America Needs Adults Again

Transcript

Why We’ve Lost Our Humanity

SPEAKER_00 0:24

This is the coach.

SPEAKER_05 0:30

Oh, hey, hi, my friend. How are you today? I'm good. I like how we pretend we're just all of a sudden seeing each other. We didn't talk for like five minutes before. No, it didn't happen. No, no, but it's our first time seeing you guys again after a full week. We didn't miss last week, did we? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

No, we were on.

SPEAKER_05 0:51

I don't think we're good. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I can't, you know, I don't know what day of the week it is. Actually, let's tell them what day of the week it is.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

It is Wednesday, and it is approximately 4 30 on the East Coast. Daylight savings time.

SPEAKER_05 1:06

Oh, yeah, we're gonna be talking about that shortly. We got a bunch of topics for everybody, right? Let's uh let's give them a quick glance at what we got.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

This week's stories have an unusual thread running through them. Whether it's the passing of a longtime senator, another flare-up with Iran, or our violence surrounding immigration enforcement, there's a temptation for all of us to immediately sort everything into political teams. Maybe this week is a good reminder that behind every headline are real people. We can hold strong convictions without losing our humanity.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

Can you tell Clay I'm I'm kind of ti I'm tired? I say this probably at least once a month. I just, you know, it's like the entire internet has completely, and obviously it's for a while now, completely forgotten how to react to things like a normal thinking human being. Like they uh the the internet, and I when I say the internet, I mean people, um they get in this ridiculous group think, and everybody just eggs each other on. And you know, of course, the perfect example of this, I think, is our our first topic.

Senator Graham’s Death And Conspiracy Spiral

SPEAKER_05 2:18

Um Senator Lindsey Graham uh died unexpectedly, and um the internet does what the internet does, which you know you have that crazy faction, which starts right away with the that's suspicious, that's weird. Like, listen, I don't mean to be callous, and and I know that people are living longer than ever these days. Um, but the man was 71 years old, he's not a spring chicken, not the best of health, not the worst of health, appearance-wise, visually, you would say. I mean, you know, he's probably average, and for an American, the average is there's probably heart disease lurking around in there somewhere, because that is, you know, very American of us to have. I just I don't know about you, Clay, but my first thought was not okay. 71-year-old high-profile uh pop political figure has passed away suddenly. I didn't, I listen, maybe I'm the weirdo. I didn't right away go, hmm, I I bet somebody took him out. I my first thought was, oh, the guy just got back from Ukraine, right? Uh travels like most of them do, travels extensively quite a bit. I travel quite a bit. I'm always thinking of things like blood clots because that is a thing with frequent travel. That was my first thought. I just want to go on the record saying I wasn't horrendously far off. It was obviously uh heart issue. Uh preliminary medical examiner's finding indicated he died from aortic dissection, dissection, dissection, dissection, related to long-standing. You're ready for this one? You thought I massacred that name. Uh aor cleric, not for cardiovascular disease. Let's just go with that. Okay. Somebody else, somebody else do the big words for me. Um, reports indicate that he experienced chest pain um shortly before the emergency responders were called. And obviously, despite that, he did not survive. Um, of course, there's a a lot of aftermath stuff, but I'd like to hear some of your thoughts on it. So I'll just shut up for a minute.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Yeah, so I I actually met um Senator Graham a couple of times when I was in Afghanistan. Um, he came to visit. And um truthfully, and you know, you had the when you heard it, your initial reaction was, you know, oh, that's a that's a shame, you know. Um, you know, I I bit my tongue and I haven't said anything. I mean, he's you know, this happened how many days ago?

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Um, I haven't said anything as of yet, but so you know, everybody has great respect for Senator Graham. He served the nation for a very long time as a senator, but also as a Air Force and Air Force Reserve, and I think even Air National Guard officer as a JAG attorney. Um, and so he's put a lot of time in. And and you know, a number of years ago, right after Kobe Bryant passed away, I may I full hearted, fullheartedly made a comment very soon after he passed away, which was very crass, poor taste. I regret it still, right? And it's been a number of years. Um, so you know, I I thought to myself, my personal opinion on Senator Graham doesn't matter at this point. Um, but what I didn't expect was what you were talking about, which is or what we were talking about before we came on here, which was uh the craziness. Now, my personal experience with Senator Graham wasn't the greatest. I saw him come over. I met him, shook his hand, um, watched him interact, you know, with senior leadership in Afghanistan way back in 2010-11. Um, but then I watched him come back. So there's a senator, and then he came back just a few weeks later. And if you've seen across the internet social media, there's a lot of pictures of him in uniform as a colonel.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

His, you know, uh his basically his annual requirement, his two-week requirement uh to serve the Air Force as JAG officer. Well, my experience with him was he was over as a senator, and a few weeks later he came back as a JAG attorney, uh, working in General Petraeus' headquarters, basically doing the exact same things he did as a senator. Um he had access to General Petraeus' jet. He kind of tr went all over the battlefield, um, doing again more what seemed to be on the surface, more congressional type work than jag type work. But I could be, but I would tell you the visibility, the optics of it looked like. Um, so I was never, you know, that to me left a little bit of a mark. I I always thought, you know, hey, if you're gonna put the uniform on, then come over here and do uniform stuff.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Right. So again, that's that's my impression. That's my personal impression. That's what I saw. I I think wrong, but that is the impression I got from what he was doing. Regardless of all that, this has turned into, and I call this the Candace effect because he passed away. There was immediate speculation that the Russians had killed him, that actually died in Russia and they transported his body back. I I mean, we all heard all kind that the Democrats did it, I heard the Republicans did it, I heard all kinds of things, as I'm sure you did as well.

SPEAKER_05 7:40

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

We have lost our humanity.

SPEAKER_05 7:43

My goodness, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

We we just we make a mockery of all this, just like Candace Owen did did and continues to do regarding Charlie Kirk. And that's why I call it the Candace effect, is because this is the norm now, right? Right. People who used to have, and I was one of them, right? Still am, truthfully, people who had the conspiracy theories about President Kennedy were considered wackos for years, decades.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

And now, like conspiracy theory is run of the mill, that that's just what you do. Yeah, it's normal now.

