DIG LIFE DEEP!

GIANNI RUSSO was born in Manhattan in 1943 and raised in the then close-knit Little Italy, and later Rosebank, Staten Island. After reprising Carlo Rizzi in a brief flashback scene at the end of The Godfather Part II, Russo acted in more than 46 films, including Goodnight, My Love (1972), Lepke (1975, as Albert Anastasia), Laserblast (1978), Chances Are (1989), The Freshman (1990), Side Out (1990), Another You (1991), Super Mario Bros. (1993), Any Given Sunday (1999) and Seabiscuit (2003). Russo claims that he started a fledgling career in organized crime working as an errand boy and mob associate for Frank Costello as an adolescent but later abandoned the dangerous and volatile lifestyle of organized crime. The Staten Island Mafioso Tommy Bilotti was reportedly best man at Russo's wedding. Since the beginning of his acting career, Russo owned a Las Vegas restaurant called Gianni Russo's State Street at 2570 State Street on the Las Vegas Strip (closed in 1988), and reportedly defeated 23 federal criminal indictments on a variety of charges stemming from alleged organized crime associations. Russo is also a singer. In 2004, he released a CD called Reflections that pays homage to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Russo owns a wine brand, Gianni Russo Wines, which debuted in 2009. In 2019, he published his memoir, Hollywood Godfather: My Life in the Movies and the Mob. Listen to his podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

Dr. Charles P. Nemeth has been an educator for more than 40 years and has spent the vast majority of his professional life in the study and practice of law and justice. In addition, he has published over 50 textbooks and references  across multiple editions and is a recognized expert on professional ethics and the justice system, private-sector justice and private security systems.  In addition, Dr. Nemeth integrates practical and professional concepts with both classical and medieval  thought, especially the ethical and moral principles espoused by Thomas Aquinas, Cicero and Aristotle.    Presently, Dr. Nemeth is Professor and Director of Criminal Justice—and Director of the Center for Criminal Justice, Law, and Ethics—at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio.  Prior to this, he was Chair  and Professor of Security, Fire and Emergency Management and Director of the Center of Private Security and Safety at John Jay College in New York City. At present Dr. Nemeth continues his association with John Jay College as Professor Emeritus. He has also  served as Chief Editor to a peer reviewed journal The Homeland Security Review and is now Editor in Chief of Natural Law and Justice.

In this episode, we talk (mostly) all things money, markets and jobs. With all the prognostications from some of the most influential experts on Wall and Main Street mulling a recession, and some seeing it striking America this year, RODNEY McMULLEN, CEO at Kroger Co, the biggest supermarket operator, has nailed it. Consumers are behaving  as if they are already in a recession, he says. We'll take a look underneath the hood of this strange and befuddling US and global economy, weigh up where we are at on all cylinders, political and economic. Labor force expert, IRA WOLFE, host of the GEEKS, GEEZERS & GOOGLIZATION Podcast, will help us make sense of all the noise and clutter. We'll also offer a sneak preview of our upcoming interview on HAPPINESS with DR. CHARLES P. NEMETH. Questions & Comments: byrnedesk@gmail.com

MARC SEAL, who grew up on Long Island, New York, is the co-founder and CEO of Sortium, a Web3/metaverse technology provider.  SEAL has experience in the crypto and NFT markets and in gaming and the metaverse. He spend much of his time working out of Sortium's offices in El Salvador so he has a unique view of its adoption of bitcoin as a national currency.  SEAL's unique entrepreneurial journey started when he first developed the concept for a new video game back in 2011. He skipped college and thought about a career in the Marines after high school. Instead, his career put him on on a 14-year journey working on various startups building games and commercial applications, in government, getting involved in early crypto and NFT projects, and  then eventually running the Star Wars digital business for The Topps Company and building the ToppsNFTs business onboarding brands such as MLB, Bundesliga, UEFA as well as working with brands such as Disney.

