Planet Of The Beavers

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand – Planet Of The Beavers

Episode Details:

• Title: Planet Of The Beavers
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Release Date: February 13, 2025

Planet Of The Beavers is a thought-provoking episode of the official Armstrong & Getty On Demand podcast, where hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into a variety of contemporary issues with their characteristic humor and incisive commentary. From dissecting modern social phenomena to critiquing bureaucratic inefficiencies and exploring geopolitical tensions, this episode offers a comprehensive look at the challenges facing society today.

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1. Galentine's Day: A Cultural Examination

Timestamp: 00:24 - 01:37

The episode kicks off with a discussion about Galentine's Day—a day celebrated by women the day before Valentine's Day to gather and enjoy each other’s company. Joe Getty remarks on the growing popularity of the day:

Joe Getty [00:24]: "Happy Galentine's Day. Which I just learned about Galentine's Day. It's where the gals, the day before Valentine's Day, get together and go out for drinks or whatever."

Jack Armstrong expresses skepticism about how such holidays might impact societal norms around relationships:

Jack Armstrong [00:38]: "I'm kind of skeptical of anything that contributes to the non coupleization of humankind."

Katie, a recurring voice in their discussions, adds that even married women are participating, suggesting a broader social trend.

2. The Burden of Bureaucracy: A Frustrating Reality

Timestamp: 01:16 - 10:22

A significant portion of the episode centers on the frustrations with bureaucratic systems at both federal and local levels. The hosts highlight Elon Musk's critique of the federal bureaucracy as an "unelected fourth unconstitutional branch of government":

Elon Musk [02:50 - 03:43]: "You can't have an autonomous federal bureaucracy. You have to have one that is responsive to the people... it's an unelected fourth unconstitutional branch of government."

Jack Armstrong draws parallels to Thomas Jefferson’s warnings about bureaucratic overreach:

Jack Armstrong [04:01]: "What he is describing is precisely what Thomas Jefferson was describing in the Declaration of Independence about how the king has sent hither swarms of bureaucrats."

Joe Getty shares a poignant story illustrating the nightmare of bureaucratic red tape, where his friend's mother struggled to process an insurance claim after her house burned down due to endless procedural hurdles:

Joe Getty [05:13]: "My friend's mom's house burned down. His insurer asks for a copy of the blueprints to process the claim... What they've done is clearly just to deny or slow down lots of people."

The hosts vehemently criticize the impersonal and obstructive nature of bureaucratic processes, emphasizing the emotional toll on individuals:

Joe Getty [08:20]: "It makes me insane... you don't make the rules, but this is freaking ridiculous."

Jack Armstrong adds a philosophical layer, lamenting how bureaucratic systems drain individuals' resources and patience:

Jack Armstrong [09:19]: "They are a fungus on the skin of humanity."

3. Scientific Skepticism: Neutrinos and Beyond

Timestamp: 12:08 - 16:49

Transitioning from bureaucratic woes, Armstrong and Getty touch upon recent scientific discoveries, specifically the detection of high-energy neutrinos. Joe Getty shares the excitement and confusion surrounding the findings:

Joe Getty [12:15]: "Scientists discovered a new particle that is supposed to be one of the most amazing discoveries in the history of mankind... They detected the highest energy ghost particle ever seen."

Jack Armstrong expresses skepticism about the validity of such discoveries, humorously suggesting potential fraud:

Jack Armstrong [15:08]: "This could be 100% legit or a complete fraud... they fall for anything."

Despite their skepticism, the hosts acknowledge the significance of scientific advancements while questioning their immediate applicability to societal issues.

4. Geopolitical Tensions and Religious Extremism

Timestamp: 16:55 - 28:05

A substantial segment of the episode delves into the complex interplay between geopolitical strategies and religious extremism. The hosts reference Andrew McCarthy's analysis of jihadist strategies in Europe and North America, highlighting the deliberate creation of Islamic enclaves to undermine Western values:

Jack Armstrong [23:55]: "Voluntary apartheid is the Sharia supremacist strategy for conquest in Europe and North America... Muslims would put pressure on the local authorities to recognize the de facto autonomy that they'd aggressively established."

Joe Getty underscores the strategic exploitation of societal openness to facilitate extremist agendas:

Joe Getty [24:23]: "Christians, any sort of trad... Muslims who make... How do you allow that to happen?"

The discussion points to a perceived failure of Western policies to effectively counteract the influence of extremist ideologies, with references to specific incidents and legislative shortcomings.

