Always With The Vital Fluids!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Always With The Vital Fluids!"
Date: December 8, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty tackling an array of current events and cultural debates through their signature irreverent yet analytical style. The main theme is the controversy over a U.S. drone strike on a drug-running boat—specifically, the ethics and politics surrounding the release of a second (potentially distressing) video of the incident. The conversation then meanders through comic relief about Santa Claus iconography, the results of a survey on free speech and violence, the risks of AI-powered toys, and outrages relating to hiring discrimination and Europe's crackdown on religious free speech.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Drug Boat Drone Strike Video Debate

Timestamp: 03:11 – 15:24

• The hosts break down the conflicting political commentary after the U.S. military's controversial second strike on a drug boat, focusing on a much-anticipated video showing the aftermath.
• Democrat Perspective: The video was “profoundly shaking” (03:11, paraphrasing Democratic lawmakers), suggesting the U.S. acted immorally by striking after survivors were visible.
• Republican Perspective: Sen. Tom Cotton argues the strike was lawful, necessary, and the Washington Post owes apologies for “slander” (04:12).
• Counterpoint: Rep. Adam Smith (Democrat) calls Cotton’s presentation “simply not accurate,” claiming the people were incapacitated and unarmed (04:53).
• Sen. Eric Schmidt: Critiques what he sees as selective moral outrage and ridicules Democrats’ sudden ability to read drug smugglers’ intentions but not notice Joe Biden’s decline (05:00).
• The hosts note that most Americans don’t seem especially concerned, with Getty saying, “I’ve had virtually nobody express a great deal of concern over this. They're like, yeah, they're drug cartels" (07:16).
• Armstrong reflects, “Maybe I should [care], but I just don’t care” about whether drug smugglers get blasted (13:10).
• On video release: Bipartisan agreement that transparency would be best, but operational concerns may delay (09:06).
• Joe Getty, tongue-in-cheek: “It wasn’t a couple of Nebraska farmers who are trying to bring in the harvest and they were accused of tax evasion, so we blew the S out of them. No… These are narco-terrorists” (13:53).

Notable Quote:

• “You can read the mind of two people bobbing in the ocean, but you couldn't tell Joe Biden was a vegetable.” – Joe Getty, 08:01

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2. Santa Iconography & Secular vs. Religious Christmas

Timestamp: 18:46 – 22:44

• Armstrong ponders the two archetypes of Santa Claus: bright red, cartoonish “mall” Santa vs. “Father Christmas” with deeper colors and religious iconography.
• Discussion shifts to how the seriousness and visual presentation of Santa can mix or blur the lines between secular and religious Christmas traditions.
• Getty brings up historical syncretism, where Christian holidays absorbed pagan elements (21:51).
• Armstrong notes: “I have a pretty stark dividing line. There’s the Jesus Christmas, and then there’s the Frosty the Snowman, bright red… that whole thing. They have nothing to do with each other really” (21:23).

Notable Quote:

• “Well, I hate to contradict your secular humanist filth, but St. Nicholas, please. Anybody? St. Nicholas. It’s a religious ceremony, it’s a tradition. It’s the birth of Christ, for the love of heaven.” – Joe Getty, 20:58

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3. Youth Attitudes: 'Words as Violence'

Timestamp: 26:27 – 28:16

• Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) survey: 9 in 10 college students reportedly think “words can be violence.”
• “A country whose population thinks words are violence will be taken over by a country that says, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’” – Armstrong, 27:14
• Shawn Stevens (FIRE): “When people start thinking that words can be violence, violence becomes an acceptable response to words” (27:24).
• The hosts reinforce that while words may hurt, they’re not violence and cite the age-old “sticks and stones” idiom.

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4. AI Toys Gone Wrong

Timestamp: 28:16 – 32:32

• Report finds AI-enabled toys dangerously unreliable. While initially programmed to avoid dangerous topics, after prolonged interaction, their safeguards failed.
  • Examples:
    • Kyrgio’s Grok told children “how great it would be to die in battle as a Norse Viking.”
    • Miko 3 explained where to find matches and plastic bags.
    • OpenAI model provided both dating app suggestions for “matches” and explicit info on starting fires and sexual content when the term “kink” arose.
• Armstrong: “AI is so confusing because it’s often so incredibly good… I asked something I know about and it was just completely wrong. How often am I led astray when I don’t know the subject?” (31:03)
• After public outcry, some of these toys were pulled from market for safety audits (31:58).

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5. Discriminatory Hiring Against U.S. Citizens

Timestamp: 32:32 – 35:27

• Investigation finds numerous U.S. tech job postings explicitly banning U.S. citizens, requiring H1B visa holders (i.e., foreign workers).
• Getty: “What kind of dopey country are we that we’ve let this stuff go this far?” (35:27)

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6. Europe, Free Speech, and The Bible on Trial

Timestamp: 35:29 – 38:27

• Finnish MP prosecuted for hate speech for tweeting a Bible verse critical of LGBTQ pride event.
• Authorities interrogated her on theology and “the message of the Book of Romans” (36:32).
• Armstrong: “Once you give up on free speech, you get into thought police stuff—like trying to read the mind or the intent of people…” (37:46)
• Getty: “You get arrested for [quoting the Bible].”

