UK. We have seen other issues with peers turning up to claim expenses just for the mere act of turning up at Westminster. With respect to Mone, we see serious questions, first of all around the judgment of the Conservatives in sending her to the Lords in the first place, but around an individual who has used her own position as a member of the House of Lords at a time of international crisis when we saw many people in all of the communities across Scotland freely volunteering their time to support their communities, seeking and not declaring an interest in using her position to rake in millions of pounds for her own family that hardly speaks to a proper system of governance. I think that we got the gist that the focus was on lessons to be learned from structures used in parliaments elsewhere that include unelected members, so I think that we have got the gist of that. In reference to the question that referenced future publications on independence, rather than committing to yet more papers on separation that will inevitably end up out of date and in the political dustbin at a massive cost to the taxpayer, when will this Government focus its efforts on dealing with the issues that people actually care about instead? I would observe that this Government has a mandate to pursue this work. We actually won the election in this party, lost the election and there are many benefits to be gained by Scotland becoming an independent country. We will continue to advance the case and that will include a case in which we should not have a legislature with an unelected element, including minor nobility from Scotland as well. We will have to seek to continue to be elected to this party. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it plans to further invest in the cultural sector. I have already confirmed to the chamber that we are increasing funding to the culture sector by £15.8 million next financial year to £196.6 million. That is the first step on the route to investing at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by the financial year 28-29. A commitment has already been given by the Deputy First Minister in the recent budget that, in 25-26, we aim to provide an additional £25 million to the culture sector, and that commitment to additional funding is despite the challenging budget situation and its signals are confidence to the Scottish culture sector, including that in Clydebank and Milgyn. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer and welcome the Scottish Government's commitment to increase spending on culture. I have met with numerous arts and cultural groups within my local constituency, and those groups are so important as they not only create safe spaces to thrive, but they also have meaningful connections to develop to reduce the social isolation that we face in our constituencies. What approach of the Scottish Government taking to ensure that additional investment will be shared fairly across all communities? Can I start by paying tribute to Marie McNair, who has been a doubty campaigner for the culture and arts community in Clydebank and Milgyn? It is incredibly important that the benefits of funding for the culture and arts sector can be fed throughout the whole of the country. An example of that is the culture collective programme, which is a Scotland-wide programme that we fund developing grassroots participatory arts experiences in our communities, including projects to reduce social isolation. Through the increased investment in culture over the next five years, we want to drive up opportunities for participation in creative pursuits, and that includes that in Clydebank and Milgyn. I have received requests for three supplementaries, and I intend to take all three. I first supplementary from Alexander Stewart. Despite the Scottish National Party Government, we believe that the £6.6 million in the recent Scottish budget is increased funding. It is the reinstatement of Creative Scotland's 10 per cent cut that was revealed a year ago, dropped in the spring, reinstated in September, and is now being disguised as an increase in investment. Therefore, following the announcement of £25 million for £25.26 million, how much of the funding is genuinely additional and will actually be delivered? We are committed to delivering all of the funding, and I am not sure whether that was a welcome for the increase. I did not hear that, but I would hope that all of us—I know that the questioner is a strong supporter of culture and the arts. I know that from the role that he plays in committee. I think that all of us need to row behind the culture and the arts sector. We are wanting to provide the necessary funding. Yes, it is important that Creative Scotland has the funding that it requires. It is going to have that going forward, and I look forward to positive discussions. As I have offered to members across the chamber and parties across the chamber, any good ideas about how we can make sure that the culture and the arts sector can thrive with the support of additional Scottish Government funding is going to be hugely welcome. I welcome his participation as part of that process. I was pleased to hear the cabinet secretary in response to Mary McNair about every community benefiting from cultural spend, because the analysis of event Scotland and Creative Scotland shows huge variations across the country. In Perth and Cunross, the spend is three times higher than in Fife. In Stirling, it is four times higher. In Dundee, it is six times higher. In Glasgow, it is 11 times higher. In Edinburgh, it is 14 times higher than in Fife. What is the minister doing to make sure that every community benefits from the spend? I commend Willie Rennie, because he has to ask the question a number of times. He wants to ensure that the maximum—I imagine the maximum possible—spend for the culture and the arts sector in north-east Fife, but throughout Fife, the rest of Fife can be secured. I have said to him previously that it is important that we have a separation between our arms-length culture organisation, Creative Scotland, who make these decisions and ministers. It is not for ministers to direct specific regional projects. I would say to him that if he is aware of cultural projects that are not being appropriately funded, please make me aware of that. Please make Creative Scotland aware of that. Colleagues want to make sure that our culture and arts sector right across Scotland is properly funded. I would welcome his input and extend the offer to him and his party colleagues about any suggestions that they may have about the increase in spending that we will be undertaking the years ahead, where he thinks the relative priorities of those should be, I would welcome his input to that. Despite £2 billion being spent on ticket sales across the UK, at least one grass-roots music venue permanently closed its doors each and every week last year. Other countries have shown that there is a way out of this decline, with ticket levees supporting the development of grass-roots music and venues. