The A&G Replay Friday Hour Two

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – The A&G Replay Friday Hour Two (August 29, 2025)

Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive deep into the intersection of geopolitics, ideological alliances, technology risks, and shifts in American culture. The hosts draw provocative connections between historical and current movements on the political left, concerns over rising neo-Marxism, espionage via consumer apps, changing social behaviors, and contentious health policy debates. The episode is rich with both sharp commentary and wry humor, embodying the show’s trademark tone of concern, skepticism, and irreverence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Red-Green Alliance” – Leftist Politics & Political Islam (04:07–16:49)

• Opening Discussion: The show starts with coverage of Palestinian militants disguising themselves as World Central Kitchen workers to avoid Israeli airstrikes, sparking outrage at the denial by Western media of similar practices involving journalists (04:07–05:47).
  • Jack: “It’s absolutely documented undeniable that Hamas guys were masquerading as food relief guys…NPR considers it completely impossible that they would impersonate journalists. Or at least that’s what they’re saying in essence. And those views are supported practically to a person by the American left…” (04:45)
• Eli Lake and the ‘Red-Green Alliance’:
  • Jack references journalist Eli Lake's writing about the strange alliance between Western leftists and fundamentalist Islamists—a combination dubbed the “Red-Green alliance.” (05:52–06:18)
  • Joe: “Who’s red and who’s green here?” (06:18)
    Jack: “Reds as in communists; green, the color of Hamas and radical Islam.” (06:21)
• Historical Context: They trace the alliance back to Iran’s Islamic Revolution, referencing Ayatollah Khomeini’s manipulation of Western media, who portrayed him favorably in spite of his obvious extremism (06:18–09:16).
  • Jack highlights how Western intellectuals and politicians mischaracterized Khomeini as progressive and saintly, quoting Richard Falk and Andrew Young (07:58–08:34).
  • Joe: “Is it just as simple as the enemy of my enemy is my friend...?” (08:34)
• Postmodernism, Critical Theory, and Foucault:
  • Jack explains how French philosopher Michel Foucault’s postmodernist philosophy underpins much of today’s critical theory and is central to understanding current leftist movements (09:19–12:46).
  • Foucault’s influential role in promoting anti-Enlightenment ideas and celebrating Khomeini’s revolution is highlighted as foundational to today’s cultural Marxism.
• Critique of Critical Theory and Western Progressivism:
  • The hosts argue that the dominance of critical theory and postmodernism undermines the belief in objective truth and rational debate (13:11–15:08).
  • Jack: “The key philosophy of critical theory is that there is no objective truth. Don’t even seek it. It doesn’t exist...And since Western culture is dominant, it has created a narrative that says the Ayatollah Khomeini is a monster, but that’s just because they’re threatened by him. So they’re racists. They’re othering him.”
• Impact on Society & Education:
  • Joe expresses concern over the prevalence of these ideologies in American schools and their threat to cultural and social stability (15:04–15:36).
  • Jack: “It’s the most important problem that faces America. Bigger than China. It’s this century’s nightmare.” (15:08)
• Notable Quote:
  • Jack (on critical theorists): “These effing people wrote effing books. Their effing names are on the effing spines and they effing describe precisely what they’re effing going to do. And they’re doing it precisely as they effing described.” (15:55)
• References & Recommendations:
  • Joe recommends James Lindsay’s YouTube videos and the book Cynical Theories for those interested in a deeper dive on these trends (16:33–16:43).

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2. Social Trends: Decline in Alcohol Consumption & Ubiquitous Background Music (17:07–20:22)

• Decline in Alcohol Consumption:
  • Gallup reports only 54% of U.S. adults now say they drink alcohol, the lowest rate in 90 years (17:07–17:22).
  • Joe: “That’s really interesting. Americans are consuming alcohol at the lowest rate in 90 years.”
  • They discuss possible causes – legal alternatives, shifting generational preferences, and health consciousness (17:22–17:51).
  • The hosts note the paradox of declining alcohol use despite increased societal stress and anger (17:51–18:07).
• Rise of Background Music:
  • Joe reminisces about eating in restaurants before piped-in music became ubiquitous, debating whether constant background noise is necessary (18:43–20:22).
  • Golf is highlighted as an exception for some – with Jack expressing disappointment at the loss of silence on the golf course.