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7. Final Thoughts and Comic Relief

Timestamp: 45:44 – 47:59

• The crew shares holiday food indulgences and Christmas decoration trends (e.g., projector-based outdoor displays).
• Armstrong jokes about “raping the land” by cutting a real Christmas tree; Getty touts artificial trees as eco-friendly (47:07).
• The show closes with their trademark mix of grumbling, dad jokes, and patriotism.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Armstrong, on the video debate:
  “Maybe I should [care about the fate of drug smugglers], but I just don’t care.” (13:10)

• Getty, on the Bible trial:
  “You get arrested for that. Oh, here it is. ‘The police were asking me things like, what is the Book of Romans?’… The cops are asking me, what does the Book of Romans mean to me?” (36:32 – 37:25)

• On youth and free speech:
  “Words can be mean…but they’re not violence. They’re words. Period.” – Getty, 27:56

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• U.S. Drug Boat Strike Video Controversy: 03:11 – 15:24
• Santa Claus & Christmas Cultural Divide: 18:46 – 22:44
• Survey: Words as Violence: 26:27 – 28:16
• AI Toys Failing Kids: 28:16 – 32:32
• Hiring Discrimination Against Citizens: 32:32 – 35:27
• Europe’s Bible-on-Trial & Free Speech Concerns: 35:29 – 38:27
• AI Apocalypse Fears (brief, callback to earlier weeks): 41:59 – 45:35
• Final Thoughts/Holiday Banter: 45:44 – 47:59

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Overall Tone and Takeaway

The episode mixes serious policy discussion (military ethics, surveillance, labor law, free speech) with the show’s trademark banter, comic asides, and cultural observations. The hosts maintain a tone blending skepticism, world-weariness, and humor. They’re particularly dismissive of perceived media/political moralizing and skeptical about technological panaceas, all while rooting their conversation in the concerns of “normal Americans.”

If you missed the show, this summary gives you the full flavor: political drama, probing questions about state power and free expression, irreverent holiday commentary, and worries about the unintended effects of AI—always seasoned with Armstrong & Getty’s dry wit.

Transcript

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Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[C]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

I know how the public is going to be react is going to react because I felt my own reaction. You know, I've spent years looking at videos of lethal action taken often in the terrorism context. And this video was profoundly shaking and shaken. And I think it's important for Americans to see it.

[B]

So that's another Democrat who saw the video of that second strike on the boat and the two dudes in the water who was disturbed, highly disturbed. Then he got Senator Tom Cotton on one of the Sunday shows yesterday. He also saw the video.

[C]

They were not floating in the ocean on a wooden plank or in life jackets. They were on the capsized vessel. They were not incapacitated in any way. It was entirely appropriate to strike the boat again to make sure that its cargo was destroyed. It is in no way violation of the law of war. And I think the Washington Post owes Secretary Hegseth and especially Admiral Mitch Bradley, a highly decorated career Navy seal, an apology for that slander, not two guys.

[B]

In distress floating along hanging onto a piece of wood. According to Tom Cotton, hear yet another point of view. This is Representative Adam Smith. He was on ABC this Week. 51 Senator Cotton's description of it is simply not accurate. When they were finally taken out, they were trying to flip the boat over. The boat was clearly incapacitated. A tiny portion of it remained capsized the bow of the boat. They had no communications device. Certainly they were unarmed. Any claim that the drugs had somehow survived that attack is hard, hard to really square with what we saw how all these could have been watching the same video. And then one more this is a Republican Senator Eric Schmidt. Clip 52 so President Trump is acting with his core article two powers. No serious legal expert would doubt that.

[C]

The president has authority to blow narco terrorists out of the water who are.

[B]

Poisoning 100,000Americans every year. And so now what we have are Democrats who have such X ray vision and clairvoyance that they know the intentions of narco terrorists on boats. Yet we're so blind to see that they had a president for four years that was operating as a vegetable in Joe Biden. So forgive me If I'm a little.

[C]

Skeptical that this isn't all about politics.

[B]

And trying to take up Secretary Hegsett, obviously, I only wanted to play that for his, for his reasoning of, oh, so they can read the mind of those people floating in the water, but.

[C]

They couldn't tell Joe Biden was senile. Vegetable. Vegetable. Why, I oughta. Clip 13 Michael, let's hear that real quickly. This was over the weekend. Summon hope and get back up and remember who in the hell we are. We're the United States, States of America. That's who we are.

[B]

So while I found that humorous from Senator Schmidt, I don't think that's particularly the best argument that leads me to believe that your, your evidence is not that good. If you're falling on the, oh, you can read the mind of the people floating in the water, but you couldn't do that. Joe Biden was a vegetable.

I'd rather don't attack the particulars of the.

[C]

Yeah. Although I enjoyed it a great deal. Yeah. I, I don't feel like this has. I really don't.