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, in 2024, it is the year to turn this around, including by accelerating progress towards establishing a ticket levee on arena and stadium tickets to support the grass-roots? The suggestion has been made, and the suggestion is being repeated now. It is one that is being promoted very actively from some members of the cultural community. The suggestion has been made that this needs to be explored further. I am open to learning about this. As I have said to the committee that Mark Ruskell serves on, we need to look imaginatively at all kinds of ways in which we can secure the necessary funding to the culture and art sector. The suggestion that he has raised a number of times is definitely one of those that merits further consideration. I look forward to the committee looking at that closely, to me receiving more advice on it. No doubt we will look at that together with other suggestions to ensure that the culture and art sector receives the funding that it requires that I know that it supports and that I certainly do. To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the UCI World Cycling Championships in Glasgow in 2023. The total funding for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships is in the process of being finalised and will be confirmed in due course. It includes contributions from the Scottish Government, from UK support, from British cycling, from Glasgow City Council and a number of other local authorities, as well as from commercial revenue streams. Any additional funding that may be required will be managed centrally by the Scottish Government. I welcome seeing the UCI in Scotland. Feas and Galloway played host to their own competitions for paricyclists, a region that has already etched its name in the history of cycling as the birthplace for the first pedal cycle bike in 1839. How the Scotland Destination Alliance suggested that there might have been a £6 million boost to the local economy, but, given the significant cost of hosting the event, including what we believe will be a significant overspend, what assessment has the Scottish Government made of the impact of that investment and what work will it be doing with Dumfries and Galloway Council to ensure that it can deliver a long-term legacy? The Scottish Government is meeting with the 2023 Cycling World Championship, limited on a weekly basis, to oversee the closed-down of contracts and achieve a final position on delivery costs. We expect a final position by the end of the financial year. We also expect event evaluation information, which goes to the heart of the question there, including economic benefit to Scotland, including the south of Scotland, and that will be published in February. If I can take the opportunity, just to put on the record, our thanks to the outgoing chief executive of the UCI World Championships, Trudy Lindblad, and I wish her well as the new chief executive of Cricket Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the total cost to date of its building a new Scotland series of papers. The Scottish Government is publishing the publication class of all the papers in the building a new Scotland series. The partner has been informed of the cost for the first nine papers in that series. The cumulative cost has been £151,657.40, meaning that the average cost of the first nine papers in the series is £16,850.21. That cumulative total represents a value of around 0.00025 per cent of the total of the Scottish Government budget of this financial year. We will continue to publish the cost information for future papers once released, as we are committed to doing. Thank you, Presiding Officer. So far, the SNP Government has wasted about 151,009 independent prospectus papers. What a complete waste of taxpayer money when the propaganda papers fail to answer any key questions about currency, fiscal framework and pensions? Even the First Minister previously described them as material that frankly sits on a website and nobody reads. So, Minister, do you agree with the First Minister's comments? Can you explain to the Scottish taxpayers why this money would not be better spent on our schools, on our health service or on our police? It is pretty clear that Mr Lumsden was looking for a figure that was rather higher than a value of around 0.00025 per cent of the total of the Scottish Government's budget this financial year. He clearly was not listening when I responded to Mr Cameron, and I will need to remind Mr Lumsden that we won the last Scottish Parliament election. We have a mandate to take forward this activity, as Parliament lost the last Scottish Parliament election. That is why we are in government. It is money well spent when you look at countries around Scotland, such as Scotland, with Ireland, with an income per head of 24 per cent higher than the UK. Denmark is 35 per cent higher than the UK. Norway is 61 per cent higher than the UK. When we have a boorish of a UK economy, the OBR, predicting as a result of Brexit, will have GDP 4 per cent lower in the long run. The only way we can escape this mess is through independence, and we will continue to make the case. To ask the minister if he could provide an update on how the United Kingdom's GDP per capita compares to that of the comparator countries used in the building in the new Scotland series of papers. That is a bit wide of the question on the business bulletin, I am afraid, because we are looking at an update on the total cost of the actual papers, not the substance. I am afraid that it is a bit wide in the incident case. Having previously urged the Scottish Government to build a clear, incredible independent strategy, former SNP Minister Alex Neil now says that, in his view of many independent supporters, the SNP, and I quote, has abandoned any pretense of trying to get independence anytime soon. How does the Scottish Government justify the costs involved in these white papers and hope to build a consensus around its independent strategy as set out in the white papers when it cannot achieve that consensus within its own party? I have to say enough the first time that I disagree with Mr Neil. I believe that we are building a credible and compelling case for independence. I have already made the point about the advantages that other countries similar to Scotland have as a consequence of independence. I would have thought that the Labour Party might have agreed at a time when we have the Joseph Rowntree Foundation saying that destitution is on the increase in the UK but may be mitigated by the Scottish Government here. When we have the resolution foundation pointing out that if the UK had the average income and levels around the quality of similar countries, typical households would be £8,300 better off. That rises to £10,200 when you compare us to countries similar to Scotland. The Labour Party and other members will be able to see the benefits of independence, and that is the case that we will continue to make. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the reopening of historic environment sites following the completion of work to make them safe for the public, including when the remaining sites will reopen. