I Have The Male Package... No Extra Charge

Summary

Summary of Armstrong & Getty On Demand - "I Have The Male Package... No Extra Charge"

Release Date: November 21, 2024

In the episode titled "I Have The Male Package... No Extra Charge," hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty tackle a variety of pressing topics, blending political commentary, societal observations, and sharp humor. Here's a detailed look into the key discussions and insights from the show:

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1. Overturned Conviction of Jussie Smollett

[00:54]
The episode kicks off with the surprising news that an Illinois court has overturned Jussie Smollett's conviction. Armstrong expresses his bafflement, stating, “I have no idea why this has happened” ([00:54]), and criticizes the decision as a mere technicality, labeling it “What a moron.”

2. Anti-Semitism on College Campuses

[01:20]
Armstrong and Getty discuss a troubling report labeling the University of California, Davis as the most anti-Semitic campus in America. Getty sarcastically remarks, “That’s some true Division 1 bigotry you've got going on there at UC Davis” ([01:20]). They further criticize UCLA for reportedly excluding Jewish students from classes ([01:40]).

3. Escaped Primates at South Carolina's Alpha Genesis Research Lab

[02:09]
A peculiar headline about escaped primates opens the floor for Armstrong's confusion: “Is that a euphemism metaphor or are they actually opening can cans? Worms” ([02:09]). The hosts debate whether the headline is metaphorical or literal, highlighting the absurdity of certain news reports.

4. Controversies Surrounding Transgender Policies

[02:45] - [05:10]
A significant portion of the episode delves into the heated debate over transgender rights, especially in sports and public restrooms. Armstrong criticizes panel discussions on protecting women’s sports, pointing out the backlash against transgender individuals who, biologically, differ ([02:45]). They cite incidents where law professors defend transgender rights passionately, leading to heated exchanges. Armstrong describes the fervor as a “cult or a quasi-religion” ([05:10]), emphasizing the deep-seated divisions on the topic.

5. Legislative Actions in Ohio and Wisconsin

[07:10] - [07:31]
The hosts highlight recent legislative moves in Ohio and Wisconsin aimed at restricting bathroom and sports participation based on biological sex. Getty underscores the emphasis on "biological sex," mocking the redundancy: “It's like saying edible food” ([07:10]).

6. The Trend of Expensive Eye Color Surgeries

[16:14] - [19:36]
Armstrong and Getty explore the growing trend of $12,000 eye color-changing surgeries. They mock the necessity and potential dangers of such procedures, with Armstrong questioning, “$12,000… that seems crazy” ([16:14]). Getty shares anecdotes about individuals altering their eye colors, further emphasizing the perceived frivolity and risks involved.

7. IRS Raising 401(k) Contribution Limits

[20:39] - [21:31]
Economic updates include the IRS announcing an increase in 401(k) contribution limits to $23,500, with an additional $7,500 for those over 50 ([20:39]). Armstrong criticizes the adjustment as insufficient relative to inflation, labeling the new limits as “nuts” ([20:57]).

8. Media Dynamics and MSNBC's Future

[21:44] - [22:23]
The hosts discuss potential changes within media outlets, specifically NBC contemplating the future of MSNBC. They suggest that NBC might distance itself from MSNBC to avoid reputational damage: “NBC might be getting rid of MSNBC because they don't like having that hanging around their neck” ([21:44]).

9. Political Rivalries and RFK Jr.

[22:20] - [22:56]
Armstrong and Getty analyze the political struggles surrounding RFK Jr., speculating that Republican senators may target him over his stances on abortion: “This is the most troubling story I've come across today” ([22:56]).

10. U.S. Military Stockpiles and China's Growing Threat

[24:00] - [24:42]
The discussion turns to national security, with concern over depleted U.S. military stockpiles due to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Getty references reports that the U.S. could exhaust its anti-aircraft missile reserves within two days in a major conflict, highlighting strategic vulnerabilities against China ([24:00]).

11. Clarification on Jussie Smollett's Legal Case

[24:49] - [26:46]
Further details emerge about Smollett's case, where Getty explains the legal intricacies behind the overturned conviction. They criticize Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Fox for her mishandling of the case, labeling her actions as "garbage results" for Chicago ([24:49]).

12. Food Aid and the Gaza Conflict

[26:46] - [27:56]
A contentious issue arises with the looting of 100 food aid trucks destined for Gaza. Armstrong and Getty critique the UN's inability to identify the perpetrators and question the narrative that withholding aid constitutes genocide. They argue that Hamas is likely responsible, asserting, “If you send in food aid, Hamas steals it” ([27:56]).

