Negligent Discharge Friday - 12/5/2025

Summary

Cleared Hot Podcast

Negligent Discharge Friday – 12/5/2025

Host: Andy Stumpf
Date: December 5, 2025
Episode Theme:
In a classic “Friday episode,” Andy Stumpf and co-host “Michael” tackle a wide array of controversial and current topics, from a viral court case sparking outrage, to wild stories of extreme sports injuries, political theater, AI in government, and reflections on the cynicism and absurdities within American institutions. The discussion is sprinkled with dark humor, critical takes, and plenty of laughter.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jesse Butler Oklahoma Sentencing Controversy

• [00:37] The episode opens with Michael bringing up the Jesse Butler case, where a teenage offender accused of brutal crimes escapes jail time due to a plea deal.
• [01:17]–[04:55] Andy and Michael debate how social media algorithms show us more of what we dislike by engaging, and how this particular crime made its way into their feeds.
• [05:19]–[12:48] Deep dive into the legal nuances of a “no contest” plea, community outrage, and speculation on the influence of Butler’s family status in the community regarding the outrageously lenient sentencing.
• Discussion Points:
  • The role of plea deals and legal language (“no contest”) in criminal justice.
  • The effect of local ties and prominence on legal outcomes.
  • Impact on public trust in legal institutions.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “I think it's pretty clear my, my feeling on individuals who prey upon others. Not a fan.”
    — Andy Stumpf [07:20]
  • “People have distrust. And personally, I am a fan of this person's face and story being plastered as far and as wide as possible.”
    — Andy Stumpf [11:29]

2. How Algorithms Shape Our Social Media

• [01:11]–[02:03] Andy and Michael reflect on how interacting with content they dislike only causes more of it to appear in their feeds.
• Notable Quote:
  • "You want to blame the company, but who's actually at fault? The person interfacing with the content..."
    — Andy Stumpf [01:37]

3. Extreme Sports and Travis Pastrana’s X-Ray

• [18:09]–[25:42] Michael shares a viral X-ray image showing Travis Pastrana’s extensive injuries and surgeries. They review wild crash videos, reflect on Pastrana’s resilience, and discuss risk tolerance.
• Discussion Points:
  • The allure of pushing physical boundaries versus the reality of accumulated injuries.
  • Respect for people “willing to send it that hard” even when the results are brutal.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “That’s about as close as you can get to Wolverine without being Wolverine.”
    — Andy Stumpf [24:26]
  • “I appreciate the fact that there are people out there willing to send it that hard... but I love knowing there’s people out there pushing the front leading edge for sure.”
    — Andy Stumpf [25:29]

4. UPS Plane Crash: Mechanical Failure & Aviation Insights

• [25:42]–[34:10] They analyze a recent UPS plane crash caused by engine pylon failure, discuss the responsibilities and realities of aircraft maintenance, and reflect on their own aviation experiences.
• Discussion Points:
  • The challenges of aircraft inspections, especially for older planes.
  • Why catastrophic failures sometimes evade detection.
  • Andy’s experience with pre/post-flight checks and maintenance regimes.
• Memorable Moment:
  • Andy walks Michael through how pilots handle emergencies and why some mechanical failures are simply not survivable.

5. AI in Albanian Government: Satire or Reality?

• [36:37]–[41:29] A viral story from Instagram: Albania’s “AI Minister” is “pregnant” with 83 digital assistants to serve in government. Andy and Michael ridicule the assertion that AI will be “100% corruption free.”
• Discussion Points:
  • Misunderstandings about the neutrality of AI.
  • Potential risks of using AI in political decision-making.
  • Humans must remain “in the loop” rather than ceding control entirely to algorithms or AI judgements.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “AI at its core level is an expression of human beings coding it... So how is it going to be 100% corruption free?”
    — Andy Stumpf [38:56]
  • “It’s just a fancy play on words.”
    — Andy Stumpf [38:27]

6. Aliens, Public Disclosure, and Government Transparency

• [43:54]–[55:07] Spurred by talk of an alien documentary, Andy and Michael banter about government secrecy, the likelihood of extraterrestrial life, and whether a US president could (or should) break alien news to the world.
• Discussion Points:
  • The odds of life existing elsewhere in the universe.
  • Distrust in government: Would we believe any official “alien” announcement?
  • Institutional inertia vs. elected official power: Would some presidents even be told about alien secrets?
• Memorable Quotes:
  • “If somebody is out there who has proof that aliens exist, please get a hold of me. Invite the alien. They can come on the show too.”
    — Andy Stumpf [44:51]
  • “Statistically, it’s improbable that there aren’t [aliens], and I don’t mean like crazy looking green creatures...”
    — Andy Stumpf [45:22]

7. Political Corruption, Lobbying, and Institutional Cynicism

• [55:07]–[59:56] They examine Congress’s entrenched power, the lack of real change through elections, and the legalized bribery known as lobbying, highlighting the difficulty of reform.
• Discussion Points:
  • Entrenched officials and bureaucrats wield real power, not the elected faces.
  • Lobbying and insider trading: Why do we tolerate it?
  • Generational cynicism and disillusionment among young people.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “It’s going to take a tsunami of change—not one or two people that want to rally against the system.”
    — Andy Stumpf [58:04]
  • “Lobbying should be illegal.”
    — Michael [58:46]
  • “It’s legalized bribery.”
    — Andy Stumpf [58:57]

8. Sedition Six and Political Theater

• [60:23]–[66:51] Andy and Michael discuss controversy over “The Sedition Six,” politicians allegedly reminding military members they don’t have to follow illegal orders. The debate centers on legal facts, political grandstanding, and hyperbolic reactions from all sides, including Trump’s inflammatory tweets.
• Discussion Points:
  • The difference between stating a legal fact and using it as political theater.
  • Dangers in escalating partisan rhetoric.
  • Reflections on military indoctrination regarding lawful orders.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “I would really like for our elected officials to act in a professional manner with leadership underpinning their behaviors at all times.”
    — Andy Stumpf [63:54]
  • “On both sides, it is escalating…”
    — Andy Stumpf [65:00]

9. Veteran Internet Culture: Ribbons, Racks, and Uniform Pranks

• [67:00]–end
  Quick, humorous riffing on veterans posting images of their “racks” (medals/ribbons) and the tradition of uniform pranking in the military.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• “You want to blame the company, but who's actually at fault? The person interfacing with the content...”
  — Andy [01:37]
• “People have distrust. And personally, I am a fan of this person's face and story being plastered as far and as wide as possible.”
  — Andy [11:29]
• “That’s about as close as you can get to Wolverine without being Wolverine.”
  — Andy [24:26]
• “AI at its core level is an expression of human beings coding it... So how is it going to be 100% corruption free?”
  — Andy [38:56]
• “If somebody is out there who has proof that aliens exist, please get a hold of me. Invite the alien. They can come on the show too.”
  — Andy [44:51]
• “Lobbying should be illegal.”
  — Michael [58:46]
• “It’s legalized bribery.”
  — Andy [58:57]
• “I would really like for our elected officials to act in a professional manner with leadership underpinning their behaviors at all times.”
  — Andy [63:54]

---

Flow and Tone

Andy and Michael keep a relaxed, sometimes irreverent, but always thoughtful tone. The episode careens between outrage, humor, introspection, and dark comedy, maintaining the distinctive mix of seriousness and levity fans of “Cleared Hot” expect. They question mainstream narratives, call out hypocrisy, and challenge listeners to think deeper about the systems and headlines that dominate modern life.

---

Major Timestamps

• 00:37 – Jesse Butler case & algorithm talk
• 05:27 – Legal system deep-dive: plea deals, prosecution, civil vs. criminal
• 18:09 – Travis Pastrana’s injuries & sports risk
• 25:42 – UPS crash: aviation maintenance & failures
• 36:34 – AI in Albanian government, skepticism about algorithmic neutrality
• 43:54 – Aliens, government secrecy, and skepticism
• 55:07 – Congressional power, insider trading, lobbying
• 60:23 – Sedition Six, military orders, political theater
• 67:00+ – Lighthearted military culture banter

---

This episode is highly recommended for listeners interested in unapologetic, critical takes on current events, legal and political absurdities, and the intersection of social media, technology, and culture—delivered with dark wit and genuine curiosity.

Transcript

[A]

Okay, I got the red smoke. Sun runs north and south west of the smoke. West of the smoke. Okay, copy.

[B]

West of the smoke.

