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Iran, China, Russia, and a World Growing More Dangerous · The Stan R. Mitchell Show

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[music]
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SPEAKER_00: What is going on everyone?
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SPEAKER_00: Welcome to The Stan R. Mitchell Show.
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SPEAKER_00: We have a ton of news to get through in this episode,
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SPEAKER_00: but as always I'll keep timestamps so that you can jump to a certain subject
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SPEAKER_00: if you wish.
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SPEAKER_00: And I know...
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SPEAKER_00: That the news can be exhausting.
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SPEAKER_00: And I know none of us want to live in it every waking minute.
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SPEAKER_00: But it's important we remember that what happens in
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SPEAKER_00: the world eventually finds its way into our lives.
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SPEAKER_00: And paying attention to it helps us understand it.
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SPEAKER_00: Think for ourselves more effectively and be better citizens no matter how bad the news gets.
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SPEAKER_00: And my promise to you is that I'll do my best to not be boring,
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SPEAKER_00: to tell you the truth,
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SPEAKER_00: and give you the facts without trying to scare you,
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SPEAKER_00: make you angry, or tell you what to think.
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SPEAKER_00: With that out of the way, let's get started.
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SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the subject of Iran.
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SPEAKER_00: As you guys know,
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SPEAKER_00: the US had to hastily withdraw B-1B bombers from Britain after there was a threat of
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SPEAKER_00: a drone attack from outside the fence.
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SPEAKER_00: We had 12 B-1B bombers there and the US pulled all of them back with a serious sense of urgency.
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SPEAKER_00: In fact,
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SPEAKER_00: the refueling planes needed to get them back to
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SPEAKER_00: the United States hadn't even launched.
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SPEAKER_00: So it was almost as if they knew that there was a pending attack,
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SPEAKER_00: perhaps, you know, less than hours away.
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SPEAKER_00: But they have pulled back.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, President Trump says this was no big deal.
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SPEAKER_00: He's tried to downplay it.
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SPEAKER_00: But the reality is, is that, I mean, we've moved...
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SPEAKER_00: A serious amount of our firepower out of Britain now.
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SPEAKER_00: And we've already pulled back from numerous Middle East bases as well.
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SPEAKER_00: So this isn't boding well.
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SPEAKER_00: Mr. Mitchell, The Stan R. Mitchell Show.
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SPEAKER_00: But the reality is that we have pulled back from Britain.
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SPEAKER_00: We have pulled back from numerous bases in the Middle East that were under threat of
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SPEAKER_00: or risk of destruction from Iranian ballistic missiles and cruise
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SPEAKER_00: and low-flying missiles.
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SPEAKER_00: Many of them were hit,
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SPEAKER_00: and so we've pulled back from those,
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SPEAKER_00: and now we've pulled back these bombers from Britain.
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SPEAKER_00: But not everything is bad news.
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SPEAKER_00: The Wall Street Journal had a story on the front page from about a week ago,
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SPEAKER_00: this was from September 29th,
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SPEAKER_00: that said that volume of oil in the Middle East has recovered back to 80%
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SPEAKER_00: of pre-war levels.
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SPEAKER_00: The story goes into some of the details discussing that Saudi Arabia continues
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SPEAKER_00: to use a pipeline and other ways to get oil out of the region.
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SPEAKER_00: They have,
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SPEAKER_00: in fact,
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SPEAKER_00: gotten to the point where they're getting about 13 million barrels a day through
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SPEAKER_00: the pipeline and And through some tankers that are making it through the Strait
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SPEAKER_00: of Hormuz.
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SPEAKER_00: So again about 80% of what it was before the war which is certainly great news
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SPEAKER_00: for both the United States and the entire world economy.
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SPEAKER_00: Also some good news is that the troops that are fighting the Yemen Houthi fighters
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SPEAKER_00: who have threatened the other strait in the Red Sea Those government forces backed
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SPEAKER_00: by Saudi Arabia and probably U.S.
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SPEAKER_00: intelligence, if I had to guess, have actually started making some advances.
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SPEAKER_00: And so government forces are pushing back some of the Houthi fighters that are backed by Iran.
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SPEAKER_00: There was quite a bit of intelligence that came out after they took some
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SPEAKER_00: of their large gains recently that Iranian advisors had helped them successfully
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SPEAKER_00: in some of those attacks, helped them successfully plan and directed them.
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SPEAKER_00: So the war is certainly continuing in the Middle East across a number of ranges.
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SPEAKER_00: One final thing I want to note about the war is that the currency inside Iran is
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SPEAKER_00: at its all-new low.
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SPEAKER_00: So the Iranian economy is certainly under a lot of stress.
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SPEAKER_00: Let's talk now about Russia and these countries.
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SPEAKER_00: Stories that are coming out about what could be some type of plague that's released,
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SPEAKER_00: or maybe it's not.
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SPEAKER_00: But I think we could all agree that the fears of this potential plague has many unsettled.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think we could also say that clearly no one really knows what the truth is.
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SPEAKER_00: Russian authorities are currently saying that the person who did die
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SPEAKER_00: at this anti-plague institute had been vaccinated against the pathogens
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SPEAKER_00: that she worked with.
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SPEAKER_00: And Russia continues to say there were no emergency situations at the lab where it happened.
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SPEAKER_00: But of course, we're talking about Russia.
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SPEAKER_00: And for a lot of good reason, people don't really trust Russia.
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SPEAKER_00: The World Health Organization is asking for more information.
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SPEAKER_00: They're complaining that there's not much details being released.
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SPEAKER_00: There's,
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SPEAKER_00: of course,
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SPEAKER_00: the Russians saying that there's some lockdowns happening and they're trying
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SPEAKER_00: to downplay everything,
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SPEAKER_00: but there are locals who are posting some videos of people walking around
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SPEAKER_00: in hazmat suits.
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SPEAKER_00: No one truly knows.
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SPEAKER_00: I will say, as I said, I've had several friends asking me about it or worry about it.
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SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio had this to say that, quote,
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SPEAKER_00: I think it's incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with
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SPEAKER_00: the world.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what they should do.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what we hope they will do.
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SPEAKER_00: We're watching it very closely.
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SPEAKER_00: So I do hope they are.
