Merkin$$* - That'll Stop The Russians!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – Episode: Merkin$$ - That'll Stop The Russians!*

Release Date: May 7, 2025 | Host: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty | Source: iHeartPodcasts

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1. Air Traffic Control System Crisis

The episode kicks off with Jack Armstrong highlighting a critical issue within the United States' air traffic control system. Referring to a recent incident, Armstrong states:

“According to a new report, last week air traffic controllers at Newark lost all communication with planes for over a minute.” [00:37]

He criticizes the system as “horrifically antiquated” and “bureaucratically screwed up,” emphasizing the potential safety risks posed by outdated infrastructure.

Key Points:

• System Antiquity: The U.S. air traffic control relies on outdated technology from the 1990s, making it vulnerable to failures.
• Safety Concerns: Despite its historical safety record, recent incidents suggest growing instability.
• Impact of Bureaucracy: The bureaucratic hurdles hinder necessary updates and reforms, compromising safety.

2. Sean Duffy’s Initiative to Reform Air Traffic Control

Joe Getty introduces Sean Duffy, the newly appointed Transportation Secretary, who is spearheading efforts to overhaul the air traffic control system. Duffy outlines his plan:

“We are going to rebuild the communications system at Newark... the key is always safety... I prefer delays over potential disasters.” [03:18]

Highlights of Duffy’s Plan:

• Reconstruction Timeline: Initially estimated at six to eight months, now accelerated to target completion by summer.
• Funding and Support: Emphasis on securing adequate funding from Congress to implement comprehensive reforms.
• Long-Term Vision: Aiming for a three to four-year timeline to modernize infrastructure without compromising safety.

Armstrong contrasts the U.S. system with other countries, questioning why the U.S. cannot adopt a more flexible, private-sector approach to air traffic control, free from “incredibly powerful employee unions.”

3. Donald Trump’s Address at the University of Alabama

A significant portion of the discussion centers on former President Donald Trump’s recent speech to the University of Alabama’s graduating class. Matthew Continetti of the Free Press analyzes Trump’s “10 tips for success,” which Armstrong shares:

“Success can happen at a young age... Don’t waste your youth, he said. Get after it.” [11:41]

Trump’s Success Principles:

1. Early Success: Encourages young individuals to pursue ambitions aggressively.
2. Passion for Work: Stresses the importance of loving what you do.
3. Momentum: Highlights the necessity of maintaining momentum to avoid stagnation.
4. Outsider Mentality: Advocates for being an outsider to drive progress and innovation.
5. Trusting Instincts: Promotes relying on common sense and personal judgment.

Critical Reception:

• Content vs. Coverage: Continetti notes a lack of media focus on the substantive aspects of Trump’s speech, overshadowed by reactions to his comments on transgender athletes.
• Polarizing Views: While some commend Trump’s straightforward advice, others criticize his rhetoric and policy positions.

4. Massive Password Breach and Security Concerns

Armstrong and Getty delve into a recent cybersecurity incident involving the leak of over 19 million passwords. Getty remarks:

“Only 42% are 8 to 10 characters in length... the most common passwords are really easy to decode.” [24:19]

Key Insights:

• Password Weaknesses: A significant number of leaked passwords are simple and reused across multiple platforms, increasing vulnerability.
• User Practices: Both hosts admit to poor password hygiene, reflecting a widespread issue among users.
• Security Recommendations: Emphasize the importance of unique, complex passwords and regular updates to safeguard against breaches.

5. The Role of AI in Everyday Tasks

The discussion transitions to the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in daily life. Armstrong shares his positive experience using ChatGPT:

“Chat GPT... gave me a plot summary and the main characters and stuff. And I said, bingo, that's it.” [28:18]

Applications Highlighted:

• Research and Information Retrieval: Using AI to efficiently find information and summaries.
• Creative Exploration: Experimenting with AI-generated images and content.
• Productivity Tools: Leveraging AI for organizing tasks and enhancing workflow.

Considerations:

• Adoption Barriers: Challenges in password management and AI integration across multiple devices.
• Future Potential: Acknowledgment of AI’s capacity to transform personal and professional activities.