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am very pleased to say that the historic environment Scotland's inspection programme concludes at the end of March 2024. Once completed, Historic Environment Scotland will have a clearer indication on the extent of the scale of the challenge and the resources that are required to carry out conservation works. There is now full or partial access to 53 of the 70 sites that had access restricted due to higher-level masonry issues, and I am pleased that Historic Environment Scotland continues to put the health and safety of individuals first, reopening sites only when it is safe to do so. Details of the inspection programme and site reopenings are all published on the Historic Environment Scotland's website. I thank the minister for that answer. Specifically in my constituency, Cogarth Castle, which played an important role in the Jacobite risings closed at the height of summer last year due to staffing issues. According to Historic Environment Scotland, this issue affected a number of sites, particularly in rural areas. I have a Cabinet Secretary asked earlier, for example, which he would support. I can guarantee that sites such as Cogarth Castle and others in rural areas will not be affected by this issue this summer. I take into account the issue that Alexander Burnett raised in his area about staffing and staffing in rural areas. Brexit is the biggest driver of the lack of staffing in rural areas, and I think that we should take that into account. When it comes to the reopening or the opening of the facilities and historic environment properties, I tell the member that Historic Environment Scotland publish all the updates on the website. It is easily found by anyone, but I would be happy to make sure that Historic Environment Scotland updates Alexander Burnett on the issues that are affecting his particular case. Historic Environment Scotland has, on a number of occasions, offered individual members visits to those sites to talk through some of the issues. I urge Alexander Burnett to take up that offer. Thank you, minister. That concludes portfolio questions on constitution, external affairs and culture. We will now move on to the next portfolio, which is, if people are wishing to move to the front bench, they should please do so. Otherwise, stay where they are. We will move on to the next portfolio, which is justice and home affairs. To ask the Scottish Government whether GEOAME, the prison escort service provider, has offered any assurances that it will tackle the reported staffing challenges that currently mean that islanders acting as witnesses have to travel to jury trials on the mainland. We have been supporting the Scottish Prison Service and other partners in delivering an improvement in the GEOAME contract, which has resulted in early positive signs with a slowdown in staff attrition and improved staff numbers. Following the pausing of the post-pandemic reintroduction of solemn jury trials to the sheriff courts at Lerrick, Kirkwall, Potrey, Stornoway, Lockmadi and Wick, assurances have been given by GEOAME that they will be able to properly resource the courts from spring 2024. According to a recent audit of the contract, the on-going poor performance of GEOAME is resulting in delays and inefficiencies across the justice sector, impacting on policing, prison services and the courts and is now requiring direct funding from government. Can the government confirm that, in the light of that, there is no question of extending their contract for a further four years, as permitted, and that GEOAME's record will be taken into consideration during future bids for lucrative government contracts? There is no doubt about it that the performance of GEOAME has been utterly unacceptable and has had huge impacts across the justice system. The criminal justice board has been engaged on issues relating to the contract. As stated by Theresa Methurst, the Scottish Prison Service Chief Executive at the Criminal Justice Committee last month, all options remain under consideration in relation to prisoner escort arrangements in Scotland. The performance of GEOAME will definitely be a vital factor to be considered while deciding on the future model of prisoner transport service contract. SPS is continuing to monitor the performance of the contract carefully to ensure that targeted thresholds are met and that we see an appropriate level of service that meets the needs of the Scottish justice system. The justice secretary will know from her correspondence back in the summer about my concerns about the impact that the loss of sheriff's duty trials in the islands and rural courts is having on local access to justice. I welcome the fact that those will be resuming from spring, although that is longer than anyone would have liked. Will the cabinet secretary offer a reassurance that the changes to the contract with GEOAME will ensure that rural and island courts are not seen as the expendable end of the justice system going forward? I have extended or exchanged correspondence extensively on this matter. I have it here with me today. I should say to him that we are seeing some promising early signs, for example, in terms of police custody officers. We have had an increase of 40 in the past three months. There are a number of officers currently in training. There are lower levels of staff attrition, which is down by 40 per cent. Nonetheless, we need to closely monitor the situation. The point that he makes about the islands and the communities in particular is well made. There have been particular issues in rural Scotland, but other areas of Scotland that we are particularly focused on. To ask the Scottish Government what protection is available to victims of domestic abuse when harassment and exclusion orders expire. A non-harassment order can be made in certain circumstances by a criminal court or by a civil court. The criminal and civil court can make a non-harassment order that runs for an indefinite period if it considers it appropriate. A person can apply for an exclusion order from a civil court to exclude their spouse or civil partner or, in certain circumstances, their cohabiting partner from the family home. Those orders end automatically in certain circumstances, such as when a couple divorces. Anyone who remains at risk of abuse or harassment after an exclusion order or a non-harassment order ends could apply to the civil courts for a further non-harassment order or an interdict. I thank the minister for that answer, but that has not been the experience of a constituent of mine who has struggled to get legal representation and navigate the court process. More needs to be done, so I would be keen to understand from the minister when domestic abuse protection orders will be implemented by the Scottish Government. If the minister agrees with me that a two-year plus delay in getting this additional measure in place sends the wrong message to victims. I thank the member for his question. The non-harassment orders are intended to provide a means of ensuring that on-going harassment can be prevented. There can be especially important protecting victims from on-going abuse by a partner or ex-partner, convicted of domestic abuse offence, particularly those long-term coercive or controlling behaviours. However, discretion lies with the court in each individual case to determine whether to impose national health service. Women continue to struggle to get legal support in Scotland for domestic abuse cases, including harassment and exclusion orders. They are required sometimes with great urgency to find and engage a solicitor on the Scottish mainland who will take on legal aid cases. Does the Scottish Government agree that this situation is unacceptable with island victims of domestic abuse facing unique barriers to justice at often critical and vulnerable times? A current legal aid funding arrangement ensures that around 70 per cent of people are eligible for a form of civil legal aid in Scotland. Means testing remains important, and it should ensure that we retain the wide scope of cases in which legal aid is available in principle. We have also invested significant levels of funding in front-line services, as well as working closely with statutory agencies to improve their response to victims and survivors, and we also provide support to the Scottish Women's Rights Centre. