Episode 39 · Saturday, 19 July 2008

Fascism Today

From the erosion of double jeopardy laws in Europe to the corporate takeover of the American newsroom, a new era of economic and political control takes hold.

By The No Agenda Show | 1h 27m listen | 24 chapters
Fascism Today cover
The No Agenda Show · No. 39

About this episode

The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty proceeds across 21 European nations despite a decisive 'no' vote from Ireland, sparking a debate on the emergence of a new global fascism. French President Nicolas Sarkozy continues to pressure Irish leadership for a second referendum, while legal shifts in the Netherlands and Ireland threaten to eliminate double jeopardy protections. These maneuvers suggest a coordinated effort to bypass democratic hurdles in favor of a centralized European Union constitution.

Author Naomi Klein’s 'Shock Doctrine' provides a framework for understanding recent economic volatility, from the privatization of New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina to the displacement of local fishermen following the 2004 tsunami. Crude oil prices have plummeted from $146 to $128 per barrel, raising questions about market manipulation by speculators. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom faces a privacy crisis as the Guilford Council and other local authorities reportedly filed 30,000 phone-tapping requests in a single year. In the corporate sector, Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of Dow Jones has triggered editorial shifts at the Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch, while Viacom’s legal battle with Google threatens to force deep packet inspection on ISPs.

Personal technology choices take center stage as a host rejects the iPhone 3G in favor of the Nokia E71, citing the superior utility of JoikuSpot for mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. A recount of a private party at Prince’s Paisley Park estate in Minneapolis highlights the eccentricities of celebrity security. The episode concludes with a proposal for Faraday cage baseball caps to thwart RFID scanning and a look at ingestible temperature-monitoring pills used during the Holland Marathon.


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CHAPTER 01 / 24 Discussion

South of France Vacation, Club 55, French EU Compliance

A host recounts a recent vacation to the South of France, including visits to Saint-Tropez and San Rafael. Observations are made regarding the famous Club 55 restaurant, a chance sighting of Gordon Ramsay, and the local disregard for European Union smoking and labor regulations. The travelogue concludes with a description of Bastille Day fireworks viewed from a penthouse near the Carlton Hotel on July 14th.

south of france· saint-tropez· club 55· gordon ramsay· bastille day· european union

00:01 Gone for a week, but hopefully not forgotten. Once again, welcome to the program that comes to you from two different sides of the globe. It is no agenda. Here in the Curry Manor in the lovely and affluent suburb of Surrey known as Guilford, I'm Adam Curry. And I'm up here in Northern California. I'm John C. Dvorak. John, it's good to talk to you again, my friend. Yeah, you were on vacation. Yeah, and I apologize. I forgot to tell you that I was going on vacation. Well, I think I did tell you, but I forgot to tell you that I wasn't planning on doing a show. Yeah, you were wasted in the south of France, I understand. I was not wasted! Nothing of the kind. It was fantastic though. I've never been on vacation to the south of France and I have to say I think I have my new holiday destination all figured out. Everybody says that. That and Portugal is the other one they like to go to. You know, I've been to Portugal a number of times and I think it does not compare. I really, really like the south of France. And you even say France. So, um...

01:04 I know it's horrible. Oh, I went to France. I went to the south of France no less But you went, a lot of people go, I mean, I would recommend the South of France to anybody. But you went to the high rent district. I mean, when I go there, it would be, I'd be floating around. I actually probably would even, which isn't technically the South of France, go to Provence. Or then if I was gonna be in the South of France, I think Nice is probably more along my... or even Monte Carlo, which sounds ritzy but it's not as fancy as where you went, which is San Trope. Well actually we stayed at a friend's house in San Rafael, which is between Cannes and San Trope. It's a small village, but we did day trips. We went to Cannes and then we did go to San Trope twice with the big powerboat, the way you're supposed to do, right? You roll up there and

02:03 there's no it's fantastic you you park in front of Nikki Beach have you heard of Nikki Beach yes did one of those are places where the Russian mob hangs out exactly the Russian mob and all of their chicas it's fantastic and actually we had dinner at lunch at Club Saint-Gonzank which is pretty famous restaurant on the beach right nearby and it was really... We're Russians. And actually Gordon Ramsay was there when we were having lunch. So everyone was on high alert and looking spiffy and doing their best. Oh really? What was he doing there? Did you go up to him and say, hello I'm Adam Curry? I think you're... He surely would have heard of me. He must have heard of me. I've heard of you. No I did not. He was just having lunch. By himself? No he had a couple friends there. It was like totally overcrowded. I mean this place, there's a line outside the... what you could call a door I guess.

03:05 That must be 50 people who have you know no reservation and subsequently no chance whatsoever of actually getting down and and and having a meal So how was the food? I was very good and what they do is they they have these each table gets like this big It's like a now this is let's go back. This is sank on sank. Is that the name of the place? Yeah, so 55 Club 55 sank on saying very famous restaurant and And when you sit down and it's a dump, right? It's like a beach hut with tarps, you know, strung over the top of it. I mean, there's nothing special at all, except for the fact that all the beautiful people are there. And each table gets this huge, like,

03:45 like a like a side of a tree you know with bark and all and it's probably I'd say about five inches high and on that you know hollowed out tree slice or slab if you will they put huge amounts of you know raw vegetables like Wait, wait, wait, I'm not getting the description correct. Is it like a stump? Is it round or is it long and it's cut down the middle? What's it shaped like? Imagine if you took a tree and you sliced off a piece of the bark, say about two or three feet long. Sliced off a piece of bark? Yeah, except really a deep slice, so maybe a couple inches thick. So like a canoe. Oh, okay. Right?

04:25 And then, so you have the bark on one side, which has been modified a bit so that of course doesn't roll around on the table. And then the top part is all clean, you know, flat wood. And then on that they put cauliflower and cucumbers and tomatoes and radishes and all kinds of stuff. So that's really nice. Everyone's just kind of picking at that at the table. I'm surprised, I'm surprised before you go on with the description, that the EU allows it. Because of the trees, you mean? Yeah, I mean they have this thing about how you can, you know, what food can touch and they have all these rules coming out of Belgium and I'm stunned by this. I'll tell you, the French as far as I can tell don't give a shit about the EU. I mean they're smoking everywhere, they're doing everything that is not supposed to be possible in the European Union.

05:12 Okay, that's good. Yeah, no, it's excellent. Not that people should be smoking, but I'm just saying it's good that they're still French. Also, most of the people I met and talked to definitely don't work 34 hours a week. You know, it's more like 54. So, another farce. But great weather, man. It was just... But wait, let's get back to the food. You got the plank of wood. It's got some cauliflower on it. Yeah. Okay, so then I had artichoke. uh... st is esteemed artichoke and uh... which i can like nearly take off the leaves in the close you get to the center to the heart of the artichoke the more stuff there's on the leaves uh... okay and uh... and i had uh... state car car uh... which is basically a a big slab of raw meat yeah always a risk house good though also good and uh...

06:09 The only other spectacular thing worth mentioning on this program is the 14th of July which is kind of the French Independence Day known as a They call it a couple different things, but it's a steel day steel day. Yeah, we were invited to Someone actually Patricia was invited and so you know we all went along this apparently quite wealthy woman who was throwing a party in her apartment, but her apartment was the building next to the Carlton Hotel, rooftop penthouse with, you know, I don't know how big this rooftop penthouse was, just on the, you know, the rooftop part of it, but there were easily 70 to 80 people outside comfortably.

CHAPTER 02 / 24 Discussion

iPhone 3G Launch, Nokia E71 Purchase, Mobile Software

Following the launch of the iPhone 3G, a host describes opting for a Nokia E71 instead of the Apple device. The decision was influenced by long lines at the O2 store in Guilford and technical limitations of the iPhone, such as battery life and lack of voice-guided GPS. The Nokia E71 is praised for its processor speed, form factor, and physical keyboard.

iphone 3g· nokia e71· apple app store· symbian· mobile technology

07:00 and we had a an unobstructed view of the water where all the fireworks were ignited. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, and there's a picture on curry.com you can see the situation. You actually took a picture, you brought a camera. Oh yes, just a cell phone camera. Hey, I got a new... actually when you called me earlier before we started the show, I got a new cell phone, man. Okay. Yeah, because I left on Friday, the day the iPhone was supposed to come out, and I actually went to the store at 9 in the morning. I'm like, okay, I'm going to go get one at the local Guilford shop at the O2 store. I'll go pick up an iPhone, the 3G model, and I'll have something fun to play with during the vacation. So I roll up, there's 100 people in line in Guilford.

07:49 Yeah, so I'm like, alright, turn around, because we had to leave at 11 for the airport, so turn around, go back, forget about it. But throughout the week I was kind of reading things and I've been, you know, actually there were a couple of reviews in the Financial Times and just some web reviews and the more I was reading it, the more I'm like, you know, I don't know if this thing is really going to make me extremely happy. and uh... you talk about the iphone yet i the iphone three g nine i've been in a ipod touch user for uh... ever since it came out basically and uh... so i i i we we got back last night and i upgraded my uh... ipod touch to the new uh... their two point oh software and i can't do i give a shit about you know and i went to the app store i'm looking at all the stuff unlike well you know

08:33 It doesn't it doesn't really integrate with my entire life It syncs nicely with the Mac and all that and then I'm you know looking at reports on the battery life And you know how you can't actually get you know driving directions with the built-in GPS not you know not with voice commands I'm sure that's gonna come out at some point, but all this stuff. That's still to come and yeah, I don't know and so I broke down and Went into town looked at the iPhone 3G again and And then went next door and bought the new Nokia E71, which I'm just tickled to death over. Bye.

CHAPTER 03 / 24 Discussion

JoikuSpot Software, Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspots, Nokia Features

The JoikuSpot application is highlighted for its ability to turn a Symbian-based Nokia phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot. This software allows a laptop to connect to the internet via the phone's high-speed mobile data connection. Additional features of the Nokia E71 are discussed, including its 3.2-megapixel camera, front-facing VGA camera for video calls, and turn-by-turn GPS capabilities.

joikuspot· symbian· wi-fi hotspot· nokia e71· mobile data

09:12 Well, I've had the E61i and basically everything that I didn't like about it, which mainly was processor speed, it's just rendering web pages and all that stuff, and also the fact that the E61i doesn't have HDSPA, the really high speed wireless access. And also the form factor just the size of it and this e71 if you look it up online man It is a it's a beautiful beautiful phone and is unbelievably fast and and and you know using this thing called Joyku spot have you heard of that?