6. Campus Madness: University Challenges and Biases

Armstrong and Getty provide a critical update on issues plaguing elite universities, starting with Harvard’s president, Alan Garber. Armstrong summarizes Garber’s concerns:

“Students today find it much harder to have conversations with one another about difficult subjects...” [33:17]

Highlighted Issues:

• Ideological Homogeneity: Garber observes a significant decline in diverse viewpoints, leading to an echo chamber atmosphere.
• Admissions Bias: Investigations into UCLA’s medical school reveal intentional racial discrimination in admissions processes.
• Foreign Influence: UC Berkeley faces scrutiny for accepting donations from Chinese Communist Party officials, raising concerns about propaganda and undue influence.

Additional Points:

• Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Bias: Reports indicate persistent discrimination, complicating campus dynamics and inclusion efforts.
• Faculty Diversity: Efforts to hire intellectually diverse faculty to foster a more balanced and open academic environment.

7. Catholic Church Scandals and Institutional Bureaucracy

The hosts briefly touch upon ongoing scandals within the Catholic Church, emphasizing the protective nature of large institutions’ bureaucracies:

“Bureaucracies protect bureaucracies. That's all you need to get.” [21:28]

Key Concerns:

• Sexual Abuse Crisis: Continued revelations of child abuse and institutional cover-ups tarnish the Church’s reputation.
• Financial Mismanagement: Struggles to balance finances amid declining donations and increasing legal liabilities.
• Institutional Inertia: Difficulty in implementing meaningful reforms due to entrenched bureaucratic structures.

8. Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts

Jeff Bezos’s Marriage:

• Announcement of Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend’s extravagant three-day wedding in Italy, generating substantial media buzz.

Closing Remarks:

• Encouragement to Use AI: Both hosts advocate for greater utilization of AI tools to enhance efficiency and productivity.
• Continuous Critique of Institutions: A reiterated theme of scrutinizing large institutions, whether governmental, educational, or religious, for accountability and transparency.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong on Air Traffic Control:

  “Our air traffic control system in the United States is horrifically antiquated...” [01:13]

• Sean Duffy on Safety Prioritization:

  “I don't want people to fly... I prefer delays or cancellations.” [03:18]

• Donald Trump’s Success Tip:

  “Don’t waste your youth, he said. Get after it.” [11:41]

• Joe Getty on Password Security:

  “Only 42% are 8 to 10 characters in length.” [24:19]

• Jack Armstrong on AI Utility:

  “Chat GPT... gave me a plot summary and the main characters and stuff.” [28:18]

• Alan Garber on Campus Discourse:

  “Students today find it much harder to have conversations with one another about difficult subjects...” [33:17]

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This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand masterfully intertwines discussions on critical infrastructure, political rhetoric, cybersecurity, educational biases, and institutional scandals. Through incisive commentary and insightful analysis, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty offer listeners a comprehensive overview of pressing contemporary issues, enriched with memorable quotes and engaging perspectives.

Transcript

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. Well, listen to this. According to a new report, last week air traffic controllers at Newark lost all communication with planes for over a minute. It's getting to the point where we.

[Joe Getty]

Really should clap when the plane lands. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, yeah, no kidding. Turns out our air traffic control system in the United States is horrifically antiquated, as bureaucratically screwed up as virtually anything the government does, and probably not very safe. Other than that though, it's just a peach.

[Joe Getty]

Well, statistically has been very, very safe, including up to like right this moment.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what? Until people start dying in droves, you don't, you don't maintain it?

[Sean Duffy]

Well, how.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is your point, sir? Why am I yelling? Yes, that's true. Air traffic, Air travel in the United States is miraculously safe.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I just wonder how we pull it off. I mean.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. On the other hand, it is, it is. Absolutely. And the, the wreck in Washington D.C. was a symptom of Reagan National Airport. Between the passenger jet and the helicopter, the near misses are getting more and more. The. We don't know what's going on. Hey, what's happening over here? Incidents where it's out of control are happening more and more in a way that any, you know, sane people would nip in the bud. Although the bud was like 20 years ago. Anyway, Sean Duffy is the new go get him Transportation Secretary who makes Pete Buttigieg look like the pleasant faced, do nothing climber that he is. Sean is making the rounds talking about how we've got to reform the system. Michael, we'll start with 31.

[Sean Duffy]

This is a, this is an infrastructure problem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Sean Duffy]

And, and we've known this infrastructure problem has existed for a very long time. The last administration knew it. No one has done anything. So for Newark specifically, we are going to rebuild the communications system at Newark. I thought it was Going to be eight months, six months. We're pushing to do it faster. Hopefully this summer we get that done. But the key is always safety, right? I don't want people to fly. I'd rather have them delayed or canceled. I'd rather have it take six months than two and a half months to build up that communication system because I want people to get from point A to point B safely. And again, if they, if they have to wait for a flight, I prefer that then something else going wrong with their flight.

