Matter of Facts: MoFs Cabinet Picks

[00:00:06] Welcome back to the Matter of Facts Podcast on the Prepper Broadcasting Network. We talk prepping guns and politics every week on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Go check out our content at mwfpodcast.com on Facebook or Instagram. You can support us via Patreon or by checking out our affiliate partners. I'm your host, Phil Ravelet, Andrew, Nick are on the other side of the mic, and here's your show.

[00:00:30] And welcome back to Matter of Facts Podcast. It's a Thursday evening, which means it's time for more lunacy.

[00:00:35] Raggle Fraggle is already in the comments saying hi and hello to you, sir. We have a ton, a lot, a lot to cover. So I'm going to get the admin work out of the way super, super fast.

[00:00:46] And Nick's not going to time me on this. Not this time. Maybe next week.

[00:00:51] So first and foremost, last show was our 400th show and I screwed the pooch and forgot to include it. So like this is the 401st of the Matter of Facts Podcast.

[00:01:04] For those of you who've been around for a long time and are masochists, like this show started started in August of 2016.

[00:01:12] And eight years later, I haven't ended up, you know, in a gulag or I mean, I'm probably on no fly list, but that's another.

[00:01:21] Yeah, we all are.

[00:01:24] Yeah.

[00:01:24] I mean, at this point, it's kind of like the cool kids club.

[00:01:26] Like if you're not on at least one government watch list, you haven't been trying that hard.

[00:01:30] And if you're on all of them, it's like Pokemon.

[00:01:32] You've collected them all. Congratulations.

[00:01:35] Or you can run for Senate or magic the gathering cards.

[00:01:38] If you prefer that analogy, that's that's from my generation.

[00:01:43] So we have to thank the patrons.

[00:01:44] Thank you to all the patrons.

[00:01:46] The little monetary donation you make every month, believe it or not, helps out a ton.

[00:01:50] It's allowed us to buy equipment.

[00:01:52] It's allowed us to expand the show.

[00:01:53] It's allowed us to do live streaming, which some of y'all stick around for.

[00:01:56] And it's fun to watch.

[00:01:58] And it has defrayed the cost of doing this to where my wife doesn't beat me with a cast iron skillet, for which I'm always thankful for y'all and for my wife not beating me with a cast iron skillet.

[00:02:08] I mean, the little lady's got a hell of an arm on her.

[00:02:12] Uh, merch.

[00:02:13] So there is merch for sale.

[00:02:15] I'm not wearing it because I suck.

[00:02:18] It's right over there and I can't run over there and go get it.

[00:02:20] But if you're interested in a fun, chicie shirt design or a koozie or coffee mug or anything, the link is in the show description.

[00:02:28] You can help yourselves to it.

[00:02:30] And then you can show off to all the other autists in your life.

[00:02:36] Nicholas Larson probably would pass airport security easier without that beard.

[00:02:40] You know, funny you mentioned that.

[00:02:44] First of all, I did fly recently and didn't even raise an eyebrow.

[00:02:47] But part of that could be where I live because here in South Louisiana, like a beard like this is not exactly commonplace, but it doesn't cock as many eyebrows as you would think.

[00:02:57] You know what I'm saying?

[00:02:58] Like if I were in like the D.C. metro area and had a beard like this, I might get some funnier looks.

[00:03:05] But around here, people just assume that I'm on this.

[00:03:09] I'm from the set of Duck Dynasty, apparently.

[00:03:13] All right.

[00:03:14] Last one.

[00:03:16] Cypress Survivalist.

[00:03:17] We talked about it at the very end of our last show.

[00:03:19] Cypress Survivalist is the nonprofit my wife and I have set up with my sister and my brother-in-law.

[00:03:25] We're going to start moving towards doing some in-person.

[00:03:30] I don't like to.

[00:03:31] We don't want to use the words preparedness because people have people hear prepper and they have a connotation to that.

[00:03:36] And we don't want to use the term survivalist.

[00:03:38] I think we're going to we're using the language readiness.

[00:03:42] Thank you, Stuart, for giving me that idea, because the whole idea of Cypress Survivalist is is to like train local communities in very practical things they can and should be doing to be ready for mostly natural disasters, but even some unnatural disasters.

[00:03:59] We just want to help people to get into a place where they can take care of themselves and their families when everybody else is running around like a chicken with their head cut off.

[00:04:08] And we've been doing that for 401 episodes now on this show.

[00:04:14] So so now I've you know, my wife and I felt like it was time to pivot like that original mission I took up eight years ago by myself before we brought Andrew and Nick on and pivot this more towards doing in-person events so we can try to reach a new audience and a local audience.

[00:04:30] Because I'm sure there's people in this area who are not ready for the next hurricane, the next flood, the next tornado, the next whatever.

[00:04:39] And I'd really like my neighbors to be in better, better shape than what I've seen in the past.

[00:04:44] So agreed.

[00:04:46] Those links are also in the show description to the Instagram page and the Facebook page.

[00:04:51] I'd appreciate a like and a follow.

[00:04:53] We post some comp we post we so far the posts have mostly been like introducing the board directors, including bearded truly and some basic readiness topics.

[00:05:06] Josh, you can't stick around, but our very first topic was to answer the question you asked in the patron chat, not even like a half an hour ago, but you can come back to this later.

[00:05:18] So we were talking earlier about currency and devaluation of currency.

[00:05:24] And like me being the guy with the business degree and the economics nerd, like I have I have a perspective on this, but I totally get for anybody who didn't spend four years like, you know, in a business school like everybody knows what money is.

[00:05:39] But the concept of money devaluing over time seems a little a little flimsy, you know what I'm saying?

[00:05:47] So I promised I promised Josh a five minute or less explanation.

[00:05:51] The time on my timer is six minutes and 20 seconds right now into the show.

[00:05:55] Nick, you're I'm on my honor.

[00:05:57] So let's assume for a moment that currency is nothing more than a method of exchange.

[00:06:04] Like if I have if I have chickens and Nick has goats and we want to exchange goats for chickens, we have to agree on some kind of an exchange rate.

[00:06:14] Like no one truly believes whether you base it on weight, on meat or whatever, that one chicken is worth one goat.

[00:06:20] So obviously there's an exchange rate.

[00:06:22] Maybe it's 10 chickens, maybe it's 15, but so many chickens is worth a goat.

[00:06:28] Well, what happens if I don't have that many chickens to exchange for the one goat or Nick doesn't want that many chickens?

[00:06:35] Now we have an imbalance.

[00:06:37] We can't execute the trade.

[00:06:38] We can't barter because the agreed upon exchange rate, we can't fulfill both sides of that equation.

[00:06:44] So this is where currency comes in and currency in today's market is, you know, pieces of paper and little coins, but it could be it could be rocks.

[00:06:52] And in this analogy, it will be rocks.

[00:06:55] So Nick and I agree as neighbors in a post apocalyptic society where there is no money.

[00:07:01] We're going to use rocks as a method of exchange of as a currency.

[00:07:06] Basically, I say, OK, your goat is worth 100 rocks and my chickens are worth 10 rocks each.

[00:07:12] That establishes that agreed upon 10 to one exchange ratio.

[00:07:16] So now Nick can purchase my chickens at 10 rocks each without having to give up his goat or without having to give up his goat and accept more chickens than he wants in return.

[00:07:27] I can trade him five chickens and 50 rocks.

[00:07:30] That's that's currency 101 where devaluation of currency comes in is let's let's say for a moment we have it.

[00:07:38] We have agreed upon this exchange rate.

[00:07:40] We've agreed to use X number of rocks and there's only so many rocks in circulation.

[00:07:45] And Nick and I are trading back and forth, having a happy little time.

[00:07:48] And then I decide I'm out of rocks, but I want more goats.

[00:07:51] So I'm going to go get a bunch of rocks, just random rocks and put them into circulation.

[00:07:57] And then Nick notices he's holding a lot of rocks and I'm continuing to show up to the table with more and more rocks to trade for more and more stuff.

[00:08:05] And Nick says, Phil, where are all these extra rocks coming from?

[00:08:08] And I say, well, you know, there's a riverbed over there and I just grabbed a whole bunch of rocks.