13. Privatizing Social Security Contributions

[30:22] - [31:06]
Listener feedback introduces the idea of privatizing Social Security contributions. The hosts debate the feasibility of an opt-out system, where individuals could manage their retirement funds independently: “Look, I know what I'm doing. I'm opting out of Social Security” ([30:22]). They discuss potential social implications, emphasizing concerns about a welfare state model.

14. South Carolina Lab Monkey Escape and Research Costs

[31:17] - [34:08]
The episode covers a story about escaped lab monkeys from South Carolina's research facility. Armstrong and Getty highlight the skyrocketing costs of research monkeys, which have surged from $750 to $30,000 each post-pandemic: “Now it's $30 grand per monkey” ([32:17]). They sarcastically consider breeding monkeys as a lucrative venture, criticizing government spending on animal research.

15. Target's Stock Plunge Amid Political Backlash

[38:26] - [39:15]
Armstrong and Getty analyze Target's 21% stock drop following a disappointing earnings report. They attribute part of the decline to political backlash against the retailer's policies on transgender clothing for children, mocking the economic explanations and emphasizing personal anecdotes of consumers boycotting Target due to political disagreements ([38:37]).

16. Closing Remarks and Humor

[35:18] - [36:21]
The hosts wrap up the episode with light-hearted discussions about pop culture references, including "The Simpsons," and share humorous anecdotes, maintaining their signature blend of humor and critique.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong ([00:54]): “I have no idea why this has happened.”
• Joe Getty ([05:10]): “...it is a cult or a quasi religion. And troubling.”
• Jack Armstrong ([16:14]): “$12,000… that seems crazy.”
• Joe Getty ([24:00]): “We could run out of our anti aircraft missiles in two days in a major conflict.”

---

Conclusion:

In "I Have The Male Package... No Extra Charge," Armstrong and Getty deliver a robust discussion on contemporary issues, blending sharp political critique with societal observations. From legal controversies and campus discrimination to debates on transgender policies and economic concerns, the hosts offer a candid and often sardonic perspective aimed at an audience seeking straightforward and unapologetic discourse.

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For those interested in similar content, Armstrong and Getty also promote the "Risky Business" podcast by Maria Konikova and Nate Silver, which focuses on making better decisions through the lens of poker and gambling.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Maria Konikova]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now he's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

So a breaking news story. I have no idea why this has happened. An Illinois court has overturned Jussie Smollett's conviction.

[Joe Getty]

What?

[Jack Armstrong]

I have no idea why. Must be some technicality. What a. What a moron.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no kidding. That whole. He is the clown prince of a whole period of American history. That's not over yet. Which we're going to get to in a moment or two.

[Jack Armstrong]

But I think it's on the Wayne. I think.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. And I do want to get into that. University of California, Davis, named the most anti Semitic campus on in America. Which, I mean, come on, you look at Columbia, you look at Harvard, that's some true Division 1 bigotry you've got going on there at UC Davis. Way to go.

[Jack Armstrong]

At UCLA, they weren't allowing Jewish kids to go to class.

[Joe Getty]

How do you outdo that again? I mean, that is some world class bigotry. Fantastic. He says sarcastically. Obviously, in case you're a moron. Coming up, a troubling headline on a number of different levels. Escaped Primates Open can of Worms for South Carolina's Alpha Genesis Research Lab. Will the judges permit that headline?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, because I, it makes me wonder, is that a euphemism metaphor or are they actually opening can cans? Worms. And that's a great step forward for monkeys.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Plus you just one animal metaphor describing another animal incident. I just, you know, escape lion. Is the elephant in the room?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

No, no, we won't have that. Also coming up, and I find this so interesting, people are risking their eyeballs to get different colored eyes.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's dumb.

[Joe Getty]

They don't like their eye color.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's dumb. I've got some interesting stats on eye color that I think will make it clearly dumb.

[Joe Getty]

But first gender bending man.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's Snooki. Balls.

[Maria Konikova]

Girls who are boys who love boys.

[Jack Armstrong]

Two big girls who dick. Boys love their girls.

[Joe Getty]

Two girls love their boys.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm. I'm unfortunately stuck on the last thing. Are baboons fishing for a compliment by showing their red hineys?

[Joe Getty]

Right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Too many animal metaphors.

[Joe Getty]

It's confusing. Yeah. Oh, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

The hungry lion. The elephant in the room. That's pretty funny.

