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Jack Armstrong
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.
Joe Getty
Other side. Ivanpah's impact on wildlife, killing thousands of birds who fly anywhere near the plant's intense heat, as shown in this government video.
Jack Armstrong
When they see the birds actually going up in flames, they created a name for that. They call them screamers. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
William Lajeunesse
What the hell was that?
Jack Armstrong
Exactly. William. Longevity. Fox News last night with special report on the massive Ivanpah solar plants closing. More on the important facts, but yes. So this thing and loginets explains this. So forgive the redundancy. But instead of like being a solar, just a giant solar field with solar panels. The idea of this, somebody came up with this idea is it's a zillion mirrors that all focus the sun's rays on these towers that get crazy superheated to drive steam turbines. The problem being that superheat literally causes birds that fly by to burst into flames.
William Lajeunesse
Screamers, they call them screamers, right?
Jack Armstrong
Or, yeah, whatever. He said. Yeah. Oh, so. But the point is not birds bursting in a flame. Although frankly, for kind of a side feature, that's pretty good. The main point is the squander can.
William Lajeunesse
Take your kids and watch.
Jack Armstrong
Wow. If you want your kids to be serial killers. Yes, yes. Desensitize them to quick and horrible death. All right, here we go. Start with AD William Lajeunesse on a story that will gall ye as a taxpayer.
Joe Getty
This will become the biggest solar plant in the world.
Jack Armstrong
Not in China, not in India, but in California.
Joe Getty
The Ivanpah solar plant went live 11 years ago. It was supposed to produce clean power for at least 30 years. Instead of solar panels, it uses giant mirrors to concentrate the sun's energy on these towers which boil water, generating steam, creating electricity.
William Lajeunesse
It's going to put about a thousand people to work building a state of the art facility.
Jack Armstrong
All right, all right, so just a quick review. State of the art. Supplying green power for at least 30 years. They're shutting it down after 11. Sue. As a rule of thumb, perhaps we go with green energy programs. Cut the estimates by two thirds and you're probably closer to the truth. Roll on. William Legay.
Joe Getty
As part of his climate agenda, President Obama gave Ivanpah $1.6 billion in federal loans, a $535 million grant, a 30% tax credit worth about 600 million, and an accelerated depreciation schedule that allowed investors to write off their capital investment in just five years.
Jack Armstrong
The fact of the matter is American taxpayers wind up holding the bill, whether it's a Solyndra, whether it's this project here. So putting aside the loans, at least $1 billion in freebies from Obama to his cronies roll on.
Joe Getty
In addition to taxpayer losses, California's ratepayers were forced to buy Ivan Paw power at five times the market rate to help meet the state's renewable energy mandate.
William Lajeunesse
These are expensive subsidies and they just, not only are they do they cost the tax raisers, but they just distort the market. So I don't understand that part. The taxpayers buying it at five times the going rate was that California has.
Jack Armstrong
Rules about the amount, the percentage of power that has to be green energy produced, and Ivan Paul was going to be part of that. The problem, though, is that it cost five times the normal rate to provide electricity from that sort of system. But because it was decreed that to fight climate change, nevermind India and China, nothing to see here. Keep moving, everybody. California would make enormous sacrifices to affect climate change, even though they haven't changed anything in iota, just resulted in enormously high bills for ratepayers. One more clip.
Joe Getty
Ivanpah is likely to shut down at the end of the year. Its owners say the plant simply could not compete on price with Wynn natural gas or traditional solar panels. Now, neither the Energy Department nor the plant's operator would tell us exactly how much taxpayers lost, but experts say it is likely to exceed $1 billion.
Jack Armstrong
And the Green energy scam. I like the environment as much as anybody and the green energy scam.
William Lajeunesse
So I want to hear this clip again with the screamers. Is that what they were here? Let's play this again.
Joe Getty
Other site. Ivanpah's impact on wildlife, killing thousands of birds who fly anywhere near the plant's intense heat, as shown in this government video.
Jack Armstrong
When they see the birds actually going up in flames, they created a name for that. They call them streamers.
William Lajeunesse
Wow.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, it's streamers because.
William Lajeunesse
Streamers. Okay.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, they. Because they burst into flame and have a trail of smoke behind them as they fall dead to the earth. Could be.
William Lajeunesse
Either way, I mean, you set me on fire, I'm going to scream, so.