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3. National Security & Chinese Tech Influence (25:20–32:52)

• Chinese-Owned Land Near U.S. Military Bases:
  • Concern raised over Chinese entities buying farmland near 19 American military bases, possibly for espionage or sabotage (25:20–26:54).
  • Jack: “If the Chinese communists can use a capability against us, they will use it. It’s just a question of when.” (26:54)
  • Joe (joking): “If I ever took off my shirt and someone said, what does that tattoo—‘If the Chinese government can exploit a situation, they will.’ That’s your tattoo?”
• China’s ‘Surveillance Apps’:
  • The hosts scrutinize the true purpose behind popular Chinese apps such as TEMU, TikTok, SHEIN, and Pinduoduo—asserting they’re primarily data collection and surveillance tools despite their commerce appearances (27:53–28:39).
  • Jack: “The answer for all of them is collecting your data…they are data collection and surveillance apps.” (28:13)
  • Joe: “They are really hoisting us on our own petards with the whole we like cheap crap…so hungry for their cheap crap…and it is crap, most of it, that they’ll allow us to spy on everybody.” (30:57)
• Android App Permissions & Programmed Evasion:
  • Pinduoduo requests up to 83 permissions, including biometrics and network information; TEMU is specifically programmed to obscure what data it collects (28:39–30:39).
• Chinese Law & Obligations:
  • Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law requires private companies and citizens to cooperate with state surveillance, tying all these issues directly back to the Communist Party (31:18–32:49).
  • Jack: “We are fools. We are.”
  • Joe: “It’s very maddening.”
• Call for U.S. Action:
  • The hosts question why TikTok hasn’t been shut down already and speculate about the influence of lobbying and political contributions (29:45–30:07).

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4. Gift to the Pope: Economics & Markets (32:52–36:19)

• Javier Milei’s Gift to Pope Francis:
  • The libertarian Argentine president gave the Pope Friedrich Hayek’s The Fatal Conceit along with other gifts, prompting discussion (33:42–35:12).
  • Jack celebrates Hayek’s defense of free markets, quoting:
    • “Man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes—that is the fatal conceit of humans.”
  • The duo distinguishes between Hayek the economist and actress Salma Hayek in a playful moment (36:12–36:19).

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5. COVID Shots for Kids & Vaccine Messaging (40:13–44:27)

• Debate Over Pediatric COVID Vaccines:
  • Discussion of the Academy of American Pediatrics’ continued recommendation of COVID vaccination for children, despite changes in CDC policy and lack of clinical data supporting repeated boosters (40:13–41:15).
  • Joe: “Less than a quarter of adults got a booster last year—under 10% of children…So more than 90% of children did not get the booster last year before RFK Jr ever came on the scene.” (42:00)
  • The hosts challenge the media’s narrative blaming vaccine hesitancy on RFK Jr., suggesting lack of data and credibility are real causes.
  • Skepticism toward government and media messaging, and ridicule of inconsistent COVID-era policies (42:38–43:31).
  • Jack and Joe note that COVID posed virtually zero direct risk to healthy children (43:38–43:56).
  • Joe: “We all need to keep this in mind for the next crisis that comes along—that you can be incredibly misled by both the media and your government.” (44:08–44:21)
  • They further discuss how eroded public trust opens the door for actual crackpots and misinformation, making truth harder to find.

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6. DEI, Education, and Institutional Capture (44:27–47:10)

• Jack on Teachers & DEI Training:
  • Jack, dealing with sleep disruptions from prednisone, jokes about mentally composing a practical economics curriculum and a fiery speech for teachers forced into DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) training (44:27–45:30).
  • Jack: “This is racist garbage…it is a Marxist technique to capture institutions.” (45:32–47:10)
  • Emphasizes that DEI, in his view, has “nothing to do with race;” instead, it is a strategy for consolidating power within organizations.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You got jihad in my queer studies. You got queer studies in my jihad.”
  — Joe Getty (09:16)
• “These effing people wrote effing books. Their effing names are on the effing spines and they effing describe precisely what they’re effing going to do. And they’re doing it precisely as they effing described.”
  — Jack Armstrong (15:55)
• “If the Chinese communists can use a capability against us, they will use it. It’s just a question of when.”
  — Jack Armstrong (26:54)
• “They are really hoisting us on our own petards with the whole we like cheap crap…so hungry for their cheap crap…and it is crap, most of it, that they’ll allow us to spy on everybody.”
  — Joe Getty (30:57)
• “We all need to keep this in mind for the next crisis that comes along—that you can be incredibly misled by both the media and your government.”
  — Joe Getty (44:08)
• “DEI needs to end wherever it exists everywhere in America today. It has nothing to do with race. It is a Marxist technique to capture institutions.”
  — Jack Armstrong (46:00)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Red-Green Alliance, Khomeini, & Western Leftists – 04:07–16:49
• Alcohol Consumption & Constant Music – 17:07–20:22
• Chinese Apps, Land, and Data Collection – 25:20–32:52
• Javier Milei, Hayek & Market Economics – 32:52–36:19
• COVID Shots for Kids & Public Trust – 40:13–44:27
• DEI & Institutional Capture in Education – 44:27–47:10

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Tone & Style

Armstrong & Getty blend pointed satire, deep skepticism, robust historical references, and a conversational style. They are adamant in their critiques of ideological extremity, government overreach, tech security threats, and educational trends—often leavening their serious alarms with sharp wit and comedic asides.