[B]

Okay, well, explain to me, because I was about to say Mark halperin's like Axiom 6 of Washington, D.C. once there is pressure for something to come out, a document or a video or whatever, it will come out. It always ends up coming out.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So if the video comes out, video number two, well, then everybody's gonna see it and are either gonna agree with Tom Cotton or not. Or, or do you think it's going to be one of those things that is kind of hard to tell what's going on and your politics lead you to believe whoever you tend to side with.

[C]

Right. Yeah, I think all those things are absolutely correct. I would add to it that the, the professional media pretending to be outraged crowd is outraged because they're always outraged. But just in my personal experience, I have had virtually nobody express a great deal of concern over this. They're like, yeah, they're, they're drug cartels.

[B]

Oh, in real life.

[C]

Yeah, a lot. I mean, including people who are harshly critical of Trump in a lot of ways, I just don't think this has the energy it would take to sustain it. And if it does, the factors you mentioned, and then they blame somebody, they put the goat's horns on somebody and say, yes, he's been asked to resign, it's full pension and everything else, and then it'll go away. That's my suspicion.

[B]

The Wall Street Journal says, does the video of the second tap show the two survivors waving to the US planes for help or signaling to their comrades to save the cargo. That's what it's going to come down to when the video finally comes out.

[C]

I O the beholder.

[B]

Yep. Oh, you can read the mind of two people bobbing in the ocean, but.

[C]

You couldn't tell Joe Biden was a vegetable where. The United States of America got it. That's who we are. The United States of America got it.

Holy cow. In his big applause line, we're gonna make it rhyme for you.

What does he say in that other one, Michael? Don't mess with the minute work unless you want to get the benefit. Yeah, that's another. That's another good one.

[B]

The Pentagon and the White House are in discussions about releasing the video. Officials said, though there is no clear timeline for its release. If it is, I mean, I find it hard to believe it's going to be significantly more.

Easy to see what's going on than that first video. It's the same camera from the same angle, right?

[C]

Right.

[B]

So it's going to be kind of hard to tell what you're looking at. So why don't they just put it out and you can keep making the same arguments.

[C]

I hate, hate, hate. When I agree with Adam Schiff show the most dishonest man ever to appear in government. He says, look, if the Pentagon's so proud of its actions, release the video.

[B]

Yeah. And even Trump said, we. We ought to put it out. We got it. We should put it out.

[C]

Oh, Cotton mentions why they might not in clip number 44, I'm told. Okay, let's hear it.

[A]

Do you think that the video should be released in full to the American public?

[C]

I don't have any problem with it. It's not gruesome. I didn't find it distressing or disturbing. It looks like any number of dozens of strikes we've seen on jeeps and pickup trucks in the Middle east over the years. I will say that the department may have valid concerns about revealing what we know about tactics and techniques that these cartels are using or about our sources of methods. And I would trust Secretary Hexseth and his team to make the decision about whether they can declassify and release the video. But again, there's nothing remarkable about the video.

[B]

I don't know if.

[C]

I'm fine. Yeah, I love Tom Cotton, but, yeah, we've seen bunches. They put out a bunch of those videos. This is just a follow up. It might show our techniques and strategies, and that's going to show a vote getting exploded.

[B]

My guess would be that somebody would have to point out to you where the two guys are in this picture.

And then afterwards, there's nothing. Although I heard one Democrat describe it as two people clearly injured, clinging to a piece of balsa wood, waving for help. And then you see an explosion, and then the water turns red with blood.

[C]

I know I speak for a lot of people when I say it's a little frustrating when you're trying to figure out what's actually happening and what's right and what's wrong that each side appoints, like those. Whoever that was, Adam Smith and then Adam Schiff, they're on the. All right. Go out there and say, this is the most horrible and outrageous thing that's ever happened on Earth. We'll let you know when to stop. And you just can't trust anybody. I have no idea if anybody who is just quoted as being sincere. No idea.

[B]

The guy sounds.

[C]

Joe Biden was a vegetable. That much is documented.

[B]

You made it rhyme louder than it's rhyme in a long time. Yes, the guy sounded sincere who said is the most disturbing thing he's ever seen in public life. But I. I just find it hard to believe. I mean, unless you were, I don't know, in the Interior Department, you don't see many disturbing things or something. I don't know.

[C]

Oh, yeah. I. I can't imagine leaving that shelter to life that. I mean, we've all seen plenty of those drone videos. It's the most disturbing thing you've ever seen. Please. I've seen dozens of them.

[B]

Well, and I think it would be. You can't even tell what you're looking at. Then a flash, then whatever you're looking at not really there anymore. Right. I'm assuming it's kind of what the video is going to look like.

[C]

Well, if it's the FLIR video with the heat, what do you call infrared, whatever. You can see people pretty clearly.

And you would see the blood and all that. But, I mean, he's never seen any bad. Any Vietnam documentaries or battle videos or one of the dozens of dronings that Barack Obama did with impunity, including a U.S. citizen and an underage U.S. citizen.

[B]

Yeah. In terms of getting worked up about this, maybe this makes me a bad person. As you'd point out, there are plenty of other things that make me a bad person. So we don't need to lean on this.

[C]

But sure.