[00:08:11] I mean, rocks are worth something.

[00:08:13] So I'm just trading more of them.

[00:08:14] And the minute Nick realizes, wait a second, Phil can just go get more rocks out of thin air, like the Federal Reserve prints money out of thin air.

[00:08:23] So I am doubling, tripling, quadrupling the rock supply, the money supply.

[00:08:30] And Nick would be well warranted and saying, hold on a second.

[00:08:33] If you just, if you're just digging more rocks up out of the ground, then the number, the amount of rocks in circulation has increased.

[00:08:41] So the value of them naturally decreases.

[00:08:45] You've just, I've just explained in three minutes how increasing the rock or the money supply leads to a decrease in value.

[00:08:57] Because the only reason why the rocks were worth something is because Nick and I agreed upon it.

[00:09:03] And we agreed that with a fixed rock supply of rocks, they would have that agreed upon value.

[00:09:09] But the minute I start bringing extra rocks to the table, Nick's going to start to do a calculation in his head and say, hold on a second.

[00:09:16] A minute ago, we were trading 100 rocks back and forth to make these exchanges.

[00:09:20] But now there's 300 rocks in circulation.

[00:09:23] Phil has put 300 more rocks into this equation.

[00:09:27] So why would I value a rock at what I did yesterday when Phil can just go dig them up out of the fly out of the riverbed and use them to buy my goats from me?

[00:09:36] Why don't I?

[00:09:38] It's a basic supply demand curve.

[00:09:40] Yes.

[00:09:41] It's literally like to step away from that analogy, the tiniest little bit, like the reason why currencies devalue, the reason why inflation happens.

[00:09:51] 99% of it is tied to a severe imbalance in the supply and the demand of money.

[00:10:00] At the end of the day.

[00:10:02] But that rock analogy is what I use to try to make these semi-complicated.

[00:10:08] I don't even want to say they're complicated, but like to make these very airy, esoteric concepts super, super concrete so that people can latch onto it and say, oh, that makes perfect sense.

[00:10:25] Because if supply and demand was the only thing that drove the money supply, which it doesn't, then we would only create more money when there was more demand for it.

[00:10:37] And I don't mean individual demand.

[00:10:38] I mean like when the U.S. economy had grown to a point where we needed more dollars to represent that economic output.

[00:10:48] But we don't do that.

[00:10:50] We just print money every time we need more of it.

[00:10:52] And as a result, you can watch the value of the dollar over the last, I don't know, was it 70 years or so?

[00:10:58] Just go right on down.

[00:11:02] Well, part of the big problem is the fractional reserve and zero reserve banking.

[00:11:06] Banks are now allowed to functionally create more money on their own through the issuing of debt.

[00:11:12] So if the bank, it used to be the bank had to have a certain percentage of the amount they're loaning out in cash holdings.

[00:11:20] That amount, I can't remember when it was done, but it was recently of the last couple of years.

[00:11:26] That amount is now zero.

[00:11:28] Yes.

[00:11:29] Which is a separate but equally catastrophic problem because of what it means is that when you go into the bank and you deposit $5, the bank is now able to loan out 100% of that $5 so that they can make money on that.

[00:11:46] And they use that money to pay the interest accrued on your deposit, assuming it does accrue interest.

[00:11:55] And if you show up and you say, hey, I need my $5 back, they don't give you your $5 because it's been loaned out.

[00:12:00] They give you somebody else's $5.

[00:12:01] And if this sounds like a Ponzi scheme, it kind of is.

[00:12:06] Well, it is with zero reserve banking.

[00:12:10] It was even with less than 0% banking.

[00:12:13] It just wasn't as much of a Ponzi scheme.

[00:12:15] Right.

[00:12:16] I mean, it's clearly worse.

[00:12:18] It's clearly worse.

[00:12:20] And you can see that in the explosion of housing costs.

[00:12:25] Because banks are more willing to give out the loans because they can give out more money in loans right now.

[00:12:31] And that has caused the availability of debt and the cheap debt with the near zero interest rates.

[00:12:39] Add them together and you have an explosion in housing prices.

[00:12:44] Yes.

[00:12:45] Yes.

[00:12:45] But point of order, the other thing that has incentivized this behavior is the fact that big daddy government is right there to guarantee those loans.

[00:12:52] Oh, yeah.

[00:12:52] Absolutely.

[00:12:53] So understand that if a bank, see, in the private sector.

[00:12:57] Okay.

[00:12:57] I was about to say in the private sector, but this kind of applies to the private sector too because we don't live in a capitalist society.

[00:13:02] We live in a cronious society.

[00:13:04] Well, so in a true capitalist society like the one my anarcho-libertarian heart just lusts for, if you do stupid stuff in business, you go out of business.

[00:13:15] You don't make money.

[00:13:16] Your business falls on its face.

[00:13:18] You go into bankruptcy.

[00:13:19] The business dissolves.

[00:13:22] Banks, on the other hand, are encouraged by bank bailouts.

[00:13:25] And if anybody's curious how that works, Google 2008.

[00:13:28] Let me know what you find.

[00:13:29] But they are encouraged to make extraordinarily risky investments because the banks that get too big to fail are rewarded for getting too big to fail because they made extraordinarily risky, high risk, high return investments to grow their balance sheet so large that the banks, if the government didn't step in a bail amount, everybody would go broke.

[00:13:53] And your smaller banks that are more fiscally responsible basically get told, oh, well, good on you for being responsible with your depositees money, but you don't get a bailout when things go bad.

[00:14:07] So, you know, this isn't the finance show.

[00:14:11] I don't want to get into a rant, but it just like.

[00:14:14] Well, it is tied together.

[00:14:16] It really is.

[00:14:17] Yes.

[00:14:18] Let's just say that, like, me being as libertarian as I am, and you all have to understand that, like, I am that person that says, I think you should be allowed to do immoral, stupid things as long as you're the only person affected by it.

[00:14:32] But I live in the real world, and the moment government bails out banks or business, I say, you idiots have to be regulated.

[00:14:41] And I don't like regulations on private sector.

[00:14:44] I would much prefer we just go back to the old ways of if you do stupid stuff, you go out of business.

[00:14:49] But apparently that's not acceptable.

[00:14:52] So if you get the bailout, you have to get regulated.

[00:14:55] And unfortunately, what happens to this country is that you get the bailout, but you don't get the regulations.

[00:15:00] And then we just do.

[00:15:01] Well, sometimes, sometimes.

[00:15:03] I mean, sometimes the regulations just get dumber.

[00:15:07] Yes.

[00:15:09] Okay.

[00:15:10] Josh has to go, but I hope you appreciated the explanation.

[00:15:13] I told you it'd be five minutes or less, and it would have been, except then Nick got me spun up on banksters, which most of them.

[00:15:22] To be fair, the analogy was within your five minutes.

[00:15:25] Yeah.

[00:15:26] Let's just say that I think most banksters should probably be hunted for sport.

[00:15:32] No.

[00:15:33] At the very least, they should be investigated thoroughly.

[00:15:36] Oh, yes.

[00:15:38] So you said you wanted to talk about FEMA acting a fool, and FEMA has been in the news for like two months now.

[00:15:47] These poor guys just can't get away from the bad press.

[00:15:50] Well, here's the reason why I wanted to bring this up, and I'm going to try to keep this as apolitical as possible.

[00:15:56] All right.

[00:15:57] We all know probably where I stand in the political spectrum.

[00:16:00] We all know where Phil stands in the political spectrum, but at this point, this is irrelevant.

[00:16:07] Politics is irrelevant to this.

[00:16:09] The government is showing its hand here.

[00:16:13] They are showing potentially, now granted this isn't proven, but potentially a top-down plan to single out a political party as persona non grata to emergency assistance.

[00:16:25] If you are a Republican, if you are a Democrat, if you are a Green Party, I don't give a shit.

[00:16:30] This is a dangerous problem that needs to be corrected.

[00:16:33] This perfectly shows why you need to be ready to take care of yourself, because four years from now, maybe it's not the Trump people that are persona non grata for FEMA.

[00:16:44] Maybe it's you.

[00:16:45] Maybe it's the Green Party.