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SPEAKER_00: I will say just as an editorial comment, as I had a friend that was A little worried about it.
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SPEAKER_00: The honest truth is that I think before I reactivated my faith and returned
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SPEAKER_00: I was going to say the church,
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SPEAKER_00: but I'm not really a big fan of saying religion,
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SPEAKER_00: but return to the Lord that something like this would have had me much more scared
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SPEAKER_00: and terrified.
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SPEAKER_00: But ultimately,
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SPEAKER_00: we all need to understand that our life is going to end at some point,
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SPEAKER_00: whether it's a car wreck today or cancer.
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SPEAKER_00: And I was talking with a friend whose friend had cancer.
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SPEAKER_00: They found something on their stomach and the person was gone in like three months.
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SPEAKER_00: Like we're all going to die at some point.
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SPEAKER_00: And so it is important that we understand and think about the fact
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SPEAKER_00: that our lives won't last forever and we make such preparations both from
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SPEAKER_00: a spiritual sense and also from just a do you have a will,
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SPEAKER_00: do you have all of those things.
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SPEAKER_00: But I think the news side of this is that none of us know exactly what is happening
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SPEAKER_00: over there or not happening,
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SPEAKER_00: but I'm glad that Secretary of State Rubio made those comments and
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SPEAKER_00: that hopefully our intelligence agencies are monitoring this closely.
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SPEAKER_00: Oh, and one other point on this before we move on.
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SPEAKER_00: I obviously never want to scare people.
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SPEAKER_00: I try to downplay the worst case scenarios in most news.
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SPEAKER_00: There is talk that even if there was an outbreak from this,
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SPEAKER_00: that if it was and it is the plague,
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SPEAKER_00: there are antibiotics that are often effective against it.
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SPEAKER_00: People always think that this could be like COVID.
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SPEAKER_00: With COVID, we had antibiotics that did not work.
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SPEAKER_00: Also, this type of plague is not as easy to transmit.
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SPEAKER_00: Plagues in the past were transmitted through infected fleas or contact with infected animals.
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SPEAKER_00: COVID was obviously spread much more easily.
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SPEAKER_00: Just to put that out there, but I have been surprised...
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SPEAKER_00: How many of my friends have been talking about it and how many people are talking
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SPEAKER_00: about it online.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think it's just because we all have PTSD after the COVID mess,
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SPEAKER_00: how long that lasted and just how much impact that had that we're just like,
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SPEAKER_00: we don't want to go through this again.
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SPEAKER_00: I do think deep down there is this part of us,
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SPEAKER_00: though, we just don't like to talk about death or death.
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SPEAKER_00: Things like that.
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SPEAKER_00: We just would rather things just go along great and the economy be great
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SPEAKER_00: and not have to worry about those things.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's partly because we live, at least most of the listeners on here, in the West.
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SPEAKER_00: And the thought of dying before hitting 70 or somewhere on
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SPEAKER_00: the actuary table is not something that most of us seriously consider.
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SPEAKER_00: Let's move now to the bond markets here in the U.S.
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SPEAKER_00: And I just Googled this because I'd seen some news stories.
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SPEAKER_00: And if you research right now as of Wednesday about the bond markets,
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SPEAKER_00: you'll see all kinds of stories popping up.
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SPEAKER_00: Just a quick little rundown of a couple of headlines.
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SPEAKER_00: U.S. Treasury yields reach highest levels since 2002.
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SPEAKER_00: Global bond sell-off pushes U.S. Treasury yields to fresh 24-year highs.
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SPEAKER_00: The Dow falls 300 points.
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SPEAKER_00: The S&P 500 retreats from record high as record high yields spook investors.
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SPEAKER_00: And there's just story after story on this.
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SPEAKER_00: And the short of it is,
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SPEAKER_00: is that I know these stories can get really complicated,
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SPEAKER_00: but it's costing more to borrow money for the U.S.
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SPEAKER_00: And this is something that We've been kicking down the road for a long time as far
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SPEAKER_00: as the amount of debt we have and our ability to repay it.
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SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to mention, I'm not going to get too much into that.
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SPEAKER_00: I might mention it a bit more when we talk about France later,
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SPEAKER_00: but I just want to mention that sometimes the arrogance of
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SPEAKER_00: the Trump administration just grates on me.
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SPEAKER_00: And here are two single lines.
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SPEAKER_00: From the man,
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SPEAKER_00: Scott Besant,
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SPEAKER_00: who is the supposed expert in the Trump administration about all of this.
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SPEAKER_00: This is less than a month apart.
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SPEAKER_00: On September 8th,
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SPEAKER_00: he was asked about this,
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SPEAKER_00: and he did some pretty aggressive moves back then,
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SPEAKER_00: and he warned people not to bet against him.
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SPEAKER_00: And he said, quote,
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SPEAKER_00: I am the house,
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SPEAKER_00: you know, just like a casino or something, like don't bet against the government.
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SPEAKER_00: Like basically, we will destroy you if you do.
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SPEAKER_00: And then less than a month later,
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SPEAKER_00: October 3rd, he says, I can't control the bond market when asked about it.
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SPEAKER_00: So he goes from saying, I am the house, to I can't control the bond market.
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SPEAKER_00: And it just reminded me,
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SPEAKER_00: the same thing with Elon when he was doing the Doge stuff,
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SPEAKER_00: which, you know, initially a lot of people wanted to support it.
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SPEAKER_00: But just the way,
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SPEAKER_00: the callous way that people were fired and things were hastily done and laws were,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: If not broken, certainly came very close to being pushed up against the line.
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SPEAKER_00: Much of that stuff's been undone.
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SPEAKER_00: Obviously, there's been almost no savings from all of it as it's been unwound, rewound.
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SPEAKER_00: Lawsuits have taken place.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's just frustrating to watch.
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SPEAKER_00: Like these two lines just perfectly sum up almost the arrogance of
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SPEAKER_00: the Trump administration from I am the house on September 8th to I can't control
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SPEAKER_00: the bond market to, you know, the Iran war.
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SPEAKER_00: It'll be four to six weeks.
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SPEAKER_00: It's there's just this almost just arrogance that is it's just hard to get your arms around.
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SPEAKER_00: And, you know,
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SPEAKER_00: it's The opposite, when the Democrats are in charge, they're experts in government.