Darshan Pindoria is a psychologist and mental health expert based  in London, England who spent part of his life training to be a monk in India with a religious sect. But becoming a monk and studying to be a psychologist was not his initial career path. A career in Information Technology seemed like his destiny until deeper thoughts took root.

According to RAKESH SHARMA, one of the most enduring mysteries of Bitcoin is the identity of its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. "Little is known about this person or group, and their identity has never been confirmed," the writer adds in a post on Investopedia. "In October 2008, a message signed by Satoshi Nakamoto titled "Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper" announced the creation of the cryptocurrency. For the next two years, Satoshi remained active in the community, communicating with others in the development of the blockchain. Satoshi's last message on the Bitcoin forums was posted in December 2010, though unverified private messages from April 2011 have surfaced." This is an intriguing time for the volatile crypto markets with the spectacular fallout from the collapse of the FTX crypto platform and a blitz of significant pieces on crypto by industry leaders. One piece in the Wall Street Journal calls for a ban on crypto by US regulators following the example of the Chinese government. There is also a controversial theory making the rounds based on an academic study by Sean Griffin that may show evidence of bitcoin being artificially propped up by a secretive group.

Adam Blai, a layman, is a peritus (Catholic Church-decreed expert) in religious demonology and exorcism for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He has also served as an expert in these areas in training priests, deacons, and laity in many other dioceses. He is an auxiliary member of the International Association of Exorcists, a Vatican-recognized Private Association of the Christian Faithful based in Rome. Over fifteen years of working and training in the exorcism ministry, he has witnessed or experienced a number of miracles, some of which he has been appointed to investigate by the Church. He also works in the tribunal of the Pittsburgh Diocese.

Filco Carting is a leader in commercial waste collection services in New York City, offering job and life skills training sessions to members of underserved communities. The trainees, 66% of whom were formerly incarcerated, learn about holding down an important job, safety protocols and what life in the workforce is like. The program operated by FILCO trains participants for careers in waste removal. To date, the program has assisted over 300 people with pathways to apprenticeship.  Source: https://www.filcocarting.com

A native of New York, Chris Slattery followed his dream to support pregnant women and girls in a crisis with practical alternatives to abortion, launching EMC (Expectant Mother Care) FrontLine Pregnancy Centers in mid-town Manhattan in 1985.  EMC, led by Chris, was NYC’s first crisis pregnancy center. Chris pioneered  the use of onsite ultrasound and pre-natal care in a crisis center in the mid-80s, and introduced 3D and 4D ultrasound in lifesaving work when  the technology was first available.  He also introduced mobile ultrasounds alongside sidewalk counseling teams in major cities, at abortion  clinics.   EMC has offered over 100,000 pregnant women in crisis – free pregnancy  testing, on-site ultrasounds, pro-life counseling, onsite subsidized  pre-natal care, STD testing, and on-site adoption arrangements,  referrals for housing and legal aid, and material assistance.   Chris is  married to Eileen Tierney, and they have four children.   Chris launched the first Mobile Ultrasound Clinic, in a major US city,  on the streets of the Bronx, and Jackson Heights, Queens.   EMC launched  “Operation FrontLine” in late February 2007, and has drawn national, and  local media attention to this innovation, such as a November ’07  profile on the CBN-700 Club, and EMC has been featured on ABC Nightline.  Chris was the confirmation sponsor for Dr. Bernard Nathanson, and was  awarded the Champion for Life award by John Cardinal O’Connor.   Website: emcfrontline.org

JEREMY TATE is the co-founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), a classical alternative to the SAT. He is a nationally recognized leader in  the classic learning movement in K-12 education.  More about the CLT:  https://www.cltexam.com

TONY SALIBA is a world-renowned investment, trading and crypto expert. He has spent decades as a traditional trader and has also entered the crypto investing space becoming a major tech player. He is an internationally renowned business leader, multi-faceted serial entrepreneur, option trading pioneer, master trader and board member of the Chicago Stock Exchange, author, and shareholder, operator, and investor in nearly 100 companies. Tony has been the founding member of key companies in the trading and tech industries such as Efficient Capital Management, International Trading Institute, Liquid Point, Fortify Technologies, and more. He currently maintains a global team of staffers in offices around the US, UK, India and China helping companies achieve high rates of growth and identifies initiatives to unlock exponential value. He was one of the featured experts highlighted in the book, Market Wizards, and was recently featured as an expert for a series of articles with Business Insider (found here)