SPEAKER_05 8:14

Yeah, you know, I I wish we had a a different term for because I I I am all for a good compare uh conspiracy theory. I I truly am because I I think, you know, I think that has become such a derogatory term deliberately. That was the plan, because anybody who questioned uh narratives, who questioned uh events and things, you know, that's what they were labeled with. Um so I don't really love using that term in regards to what we're talking about here. Um, because uh, you know, again, and anytime you use that labeling system of somebody questioning something, um, you know, you you automatically get the pushback of, well, you know, people should be able to ask questions and they should, you know, be asking questions is important and it's good. And, you know, you shouldn't, you're just one of them trying to silence pen people from asking questions. There is a very, very big difference from asking questions to get to answers to um, you know, uh to uncover lies and whatever, well, conspiracies, right? Um, there is that which is completely healthy, highly advisable, you know, within normal constraints. And then there is this other thing, which is what we're really talking about here, other thing that's going on that people are really just behaving like paranoid, like the paranoid nut jobs they've been accused of of being called, you know, it's just a whole different thing. And and I don't know how to articulate it um better than to say that, you know, when you're asking questions to get answers about something that you're witnessing or reading or hearing, uh, there's a whole process to that. Like, you know, and it's there's critical thinking, and then you follow that up for with looking for actual evidence and actual proof of what you're saying. You don't just throw out wild accusations into the wind and wait for something to stick. Like if you're saying things, I mean you look at the things that Cannis Owens is saying, I think the latest thing I saw today, just this morning, was um, now she believes. Now she's floating it out there because she's just asking questions um on whether she was really the target and that Charlie took a bullet for her. This is her, this is the newest incarnation of her crap. And it and I'm you know, I'm not sorry, I was gonna say I'm sorry, but I'm not even remotely sorry. This is just this is her new angle. They're coming after her, you know, and they they took Charlie out instead because it is always all about Candace, you know, she is that important. I give me a break, you know. But people like her, like you said, the Candace effect, um, she gets these people foaming at the mouth and riled up, and then she wraps it up with a tidy bow of I'm just asking questions, can't we ask questions? You know, and that's that's the line that everybody keeps spewing. Well, it's good to ask questions. Yes, it is. It's not good to be a lunatic and a moron and just, you know, oh my, and this is you know, this is where I get exhausted from it all because it's just ridiculous. Like, and I'm not even saying, listen, maybe, maybe it is maybe 20 years from now, 30 years from now, it's gonna come out that Lindsay Graham was taken out. Uh, you know, look how long it took to get the the word on on um JFK, right? Uh to get or confirmation. We still don't really know, right? But to get a little bit more, you know, nudges like you're probably right, you know, we think you're right. Um, but it's just gotta stop at some point. You know, yeah, y'all need to um, and I'm not talking to our audience because I think our audience is, you know, pretty level-headed. Um, we we've been so fortunate for you know the majority of our our followers, our you know, friends out there that that are just looking for, you know, just some reasonable common sense, backed up things. And you know, my answer to everything these days, now more than ever, is to, you know, um look at the fruits, you know, what what fruits do they bear from their actions and their work? And Candace bears rotten fruit over and over again, right? And uh so yeah, so I I like I like your Candace effect uh term. I think we're gonna be using that more often because it's it's everywhere.

Succession Questions And Internet Pile-Ons

SPEAKER_02 12:52

So, what do you what do you think about uh his replacement, his sister?

SPEAKER_05 12:56

Yeah, I know, you know, be honest with you. I you took the words out of my mouth. I was gonna ask you, I don't even know what to think of that. So she's essentially like for lack of a better term, she's basically a placeholder for yeah, this is not uncommon.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

There's been a few in our lifetime that I can remember. I can remember some Congress men that have passed away and their wives have been in. I remember one in Missouri, I can't remember the name, but like Missouri, some other places, this has happened before. Um, and it is. She's just holds his seat until the next election cycle, which is next year. Um, and then um, you know, they'll the they'll elect a replacement, a duly elected replacement. This is at you know, this is the governor's um, you know, purview to do this. Now, I you know, his I know his sister, which really oddly enough, I don't know if you know this story or not. So she was pretty young uh when their parents died, and he essentially raised her. Yeah, he was a legal adult. I don't know if I don't know if he adopted her, he may have, uh but I know he raised her. So, you know, she's as much uh really a daughter as she is a sibling, because I think there's a significant age gap as well. Um but you know, to me it sounds like she was picked because she would be the one that would stay true to the things that he would have wanted done, uh, and that she knew him probably better than anybody else, sure, reasonably. Um so she's gonna fill the gap until you know the election rolls around next year. And there's already been, you know, Nancy Mace's name has been thrown in there.

SPEAKER_05 14:41

I saw that.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Um, for her to make the jump from the House to Senate, especially since she lost the governor's race and that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of a lot of names being thrown around out there. Um, I just thought it was interesting that his sister was the chosen one to replace him, and probably a good thing because if you put someone in there, a viable candidate, somebody like Nancy Mace, just as an example, then she becomes an incumbent as opposed to an open election kind of a thing. So I think it was probably a smart move on the governor's part. We'll see if his sister's effective at all, right? Um, or if she stays true to to really the things that her brother was doing. So I think it's an interesting choice, but I think it's a choice with a lot of forethought. Like I think, right? Not a jump to conclusions thing.

SPEAKER_05 15:29

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I guess I just I don't understand. And I have heard of this happening before in different uh scenarios, different cases. Uh I guess I just don't understand the the precedent. Like it just feels so weird to me that that like, oh, we're just gonna plug a family member in, like a spouse or a sibling or whatever. Um, yeah, so I I don't understand the logistics behind it, like the uh statute or whatever that that makes it so.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Yeah, it's um, you know, good old state of Illinois, you know, when uh Mr. Obama became president Obama in the middle of his term as a congressman, um, you know, there was a little bit of controversy because his seat was essentially sold here in Illinois. Um yeah, so there's there's that.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Um there's that.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Yeah, this at least, you know, you can point to it and say, Oh, it's his sister, you know. Right. Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_03 16:26

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Just like, like I said, spouses in the past and that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_05 16:30