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This summary removes advertisements, promo spots, and unrelated non-content, focusing on the hosts’ substantive conversations and narrative flow.

Transcript

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[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and ready. Newly released drone video shows Palestinian militants pretending to be workers from the world's central kitchen. They travel in two cars, one marked with the flag of the humanitarian organization before they're hit by IDF airstrikes. WCK in real time were able to verify that vehicle was not connected to the organization in any way.

[Joe Getty]

Which means those terrorists were using that.

[Jack Armstrong]

As a disguise for their terror activity inside Gaza. Israeli airstrikes targeted multiple areas of the enclave over the past 24 hours, killing dozens of Palestinian civilians. Okay, so in spite of that, it's absolutely documented undeniable that Hamas guys were masquerading as food relief guys. NPR considers it completely impossible that they would impersonate journalists. Or at least that's what they're saying in essence. And those views are supported practically to a person by the American left and a lot of the left, in a lot of the Western world. What the hell is going on? To quote Eli Lake, who's a brilliant writer in the west, the politics of the Gaza war feature a strange marriage between political Islam and the 21st century Western left. For instance, the Democratic socialists of America. This is Mamdani's crew. Simultaneously support making New York a national hub for transgender medicine and want to globalize the intifada.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's. That is a good point.

[Jack Armstrong]

It supports the bleeding edge of social progressive values while throwing its full support behind the fanatic fascists who filmed their mass murder of Jews and proudly posted the videos to Telegram. And Lake, in an absolutely fabulous piece that will post. I think he might get paywalled, but maybe not. Talks about how the. What's called the Red Green alliance among people who think about this sort of thing, how it came up. And it really came up in.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, who's red and who's green here?

[Jack Armstrong]

Reds as in communists in green, the color of Hamas and radical Islam in various. Thank you for asking for the clarification to hit for the room. Anyway, a lot of this arose during Iran's Islamic Revolution, 1978 and 79. And he goes into. And it's so interesting, the details of how Ayatollah Khomeini, who is in exile in France, started giving all sorts of really carefully controlled interviews to American and European media outlets and how they were on this PR campaign to convince the west that he's a reasonable fellow. In fact, he's really for democracy. And Lake is writing. Anybody who spent 10 minutes looking into Khomeini knew that he was a hardcore Islamist monster. You didn't even have to try to figure it out. But the left of American journalism and Western journalism and some folks, like in the Carter administration, became completely convinced and touted in the face of all of this that, no, he was actually a really good guy. Richard Falk, a Princeton professor of international law who met with Khomeini during his exile outside of Paris. Andrew Young, Jimmy Carter's ambassador to the United nations, told reporters that the Ayatollah will eventually be regarded as a saint, like this Falk, the Princeton professor.

[Joe Getty]

And.

[Jack Armstrong]

And because people were saying there were some on the right who said, look, this guy's a reactionary and a terrorist. And he said. To suppose that Ayatollah Khomeini is disassembling seems almost beyond belief. His political style is to express his real views defiantly and without apology, regardless of consequences, blah, blah, blah. Thus, the depiction of him as a fanatical reactionary and the bearer of crude prejudices seems certainly and happ. False.

[Joe Getty]

I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is also encouraging is that his entourage of close, close advisors is uniformly composed of moderate, progressive individuals.

[Joe Getty]

I know you and Eli Lake are about to explain to me why, but is it just as simple as the enemy of my enemy is my friend and my enemy is me, the United States. So somebody who doesn't like us Is good to. I like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. There's. There's more to it than that. But, yeah, the very short version of it is essentially. Wait a minute. You want to overthrow Western civilization? I want to overthrow Western civilization. You want to impose Islamism, but I want to impose Marxism. Well, I tell you what, how about we work together and then when the civilization's overthrown, we'll peacefully cooperate and divide the spoils. And of course, like in every revolution, they kill each other as fast as they can. But there's one more factor.

[Joe Getty]

You got jihad in my queer studies. You got queer studies in my jihad.