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SPEAKER_00: You know, they have these folks with just decades of government experience.
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SPEAKER_00: And they'll say,
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SPEAKER_00: we'll do these policies,
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SPEAKER_00: or we'll do this or that,
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SPEAKER_00: and They're almost frustrated when businesses don't cooperate the way
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SPEAKER_00: that they expect that maybe businesses will,
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SPEAKER_00: but it's just the complete opposite with Republicans in control right now.
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SPEAKER_00: They just almost have this confidence and arrogance that maybe it's needed, maybe it's not, but
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SPEAKER_00: We've gone from I am the house to I can't control the bond market.
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SPEAKER_00: And with the Iran war, I don't even know how many times Trump said we've won that.
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SPEAKER_00: And just this past week we were withdrawing B-1B bombers.
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SPEAKER_00: It's just, I don't know why they continue to try to make themselves look so silly.
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SPEAKER_00: But sometimes they look a little foolish.
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SPEAKER_00: It just seems like to me a little bit more restraint and a little bit more humility
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SPEAKER_00: than And a few less over-the-top confident statements would just go a long ways
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SPEAKER_00: with this administration.
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SPEAKER_00: But they have just done the absolute opposite of that from Elon bringing in
14:40
SPEAKER_00: a chainsaw at a major political event.
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SPEAKER_00: They almost just take pride in just grating on people.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why, to a large degree...
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SPEAKER_00: November is going to be brutal for Republicans,
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SPEAKER_00: because even with immigration,
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SPEAKER_00: the heavy-handedness,
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SPEAKER_00: the way that they have enforced,
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SPEAKER_00: in many ways, the law, but just the callous way that they have done so.
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SPEAKER_00: And when you see the stories of kids crying,
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SPEAKER_00: 13-year-old kids who can't even represent themselves,
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SPEAKER_00: don't know what to do,
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SPEAKER_00: parents, I mean, it's just... You can follow the law without...
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SPEAKER_00: Doing so in a callous way.
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SPEAKER_00: So let's move now back to the Middle East.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm going to need to talk about Iraq for a moment.
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SPEAKER_00: I didn't get a chance to squeeze that in last week or the week prior.
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SPEAKER_00: And the U.S. has withdrawn all forces from Iraq.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: This is actually the second time they've done so.
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SPEAKER_00: If you recall,
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SPEAKER_00: ISIS started taking control of the country Back in 2012,
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SPEAKER_00: so we sent troops back in to help support the Kurds and some of the Iraqi forces
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SPEAKER_00: to try to destroy ISIS.
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SPEAKER_00: So that was back in 2011, 2012, depending on what point you really want to start counting.
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SPEAKER_00: But now the question is, Iraq is still a country.
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SPEAKER_00: I like how the New York Times framed it.
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SPEAKER_00: After two decades, U.S. forces leave Iraq to an uncertain future.
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SPEAKER_00: And currently, Iraq is facing a number of forces that it has to try to prevail against.
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SPEAKER_00: It has heavily armed Iranian militias inside the country that in many ways boast
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SPEAKER_00: the kind of firepower that Iraqi forces are concerned about dealing with,
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SPEAKER_00: and so they've been very light-handed in dealing with them.
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SPEAKER_00: So it's got Iranian pressure from some of these militias.
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SPEAKER_00: Obviously, most of the country is Shia.
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SPEAKER_00: So they are Shia Muslims, which, of course, Iran itself is a Shia Muslim country.
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SPEAKER_00: So 55 to 65 percent of the population is basically pro-Iran.
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SPEAKER_00: And then there are Sunni Muslims, 30-40% somewhere in there.
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SPEAKER_00: They are obviously more closely allied to Saudi Arabia.
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SPEAKER_00: And then you've got the Kurds in the north, around 10% or so.
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SPEAKER_00: They're going to be concerned about what protections they may have with U.S. forces leaving.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: But it's certainly a country that faces a large share of problems that it will have
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SPEAKER_00: to navigate without us being there.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: I should also mention as well that even though ISIS has been defeated as
17:48
SPEAKER_00: a territorial force,
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SPEAKER_00: and even though Iraqi troops are more capable than they were even 10 years ago,
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SPEAKER_00: there is still a force of ISIS in the country,
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SPEAKER_00: and we don't know how they will perhaps reconstitute themselves
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SPEAKER_00: and what threats they may end up creating for both Iraq,
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SPEAKER_00: its government, and even Obviously U.S. forces and other countries in the region.
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SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of questions,
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SPEAKER_00: and I know the war was an unpopular one,
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SPEAKER_00: but I think in the end we have to thank every American service member
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SPEAKER_00: who served there,
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SPEAKER_00: who gave the Iraqis a chance to control their own destiny,
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SPEAKER_00: and now that destiny is in the hands of the Iraqi people.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk political news here in the U.S.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you guys have seen lots of news stories that back up what I'm about to say,
18:47
SPEAKER_00: but it seems very clear that Democrats are confident heading into November.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: Things have gotten,
18:53
SPEAKER_00: there's data points across the country,
18:55
SPEAKER_00: but things have gotten so bad in North Carolina that one of
18:59
SPEAKER_00: the top Republican super PAC funds,
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SPEAKER_00: the Senate Leadership Fund, has stopped ads in North Carolina's Senate race.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: They're essentially conceding it, that they will lose North Carolina to the Democrats.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: They're now launching ads in Kansas.