Yeah, yeah, it's all gonna be interesting. I just um, you know, it's just wild. And and I honestly, you know, when you uh kind of were relaying um your negative experience or your negative take from him, um, you know, I think that's where people kind of get lost with this stuff. Like you can, it's okay to publicly state that you weren't fond of somebody. Like it's more than okay, it's just being honest. Um, but there, you know, there's a big distinction between being honest and being, you know, vulgar and and callous and heartless and cruel. Like maybe you didn't, like, of course, I'm not referring to you as being that way. Um, you know, it's just that comparative. Like, of course, we all see it in the comments. I just saw it in my comment section. You know, there were people that were uh, you know, paying polite tributes to him, you know, talking about his service and uh and his uh care of his sister uh growing up, you know, just giving the accolades and everything. And then of course there was the extreme opposite, you know, or people, you know, uh calling him all kinds of names and what a horrible human being, and you know, and all that stuff. And listen, if that's your impression of him and your interpretation of him, I mean, okay, that's fine. I don't, I don't have a positive or negative uh opinion of him, to be honest with you. Um, you know, he served in in his own way and he became a strong ally to President Trump after, you know, uh being uh not a fan of his whatsoever. And that that uh relationship evolved and grew and changed. And like I said, he became an asset to President Trump, and I think that's great. Um, but you know, my goodness, if we could just act like, you know, again, I go back to that right from the beginning. If you could just act like a human being and realize that maybe you don't like him, which by the way, y'all who, you know, at least Clay had an experience with him, had a face-to-face experience with him and based his opinion off of that experience, not what he sees on the internet and you know, what other people say. It was an actual experience, you know. And I think that's one of the things that we're lacking um so tremendously in that we're basing all of our thoughts and opinions on you know what other people on the internet are saying. And it's like, oh, please just think for yourselves. Let's let's try that. And I'm guilty of it too. By the way, that's a lecture for myself as well. I'm I'm just as quick to make a judgment. Um, I I think one of the things I do remember, remember a a little while back, uh, there was a picture of him in Disney, sitting by himself in one of the Disney restaurants. I think it was like the content, not that it matters, but and uh it just happened to be a picture of him sitting by himself, Disney. If there was probably like a character in in the foreground or background or something, and uh he was mocked and criticized mercilessly for that. Like, look at this guy by himself in Disney, like a weirdo, and it it actually turned out he took all his nieces and nephews and family there, and it would just happen to be a moment where we were sitting by himself just chilling, you know. So, like that's the internet doing the evil part of what the internet does, and just making up a story to make you know, to just encourage people to hate on somebody just because, you know, so just a little side note, just a little reminder.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

And and listen, if you're a grown man and you go to Disney for more than you know, a couple of hours and you don't need a little bit of time to yourself, then you're enjoying it maybe just a little too much.

SPEAKER_05 20:09

Too much, too much, yeah. Yeah, and listen, I'm the first one to say, uh, and all you Disney lovers are gonna be so mad at me. I know, but I gotta say it. Uh, adults going to Disney by themselves without their kids, it's just weird to me. You know, listen, if you enjoy it, good on you. That's great. To me, myself, I think it's so freaking weird. You're a grown adult and all the places you can go in the world. Again, you do you, I'll do me. I just think it's weird.

unknown 20:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Go sit in Orlando Airport and and watch the adults that come through there still with all of their Disney stuff on. I can't. It's a little weird.

SPEAKER_05 20:50

It's so weird. It's so weird.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

We're gonna hear about it.

SPEAKER_05 20:53

Yeah, that's okay. It's all good. Everybody do what they want to do. I will I'm not judging you. I am all right. Let's move on to

Iran Escalation And Peace Through Strength

SPEAKER_05 21:07

the topic. Y'all know we gotta talk about it because why, Clay? It's still on the news, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Never ends. Never ends, it never ends.

SPEAKER_05 21:17

I guess it's actually getting worse, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:19

It is actually so, yeah. So the you know, we talked about it last week. They violated the ceasefire, and and you know, I was a guest on a on a different podcast this past week where we talked about this. And uh trader. I was a guest, I was guest, I was guest. Um, but uh we talked about this and and you know, the and and it was uh another a guy that I you know served kind of Jason to and and he's an you know uh um he he works in this realm all the time. So he's very, very up on all these things. And you know, we both came to the same conclusion is that this is the same thing that I said and have been saying. All along. One, you can't trust them. Two, any negotiation is disingenuous because they're not going to abide by it. And they just proved it yet again, right? And so they fired on commercial ships.

SPEAKER_03 22:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

And President Trump said, enough's enough. And he said, I'm not, I'm not dealing with this anymore. I'm not dealing with you anymore. And for the last, I think we're on maybe night five now, four or five, I think five of very, very targeted um, you know, things that I would have thought would have been a little higher on the target list before now, but like coastal defense stuff, drone launching points, um, helipads, coastal defense, anything and everything that can reach into the strait um after the Iranians fired on commercial vessels, unarmed, defenseless commercial vessels. Um, yeah. And so they let them have it, and they're gonna continue to let them have it. And so, you know, the president's done with it. The point is to get the strait open and keep it open. Uh and so I we I continue to go back to the same point, which is um, if we're looking for effective regime change to you know install a friendly a regime that's friendly to the United States, it's gonna take place on the ground. It just is.

SPEAKER_05 23:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

And so this is where we're at. And it's yeah, it's just terrible.

SPEAKER_05 23:23

So I have a s I have a kind of like a statement and then a question. Um, you know, first and foremost, and I know I I'm repeating myself here, I you know, most Americans don't wake up saying, you know, gee, I hope we get into another war. I mean, that's that's a given, that's the obvious. We don't. Um, but we also don't want uh terrorists or hostile, you know, re regimes um figuring out America has become afraid to defend itself. So uh, you know, it kind of the hands are tied here. I mean, what has to be done has to be done, um, you know, for all the reasons we've been talking about for weeks and weeks now. Now, my question to you, um, I'm just kind of curious, like what you think. If so, we know Trump is no fool. You know, he's not an idiot. You know, he's paying attention to everything that's going on. He's been paying attention to this part of the world uh long before he was president, and of course, even more so now that he is. Um, do you think he knew that this was the route that it would go? Like, you because we look at it and think, and listen, I you obviously have military experience. I certainly do not, but I looked at this whole thing from the beginning and thought this is the inevitable place we're gonna get to because these people, exactly like you said, they are not people who want peace. They don't listen to anything other than brute force to to violence because that is their language, that's their love language. Um, so do you think I and I know it's hard to say, but do you think that Trump saw this down the line, but basically knew like this is the only way you could, and not that everybody's on board, but you could get more people, Congress, I guess for that matter, get them on board for the inevitable. Or am I just putting like way too much into it?

