Negligent Discharge Friday - 5/9/25

Summary

Episode Summary: "Negligent Discharge Friday - 5/9/25"

Hosts: Andy Stumpf and Michael
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Podcast: Cleared Hot

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In this engaging episode of Cleared Hot, hosts Andy Stumpf and Michael delve into a variety of pressing topics, ranging from online scams and aviation challenges to geopolitical tensions and personal anecdotes. The conversation is both informative and entertaining, catering to listeners who seek depth and authenticity.

1. Public Service Announcement: Online Scams

The episode kicks off with a crucial public service announcement (PSA) from Michael, warning listeners about the dangers of sending money to unknown individuals online. Drawing from personal interactions, Michael emphasizes the sophistication of modern scams and offers practical advice to avoid falling victim.

• Michael:
  “[05:18] …don’t send money to people on the Internet that you don’t know. Even if you think you know them, get on a telephone, go meet them in person, and make sure that you are actually talking to the right person.”

• Andy:
  “[05:00] …You can see they’re photoshopped.”

Michael shares screenshots of fraudulent messages, highlighting inconsistencies like altered usernames and manipulated images. He underscores the importance of verifying identities through direct communication and being skeptical of unsolicited requests for financial assistance.

2. Aviation Challenges: Newark Airport Incident

The discussion transitions to aviation, focusing on a recent incident at Newark Liberty International Airport where five Air Traffic Control (ATC) controllers took a traumatic leave due to a radar and radio outage.

• Andy:
  “[23:35]…five ATC controllers have taken a trauma leave, quote unquote.”

• Michael:
  “[24:04]…I don’t know if that situation warrants a 45-day trauma leave, but it seems excessive.”

Andy and Michael analyze the potential implications of such an outage in a busy, highly controlled airspace like Newark's. They debate whether the stress from managing air traffic without standard radar and radio systems justifies the extended trauma leave, ultimately questioning the adequacy of the current FAA systems.

3. Helicopter Crash Analysis

Continuing with aviation, the hosts examine a recent helicopter crash in New York, dissecting possible causes like mass bumping and corrosion due to saltwater exposure.

• Michael:
  “[42:34]…the theory is exposure over time and maybe it was a structural failure that the pilot couldn’t control.”

• Andy:
  “[43:53]…That’s horrible.”

They discuss the lack of flight recording devices in some helicopters, making it difficult to ascertain the exact cause of crashes. The conversation highlights the challenges in maintaining aircraft integrity, especially in environments prone to corrosion.

4. Discussion on Weapons Platforms: SCAR Rifles

The episode shifts gears as Michael shares his personal experience with the SCAR rifle platform, expressing strong opinions about its reliability based on field malfunctions.

• Michael:
  “[61:09]…It is an absolute steaming piece of dog shit.”

• Andy:
  “[62:16]…That’s a pretty well-informed opinion.”

Michael recounts multiple malfunctions during deployment, critiquing the SCAR's design and functionality. They compare it to the historic challenges faced by the M16 rifle during its initial deployment in Vietnam, drawing parallels in user dissatisfaction and performance issues.

5. Geopolitical Tensions: India-Pakistan Conflict

The hosts delve into the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, particularly focusing on the disputed territory of Kashmir and its implications for regional and global stability.

• Andy:
  “[49:06]…Pakistan definitely is. And I don't know if they know the ramifications of using a nuclear weapon.”

• Michael:
  “[51:18]…I hope that that doesn't lead to a nuclear conflict.”

They explore the root causes of the conflict, including terrorist activities emanating from Pakistan's tribal areas, and the potential for nuclear escalation. The conversation underscores the fragility of international relations in nuclear-armed regions and the dire consequences of missteps.

6. Declassification of JFK, RFK, and MLK Files

Addressing historical transparency, the hosts discuss President Trump's decision to declassify files related to John F. Kennedy (JFK), Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), and Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK).

• Michael:
  “[68:55]…I don’t remember anything incredibly revelatory coming out of any of those.”

• Andy:
  “[70:03]…But it just seems like nothing came of it.”

They express skepticism about the significance of the released documents, pondering whether new information has emerged or if the declassification merely reaffirms existing narratives. The hosts also touch upon public perceptions and conspiracy theories surrounding these historical figures.

7. Personal Anecdotes and Future Plans: Travel to Ireland and the UK

Wrapping up the episode, Andy shares his upcoming travel plans to Ireland and the UK, engaging in light-hearted banter about potential adventures and cultural experiences.

• Andy:
  “[73:05]…I'm going to Ireland. And the UK.”

• Michael:
  “[75:00]…I think you're going to be okay.”

They humorously discuss Andy's expectations, including the possibility of forming connections and experiencing the local culture. The conversation highlights their camaraderie and the balance between serious discussions and personal storytelling.

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Notable Quotes:

• Michael on Online Scams:
  “[05:18] …don’t send money to people on the Internet that you don’t know.”

• Andy on Photoshopped Evidence:
  “[05:00] …You can see they’re photoshopped.”

• Michael on SCAR Rifles:
  “[61:09]…It is an absolute steaming piece of dog shit.”

• Andy on Declassified Files:
  “[70:03]…But it just seems like nothing came of it.”

• Andy on Travel Plans:
  “[73:05]…I'm going to Ireland. And the UK.”

Conclusion

This episode of Cleared Hot offers a blend of critical analysis, personal experiences, and insightful discussions. Andy and Michael tackle complex issues with candor, providing listeners with both information and entertainment. From safeguarding against online fraud to dissecting geopolitical conflicts and weapon reliability, the hosts deliver a comprehensive exploration of topics that resonate with a wide audience.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