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposed closures of Paisley, Fergusley Park, Greenock, Bishop Riggs and Mogai police stations. Presiding Officer, through the delivery of its estate strategy, Police Scotland is putting plans in place to modernise its estate to make it fit for purpose. We are supportive of our plans to co-locate with other parts of the public sector, including local authorities, which promotes closer working and collaboration, delivering better outcomes for individuals and communities. I agree with Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham when he said that the presence of policing in communities is not defined by buildings but by the officers and staff who work in their communities. I encourage anyone with an interest to respond to the consultation, which is available on the Police Scotland website. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It is important that the Scottish Government does not wash its hands of this and say that it is just an operational matter when my constituents in Paisley, Greenock, Fergusley Park, Mogai and Bishop Riggs are extremely concerned about the possible closures of their local police stations. What financial support will the Government provide to protect local stations if police and public deem them necessary? Where police have indicated they support a replacement presence, for example in Paisley and in Greenock, where they are located in town centres or 24 hours, have CID and in Greenock's case have a custody suite, does the cabinet secretary agree that any replacements should be done on a like-for-like basis? I recognise that, in some instances, people feel very strongly about the police estate and police buildings in their local communities, hence the purpose of the consultation. However, it is crucial that, as we move forward, we have a modern fit for purpose facilities, bearing in mind that police officers tend to be more mobile in their work. On Mr Bibby's locality, it is important to recognise that there is a consultation. That police Scotland is in discussions around co-location with Renfrewshire Council and also about identifying appropriate community engagement facilities. However, that is about co-location to enhance the effectiveness of policing, to enhance local partnership working and to improve visibility and presence of policing in our communities. As the cabinet secretary said, police Scotland has said that properties that have been selected for potential disposal under the services estate strategy form part of moose towards co-location with partners where possible to ensure that services are delivered in the most efficient and effective way. Can the cabinet secretary provide further detail of the success that has already been had with co-location? We all agreed that we all want our public services to be effective and to be efficient. Co-location with suitable partners makes best use of the public sector estate and, importantly, offers the opportunity for increased visibility and closer work. There are over 60 examples of successful co-location across the Police Scotland estate. That is around 20 per cent of its estate. 13 co-locations are blue light collaborations. There is a great example in my constituency in Westlothain, but there are also other examples with co-location in Alwa, with Clackmanager Council, in Aberdeen City Council and in Varnes, where there is a co-location with the Scottish Courts and Tribunial Service. It is also important to recognise that the Criminal Justice Committee in its pre-budget scrutiny report at the end of last year said that, in police and fire services, we should explore the provision of newer co-located premises that offer improved facilities for officers and staff. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact that the Scottish budget 2024-25 will have on police officer numbers in the south Scotland region. As outlined in the recent budget, we will increase the Scottish Police Authority resource budget by £75.7 million in 2024-25. While it is for the chief constable to decide how best to deploy police resources, I welcome her statement to the Criminal Justice Committee on 20 December that the budget settlement would allow recruitment of officers to restart before the end of this financial year. Police Scotland has recruited almost 600 officers in 2023 and around 1,480 new recruits since the beginning of 2022. At 30 September there were 379 more police officers than in 2007. Of course, Scotland has more police officers per capita than England and Wales and higher pay ranges with 30 officers per 10,000 of the population compared to 25 in England and Wales. We have seen police officer numbers plummet right across Scotland in recent years. The smallest division of recent gallery numbers have been cut from 411 in June 2020 to just 354, which means that at certain times we have just a couple of officers covering a huge geographical area. Can the cabinet secretary confirm whether the recent budget will mean that we will return to the levels of June 2020 in Dumfries and Galloway? Given that the SNP commitment to maintain police numbers at the level when Police Scotland was established a decade ago now seems dead in the water, just what exactly is the Government's current specific target for officer numbers? Of course, the establishment agreement of officer numbers is an operational matter for the chief constable. The chief constable, when she appeared at the criminal justice committee just before Christmas, made very clear that when she was welcoming the budget settlement and that will enable Police Scotland to retain police numbers of around 16,500 or 16,600, it is important to remember that we now have nearly 400 more officers now than we did in 2006-07. In terms of Dumfries and Galloway divisional area, as of 30 September 2023, there were 354 officers. That compares to 349, 30 September the year before. That is a small increase. Now we hope to give some reassurance to Mr Smith about the stabilisation of police resources in his area. I met the divisional commander of Dumfries and Galloway just before recess, and he welcomed that we have additional recruits in the region. However, noted that rurality poses huge challenges with appropriate officer cover. Can the cabinet secretary comment on whether Dumfries and Galloway could be considered a priority area for police recruitment, given the challenges of rurality and officer coverage after the end of the current recruitment freeze? It is important to recognise that there are particular challenges for particular workforces in rural Scotland, and that is why Police Scotland has undertaken targeted recruitment. There was certainly targeted recruitment last year in Stranrair and Dumfries. As I hope that I have demonstrated with the numbers that I quoted to Mr Smith, that there has been a small increase and a stabilisation of police numbers across the Dumfries and Galloway divisional area. It should be noted that the creation of a Scottish-wide single police service means that all communities have greater access to national policing capabilities than would otherwise be the case. Of course, local area commanders can also draw on specialist resources to support local policing wherever they are needed. The latest recorded crime statistics from Police Scotland show that the Ayrshire Police division overall crime jumped by more than 10 per cent at a time, and police numbers have fallen in Ayrshire since the SNP