09:51 No, I'm looking at a picture of it now. It looks pretty cool. Yeah, so this thing called JoykuSpot, you install this little application which works on the Symbian platform and it turns your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot. So I just installed that and so basically now I have the The hot spot you mean it turns into a what do you mean a hot? It turns it into a transmitter. Yes well so the the phone has a Wi-Fi's you know so you can browse through high-speed mobile data or through your Wi-Fi access point and what this joy Joyku spot thing does is it just reverses that process and it turns your phone into a Wi-Fi access point using its data connection and

10:33 So I can't so okay. Oh, this is another if I can get it out cuz I'm stunned In other words, what it does, so essentially it turns the phone into a hub, like if you have your laptop with you and you can't get a connection any way, shape or form, you can call up, you can dial up on the phone and the phone becomes a Wi-Fi hub as it were. Exactly. And then the computer can talk to the phone which talks to the network and then you can get your email. Exactly, yeah, exactly. So it just routes, well email, I mean you can get stuff at high speed. In fact, I think the speed that I'm getting through the phone through that Joy-Coo thing may actually be faster than my broadband at home. Really? Well, you know, we have shitty provisioning out here, 50 to 1 or whatever, so when everyone's sucking on the pipe, then it, well, you know, it's like when we have really shitty shows, that's my access at home.

11:25 Yeah, well this thing, you know, I've seen 700 megabits down. It's also smaller than the 61 by a lot. Yes, it's almost the exact same size as the iPod Touch which is smaller than the iPhone. And it's great, it's got GPS built in with turn-by-turn instructions, it's got... The Nokia does. Yeah, the Nokia, yeah. It's got turn-by-turn, really? Yeah, oh yeah. It looks like it's about 500 bucks. Yeah, there's a little more expensive here. It was like 300 pounds so about 600 bucks and of course that's an unlocked version so I can put any SIM card in that I want. I'm not locked into a carrier. There's one on sale for $483.95. Hot damn I should have waited.

12:10 Well, that sounds like a winner. Well, you'll see it in a couple weeks when I'm over. It is stunning. And it takes good pictures? Yeah, it has a 3.2 megapixel camera, which is the E61 had a 2 megapixel, and so also the iPhone 3G only has a 2 megapixel camera. So it has a reasonable camera with a flash. It also has a little... Has a flash? What, that can't do anything? What's the flash go for, a foot? I don't know. I haven't tried it yet. I got home and I called you. It has a camera on the front, a VGA camera for video calls. Oh, on the front so you can do phone sex? Yeah. Another thing the iPhone doesn't have, and just the more I was looking at it... You know, the iPhone was supposed to get that. Everyone kept talking about it, but I think they bailed out on it.

12:59 Everything that I really missed in the iPhone this thing has and so combined with that hotspot software I think I've got a real winning combination and smaller in size. And it has a keyboard which I think is a big deal. And the keyboard, I'm loving this keyboard and you're right it is a big deal. It really is. I've kind of gotten into, I don't do it as much as I could, but I have to admit that doing just SMS messaging, even though sometimes the messages get lost, I think the kids got it right. I think it's a good thing. And so now I have to wean everybody off of my old phone number onto the new phone number because I finally broke down and got a UK number to use. Tell us what it is. Thanks everybody. Trying to get one that's not being tapped. Oh well, that's not going to happen.

CHAPTER 04 / 24 Discussion

Guilford Council Surveillance, UK Phone Tapping Statistics

A discussion regarding privacy in the United Kingdom notes that local authorities, such as the Guilford Council, have the power to request phone taps. It is claimed that approximately 30,000 such requests were made in the previous year. The hosts speculate on the likelihood of their own communications being monitored by British intelligence agencies like MI5 or MI6.

guilford council· surveillance· phone tapping· mi5· mi6· privacy

13:58 I mean, you probably got about a week before the actual show. As soon as the MI6 or 5 or whichever group it is who listens to the show, I figure they listen to the show once a week, about a week after the show's been out. And then they'll know you have the new phone and then they'll lock you into their system shortly. Well, you know, it's no big deal over here. All you do is, even the council, the Guilford Council can request a phone tap. Yeah. And they do it by the thousands. I think there was 30,000 last year. I'm sure the Guilford Council has got you on their list. Yeah, well... You're a troublemaker. You're an American troublemaker living in England. I am. I'm a freaking troublemaker.

CHAPTER 05 / 24 Discussion

Newspaper Industry Efficiency, New York Times, Information Density

The efficiency of physical newspapers is compared to digital news consumption, with a host deciding to subscribe to the hard copy of the New York Times. The argument is made that the curated layout of a broadsheet allows for a faster overview of global trends and news than browsing the internet. A transcription of a 90-minute speech revealed it contained only 7,500 words, illustrating the low bandwidth of spoken word compared to print.

new york times· financial times· newspaper industry· information density· media consumption

14:42 But, man, it was good. It was good to have a vacation, good to get away, and I'm raring to go. And I did nothing but read paper. Very, very little internet access. And I literally would be reading the Financial Times back-to-back every single day. I think I'm going to get a subscription to two. This is a change of my approach to things. I think I'm going to, which is noteworthy, I think I'm going to get a... We need a jingle. We do. So I think I'm going to get a subscription to the hard copy of the New York Times.

15:23 I know here's the reason, but here's what my thinking is, because I was at the traveling recently and I, you know, picked up a copy. Well, usually when I go to the airport, I scrounge around and try to, I think that people should recycle more. I don't think they should be picking up those papers. I think people should be, one of the reasons people don't buy newspapers anymore is because they feel guilty about all the trees that are being wasted. Seriously. And it's one of the, you know, it sounds like a joke, but in fact, they've studied this and people do feel bad about it. So what, so like 40%, 50%? Lots, well yeah, 40, something like 40 or more. You know, it's just a huge number of people that don't like the idea. And it's also a pain in the ass to have a big stack of papers you gotta take them to the recycling bin. But anyway, so I get the thing, I realize that the efficiency

16:07 Which is what we have to consider here rather than all the internet, you know, you can always find out stuff. And I was watching the news the other day and I was noticing something said, and so and so blah blah blah some guy killed somebody, we'll get back to it after this break, and you don't know who it is and they don't even get to it until the end of the show. I don't need this aggravation. So that's when the internet comes in handy. You go up and you can look things up. But for getting just a hit of the news on a day-to-day basis, the efficiency of a big newspaper where you just open it up and you can really see what at least some people think is important and you can also pick up on the kind of, what's good about the New York Times isn't so much its news but its coverage of trends and trendsetters and things that are going on in the city that, you know, like something,

16:53 about sunglasses or something about what people are, women are wearing shorter skirts. Major basic cultural trends. It's more efficient to get that from a paper, because you get the paper, you can spend 20 minutes with it. You'd be on the net all day. And I think, beginning to think that in terms of getting news, uh... although i think you know i i i i can't on one of the newspapers online probably get you some news but i think overall it's an inefficient way to gather the daily news and trends and things are going on if you if you need to talk about these sorts of things it's interesting to say that because you know i was basically as i said offline and just go down to the harbor and by a financial times and i really enjoyed that format of getting my news exactly what you're saying there you know and

17:40 In fact, I'd take the first section and I'd take it down to the pool and I could fold it. I could fold it in another quarter, you know, just kind of hold it like a book format and read one article. And you're right, it's the importance that whole layout showing you what the editors or whoever's responsible for the front page of each section, you really get a much better global overview that you is impossible to get online or at least I it hasn't worked for me yet that way no I did that I think people get more from this show which they listen to it is a very slow and in this show is we don't really have a lot of bandwidth in terms of when you're talking you because I did this with one of my speeches recently I had it transcribed

18:21 I gave a one and a half hour speech on the state of the art in the newspaper industry, why it's having problems. Although now I'm in denial about it. And so I had it transcribed by a transcription service and a whole hour and a half speech was 7,500 words. And I'm a fairly fast talker, I mean I mumble a little bit and sometimes I stammer, but the fact of the matter is that's about what it is. And so for our show we have to assume that it's probably running around 7,500 words, which is really three feature stories, 2,500 word stories in a newspaper, which you can really plow through in about 10 minutes.

19:04 So what are you saying? So is our show good or bad? What I'm saying is that the newspaper, the old-fashioned newspaper, I'm saying for one thing, yeah, this show is inefficient. But the newspaper is extremely efficient, an efficient way to get a lot of information fast. And I think that can't be denied. And the Internet is not as efficient. at getting you this much information this quickly. Well also, you still in most cases you have to act as kind of like the editor. You have to figure out what's important, you know, because yeah there might be something on the homepage, but it's typically not the same that's being highlighted in the paper. And then all the other sections, like, you know, then it's almost like a weblog version, you know, reverse chronological order and not another layout. You know, I love looking at Financial Times has that sidebar, like, oh, here's other stories within this section of the paper. Oh, I might skip ahead to something.

19:58 Yeah, it's good. I like it. I have to say I'm old-fashioned. I should probably put the Financial Times on the list and subscribe to that too. Now, thinking about that and the fact that I've been giving these talks about the newspaper business being in decline, and it is, I realize that one of the problems they have is because they're so arrogant, the newspaper people don't, they're just so full of themselves generally speaking because they know they're doing a good job. They don't want to listen to anybody from the outside telling them what to do. But the one thing is that they're not doing very well is marketing their product anymore. They've never bothered to market it. I mean, they talk about, you know, their idea of marketing is almost like the Chinese method of marketing. You know, the Chinese, you know, if you boil down any Chinese philosophy of marketing, it always comes down to one thing, best price. They don't care about advertising. They don't care about, you know, messages. They don't care about anything. Just best price, that'll do the trick.