[Jack Armstrong]

Two great tastes that taste great together. Oh, that's beautiful. Anyway, so this brings us to the connection between something I have been harping about for a very long time, as has James Lindsay and other folks. If there is one Western progressive who illuminates the emergence of the red green alliance, it is the French philosopher Michel Foucault, who I've mentioned several times. In 1978, Foucault was absolutely the peak of his influence. He was the post modernist whose revolution revolutionizing universities with his withering critique of the Western Enlightenment and values that underpin modern liberalism. Foucault is literally anti enlightenment, and he is the father of all critical theory, okay? And I think people have a tendency to think, all right, Getty and Lindsay are paranoid or whatever, or they're conspiracy theorists. I had a friend in high school who was Indian. His parents had emigrated from India and they were Hindus. And in visiting his house and hanging out with his family some, it became clear to me that there were figures in Hinduism that were known and revered to billions of people around the world who I'd never heard of. I would suggest to you, my friends, and you are my friends, Foucault is that for the neo Marxists, for those who would overthrow Western civilization, he is a godhead to them, and you don't know his name, but trust me when I tell you it's incredibly important that you understand. So this guy was incredibly influential in the universities in the 70s, and in 1978, he was commissioned by two Italian newspapers to report on the Iranian revolution. And like one of those, you know, lefty, you know, Time magazine guys who were visiting the Soviet Union in one of their Potemkin villages back in the 40s, say, or 50s, he couldn't stop gushing about how great the Ayatollah was, and he was going to get rid of the oppression of Western politics and zabba dabba do so. And this gets a little complicated, but I'll get to the simple part. Foucault was a major intellectual influence on the late Columbia University profess Edward Said's Orientalism, Now, a post colonialism study Bible, which critiqued how Western imperial writers made Arabs, Muslims and Easterners objects in their narratives and imposed their own agenda on their histories. Here is the great postmodernist celebrating Ayatollah Khomeini overthrowing the Western government, even though Khomeini would execute Foucault and his company the first chance they got. But that was the birthplace of it. And until you understand that postmodernism thing, you don't get critical theory. You don't understand what DEI is and what it's trying to accomplish. You don't understand queer theory, radical gender theory, all the confused adolescent girls getting their healthy breasts removed because they're momentarily confused by, you know, adolescence and puberty and the rest of it. This is all straight back to Foucault and critical theory.

[Joe Getty]

Clearly, this theory is true in that it is happening. I still don't get how you're not argued out of that position very quickly. If somebody says to you, you realize if you're in Iran, they would. They would murder you immediately. Oh, yeah. So I guess I'd better pick a different group to work with, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Different philosophy. Here's the thing. And these people are smart. I mean, they're insane, but they're smart. They convince you completely of their premise that Western society. What was that phrase? Have made all other people objects in their narratives and impose their own agenda on their histories. The key philosophy of critical theory is that there is no objective truth. Don't even seek it. It doesn't exist. All there is is narratives. And narratives come from your culture. And since Western culture is dominant, it has created a narrative that says the Ayatollah Khomeini is a monster, but that's just because they're threatened by him. So they're racists. They're othering him. And once you have that down to your bones, then you can't be argued off of it on the basis of me saying they. They torture and then kill anybody who's gay or transgender because I'm a Westerner trying to lie to them, using my narrative.

[Joe Getty]

So they don't believe that jihadists would murder gay people, or they think jihadists only murder gay people because of the position we've put them in.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, indirectly. Yeah, the first part. 100% and. Or we have so dominated them and crushed their spirits and oppressed them that they're acting out in ways that they won't anymore when the Enlightenment comes, when the Marxist revolution comes. I mean, like excusing the crimes of October 7th. You saw that directly. Look, they're under oppression. What do you expect them to do? Yeah, and I don't believe they raped and killed babies. No, they just, they, they just fought back against the oppressor. Self delusion.

[Joe Getty]

That's a scary thing to be up against. There's way too many people to believe it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, and they're in our schools, folks. Our elementary schools, our high schools and our colleges and our grad schools. That is one of the dominant philosophies, if not the dominant philosophy in our educational complex. Which is why I'm always saying it's the most important problem that faces America. Bigger than China. It's this century's nightmare. Jihadism.

[Joe Getty]

Thank you, man.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, post Marxism, but cultural Marxism, post modernism, neo Marxism, whatever you want to call it. Thank you.

[Joe Getty]

It's interesting because back then when Mitt Romney was running for President and after 9 11, jihadism did seem like the biggest problem in the world. And it's a problem, no doubt. But I'm more worried about neo Marxism and the foothold it's got in the United States and western culture than I am about jihadism by a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. Yeah. My final word. And folks, I apologize in advance. I'm going to use a bad letter here if you think. I don't know. That seems kind of paranoid. These effing people wrote effing books. Their effing names are on the effing spines and they effing describe precisely what they're effing going to do. And they're doing it precisely as they effing described. End of screen.

[Joe Getty]

Troubling again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Societies are brought down by their own decadence.