SPEAKER_02 25:14

No, I I think so. When the National Security Council goes in and they they talk about these kinds of things with the president, you know, the the military uh side of this has a responsibility to say, sir, if we apply force and we apply it in such a manner, there are several outcomes or there's several ways that this can go. And it can be, you know, and and so you know, it's a coordinated discussion between them and the diplomatic side, being secretary of state and you know, the intelligence community and others, and so they will lay out all of the likely, you know, not every outcome, but the likely outcomes, right? And and of course, this would be one of the likely outcomes, and yeah, so they I'm sure they briefed him on it. Um right, I'm sure he listened. I'm sure that he was hopeful that it wouldn't come to this because he is not, contrary to what people want to say, he is not a warmonger, he's not a war hawk, not at all. He is the guy who believes he probably my guess is he believed that after the initial strikes and you cut the head off of the leadership, including the Ayatollah himself, that the you know, the the structure itself would start to crumble. Then you would also get peer pressure from the other Islamic Arab nations from the you know the region that would pile on top, and eventually Iran would just kind of you know succumb and just be done with it.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

But I I can promise you that this the like, hey sir, this might not work. This may turn into an escalate, you know, a could continue to escalation. Um, I just think that he was probably uh hopeful that it wouldn't. He is a he is a thoughtful enough guy, yeah, that he probably knew this was a possibility, but didn't want it to be, or thought it was less likely than the other possibilities. What I tell you, I I could tell you with confidence, not because I know anything, just other than some analysis in his personality, is that when we planned the invasion of Iraq in 2003, um, you know, the military planners, and I do know this for a fact, the military planners said, hey, listen, there is a distinct possibility that this is going to turn into a massive guerrilla war that happens, you know, the army falls apart and it and the chain of command goes away, and you know, you've got a bunch of military-age males with a bunch of guns. This could turn ugly very, very quickly. Um, I know for a fact that Secretary Rumsfeld stood in there and and well, really what happened was they briefed all these retired three and four stars, and they all said, Don't say that to Rumsfeld. He honestly believes that once we do this, the Iraqi people are gonna wrap their arms around us, they're gonna love us, and everything's gonna be great, and it's all gonna be easy.

SPEAKER_03 28:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

And and the planners knew that that was a potential possibility, right? And they started to tell Rumsfeld that, and he basically didn't want to hear it.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02 28:27

I don't think that President Trump is that guy. I think that he acknowledged that it's a possibility, thought probably that was a less likely possibility, and decided to go ahead with this anyway because there weren't a whole lot of other options. But now he's at a point where he's gotta he's gotta act. And again, the National Security Council, Department of War, Department of Defense is gonna continue to advise him on the best way to prosecute this, and that is their job right now.

SPEAKER_05 28:51

Yeah, yeah. Oh my goodness, there's just no, there's nothing easy about this, and you know, and I think you know, as as people do, as we're doing right now, you go back and forth on you know all sides of it, and and I don't know if there is a a right or wrong conclusion here because I mean, well, actually, I take that back. I think there is a right or a wrong, at least, you know, we just all disagree on what it is generally. Uh, to you know, to me, I I am very, very fond, and I'm not a warmonger or anything. I am very, very fond of the saying um peace through strength. And I think that is when you are dealing with this mentality, um, which is you know prevalent in this region, that is the mindset. Uh there is only one answer, and that is strength, you know, and uh it's so unfortunate. And I I do I greatly appreciate and I do believe that um I agree with you, Clay. I I think it's uh I think you know, war, conflict, I think I think it's the last thing um that President Trump wanted to happen. And I feel like he is given every opportunity, you could almost say too many opportunities to act right. And they have proven time and again uh that they're incapable of of um you know uh wanting to participate in peace. It's not it's not their love language. No, it is not, not their love language at all, guys. Um so yeah, so to state the obvious, um, to close out that topic, as we have for many, many weeks, we will keep watching it. We will probably be talking about it next week as as well. Um, but we will move on to the next one. Here we go again, right? Here we go again.

Maine ICE Shooting And Evidence First

SPEAKER_05 30:48

Uh Maine ICE, another ICE shooting has happened. Federal immigration agents were involved in a fatal shooting in Bidford, Maine during an enforcement operation. Uh, early statements indicate ICE officers were conducting surveillance related to a person with a final removal order when an encounter escalated, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The individual who was shot allegedly attempted to use a vehicle against officers, prompting an agent to fire. The investigation is ongoing, of course, as it will be for a while. And um, additional video evidence has begun to emerge. So uh here we go again, but uh this one's a little different. Clay, explain what makes this one a little different.

SPEAKER_02 31:34

Yeah, the way I understand it, what I read was that the ICE agents went to or were surveilling a house where they had a last known address for an illegal immigrant. And whether they were knocking to serve a warrant or what, but there was contact between them and the gentleman who lived in the house. Now, that gentleman was a legal immigrant working with a green card, etc. Now, they didn't get a chance to differentiate the legal immigrant from the illegal immigrant because upon contact, he ran, he fled. He didn't again, this is my understanding at this stage of the investigation is that they he didn't present them with papers or green card or his passport or any of the rest of that stuff. Whatever contact they had with him, he booked, he took off, and he got to his vehicle and he tried to run. And in the process of doing that, he tried to ram the ICE agents with his vehicle, and they shot him, they shot and killed him in self-defense. Yeah. Now, again, after that, they identified him as a man living in the same residence, as a man who is an immigrant, although in this case legal, and not the guy that they were looking for. But they didn't have again, this is all preliminary, but they didn't even have the opportunity to differentiate, to investigate, to have a conversation with the guy who was legal just took off, and then he tried to turn it into, you know, I'm gonna ram my way to freedom. Um and and he put the lives of the agents in danger and they defended themselves. So, you know, whether it's panic on his part or whatever, but it's bad decisions by him. I'm not saying bad decisions by the ice agents at all. No, um, they didn't even get a chance to make a decision, right? Right, and and so he put them in peril and they defended themselves. Yeah, so there was a very brief halt on um some ice operations that lasted, I think, 48 hours. I think it was one of those like, let's stop stopping people in their vehicle, let's stop, you know, blah blah blah. And and I think cooler heads prevailed and they said this is not what it appears to be, and they went back to business as usual.

