Episode 80 · Sunday, 15 March 2009

Al Gore: The Most Dangerous Man Alive!!

Climate alarmism meets financial collapse as global leaders pivot toward carbon trading while the international recycling market faces a total systemic shutdown.

By The No Agenda Show | 1h 45m listen | 35 chapters
Al Gore: The Most Dangerous Man Alive!! cover
The No Agenda Show · No. 80

About this episode

Al Gore compares the global climate crisis to the subprime mortgage collapse, warning of subprime carbon assets while Maersk Tankers prepares to ship captured carbon dioxide across the oceans. This rhetoric aligns with a push for a global carbon tax system as Prince Charles issues a 100-month deadline to prevent planetary catastrophe. The hosts analyze these maneuvers as a precursor to increased social control and the establishment of a European army.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signals alarm over the safety of two trillion dollars in US assets, coinciding with a collapse in the international recycling trade as China halts trash imports. Meanwhile, the Obama administration classifies the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as a national security secret, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recruits Microsoft strategist Philip Reitinger for cyber defense. In the South China Sea, the USNS Impeccable remains locked in a naval standoff with Chinese vessels, escalating regional tensions.

Jon Stewart confronts Jim Cramer on CNBC over the network's role in the financial meltdown, drawing a rare public endorsement from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The program also examines the bizarre marketing of Disney-branded eggs and the discovery of formaldehyde in baby shampoo. Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak break down the technical shift toward command-line computing to bypass modern software bloat and surveillance.


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CHAPTER 01 / 35 Discussion

Michelle Obama, Lady Macbeth Comparison and Listener Audio

Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak open the program by discussing a listener-submitted audio clip. The clip portrays Michelle Obama in a "Lady Macbeth" role, allegedly making threats within the White House. The hosts discuss the technical quality of the edit and how listener contributions provide inspiration for the show's content.

michelle obama· lady macbeth· white house· audio editing· listener feedback

00:02 Adam Curry, John C. Dvorak. Protecting you from the Ides of March all across Gitmo Nation, this is no agenda for March 15th, 2009. This is no agenda. Navigating the matrix from the Crackpot Command Center in Southwest London, a borough of Gitmo Nation East, I'm Adam Curry. And from the Gitmo Nation Northwest and Buzzkill Central, I'm John C. Dvorak. Crackpot and Buzzkill! Wow! I think we did it. Yeah, well I decided to. You decided not to mess with me and... Last week, you know, when we ran that, I listened to it. It actually came out perfect. No, it wasn't quite right because you could hear you kind of funk. A couple people tweeted it saying, hey, that was great. That was just awesome. That was... I got a... you know, people send us stuff all the time.

01:01 And actually this was the impetus or is that the right word? The inspiration for a lot of the work I've been doing this past week. Have a listen to this. This was sent in, it was regarding our Michelle Obama possibly being a kind of Lady Macbeth or someone lurking in the shadows at the White House telling people that if they don't shape up, they will be killed. So listen to this. If you do that one more time, I will kill you. You know what? You will step back and shut the fuck up. That's what you will do. Or quit. As he shouted each name, he stabbed the table with his steak knife. Nat Landau dead! Cliff Jackson dead! Apparently others at the table joined in. So he is a candidate. Yeah, he's a candidate.

02:09 The message is really conveyed in very short sound bites. If you do that one more time, I will kill. So what are you using? You're just like twisting, you're using audacity and then... No I didn't do this, this is one of our listeners did this. Yeah, yeah. So I'm, and we really don't have any place in the show. We have these great listeners that do all this work. No, they're fantastic, are you kidding me? And so this is where I was thinking, how, what can I do with stuff like this? Because it doesn't really make sense to play that in the context of the show. This one, because it's, you know, 50 seconds or less than a minute.

02:49 I'm thinking well, why don't I do something with the no agenda stream because it's you know, we only have we only have it up, you know twice a week for the show, but then you know, there's all kinds of cool applications and services out there and you have this thing called Auto DJ where you can set up a playlist and rotation and it basically it talks to the shoutcast server and it does it all out there so I don't have to be uploading or streaming anything from the crackpot command center. And I'm thinking you know it'd be kind of cool, so I start uploading songs you know lots of Revolution songs screw the government songs, but across multiple decades and And I kind of got into it. I started having fun. You know and I'm putting up our jingles our sweepers So every three songs there's a station identification And people are tuning into it man. They listen to a shana station identification the Internet

CHAPTER 02 / 35 Discussion

No Agenda Stream, Auto DJ and Automated Radio Station

A new automated "No Agenda" stream is being developed using Auto DJ and Shoutcast technology. The service allows for a continuous rotation of revolution-themed songs, station identifications, and news podcasts without requiring a live upload from the studio. The project aims to provide a 24/7 destination for listeners between live episodes.

auto dj· shoutcast· crackpot command center· jingles· streaming service

02:09 The message is really conveyed in very short sound bites. If you do that one more time, I will kill. So what are you using? You're just like twisting, you're using audacity and then... No I didn't do this, this is one of our listeners did this. Yeah, yeah. So I'm, and we really don't have any place in the show. We have these great listeners that do all this work. No, they're fantastic, are you kidding me? And so this is where I was thinking, how, what can I do with stuff like this? Because it doesn't really make sense to play that in the context of the show. This one, because it's, you know, 50 seconds or less than a minute.

02:49 I'm thinking well, why don't I do something with the no agenda stream because it's you know, we only have we only have it up, you know twice a week for the show, but then you know, there's all kinds of cool applications and services out there and you have this thing called Auto DJ where you can set up a playlist and rotation and it basically it talks to the shoutcast server and it does it all out there so I don't have to be uploading or streaming anything from the crackpot command center. And I'm thinking you know it'd be kind of cool, so I start uploading songs you know lots of Revolution songs screw the government songs, but across multiple decades and And I kind of got into it. I started having fun. You know and I'm putting up our jingles our sweepers So every three songs there's a station identification And people are tuning into it man. They listen to a shana station identification the Internet

03:49 Yeah, I threw in every 25 songs the New York Times front page podcast roll so you get a little bit of news in there. If you check into the stream once a day, once or twice a day, you get some cool songs that you probably haven't heard before because we're trying to keep low on the repeats. But we could also put Tech 5 in there to run a couple times during the day. So this would be running kind of not, this is not our show, this is like something that's just running that people if they checked in waiting for our show or just out of the blue. Yeah. They would have it at you. So you've, that's an interesting thing to do. And you know, and so you've created this automated station.

04:34 Yeah, exactly. It's action sense only, it's just weirder. Exactly. And if people make stuff like this, which relates... And we can also schedule encore presentations of the show, although I don't think that makes much sense, you might as well just go download the podcast. But we can also put promos in, promoting stuff that we're working on. There's a whole bunch of stuff. And what that led to, and this happens to me at least once a year, usually in the springtime, You know, so I'm FTPing files up to this server and when it comes to graphical user interfaces, they really messed up FTP.

CHAPTER 03 / 35 Discussion

Command Line Interface, FTP and Computing Power

The hosts advocate for a return to command-line computing, criticizing the inefficiencies of modern graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for tasks like FTP and email. Discussion covers the use of Pine for Gmail, the benefits of Ubuntu, and the power of piping commands in Unix-based systems like OS X. They argue that reliance on GUIs has caused users to lose control over their hardware.

command line· gui· ftp· ubuntu· pine· terminal

05:14 You know, back in the old days, command line stuff, you know, it all just kind of worked. You have your input and you can use your wildcards and you can, you know, make it a lot easier than this freaking drag and drop. And I get into this vibe of everything command line now. And then I, you know, I'll install Pine and, uh, and then configure Pine to work with Gmail through IMAP. And then I'm like, yeah, this is actually good. You know, CAL calendar. Ooh. And it's just amazing how burdened we've become with the GUI for some very simple tasks. You're not a command line guy, I take it, never have been. I used to be. Hey, give me a break. I was during the Northstar DOS CPM era. I mean, I started this whole business in the late 70s. I mean, come on. But not Unix command line, more DOS and stuff like that? Well, I mean, right now I've become like an Ubuntu person. You're now an Ubuntu guy.

06:11 And, but, you know, I, I just, you know, the fact of the matter is times have changed and drag and drop, drag and drop, you know, seems to be, I mean, there's no real, I mean, I think it can be all minimized. I mean, yeah, once in a while you have to type something in and sometimes it's a lot more efficient. I've seen guys, you know, you know, these guys, the guys, some of the guys in the office, they immediately just jump into a command line and just type them in. But it's not that hard. In fact, there's a lot that makes it really easy with autocomplete. As a matter of fact, I used to lecture people when I gave my speeches about how, you know, older command, you know, people say, oh, I can't use that. It says you have to type stuff in. Oh yeah, like DIR, you got to type. That was so hard. Yeah. And I used to, you know, rag on the command line haters.

06:54 and but since you know I think we should bring it back I think we should start ragging on command I think we should bring back the command line love honestly see there you go that was pine just alerting me to a new email message so I have one window and I can switch between all these wonderful applications yeah it doesn't have all the the the groovy looking but even just writing a document who needs word except for the presentation layer, you know, like the fonts and the formatting, except for that. Yeah, but as a matter of fact, and this is funny, but not even formatting, John, all these tools have great formatting. I'll take your side a little bit. Thank you. Until about three years, four years, maybe three, I don't know how many years ago, just recently, considering how long I've been writing, I never ever used Word to submit

07:46 copy to editors I and ever since I began writing which has been a while I've always used use the computer to send stuff in fact when I was writing for the census examiner I instead of submitting copy I would I've talked to the IT guys and this is before you know anything and I said give me the you know before we'll call the computer remotely and then file into the system directly right and you'd have to do that with text you have to do with ASCII text that's the only way to do it and I always used an ASCII text editor to write until just a few years ago when I started using Word and it actually what's what's funny is because you usually write to length

08:24 you'd write on an ass you get used to certain like you know my text that you can see on the screen you knew it was like 700 words or 800 words or whatever you just tell then you switch over to the to word and then next thing you know you cycle and you have to keep checking the word count because you didn't know okay I get to the number you're looking for but now I use word for which is it grep minus WC for your word count yeah is not it Don't know and I don't care I Guess my point is what's really nice about what is your point? I got a point What's really nice about it? So if I want it if you're if you're using Windows or a Mac I use a Mac and you want to periodically check to see if there's a new tech 5 podcast available if it's available you want it to be

09:16 Downloaded or actually uploaded to the appropriate directory on the streaming server It has to be a newer version otherwise don't replace it replace it with the same file name all this shit when you can't you'd be that you'd be looking for Shareware programs for three days to find out a way to do that whereas on the command line, but it would even do and it's done It really gives you the power of the computer back. I guess that's it. We've lost the power to make our computer do shit. Well, you know, the thing is that the PC world, the PC side of the business has always been into that until Windows came along. And the Mac side of the world has always never been into it. Yeah, until we got OS X, which has a terminal and command line in Unix. Yeah, but how many Mac users even know what a terminal is?

10:04 No, no, no, it's I don't think I'm not I'm not saying people should learn terminal and go back But if you're really looking to do stuff with your computer beyond the applications that you can buy or are given It's beautiful. That's all this is a real operating system Yeah, and and there's real and you can pipe stuff from one command into the other and you don't have to be a programmer just kind of speak the language a little bit and Okay, you know maybe a cheat sheet would be good a No agenda cheat sheet for those who would it you know It's just a few interesting little commands that people can play with and so they get used to it or hand tonight Yes, I'm gonna do that. You seem to be into it. Yeah, but that would that looks like real work So I mind to step back we got a review I've already used the show yeah very positive review on the daily podcast reviews, huh?