5. Modern Societal Challenges: Smartphone Addiction

Timestamp: 30:02 - 35:11

Armstrong and Getty shift focus to the pervasive issue of smartphone addiction, noting its impact across all age groups. Joe Getty shares observations from a discussion group comprising individuals aged 50 to 85, all lamenting excessive time spent on their phones:

Joe Getty [31:45]: "Every single person there between 50 and 85 is there... I think it's the biggest problem mankind has."

Jack Armstrong proposes a satirical solution by assembling historical and spiritual figures to evaluate humanity's obsession with constant pleasure:

Jack Armstrong [32:52]: "Here's an idea. Let's assemble Jesus and Buddha, George Washington, Gandhi... and ask them."

The hosts express concern over the long-term consequences of digital addiction, fearing a future where human connections diminish in favor of virtual engagements.

6. Light-Hearted Moments: Naked Cruises and Book Recommendations

Timestamp: 30:05 - 35:11

Balancing heavy topics, Armstrong and Getty inject humor into the conversation with mentions of a naked cruise managed by Norwegian Cruise Lines:

Joe Getty [30:05]: "2000 passengers on Norwegian cruise lines just set sail on an 11 day naked cruise."

They also recommend literature that offers historical insights through engaging narratives. Joe Getty shares his unconventional method of encouraging his child to read Slaughterhouse Five by paying him for completing book reports:

Joe Getty [29:35]: "I paid my kid to read it recently... He wasn't watching YouTube. I gave him a couple of bucks."

7. Concluding Thoughts: The Path Forward

Timestamp: 35:11 - End

In wrapping up, the hosts reflect on the myriad issues discussed, from bureaucratic inefficiencies and scientific debates to religious extremism and digital addictions. They emphasize the importance of awareness and proactive engagement to address these challenges, albeit with their signature blend of cynicism and humor.

Joe Getty [34:14]: "There's no way, no possible way. This is a positive development."

Their closing remarks underscore a sense of urgency in tackling societal problems, urging listeners to stay informed and critically evaluate the systems that govern their lives.

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Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty [02:56]: "This is not to say that there aren't some good people who are in the federal bureaucracy, but you can't have an autonomous federal bureaucracy..."

• Jack Armstrong [04:01]: "Thomas Jefferson was describing... how the king has sent hither swarms of bureaucrats."

• Joe Getty [08:20]: "This is freaking ridiculous."

• Jack Armstrong [15:08]: "This could be 100% legit or a complete fraud."

• Joe Getty [24:23]: "How do you allow that to happen?"

• Joe Getty [31:45]: "I think it's the biggest problem mankind has."

• Jack Armstrong [32:52]: "Let's assemble Jesus and Buddha, George Washington, Gandhi..."

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Conclusion:

In Planet Of The Beavers, Armstrong and Getty offer a critical lens on contemporary societal issues, blending humor with earnest critique. From questioning the efficacy of bureaucratic systems to highlighting the dangers of religious extremism and digital addiction, the episode serves as a compelling commentary on the state of the world. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on these discussions, fostering a deeper understanding of the multifaceted challenges that define our era.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

How you doing? Happy Galentine's Day. Which I just learned about Galentine's Day. It's where the gals, the day before Valentine's Day, get together and go out for drinks or whatever. I guess it's been big for years and us dudes are just learning about it. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm kind of skeptical of anything that contributes to the non coupleization of humankind.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

But. But there's part of me that thinks maybe womankind has just recognized, you know, it seems like. Like we're really into this quote unquote holiday and the guys aren't so much. Maybe we all just get together and have a big time and the dud can go do what they want.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Huh.

[Joe Getty]

I think it might be the other. I hadn't thought about it, but it might be a. People are getting together in serious relationships so much less. There might be an awful lot of people out there. Like this is the way around it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although Katie, her friends who are into it are married, so it could be both.

[Katie]

Yeah, they're. They're using it as a. As a day to just get together. All the girls and the husbands are going to go do their own thing. But I do.

[Joe Getty]

We feel bad about that. But darn it, if that's what you need to do, I guess I'll just need to figure out something to do on my own. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Me and my fishing pole and my buddies. It'll be right.

[Joe Getty]

My couch and my TV alone.

[Katie]

Thoughts and prayers, you guys.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's like.