[00:16:47] Maybe it's the communists again.

[00:16:51] That's really all I had here.

[00:16:54] What is that thing I keep trying to remind people of that you should never grant the government power you don't want your worst enemy to wield?

[00:17:02] Because our government has this funny way of shifting back and forth across those two political lines every so often.

[00:17:09] And you have to bear in mind that the power does not go to the person.

[00:17:14] It goes to the office.

[00:17:15] It goes to the institution, which is even worse.

[00:17:18] But this is one of the reasons why years and years ago, when Obama was in office, I was warning left-leaning friends of mine, like, listen, I understand you and I don't think alike.

[00:17:29] I understand you and I don't vote for the same people, and that's cool.

[00:17:32] We can respect each other.

[00:17:34] But understand that the power you give this man or his office or this institution will outlive him.

[00:17:42] Because the government has never given power back in my lifetime.

[00:17:47] So if you don't want, if you, like, pick one.

[00:17:52] Pick the craziest person you can think of.

[00:17:55] If you don't want that person to have that power, you shouldn't give it to the person you trust.

[00:17:59] Because the power will not will outlive them.

[00:18:02] It will stay in the office.

[00:18:04] You know, I, is this lady just trying to cover her butt?

[00:18:11] But for those who haven't seen the news, a FEMA employee sent out a notice to avoid Trump supporters' houses.

[00:18:19] Okay.

[00:18:21] She then went on, I believe it was CNN, and did an interview where she said that that was not her policy.

[00:18:28] That was a policy ordered from the top down to her.

[00:18:33] Now, we don't have proof of that yet.

[00:18:36] And maybe she's just doing some petty ass covering, which, fair enough.

[00:18:42] Bureaucrats have been known to do that in the past.

[00:18:44] But it wouldn't surprise me.

[00:18:47] It really wouldn't.

[00:18:48] Not with the way this current administration has been acting.

[00:18:53] But, you know, it's just one more reason to maybe, number one, be sure that you can take care of yourself until stuff like this breaks.

[00:19:08] And number two, maybe don't put political signs up in your yard.

[00:19:13] I mean, I hate to be the guy to tell you not to do that if you want to do that, but know that there could be consequences.

[00:19:20] So I draw this analogy that your ability, and I'm not saying that if you put a Trump sign in your front yard, you are an a-hole, but just go down this road with me.

[00:19:31] Your ability to be an a-hole is wholly contingent on whether or not you need the assistance of the person you're being an a-hole to.

[00:19:39] True.

[00:19:40] A much more colloquial way of putting that is, beware of the toes you step on today.

[00:19:44] They may be attached to a butt you have to kiss tomorrow.

[00:19:48] Yeah.

[00:19:48] So all I'm going to say is, if you're that person that puts the maggot sign in your front yard, I would only encourage you to do so if you do not require the assistance of people who may or may not take a dim view upon that to bail you out of trouble.

[00:20:07] That's all I'm saying.

[00:20:08] Like, to me, the two things that resonate-

[00:20:12] And that's any political statements you make in your front yard.

[00:20:15] Well, I mean, for that matter, like, do you want to know why I don't have political bumper stickers on my vehicle?

[00:20:20] Because I don't like having my windows smashed.

[00:20:22] Yeah.

[00:20:23] I mean, calling it the way it is.

[00:20:25] I don't like my car getting keyed.

[00:20:26] I don't like my tires getting-

[00:20:27] Dude, I'm in Illinois.

[00:20:28] If I had Trump stickers on my truck, you want to tell me how many tires I'd go through?

[00:20:33] But I guess that's kind of my point.

[00:20:34] I mean, yeah, you can make the argument of, like, well, you're being scared or whatever.

[00:20:39] But to me, it's like, no, no, no.

[00:20:40] I am avoiding conflict because my prime directive, all you Trekkies out there, is always avoid conflict first.

[00:20:48] If I cannot avoid conflict, I am emotionally at peace prosecuting that conflict to the fullest extent of my abilities.

[00:20:56] But my first goal is always, I don't want this conflict.

[00:21:01] So if all it takes for me is to hold my political opinions until I'm in the confines of my home or in the voting booth, and I get to avoid conflict, guess what?

[00:21:12] That's cool with me.

[00:21:14] Besides, all my friends and family know what I'm about.

[00:21:18] So it's not like I have to put a bumper sticker on my truck to show everybody else.

[00:21:22] Well, part of it, too, is maybe you don't have to hold in your political opinions in person with other people.

[00:21:30] Other people are not as likely that are in front of your face to say crazy things or do crazy acts if they're most normal people.

[00:21:40] Like, you're not going to have the guy you sit at work with talk politics with sometimes slashing your tires.

[00:21:48] Why?

[00:21:48] Because he knows you.

[00:21:49] You know him.

[00:21:51] Chances are you're going to be able to find him to get some payback on that.

[00:21:55] But random individuals in a Wendy's parking lot, the FEMA operative that comes in from out of state that you've never met before and will never see again,

[00:22:05] they see no consequences in skipping over your house, especially when they have an excuse from the higher ups.

[00:22:09] And that's the other thing I want to sneak in here before we move on.

[00:22:14] Like, the thing of this that makes me wonder is I could – and we had a similar conversation with Eddie when we were talking about FEMA's activities

[00:22:24] and some of the rumors that were coming out of North Carolina about how FEMA was withholding aid to certain communities.

[00:22:30] And, you know, Eddie's –

[00:22:31] To be fair, there were some threats made to FEMA.

[00:22:34] Yeah.

[00:22:35] 110 percent.

[00:22:36] And there were also – there was also multiple reports of FEMA blocking roads, prohibiting people from even attempting to go help out some of these communities.

[00:22:45] So I always operate from the theory that, like, there's three sides to every story.

[00:22:51] You've heard this before?

[00:22:52] There's my side, your side, and the truth.

[00:22:54] And neither one of us – neither one of us – I'm not saying neither party is going to tell the truth, but neither party can see the truth because they only see it from their perspective.

[00:23:03] So my perspective on this is, is it possible that this was a mid-level supervisor with an extra grind?

[00:23:11] That is well within the realm of possibility.

[00:23:14] Oh my gosh, yes.

[00:23:15] Is it possible that this was a top-down directive?

[00:23:17] That's less probable, but not impossible.

[00:23:21] What I will say, though, is that most people that have been in these circles or even just been in business for a long time know you don't hang your butt out without coverage.

[00:23:33] So the fact that, like, this mid-level supervisor can't find that directive or find where it was written or find where it was emailed to her, to me, I hate to say it invalidates her argument, but it's like you've been caught because you wrote this down.

[00:23:49] Your bosses have not been caught because they didn't write this down.

[00:23:52] Whether it didn't happen or whether they're smart or whether they're malicious, it doesn't matter.

[00:23:55] I think this mid-level supervisor needs to have the weight of the world hung on their neck, and an example has to be made because what they've done is a breach of the trust between the American people and their government.

[00:24:11] They endangered lives in an emergency.

[00:24:14] Yes.

[00:24:15] Whether or not anyone was actually harmed, they endangered lives in an emergency situation when they were supposed to be the first responder.

[00:24:24] Yep.

[00:24:25] I mean, that's really all there is to it.

[00:24:26] It's like you, you breach the trust of the American people where I come from.

[00:24:32] That means you don't get to work in government ever again at any level, in any capacity.

[00:24:37] You're done.

[00:24:38] You're done.

[00:24:39] You're out.

[00:24:41] And if that hurts somebody's feelings, then just your feelings are going to be hurt.

[00:24:45] I don't care.

[00:24:46] But that's, I think that's well-deserved at this point.

[00:24:48] And, you know, ask me how I feel about politicians that violate the oath of office.

[00:24:52] I think prison is a starting point.

[00:24:55] And I think ban from government for life should also be part of the package.

[00:24:59] But let's just say there are reasons why I'm not in charge of any governmental agency.

[00:25:05] Yeah.

[00:25:06] Because a lot of people, a lot of people would be staring at the inside of prison cells.

[00:25:11] Anyway.

[00:25:12] Anyway.

[00:25:13] So let's have some fun before we discuss this article to round this out.