[Joe Getty]

If you're interested in this stuff, man, go to YouTube and just type in James Lindsay. He's got some unbelievable YouTube videos about this that are so damn interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

And a great place to start is for the hundredth time, his book with Helen Pluckrose Cynical Theories. It's. It's great.

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[Jack Armstrong]

The percentage of US adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, the lowest in 90 years. But Gallup says the poll has a margin of error of + or -2. Kamala Harris's.

[Joe Getty]

That'S really interesting. Americans are Consuming alcohol at the lowest rate in 90 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Why?

[Jack Armstrong]

Variety things. I think there are other substances available now. They're legal. Plus, that's just the trend line among younger people. Been a number of different theories floated for as to why. Nobody's really sure. It's not great for your health, but the world.

[Joe Getty]

But you compare it with where we are emotionally, it seems like people are less happy, more angry. The world is in more turmoil than it has been in the past. So you're drinking less?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, maybe. You know, the whole I'm a social drinker thing always seemed odd to me as a guy who prefers to drink alone, muttering angrily in the dark. But I think for a lot of humanity, people drink more when they're together and having fun. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. That's stunning, though. I mean. I mean, that's a notable number.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's astounding.

[Joe Getty]

It's not the. This is the lowest level of this since 2021. I mean, that sort of stuff wastes whatever, but 90 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. I have noticed my. My kids and I remember this the other day. What was the first restaurant that decided we should have music playing all the time? We were at, like, a chain breakfast place the other day having a. Having a little breakfast. There's music playing, the fairly decent volume, like most places.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who's the first to decide that and why? You know, there's been the tinkling piano background music, like your classy joints forever or somebody playing in the corner or what have you. I don't know. It's everywhere, though. It's retail. The stores have pop music cranking all the time because it makes people happier, I guess, and less likely to cuss out the help. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

If you go into a store, like, if you're in the Gap and there's not music playing, would you be weirded out? Would it feel kind of dead and not. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I'm in a weird minority in the world of golf. Having a speaker in the cart, listening to music the whole way around the golf course.

[Joe Getty]

Really?

[Jack Armstrong]

More guys that I know are a thumbs up than down by far. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

So I haven't played golf in 20 years or something like that, but that would have been unheard of back when I played golf. Idea of music blasting out of anything.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it's generally not blasting at, you know, unless you're. I don't know, at a public course where nobody cares, but it's at a reasonable volume. I. I don't like it, but I'm in the minority, huh?

[Joe Getty]

People want that all the time, huh? Is it just needing input?

[Jack Armstrong]

I. I don't know. I generally when I listen to music, I'm listening to music not as background music, but you know, you know, teach their own generally.

[Joe Getty]

When I was playing golf, I loved the fact that it was just so silent out there.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know the birds chirping and the sounds of. I know that's like my favorite part of it. But again, I'm in the minority. I've had to accept it. But it's kind of annoying in a couple of different ways in that, you know, maybe you're in this cart and the other guys are over there, another cart, they're 50 yards away and you find what you think is their ball there in the rough. You say Titleist 4 and they're like, what? Titleist 4. What? There's a Titleist 4 right here. Is it yours? Because you got to talk over the mute. You got to yell over the music and. Or they're talking way louder than they think they are because it's sure over the music as you're trying to hit a shot. But again, I'm in the minority. It's fine. It's the Armstrong and Getty Show. Armstrong and Getty show it's the conscience of the nation. Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Christina Quinn]

If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.

[Video Game Advertiser]

A treasure trove of bananas has been stolen and it's up to Donkey Kong and his buddy Pauline to get them back. This unlikely duo is going on a world smashing adventure, using DK's destructive abilities to explore an underground world and the power of Pauline singing to activate wild transformations. Donkey Kong Bonanza available now. Rated everyone 10 and up only on Nintendo Switch 2 game and systems sold separately.

[Show Announcer]

The Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm slightly ashamed that I didn't think of this myself, but there's a lot going on in the world these days. Regular correspondent JT in Livermore, California Guys, if China can build secret prisons within the us, they're more like police Stations with holding cells. But yeah, you know, they're going to be building drone armies here in the US Maybe stored on those properties they're buying next to military bases.

[Joe Getty]

God, we hope, we hope they haven't already.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right, the. Obviously the springboard of this is the knowledge that Ukraine had facilities within Russia in which they were constructing and or storing drones and waiting for the right moment to attack. And JT helpfully sent along a link to an article I believe we talked about at the time. Maps show Chinese owned farmland next to 19 US military bases in alarming threat to national security.

[Joe Getty]

Even if they hadn't come up with that plan prior to what Ukraine did and what Israel just did, they started a week ago.