CHAPTER 04 / 35 Discussion

Daily Podcast Reviews, Conspiracy Mindset Description

A review from Daily Podcast Reviews describes the show as ideal for those with a "crazy conspiracy thinking mindset." The reviewer suggests that while some may see the hosts as blathering about nonsense, they offer a unique perspective for those who look beyond traditional political labels. The hosts react to being called "crazy" by the reviewer.

daily podcast reviews· conspiracy thinking· sheeple· media criticism· review

10:56 And would you like to hear some of our review? I'd like to hear the whole thing, but just give me the snippets. I'll give you the second half, that's probably the best. It's hard to explain this show to people who don't see themselves beyond calling themselves... a democrat or republican so you can see this show is two guys blathering about nonsense however if you're into if you're into completely insane ideas about government and politics this show is for you in fact if you sheeple will just wake up maybe these two guys aren't the crazy ones and we are in turn crazy and nuts after all anyhow listen to an episode of this show and see what you think

11:35 is just a preferable show if you have a bit of crazy conspiracy thinking mindset no agenda is released every thursday and sunday in the morning hey where's your cue? you should have had it cued up i wanted to read it verbatim uh... because that's literally what it says in the morning thing in there at the end so i thought that was really nice i appreciate that that's probably more or less a good description people that either like this show or they think we're idiots Yeah, I'd say it's... Well, I'd like the people who think we're idiots to listen anyway. A few do. I should hope so. We had our annual Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom on Friday. Big build-up to it. Are you familiar with the Red Nose Day phenomenon in the United Kingdom? The first time I ran into Red Nose Day was in South Africa.

CHAPTER 05 / 35 Discussion

Red Nose Day, Comic Relief and Malaria Charities

The United Kingdom's annual Red Nose Day event raised over 50 million pounds for charities, primarily targeting malaria in Africa. Skepticism is expressed regarding the effectiveness of these funds given the massive investments already made by the Bill Gates Foundation. The segment also touches on the history of celebrity charity events like Live Aid and USA for Africa.

red nose day· comic relief· malaria· bill gates· africa

12:27 In fact, I think I still have the red nose because we happen to be there on Red Nose Day. And I thought, well, that's interesting. It reminds me, there's another thing that a lot of these countries have where they have something to do with these ducks. They have a number on the duck and then they throw the duck in the water. You know these little floating yeah, I've seen that I don't know red nose day bigger Yeah, I'll explain it cuz I don't even remember what there was such a charity or something. Yes. It's comic relief and The idea is to do something funny for money, and it's it's essentially it builds up over weeks time and you have big

13:04 uh... chains like sainsbury the supermarket selling the red noses but also spent selling special specially marked red nose products we have which uh... abortion goes to comic relief uh... and then the is is this a red nose that clips on or the red nose that's like a little spongy thing spongy thing spongy that uh... i was a quick psychoplastic knows that you pinch it and it didn't look so yes it's fun gene eclipse on your nose It's not what I was asking, but okay. Well you said is it is it spongy? Does it clip on your nose? Well yes, it clips on your nose, but it was hard plastic. Oh no, it's like a Nerf ball. Okay. With a slit. To some known as a girlfriend. In this case, it's a red nose.

13:51 And it culminates in a Jerry Lewis-like marathon, telethon, where they have the big tote board and they keep counting up the money and they intersperse that with horrible, and man, this year, absolutely horrible videos. And so they have all the celebrities who work, not just for the BBC, but for other broadcast outlets as well, and they all do something cool, where they're dancing, nine of them climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for money. Did you get on? No, I was not invited. But you were invited to see the Queen and you couldn't get on this thing? I couldn't get on this damn boat, man. Well, but a couple things were interesting. One is they were doing it for malaria.

14:36 And their whole pitch, well actually they added in, I think they added in later, and also for poor people in the United Kingdom, which makes sense because people are dying of no money, no home, no food right here in the UK. And then there was a lot of pre-buzz saying, hey, why are we sending all this money to Africa? We need some money here. So they added in some UK charitable organizations. But the whole push is for malaria, you know, five pounds buys a net which will save a life I'm just flabbergasted by this malaria thing so they raised over 50 million pounds So that's a lot of malaria nets, but malaria first of all is a completely treatable or preventable disease and Bill Gates has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into this what where is it going? And why doesn't everyone have a frickin net by now if if we've got a total of three four hundred million dollars flowing specifically to Africa for to combat malaria

15:32 It just sounds sketchy. Well, I'm not saying that it's a that it's sketchy or a bad a bad charity It's I don't get it. I mean how many people live in Africa that need a net but that isn't that aren't serviced by bill Yeah, exactly. It's just the whole thing was was but they show children dying before your very eyes on television It was why don't they save them if they got the cameraman and crew there? I don't know if I guess you can't Guess if you well, yeah, there's another one over here dying. Come on bring the camera. That's exactly what it looked like You know and he had I need to help my kid. No, no lady if it was really sad. I don't laugh about it Let's keep shooting. It was really really sad. You see this child just Breathing out its last breath, you know close-up dying of fever. It's just Jesus Christ it was

16:32 Heart-wrenching and twisted and satisfying yet not so all at the same time weird Yeah, well it gives people something to do never happened to band-aid Yeah, really ever happen to hands across America what happened all the money that was started back God knows when it was supposed to take solve a homeless problem was gonna be ended by hands across America Well, we had noticed that it had any effect at all. I think it's just these things are just like It's just a good like one layer below drinking clubs. We had USA for Africa band-aid Live aid live eight lots of stuff like that. Yeah, I think we should make a list You know those songs I learned a couple years ago the USA for Africa song which was written by Michael Jackson

17:30 Quincy Jones and who else wrote I'm feeling Lionel Richie wrote it co-wrote it with Michael Jackson You know that the royalties for that song reverted back to them after two years Yeah, I do know that. I think you brought that up once before. We might have talked about that before, yeah. I don't know, let's find that kind of... It was like, what does the... you know, are you giving this away or are you not giving it away? Yeah, what's the point, peeps? Well, probably the point is they know it was a scam, you know, that these guys that produce these things are scamming the public. And they might as well get their money back eventually because it's not going to anybody. Where do you want to go, man? Space wars, climate change, bailout, Madoff, China, bird flu?

CHAPTER 06 / 35 Discussion

Lindsay Lohan, Arrest Warrant and Probation

A Beverly Hills court issued an arrest warrant for Lindsay Lohan related to her 2007 DUI and hit-and-run case. Her lawyer characterized the warrant as a misunderstanding involving administrative probation requirements. The hosts critique the reporting style of entertainment news outlets regarding Lohan's legal status and upcoming film, Labor Pains.

lindsay lohan· beverly hills· dui· arrest warrant· entertainment weekly

18:09 Lindsay Lohan arrest warrant issued. Oh crap, hold on a second. And now back to real news. Alright, Lindsay Lohan, hit me John. An arrest warrant for Lindsay Lohan was issued by the Beverly Hills Superior Court on Friday related to her 2007 DUI and hit and run case. That is according to People. This has been, this is getting this from Entertainment Weekly. which is really my source of news. Of course. That and the Jon Stewart show for politics. Well the exact nature of the charges, that's all we got here by the way, is the Entertainment Weekly and the Jon Stewart show. That's it. Pretty much. I mean you can read the, you know if you can get, you can go online and read the Independent in England, it's pretty decent. But does it have the local news? It won't have the Lindsay Lohan story. I mean what is wrong with these British

19:01 Anyway, Lohan's lawyer, Sean Chapman Hawley, called the warrant a misunderstanding. Apparently the warrant was issued for any number of infractions including minor administrative problems like failing to update an address But that's what that's just the general reason you can issue, but they don't say what this one was issued for hmm It's a they kind of vague it says He said that she'd been complying with the terms of her probation and then the police were not actively looking although they wouldn't mind having sex with her I didn't say that She is subject to... She is very hot in that lesbian kind of way, I gotta admit. When you just mentioned... I think when you see her, she is extremely attractive. Yeah, she is. She's subject to arrest, he says. He's expected to attend a hearing on her. Blah, blah, blah. I don't know how much more I can handle. She's got a film coming out and this looks like it's... I think it's connected. If you read this last sentence,

19:59 The star whose film Labor Pains opens in May is currently serving three years probation for the May and July 2007 incidents in which she is alleged to have been in... Wait a minute. If she was found, she's on probation from a court case that's over. Why is it now? Why did you use the word alleged? Because it's stellar reporting, John. No, it's like somebody just drops a word. What did she... What was it? Cocaine. Alleged. That's our news. So you have anything else? Was there anything happen in the world of politics? Yeah, there were several things happening in the world of politics. You want to start with our president. You know, the news, although there's no real detail about his

CHAPTER 07 / 35 Discussion

Microsoft Security, Government Cyber Defense and Symantec

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed Philip Reitinger, a Microsoft security strategist, to lead the protection of US government networks. The hosts question the wisdom of hiring from Microsoft given its history of operating system vulnerabilities. They also discuss the close ties between the government and security firms like Symantec.

microsoft· janet napolitano· homeland security· symantec· norton

20:43 his CIO having to take a bit of leave after the FBI raid. It's all very, very... CTO. CTO, I'm sorry. It's all very quiet, you know. Everyone's just regurgitating the news, but no one's doing any background on these guys. Their names are known. Yeah, I don't know. It's baffling to me. And in general, I have a question. So now we know that the Microsoft security dude, I'm just pulling up the article here, Philip Rittinge, does that ring a bell with you? No. Chief trustworthy infrastructure strategist at Microsoft has been appointed the lead role in protecting the US government's computing network from cyber attack. So he is now, he was tapped. The guy from Microsoft? Yes, he was tapped by US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. And you know,

21:43 And then I also... It doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound right. You know, so Microsoft who pretty much can't secure their operating system from anything doesn't seem like, you know, well he would certainly know what gets through, I guess. But then in... He's got a list. He's got a list of stuff. Oh, there's another one. Well, and we had that, was it the PIST.exe virus that was floating out there that Symantec or Norton, which is I guess the Symantec company said, hey, you know, don't worry about it. That's, yeah, it's dialing home to us, but it's just an update thingy and it shouldn't have triggered all your warnings. You followed that, I'm sure. Yeah, well, kind of. Right.

22:24 I don't have any Norton on my Mac. It does exist. I use the built-in firewall. Why does anyone trust these guys? If you look at what Symantec basically is, Symantec is a government company. Their biggest business comes from government. They do all of the security for, or most of it, for the government. You look at their board of directors. This is funny. Vice chairman of the Bechtel Group is on the board of directors. We know that from confessions of an economic hitman. Why do we even trust a company like Symantec or Norton? Or do you? I use ABG and I recommend everyone else use ABG. No publicity here but free.greesof.com

23:15 Who made it? Who said that's open source or is that, it is free I believe. No, it's a shareware antiviral system. They have anti-spyware and antivirus. It works fine. Works as well as anything. And it seems to be less intrusive. Norton in particular, although they've saved it, they've cleaned this up a little bit. tends to muck up things. You can't install programs and it's just in there looking at too many things slowing down the system performance or used to. Well I'm not having it. Well why should you? There'll be something for the Mac that's pretty clean. It'll be done with, you know, like a bouncing duck or something. It'll be the logo. A nice little bouncing duck icon that tells me something.

CHAPTER 08 / 35 Discussion

Presidential Helicopter Order, New America Media Report

A report from New America Media details an $11 billion order for presidential helicopters, which the hosts characterize as a massive procurement scam. The discussion highlights the lack of mainstream reporting on the specific companies involved and the overall cost of the project.

helicopter· procurement· new america media· government spending· scam

24:03 chirping bird in the show notes for today's episode of no agenda a very good article from New America new new America media org about the $11 billion helicopter order. Exactly the things we were talking about last week, only much more detail, you know, all the companies that are involved, how it came together. This is a massive, massive scam that's going on. Under-reported, obviously, but just a great read if you want to catch up on how that whole thing came to be. And of course, you know, nothing has happened. I don't think the President has said, I won't have it.