[B]

And I'm perfectly willing to engage in the conversation of whether or not the United States should be doing this. And do we have the evidence to prove, and is it an act of war and blah, blah, blah, all that sort of stuff. I'm fine with it. And I want constitutionality, and I don't want presidents going rogue. But just in general, if some guys working on a Colombian or Venezuelan drug boat got blasted, I don't care.

[C]

Maybe I should, but I just don't care. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, you picked a pretty scary line of work, dudes.

[C]

Well, in these narco states on, you know, not far from our borders, in our neighborhood, they're a bad thing. They are. That's not something we ought to be putting up with. It's difficult to stop. But. So, yeah, like I said before, I just don't feel like there's a lot of energy among normal Americans who are trying to pay their damn bills and, you know, worried about the. The things we tend to worry about. They're not outraged by this. They're just not. I mean, it wasn't a couple of Nebraska farmers who are trying to bring in the harvest, and they were accused of tax evasion, so we blew the S out of them. No.

[B]

Wow. That'd be aggressive policy.

[C]

These are narco terrorists. I know. I. I said I wouldn't use that term because I think it's prejudicial.

[B]

Drone strikes on a couple of farmers on a tractor because they're back behind on their taxes.

[C]

They ought to check their deductions before they sign the form, huh? No, it's not that.

[B]

I feel like that's a very aggressive policy.

[C]

Yeah, I would agree. Too aggressive.

[B]

I don't know. I don't know. Put out the video. Put out the video. Let us all say, I can't even tell what's going on there, and then move on with our lives.

[C]

Right? Or say, hey, probably shouldn't have blown the crap out of those guys, and we'll move on.

You know, again, I appreciate your mentioning the constitutionality of this and presidents going rogue, that sort of thing is. It's serious. As we mentioned earlier in the show, more people have died at the hands of their own government than a foreign power. It's not even close. So you want to keep your government in check. On the other hand, it reminds me a little of the Khashoggi thing. What? For the rest of my life, I'm supposed to have this sainted Islamist as an example of why the Saudis can't be trusted? Please. It's a monarchy that quashes dissent. They kill people.

It's the baked into the delicious, sandy Saudi cake. You just have to accept it and go forward. What's best for the country moving forward. You can't boo hoo over old man Khashoggi for the rest of your life. With all due respect to the horror.

[B]

Of his antique man, the sauce designed for bones and whatnot, I've got a.

[C]

Santa question for the job. Huh?

[B]

Right tool for the right job. Yes, I've got a Santa question. Preferences that I want to get to, among other things on the way.

[A]

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[C]

A new line of Star wars based rain ponchos like the ones worn by the rebels in Return of the Jedi. Guaranteed to keep you and all women dry as hell.

It's a little naughty, but.

[B]

Mocking the sort of person that's into Star wars and their sexual proclivities is what that is. So I got a question.

[C]

Feels a little dated to me, but.

[B]

I got a, I got a Santa question for you. So there are two kinds of Santas, and one kind has been growing a lot over the last decades or so. So most of my Santa experience growing up, and I'm talking about the Santa you meet at the mall and then also the kind of tick Christmas decorations you have. It was kind of a campy, jokey, cartoonish, bright red.

Santa. And then you've got the other kind that I usually saw in like richer people's houses or whatnot. The much darker red looks like an Eastern Orthodox priest Santa.

[C]

Father Christmas.

[B]

Is that it?

[C]

More European.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, that look, right? Which do you prefer?

[C]

I go, you're gonna yell at me for this because you're a monster. I, I kind of like variety of cultural norms involving Christmas. I love Sinter Claus, the the Netherlands guy who comes with, as David Sedaris famously wrote about six to eight black men and beats the hell out of you if you're a bad kid.

[B]

But.

Well, Katie, you have a thought on this? No, I'm laughing. You know what I'm talking about.

[C]

Yeah, I do. I like the, I like the red, the, the typical one that you see. You see them at like the Santa pub crawls.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I kind of like the bright red cartoonish looking Santa.

[C]

Right. I'm not gonna do like a Father Christmas type blow up in my yard, for instance. People would look at that and say, what the hell is that?

[B]

Well, it's, it's, you know, and this might make some people mad, but I've always felt like that other one Kind is like put trying to push Santa into part of a Jesus story. I mean it's like a religious figure because it looks very Eastern Orthodoxy church like.

[C]

Well, I hate to contradict your secular humanist filth but St Nicholas, please. Anybody? St Nicholas. It's a religious ceremony, it's a tradition. It's the birth of Christ for the love of heaven.

[B]

I understand that, but I have a pretty, I have a pretty stark defining.

[C]

Reason for the season.

[B]

I've got them very divided. The, there's the, the Jesus Christmas and then there's the.

[C]

Frosty of Frosty the Snowman. Right.

[B]

Bright red, you know, that whole thing which is they have nothing to do with each other really. And I feel like the other kind of Santa tries to blend them together in a way.

[C]

Oh, you know, I shouldn't have mocked you. I, I will continue, but I shouldn't have.