Jack Armstrong
Oh, I'm not saying screamers is a bad name. Just that's not the end of the one they went with. Oh, my God. Oh, geez. Oh, wow. Whether it's frightening us with things that you shouldn't be frightened of, like Elon Musk, we've got a system. They'll hold. They'll make sure he doesn't do anything crazy or promising us things that can't possibly be delivered. I wish I had this quote in front of me. It's a great quote from Thomas Sowell who said essentially the fact that so many politicians are just shameless liars is partly on us because if we as voters demand things from government they can't possibly deliver, we're demanding they lie to us. I think he's got a point. This is a great example of that.
William Lajeunesse
Before we take a break, here's my favorite New York Post headline of the day. Always good. And this is handy. With RFK Jr just being confirmed in committee, now he's going to the big vote where it looks like he's going to get through. New York Post headline. New study finds an entire spoonful of microplastics in people's brains and three times as much in people who have dementia. A spoonful of plastic. It's not microplastic if you have a whole spoonful. It's getting macro. If I can, I think it totals up. I understand what they're saying. Yeah, that's a big chunk of plastic though. A spoonful.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I, I'm, I'm a skeptic about everything, but I absolutely believe that some of the, you know, the matter that is in our environment, introduced by the post industrial world is absolutely affected our body chemistry.
William Lajeunesse
But so how are we getting microplastics in the ocean and in our brains? That's like when I drink out of a plastic bottle. Some of the plastic scrapes off or whatever and gets in my body and.
Jack Armstrong
Doesn'T come out million different ways. It's in the air all around us as trillions of tons of plastic are produced and used and destroyed all around the world. Tires rolling on the asphalt cast off tiny little bits of themselves up into the atmosphere. There are a million different sources of it from what I understand. I don't have an authoritative like piece of journalism in front of me, but having read a fair amount about it, it's, it's ubiquitous, it's everywhere.
William Lajeunesse
Boy, if they ever nailed this down as being the reason for autism and dementia and anxiety and all the different things going on. How would we untangle the modern world from plastic? I mean, just like where I'm standing right now, here in the radio studio, my phone, my coffee thing, my water bottle, this iPad, the stand, the iPad is on the cord. The, my book, my glasses, my job.
Jack Armstrong
It'S, I mean it's everywhere all the time.
William Lajeunesse
Like I said, it's stunning how ubiquitous plastic is. Yeah, we're looking at the clock everything.
Jack Armstrong
Right. They would probably. We would have to come up with methods of manufacture that turned loose far fewer fragments up into the air. But again, and this is troubling, we would be up against the. I don't give an F. Policies of some of the biggest countries on earth. Russia, China, India, they don't care. They would say, look, we're too poor. We got to keep developing. We can't afford to do that. But, yeah, as suspects go in, the great crime of some of the modern ailments, microplastics are right up there. And I'm no paranoiac, you know me. I just. I think it's absolutely worth chasing down. And I think RFK Jr. Is half a crackpot, but if he gets like super enthusiastic about, hey, the government ought to study that.
William Lajeunesse
Go get him the whole plastic thing.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, yeah, the microplastics.
William Lajeunesse
That's troubling. I don't know.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I've read coverage from all sorts of different points of view about it. It is absolutely not Greta Thunberg and Chapel Roan and a bunch of lefty Hipp dippies. No, it's. It's that some of the most serious scientists in the world are concerned about it. Well, you're just an example, dear. At this point, you've become a parody of yourself. Sorry.
William Lajeunesse
For some reason, the idea of a whole spoonful in my brain bothers me. We've got more on the way. Stay here.
Jack Armstrong
When they see the birds actually going up in flames, they created a name for that. They call them screamers.
Caroline Levitt
Armstrong and Getty.
Jack Armstrong
If they attempt to shoot at, take.
William Lajeunesse
Shots at aggressively approach troops or Border patrol agents, we're not going to stand for it. Ever.
Jack Armstrong
It's not a question of if it's going to happen.
William Lajeunesse
We've already took shots of Border Patrol.
Jack Armstrong
And it's going to increase as we take their livelihood away, as we take their money away. They can't pay off federal officials. It's going to increase.
William Lajeunesse
They're not going away.
Jack Armstrong
They're not going to wait quietly. No way.
William Lajeunesse
Somehow, a memo from the leaders of Mexican drug cartels down to their people lower down in the organization. They're big, multi gazillion dollar organizations, these cartels with a hierarchy like any business anyway. A memo was obtained by the US Government, the US Border Patrol, showing that the cartels have decided to use kamikaze drones and other explosives in a. In a bid to thwart the crackdown at the border. The alert, which cites social Media posts and other sources cautions federal agents to remain cognizant of their surroundings at all times, blah, blah, blah, as you probably should always do. If the Mexican cartels try to bring it against our military at the border, that is going to turn ugly fast.