[00:25:17] I intentionally did not put my picks in the banners because I wanted to surprise Nick.

[00:25:24] Although based on his, based on the title underneath his name, I can already see that we have agreed upon at least one of these.

[00:25:33] For the humor alone.

[00:25:35] Okay.

[00:25:36] So, so let, let, let, let, let me put this down so everybody can see those.

[00:25:40] You can't see Nick says Alec Jones for press secretary.

[00:25:43] And I think that would be an absolutely hilarious choice.

[00:25:48] Can you imagine the meltdown from CNN?

[00:25:52] No, no, no.

[00:25:53] What I, what I, what I'm imagining, what I'm envisioning, and it gives me a warm feeling in my heart.

[00:25:58] Is like, everybody knows Alex Jones can rant with the best of them.

[00:26:04] Like full blown triple digit blood pressure meltdowns.

[00:26:10] I don't even want him to answer a white house press course questions.

[00:26:14] I just want them to ask him questions.

[00:26:16] And he just starts ranting about, you know, gay frogs and, and space lasers and tinfoil hat stuff for like 20 minutes.

[00:26:25] Just screaming and losing his mind.

[00:26:27] I would tune into that.

[00:26:30] It'd be like a comedy hour every morning.

[00:26:32] It would be so forget.

[00:26:34] Wrackle fraggle.

[00:26:35] Stop it.

[00:26:36] He's got my pick.

[00:26:38] Yeah.

[00:26:39] He's got mine too.

[00:26:45] One at a time.

[00:26:46] My other pick for press secretary was Michael Malice.

[00:26:49] I don't know if you've heard.

[00:26:50] That's a good one.

[00:26:51] Oh yeah.

[00:26:52] Okay.

[00:26:52] Now for anybody that doesn't know Michael Malice, he he's an anarcho libertarian.

[00:26:56] I believe he is.

[00:26:58] Yeah.

[00:26:58] Um, he is a sarcastic little smart Alec.

[00:27:03] But the thing about Michael Malice that, that makes him one of my picks for press secretary is because he is freaking brilliant and he's lightning fast.

[00:27:14] Oh yeah.

[00:27:15] So whereas, whereas Alex Jones would just be like a complete ranting lunatic.

[00:27:21] Michael Malice would make the white house press corps feel like toddlers.

[00:27:25] Oh yes.

[00:27:26] Oh yeah.

[00:27:27] At the adult's table.

[00:27:28] The dude's recollection of material he has read and the speed at which he can communicate it is insane.

[00:27:35] Insane.

[00:27:36] And he is probably like one of the best trolls on the internet today.

[00:27:41] He, I have seen him drop rage bait on the internet and just full blown one end of the other meltdowns occur.

[00:27:50] He is so frigging good.

[00:27:52] It would be hilarious to watch either one of those two wind up in that job.

[00:27:58] And now I guess we have to, you know, confront the elephant in the room because raggle fraggle spoiled it.

[00:28:04] But ATF director, I've got, I got two and they're both, they're both good.

[00:28:09] But Brandon Herrera was my first pick.

[00:28:11] Yeah.

[00:28:12] You may not remember.

[00:28:14] I don't know if you were a listener to this show way back in the day, but Brandon was on this show probably about five years ago now before.

[00:28:22] Like I remember it.

[00:28:23] Yeah.

[00:28:23] When, when, when, when his YouTube career was like just really getting into high gear before he started doing podcasting, before he first state Senate, first state rep seat, like before the AK 50.

[00:28:36] Yes.

[00:28:36] Way before the AK 50 before that was even thought of.

[00:28:38] If a matter of fact, I probably should go find that episode.

[00:28:41] It's probably on Patreon.

[00:28:44] I should probably temporarily or maybe permanently just make it public just so that, you know, people can, that way, even people who aren't patrons can go get to it because I'm sure we have listeners who weren't around back then.

[00:28:56] And you have to bear in mind that like after so much time, I like, I pulled down those old episodes that way what's in the feed is kind of relatively fresh.

[00:29:04] And also because Jesus Christ, we were such amateurs when we first started doing this years ago.

[00:29:09] We still are.

[00:29:10] But anyway, Hey, but, um, got to start somewhere, but yeah, it might be fun to put that episode back out so that the, the potent, the potential voters get a window into him.

[00:29:22] There you go.

[00:29:23] There you go.

[00:29:23] But, um, yes, for the, for the pure unadulterated hilarity of it, I would choose Brandon Herrera.

[00:29:29] And he actually put a YouTube video up the other day talking about how if he was, if he, if, if he got the call, he would happily do it.

[00:29:35] But he pointed something out that I don't know how he clear a confirmation hearing after saying this, but I, I was salivating at the idea, but he mentioned that, um, it is, it, he believes he like.

[00:29:48] So as the ATF director in the executive branch, he can't override Congress.

[00:29:54] He can't override the NFA.

[00:29:55] He can't do any of those things, but he does believe.

[00:30:00] And I don't know why, why it wouldn't be within his purview that he could offer a 90 day amnesty period for NFA items, including reopening the machine gun registry for 90 days.

[00:30:09] So that if anyone theory found a machine gun, they could register it for the first time since 1986.

[00:30:17] And in theory, he could open it as many times as he felt like every 90 days for four years.

[00:30:26] I, I was lying in bed next to my wife cackling like a lunatic.

[00:30:31] Like she, um, so many schemes.

[00:30:35] Yeah.

[00:30:35] She, she already thinks I'm nuts, but I started explaining to her why I was laughing.

[00:30:41] And then the look on her face told me that I should just make it very, very short and simple like I am.

[00:30:48] But anyway, but yes, the, the idea that we could have the machine gun registry reopen for the next four years.

[00:30:56] Like, you know, the definition of a priapism is when an erection lasts for more than four hours.

[00:31:01] And technically it's a reason to call the emergency room, but I think I would just sweat that one out, you know, like just enjoy that case.

[00:31:08] In that case.

[00:31:10] Of course, my other pick for ATF director was Ted Nugent going down the same road as the ranty crazy one like Alex Jones.

[00:31:19] Sure.

[00:31:20] But I don't know, man.

[00:31:24] I love Uncle Ted, but I, I, I really don't know that he would get things done.

[00:31:33] I don't want him to get things done.

[00:31:34] I want him to log jam the whole agency.

[00:31:36] Well, okay.

[00:31:37] Oh, well, if, if you want that, then, then Ron Paul stick, stick Ron Paul in any agency.

[00:31:42] Have fun boys.

[00:31:43] Okay.

[00:31:44] If we're being really technical, what I really want the ATF director to do is to take 100% of the BATFE and assign them to the NFA branch so that NFA approvals are done in like eight hours, like one business day.

[00:31:59] You wouldn't even have to do that many.

[00:32:01] Just automate the process.

[00:32:03] I'm okay with that too.

[00:32:04] And while we're automating the process.

[00:32:06] The process should be nonpartisan and optimized.

[00:32:08] And while we're automating the process, everybody who runs around screwing with people's natural rights can go work in the NFA bridge and process paperwork until your job is done away with.

[00:32:18] The rest of you can find all those fast and the furious guns.

[00:32:22] Go, go after, after we automate the process, because I really, I would really love to see the NFA process made as fast as Nick's.

[00:32:32] It should be.

[00:32:33] There's no reason why it can't be.

[00:32:35] Yeah.

[00:32:35] I mean, it is, it is designed to be an impediment just in the time alone.

[00:32:42] I mean, ATF should be a convenience store, not a government agency, but I digress.

[00:32:48] Okay.

[00:32:49] My pick for head of the NFA of the FDA.

[00:32:52] And unfortunately the rumor mill is he just got, he might be getting tapped to a head up at HHS was RFK Jr.

[00:33:00] I am emotionally at peace with him heading up HHS.

[00:33:06] At least we have a health secretary that looks reasonably healthy.

[00:33:12] Oh, you mean somebody with a BMI under 30?

[00:33:15] That'd be great.

[00:33:17] That'd be great.

[00:33:18] I mean, Christ's sake, you are supposed to be leading the health of the nation or at least attempting to.

[00:33:27] Can you look the part for four years?

[00:33:29] Jesus.

[00:33:30] Can you see your toes?