centralised our police forces. Cabinet secretary, how much more do you think crime should rise in communities like Ayrshire before you start properly resourcing our police? Well, for this current financial year, resourcing for policing across Scotland benefitted by an additional £80 million. We just introduced the draft Scottish budget before Christmas, which once again has seen additional resource and capital for Police Scotland. It is important that we recognise that there continues to be more police officers per capital in Scotland than in comparison to England and Wales. Scotland is now a safer place because recorded crime has reduced by 41 per cent since 2006-07. Scotland under the SNP is indeed a safer place. To ask the Scottish Government how its budget for 2024-25 will support Police Scotland. Protecting front-line services and supporting those who deliver them is a key priority for the Scottish Government. That is why, despite deeply challenging financial circumstances, the 2024-25 Scottish budget provides record funding for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. We will invest £1.55 billion in policing in the next financial year. The police resource budget will be increased by £75.7 million, a 5.6 per cent increase, with the capital budget increasing to £64.6 million, representing a 12.5 per cent increase compared to the 2023-24 budgets. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and I also welcome the real terms budget increase for Police Scotland. However, with the continued squeeze on Barnett consequentials and the disappointing autumn statement, can the cabinet secretary outline what impact that will have on delivering a fit for purpose Police Scotland service in the long term? Last month's autumn statement was, of course, the worst-case scenario for Scotland containing a fiscal settlement from the UK Government that undermined the viability of public services across the whole of the UK, including here in Scotland. Our block grant funding for this budget has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23, and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over the next five years. Nonetheless, protecting front-line services is a priority for the Scottish Government, and nonetheless, our budget is delivering for justice and is delivering for policing in particular. As perhaps it is helpful, if I quote to chamber the chief constable when she attended committee and welcomed the budget settlement, she recognised that this budget settlement was in recognition of Police Scotland's value and contribution that policing makes to Scotland, being a safe place to live and work with historically low levels of crime. I am very pleased to commend a budget to Parliament that, when you consider both resource and capital, has an increased investment of £92.7 million in policing for Scotland. Every single police officer in the UK has body-worn cameras, apart from here in Scotland. They protect police officers in the public, they support victims and witnesses, they save time and money. Humza Yousaf has repeatedly promised them, yet due entirely to SNP budget choices, Scotland has been left behind. Three weeks ago, the day after the budget, I asked the new chief constable if the 2027 target date for full delivery would be met, but she could not tell me. So when exactly will our officers finally get this basic kit? Well, Presiding Officer, I would have hoped that Mr Finlay would have welcomed two facts, one that the roll-out of body-worn cameras for police officers will indeed commence this coming calendar year. I also would have thought that he would have welcomed the record investment in policing in Scotland, and surely that is good news that we can all celebrate. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the proposed closure of 29 police stations across Scotland in antisocial behaviour. The deployment of police resources and operational matters are of course decisions for the chief constable. The Scottish Government has increased police funding to Police Scotland year on year since 2016-17, with £1.55 billion being committed in the 2024-25 budget. We fully support Police Scotland and local authorities who lead on responding to anti-social behaviour, and we continue to encourage early intervention, diversion and appropriate support through multi-agency partnership approaches. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Police Scotland has confirmed that there has been a recent rise of antisocial behaviour in Lillidgo, while often non-criminal and the impact it has on the local community is undeniable. Lillidgo lost their police station a number of years ago, and constituents are concerned that the lack of police presence is contributing to young people engaging in such behaviour. What specific action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure communities where police stations are earmarked for closure continue to feel safe and protected in their local area? Mr Schaudry might be aware that the police station in Lillidgo has been vacant for more than six years, and therefore it has been declared surplus by Police Scotland. On anti-social behaviour, he may be aware that the minister, Ms Brown, has established a working group on anti-social behaviour, which brings experts and practitioners together to examine our strategic approach to anti-social behaviour and proposed improvements. That group will report later on this year. It is appropriate that, after 20 years of the existing anti-social behaviour legislation, we are due for a timely review, and I look forward to all members' contributions to that. To ask the Scottish Government what action it and its partners are taking to tackle retail crime and its potential impact on communities in the light of the reported increase in retail crime caused by the cost of living crisis. The Scottish Government recognises the significant disruption and harm to both businesses and to individuals from retail crime and continues to support the innovative Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime, also known as SPACE, strategy. The partnership is led by Police Scotland, working with retailers and other organisations, including retailers against crime and neighbourhood watch Scotland, with a focus on the prevention, deterrence and where appropriate enforcement. The strategy seeks to minimise opportunities for this type of crime, protect individuals and businesses, and deliver clear advice and guidance for prevention. I urge all retailers to continue to engage with Police Scotland and other partners to help to safeguard their businesses and the people who work there. In my constituency of Midlothian North and Musselborough, there has been continued and escalating incidents of retail crime, resulting not only to a threat to the livelihoods of small business owners, but also an unacceptable threat to staff's physical safety while at their place of work. Can the minister advise what additional support has been put in place to ensure the safety and security of both staff and property for retailers and to ensure that there is effective deterrent and punishment for criminals who take part in retail crime? We recognise the vital role of retail workers in our society. We want to ensure that they are protected. Workers across all sectors should be safe at work and should never have to experience abuse or violence when simply doing their job. The Protection of Retail Workers Scotland Act, which came into force in August 2021, created a statutory offence of threatening, abusing or assaulting a retail worker, ensuring that the seriousness of this behaviour is highlighted through a specific offence. There have been 543 charges under the Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 to March 2023. While there has been a long-term reduction in levels of recorded non-sexual violence, 25 per cent between 2006 to 2007 and from 2022 to 2023, along with its partners, the Scottish Government is continuing to implement the violence prevention framework. That is backed with £2 million worth of investment this year to fund a range of activities to help to prevent and divert people away from violence. That concludes portfolio questions on justice and home affairs. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business.