Jack Armstrong
Right. And I love the point Pete Hegseth made right there. Maybe it was Tom Holman that if we threaten their life, livelihood and their revenue that they use to pay off officials, they're going to react very, very badly to it. It's about to get really spicy on the border.
William Lajeunesse
Yeah, I saw a report on Fox that Hegseth was meeting with lots of the border patrol people and then he sent the leaders out to just talk to the rank and file people and say, you tell me anything you want to tell me about what's actually going on. And he also said, if you're shot at, you shoot back. Rules of engagement have changed from the previous administration. If you're, if they're shooting at you, you shoot back at them. So whoa. Which is obviously is got to happen, but man, things could turn crazy fast.
Jack Armstrong
I think the fact that that's a wow is the wow. How the hell did we get so far down the road anyway? That's a perfect setup to what I wanted to talk about at least briefly. There was a real gambling in Casablanca moment yesterday. I think it was Trump threatened those tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and Canada is a different case in Mexico. But if they didn't do something about, you know, the fentanyl coming across the border and immigration, the rest of that stuff. And indeed there's been progress on that front. But the White House fact sheet that announced the tariffs on Mexico mentioned part in part, quote, the Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico. And this created a furious reaction in old Mexico, said President Claudia Sheinbaum, and I've ruined myself. I don't know why it popped into my head. Shine bomb, you crazy diamond, the great Pink Floyd song. So now every time I hear her name, I think, shine bomb, you crazy. Anyway, President Scheinbaum posted on X breathlessly the Mexican we categorically reject the White House's slenderous claims that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations. And Mexican governors chimed in with a joint statement, quote, we energetically condemn the accusations that suggest there is a link between our governments and narco trafficking cartels. And outraged headlines filled the newspapers. Well, Rich Lowry at the National Review writes, the White House line is strong stuff, but it hits on a fundamental problem and it's not like the government and the cartels went aboard the USS Missouri and signed some sort of treaty together. But the Mexican government has fought a bloody years long war against the cartels that it lost. Then it reached a corrupt modus vivendi with the organization. Way to go forward and increase their cooperation. The Mexican government hates being called on this, but it is true and it's a real shift after the Biden administration whitewashed this for four years. If the Mexicans feel defensive about Trump's accusation rights, Lowry, that's because they have so much to feel defensive about. As the hardcore conservative New York Times has written of the cartels, quote, they pay off the police, manipulate mayors, co opt senior officials and dominate broad swaths of the country. And he mentions that Steinbaum has made much of Mexico's sovereignty in her response to Trump that you dare not, you know, fight cartels on our land. We have sovereignty, blah, blah, blah. But they have an ongoing affront against their sovereignty. That's the cartels. Josh Trevino of the Texas Public Policy foundation has long been drawing attention to the issue and has edited an exhaustive, unsparing report on the relationship between the narcos and the state, which I will be reading later today. There is solid evidence that Amlo, the last Mexican president, his top aides ushered in millions of dollars worth of presidential campaign contributions from cartel sources. They kept the boss's hands clean, but we all know how that works.
William Lajeunesse
That's because a couple of Mexican presidents ago, I don't remember which one it was, it became there was proof shortly after he left that he was getting money from the cartels.
Jack Armstrong
Oh yeah, pretty compelling. Here's ProPublica. By some estimates, criminal gangs dominate more than a quarter of the national territory, operating openly, imposing their will on local governments and often forcing the state and federal authorities to keep their distance. The violence has hovered near historic levels while the gang's extortion rackets and other criminal enterprises have metastasized into every layer of the economy.
William Lajeunesse
This is why you got to hold on to rule of law, law and order, civilization. Because, I mean, you end up in a state like that, it's tough to turn that around.
Jack Armstrong
Clawing it back would be a 15 year all out guerrilla, guerrilla war with.
William Lajeunesse
And it would take a lot of really brave people.
Jack Armstrong
And look, what would you do?
William Lajeunesse
You're a medium level official anywhere and you get the silver or lead speech, right? I mean, come on, what are you gonna do?
Jack Armstrong
You're gonna go ahead and here's my bank account numbers when you know the.
William Lajeunesse
Whole government, the entire country is corrupt. You're gonna be the one person that stands up to the cartels.
Jack Armstrong
Right? I'm a small town mayor and my state governor is on the cartel's payroll. Yeah, exactly. And I realize this is the point that shouldn't need to be made, but my God, the insanity of it. We had, we have a hundreds of miles long border with such a country that we left wide open for their cartels to just come on in. It's, it's enough to make you pretty angry.
William Lajeunesse
A little more about all the microplastics in our brain from this study that came out. I don't think this is conspiracy crazy stuff. I think this is real. Anyway, more on the way. Stay with us.