[Joe Getty]

What's the comedian's name? Shane Gillis, who was in the Bud Light commercial the other day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

One of his routines is about how after he. He lives with his girlfriend and. And after they have loving relations, he. He said, I know this sounds bad, but I just want her to be gone like as soon as we're done. I just wish she was gone. And the crowd always groans like this is. Oh yeah, I'm the only one like anyway says, oh yeah. I'm the only dude here that likes playing Xbox alone for five hours. But yeah. So Galentine's day could work out for everyone. I'm glad it's catching on. So I've got an unbelievable example of bureaucracy. I think lots of people have dealt with this sort of thing, but apparently not enough. It should be discussed all the time. We all should knee jerk. Reflexively react to growing bureaucracies with horror because we've all dealt with them. DMV or whatever the hell it is, you go down to get some paperwork for, you know, you're, you're, you're adding on a room to your house in certain states or whatever. You know, that sort of stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Joe Getty]

But at the federal level, Elon's been talking about it a lot. Here he was a couple days ago in the Oval Office.

[Elon Musk]

This is not to say that there aren't some good, there are good people who are in the federal bureaucracy, but you can't have an autonomous federal bureaucracy. You have to have one that is responsive to the people. That's the whole point of a democracy. And so, and if you looked at this, if you asked, look at the founders today and said, what do you think of the way things have turned out? Well, we have this unelected fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has in a lot of ways currently more power than any elected representative. And this is, this is not something that people want and it does not match the will of people. So it's just something we've got to fix.

[Jack Armstrong]

And if I might throw in just one added note, what he is describing is precisely what Thomas Jefferson was describing in the Declaration of Independence about how the king has sent hither swarms of bureaucrats. It's. He uses a different word to, to waste our time and our money and we've had enough.

[Joe Getty]

And Elon's dealing with that federal bureaucracy, but you have it at the state level and the county level and the city level also. And sure, before I get back to that, Jim Garrity tweeted out something yesterday. I thought it was good on the whole Elon Musk an unelected, taken over the blah, blah, blah. It is true that no one cast a ballot for Musk in 2024, but no one was in the President's cabinet. No one in the President's cabinet was elected to their jobs other than the Vice president. Back in 2020, nobody voted to put Alejandro Mayorkas in charge of the border. Nobody voted to put Anthony Blinken in charge of foreign policy or Jake Sullivan in charge of national security, or Janet Yellen in charge of the economy, which of course is an obvious point, but it's easy to demagogue the whole Elon Musk unelected. Oh, where, where does he get off?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, dumb people get the vote in America and that's who they're appealing to with a lot of it.

[Joe Getty]

I get angry reading this next thing just because. And I Didn't have. But I've dealt with this sort of stuff before.

[Jack Armstrong]

We all have.

[Joe Getty]

And it makes me insane. Remember when Gavin Newsom couple weeks ago was saying we're gonna cut the red tape, the ridiculous bureaucracy. Your party built the red tape and the ridiculous bureaucracy?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Single handedly.

[Joe Getty]

So I don't know who Eric Spiegelman is, do you? But anyway, he's. He's on Twitter and I often look at who's following them to get an idea of how big a deal they are. Bill Mallusion of Fox, Barry Weiss follows him. So that's, that's enough for me. He tweeted this out. Absolutely infuriating. Palisades recovery story. That's the area where the horrible fires happen in Los Angeles. My friend's mom's house burned down. His insurer asks for a copy of the blueprints to process the claim. Well, starting there out of that, that just seems like an effort to deny or slow down lots of people who's, who's got their blueprints handy for their house off the top of their head. Come on, anybody. I mean, unless your home was just built and you thought it'd be cool to hang on to them for some reason.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've got a really interesting story about how people get turned down for health insurance coverage. Almost never appeal. When they do, they're often successful. Often successful. It's so clearly just a. Why don't we trip them up a little bit, delay a little bit and see how many give up.

[Joe Getty]

I saw that article. I want you to talk more about that. I want to hear about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Will do.

[Joe Getty]

My friend's mom's house burned down. His insurer asked for a copy of the blueprints to process the claim. The blueprints were in the house and they burned. But there's a copy on file with the Los Angeles Department of Building and safety. LA DBs. That's a pretty good acronym. Los Angeles Department of Bull. LA dbs. Which requires a release letter from the architect to access the blueprints. Okay, step one, the insurer, which is not a government thing, that's a them trying to delay or deny and saying you got to get the blueprint. You go to the government and their rule is you have to have a letter from the architect to get access to the blueprints here. I mean, already I would be screaming and pulling my hair out.

