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PODCAST REVIEW: Hazard Ground With Mark Zinno

Every Tuesday proud servicemembers tell their stories of combat and survival on the Hazard Ground podcast hosted by Army Veteran, Mark Zinno. The stories you hear on this broadcast will give you tremendous perspective on every war fought from World War Two, Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Ryan Hedrick

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Growing up as a farm boy, Dr. Jeff Cain probably did not envision the career path that he ended up taking. Cain’s brilliant military career started at United States Military Academy West Point where he chose to serve in the Infantry. He would serve as a 3rd Battalion Ranger, ultimately making the decision to go to medical school. Cain’s story of service and sacrifice is documented on the latest edition of Hazard Ground Podcast with Mark Zinno.  

“I ended up at West Point courtesy of the United States Air Force,” said Cain. “Growing up on a farm, my grandparents were born around World War One timeframe and saw the advent of the airplane. That was something that always fascinated my grandfather, whenever an airplane would fly over, he would make it a point to show it to me.”

Growing up in the mid 1960’s, Cain said that he was inspired to become an astronaut. In high school he became fascinated with an airplane called the SR-71 which was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft.

“That was an amazing plane, that’s what I wanted to do,” recalled Cain. “I geared everything up to go into the Air Force, joined the Civil Air Patrol and found out that I liked the ground aspect of search and rescue more than the flying around part.”

Cain was afforded the opportunity to go to the Air Force via a four-year government scholarship but when he took his commissioning physical he failed the eye examination. “At the time, my options were pretty limited,” he said. “I could’ve sat in a missile silo somewhere out in the west or I could’ve been a civil engineer building roads and runaways on bases.” He said neither option piqued his interest so he inquired about special operations but was informed that if wanted to head in that direction he would have to join the Army.

“So, I regrouped and had an opportunity to interview for an appointment to West Point and I secured that.” In 1984, Cain started at West Point knowing that if he graduated, he would have a clear path to the Army Special Operations Command.

Cain said his big inspiration to join the elite unit came from John Wayne’s 1968 war film called The Green Beret. “His movie had a lot to do with it. We used to watch the film on a continuous loop on the VCR at the time. I thought to myself if this is what these guys do, if this is what special forces is all about, I want to join.”

Dr. Cain spoke about his time at West Point. He said fellowshipping with the people he went to school with was the most memorable thing that he experienced. “As far as the institution itself goes, I didn’t know what to expect. Just the history of the institution, some of it is very celebrated. At the time, it was billed as the premiere leadership school for the United States military. I will tell you that I was grossly disappointed with that aspect of the institution at the time.”

He explained that during the mid-1980’s most of the strategic leadership in the military had grown up in a conscript Army; sometimes called the draft, requiring mandatory enlistment. Cain also said that the attendees had little interaction with enlisted personnel except for summer training. He claims the leadership qualities being taught at the time probably worked better for people that had been drafted as opposed to people that went into the service voluntarily.

One of Cain’s career highlights was being named the lead medical planner for the Jessica Lynch rescue. Lynch served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Her convoy was ambushed and captured and subsequently rescued eight days later by Special Operation Forces.

“When that whole series of events transpired, we were notified about the opportunity from the National Command Authority that they wanted to go in and repatriate,” Cain said. “At that time, I think Private Lynch was the only survivor that was still in captivity. We did have an informant on the inside that was able to provide us some information. We knew that she had suffered a lot of orthopedic injuries and our concern was that her leg was so injured that Iraqi forces were thinking we would have to do an amputation.”

“I can tell you that we planned and executed that mission within a 48-hour timeframe.”

Every Tuesday proud servicemembers tell their stories of combat and survival on the Hazard Ground podcast hosted by Army Veteran, Mark Zinno. The stories you hear on this broadcast will give you tremendous perspective on every war fought from World War Two, Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

To learn more about Hazard Ground with Mark Zinno, log onto HazardGround.com.

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Sports Talkers Podcast: Danny Parkins, 670 The Score

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Danny Parkins opens up to Stephen Strom about why he is so passionate about defending Chicago. He also gives his best career advice and explains why a best friend is more important sometimes than an agent.

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PODCAST REVIEW: Millennial Money with Shannah Compton Game

Game spotlights rental evictions and how those evictions are impacting the economy. To discuss this issue Game talks to Shabana Baksh, Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates LLP, and Tendayi Kapfidze, Chief Economist at LendingTree.

Ryan Hedrick

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No one could have predicted what the COVID-19 pandemic was going to do to the economy. Some of the unintended consequences from the spread of last year’s virus include millions of people getting behind in either rent or mortgage payments. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about 10 million people were behind in their rent payments at the beginning of the month.

Recently, President Joe Biden extended the federal eviction moratorium through the end of the month. The Millennial Money podcast withShannah Compton Game spotlights rental evictions and how those evictions are impacting the economy. To discuss this issue Game talks to Shabana Baksh, Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates LLP, and Tendayi Kapfidze, Chief Economist at LendingTree.

“This temporary moratorium extends some of these vital protections to millions of renters that are at risk of eviction,” said Baksh. “They are also state and local moratoriums that remain in effect who may not qualify for assistance under the federal guidelines.”

Landlords across the country have been put in a tough situation with continuing moratoriums at the federal, state, and local levels. The typical delinquent renter owes nearly $6,000, according to a report published from Moody’s Analytics. The $900 billion relief package passed in December provided $25 billion for both landlords and renters.