Caroline Levitt
Armstrong and Gettysburg.
Jack Armstrong
Kamala Harris remains the frontrunner for the 2028 nomination. I know, that's some accolade. That's like being first in line at a James Carville kissing booth.
William Lajeunesse
What is that? We have breaking unimportant news. Donald Trump is going to attend the Super Bowl. He will be the first sitting president to ever attend a Super bowl in Louisiana. In New Orleans. This Sunday. Is it this Sunday or next Sunday? This Sunday, yes. For Chiefs Eagles. So, God, can you imagine what the security's got to be around that?
Jack Armstrong
And I've got to believe the NFL's freaking out a little bit because I don't know how well their security will mesh with the Secret Service security protocols and needs and the rest of it.
William Lajeunesse
Well, given the Secret Service failure where he almost died, and then the fact that there was an Al Qaeda inspired terrorist attack in New Orleans just a couple of weeks ago, can't even imagine what the security is going to be like around that. Both for good reasons to protect the president and reasons of not wanting to have egg on their faces again. I'm sure they're going to go, you know, way, way, way, way down the line of protective. God, what a message. As if it wasn't going to be hard enough to get in and out of the stadium already.
Jack Armstrong
But anyway, Trump's going to be thinking of the fans. Yeah, they'll be standing in line for 11 hours to get in.
William Lajeunesse
There have been three vice presidents sitting. Vice presidents attend a Super Bowl. Spiro Agnew, al Gore and H.W. bush. There's never been a sitting U.S. president. I think because of the security reasons. Because it'd be such a giant asshole.
Jack Armstrong
Probably. I suspect so, yeah.
William Lajeunesse
Because otherwise why would you pass up on the number one watched TV event of the year to get your face out there and wave to people.
Jack Armstrong
Right now, Trump is doing the interview pregame.
William Lajeunesse
Oh, I didn't hear that.
Jack Armstrong
He's doing the Biden skip several years in a row because he was too senile to have a conversation.
William Lajeunesse
So it's a Fox Super Bowl. Who will be interviewing? Is it Brett Bear?
Jack Armstrong
Brett.
William Lajeunesse
Oh, wow. Well, that's cool. As we've said year after year, it's not really what I want to do on Super Super Bowl Sunday is watch a political interview, but.
Jack Armstrong
Right, right. Well, it's good to have a president who's able to string a sentence together.
William Lajeunesse
Though, and apparently the topic of conversation. So the all the players, both teams arrived in Louisiana yesterday, in New Orleans, and then they do the media days where they answer a whole bunch of dumb questions all week long, which has got to be really, really tiring. I can't even imagine going in there and sitting there for hours asking, answering stupid questions when, when you know you got the biggest game in your life coming up.
Jack Armstrong
Well, and frequently. It's not like the hardcore NFL press there. It's like USA Today. Who wants to ask you about Travis.
William Lajeunesse
Kelsey talking yesterday about how he just can't answer any more questions about proposing to Taylor. Just can't talk about that anymore. Patrick Mahomes asked about and somebody brought a picture to remind him his dad bod, which is famous from a couple of years ago. He is a, he is a rather average ish looking dude with his shirt off. And he said I have a dad bod because I'm a dad. I have a couple of little kids. But one interesting things about the Kansas City Chiefs, which is I think should be a reason to root for them and not hate them, is their two biggest stars. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey both have a little muffin. When they stand up, you can see a little hanging out over their pants. You don't usually see that with NFL players other than linemen. Usually you're, you know, you're, you're, what do they call them? Skill players. They don't have that little muffin over the side. But Travis Kelsey does.
Jack Armstrong
Linemen who look like they could give birth to an elephant.
William Lajeunesse
And what did we learn earlier? The Eagles have the biggest line in the history of the NFL. Averaging six.
Jack Armstrong
Averaging 28.
William Lajeunesse
Average six. Six.
Jack Armstrong
What is it, Katie?
William Lajeunesse
You were very close.
Jack Armstrong
It's 338. Whoa.
William Lajeunesse
Average six. 340, roughly for the average of those guys. Five guys in front. And then they do this play called the Tush Push. If you don't know it it's just they got giant asses, and if they decide to move forward one yard, there really ain't many teams that can stop them from going forward one year. And if you're behind them, I could just walk behind them, those giant asses pushing everybody forward. And then I move the ball that far. So we'll see how that works.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
William Lajeunesse
I think it's interesting that linemen, when they retire, lose weight.
Jack Armstrong
Oh, yeah.