What's up, everybody? It's Friday. We made it to the end of the week. What better way to end the week with I forget what we call these. This is probably going to be a negligent discharge Friday where Michael gets to ask the questions. Having said that, I opened with a public service announcement based off a recent interaction I had on social media and just some advice for people when it comes to interactions online and giving people money of any kind. So, yeah, sometimes these episodes get a little bit out of hand. You never know where they're gonna go, but it went where it went. Before we get into it, give me 120 seconds, let me pay the bills and keep bringing the show to you for free. Stay with me. Here we go. Today's episode is brought to you by Peak. That's right. I'm gonna be talking about tea here, specifically their Pu' er tea bundles, which is a duo of GRE black teas designed to transform your gut health, support your metabolism and enhance your overall vitality. That sounds kind of awesome, right? There's a bunch of talking points here. Let me just show you how cool this stuff is. All right, so this isn't your grandma and grandpa's tea, where you have the tea bag and you put it in the water, even though of course do that if you want to. I've already opened this up, this little sachet there in the offer. I'll talk about this. The beaker. Look at this. I'm just going to pour this in here. Get it all in there. Got most of it in there. The little frother hot water tea. Good to go. Tap it on the end there, get the rest of it off so it doesn't go to the podcast table. Tea is done. That's how easy it is. That to me. And I've never been a tea fan, by the way, until I started drinking this type of tea. Didn't really like the pomp and circumstance of taking the time to create the tea. This couldn't be easier than these can go anywhere that you go that you could get hot water. I would imagine you can make it with cold water if you want to, but why would you want to do that? Point being, explore the space Convenience, health. This one is particularly energy, mood and metabolism. If you're going for gut health, right. Then naturally fermented for living probiotics and prebiotics. Longevity antioxidants that fight oxidative stress and support cellular regeneration for radiant skin vitality. Convenience. Like I mentioned, microbiome reset energy and mood and immune support. Wild harvested from 250 year old trees for unmatched purity and a cold extraction technology that retains maximum phytonutrients. If you're ready to give the peak pu error tea bundle a try for a limited time, you can get 20% off on the puaira bundle plus a free starter kit, which is what I was saying. The rechargeable frother and the beaker with my link head over to peaklife.com ClearedHot that's P I Q U E life.com ClearedHut links down in the show notes to claim this exclusive offer. Let's get back to the show. Okay, I got the red smoke gun. Runs north or south.

[A]

West of the smoke.

[B]

West of the smoke.

[A]

Okay, copy. West of the smoke.

[B]

I'm looking at danger close now. Oh, wait a minute.

[A]

Give it to me. I mean it. You're cleared hot.

[B]

C. Cleared hot as brief. This is your show. You're.

[A]

You're my show.

[B]

Yeah. You had the questions, right?

[A]

Yeah, I have.

[B]

Oh, at least you got that part of it. Hey, let's start the show with this. A public service announcement. This is, I think the second or third time that and it's always a woman has hit me up and it's always been through Instagram where they want to tell me the truth about one of my friends. Oh, wow, okay, you were just starting to laugh there.

[A]

Why?

[B]

You don't know where I'm going with this.

[A]

Because.

[B]

Where do you think I'm going?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

Remember, it's a public service announcement. Where do you think I'm going to?

[A]

Here's what I think you're gonna say. I think you're gonna say you don't know my friends. I know my friends. So fuck off. Is what I think that we're going with this.

[B]

Is that what you think of me as a person?

[A]

No.

[B]

But that's who you think I am. If I got a message like that from somebody. My initial response would be, no, I know my friends and you don't.

[A]

I don't know that you.

[B]

That's generally my second response.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's not my first.

[A]

I don't know that you would maybe say those words to that. Yeah, I feel like that's kind of. I feel like you're a pretty loyal person, and just because some person says, oh, this person's a horrible person, you will immediately just be like, oh, you're right.

[B]

Okay, let me tell you what. Each of the messages, it's all the same thing. And here's the psa. I'll start with that, and then I'll explain what happened or what has happened multiple times. Don't send money to people on the Internet that you don't know.

[A]

Generally a bad idea.

[B]

Even if you think you know them, get on a telephone, go meet them in person, and make sure that you are actually talking to the right person. So I'll leave out the name of the friend that they think that this person is, but this is the second time with this man, and it's been one other. Actually the third time with this person. And you don't know your friend. I have been communicating with them on Instagram and Twitter, and I'll say, well, what's going on? Can you. Can you send me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Some screenshots of what you have? And I'll look. First thing I'm looking at is the username.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is never the official username of the person that they're communicating with. And they'll say things like, well, he sent me pictures. So this woman sent me a picture of a person. This person holding up, which I can only describe would be like a hostage photo. I'm not going to show you or the listener, listeners or viewers the photo, but I'll read. It's a somebody sitting there holding up a piece of paper, and it says, happy birthday, blank. I love you forever, and I want you to forgive me.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

With the date written out underneath it.

[A]

Oh, my.

[B]

No one makes pictures like this and sends them. I zoom in instantly. The way that they're holding it is that these two fingers are behind and these two are over the top.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It is 100% clear that whatever is written on that piece of paper has been Photoshopped.

[A]

Oh, yeah. It's so easy. If you have a blank white surface.

[B]

You can do that. So I'm gonna text you this image, and I want you to just look at. Try not to laugh when you see who it is.

[A]

Okay. Okay.

[B]

But just screw. Just zoom in on the image of the two fingers that you can see on the other side of the paper. And you can 100% tell already right there.

[A]

Dude, it's so obvious that that's photoshopped.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what? Good for her.

[B]

He told me to send money for a surgical procedure through gift cards and bitcoin.

[A]

Did he talk like this? Bobby, that's awesome.

[B]

It's not awesome. I feel bad for this person. Apparently they had been communicating since 2023. Oh, we're almost halfway through 20. This is not the first person I have had. Same individual that was in the picture.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is hard not to laugh about that in general.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Of same thing. Because I always say, I always ask, can you send me what they sent you to try to establish their identity?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And this other person, this was last year, sent images of ID cards, like military ID cards. And again, the first thing I did, and I zoomed in, the font isn't even the same on the name section. And. And I don't blame them for not knowing what it is that they're looking at on a military id, But I. People want to believe so badly sometimes that with evidence clearly presented to them, they're just. They're not even looking.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This person that I sent you that picture. 30,000.

[A]

That's what she sent?

[B]

Yes. Oh. In bitcoin and gift cards. Now, I've only had one surgery in my life, but I didn't pay with a gift card.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or bitcoin.

[A]

Yeah. Generally, if you have insurance, the screen.

[B]

Names are a close approximation, but it's always either a misspelling, a dot, an underscore, and a lot of this. If you were to just Google the person, you would find their official accounts.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Not that somebody can't have multiple accounts. I fully understand that. But you know, one of the. The things that this person said was, well, look at the link. Their Patreon link is in the bio. And I'm sitting there looking at that.

[A]

And paste a link.