[Jack Armstrong]

They'Re doing it now. The New York Post identified 19 bases across the US from Florida, Hawaii to Hawaii, which were in close proximity to land bought by Chinese entities and could be exploited by spies working for the communist nation. And if they can be, they will be. That's it. You know, get that tattooed somewhere where you can look at it regularly. If the Chinese communists can use a capability against us, they will use it. It's just a question of when.

[Joe Getty]

I got to admit, if I ever took off my shirt and someone said, what does that tattoo, it says if the Chinese government can exploit a situation, they will. That's your tattoo? Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just don't want to forget it. Don't trust China. Robert Spalding, retired U.S. states Air Force Brigadier General. Brigadier General whose work focus on US China relations till the post is concerning. Due to the proximity of its strategic or to our strategic location, we are a big, rich, naive moron as a country in a lot of ways. Contrast that with Israel, if you will. Oh, speaking of which, on a similar theme, I was thinking of going into this in a playful way. You know, maybe I will. All right, go ahead. What is the app Taemu's business? Is it Temu or tamu? Katie, do you know T E M U?

[Commercial Announcer]

I've heard it both ways. I say Temu.

[Jack Armstrong]

Temu. Okay, fair enough. What is Temu's real business? Okay, hang on now there's more. What is TikTok's real business? There's one more for you. It's Shine, right? That's the cheap clothing. What is Shine's real business?

[Joe Getty]

I've never even heard of that one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or here's Pin Duo Duo. What is that app's real business? Ah, trick question. The answer for all of them is collecting your data. They include a service along with it. That's why you download the app. They are data collection and surveillance apps.

[Joe Getty]

For instance, are they all Chinese?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

For instance, Pindu. Although certainly the Chinese are not the only voracious collectors of. Of data. I mean. Mark Zuckerberg, please. The temu and pinduoduo represent themselves as e commerce apps that offer inexpensive merchandise. But they're also in the business of data collection. The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Mike Hilgers of Nebraska says According to an IT Security Report firm report, Pinduoduo requests as many as 83 permissions, including access to biometrics, Bluetooth, Wi Fi, network information, and well, obviously 70 or 80 more things. As an aside, why is TikTok still happening in America? Mr. President, that's a good one. Because they gave you a big giant contribution to your campaign or your inauguration. Them and their lobbyists are paying off the administration. Get rid of TikTok. Congress passed the law. It's time.

[Joe Getty]

Isn't there a way for. Since Congress did pass a lot of Force the executive to do what you're supposed to do legally.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Somebody's gotta like prove standing and that they've been damaged by it and go to the courts. I guess you'd think there'd be kind of a blanket. The law said that and it's not happening.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lawsuit that you could file.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

An ex post Miranda or corpus lawsuit or something. I don't know. But crazy. An investigation found by Montana found that the Temu app is designed to hide its collection of sensitive information from users and. And from any researcher who might be investigating. The app's functionality. That's part of its programming is to hide what it is doing. TEMU also has code that quote, allows it to reconfigure itself after being downloaded.

[Joe Getty]

What use Teemu for. What's it?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a what Dental hygiene. What do you use TIMU for?

[Joe Getty]

You know, Katie, you can.

[Commercial Announcer]

You can buy anything on it.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's. It's like China's Amazon.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, okay. Then why do we use it in the United States? Because there's just a lot of cheap crap on there.

[Video Game Advertiser]

Super cheap.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, let's.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. They are really hoisting us on our own petards with the whole we like cheap crap. Okay, so we'll develop an app that can spy on every single American in the United States who wants to buy extra cheap crap. And they're so hungry for their cheap crap, and it is crap, most of it, that they'll allow us to spy on everybody.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, exactly. And, and keep in mind what I just said. TAMU has code that allows it to reconfigure itself after you download it so it becomes something different than you downloaded, blah, blah, blah. This is, this is the part I wanted to get to. The fear is that consumer products marketed on TEMU are the bait to get Americans to download an app that gives the company, and thereby the Communist Party access to personal data, location tracking and other sensitive information. Article 7 of the National Intelligence Law of China is the Chinese Communists on their own. You know, I'm tempted to dig up that great piece we had by. Was it. Oh, no, no, no, no. Who was the guy who wrote. Ah, his name is Flitted out of my head. An unbelievable piece quoting Chinese intelligence service officials on how valuable a resource TikTok is. It quoted them chapter and verse, quote after quote after quote from internal memorandum and meetings where the Chinese intelligence Services said, wow, TikTok is an unbelievable boon to what we're doing. But Anyway, here's Article 7 of the National Intelligence Law, China, quote, any organization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence, work in accordance with the law and keep the secrets of the national intelligence work from becoming known to the public. They are bound by law to report anything that Chinese Communists want to know. Well, we're fools. We are.