Frank King, Suicide Prevention Speaker, a writer for The Tonight Show  for 20 years, and a full-time standup comedian for 37 years. He’s fought  a lifetime battle with Depression and Chronic Suicidality, turning that  long dark journey into 8 TEDx Talks and insights on Mental Health  Awareness (only one other person on the planet has 8 TEDx Talks…Bill  Gates). Depression and suicide run in his family. He’s thought about killing  himself more times than he can count. He’s come close enough to dying by  suicide that he can tell you what the barrel of his gun tastes like… He uses his life lessons to start the conversation giving people  permission to give voice to their feelings and experiences.  He believes that where there is humor there is hope, where there is  laughter there is life, nobody dies laughing.

On this episode two distinguished experts, NATHAN LEWIS and DICK BOVE, lay out the case for the control of profligate spending and the easy money policies of the US Federal Reserve. This spending, in the form of trillions of dollars in "quantitative easing" by the Fed and massive stimulus programs and outlays by the government, has fueled runaway inflation. It also risks the collapse of the US dollar. NATHAN LEWIS, an internationally renowned expert on money and taxes, is the co-author of the Inflation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, and How to Fix It. The book explains what’s behind the worst inflationary storm in more than forty years—one that is dominating the headlines and shaking Americans by their pocketbooks. The cost-of-living explosion since the COVID pandemic has raised alarms about a possible return of a 1970’s-style “Great Inflation.” Some observers even fear a descent into the kind of Weimar-style hyperinflation that has torn apart so many nations. Is this true? If so, what should be done? How should we prepare for the future? According to the publisher Inflation answers these and other questions in an engaging discussion that draws on the singular expertise of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Media, acclaimed for his insights on money and the economy; Nathan Lewis, internationally renowned expert on money and taxation; and author and journalist Elizabeth Ames. Website: www.amazon.com/Inflation-What-Why-Its-Bad/dp/1641772433 DICK BOVE is the chief strategist at Odeon Capital Group and covers the bank sector. He is among the most prominent bank industry analysts in the US, often controversial, with a keen and practical sense of history and of events that are often translated into his analysis. Bove attended Stuyvesant High, N.Y., and is a graduate of Columbia University, 1962, majoring in political science. BOVE began his career in 1965, working for a series of firms including Wertheim, Shearson, Raymond James, Hoefer & Arnett and Punk Ziegel, before it was purchased by Ladenburg Thalmann. Later, Bove joined Rochdale Securities and then eventually moved to Odeon Capital. A widely quoted analyst with some five decades of experience behind him, Bove relies on common sense and macroeconomic trends to forecast markets.  He appears regularly on business shows on TV and radio, and is frequently cited in media coverage of Wall Street. On the popular weekly ODEON CAPITAL CONVERSATIONS with MAT VAN ALSTYNE, BOVE provides in-depth analysis and commentary on many of the big market and global trends of our times. ODEON CAPITAL CONVERSATIONS is hosted by JOHN AIDAN BYRNE. Bove is the author of Guardians of Prosperity: Why America Needs Big Banks (December 26, 2013) Website: https://www.odeoncap.com/

Martin Dugard is a best-selling American author living in Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, California. He and his wife have three sons. His latest book, Taking Berlin. The Bloody Race to Defeat the Third Reich, follows the success of his initial book, Taking Paris, in his World War 11 series. Dugard talks about this acclaimed book in an earlier DIG LIFE DEEP! Podcast. Dugard began writing professionally in 1988. Bored by an unfulfilling corporate marketing job, he began writing articles for endurance sports magazines such as Competitor and Runner's World in the mornings and on weekends. In 1993, inspired after covering the Raid Gauloises adventure race in Madagascar, Dugard left the corporate world to pursue a full-time writing career. Although he has returned to journalism from time to time, as when covering the Tour de France from 1999 to 2008, Dugard's primary focus is writing narrative non-fiction. Dugard wrote his first work of history in 2000. Dugard is know for his fruitful and his productive collaboration on the KILLING series with broadcaster and commentator, Bill O'Really. Their latest is Killing the Legends.  Website:https://www.martindugard.com/