[B]

I know. And that's what I'm like that. That doesn't actually mean anything.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

A con artist is going to be the closest approximation possible to the truth. Can you fathom ever sending money to somebody through gift cards or bitcoin? If you hit me up over text.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And said, andy, I am in Pakistani prison, first off, I would write back, hahaha, that's hilarious. Well, more than likely I would have seen you that day or the day before.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You are Obviously traveling in the Concord, which has been shut down. But anybody I know who said, hey, even if it came through your actual telephone number, this is where I am and this is what I need, I would immediately call you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if you didn't answer, I'd be like, how are you texting me from Pakistani prison? But you can't answer that phone call. And, oh, by the way, the dial tone was that of a US Number, not an international. Like, there's just things you have to pay attention to. I don't understand how anybody sends large sums of money to somebody that they aren't 100% sure it's a real person.

[A]

Or is who they're claiming to be.

[B]

Or how about just don't. Don't do it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Your baseline standard should be absolutely not, unless they cross a threshold of absolute proof and certainty. Yeah. Voice call. Do a FaceTime call. Get us. And honestly, the FaceTime thing, the era of that might be going away because with AI and face swapping and stuff, that might actually not even be as necessarily reliable.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I feel horrible for this person. And the whole thing was, I'm just trying to tell you who your boy is. I don't want you to get dragged down. And I just. I'm like, please go to the authorities. Just go to the authorities. Because I tried to present that information.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That picture, I'm working on getting the original one. I think it's a promotional picture from a business where they were holding up a. A card that had, like a discount code on it, but you looked at it for two seconds, and again the.

[A]

Fingers over the top, the fingers are so badly cropped. And like, some. It looks like they made just triangles for the cropping out. And it's just like. It's like, dude, you got to try a little harder than that.

[B]

30 grand.

[A]

Yeah, that's.

[B]

Here's one. God, I wish Leo was here to tell this story. She gets a message, I think your husband is cheating on you. She writes back, okay, tell me more. I've been in a relationship with your husband online for months. And she's like, okay, what has he been saying? And I mean, this dude was sending dick pics, which is not my jam. Thankfully, this woman blacked out the fucking dong and sent Leah the picture and said, does that look like your husband's arm? I cannot make this shit up.

[A]

That is hilarious. Oh, that's so funny.

[B]

And being on the Internet, people, I mean, you can cut and paste and you can, to a degree, make yourself, you know, and this person had done massive amounts of phone calls with this person. And again, it always goes back to money. And so Leah said, have you ever listened to Andy's podcast? Does the voice that you're talking to on the phone, it's never a video call, always audio. Does it sound like.

[A]

Yeah, the.

[B]

I think at this. A company reached out. They wanted to do an AI learning model with the podcast just so it understands language and conversation. And they're like, it's 1600 hours of podcasts. Did you listen to one minute of that to, you know, to compare and contrast the voices? No. But was convinced that she was in an online relationship with me. And then. I don't know how it got to this, but she was. She asked Leah, well, doesn't that arm look like a special Forces arm? I'm like, are we talking about the one that's blacked out or the one.

[A]

No, you're thinking of a leg.

[B]

It's insane.

[A]

Yeah, that's.

[B]

That's there, you know, and it makes me. It. It. Honestly, it makes me sad because to fall for that, it's easy to say if you fall for that, you're an idiot. And that's not fair because a lot of the scams are getting much more complex.

[A]

Yeah. They.

[B]

But to think you're in a relationship with somebody, that's a stretch. And I'm not a notable figure by any stretch, but I exist enough on the Internet that you can probably figure out whether or not you are talking to me or not. Like all of my social media handle, I only have one on each platform. I personally do all of my own social media. I don't have a company. You should be able to figure out who you're talking to and. And who you are not.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. Yeah. Blacked out. Dick pick. Does this look like your husband's arm? The arm was totally shaved. I don't shave my arms.

[A]

That is fascinating. Yeah.

[B]

No, it's not. It's. It sucks that. Because people want to believe so badly. I mean, they. You must be in a. Such a spot where like my first move, when she sent that picture, instantly the one of the sign, zoom in. And the first thing that jumped out, I'm like, that's Photoshop right there. You can. You can just tell.

[A]

You can see.

[B]

Yes. Almost.

[A]

Fingers aren't shaped like that naturally.

[B]

Correct. And also, let's just look at the context of the message. That is like a proof of life hostage message with the date on the bottom.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if you don't realize the only reason that somebody Would send something like that is that they're likely trying to fool you. Yeah, look, what message do you want me to write? Okay, cool. I'll write exactly that. And here's the date. And boom, there it is. That looks like shit. The lighting is off, the shadows are off, the fingers don't look real, but they want to believe, and that sucks.

[A]

Yeah, no, that's definitely unfortunate.

[B]

Don't send money to people on the Internet.

[A]

Yeah, I know of a story.

[B]

Did I tell you about my father recently?

[A]

Oh, did he? He didn't, did he? Oh, no.

[B]

I had just done a change agents episode about online scammers.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

My dad resists telling me these things, so I hear about this through either my sister or his assistant, also known as the coffee shop manager, that I don't pay to meet my dad's assistant, but monopolizes the vast majority of his time.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

He gets a text. Hey, you have a toll violation from the commuter layer in California.

[A]

I've gotten those before.

[B]

Okay. I consistently get them. I'm Sunrise, a debt collector. I'm like, you can go off into the sunrise.

[A]

I've never passed a toll road in my life, so I don't know what the hell.

[B]

You've never been out of Montana?

[A]

Well, yeah, Montana doesn't have toll roads.

[B]

You know, they used to have a speed limit.

[A]

I did know that.

[B]

Yeah. So I think you paid like five bucks or fifty bucks when the guy pulled you over.

[A]

Like, it was five because, like.

[B]

We're good.

[A]

Yeah, we're good.

[B]

Okay, cool. See you later.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How much of that cold hard cash do you think actually went to the.

[A]

I remember hearing stories.

[B]

One for you.

[A]

Yeah, one for me. Exactly.

[B]

Okay. So my dad gets a tool, and he had just done a trip to southern California. He gets multiple texts. Here are the values of the tolls that he fell for. $3.67, 15 $37 and something in between. So he clicks on the link and starts putting in credit card information. Oh, no, it doesn't go through. So he pulls out another credit card, which doesn't go through. So what's the logical move?