[00:33:32] Right.

[00:33:32] Let's set the bar reasonably now.

[00:33:36] So you're not going to fight me on that one, are you?

[00:33:38] Oh gosh, no.

[00:33:39] No, no, no, no.

[00:33:39] Absolutely not.

[00:33:40] Okay.

[00:33:41] I wouldn't have had him for FDA, but I had him for human services.

[00:33:46] Or I think the other one I was thinking about him for was shoot.

[00:33:54] Oh, intelligence.

[00:33:57] Intelligence director.

[00:33:58] Throw, throw, throw.

[00:34:00] Yeah.

[00:34:02] That would be, that would be just picture perfect.

[00:34:09] Okay.

[00:34:10] Secretary treasury.

[00:34:12] I want Rand Paul.

[00:34:14] Yep.

[00:34:15] Yep.

[00:34:16] Or at least throw him on the board, throw him somewhere in there.

[00:34:19] Just, just, just have him shut down that whole mess for a few years.

[00:34:24] Let him just leave everything alone.

[00:34:27] All right.

[00:34:30] And now from here, first of all, I'm asking if you have any proposed picks.

[00:34:34] And then I wanted to talk about a couple, a couple of, a couple of done deal or probables that I find interesting.

[00:35:12] Mm-hmm.

[00:35:13] When I found out, what was his name?

[00:35:15] Hegseth is going to be secretary of defense.

[00:35:17] I have no idea who that is.

[00:35:19] Okay.

[00:35:20] So he has been extraordinarily, extremely outspoken, unless I'm getting my wires crossed, against like the DEI programs in the military and against.

[00:35:33] Sold.

[00:35:34] Yeah.

[00:35:34] Sold.

[00:35:35] Look, I'm a simple guy.

[00:35:37] Okay.

[00:35:37] I was a very early GWAT vet.

[00:35:39] I enlisted in 2000.

[00:35:40] I was at AIT in Virginia when 9-11 happened.

[00:35:45] I, I saw the beginning of the global war on terror and then fought in it and then got out in 2006.

[00:35:53] And my point of view, even looking that far back in 2006, I could already kind of see the writing on the wall and it made me nervous.

[00:36:02] Yeah.

[00:36:03] So, and I've talked to people who served after I did and it didn't get any better.

[00:36:07] There was a, an increased, there was an increased focus on the bureaucracy of the military and a shift away from being concerned about matters that directly impact war fighting.

[00:36:21] And I mean, that, that goes down to like standards for tattoos on forearms, you know, becoming more astringent that, that goes in all sorts of directions.

[00:36:28] But to me, I go back to this really simplistic view of what the military was supposed to do, which was told to me by some very crusty old Vietnam veterans that the military's entire reason for being is to break shit, blow shit up and kill people.

[00:36:42] Period.

[00:36:42] Yes.

[00:36:43] If it ain't doing that or helping the war fighters do that, it ain't supposed to be done.

[00:36:48] So when I hear about DEI programs, when I start hearing about quotas, when I start hearing about opening up combat arms to now I have no pro I don't have a personal issue with women in combat.

[00:36:58] I do have an issue with lowering the standards so that they can, they can be in combat.

[00:37:02] But then again, even when I enlisted in 2000 was in the very beginnings of like coed basic trainings.

[00:37:09] And it was in the kind of the earlier days of opening up all jobs to women and reduce their PT standards and the strength standards so that they could compete.

[00:37:18] And I said from day one, I don't agree with that.

[00:37:22] I think that if I think if we're going to have different standards, it should be combat arms standards and non combat arms.

[00:37:29] So like if you're going to be a cook, you can have this standard because you don't have to be able to run a 13 minute, two mile to be a cook.

[00:37:37] But if you want to, if you want to, you know, if you want to have nods on your noggin and be jumping at airplanes, you have to meet the higher standard.

[00:37:44] But that's not the way the military works.

[00:37:46] The military decide to have one set of standards for based on gender.

[00:37:49] And I don't agree with that.

[00:37:51] Or are they, they decide to have two different standards based on gender.

[00:37:55] And I don't agree with that.

[00:37:56] It's one standard.

[00:37:57] Sure.

[00:37:57] Or it's one state or it's two standards that apply equally across gender based on what your job is.

[00:38:03] But that's not the way you know.

[00:38:05] I'm okay with the military having a variety of standards, but the standards should be determined by the job.

[00:38:13] Like you said.

[00:38:14] Not by.

[00:38:15] I've never, I've never been in the military.

[00:38:17] I've never served in combat.

[00:38:19] I, you know, but why would you be willing to accept someone who will be meeting a lower standard to go to combat with you?

[00:38:34] Let me pose the question differently.

[00:38:37] Do you think that if you are in combat and you have to drag a buddy of yours who's been hit off the front lines and to the rear so that they can get aid?

[00:38:50] And you can medifact them.

[00:38:51] Do you think that buddy suddenly gets lighter because you're a woman?

[00:38:55] No.

[00:38:56] They weigh that, that, that 180 to 220 pound butt chewing who and guy weighs exactly the same amount, whether you are 220 pounds or 110 pounds.

[00:39:06] And for that reason and that reason alone, I say the standard has to be based on the job.

[00:39:12] And if you would not accept a 98 pound weakling man in that position, then I see no reason to accept a 98 pound weakling woman in that position, period in discussion.

[00:39:22] And I was told even back then, that was an unpopular opinion.

[00:39:27] Well, you know, reality doesn't have to be popular.

[00:39:31] The, the, the necessities of the job dictate the requirements.

[00:39:36] You don't put your smallest guy as your machine gunner and ammo carrier.

[00:39:41] It just isn't going to work out.

[00:39:43] The big guy is going to get saddled with that because it's less of a load for him to carry proportionally.

[00:39:48] You talk to a former saw gunner.

[00:39:51] Right.

[00:39:51] And that shit's heavy.

[00:39:53] There's a reason you're short.

[00:39:54] It weighs you down a little bit.

[00:39:56] I was always short, but let's just say that there's a reason why I got that job because that stuff is heavy.

[00:40:04] Yeah, that's for sure.

[00:40:06] Raggle Fraggle asked a question, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't most of combat either holding the line or pushing the line?

[00:40:14] That's a complicated question.

[00:40:17] It is.

[00:40:20] Obesity is bringing world peace.

[00:40:25] All right.

[00:40:25] You'd like to think that, but the third world's not becoming that obese.

[00:40:29] So let me get through a couple of these that I've, I've heard are either confirmed or highly likely.

[00:40:36] Matt Gates, returning general.

[00:40:38] Awesome.

[00:40:39] I can't wait.

[00:40:40] I can.

[00:40:40] I already started hearing the meltdowns and they're hilarious.

[00:40:45] CIA director.

[00:40:46] I've heard Cash Patel's name floated quite a few times.

[00:40:50] I'm not very familiar with him either.

[00:40:53] In the absence of RFK, I would, I would take a Cash Patel pretty happily.

[00:40:57] Okay.

[00:40:58] Okay.

[00:40:58] His, his whole thing right now is that if he gets that position, he wants to declassify all the documents about 9-11 and JFK on day one.

[00:41:06] And he wants to go.

[00:41:07] Good.

[00:41:07] And he wants to release the Epstein client list.

[00:41:10] Good.

[00:41:12] For those.

[00:41:12] And I, and I would say that anyone on that list, even if I had previously supported them.

[00:41:21] Prosecutable.

[00:41:22] Is dead to me.

[00:41:24] Yep.

[00:41:24] Prosecutable.

[00:41:26] Every single one of them belongs in prison.

[00:41:29] Yeah.

[00:41:29] The cool thing.

[00:41:30] Not that I would want to be accused of making a threat, but the cool thing about a noose and a gallow is getting gallows is that they're reusable.

[00:41:38] So very efficient.

[00:41:40] I'm head of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.

[00:41:43] I've heard that too.

[00:41:45] And, you know, I, I initially, my first thought was throw RFK in there just because look, the CIA killed JFK.

[00:41:53] That's been all but confirmed.

[00:41:55] I don't think that anybody can dispute that anymore.

[00:41:58] So throw him in there, let him be a bull in a China shop and dismantle all of their nice toys.