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SPEAKER_00: They're worried about losing Kansas in bright red Kansas.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: There was another story out that a media company had tracked 70,000 hours
19:28
SPEAKER_00: of conservative podcasts from 2025 through 2026 just tracking the mentions of Trump.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: And on conservative podcasts, it has plummeted.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: They're not even talking about Trump anymore.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be absolutely definitive in about six weeks,
19:52
SPEAKER_00: but Trump is about to enter the lame duck period.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: I had said a year or so ago,
19:58
SPEAKER_00: probably about 12 months or so ago,
20:00
SPEAKER_00: that I thought Trump had apexed in his political power,
20:03
SPEAKER_00: and I took some heat at the time for saying that, but I think I was correct then.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm correct now, and it's more obvious now, but People aren't talking about Trump.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: You had Ted Cruz attack J.D.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: Vance.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: You've seen John Kennedy down in Louisiana starting to make some strong comments,
20:26
SPEAKER_00: and he's talking about potentially running.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: So very quickly after November,
20:31
SPEAKER_00: the new faces of the Republican Party will start to emerge,
20:35
SPEAKER_00: and it's going to be very interesting to see how President Trump handles that.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: Because we know he likes to be the center of attention.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: And he likes everything to be about himself.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: Whether he's running ads, despite his lack of high poll numbers.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: I should say, you know, just his absolutely terrible poll numbers.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: And he's still trying to make this election about himself.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: He just does not have advisors who will tell him the truth.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't want to hear the truth in most cases.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: But it is definitely going to get interesting very fast.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: And on that note,
21:09
SPEAKER_00: there was actually some news reporting out that Democrats are already starting
21:14
SPEAKER_00: a hiring process to hire investigators,
21:18
SPEAKER_00: lawyers,
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SPEAKER_00: press experts,
21:21
SPEAKER_00: people who they can help write press releases and control some
21:26
SPEAKER_00: of these investigation websites because they are literally looking
21:30
SPEAKER_00: to hire ex-DOJ officials who have been pushed out by the Trump administration.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Now, they're not looking to impeach President Trump,
21:40
SPEAKER_00: but they are looking to impeach some cabinet officials and investigate all kinds
21:44
SPEAKER_00: of things that have happened the past two years.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk now about China.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: I haven't had a chance to squeeze in any news regarding China in the past couple
21:56
SPEAKER_00: or three weeks, I guess.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: So several things to discuss with our peer panelists.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: The Stan R. Mitchell, The Stan R. Mitchell Show.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: In military news,
22:25
SPEAKER_00: China has opened its third overseas military facility just this past couple
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SPEAKER_00: of weeks.
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SPEAKER_00: They have created a new base in Laos, or Laos as we say in the south, but Laos.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: This base is already, they claim it's just there to train fighters and pilots for Laos.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is they are already moving lots of jets and stuff there.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: As usual they're pretty deceptive.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: But they have created another base.
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SPEAKER_00: They already have bases in Djibouti and Cambodia.
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SPEAKER_00: So they're expanding their military reach in the Pacific region.
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SPEAKER_00: Also happening,
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SPEAKER_00: worth note,
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SPEAKER_00: Japan has deployed Japanese fighter aircraft to India as part of
23:11
SPEAKER_00: a bilateral training exercise.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: Now, they have done some joint exercises before,
23:39
SPEAKER_00: but this is the first time that Japanese fighters have flown to India
23:44
SPEAKER_00: and done training.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: They practiced air combat, coordinated missions, they worked on operational planning.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: And why this matters is because Japan and India both have territorial disputes with China.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: And both of them are strengthening their military relationships with the U.S.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: and other regional partners.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: I've gone on many rants about this before, but China bullies all of its neighbors.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: And the only way to stand up to China is to create relationships.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: So that has happened in the past couple of weeks.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned the last time I discussed China,
24:23
SPEAKER_00: they are continuing to do military drills near the Philippines.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: Doing various naval and air exercises around a couple of disputed locations in
24:33
SPEAKER_00: the South China Sea that most of you probably wouldn't be able to find on a map.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: But the reason that it matters Is that these are islands that are also claimed by
24:42
SPEAKER_00: the Philippines and the Philippines is a U.S. treaty ally.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: So if there were any type of serious armed confrontation between the Philippines and
24:51
SPEAKER_00: the U.S.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: that would create a crisis that could explode because we would have to decide
24:57
SPEAKER_00: if we were going to honor a treaty that goes back almost 50 years.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: Moving along,
25:05
SPEAKER_00: in other news that really has not made the news,
25:08
SPEAKER_00: Chinese troops have participated in a major Russian military training exercise.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: The Russian side had 47,000 troops take part in this,
25:19
SPEAKER_00: but the reason that it's interesting is that China has trained with them
25:23
SPEAKER_00: and is sharing and exchanging Methods of warfare,
25:30
SPEAKER_00: observing tactics and weapons that Russia's had to learn to deal with in Ukraine.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: So essentially China,
25:36
SPEAKER_00: which hasn't fought a major war in like 50-something years,
25:39
SPEAKER_00: is learning some things that it probably needs to learn if it plans on trying
25:43
SPEAKER_00: to invade Taiwan or fight the U.S.,
25:46
SPEAKER_00: And then the final thing I need to mention in the region for the island of Taiwan,
25:50
SPEAKER_00: which is obviously independent of China,
25:53
SPEAKER_00: they received the first two fighters that are to be coming.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: They received two American-made F-16 fighters.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: These are the first two of 65.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: They're part of an $8 billion fighter purchase.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: And Taiwan is wanting lots of different weapons that are being slow delivered from
26:14
SPEAKER_00: the U.S. in many cases.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: But they are trying to strengthen their defenses against China's much larger military.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, China opposes American arms sale to the island.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: It claims that Taiwan is its territory.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: So two aircraft won't change anything as far as the military balance.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: But their arrival does mark the...
26:37
SPEAKER_00: So, let's move now.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Way further to our east to Ukraine and the war happening with Russia.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: Been just a lot of things that I could talk about.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: I know folks have heard a little bit that there's some kind of potential U.S.-Russia deal.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: That involves an oil deal tied to some Trump allies.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: A lot to unpeel from that and I'm not going to get into all details because a lot
27:32
SPEAKER_00: of it's barely been discussed in the New York Times and a couple other places
27:36
SPEAKER_00: and I'm sure more details will emerge but I'm also skeptical that any kind
27:40
SPEAKER_00: of peace deal is going to happen either way because I think Putin has too much
27:44
SPEAKER_00: to lose.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: But on the subject of Ukraine...