William Lajeunesse
As opposed to a lot of athletes. Most athletes you retire, obviously you gain weight, but they lose weight. They're. They're pounding on extra pounds to try to be as heavy as possible. Just a matter of physics. And then you lose weight when you retire. Wow, that can't be good for you.
Jack Armstrong
It's better than holding the. Keeping the weight on, though. Obviously. Can't be £340 your whole life.
William Lajeunesse
Our buddy Dave, who worked with the NFL, and I know some other person works with the NFL talking about the food they provide these linemen on the plane and at the hotel. There's a big room downstairs they keep open 24 hours a day for the couple of days leading up to the game all the time. And it's just as much food as you want endlessly so that you can.
Jack Armstrong
Keep your weight up while burning an unfathomable number of calories doing what you do for a living.
William Lajeunesse
I'd like to try that once.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah.
William Lajeunesse
The flying on the plane with all the food, in a hotel with all the food. Go down there any time of night. Just whatever you want. Huh?
Jack Armstrong
If you want to be fat as a hog. Yeah.
William Lajeunesse
You only live once.
Jack Armstrong
Might as well make it short and obese.
William Lajeunesse
Might as well be. Might as well spend it struggling to put your socks on.
Jack Armstrong
So a couple of corrections, addendums, etc. From previous stories. Number one, I forgot to mention that Amlo, the previous president of Mexico, had declared his hugs not bullets relationship with the cartels, which went about as well as you'd think. Probably because he allegedly took millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the cartels. Secondly, speaking indirectly of the cartels, I forgot to ment attention as we were talking about the Emilia Perez, transgender actor s. Actress. Actor person who's nominated for Academy Awards and that movie with a 13 Oscar nominations, even though it is practically unwatchable, There is a new crowdfunded parody of it that has become very, very popular. Yes, yes, yes. The film is met with strong backlash in Mexico over criticisms of its poor Spanish Spanish, its use of stereotypes. Filming in Paris with few Mexican cast members in the light treatment of the issue of forced disappearances. More than a hundred thousand people are missing in Mexico fro at the hands of the cartels or corrupt government forces or whatever. And they just make it a plot point to make the transgender person look like a saint. Anyway. Filmmaker Camilla Aurora created a gofundme and created the movie Johanna Sacrablu, the story of a trans heiress to France's biggest baguette business who seeks to destroy her country's systemic racism with her strongest weapon, love. And apparently it's everybody's ridiculous as you'd like. But it would have to work very hard to be as ridiculous as as the 13 Oscar nominated 13 time Oscar nominated Amelia Perez, which I strongly suggest if you have the Netflix you watch at least some of it's hard to describe to you how ridiculous it is.
William Lajeunesse
We have actual breaking news. This is from NBC. The White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education. He can't do it through executive order, but the gesture is something nobody's gone this far. Republicans have been talking about this for years. No president has gone this far. So this will be fun to watch. I like the idea of having the conversation the why do we need a federal Department of Education where all the tax dollars go to and then it comes back to your states and what role do they play in your local school? Let's talk about that for weeks or months or years.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I'm in favor of it 100% if it is clearly unconstitutional. We've been against that sort of thing and I will be against it. Doing something just to get credit from your base even though you know the courts will overturn it. I think that's, that's weak. You took a vow to defend the Constitution. Defend it. On the other hand, I haven't read the order. So if it goes into a fair amount of detail about how you can do that constitutionally.
William Lajeunesse
From what I understand, from what I understand there's a lot of portions of the Department of Education that were enacted, came to be through executive orders and they can be unwound. The department itself was an act of Congress like most departments have to be. And, and that that will be different. But if he's just trying to get.
Jack Armstrong
If you could reign it in via executive order to. The only thing it does is Sen out. Welcome to school number two pencils every year in September. Right. You know that, that's fine. All right. We'll keep it around. Their budget is a thousand dollars.
William Lajeunesse
All they do is, you know, keep the restrictions high on three Ring binders. That's fine. We can live with that.
Jack Armstrong
Hold hearings on whether school buses should remain yellow once a year.
William Lajeunesse
This is another one I've mentioned, like 10 today that just very clear cut your reaction to this story. Trump wants to eliminate the Department of Education. You're either freaking finally or what a horror, right?
Jack Armstrong
It just, it goes to a fundamental division among people. Do you believe the federal government is the savior of your problems and should be running every aspect of your life, or do you not?
William Lajeunesse
Why can't your town, county and state take care of your school? Why would the federal government play a role?
Jack Armstrong
I know, it's ridiculous.
William Lajeunesse
It's ridiculous.
Jack Armstrong
It's the con game of give us a little more power and we'll solve all your problems that people fall for generation after generation.