Andrew Gillsmith is a science fiction writer whose education in  religious studies and passion for the cyberpunk genre has helped inform  and mold his style of storytelling. Fittingly, his first job out of  school was delivering mail for Jeff Bezos when he was still selling  books via Listserv. Since then, he’s worked in a number of interesting  roles, including head of customer experience for the Kentucky Derby,  leader of a proposed hyperloop project in the United States, head of  data analysis for a healthcare company, and SVP of sales for a digital  marketing agency. He currently works in publisher development in the  programmatic advertising space. Andrew lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife Cheryl and their two young sons. His new novel, Our Lady of the Artilects, is available for purchase on Amazon.

It's a collapse that some have called crypto's "Lehman moment," according to a stirring account of the fall of the FTX Crypto exchange, the darling of the digital currency jet set. Once valued at multiple billions of dollars, the surprise destruction of Bahamas-based FTX caught many investors, regulators and media mavens completely off-guard. How could this be? Founder Sam Bankman-Friend was the poster boy of the industry, a friend of regulators, lawmakers and celebrities. Sure, he had a strange attraction, a funky hairdo and a stare and look that could melt butter.  But this made him all the more special in some -- he was the rockabilly of crypto and he would change the world. That's for sure and the rest is history.  On this episode, we will offer our analysis of the future. Then we will play you three significant interviews with crypto experts and pundits: Pat LaVecchia, CEO of Oasis Pro;  Jesse Brown, CEO of Himalaya Exchange and finally best selling author, Jeffrey Robinson who has investigated crypto. The trio have been around the block (chain). You be the judge of what comes next. 

A “Millennial trapped in a Baby Boomer body,” IRA WOLFE is recognized as one  of the Top 5 Global Thought Leaders on Future of Work and HR and Top 10  for Leadership. He is the president of Poised for the Future Company,  founder of Success Performance Solutions, Senior Consultant with Dame  Leadership, a TEDx Speaker, Hall of Fame Speaker, and host of Geeks  Geezers Googlization podcast, part of the People-Forward Network. His  most recent book is Recruiting in the Age of Googlization, now in its  2nd edition, which was selected as one of the top 50 books to read in  2021 by Thinkers360. He is the founder of the Googlization Nation  community and a frequent contributor to HR and business blogs including  Forbes, Medium, and an expert guest on NTD Business News. He was  recently selected as the 2022 HRSouthwest Hall of Fame Speaker inductee. WEBSITE: https://www.irawolfe.com/ YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/IraWolfe/about

Media personality Raymond Arroyo of FOX News and EWTN  is out with his beautiful Christmas book "The Wise Men Who Found Christmas." In this thrilling, visual adventure capturing the wonder of the Christmas season, New York Times bestselling author Arroyo shares the true, hidden story of the mysterious Magi, who risked everything to discover the truth. Based on new historical evidence, The Wise Men Who Found Christmas is the miraculous, untold tale of three seekers who followed a star and found themselves in the middle of the greatest story ever told. Stunningly illustrated by Diane Le Feyer, this enchanting family keepsake is sure to become part of your Christmas tradition – and a reminder that chasing truth is often the greatest adventure of all. Also on this episode, ARROYO sums up his view of the great American experiment in democracy and where the nation stands today.