[Joe Getty]

So I'd love to get to this story I'm about to describe in full. But we don't really have time to segment. But it's about this college kid who held a. What would you call it? A panel discussion about protecting women's sports. In other words, only having girls playing girls sports and not dudes who are confused and claim they're women. And one of the accounts of. Because it melted down, it went sideways, this panel discussion. And one of the things that happened was one of the law professors, a dude ran to the stage and was screaming with eyes wide and wild and spit flying. Trans girls are girls. Trans girls are girls. At this law student. This is one of his professors. Number one, these people are nuts. Number two, you're a cultist. Okay? Radical gender theory. Trans theory, okay, you're down with it. But if you, like, are so committed to the idea of. I say I'm a girl. I got no fallopian tubes. I got XY chromosomes. I have the package, the mail package. No extra charge. I produce sperm, but I'm a woman. There's something wrong with you. You're a nut.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they're getting that angry about it. Even if you believe that is that I'm fully right.

[Joe Getty]

Acting as though there is no argument to be made otherwise. And anybody who does is merely a crazy person.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm really into this whole it's their religion thing that we're built to protect a certain worldview, you know, with our lives because we evolutionary wise, feel like it's key to us surviving as a species. And that's how you get the Crusades or people willing to die for their religion or whatever. These people are willing to die for the religion of trans. And that's how they get so incredibly worked up.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

As opposed to being a policy decision.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Exactly. Yeah. I think it's absolutely correct. It is a cult or a quasi religion. And troubling. But the reason I pointed that out is that guy going so nuts is there are a number of headlines from around the country that you just will not hear in the mass media unless it's Derisive judgment. The Ohio Senate just passed a bill banning dudes in women's restrooms. Call them transgender people if you want. The problem is they're dudes. Call things what they are. Don't be forced to use weird experimental phrases just because the far left wants you to. So did you hear that the Ohio Senate said, yeah, no, women's spaces are for women. Then you have this story. School board in Wisconsin, radical, far right Wisconsin cracked down on boys and girls bathroom in a big change vote. They had a huge turnout at a school board meeting. Riverside. I'm sorry, what's the district name? Well, it's not like it's Watertown Unified School Board. And the school board voted 8 to 1 in favor of plans C, which only permits students to use bathrooms and locker rooms and play on sports teams aligned with their areas. Biological sex. That's the only kind of sex there is. Biological sex. So you don't need to see, say biological. It's redundant and it just exists so the activists can make you admit that there are different kinds of sex.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's like saying edible food, right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, good point. So anyway, yeah, overwhelming, overwhelming sentiment of the people of the town and the school board that no, no more dudes in girls spaces. That's happening. Mike Johnson, speaker of the House is said, no, you're not going to have dudes in the women's bathrooms at the Capitol either.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh really?

[Joe Getty]

In spite of the fact that a quote unquote transgender woman has been elected to the House of Representatives.

[Jack Armstrong]

I thought they dodged this problem just by going gender neutral bathrooms so everybody can use every bathroom. And then, you know, that's, that's what they do at every restaurant and coffee shop around here.

[Joe Getty]

Uh, yeah, yeah. I think what they'll probably do is the third option, the, the airport strategy is you have a non gendered bathroom. I suspect that they'll do that at the Capitol. They'll have like one or two little rooms at taxpayer expense with a toilet and assync that the gender bending congressperson can, can use so well. I'm sure that'll provoke some controversy, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'Ll see the turnouts on those votes. Interesting. And fits in with this opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today that I was going to get to later. Shy conservatives are keeping the left in its bubble and I think that's true. I think so many of us have been scared off by thinking there's way more people in favor. A lot of these things we just keep our mouths shut and the. Just to avoid the, you know, having to argue with someone and what that has caused is the people who do believe in pronouns or whatever all these other things are, they think there's way more of them than there are because we all keep our mouths shut.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and that's part of my continually bellowing cut the crap lately, is that that's what exactly what I'm talking about. You're right, friends, in your attitudes about a couple of things I'm about to mention, you're absolutely right. Not only that, but you're backed by the vast majority of the American people. Being in the majority doesn't make you right, but you happen to be the right and in the majority. And you've been bullied into silence over the idea that people who sneak into the country illegally should be showered with all the rights and benefits of a citizen. And it's immoral. If you say, wait a minute, the idea that we should crush our economy in the name of green something or other, the idea that after a century and a half of busting our asses to make this the least country and the least racist country in the world, all of a sudden we're supposed to accept that, oh, it was founded on racism and is more racist than ever. Yeah, cut the crap. Bull ass. The idea that children should be mutilated and can choose their own quote, unquote gender. Cut the crap.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's crap. It's crap. It's crap.