CHAPTER 09 / 35 Discussion

Drug Legalization, The Economist and Taxation

The Economist published a major editorial advocating for the legalization of drugs to save billions in enforcement costs and generate tax revenue. The hosts debate the merits of decriminalization versus legalization, using Amsterdam's coffee shop culture and the economics of growing "weeds" like marijuana as points of comparison.

legalization· marijuana· the economist· ron paul· amsterdam

24:40 I refuse this scam! He'll say something when somebody writes it for the prompter. So there's a lot of news floating around by the way, in fact I'm starting to see it as a meme about legalizing drugs. Yeah, it's showing up a little more than usual and it's and I don't know when cuz I Chris I was messing it's gonna do with me, but I may have picked it up, but it's got that I know Ron Paul's floating around well He's good what they're doing now is they're doing lots of You know it is kind of like a meme and so all these cable news outlets are so desperate for material though I saw I saw

25:23 What's the girl from... the woman from The View? Ipanema? Yeah. The View. She filled in for Larry King recently. Joy is her name. Is it Joy? I don't know. I didn't see it. I don't watch their Kingpin Boston. Well, I saw the YouTube clip and so she was filling in and she had Ron Paul, Congressman Ron Paul on as a pro-decriminalization, not necessarily legalization, but decriminalization. And against drugs, of all people, was Stephen Baldwin. We have it on the blog. We have that clip on the blog. And it's like the irony of that, of a Hollywood guy

26:00 Maybe Stephen's as straight as an arrow, but you know, come on. Oh, jeez. Well, it's um, I don't know where it's coming from and it just seems kind of like a distraction. Well, you know, I think I know where it's, at least I know where the real impetus is. I mean, the big one, the big move now is a front page story. on The Economist and a big editorial in The Economist that goes on and on and on about how we why we should legalize everything. Oh right and and talking about how much tax money they'll make off of it. Well essentially there's a couple of things besides making like who knows how much tax money it will save the United States I believe or maybe it's a world number but I think it's United States number 40 billion dollars in enforcement costs and incarceration costs

26:46 And that's not counting the taxes. I mean we're talking about probably close to a hundred billion dollars into the economy. And like everyone says, and there's a lot of evidence of this, there's less people using these things when they were legal. in terms of per capita. And I think it would probably be that way now. I think people would stop because there is a kind of a dirty girl thing involved with, oh, let's do that. It's illegal. You might get caught. Yeah, let's try it. All the kids are doing it. It's cool.

27:22 You know, when you go to Amsterdam even though they're decriminalizing everything over there. No, no, no, no, they're not recriminalizing. They are making the sale almost impossible. They're systematically taking away the coffee shops which is the distribution. Okay, well, but the point is that when you're in Amsterdam, where it's wide open, You don't just I mean, I don't see people don't out of their brains or anything. I'm not don't agree with that You must not be in the right spot in Amsterdam 30th of April my friend. I'm taking you. I'll show you some stone Dutch guys But they I read an article. I can't find it right now. I read an article. Maybe it was a Dutch article where they looked at what the taxation would have to be and

28:12 And they did some, I gotta find this article, some huge calculation and apparently at the end of the day it would have to be like $89 an ounce just in tax or some crazy amount like that. Why does it have to be anything? What does that mean? Why does it have to be anything? But at the end of the day if it's decriminalized, if it's legalized, then you'll just grow it. I mean, why set up an industry? That's the beauty of it. It's a weed. They don't call it a weed for nothing. You throw the seeds in the ground, you tinkle some water on it, and the shit just grows. It's not hard. So I think legalization of marijuana is nonsensical. I don't understand why they sell tomatoes in the grocery store because after all I can put a tomato seed in there. No, no that's not... And I can have free tomatoes. Why should I be paying $2.59 by the way which is what you have to pay at a crappy grocery store for a pound of tomatoes. And it's like expensive because one good sized tomato... There's your answer John. Lots of people grow tomatoes. Yes but they're still selling them in the stores.

CHAPTER 10 / 35 Discussion

Afghanistan Drug Trade, Hamid Karzai Allegations

An anecdote from an Afghan shopkeeper suggests that President Hamid Karzai is deeply involved in the global drug trade. The discussion posits that the war in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to the opium economy and that the "War on Drugs" serves as a profitable enterprise for various international actors.

afghanistan· hamid karzai· drug trade· mujahideen· opium

29:14 Well, it's all academic. It'll never be legalized because they cannot legalize the drug trade of any kind because that will really ruin the economy because everything including Wall Street runs on drug money. End of story. So it's just not going to happen. Here we go. It's not going to happen. There's hundreds of billions of dollars. You know, we got a store here. I thought it was what they call the Pakistani store that's always open regardless of religious holiday. And they have newspapers and it's kind of like a little convenience store, and I'm talking to the guy he's from Afghanistan and and he's been here for 20 years and He says you know I said, man. You're never laughing. She's I have such pain in my heart for my country I wish I could be in my country and so away from Afghanistan. Oh really and So of course he left right after they you know the the Mujahideen kicked out Russia, and then you know the situation changed dramatically and

30:11 I said, I mean there's a bunch of crooks over there. I said, how about Karzai? First thing out of his mouth, he says, the biggest drug dealer in the world. I said, no, I thought that was his brother. He said, his brother is just his peanuts. Karzai is the biggest drug dealer in the world. And it makes total sense. Well, I don't know. I mean, why not? It just all ties into the fact that it's not going away. The war on drugs is a huge money maker. It's a disaster. Like somebody said, you know, we used to joke about it, well, you know, these guys have kicked out the Russians, the Russians attacked, the British attacked twice, I mean one country after another keeps going in there, their entire culture is only designed to keep people out.

CHAPTER 11 / 35 Discussion

Bernie Madoff, Judge Denny Chin and G20

Bernie Madoff's conviction by Judge Denny Chin is analyzed, with the hosts noting the lack of investigation into where the missing money actually went. They discuss the potential for an International Finance Court to be proposed at the upcoming G20 summit. The segment also questions the background of the judge and the "clean" nature of the legal proceedings.

bernie madoff· denny chin· ponzi scheme· g20· financial court

30:58 And so now we're there and we looked good for a few minutes. And then the next thing you know, these guys are just reading, you know, they say, well, can't we figure out what they're doing? They showed all their cards. Now what do we have to do to get these idiots out of here? So I don't know. Let's move over to the hopeless. It's hopeless. Another big story of the week is so funny to watch the cable news outlets all disappointed. They didn't have a story anymore with Madoff. You know, like, damn. There's no investigation. There's no story. There's nothing to say. They have no angle left. It's like, what is that? Where did all the money go? Which of course leads right into massive reporting now, John. Links in the show notes about the International Finance Court, which will be recommended to the G20. So you can watch my prediction come true.

31:59 But I had a good laugh about the judge who... Did he convict? Is that what he... yeah, he... Is that a conviction? Yeah. Who convicted Madoff. Judge Denny Chin. And I'm kind of bemused that no one is talking about this guy. The cases he's been involved in, Anna Nicole Smith, Elliot Spitzer, several... He's thrown out cases against the Bank of New York. Yeah, interesting isn't it? He's had some really high profile like showbiz type things. The guy seems pretty clean. There's a couple of mob references that I found. But I'm still thinking that this was just played too clean, too beautiful. Yeah, pretty slick. I'm still of the opinion that he may have never had anything to do with it, just as a, you know, interesting point of conjecture. Well,

CHAPTER 12 / 35 Discussion

Jon Stewart, Jim Cramer and CNBC Feud

Jon Stewart's intense interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer is discussed as a significant media event. Stewart criticized Cramer and CNBC for treating the financial markets as entertainment rather than protecting the livelihoods of investors. The hosts suggest Cramer is being used as a scapegoat for the broader economic collapse.

jon stewart· jim cramer· cnbc· daily show· financial news

33:12 It's a fractal, man. There's a much bigger version of this above Madoff and that's probably what's being... well I guess the whole derivative. Well that's kind of, you know, almost what Jon Stewart was intimating over the last week. One of the interesting things that... we need a little jingle, somebody out there maybe can make it or you can make it, you know, a nice booming thing about... something about news for the point of distraction. Which is your theme, everyone's all targeting, oh my god this is the... Don't look at the economy, look at the people. Look at the people. Exactly, there you go. And so they had, curiously, my friend Andrew Horowitz was supposed to be on that show.

33:57 and got bombs if you can't find anything that but they were referenced his piece which made it was a if you some members of the audience because i guess he was very good sober analysis of how to short seller what it was all about and uh... you know he's and stewart referred to him as someone who's just normal says screaming and yelling and punching buttons that you know do uh... sound effects and uh... and he'd really gave it to kramer for uh... being, you know, because Cranston says, well, you know, I'm just an entertainer, he says. And Stewart says, well, this isn't entertainment, this is like people's livelihoods, you know, we're talking about. It's like, you know, and it was actually pretty, I mean, Stewart was not funny, let's put it that way. He was very, he was just drilling into the guy. It was like, it was almost major cringe. I felt the clips he showed of that 2006 interview were way out of context.

34:50 I didn't even know what it was from. I'm just looking at it going, what is this from? What is the point? I mean, it could have been an interview about show business on television. That wasn't completely clear. I felt that was a bit unfair, the way Yeah, well I think what they were trying to do is show off the fact that they can dig up anything. Yeah, well, but it's all YouTube shit, you know, we got all the same videos on Dvorak.org and on curry.com. Yeah, there's a lot of good stuff out there. Anyway, so that was a big moment of distraction and CNBC still hasn't responded to anybody about anything. They continue their merry way. Robert Gibbs, the press secretary had something to say about it. You want to hear that? Yep.

CHAPTER 13 / 35 Discussion

Robert Gibbs, White House Reaction to Jon Stewart

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs commented on the Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer interview, praising Stewart's "tough questions." Gibbs noted that CNBC did not host the video of the appearance on their website. The hosts mock the interaction between the Press Corps and the administration regarding late-night television.

robert gibbs· white house· jim cramer· jon stewart· press corps

35:33 which was, he, well listen to the implication he makes about CNBC being ashamed of Jim Cramer. Thank you, Howard. This is a serious question, it's an easier one. I don't know if you or the president saw the John Stewart piece last night with Cramer, but it was serious journalism. Does the White House believe that... Ah, this is a serious question! This is serious journalism! This is a serious question! The White House Press Corps, by the way, those are the ones who should be shot, except for Helen. lined up lined up one by one the obligation of journalists to call out lies to warn the public of the... yeah yeah yeah get to your damn question

36:10 I don't, I, the president I talked earlier in the day yesterday about watching it. Uh, I forgot to email and remind him that it was on. So I don't know. I love that. I forgot to email him that it was on. Yeah. Like he, like he doesn't know. And like you can't tape it. Yeah. It's called DVR dude. And I'm sure he can, maybe the president could look at the YouTube clip as an example. Unbelievable. Unbelievable that they would say that that's ridiculous. It gets better. Hold on. Let me rewind a little bit. uh... yes funny seen it enjoyed it thoroughly smug little bastard uh... now let me rephrase that smug little cocksucker despite uh... even as mister stewart said uh... that it may have been uncomfortable to conduct and uncomfortable to watch i thought it was uh... i thought

37:11 Somebody asked a lot of tough questions and I am not surprised that the video of Mr. Kramer's appearance doesn't appear on CNBC's website today. So that put a whole new perspective on this. So Horowitz thinks that Stewart was probably burned. You know, he makes about a million bucks a year and must have had his money in something in this market collapsing. He didn't get out, you know, or was misadvised or told to hold, you know, which was, oh, just wait, he'll come back someday. And so I think he's steamed because he does have an anger that is abnormal. It's with good humor, but you can, he still smirks, but it's like, you can just, he's irked. He's probably lost millions. Oh, possibly.