[A]

I'm looking at danger close now.

[B]

Give it to me. I mean it.

You would do.

[A]

Is it something that I would do? Come into the studio and move stuff around just to check to see if you're doing your job? Is it something I would do?

[B]

Yes, that is absolutely something you would do.

[A]

Yes, it is. Fire away, young Michael. Friday episode.

[B]

Friday episode.

Okay, we're going to start off with a little bit of a not fun one.

[A]

What? You don't know what I think is fun.

[B]

You are not going to think this is fun. So have you heard of this Jesse Butler, 18 year old?

[A]

Nope.

[B]

Okay, yeah. You're going to hate this guy.

[A]

Give me some context. Oh, I already. I really don't like. Oh, my goodness.

How did you find this?

[B]

This has been all over Instagram.

[A]

It's been all over your Instagram?

[B]

Yeah, because I interact with it. Because I hate this guy so much.

[A]

So isn't this fascinating what you just said? People will complain about what they see in their social profiles, but what you just described is actually why you'll see more of it.

[B]

I wasn't complaining that it was there. I was just saying that it was in my Instagram.

[A]

You can choose your words, I'll choose mine. Okay, Point being, have you ever heard somebody say, the algorithm is so messed up? Where my algorithm is so messed up?

[B]

It's because of you interacting.

[A]

It's because of the individual built off of what you. Which I totally get. Because I'll get trapped going down rabbit holes like this. And you want to blame the company, but who's actually at fault? The person interfacing with the content so that the software behind the scenes realizes that you either stopped or clicked or engaged. Or is it the company that is just blasting stuff out there?

[B]

Right. Yeah. Because I see every time a post about this guy comes across, I like it just so it gets more awareness.

[A]

Or do you know who he is?

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Okay, so fill me in. You know more about this than me. I'll read the headline, you fill us in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Spoiler alert if you have. Actually not a spoiler alert. That would be for a movie plot.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is going to be a trigger.

[B]

Warning trigger.

[A]

Well, is it? I don't know. I would just say parental warning. If you have kids in the car, maybe turn this part down. Teen who raped, strangled and brutalized two girls was facing seven decades in prison. Then a judge let him walk free. Michael what happened?

[B]

So, from what I've read, and again, keep in mind, this is Instagram, almost exclusively.

[A]

This.

[B]

This guy's a baseball player in a town. And I don't remember.

[A]

What does the baseball have to do with it?

[B]

Well, it comes in because he is apparently pretty good.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And from what I have heard. So he. He did this, right? To these two girls.

[A]

Scroll down so I can read while you talk.

[B]

Yeah, he did this to these two girls.

And apparently the judge is kind of in with his family and the community and the baseball community. And to prevent him from. The theory is to prevent him from getting a major jail time and possibly not being able to play baseball. She enters a plea deal where all he has to do is community service and counseling.

[A]

Today's episode is brought to you by AG1. I know a lot of people have heard me talk about AG1 through the lens of Greens, a green supplement that I take in the morning. And I am relatively regimented about my morning routine. I struggle in the evening, and I bet I am not alone in that. I bet I put a lot more time and effort, as do most people do, in structuring their morning as opposed to their evening routine to wind down. Perhaps a sleep aid, something that make me feel groggy. Well, that's what I'm here to talk to you about today. It's AG1's new product, AGZ. You might ask yourself, what is AGZ? It's a nightly drink that helps you wind down and rest up. It's a melatonin free formula with clinically studied herbs, adaptogens and minerals. It tastes herby. You can drink it hot or cold if you want. You can put it in water, you can put it in milk, whatever kind of suits your fancy. I say herby, but I mean, I know that's not a great description. That's what it tastes like to me though. It helps your body mind wind down before bed, it optimizes your sleep quality during the night, and you wake up feeling well rested without the grogginess. There's nothing worse than a sleep aid or a winding down aid where you feel groggy in the next day. That's just the worst because I want to rest so I can kind of attack my next day. It's a great source of magnesium as well. Each serving of AGG delivers 250mg of highly bioavailable magnesium, providing you with over half of your daily value. That's a great supplement to take in the evening as well. So if you're ready to turn down the stress and focus on the rest. Head over to drinkag1.com ClearedHot. You're gonna get a free frother with your first purch of AGZ that is drink ag1.com Cleared Hot back to the show.

[B]

And that's the theory. As this hasn't been proven, but the theory is so.

[A]

Butler was 17 years old at the time of his arrest and was charged as an adult per court documents. His status was then changed to youthful offender, per the Journal Record, Oklahoma Watch and Koco. I'm assuming those are local papers. In August, Butler pleaded no contest to 11 counts against him. Will you google in another tab? What is a no contest plea mean?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Does that mean you are admitting guilt? Because a guilty plea would be exactly that. What does no contest mean? And I don't want to get out.

[B]

Of school means the defendant accepts a criminal conviction and punishment without admitting guilt. So it waives the right to a trial, but has a significant legal difference from a guilty plea. It cannot be used as an admission of guilt and a related civil lawsuit.

[A]

Okay, so it protects you from a civil lawsuit.

[B]

Yeah, hit that.

[A]

The first sentence again. What that means one more time.

[B]

Means the defendant accepts a criminal conviction and punishment without admitting guilt.

[A]

So you are accepting the punishment without saying you're guilty.

[B]

Right. If I was innocent, I would never ever accept no or plead no contest.

[A]

Man, what an interesting way to thread the needle. For clarity. I got my Juris Doctorate by watching suits over the Pandemic, so probably don't come to me for legal advice.

[B]

I haven't even seen Better Call Saul.

[A]

So I don't even know what that is. You've now hit me with something that I don't understand as a modern day TV reference. Okay, so no contest. I'll take the punishment, but I'm not going to say I'm guilty. And I understand. God, this is all legalese because that way you're not going to have that guilty verdict used against you in civil court later.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. So in August, Butler pleaded no contest to 11 counts against him. Per the official report, which was attained and shared by Fox 25. The offenses included first degree rape, domestic assault and battery by strangulation, attempted rape, and the first degree and rape by instrumentation. The outlet reported Butler was facing 78 years in prison for the convictions, but the judge let him go without any jail time and ordered him to perform community service and attend counseling, per Oklahoma Watch. Go down a little bit more.

The lenient sentence was thanks to the plea deal between the prosecution and defense team. So does that mean that the prosecution and defense work together? That would be.

[B]

That's what it seems like.

[A]

So. Oh, man.

I, I think it's pretty clear my, my feeling on individuals who prey upon others. Not a fan.

[B]

Not a fan at all.

[A]

I feel fortunate to have had a career where to a degree, we got to do something about this. It was very final in nature. And, and so I'm trying to view this from the lens of.

The.

Prosecution and the defense. I get the prosecution side, right. They are trying to keep their client out of jail or the, the, the least.

[B]

Prosecution's the other way.

[A]

No, no, that's what I'm saying. The prosecute. Oh, yeah, yeah, exactly. I knew. I was just checking to make sure you're paying attention.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

Yeah. So the defense team is doing everything they can. It's literally their job to defend this person. So if they're going to defend him to the utmost of their ability. And I have no judgment of. I mean, this is what their job is. And I bet defense attorneys, at least some of them may not enjoy the clients that they work with, but they're doing their job right. That's what they're paid to do. So they're going to try to get the penalty as low as possible. What I don't understand is the prosecution. When I read this, when it says the lenient sentence was thanks to the plea deal between the prosecution and the defense teams, wouldn't that also. So now we're back to the prosecution side. Wouldn't that also involve the families of these women? So if they work together and they agreed to this, it, it doesn't matter whether or not you or I or anybody else in the world what we think about it, because this is a decision between those two parties. I just don't understand.

Why the parents of. I'm just about to say I don't understand. But I'll give you a reason as to why they may not want to. Why they would accept that. The main reason I could maybe see is that they don't want to re. Traumatize their children. They don't want to have their children drug into the public light, especially if they are still minor. But also what message does that.

[B]

So I'm not sure. And now again, don't know anything about legal anything. Yeah, I, I, from what I kind of know, the prosecution doesn't actually really involve the victims because it's against the.

[A]

Yeah, but the defense team.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Directly represents the defense team. So when I read this, if the prosecution and Defense are communicating at all? From my limited understanding of the law, the defense team cannot make a decision to agree to this without talking to their clients. They represent the clients legally.

[B]

The defense is for Butler.