[Joe Getty]

That's right. But yeah, back to your point in the Journal's point. So I'm reminded of your story about an academic friend who was aghast. Well, couldn't believe that people in private enterprise don't always use their pronouns in their emails.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So nobody does.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're discussing the whole. You sign off on your email with your name and you put he, him or she, her, whatever. And I said, who does that? And they said, who doesn't do that? I said, really? So doesn't everybody put their pronouns. I said? And I said, basically nobody. I don't think I've ever seen it out of, outside of something from a university. So they had no idea. They're in the bubble because we don't, we don't speak up. You know, it's, it's like with the, the horrible ratings they're having on MSNBC right now and Joe and Mika feeling like they need to go visit Trump to save their show or something is how bubbled all the viewers of MSNBC have been for the last couple of years. You don't know about all these stories. You have no idea that the rest of the country thinks a lot of this stuff is nuts or how bad the immigration problem is or how much people are hating inflation. You don't know any of that stuff because they weren't covering it on your favorite news channel. It did you a disservice by keeping you in a bubble so that you're shocked when Trump wins so easily in a landslide.

[Joe Getty]

Because you've been bubbled. Right. Exactly. So you attribute it to racism or fascism or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wouldn't want the reality of stories kept from me so that a presidential election comes along and the other side wins easily. And I'm like, how did that happen? Everything I hear is the opposite. That doesn't. Doesn't do me any good.

[Joe Getty]

Or you're running around spouting idiotic opinions. That's not a good look. Not to be desired. Speaking of opinions, Speaker Johnson was asked the key question, and he dodged it. And I think I know why. We'll talk about that after a quick word from our friends at Omaha Stakes. I know this is gonna sound so familiar. I know to a lot of you, I have struggled so long. What do I get? You know, my dad now that my mom has passed, but what do I get them? They don't need stuff. Omaha Steaks. It's the perfect gift. And they have all sorts of different packages, but what characterizes them? And Judy and I had the filet mignons the other night. Oh, man, if I ordered it and paid through the nose at a restaurant, I would have been thrilled with the quality. I kid you not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And I'm horrible at grilling, as you all know, with my tiny little stupid grill. Even with my grilling, those steaks are like the best steak you have at a restaurant. And they do such a good job of shipping it to you with the dry ice and everything like that. And now whoever you send it to, dad, Grandma and grandpa, whatever, now they're going to have all this great meat in their freezer and think of you every time they get it out.

[Joe Getty]

And listen here, from legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save 50% off sitewide at Omaha steaks.com plus our listeners get an extra $30 off with the promo code ARMSTRONG and a $30 reward card when you shop early. So go today. Why would you wait? 50% off@omaha steaks.com and an extra 30 bucks off with the promo code ARMSTRONG. Minimum purchase mayapply omaha stakes.com, remember that code ARMSTRONG. You know what, Darn it. I should have gotten the audio, but Speaker Johnson was asked, is freshman elect Sarah McBride a man or a woman?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, really?

[Joe Getty]

In an effort to trap him. Now, if you asked me, I'd say it's a man, because that's easy for. And I love this. This quote, up until about 15 minutes ago, for the entire history of mankind, every single person on earth could have answered that question definitively incorrectly. But all of a sudden we're like, I don't know what I'm supposed to say.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what did he say?

[Joe Getty]

He said, look, I'm not going to get into this. We treat all persons with dignity and respect. We will. I'm not going to engage in silly debates about this. There's a concern about uses of restroom facilities and blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I understand your answer, but I also understand his answer of just. I'm not going to let you make this into a story. I'm not going to energize the far left.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I got work to do. I think that's. I. I wish he had said it's a man. I get why he didn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

At some point, we all got to find our balls. Pardon me? Enough to state that. Which is clearly true. You can't be forced under your knees to say stuff you know is clearly not true. It's bad for your soul.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Joe's got his eye color thing. People are getting operations to change their eye color. And good news on the 401k front. Maybe you haven't heard about, among other things on the way, Armstrong and Getty.

[Maria Konikova]

I'm Maria Konikova.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I'm Nate Silver.

[Maria Konikova]

And our podcast, Risky Business is a show about making better decisions. Both Nate and I are journalists who moonlight as poker players. We've both won, and, I have to say, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars playing poker. And poker is a lens that we're going to use to approach this entire show. Because poker isn't just about playing cards. It's actually about how to make good decisions. It's an entire framework for thinking about the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

In addition to poker, we'll be talking about the wide world of gambling. So sports betting, for example, plus the news, politics. It is an election year.

[Maria Konikova]

And personal decisions, too, like whether I should call a plumber or fix my shower myself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tune into Risky Business every day.

[Joe Getty]

Thursday.

[Maria Konikova]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God. Have you seen the new Jaguar ad campaign?

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Elon Musk said, this makes me want to sell my Jaguar. And I don't even own one.

[Joe Getty]

It may be the world record for tone deaf.

[Jack Armstrong]

No kidding. How did you miss the whole Bud Light story anyway? More on that later.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Well, speaking of bad moves, There is a $12,000 surgery to change your eye color that's surging in popularity.