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Russia has already begun its winter campaign,
27:51
SPEAKER_00: even though obviously winter isn't there yet,
27:54
SPEAKER_00: but their goal is to starve and freeze out the residents of Ukraine's capital,
27:58
SPEAKER_00: so they have started hitting transmission lines
28:01
SPEAKER_00: of just regular electrical transmission lines.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: I've got a video of that in the Substack notes,
28:08
SPEAKER_00: in the episode notes if you want to go see that.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: It's horrific to watch these massive towers get blown up and fall.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: I can't imagine how long it takes to replace those.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: But again,
28:20
SPEAKER_00: Russia is doing what Russia often does under Vladimir Putin
28:24
SPEAKER_00: and they're doing terrorism and they're hitting electrical
28:30
SPEAKER_00: utilities that are
28:32
SPEAKER_00: for people.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: Now, additionally, Russia is starting to strike bridges.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: They're trying to cause the collapse of the capital city of Kiev.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: You can watch a couple of videos of that in the episode notes as well.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: President Zelensky said, do they really think we will not respond?
28:53
SPEAKER_00: And he said that Russia continues to raise the stakes every day by striking bridges,
28:59
SPEAKER_00: warehouses, data centers, and mobile communications.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: So they are planning on responding.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: One of the larger stories is that Russia is increasingly using jet drones of
29:12
SPEAKER_00: the Shahid drones or Shahid.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: But the Shahid drones are now often jet powered versus just a propeller with,
29:20
SPEAKER_00: you know, they were slower to 300 miles before miles per hour.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: They're now 700 or more.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: And so that has been providing some issues with Ukraine being able to shoot them down.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: But they are trying to move more air defenses to deal with that.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: They are trying to, at one point they were running low on F-16s.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: The air defense situation continues to be a challenge for Ukraine.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, they continue to do drone strikes on military targets inside Russia.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: At the same time as all of that is happening,
30:10
SPEAKER_00: they have continued to make some advances and they actually have taken quite
30:16
SPEAKER_00: a few prisoners There's a video with about 250 of them in one of
30:23
SPEAKER_00: the social media posts that they are sharing.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: So you don't see that very often.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen that many prisoners in probably a year or two or more.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: And so Russian supplies continue to be an issue on the front lines.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: And you will often see in some of the interviews with the Russian troops
30:38
SPEAKER_00: that they don't have food or even water in some cases.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: So I have always said I thought at some point
30:45
SPEAKER_00: that Russia's Military forces could collapse on the front line just
30:50
SPEAKER_00: because Ukraine has been targeting the logistics so well of the Russian troops.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: They've been striking these trucks and the various ways that Russia has tried
31:00
SPEAKER_00: to move its food and ammo up.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see if anything happens there,
31:05
SPEAKER_00: but that's a pretty good summary of the situation in Ukraine.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: It's always difficult when you're a smaller country being attacked and invaded by
31:14
SPEAKER_00: a much larger country, but they continue to just be heroically strained.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: And an example to us all of just what, of just doing the impossible.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Of having perseverance.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: Of refusing to back down.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: Of no matter what the odds are saying, no, we will not back down.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: We will do what we think is right.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: And we will defend ourselves.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot, you know, there's some powerful lessons there.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: I think all of us can take into our personal lives.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: And I continue to think the U.S.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: should do a much better job,
31:52
SPEAKER_00: which it has done hardly anything under the Trump administration,
31:56
SPEAKER_00: of supporting Ukraine.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: That we can send some of our older weapons there.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: It is in our strategic interest to help stop Russia from having success in Ukraine
32:11
SPEAKER_00: and further threatening other European countries that are NATO members.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about some cool military tech news.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: I was going to mention something about the French protests,
32:25
SPEAKER_00: but the more I dug on it, the more confusing it all is.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: Basically,
32:29
SPEAKER_00: it's crazy that, I mean,
32:31
SPEAKER_00: France has a spending problem,
32:33
SPEAKER_00: they have a debt problem,
32:34
SPEAKER_00: and even the conservative candidate Le Pen is promising additional spending
32:39
SPEAKER_00: and reducing their taxes.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't even know what
32:54
SPEAKER_00: to say.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: It's a mess.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: And it seems like those protests are getting worse.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: So I hope that they find a way to control them.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: But at some point, I mean, you have to tell people no and you have to stop promising everything.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: There just comes a point where, I mean, there's just not enough money.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: But That's France's problems and I'm sure they don't want to hear
33:15
SPEAKER_00: an American telling them what they should or should not do.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about some cool tech news though.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: Just a few,
33:23
SPEAKER_00: actually several things that I need to make sure I mention that I'm just fascinated
33:28
SPEAKER_00: by this stuff as warfare changes.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: First,
33:33
SPEAKER_00: there's an article in the New York Times about how Ukraine's naval drones continue
33:40
SPEAKER_00: to just make advancement.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: They...
33:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, these are just basically modified motorboats,
33:47
SPEAKER_00: but they are now carrying aerial attack drones closer to targets.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: There's been a Ukrainian drone fight, another naval drone.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: The Stan R. Mitchell Show.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: They've been carrying anti-air missiles for a while,
34:27
SPEAKER_00: so that if,
34:28
SPEAKER_00: you know,
34:29
SPEAKER_00: for a while the Russians would use helicopters with machine guns
34:32
SPEAKER_00: to destroy these drones,
34:33
SPEAKER_00: so the Ukrainians started putting anti-air missiles on them,
34:36
SPEAKER_00: and at least a few Russian helicopters were shot out of the sky,
34:41
SPEAKER_00: so it's like every time one side does something,
34:44
SPEAKER_00: the other side has another way that they combat that.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: There's also a cool video I'm putting in the episode notes you might want to check out.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: But there's a Ukrainian ground robot.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: And a Russian attack drone goes toward it to try to run into it and blow it up.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: And the Ukrainian ground robot shoots out this net.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: It's an anti-drone net.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: It wraps up this Russian drone, which obviously collapses and falls to the ground.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just blown away by this.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm...
35:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to overstate it,
35:19
SPEAKER_00: but I'm like half convinced that Ukraine has better tech than us right now
35:23
SPEAKER_00: when it comes to drone and counter drone warfare.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: We all know that necessity is the mother of invention and Ukraine's been in
35:31
SPEAKER_00: a deadly war for four years and really going back to almost a decade plus.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Whereas we have bureaucracies and crazy contracts in the Pentagon,
35:42
SPEAKER_00: but they are not messing around.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: And then the final thing I think I want to mention,
35:48
SPEAKER_00: by the way, you can see the video of the sea drones fighting each other.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: I think I mentioned that a second ago.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: But they have also done a first.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Ukrainian forces carried out the first fully autonomous marine landing on an island
36:03
SPEAKER_00: where an unmanned drone was dropped off with a machine gun.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: It is crazy to see and to think about.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: And it's even more crazy, I mean,
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Ukraine is a country that's fighting for its life,
36:26
SPEAKER_00: doesn't have a lot of money for trying to figure out future warfare things,
36:31
SPEAKER_00: but it's not crazy to think about that in the future there could be amphibious ships
36:36
SPEAKER_00: that land dozens if not hundreds of little tanks that have no humans involved,
36:43
SPEAKER_00: armed with thermal cameras and machine guns and who knows what else.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: And It's a terrifying thought.
36:52
SPEAKER_00: The only plus side is that it will reduce the amount of bloodshed in some cases
36:59
SPEAKER_00: for some countries,
36:59
SPEAKER_00: but at the same time it might make war something easier to drift into.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Just a lot to think about,
37:06
SPEAKER_00: but the speed at which all of this technology is advancing and changing.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: It's just mind-blowing to me.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: And I'm fascinated by it.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully you enjoyed hearing that.
37:17
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully you learned something.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Go check out those episode notes.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: There's some pretty cool videos in there that I think you'll appreciate.
37:23
[music]
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Before we leave,
37:36
SPEAKER_00: I want to remind you that the world isn't only what you've heard for the last hour.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: There are still people who sacrifice.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: There are still people who stand up for what's right.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: There are still people who put others ahead of themselves.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the best example of that is a Marine.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's an ordinary American.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's history from thousands of years ago,
38:00
SPEAKER_00: such as David standing before Goliath,
38:03
SPEAKER_00: Daniel facing the lion's den, or Moses confronting Pharaoh.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: For this week's story of courage,
38:11
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you about a fellow Tennessean and a soldier whose name probably ought
38:16
SPEAKER_00: to be a lot better known than it is.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: His name was Master Sergeant Roderick Edmonds.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: Edmonds was from Knoxville,
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Tennessee, and during World War II, he served with the 106th Infantry Division.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Toward the end of the war,
38:36
SPEAKER_00: in December of 1944,
38:39
SPEAKER_00: during the Battle of the Bulge, Edmunds was captured by the Germans.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: Eventually, he was sent to a German prisoner of war camp called Stalag 9A.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: And because he was a senior American non-commissioned officer there,
38:57
SPEAKER_00: Edmunds found himself responsible for more than 1,200 American prisoners.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: Later, in January of 1945, the Germans gave an order to the American prisoners.
39:13
SPEAKER_00: They wanted every Jewish American prisoner to identify himself and report separately
39:20
SPEAKER_00: at morning formation.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about 200 men here of the 1,200.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: Edmunds knew what that could mean, so he gave an order.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: Every American would report the next day.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: The next morning,
39:37
SPEAKER_00: the German Commandant walked outside expecting to find
39:39
SPEAKER_00: the Jewish prisoners separated from everybody else.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he found more than 1,200 American soldiers standing together.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: The Commandant was furious.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: The German officer demanded that Edmonds identify the Jewish soldiers immediately.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: Edmonds refused.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: And according to the accounts of the men who were there,
40:05
SPEAKER_00: the German officer pulled out his pistol,
40:08
SPEAKER_00: walked up to Edmunds,
40:09
SPEAKER_00: and pressed the gun against his forehead, right between his eyes.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: Think about this for a second.
40:16
SPEAKER_00: Edmunds was a prisoner.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: He was unarmed.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: He was standing in a Nazi prison camp.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: There was nobody coming to protect him if this officer decided to pull that trigger.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: And the German demanded again that he identify the Jewish prisoners.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: Edmunds looked to him and said, We are all Jews here.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: The German told him to order the Jewish soldiers forward again.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: And yet again, Edmunds refused.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: He told the German officer that under the Geneva Convention,
40:52
SPEAKER_00: the prisoners were required to give only their name, rank, and serial number.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: And then he told the German officer, if you shoot me, you're going to have to shoot all of us.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: And when this war is over, you'll be tried for war crimes.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: The German commandant stared at him.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: And then he lowered his pistol and walked away.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: More than 200 Jewish American soldiers were standing among those prisoners.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: Not one of them surrendered.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: And what I love about this story is that Edmunds didn't know how it was going to end
41:30
SPEAKER_00: when he took that stand.
41:32
SPEAKER_00: We know.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: We know the German lowered the pistol.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Edmunds didn't.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: For all he knew, those might have been the last words he ever spoke.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: That is courage.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: It isn't the absence of fear.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: And it isn't knowing everything is going to work out.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes courage is simply deciding what you will and will not do,
41:53
SPEAKER_00: and then refusing to move when the consequences arrive.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps just as crazy is that this story was never told by Edmonds to anyone.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: Years later, fellow prisoners began talking about this story.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: And in 2015, almost three decades after Edmonds had died in Knoxville in 1985,
42:20
SPEAKER_00: In Israel, they recognized Edmunds with an award.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: The award is called the Righteous Among the Nations,
42:28
SPEAKER_00: which is an honor given to non-Jews who risk their lives to save Jews during
42:32
SPEAKER_00: the Holocaust.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: Shortly after that, as it was further researched, Edmunds was awarded the Medal of Honor.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: His son accepted it on his behalf in 2026.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: More than 80 years after a German officer put a pistol between his eyes,
42:51
SPEAKER_00: America finally gave Edmonds its highest military honor.
42:56
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something worth remembering about his story.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: Courage doesn't always look like charging toward gunfire.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it looks like standing perfectly still.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it means looking evil directly in the face and saying,
43:10
SPEAKER_00: No, you're not getting them, not while I'm responsible for them.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: Master Sergeant Roderick Edmonds,
43:20
SPEAKER_00: an American soldier, a Tennessean, and this week's Story of Courage.
43:24
[music]
43:35
SPEAKER_00: And now, let's close with a little faith and encouragement.
43:40
SPEAKER_00: Whatever weight you've got on your shoulders,
43:42
SPEAKER_00: I hope this helps you step away from the noise for a few minutes and focus
43:46
SPEAKER_00: on something that matters.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: So this week, I want to talk about the question, why am I like this?