CHAPTER 14 / 35 Discussion

AIG Bonuses, Summer of Rage and Civil Unrest

Public outrage over $165 million in bonuses paid to AIG executives despite government bailouts is highlighted. The hosts discuss the "Summer of Rage" meme, suggesting that the government may actually want to provoke rioting as a pretext for military intervention or the use of detention camps.

aig· bonuses· summer of rage· bailouts· civil unrest

38:01 It wasn't like you, gold. Gold baby, that's where it is. That's where it's at. 2.6 million viewers for the Jon Stewart show. Yeah, that's a good number. For them, it's a great number. Yeah, it's probably almost triple what they normally do. Right, it's worth about that much money. So anyway, But there's another thing here that's kind of being overlooked. It's obvious that Kramer has been targeted to be thrown under the bus. He comes up in the conversation way too much. He shows up on all, he's been sent out on his Dog, Goat and Pony show to all the other NBC news outlets

38:37 to take his whipping. Yeah, to take a whipping and then he goes to, I mean why would he do an hour? He did the whole show. I've watched the Jon Stewart show for years. I've never seen anyone sit down. He's had Barack Obama on the show and he only had him in the segment at the end. you know I mean he has every other pretty good Clinton on he has among the segment at the end the whole show was devoted to beating this guy up he is the the the scapegoat for the entire collapse of the economy and he's gonna end up It's ridiculous that they would just, there's other people that are just as bad or worse. He's going to end up as a bit player on no agenda, that's what's going to happen to him. Yeah, well that'd be okay, he's alive and things, although he's already, you know I used to do CNBC more than I do now, and I would always find out what block I was in, and they'd say,

39:27 and I said what block is Kramer in? Because he would come on with Aaron and you know they'd chit chat. And if it was before my block I'd go oh my god Kramer, because he would step all over your block and you'd get no time. That's why I was laughing when Horowitz was pumped because I said, oh well there you go, par for the course. But here's the strange thing. So you have Jon Stewart basically saying, what the hell is this? A financial news network that is basically running a scam. The guy who should know this best is Jon Stewart. I mean this is what he does all day long. He does nothing but make fun about

40:07 Politicians, financial experts, cable television. He does it all day. Did he honestly think that CNBC wasn't some form of a scam? Well, not a scam, an entertainment form of entertainment. Right. Yeah. I mean, like I said, you know, the theory is he probably lost his shirt. Because you know a lot of people lost like, we're not talking about losing half of your money. Did you look for him on the list? On the Madoff list? Maybe he was invested in Madoff. No, that would have been in the news. You'd be surprised what's not in the news, John. Well, see the problem with the Madoff, here's the, Horowitz points this out, the problem with the Madoff list with its 4 or 5 thousand people, Yeah, it doesn't include the feeder funds. It doesn't count any of the feeder funds. There's probably at least twice as many more.

40:54 that were in some feeder fund that went into Madoff's fund and they lost their money that way and they're not listed as the, you know, on the number one suckers list. Those are just the A list. So, who knows? I mean, maybe. I mean, it's not the kind of thing you'd want to admit to. Although the guy who heads U.S. News and World Report was on some show early on admitting to it that he was, you know, and he's bitching about, like he's head of some charity and the entire charity was just wiped out. Because of Madoff funny article in the Telegraph over here in the UK. What is the difference between? Gordon Brown and Bernie Madoff. Yes, Bernie's pleading guilty They wanted they want Gordon Brown to apologize that's that's what they're pushing for here They want him to stand up and say alright. You know all this shit happened during my watch when I was a chancellor of the checker

41:59 David Cameron, the opposition, is already saying, oh we're sorry. We're running the country but we're sorry anyway. As the net of poverty comes down, everyone's pissed off about the AIG bonuses being paid out, $165 million. I'm sure you've heard this. Oh yeah, I don't understand why they don't indict somehow. What they're saying is it is absolutely critical that they pay these bonuses otherwise they're going to lose all these very talented people. Yeah, really? Where are these guys going? Whoever run this thing into the ground. They're so talented. Yeah, but where are these guys going if they lose them? I mean... That's bullshit. It's total bullshit. It's unbelievable.

42:52 I've been... And nobody's just, you know, I think they should, you know, the olden days when people would like have torches and, you know, carry shovels and torches and storm a place and burn it to the ground and, you know... Yeah, like what happens in Athens, in Iceland, other places except the civilized world, yes. It's just kind of, you know, be fun to see, especially the AIG thing, just like a hundred thousand people converge on the AIG offices and just trash the place. But, you know, that's unseemly. I don't think it's a good idea because I believe that's exactly what the government wants you to do. That's why they're already saying, ooh, it's the summer of rage and everyone's going to be pissed off and we're going to have all kinds of shit. I mean, that's what they want. They want people to start rioting. As a distraction. Well, get them rioting because then, hoonk, swoop down, military comes in, picks them up, throws them in the camps. Done. Mission accomplished. Sorry I brought it up. I knew you'd bring up camps.

CHAPTER 15 / 35 Discussion

Recovery.gov Transparency, California Stimulus Fund Trading

The transparency of Recovery.gov is questioned, with the hosts describing it as a news blog that redirects users to other agencies. A Mother Jones report is cited, revealing that various California counties are trading and selling their federal stimulus funds to one another at a discount to bypass earmark restrictions.

recovery.gov· stimulus· california· mother jones· fund trading

43:53 I've been looking at recovery.gov, waiting for the transparency, and I've noticed something interesting about this site. Of course, this is the transparency website of the administration. It's basically a news blog. Because it has all these stories like, oh, it's 3,000 aviation jobs. And you click and then it says you will now be transported to the Department of Homeland Security website. So they keep shuttling you off to other government websites where they have a whole different format. You have to search through the press. There's a press release, but then there's no actual information on how the money is being spent. And then to top it all off, from MotherJones.com, which I think is pretty reputable,

44:35 They have a story about different counties in California trading their stimulus funds from each other at discounts. So here's how it works. So you have $44 million that's meant for transportation, but you only need maybe 30 or that's what you think, but you really need more in agriculture. So what they're doing now is they're trading these pieces of money. Okay, this was earmarked. It's just the same money, right? But this was earmarked for transportation so you can buy some of my transportation money. And they're literally selling it. Let me see.

45:18 What was an example here? La Habra Heights, a city of 6,000 has sold its 500,000- this is a small amount- $500,000 in federal funds to the city of Westlake Village for $310,000 in cash. And what the fuck is this? This is ridiculous. Rolling Hills, population 1,900, sold its $500,000 share to the city of Rancho Palos Verdes for $305,000 in cash. And the city of Avalon has reached an agreement to swap its $500,000 with LA County. This is wrong. It doesn't make any sense. Yeah, it makes plenty of sense. I mean, how are they going to count? I got $500,000. I don't need it. Yeah, I don't need it. So you give me... Cash. ...free cash. Give me some cash and I give you some of the money. It's an outrage. I hear birds.

CHAPTER 16 / 35 Discussion

Al Gore, Climate Change and Subprime Carbon Assets

Al Gore delivered a speech comparing the climate crisis to the subprime mortgage collapse, warning of "subprime carbon assets." The hosts criticize Gore's rhetoric as nonsensical and link his "you don't get it" communication style to Werner Erhard's seminar training from the 1970s.

al gore· climate change· carbon assets· subprime· guardian

46:18 Yes, there's a canary in this room. For my fellow... It's true, that loud on this, because Mike's very directional. Yeah, no, it came through loud and clear. Look, Mike's kind of pointing at the bird. Look at it behind me. So when I move my head, it's aimed right at the bird. And what kind of bird is it, John? A canary. Oh, it really is a canary. You got a canary in a cage. Exactly. So if the fucker falls over... Just in case he drops dead, I'm leaving here. Oh boy, speaking of such. Well wait, hit the jingle for real news. I'm going to give you another story. No, no. Before we get to the real news story, let me talk about canaries for a second. Guardian, the fine communist newspaper of the United Kingdom. World will agree new climate deal, says Al Gore.

47:14 Former US Vice President delivers an upbeat assessment of the global response to climate change today saying he believes a political tipping point has been reached which will enable leaders to avert environmental catastrophe. So he's basically saying it's all good, everyone believes it, you're crazy if you don't. And this is the paragraph that... Are you a denier? Yes. The earth is flat. I am a denier. You're a denier that means you're a creationist, you're insane, you're a Holocaust denier, you don't believe that there's a Holocaust, you don't believe in evolution, and you're nuts. And mentally, I have a mental disorder.

47:59 So let me root around in your brain. I didn't know you were that crazy. So what's wrong with you? I think that Darwin has, this has been proven, science has to use it. I don't understand why you'd believe in creationism. It doesn't make any sense to me. You're a reasonable person. John, I don't like playing that game. It's not even funny. Well, that's what George Monbiot is doing, your buddy over there at The Guardian. Yeah, he hasn't published me there yet. Listen to this. Gore warns business leaders who did not get it. I love that. Hey, you don't get it. You know, we're going to die. You don't get it. Gore warns business leaders who did not yet get it that they should look to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market as a warning. Listen to what he does here, John.

48:47 We now have... What? Yeah, oh listen, listen to this. I got the quote. It'll blow you away. We now have several trillion dollars worth of subprime carbon assets whose value is based on the assumption that CO2 is free and there's nothing wrong with 70 million tons of it entering into the atmosphere every 24 hours, he says. That assumption is also in the process of collapsing and the remedy for it will include a change in business practices. What does that mean? It doesn't mean anything the guy's criminally insane. That's what I thought it was

49:26 Look at the collapse of the subprime mortgage market as a warning. We now have several trillion dollars worth of subprime carbon assets whose value is based on the assumption that CO2 is free and there's nothing wrong with 70... The guy's a lunatic. This is the craziest thing I've ever... What's the connection? Oh, well, you don't get it. Yeah, exactly. You don't get it. You don't get it. Which is a very Silicon Valley term by the way. It comes from... You don't get Twitter man. You just don't get it. Okay? You don't get it. So you'll never be successful in your life. You don't get it. You'll be no IPO for you. You don't get it. Google's not gonna acquire you because you don't get it. Isn't that the way they talk? Yep. It's a matter of fact. And it all comes from air hard seminar training. Is that where the get it comes from?

50:18 That's where the you don't get it thing basically was popularized by Werner Erhardt, who was one of these guys who did these crazy seminars, the one notorious for not being able to take a bathroom break. And they were talking this gibberish just similar to what Al Gore did, where you'd connect weird things in a kind of a non-sequitur way. Well basically he's saying the world is... And people would pretend to understand it and if you didn't then you didn't get it. And it was like a harp done, oh they don't get it, they don't get it. I'm trying to find this, there was an article, I think it was in the Financial Times today, a great new discovery.

CHAPTER 17 / 35 Discussion

CO2 Shipping, Maersk Tankers and Carbon Credits

Maersk Tankers announced plans to enter the market for transporting captured carbon dioxide by sea. The hosts mock the idea of shipping "exhaled air" across the world to prevent it from entering the atmosphere. They argue that this industry is a precursor to a global carbon tax and credit system.

maersk· co2· carbon capture· shipping· climate crisis

50:55 Maybe it's Myers shipping was one of the shipping companies who said we know our way out of this jam because you know International shipping is pretty much dead at this point. No one's shipping anything there There are ships just literally sitting in in port here in the UK with foreigners on it We have quite a few of them in San Francisco Bay same thing Oh here it is Myers tank listen to this this made me laugh when you think about how ridiculous it is Myers tankers looking at sea transport of co2 when one of the world's biggest owners of oil and gas tankers have become the first major operator to announce plans to enter the market to transport captured carbon dioxide. So here they are, they're going to take a tanker full of basically exhaled air, sealed up, it's a tanker full of nothing, and they're shipping it off to another part of the world where they're going to put it in another container, and therefore it's not released into the atmosphere.