[Jack Armstrong]

First of all, $12,000, even if it wasn't dangerous or painful? That seems crazy.

[Joe Getty]

Well, in an exchange that is utterly predictable, Doctors say it could be dangerous. Patients say it's worth the risks. Well, that's obvious since they did it. But patients say it's worth the risk.

[Jack Armstrong]

To have a different eye color. Well, won't that change your life?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I would suggest maybe, I don't know, the Bible or like literally any philosophical text, text from any civilization that's ever been written, including like the Farmer's Almanac and I don't, I don't know, like a kid's book of knock knock jokes. I just, I don't, I don't know. Anyway, they. They start with this 39 year old real estate agent. A dude who paid 12 grand to get his brown eyes turned light gray.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's interesting. First of all, brown is by far the most common eye color in the world. By far, far and away. But if you ask women or men, what's the most attractive for women, they say gray number one, blue number two. So this guy wanted gray. Apparently he had seen this list.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and one young man changed one of his brown eyes to blue to copy the eyes of his beloved Siberian husky.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, that doesn't make you weird at all.

[Joe Getty]

So these doctors, and there aren't many who will do this, use a laser to cut donut like tunnels into his corneas to clear outermost layer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah.

[Joe Getty]

Surgeon used a tool to widen the tunnels before filling them with dye. Takes about a half an hour.

[Jack Armstrong]

Women prefer gray number one, followed by blue, then green. Men prefer green eyes in a girl, which is very uncommon. Very few people have green eyes followed by hazel, which is kind of green also. So I guess we like green eyes on girls.

[Joe Getty]

I had beautiful hazel eyes as a child, Jack. They were a brown and green kind of mixed and they turned brown as I aged.

[Jack Armstrong]

Only single digits of people have hazel eyes.

[Joe Getty]

It would mean totally changed my life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah. Think how much happier you'd be.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God, I'd be a big star now. Loved. Anyway, it could blind you.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you know what I've found? You know whose eyes look beautiful? Whoever you're in love with. Yes, their eyes look beautiful. Isn't that Interesting. Always.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Doesn't matter what their eyes. Doesn't matter. The color, doesn't matter. The shape. Whoever you're in love with, their eyes look amazing.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm happily hitched for the record. But brown. Take it or leave it. No good. Move on, sweetheart. You're looking for some green eyed dude. Good luck to you. See ya. Bye. Go. Why haven't you left? I'm glad my wife likes my eyes bloodshot, right? Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Well, I have beady little criminal eyes, so it's hard to tell what color they are.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Anyway, people keep looking for happiness and. Yeah, I'll just say interesting places.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that, that, that's the main takeaway is, geez, you think that is going to give you the happiness? There are a lot of other ways. Try. Try helping someone or praying or doing something else.

[Joe Getty]

Here's a chick who went twice to get aqua colored eyes.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right. What color your eyes, Katie? I've never stared that closely at you. They're blue, green.

[Maria Konikova]

They're mixed.

[Jack Armstrong]

There you go. Yeah. Good news for 401k users.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Maria Konikova]

I'm Maria Konnikova.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I'm Nate Silver.

[Maria Konikova]

And our podcast Risky Business is a show about making better decisions. Both Nate and I are journalists who moonlight as poker players. We've both won and I have to say, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars playing poker. And poker is a lens that we're going to use to approach this entire show. Because poker isn't just about playing cards. It's actually about how to make good decisions. It's an entire framework for thinking about the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

In addition to poker, we'll be talking about the wide world of gambling. So sports betting, for example, plus the news, politics. It is an election year and personal.

[Maria Konikova]

Decisions too, like whether I should call a plumber or fix my shower myself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tune into Risky Business every Thursday.

[Maria Konikova]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bunch of different little news nuggets for you I find all interesting. I'll start with this one because I've teased it a couple of times, the IRS is going to raise the 401 contribution limit. I would freaking hope so, since we've all just lived through about 30% inflation. Obviously those old numbers would be silly to stick to. Right?

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they didn't raise it enough to compensate for all that. But starting next year, it'll be up to 23. Five that you can put aside. And if you're over 50, if you're in the winter of Your life that stays at $7,500. That's nuts. Given inflation, it's nuts to keep any of those numbers the same. It just, it defies math.