[A]

Listen, stop switching the shit around. I meant the prosecution. Right, yeah. You understand what I'm saying? The prosecutor.

[B]

Now I get it. Yeah.

[A]

What I'm saying is that from my understanding, a deal like this cannot be reached unless they're talking to the victim's family. Because the prosecutors are. Well, shit, I don't know. Or do they? I mean, does a prosecutor. Is this a district attorney that actually is not working for or with directly with the victims? I don't know if it's out of their hands. I don't know how this works. Maybe that's the difference between criminal and civil court.

[B]

Well, that's why I'm thinking with the victims.

[A]

So maybe this was a district attorney's decision.

[B]

Yes. A prosecution team works with the victims, often through a victim advocate or liaison. To gather. Liaison to gather on the Vaughn over here. Yeah. To gather information and keep them informed. But the prosecutor's primary responsibility is to the state, not so.

[A]

Yeah, and maybe that's the difference between civil and criminal court.

[B]

I think so.

[A]

And so then this deal is protecting this guy from civil court.

[B]

So I think it sounds like the prosecution team may have a little bit of a conflict of interest going on.

[A]

This is why people don't trust the legal system. Yeah, there's a variety of reasons why people don't trust the legal system. This, I would say, fits into the category of sewing discontent. That would be a polite word to use. How does that. How does that provide justice? It does for the victim, especially if this person is now protected against any civil. Civil court, which is probably going to be Monet. I don't know if prison or jail time comes from civil court. I think it'd probably be more monetary. Yeah. This is exactly why.

People have distrust. And personally, I am a fan of this person's face and story being plastered as far and as wide as possible. That's why I agree in line with you on this one.

[B]

That's why I wanted to bring it up, because I. I kept seeing this and I kept wanting people to hear about it. And I'm like, well, we have a platform right here that we can say, hey, look at this. What's going on here? Obviously, nothing's proven.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But this seems really fishy, you know, like, why is this. And that next paragraph, I noticed.

[A]

Oh, the families of the. Of his victims are outraged. Well, If I had read one more. How did you not let me read one more sentence? You were set. You were trying to set me up.

[B]

Yes, I was.

[A]

Are you going to class?

[B]

It finally worked.

[A]

Are you going to class today?

[B]

We'll see.

[A]

I am going to destroy you. I'm only going to roll with one person. We are going to do a 50 minute round.

[B]

We've done that before and I survived.

[A]

Maybe I wasn't trying.

[B]

Probably not.

[A]

We have actually done that before, haven't we?

[B]

Yeah, it was good.

[A]

Yeah, it was really good. Okay. The families of his victims are outraged. I'm going to put that in the no category at this sentence in victims. Advocates say Butler was allowed to go free because of his family's prominence in Stillwater. The Journal Record report. Again, assume that's a local paper. Butler's father is the former director of operations for Oklahoma State's university football team. The outlet report. Scroll down some more.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

My goodness, those are some Horrible victim statements.

150 hours of community service.

[B]

That should definitely rehab him. You think?

[A]

No, no, I don't think at all. I don't know.

You know, you really never know somebody, right, like behind like you have the.

Public interactions, obviously we know nothing about this person. But you, you never really know what is going on behind somebody's eyes. And the number of times where it's. So it's split and I won't even put a ratio to it. It's not 50 50, but like maybe 80% of the time. Let's talk about pedophiles specifically. People are like, yeah, I guess that kind of checks out because the guy was a little bit weird. But about 20% of the time people go, whoa.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like I had no idea he was a pillar in fill in the blank community.

And I don't know, 150 hours of community service, totally uneducated assessment is it's not going to do anything. Nor is that the requisite amount of punishment that I would want to see for somebody actions. But I don't know if any thing can actually.

Change or fix people that do that. Because if you're doing that at 17, I'll leave space open for perhaps you had horrible influences and maybe this speaks to the ridiculous nature of the access we have to our phones. Right. And the things that I didn't have access to when I was younger, I'll leave some space that that might be the case, but there's also space that should be left open for some people are just broken and I don't know If Humpty Dumpty gets put back together again, regardless of the amount of counseling or picking up garbage on the side of the road is not going to do it.

[B]

No, no. I mean, this guy is. I mean, he's in the head. If he really did these things, he's.

[A]

Well, he's accepting or accepted the punishment. He just didn't want to say that he was guilty. That's a weird move to me, and I feel like that's a full legal play and that that particular verdict is exactly. For those things. You can, like, exactly throw a dart going 60 miles, somehow thread this legality needle, which I don't think serves victims at all. Yeah.

[B]

If I was getting accused of this and I didn't do this, I would fight tooth and nail against this. I. I would never accept. What. What was it?

[A]

No contest.

[B]

No contest. Like, that's insane. If I didn't do this, that's the.

[A]

That's the tack that I would take as well. Yeah. So I think some people are broken. Some people are into some very twisted stuff. And again, you don't ever really know what's behind somebody's eyes. They're just. We're all walking around in this skin suit, but you want to believe everybody's good. I even. I still want to believe that everybody is good. I just had enough reps with my own eyes to know that that's not the case. I still want to believe, though, and I still try to inherently believe in the good in people. But some people are not good.

[B]

Some people just plain are not good people.

[A]

Correct. What do you do with those people, Michael?

[B]

I don't know. I mean, I feel like you would.

[A]

Just cross the street and walk on the other sidewalk.

[B]

I mean. Yeah, that's your move.

[A]

Your Batman cape and cowl. You'd be like, oh, I need to go to the other side of the street. And you would do it in the crosswalk, too. You wouldn't even jaywalk.

That's what I think you would do.

[B]

I would wait until the light, the walk signal turns on, and if it.

[A]

Started flashing, counting down from, like, eight, you would be, I don't have time.

[B]

Not enough time.

[A]

So Batman would just sit there on the side of the wall side of the street waiting for the, you know, the walk signal to go.

[B]

Yeah. Anyways, this guy kind of sucks.

[A]

Yeah, the whole thing sucks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. That's horrible. Thanks, Debbie Downer.

[B]

Yeah, you're welcome.

[A]

I'm glad to hear Instagram feed is full of this stuff. Good job.

[B]

Yeah, well, yeah, really going for that.

[A]

Positive outlook on life, huh?

[B]

For sure. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Why do you think I have a timer on my Instagram?

[A]

I didn't know you did. We have it set for, uh.

[B]

Well, I have it set so that I have to wait two minutes to get into Instagram.

[A]

And usually when you tap on it.

[B]

The first time, and usually I just don't want to wait, so I just close out of it.

[A]

Leah has a. An app timer for Instagram too. And every time it pops up, she smashes. Continue. See?

[B]

Yeah. And that's why I don't use the Apple one, because you can just skip it.

[A]

Oh, the inherent software.

[B]

Yeah. So I downloaded a third party that. It's called One sec. And every time you open Instagram, it makes you wait. Or you can set the time.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I set it for the max amount because I know I'm not going to want to wait two minutes just staring at my phone to open Instagram.

[A]

Who does.

[B]

It's pretty useful, actually. It's really effective.

[A]

Yeah. So you could go Tyler's approach. He erases the app from his phone.

[B]

Just goes to the browser.

[A]

No. And then, like on Fridays, he redownloads it.

[B]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because I get bombarded with posts from him over the weekends.

[A]

Yeah. Because he either has it on his phone and he's using it voraciously or it's off his phone completely.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. He's a. He's a unique one.

[B]

Unique individual.

[A]

Yeah. Make sure you see him before he takes off. He leaves Saturday.

[B]

Yeah. When's Saturday? Okay. Okay. Have you seen. I mean, this may be an old image, but the X ray of Travis Pastrana's body.

[A]

Yeah. Pull that thing up.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm going to try to get on him on here shortly after the first of the year. Yeah. Have we confirmed that this is real.

[B]

Viral X ray of extreme sports athlete Travis Pastrana? This X ray, Travis Pastrana shows the hardware that marks his extreme career. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[A]

Let's. Let's assume it's real.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So we got both shoulders. That would be metal on both arms, upper and lower. Oh, I. Is that neck or dental? I'm gonna say that's neck.

[B]

I would say so. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. The writing is a little bit in the middle, but there is some pelvis involvement.

[B]

Yeah. I think you might be able to.

[A]

We might.

God. Tip. Okay. So go to YouTube and put in Travis Pastrana base jumping accident.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Because I believe this particular incident was responsible for at least a little bit of these shiny metallic objects. Here.