[Joe Getty]

So while I did throw in the it's still safe. I mean it's, it's safer to fly than to drive to the airport. But we all know over the last several years the whole delays thing has gotten completely out of control. You show up at the airport assuming one of your flights is going to be delayed. Now it didn't used to be that way, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Duffy goes on.

[Sean Duffy]

What we have to do is we're rolling a plan out on Thursday. We're going to need a lot of money from Congress to do this. It's not going to take 10 years like, like Pete suggested. It's going to take three to four years to get this build out done. You can't snap your fingers and lay fiber or bring in, you know, new radios or new, new radar. Those things take time. And we're going to put the time in, the money in and you're going to start to see results sooner than three or four years as this build out happens.

[Jack Armstrong]

So other countries have private non profit companies doing their air traffic control because they can adapt, they can innovate, they can hire people, they can fire people, they can pay what it takes to get good people, etc. Without the incredible bureaucracy. Really? I didn't know this chokes everything.

[Joe Getty]

Why are other countries more libertarian on this than we are?

[Jack Armstrong]

Because they don't have incredibly powerful employee unions, government employee unions. France is probably all screwed up. I don't know. But I don't know how they run it. I know Canada does the tomorrow private.

[Joe Getty]

Full hour on French air traffic controlling.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh wow. Wouldn't that be fascinating in the people, Alex what is people who have no shame and will say anything no matter how dishonest. 35 Michael it's outrageous and it's because of Trump and Doge. FAA has been cut, employees have been cut. Top people have left in exasperation. And what Trump is trying to do. If there's any place where Trump chaos, which is so typical of this administration, can really cause loss of life, it's at the faa.

[Joe Getty]

God, I hate politics. This is honestly the worst form of government ever invented, except for all the others. I mean, it's just. That's one of the most powerful people in that party just playing the old game. Oh, it's so tiring.

[Jack Armstrong]

Absolutely lying. Not only that, but I was reading an aviation expert talking about how Chuck Schumer has opposed every single meaningful update and reform to the FAA through the years merely to protect the unions that contribute to his campaigns. He. Every time somebody has said, hey, we really ought to update this, we ought to increase the technology, we ought to do this, we ought to hire these people, he has opposed every reform. And now when the Trump administration is trying to do something, he says it's Trump and Doge. Good Lord, how does he hide his horns? What an evil human being.

[Joe Getty]

It's the game of politics. Just. I don't. I don't know how you do it. I guess you. You just accept that that's the way we do it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. So goodness knows I've been more than critical of Donald J. When I think it's appropriate and will continue to be. And if you don't like it, I'm sorry to hear that, but I does what I does. But Matthew Continetti of the Free Press actually listened to. I'm not sure if he was there, but he listened to Trump's entire address to the University of Alabama's grad graduating class. And he says, and Matthew Continent is a very serious journalist. He said he's been amazed that while people were either enjoying or criticizing his riff on transgender athletes, which was at that speech and a couple other things he said, there's almost no coverage of the substance of what he said. And Continetti said he found it really interesting. Trump summarized 10 tips for getting out of college and having a good life. And I will touch on them briefly. Well, that's a.

[Joe Getty]

That's a good tease right there. I mean, that would make me. I'm surprised that hasn't been in the news more.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And I don't want to rush like a maniac through them so we can do them after the break. But they. It's like reading the art of the deal. It explains a fair amount of what Trump is up to. Not all of it, but. But some of it. So we'll get to that after the break in the time we have now. Well, a quick word from our friends at Prize Picks and then back into the fascinating content.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

No, I don't believe that's one of the stats prize picks offers, Jack. But yeah, that's. You just pick at least two players up to six.

[Joe Getty]

I guarantee you everybody had more on Anthony Edwards scoring one point in the first half. Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

So I mentioned Steph Curry and big star for the Golden State warriors basketball player hurting his hamstring and they kept talking about he's 37. It's going to be hard to come back. It's funny, when you get older watching sports and I'm talking about 37 year olds is old. When you know you get a little older, you'd give a lot of money to be 37 again. In there. The old man trying to shake old veteran.