“What we have seen happening since the economic crisis related to the coronavirus is that a lot of people who have been affected in terms of the industries that have been adversely affected such as travel, tourism, restaurants, and places where people have to engage directly, a lot of those people happen to be renters,” Kapfidze said,  “So obviously if you are not getting paid and not getting income it is a challenge to pay for your rent.”

To qualify for the funds, which are being disbursed by states and can be used for past and present rent, a renter must show that they suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic, have incomes below 80 percent of their median income and are at risk of becoming homeless.

“Right now, renters and owners find themselves in a significant cash crunch,” said Baksh. “We are entering into the second year of this pandemic and many renters are just accruing late fees and debt and so we are seeing a large buildup of these late payments. With that said, there are policies in place to protect renters and homeowners from being evicted and provide them with rental relief.”

Landlords still must pay mortgages on these properties that are not collecting rent. Lenders started the foreclosure process on 5,999 U.S. properties in February 2021, up 15 percent from last month but down 78 percent from a year ago. The highest foreclosure rates in Utah, Delaware, and Florida.

Lenders repossessed 1,545 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in February 2021, up 8 percent from last month but still down 85 from last year. 

“Renters should alert their landlords of their inability to pay their rent,” said Baksh. “Have an honest and open conversation with them about your situation. Try to seek a solution, landlords may be willing to negotiate during this tough time and agree to payment arrangements.”

 The one thing that renters should know about eviction moratoriums is that they do not dissolve you of the responsibility of paying your landlord.

“The devil is in the details,” said Kapfidze. “Eviction moratorium, it means that if you are the renters you are accumulating debt, you are still under contract if you are renting, and you still have an obligation to pay your bill. “In terms of the rental relief funds there are different structures of plans, but the money is not always easy to access.”

To learn more about the Millennial Money podcast with Shannah Compton Game click here

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PODCAST REVIEW: Consider This from NPR

Consider This podcast from NPR hosted by Mary Louis Kelly, hosted a conversation with several people from the Asian American community and organizations about steps that are being taken to protect people from becoming victims of senseless violence.

Ryan Hedrick

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There is a movement to raise awareness about the threat of violence against Asian Americans living in the United States. Last week, a 21-year-old white man murdered six women of Asian descent and two other people at Atlanta area massage businesses. Robert Aaron Long told police that his killing spree was not motivate by race by rather by his sex addiction.

The incident has motivated discussions and rallies over the past several days. Consider This podcast from NPR hosted by Mary Louise Kelly, hosted a conversation with several people from the Asian American community and organizations about steps that are being taken to protect people from becoming victims of senseless violence.

The podcast documents several incidents that did not make national news headlines. In San Francisco, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for a morning walk when out of nowhere, a man shoved him violently to the ground. He died two days later. It was not the only attack like that in the region.

A local resident who is sick and tired of seeing violence carried out against his community is getting involved.  JoJo Au launched a fundraiser to hire armed private security guards to patrol her own neighborhood, Oakland’s Chinatown. She has raised almost a hundred thousand dollars.

“Honestly, I didn’t know that it was going to spread like wildfire,” said JoJo Au. “And so many people were so concerned about it and wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what. You know, the merchants, they even say they feel safer. Some of the shoppers here, they feel safer. So, you know, I’m glad that I did this.”

Kelly said the pattern is clear – Asian American communities are being terrorized by harassment and violence. “Consider this – all those crimes you just heard about happened this year before a man in Georgia shot and killed eight people, most of whom were women of Asian descent.”

A group called Stop AAPI Hate tracks violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Since the start of the pandemic, they have received reports of nearly 4,000 hate incidents across the United States. 

Connie Chung Joe is CEO of a legal aid group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.

“Almost half of them are coming from California,” Chung said. “Another thing is that women are targeted more than twice as often as men. And then we are seeing a spate of hate and violence targeted at our seniors.

Chung said the Asian American that she knows are advising their parents and grandparents to stay in the house. “Even for things like daily walks or trips to the grocery store. So, folks are really worried about this. And there’s also a lot of outrage about why this is still allowed to happen in our society?”

Ben Nguyen is a Georgia state representative. Her district covers part of Atlanta and DeKalb County. She believes that Robert Long killed the women because of hate and nothing else.

“We know that these are three businesses that are Asian-owned,” Nguyen said. “We know that most people who work there are Asian. And I think for anyone who lives in Atlanta and you hear the word massage parlor, that there is an understanding that perhaps there are other sex worker-related things that take place in these massage parlors. And it’s largely accepted.”

Federally, there is an effort to address violence against Asian American communities. One of the leaders of that effort is Congresswoman Grace Meng, Democrat from New York. She’s introduced legislation on the issue. Her district covers parts of New York City and Queens. We spoke this week before the shootings in Georgia.

“People are scared. People are literally telling their elderly parents and grandparents, “do not go out,” said Meng.  “You know, we’ll buy groceries for you. I had a mom – that night when I heard about that incident, she had seen it on the news, and she texted me. She said, that’s it; I’m not letting my kids play outside anymore.” 

The U.S. Department of Justice could choose to bring federal hate crime charges against Long if they uncover any evidence to prove Long targeted the victims specifically because of their race.

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