He was at the Les Mullets. 2.4 hours of Les Mullets. Him and his wife were racing in the other black rifle car.

[B]

Oh, that's why his wife was in on it, too. Yeah.

[A]

Crash in Fort Lauderdale. No, actually, the Fort Lauderdale is one. Good. He decked himself there pretty good, too. This was a legal base jump, I believe, out of a hotel.

[B]

Said illegal.

[A]

No, legal. They got permission. Low turns. Oh, my God.

[B]

Oh, you can't really see the. Oh, wait.

[A]

Just wait. Good. Okay, so just so you know, you don't want to impact the ground as your canopy is diving towards the earth, because you're going to get used like a pendulum. You're on the long end of the pendulum.

[B]

Okay. Yeah.

[A]

So that was one. See if you can find.

Because he. I believe.

It was in the backcountry. So put in Travis Pastrana. Cliff Strike.

You know what's shocking is he moves pretty well for somebody with that much hardware.

[B]

I've never seen him. No, no, not really walking around or anything.

[A]

I mean, this man has a lot of videos that are titled things like this. Crash ended Travis Pastrana's career.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now these are all motor Cliff's. Okay, first off, put a space in between Pastrana and Cliff.

[B]

I didn't even know this.

[A]

Yeah, that's what I'm here for.

[B]

I need to get new glasses and.

[A]

Then go BASE jump at the end of that.

Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree, Zoe. This thing weighs a ton.

[B]

Drewski, live with your legs, man.

[A]

Santa. Santa, did you get my letter? He's talking to you, Bridges.

[B]

I'm not.

[A]

Of course he did. Right, Santa?

[B]

You know my elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list.

[A]

An elf? I'm six three. What everyone wants is iPhone 17 and at T Mobile. You can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies. Right, Mrs. Claus? I'm Mrs. Claus much younger sister. And AT T Mobile, there's no trade in needed when you switch. So you can keep your old phone.

[B]

Or give it as a gift.

[A]

And the best part, you can make the switch to T Mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.

[B]

Nice. My side of the tree is slipping, Kimber.

[A]

The holidays are better. AT T Mobile, switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers, plus tax and $35 device connection charge credits and imbalance due if you pay off earlier. Cancel Finance Agreement 256 gigs, $830. Eligible for in a new line, $100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line. Visit t mobile.com.

Not nace jump. All right. I don't know what that is.

[B]

Oh, here we go. No backflips in the grand. Can't. He's got so many things.

[A]

Yeah. Have you ever seen the video of him jumping out of a plane without a parachute?

[B]

Oh, and is that giant net? No.

[A]

Or the boxes go to the second video. He got in a lot of trouble for this one. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, wow. No shirter.

[A]

You've never seen this.

[B]

Does a guy with a parachute come and grab him or.

[A]

No, he landed like this, Michael. He just flapped his arms really hard.

[B]

I've seen a video of the guy jumping into the net. You remember that?

[A]

Yeah, that's Luke Aikens.

[B]

Yeah. What happened?

[A]

It's. It's over. Oh, a guy came and grabbed him and then they deployed a parachute.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Hit the back button.

Scroll down.

Maybe it doesn't. Nah, that's. That's a very similar to a Tom Cruise esque jump.

[B]

Man. I'm surprised that this isn't. Maybe let's. I'm gonna search it off of YouTube, see if we can find it.

[A]

Well, either way, he. He moves really well, actually, for a guy who has that much damage. Do you know he entered a NASCAR race and finished 11th?

[B]

That's kind of.

[A]

I think it was the Indy. Is the Indy 500 a NASCAR race? Sorry. Everybody knows.

[B]

I think it is.

[A]

Yeah. He finished 11th. He had never driven a car before. A NASCAR car.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

Yeah. Google that though. But Pastrana NASCAR race results.

It's a very aggressive driver.

[B]

Yeah. 11th and what were.

[A]

What race, though?

[B]

Daytona 500.

[A]

Daytona 500. Yeah. Indy would be Indy cars. Yeah. Daytona 500. That was his first race. That's a really big race for.

[B]

Yeah, for your first race.

[A]

For that truck or for. Not that truck series. That car series. 11th.

[B]

Oh, is. Is the base jump incident. Was he going out of a building as well? Oh, this is the same one. Never mind.

[A]

We literally just watched that video.

[B]

Never mind.

[A]

I don't even want to watch it now. You can explore this your own time since you don't know how to use Google very well.

[B]

Well, Google is not.

[A]

Go back to that image of his. Yeah. If his body.

That's gnarly. Does it go any lower? I feel like he's got some ankle.

[B]

I mean, you can't see his ankles there. We go.

[A]

Oh, my. Okay. So that's his right knee. That looks like a full replacement. Left leg. Top and bottom is glowing.

[B]

It's radioactive almost.

[A]

He's still getting after it. Man, motocross.

[B]

That's impressive. Honestly.

[A]

I agree.

[B]

For the amount of hardware. I wonder if it just keeps making him stronger. He's like the.

[A]

That's about as close as you can get to a Wolverine without being Wolverine.

I don't know what.

[B]

Oh, yeah, that's. There's an accident. I can do that.

[A]

I got that move.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know what that feels like a couple decades down the road, though. I mean, it's amazing what he's been able to accomplish. I appreciate the fact that there are people out there willing to send it that hard. I don't. I knock on wood. Got lucky and was not injured severely in any of the. I don't even want to call them extreme sports or activities because I don't consider them to be that. But in the endeavors I chose post military or even in the military, I don't. I don't have that risk tolerance. I think one of those substantial injuries would have got me rethinking about life.

[B]

But yeah, for sure.

[A]

For Travis, who I don't know. Well, again, I'm only met him a couple times. He was out there at the Lay Mullets driving with his wife. He ended up. He was doing really well. I think he finished third. He drives very aggressively, which shouldn't shock anybody.

[B]

That sounds about right. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. But, man, I'm glad there's people out there like that. Not advocating anybody take that path because clearly there are some physical consequences that can come from it. But I love knowing that there's people out there pushing the front leading edge for sure.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. How about. Have you seen. Did you see the video of the UPS plane crash?

[A]

Not really. I'm aware that one did crash. Pull that thing.

[B]

It's pretty wild.

Oh, yeah, it's. Hold on, let me back it up real quick.

[A]

Oh, my.

[B]

You'll see a video in a sec here.

[A]

Yeah.

Oh, okay. So it didn't even get off the ground. Holy cow. I mean, that was a number one engine fire.

[B]

Yeah, it's. And I looked it up, apparently. Let me just pull it up here.

[A]

Oh, my. The UPS plane crash was caused by a fatal engine failure due to cracks in the pylon that holds the left engine to the wing, which left engine being considered the number one engine closest to the pilot. Side. The pilot. The pilot had fatigue cracks in the mounting Hardware which led to the engine detaching from the wing during takeoff, causing the plane to lose power and control you. So that makes sense if the right engine was on, because that was a triple engine plane, but the third engine was on the center line.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So it makes sense. If power was coming from this side, it would drive you over towards the engine that's not functioning.

I really feel like this should have been caught in a maintenance check. Well, that's inspection.

[B]

That's what I was just thinking is that seems like a pretty big problem to miss.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it seemed. I mean, I guess. I don't know. But is that something that would happen over time or could that happen all at once?

[A]

I think the answer to that is yes. Yeah, it can happen over time, and it could also happen over continued use. I mean, if you aggressively land an airplane.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which, of course, I have never done. Mine have always been just the chef's kids. Yeah.

[B]

This is a sweet little.

[A]

Yeah, no, no. I don't know if I've ever had one of those, but I've positively put an aircraft onto the ground. I mean, there are like, if you really slam it. And I bet you some aircraft actually can measure the G force on landing, and if it goes beyond a certain threshold, I bet you it triggers an inspection. But. And I can't speak to the maintenance program that UPS is on, but I have no doubt that they are on a certain number of hours or a certain number of cycles or a certain number of landings or all three of those things. So you could have a gnarly landing that could have that structural issue show up over time. I think what might be more insidious, though, is Google what, how old that aircraft was, because I don't know if they're still even making that type of aircraft. It would be like normal usage. But what if, you know, the stress fractures and cracks, they're, holy cow, 34 years old. It's not that crazy. So that just means the airframe is 34 years old. You could take an airplane that's 34 years old down to the studs and spars and completely do an inspection on. We'll call that the skeleton of the aircraft. You could put new skin on the thing, new fuel tanks, new. And you know what I mean? Like, that's the air that's a normal. The C130s, back when I was in the military that we were jumping out of went into service in the 60s and 70s.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

And we were still using them in the. The aughts. You Know What I mean? 2010 and beyond. Now, are they using the same engines? No. Is it the same? You know, like everything in that thing has been pulled out.