[00:42:04] Yes.

[00:42:04] But I like, I like him over at HHS.

[00:42:06] And the reason I really want to see Tulsi is because somebody in the last administration put her on a terror watch list.

[00:42:15] She's got a bone to pick.

[00:42:16] Oh, yes.

[00:42:17] And I, I, I desperately want to see that bull go into that China shop.

[00:42:22] And the, the, the, the Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency.

[00:42:27] Yeah.

[00:42:28] Create a new government department to get rid of government waste.

[00:42:31] I got problems.

[00:42:32] I got problems with this.

[00:42:34] Okay.

[00:42:34] But let, let, let's think for a moment.

[00:42:37] One of my criteria and one of the, one of the, one of these idealistical things I cling to is this idea that like public service should not be a career.

[00:42:46] It should be something.

[00:42:47] Because like way back in the day, you know, it was basically a part-time job and it paid that way.

[00:42:51] And you had to have another, I mean, most people, they had to put their businesses on hold to go serve their country.

[00:42:58] Yep.

[00:42:58] Well, I don't think the, they or Elon are going to stay in politics after this four year stint because they have successful businesses.

[00:43:10] They should be running.

[00:43:11] And the other thing of it is, is that until I know more and nobody really knows anything yet because this is all pretty premature.

[00:43:18] Sure.

[00:43:19] But I don't yet know if this is like a permanent bureaucracy being formed or if this is like basically an advisor's board or whatever.

[00:43:27] So there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government, than a temporary government program.

[00:43:34] But give me this, but give me this.

[00:43:37] If those two manage to decrease the, uh, the side, the size of our government budget by trillion dollars worth it.

[00:43:47] Maybe we live in the real, but we live in the real world, man.

[00:43:50] You ain't never going to get perfect.

[00:43:52] I get that.

[00:43:53] I'm not, I'm, I'm not asking for perfect, but what I'm saying is, is that like we talked about earlier, do we want to have another department here?

[00:44:01] That in the future, if say in four years, six years, eight years, 10 years, whatever, different people are running it now.

[00:44:11] And now they've created an entire bureaucracy of 40,000 people that go through and audit the government and slow everything down and cost us even more tax money.

[00:44:19] Isn't it the GAO?

[00:44:23] I don't know.

[00:44:24] Government accountability office.

[00:44:26] Yeah, probably.

[00:44:27] That holds no one accountable for anything.

[00:44:29] Right.

[00:44:30] But okay, great.

[00:44:31] Now we have two of those potentially.

[00:44:33] That's where, that's where I kind of have a problem with it.

[00:44:36] I mean, I realize you're not going to get what we want done perfectly.

[00:44:44] I realized that we're going to have to have some number of staff doing this thing, but we already have a government accountability office.

[00:44:52] Why is this not, why are they not heading that?

[00:44:58] Firing most of those people there for starters and then starting their way down the list of everyone else?

[00:45:03] Because clearly the government accountability office doesn't do a goddamn thing.

[00:45:09] I feel as though I'm about to use the one ring argument that like, maybe we could use the power of government for good.

[00:45:15] We can't.

[00:45:16] No one can.

[00:45:17] Not permanently.

[00:45:19] I know.

[00:45:20] But if, if this bureaucracy has to exist, I like those two in charge of it a lot more than I do.

[00:45:26] I do, but.

[00:45:27] A ton of people.

[00:45:28] You know, my concern is just what happens when they're not the ones in charge of it.

[00:45:32] And we have just another government accountability office.

[00:45:35] Thank you for being a good person and not throwing my words back in my face when I just got through saying that, like, be careful of the power you give government.

[00:45:42] It lets it be wielded against you.

[00:45:44] Yeah.

[00:45:45] It's just.

[00:45:47] You know what's going to happen.

[00:45:48] There was one other thing I wanted to point out before we get to the last topic in the 15 minutes we have left.

[00:45:56] So, Nick, if you don't mind diving yourself out, how old are you?

[00:46:00] What year were you born?

[00:46:02] 1990.

[00:46:04] Jesus Christ.

[00:46:04] Oh, yeah.

[00:46:05] I thought you were closer to me than that.

[00:46:07] No.

[00:46:09] Okay.

[00:46:10] Well, I was born in 1982.

[00:46:12] I'm 41.

[00:46:14] I'm 42 years old now.

[00:46:16] 34.

[00:46:19] Of those people I was just talking about, Matt Gates was born in 1982.

[00:46:23] Cash Patel was born in 1980.

[00:46:24] Tulsi Gabber was born in 1981.

[00:46:26] Vive Ramaswamy was born in 1985.

[00:46:29] I can't remember this many millennials being in the seat of power and government in my lifetime.

[00:46:39] And that's interesting to me.

[00:46:41] They are people that will have to live with the consequences of their actions.

[00:46:45] And I love that.

[00:46:47] You mean they're not septuagenarians and octogenarians?

[00:46:50] People that are 70, 80 years old if you don't speak Latin.

[00:46:52] Look, I got no problem with older people doing jobs in government.

[00:46:57] But the problem is, is when you have a government of all people that are elderly, they become detached from the reality on the ground of people that are in their peak earning years, their family building years, their wealth building years.

[00:47:14] And they can't keep up with modern technology.

[00:47:21] Heck, I'm having a problem now keeping up with the way modern technology advances.

[00:47:25] And I'm a computer nerd.

[00:47:26] I build them for fun.

[00:47:29] You know, I think my concern, not to sound like that ageist a-hole in the group, but my worry is, okay, so everybody has seen the meme that above a certain age, you are basically unemployable.

[00:47:44] Because the job, and I'm not saying it's right, wrong, or otherwise, I'm just telling you the way it is.

[00:47:50] The job market says-

[00:47:51] It's a function of performance.

[00:47:52] The job market does not believe you any longer have the tools to keep up with the rest of the job market.

[00:47:58] And yet the people that are in Congress and running the executive branch by far and large are in that age group that are functionally unemployable anywhere else in any other sector.

[00:48:11] And I am concerned about that.

[00:48:14] But my issue is, I want to believe that, and of course I'm going to throw this right back in the voters' faces because y'all vote for these people.

[00:48:25] But I would like to believe that there are people out there like Brandon Herrera.

[00:48:30] He's a little younger than I am.

[00:48:32] Not by much, but a bit.

[00:48:34] He's right in between us, I think.

[00:48:36] Yeah.

[00:48:36] Who can do the job, who have fresh ideas, who have a fresh perspective, who have knowledge of the industry.

[00:48:42] He's been an FFL with an SOT for years.

[00:48:44] He has been on the receiving end of the ATF's nonsense for years.

[00:48:50] That is the perfect person to put in charge of that agency because he sees that perspective.

[00:48:57] You want people with real world experience running government.

[00:49:02] I do not believe nor do I condone this idea that we want career politicians doing anything because politician is not supposed to be a freaking career.

[00:49:10] It's supposed to be a call to service.

[00:49:13] You know, I cannot remember what country it was, but there was some country where like they basically freeze all of your assets when you enter public service and then they audit everything you own afterwards.

[00:49:23] And if they can find where you've been like taking bribes under the table or something, prison for life.

[00:49:28] I would love to see that in this country, but I might hold my breath.

[00:49:33] Well, in order for that to pass, the people that are enforcing it would have to not be Nancy Pelosi.

[00:49:40] The people who are in the people who would vote for it would have to have principles and scruples and not be benefiting from a system that allows them to be, you know, have their hands in the piggy bank.

[00:49:52] Yeah.

[00:49:53] Well, you know, age is one of the problems I had a hard time getting over with Trump.

[00:49:59] That's that that is a legitimate concern of mine about him as president.

[00:50:03] Yeah.

[00:50:04] The dude, the dude's in his what?

[00:50:06] Seventies, mid seventies.

[00:50:08] Seventies, six, I want to say.

[00:50:08] Okay.

[00:50:10] Okay.

[00:50:10] So he's only a little bit younger than my grandparents and my grandfather very recently had a fall, broke his hip, had to have a hip replacement surgery.

[00:50:22] And it's it's been a couple of months now and he's still not recovered from that.