Dr. Gerard Verschuuren has published a new book: Faith That Makes You Think. In this book, he demonstrates that faith relies on, rather than contradicts, thinking. The Catholic Church, in fact, teaches that there is a strong relationship between faith and reason. St. Augustine could not have said it more  clearly when he wrote, “Believers are also thinkers: in believing, they think and in thinking, they believe.… If faith does not think, it is nothing.” This goes against the slogan “Don’t think, just believe,” which gives atheists a powerful weapon to say the  opposite: “Don’t believe, just think.” That would give atheists full reign, which they certainly don’t deserve as the book explains. Faith That Makes You Think is specifically written for Catholics—fallen-away Catholics, lukewarm Catholics, struggling Catholics, would-be Catholics—for all those in search of the truth, as it gives life-saving answers  to life-size questions. But this episode of DIG LIFE DEEP! will appeal to a broad audience, people of faith and no faith and of course, Catholic, devout or fallen-away. The book received many accolades. To read those and to find a few more details about the book, click on this webpage: https://www.where-do-we-come-from.com/book-faith.htm

Financial industry veteran Pappous is pulling back the curtain on how retail wealth management firms actually work and how institutional clients enjoy greater performance transparency. The book offers an expert’s take on deceptive marketing practices and arms investors with the knowledge of how to spot high-quality portfolio advice and avoid falling for a slick salesperson. The start of this book is many years in the making. Pappous was motivated to enter the wealth management industry by deeply personal family tragedy. He explores the compelling reason he entered the field, what he found, and the choices he’s made. Pappous offers key observations in the book, including: *How firms evaluate their financial advisors’ performances, beginning with sales quotas. *Examples of how Wall Street marketing deceives rather than informs, like distorting the results of famous academic studies. *Why you shouldn’t trust the portfolio performance reports generated by your financial advisor. *Surprising secrets about financial advisor rankings and search services. *Why having your financial advisor act as a fiduciary does not actually eliminate conflicts of interest “If you’re going to seek help from a financial professional, you’re going to need to think of self-defense first,” said Pappous. “It’s not paranoia, it is your financial future on the line. Always be watching what your financial advisor is doing.” Wall Street’s Grand Deception is available via paperback for $19.99 or ebook for $9.99. The book can be purchased on October 20, 2022 from Barnes&Noble and Amazon. About Norman D. Pappous Normal D. Pappous, a retired financial markets professional, was motivated to enter the wealth management industry by a personal tragedy. He discovered an industry that is opaque at the expense of its clients and began his mission to get accountability into the hands of the average investor. Norman earned his BS in commerce from DePaul University in Chicago and received his MSc in financial markets and trading from Stuart School of Business at Illinois Tech. Norman began his professional career in London working for global investment banks and hedge funds before coming home to help the average investor navigate the financial markets. Shocked by the misdirection of Wall Street marketing, Norman launched FinancialAdvisorCheck.com, a company that serves the clients of financial advisors by producing—for free— institutional-level, confidential portfolio performance reports without the knowledge of their investment advisors. At one time, Norman held four securities licenses in the US and passed all three regulatory exams he sat for in the UK. He is a Quora.com’s Most Viewed Writer for asset management, financial advisors, and passive/index investing. The Structured Products Association of America gave Norman the Leading Edge Advisor award for his work in derivatives pricing. He’s been featured in The New York Post, Forbes, Investment News, Registered Rep, TheStreet.com, and Frontline on PBS. To learn more, visit www.wallstreetsgranddeception.com