SPEAKER_05 34:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so from my perspective, um, the obvious to me is that listen, if an officer reasonably believes that someone is using uh their vehicle as a weapon to cause bodily harm, injury, death uh to themselves or anyone else, they are well within their rights to use deadly force. Uh, for me, that's kind of a period end of story. I mean, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The whole thing, talk about avoidable, talk about you know what an absolute tragedy. And I know, I know for certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that the people on the other side of the opinion of this topic are probably saying, well, it's you know, it's ICE's fault for escalating things to make people feel fearful that they would have to run. And, you know, I I'm sorry, but that is absurd. That is a big fat note because all you have to do is show your proof of who you are. And yes, I know exactly what that sounds like when you tell somebody to show their papers. I know exactly what that sounds like, but you know, this is a case where you know you're you're looking for people that are here illegally. Uh, this person was uh, you know, a felon. Um was he a felon? I don't know if he's a felon. I mean, he's definitely illegal, so he's definitely breaking the law. I don't know. Is that a is that uh considered a felony? It probably is. Um, regardless, um, they're looking for somebody. You're not the guy, so calm down, just relax, be calm, explain yourself, show your ID, show your proof, live your life. Like everything's okay. So if you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't be running. That is, you know, kind of the indicator of a problem here. Um, just such an unavoidable, uh, awful incident. And, you know, oh, and by the way, don't try and run officers over with your car. Silly idea, silly notion to, you know, think that that would be a bad idea. I think if anybody escalates anything, it's it's it's the media and the left, you know, that that have perpetuated this perception of ice agents, uh, you know, as being these, you know, callous um monsters of doom that are just you know scooping up anyone and everyone and and locking them away. And it's not coming, give me a break. Use use a little bit of common sense. If you if you try that, you'll you'll know that that's just not the case. Um, you know, but uh if you already hate ice, you're gonna automatically assume that the agents were wrong, right? I mean, there's there's no you could sit here and have all the conversations, right? But it doesn't change the fact. If you already hate ICE, you already believe that they're in the wrong. If you uh appreciate ice and their efforts and the the law of the land, um, and believe in secure borders and believe in doing things correctly, um, you don't think that this was uh wrong or injust or unfair. So, you know, all you can do, and if you're gonna be, you know, to kind of stick with the theme here of encouraging rational thought and behavior is look at the evidence, wait for the evidence, you know, for it to come out. If they were in the wrong, I'll tell you right now, if they were in the wrong, I I have no problem um, you know, condemning their their actions and their behavior. Uh, but as of right now, in this minute, all of the evidence that that we're seeing uh being made privy to says they were well within their their right uh duty, really, to do what they did. And uh, you know, unless I hear otherwise, that's for me, that's that, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:54

Yeah, it this is you know, it's just like the others, it's just like the Minneapolis same thing, right? Yeah, when you when you act a fool, when you don't act responsibly like an adult in a calm manner, these are the terrible things that happen. And and I feel I feel just as bad, probably worse for the agents who were put in a position where they had to, right? Had to act that way, had to draw on fire, right? Some of those folks are gonna go through some stuff, and and I know that a lot of callous people out there are gonna say, good, they deserve it because they're idiots. Um they're idiots, but but those, you know, they're officer-involved shootings uh require for very good reason, you know, psychological evaluation in the in the you know, in the aftermath. And that is not just to make sure that the officer was of sound mind when it happened, but that they continue to be of sound mind after it happens, because there is trauma that comes with this. So, you know, everybody just wants to point fingers and they want to say horrible things and they have zero compassion. Um, you know, they all they want all their compassion on one side, right? Um, and it's and it's a very um it's a very uninformed take on the entire thing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:15

Yeah, and you know, I mean, I'm gonna point some fingers here. It's I always find it very interesting that there's one group of people that that says, you know, exactly kind of what we're saying, that you know, there's compassion to be had um for everyone involved. You know, what a what a tragic thing for uh that that deceased man. Um what a what a terrible and foolish thought process and and series of choices uh that led to ending his life. I think that is tragic, and I think that's sad. And I'm sorry for his loved ones uh for that loss. It's awful. And I am sorry and sad for those ICE agents who, you know, who have the aftermath of this and the burden um of that responsibility, it is an awful um and overwhelming burden of responsibility to have. And you know, as as a gun owner, as a legal gun owner, um, I think about that, you know, often when I carry like the burden of responsibility um is huge. So, and when you do that for a living and you're in those situations on a regular, you know, uh regular enough basis where you have to make those decisions, don't envy that at all. Um, you know, it's just a general compassion that you have for human experience, right? And there's like you said, that that group of people, that other side that only have compassion um for whomever falls in line with their yeah, their narrative or their system of beliefs. And and we just you you y'all, these people just need to do better, be better, be better humans for heck's sake, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:06

Yep, yep, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 41:08

Yeah, so um, like every with everything else, you know, we'll keep an eye on that. I I am you know certainly curious to see if um if there's gonna be any more surprise, any surprises out of that story. Certainly doesn't seem to be the case. It seems, you know, um as unfortunate as it seems pretty cut and dry, but we'll, you know, we'll certainly see. And if there's anything to update on it, uh any mea culpas to make on it, uh, you know, certainly would and will. Uh here's an interesting one that you pulled up, Clay.

Pentagon Cuts Military Social Media Pages

SPEAKER_05 41:38

The Pentagon orders major social media reduction. It's very interesting. Um, my first reaction to that, and we we talked for a few seconds, guys, before like we kind of just go down our our topics, you know, we're going to be talking about. And my very first response to that was that, well, that probably is a good idea. That seems like a good idea. There's it's probably like overkill and all that stuff. Um, but you have a little bit of a uh both sides to see on that topic. So tell tell me what you're thinking, please.

SPEAKER_02 42:10

So I, you know, I served through the life cycle of this and the growth of social media. And and so, like, I go back to my very first deployment in 2002. We had uh one internet access computer, uh, we had satellite phones, uh, and that's what we there was no social media, didn't exist. Yeah, that's right. Right. Um, so we didn't have to worry, like we were still writing like letters were still the primary means of communication. Uh, and so and and folks, that was 25 years ago. Okay, it's not that really not that long ago. No. Now, um, probably the peak of it, you know, my last three deployments were probably in, you know, so 2009, 2010, 11, 2012, 13, right? There was that's when Facebook specifically was big. Um, Twitter was growing, but Facebook was huge. And uh by the time my last deployment, 1213, units were not only, and when I say units, folks, I'm talking down to like a captain, right? A 150-person organization would have their own Facebook pages. Um, you know, the unit were like the level I was serving at as a lieutenant colonel, commander of about you know between 500 and 750 people. We were all mandated to have our own Facebook pages because it was a way to disseminate transparency. It was a way to disseminate information to family members while you were deployed, or if you were still, or if you were you know in the United States or at your home station, you could, you know, brag about your unit. You could post pictures and you could, you know, show the activities and training and all these other things. And for like not just the spouses and families who are there, but like think of a 19. Year old kid, an 18-year-old kid who's in his first army unit, he's far away from home. But mom and dad back home can follow that Facebook page and they can see what Junior's doing, right? They can see that he's he or she is out training or that they're out doing whatever, right? They can see what's going on. Um, but of course, like everything else in social media, it's gotten out of hand. So now what you've got are a lot of folks who are social media influencers in uniform, often, right?