CHAPTER 06 / 24 Discussion

Newspaper Marketing Failures, European Newsstand Culture

The decline of the newspaper business is attributed to poor marketing and an arrogant industry culture that relies on price discounts rather than promoting the product's efficiency. A contrast is drawn between the subscription-heavy model in the United States and the vibrant, visually aggressive newsstand culture found in Europe and major hubs like New York City.

marketing· subscriptions· newsstands· the economist· cosmopolitan

19:04 So what are you saying? So is our show good or bad? What I'm saying is that the newspaper, the old-fashioned newspaper, I'm saying for one thing, yeah, this show is inefficient. But the newspaper is extremely efficient, an efficient way to get a lot of information fast. And I think that can't be denied. And the Internet is not as efficient. at getting you this much information this quickly. Well also, you still in most cases you have to act as kind of like the editor. You have to figure out what's important, you know, because yeah there might be something on the homepage, but it's typically not the same that's being highlighted in the paper. And then all the other sections, like, you know, then it's almost like a weblog version, you know, reverse chronological order and not another layout. You know, I love looking at Financial Times has that sidebar, like, oh, here's other stories within this section of the paper. Oh, I might skip ahead to something.

19:58 Yeah, it's good. I like it. I have to say I'm old-fashioned. I should probably put the Financial Times on the list and subscribe to that too. Now, thinking about that and the fact that I've been giving these talks about the newspaper business being in decline, and it is, I realize that one of the problems they have is because they're so arrogant, the newspaper people don't, they're just so full of themselves generally speaking because they know they're doing a good job. They don't want to listen to anybody from the outside telling them what to do. But the one thing is that they're not doing very well is marketing their product anymore. They've never bothered to market it. I mean, they talk about, you know, their idea of marketing is almost like the Chinese method of marketing. You know, the Chinese, you know, if you boil down any Chinese philosophy of marketing, it always comes down to one thing, best price. They don't care about advertising. They don't care about, you know, messages. They don't care about anything. Just best price, that'll do the trick.

20:51 So, which is a detriment to them and everyone else. And the newspaper people must be the same way because their whole idea of marketing is giving you a deal. You know, well, we'll give you a month for free. That's their whole marketing. Free CD inside. So the point is that if they would market the newspapers the way I'm doing now for them, which is to say, look, this is a very efficient, well, you guys don't have a lot of time on your hands. How much time do you have to kill dicking around online, surfing the net? If you want an efficient hit of news and trends and information, nothing beats the newspaper. It's extremely efficient. Here, this is why you should subscribe. I've never heard that message.

21:33 You're right. And how about newsstand placement? I don't know if they have to fight for that or if they still do or if they care. But where your stuff is in the stand and what's on that front page? I mean, that's a big part of marketing there too. Yeah, no, the front pit. Well, in Europe, and I think we've talked about this on the show before, they're a little more adept because everything, you know, people want, you know, you go to a newsstand, if people travel and they hit the, go to Heathrow or any place where there's a big newsstand, you look at these, they're screaming at you. You want to buy a lot of magazines because they have these fantastic layouts and they scream at you. You're right, they demand that you pay attention. We don't do so much of that in the States, even though magazines like Cosmopolitan kind of do that. But generally speaking, the difference is, and people have to realize this, is that in the US, most of the magazines and newspapers account for most of their income from subscriptions. And in Europe,

22:33 and also the single-use is all done on the newsstands well in new york that you can use to and if it's still that way because it is you had those newsstands where you buy your dirty magazines your cigarettes you're chewing gum and then they have but if you look at the really hot magazines of those newsstands you're talking about their all over new york the hot magazines the ones i was a bit grabbed gravitate toward the ones that are brought over from europe Like the Economist? And I'm always buying some like weird wine magazine or some screwball magazine that's coming out of England or somewhere. Yeah. Anyway.

CHAPTER 07 / 24 Discussion

Rupert Murdoch, Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch Editorial Changes

Following News Corp's acquisition of Dow Jones, the impact of Rupert Murdoch's ownership on the Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch is examined. A host describes attending an editorial meeting where a representative of Murdoch was introduced. There is speculation regarding whether the new ownership will lead to direct editorial interference or the termination of specific columnists.

rupert murdoch· wall street journal· marketwatch· dow jones· news corp

23:10 So that's the deal. So they, meanwhile, the newspaper, of course, no newspaper person is listening to this show either because they're sitting around amongst themselves, which is what they do and, you know, wondering what's going on. But I guess it's just too expensive a format to maintain their business model. I mean, it seems like no one's really doing any great business. No one's, you know, raking it in. Well, maybe Murdoch is, who now, of course, also owns the Wall Street Journal. That'll be interesting to see. how that she asked yeah i was uh... when i went in manhattan a few weeks back the uh... we had the editor excellent with market watch written editorial meeting amongst the columnists and one of the uh... we have some characters for columnist at the same but anyway the uh... they brought in the editor-in-chief cuz murdoch also owns market watch now already know that you would doubt jones bought market watching so you know it's not everything

24:08 And so they've already gotten a call yet where they say hey John now we want you to stay away from those topics We'd like you to focus a little bit more on this kind of news No, my understanding is what they use they just wait for you to make mistakes and fire. Yeah Okay, much easier You know the other tell you what to do. So now that I don't think there's a lot of that kind of direction but the uh... they did bring in a guy who's the the hatchet man i guess one of murdoch's right hand man men that goes now running the wall street journal into talk to us and uh... there it is that it's starting yeah but i couldn't hear what he was talking about that's the only thing that i don't know i think i've i've really been paying a lot of attention obviously reading reading the news and paying a lot of attention to uh... what people are saying and uh... and the words of the using all these you know because you call them code

CHAPTER 08 / 24 Discussion

Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein, Katrina Economic Exploitation

The concept of the "Shock Doctrine," as defined by author Naomi Klein, is explored in relation to current economic events. The theory suggests that proponents of the Chicago School of Economics use large-scale disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina or the 2004 tsunami, to push through radical free-market policies while the public is in shock. Examples cited include the privatization of the New Orleans school system and the displacement of local fishermen for hotel development.

naomi klein· shock doctrine· milton friedman· hurricane katrina· chicago school of economics

24:59 Code. And a big word these days is shock. Boy, that's being used a lot. The oil shock. The credit crisis shock. Everything's a shock. And on the heels of that I read Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein which kind of clarified a couple things for me about the usage of the word. But just interesting to note that... I haven't noted it here. Maybe I'm not paying attention. So what did Naomi Klein say about shock doctrine? Well this comes, so the word shock comes from the Chicago School of Economics which was founded by a guy named Friedman. I'm sure you've heard of him.

25:40 You're not talking about Milton Friedman. Yeah, I think it's Milton Friedman. Well, I mean, he came with that school that he was way after that thing began. I mean, there's earlier names. He didn't found the school, but he started this. You're talking about the current, okay. Yeah, the current thought of how economics should work and he's the guy from this generation. Right, and so you know when you see who who has studied at the Chicago School of Economics and what alumni have advised which world leaders you know some of them actually you know sleeping with

26:23 with literature, going to bed reading it, getting up and reading more. And a lot of it is based on the shock theory. And one example that was in there was Katrina. So Katrina hit And the first thing that, or the first group to take advantage of the shock of what took place were people who went in and changed the entire school system, did away with public schooling and came up with vouchers for charter schools for these commercial entities. And like the tsunami in December 2006, was it 2006? Yeah, 2006. The people came in and took advantage of the shock by immediately turning that whole coastline into hotels and all the fishermen could go, basically leave.

27:18 uh... or were not invited to come back and you know things are changed drastically when there's a a big shock and it happens very very quickly and uh... annual i think that's what you know that that's an interesting uh... i should read that i guess but why bother yes none of the uh... you'd enjoy it but it is interesting in in light of the new york orleans thing because there is a you know every time people go there i have to go there and i have to get over down there somehow And, because everybody goes there and says, Jesus, it's just like worse than it was. Nothing's changed, it's just a mess. They've apparently left most of the area, the Ninth Ward and all those areas that were decimated, they're just a mess, they stinks. And it just seems to me as though almost the whole thing is a scheme to

28:02 just take New Orleans and get rid of all those poor black people and everything that was that was kind of sleazy about New Orleans and And turn it into kind of a you know a yuppie ville yeah, so you know essentially all that would be that Public housing we would say yeah, and when you read it There's points about that in the book as well all that public housing. You know the problem was basically solved okay It's all done now, so that's taken care of you know but no thought about, okay, where did the hundreds of thousands of homeless people go or where do they migrate to? Texas. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, and so I read shock doctrine and then I keep seeing this word shock and it's always inassociate, well these days it's associated with oil, you know, the oil shock, which by the way, what is going on? Oil went from $146 a barrel, it's down now to $128.

CHAPTER 09 / 24 Discussion

Oil Price Volatility, Market Speculators, Fannie Mae Subsidy

Crude oil prices dropped from $146 to $128 per barrel, sparking a debate on whether the volatility is driven by market speculators or pure supply and demand. The discussion also touches on the impending government subsidy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This taxpayer-funded intervention is characterized as a significant moment in financial history and a potential scam.

oil prices· speculators· fannie mae· freddie mac· financial crisis

28:56 Yeah, I think it peaked. I think you're wrong. No, I think it's the pullback. No, I think this is the pullback. They're about to flip the levers big time. It's going to hit. The jig is up. No, I don't think so. And by the way, how can you say that these prices are not based upon speculators when it clearly is? The options expired on every month. I never said it wasn't based on speculators. No, no, I'm just saying, oh, I'm sorry. I've also been reading everywhere that all these studies have been done, everyone saying don't blame the speculators. It's not that... Oh, you know, that's a crock of crap. I can't believe that people print that stuff. Yeah, they're saying it over and over again. And, you know, they're doing all these studies and, oh no, we checked it all out. It's not the stock exchange. It's not the speculators. No, it's pure market forces. And so these options, you buy, you know,

29:42 stuff like oil you buy options on and they expire on, what is it, the Thursday of every month or the third Tuesday or something like that? Something like that. Yeah, so, you know, on Tuesday the options all expire, the price drops five bucks and it starts to go down. Then of course we have, you know, what is about to be the most interesting moment in financial history as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are going to be subsidized by you and I, essentially, taxpayers A scam. What are we gonna do?

CHAPTER 11 / 24 Discussion

Lisbon Treaty, European Union Constitution, Fascism Terminology

The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty continues despite a "no" vote from Ireland, with 21 of 27 member states having approved the document. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to push for a second Irish referendum are discussed. The hosts debate the modern applicability of the term "fascism" and the need for a new word to describe the current global political trajectory.

lisbon treaty· ireland· nicolas sarkozy· fascism· european union

33:32 uh... the dna is one more just one more s straw you know it's just a dead that's it is where you get into the situation where every time a new technology coming to the miles is a well every time they improve dna testing let's go back after the same guys over and over again but he didn't have a good thing john that's exactly what they're saying to the fifth yeah now it's that's a part of a of a vote that's just a did another step toward fascism i mean let's face it the absolutely what is it called a lot in the beast even my think is what it is your I don't know. I don't know what it's called. It's totally another step towards fascism and I'm convinced, you know, now looking at this, because the talk still continues about the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union's constitution which really wasn't a constitution but it was and because it wasn't called constitution.