Good morning and welcome to day 13 of the no spend. I totally forgot yesterday to tell you how much I spent, but I always put it in the description box below. I didn't spend anything yesterday. So I do have a bill here. I'm not going to show you, but I owe it's my gas bill. So center point energy. I owe $28. So I will pay that today. I also need to run to the post office and get a couple packages delivered as well as I need to run to the grocery store. So that needs to happen. I also need to go get a anniversary card because I have something I have to mail out in the card. So yeah, that is what's going on here at the moment. I am completely blown away by the response from today's video. As you guys know, if you watch my other content, which I don't expect you to, but if you do, I am hosting a giveaway on Facebook, but there is a correlating video. It would be the last video that published before this one. There have been such a big response from it. Everyone is loving the bundle that I kind of curated and put together with Catherine over at Coffee Break Planner. I'll put Coffee Break Planner's link down below, as well as the coupon code for 20% off of your entire order. And what I'm talking about is it's called the Emily's Beginner Bundle. And this is just something that I get questions on a lot. Oh, you do planning. What would your suggestion be to be a first time planner? If you know of somebody that wants to get into it or you're trying to get into it yourself, you know, basically how to not spend like a ton of money right away if you're not really sure what your style is. Sorry, I'm pouring my tea right now.  So I did a video on it. I'm doing a massive giveaway and the giveaway is going until Saturday at 5 p.m. Central Standard Time. It's only open to U.S., sorry, international people, I'm sorry. But yeah, there's been a huge response to the giveaway, which I'm so excited about. And I can't wait to see who wins. I'm very, very excited. Doyle is unexcited about life right now, because this is the status of his body. Yep. Yep, that's what's going on right there. All about the sads. I don't know why he looks like that all the time. He either looks like super depressed or very judgmental. Like he only really has two looks, that's it.  So like, I don't know. But I have these crackers. I'm not going to eat all these, but that's just kind of like what was in the like tube or whatever. And then I have this like spreadable cheese. I just have a little bit left. So I figured I'd have a couple of cheese and crackers and take my little, my little fun spreader. Yay. And you know, have some cheese and crackers and tea. That sounds like a plan to me. Oh, in this morning before I picked up the camera, I did have a little cup of applesauce, which was delicious, by the way. So that is the plan today. I am going to venture out in the lands probably after lunch. Yeah, I'll probably do it after lunch because like I said, grocery store, then post office because I have to get that card at the grocery store as well. Put the thing in it that I need to send and then head back to the post or like to the post office and then go home that way. But that's all I have to report at the moment. But I will see you guys in a little while when something exciting happens or lunch happens, and I'll show you what I'm going to be eating. And that's it from the FTE house. See you in a moment. Well, hello, it is lunchtime. I just the dog on a walk. My face is like kind of cold right now. The Doyle is doing naughty things. Hey, doodle, stop it. Anyway, I am going to make something that I've been wanting to make for a while, but I just, you know, haven't gotten my life together enough to do it. So what we are going to do today is I am going to make my tuna fish sandwich. And because the gals at the home edit are amazing, I follow them on Instagram. I'll put their Instagram handle below. They talk about putting tuna fish cans in the fridge. I know that sounds weird, right? But I don't like room temperature tuna. I like cold tuna with my tuna fish sandwiches. So I put these in the fridge overnight and they are now cold, which means I don't have to wait for the like tuna fish concoction to chill, which is awesome. So I'm going to actually put all four of these cans. I got this at Target into my container right here. And what I like to mix it with, I know some people are like Miracle Whip. Some people are Mayo. I am a big Miracle Whip fan. I don't like mayonnaise in my tuna salad stuff. I like Miracle Whip because it's the tangy zip of Miracle Whip. Totally not sponsored by the way. Wish it was. It's not. Okay. Okay. I've got a little loaf of bread left. So I'll take two of those, put that on there. And then my favorite is taking some shreds, which I've probably seen better days. But take some of that for a little crispy. And then that's my sandwich. Also, because I love pickles and all things stinky, because this is going to be like a stanky lunch, y'all. I am going to have a few of these as well. So I'm going to have some pickles. That's what I'm going to have for lunch. I will have a Coke as well. Yes, I will have a Coke as well. That's what's happening right now. Once I get it all made, I'll show you. Okay. So lunch is ready. And here we go. So pickles for me, sandwich for me, Coke for me. Here is the excess that I will eat at a later date. And we've got a little plate of plain tuna for a little doggo that I know. So let's see if he wants some. Did you want some of this? He has been just dancing at my feet this whole time. What are you doing, buddy? Did you want some? My goodness. He's very excited about life. Okay, sit.  This dog loves his tuna fish. I love tuna fish as well, but I don't eat it that often. So maybe I should eat it more. I do have more tuna in my pantry that I need right there that I need to move to the fridge because cold tuna is the best tuna, right? So anyway, I'm going to eat my uncle just called and said that he is going to pop over in just a little bit because he's going to fix, if you guys remember my dad's summer car that's here in my garage had some problems and my grandfather, not my grandfather, my grandmother that has been ill, my uncle has been kind of spearheading their care and stuff. I was helping with that for a little while, but unfortunately I still have this like nasty cough and my doctors do not want me to be around tiny infants and the elderly.  So anyway, Doyle is now done with his foods. He just inhales that stuff.  