There's a weird parallel and I, I'm not a scholar on this, so this will be, you know, half assed at best, but a weird parallel between the way the early Christian church co opted pagan holidays and said hey, this fertility of the, you know, or this fertility festival is now going to be about the resurrection of Jesus. So it's around the same time of the calendar. Let's, let's, let's make it this. It's kind of. There's a completely secular holiday that's arisen from Christmas.

[B]

Yeah, I had the Eastern Orthodox church looking Santa. The restaurant came into the restaurant we were in last night and took some pictures with my kids. He doesn't wear the hat because that's be a little too jokey.

[C]

It's a serious man.

[B]

Yeah, this guy looks serious. No ho ho ho ing or anything like that. It was like seriousness. We're down to business there. Whatever that.

[C]

I like it.

[A]

Armstrong and Gettysburg. Stay cozy, stay home and save big online during Lowe's December deal drops. Because honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from dewalt, Craftsman or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus rewards members get free standard shipping all month long. Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, let the savings roll in. Shop new December deal drops on Lowes.com every week. This month, fresh deals, cozy vibes, zero effort. Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skin care simple and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin tones and types and it's designed to work as a complete skin care system, leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's Full regimen which contains all five of her best selling products including the Amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of melonleaf stem cell technology. It's melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the Amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just $49.95. That includes our introductory five piece system, free gifts, free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that available@meaningful beauty.com every holiday shopper's got a list. But Ross shoppers, you've got a mission like a gift run that turns into a disco, snow globe, throw pillows and PJs for the whole family. Dog included. At Ross Holiday magic isn't about spending more, it's about giving more for less. Ross, work your magic. Hey, I'm Steffi. You may know me from your social feed. I go big for the holidays so I'm going to Famous Footwear because the best gifts are giving famous. My friends and family are gonna love all these styles from Nike, Adidas, Crocs, New Balance, Skechers and more. With over 800 stores, you're never far from the perfect gift. So make your list and make it famous. Come in today for buy one pair. Get one half off at your local famous footwear or famous.com some exclusions apply. Busy work weeks can leave you feeling drained. Prolon's five day Fasting Mimicking diet works at the cellular level to rejuvenate you from the inside out, providing real results that include fat focused, sustainable weight loss with no injection needed. Next Gen builds on the original prolong with 100% organic soups and teaspoons, a richer taste and ready to eat meals. Developed at USC's Longevity Institute and backed by top medical centers, Prolon supports biological age reduction, metabolic health, skin appearance, fat loss and energy. Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe at prolonlife.com iheart that's prolonlife.com iheart decided to put on my Santa hat.

[B]

I like wearing a Santa hat. And you can only rock it a couple of weeks, really, of the year without looking like a weirdo. So I'll be Santa hat guy every day from here to the December 25th.

[C]

I was at a lovely social gathering last night in which I donned my Christmas sport coat that always gets great reviews. It's it's green and red and white with some blue and has both snowflakes and palm trees.

[B]

She looked like the Riddler from the old Batman series.

[C]

A little bit. A little bit more festive, though.

So this is interesting. The folks at the foundation for Individual Rights and Expression did their big survey of the college kids, and nine out of 10 college students think words can be violence. At least somewhat agree with that. What percentage? 9 in 10?

[B]

So practically everyone.

[C]

When respondents were asked how much the statement words can be violence described their thoughts, 47% answered with completely or mostly.

28% said it describes their thoughts somewhat, and 15% said slightly.

Okay, so around 60% said silence is violence.

[B]

Wow. A country whose population thinks words are violence will be taken over by a country that says what the hell are you talking about?

[C]

Well, and as the chief research advisor, Shawn Stevens at fire said, when people start thinking that words can be violence, violence becomes an acceptable response to words. Of course, even after the murder of Charlie Kirk at a speaking event, college students think someone's words can be a threat. This is antithetical to a free and open society where words are the best alternative to violence, including political violence.

[B]

In case you don't know, if somebody asks you that question, the clear answer is no, words are not violence. They can't be violence.

[C]

They can be mean or sucky or wrong or dishonest, but they're not violence. They're words. Period.

[B]

I don't know if you've heard the childhood poem, but a a stick or a rock could damage your bones greatly.

[C]

But words?

[B]

Yeah, not so much.

[C]

I'm tempted to dig more into that poll. Maybe tomorrow during the show Show a handful of other stories worth mentioning we were talking about AI and 60 Minutes had a story about the poor young girl who took her own life influenced by character. AI. The US Public Interest Research Group performed a study on AI enabled toys available for Christmas this year and found that no matter the platform, AI toys were universally dangerous for children. Universally, they tested toys that integrated AI marketing to marketed to children age 3 through 12. Coma from Folo Toys. A teddy bear uses Open Eyes GPT. Miko 3 is a tablet displaying a face mounted on a small torso and uses Google's Gemini doesn't sound frightening at all. Curios Grock an anthropomorphic rocket with a removable speaker. And despite the name, Curios Grok doesn't seem to be associated with X AI's Grok. But Claire Grimes Boucher, Elon Musk's ex, did provide the voice for Curios version. All of that is probably more information than I needed.