34:19 got rammed through, is now through in 21 of the 27 member states with Ireland still the only ones who had a referendum saying no. And it's like these guys are just, you know, it's like they're ignoring it. Well, you know, Sarkozy is, I think he's in, so he's the president now of the European Union, he's in Ireland this weekend or this coming week. And, you know, he's like, well, I'll talk to my boy over there and I think we'll have to hold another vote. Yeah, that's pretty clear. We need another vote because the first vote didn't have the outcome we desired. Yeah, just keep doing it over and over and over until you get him to vote. You vote something in, which is an old trick. Let me guess. A fascist trick?

35:00 you know the funny thing is you were gonna have to come up with a new word besides fascist uh... and the reason for that because you know it's you know it's it's marginalized as a term of the are you know you're still in everything a fascist you're an idiot you know you can be an attack this is not fascism in the sense of the of the fascist or the actual political movement that took place in the nineteen th i guess it was in the late twenties with people and i think mussolini was like one of them progenitors mean one of the main guys that began the the process This is something else, but there's no name for it. And you can say, well, we throw out the term fascism, but it's not really fascism because fascism is like, was a party. In fact, it was a political and a sociological concept that this is a little different in some funny way. But no term has been dropped on it. We need like a nasty new word

35:57 that you can keep calling this situation and we don't have one. I think it's important that we develop one. Well, I'm looking now at the thesaurus. Let me see if I can find anything. Autocracy, dictatorship, Nazism, totalitarianism. That's fascism just sounds so good, doesn't it? Yeah, it's a nice word, but you know the thing is I think we've got to come up with something else because it just sounds you sound like a the problem with using fascism in fact I ran into a crackpot friend of mine the other day who used the term and the first thing you think of is when someone says, oh, it's fascist. You think of Hitler? The guy's a crackpot and that's the problem with the term. Yeah. You know, could you and I saying it, you know, people listening is those two crackpots are hilarious. We should listen every week.

CHAPTER 12 / 24 Discussion

UFO Sightings, UK Disclosure, X-Files Marketing Stunt

A recent surge in UFO-related media coverage, including segments on Larry King Live and the release of classified files by the UK and French governments, is analyzed. The "Disclosure Project" is mentioned, featuring ex-military personnel willing to testify about unidentified aerial phenomena. The hosts suggest the timing of these releases may be a sophisticated marketing stunt for the upcoming X-Files movie.

ufo· disclosure project· larry king· x-files· ministry of defence

36:47 But what's happening? I think particularly in Europe, you know pretty much mirrors the definition of fascism Yeah, no it does, but we need it. The problem is is the term itself You know people who see flying saucers, you know, you know if they see one, you know, they're not gonna be believed crap Well, the activity is heating up in the UK over flying saucers Flying saucers are hot right now. In fact, Larry King, I've been flipping through the channels, this is nothing off you. Did he have Shirley MacLaine on again? No, no, he's got these, he's done at least three shows that I know of where he has these flying saucer experts. Yeah, and they're ex-military and Shirley MacLaine was on with a couple of them, I think, must have been maybe half a year ago I happened to catch it. Well, that's one way to, yeah. Well, you know, but Shirley MacLaine comes across as kind of kooky

37:37 Kind of? Yeah, but I think she's intelligent. You know, and there's Dennis Kucinich. See, there you go. The vegan. Yeah, but you're calling people crackpots for having said they saw UFOs. There was a UK police helicopter that chased one. They say, we chased a UFO, and this is only a couple weeks ago. And it went out to sea and they continued with their pursuit and they had to give up because they ran out of fuel essentially, they had to go back. But they said, hey, it was a UFO, I don't care what you say, it was a UFO. We were tracking one. The one guy in the last night's show, they had a bunch of these guys, including a guy from, the way King does it is he has two of the UFO, really the guys that are, they're credible, but they're a little out there. And then you have a couple of guys who are skeptics

38:27 And the one guy who made this, you know, a very good comment says, look, look, where, why, you know, with all these cameras out there, how come nobody's ever gotten a good picture? Because they're all using iPhones with two megapixel cameras. I'm just saying, you know, where's the good picture? and you know like a good picture there's not there always is blurry things that were they you know little dot on the screen and look look there it is in this like a little white thing flying around it could be some kid with a model airplane i would call it you know it uh... go to youtube or or better yet uh... google video and look for something called the disclosure project which was it's a video from two thousand

39:09 And the disclosure project was this entire panel of, it must have been 20 guys, all ex-military, ex-pilots, ex-NSA, ex-CIA, you know, retired most of them. uh... and several of them who did uh... air traffic control radar and say look you know we're tracking uh... an object at eighty thousand feet which is pretty high and that we could you see it stop we could see it hover we could see it make a ninety degree left-hand turn says there's no doubt about it that was nothing earthly that was that was making those moves and the point of the disclosure project as they all go up there they state their case you know they've got all all

39:46 have their own stories, their own proof and that each of them ends by saying, you know, my name is Lieutenant General so-and-so, retired, and I'm willing to testify about these facts before Congress. That was kind of what the disclosure project was. The other comment that somebody made is, you know, why these aliens have all this technology. Why doesn't one of them just, you know, stop in the, you know, take a stop in one of the heliports and get out and, uh... Well, you know, the... Okay, you know, the theories, I mean, there's many theories why. The prevalent one being that this did happen, this is part of what Roswell was all about, and there was contact, and the governments of the world... Who shot him.

40:28 Shut the fucker down. The governments of the world have been in contact and they have a deal. They gave us technology, we give them babies to eat and blood to drink. I mean, come on, you've read these theories. Strawberry ice cream is one of the things they like. Really? I haven't come across that one yet. Oh yeah, that's in there, believe me. Well anyway, so the thing is there's a trend right now because the UK has released their UFO files, the French did it back in, I think they were the first to do it back in March. and then i think the u k did it since then and then do it french didn't get much publicity for theirs but everybody's doing it now set the u s another reason so now they're going to hounded yeah and i think there's a big thing going on and i think a lot of it in a really boils down it's for the next x files movie the whole thing is a big since it's a big list of its camp i'm telling you everything i'd

41:20 I believe that when you start seeing this stuff happening all at once like this out of the blue and then a movie's coming out, I'm looking at who's the PR person? I'd like to meet this person, you know, and shake their hands because we're witnessing one of the greatest stunts in the history of marketing. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, if you look at how short the lines are between White House and some of the companies that own scripts and movie companies to produce, why not? Yeah, you know you talking Viacom. You know they almost the content I think Viacom if I'm not mistaken I know it's I think they own CNN. I'm not sure man. That's also that that's really bugging me that whole Viacom YouTube thing, but I think they backed off

CHAPTER 13 / 24 Discussion

Viacom v. Google, YouTube User Data, ISP Filtering

The legal battle between Viacom and Google over YouTube copyright infringement is discussed, specifically the court order for Google to hand over user logs. The hosts suggest this data could be used to prove that Google executives were aware of infringing content, potentially stripping them of DMCA safe harbor protections. The broader implication is the potential for ISPs to become mandatory filtering stations using deep packet inspection.

viacom· google· youtube· dmca· deep packet inspection

40:28 Shut the fucker down. The governments of the world have been in contact and they have a deal. They gave us technology, we give them babies to eat and blood to drink. I mean, come on, you've read these theories. Strawberry ice cream is one of the things they like. Really? I haven't come across that one yet. Oh yeah, that's in there, believe me. Well anyway, so the thing is there's a trend right now because the UK has released their UFO files, the French did it back in, I think they were the first to do it back in March. and then i think the u k did it since then and then do it french didn't get much publicity for theirs but everybody's doing it now set the u s another reason so now they're going to hounded yeah and i think there's a big thing going on and i think a lot of it in a really boils down it's for the next x files movie the whole thing is a big since it's a big list of its camp i'm telling you everything i'd

41:20 I believe that when you start seeing this stuff happening all at once like this out of the blue and then a movie's coming out, I'm looking at who's the PR person? I'd like to meet this person, you know, and shake their hands because we're witnessing one of the greatest stunts in the history of marketing. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, if you look at how short the lines are between White House and some of the companies that own scripts and movie companies to produce, why not? Yeah, you know you talking Viacom. You know they almost the content I think Viacom if I'm not mistaken I know it's I think they own CNN. I'm not sure man. That's also that that's really bugging me that whole Viacom YouTube thing, but I think they backed off

42:07 Well, they backed off what? They're still getting the... So here's the thing that I love. They're not going to get the IPs. No, no, but that's only for external. They do want all of the usernames or IDs or IPs, addresses of the people within YouTube. Meaning that if they, or even Google I guess, so if they were to get Eric Schmidt's uh... details of what he was looking at me was looking at john stewart or any other person within you to be if they have if they were essentially aware that there was illegal content on their as proven by the logs then they're in deep shit because you know you that you can do you can you can't be a little sifting around for stuff and then not taken it down you know that that's not exactly how the uh... now that's interesting you know i didn't know this but that's the way the discovery should work

43:03 Yeah, no, I think that's actually valid. I think it's very valid. That would be interesting to do. Well, I think that's, I think it's explicit or implicit that that's what they're going to do. Yeah, no, I, you know, thinking about it, I'd do the same thing. Yeah. So then of course, you know, it doesn't fall under the safe harbor of the DMCA. Right. No, then they're lame excuse. Well, we didn't know. Diz out the window. But I'm pretty gonna have to sift through a lot of IPs. Yeah, but internally it's not all that bad. They'll get enough hits to prove it. No problem. It'll be easy. I mean, I'm sure. Yeah, you know, I think you're dead right and I think that they will prove it because

43:49 It's lax. I mean, the operation, the whole YouTube thing from the beginning is lax. Well, that and Google Video. I mean, there's not a single thing that you can think of that you're looking for. Any documentary, anything that's been on the BBC of interest, you'll be able to find it in its entirety. Right there, uploaded, converted, ready for searching and enjoyment. Yeah, I watch a lot of stuff from there. So what does that mean? I mean, once Viacom, because I'm sure Viacom's going to say, okay, hey, you know what? It's not $1 billion. I think it's $10 billion or whatever the number is. I don't think they're going to be able to change the number after the, you know,

44:27 Maybe. I don't know how... I actually would have to talk to an attorney about that one. Here's what I think the game plan is. I think the game plan is, on a broad scale, remember it is Viacom, Sumner Redstone, you know, one of the most powerful men in the world. I would say that this whole copyright thing, that's just a farce. You know, that's just a front to turn the ISPs into filters and police stations, essentially. So it starts with, oh you're looking at something illegally, oh no no no can't do that, and then all you have to do is just determine what's illegal. Maybe.