[00:50:27] So a simple slip and fall and our president's, you know, laid up four months.

[00:50:34] Yeah.

[00:50:35] Yeah.

[00:50:35] I'd be lying about him.

[00:50:37] He has a VP that's younger.

[00:50:40] I want to say his VP is a millennial, too.

[00:50:43] Yes.

[00:50:43] I think so.

[00:50:44] He's also a Marine.

[00:50:46] He's also a Marine and a former E4.

[00:50:49] The fact the fact that the E4 mafia has finally gotten someone into the executive branch makes me so, so happy with myself.

[00:50:57] Some shenanigans are afoot now.

[00:51:00] Yeah.

[00:51:00] Not that I can confirm or deny the existence of the E4 mafia.

[00:51:03] That would be breaking the rules.

[00:51:05] E4 mafia is like bike club.

[00:51:07] We don't talk about the E4 mafia.

[00:51:09] Right.

[00:51:10] But we might sometime.

[00:51:12] Someday.

[00:51:12] Okay.

[00:51:13] So do we goof off for the next nine minutes and save this topic for another day?

[00:51:18] Or do we think we can do this justice in nine minutes?

[00:51:21] I don't know that we could do it justice in nine minutes.

[00:51:24] There's actually quite a bit here.

[00:51:27] I mean, we could we could at least intro the article as a teaser for next week.

[00:51:33] That's a good point.

[00:51:34] So the article I hypo I am summarized it learning from the doomsday preppers.

[00:51:41] It's an article.

[00:51:42] It's actually linked in the show description.

[00:51:44] So y'all would like to read that for next week.

[00:51:46] If you'd like to read ahead for next week, I I was kind of hoping that the everything else wouldn't take this long to get through.

[00:51:53] But, you know, it was a lot of fun.

[00:51:55] So why not?

[00:51:57] But there were there were some things in there that really resonated with me.

[00:52:03] There's a lot in there that really resonated with me.

[00:52:06] There's some nonsense in there, too.

[00:52:08] Oh, you know, these are the people.

[00:52:10] I believe the writers of this article or writer of this article was one of the people that worked on the blackout mockumentary.

[00:52:18] American blackout.

[00:52:20] Essentially, it's I think it was a multi part miniseries about a countrywide blackout in the U.S.

[00:52:26] for a number of days, like a week or something like that.

[00:52:30] And they I guess I don't know if you caught this in the in the article, but they were discussing that the National Geographic.

[00:52:39] Who put on the show did a whole bunch of background research and pulled down all of the government reports on EMP on grid down scenarios on catastrophic grid failure from a variety of perspectives.

[00:52:53] And they tried to put that all together in the show.

[00:52:57] And it turned the people that were scripting the show into preppers.

[00:53:01] Essentially.

[00:53:04] Oh, it might have been a movie, Joe.

[00:53:06] It might have been a movie.

[00:53:07] I could be thinking wrong about it, but I know it was on National Geographic.

[00:53:12] Yeah.

[00:53:13] I mean, like I said, there was there was some stuff in there that resonate well with me.

[00:53:16] There were a couple of things that kind of made me roll my eyes a little bit.

[00:53:21] But I thought all in all, it'd be an interesting talk.

[00:53:24] But I think it will be probably best to save that for next time.

[00:53:28] But if you're listening, we're going to end up going like an hour over.

[00:53:31] Yeah.

[00:53:32] But if you're listening, that link is in the show description.

[00:53:35] And if you've enjoyed the show, then I mean, I think you're probably a little bit of a mass kissed and I can recommend counseling.

[00:53:43] But then you wouldn't be enjoying your insanity.

[00:53:46] You'd be questioning it.

[00:53:47] So right.

[00:53:48] Best to just go with it.

[00:53:50] Oh, did you see the the news that came out?

[00:53:54] I think it was yesterday or today about the U.S. funding in 50 by 2050, wanting to have most of the grid on nuclear reactors now all of a sudden.

[00:54:04] There was some something that broke about that.

[00:54:07] What do you think about that, Phil?

[00:54:08] Why is that a controversial decision?

[00:54:10] Why has that been transitioning from from coal power plants and natural gas to nuclear power?

[00:54:15] And well, all the.

[00:54:16] But what I'm saying is, why has it been a controversial decision for this long?

[00:54:20] Because so radiation scary.

[00:54:23] Oh, bullcrap.

[00:54:24] Anyway, so that's what it is.

[00:54:26] Let me that in the petrochemical companies.

[00:54:28] Let me start by saying that, like, I am not a nuclear power engineer expert.

[00:54:34] And if anybody knows one, it'd be cool to have him on the show to get his take on it.

[00:54:39] But I will say that I am I am a nerd.

[00:54:42] And therefore, I watch lots of nerdy stuff.

[00:54:46] Stop.

[00:54:46] I'm strange things.

[00:54:48] Yeah.

[00:54:48] Stop me.

[00:54:48] If this sounds familiar, Nick, we should do.

[00:54:50] We should do a whole episode on autism so that the audience can understand this.

[00:54:55] Though, Joe, you are correct.

[00:54:57] I have been personally offended by some of the model cuts.

[00:55:02] It's a terrible shame.

[00:55:04] I can no longer get some of my favorite Necron minis.

[00:55:07] But that's for a different show.

[00:55:10] But I know that next generation nuclear plants are going to be phenomenally smaller, first of all,

[00:55:19] and cheaper to build than like, because a lot of what a lot of people are thinking about when they think about like nuclear power plants,

[00:55:26] they're thinking about the second generation of plants.

[00:55:28] And those are like three months.

[00:55:29] That's basically anything that's currently built.

[00:55:31] They're all second generation.

[00:55:33] They've improved over the years, but they're still a as a group considered to be second generation nuclear plants.

[00:55:40] Generation three nuclear plants have not been built yet.

[00:55:43] They're still working to try to get through the approval process and all the red tape that's involved with building nuclear power plants.

[00:55:49] But as I understand it, they are much smaller, much cheaper, and have multi-layered safety systems that are almost fully automated.

[00:55:59] So in other words, they've taken the human operator that they've taken the Homer Simpson,

[00:56:05] who used to have to babysit the button to shut the whole thing down,

[00:56:08] and made Homer basically a fail safe to multiple automated systems so that the plant is able to kind of modulate itself much more quickly and much more minutely than a human operator could.

[00:56:24] And they're miniaturizing them, and they're making them much safer, and they're making them more efficient.

[00:56:30] Miniaturized distributed grid power.

[00:56:32] And that's another thing I've seen floated that's really interesting in the nuclear power world is that they're looking at,

[00:56:39] instead of having this one huge plant that serves as like this huge area.

[00:56:43] Yeah, that takes 10 years to build.

[00:56:46] Having multiple small ones to where like you might have, a city might have its own little nuke plant.

[00:56:52] And this nuke plant would really have, would wouldn't, I mean, would really be about the size of a large house.

[00:56:58] Yep.

[00:56:59] And it will service an entire city.

[00:57:01] To where if, if that, if, if it was absolutely necessary, you diversify that power generation to the point where like,

[00:57:09] if a plant goes down, the right, all the plants in that area, because of the whole grid is interconnected,

[00:57:14] can kind of like soak that load very easily.

[00:57:16] It's, I, I don't think anybody would fight me on the idea that our power grid is probably at this point,

[00:57:25] 30 or 40 years overdue for a serious overhaul.

[00:57:30] That's the numbers you're hearing.

[00:57:31] You're not talking to enough electricians.

[00:57:33] I was being conservative.

[00:57:36] I'm talking, some of them have told me that the grid is like getting closer to 70 or 80 years.

[00:57:42] Okay.

[00:57:43] So for the sake of full disclosure, my dad spent 38 years working and working in the, in, for the power company.

[00:57:52] Yeah.

[00:57:53] Yeah.

[00:57:53] And I'm sure it needed an overhaul when he was there.

[00:57:55] Yes, actually.

[00:57:56] He, uh, he told me back when the, the big push was for everyone to buy electric cars.

[00:58:02] He told me, he said, do you know what would happen if a quarter, he said, if, if a quarter of the state of Louisiana bought electric cars and put a supercharger station in their house, do you know what would happen?