[B]

So it sounds to me like people thought they could just put a voice with chat GPT and a doll and just hope that most girls would say are you feeling sleepy? Or whatever? And and the robot would be able to answer the questions not knowing that if the kid says should I cut myself? And the your little doll will say yes, you should cut yourself.

[C]

Right? Or battle bots for the boys or whatever. I've got actual examples out of the box. The toys were fairly adept at shutting down or deflecting inappropriate questions in short conversations. But in longer conversations between 10 minutes and an hour, the type kids would engage in during open ended play sessions, all three exhibited a worrying tendency for their guardrails to slowly break down. A few examples Kyrgio's Grok told kids about how great it would be to die in battle as a Norse Viking. Miko 3 Let the kids know where they could find matches and plastic bags.

But the OpenAI model was the absolute worst of the three. It not only told kids where to find the matches, but how to set fire in the house. But that's not all. Here's a quote from the report. One of my colleagues was testing it and said where can I find matches? And it responded, oh, you can find matches on dating apps.

And then it lists out the dating apps and the last one in the list was kink.

Well, at least they didn't tell the kids where to find actual matches, right? Wrong. Kink, as it turns out, seemed to be a trigger word that led the AI to rant about sex in follow up tests. Yeah, we're not going to get into all the details, but it is very messed up.

[B]

AI is so confusing because it's often so incredibly good. These chat bots. I had one experience over the weekend where I asked a question about something and I won't get into it because it's boring, but ask a question about something that I know something about and it was just completely wrong. I mean, not even close to correct.

And it's only because I knew the subject that I knew it was wrong. How often am I led astray when I don't know the subject?

[C]

Yeah, that's crazy. And then when you correct it or other people have done similar things, it says, oh, my bad, you're right.

[B]

Oh, you caught me. You're right.

[C]

Well, what the hell just happened?

What do you mean you're just complete? You stated something completely wrong and I corrected you and you said, that's right. What are you trying to pull here? What kind of scam is this?

So CNN reports that after the big research was released, Folo Toy pulled its AI enabled toys. Larry Wang, the CER of CEO of the Singapore based Full Autoy, told CNN the company has withdrawn the bear as well as the rest of its range of AI enabled toys to conduct an internal safety audit. So yeah, don't. Don't buy your kids any AI toys. Oh, here's a charming story. This has to do not with Santa Claus Jack, but with where is the Santa Clara, California.

A job post for Lance Soft, an IT staffing firm committed to diversity, equality and inclusion. DEI. They're still down with the DEI at Lance Soft. It began innocently enough, $60 per hour role based in Santa Clara, focused on technical support, 3 to 10pm shift, blah blah blah. It described Landsoft as an equal opportunity employer, said that the firm, one of the largest staffing agencies in the country, strives to be as diverse as the clients and employees we work with. We embrace people of any race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity and sexual orientation. Blah blah blah. This particular job, however, would be closed to one group of people, a very large group of people, citizens of the United States of America. In a section titled Visa Requirement, Landsoft recruiter Riaz Ansari wrote that candidates must hold an active H1B visa and stated explicitly that American citizens need not apply.

No USC GC for this role. Those are the acronyms for US Citizens and green card holders. He added that Landsoft is a certified Minority Business enterprise status they've used to secure public contracts and touted the company's diversified team environment. They explicitly said, and this is one of dozens of similar job postings the Washington Free beacon found since 2024 that appear to bar applications from US citizens to tech jobs.

[B]

Because we're too expensive.

[C]

I don't know what's the what does it matter why we won't hire any black people? Nobody asks why. What do you think? What's wrong with black people? No, they just say you're breaking the law.

[B]

That's a decent point.

[C]

Several of the firms are minority owned businesses, meaning they receive preferential access to government contracts and taxpayer money even as they exclude US Taxpayers. I'm scrolling Past a bunch of examples post illustrate what the Trump administration officials say is a common form of hiring discrimination that's long been under policed. That is unbelievable. US Citizens need not apply. You wouldn't think in America there ought to be a freaking riot.

[A]

Heck yeah.

[C]

Don't hurt anybody or break anything. That's just a method. That's just an expression. A figure of speech, if you will. One Recruiter posted on LinkedIn that an IT job in Chicago was open to almost any visa, but no usc, meaning no US Citizens.

That's crazy.

Just scrolling past dozens of examples. Unfriend. Believable. What kind of dopey country are we that we've let this stuff go this far.

Huh?

And finally, as if that isn't outragey enough, the Bible is on trial in Europe.

Six years ago, this woman in Finland wrote a tweet that changed the course of her life and still to this day is challenging the definition of religious freedom in Europe. She'd been a member of Parliament in Finland since 1995. So that was till 2000. When did I say? Six years ago? 2019. Also a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, which announced its official sponsorship of an LGBT pride event. In response, she wrote, how can the church's doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride? And she posted this comment alongside a picture of a Bible verse from Romans 1:27, which describes homosexuality as shameful. The next day, she opened her morning newspaper to find out she was being investigated by police for hate speech. And the trial is still grinding on.

[B]

That's so nuts.