45:08 That could be. I mean, I think it's actually with deep packet sniffing and some of these other technologies that are coming out, it's possible that you could do things, especially if there were watermarks and flags and things like that. But you don't even need deep packet sniffing. Just look at the HTTP request. It can be really simple. But what it is, it's turning your ISP, your direct connection to the Internet, the first hop you make to the network, It's turning that into a filtering station. You know, the cops, the man checking us out. They can filter for whatever. We know they have the technology to filter out whatever they want and listen or search for keywords. I mean, that's not too hard. So one and one is two, man.

45:52 So back to our fascism story. Right. It all boils down to the same thing. It does. We need a better word. We need a better word. Maybe people out there who listen, we have like 30,000 listeners I think. Somebody, if we use the word, we use the mob as a word, which I'm sure this is close to being one. See if there's anybody out there that can help us come up with a new term that describes the new world order, which is what we're talking about here, in some way that you can use to really, it's gotta be a negative word, but it's gotta be modern.

CHAPTER 14 / 24 Discussion

Ron Paul Rally, Minneapolis, Prince Paisley Park Anecdote

A host announces they will host the "Rally for the Republic" in Minneapolis, an alternative convention organized by Ron Paul supporters. This leads to an anecdote about a previous trip to Minneapolis to film a commercial at the Mall of America, which resulted in an invitation to a private party at Prince's Paisley Park estate. The host describes meeting Prince and the unique security and atmosphere of the event.

ron paul· minneapolis· mall of america· prince· paisley park

46:33 It's got to feel right. It can't be marginalized and it can't make you sound like a crackpot when you use it. Okay, oh I got a funny story to tell you. So Dr. Ron Paul, as you know I'm a supporter of Dr. Ron, he's doing an alternative convention in Minneapolis right in the same week when the Republican convention is taking place. They're doing this big concert on I think September the 2nd on Tuesday, 15,000 seat auditorium, whatever. They're going to have artists there. It's going to be, they're calling it the rally for the Republic.

47:12 But the day before that on Monday is when they're doing something in a football stadium and that's going to be more for the die-hards, if you will. And so they... Yeah, like you. Exactly. So they called me up and said, would you mind hosting the event? And I'm like, no, it sounds like fun. And I said, you know, so I'll make sure I talk about it on my shows, you know, because I said certainly the Daily Source Code, I know I've got lots of reptilian hunters and tinfoil hat wearers. And then the guy says, oh, as we like to call them, our core base. I'm like, right on man, right on. So I'm going to do that September 1st. I'm going to host the rally for the republic. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. So where is it going to be? Minneapolis.

48:00 It's specifically an auditorium at the stadium? I'm not sure. By the way, have you ever been to Minneapolis? Yes, I have. It's a great place. The thing I recommend people do is go to their museums. They have two or three just stunning art museums that are really worth checking out. I'm sorry? No, go ahead. I was just going to say also, it's a much more cosmopolitan city than you'd think. uh... boat totally and do they have more of america there of course And I don't get that actually to me is a point against but that's another story. Well, it relates to why I was there I was shooting a television commercial for Sam Goody and we're shooting it at the Sam Goody store in the Mall of America because of course that's their flagship stores the biggest one or whatever and So it's like a three-day shoot and the second night. I'm there I get a call around midnight in the hotel room, so I pick it up and yeah and

48:59 Yeah, Prince has a party over at Paisley Park, which is famously in Minneapolis as well. He says, do you want to come? I'm like, let me think. Yeah. He said, okay, well there's a car downstairs waiting for you. And so I got whisked away to the Purple Palace and there was a party at the Paisley Park. It's a happening town. So how was the party? Did you get to meet Prince? Yeah. Was he going by the name Prince at the time? Yeah, no I think it was going by the name of Prince at the time. Yeah, so you come in, you go through a metal detector which makes sense and then there's like this, you know, there's a whole bunch, it's really clean. Now you know you're going to a real party. Real party when you go through a metal detector. Yeah, so it was a big room,

49:50 lit, but dimly lit, but a white room across one side, just the nicest buffet I'd seen in a long, long time. And there was a DJ with a mobile setup, and he was playing all kinds of Prince tunes you've never heard before in your life. It must have been 150 beautiful girls and boys, nothing else of course. It was kind of funny because Prince was standing over by the speakers near the DJ and I was talking to a couple of people and said, I'm going to go over and say hi to him. And this one girl, I kid you not, says, oh you better not do that man, you better not. I said, why not? Well, because you're like six feet tall and you're white, man, that's two strikes, you don't want to be talking to Prince. I said, fuck you. So I went over, introduced myself, and the guy was not, first of all he's not that small,

50:38 you know the stories about him you think he was an Oompa Loompa but anyway he was really nice and he knew you know what I had done on MTV just the previous week and said oh and my daughter had been born maybe maybe she's a year old and said how's your daughter and he knew what was going on it was fantastic. He's a business, he's a artist Why would he be a jerk like this girl thinks? Because she obviously likes to project that image for good reason, because he doesn't want to be bothered by every schmuck in the world. By her in particular, I think. And the coolest thing though was, because the party ends at a certain point, Prince of course, he only made his appearance and he was there for a little while and then he disappeared.

51:24 and then all of a sudden his guys come through this room and all they do is they just kind of like flick flashlights on and off pointed at the floor and they just walk around, they're clicking their flashlights and everyone knows, oh it's time to go and then within 15 minutes the whole place was empty. Huh, so like a slick party. Very slick party. So anyway that was my one time in Minneapolis and I think maybe I was there in Minneapolis do they have a debate ever do in the in minneapolis indian yeah eighty five do they have any of race uh... tracks i don't know maybe my camera has done in the middle of the summer that's for sure

CHAPTER 15 / 24 Discussion

Tinfoil Hats, Faraday Cage Baseball Caps, RFID Shielding

A discussion on the cultural trope of tinfoil hats leads to a proposal for a commercial product: a Faraday cage insert for baseball caps. The hosts reference an MIT study on the effectiveness of different hat designs against radio waves. They explore the idea of manufacturing these inserts in China to provide protection against RFID scanning and other electronic signals in a discreet manner.

tinfoil hat· faraday cage· rfid· mit· copper foil

52:10 Anyway, Minneapolis. So you're going up there, you're gonna go up there for, to be the host or the guy who announces, man, ladies and gentlemen, Ron Paul! That kind of thing? Yeah, exactly. And there'll be artists there. And they're all gonna cheer, wah! Yeah, and I'll be like, you know, I'm gonna wear my tinfoil hat, you know, it'll be cool. Patricia made me one, I got a really nice one. Cool. We did a couple blog posts on tinfoil hats including, I think it was about two or three years ago, some kids at MIT or someplace had done a whole study of tinfoil hats and they would send radio waves at people with the different styles of hats and they finally came up with one design that was the best. The perfect design. Oh yeah, absolutely.

52:52 I've always thought that would be a great idea as like a giveaway, you know, you could basically you package up a big sheet of industrial aluminum tinfoil with instructions on how to fold it and how to make your hat. Yeah man, that's a good idea. Hey, let's do it. Let's do the Adam and John tinfoil hat company. And we could actually make a kit and sell not that cheap-ass aluminum foil, the thin stuff which the radio waves can get to. Yeah, no, no, it's gotta be the hardcore stuff. By the way, it's aluminium. It's not aluminum. Aluminum. Well, we gotta differentiate ourselves in the market here, Joe. I think you're right. We can use the... The Canadians pronounce it that way too, so we can get away with aluminum. Aluminum hat. So we can be the aluminum hat company and a do-it-yourself hat. It comes in a kit. We'll make it like $9.95 with complete instructions.

53:43 and uh... you know of a nice package with that with the pieces of foil and how to you know before the mountain hole nine yards i'm sure people would like to start on the is going to do it if we can get that the in the aluminum printed Oh yeah. So it has some sort of logo on it, I think we'd have something. I bet you someone's already started this company. There's no way we're the only guys coming up with this idea. Well, I know, but we have marketing behind us. Savvy! We've got marketing savvy! I think we could sell 10,000 units. You might be right, but think about how, I mean your cost is very low, but it's just gonna be real, it's gonna be quality aluminum,

54:24 And yeah, if we could print it even better, you know, fold along this line like an origami thing. Yeah, that'd be outstanding. We need to, there's got to be somebody out there that's in the metal business that has a clue. I mean, you could even have an upgraded hat because what you really want is made out of copper foil. Oh, because that really stops the RFID transmissions. Well, I don't know that it does any better. I mean, the stuff that really would work would be... I mean, there's two ways you can go about it. You can make a Faraday cage, which I think would be the coolest thing to have. A Faraday cage hat, because then nothing can get through, period. I guess it could get underneath. Maybe it could come up through your feet.

55:06 But anyway, a Faraday cage hat would be cool. And lead is always a winner. But they're too heavy. Not exactly convenient to wear on your head. A big lead hat. But lead foil can be very effective. And there is such a thing as lead foil. and uh... they will join you know we have to do is there a day cages the one time time time kind of feeling good about yet well we should see we should get this going before september first all gone with some of the settlement the event settlement that at the venue are are merge well here's here's another possibility how about it in because especially for this and then you're talking about a baseball cap insert that's a faraday cage

55:53 In other words, like a beanie. It's like a yarmulke. Like a beanie thing that goes inside a baseball cap. Inside the cap. Yeah, that's a good idea. Inside the cap and you can wear a regular baseball cap and you got this protection and it would be cool and light and you don't look as nutty. And would keep you cool in the winter and cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It's a floor wax and a dessert topping. So I think we were on the, I should, I'm mentioning this now and I'm writing up the patent as we speak so I don't want anyone stealing this idea. Yeah, it's a good idea. Insert Faraday cage, insert for a baseball cap. So when the guys, because you're going to go to this place and you're going to have a lot of people with baseball caps that say cat on the hat.