43:55
SPEAKER_00: Again, why am I like this?
43:59
SPEAKER_00: I think most of us have moments when we look at ourselves and wonder, why am I like this?
44:05
SPEAKER_00: Why do I struggle with things that don't seem to bother somebody else?
44:11
SPEAKER_00: Why am I wired this way?
44:14
SPEAKER_00: Why do I have these weaknesses,
44:16
SPEAKER_00: these quirks, these things about myself that I wish I could change?
44:22
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not careful,
44:24
SPEAKER_00: we can spend an awful lot of our lives Comparing ourselves to other people,
44:30
SPEAKER_00: wishing we had their personality,
44:32
SPEAKER_00: their strengths,
44:34
SPEAKER_00: their confidence, or just the ability to handle life differently than we do.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: So I was researching this in the Bible this week and I came across a number
44:46
SPEAKER_00: of places in Scripture that reminded me that Scripture gives us a very different way
44:52
SPEAKER_00: of looking at ourselves.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: And I thought I'd just run through this list with you and I hope it helps you
44:57
SPEAKER_00: as much as it's helped me.
45:00
SPEAKER_00: First of all,
45:01
SPEAKER_00: when the devil is beating you up,
45:03
SPEAKER_00: you have to remind yourself that we are made in God's image.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: In fact,
45:09
SPEAKER_00: in Genesis chapter 1 Verse 26-28 reads,
45:17
SPEAKER_00: Then God said, Let us make human beings in our image to be like us.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: They will reign over the fish in the sea,
45:26
SPEAKER_00: the birds in the sky,
45:28
SPEAKER_00: the livestock,
45:29
SPEAKER_00: all the wild animals on the earth,
45:31
SPEAKER_00: and the small animals that scurry over the ground.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: So God created human beings in His own image.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: So we are made in God's image.
46:06
SPEAKER_00: We were made to take dominion over the area we live in.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: We were made to be fruitful and to multiply.
46:16
SPEAKER_00: And we were made to enjoy a direct fellowship with God,
46:22
SPEAKER_00: living in His presence, hearing His voice.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: That's what we were made for.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: Of course, Adam and Eve sinned just as we have sinned.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: But I don't want to get too distracted about turning to God or what you need to do
46:40
SPEAKER_00: if you've never done so.
46:42
SPEAKER_00: I've done plenty of podcasts on that and you can look up the search for God.
46:45
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to the Christians out there who the devil is trying to wear down
46:52
SPEAKER_00: and cause to doubt and cause to question yourself.
46:55
SPEAKER_00: I want to stay on that side of the topic.
46:59
SPEAKER_00: Because the devil can try to make us feel old, or worthless, or fat, or just terrible.
47:08
SPEAKER_00: He knows he has to knock us off our game to try to diminish the impact
47:14
SPEAKER_00: that we could have for the kingdom.
47:16
SPEAKER_00: Now we have to fight that,
47:18
SPEAKER_00: and it's a fight that sometimes we have to do weekly or maybe even daily.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: So let's stay on the thought of how do we fight that.
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SPEAKER_00: Well,
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SPEAKER_00: we know that Scripture says in the book of Psalms that we are just a little lower
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SPEAKER_00: than the angels.
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SPEAKER_00: I'll read a few verses from Psalms chapter 8.
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SPEAKER_00: It reads,
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SPEAKER_00: He says,
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SPEAKER_00: So again,
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SPEAKER_00: it reads,
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SPEAKER_00: you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.
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SPEAKER_00: So we are just a little lower than angels.
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SPEAKER_00: We are not worthless.
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SPEAKER_00: We are not all the terrible things that the devil tries to make us believe.
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SPEAKER_00: If we are in Christ, we are brought into the family of God.
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SPEAKER_00: Scripture says we are adopted as His sons and daughters.
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SPEAKER_00: We are able to call the God who created the universe our Father.
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SPEAKER_00: So don't let the devil tell you anything differently than that.
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SPEAKER_00: Now moving along, we have to realize that God took special care to create us.
49:15
SPEAKER_00: The Stan R. Mitchell Show.
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SPEAKER_00: He knows exactly who we are.
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SPEAKER_00: He knows exactly what we carry.
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SPEAKER_00: And He is able to use even our weaknesses for His glory.
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SPEAKER_00: We were created by Him.
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SPEAKER_00: We belong to Him.
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SPEAKER_00: And our lives have purpose in Him.
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SPEAKER_00: In fact, here is how it is written in the book of Psalms.
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SPEAKER_00: This is chapter 139.
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SPEAKER_00: And it describes how God took special care to create us.
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SPEAKER_00: It reads,
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SPEAKER_00: You have examined my heart and know everything about me.
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SPEAKER_00: You know when I sit down or stand up.
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SPEAKER_00: You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.
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SPEAKER_00: You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.
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SPEAKER_00: You know everything I do.
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SPEAKER_00: You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: You go before me and follow me.
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SPEAKER_00: You place your hand of blessing on my head.
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SPEAKER_00: Even there your hand will guide me and your strength will support me.
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SPEAKER_00: I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night.
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SPEAKER_00: But even in darkness, I cannot hide from you.
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SPEAKER_00: To you, the night shines as bright as day.
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SPEAKER_00: Darkness and light are the same to you.
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SPEAKER_00: You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.
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SPEAKER_00: Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex.
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SPEAKER_00: Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it.
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SPEAKER_00: You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
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SPEAKER_00: as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
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SPEAKER_00: You saw me before I was born.
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SPEAKER_00: Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
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SPEAKER_00: Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
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SPEAKER_00: How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
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SPEAKER_00: Again, that's Psalms chapter 139 verses 1 through 16.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's just such a beautiful reminder that God took special care to create us,
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SPEAKER_00: that He loves us, that He is with us, that He watches everything we do.
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SPEAKER_00: And then, I know I'm running a little long on this, but just a couple more points.
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SPEAKER_00: First, we are of great value to God.
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SPEAKER_00: In fact, Jesus Himself says in the book of Luke chapter 12,
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SPEAKER_00: He says, What is the price of five sparrows?
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SPEAKER_00: And he answers, Two copper coins.
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SPEAKER_00: Yet God does not forget a single one of them.