[Jack Armstrong]

He limps off the court perhaps for the last time walking into history. He's 37.

[Joe Getty]

Trump's got a recipe for success and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Joe's going to tell us.

[Joe Getty]

I'm very excited about it. It's coming up next Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

We also have a situation because everyone says when, when, when are you going to sign deals? We don't have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now, Howard, if we wanted. We don't have to sign deal. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market. We don't want a piece of their market. We don't care about their market. They want a piece of our market.

[Joe Getty]

There's the hardball salesman.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Yeah. And putting aside some of the particulars which were BS because Trump's a BSer. That was Donald J in his I'm going to make a deal mode. More on the trade talks with China later, although it's early days of an enormously complex.

[Joe Getty]

And more on what he said with the ceasefire with the Houthis, which was kind of interesting too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. But anyway, speaking of Donald J, you know, I see him as like some of my favorite athletes through the years. Great strengths and great flaws. That's fine, that's enough said. But he gave a, an address at Alabama Roll Tide at their graduation the other day in which he rolled out 10 thoughts about success that I found very, very interesting. And they explained a fair amount about Trump himself. First one success can happen at a young age, he said in America, with drive and ambition, young people can do anything. And he cited some chapters of his own life. And I hear, yeah, his dad was rich and gave him money. Yeah, that's true. But he mentioned other American innovators like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, the founders who started off in their 20s. Don't waste your youth, he said. Get after it.

[Joe Getty]

By the way, I can name off the top of my head five people I've known in my life who dad gave them a bunch of money and they spent it all and ruined their lives.

[Jack Armstrong]

So are worthless. Yes. Yeah, indeed. Love what you do, he says. I rarely see somebody that's successful that doesn't love what he or she does. Yeah, that's a mixed bag. Let me get through it. Then we can discuss. He pointed to his father, Fred Trump, who died in 99 at the age of 93. He was a tough guy, tough as hell. Actually working. He worked seven days a week, not because he had to, but because he enjoyed it. And Matthew Continenti comments. Well, it's hard for his critics to understand. Donald Trump and his supporters enjoy politics, a sense of fun, improvisation and risk, imbues his rallies and campaigns.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not quibbling with any of this because that's all true, and I'm sure most of this will be true in general. But, man, not everybody has a motor like Donald Trump does, or lots of successful people I've known you just either have that motor or you don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And some people, I. I'm thinking of one friend of mine who said to me not terribly long ago, look, I hate my job, but I'm good at it and I make good money and I've got job security and I do other things that bring me life satisfaction. He says, I can accept the bargain. So, I mean, if you want to be like a runaway success in your field, probably helps to really enjoy what you do. But anyway, this. This is what the Sean Duffy and the reforming air traffic control thing reminded me of. Because instead of saying, well, we gotta protect the unions and, you know, the head of the faa, he's got his turf and, you know, we don't wanna rush into this blah, blah, blah, which is yielded a system that still used the technology of the 1990s, even though it's one of the most important things the government does think big. Trump said it's just as hard to solve a small problem as a big problem. He finds the audacious more enticing than the incremental. He leans toward the wildest. Winning the presidency despite no military or government experience, for example. Or being reelected after impeachment, defeat, embarrassment, indictments, a criminal conviction, and two assassination attempts.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or rewriting the rules of American government, foreign policy, or the global trading system, or turning the Gaza Strip into a luxury resort, or reopening Alcatraz prison. The list goes on. And some of it gets filed away with the. Under the heading no, but some of it is worth considering. And it's kind of cool that someone would say it out loud. Yeah. We've been in these, like, post WW2 trade agreements for 70 years. Why don't we blow them up? What would happen?

[Joe Getty]

How about the crowd that always just wants to keep things the same so you can stay in your job? That's a lot of people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, it's huge in government. Huge. It's like the number one thing to be reckoned with. Work hard, Never, ever stop. That explains the 2:00am tweets.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's the motor. You just. I think he got that or you don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. You can get more disciplined as you go, certainly. But I hear you. Yeah. He quotes the great Gary Player, South African pro Golfer, nine major championship winner. He was one of those guys who's fond of saying, it's funny, the harder I work, the luckier I get.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, don't lose your momentum. I thought this was interesting. The word momentum is very important. Trump said. He brought up William Levitt, real estate developer who pioneered the post WW2 move to the suburbs in 1972. Remember Levitt Towns? That was an expression. Anyway, Levitt sold his company to a large corporation. He was never able to recapture his earlier success. And years later, Trump continued, he encountered Levitt at a party. Referring to the sale, Levitt told Trump, I shouldn't have done it. I lost my momentum. And the anecdote, right? The anecdote, rather, writes Matthew Continenti, reveals why Trump operates at such high speeds. Trump has been likened to the honey badger who doesn't give up. His tenacity is related to a fear that slowing down means a loss of momentum and an end to his career.