[Joe Getty]

I think late fall is good enough. I mean, you're 51 years old. That's not the winter of your life.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're in the winter of your life. You've got, you're 50, you've got one foot in the grave. I mean, it's just a reality.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's actually so the opposite. It's, it's really interesting in the modern world.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. Anyway, Judy and I were just talking about that the other day. It's amazing. A 75 year old. When we were kids, it was like still hanging out.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what my mom talks about. Who is in her 80s, just when she was a kid, somebody in their mid-60s. They were, they were done. They were done with life. Couple of things for you here. Let me find them all. I was going to do that. I'll do that later. NBC might be getting rid of MSNBC because they don't like having that hanging around their neck. They feel like it's hurting them. And that's, that's kind of an interesting development.

[Joe Getty]

NBC News's main problem is they've got NBC News hanging around their neck.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

They're no treat either.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is going to be the biggest, easiest way to get rid of RFK Jr. If Republican senators decide they want to get rid of him, it's going to be the whole abortion thing. When they alert. I was just reading this variety of Republican senators who are pro life saying this is a huge concern. We'll, we'll get to this in the hearing. When they alert a lot of Republican voters to how RFK Jr is an extremist on the side of abortion up to the, you know, day of birth. Yeah, I think the bloom is going to be off the rose on that, I think.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we'll see.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is the most troubling story I've come across today. This is from Reuters, but it's being reported a number of places. And for a lot of you who are anti forever wars or any of the terms that y'all use that make you less interventionist than me, you complain about the reduction in our stockpiles, which is a valid argument, especially today. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle east are eating away at US Stockpiles of air defenses. The top US Admiral overseeing American forces in the Asia Pacific region said last night, goes through some of the various weapons systems that you've either heard of or haven't and how we're running law on them. Inherently, it imposes costs on the readiness of America to respond to in the Indo Pacific region, which is the most stressing theater for the quantity and quality of munitions because the PRC is the most capable potential adversary in the world. In other words, we're more scared of China than anybody else in the world and this is doing damage of our ability to fight them. So something's got to be done.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I can't verify this personally, but I read the other day in a worthy source that we could run out of our anti aircraft missiles in two days in a major conflict. Speaking of forever wars, there ain't no wars that are only two days. So anyway, yeah, that's a great concern. Absolutely.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dang it. And then you. That makes perfect sense to me. But then you've always got the problem with the Pentagon of if you can use any reason to increase your budget and then throw more money around, you use that. So it can be 100% legit or 80% legit or 20% legit. It's always hard to know.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. By the way, I have a clarification on the Jussie Smollett situation from Mike the Chicago lawyer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jussie Smollett, the actor most of us had never heard of, who claimed he was attacked by some guys in MAGA hats who poured bleach on him and said, this is MAGA country.

[Joe Getty]

3Am in the south side of Chicago.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which seemed ridiculous from the first moment you heard it. But Kamala Harris, who was almost president, came to his defense, immediately talked about the racism that occurs in America.

[Joe Getty]

Well, he was convicted of filing false complaints and all sorts of different stuff. And that conviction was just overturned. And Mike Lawyers Qualified has given us some information on that. Now, I'm going to keep it in layman's terms because we lawyers and near lawyers use a lot of jargon. Habeas corpus, writ of circus maximus. I mean, there are all sorts of different terms. It all goes back to the fact. It's, it's. They cited the Bill Cosby case where there was a plea agreement essentially, and then the prosecutors changed their minds and went back again. It goes to the fact that they entered into an agreement with Smollet before they turned around and decided to prosecute him with something else. And it was a due process violation. And Mike lawyer agrees that it was. The problem was the horrible Cook County State's Attorney Kim Fox, who entered into a horrible indefensible agreement with him allowing him to skate.

[Jack Armstrong]

So this is one of those things that we dullards would call got off on a technicality. But the technicality is to strengthen our judicial system.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And the problem being this is the unholy fruit of the poisoned tree of Kim Fox, who tried to skate around justice for one of her woke allies and screwed up the whole system. I tell you what, people of Chicago, you want to gonna hire a piece of garbage like her, you're gonna have garbage results.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if you saw the story that roughly 100 food aid trucks. That's one of the reasons Benjamin Netanyahu has gotten arrest warrant today from whatever international court that is. And that's the lead story for all of mainstream news. There has been an arrest warrant put out for Benjamin Netanyahu by the international court of we do nothing, uh, because of. He's using starvation as a tool in genocide against the Palestinians. Well, over the weekend, 100 food aid trucks were robbed that were headed into Gaza. And so all the food was gone. This is from this morning, talking to a UN spokesperson, journalist. Who looted the aid trucks? UN spokesman? We don't know journalists. Are you trying to find out? UN spokesman. No. And one of my favorite pundits said, in other words, the aid trucks were looted by Hamas, which is guaranteed the situation.

[Joe Getty]

Sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

So if you send in food aid, Hamas steals it, which strengthens them, and that's the enemy you're at war with. If you don't send in food aid, you're accused of using hunger as a weapon and a genocide.