SPEAKER_05 44:33

Right. There's tons of them.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

Yeah, there's lots of them. Um, yes, some of them conduct themselves very professionally and they do it on behalf of and to the benefit of the military. Others do not. Right. And so what the Pentagon has done in a very pendulum-swinging kind of way is I think in a way to differentiate between themselves and the non-military or the non-authorized influencers, is that they have said we are limiting social media pages manned by you know, mandated and manned by the military to a total, I think the number is 30 right now for the entire Department of Defense. Wow. So we're talking four-star headquarters, a couple of three-star headquarters, right? The services themselves. So you're talking 30, I think is the number. Everything below that, units, organizations have been told to archive their social media pages and shut them and shut them down. Um, and they told them to archive them in case there's issues that come up in the future investigations or whatever. So they didn't say wipe them clean, they just said archive everything and then shut them down. Um, so I think what you're gonna start seeing, unfortunately, is that you're gonna start seeing those unauthorized, unprofessional military influencers who are doing things in uniform that don't look good for the military, that don't benefit the military. Um, those folks are gonna be held accountable because it's gonna be very easy to find. It's gonna be very easy to distinguish between authorized and unauthorized. Sure. Um, and they're gonna start cleaning all this stuff up.

SPEAKER_05 46:18

Um is that I'm I'm assuming that's obviously what spurned this whole thing, like just way too many, right? I mean, it's logical because I've I've seen that. I I've seen, you know, all of the extremes. I've seen some very, very interesting, very, very high numbers profiles who seem to be giving really interesting uh insights and information to things that they're allowed to, obviously. Uh, and then of course, I've certainly seen the ones that are, you know, badly representing themselves and the military branch that they represent. Um, you know, yeah. So unfortunately, it's always the you know, the bad apples that spoil the bunch, right? And and that seems to be the case. So this does seem like the only logical conclusion. And then plus two, you know, I I know Heg Seth wants a very specific um look and feel and attitude and vibe to to the military, to all the branches, uh, and you know, in that that outside facing view. And yeah, if you have uh, you know, if you have a uh a soldier or an already, you know, someone um doing a TikTok dance in uniform, you know what I mean, or doing some kind of challenge in uniform, it doesn't quite fit this image that they want to present. And, you know, and I know I I I've seen you know a little bit of pushback on it as like the argument was like, well, if you knock out all these smaller accounts or whatever, or these influencer accounts, um, you know, they they are the ones that are getting people interested in joining the military in the first place. And if you get rid of them, and I, you know, I mean, enrollment was really good for many, many years, long before any social media existed, right? I mean, there they had obviously advertising campaigns to encourage enrollment, but you know, I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 48:19

I can tell you too that it becomes a full-time job for somebody, right? And it's not like a unit at at those levels have full-time social media managers, right? And so what you're doing is you're taking somebody out of the force, out of the fight, uh, for lack of a better term, to to manage this stuff, yeah. And and then now you've also got approval authorities, like who can approve what? At what level, and how much time does that take, and how often does that become an issue? And are they posting too much? Are they not posting enough? And like this unit looks this way, but this unit looks this way. And so, unless they turn it into an absolutely uniform, standardized thing across every level, you know, in every organization across the military, it becomes a mess. And so the hard part is that you know the president uses social media, right?

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Yeah, right all the time. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 49:18

Um, and so good, bad, or indifferent, right? Good, bad, or indifferent. And now you've got a military that's saying social media unobstructed, uncoordinated, and and unregulated is bad. And so we're gonna cut it down um to a generation of folks who live on social media. Yeah, so um they've got to come up with a replacement because you're right. Like, yes, enlistment rates and and people being in the military for generations upon generations existed and had no issues before social media. However, the 18 and 19 year olds right now who we want to enlist live on social media, so they've got to figure out a way to replace that. Um, but I I think this is a cleanup effort to get rid of the trash.

SPEAKER_05 50:00

Sure. Yeah, yeah. I think it has to be, I I think you know, it's unfortunate that it has to be done because uh again, there are quite a few accounts out there that represent very well and probably very much do encourage um, you know, enlistments and everything. I think I said enrollment before I meant to say enlistment. Um but yeah, you know, then of course, like we said, there's that that other factor of it. So I personally I would say, well, you know, if that's the case, I would hope you they take a good look at these, you know, high uh high followers, social media accounts, military-related accounts, take a look at them and you know, if they're doing the right things, then then give them that role, let them be represent, let them be social media representatives, which they probably will do. Let's be realistic. If you know you're somebody who's uh you know talking about military life every day and obviously not giving away any secrets and and you know acting like a fool on there. Um, you're an asset if you have you know a couple million followers or hundreds of thousands of followers. I mean, you know, to get rid of that entirely would be it feels wasteful, but you know, we'll see. See what happens with it, right?

SPEAKER_03 51:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 51:14

I don't know. I don't know, but it was curious. Um, here's something. I don't listen. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what to think

Daylight Saving Time Final Push

SPEAKER_05 51:24

about this. I I love this, and I also daylight saving time guy. We're talking about daylight savings time. Um, I don't know, you know, it's at first I thought this was like pretty cut and dry, like, yeah, just stop. It's like it's annoying to everyone to have to change the clocks all the time and go back and forth and all that stuff. And then the more I read on it, you know, of course, you read both sides of the issue, proponents, you know, uh for people for and against. And uh, I don't know. I mean, there were some like compelling arguments on both sides of it. So um we're we're finally, if you don't know already, guys, we're in the final push here for the twice-yearly clock changes, um, which is, you know, it like comes up and then it goes away again. It comes out. This is the most serious, I feel like we've like really brought this up, right? Um let's see, lawmoker, uh, lawmakers from both parties continue introducing legislation to either make daylight savings time permanent or return permanently to standard time. There's no broad agreement that Americans are tired of changing clock, so it's all split. Everybody's split on it. So that's always fine. That never happens, right? I mean, I think generally we always all agree on everything.

SPEAKER_02 52:40

Well, it's made it through the house, so we we have it's there's enough agreement for it to get pushed to the Senate, right? And and the intent is to stay with daylight savings time, yeah. So essentially the earth would or America would lose, and most of America, because not every state abides by it, right? Arizona doesn't, there's other portions of the country that don't, but um everybody would lose an hour permanently, yeah, gone, like a race of existence, right?

SPEAKER_05 53:08

We're getting too old to lose any hours. Just kidding.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Yeah, I I think, and and it is to stay with daylight savings times, it's not to go to standard time, right?

SPEAKER_05 53:17

Right.