[Joe Getty]

I think someday, long after this period when you know people's hatred of Trump for people who hate him, you know, you can look at him more objectively, they'll pick up on that because he's obviously got qualities, good qualities to be able to pull off what he's pulled off in his life. And some of them are that I admire are he takes bad breaks better than like anybody ever. He just, he just finds a way around or ignores it or, I don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Know, it's just something else. Yeah, yeah. I want to get through these if I can. I love this. Be an outsider. Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system. Trump said, wow, one more time. Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system. The contrast with his political antithesis, Barack Obama, is stark, writes Continent. Obama says progress is achieved through bottom up community action within institutions. For Trump, progress is the result of renegade individuals willing to break things. The Trump approach is more effective and he goes into it a little bit. Trust your instincts. I have a quibble with this. I won't get into. I'd like to rephrase it as trust your common sense. And Trump addressed the kids at Alabama said Trump used the word instinct as a synonym for common sense. Borders are not racist, he said. Speech is not violence. America is good and terrorists are bad. Men can never become women. Police are not criminals and criminals are not victims. Police can be criminals, but that's about as clear a credo as you can get.

[Joe Getty]

Well, how'd this not get more attention?

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, because it probably makes so much sense, and the media hated it. Believe in the American Dream. Last August, Trump declared that the American dream was dead. He pledged to bring it back. Mission accomplished. The American dream is real, he said to the Alabamans. It's there. It's right before you. I love that. And is that finally, oh, two more things? Think positively, he said to the youngsters and their parents and friends. Don't consider yourself a victim, he said. Consider yourself a winner. And he recommended one of his favorite books, a classic, the Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. The teaching has universal application. Whether you're born rich or poor, black or white, male or female, in America, anyone can be a winner and finally be an original. And his list of American trailblazers went from Teddy Roosevelt to Doug MacArthur, George Patton, Amelia Earhart, Annie Oakley, Muhammad Ali. All men and women of action, daredevils, risk takers, outside personalities.

[Joe Getty]

Alphonse Capone.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're one of a kind, Trump told the graduates. Don't try to be someone else. Just be yourself. And finally, and most importantly, he concluded, never, ever give up.

[Joe Getty]

Number 11. Have a hot young wife.

[Jack Armstrong]

Number 12, be like Hitler, because I'm the new Hitler. Unbelievable. So much good there. For all the legitimate criticisms, those are points worth considering. And teaching your kids when Democrat presidents.

[Joe Getty]

Speak to Harvard with the usual crap and gets in leads every newscast. I didn't hear a word about Trump's speech to Alabama.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Advertiser]

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[Sean Duffy]

Under this ban, service members who have a current diagnosis or history of or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will be processed for separation from military service. Now, that also means that transgender individuals.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cannot currently join any branch of the military. Now, it's unclear exactly how many people.

[Sean Duffy]

We'Re talking about, but in 2016, an independent research institute estimated there are about 14,000 transgender troops serving in the military.

[Joe Getty]

It's probably closer to six.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's not nearly that. That number is way cooked up. Gender bending update next hour, I'm looking.

[Joe Getty]

At the cardinals, however many hundreds of them there are taking Their individual out loud oath of silence.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ironic.

[Joe Getty]

What the hell would happen if it leaked out who the Pope was? And again, I just want to throw this in because it's shocking to me. I'm pro Catholic Church, I'm pro Pope, I'm pro Christianity, all that sort of stuff. But the fact that all this wonderment at their system and secrecy and rules without throwing in, like, constantly the biggest pedophile crisis in world history, and you knew it, and you've known it for centuries, and you hid it, and then you would move a rapist to another little town so he'd rape more little kids. He didn't care about that. I don't get it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bureaucracies protect bureaucracies. That's all you need to get.