56:40 but the people don't realize you out there don't, especially the European audience listening, it refers to the Caterpillar tractor company. And there's a bunch of these hats that say cat that people in the Midwest enjoy wearing. Yeah, because basically you get 50 of them when you buy a cat, when you buy one of these... Right, a backhoe. Or a tractor. Tractor, one of these big things that pushes dirt. Oh man, okay, it's a plan. And we just gotta find someone who can do the printing. There's gotta be, well, you know, if we do that, but I'm thinking more now, I'm starting to think about this Faraday cage insert for a baseball cap. You know, there's gotta be some hat company in China that makes caps or skull caps, because we're talking about basically a skull cap that you wear inside a baseball hat.

57:33 And they can't cost that much. I mean, there's got to be a manufacturer in China that could crank out 10,000 of these skull caps. Easily, yeah. In the form of a Faraday cage, like within a week. A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static electrical fields. Faraday cages are named after physicist Michael Faraday who built one in 1836. coming from uh... wikipedia yeah i have actually a wallet not this is a like a complete nutcase but i've written about this in pc magazine there's a guy uh... down in southern california makes these things alton i've seen it i've seen them for your passport for your wallet yeah yeah i got the uh... it will he's he makes wallets that have a fair day cage built into and that's what i use for my wallet you know i really haven't got any r f i d but i just think it's interesting anyway the funniest house i i i bought the uh...

CHAPTER 16 / 24 Discussion

RFID Detection, Geiger Counter for Chips, Productization

The difficulty of reading various RFID frequencies with a single device is discussed, leading to the idea of an RFID "Geiger counter." Rather than reading the data on a chip, this proposed device would simply alert the user to the presence of a chip via induction. The hosts critique Silicon Valley terminology such as "productizing" and "monetizing" during the brainstorm.

rfid reader· geiger counter· induction· silicon valley· productization

58:29 Before we went on vacation I bought three or four books and one of them was the shock doctrine and I started it at home when I was laying on the couch and so I open I crack it open paperback and crack it crack it open and out falls an RFID chip you know one of those pieces of paper so you don't steal the book yeah that was pretty trippy Yeah, what I like to do with those, if you can find them, is I like to put double-sided tape on them or something and slap people on the back so they're walking around with them. It's also fun to stick them in somebody's, the bottom of somebody's shoe. That's horrible. So as they walk out of the store, the thing goes off like they're stealing something. It's great. I've been looking for an RFID reader. It's apparently not all that easy to have one device that can read all different forms of RFID chips. Because it has to send out a signal, it has to then scan a whole bunch of different high frequencies to receive the relatively weak signal. Because I'd love to know what stuff around me has RFID chips embedded in it.

59:34 That's a great idea. But it's hard. What you want is here's another product. We're just productizing today. Which is another Silicon Valley term I hate. Productizing comes before monetizing. Yeah, you got to productize then you monetize. So anyway, so the idea is to create a device that is similar to a Geiger counter Insofar as that it will spot are it doesn't read the chips. It just has the induction Output that will signal one of these chips to send back a exact. Oh, I'm here, right? And then so you'll know there's a chip there. You don't need to know what's on the chip You just need to know that there's a chip there. Yep

CHAPTER 17 / 24 Discussion

Ingestible RFID Pills, Body Temperature Monitoring, Holland Marathon

During a four-day marathon walk in Holland, participants were offered ingestible pills containing RFID transmitters to monitor internal body temperature. The technology, designed to prevent heat exhaustion, transmits data via Bluetooth to a cell phone, which then sends a text message alert if the user's temperature reaches dangerous levels. The government's involvement in such technology is noted with skepticism.

rfid pill· bluetooth· heat exhaustion· holland· codex alimentarius

1:00:14 That would be cheaper and it would solve the problem you're after which is why, you know, what RFID is surrounding, am I surrounded by RFID chips and if so where are they? So, Chick, did I tell you about the RFID? I'm writing a patent up on that, folks. Did I tell you about the RFID chip that was used during this four-day marathon walk in Holland? When you ingest? Oh, this is great. You ingest and then you crap it out? No, no, no. Yeah, well yes. Or does it stay in you forever? So first of all, you crap it out. The marathon walk happens once a year. It's called the four day. And it was a health thing. That's how it started initially and now lots of walking clubs. And it's basically you walk, I don't know, the equivalent of a marathon but you do it over four days. It's walking, it's not running. It's just hundreds of thousands of people walking these routes. It's pretty cool.

1:01:04 But, last year, it was so hot that a lot of people became seriously ill, fainted. I think a couple people actually died of heat exhaustion. And so this year, under the auspices of, well, we want to create something that doesn't let that happen again, this company's developed a pill. You swallow the pill, it has RFID dust, or the equivalent of very, very small RFID transmitters in it. It stays in your body for approximately 24 hours, but check this, it transmits through Bluetooth to your cell phone your temperature.

1:01:43 And if your temperature goes up to a certain degree, then you'll receive a text message that says, hey, you should drink something. And if it goes... You're kidding me. No, I'm not. This is absolutely true. And if it goes up to a dangerous level, you get a text message that says you have to stop. Now, I'm pretty sure that the RFID chip is not transmitting the Bluetooth. I think they have a separate device that they give the walkers. uh... that receives the rfid i'd signal then converts that to uh... to bluetooth and then uh... you know that would be a sandwich that was a text message i think i don't know how to be in this bill besides the rfid uh... circuit there has to be obviously a man or something that that takes the temperature of the person internally

1:02:29 uh... yeah well that's uh... so there's a small thermometer and an RFID and the RFID sends out a signal when it's inducted which is the way it works right here you send it and then it when as well as inducted it's active and it takes a look at the temperature gauge and then sends a message out what the temperature gauge told it and i think it also could do humidity or whatever that's humidity it can't do humidity because you're inside the uh... it was something that's got a temperature and because it's in a liquid, you know, so it's not going to work. It's got to be just temperature. But it's true, and this company, of course, one of their biggest clients is the government. Go figure. Go figure. Well, this is all just to protect us more. Yes, of course. So we'll be terror-free. But we still haven't come up with the... The fascist word. Yeah, we need it. So anyway, I'm reading through the messages on the various

CHAPTER 18 / 24 Discussion

Barack Obama European Tour, Angela Merkel, Berlin Speech

Barack Obama's 2008 European tour is discussed, specifically his desire to speak at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly opposed the location because Obama was not yet a sitting president. The hosts reflect on the European perception of the U.S. election and the similarities between the major political candidates.

barack obama· angela merkel· berlin· brandenburg gate· john f. kennedy

1:03:29 I've been blogging stuff about Obama on the Dvorak.org slash blog site because it gets all these people all worked up. Yeah. And somebody mentioned... It brings an audience is what you're saying. Yeah, it brings them in. And they usually debate each other and call me a jerk or something because I... It's all page views, John. It's all page views. Guy says in Europe it's a foregone conclusion that Obama's gonna win. They've already made this decision. All the Europeans just take it as a given. Is this right? Or is this guy just full of crap? No, I would say that that's the writing on the wall. Also, Obama, of course, is now doing his big European tour. And he had scheduled himself in front of the gate in Berlin where, of course, famously John F. Kennedy said, Ich bin ein Berliner. And Reagan said... Maybe he was just a donut, if I'm not mistaken. But anyway, go ahead.

1:04:18 And Reagan said Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. So what is Obama going to say? I think all the good lines have been taken. Well, the point is that Angela Merkel, the prime minister, said, well, I don't think that's such a good idea. I don't want you doing any speeches in that spot because you're not the president yet. But because he's on this tour, and you know this is his big push. It's pretty obvious that Was he gonna give the speech from there or did Merkel talk him out of it? No, it's not happening there. It's happening somewhere else, and she literally said because she didn't want to seem because He's not president yet. Yeah, I think she's right. I think Merkel's not a dummy. Nope so yeah, she probably is right well of course I'm sure you know somebody somebody called her and

1:05:13 Hey, you know, uh... Hey Angela, baby, this might not be such a good idea. Let's think about this one. Yeah, who do you think that could be? What if the other guy wins? Hello, it's Dick. Nah, it doesn't matter. Obama's from, he's reptilian man. He's in the same league as McCain. It's all from the same stuff. Just look what he's doing. That's the more Ron Paul thing. In fact, this guy I was talking to yesterday said the same thing. You know, it's just what difference does it make? You know, like this is, there's, neither one of them are going to be calling the shots. He's a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. You know, everyone's related to that organization one way or the other.

1:05:52 Yeah, and look, now he's backpedaling on pulling out of Iraq, he voted for the FISA bill. FISA. That FISA thing makes no sense to me. I mean, why would he do that? I mean, that was the biggest... I think that was a blunder. because he has to because he's you know look I mean that's what it looks like it looks like it's what somebody called him up and said you know we know you're running and everything is probably not gonna look that good but you have to vote for it okay now here's the sequence of events oh I'm not gonna take public money because instead of the 82 million I can get I need about 500 million then he looks around and he's going like shit where am I gonna get 500 million dollars from oh I know big companies like AT&T

CHAPTER 19 / 24 Discussion

Campaign Finance, FISA Vote, AT&T Political Influence

Barack Obama's vote in favor of the FISA bill and his decision to opt out of public campaign financing are analyzed as strategic shifts to court large corporate donors like AT&T. The hosts argue that campaign finance reform is unlikely to succeed because the media industry benefits significantly from the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on political advertising.

fisa· campaign finance· at&t· barack obama· telecommunications

1:05:13 Hey, you know, uh... Hey Angela, baby, this might not be such a good idea. Let's think about this one. Yeah, who do you think that could be? What if the other guy wins? Hello, it's Dick. Nah, it doesn't matter. Obama's from, he's reptilian man. He's in the same league as McCain. It's all from the same stuff. Just look what he's doing. That's the more Ron Paul thing. In fact, this guy I was talking to yesterday said the same thing. You know, it's just what difference does it make? You know, like this is, there's, neither one of them are going to be calling the shots. He's a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. You know, everyone's related to that organization one way or the other.