[B]

Theseus's aircra. Yeah.

[A]

So 34 years old. I mean that mount sound a little bit crazy to people, but it shouldn't be. I mean nothing is an issue until it is in aviation. So this, I mean, could they have recognized it? I don't know. Where the cracks in an area that. Because. Have you ever watched you haven't obviously flown very much. I'm not joking when I say that you actually haven't flown very much.

[B]

No, no.

[A]

Have you ever seen one of the pilots go outside?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. So one of the pilots, at least on, you know, commercial airlines, they go and they do a walk around. It's usually. Actually I've seen it both. I've seen both the captain, the guy sitting in the left seat and the co pilot sitting in the right seat. Even though you can fly from both seats, they will go and they do a walk around. And I do this before I fly the helicopter. Every time I have a full walk around pre flight inspection and a post flight inspection. I don't know if they do a post flight or if they just leave that to the next oncoming pilots pre flight, but you'll see them and they'll throw a vest on, usually ear Pro and they go down and they're doing a walk around like this. So something major or gross. Not like you gross, but like a large macro thing. You should be able to spot that on a walk around. But what if it's underneath and what if it's structural and integral? You're not gonna spot that unless you have a pretty thorough maintenance inspection. And again, I don't know what they're on, but yeah, nothing's a big deal in aviation until it is. And you're probably at full takeoff power. And yeah, one of the engines, I mean I have two type ratings in jets and a lot of it is, it's called a, you know, a V1 cut or a go no go. If you have an engine failure before V1, you keep it on the ground. After V1 you go into the to the air and you sort it out. But not once have I had a simulator where the engine came off.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And was on fire.

[B]

Yeah. So seems like a pretty rare occurrence.

[A]

I would hope so. Yeah. I'm not aware of something else like that happening.

[B]

I'm not either.

[A]

Yeah, that sucks. And at that moment when you, you're the pilots up there Right. You apply takeoff power, you get rolling down the field.

I don't think you can do anything about it. Yeah, I think your fate is sealed the second that you start gathering momentum and air speed, especially if you get beyond. I mean, I don't know if the pilots would've even known it was on fire. It looks like they tried to get into the air. So my suspicion would be is they were past V1. It's. Which is an audible call out if you have a second pilot with you or even when you're by yourself. You know, you'll air speeds alive. Because if they're flying on digital gauges, it's not. The airspeed indicator is not going to move as you're going like two or three knots. It has a certain threshold. So airspeed alive. They'll double check that across the instruments and you'll verbally call out V1. And that means if anything happens, we're going into the air. So if this happened after v1, which it looks like it did, because it looked like they were trying to take off full assumptions on my part, then they may not even have known that the engine had fallen off and they would have had some very asymmetrical thrust coming from the right hand side. But it seems like they were dead men walking.

[B]

Yeah. Here's another angle in that same video.

[A]

Oh my God. Okay, so actually go back to the beginning. It looks like they did get off the ground just a little bit. I was like, yeah, right there. Okay, they're off the ground a little bit. So that would to me be an indication that that happened after V1.

[B]

Yeah.

Went through routine maintenance in October, wasn't yet due for a heavy detailed pylon inspection.

[A]

So I mean there's 50 hour inspections, 100 hour inspections, 300, and every airframe has. Can have. Doesn't mean that they have to, but they can have different inspection intervals. Some turbines you have to inspect based off the cycles, meaning the number of times that you turn it on. Some helicopters are limited by the number of landings that you do and you have to do it. You know what I mean? So it's super variable and that's why they have complete staffed aviation and mechanical departments. But I mean, it's. That sucks. There's nothing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I don't care who you are as a pilot. I don't know if you're pulling out of that one.

[B]

Yeah, that's. I mean, obviously I know nothing about flying, but I feel like completely losing not just power to an engine, but, you know, a whole Engine falling off your plane, I feel like, is just, well, not survivable.

[A]

You say you don't know anything about flying, but when I asked you a while ago if you think you could land a commercial airliner, you said yes.

[B]

Yeah, sarcastically. I wasn't actually serious.

[A]

You were. Don't make me pull up the tape. You were 100 serious.

[B]

No, I was.

[A]

I've already done the research. We can go to the Delta Museum in Atlanta and rent out their sim.

[B]

Yeah, I'm still down to do that. That'd be cool.

[A]

Trust me. At some point in time, when I actually pull my head out of my ass so my vision improves and get a better management of my calendar, we'll. We'll pull the trigger on that.

[B]

Okay, cool. Sounds good to me.

[A]

Yeah. You're not going with that mustache, though.

[B]

Pilots have mustaches.

[A]

I know. And I will report you to every TSA agent that I see that you. I just saw you attempting to traffic like full grown adults, children, everything in between. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

You don't think adults get trafficked?

[B]

No. I mean, I. I think they do, but they do. I just. It would be beyond my capabilities to traffic adult.

[A]

Indeed. I don't even know if you could traffic like a house cat.

[B]

Speaking of your capabilities all scratched up and give up.

[A]

That thing would tear your ass to pieces.

What else you got? Okay. My God. Do we have anything other than, like, abuse and people vaporizing and covered in jet a? What have you been getting into?

[B]

How about this? This. God, this is hilarious.

[A]

Okay.

Today's episode is brought to you by Stopbox. I have this product right here in front of me. This is the Stopbox Pro. I always start this with it open. It's a little bit difficult, especially when I'm trying to hold it up and open with one hand. It's very easy when you actually put it on a hard surface, push down with the correct code, and then pop the thing open. That's a lot easier to do. I struggle to do that. And I want to give people an idea of the size and scale of this bad boy. You could put a firearm in here, your phone in here, whatever it is. This is helping you solve that solution of always having your firearm on you. Positive control or locked away somewhere that might take you a little bit of time to access. Perhaps more time than you would have available. There are solutions. In the middle, Stopbox Pro is one of those. It's mechanical. You don't have to worry about batteries. You don't have to worry about a key. It's Never gonna fail you and run out of juice when you need it. Of course you can customize the code. You can travel with this bad boy as well. It's TSA friendly. Now, let's be honest, this is not gonna go on a carry on, right? Especially if you have a firearm with you. This is a checked luggage TSA compliant storage device. If you're gonna travel with ammunition, please research that as well. Also, just research the airline you're gonna be on, regulations, unloaded firearm, etc, be familiar with those things. Stopbox, they're all made in the U.S. so you're gonna get super high quality. You're bringing jobs back to America, you're supporting American manufacturing. And like I said, you can travel with peace of mind. They're TSA compliant and they also offer a range of other innovative products like vehicle safe chamber locks and other essential gear designed to keep you prepared and protected wherever you are. The holidays just got a little bit safer and a lot more affordable For a limited time only. Listeners are going to get a pretty crazy deal. Not only do you get 10% off your entire order when you use the code clearedhot.com, but they're also gonna give you a buy one, get one free. Also known as BOGO Stopbox Pro. Check this out. This is what it looks like. That's 10% off and a free Stopbox Pro when you use the code [e-mail] Back to the show.

[B]

Oh, what?

[A]

Albania's AI minister is pregnant with 83 digital assistance. What? Okay. How did you find this?

[B]

This was on Instagram.

[A]

Do you surf anything other than. I am worried about you.

[B]

No, I mean, I. Pretty much. My only social media app is Instagram.

[A]

I feel like. And this is also an assumption. But young men your age, if you would go to their search feature, it's going to be women's asses and yoga pants.

[B]

I don't even search anything on Instagram.

[A]

Oh, so this just showed up.

[B]

Yes, it just showed up in my Explore. You know the Explore page? No, you go to it and there's like all the tiles of like different.

[A]

Posts and real magnifying glass. Yeah, yeah, that's the magnifying glass page.

[B]

Oh, of course, of course. Yeah. Anyways, yeah, I just get pretty bizarre in there. And this is one of the.

[A]

Which is based off of your interaction on this.

[B]

Yeah, it's funny to see bizarre. And this is hilarious.

[A]

Explain to me what this is.

[B]

So.

This Albania apparently has an AI. I don't know if she actually holds.