[00:58:13] And I was like, what, he said the entire power grid would fail in the state.

[00:58:17] He said, first of all, of that, of those people that put super, supercharger stations in, he said about 10% of those, the houses will catch fire.

[00:58:27] Because there's, there's not an, there's not enough available.

[00:58:30] There's not enough available, like, you know, overhead in the panels because he said, there's, he said, there's still some panels in these houses that only have a hundred amp service.

[00:58:41] I had a hundred amp service when I bought this house, but that lathe draws a lot of current.

[00:58:45] So we had to upgrade the main.

[00:58:47] Yeah.

[00:58:48] But therein lies the point.

[00:58:49] But therein lies the point.

[00:58:50] I mean, these big supercharger stations, dude, they suck a lot of juice.

[00:58:53] So that was his, that was his thing was he said, first of all, 10% of the houses that have them installed, they will, they will eventually turn into house fires.

[00:59:01] Second of all, everybody that's left.

[00:59:04] He said at 6 PM, when everybody gets home from work, they plug their cars in, they turn their air conditioning down and they fire up their TV.

[00:59:10] The power grid will fail.

[00:59:12] Like there's, there's not enough overhead in the existing power generation and distribution system to soak up that many more high current.

[00:59:23] You know, um, a word appliances.

[00:59:27] Yeah.

[00:59:29] Just to give you guys a little bit of perspective.

[00:59:31] Uh, my wife's uncle bought one of the F one 50 Lightnings electric pickups.

[00:59:36] Holy crap.

[00:59:37] The acceleration on that thing is amazing, but he had to upgrade his panel in his house.

[00:59:44] It had an electrician come and run the charging station, which was like another three or $5,000 on top of upgrading his panel.

[00:59:51] And, uh, his tax credits that he was getting to have not offset the power bill.

[00:59:59] Shock and all that he has got, um, that truck to charge it in, I think it's like four hours or something like that for the high speed charging station that you can have.

[01:00:09] Yeah.

[01:00:10] Draws as much current as an industrial CNC machine.

[01:00:14] Yeah.

[01:00:15] Um, at, at startup.

[01:00:18] So, you know, has he had any issues with it when it was sub zero temperatures outside?

[01:00:24] He got it this summer.

[01:00:26] We're going to find out.

[01:00:27] I will report back.

[01:00:29] Pro pro tip to all of y'all that like to drive around where it gets cold outside.

[01:00:33] Not that I would know anything about that, but batteries don't really appreciate being cold.

[01:00:39] Well, they actually have to discharge partially into the heater bands on the batteries to keep them at operable temperatures.

[01:00:47] And around here.

[01:00:48] Well, I think, I think the optimum temperature for those batteries is between 78 and 40 degrees.

[01:00:56] Well, I don't know about you, Phil, but in my area, we regularly get negative 30 and up to 110.

[01:01:04] I'm going to put a sweater on as soon as we're done talking.

[01:01:09] It's already been below freezing here.

[01:01:11] Oh, no.

[01:01:12] Zero, zero stars.

[01:01:13] Do not recommend.

[01:01:15] It's not too bad.

[01:01:16] It's like 45 degrees today.

[01:01:18] Look, all I'm going to say is my gas engines fire right on up when it's below 30 degrees.

[01:01:25] I had problems with my truck at negative 50.

[01:01:28] It started very slowly.

[01:01:31] Bruh.

[01:01:32] I did not want to go to work.

[01:01:34] I mean, I hope your wife isn't listening to this, but like if I were married to her, I'd gag and bag her and we'd move to a warmer state.

[01:01:43] Like the first time it got down to negative 50, she would just wake up and it'd be sunny and sunny and bright outside.

[01:01:48] I'd be like, how did we get here?

[01:01:50] That's only happened like chloroform and a moving truck.

[01:01:54] Honey, don't ask questions.

[01:01:56] That's I mean, I'm too many.

[01:01:59] Well, yeah, I mean, there was the polar vortex that one year where it was like negative, negative 30 to negative 50 for a whole week.

[01:02:05] And then one time when I was a kid, it was that cold.

[01:02:07] Stop it.

[01:02:08] They didn't cancel school when I was a kid, though.

[01:02:10] They did this year or the most recent time.

[01:02:15] Yeah, but it's not too bad.

[01:02:19] I'm over it.

[01:02:20] Yeah, but but this is exactly this is, you know, just one of the one of the reasons why I think that they've been trying to push electric cars too soon, too fast.

[01:02:29] The grid's not ready for it.

[01:02:32] So I think.

[01:02:33] I could see the argument if we did manage to get all these nuclear power plants up and running and we had the grid overhead for nine to five commuters.

[01:02:41] It's not a bad call.

[01:02:44] So two things.

[01:02:45] First and foremost, if electric cars are so cool, then government can try them first and the military and let us know how let the rest of us know how that works out.

[01:02:55] Oh, didn't you see that they wanted to make all the military vehicles all electric by 2035?

[01:03:00] Cool.

[01:03:00] I'm behind that.

[01:03:01] Let's make the F30.

[01:03:02] Let's make the F30 fives and the carriers all electric, too.

[01:03:06] Let's wait.

[01:03:07] Aren't all the carriers nuclear powered?

[01:03:12] But nuclear they are.

[01:03:14] But nuclear is bad.

[01:03:16] That's what all the people tell me.

[01:03:18] So let's run all those off of batteries and solar panels.

[01:03:22] Anyway, I'm making a point here.

[01:03:23] They're big and flat.

[01:03:24] So government can try it first and let us know how it works before they dictate that we please give up our gas and our diesel while they still get to play with it.

[01:03:33] And second of all.

[01:03:36] No.

[01:03:37] If you have to, if the government has to subsidize it or require it or legislate it, it's probably a stupid idea.

[01:03:43] Like the foreign syrup.

[01:03:46] The free market makes these decisions for us.

[01:03:50] And it makes them very simply.

[01:03:52] The first time it is cheaper without government subsidies to purchase and run an electric vehicle for the lifespan of the vehicle.

[01:04:01] I would say probably 75% of Americans will dump their gas burners and their diesel vehicles for electric.

[01:04:08] At least for their commuting vehicle.

[01:04:10] Exactly.

[01:04:10] And then you're going to be in a situation where it's going to be like carburetors.

[01:04:15] Do you know why you can't buy anything with a carburetor these days?

[01:04:18] It's less efficient.

[01:04:19] It's less efficient.

[01:04:21] It pumps more emissions into the air.

[01:04:23] It makes less horsepower.

[01:04:24] But guess what?

[01:04:25] If you just have to have, you know, that old 69 Camaro ripping and snorting and bucking and everything else, you can still go buy a carburetor.

[01:04:33] But the average American has moved on because it's better at most things.

[01:04:39] And this will be the same way.

[01:04:41] There will still be people who will want gas vehicles.

[01:04:43] There will still be a need for diesel.

[01:04:45] There's still going to be an application where that works.

[01:04:48] But if the government has to subsidize it or force it, it's probably a stupid idea.

[01:04:52] Thanks for coming to this TED Talk.

[01:04:56] Yeah.

[01:04:57] Perfect.

[01:04:58] All right.

[01:04:59] Well, let's go ahead and punch this one out of the cockpit.

[01:05:01] I've got to edit this and we got to get on the road early in the morning because I have a wedding to go to.

[01:05:09] I have to make an honest woman of my sister-in-law.

[01:05:11] I doubt she's watching, but I'm looking forward to this weekend.

[01:05:15] Oh, that'll be great.

[01:05:16] That'll be fantastic.

[01:05:17] Pass on my well wishes to her.

[01:05:19] Certainly will.

[01:05:20] And for the listeners, again, the topic we were going to talk about on the back end of the show, we're going to have to save it for next time.

[01:05:28] But there's a link tomorrow.

[01:05:29] There's a link in the show description if you want to read ahead and then you can join in the conversation and the lunacy next time.

[01:05:38] In the meantime, Matter of Effects Podcast going out the door.

[01:05:42] Good night to everybody.

[01:05:42] Good night.

[01:05:43] Good night.

[01:05:43] Good night.

[01:05:43] Good night.