[A]

Another credit card?

[B]

That's correct, sir. He z'd out all three of his credit cards in one day. Thankfully, none. He, his assistant, and myself, and my sister. I literally actually got a text. It was a convergence of both. Oh, and even my brother in law called me. He goes, hey man, you might want to get ahold of your dad. He's putting his credit card information into links online. I was like, fuck, I gotta go I hang up, I call my dad. I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? I think that's what I opened the phone call with. It's like, are you entering your credit card information to a link that you receive via text? Deadpan. No, Dad, I just got a call from Jason and a text from Connor and Casey. Are you entering in credit card information to a link you got online? No, but I did earlier.

[A]

Currently. No, previously.

[B]

Thankfully, none of them went through. It was a great chance for him to get new credit card numbers with an expiration date in the future.

[A]

So the company blocked those transactions?

[B]

Yes. They immediately got on there. They immediately got on. And most of these people have, you know, fraudulent transaction alerts and stuff. He told me that he called all of the companies. His assistant informed me that she was actually the one who did the calls while on the clock. And I do not know what to do, honestly.

[A]

Thank God for Connor.

[B]

I mean, in more ways than one. She's awesome.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I'm literally. What the fuck are you doing? Are you entering? Nope. Have you seen him recently?

[A]

No. Well, I saw him when I was watching the Hobby.

[B]

So he. And I asked because a couple weeks, he shaved his beard.

[A]

Oh, I heard.

[B]

Yeah. Because he had a clipping malfunction. He's got a clipper.

[A]

Huh?

[B]

And he didn't really look at what guard was on there. It was like, oh, no. Right down in the skin. So he has the most fantastic walrus dick broom right now. He'll have a beard by Friday.

[A]

Oh, yeah. It'll be grown. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. And so Leah saw him. He. She came. I had to go do a cap roll for Leah in class last night. And my dad was walking up to visit. I was like, hey, I gotta go. Just come with me to the gym. Leah's gonna be there. And she sees him. She was like, oh, God.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

Yeah. And it had already was like 8:00pm shadow. It was well past 5:00 clock shadow. And it had happened the day before.

[A]

That's funny.

[B]

He's really on a journey.

[A]

He is. He's discovering about fraud.

[B]

He's being the victim of fraud.

[A]

Yes. Yeah, those are.

[B]

It was a good learning point because I had the same conversation with him. Kind of like the psa. Just don't. I said, regardless of what you get a text, an email, don't do it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do not enter your credit card information online. Just don't do it. At least come get somebody if you have to. Go find your assistant, but for the love of God, let her do her job. He thinks I won't help him or that I will help him, but he doesn't want to be made fun of.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which too bad. Or I hear about, you know, I'm here about it for myself. The fact I heard about it from my brother in law was getting out of control. He's just like, alert, alert, alert.

[A]

That's hilarious. Yeah.

[B]

All right, what do you got? Question wise, that was our morning PSA for a Friday. I'm telling you though, people hate psa. If people can wrap their head around that, it will save them a lot of hassle later. Just don't do it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, that. I know of a story. One of my older relatives got a.

[B]

Call targeted towards a later generation who is not as, as technologically savvy.

[A]

Yep. Got a call and this wasn't even very savvy. She just got a call and said it was one of the cousins. And she was like, oh, okay, where do I send money? Like no questions asked. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Kind of like a text. You owe a 1500.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I said to my dad, I said, dad, I have two questions for you. Both similar in nature. If you had gotten a toll violation in California, which both you and I lived in for decades, have you ever seen one that was just over $3?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He thought about, he goes, no, it seems abnormally low. I said, on the other side of this coin, have you ever seen a toll violation that was 1500? He said, no. Seemed a little high, but you know, just figured I'd get out in front of it.

[A]

Hey, I mean, he's being proactive.

[B]

Being real proactive. Yeah. God. So.

[A]

All right, Fire away. So in at the Newark airport recently, five ATC controllers have taken a trauma leave, quote unquote. Have you heard about this?

[B]

A little bit. I know that there was, I think there was either a black out there. I saw an article saying that one of the audio recordings was one of the controllers telling an airplane they didn't know where they were.

[A]

Yeah. So my question is, I was watching it this morning. Apparently their radar and radio went down for like a couple days. And so these five controllers are taking a trauma leave for 45 days. My question.

[B]

45 days.

[A]

Yes. My question to you now, I've never been an air traffic controller. I've never flown a plane yet. Yet.

[B]

The first. We need to come up with the name of the series. We're not going to be able to do this before. I want it to be Andy tries to kill Michael, but that's just too long. We might call It Death match.

[A]

Ooh, Death match. But you're not risking death.

[B]

No, I'll be there filming it, though. I'm there to document the fatality, much like I felt when I was a skydiving instructor. You need to sort your out. I do have a camera on, but that's more for my own pleasure and watching in reverse the shit show. Because soon you will have flown an aircraft, or at least attempted to. Episode one is going to be. Since you are so convinced you can land a commercial airliner and you've told me you think a helicopter is just as easy.

[A]

I don't think I said.

[B]

You shut your face. I'm setting the scene for this.

[A]

I don't remember saying that.

[B]

We're gonna go locally and we're gonna get you in a helicopter and we're just gonna let you try to hover. It's gonna be amazing. And then I'll take you for a rip.

[A]

It's gonna be so fun.

[B]

In the 105. I was gonna do it in the 105, but then I realized I'm not an instructor and I really think the FAA would frown on me filming you trying to kill us both.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So we're gonna load up some GoPros in a training helicopter with an instructor. We'll get the audio and we're just gonna have you just try to hover for a little bit. You have to. You'll work your way to that. Because they're not just going to turn the whole thing over. You'll do your feet first.

[A]

I would hope not. Jesus.

[B]

Yeah, I would hope so, to be honest. But I think it'll be amazing.

[A]

Yeah, I think it'll be fun.

[B]

Yeah. And trust me, there's going to be a before and after interview because I'm truly curious. There are some people who just think, yeah, I could do that on the first try.

[A]

No, I really do think it's going to be really difficult. Like, yeah, I might get it. But at the same time, I've never flown a helicopter, so likely I probably won't get it.

[B]

Knowing your hand, eye coordination capability, intelligence.

[A]

Like you're not, which is impeccable.

[B]

Sorry. Okay, back to the atc.