[A]

A scroll down position.

[B]

But Diella, the country's first AI system that is now a minister, will have 83 children who will become parliamentary assistants.

[A]

What?

These children will have their mother's knowledge regarding EU legislation and everything else.

[B]

What?

[A]

The parliamentary assistants will participate in parliamentary sessions, keep notes on what goes on, and then give advice to members on how they should react to specific pieces of legislation.

[B]

What?

[A]

Scroll down some more.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is just a fancy play on words.

[B]

No, no. Like, this is actually happening.

[A]

As part of Delia, Is it? Delia. Delia's mandate. The AI minister is entrusted with all decisions on public tenders which will make them 100% corruption free. Rama said in September. Correct me if I'm wrong, but AI.

At its core level is an expression of human beings coding it.

[B]

Yeah. And the information it pulls from.

[A]

Yeah. So how is it going to be 100% corruption free when we can't even get human beings to be 100% corruption free? This is. This. I don't understand why people think that these devices are inherently altruistic. Like AI is just pulling from the data set it has available. And I understand that it's evolving, but. But it can 100% have bias depending on what it's pulling from. I don't understand why that isn't understood. To use the same word twice relatively close to one another.

[B]

I honestly have no clue. I mean, I wonder if maybe these guys just don't understand.

How AI is made. I mean, not that I do, but I have an understanding that it's a.

[A]

Human program that wouldn't you want that understanding before you put it into a.

[B]

Parliamentary role that can aid in decisions.

[A]

Yeah. And tell people how they should react. No, I don't. First off, do your job. Right. Like, I feel like if you're in the Parliament, that's your job. Maybe you can. I have no problem with people using AI. I think most of us probably use it more than we even realize. Whether it's your iPhone or Android device, summarizing your emails or your text.

[B]

Well, we've done it like three times today with the Google AI results.

[A]

Sure. Oh, I don't know what you got going on over there, but. Or what software you're using, but a lot. I mean, whether it's, you know, your calendar app updating with your TripIt, or catching a flight in your email and adding it to your. Like, there's. I get it. And I don't think people shouldn't use AI. I think it'll allow us to be more efficient in maybe net us more time so we can work on ourselves and become better versions of ourself. But it's not unbiased. I just don't understand that particular headspace.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Nor do I think it should replace. Now there's human in the loop and then there's human monitoring the loop. Human monitoring the loop would be basically this, like the.

The AI system running itself with a little bit of oversight. You know, I want the human in the loop to the highest degree possible.

[B]

For sure. Yeah, for sure. Because this just seems like a recipe for disaster. I mean, once you place a computer program in the infrastructure of decision making now you can kind of. The people who made the computer program can kind of do whatever they want with it. And it's already enshrined in the instructure at the structure of your decision making.

[A]

I don't know. I mean, I think this is probably gonna be more common than not in the future.

[B]

Yeah, I think so.

[A]

Taking over those roles, I. And I don't know enough about it to understand where the. The. The guardrails are, the safety checks to make sure it doesn't go hard in one way or the other.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So.

[B]

Yeah. Well, on the.

[A]

That's on your generation to figure out.

[B]

I know there's like this, like a concept in sci fi where all judges are eventually will become AI so they're completely fair and unbiased, quote, unquote.

[A]

And like, what does fair mean?

I mean, is that supposed to mean that they'll always make the right decision by completely weighing all of the evidence equally? Yeah.

I mean, I. I can understand why that sounds good. I get the. The desire for it to be that, but I don't know if we should be so absolutionist in that. Maybe we should just try to get as close to that as possible without.

[B]

Completely giving power to an AI. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

That's what I think. I am worried that the movie Terminator is going to become a documentary.

[B]

Yeah, it should.

[A]

Have you seen that movie?

[B]

No.

I know the general concept.

[A]

What is the general concept?

[B]

Basically, there's this robot who was played by Arnold. Yeah, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[A]

Yes. I'll help you out a little bit on that. Yeah. And you were questioning yourself.

[B]

Yeah. And it's stuck. There's Skynet in it. Right. And it's like a overarching surveillance program.

[A]

I don't know if it was designed as a surveillance program, but it became self. Aware. That was the beginning.

[B]

And so basically, then Terminator had all the knowledge of Skynet, right?

[A]

I think so.

[B]

And then could Go around doing horrible things to people.

[A]

Yeah, except the Terminator came back in time because they got one and essentially reprogrammed the thing. And he came back in time to try to prevent Skynet from becoming aware.

[B]

Fascinating.

[A]

Yeah. If you had actually seen a movie that is key to the culture of this country and understood it. Yeah, I would watch it. At Thanksgiving with your family.

[B]

We're gonna watch a documentary about aliens.

[A]

The recent one that the guy on Joe Rogan was talking about.

[B]

I don't know if he was on Joe Rogan, but yeah, they just made one.

[A]

What's it called?

[B]

I don't know. My dad was telling me about it.

[A]

And he's pretty sure it's the same one. I think the director was just on there. What are your thoughts on aliens? So I listened to that episode with Rogan and I want to believe. I want to believe, but I. The number of times this guy said, oh, these high ranking. This high ranking person told me about what he had seen. Not on record, but off record. And this person confirmed this. Not on record, but off record. And this person saw this, and this person saw that. And this person just present. Please, a single piece of evidence.

[B]

Yeah, that's my big thing is.

[A]

Just show me a piece of the spacecraft, please.

[B]

Yes. Yeah, that's my big thing is I haven't seen convincing enough evidence for me to definitively say one way or another.

[A]

This guy was talking about having alien landing craft land and have meetings with government officials in the CIA.

[B]

That seems a little far fetched, maybe.

[A]

To you and I, because we're imbeciles or we're.

[B]

We're.

[A]

I want to believe. I don't know how many times I can say this. If somebody is out there who has proof that aliens exist, please get a hold of me. Invite the alien. They can come on the show too.

[B]

That would be great. Yeah.

[A]

I don't know how we would talk, but we could. I would let them take over your body and communicate through you, regardless of the long term consequences.

[B]

Think they have that technology?

[A]

I don't know, but no.

[B]

I think it's.

Maybe foolish to leave out the possibility that there could be aliens because we have.

[A]

I think statistically it's improbable that there aren't.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I don't mean like crazy looking green creatures, but if you look at the size of the known galaxy, what are the mathematical odds that on this planet, that we are the only planet that meets the criteria to have life of any kind, let alone evolve life.

[B]

Of any kind, and that's just the galaxy. There are billions of galaxies.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. I mean, I think statistically it's not probable that we are alone in all of this. Maybe it is. I don't know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Also not a freaking scientist. NASA doesn't call me to ask for the paint scheme of the space shuttle. I mean, I would give them some suggestions, but Cox to it, all over it.

[B]

Cox and balls.

[A]

I would paint it like a zebra.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

I think so too.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I have no reason to say a zebra, but I think it'd be pretty deeper. Print. Yeah. The Cox I would do if I had a choice. And I could talk to Elon Musk instead of making them all cocks. I would just do the rockets that Elon does in all black.

[B]

That would be dope. I mean, they already look like cocks.

[A]

They're big.

[B]

Yeah. Also the other thing is we inhabit such a. The amount of time that we've even been able to detect radio waves is.

Such a small amount of time of the total existence of the universe that it's totally possible there could have been a crazy alien civilization that we just completely missed.

[A]

Well, one of the theories and they talked about this is that basically what's happening now with movies like this coming out, it's a campaign to desensitize people to. When the release actually does come out, they're getting people habituated to hearing, you know, that there's aliens. And I could, man, maybe. I mean, at this point the CIA.

[B]

Has done crazier things.

[A]

I don't know if the agency would it actually be involved or they might be involved. I don't know if they'd be running this particular type of thing. Maybe, who knows? But I mean, let's say Trump came out Thanksgiving morning.

From the Oval Office and said, hey, you know what? Now is the time I want to be transparent with the American people. And we have evidence of alien spacecraft. We have had retrieval of both not only spacecraft, but non human origin bodies. I mean, what do you think the actual impact would be?

[B]

The first. I know the first thing a ton of people would say is where's the Epstein files? This is a distraction from the Epstein files.

[A]

That is actually fair. Yeah, that's a good question too. Where are the Epstein files?

[B]

I've been wondering that for his whole presidential term.

[A]

My concern is that every time there is a delay, there is an ability for things to be removed and the record of them ever existing to be scrubbed. I don't think we will ever get to the bottom of that completely. Because I think we're talking about two wings of the same bird. I think it's begins both left and right. I think it's more about power than political party.