51:50 John, who's mentally insane? I'm telling you, you know, the thing is plants need that CO2. You know, the weird thing about CO2, of course, it would always have to be realized is that CO2 is heavier than air and it tends to go down, not up, and which has never been discussed. And in fact, in the desert, like in the Death Valley, for example, in places like that, people who have to spend the night camping or if you think that's fun, You always have to, and this is a known fact, that there are depressions in the desert that are like little sinkhole things and people sometimes will go down into them and then spend the night and be dead in the morning. Yeah, because of all the CO2 is sitting there. They get no oxygen. See? CO2 kills.

52:38 I'm just saying. So anyway the whole thing... Al Gore believes a global climate deal will be agreed at the UN brokered climate talks scheduled in Copenhagen for December. So, mark it down on your calendar. You know, this all began with the rather new discipline of climatology. Let me just give you the last bit because this is the real important connection. I'm sorry. Gore says, there is a very impressive consensus now emerging around the world that the solutions to the economic crisis are also the solutions to the climate crisis.

53:14 That's your carbon credits. That's your carbon tax. That's all of that shit right there in that one little sentence Please continue. I can't I mean, that's just this is ridiculous that guy He's the one of the most dangerous men in history. I can't imagine what would have happened if he was actually elected president Hold on a second. Could you please um, that was really good man do that again that guy? Let's do it again now an important analysis from John C. Dvorak Al Gore is one of the most dangerous men in the history of mankind. I don't know what it would have been like if he was actually elected president.

CHAPTER 18 / 35 Discussion

London Green Buildings, Buckingham Palace Thermal Imaging

A list of the least energy-efficient buildings in London was released based on thermal imaging, with Buckingham Palace topping the list. Other government buildings, including the Ministry of Defence and the Houses of Parliament, were also identified as major emitters of CO2.

buckingham palace· london· thermal imaging· carbon emissions· green buildings

54:11 Least green buildings in the top 10 list in London Thermal imaging do you think yeah, it's only 775 rooms this palace man. They did all so it's Buckingham Palace I love number two, so they're number one number two this really will make any Brit chuckle Defra the Department of Energy and climate change actually, it's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but there's the DECC. That is for Climate Change. Number three, the Ministry of Defense. Number four, the Horse Guards Barracks. A lot of CO2 coming from there as well. I think we should shoot the horses. Save the world, shoot the horses. Number five, the Shell Building. Number six, the Home Office. Number seven, Houses of Parliament. Number eight, the Treasury. Nine, Portcullis House, then MI6.

CHAPTER 19 / 35 Discussion

America's Next Top Model, New York Audition Riot

An audition for the reality show America's Next Top Model in New York City resulted in a "semi-riot" and multiple arrests. Six people were injured after nerves frayed among contestants who had waited overnight in the cold. The hosts use this as an example of the "real news" currently distracting the public.

tyra banks· next top model· new york· riot· cw network

55:05 And then a whole bunch of... Are they allowed to burn coal in the Buckingham Palace? They don't. Remember I... It's all electric. Oh. I'm not saying that's any better, but that's what they're doing. I think we should hit on China for a few moments because China's in the news. I was going to give you some real news first. Oh, I'm sorry. Hold on one second. And now, ladies and gentlemen, time once again. And now, back to real news. America's next top model auditions led to a semi-riot and arrest in New York. Oh no! Yeah, yeah. Melee, let me read this from, this is the Entertainment Weekly again, one of the two news sources we use here in the United States. Which was Entertainment Weekly?

55:52 And the other one is a daily show with Jon Stewart. A melee at the New York auditions for the CW series America's Next Top Model led to six injuries and three arrests Saturday, according to the New York Times. Witnesses told the paper that the fracas broke out. when the wannabe contestants nerves were frayed by the disorganized conditions after they'd waited on the street overnight for it was cold by the way for a chance to try out on Tyra Banks reality show three people were reportedly arrested for disorderly contact and two or two of the six injured that they were transported to the hospital you're killing me man the next day's audition ironically were canceled which must have irked everybody in line I have real news but I'm not even gonna do it now

CHAPTER 20 / 35 Discussion

China Debt, US Credit and California Partition Proposal

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed public concern over the safety of China's $2 trillion in US assets. In response, the hosts jokingly suggest using eminent domain to sell parts of California or Hollywood to China to settle the debt. They also discuss a long-standing proposal to divide California into three separate states.

china· wen jiabao· debt· california· eminent domain

56:41 That was too much. This is important. I mean this kind of thing happens. This is what's going on in the country. The Obama administration is desperately trying to reassure China that we're good for the money. That is pretty bad. Let me just boil it all down for you. That's what's going on. Hey look, I'll pay you on Tuesday. Really seriously. Come on, I know. What's the big on this shit, man? Come on, brother. The money besides that, what are you going to do about it? Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo, Jiabo? Is that how you pronounce it? Jiabo? I know how you pronounce Premier, he's the Premier. Premier. Well, he's basically said publicly, hey, you know, I'm a little worried about the two trillion dollars you guys borrowed from us. Here's the quote, I request the US to maintain its good credit, to honor its promises and to guarantee the safety of China's assets. Yeah, good luck, buddy.

57:41 Yeah, does it does he not watch CNBC does he not know how much money we're creating and how much we're devaluing their share and yeah It's like ratcheting down so missing from this story of course is the eminent domain But I really think that you know he's looking for reassurances What more reassurance can we give him then Hillary Clinton saying don't worry don't worry? It's all good. Well, the reassurance is simple. Look, we have a new eminent domain law. Look. And we'll give you China. Let's say, what would you want? Do you want Arizona? They want Hollywood. They want Hollywood. Give them Hollywood. I think it'd be great to split. Here's what should happen.

58:23 If you go to the blog, I'll repost this, I've been posting it for years. I think California should be divided into three states because it's too big to be one state and as three states it could also pick up another four senators which would give us more representation. And more governors, right? and three and two more governor governors yeah so it would be it would be better and then you have you know northern california in the central california area in southern california which could then be sold to mexico or could be sold to china which has hollywood down there and then they can deal with their water problem you know through the group that did those you know like the real grander something besides taking all our water from northern california and piping it all the way down the southern california's is some idiot can fill his pool

59:07 you know, and water is lawn, when they live in the middle of a desert. And so sell, you know, but, you know, divide the state up to three and sell off the bottom part to China. Let China have it. I mean, what's the big deal? I think China should take Southern China. Yeah. They should take Southern California and turn it into the trash dump. Because the International Heritage Tribune says that they're now turning away other countries' trash. They're not taking it anymore. In China? In China, yeah. This is a big problem. Well, something has to be done about trash. Nobody wants to talk about trash recycling. And by the way, trash when it's buried and just let the rot produces a lot of methane, which contributes to global whatever. Climate change. So the stuff should either be burned, because I think CO2 is better than methane. I think everybody agrees with that. You just don't get it.

CHAPTER 21 / 35 Discussion

Global Recycling Collapse, China Trash Import Ban

The international recycling business has collapsed as China begins refusing shipments of foreign waste. US exports of recyclable materials have dropped by an estimated 70% due to the global manufacturing slowdown. The hosts argue that the decline in demand for scrap metal and paper is a key indicator of the real state of the economy.

recycling· china· trash· manufacturing· commodities

1:00:09 burned, recycled something, you know, something different. The collapse of the recycling business has affected trash pickers, the middlemen who buy their waste in the factories that refashion metal, paper, glass, plastic into products bound for the supermarket shelves. China is refusing their shipments. The recycling business has collapsed. Now what? Shouldn't we be focusing on that? Shouldn't we be looking at trash? I think trash is a problem. It's huge. It's a huge problem. We export, the United States exports $22 billion worth of recyclable materials. That was 2007. That amount of money, $22 billion, has decreased by an estimated 70%. I guess it's because recyclables don't go in, there's no more manufacturing or there's less manufacturing so they don't need materials, right? Well, I mean if everything slows down then you don't need so much, you know, plastic tape. That's a big slowdown, man. 70% is a big ass slowdown.

CHAPTER 22 / 35 Discussion

South China Sea, US Naval Standoff and Surveillance

A naval standoff occurred in the South China Sea between the USNS Impeccable and Chinese vessels. While the initial confrontation involved water hoses, the US has since dispatched armed destroyers to escort surveillance ships in the region. The hosts question the official narrative and the strange appearance of the vessels involved.

south china sea· usns impeccable· destroyers· surveillance· naval standoff

1:01:12 Yeah, I don't know what it represents of the total though. I mean, it might be... I mean, how much has the economy slowed? I don't think the economy slowed down 70%. I think just that's like the edges of the economy, which is the first thing to be affected because there's still raw materials. I'd like to know what the... I think what we want to look at is copper and cement production and see what the slowdown is in those two industries. And then we know what the real slowdown is. China is rumored to... Be using it was a good spot there for in the morning. No, I wasn't ready for I need to give you your own in the morning I have to get my own buttons here Bloomberg is writing that China might use part of its two trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves to buy gold. Yeah There's a thought boys little lady. No, well, it's gotten it's gone down a bit, you know, it's a low nine hundreds now

1:02:09 But, so there was a little fracas with a US ship out there hunting for subs and the Chinese said, hey, what are you doing? Get out of here. Five. And did you see, yeah, and did you see, they showed pictures of this and I wish, unfortunately I don't have them, I didn't get a screenshot. But the thing that crazy, the boat that the US was in was a screwball thing. Did you see pictures of that thing? Yeah, but... And then the Frock, this was a couple of, like, looked like overgrown tugboats with like tires all around the outside, old wooden boats floating around. They looked just like the next generation junk. And it was like, you know, and they were saying, hey, this story seems like a bogus story. There's something phony about it because our boat was too weird looking and their boats were like too dinky.

1:02:57 Well, according to the Times newspaper in the UK, a potential conflict brewing as of last night in the South China Sea after President Obama dispatched heavily armed American destroyers to the scene of the naval standoff. Gee, I bet that's not in Entertainment Weekly. standoff it was a joke this is not it there was no standoff there's just these weird looking giant two of these horrible looking wooden boats. Yeah but the US boat the US has admitted was that looking at submarines it was unarmed but it was like a submarine snooping boat. You know I think the whole story's bull. Really?

1:03:38 There was there, yeah, I think that ship was so screwy looking, I don't see what it had to do with submarines, maybe it was a sub-chaser or something like that. I don't know what the point was, and you know, why couldn't they, were they past the 12th? This story is sketchy, where were they exactly? Let's listen to the story. South China Sea. Let's listen to the story. There's a video that goes along with it. Let's see. On the surface, this doesn't look like a terribly serious problem. An American surveillance ship, the Impeccable, was harassed by Chinese vessels on Sunday in the South China Sea. And nothing more dangerous than a high-powered water hose was used in the exchange.

1:04:15 but actually underlying this incident is something far more serious. This area is one of the most strategic waterways in the world. The Americans are now sending heavily armed destroyers to escort their surveillance ships in the area and the Chinese have responded by denouncing the American actions as hostile and declaring that this area is exclusively for Chinese use only. There you go. There's something wrong with the story. I don't know what it is, I haven't got a clue, but that's a bunch of sketchy information. Who knows what... They attacked him with water hoses? I mean, what does that have to do with the picture? Things were like... They looked like two wooden... Like little fire boats. Floating around, you know, lost.