Fundraising platform, GiveSendGo.com, may never have imagined the phenomenal growth ahead when it launched itself about eight years ago.  In the last year, its website has seen a one thousand percent increase between June 2021 and June 2022. HEATHER WILSON, GiveSendGo.com co-founder, explains what is propelling a significant amount of this growth - censorship on other platforms such as PayPal Following are some of GiveSendGo's growth metrics:  GiveSendGo is in  the top 1% of websites visited  by traffic in the USA. Over 2,055,000 prayers have been posted on campaigns on GiveSendGo. Current events increased 85% in 2022 over total years prior. Money raised for Churches increased  95% in 2022 over total years prior. Medical fundraisers up 70% in 2022 compared to total years prior. Emergency fundraisers up  57% in 2022 compared to total years prior. Memorial fundraisers up  60% in 2022 compared to total years prior. Although California, Texas and Florida have raised the most money, Idaho is the most generous per capita. Number of  employees increased 1,000% GiveSendGo saw the most traffic in three countries: USA, Canada, UK  “The support of our Givers has been astonishing,” said GiveSendGo.com co-founder Jacob Wells.  “Our supporters exhibit a special passion for causes and the people behind them.  Our company is more than a fundraising website—it is a gathering place for support, prayer and freedom.”  “We are astonished by this level of participation,” said GiveSendGo.com co-founder Heather Wilson.  “GiveSendGo’s global reach shows that it is more about money.  It is about caring, the desire to help others and the sharing of values.”  Founded in 2015, GiveSendGo.com is currently operating in eighty-six countries around the world.

J. Michael (Mike) Oliver, CEO, Momentum Structural Analysis, entered the financial services industry in 1975 on the Futures side, joining E.F. Hutton’s International Commodity Division, headquartered in New York City's Battery Park. He studied under David Johnston, head of Hutton’s Commodity Division and Chairman of the COMEX. In the 1980s Mike began to develop his own momentum-based method of technical analysis.  He learned early on that orthodox price chart technical analysis left many unanswered questions and too often deceived those who trusted in price chart breakouts, support/resistance, and so forth. In 1987 Mike technically anticipated and caught the Crash.  It was then that he decided to develop his structural momentum tools into a full analytic methodology. In 1992 the Financial VP and head of Wachovia Bank's Trust  Department asked Mike to provide soft dollar research to Wachovia. Within a year, Mike shifted from brokerage to full-time technical research.  He is also the author of The New Libertarianism: Anarcho-Capitalism. Website: https://www.olivermsa.com/

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, a native New Yorker who grew up playing baseball with Irish and neighborhood kids in Rockaway, Queens,. is Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading global Jewish human rights organization. 
 Rabbi Cooper has been a longtime activist for Jewish and human rights causes on five continents. In 1977, he came to Los Angeles to help Rabbi Marvin Hier found the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Together with Rabbi Hier, Rabbi Cooper regularly meets with world leaders, including Pope Francis, presidents, and foreign ministers to defend the rights of the Jewish people, combat terrorism and promote multi-faith relations worldwide. Rabbi Cooper is an acknowledged expert on online hate and terrorism and has helped produce and present the SWC’s renowned traveling exhibitions at the Vatican, the UN, Knesset, US Congress, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Buenos Aires. He is a founder of the Global Forum on Anti-Semitism, and Newsweek ranked Rabbis Cooper and Hier as #8 among the 50 most influential rabbis in America. Rabbi Cooper has worked extensively with Arab leaders in the Gulf States and witnessed the historic UAE/Bahrain/Israel Abraham Accords ceremony at the White House. In 2022, Rabbi Cooper was appointed Vice Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom which tracks violations of religious freedom around the world. 
Rabbi Cooper co-authored with Rev. Johnnie Moore, The Next Jihad, based on their interviews in Nigeria with scores of Christian survivors of deadly Islamist terrorist attacks. His op-eds appear in major US and Israeli outlets, in Asia and in the Arab News and Al-Arabiya. Rabbi Cooper is a recipient of Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Community Service Leadership Memorial Award, a recipient of an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University and the Orthodox Union’s National Leadership Award.