William Lajeunesse
Right? Interesting. It'd be fun to watch this one. We got a lot more on the way.
Caroline Levitt
Stay here, Armstrong and Getty.
William Lajeunesse
I do want to bring this microplastic thing back up again. Maybe in the 9 o'clock hour. This new study, we might be onto something here, people.
Jack Armstrong
I think it might be the big story of the 21st century, honestly, in human health. But yeah, I want to hear more. Sue. This is the charming and delightful Caroline Levitt, the new press secretary, talking about usaid, the branch of the State Department that's more or less gone rogue, I've learned in recent days. Fire away, Michael, because if you look.
Caroline Levitt
At the waste and abuse that has run through USAID over the past several years, these are some of the insane priorities that that organization has been spending on. $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia's workplaces. 70,000 for a production of a DEI musical in Ireland. 47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia. 32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru. I don't know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going towards this crap. And I know the American people don't either. And that's exactly what Elon Musk has been tasked by President Trump to do to get the fraud, waste and abuse out of our federal government, I guarantee.
William Lajeunesse
You that's like a 9010 win politically.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, well. And if anybody tries to sell you on the idea that we're slapping baby formula out of the mouths of starving children in Africa. The problem with USAID is that it's gone completely rogue. It is. It was signed into being by Kennedy, John Kennedy, back in the day. The idea being that there are a lot of countries around the world that have terrible need and we can buy friends and influence people and the rest of it through aid, which is a perfectly reasonable, you know, part of foreign policy. But it's become so dominated by the far left elite, as you heard from the list of some of their priorities there, they now consider themselves, according to insiders who are disgusted with it, they're not accountable to the American people or the American government or even the State Department. They are their own thing. And they will decide what the money is spent on in a way that is utterly disgusting and unacceptable. Can you imagine all that transgender stuff and DEI stuff, which is all Marxism masquerading anyway, 9010 win, as you point out. Yeah, there will be a little dust, there'll be a few eggs cracked in the making of this delicious omelet of tax savings. Totally different topic how migrant groups are thwarting ice. Read about this a little bit you got in Chicago. Especially if any ICE vehicles, people arrive in a community, uh, they have volunteers who send out text messages, calls. People hit the streets, they follow them everywhere they go. They surround the vehicles with their cars and turn it into a parade. So everybody's super aware that ICE is there and, and usually the officers just go away. So that's going on various towns. Hindering law enforcement, I believe is a crime. Maybe we need to look into that, particularly if you're an illegal alien. And then there's this story which has gotten a fair amount of attention. Bay area of California, San Francisco, Bay area, major news station that used to be a big deal insanely started broadcasting exact descriptions of the vehicles ICE agents were reportedly using, including specific locations.
William Lajeunesse
Like an attempt to. In an attempt to warn illegals.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. And blow their cover. Yeah. It was confirmed that agents were conducting an operation in the San Jose area around that time. Meaning their cover was potentially blown. Andy no, the journalist for the Post Millennial noted the agents were allegedly working undercover. The radio station in effect put the law enforcement officers at serious risk while an operation was ongoing targeting violent criminal foreign nationals. He said of KCBS Radio in San Francisco.
William Lajeunesse
That's crazy. How crazy is your worldview that you're going to tip off the illegals in your newscast to try to help them get away from ice?
Jack Armstrong
Company that owns the station is owned 40% by George Soros and his company. I have no idea if that had any significance. There are plenty of people who have wildly left wing ideas in Bay Area broadcasting. They don't need old man George to tell them what to do.
William Lajeunesse
You know, given our experience in the radio industry, I find it hard to Believe it came from that high up and it wouldn't need to in San Francisco.
Jack Armstrong
No, you wouldn't think so. Although it wouldn't shock me though if George Soros and company did kind of issue a blanket edict. But yeah, that is almost certainly a crime, by the way.
William Lajeunesse
It ought to be. Yeah, it certainly ought to be something that. Let's let the listeners decide if they want that sort of thing out of their broadcasts. Given once again, my favorite statistic, that 85% of Americans are for rounding up the illegals with criminal records, which is what's going on right now. And you're listening to a radio show where they're announcing where the feds are going to be so that you can get away. What the hell.
Jack Armstrong
The child rapists and armed robbers and fraud merchants escape the clutches of the evil.
William Lajeunesse
I insane.
Jack Armstrong
Yes.
William Lajeunesse
You've gone nuts if you're doing that. I was told from a very reliable.