CHAPTER 23 / 35 Discussion

Netherlands Terror Alert, IKEA Shutdown and Distraction

A major terror alert in the Netherlands led to the shutdown of a large shopping area and an IKEA store following a tip from a Belgian prepaid phone. Seven suspects were arrested but released two days later. The hosts suggest the event may have been a distraction from the declining stock market.

netherlands· terror alert· ikea· amsterdam· madrid bombing

1:05:05 And they had to probably spray the American boat because the thing was like 20,000 times bigger than these little pieces of crap. Yeah, one of those catamaran jobbies. They probably had to spray the boat with the fire hose to get their attention. Please don't ram us. I don't know. Well, but this is... I think as a ruse for something else. We've had so many things, there was a huge terrorist warning in the Netherlands. Oh man, this really set my in-laws off. Poor, poor people, they're 83 years old. They're on the phone. Of course they call me immediately thinking that I'm gonna know anything. Do they listen to no agenda? Thank God they don't. My God. Adam, do you have to swear so much? I think it would be different.

1:05:51 Adam do you have to be living so you just shoot yourself. They shut down a huge shopping area including the IKEA Because they got a call that this is the best they got a call from a Belgian prepaid mobile phone which apparently had such a explicit description of the bombs and the people who are going to set them off and suicide or otherwise, that they immediately locked it down, the whole country went into red alert, everyone's freaking out, they arrested seven guys, they're pounding through all these people's houses, immediately the news comes out, this, one of these guys is linked to one of the Madrid bombers that got away, which I don't think they actually, I think they never convicted anyone of the Madrid bombings. And two days later, of course, they had to set all seven of them free.

CHAPTER 24 / 35 Discussion

Beaver Reintroduction, DJ AM Plane Crash Coincidence

Beavers are being reintroduced to England for the first time in 500 years to help manage local ecosystems. In a separate "real news" item, the hosts discuss DJ AM, who survived a private jet crash and later revealed he was originally scheduled to be on the ill-fated Buffalo flight that crashed in February.

beavers· england· dj am· plane crash· buffalo flight

1:06:44 Sounds like a typical exercise in futility. Well, or perhaps, please whatever you do don't look at the AEX. Don't look at the stock market. Don't look at what's happening in the world. Don't listen to real news. We have all these horrible things happening with these multiple shootings. What? Well, you know the one in Germany. Oh yeah. You know there's just lots of stuff. All of a sudden lots of death and destruction coming down. Oh wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen. And now, back to real news. Beavers could be reintroduced into England. England has no beavers? And now, back to real news. Yeah, more than 500 years it's been since we've had them in the UK. They're going to reintroduce the beavers to this island. They say it's good because they eat stuff.

1:07:49 And chop down trees. Big controversy about the beavers. Whether we should have beavers or not. Actually, remember that guy from the band, I think it was Blink-182? DJ AM? Remember he was in a plane crash, a private plane crash, and he lived? I'm sure you caught that Real News. No. This was a while ago. Yeah, there were two guys who survived this Learjet crash, which ran off the end of the runway and broke up and caught fire. And he was in the Real News saying that he actually was scheduled to be on the Buffalo flight. What are the chances of that? That guy should immigrate. That is weird. I mean, they say that, you know, chances of you dying in an air disaster are so small, but then to come so close twice is pretty amazing. There was somebody in one of these catastrophes that was supposed to be in another catastrophe, but they missed the flight or something. I was reading about it. That happens all the time.

CHAPTER 25 / 35 Discussion

Prince Charles, 100 Months to Save the Planet

Prince Charles warned that humanity has less than 100 months to alter its behavior before facing "catastrophic climate change." He cited findings from climate expert Nicholas Stern and the IPCC, warning of mass migrations, food shortages, and social instability. The hosts interpret these warnings as a justification for increased social control and a European army.

prince charles· climate change· ipcc· nicholas stern· social instability

1:08:50 The guy would have been killed, but then he coincidentally missed a flight and then he gets killed in another flight. It's like the guy sees a safe falling from the building above and moves out of the way and gets hit by the piano. Prince Charles, who just when I thought the guy was going to be okay from AP, Britain's Prince Charles warned on Thursday mankind has 100 months or less to save the planet from a climate caused disaster Didn't they say this like a couple years ago? 100 months or less. Here's what bothers me. We had a story that we have one. We have a climate change junkie on the bond blog He's always every time you post any skepticism. He posts something else. It's just we're all doomed and

1:09:41 But the one that gets me is the more recent mention of this guy, climate change expert Nicholas Stern, who's told 2000 climate scientists meeting in Copenhagen that if they fail to clearly tell humanity what it faces if global temperatures reach the upper range of forecast made by the IPCC which is the which we have united which is who started all this yeah United the inner in the United Nations Intergovernment Panel for Climate Change and Destroying All Western Economies it should be the real title He says there's been a lot of scientific evidence. He goes on and on he says new findings show that these projections were vastly understated and And every ball is worse than we thought what I'm thinking when I read this stuff. It's can't you get this right? I mean

1:10:27 I mean, it's like worse than we thought, it's better than we thought, it's worse than we thought. Where are the, these numbers are so solid, why do they keep upgrading and changing them in flux? I mean, if it, in other words, if we're so solidly, you know, we have strong evidence that's irrefutable and everyone agrees, well, did everyone agree that it just changed? I can't believe that Prince Charles is not on the front page of every single newspaper with this. Listen to what he's saying. The best projections tell us that we have less than 100 months to alter our behavior before we risk catastrophic climate change and the unimaginable horrors that this would bring. What are those horrors, you ask, John? Any difficulties which the world faces today will be nothing compared to the full effects which global warming will have on the worldwide economy, he said. It will result in vast movements of people escaping either flooding or droughts.

1:11:23 droughts, an uncertain production of foods and lack of water and of course increasing social instability and potential conflict. It will affect the well-being of every man, woman and child on our planet. So it sounds like to me for an excuse for a European army to keep out the raggedy poor. Well I'm glad you brought that up because that's exactly what Sarkozy has been moving toward. The president of France who just the other day after 40 years said you know what? That NATO thing? Yeah, we should be in that. This is shaking the French to their very roots. Well, the French have got to get rid of that guy. He's going to be more French. The only thing French about him is he's got a hot wife. And that's not actually that French if you think about it. She's Italian, dude. Remember, Silvio gave her to him. Somewhere there's an article I was reading. Oh, I think it's in that helicopter story.

CHAPTER 26 / 35 Discussion

Jade Goody, HPV Vaccination and DNA Testing

The media coverage of Jade Goody's illness is linked to a push for HPV vaccinations and new FDA-approved DNA testing for the virus. The hosts express concern that these health initiatives are being used to build a comprehensive DNA database of the population. They also note reports of formaldehyde and dioxane found in baby care products.

jade goody· hpv· dna testing· fda· johnson & johnson

1:12:30 that Berlusconi leaned over to Sarkozy and said during some public thing in his ear, remember I gave you Carla. I'm telling you man, it makes so much sense. These guys are on a little... You're right, they are in the drinking club. And guess what? They drink your blood. They drink your blood in this club. They are drinking your blood. And... A link in the show notes to all of the fantastic articles as predicted linking Jade Goody to the HPV vaccination. Luckily, and this blows me away, I didn't know this, luckily also a lot of women in the United Kingdom

1:13:16 have gone for a cervical test which in America we call a pap smear. They don't call it that here. A smear? A smear. It's like you put it on your bagel. Cream cheese on a bagel. Hey John, would you like some pap smear? I'd like to get a smear. Here you go. I'd like a pap smear with that beer. You know that women do not get a cervical test under the UK health plan until they're 25? That sounds wrong. I don't know. Yeah.

1:13:51 But so now the FDA has approved DNA testing for HPV. So this is of course the route that it needs to take. So not only can we inject you with whatever we say is safe, but do this test so we have your DNA on file and we can actually see if you're going to get this cancer based upon your DNA. And this is, this is like space-age shit, man. Of course it's bad. FDA approves two new HPV tests. It's just trying to get a database of everybody's DNA. That's right. And it's gonna they're gonna get it too. It's gonna be a lot easier to trump up charges Did I also see somewhere a couple of news articles about some?

CHAPTER 27 / 35 Discussion

Airport Scanners, Brain Pattern Imaging and Privacy

New airport security scanners are criticized for being demeaning, slow, and ineffective at detecting simple objects like combs. The discussion links these physical scanners to emerging technology that can image brain patterns for "pre-crime" detection. One host recounts a personal experience of being patted down despite going through the advanced imaging machine.

tsa· airport security· scanners· brainwaves· pre-crime

1:14:34 It was like an imaging of some tests some scientists had done. It was a little sidebar column that they can do imaging on your brain patterns and based upon how your brain thinks. This is actually big news here. Okay, so it was very marginal news here. It fires off Neutron shit, whatever is electrons and they can image that and then they can identify you just based on a scan of people's brainwaves. Yeah for pre-crime. Right to see if you're going to actually do well I think I would say this is probably linked into those new airport scanners.

1:15:14 So here's the theory, man. Oh, good, because I went on one of the newest of the new scanners. I usually do this. Tell me about your experience. Okay, well, the scanner, the first thing I went to, some months back they had these things called, they were called puffers, and you go in there and they just blow a little air all over you and then they analyze the air, see if there's any chemicals. They took those out. So now they got this new thing called a Micron or a Micro or some weird thing. I think it takes a single... I don't know what the mechanism is, but I'm guessing it's ultra-wide pulse radio x-ray type of technology. They can see what you look like naked. That's basically the result.

1:15:55 It's a true thing. Okay, so you get in, but it's, who knows what's going on. You gotta put your hands up in the air. Yeah, right. You put your hands up in the air. How shitty do you feel? How much enslaved do you feel when they make you stand in that box and put your arms up like a fucking criminal? It takes forever because the guy turns away and he says, oh wait, oh, a little higher. And so anyway, here's the thing. They have a big sign at the airport. And they have only one of these things and there's like three or four six lines maybe going through. And if you go to this line it says, if you go into this crazy machine, you will, there'll be less chance of a pat down and less chance of this, less chance of that. Bull! It's just the opposite. You go into the machine and if you have a piece of paper in your pants, the guys are like testing... Or something else that's really big.

1:16:43 Yeah, well next time I'm wearing a sock. So anyway, so you go through this thing and they take a look at you and you say, this guy's gonna lose a little weight. And then they... They say, they whisper, man, the guy's a fat fucking pig. This guy's gonna lose some weight, don't you think? Oh, look what's coming up in line number three there, holy crap. Oh, boy, get her over in my line. So anyway, so they... So the guy says, what's in your front rack? Because I had a piece of paper in my pocket. And he saw the paper. Weirdly enough, he didn't see the comb in my back pocket. So the thing didn't work that well. So anyway, so he pats me down and he's just patting like a maniac because I think they're testing this gear and they want to see what mistakes it made. And by the way, during the pat-down, he missed the comb himself. Unbelievable. So the machine missed the comb. And you could kill someone with a comb, you know? Oh, you could. You could. You slit their throat. You could slit their throat. You could comb the pilot's hair.

1:17:39 So anyway, so then, and he's patting me down so much in the back, just one second, I wish I could just scratch a little bit to the right. You said that? No, I couldn't bring myself to it. I just was observing this. I went to this for the purposes of our listeners. I went through this process. Because I would refuse. Go ahead. I always like to check these things out, but I tell people don't go through it. It's just a big waste of time and it takes longer. So meanwhile I was carrying all this gear in my luggage and so they had to look at my luggage too. So this guy says, is this your bag? But meanwhile the whole line is slowed down. Did you have meats in it? Did you have meats in your bag? I only have meats when I'm going back. Oh, okay.