Laraine Bennett has a master's degree in Philosophy and has co-authored 6 books with her husband, Art, and one solo book, A Year of Grace: 365 Reflections for Caregivers. She helped create the popular TemperamentQuiz.com. The Bennetts reside in Northern Virginia, have been married for 45 years and have 4 adult children and 8 grandchildren Laraine Bennett has a master's degree in Philosophy and has co-authored 6 books with her husband, Art, and another solo book, A Year of Grace: 365 Reflections for Caregivers. She helped create the popular TemperamentQuiz.com. The Bennetts reside in Northern Virginia, have been married for 45 years and have 4 adult children and 8 grandchildren. About The Little Way of LIving with Less by Laraine Bennett From the publisher, Sophia Institute Press website: https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/the-little-way-of-living-with-less Do your possessions “spark joy”? In our  materialistic society, we are often plagued with the slow torture of  accumulated stuff, which creates disharmony, prevents us from living in  the present moment, and keeps us from setting our eyes upon Heaven. The Little Way of Living with Less is a spiritual journey guided by  St. Thérèse of Lisieux toward a “less is more” manner of living. It  shares one couple's effort to downsize, declutter, and detach — and the  challenge of growing in virtues that is associated with this process.  Indeed, this book serves as a practical antidote to the consumerism and  commodification of daily home life today. Through the words and example of the Little Flower, you will find  peace, joy, and security as you learn how to overcome disorder — whether  physical, mental, or spiritual. St. Thérèse will help form you in  single-mindedness to complete the ordinary with extraordinary, selfless  love, and you'll soon find yourself becoming intentional about making  God the center of your life and your home. Best of all, you will discover that “everything is grace” (St.  Thérèse) and will begin thanking God for your many blessings and  experiencing His miraculous favors with greater mindfulness. Inspired by  the Little Way, you will more confidently seek the things above and  “choose all” in holiness. Let “the greatest saint of modern times” show  you how to: Let go of      clutter, unhealthy habits, vices, and sin Simplify your      life and manage fear and anxiety Create order,      beauty, and vibrancy in your home Detach from the      world, cultivate poverty of spirit, and attain Heaven Find the      happiness and gratitude that come from within Become humble      and small, trusting in the mercy of God By living an integrated life that is free of materialistic pleasures,  you will develop the freedom of a child of God to abandon yourself to  the Father's will. Enter into the Heart of Jesus and make room in your  heart to experience the wonders of His love!  

Alexandre Goodarzy, 38, has come a long way. Kidnapped a year ago by a Shiite militia in Baghdad, this volunteer from the SOS Chrétiens d’Orient association spent two months in secret, tossed around from cache to cache, before being miraculously released. ABOUT KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ: Blindfolded, tied, prodded by guns, Alexandre faced intense interrogations, fearing all the while that torture and death were imminent. In Kidnapped in Iraq, Alexandre Goodarzy describes in gripping detail his abduction by Islamic terrorists in January 2020, how prayer and his Catholic Faith sustained him, and why he now views the entire ordeal as a blessing from God. After learning of the fate of untold Christians in the Middle East, Alexandre was among a cadre of young men who agreed to assist Christians in danger. As the war in Syria quickly turned into a religious war, Alexandre provided aid to Christians there who were caught between a hardening regime and increasingly bloodthirsty Islamist groups. The brutalization of Syrian Christians was only recently exposed, since the real story was often distorted by the media. In recent years, Syrian Christians faced the grim choice of fleeing from ISIS and abandoning their homeland or enduring barbaric martyrdom. Their cities were leveled and their churches destroyed. Goodarzy describes how these Christians, loyal to their country, were sporadically kidnapped by Kurds and held for ransom or forced into military service. In Syria, priests provide both spiritual and temporal care, assisting with basic necessities in the community and working to preserve their culture while mediating with secular authorities. In what reads like a dystopian thriller, Alexandre describes the dangerous episodes he experienced assisting Christians, including the perilous twelve-hour bus ride from Damascus to Aleppo and the numerous face-to-face encounters with Islamic rebels — the last of which resulted in his abduction and sixty-six-day captivity by Iraqi terrorists. “What is affecting us here today will strike you tomorrow!” people in Iraq and Syria told Goodarzy, predicting that the radical Islamic atrocities in their countries would soon assail France and other Western countries. Kidnapped in Iraq is a riveting story of bravery and courage and one man's extraordinary efforts to aid Christians in need. It is also a chilling guidebook on how to fight for justice and proclaim the hope that comes in the triumph of the Cross.  https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/kidnapped-in-iraq