[A]

Anyways, like I said, never been a traffic controller, never been a pilot. However, I don't know that I would describe that situation as traumatizing, per se. And now I want. Do you think, you know, having to guide planes with no radar or radio, which would be, in my imagination, very difficult. Do you think that warrants a 45 day trauma leave?

[B]

I Mean, there's a lot of questions that are inside of that. This is, and this is a topic that I have seen since Trump took office. And it was every aircraft incident, which started largely with the Blackhawk and the commercial airliner in dca, which is Reagan International. This is Trump's fault. Doge destroyed, of course, the ATC system. They have gutted the FAA of controls. None of that is actually true. The faa, current FAA system. I have also never been a controller, so I can't speak from like, the operational conditions. And also, every tower is different. As an example, the tower we have up here in Kalispell does not have radar, so they can't track people over radar. They're up there with their Mark 1 eyeball keeping track of. And, and it's, but, you know, Kalispell is not Newark. Right. And I'll, and I'll, I'll look up Newark here and just take a look at the kind of airspace that is in there. I think I have an idea of, you know, my topography and geography of the US Isn't always spot on. But I digress. The FAA system, and I get this from people who have worked inside of the faa, is antiquated and has needed to have been upgraded for decades. Yeah, Republicans and Democrats have known about this. And I don't know what the holdup is. I don't know if it's budgetary, if they feel like it is a bridge too far, if it would take too long. But the switch in office and the aviation incidents that have occurred since First, I would highly recommend that people look at the number of aviation incidents and accidents that are common. Not that it's not an excuse for any loss of life or any, any of that. And there's a difference between commercial and general aviation accidents. But we are not outside of the norm of what I will call an average number of instances. Oftentimes there are fewer commercial accidents. And it doesn't surprise me because there are training standards, there are currency standards, recurrency stand like it's. It's a different ballgame. They, you know, part 91 operations, which is just general aviation. The technical description is there's some loose and fast going on out there. People literally flying by the fucking seat of their pants. That isn't supposed to be the case in commercial operations. The FAA system, super antiquated, needs to be upgraded. From my understanding, DOGE prevented the additional hiring from on a permanent basis of those like they did in many other federal organizations that hadn't been on for a year, which is when you're is it's your probationary time period before you become a GS or government service employee. I doubt and I'm open to being proving wrong anything that Doge has done had anything to do with the power outage in Newark. Now do me a favor and look up the Newark Just type into Google Newark Airport identifier because I want to get an eyeball real quick on this episode is brought to you by Mando that is right. We are going to be talking about deodorant and if you're like me, you thought that was only a stick deodorant or that's all you used. Four plus decades actually probably three plus I don't think I was wearing deodorant when I was 8 years old. That's all I used. Didn't really think about deodorant from terms of innovation. Well now I have because Amando it's a whole body deodorant safe to use anywhere on your body. This is their words, not necessarily mine. Pits, balls, thighs, folds, belly buttons, butt cracks and I don't know people who deodorize their feet. But if that's you, you can use Mando for that. Created by a doctor who saw firsthand how normal body odor was being misdiagnosed and mistreated, clinically proven to block odor all day and control odor for up to 72 hours. They have a deodorant stick and a spray. All products are baking soda free and paraben free. You can choose from a variety of scents like bourbon, leather, Clover, Mount Fuji or Pro Sport. I'm curious how they decided what Mount Fuji smells like. It is a nice fresh outdoor smell though. If you want to try America's number one whole body deodorant like right meow. You can find them in Walmart, Target and other retailers across the country. But for the best deals go to shopmando.com Mando starter pack is perfect for a new customer. It comes with a solid stick deodorant cream tube deodorant, two free products of your choice like a mini body wash and deodorant wipes and free shipping as a special offer for listeners of the show. New customers are going to get $5 off a starter pack with the exclusive code cleared hot that equates to over 40% off of your starter pack using code cleared [e-mail] that is shop s h o p mando m a n d o dot com please support the show and tell them that I sent you Cleared Hot or Myself. Smell fresher, stay drier, and boost your confidence from head to toe with Mando. Let's get back to the show. The airspace, it should be a 4.

[A]

Start with a K. Let's see. Newark.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

It says ewr. The I cow is kwr.

[B]

Yeah. All right, so hold on, let me take a look at this. Newark Liberty International. God damn it. Wrong one. Kwr. Okay. Oh, wow. Okay, so this is just west of New York. Who? Daddy.

[A]

It's a busy airport.

[B]

It's a really busy airport. It's underneath a Class Bravo shelf. It is west of New York City. Okay. There's a lot going on here. Is it possible for them to do their job? Man, they would probably have to modulate traffic coming in there. But it also, I don't. I mean, like, I don't know if they could communicate with other ATC towers. I mean, LaGuardia, JFK are east of them. Their radar should cover where Newark is. But is there a direct link to that? Possible to do their job. But. So even in just. And I've looked at this airspace now for all of 45 seconds. This is complicated airspace. Not. I mean, I don't want to say it's complicated. This is highly controlled airspace. This is class B airspace.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And again, you got. I'm assuming that's JFK. Yep, that's JFK. And then LaGuardia is going to be tucked in there. So. Yep. Okay. Just in the northeast as well. That would be difficult from a controller perspective if you're relying upon your radar systems, which are going to give you audible alerts, things that you would use to be able to augment your job.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Can I see that being really stressful for the time period that went down? Absolutely. Is it possible? Yes. Would it be harder than normal? I would have to imagine so. Would that be reflective in taking a 45 day trauma leave? I don't know. To me, that's. It's a little bit much.

[A]

It seems excessive, but like I said, it seems excessive.