1:18:19 So I had a bunch of meat when I was coming in from Wisconsin though and they stopped me and said, what's this? You know, because it looks like these sausages from Wisconsin. They look like dynamite or something, right? Because it's in there. So what do you got? You got frozen meat? Yes. Oh, OK. I said, you can't leave Wisconsin without meat. And he says, you're right. Hey, hey, tell someone there to stop downloading porn, man. You're breaking up. So it shouldn't be anything going well. Anyway, with this 10 megabits, I shouldn't be breaking up ever. Anyway, so I go through the end and then I say to the guy who's going through my luggage to look at this equipment He's and I said well that thing is a piece of crap. You're talking about the device I said that thing's a piece of crap. It's supposed to make things faster slows down It doesn't even seem to work and the guy was don't be such a buzzkill man the guy says to me I know oh It's total garbage really Yeah

1:19:14 Well, so while it's not picking up that comb in your back pocket, I think it's probably scanning some kind of profile and they can see you through the satellite. That's crap. It's a piece of crap. So that thing's another expensive piece of junk. And you're right, you have to stand there with your arms in the air, it's stupid. It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen. It's demeaning, it's just demeaning, I don't like it. It's ridiculous. But anyways, just for people, when you see one of those machines, go to the other end because it'll slow you down. They claim it's going to speed things up, it doesn't speed things up, it cuts the numbers in half. It goes twice as slow with this piece of garbage in the way. So there you have it. So since we can't seem to get a break on anyone reporting on this horrible

CHAPTER 28 / 35 Discussion

Bird Flu, PayPal Security and Donation Fanfare

The hosts discuss the lack of mainstream media coverage regarding bird flu outbreaks in Egypt. They also explain a delay in reading donor names due to PayPal security lockouts caused by IP address changes. A new "fanfare" jingle is promised for significant contributors to the show's value-for-value model.

bird flu· egypt· paypal· donations· no agenda library

1:20:03 mixture of bird flu and flu vaccine since mainstream media is just completely ignoring it in every country where it's been distributed or was sent to. It's weird. Yeah, I will say though that currently 58 cases of bird flu in Egypt So I think you just gotta start looking at places where this is breaking out and watch it spread and watch it happen as they start to tell us we need to get a vaccine, a shot. It's disgusting and by the way which brings me to the point that stuff like this is what makes the show interesting. Now last week I said I was going to mention all the $100 and the $50 contributors, okay?

1:20:51 So I was going to do that from here, we're going to have to do it on Thursday because I went to my PayPal account which has a list of all of them and for some reason, because we got a lot of subscriptions last week. Donations. Donations, sorry. it's told me that I couldn't access the account because I needed a security code because I think I'm coming in from a different IP so they have enough information about me that they now won't let me look at my own account even though I have the password and everything I need a secondary password which is actually a good thing because PayPal is always everyone's scared they're hackable. Yeah, exactly. So I had to, so I can't read the names because they won't let me

1:21:29 look at the list until I get back home to the other house and then I'll, so on Thursday we'll list everybody off and who donated $50 or $100 and then we'll thank everybody else who has a continuing contribution in some sort. But if you feel the need and you should because we're the only ones talking about this bird flu story for example, it's Dvorak.org slash NA. Or noagendalibrary.com. It's Dvorak.org slash NA is the place to go. Why not just NoahJendelibrary.com? It goes to the same place. I think it's harder. I also like the NA thing. It doesn't make any difference if the money goes. It's not like we're competing. And we don't actually have counters on these sites to see who goes to Adam's site and mine, although we could. God no. That means work. It's competition.

1:22:23 Anyway, I do want to thank you. There's three things you can do. You can give us a straight up donation which we'd appreciate. Fifty or a hundred bucks is ideal because then you get mentioned with maybe some fanfare. And then a jingle. With a jingle. Yeah, that's what we'll do. We get a new subscriber who's donated a lot. We're going to give you an In the Morning! Like a shout out. We'll give you one in the morning. So we do this on Thursday, sorry. I apologize in advance. This gives more people the opportunity to get there and help out. I'd like to thank Cheryl who listened to our call about farming. Remember we asked if there were any farmers in the audience and not only did we get a farmer but we got a woman which is like a double whammy for us.

CHAPTER 29 / 35 Discussion

Midwest Farming, Ethanol Prices and Crop Financing

A letter from a Midwestern corn farmer, Cheryl, describes the financial difficulties facing independent farmers, including bouncing rent checks and high input costs. The hosts also discuss the pricing of E85 ethanol fuel, noting it is significantly cheaper than gasoline, and question the sustainability of the ethanol industry.

farming· ethanol· e85· monsanto· subsidies

1:23:11 I think the count now is four female listeners to this program. I heard it was six. Adam, thanks for your concern about farmers and their ability to plant a crop this year. My husband and I are Midwestern corn farmers and have witnessed a few neighbors having difficulty obtaining financing for crop inputs this year. In fact, we have some cropland that we rent to a fairly large farmer whose rent check for this year just bounced. Last year's commodity prices rode to record levels so did our fertilizer, chemical, seed, fuel, land rent, other input costs. Grain prices have dropped dramatically, but most input costs have not. Rent is doubled. Since costs were completely out of control last fall, many farmers prepaid inputs in order to control costs and sold grain on futures contracts to local ethanol plants to cover their butts.

1:23:55 If they sold to Verison, the bankruptcy court has ordered the farmers to deliver the grain to the plants, but the $4-$6 a bushel they were promised for their grain will not be honored. These people are getting screwed, man. You know, yeah, well, and there's also that ethanol thing going on. So I'm, did I mention I was, I used some, I was in Wisconsin, I rented one of those little funky looking Chevys that looked like a PT Cruiser, and it used flex fuel. Is that a combo? It means it'll run on gasoline or what they call E85. And E85 is ethanol, 85% ethanol and I don't know what else, I guess some gasoline is necessary in there. And so I'm going back to the airport and I'm driving along and I have to get some gas to fill up the tank. And guys, because they don't take that scam deal that car rental companies give you. We'll prepay.

1:24:50 And so I'm going back and there's a gas station that has E85. I've never seen an E85 pump in my life. Actually, I've got to blog this because I took a picture of it. Was it a good experience? Yeah, no, besides that, ethanol I think is a really interesting fuel. But what was the most interesting thing was if you take a picture of the sign, the regular gas at the time was $2.19 a gallon and then the premium was like $2.40 and the diesel was like $2.40 or so. The E85 was $1.69. So it's really cheap. It's cheaper than everything.

1:25:30 And so I'm thinking, well, you know, if they can keep the price down, my understanding is you can't make a profit from this stuff. But if you're selling at such a low price, it seems that somebody's making money. But I don't know how many E85 cars are floating around. Maybe it's just they have to lower the price to get people to use this stuff. I'm not sure. Cheryl winds up by saying the mega farmers seem to know how to work the system and they get all the huge subsidies. Obama wants to reduce the maximum gross farm revenue from direct farm payments. A net income ceiling would be more sensible. Larger farmers can afford to postpone selling their crop in order to maximize government payments. Have no fear about food shortages though. The big farms will snap up available cropland immediately. Yeah, Monsanto will.

CHAPTER 30 / 35 Discussion

Organic Food, Iceberg Lettuce and Butcher Shops

The quality of mass-produced produce is compared unfavorably to food from local butchers and vegetable markets. The hosts discuss the "negative flavor" of corporate-branded lettuce and the benefits of traditional butcher shops in London that provide certifications for animal feed. They argue that real food is "life-affirming" compared to processed alternatives.

organic food· iceberg lettuce· safeway· butcher· london

1:26:17 who I want to send those seeds to those big guys. You know, bud. As of today the... And by the way, the worst part about these big farmers, and I think this woman or anybody who's in the farming community would agree, they produce crap. I mean, the difference, you know, one of the things that... Total shit. We do not shop for food at Sainsbury's anymore. All that, the fake organic that has a nice little picture of a chicken running around in acres of grassland, it's bullshit. Okay, that's not really organic. So I'm... You know, some years ago, you know, I was, before I had children and all the rest of it, and I've gotten into being the foodie.

1:26:54 You know, I'd only eat butter lettuce and I would always eschew iceberg lettuce because it was like, you know, low rent. But when you have kids and you want to feed them lettuce of any sort, you have to actually get iceberg lettuce because the kids won't eat anything else. Damn kids. They won't eat butter lettuce or Boston lettuce or bibb lettuce. They want something crunchy. So you start using iceberg lettuce again. I did not realize and now I actually use it still all the time just for my own because I like it because what I was doing I didn't realize that I had early on especially when I was a kid and whenever the iceberg lettuce that my mom and even I might have gotten from a big chain like Safeway.

1:27:36 compared to the iceberg lettuce I get from a vegetable market like in the Berkeley area we have Monterey Foods in the Berkeley Bowl but I shove it in Monterey Foods I think it's friendlier but anyway the iceberg lettuce from them is radically different and so I didn't realize this until a few years ago I'm eating this iceberg lettuce from Monterey Foods and it's like you know it's pretty you know it's tasty it's got good crunch for some reason I had to get some lettuce and I went to Safeway And I bought the Bud or whatever this brand is, you know, this national brand of maximizing. You dare devil you. So I went and got this lettuce and I took one bite of it and it was horrible. It tasted, it had no flavor. In fact, it had like a negative flavor. It was like sucking lifeblood out of you. It was like horrible lettuce. It had no taste. It was repulsive.

1:28:35 And I realized, at that point, you know, of course I kind of realized it to some extent, but I didn't realize how bad some of these fruits and vegetables are that are manufactured by the machine of Big Pharma. Anyway, that's my little since we've been living here in in Southwest London. We have that butcher shop Which is really more than a butcher shop. He's got everything but fish so he has all kinds of meats poultry But also fresh vegetables potatoes, you know right there sacks of it. I mean, it's a complete that is a real organic and written certification from the farmers about what each animal was fed. These guys would properly hang it up so you got one bloody end of these big slabs of meat. We are just amazed at the taste of real food because when we were living in Guilford,

1:29:29 You, there was really no butcher or green grocer to go to. You were pretty much locked into either driving all day just to get a meal from all these different shops because nothing is located conveniently next to each other or go to the big box Sainsbury's. And we are just blown away by taste again. You have no idea how much you're missing with the shit that they're processed crap, colorized water injected shit they're selling you. How do you really feel? Yeah, no, I agree. And the fact is, is that, you know, real food is something that we have to promote and because it's good for you.

1:30:10 It's gotta be good for you. I hate to be corny, but it's kind of life affirming. I always sit there, I have a piece of meat and I go, this is life affirming because it tastes so damn good. I feel alive today. It's something that just tastes like crap. You can taste it, it's manufactured. I was in a wine tasting once with a bunch of pros. It was a professional tasting of some California wines in a competition. And this was back, I think, in the mid-90s or so when Gallo Sonoma was just opening up a shop and they had brought over these fermenters from Australia and they were making this based on the setup over at the Darryl Groom had over at Geyser Peak, which is a very Australian-style winery.

CHAPTER 31 / 35 Discussion

Gallo Wine, Manufactured Taste and Marketing Tricks

An anecdote about a professional wine tasting reveals the "manufactured taste" of high-end Gallo wines. The discussion covers marketing tricks used by large wineries to hook consumers with high-quality early vintages before reducing the quality of ingredients in later releases.

gallo· wine tasting· marketing· vintage· additives

1:30:59 And so they set up shop that same way and they have this Gina Gallo who's like this famous, you know, winemaker and everything. And of course I was working at ZDTV with one of the girls there that happened to be with the competitor family, the Franzias, who apparently split up with the Gallos sometime in the 1800s and the two families hate each other and she has all the dirt. She says that Gina doesn't really make anything at all, she's just a front man. And she thought that wines were horrible, of course. But of course, Franzi makes wines in a box, so what can you say? Anyway, back to the story. So Gallo had put a lot... Gallo has an interesting marketing trick which is very similar to the razor blade companies, at least they were alleged to when you buy a new blade, it's always a new triple from so-and-so, from Gillette. You buy the sample with the two blades, I think sharper, lasts for months and years almost. And then you buy the replacement blades that go dull after a week.