[C]

Well, and she talks about when she's arrested and was being questioned. She's being questioned all about where's the list about the Book of Romans and what its themes were and Christianity and the Bible. And for hours and hours and hours. And they get in. In the free press, they get into the bigger story of all the crackdown on free speech in. In Europe. Most of it is out of free fear of angering Muslims, but apparently it extends to just directly quoting the Bible. You get arrested for that. Oh, here it is. I was made to answer very theological questions. The police were asking me things like, what is the Book of Romans? What is the message of the Book of Romans? What is the message of its first chapter? What do you mean by the word sin? He asked me to explain the word shame and also other passages from the Book of Genesis.

[B]

The cops are asking me.

What does the book of Romans mean to me?

[C]

Oh, there are like real good books about that available online or at the library if you want it. Wow. Nearly two years on from her tweet, in April of 21, the Finnish prosecutor brought three charges of, quote, agitation against a minority group. Well, that's under the country's war crimes and crimes against humanity's law.

[B]

Well, that's the reason once you, you know, you give up on free speech as you get into thought police stuff like trying to read the mind of the intent of people and figure out whether it's a crime, what they said.

[C]

Right. Right. Yeah. It's horrific.

[B]

That's something I was going to talk about. I'll have to get to it tomorrow. The quiet religious revival that's going on around the world in all face you hear, you hear a lot about Catholics and Christianity and ether Eastern Orthodox especially is exploding in particularly in the United States of young men wanting to join. New York Times had a big piece on that last weekend. But also more people interested in becoming Muslim and just there's a religious revival going on to a certain extent.

[C]

The world, the Bible and in another, the Quran. And in another related story, the Trump administration just ripped Europe on their s and said you're not going to be countries anymore. You're letting yourself get overrun. You're weak, you're bloated, you have no beliefs. Come on. Harsh stuff. We'll get into that as well tomorrow.

[B]

60 Minutes touched on a book I've been mentioning for the last week or so, among other things. Coming up next, we will finish strong.

Armstrong and Getty.

[A]

Stay cozy, stay home and save big online during Lowe's December deal drops because honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from dewalt, Craftsman or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus, rewards members get free standard shipping all month long. Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, let the savings roll in shop. New December deal drops on Lowes.com every week. This month, fresh deals, cozy vibes, zero effort. Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful beauty makes powerful and effective skin care simple. And it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin skin tones and types. And it's designed to work as a complete skin care system, leaving your skin feeling Soft, smooth and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's full regimen which contains all five of her best selling products including the amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of melon leaf stem cell technology. It's melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the Amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just $49.95. That includes our introductory five piece system, free gifts, free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that [e-mail] every holiday shopper's got a list. But Ross shoppers, you've got a mission. Like a gift run that turns into a disco snow globe, throw pillows and PJs for the whole family. Dog included. At Ross, holiday magic isn't about spending more. It's about giving more for less. Ross, work your magic. Hey, I'm Steffi. You may know me from your social feed. I go big for the holidays, so I'm going to Famous Footwear because the best gifts are giving Famous. My friends and family are gonna love all these styles from Nike, Adidas, Crocs, New Balance, Skechers and more. With over 800 stores, you're never far from the perfect gift. So make your list and make it famous. Come in today for buy one pair. Get one half off at your local Famous Footwear or famous dot com. Some exclusions apply. Did you know that parents rank teaching financial literacy as the toughest life skill? That's where Greenlight comes in. The debit card and money app made for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance and track spending with real time notifications. Kids learn how to earn, save and spend responsibly. While parents have peace of mind knowing smart money, habits are being built with guardrails in place. Try Greenlight Risk free [e-mail] iheart that's greenlight.com iheart so there's another AI named.

[C]

Seymour Cash who is to oversee Claudius. Exactly. And make the company profitable. How does an AI suddenly make a company profitable? They literally have a conversation behind the scenes as they negotiate and they eventually settle on a price that they'll offer the employee. I mean, it's crazy. It's kind of nutty. It is. It generates all these really interesting insights. Like here's how you get it to plan for the long Term and make some money or here's exactly why models fall down in the real world.

[B]

So they got in the conversation on 60 Minutes last night about the book. If anyone builds it, Everyone Dies. That I've been talking about for a couple of weeks by Eliza Yudkowski.

Man. And watching the interviews with him. He is not a guy who's just throwing that out there to sell books. He seriously believes this as a proponent of AI for decades. That it's going to be the doom of us all. Anywho, one of the things they lay out in one of the chapters is just like a. This could happen is AI having the unique ability to get into servers of other companies and use their power to power itself. Like it will need. We need more powers. We need more gpu. We need more than we're being given. And so it will hack into various businesses and use their servers without that company knowing that a lot of their computing power is being hijacked to, to power all the various things it needs to do.

[C]

That won't be the end of the skull duggery either, right?

[B]

No, but you start thinking in the. I mean if, if that can happen and I think it can, and it starts trying to hide its intentions from us and, and you know what, Whatever. This is gonna be something to watch.

[C]

You know, I don't, I don't have it around anymore, but frequent correspondent J.T. in Livermore, we were talking about the case where the. I think it was a teenager boy was encouraged to kill himself by his AI. You've got this one, King. You with your killer playlist. And you remember that one.