[B]

And also, you know, people are not apolitical. I could see a group of people, whatever their political beliefs may be, aligning to making that move to make things seem as if they are worse than they are. And I'm not saying that's the case here, but it also, I mean, I take people for. Everybody has their own bias and their own beliefs. I could. I could see that being the case. I have no proof or evidence to say that that is that. I do think it's possible that you could run a Class Bravo airport Without radar. But I think you'd really have to throttle the traffic.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, because there's arrivals, there's departures. It's a lot of them super choreographed, synchronized. I mean, you're up at cruise altitude, you're probably talking with center and then you're talking with approach, and then you're talking with the tower. And you've been cycled through a bunch of different approach frequencies along the way. You get to the tower airport, which is going to be the final person you're going to be talking to before you land, and they switch you over to a ground frequency. A lot of these airports have systems that, you know, the computer systems that are managing aircraft on the ground. You'll get traffic alerts in the air. You know that these systems are looking for convergence points. You can get, you know, alerts in the aircraft, the own systems themselves that'll give you beats, beeps or audible indications, some of which you can just use as a visual. Some you are required to actually make a change in the controls. It's. It's gnarly in that system, you know that the smooth airflow of the aircraft, just the volume of aircraft that goes into that particular area is insane. So possible that it could be done without that? Yeah, it would be. It would be really hard workload wise. But I would think if it went down for multiple days, what they do, what they would do, my guess would be is that they would either divert a lot of those aircraft, they would go to their minimum capability, what they're able to tolerate, and everything beyond that's going to get diverted to one of those other airports in the area.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, yeah. If you wanted to land in Newark and you had to land a JFK or LaGuardia, is that awesome? No. Is running, Is it a better option than running into another fucking aircraft because you can't manage them with the system? Yeah, I'll say.

[A]

Yeah, I would. I would prefer that. Yeah.

[B]

So I really do hope Love does hate Doge. I mean, it's. It's been amazing to me to see the number of aviation experts, the exact words I used on Twitter the other day. The number of, of aviation experts that have never flown anything other than their own opinion that have come out since all this happened.

[A]

Yeah. Lots of unknown.

[B]

And it's great to have an opinion.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But as a person, maybe think, do I have any basis of experience, knowledge in how I feel? And there's. And the answer to that is no. It's still fine to feel how you feel, but just Realize it's not an educated opinion, and you don't have to be educated on something to have an opinion. I don't want people to not express how they feel. But don't be so dogmatically tied to how you feel, especially if it's not underpinned with some level of knowledge. Yeah, it's. I really hope the system is upgraded. From what I have heard from people inside of the system, it's 70s and 80s technology.

[A]

That's a long time ago. Yeah, yeah. All right. Did you hear or see? I think this was actually like a week ago, but in New York, a helicopter broke apart in midair. I did see that one. Yeah. Let me airdrop it to the computer here.

[B]

Yeah. I don't know if they're ever going to actually determine exactly what happened with that aircraft. So this, again, this is an example of the difference. Even though this was a tour operation, and I forget the exact what part, whether it's, you know, part 135, part 91, I don't think it's either of those things. When it comes to tour operations, this aircraft had no recording hardware or software on it, meaning there's no. There's no black box, which, by the way, is almost always orange, not black. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. That's a crazy.

[B]

So that's the fuselage of. I believe this was a bell4do. In the next tab, do me a favor, Just pull up bell 406. I want to make sure. I'm. It'll probably say it in the article, too, but it's. I'm pretty sure this. Yeah, I think that's it. Yeah. And I believe a Bell 407 just has four rotors instead of two. Actually, even though it looks right there, there's a 406 Charlie Sierra, also known as CS model. Just go back to the article. I'm sure it says in the article exactly what type of helicopter it was. Rotor blade. Keep going, keep going. It's gonna say in there at some point, Belfort, Bell 206. My bad. Okay. Built in 2004. Yeah, that's right. The 206 is the single blade. The four series starts to have in the multiple blade. I don't think they're ever going to determine. Was that top picture okay? It's scrolling through the one where it's just upside down.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

There are two different video angles that I've seen. Both of them are horrendous. That's one right there. The word actually looks like it's flying in straight and level flight and then it just comes apart.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

Yeah. The initial thought online seemed to be it was an issue of mass bumping. And I'm not going to proclaim to be an expert in this, but I learned how to fly helicopters in a Robinson and you have to do additional training in a Robinson helicopter, not because they are prone to mass bumping, but if you have improper control inputs or do a negative G pushover, it is something that can lead to mass bumping. And there have been some incidents in Robinson's where there has been a mass bump. However, not when it's being flown inside of its flight envelope, but it's something you have to pay attention to. So mass bumping for what do you. What are you looking for?

[A]

This is just the video.

[B]

Yeah. It doesn't. It doesn't show much other than the splash. You know what I mean? Like, so that's the video. It's straight and level and it comes apart.

[A]

Oh, weird.

[B]

As soon as that happens, I mean, survivability is zero. There's no control whatsoever. The tail rotor separated and then the. The main rotors with the gearbox ripped off. And I'll get to what this is based off peripheral research of what I've seen in a lot of aviation communities, what their thoughts are on it. Whether or not this has proven to be true, I don't even know if it's possible because like I said, no flight recording software of any kind. Mass bumping is when the main rotor blade cuts off the tail rotor, not the rotor, but the tail boom. So getting it. So like, you know, a negative pushover. Right. Or like if you're going to dive, but the control input is possible. Like one of the things that's cool about that 105 helicopter that I fly, it has a rigid rotor head. Mass bumping is not an issue in that helicopter. It's why it's certified for acrobatic flight, which I have no intention to intentionally do. Yeah, I don't want to fly upside down intentionally. I guess that it would be great if you found yourself upside down. You don't have to worry about mast bumping, but it's. That is a particular design feature.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Having said that, you know, there's pros and cons to everything. And that helicopter. I don't know if you felt this when we were flying. When you're coming in and before you are in ground effect, it's called transverse flow effect, where the airflow over not only the rotor blade but the fuselage is shifting from forward flight to not necessarily vertical flight, but it's just the way that it makes. Like if you looked at it, it was going down towards the tail rotor and it eventually shifts based on the airspeed. It shudders a little bit.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is totally normal. And it's not. There's no mechanical issue. What's going on with that. It's just how it feels. Yeah. So you can get into this angle where the main rotor cuts off the tail boom. You have lost any and all directional control at that point because the pedals are tied through linkage systems to the. The anti torque pedals to the tail rotor which is kind of controlling your left and right. If that goes away me, that's a bad day.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it looks like. But the attitude of that helicopter looked like it was coming straight across. Straight across. And it looked like it just destroyed itself from the tail to the main rotor blade which ejected and then the thing flipped over and the fuselage, which is what everybody was in. Impacted roof first into the water.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So mass bumping was initially what a lot of people were jumping on board. And I'm not a fan of jumping on board. You know, when it comes to theories about why accidents happen, there are organizations that will look into this and do the best that they can. What I'm about to say is not necessarily my opinion, but it is an opinion that I have seen quite a few aviation experts working their way towards online. And that is that's over saltwater. This is a tour organization that does a bunch of landings. I've never landed at a heliport in New York. But my understanding is there's a lot of them that are along the river. So you're going to get at least a little bit of saltwater spray every time you do. The hypothesis from people who far more experienced than myself. There are many hypothesis. The one that I've seen kind of leading the race, if you will, is that it was probably a corrosion issue over time in areas that were very difficult to inspect.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I don't know anything about the maintenance of the company at this point. I don't know if you can say it wasn't pilot error. It doesn't look like it was pilot error. That I mean, saltwater. God. Working in a job where we were around salt water all the time. You could almost store things in WD40 after they were immersed in water and they're still going to run. It is. Saltwater is just gnarly. It eats everything. So it might. I mean the post flight maintenance and care that I have seen from military aviators and actually it's not even the military aviators, it's the military crews that are assigned to maintenance the aircraft anytime they're exposed to salt water. We're talking almost a full tear down and complete wash every time and they still have to deal with that stuff. I mean, you can't replicate that in the civilian world because you can't dedicate 15 people to one helicopter. Right. It's just. It's not going to happen. So the theory is exposure over time and maybe it was not even noticeable, but you know, the outside rivets of the aircraft where there's seams and it just maybe slowly worked itself in there and it got to a point where there was a structural failure with which there was nothing that pilot could do.