Oh, I better put this back in the fridge. Yeah, so that's what's going on here. And then I am gonna get ready for the day and go and grab some food at the store and run to the post office. So that's kind of my day, y'all. So anyway, I will, uh, check in with you guys in a little while. All right. So I am at Target and I'm getting legit everything on my list. I've got my milk, tortilla chips, lettuce, eggs, bread, pickles, tomatoes, and I've got my little card right back here. I'm so proud of myself. I'm going to check out. Well, hey, I just got home from Target unloading my groceries. So anyways, I wanted to share how much I spent, but remember a few days back when I did a return at Target and then I got like a store credit or whatever? Yeah, turns out I still have like $3 in some sense after this, like after the stuff I got. So technically, I didn't spend any money. So yeah, and I'm all excited because I've got $3 still at the Target. I thought today was going to be like a big, you know, shopping day. Apparently not. Oh, here's my, oh no, this is not my receipt. This is my receipt from my last. Okay. So the gift card had like $18 on it. And um, let me, let me find that thing. Okay. So my new balance is $3.96. Yes. I have $3.96 left to buy junk at Target. Yeah. So anyway, I'm going to put all my stuff away. It is about dinner time, you know, to be honest, I'm really not that hungry at the moment. So I think I'm just going to like chill out and not, you know, do anything right now. I'll just put all my, you know, pertinent things in the fridgey, the fridgey, the refrigerator. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I had to get these because I'm almost out of tortilla chips and like tortilla chips are life, you know, and I have this salsa that I really like that I haven't opened up yet. So I think that's going to be like an epic snack this week and into next week. And I got some new shreds because my other ones that I, oh, I actually opened them up today. Yeah. They had seen better days. I should have, I should have actually eaten though, eaten that lettuce like a long time ago, but I just realized that I have some ham in the fridge too. So I think that would be good for like ham sandwiches. I also have bought some tomatoes because I just, I love tomatoes. Like I could just, like dinner could be these two tomatoes with a little bit of like crack sea salt on them. Like so good. Um, but I think ham sandwich, I've got some like really good, like the spicy brown mustard. And I don't have any, well, I've got some brie cheese. I don't know if that would be good on ham sandwiches. I don't think I've ever had that before. Oh, and I have some Gouda cheese, random. And then I've got like craft singles, which would probably not be the best on a ham sandwich. I like a Swiss on a ham. That makes sense. But yeah. So anyway, like I said, just got back and I am going to chill out for a little bit, not do too much. And just put stuff away, hang out with the doodle. I don't know where he is. I think he's upstairs now. He was just here, but then he did his doodle dog things and ran away. Ran away from all of his responsibilities in life. Okay. And every time I open up that damn pantry, it just irritates the bejesus out of me. So yeah. All right. Well, I'm going to say goodbye for the moment, but I will check in with you guys when it is time for some dinnerage. Okay. Okay. Sounds like a plan. I'll be back in a moment. Okay. It is dinner time and I am going to just make some popcorn. I'm like I said, I'm not that really that hungry. This is us is on and like 10 minutes. So I figured I would just make some popcorn and go with it. So anyways, I've got my popcorns. I'm just getting everything ready to go. I'm going to grab my margarine. Here we are. Margarines. Okay. So we are good to go. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Off the sofa. Off the sofa, sir. This one just peed on the sofa. Yep. You heard it right here. I went into it in my Instagram stories, but I'll tell you guys here because not everybody has Instagram and I get it. So I left for 40 minutes, 40 minutes, four zero. That's it to go grab those couple of groceries and go to Target and I left them out because he didn't want to get in his kennel. So I get home and I sit down with my water right here. There you go.  He was mad because I either didn't take him with or I don't know. He's just mad. Like he knew exactly what he was doing. So I smacked his little behind and then we went outside and then he peed some more just for a spike. I'm like, what the heck? And he hasn't drank a lot of water. Don't worry. He's fine. He's just super sassy. So if you guys are really interested in getting a Shiba Inu, those are things that they do sometimes. Yeah. And so I now have laundry going because I'm get off of the sofa. Get down. Get down. The Sherpa throw, the other, the one that got the pee pee is upstairs now being washed and I sat down in my little spot over here and Doyle decided to wedge his body. Well, usually I sit closer to than this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You get down. Get down. Get down. Get down. Get down. I'm giving a visual. So anyways, he wedged his body. Well, it was about half this size. Wedged his body right here and laid on me. He doesn't lay on me ever. So anyways that was his version of trying to apologize. Yeah and if you guys watched my instagram stories you would have seen that he was like basically sleeping while trying to apologize and getting mad that I wasn't petting him because I'm mad at him right now. Yep I also have both of the bedroom doors closed right now so he can't lay on anything. So he's really upset but I'm upset too. So I figured we can do this for the rest of the night and that'll be fine. No do not do it. Don't do it. You're not allowed. Pee pee doil. Anyway don't mean to end this on a bad note but I gotta go because I gotta deal with my pee pee dog and I'm gonna make myself some popcorn. Hopefully this is us will cheer me up. It is I believe the season finale I think. I think so I don't really know. But I'm gonna watch it tonight it's gonna be amazing. Gonna have some popcorn in just a few and I will be back tomorrow with more fun things and I've got some other like regular non-vloggy videos. Oh by the way what I spent today actually was zero. I haven't paid that one bill yet that $28 bill so I'll I'm gonna move that into tomorrow. So I didn't pay that at all today so I didn't pay for anything yet today and the groceries I got at Target were on that gift card. So I still have like $3.90 something cents left on that so I thought today was gonna be a big spend day but it's not so but I will be paying some stuff tomorrow and I believe that my cell phone bill is coming up as well. So anyways that's it for me today. Hope you guys enjoyed the video and I will see you guys in the next one. Bye guys!