[Joe Getty]

That is what you need to know. And it's a very important thing to know. Not about the Catholic Church, just about bureaucracies in general.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I might steal 20 seconds. I was reading about the Vatican's finances. I guess Francis was struggling against this till his dying day. It was like the last days of his life. He was issuing edicts and trying desperately to figure out how to straighten out the Vatican's finances that is awash in priceless treasures. But tumbling deeper into debt and all they could come up with is hit believers up for more money and maybe raise prices for all the tickets to get into the Vatican.

[Joe Getty]

And one more thing in this, and I realize this makes a lot of people uncomfortable and if you're Catholic, you hate somebody saying it, but I'm looking at all these guys. A lot of these guys are like in their 70s and 80s. They were involved in the freaking raping of children. I guarantee freaking to you. A bunch of those people up there were. So quit treating them like some sort of.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know what this is, but yeah, I don't. I. I look at every large institution with a squinty, jaundiced eye. All of them.

[Joe Getty]

Any who, here's the most annoying thing that's going to happen this summer. I just want you to put it on your calendar so you can avoid it. Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend are getting married in June. It's going to be a three day extravaganza. Three days in Italy from the 24th, 25th and 26th, that I will get a tremendous amount of media coverage. So look forward to that. Oh, my God. Who wants to do that? Even if you can afford it, who wants three days of pageantry and walking out in different outfits and people oohing and ahhing and ah, you Know who does? His wife and her friends.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I wonder if she's going to get her, her duck lips puffed up even more for the ceremony. Probably.

[Joe Getty]

So they're not getting married on the $500 million yacht, which was a rumor originally. Now it's going to be in some Italian town.

[Jack Armstrong]

That would be too showy.

[Joe Getty]

That would be too showy. Although he does have that. How big is a ring? I had that somewhere. It doesn't make it 20 carat ring on her finger. 20 carat diamond ring that she works.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ring is so big they're having to measure it in cubic inches. That's the guy.

[Joe Getty]

Another one of these stories. I'm always confused by it since it's never damaged me. So far yet there's been a major password breach. One of the biggest yet in the cyber world. Over 19 million passwords were leaked. I never know what to do with this information because I, my, my password hygiene is probably C to D level. I mean, I try a little bit. I don't just do 1, 2, 3, 4, but I don't change them near as much as you want. I've got the same one across multiple platforms. A lot of the stuff they tell you not to do. So far nothing's ever happened to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

And Well, I drained 10% of your bank account every two months. But you know, whatever.

[Joe Getty]

So far nothing's ever happened to me and nothing really bad's ever happened to anybody I personally know. So I don't, I don't know what you're supposed to do with this information, but I thought this article was kind of interesting about the 19 billion passwords that are circulating online currently. And 6% of them have been leaked. 94% had been reused across accounts and services, which you're never supposed to do. I do that. Everybody does that. I gotta be surprised if you're. Good for you if you don't. But the most common passwords are really easy to decode. Only 42% are 8 to 10 characters in length. Supposed to be longer. Okay, fine. Way too many of them only have lowercase letters. Okay, good for you. I'm getting to the part that I really like. The analysis found that 1234 is used by 4% of all passwords. Still, there are 727 million people using 1234 as their password.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Or it might be the same person over and over again in some cases. If you go to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, it's 338 million passwords that are. Wow, password is common. Admin is common. Some people use not nice words. The word ass is 165 million passwords.

[Jack Armstrong]

I kind of feel like I've missed an opportunity. I have not used ass in any of my passwords.

[Joe Getty]

And why haven't you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Lack of imagination, I guess.

[Joe Getty]

16 million passwords that include the F word ass is the top entry and then it goes down from there with a bunch of other filth.

[Jack Armstrong]

What about merkin?

[Joe Getty]

See, I think you're safe. You have merkin, dollar sign. Dollar sign, asterisk. I think you're safe. The Russians can't get into that.

[Jack Armstrong]

No way. But.

[Joe Getty]

And then it has here the usual rules. You know, don't use the same password across anything. I just, I'd like to know the percentage of people that follow all the rules. It's gotta be single digits.

[Jack Armstrong]

How often have you accepted, say Apple's invitation to create an impenetrable 37 digit password?

[Joe Getty]

Every once in a while. The problem is, it seems to me if my phone saves it, then fine, I don't care if it's a bunch of nonsense. You saved it. And then you'll automatically fill it in the next time I use it. But then sometimes it doesn't. And I didn't write down the 50 letters, numbers and shapes that I've never even seen before and don't know where to find them on the keyboard.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, and I go between my, my phone and my iPad and my, my MacBook and sometimes it doesn't, like save it in a way that's effective.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And feel free to write your email. What I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate it. But yeah, so it doesn't quite work. So I almost never go with it. I went with it the other day and I've got kind of a feeling of foreboding that I've made a mistake.