[A]

Right.

[B]

They were dead men and women and children walking as soon as they got inside of that aircraft. Yeah, that seems to be the prevailing theory. The charter company, from my understanding, or the tour company has either been shut down or voluntarily shut down. I don't think that's necessarily a great indication.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The problem is, I mean, without, like that's, that's the evidence that exists and what's left over in the crash.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I hope they can figure out what it is, but. Horrible for sure.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very unfortunate.

[B]

A lot of unknowns and there are a lot of people out there trying to tell you exactly what happened. And I just.

[A]

There's no way you could know.

[B]

No. And you got to give it time. And it's easy to blame the pilot. Oh, how many hours did the pilot have? And sometimes that's 100% the case, but other times it's not. You know, the guy who qualified me in the 105 was talking about, you know, having a double engine failure at night over icy terrain with people in the back because it had just come out of maintenance and two pieces of equipment were only hand tightened on there that worked themselves off and they ended up flaming out the engines.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So the 100 human error. Yeah, he was. He's a rock star, so. Absolutely nailed the auto rotation. Landing at night with a full paxload.

[A]

That's wild.

[B]

Yes. Hard. The hardest of passes, please.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Seriously.

[B]

But you know, if he would have wadded that thing up, there's a chance people would have blamed the pilot. And I understand that, but why don't rest a judgment on that, you know?

[A]

Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Sometimes it's the pilot, sometimes it's not. Oftentimes attributed to human Error. And failing to do an inspection in a difficult location because it's difficult, even though it probably should have been done given the conditions it's around. Yeah, that actually falls back into. You can cascade that back up to human error.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Sucks, man.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I hope that doesn't happen in my training exercise.

[B]

Do you plan to fly over the Hudson in a 206?

[A]

No.

[B]

No. I actually did select, though, for your lesson the most twitchy helicopter they have in their arsenal.

[A]

No, you didn't. Did you actually.

[B]

Oh, yeah, because I told. I told the instructor exactly what we're doing. I said, he thinks he'll fly anything.

[A]

I never said that. I never said that.

[B]

She doesn't know that, so.

[A]

My God.

[B]

He thinks he can fly anything. He says that helicopters are easy.

[A]

I said they would be more difficult.

[B]

That's not what I remember.

[A]

Did you actually tell her this?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, I need to have a talk with her before we get going.

[B]

No, you don't.

[A]

Yes, I do.

[B]

What does it matter? I thought you were a gametime player.

[A]

No, I never said that either.

[B]

You've said that many times since I've known you.

[A]

No, I have not.

[B]

Yes, you have.

[A]

You're just making things up to make me look bad.

[B]

Listen, this is for the gram, all right? We need content. Wait till you hear what I've told my buddy Miles about what you think about BASE jumping and how easy it is.

[A]

No. Oh, my God.

[B]

This is like he thinks he can pack his own parachute jump one.

[A]

Oh, I do not. I don't think that actually he'll be.

[B]

There to walk you through it.

[A]

Perfect. Because I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

[B]

It's like folding laundry. Don't worry about it.

[A]

Yeah. So easy.

[B]

No, it's. She asked, you know, what helicopter do you want to use? And I said, the twitchiest one you have because I'm gonna have GoPros on the inside. And the cool thing is you can practice all these maneuvers right at the airport. And I can go, like, drive to a place and film you from an outside perspective. Audio from the inside. Pre interview. Post interview. Death wish.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. This is gonna be great. It's so amazing.

[B]

I think so. Or you might find a passion for flying helicopters.

[A]

No, I actually think it will be fun. Yeah, it'd be cool. It would be super fun to fly helicopters.

[B]

Yeah. You're just going to do an hour lesson, of which I just want her to let you try to hover and just ride the bull.

[A]

Yeah, no, I'm actually excited yeah, we'll.

[B]

Do it when you get back from your trip.

[A]

Yeah, cool. I'm not stoked about you talking me. Talking me up, quote unquote, saying how easy I thought it was going to be.

[B]

What do you think I'm going to do?

[A]

I mean, that does.

[B]

Oh, hey, I have this friend who is, you know, really humble and he's just interested. He thinks it's really hard, but, you know, he wants to. He wants to pursue difficult things in his life and I just so deeply respect that and I want to enable and empower him and his goals.

[A]

Yeah, no, that's. No, it doesn't surprise me that you did that.

[B]

I'm going the other way. I'm like, hey, I got this friend who thinks what you do is fucking pussy ass work. And he thinks he can do it better than you.

[A]

Ridiculous.

[B]

I hope so.

[A]

Okay. Have you heard about this India, Pakistan stuff?

[B]

I mean, I've heard that India and Pakistan are not always friendly and they border each other. I did see something on the Internet where they were marching really angrily. There was a gate that opened and they were like, I would pull a hammy if I was going to get my leg that high up for that march. And they had like curved shoes. I was down for it.