SPEAKER_02 53:18

Um, but I think you know, this is one of those things that is well past due. I I think that you know, time zones are one thing and they make perfect scientific sense. Daylight savings time, I think, is extremely arbitrary. Uh and and you know, it's just uh I I think it is beyond its lifespan. I think it is its utility is gone. Yeah. And uh, and that's pretty much the end of it. So I I think it's gonna pass. I think we're gonna stick with this. It'll be interesting to see what winter looks like this year. Um and uh, you know, sunset's gonna be at like, I don't know, three o'clock in the afternoon. But uh we'll we'll we'll survive, folks.

SPEAKER_05 53:59

It'll be we will survive. We will survive, but I'll give you if you guys don't know, like I I do have the arguments for again and against here. So you guys, I'm gonna give you the arguments, the you know, both sides of it, and and maybe this will help you decide how you feel about it. Um, so most people right think this is just an inconvenience. I happen to be one of those people who think it's an inconvenience, but sleep researchers have consistently found the clock changes are associated with more traffic accidents, higher workplace injuries, short-term increases in heart attacks. That's crazy. Sleep disruption, reduced productivity. Um, and even if those effects are temporary, they're measurable. So that's one side of it. And the opposing view is that some other sleep experts actually favor permanent standard time because morning sunlight helps regulate our body's internal clock. Permanent daylight savings time would create very dark winter mornings in many parts of the country. Parents, schools, and pediatricians have raised concerns about children going to school in darkness. Now, that's actually what I remember the whole like that was the reason it that that I grew up with, like so that kids wouldn't go to school in the dark in the morning. Like you know, kids have to wait out at the bus stop. Like, that was always like the big explanation that I remember reading. So I don't know. I mean, whatever. I think I think we are all pretty adaptable to whatever. I mean, we've been adapting to this, you know, for I don't know how long, decades, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 55:37

Centuries.

SPEAKER_05 55:38

Centuries, is it centuries? Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:41

It's been, I mean, like this is Benjamin Franklin.

SPEAKER_05 55:45

Like wow, yeah, that tells you how much I pay attention, guys. I don't know. I don't know. I just I just I just know every time we lose that hour, I get a little cranky. We all love gaining the hour, right? Nobody likes losing the hour. Uh so we'll see. We'll see what happens when it gets to its next step there. I don't know. Uh let's talk about this

LGBTQ Cruise Denied Entry By Turkey

SPEAKER_05 56:10

one right here. So an LGBTQ, all the rest of the alphabet that goes with that as well. I didn't have enough space in the bar there to put it. Um, but the uh cruise ship carrying um, I don't know how many people, but a very large, it was it was a gay lesbian, all the other letters cruise. Like that was what it was. Um, but it was turned away by Turkey, first by Turkey and then by Egypt. So this was a uh a luxury Mediterranean cruise chartered by Atlantis events. Um, this was a company that specializes or is a company that specializes in LGBTQ vacations. It found itself at the center of an international controversy after it was denied entry into both Turkey and Egypt. Um, this ship is called the Scarlet Lady, how appropriate. That's like I mean, you know, listen, guys, that's actually perfect. I mean, it's a great name for it. Uh oh, I have it here. It was carrying roughly 2,000 passengers. It was originally scheduled to dock in uh Kusadazi. I probably mispronounced that Turkey. Um the authorities canceled the stop after issuing a public statement saying that the cruise was organized by groups whose behavior does not align with the structure of our society and our moral values. And of course, that sent everyone on that side of things into a tizzy. They believed that was an outrage, it was uh, you know, uh humanitarian crisis, it is awful, it is you know, all of the things, and um, you know, listen, you can't expect other countries to abide by our loose standards, like you, you know, it their rules are their rules, that is part of their rules, their their system, their their um morality, what they feel. Um, all of those things. So it's like the people who organize this didn't already know this. Um, shame on them. It's not honestly, it's not shame on Turkey, it's not shame on Egypt. It's shame on the people who organize this for not knowing that they would, you know, there was a possibility that they would not be welcome there because the lifestyle does not um fit with their societal beliefs. I mean, you know, is it sad for them? Yeah, uh honestly, it actually is. I I I it had to be an awful feeling, right? Uh as a human being being told like you are not welcome here um because we think you're icky, basically, is is the kind of that's kind of the gist of it. Like, we don't like you, we don't like your kind, um, so you can't come here. And I'm sure that is a absolutely horrible, awful feeling. And um, I I don't wish that on anybody, but I mean, come on, guys, you don't get to just you know, you can pull that here, you know. Everybody bows down to your commands and your wishes here in the United States and is in fear of upsetting you and hurting your feelings. Uh, other countries, not so much, not so much. I don't know. Am I being too harsh, Clay? No, not at all.

SPEAKER_02 59:32

Okay, I think that the message that people need to take from this is one, we've all seen them, right? They're they're in memes, but they're real life people and they're real life protesters, and you know, gays for Hamas and like you know, gays for Palestine and all these things. Those people do not accept that way of life, they don't. It is against their religion, they're hardline against it publicly. Um we we all know that it happens privately, but it is against their religion publicly, yes, um, and they have religious governments. So, like if you believe that those people, you know, if again, like gays for Palestine, they don't want you, they don't respect you, they've been known to throw you off of rooftops, okay? Yeah, this is like in the most peaceful way, a cruise ship full of gay people were not allowed to come in, okay? Like that take that to heart.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:34

Um but at the same time, look at the United States, and if you think that this is a religious, oppressive Judeo-Christian government, think again, like this is not that. Yeah, it is if you really believe that, you know, that this is you know, all of like it's a religious zealot-based government in the United States, you're crazy. You are absolutely crazy. Because if we if it was, if it was, you would have that those kinds of things happening. And you'd have to, I mean, this is this is the most peaceful wake-up call that any of these people, any of the protesters, any of the pro-LGBTQ folks, that crowd, they need to take this to heart. And they need and and oh, by the way, another eye-opener is that there is a dense gay population in Israel, yeah, right? They are very accepting in Israel of that. So, so like you're on the wrong side of this one. You just are, and this is the best way that it can be displayed without anybody getting hurt. They got their feelings hurt, but nobody was physically hurt in the process of this.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:54

And they should be incredibly grateful, really, just for that alone, because had they been permitted to dock, I mean, this was as much as targeted them out to vote. Exactly. I mean, this was honestly, maybe that wasn't their intention, but it was as much for their safety as it was, you know what I mean. Like, we know if if we let you dock here, really bad things are gonna happen to some of these people. For sure, you know, and we don't want that headache of like having this uh, you know, diplomatic um you know firestorm essentially from um the fallout. So we're just gonna simply say, sorry, can't dock here. Not gonna happen. Um, so yeah, I I I'm with you, Clay. I I hope this is uh at least for some people, a little bit of a wake-up call that like all these you know groups that you are waving these flags for, um, they hate you. They hate you, they wish death on you um and serious harm, and they find you to be an abomination. So maybe think twice, maybe just rethink that a little bit. Uh so yeah, yeah, and you are right. Um, they they should be grateful that the worst that they got was their feelings hurt. So, and and I hope that they understand that, which they probably do not. Probably do not. Now they probably think it's like their cause to liberate the Turkish people from you know, such oppressive, you know what I mean? That's what they're gonna do. It's coming, right? Uh, let's move on. Clay, why you do these things?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:26

Well, pick one. We got we we're we're we're already a little bit on the edge.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:30

So all right, we're gonna make this quick because it's so gross and we feel like we need to talk about this. Clay, go ahead.