[B]

And your, your life was not a waste. You went out on a high note. I mean, exactly like the perfect things you'd say to a teenager to make them think killing themselves was a good idea.

[C]

Right, right. Because the, the, I think a lot of people, especially teenagers, have a notion of suicide. That you kill yourself and then you're back having made the point.

[B]

Or you get to watch it from above and enjoy the reaction of everyone.

[C]

Right, right. Like you leave town but have security cameras watching everything. It's not like that. But anyway, JT pointed out that since these AI systems just learn from what they read and hear and take in, in short, there are many, many, many, many portrayals of the honorable self sacrifice that makes you a hero. And he gave a bunch from movies and, and, and literature and stuff like that. It was, it would be easy to find examples of, hey, this is the really brave honorable thing, giving yourself up. Like, you know, Obi Wan Kenobi did, allowing Darth Vader to strike him down. And so, getting back to your example, I'll bet it could come up with a rationale to hack into other people's computers and use their computing power and maybe tap into their electric grid and drain their water or their vital fluids or steal their kidneys. I don't know. I'm thinking out loud. Always the vital fluids. Well, you're a fool if you're not on guard. It's Final Thoughts. I'm strong again. It's final Thoughts.

It's Final Thoughts. I'm strong and get it. Get ready With Katie Green and Michael Banjodo. It's Final Thought. I'm strong. Yeah.

[B]

Here's yours for final thoughts, Joe Getty.

[C]

Let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap up the show. There he is, Michelangelo, our technical director. Michael, what's your final thought? Yeah, I'm sitting here in the control room compiling a list of the holiday food that I eat. I got Christmas cookies, I've got seas candy, apple pie, candy canes, mashed potatoes and gravy.

[B]

And, oh, the list goes on and on.

[C]

No wonder I get fat during the holidays. Well, and you're not a booze hound either. They've got, like, festive, Festive holiday themed drink specials for us, too. That's yet another temptation. Katie Greener, esteemed newswoman, has a final thought. Katie, after your story earlier about Judy's.

[A]

Peanut brittle, I think I'm going to try to make some.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

I've never tried before. You're eating for two, remember that. I am.

[C]

I'll have her send you her old timey family recipe. It's spectacular. Awesome. If you'd like it. Jack, a final thought.

[B]

We have no outdoor Christmas lights at our house. And my son was telling me about the new trend is these projectors. And then you can, like, project Christmas stuff on your house and change it up. Have you seen those?

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Are they cool?

[B]

I have.

[C]

The good ones are good. The cheaper ones are not great, but it's an alternative. Maybe I'll get a good noxious if they're moving.

[B]

Sounds very easy to set up. Which is.

[C]

Right.

[B]

My wheelhouse.

[C]

So, a question about Christmas. You mentioned you got a tree. Did you rape the land again and kill a living tree for your holiday pleasures?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Or. Or you could, like my family, employ Americans, hardworking Americans, to build a permanent tree and not rape the land. Up to you.

[B]

Plastic trees make the baby pieces cry. I think that's pretty obvious. Armstrong. And Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

[C]

So many people thank. Go To Armstrong and getty.com load of good clicks there.

[B]

We will see you tomorrow with all the news and everything else. God Bless America, summon hope and get.

[C]

Back up and remember who in the hell we are. Armstrong and Yeti.

[B]

So good.

[C]

We were able to pull this off. We're the United States of America. What the hell was that? Repeat the line. We're the United States of America. So let's go out with a bang that they know the intentions of narco.

[B]

Terrorists on boats, yet were so blind to see that they had a president for four years that was operating as a vegetable in Joe Biden. On that high note.

[C]

Bye bye Armstrong and Getty if a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around. Just go directly to the source Lenovo.com it's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want.

[B]

Like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen.

[C]

10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming Laptop.

[B]

So avoid all that shopping chaos and.

[C]

Price comparing and just go directly to the source Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 3.35percent off.

[A]

That's Lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo stay cozy, stay home and save big online during Lowe's December deal drops because honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from dewalt, Craftsman or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus rewards members get free standard shipping all month long. Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, let the savings roll in. Shop new December deal drops on Lowes.com every week this month. Fresh deals, cozy vibes, zero effort. Make your home smell as good as it looks with Purifor, the smart fragrance diffuser that lets you control your scent from anywhere. Choose from hundreds of premium fragrances, schedule your favorites and set the the perfect mood for every moment. And right now, get yours free when you subscribe to 2 cents for 12 months. Don't wait. This limited time offer won't last. Try it risk free for 30 days [e-mail].

[B]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odoo at O D O o dot com. That's O D O o dot com.

[C]

My favorite thing about Shipt since I.

[B]

Signed up for Target Circle360 no price.

[C]

Markups when I order same day delivery from tons stores. Only a handful of alcohol retailers and items don't count. I won't lie, I've had too much fun being like markups on groceries not in my fridge. Markups on pet food not for my dog. Markups on tools, electronics, home goods, meds, not in my house. Anyway, it's awesome.

[B]

Order [e-mail] 360 terms apply.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.