[Jack Armstrong]

And if the architect is dead, you have to get permission from his estate to access the will to gain the architect's blueprints.

[Joe Getty]

But anyway, this person had it. So LA DBS requires a release letter from the architect to give him his blueprints, which my friend provides. Well, good for you. I wouldn't have been able to do that. Whole process takes a week. So right there, you're already off. You've spent a week doing this. He goes to the DBS to get his blueprints, but they won't give them to him. Why? Because the architect signed the request paperwork on the wrong part of the page. The LA DBS says, my friend needs to start the whole process over. My friend objects. He says, the instructions just said the architect need to sign the page. And he did that. The clerk says, but he signed over the seal. He's supposed to sign next to the seal. My friend goes, so he signed it. The clerk says, but he signed the wrong part of the page. My friend, who's not me, so didn't, like, go nuts and, like, blow up the building or something?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, he hasn't murdered him yet. Okay, let's go on.

[Joe Getty]

Says, you know, my mom's house burned down, and every day this gets delayed is another day she can't get her claim processed. The clerk said, that's not my problem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

That sort of thing. It makes me angry because I. I witnessed this the other day, actually. I was. I was at the city for something and I saw somebody dealing with it and walk away sheepishly. I wish more people would get upset, like me. I wish. I wish fewer people would just. I guess that's the way it works. I guess some. Nobody can tell me over some technically stupid reason that I can't do anything, don't accept it. I don't know if it helps anything, but at least. And I always say it's not your fault. You don't make the rules, but this is freaking ridiculous.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Yeah. And just that the sort of person who becomes a bureau, a cog in a bureaucracy, and not only implements arcane and idiotic rules like that, but kind of enjoys them.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, they do.

[Jack Armstrong]

They are a bane. And they're. They are a fungus on the skin of humanity.

[Joe Getty]

That's. That's what makes bureaucracies what they are. Something in human nature. I don't know if I've ever had this, because I've never had a position like this. Maybe it's human nature, so maybe I would do exactly the same thing. But it seems to be human nature that if you have a little bit of power over somebody, you really enjoy exercising it. That must just be the way we're built. So if you can say at the dmv, no, you need a different form, you'll have to reapply or something like that. Rather than like grab the form and hand it to him, just like, hey, I'll help you with that. You get an enjoyment out of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

It's too bad that that's part of human nature. It's a bad part of you. There are a lot of bad parts of human nature.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you know, let me go back to the original Thomas Jefferson, see if this rings true in your life. He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance, meaning drain their finances for them. So clearly what we've done to ourselves.

[Joe Getty]

For the people in North Carolina trying to deal with their disaster, for the people in LA dealing with their disaster, there's going to be the story I just read. There's already been the story I just read times. Thousands and thousands of examples just as infuriating of just making it really hard to get things done. Which speaks to like why I said at the bank the other day, I hate the federal government. And they all looked at me like I was Timothy McVeigh. Because my interaction with the government is almost entirely you take money from me or you slow me down from getting something to do, those are my interactions. How about you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. I don't want to drown in this stuff. Maybe we can put off the follow up until next hour, but a couple of different pieces of analysis have reached my eyes and ears. Describe the extent to which states and localities are so completely dependent on federal money. That's problem number one. Why is all that money going to D.C. and then we beg unbended knee for it to come back to us. It was here to begin with. Wherever here happens to be for you. And secondly, how the flow of that money is siphoned off to cronies and fake charities and phony non governmental organizations or whatever. And it is just so clearly a money laundering, crony, enriching, enriching program. And the fact that we the people have permitted this to happen because they get us with the moral arguments, they get us with the safety arguments, they get us with some civil rights arguments. And civil rights of course is a sacred and beautiful thing. But again they, they use moral arguments because they know you're a good person. They don't mean a stinking word of it. It's a way to accrue more power. Anyway, more on that to come.

[Joe Getty]

Breaking news. Senator Fetterman just said in an interview? There isn't a constitutional crisis with the Trump administration.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's correct.

[Joe Getty]

Good for him. Scientists discovered a new particle that is supposed to be one of the most amazing discoveries in the history of mankind. I don't understand it. You won't understand it when we talk about it later, among other things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay here. Armstrong and Getty. The Philadelphia Eagles are set to hold their super bowl victory parade this week on Valentine's Day in what's being called the ultimate test for Philadelphia boyfriends.