[Joe Getty]

We freaking are. It's very maddening.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know. I don't. I. You know, we've said enough. When, when the poo hits the fan in whatever shape or array of flung poo results, everybody will say, how did that happen? I don't. Will I be some. Some sort of grimly satisfied. No, I won't. I'll just be horrified. No, just horrified. On a cheerier note, love this. Andy Kessler writing in the journal Javier Millet's gift for Pope Leo. On June 7, the new pope, the Chicago guy, met with Argentine president Javier Millay at the Vatican. Malay gave the Pope a historical document from 1642. Cool. A hand woven vicuna poncho.

[Joe Getty]

That's a good poncho.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, did you got your machine woven vicuna? Please throw it in the trash. Your hand woven. Gorgeous. And he also gave him Friedrich Hayek's book from 1988, the Fatal the Errors of Socialism. The book costs less than $19 on Amazon, but it was the most valuable gift, says Kessler. And he explains with some just fabulous quotes from the book, which I need to read. I've read quotes from it my whole life. But Hayek's fatal conceit is that, quote, man is able to shape the world around him according to his wishes that is the fatal conceit of humans. It's a hearty defense of free markets and of classical liberalism. And Kessler mentions that his friend and colleague Matthew Hennessy got taken to task by Vice President Vance for defending free markets on these pages in 2025. Hayek pounds home the point that markets are about price discovery. Wealth creation quote is determined not by objective physical facts known to any one mind, but by the separate differing information of millions which is precipitated in prices that serve to guide further decisions. Catch that by buying and selling in free markets to determine prices. You and I and millions who are connected, but only by signals resulting from long and infinitely ramified chains of trade. We drive the economy and we do it better than self selecting know it alls who really know nothing.

[Joe Getty]

And he gave that book to the Pope.

[Jack Armstrong]

He did.

[Joe Getty]

Because he thinks the Pope or popes tend to lean a little too socialist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, indeed. I think that was his purpose. Let me hit you with one or two more quotes from Hayek. This is maybe my favorite one's initial surprise at finding that intelligent people tend to be socialists diminishes when one realizes, of course, that intelligent people will tend to overvalue intelligence. Ah, the curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can desire. Design planners are ill informed. Quote to the naive mind that can conceive of order only as the product of deliberate arrangement, it might seem absurd that order and economic growth can be achieved more effectively by decentralizing decisions. He notes. And he notes that the fallacy because quote decentralization actually leads to more information being taken into account man by millions of people who don't even know they're doing it.

[Joe Getty]

Salma Hayek for the win.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's that would be Friedrich Hayek.

[Joe Getty]

Wrong Hayek.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Very different Hayek. I love that. Love that.

[Show Announcer]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty the Armstrong and Getty show.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Estate Planning Advertiser]

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[Jacob Goldstein]

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

[Christina Quinn]

O.Com if you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening. Try this from the Washington Post, I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.

[Video Game Advertiser]

A treasure trove of bananas has been stolen and it's up to Donkey Kong and his buddy Pauline to get them back. This, unlike likely duo, is going on a world smashing adventure using DK's destructive abilities to explore an Underground World and the power of Pauline singing to activate wild transformations. Donkey Kong Bonanza available now. Rated everyone 10 and up only on Nintendo Switch 2 game and systems sold separately.

[Show Announcer]

The Armstrong and Getty show.

[Jack Armstrong]

A fight.

[News Reporter]

Between HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And a prominent doctors group over Covid shots for children. Featuring accusations of vaccine misinformation and influence from big drug makers, the Academy of American Pediatrics said this week that children should get Covid shots and boosters this year, months after the CDC removed the COVID vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women from its recommended vaccine schedule.

[Joe Getty]

This is always presented in the news as if everybody was getting their kids Covid shots and then getting the booster shots, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

And then that maniac RFK Jr said what he said and now people aren't.

[Joe Getty]

Or RFK Jr said a bunch of stuff about vaccines and stuff like that that I, that I think are probably irresponsible or not necessarily true. But this Covid one, he's definitely right about. Let's, let's roll on with this report.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another Covid shot despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.

[News Reporter]

The academy acknowledges its guidance, quote, differs from recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the cdc, which was overhauled this year and replaced with individuals who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation. RFK Jr responded, quote, AAP is angry that CDC has eliminated corporate influence in decisions over vaccine recommendations. He included an image of large pharmaceutical companies that have donated to the academy's children's health programs. Now researchers are weighing in.

[Joe Getty]

Listen to your doctor.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's clear that the Academy of Pediatrics.

[Joe Getty]

Recommendations are based on very good science. Less than a quarter. I'm surprised it's this high.