[Joe Getty]

I feel like every day of my life I type in either my email, my address or something like that. AI is not going to take over the world as long as I'm still doing that. I mean, how is it not just automatic that if I come to anything on a computer that I'm running, that it's got my address ready to go on my own device, that I've typed it in 8,000 times this year?

[Jack Armstrong]

So come on, I need to be, I need to talk about this at some point. I'm using AI a fair amount now.

[Joe Getty]

Oh really?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Chat GPT for a couple of things, research. And I've actually created some silly images just to see how that worked, but mostly summaries. And define things. I was trying to remember the title of a book I read years ago about the partition of Pakistan in India, which was incredibly powerful. Moby Dick is correct. No, actually it's not. It has the curious title of Ice Candy Man. But you were just published in the US Is Cracking India.

[Joe Getty]

But so you were able to just say, what's the name of the book about the partition of Indian Pakistan? And it gave you some options.

[Jack Armstrong]

It gave me a longish list. And one of them was Ice Candyman, which I thought sounded somewhat familiar. Came out in 1991. And so I asked it for more information on that book and it gave me a plot summary and the main characters and stuff. And I said, bingo, that's it. And there were zero stupid, sponsored, irrelevant Google results. It was really handy, huh?

[Joe Getty]

That is interesting. Yeah. We all should be using AI more, I think, for a variety of things. I need to get into that. Everybody I know, like, once you dabble in it, really, really finds it helpful, you know.

[Jack Armstrong]

And this is going to shorten the Campus Madness update, but I can't resist. I was reading this piece about Donald Trump wanting to reopen Alcatraz, and it starts with kind of a. A criticism of how silly and impractical that is. We've all heard why it'll never happen.

[Joe Getty]

I bet he hasn't thought about it for one second since he said it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. It went into some of the history of Alcatraz. That's. That's pretty interesting. It wasn't open for very long and it was more or less a publicity stunt because it could be seen by the people in the press in San Francisco. And it was you, Prohibition and, and J. Edgar Hoover's cracking down on Al Capone and the rest of it. And it just, it was super, super dramatic. It only operated for, what was it, 26 years or something like that before they said, this is too expensive, this is crazy. We gotta stop this. And. And so it closed down. But then the Washington Post had comments, of course, and it. It gave me the option to read comments, and I did. And it begins with an AI summary of the comments on the article. And I will read that to you now. The comments overwhelmingly criticized President Donald Trump's idea of reopening Alcatraz as a modern prison, describing it as an impractical, costly, and influenced by outdated cultural references idea. Many commenters expressed disdain for Trump's leadership, suggesting that his ideas are often impulsive and lack substance.

[Joe Getty]

Huh. I hadn't noticed that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some humorously suggested that Trump himself should be the first inmate if Alcatraz were to reopen. Overall, the comments reflect a strong disapproval of the proposal and skepticism about Trump's decision making abilities. So it's like, well, thank you for summarizing all those angry keyboard warrior anonymous.

[Joe Getty]

Trolls and of course a left leaning interpretation of it from AI because it's always going to be that way, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, maybe we'll talk more about that in the One More Thing podcast that we do after the radio show. But a Campus Madness update is only moments away. Way friends, stay with us. Armstrong and Getty.

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[Joe Getty]

Oh, I just came across a great new book that's coming out from Jason Riley about the black family in America and he's a black guy, so he gets to write it. Oh, I have to talk about that in hour four. Stay tuned.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was a very blunt way to assert that, Jack, but I know exactly what you mean. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, Jason Riley is brilliant. Love to hear about that. So it's time for a Campus Madness update. Everybody brace yourselves.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God. Oh, what's happening there?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's some serious madness.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm threatened and disconcerted. Wanted to start with the curious case of Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University, the new one who's an actual scholar and a thoughtful Jewish man, which factors into the summit. He's done a couple of big time interviews recently, both in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and the headline is really the president of Harvard is fighting the Trump administration tooth and nail and agrees with them. It's interesting stuff. A couple of takeaways from the Wall Street Journal interview, for instance. Garber is quite blunt in saying students at Harvard no longer feel comfortable disagreeing with each other or their professors. They have ideological lockstep and it bothers him a lot. When he first arrived at Harvard as an undergrad in 1973, he said he found, quote, a place where people debated freely. He and classmates shot the breeze with people of all viewpoints. We were happy to argue with One another. It was a time that shaped me and I think everyone else who was.