[Joe Getty]

Babe, what if I go for just an hour or so? That's pretty funny. Interesting timing for that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I just. I don't think either one of us know a lot of couples that are super into Valentine's Day. I know it exists. It must. You can't get a restaurant a seat at a restaurant?

[Joe Getty]

I'll save my Valentine's Day smack for tomorrow.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, fair enough.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know if I had ever come across the word neutrino before yesterday. Ask your doctor about neutrino could cause constipation or erections lasting more than four hours.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Neutral neutrinos, nicknamed ghost particles. They're a tiny little particle. They're the most. The second most abundant particle in the universe after particles of light, photons.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not gonna say after stupidity.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not pretending I understand any of this. By the way, 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body every second without you even noticing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've noticed me out.

[Joe Getty]

I noticed and I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. They're the most mysterious of elementary particles. They have no electric charge, almost no mass, and interact only weekly with matter. They're special cosmic messengers bring us. Bringing us unique information on the mechanisms involved in the most energetic phenomena in the world, like black holes and. And the headline yesterday, and this. Scientists say this is one of the most amazing discoveries in history, and I haven't got the slightest idea what it means or why. They detected the highest energy ghost particle ever seen, and they have no idea where it came from. It may have come from, like, directly, very close to the beginning of the Big Bang to have this much energy.

[Jack Armstrong]

I read about this stuff and I always come away from it with the same thought. This could be 100% legit or a complete fraud. And you're all laughing at. We told them we could measure neutrinos. We made it up and we told them and we told them we found an extra bright one and they gave us $50 million in funding. I'm telling you, these people fall for anything. It could be one or the other and I would never have any idea which. So I just pat them on the back and say, that's great.

[Joe Getty]

Super scientists have detected the highest energy neutrino ghost particle ever seen. The particle arrived at Earth at nearly the speed of light with 30 times the energy of the previous most energetic neutrino ever measured. This is the first solid evidence that neutrinos with such high energies can be produced in the universe. And for some reason, the fact that it has this much energy packed into it means something extraordinary. And I read many paragraphs. It's about this in the New York Times yesterday. And I can't. I didn't understand it enough to sum it up in any way whatsoever, but there you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

If we do achieve a thorough understanding of the most minute building blocks of the universe, will that help us get rid of the Department of Education?

[Joe Getty]

Or help making. Or help stop having one group of religious fanatics want to murder in their sleep a different group of people for their religion?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Will it stop bureaucrats from preventing folks from rebuilding their homes after a fire? And again, I value science. I suggest the scientists go full speed ahead with that stuff.

[Joe Getty]

The energy of this neutrino was 220 million billion electron volts, which seems like.

[Jack Armstrong]

A lot again, or 500 horsepower or big as an elephant. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

You can say anything you want and I will have the same reaction.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, there might be like six people on Earth that could challenge that assertion, you know, and a million billion.

[Jack Armstrong]

It could be no more than 1.1 million billion, in my opinion.

[Joe Getty]

What are we getting to next?

[Jack Armstrong]

The jihad against Jews is a war against the West. On college campuses, in Israel, in the streets of Germany where a jihadi just ran down dozens of people. Yeah, Today we are in a war, whether we know it or not.

[Joe Getty]

Neutrinos ain't gonna help that. Armstrong and Getty, two pieces of kind of breaking news. Hamas announced they will restart the deal that they made with Israel and give back a couple more hostages, as was scheduled by noon on Saturday. So that's back on there. But also overnight was the reporting in the Wall Street Journal, our intelligence saying that Israel is planning to strike Iran hard and try to take out their nuclear facilities sometime this year. Who leaked that? Why? And if that's a good thing or bad thing, I don't have any idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it could go either way. It could be a great idea or be an inadvertent, not inadvertent but an intentional leak by some anti Trumpist in the State Department. Who knows? Speaking of the Middle East, a couple of things that I found very, very interesting. Number one, Trump's lunatic plan to turn Gaza into a resort. Trump branded, I'm sure, and clear out all the Palestinians and build them nice tract houses in Jordan and the rest of it. And it was never clear exactly what he was trying to accomplish with that plan because it's an impossibility. Well, four dimensional chess, you tell me, the leaders of Egypt, and I think it was Jordan, maybe another country came out and said, yo, whoa, whoa, whoa, that Trump plan, let's come up with a serious alternative that all of the regional countries work on together. I'm like, wait, you lazy bastards who've been shouting about the Palestinians all these years but never doing anything to help them. All of a sudd sudden, Trump proposes, you know, Gaza lago, and now you really want in and you want to finance it. And I'll be darned, okay?