[Jack Armstrong]

Actually.

[Joe Getty]

Less than a quarter of adults got a booster last year under 10% of children. So more than 90% of children did not get the booster last year before RFK Jr ever came on the scene. So as I've seen it now, this is a from Fox, the report we're hearing now. But as I've seen it presented in the mainstream news, it's, you know, just another RFK Juniors crazy and whatever and all the parents out there whose kids aren't going to get the boosters they so desperately want, even though more than nine out of 10 parents did not get their kid.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although even that report, it just said, you know, that it's stuck with people who've spread vaccine misinformation in the past. I Would I need to know what you're talking about? Because the federal government and the CDC and the NIH and Anthony Fauci and the president himself spread information over misinformation over and over and over again.

[Joe Getty]

That's an excellent point.

[Jack Armstrong]

What are you talking about?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. I just was surprised there was any Covid in the news whatsoever. Now you, who did you. Judy got a COVID test.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that what you said the other day? Yeah, yeah. She went to the doc in the box, she had a respiratory thing and. And they said up, you gotta have a COVID test. Because she mentioned the word cough.

[Joe Getty]

That's interesting. Because my doctor, and surprisingly, I mean the town I live in, but my doctor, Winnie I Hood whooping cough, they never even checked me for coven. And that's coughing and all kinds of bad.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. Well, then as now. Now as then, a lot of it's nonsense. Inconsistent nonsense.

[Joe Getty]

Was there. Did there. Was there ever a kid that died from COVID who didn't have other problems, even one in the whole country?

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm not sure. There was. Vanishingly small number. I don't remember if it was none or just every. Death of a child obviously is a tragedy, but it's vanishing nobody. Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

In the third biggest country on earth.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

What an odd thing. We all need to keep this in mind for the next crisis that comes along. That you can be incredibly misled by both the media and your government.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, so true. And it's a shame they've blown whatever credibility they had. Which leads to more crackpots getting more attention and further clouding the water. So it's more and more difficult to figure out what's true.

[Joe Getty]

That is the net result. Yeah. Which is bad for all of us. That's sucko is what that is.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I. For various reasons, my doctor hit me with a prednisone prescription and it's totally screwed up my sleep. Last night I was awake for two solid hours, my mind just racing in the middle of the night last night.

[Joe Getty]

It amps you up, no doubt.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh my gosh. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Did it make you ravenously hungry? That's what I always have with prednisone.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, actually, my stomach's kind of upset right now. But anyway, so two things occupied my two hours of like, high speed thinking. Number one, I wrote and rewrote and, like combed through and perfected the first class of a college class in basic economics that focuses on how laws and regulations and prices cause people to change their behavior. Logical economics. I was going to call it.

[Joe Getty]

So when you're trying to sleep, you couldn't sleep, so you came up with a curriculum for an A100 level college.

[Jack Armstrong]

Class in economics that I will never teach. That's correct.

[Joe Getty]

That's relaxing, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

The second thing I did when that was perfected was I was working on the speech, you poor teachers. And I'm thinking mostly of Californians, but in blue states everywhere. And if your school district does this sort of stuff, you poor teachers who are writing us emails this week saying, yeah, we're in our mandatory DEI training right now, guys, this stuff is not dead. It is still here. And they're being humiliated and told that getting your work done on time is white supremacy. Being diligent is white supremacy. And all of that just utter garbage. And so I was like writing a speech for you that you could stand up and say, excuse me, I hate to interrupt this, but, but this is racist garbage and it's wasting all of our time and worse. And here's why. Exactly. And then you would explain to them briefly that DEI is not, does not have anything to do with racial harmony or anything. It's a tool of capture. It's a tool of takeover. If you have three people up for the job of boss and you can say one of those guys is a racist, he will not get that authority, he will not get that money, he will not get the good stuff. And if you start calling everybody a racist who you don't want to have power and everybody's like afraid to say that, doesn't seem like racism to me. Then you're in power. DEI needs to end wherever it exists everywhere in America today. It has nothing to do with race. It is a Marxist technique to capture institutions. Armstrong and Getty. Armstrong and Getty. Armstrong and and Getty.

[Show Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Jacob Goldstein]

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

[Christina Quinn]

You eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges follow. Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.

[Video Game Advertiser]

A treasure trove of bananas has been stolen and it's up to Donkey Kong and his buddy Pauline to get them back. This unlikely duo is going on a world smashing adventure, using DK's destructive abilities to explore an underground world and the power of Pauline singing to activate wild transformations. Donkey Kong Bonanza available now. Read it everyone. 10 and up only on Nintendo Switch 2 game and systems sold separately.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Christina Quinn]

Learn [e-mail] this is an iHeart podcast.