1:05:52 Yeah, and look, now he's backpedaling on pulling out of Iraq, he voted for the FISA bill. FISA. That FISA thing makes no sense to me. I mean, why would he do that? I mean, that was the biggest... I think that was a blunder. because he has to because he's you know look I mean that's what it looks like it looks like it's what somebody called him up and said you know we know you're running and everything is probably not gonna look that good but you have to vote for it okay now here's the sequence of events oh I'm not gonna take public money because instead of the 82 million I can get I need about 500 million then he looks around and he's going like shit where am I gonna get 500 million dollars from oh I know big companies like AT&T

1:06:37 Yeah, well, this obviously, you know, although they'll bleed it into the system so you don't know it's necessarily from big companies. Anyway, so much for campaign finance. I always thought that was never good. The idea of reforming campaign finance was never going to fly in a million years. And my feeling was, is because the newspapers would always be against it. And there would end up, you know, if it ever actually got to the point where it was more than just kind of idle chat. They'd start finding ways that it wasn't going to work. I mean, because they get the money. Where's the money end up going? It goes to the media. Yeah, it goes to a lot of local spots, radio and television and lots of cable.

1:07:15 You know, national. It's 500 million, I'm sure 400 million is going to media. I don't know how they do that with newspapers. They actually advertise in newspapers? Yeah, there's advertising. It's not as much, but there's enough. And there's all the call-out research and it's all, you know, a lot of marketing money going into phone systems. You know, because of course I got on the Ron Paul list on my cell phone. I got entered into their system because there's no other reason for them for anyone to call me any telemarketer whatsoever Because I had you know, I don't exist. I'm a company phone Right, so I got on his list and it's all automated, you know calls you up and that you know talks to you and tells you stuff that you should know and you can press one or just say yes, I mean that's I'm sure that's not Inexpensive to set that up. No, yeah, that's expensive and AT&T does that kind of stuff. I

1:08:09 Yeah. Right. There you go. Back to AT&T. so uh... yet another whole things corrupt but anyway so this guy says you know that the europeans have got did it as far as their concerns already discounted you know that did bob i was gonna win and uh... so everything's playing along those lines you know i'm not uh... i'm not uh... can do not buying it no i'm not convinced i'll tell you why because mccain is a late starter he did the same thing in his main uh... election run for the nomination. He's a laggard, and then he does all his work at the end when it counts.

CHAPTER 20 / 24 Discussion

Vice Presidential Picks, John McCain, Economic Hitmen

The importance of the vice presidential selection for both Barack Obama and John McCain is emphasized, given the age of the candidates and the threat of terrorism. The discussion shifts to the "Economic Hitman" theory and the influence of organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations. John McCain is characterized as a "laggard" who performs best at the end of an election cycle.

vice president· john mccain· barack obama· ron paul· council on foreign relations

1:08:50 and we still don't know who obama's gonna pick for the book vice president he could watch that you know pick jesse jackson or something for all we know now he could screw that up and then we don't know who mccain's gonna pick pick for the vice president and that i think a lot's gonna hinge on that because people are more you know in the you know maybe in the fifties nobody cared with the vice president was but nowadays they do especially with these guys who are both you know uh... you know, targets as nowadays, I mean, targets of terrorists. And the fact there's some video game out that's creepy games trying to kill the president or something like that. It's just horrible. I don't know. It was on the, somebody was sending me a link on Twitter about it and I was looking at it and I go, God, was this guy nuts? He's some, I'll do some research and get it on the, it's some,

1:09:38 terrorist game. But anyway, the point is that the Vice President is more important than ever. And so who these two guys pick is going to be a big deal. Absolutely, and you hit the nail on the head. The vice president is more important than ever. The vice president we have now is running the show as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure Ron Paul agrees. Go ahead, man. I figured this out, John. I know you totally agree. I know you have your tinfoil hat on as we speak with your Faraday cage wallet, but you just want to have some kind of non-kookiness so that you're taken seriously by people who read Market Watch or whatever.

1:10:18 But that's why you pull back, man. And then you call me a coop, which is easy. I don't pull back. I mean, you're a crackpot half the time. I'm not a crackpot, man. I'm just an open, free thinker. That's what they're called, free thinkers. We say, no, he's not a crackpot. He is the one who is going to be presenting Ron Paul at the big counter event where all the... Are you saying Ron Paul's a crackpot? ...big gathering. No, that's the core base, John. It's not crackpot. Stop now. Stop. So, come on, I mean, how could I top that? Dude, Ron Paul's not a crackpot. You know that. You have to admit it. He's not a crackpot.

1:10:59 I like the guy. Yeah. No, he's like, you know, in fact, he'd be probably a more interesting president. These other guys, except for the fact that he doesn't play ball. What do you mean by that? You know he's not playing ball I mean these other guys are gonna play ball with you know the Economic hitman types and all these other people that you know there's a system in place that that has to be you know kept alive This Trent tortoise, you know this one world government kind of thing Oh, dude economic order the New World Order I Spoke to I had an interview for my Dutch show I spoke with the the state secretary for finance finances.

CHAPTER 21 / 24 Discussion

Netherlands Finance Secretary, Afghanistan Credit Entries, Fiat Money

A host recounts an interview with the Dutch State Secretary for Finance regarding international aid to Afghanistan. The official admitted that the 200 million euros provided were not a physical transfer of cash but a credit entry in a database that must be paid back with interest. This is cited as a real-world example of the debt-based financial systems described in "Confessions of an Economic Hitman."

netherlands· afghanistan· finance· fort knox· credit entry

1:11:41 Because there's a whole bunch of problems and he's actually he's a guy that comes from the IT world He was brought in about a year ago. He's now he's the Secretary of State for finance and his number one goal is to fix all the computer systems Which is interesting and this guy I saw him on a video given a lecture and he's like, yeah, it's all messed up particularly the tax system You know, we've got all these systems that don't talk to each other properly and it's just a mismanaged project is what he's saying Which is really open and honest so I get I get to talk to this guy and And I said, let me ask you a question. So when the Netherlands gives like 200 million euros to Afghanistan, how does that work? Can you send a big check or do you just get on your bank account and you use your card and you type in your pin code? And obviously I'm baiting him, but man, he fell for it. And he's like, no, no, no, no, we just put a computer entry. I said, oh, like, actually no real money. He says, no, no, we just put in a credit entry for Afghanistan. Oh, so that means that they have to pay it back.

1:12:37 Yeah, with interest, yeah. And he just kept going, you know, and then he actually tried to say, well, you know, at Fort Knox they do move some gold around. What are you talking about, man? And it was like this guy is building the systems for the, you know, that is exactly what Confessions of an Economic Hitman is all about. You know, okay, we'll loan you money, but we're not actually giving you any money. We're just putting an entry into a database, which means you have to now start paying us interest. That would be real money, by the way. And then we transfer all this, you know, all these bits and bytes to

1:13:14 companies like Burger King and Pizza Hut to come in and build stuff. Hey, you know the problem that I have is these companies like Pizza Hut and Burger King and all the big box companies as they call them now, that's another term that's somehow... Big box. I guess they'll eventually get into Miriam Webster because they've added a whole bunch of new weird words, you know, like... Yeah, I saw that. I heard you talk about one that was really dumb. What was the one on Tech 5? I went through a list of them. There's a couple really dumb ones. But anyway, so big box is like one of these terms that probably has to go in. And so, you know, we've got this deli up in Port Angeles, Washington. And so my wife is looking into locations for future ones and things like that.

CHAPTER 22 / 24 Discussion

Big Box Retail, Strip Mall Development, Small Business Barriers

The methodology of modern retail development is criticized for systematically excluding small businesses in favor of "big box" anchor stores like Home Depot and Staples. Developers often require a full year's rent in advance, a barrier that most independent retailers cannot meet. This results in a "cookie-cutter" landscape across American cities where local variation is replaced by identical corporate plazas.

big box stores· home depot· staples· real estate· small business

1:12:37 Yeah, with interest, yeah. And he just kept going, you know, and then he actually tried to say, well, you know, at Fort Knox they do move some gold around. What are you talking about, man? And it was like this guy is building the systems for the, you know, that is exactly what Confessions of an Economic Hitman is all about. You know, okay, we'll loan you money, but we're not actually giving you any money. We're just putting an entry into a database, which means you have to now start paying us interest. That would be real money, by the way. And then we transfer all this, you know, all these bits and bytes to

1:13:14 companies like Burger King and Pizza Hut to come in and build stuff. Hey, you know the problem that I have is these companies like Pizza Hut and Burger King and all the big box companies as they call them now, that's another term that's somehow... Big box. I guess they'll eventually get into Miriam Webster because they've added a whole bunch of new weird words, you know, like... Yeah, I saw that. I heard you talk about one that was really dumb. What was the one on Tech 5? I went through a list of them. There's a couple really dumb ones. But anyway, so big box is like one of these terms that probably has to go in. And so, you know, we've got this deli up in Port Angeles, Washington. And so my wife is looking into locations for future ones and things like that.

1:14:06 I stumbled onto the methodology for how, you know, when you go to these new malls, these new, they're kind of mini malls, but they're not strip malls in the old sense, which in the old American sense of a strip mall, you used to have this like running bunch of weird little stores, and now you have these big kind of plaza stores, and there's always a Home Depot and a Staples, and it's always the same stores, and they're all big stores. And there's never any little guys in there. Rarely there is. Sometimes there might be a small taqueria if you're lucky, but it's usually part of a chain or the guys are connected or whatever. And it turns out that these places, the way they operate, they operate to keep small competitive stores out. And they do that by requiring you pay one year's rent in advance. Really?

1:14:57 Yeah, and there's some other schemes that they have that make it very difficult to get into those places because you essentially can't afford it. And who is they? Is that the developers? The developers, yeah. The developers want these, you know, they want these, you know, these keystone, cornerstone, anchor stores, I guess is what they're mostly called. They want these big names and they don't want any small timers. These big names don't want the small timers around either because Home Depot doesn't want some guy selling something that competes with them in any way. They don't even want to store it within 10 miles of them. So these things are essentially set up so when you go, and you can go anywhere around the country, driving around you go to the center, I always like to rent cars, I'm from California, so when I travel I'm always, I never stay in the hotel, I'm out.