[Joe Getty]

So yeah, nice. Yeah. And they say we're in a thousand year war to exterminate the Jews and then the Christians and take over the whole world in the name of Allah. And if lots and lots of Palestinians starve to death and die terribly, that will help our cause because that will fire up our fellow Muslims. So, yeah, we're stealing the food aid and eating it ourselves in order to win the great battle. Why can people not just say that and understand that? They write it themselves, Hamas and similar groups, then they sign their names to it and they publish it in books and they make speeches where they say these things. It's not like a quote unquote, conspiracy, conspiracy theory. It's like a lot of the critical theory, post modernism stuff. They wrote books and signed their name to it. They told you precisely what they're trying to do. I don't know, lack of curiosity or just in the United States, just a terrified fear of being called a bigot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, to go Back to the 401k thing briefly. I left out one thing. So in the actual winter, winter of your life, when you're over 60, you're starting to head into the actual interview once you hit 64, actually, they did up the amount that you can use to catch up on your 401k. So this is the. I should have put money in when I was 30, but I didn't. So they're giving me a chance to get caught up now that I'm whatever age.

[Joe Getty]

But they got the catch up in the super ketchup.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, apparently, when you get to that age. But wouldn't it be grand if you can come up with some sort of system where you say, hey, can I. All that money you take out for my Social Security in a program that's going broke.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is earning zero money. I mean, it's earning nothing. Can I keep that and put it in my 401k? Would you let me do that? Because that would be. I start doing that when I'm young, that's going to add up to a ton of money.

[Joe Getty]

We got a great email from a beloved listener the other day saying how right George W. Bush was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Joe Getty]

Privatize a portion of your Social Security contributions. And the scare stories and the panic tactics that were employed by the left because they want that money to flow into the government because then they control it and they use it for their own power. But the idea that you're better off, I mean, it could be an affirmative opt out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Joe Getty]

Look, I know what I'm doing. I'm opting out of Social Security. Show me the forms. I'll put my Social Security number down. I'll sign the form. Okay. It's not like you'll do that to people who don't know better, aren't very bright or not capable or whatever. Just those of us who choose to opt out will opt out. And if I'm starving as an oldster as a result of I bet on Dogecoin and Bed Bath and Beyond stock, well, then I'll turn to my local church for charity.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's where the rubber meets the road, though. We're not a country like that. We are a welfare state. And if you made decisions and you ran out of money, we are going to step in with taxpayer money to make sure you've got someplace to live and got some food, regardless of the decisions you made. And that's the problem. That's the whole damn problem.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, which reminds me, I know what I should invest in. Never mind. Bitcoin Freaking lab monkeys. I was reading about the South Carolina lab monkey escape.

[Jack Armstrong]

We should do that out at the farm, raise lab monkeys. Got plenty of space, that big barn. I could have thousands of monkeys.

[Maria Konikova]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I was thinking of converting my suburban home into it, which is probably less advisable, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Mike, put some in the studio. Yeah, bring some of them to work.

[Joe Getty]

Jack, I'm telling you, bitcoin is a punk of investment compared to breeding lab monkeys. The great lab Monkey shortage of 24. The story's been untold until now.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't. I don't really like the things they do to monkeys. Yeah, I'm not the monkey.

[Joe Getty]

Sign a release.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's like the opt out Social Security plan you're talking about. They signed an opt out. And here you go test some things on me and I get to go, you know, live in a suburb somewhere. That's what they tell the monkey.

[Joe Getty]

A lot of this stuff is incredibly important to medical science. I get people's squeamishness. I respect it. On the other hand, I'd rather have effective antibiotics.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you're testing antibiotics, yes. If you're testing deodorant by spraying it in their eyes or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

Those. They don't do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Any horrible stories you hear are. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, they were horrible. Yeah. Absolutely. I grant you that. Yeah. But research monkeys before the pandemic. And part of this has to do with our schism with China. Michael, I tell you what, You're a man of the world. Guess what research monkeys were, what they cost. I'm running Joe's medical research lab here. We're testing just antibiotics to save sick children. Okay, I gotta have me some research monkeys. Guess what I'm paying per monkey. Go ahead, take a guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now or in the. Back in the day?

[Joe Getty]

Back in the. Before the pandemic, I must say. 10 grand. That's. That's not a bad guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was going to guess a couple hundred dollars.

[Joe Getty]

I would have guessed 750 bucks, something like that. It's actually four to six thousand dollars per minky pre pandemic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Now. Now. And you wish you'd bought Bitcoin when it was $20. You wish you'd bought Apple stock in 2002. And you wish you'd started breeding monkeys five years ago. It's 30 grand per monkey now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Makes Nvidia look like Enron.