Jack Armstrong
Source that yeah, that is a federal crime. Okay, fair enough. Yeah, I'm not surprised. And you know, I've decided and I will stand ready to be overruled. Excuse me. I've decided to leave names out of it because I think the repercussions ought to be generalized toward the business. If the authorities want to do anything about the particular individual involved, they can do that. They know who it is.
William Lajeunesse
We know this guy. We worked with him 20, almost 30 years ago. We've known him for a very, very long time. I don't know anything about his politics.
Jack Armstrong
And more recently than that too. But yeah, I don't the mob need. I don't want to be part of any sort of mob coming after somebody who made such an egregious error in judgment. Because again the. If the authorities want to look into.
William Lajeunesse
It, they will absolutely. But that I again I've seen this. I saw a protest yesterday. The we're standing up for criminal illegals. Do you not understand what a tiny minority you are in terms of people who think that the majority of Hispanic people want the criminals rounded up? Who are you and who are you with? What is your. What is your worldview?
Jack Armstrong
It's damn near a cult because it doesn't permit any sort of fact based reasoning in. It's not welcome.
William Lajeunesse
What is the tipping point? I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out. Is it because they're brown that you don't want them arrested? I assume you want like if there's a white child molester who's a US citizen on the loose, I assume you.
Jack Armstrong
Want them arrested a white one, but not a black one.
William Lajeunesse
So it's the skin color.
Jack Armstrong
Yes.
William Lajeunesse
Yeah, that's a nutty ideology.
Jack Armstrong
Well, and avowedly racist, too. These people are kooks. Yeah.
William Lajeunesse
God, I'd say. Well, we'll see how this plays out legally, and we will tell you when it. When it does.
Jack Armstrong
So, Bay area California, if there's a rapist who would have been rounded up by ICE but is now still on the streets, you know who to thank.
William Lajeunesse
If you miss an hour this Shore segment. Get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.
Caroline Levitt
Armstrong and Gettys.
Armstrong & Getty On Demand: Episode Summary – "They Both Have A Little Muffin"
Released on February 4, 2025, Armstrong & Getty On Demand tackles a range of pressing issues, blending environmental concerns, political critiques, and national security topics. Hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, the episode delivers sharp commentary interspersed with humorous exchanges. Below is a detailed breakdown of the key discussions, insights, and conclusions presented in the episode.
Ivanpah Solar Plant's Environmental Impact
The episode opens with a critical examination of the Ivanpah Solar Plant in California, highlighting its unintended consequences on wildlife. Joe Getty introduces the topic by referencing government footage showing the plant's intense heat causing thousands of birds to perish.
Joe Getty [00:23]: "Ivanpah's impact on wildlife, killing thousands of birds who fly anywhere near the plant's intense heat, as shown in this government video."
Jack Armstrong elaborates on the phenomenon, revealing that the incident has been termed "screamers" due to the dramatic nature of the birds burning upon contact with the solar concentrators.
Jack Armstrong [00:32]: "When they see the birds actually going up in flames, they created a name for that. They call them screamers."
Transition to Microplastics Issue
Later in the episode, the hosts pivot to discussing a startling new study on microplastics in human brains, emphasizing the pervasive nature of plastic pollution.
William Lajeunesse [07:06]: "A spoonful of plastic. It's not microplastic if you have a whole spoonful. It's getting macro."
Jack Armstrong acknowledges the scientific concerns, noting the ubiquity of microplastics originating from various sources, including tires and industrial processes.
Jack Armstrong [07:32]: "There are a million different sources of it from what I understand. It's, it's ubiquitous, it's everywhere."
Ivanpah Solar Plant's Financial Viability
The conversation delves into the financial aspects of the Ivanpah project, questioning the substantial subsidies it received and the eventual taxpayer losses incurred.
Jack Armstrong [02:20]: "The fact of the matter is American taxpayers wind up holding the bill, whether it's a Solyndra, whether it's this project here."
Joe Getty outlines the extensive federal support provided to Ivanpah, including loans, grants, tax credits, and accelerated depreciation benefits.
Joe Getty [02:47]: "As part of his climate agenda, President Obama gave Ivanpah $1.6 billion in federal loans, a $535 million grant, a 30% tax credit worth about 600 million..."
William Lajeunesse criticizes the distortion of the energy market due to these expensive subsidies, highlighting how Californian ratepayers were forced to purchase Ivanpah power at exorbitant rates.
William Lajeunesse [03:35]: "These are expensive subsidies and they just, not only are they do they cost the tax raisers, but they just distort the market."
Broader Implications on Green Energy Initiatives
The hosts express skepticism towards green energy programs, suggesting that achieving true sustainability requires more transparent and economically viable strategies.