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SPEAKER_00: And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.
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SPEAKER_00: So don't be afraid.
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SPEAKER_00: You are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
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SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, if you jump forward, we all know that God gave His Son for us.
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SPEAKER_00: It says in John chapter 3,
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 16,
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SPEAKER_00: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
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SPEAKER_00: that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
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SPEAKER_00: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
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SPEAKER_00: but to save the world through Him.
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SPEAKER_00: Secondly,
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SPEAKER_00: for those of us who are believers,
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SPEAKER_00: our self-esteem is affected by our relationship with Jesus Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: It says in the book of Romans chapter 12, This is truly the way to worship Him.
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SPEAKER_00: Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world,
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SPEAKER_00: but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
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SPEAKER_00: Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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SPEAKER_00: And then jumping further down in that very same chapter,
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SPEAKER_00: it talks about whatever that gift is that God has given you, and it can be any gift.
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SPEAKER_00: We are to use it and use it as well as we can and work hard with that gift.
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SPEAKER_00: It says in verse 6,
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SPEAKER_00: In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
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SPEAKER_00: So if God has given you the ability to prophesy,
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SPEAKER_00: speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
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SPEAKER_00: If your gift is serving others, serve them well.
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SPEAKER_00: If you are a teacher, teach well.
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SPEAKER_00: If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.
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SPEAKER_00: If it is giving, give generously.
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SPEAKER_00: If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.
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SPEAKER_00: If you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
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SPEAKER_00: And then the final thing I want to mention is that our self-esteem is based on God's approval.
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SPEAKER_00: It says in 2 Corinthians that Toward the end of the chapter of 10,
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SPEAKER_00: verse 18, it talks about that we should only boast in the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: And it says,
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SPEAKER_00: when people commend themselves or build themselves up or brag about themselves,
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SPEAKER_00: it doesn't count for much.
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SPEAKER_00: The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what matters.
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SPEAKER_00: Is that the Lord sees what we're doing and that the Lord commends us
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SPEAKER_00: to just Wrap this up and summarize it.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember, we're made in God's image.
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SPEAKER_00: We are not like worthless little creatures.
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SPEAKER_00: We are just a little lower than the angels.
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SPEAKER_00: God took special care to create us.
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SPEAKER_00: He created us in an amazing way for His hands.
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SPEAKER_00: We are of great value to Him.
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SPEAKER_00: He gave His Son to come here and sin.
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SPEAKER_00: Even though He was perfect, He literally bore our sins away.
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SPEAKER_00: And our self-esteem is affected by our relationship with Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: And our self-esteem is based on God's approval.
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SPEAKER_00: So these are some things to think about when you're being hard on yourself
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SPEAKER_00: and you're asking, like, what is wrong with me?
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SPEAKER_00: Or why am I the way I am?
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SPEAKER_00: So why are you like this?
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SPEAKER_00: Why am I like this?
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SPEAKER_00: We are like this because God made us this way.
57:04
SPEAKER_00: And we should obviously try to improve and grow in spiritual maturity
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SPEAKER_00: and stronger faith, more sanctified, less sin.
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SPEAKER_00: We should obviously do those things.
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SPEAKER_00: But we should not let the devil beat us down into thinking
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SPEAKER_00: that there's something wrong with us or that we have these flaws
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SPEAKER_00: that you don't know why you were made that way.
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SPEAKER_00: Well, you were made that way because God made you that way.
57:35
SPEAKER_00: Quit worrying about what the devil says.
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SPEAKER_00: Start listening to what Scripture says.
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SPEAKER_00: If it's nonsense, you'll figure that out.
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SPEAKER_00: But if it really is the Word of God, that changes everything.
58:14
SPEAKER_00: So don't be afraid to open the book and see for yourself.
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SPEAKER_00: If it starts to speak to you,
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SPEAKER_00: or if you're someone who used to go to church but no longer does,
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SPEAKER_00: make sure you find a good local church.
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SPEAKER_00: One that believes that the Bible is the Word of God,
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SPEAKER_00: that Scripture is true, trustworthy, and without error.
58:36
SPEAKER_00: Find the people that you need to surround yourself with to get through life
58:41
SPEAKER_00: because life is hard and scripture is clear that we should go through it
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SPEAKER_00: with community and that community should include people who believe in
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SPEAKER_00: a higher power.
58:54
SPEAKER_00: And one last thing,
58:56
SPEAKER_00: if you're a veteran struggling with PTSD,
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SPEAKER_00: depression,
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SPEAKER_00: or thoughts of suicide, please use the resources I've linked in the episode notes.
59:06
SPEAKER_00: You've made it through hard things before.
59:09
SPEAKER_00: Don't try to fight this one alone.
59:12
SPEAKER_00: We need you here.
59:13
SPEAKER_00: Your life matters.
59:16
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up.
59:20
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining me this week.
59:23
SPEAKER_00: As you head into the coming days, try to be a little kinder, online and out in the world.
59:28
SPEAKER_00: Remember that most Americans are good people, even if they vote differently than you do.
59:33
SPEAKER_00: And keep working on yourself, mentally, physically, and spiritually.
59:39
SPEAKER_00: Try to be a little better this week than you were last week.
59:43
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be perfect, just keep moving forward.
59:48
SPEAKER_00: When the news gets discouraging, and you know it will, Don't give up on this country.
59:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm betting when you finish this podcast,
59:58
SPEAKER_00: you're going to hear a lot of angry rhetoric,
1:00:01
SPEAKER_00: either in your neighborhood or maybe from your news source.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_00: But remember these truths.
1:00:09
SPEAKER_00: Division weakens us.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_00: Unity strengthens us.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_00: So be careful what you feed your mind and your spirit.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_00: If you're a person of faith, spend some time in your Bible this week.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not, maybe pick one up and give it a try.
1:00:29
SPEAKER_00: Finally,
1:00:30
SPEAKER_00: if you'd like to support what I'm doing here or check out any of my books,
1:00:34
SPEAKER_00: you'll find links in the episode notes.
1:00:37
SPEAKER_00: Until next time,
1:00:38
SPEAKER_00: stay hopeful,
1:00:40
SPEAKER_00: stay humble, and keep working to be the light in your corner of the world.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to The Stan R. Mitchell Show.