[Joe Getty]

Let me think about that for a minute. Yes, you're right, it does. And the US government is spending gobs of money, including on this South Carolina research lab that apparently has an honor system for the monkey stain but unbelievable amounts of money on research monkeys.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, you tell the monkeys at nine, you stay put. All right? Huh?

[Joe Getty]

We have a deal. All right, Chi Chi. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, well, I gotta get out. We gotta start breeding monkeys in. That's where the money is. We got more on the way. You can join us anytime. You got a comment like we got something wrong or you want to add to text line 415295, KFTC.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Maria Konikova]

I'm Maria Konikova.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I'm Nate Silver.

[Maria Konikova]

And our podcast Risky Business is a show about making better decisions. Both Nate and I are journalists who moonlight as poker players. We've both won and I have to say, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars playing poker. And poker is a lens that we're going to use to approach this entire show. Because poker isn't just about playing cards. It's actually about how to make good decisions. It's an entire framework for thinking about the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

In addition to poker, we'll be talking about the wide world of gambling. So sports betting, for example, plus the news, politics. It is an election year and personal.

[Maria Konikova]

Decisions too, like whether I should call a plumber or fix my shower myself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tune into Risky Business every Thursday.

[Maria Konikova]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I hate these flood pants.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, they're working.

[Joe Getty]

My feet are soaked, but my cups are bone dry. Everything's coming up Milhouse. One thing that I love about Milhouse is he's always getting knocked down, but he keeps getting up. I'm never giving up. There he is. Not again. I love the little guy.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's the 70 year old woman who does the voice of Milhouse on the Simpsons who says she's retiring after this season. She's been doing it for 35 years.

[Joe Getty]

The Simpsons debuted almost like exactly when I started my radio career. And as I've told the story before, everybody wanted a Bart Simpson voice in their heads. And I was like, yeah, cut the crap, man. Or don't have a cow or whatever. It's terrible. But everybody's like, oh, that was great. Yeah, it goes on.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's one of my favorite lines from the show. It's a good one. Everything's coming up Milhouse.

[Joe Getty]

Of course.

[Jack Armstrong]

Then Milhouse's parents got a divorce later and it became rough for the poor kid. But first, this kind of joke thing that I came across yesterday before I get to some economic news about Target. I love how the first thing they do at the doctor's office is weigh you. I was already nervous. Now I'm depressed. Maybe next time they can bring up something I regret from my past and really get this party started. That's funny. Target stock plunged 21% yesterday. As a guy with a chunk of Target stock, I wish I had put it in something else. Monkeys maybe. But the retailers downbeat earnings report which included lower profit and larger inventory, fell well short of Wall street expectations. But here's the interesting stuff in economic news is we. We mock it all the time. It's economic news is nuts. They always come up with explanations for why stuff happen, which you rarely have. It's usually, I think usually it's unknown. And then sometimes it's like a combination of 50 things and you don't know which one was more important than the other. But to simplify it into one or two things, very, very rare. But they always do it in whatever article you're reading. Target's results stand in sharp contrast to its rival Walmart, which reported stronger than expected earnings on Tuesday and upgraded its full year forecast. That's worth knowing. Walmart had a great quarter while Target did not. So what gives? On the call with analysts, Target's executives described a deceleration in sales for high margin discretionary categories such as apparel and home decor. They also said consumers were not purchasing expensive products like televisions, instead opting for smaller and more affordable items like candles and vases. Yeah, I found that pretty hilarious. So yeah, we're thinking about getting a big screen tv and your wife says maybe we should just get a candle instead. And you go home with a candle.

[Joe Getty]

Hey honey, super bowl is coming up. It'd be really great if we had a big TV when folks come over. Yeah, but we can't afford it, so let's get a vase. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just thought that was funny.

[Joe Getty]

I was reminded the other day that they lost something like a billion dollars in value because they were selling transgender clothes for children so your little boy could tuck his penis away and feel like a girl.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know personally two people that stopped shopping at Target in the last couple of years because of their politics. The fact that the article, and I read the whole bang article never mentioned that once, I think is pretty interesting since again, I know two people in my real life that went from regular Target shoppers to never because of their politics that didn't play a role at all.

[Joe Getty]

Come on. Yeah. Yeah. Weak.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was going to get the 80 inch TV, but I decided to get one of these vanilla scented candles.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. It smells just like a rainforest or something. That's great.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, we'll sit around and watch the candle. Kids, times are tough. Or we'll go to Walmart and buy a tv.

[Joe Getty]

Hour four will include an analysis of what the artificial high minimum wage in California did to fast food workers. If you don't get hour four, Grab It Fight, Podcast, Strong and Getty.