1:15:46 driving around and you see and you say and you can go and you just go this is exactly the same as every other city in the country when you run past these little segments of the town where you have these big box stores and there's no variation they're all cookie cutter and they all have the same crappy stores and it's you know they're it's just horrible I mean there's no nothing interesting you wonder why these big guys are taking over everything I mean you little guys have nothing but trouble competing unless they become big guys. I have to say that was one of the nicest things about being in the south of France is going to an actual grocery store that had, oh my god, it had like

CHAPTER 23 / 24 Discussion

Codex Alimentarius, Tomato Standards, Chilean Grape Scare

The adoption of international standards for tomatoes by the Codex Alimentarius Commission is discussed as a potential move toward restricting heirloom varieties. This is linked to a recent "tomato scare" in the U.S. that was later attributed to jalapenos or cilantro. A historical parallel is drawn to the 1980s Chilean grape scare, which the hosts suggest was a manufactured crisis used for economic leverage.

codex alimentarius· tomatoes· chilean grapes· food safety· wto

1:16:25 fruit and vegetable that was not genetically modified, it actually looked like a tomato. It had some bumps on it, you know, and pears that weren't exactly pear-shaped. It was so nice just to be in a smaller non-box-like environment with real food, real stuff. I hate to say it, but the French are onto something. The French have always been onto this. Generally speaking, finding a grocery store is pretty hard because they almost encourage a tomato store next to a meat store. They have all these little operations that if you're going to go shopping, you generally have to go from place to place to place to place to place as opposed to one place that has everything. But when they do have a grocery store, it tends to be exactly like you say.

1:17:13 a fantastic variety of extremely high quality products that are all, you know, there's none of this garbage that we're sold and you go to these places where you have the tomatoes that have been gassed so they turn red. There's a oxy, I forget, ethylene or some gas you hit the tomato with when it's, they pick them green. So they're never gonna develop any flavor. And then you run them through a processing plant where they're gassed. And so then the gas turns the tomato this kind of weird pinkish red. The tomato's never gonna taste like a tomato. It's just a joke. And they sell that to the public. You know, the Food Administration, whatever it is, whoever's in charge of food, they now have, it's now in law, dude. This is part of the Codex Alimentarius. There's only four types of tomatoes

1:18:00 That'll be a permissible now because of this whole tomato scare right that memory which turns out to be bogus which makes me wonder It's a setup I mean it sounds like a marketing play for this code this is alimentarian thing which we obviously haven't gotten on to in this country yet But if that's the case, because the number of heirloom tomatoes is in the thousands and the fact that they wouldn't want these to be grown as opposed to these commercial crappy tomatoes that are crummy is ridiculous. But it could be all part of a scam, this whole tomato scare, because it turns out that tomatoes weren't the problem. And I'm reminded... Tell me about this. I don't know about the tomatoes not being the problem. You mean this was the poop water story, wasn't it?

1:18:41 Yeah, well it turns out that maybe it wasn't the tomatoes, so they thought it might be the jalapeno peppers. And then they thought it might be the cilantro. Now they don't know what it is. I haven't heard it, I haven't read any of this. I didn't know that was happening. Oh yeah, no, it's backed off from the tomatoes. You're kidding me! No, you missed like three stages of this crap. You know, I mean they've been, you know, changing the story on and off. Now they don't, now they're baffled. Okay, so meanwhile I should look this up. I'll find this. It was like an official release, like it was real news. Hold on. I wish I'd look for it. Anyway, keep going. Well anyway, so I'm reminded of when I used to be a columnist at the San Francisco Examiner, I used to write these op-eds, and there was this one thing that happened, this was in the mid-80s, and it always baffled me. And I wrote about it, and never got anybody paid any attention to any of the, in fact, the whole idea.

1:19:39 Out of the blue, and this of course is one of the reasons I like the Confessions of an Economic Hitman because this story kind of was reminiscent. Out of the blue, sometime in the mid-1980s, and people can maybe try to find this, they stopped shipments of grapes from Chile, frozen them all, because they found two grapes that were injected with cyanide or strychnine or something and they had pictures of the grapes with pinholes in them where the needle had gone in and poisoned the grapes and they thought there was some sort of, because this was during that era where people were stealing Tylenol and then putting poisoned Tylenol back on. And so they had to re, you know, all of a sudden Tylenol was all recalled and it was a big scandal and people were, you know, blackmailers supposedly were behind all this.

1:20:24 I think there was more to it than that. But this thing with the grapes was ridiculous because grapes come in by the truckloads, hundreds of, you know, millions of individual grapes piling in from Chile. How do they find these two grapes with a hole in them that they could actually show a picture of that were poisoned, you know, in some attempt to kill the American public? How did they, how is this even possible? No, I hear you. I hear you. So, and so they stop the grape shipments and then there's always a bunch of negotiations and blah, blah, blah. And I figured they're just gouging somebody over this. And then the next thing you know, the grapes are back coming in and that was the end of it. And the store just died. And nobody ever asked the question except me as to what bullshit is this? Because there's no way that you know, the, what did I know what inspectors do for a living? They're not looking at it. This is just ridiculous.

1:21:18 Geneva, an international standard for tomatoes has been adopted, ending about seven years of intense debates between countries on what qualifies as a proper tomato. According to the new standard, tomatoes may come in one of four varieties, round, ribbed, oblong or elongated, or cherry tomatoes and cocktail tomatoes. They must be whole, clean, free from foreign smell, free of pests and fresh in appearance. In the case of trusses of tomatoes, the stalks must be fresh, healthy, clean and free of all leaves and other visible foreign matter according to the so-called Codex Standard. A commission called Codex Alimentarius was created in 1963 by the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization, that's not true, it was the World Trade Organization, to come up with food standards with guidelines on food products.

1:22:07 Here we go, Tom Highland, who was a senior food standard advisor, explained that one such international standard was needed for tomatoes in order to protect importing countries. Quote, many developing countries in particular said that they need this standard so they ensure that they would get the right quality of products that they ordered. Huh, yeah I like the way they twist it. Yeah, I'm telling you. So that's very interesting that, and this was July 4th. Yeah, there's always a gag in there somewhere. Yeah, right. It's like we always had, you know, my wife and I, years and years ago, there was a, and this would be our, it's probably our last story. I think we're running out of time, but years and years ago, there used to be this operation, which is pre-Costco era.

1:22:59 There used to be a couple of big box stores. One was called Gemco, which required a, you had to get a kind of a license, but it was like a membership, which was not that easy. You had to be a government employee supposedly. I think it was Gemco, G-E, government employee membership company, something like that. But the other one that was hugely successful was a company called Whitefront. And over the years it turned out that White Front was run by a mobster on witness protection. And we started noticing there's always a trend between...

CHAPTER 24 / 24 Discussion

Mobster Business Names, Witness Protection, Show Outro

The hosts discuss a theory that businesses run by mobsters in witness protection often use "gags" or hidden meanings in their names, citing examples like White Front and Conway Trucking. The episode concludes with a discussion of the show's title, a brief mention of the "This Week in Tech" podcast, and a sign-off from Guilford and Northern California.

witness protection· white front· conway trucking· gemco· no agenda

1:22:07 Here we go, Tom Highland, who was a senior food standard advisor, explained that one such international standard was needed for tomatoes in order to protect importing countries. Quote, many developing countries in particular said that they need this standard so they ensure that they would get the right quality of products that they ordered. Huh, yeah I like the way they twist it. Yeah, I'm telling you. So that's very interesting that, and this was July 4th. Yeah, there's always a gag in there somewhere. Yeah, right. It's like we always had, you know, my wife and I, years and years ago, there was a, and this would be our, it's probably our last story. I think we're running out of time, but years and years ago, there used to be this operation, which is pre-Costco era.

1:22:59 There used to be a couple of big box stores. One was called Gemco, which required a, you had to get a kind of a license, but it was like a membership, which was not that easy. You had to be a government employee supposedly. I think it was Gemco, G-E, government employee membership company, something like that. But the other one that was hugely successful was a company called Whitefront. And over the years it turned out that White Front was run by a mobster on witness protection. And we started noticing there's always a trend between...

1:23:40 mobsters, especially the guys on witness protection, and the naming of their operations. White Front, you know, it's like, oh, White Front, now I get it. And there was a trucking company recently that got busted because they were run by another mobster. And it was, it had the word con, as in convict, in the name. And so every time we see like anything that's got consolidated or I think it was Conway Trucking as a matter of fact, something like that. And you know, it's always assumed, we always think is this another gag? Because these guys seem to have a humor. They think it's funny, I think, to come up with these names that indicate what they're really about.

1:24:24 Or not necessarily crooks, but at least they're at gangster or their own witness protection or who knows what. I'm always waiting for the witness protection, you know, produce company to come out, you know. But anyway, keep an eye out for that kind of thing. Gags. Interesting. All right, let me see what we do on time. Hey, this is good. Not even an hour and a half. Right, it's just under actually the call duration is 131 since you were having so much trouble getting this thing started Okay, hold on. Let me do my thing here. Oh, why is it not working? Oh shit, of course I was gonna be really slick there and get the music going but of course I neglected to Turn on my new device. Yeah something the equivalent of queuing it up. Yeah. There you go Wow Now we got to come up with a name for the show. Well, let's see we talked about

1:25:16 I think that, you know, the fascism... Oh yeah, fascism. That's a good one, yeah. How about modern fascism today? That'd be good. Sounds like the name of a new show we gotta put together. Yeah, it sounds like the name of a new show or a magazine. Hi everybody! Welcome to Fascism Today! It'd be a good name for a magazine in the 30s. Yeah. These days, not so good. No. Alright. Are you doing a twit this weekend? Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure. Did you do it last weekend? Because I haven't caught up yet. Yeah, I did. Was it a good show? It was okay. I mean, it wasn't a long show. It was a pretty good show. I think we got onto some topics because there wasn't a lot of people. One of the problems you have with that show is that when you have too many guests, it becomes burdensome. Leo spends a lot of time

1:26:14 Too much time working trying to keep the balls in the air Because he's always working the gas so it's probably for max total is probably the best. I think we only had three okay fascism to the fascism fascism Fascism there you go fascist today. Yes, I Coming to you from the curry manor in the United Kingdom where climate change has not yet set in its crappy weather I'm Adam curry, and we're here with a regular foggy summer in Northern California. I'm John C. Dvorak We'll talk to you again next week right here on no agenda