[Joe Getty]

And even David Ignatius in the Washington Post believes that Trump is the main thing that changed this discussion.

[Jack Armstrong]

So a bit of a bridge to the main discussion. A British man was arrested for burning the Quran. And the police in Manchester posted name. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God. Britain is so far gone. I've got a bunch of examples of that. We don't have time for it now, but they have gone. Fully woke and fully afraid of Islamism. So stay tuned. But anyway, they posted his name, date of birth in the borough where he lives, so we can safely assume he'll be killed sooner or later, fatwa style, even if he gets off the charges. Says the folks, say the folks in the free press, they released his name.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, then they point out that an Iraqi refugee who's aware of the evils of Islamism was assassinated in Sweden last week. He burned the Quran in 2023, faced a constant drumbeat of threats, and finally they found him and murdered him. And then, as they point out, strange how you can burn Bibles, Torahs, even do cool p art on the image of Christ. And you'll never be killed, you'll never be jailed, you'll never be protested. At least not much. You might get a show at a downtown gallery. How is it one religion managed to scare us into such subm. Well, if you haven't read Michael Holabeck's submission, now is the time. Yeah, that's a brilliant novel.

[Elon Musk]

It is.

[Joe Getty]

And it, it hinges on Marie Le Pen ending up being elected leader of France. And that looks like that might happen soon, actually. So is it against the law? If I burn a Bible in, in London, that's not against the law, but if I burn a Quran, it is against the law.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't, I don't know. I don't know the laws. But it generally isn't prosecuted because nobody pushes it right. Anyway, that all brings us to a piece by Andrew McCarthy which I've been hanging onto for quite some time, looking for the right moment to unleash it. And interestingly, it was written in November about the attacks on Jews in Amsterdam, which you may or may not remember. Soccer game, hotels, people running for their lives, hiding out. I don't know if it sounds familiar. What's really interesting about it is it could have been written this morning about the 24 year old Afghan refugee jihad haughty criminal who ran down dozens of people in Berlin. Was it today? And that is really going to roil German politics, which were already roiled. But McCarthy, talking about the attacks in Amsterdam, could have been talking about today. And he gets to his main point. This is not just a jihad against Jews. The war against Israel is the war of Jew hatred in Europe. Russia's war against Ukraine is materially supported by Iran, the jihadist maestro of the war against Israel. The Biden Harris administration woeful failure of deterrence has ushered America's principal geopolitical adversaries, China and Russia, into positions of influence in the Middle East. And they see Sharia supremacists, including but not limited to their partners in Tehran, as major assets in their anti Western project. The jihad against Jews is a war against the West. And then he goes into a great deal of description detail and it's really enlightening. And we'll post it. I'm not sure if it'll be [e-mail], in the hot links, but I want to get to his general point. As I explained in these pages over a dozen years ago, he writes, voluntary apartheid is the Sharia supremacist strategy for conquest in Europe and North America. It was notably championed by Sheikh Yusuf Karadawi, who until his death at age 96 in 2022 was the world's most influential Sunni Sharia jurisprudent, the authority most revered by the Muslim Brotherhood in its Palestinian branch, Hama. Voluntary apartheid aims to kill the west by means of its own lax immigration policies which have devolved into collapsing border security. And just for a moment to depart from the theme, I'm reminded of people who think critical theory and Wokeism. And all of that is like a conservative conspiracy theory. When the guys who came up with it wrote books that sold well. Their names are on the spines. They describe precisely what they want to do and how they're going to do it, and that's what they're doing, but people don't know it. So this Sheikh Yusuf Karadawi, who I had not heard of, he has been explaining precisely what you're supposed to do. Caradawi encouraged Muslims to migrate en masse to Europe and North America and there to gravitate into enclaves. Do not adapt and assimilate. Put yourself into big Arab Muslim neighborhoods. When the Islamic population.