[B]

Absolutely. Well, I think. I mean. And I've. Throughout this whole process.

I kind of have come to the conclusion for my own self that, hey, this isn't really left or right. This is just people at the top doing weird shit.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And they're just trying to like, the left and right dilemma seems to be just a play for all the people below.

[A]

That's to distract morons like you and I.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Or like me. You're actually not a.

[B]

You're relatively pretty.

[A]

I didn't use that word. You can't use that word.

[B]

Well, I just did.

[A]

So I.

Found a new favorite T shirt that I don't even know if we should talk about.

[B]

Is it yellow?

[A]

It's blue.

[B]

Blue. I think I have a similar T shirt, but we'll discuss after the show.

[A]

Go to Google and put in drinking Bros These colors don't run shirt.

I ordered two last night over the.

[B]

Pull it up.

[A]

Go for it.

[B]

Oh, my God. This is actually hilarious.

[A]

You know, I got two. One for me, one for me, one for Austin.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

I'm not telling Leah.

[B]

That's amazing.

[A]

This is his Christmas present. She will be there when he unwraps it. Keep your fucking mouth shut.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I won't say anything.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's actually.

[A]

She thinks that this would in some way be an insult to him.

[B]

Austin's gonna think this is hilarious.

[A]

Austin. I understand Austin. I think a little bit better than Leah does. I get it. And you don't have to pussyfoot around anything.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

With this person. So the reason I got two is so I could wear mine in support of him.

[B]

Wait, Austin's probably gonna listen to this. By the way.

Should we cut this part out?

[A]

No.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Austin, you're getting your Christmas present early.

No, I don't want to have to go back and try to cut this out. These are just way better when you just let it go. Yeah, I. Yeah.

[B]

This is amazing. Amazing.

[A]

There are people more creative than me and in no way, shape, or form am I making fun of or denigrating anybody that might fall into this category. People have different ideas about.

What is funny and what is not.

[B]

Yeah. Well, this is just funny because it's also kind of making fun of the people that actually have these colors don't run shirts.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which I think is also hilarious.

[A]

Yeah. So. Yeah. What are we Talking about Epstein and aliens. I actually think you're right. I think.

Within the first 10 responses it would be. Yeah, but what about the Epstein list?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Okay, let's strip that out of it. Let's say the Epstein list didn't exist or whatever. There wasn't an issue. Do you think that a President saying, hey, alien life exists, would really have that much meaningful impact in the moment?

[B]

I would be immediately suspicious.

[A]

Okay. Which the government has done almost everything they possibly can to make sure that people are suspicious of them.

[B]

Yes. However, a proclamation like that is also.

[A]

Good word, by the way.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

I'm going to try to have more proclamations.

[B]

Yeah. It's also something that I don't think an official government body would say without a lot of deliberation.

[A]

And I don't know if he needs to.

I don't know what limits on power and authority the President has when it comes to that. He may not have to deliberate.

[B]

That's true. He's also said a lot of crazy shit just off the cuff anyways.

[A]

But something like this, I don't know if he has to go to anybody. I don't know if he has to deliberate or inform anybody. He might be able to, in the powers that he has as the sitting President, to just let her rip.

[B]

Well, here's a question. Do you think. Let's assume that some government body actually does have an alien craft captured in an alien. Do you think there are certain presidents they wouldn't tell that to.

For fear of.

[A]

Yes, because they want to. The overarching goal, I would suspect, is that they want to do something with that. And maybe it wasn't even captured. Maybe the aliens just landed and got out and gave him a high five. Right.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Who knows.

The United States. There's no way that. Okay, let's assume that alien crafts exist. There's no way that they're only crash landing in the US So that would mean throughout the world where places where we have allies and adversaries that. That other crafts may exist. What would an adversary want to do with an advanced technology? Reverse engineer it, apply it into their own technology or science or business sector. Just like I think we would as well.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

So I could 100% see, depending on the administration and how people inside of these organizations think an administration may swing when it comes to budget. Because at the end of the day, the budget and authority to do anything with it is going to come from your ability to write a check, to do so. Right. To fund your program. I can 100% see them limiting the flow of information depending on who is at the top. Yes, I could see that.

[B]

Yeah. So in this theoretical scenario, Trump may not even know because they, they, they may say, hey, this guy is kind of a danger, he's got a loose mouth, he's going to say anything he wants. If we tell him this, he's just going to go right around and tell the people.

[A]

So that highlights what I don't know if people have an understanding of, and I'm not claiming to be a scholar on this, but every four years we vote on a very, very, very, very limited amount of individuals that work for the government supposedly on our behalf. What we don't vote on is the established bureaucracy and people that might be in place in offices that don't get voted on, that are shelved underneath different cutouts and programs that have been there for maybe this has been their baby for 30 years. Do you think that they care every four, the administration might switch it. No, they're going to protect what it is that they are working on, which is themselves. So, Yeah, I could 100% see that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it is frustrating that there are people like that who are so deeply entrenched that it doesn't matter who you vote for, because the real power holders are not the ones who come in and change the, the motif of the Oval Office every four years. It's the people who have worked behind the scenes for 40 who control all of the levers, throw all the wheels or throw that around through the wheels, and they throw the levers of power and nobody even really knows who they are. And they're not going in there anywhere.

[B]

They're not public facing. Yeah, they're. And that, that's, that's another reason I think so many young people are disheartened is they see this now. They see that the infrastructure cannot be easily upset like that because there's no voting anything like that in or out.

[A]

It can't be easily upset, but it can be changed. But it's going to take a wave of people who are willing to go in there and put themselves at risk and go up against that established bureaucratic system.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, obviously all the, you know, the average age of Congress is.

[A]

Like 103, so I thought it was 106.

[B]

Yeah. So they're going to be dying off pretty soon.

[A]

Pelosi's retiring.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I hope she's got enough of a.

[B]

Nest egg to $50 billion in fucking.

[A]

Where did you get that number from?

[B]

I, I mean, I'm exaggerating I'm exaggerating.

[A]

I. Well, I don't know. You know, they don't get paid that much as senators and congressmen, so I hope she's been smart and has a nest egg. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. I hope she's. I hope she somehow has made a good living.

[A]

Yeah. I don't want her to be living on ramen.

[B]

No, I would. I would feel.

[A]

How old is she? She. 86.

[B]

I don't know, actually.

[A]

And I'm not trying to be me. I literally think she's in her 80s and.

[B]

Yeah, I do too.

[A]

Yeah.

The reason I asked that. Okay, so I wasn't that far off. I mean, dude, even if you live to a hundred, you got fifteen years left. The last ten of those are going to be quite. I mean, and I'm not a doctor, but looking at her, she's relatively frail in nature as people are when they get to that age.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Got a couple hundred million put aside. I mean, okay, what do you do with it? You know, are you gonna get the chance to enjoy it?

[B]

Yeah, probably not.

[A]

What she got about 220 million.

[B]

275.

[A]

275 strong, which is. Man, you and I are right on track with our salaries. You know what I mean? We're gonna. We're gonna be.

[B]

There should be a couple years.

[A]

I think it's actually kind of a bummer because they have these apps that track her portfolio trading, but she's only required to disclose them. I think it's 45 days after the buy or a sell, so it's on, but only while she's in office. No, it's still pretty good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, you can track her plus or minus 45 days, but when she leaves, her stock trading prowess will leave with her. She'll no longer be required to say what she's holding or not. That so.

[B]

Yeah, and I would bet you she would still be getting insider information after she leaves.

[A]

There's no proof that she's getting it now, sir. What are you trying to say?

[B]

Of course not. You know what that is?

[A]

It's entirely possible and plausible that somebody working in Congress can outperform the best traders in the history of traders over a period of time that's never been done before. I think it's very plausible.

[B]

Yeah. The odds are.

[A]

I want to say it's coin toss. 50. 50.

[B]

Yeah. She just happened to land on the land on heads.

[A]

Why do we tolerate it? I, like, I just don't understand that.

[B]

Well, what can we do about it?

[A]

Again, I think that goes back To. It's going to take a tsunami of change.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not one or two people that want to rally against the system. And I don't know what it will take for our country to get to that point.

[B]

Point.

I don't know either.

[A]

And with the people who, who have.

Who start with the desire to make that change, can they even get into that corrupt system and not be corrupted themselves?