[Joe Getty]

There then, boy, that is so not what it's like now.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right. Upon returning to Harvard as provost in 2011, Garber noticed the spirit of healthy disagreement from his undergrad days had disappeared. And again, not diminished somewhat or was not as strong as it had. No, it had disappeared. It's something that concerns him and his colleagues. Quote, students today find it much harder to have conversations with one another about difficult subjects, particularly with someone they don't know well, with whom they might disagree. And to me, that is a big loss. Well, that has to do with. I won't use the fancy term, but the constantly expressed idea that there are only two sides, good and evil. You pick good or you are an evil person and we will persecute you. That is the spirit on college campuses, not open inquiry and curiosity. It's the opposite of that. Garber goes on to say he knows the university has a perception problem with the general public, driven by a view that Harvard doesn't care about swaths of American and that is overly liberal, I would call it progressive. We've had some real problems we should address, he says. He says, I really understand the resentment that people can feel when they think their problems are not taken seriously. That's something we absolutely view, because I.

[Joe Getty]

Think it's clearly true, is why people have that view.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's most of it, yes. To diversify the faculty, the university is seeking to hire people with an intellectual range, even a visiting fellow coming to campus for a few weeks, whatever it takes. When it comes to teaching, quote, part of what we need to make sure is that in the classroom, classroom and in other settings, we promote the idea that it doesn't matter what your personal views are. You need to teach it in a way that is fair to multiple points of view. And furthermore, you need to enable students to speak up when they have a perspective that is different from the mainstream. Asked how many faculty voted for Trump, for instance, Garber replied, I have no idea.

[Joe Getty]

I have an idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have a good idea, Alan. But again, I'm not going to attack the guy because he might be about as good as it gets right now. He also was quite blunt in saying, yeah, Harvard has and has had for a long time a serious antisemitism problem. Nonetheless, the other day, Harvard put out a report on antisemitism with a report on anti Muslim bias on campus. The progressive view that if we're forced into giving you peanut butter, we're gonna give you jelly. Even Though there's very little jelly to worry about and nobody asked for it it. But we've got to. We can't talk about antisemitism unless we throw in a little anti Muslim bias. Anyway, he. He is an interesting case and again, probably as good as it gets right now, but I've got to throw this in from the New York Times article. Blah, blah, blah, in the eyes of Mr. Trump and many Republicans. There you go. It's the classic Republicans pounce. It's not that Harvard and other elite universities have become echo chambers. It's that Mr. Trump and many Republicans are saying they become echo chambers because you can't ever admit conservatives are right. In the liberal press. Place where students develop intolerance for political perspectives different from their own and shield themselves against any opposing ideas. University leaders often say that criticism exaggerates the issue. Your faculty's like 93% progressive, so at what point is it a real problem we should be worried about, not exaggerated? When it's 100%, the rarely seen 107%.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know how you could exaggerate the current situation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. It's almost everybody. Right? Exactly. Well, I won't belabor the point. You made it quite well. Another headline. Racial discrimination persists at UCLA Medical School as federal investigation is underway, Documents show Department of Health Services has launched civil rights investigation into UCLA's medical school, investigating whether school's admission office discriminates based on race. It does. It absolutely does. It does. Intentionally and out loud. The medical school circulated a memo just last month that outlined, quote, guiding principles for student representation on the admissions committee. Those guidelines require the committee to consider race and LGBTQ and BIPOC and the rest of it when weighing admissions. It's utterly unconstitutional and ridiculous and obvious. Another Campus Madness headline. Slight pivot Here you see Berkeley. Yet another California elite institution received six figure donations from CCP officials. That's your Chinese Communist Party. I wish we had more time to flesh this out. But the American elite universities will take all the money they can from Qatar, for instance, to push pro Islamist propaganda in China, including a $220 million government investment in UC Berkeley from a guy banned because he's a commie agent.

[Advertiser]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Didn't even get to the professor at the University of Chicago who published midterms and instead told students to go to an anti Trump protest. Campus Madness. Gotta clean it out. Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

You're listening to an I Heart podcast.