[Joe Getty]

Because the west is the way it is currently, we will allow you to live your lifestyle because we think it would be somehow belligerent to make you live our lifestyle, which I see in my own town.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. You know, as the. The saying goes, we demand liberty because that is according to your principles. And as soon as we're in charge, we'll deny liberty because that is according to our principles. We are being exploited for our openness. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Christians, any sort of trad.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wives.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God, that's a horror. But Muslims who make. And this happens in Davis, California. I see women walking around in the full beekeeper outfit, sometimes looking out the little slit. How do you allow that to happen?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. Flying into Sea tac or my. The region, Seattle, Tacoma, where my daughter lives. I see it all the time in the neighborhood close to the airport. Full beekeeper all over the place. Anyway, so here is the specific instructions. Migrate in huge numbers to Europe and North America. Gravitate into enclaves. When the Islamic population reached a critical mass, which needn't be very big. 5% is more than enough. As the Bolsheviks could tell you, Andy points out, Muslims would put pressure on the local authorities to recognize the de facto autonomy that they'd aggressively established. The Muslims demand would be to conduct their affairs in accordance with Sharia, Islam's scripturally rooted law and societal plan, which is antithetical to Western concepts of liberty, equality, private property, privacy, etc. By convincing Western leaders and decision makers of our right to live according to our faith, ideologically, legislatively and ethically, Karadawi reasoned that Muslims quote, these are all quotes, would transverse an immense barrier in our quest for an Islamic state. Under the plan, the burgeoning Islamic enclaves grow in number, spread in terms of territory controlled, and eventually connect. The indigenous Westerners in and around these enclaves either conform or leave. For all intents and purposes, Sharia Supremacists become the sovereign now. And Andy goes on for several more pages, which I would be delighted to read, but it's a little long and maybe we'll return to it. It'll be like our bedtime story, time of the show for the next week.

[Joe Getty]

That is very like the book, much like the book submission, which can't recommend highly enough. It's not like a non fiction textbook. It is a breezy novel with sex scenes. But it's really interesting about how the takeover would happen and how easily it could happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's also mundane, bit by bit, administratively, like Karadawi is suggesting. Yeah, just demand this and that and get this autonomy, that autonomy. Grow the community, connect with the one next to you. Then, for instance, tell Joe Biden that unless he cuts off Israel, you won't vote for him in Dearborn, Michigan. Didn't work, but that's what they were trying to do.

[Joe Getty]

I always use the example of you can make fun of other religions. For instance, the Mormons. You can have a Broadway musical that wins all kinds of awards laughing at Mormons, but you can't make any jokes about Muslims because they'll get violent. Okay? So they get the heckler's veto. Interesting. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

And to get back to the point I made earlier, if you say, hey, this is precisely what they said they were going to do. They wrote books. Their names are on the spine. Now they're doing it. Look at it. You will be called an Islamophobe. That is part of the strategy, too. We will exploit you using your principles. Then we will enslave you according to our principles.

[Joe Getty]

Well, phobe phobia being fear of. If you're not afraid of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Irrational fear of.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's, that's a good point. If you don't have a rational fear of fundamentalist Islam, you ain't paying attention.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. It is a form of government. Well, we must respect people's religions. No, it's much more than a religion. It's not a personal religion, like you're a Presbyterian. It's a way to organize all of society except most of the people who say that crap.

[Joe Getty]

You don't respect the most, the majority religions in the country. You don't respect Catholics or Baptists or Mormons or any of those people.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's part of the cult. They're xenophiles. If it is not American, not Christian, not Western, I love it. And I'm in favor of it because that gives you some sort of intellectual, you know, cachet in your college educated with useful Degrees crowd. And you get rewarded socially for espousing those views. It's reduced. Ridiculous. Suicidal. And I tell you what, there's part of me that thinks when I'm in a particularly grim mood, that if the west is that stupid and so steeped in self hatred, we deserve to lose.

[Joe Getty]

Ah, that's rough.

[Jack Armstrong]

On a lighter note. Well, everything's a lighter note.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, I can do another book recommendation. It's all. It's a anniversary today. It's the 80 year anniversary of the bombing of Dresden. You could read some sort of scholarly book about it. Or you could read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, which is another great book.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is indeed not a laugher. No, there is some rye humor in it, no doubt.

[Joe Getty]

But I paid my kid to read it recently.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like to you or just to read it?

[Joe Getty]

Just to read it. I paid him to read it.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is one of those controversial strategies that I've heard about. Yeah, dollars for grades, that sort of thing.

[Joe Getty]

I paid him to read it. And then he had to do a book report, oral book report, where I just asked him questions. Enough questions to make sure he actually read it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Unconventional. Odd. I'm sure we'll get harsh emails. But the book got read and the ideas got absorbed.