[B]

Right. Yeah. That's the other thing is you need a pretty strong willed person, I think, to be able to not to resist all the temptations of the lobbyists and the sways of everything else.

[A]

That comes with a great first step. No lobbying, dude.

[B]

I've been saying this for so long.

[A]

No, you haven't. You haven't even been alive for so long.

[B]

I've been saying this ever since I learned about lobbying so last week. No way longer than this. Lobbying should be illegal.

[A]

I agree.

[B]

It's absolutely.

[A]

It's legalized bribery.

[B]

Yeah, I said that, by the way.

[A]

You're the only one who's ever said that, Michael.

[B]

No, but you didn't hear it until I said it a couple weeks ago.

[A]

You don't know that.

[B]

Yes, I do.

[A]

You don't know the things I've heard.

[B]

Because you were like, oh, that's pretty good. Or you and whoever you were looking, talking with were like, that actually makes a lot of sense. And then you guys started saying it.

[A]

No. Who is the guest?

[B]

I'll tell you who the guest was because I have it written down. It was that guy who's running for Congress, you know. Oh yeah.

[A]

Okay. His episode's coming out on Monday.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or actually will come. Have come out.

[B]

Aaron Croft.

[A]

Yeah, his episode will have come out the Monday.

Because this is going to come out next Friday. We're doing this the day before Thanksgiving, so this will come out the Friday after. But yeah, his episode will be on Monday. I like that episode. He was very interesting.

[B]

I do too. Yeah. And I hope he's one of those new people that can.

[A]

Running as an independent man. I.

Maybe there's no other way though, you know?

[B]

Well, yeah, I. It hasn't worked well for almost anybody in the past, you know, in the past 20 or 30 years.

[A]

Space travel till it did, you know.

[B]

True. So maybe, maybe we're coming to a point where it's. This is our. This is our time. The independence.

[A]

Speaking of time, we got. What are we at? Almost an hour?

[B]

Yeah, we're at 55.

[A]

What else you got? You got one more question, a short one. Now that we've handled our Christmas Shopping, Right.

[B]

Christmas shopping.

[A]

Here's one question for you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I get. I'm being bombarded by this. The Sedition Six. Have you heard of these guys?

[B]

No.

[A]

The Six and I always get messed up with it. Senators or congressmen, six elected officials reminding military members that they don't have to follow unlawful. I did not come up with this name, Sedition 6. I actually think it's idiotic that all of these things try to get turned into this catchphrase.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

But, yeah. Mark Kelly, who is an astronaut, actually, I guess this ties in a little bit because we were talking about space stuff. People have been asking me about it and what my thoughts are. What are your thoughts on it?

[B]

You know, I haven't looked too far into it. From what I understand. These six Congress people, I get.

[A]

I don't know if they're congressmen or senators.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think they're senators. Okay.

[B]

Reminded military members. So what they said was if. If you receive an illegal order, you don't have to follow it. Right.

[A]

So let's put a pin in that right there. Why do they feel like they need to remind the members of the military where it literally says in the ucmj and it is hammered into your head from day one that you are not required to follow in a legal order?

[B]

Probably, if I had to guess, and again, I don't know what they're exactly referring to. I would think they're referring to the National Guard being deployed to certain cities to do I don't know what.

[A]

So I can understand that. So their thinking is you don't have to follow an illegal order, but yet they have provided no examples of what was illegal. And the judiciary.

The courts are making the decisions on that which don't require the senator's impact or input on that. So I agree that they. I can't say I agree. That's the wrong word. It seems as if they don't like that that's what's happening. So they feel it is incumbent on them to remind military members of the legality of orders, even though they can't point to one that was illegal. So what are we doing? We're doing political theater is what we are doing.

[B]

I would agree with that.

[A]

Yeah. You don't need to remind military members that they don't have to follow illegal orders.

[B]

Now, I agree with what you just said. I think Trump's response was way over the top.

[A]

What do you basically say? Hang him.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. That's also not good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

From a. I'm seeing a lot of this from people on the right.

They are ramping up their rhetoric. While in the time period where Trump was running for office, they were screaming across the aisle that the left needed to ramp down their rhetoric with Nazism, fascism, all the magic words. It is not acceptable to sit there. And again, I can't. Before I step all over my own dick here, pull up exactly what Trump said, because.

[B]

Yes. So he said that he tweeted a couple different things. One of them was a quote, tweet from somebody else saying, George Washington would hang these people.

[A]

And I don't even know what that means.

[B]

Right. I don't know.

[A]

Like, when you quote something. I can only speak for myself. Sometimes I will repost stuff that I think is interesting. Sometimes I'll repost stuff that I disagree with and put my own thoughts. You know, I just want to make sure the exact language.

[B]

I.

[A]

Oh, actually, to save you time, because we're running up on the time. It'll make it easy.

I do. If he did, and I'm not saying that he did, if he called for them to be hung or used words that were direct in that manner, I would not agree with that statement at all. It doesn't make it any better. Lock them up, he asked. Okay, so lock them up. He asked in one post on his. So he's asking a question. Hang them, George Washington Wood.

[B]

So that was sharing someone else's post that read, hang them, George Washington.

[A]

I would really like for our elected officials to act in a professional manner with leadership underpinning their behaviors at all times.

[B]

Yes. Yeah. I mean, my final thoughts on this is the senators or the seditions, whatever. Senators, because we're both idiots, did not say anything wrong. They said a fact. Right. They stated a fact.

[A]

Why, though?

[B]

Exactly. Again.

[A]

And that's where it gets murky.

[B]

I think it's theater. But they did state a fact that says if you are not compelled to follow an illegal order. Which is a true statement.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

They have the total freedom to say that, even though it's a little silly.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Trump's response. Yeah, well, is completely.

Of, quote, tweeting, hang them, George Washington would. In response to six people using their freedom of speech to remind military members that they don't have to follow illegal orders. I think is very extreme.

[A]

I agree. And I think the political ecosystem and environment in our country is completely out of control. Absolutely. And on both sides, it is escalating. Use your First Amendment right to have your. One, two. I saw that. You know, Pete Hegseth was like, we're going to look into Captain. God damn it, Kelly. You know, we'll pull him back onto act. And then people are looking like, oh, look at his uniform. And his ribbons are wrong. And people are asking me about that. I'm like, listen, I never wore my dinner dress uniform where you have the full size metals. I would have to go onto Google to figure out how to do it. And then I would double check it like eight times and then call somebody who I know, FaceTime them and show them, especially if I was going to put it on the Internet as well.

[B]

So if you put it wrong, they.

[A]

Might have been out of order a little bit, which. Not the first time I've ever seen that. Right. It's like, hey, just do your homework before you post something.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Internet. Yeah, that's just like Internet Usage 101. An easy step, but often forgotten. And I have also worn a uniform that didn't have the ribbons in the correct order. Not by intentionally, but, you know, it just. I also might have gone into other people's cages and.

Move their ribbons around.

Stuff that they didn't have.

[B]

Harmless prank.

[A]

I'm not saying I did.

[B]

Oh, you may have.

[A]

I'm not saying I didn't. So it's. Again, it's part of the general that occurs in the military. But my thing is, why are you guys saying that, like, everything has to be viewed politically? There's no chance that these six people said almost identical things randomly. They're doing it for political theater reasons. And I don't think anybody should be trying to sow doubt inside of the minds of military members, even though I think that military members are more than smart enough to figure out when they're being played and when they're not. Generally, it's just stupid. Do I want to see our president tweeting stuff like that? No, I really don't.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do I want to see people in Congress trying to end around and softly influence military members because they personally disagree with something? No, I don't.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Both sides. It's just like, really? Come on, let's. What are we doing here? Yeah, we're not serving the American people, I can tell you that much.

[A]

It's amazing on Twitter right now, but now people are just posting. They're like, well, here's my ribbons, and this is what it allows me to say. And then I'm like, holy cow. This is like veteran posture. Racked it. That's what they call it, their rack. I get it. Giddy. Get it. Giddy up.

[B]

You should post your rack.

[A]

Except I don't even know where it.

[B]

Is, except it's just like a cock and ball or something.

[A]

Gold or silver?

[B]

Gold.

[A]

Yeah, that would be the officer logo. And, you know, there's two things at officer parties. I didn't come up with this joke. I'm just telling people something that I heard from my first day in the military. Officer parties are mostly comprised of cake. And. And at some point, you're gonna run out of cake. And that's all I have for this Friday.