Jack Armstrong [02:25]: "All right, so just a quick review. State of the art. Supplying green power for at least 30 years. They're shutting it down after 11. Sue. As a rule of thumb, perhaps we go with green energy programs. Cut the estimates by two thirds and you're probably closer to the truth."
Rise of Cartel Violence and Government Corruption
A significant portion of the episode focuses on the escalating violence from Mexican drug cartels and their entrenched alliances with local governments, complicating border security efforts.
Jack Armstrong [06:25]: "Well, Rich Lowry at the National Review writes... the Mexican government has fought a bloody years long war against the cartels that it lost."
William Lajeunesse underscores the difficulty of combating such deep-rooted corruption, emphasizing the need for upholding the rule of law.
William Lajeunesse [16:00]: "This is why you got to hold on to rule of law, law and order, civilization."
Threats Against Border Patrol Agents
The hosts discuss emerging threats against Border Patrol agents, including the use of kamikaze drones and explosives by cartels to undermine federal enforcement.
William Lajeunesse [10:34]: "They're not going away. They're not going to wait quietly. No way."
Jack Armstrong reflects on the precarious situation at the border, attributing the potential for increased violence to the stripping away of economic incentives for the cartels.
Jack Armstrong [11:26]: "If we threaten their life, livelihood and their revenue that they use to pay off officials, they're going to react very, very badly to it."
Security Concerns
A lighter yet significant topic covered is President Trump's unprecedented attendance at the Super Bowl, raising questions about the extensive security measures required for such an event.
William Lajeunesse [17:29]: "Donald Trump is going to attend the Super Bowl. He will be the first sitting president to ever attend a Super Bowl in Louisiana."
Jack Armstrong humorously speculates on the complexities of integrating NFL security with Secret Service protocols.
Jack Armstrong [19:02]: "I've got to believe the NFL's freaking out a little bit because I don't know how well their security will mesh with the Secret Service security protocols and needs and the rest of it."
Historical Context
The hosts mention that while vice presidents have attended Super Bowls, no sitting U.S. president has done so, highlighting the uniqueness of Trump's appearance.
William Lajeunesse [19:26]: "There have been three vice presidents sitting. Vice presidents attend a Super Bowl. Spiro Agnew, al Gore and H.W. bush. There's never been a sitting U.S. president."
Critique of USAID's Allocation of Funds
The conversation shifts to the White House's plans to eliminate the Department of Education and scrutinizes USAID's spending patterns, particularly on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) projects.
William Lajeunesse [24:49]: "The White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education. He can't do it through executive order, but the gesture is something nobody's gone this far."
Caroline Levitt, the new press secretary, is featured discussing USAID's expenditures on DEI initiatives across various countries, which the hosts label as misplaced priorities.
Caroline Levitt [28:09]: "Fire away, Michael, because if you look... $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia's workplaces. 70,000 for a production of a DEI musical in Ireland..."
Jack Armstrong denounces these allocations as "absurd" and "Marxism masquerading," arguing they divert essential funds from more critical needs.
Jack Armstrong [28:50]: "They now consider themselves, according to insiders who are disgusted with it, they're not accountable to the American people or the American government or even the State Department."
Public Hindrance of ICE Activities
The hosts explore the phenomenon of community volunteers actively thwarting ICE agents' operations, often turning these encounters into public spectacles that undermine law enforcement efforts.
William Lajeunesse [30:02]: "Especially if any ICE vehicles, people arrive in a community, uh, they have volunteers who send out text messages, calls. People hit the streets, they follow them everywhere they go."
Jack Armstrong highlights a recent incident where a San Francisco radio station broadcasted exact descriptions of ICE vehicles in operation, effectively compromising active law enforcement missions.
Jack Armstrong [31:58]: "They just make it a plot point to make the transgender person look like a saint. Anyway... they have a couple of breaking news stories."
The discussion underscores the tension between community activism and effective immigration enforcement, with the hosts expressing frustration over perceived leniency and favoritism based on ethnicity.
Jack Armstrong [34:56]: "They want them arrested a white one, but not a black one."
Throughout the episode, Armstrong and Getty offer a blend of critical analysis and satirical humor to address complex issues ranging from environmental policies and government spending to national security and immigration enforcement. Their discussions reflect a skepticism towards governmental initiatives that, in their view, prioritize ideological agendas over practical and economically sound solutions. Notably, the episode emphasizes the need for accountability, transparency, and a return to foundational principles such as the rule of law and constitutional integrity.
Notable Quotes:
This comprehensive summary encapsulates the diverse range of topics covered in the "They Both Have A Little Muffin" episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, providing listeners with an insightful overview of the hosts' perspectives and discussions.