So can you tell me what the training is like? I think it's about a two-year program, right? It is a two-year program. So the first year is didactic. It's all coursework. I had 18 credit hours every semester. Fun. So it's three semesters. You don't get a break. So it's nonstop for two years. Summer, spring, fall, like everything. It's a lot of classes. It was a lot of work, a lot of late nights. But the prize is the second year. And the second year is one complete year of clinical rotation. You rotate through different places and where you rotate is dependent on where you go to school at. So each university has their own clinical partners and they all have their own different way of doing this clinical year. So in didactic year, like you said, it's a ton of late nights. It's a lot of work because you're learning anatomy at a very, very high level. Probably more, go ahead. It is not just anatomy. So a lot of what we're learning is pathology. So we are learning pathology, applied pathology, gross pathology. There's a lot of different angles coming at pathology. So you have to go through every organ system. You have to learn what's normal. You have to learn what's just benign. What does the healing process look like in this organ? Versus, yeah. And then what does cancer look like in this organ? Because you could have, you know, carcinoma in different organs, right? But it looks different in each organ. So what you're basically trained to do is to know the entire body anatomically, all of the disease processes that every organ system can have and what they look like at every stage of the disease and every stage of healing. And the reason for that is because a specimen comes to your bench, you have to know exactly where that came from, what you're looking at, and basically to help make a diagnosis that way. Yeah, so we have to learn about differential diagnosis, right? Yeah. So we have to know, okay, what commonly happens in this organ? Is it an infectious process? What are the common infections of this organ? Like specifically about lung? Oh, no, I don't wanna talk specifically about lung. Uh. We could do specifically gallbladder. Or yeah, gallbladder. I mean, I feel like gallbladder has something more of a growth tech would do and not necessarily appear. Oh, no. Okay. But it's a good example because people know what gallbladders are. Exactly. So a specific example, let's say you get a gallbladder on your bench and you basically have to know what's normal for a gallbladder to look like, what's not normal, what could be going on with this person and you also get their symptoms and like what they said they were feeling and the imaging and you have to make that final diagnosis based on what it looks like. We're not a diagnosis because PAs don't make diagnosis but we do steer the pathologist in a direction based on, you know, describing what we see. So in a gallbladder, we do know what normal looks like. Very commonly it will have cholesterolosis. Colesicitis is usually why it's being taken out. We look for stones. And if you have large stones they can even erode through the gallbladder. So that's something important to note in your dictation. So all of these things like we've discussed before we are the eyes and the hands of the pathologist and the pathologist needs to know all of this even though they're not in a seated gallbladder. Right. So you're training to basically know what every single part of the body looks like normal and abnormal with all the common diseases that that part gets. And best of all you only get one year to learn all that so I could see why there's so many late nights.  What's with all the water metaphors because medical school and PA school like physician assistant school they always say fire hose or fire hydrant of information. You got a tidal wave. That's even more dramatic. Yeah. Yeah, because you're just washing it coming at you and somehow a lot of it's sticking but you just don't get to sit there and appreciate how much you've learned because there's always more stuff to learn. There is. Ooh, I have another way of explaining it too. So first year the didactic year is like you're in a tornado full of like book pages and you're in the middle of the tornado just trying to grab onto whatever book page that you need to know or retain. I love all these dramatic metaphors but that's true because like it feels like you're in, like you said, a tornado. You don't know which way is up and down and you realize that you have to know all this stuff and it's all around you, but there's so much of it. It's really chaotic. First year in PA school is really chaotic. I think that the gift is the second year and that's when you get to apply all this stuff and go, holy crap, I actually know a lot. You do. Do you surprise yourself because you know more than you think. Right. You get to make those connections, right? Oh, I read about this, but now I'm actually seeing it. So now that starts to lock information in. Yeah, that's, I mean, from my own experience as well, that's probably the most gratifying thing is like you read about something, you might even see a bunch of pictures of it, but until you actually see it and touch it and know exactly what color it is in real life, you don't really truly appreciate it that then once you see that, you're hooked. Yeah. It's so cool. So then, so first year is just a ton of information, learning all the stuff we just talked about. Second year is different clinical rotations in various kinds of pathology labs. And how many of those are there? You said you get a whole year. It's a full year in that how many you have is really dependent on your program and how they manage their students. I know that some places you could have a full year rotation at one place. Really? That's possible because that one place does everything. Frozen section, autopsy, large complex cases as well as smaller cases. So a student can rotate at one place for the full year if their rotation site can provide all of that. I think most places you're gonna rotate at least four different institutions. So you'd have three month blocks. And I know that at least some programs you will rotate through an Emmy's office. So you will get your autopsy training at an Emmy's office because it's really hard to get autopsy training at a hospital when they only have maybe one a week and you're only there for a few months. So it's easier to get your autopsy training at an Emmy's office where it's all day back to back to back to back. Makes sense. And it sounds like whatever accreditation body gives you your certification, they have requirements of like you have to have a certain number of autopsies, a certain number of this kind of specimen, certain number of that. And so you need your rotation sites to help you meet all those things. So the accrediting body for the schools is NACLs and then our NACLs, N-A-A-C-L-S. NACLs, okay. And our certification is through the ASCP. You can insert in later what that stands for. I think it's the American Society of Ethologists. Okay. Something kind of like a pathologist. We'll Google it. Yeah. So that certification through the ASCP is national and well it's good in the US and Canada and in US territories. Okay, so you could practice in the US, Canada and any US territory with that one certification? With the certification through the ASCP. That's awesome. Now, in addition to that, some states require licensure. California, New York. So basically you take your certification from the ASCP. You say here's state of California.  So it's just paperwork and money to get your license in California, New York. I think there's a few other states that require a license as well. But the vast majority, they only need your certification. Makes sense. Yeah, I know California and New York really like their paperwork and their money. So I've definitely had experience with that.  Yes, so after you graduate, you qualify for the ASCP certification exam and then you'll schedule your exam. It is a adaptive test. What does that mean? Is that the right word? Adaptive? I think that it's, so it's an adaptive exam, meaning if you get one question right, the next question will be harder. Oh yeah. Until you get, you're just at hard questions. So I've been told that if you feel really bad when you leave, it's because you were answering a lot of questions right. Well, that's good. Stressful, but good. Yeah. Okay.  A certified PA. A certified PA and you can practice. Yes.