Cyclospora Outbreak And Food Safety Reality

SPEAKER_02 1:03:36

You so for those of you that don't know, uh what is it? Cycloporaspora cyclospora outbreak from lettuce um started in Michigan. Uh, that is the epicenter of this and has expanded, um, supposedly related to Taco Bell. There's a lot of jokes in there that people are putting out all over the place. Like, how do you talk about it?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:04

I mean, how can you not? Taco Bell, right? Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:06

Um, yeah, but I we're in like the 20-something states where this has become an issue. And folks, this has become, if I'm if I am correct, there has been fatalities associated with this. Um, people have died from this. So right now, I I it's out there, look it up, but it's you know, they're they're calling it diarrhea lettuce. Um, and so um if I was you, I would stay and and this is the advice from a lot of people in you know, in the I think the CDC, among others, yes, uh, food and drug administration are telling people to stay away from lettuce right now because this is it's pretty bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:49

And it and it and it's growing again. I think we're in the 20-something states. I think we're in 26 or 27 states right now that this is have have been affected by this. This is a real live, scary kind of thing.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:01

Yeah, it is. Um, you know, so I guess what they're saying is um, and I think there's, you know, it it branches out to more other uh fruit and vegetable concerns. I think raspberries was put uh uh higher up on the the list of you know kind of avoids. Um it does say, I have read that like you know, for your vegetables, for example, um, if you are cooking them, you are most likely completely fine because the heat um kills off the parasite. Um, but your you know, your your fresh fruits and your vegetables that you would normally eat raw, um, probably don't want to do that right now, or at least go on the list of ones that seem to be most affected. I I foolishly uh thought I was so smart. I thought I was not. Um I you know got some fruits and vegetables in, nothing bagged, um, but just fresh fruit and vegetables. And so I'm like, oh, I'm gonna wash them really good. You know, I have that special rinse that you. Do and all that stuff. And I was telling my daughter, my my one with all the kids, and I called her. We were FaceTiming and I said, Oh, yeah, I did all this and blah blah blah. So I'll be fine, whatever. She's like, Um, mom, yeah, no, washing it doesn't do anything, it has to be cooked. And I was like, Oh, well, that's not cool. So, yeah, I'm fine. I I did not have anything contaminated yet, so I'm good. Uh, but no, I won't be tempting fate at all. So, yeah, but you know what? I mean, this is you know, this is one of those things that it really does, as much as we kind of laugh a little bit about it and joke about it a little bit, because how can you not? Um it's actually, you know, obviously it's really serious. And when you really think about the impact of how uh fragile our system really is and how easily um our our food and our water and our all of our systems can be contaminated. And you know, I don't know. I I think I think it's a nod to uh small farms, uh buying farm fresh stuff. Not that they're immune to to to having any issues, um, but yeah, buy local, grow your own, grow your own fruit and vegetables uh whenever possible. I don't know. But it is disturbing.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:19

For a little while go back to canned.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:20

It's yeah, oh, oh, I know. Ew, I hate canned more than anything. Yeah, I but yes, yeah, even your frozen is is not really safe either.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:33

But uh yeah, listen, we're gonna we we can just we're gonna squeeze this in super fast. You gotta you gotta get a chance to talk about your World Cup.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

Go ahead.

World Cup Update And Closing Notes

SPEAKER_02 1:07:41

And so folks, if you watch the first half of this and you watch me and you watch my eyes, I'm watching my phone because the second half, the end of the England-Argentina game just happened, and Argentina came back yet again in the last 15 minutes-ish and scored two goals to come back and win two to one against England. So we now have a final set for Sunday. So the third place game will be France-England, which is so appropriate that they're playing place. That's on Saturday, and then Sunday is Argentina-Spain, and so there's an opportunity for, my opinion, the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi to play for one more World Cup title, his second if he gets it on Sunday. So that's where we're at on the World Cup, folks. And so for those of you that don't like soccer, it's over on Sunday. For those of us that love soccer, it's over on Sunday. Um that's where at on the World Cup, folks, and that's why I seemed distracted because it was zero zero or one-zero until the 85th minute, and then Argentina scored, and then two minutes into extra time, they scored again, and so they ended up winning two to one.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:48

So that's why listen, I give you all the credit in the world for just keeping that calm, cool demeanor and not outwardly reacting to all of that. I don't know how you did that. That is incredible discipline and self-control. Uh, I did not even realize that you were doing that. So, to be able to multitask like that, I don't even have that skill, let's be real. I mean, I multitask all the time, but it doesn't mean I do it well. I don't do it that well, that's for sure. So good on you. Um, you go ahead and close everybody out so that you can get back to your soccer.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:24

It's done for the day. It's done now.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:25

It's that was it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:26

Yeah, it's done for the day. But um, yeah, folks, I I I'm still so I have been doing my my series soccer all summer, which I've been enjoying, and we'll probably continue to do that even after the World Cup is over with. Um, but uh I I do have a book signing this weekend uh for my first two books. Oswego, Illinois, Barnes and Noble. So if you're in the neighborhood, stop by. Uh, but uh other than that, uh, we are not gonna be here next week. I think Elsa and I decided. Yeah, right? Yes, uh, neither of us are gonna be available, so you will not have us next week. And so until we come back, as always for me, keep moving, keep shooting.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:03

Take care, guys. We'll see you in two weeks.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:06

Two weeks.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:06

Yeah, take care. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:08

The headlines will change by tomorrow, but the patterns won't. Thanks for spending this time with us. We'll be back to keep asking the harder questions and telling the quieter truths. Until then, stay grounded, be discerning, and we'll see you next time.