[Joe Getty]

He wasn't watching YouTube. I gave him a couple of bucks. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll see.

[Joe Getty]

I'll look back on it from years now and it was either a good idea or a bad idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's bold and innovative.

[Joe Getty]

There you go. More on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Hey guys, listen to this. I read that 2000 passengers on Norwegian cruise lines just set sail on an 11 day naked cruise.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, 2,000 naked people plus a cruise is like.

[Joe Getty]

Someone asked how many different diseases can we have at one time? Norovirus, Syphilis. Yeah, I don't understand some people's enthusiasm to be around other people naked. I don't. I don't get that. I'm as big a fan, like in a one on one situation with the right person as anyone can be, but just in the general population. I just never had the slightest desire.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, to each their own. I say stay away from me.

[Joe Getty]

And one more thing I was gonna say. What was the other thing I was gonna say? Valentine's Day, naked cruises.

[Jack Armstrong]

Norovirus.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe it'll pop back into my head.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bribing sons to read. No.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I'll do it after this. So Katie texted this to the group yesterday. I thought it was kind of funny breaking down your different organizations and getting Packages or information or whatever. Ups, Your package is in your city on a truck driven by Mike. It will arrive at 6:27pm today. FedEx. Your package is coming. You'll get it when we get there. Now, from my personal experience, it's the reverse. My personal experience, it's the opposite of that. But that doesn't ruin the joke. Usps. That'd be the government postal service. What package? Amazon. We're already inside your house. Check the bathroom.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, no kidding.

[Joe Getty]

And Facebook. We know you were thinking about getting a toaster oven yesterday. Here are 20 ads for toaster ovens.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, truth to that.

[Joe Getty]

Also, we talk a lot about smartphones and staring at phones and all the sort of stuff that's changed. And send smartphones. I was in a group yesterday with maybe the youngest person. There was 50. It was people between 50 and 85, not young people. And somebody brought up the topic of how much time they waste staring at their phone, like looking at YouTube videos. And every single person there between 50 and 85 is there. Oh, yeah. I can't stop. I get to the end of the day and I think, or at the end of the afternoon, and thank God I wasted all my time. So it's not just young people. People who lived decades, 60 years without this technology have getting sucked into it and now feel like, you know, on a given day, they wasted their day looking at this stuff. It might be the biggest problem mankind has. Here's.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's an idea. Let's assemble Jesus and Buddha, George Washington, Gandhi.

[Joe Getty]

I want Trump there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Trump. And ask them.

[Joe Getty]

Actually, Trump would maybe Elvis, Princess, for.

[Jack Armstrong]

The love of God, no. John Wayne.

[Joe Getty]

I'm sorry.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now he's got me doing it.

[Joe Getty]

And Dale Earnhardt. Now we got our.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, anyway, you get the greatest sages who have ever walked the earth, and you say to them, what do you think of human beings having pleasure available to them every second of every day? How do you think that'd go? We'll start with you. Jesus. Buddha'd be like, why him? Anyway, all of those great sages would say the same thing. Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's a terrible idea. We're not meant to deal with that.

[Joe Getty]

No, it just struck me because it was an older crowd, this group, having the same conversation that I witnessed with younger people. Except younger people don't have that conversation. They're perfectly okay with it. See? So I think all the people that lived in the before times, before you had a smartphone and everybody stared at it the whole time. We'll be dead soon. And then there won't be anybody who ever, ever was in a restaurant where people weren't staring at their phones or a bus stop or anything like that. And it'll be over for good. Yes, Katie.

[Katie]

Oh, I just. I really. I irritated myself yesterday. I was watching a documentary that I was actually interested in, but just the second that it lost my attention.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Katie]

I went to my phone and then I had to rewind.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the good news is, in those after times that Jack was describing, when everybody's staring at their phones, nobody's going to get together and have sex and. And then it won't matter because there will be very few human beings and we'll have the world of the beavers.

[Joe Getty]

There's no way, no possible way. This is a positive development. They have people that are 72 years old sitting around saying, I wasted my day watching YouTube videos.

[Jack Armstrong]

That breaks my heart.

[Joe Getty]

I know, I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

What have we done to ourselves? What? I'm looking at you, Steve Jobs.

[Joe Getty]

We're built to enjoy pleasure, and the pleasure givers are getting better at it. That's the other problem. They're going to be better 10 years from now and richer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.