1:31:51 And so Gallo has this trick where they, if anyone sees a new winery, they have I think Turning Leaf was one of theirs. They roll out this wine, a new brand, the stuff is absolutely dynamite. for like one or two vintages. I mean really and seriously cheap and tasty and then they just start to, then you know you go back... Then they start cutting it with baking soda. Well they cut it with not baking soda necessarily, obviously they're not using the same quality ingredients later, but it's a trick, it's a marketing trick. But the thing about the, they had these really fancy cabernets they were making, I think the 96 vintage was one of them in that era. And the stuff was absolutely delicious, it tasted just like a cabernet. But I was discussing one, and they were always winning awards because everyone would blind taste and you'd just think it was great.

1:32:41 After a couple years of this, I was sitting around at the lunch with one of these guys who's a big wine buyer for a big chain. And I said, you know, I kind of like the way that gallo is tasting. And the guy just says to me, just out and now he says, you don't think it tastes manufactured? And which is the kind of thing you do to want in wine tasting circles. You bring up something. You bring up something like that, you didn't notice it was oxidized? It was corked, clearly corked. Well, corked wines anyone can spot. As soon as he said that, it dawned on me that there is a manufactured taste in Gallo wines and that wine actually exhibited it.

1:33:24 and then the manufactured taste is sometimes you know is artificially tasty or they say fake it or they do something you know they pump it up and that's what if you look in the back of a cereal box at these big companies the ingredients are like there's a million things in there to give you the impression that is better quality than it is I become a real ingredient reader I gotta tell you you look at if there's anything in there that you can don't know what it is don't eat it that's the way I look at it That's nice. I won't eat that. Anyway, my wine story harkens back to a PR guy that worked for one of these companies. He says, when you go into the back of these wineries where they're making all this stuff, he says the kinds of bags of weird things, weird ingredients, weird shit going in there, just makes you wonder what the heck this wine's consisting, you know, what's in this wine. That's why we only drink French wine.

CHAPTER 32 / 35 Discussion

Disney Eggs, Baby Products and Formaldehyde

Disney has begun marketing eggs stamped with character molds, which the hosts find "freaky." This leads to a discussion about a health advocacy group's findings of formaldehyde and dioxane in baby shampoos and lotions from major brands like Johnson & Johnson.

disney· eggs· baby shampoo· formaldehyde· dioxane

1:34:14 Well, they adulterate too, but not the better winers in Bordeaux. Let me just run down some important... By the way, let me just stop you. Somebody asked for more wine and food chit-chat, so I thought I'd throw in a couple anecdotes. There you go. No, thank you. It's highly appreciated. It ties into so many different things. Certainly regarding food. You know Disney is now selling eggs. Did you see this? I'm surprised that you didn't have this on the blog. The Disney eggs? No, I never would die. Oh, it's freaky man. Yeah, there's a... and you get a little mold with it so you can make a like a Mickey Mouse. You get moldy eggs? Is that what you're saying? You get a mold that you press into the egg or you break the egg into so it fries like Mickey Mouse ears.

1:34:57 But each egg is stamped with an individual character. I don't know, it's just scary man. I would not buy my eggs from Disney. I'm surprised that the yolk is even yellow. Oh, in the commercial, there's a link in the show notes, extremely yellow. In fact, it looks a little undercooked in the commercial. If the yolk is really yellow, then with an American egg, it's really, I mean, unless it's a yard egg. I mean, we have our own chickens and so we get these great eggs. They're like the ones you get in England, which have a really dark yolk. And apparently somebody discovered Americans don't like dark yolks, they want something that's bland and kind of light yellow. Which is like nauseating. The whole egg thing, when you think about it, it's not really nice. It's nasty. It's one cell. Anyway, so eating a cell.

1:35:53 I don't know if that's interesting, Disney eggs. Stuff in not just our food, but I don't know if this is a big deal over in the States. It should be. More than half of the baby shampoos, lotions and other infant care products that have been analyzed by, of course, the health advocacy group found stuff like, oh, formaldehyde, dioxane, This is not stuff you should be putting on your baby, I don't think. You can put your baby in formaldehyde. My baby's covered with dioxin. I mean, and this is like from the Johnson & Johnson company, man. Formaldehyde, obviously it's to keep the product, to help it last longer, I presume. Shelf life. Shelf life, yeah. But I mean, you can't be putting formaldehyde in shit that babies put on their skin. This doesn't make sense. It's a sick world.

CHAPTER 33 / 35 Discussion

UK ISP Logging, Tim Berners-Lee and Phorm

As of today, UK internet service providers are required to log user traffic and hand it over to intelligence services. Tim Berners-Lee has spoken out against the "Phorm" system, which logs clickstreams to insert targeted advertisements. The hosts discuss using VPNs to bypass local surveillance in the United Kingdom.

tim berners-lee· phorm· isp· logging· surveillance

1:36:47 Not quite as sick as the UK. As of today, as of today, at this very moment, my surfing habits, IP addresses, times of use, connections made through the interwebs are being logged by my ISP and handed over to the intelligence services of the United Kingdom. They're going to wonder why you were on so long today. What's he doing? What is he doing? He's streaming, he's streaming. He's streaming. Uh oh! It's exactly... I can just see a guy... Some guy's like... Smoking a cigarette. Hey man, I'm... Oh no! Oh no man! It's... It's... It's Curry and Dvorak! He's streaming again! Uh oh! What are we gonna do?

1:37:34 Actually, it's even worse with you. You're not only streaming to the our little audience of live listeners, but you're Doing a Skype call. Yeah, you got actually two stones come on double up double up. Yep Sir, that's suspicious right there. Sir. Tim Berners-Lee is turning up the heat I wanted I do want to give him a plug because he's really trying to stop this shit. He unfortunately For some reason you know whenever someone says the web everyone hails Tim Berners-Lee. Oh Tim Berners-Lee He's the man he did it all he's fantastic Wow Tim Berners-Lee you fucking rock, but when the guy is standing there saying hey help the internet is being fucked

1:38:15 Literally by form and by this directive, data directive, he started a foundation. No one talks about it. No one. We're all the fanboys now. You should be linking to these stories, helping him out. He set up a huge foundation which is huge in name and grandeur and ideas but I don't think anyone belongs to it. So what's he complaining about? We have the it that we should quote him We use the internet without a thought that a third party would know what we have clicked on But the URLs reveal people use reveal a huge amount about their lives loves hates and fears This is extremely sensitive information people use the web in a crisis now as he's going on and on he just he doesn't want this company form PHORM which is being introduced by all five major ISPs here to

1:39:03 be logging your clickstream and then inserting ads wherever they feel appropriate and of course the whole idea that all of your data is at this moment as of today not only being captured by the ISP but being handed over to the authorities for them to root through it. Seems as though the British public's pretty passive about all this stuff. I think that they're gonna snap. At a certain point. That's what you keep saying and there's evidence that it's happened in the past but I think maybe they're being so beaten down It's really, it's really, really, really sad is what it is. And of course what I've resorted to now, what I'll do is I just set up the VPN connection with the San Francisco office and surf through there. Yeah, I could do that same thing. It's a little bit slower unfortunately. Although, you're tracking us as much. I don't know if that's FISA bill man. Maybe it just might be. Okay, to wrap it up. We've talked about this before but now President Obama also

CHAPTER 34 / 35 Discussion

ACTA Treaty, National Security and White House Transparency

The Obama administration has declared the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) a national security secret, refusing to disclose its contents to the public. The hosts criticize the lack of transparency regarding an intellectual property treaty that could significantly impact international law and civil liberties.

acta· intellectual property· national security· foia· transparency

1:40:15 declares that the ACTA, this is the intellectual property treaty, which is a global one, is a national security secret and therefore nothing about this agreement can be disclosed to the public. I'm sorry? Nothing about this agreement can be disclosed to the public. What's the agreement? This is the ACTA, the intellectual property agreement that we've... Yeah, but there's an intellectual property agreement. People need to know what it is so they can act appropriately regarding their own intellectual property. So what's it all about? What's it say? Please be advised the documents you seek are being withheld in full, wrote Carmen Seuro Brady, chief freedom of information officer.

1:41:02 officer in the White House's Office of the US Trade Representative. Hold on a second, isn't this supposed to be a transparent White House? This is national security man, who are you? Who are you to question national security? Well it's really important that no one copies our really good ideas, okay? That's national security dude. Well that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that, but what's that got to do with not knowing what the bill says? It's because it's bad for the children. It always comes down to that. You watch, you watch, it's for the children. I don't understand it. It makes no sense that you have an intellectual property agreement. We need to jingle. Yeah, follow up. And once again, the shuttle launch has been delayed. They say it might go today. The International Space Station was actually evacuated earlier in the week because... It was evacuated during our show, if you recall.

CHAPTER 35 / 35 Discussion

Space Station Evacuation, Economic Outlook and Outro

The International Space Station was briefly evacuated due to space debris, and the hosts conclude with a look at the "upbeat" economic reporting in the UK following a Dow Jones rally. They sign off from "Gitmo Nation East" and the "Pacific Northwest," promising to return on Thursday.

iss· space wars· dow jones· mini-boom· gitmo nation

1:42:02 What was it actually during our show? I think so because I was reading a news flash Yeah, the Russians had to get out because there was a five-inch piece of metal that was flying in their way I could do some damage I guess Guess so the space wars continue. We're still hunting for Chinese submarines The world is pretty much the same although I have to say every single periodical in the United Kingdom in the past two days was very upbeat everyone is very excited because the economy based upon the Dow Jones rally is doing much better. We're pulling out and

1:42:40 It could be. I mean, if Obama now comes out and actually does some positive messages, it would help a little rather as opposed to his dour, it's going to get worse because the whole thing is just a bluff. Well, it seems very simple to me. It's not a bluff that people lost their jobs, but I'm just saying. But it seems really simple to me. Please just deal with the 1.2 quadrillion dollars of toxic assets, adjust the currency accordingly, move on with your life and start over again. Can't they just do that? It's not in the scheme of things. They have some plan that we don't know. We can maybe deconstruct it after it happens, but we don't know what it is yet.

1:43:26 God I don't even know who they is well. It's although you seem to well. They listen they snoop They know what we do, but now we're gonna actually have some fans within mi6. I suppose because of the of the show being tapped by the although it's coming to what no the stream is very tappable because you can just pick that up listen to it you can say hey listen mi6 it's no agenda stream calm go ahead and Listen all you want. Maybe they could give us some money. You know, I think we could do with $100,000 from MI6 and give them the one minute. The disinformation moment of the show. The disinformation one minute. So no, I'm right there with you. I'm going to remain very positive because I like the fact that everyone is on a positive tip. Everyone's saying, hey, wait a minute, things are going okay. You know, he raised the maximum amount or the most money ever for Red Nose Day.

1:44:25 The weather is nice. It's sunny You know lots people got a job, but other than that it just might be okay Well, I would be we have a little mini boom coming up that would follow my pattern a little better I hope for that I have I have thought about that it could be your mini boom I Yeah, the mini boom okay. Why coming to you from Gitmo nation east and southwest London? Hidden away in the crackpot command center I'm Adam curry, and I'm up here in the Pacific Northwest Gitmo nation Pacific Northwest best I could do I'm John C. Dvorak We'll talk to you again on Thursday right here on no agenda