[A]

No, they've actually, like taken steps to war at this point. Yeah. Two third world nuclear armed countries about to go to war.

[B]

If a nuclear weapon gets left off the chain or let off the chain, like that has just global consequences.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, I'm not, I'm not going to pretend to be a geopolitical expert. I know that the relationship between Pakistan and India has been tenuous for quite some time. What is the. What is the issue that is sparking the powder keg?

[A]

So Pakistani or terrorists based in Pakistan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Came into Kashmir, which is like the disputed territory between the two. Yeah. They murdered anybody who was not Muslim. And after that, India fired rockets into Pakistan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Only at the. What they claim were the terrorist bases.

[B]

So there's an area on the western border of Pakistan. It's the tribal areas. It's often called Waziristan.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it was well known and documented that there were, I mean, legit terrorist training camps, schools, mosques. Fill in the blank. If that's the area that they came from. I want to. Man, that would be difficult. They'd have to trans. They'd have to travel through Pakistan to get to India.

[A]

Oh, my good God.

[B]

Yeah, pull it up.

[A]

So let's see, here's cashmere here, which is like the disputed territory. Between the two.

[B]

Yeah. Okay, I guess I could see that. I bet you that's on the eastern edge of Waziristan, which it's not even a. It's not even a recognized country. It's just a tribal region.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Some really up stuff is going on there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I don't know the answer to that. Pakistan. What are you looking up here?

[A]

This is the town.

[B]

Okay. Back out a little bit.

[A]

So. Yeah. Right in the middle of Kashmir.

[B]

Interesting. You know, Pakistan is aware of what's going on in that tribal area.

[A]

And.

[B]

They'Re not, to my knowledge, really doing anything about it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

It's kind of like hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil type thing. I do know of cross border operations that have occurred from Afghanistan into that area and just absolutely whack a mold, which is solves maybe a precise location problem, but doesn't solve the overall problem.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Man, I hope that that doesn't lead to a nuclear conflict. And at the same, I mean, who's to tell India that they don't have the right to defend themselves and their people?

[A]

Right.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

The. My fears, I guess. I don't know if India is really classified as third world, but Pakistan definitely is. And I don't know if they know the ramifications of using a nuclear weapon.

[B]

I feel like enough people in that country, hopefully those that would be the ones responsible for executing a launch of said weapon would have an understanding of it.

[A]

I would hope so.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, there are some very smart people in Pakistan.

[A]

Oh, yeah. For sure.

[B]

And I would like to believe that those people, you know, are somehow involved in governance in any way, shape or form. God. Yeah. I don't know how that works itself out. It's not awesome.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and I don't know much about what's going on there because like everybody else, I am bombarded every single day. Like, I just did a podcast yesterday with a woman who specializes in what's going on with the Houthis in Yemen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And attacking, you know, shipping containers or the previous attacks of shipping containers in the Red Sea. And what it was associated with. Are they a proxy from Iran? Are they getting the weaponry from Iran? So there's fighting in that area of the world. You know, there we have cartel violence south of the border. We have maple syrup smugglers that we have to deal with north of the border, which I don't know if that's actually true. I just made that up. You know, there's conflict all over the world. It's how do you allocate the appropriate resources and care for each and every one of those? I don't have the answer to that.

[A]

No. I feel like that's an impossible.

[B]

Yeah. I hope it doesn't go nuclear. That would be bad for every single human being and every single species on the face of planet Earth.

[A]

Oh, yeah, that would. That's like nightmare scenario.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So, you know, fun little thought experiment.

[B]

In the nightmare scenario, things go to shit. What's your plan?

[A]

Like if we're involved in nuclear.

[B]

No, like the world just like it's. You gotta fend for yourself. Well, okay, never mind. I already have the answer. You don't have one. You're about to try to make something up.

[A]

Yeah, that's. Yeah, I was. That's what you asked me.

[B]

I asked you what your plan was. I didn't say. What are your thoughts in the moment, considering you've never thought about this for a second?

[A]

Yeah. I would go to our cabin. Family cabin in an undisclosed location. How'd you get there?

[B]

How far away is it?

[A]

It's a jaunt.

[B]

How far? How many hours?

[A]

Like an hour.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, let's say all this kicked off and you have a quarter tank of gas.

[A]

Yeah, that would be. I would drive as far as I could and then walk the rest of the way.

[B]

God, you're gonna end up being somebody's concubine.

[A]

I would bring a map. Duh.

[B]

I'm gonna sell your like a carnival ride.

[A]

Great.

[B]

You'd be the Montana version of a Chai boy. Some dude walking, some ginger headed with lettuce. Lettuce hair. Yeah, because he has no plan whatsoever.

[A]

No, I just told you my plan.

[B]

Your plan sucks. Regardless of how much gas I have, I would just drive there and if I ran out of gas, I guess I would just walk. And you would be abducted off the side of the road, forced into sex trade and. You know, for a warlord.

[A]

How quickly did this devolve? Like, is this like a year? Because that's a lot for a year.

[B]

A couple hours.

[A]

There's warlords and. A couple of hours.

[B]

Yeah. Have you ever talked with your family about rendezvous points, what you should take with you?

[A]

I would take a gun and some ammo. And a gun and some ammo, Some food, you know.

[B]

What kind of gun would you take?

[A]

Well, my hunting rifle and my ar. And your hunting rifle?

[B]

The one you got from your grandmother. That's not sighted in.

[A]

Oh, just sighted in to what range? 150.

[B]

Okay, what's your holdover for? 500. Exactly.

[A]

Probably like probably like this.

[B]

Yeah. Very, very good. God, I hope you got that on camera.

[A]

It did. It was pointing at me.

[B]

All right. Yeah. Okay. Your plan's great. Yeah. Don't make any modifications. Just go with it. I think it'll be. It'll serve you well.

[A]

Actually, I'll just go to your house in. In Lake Mary renown.

[B]

Do we need to really say on the Internet where my house is?

[A]

We can cut that out.

[B]

I don't care. We can leave it.

[A]

I thought you've said it before.

[B]

No. Okay, we'll cut that doxing. I don't care. It's not necessarily, like, on the top of Lake marijuana. I don't care. Okay. Yeah, you are. Whatever. Stretch, limber up your hammies because they're gonna be behind your ears.

[A]

God. All right, next question. Next question. Boise and Salt Lake.

[B]

Boise.

[A]

Boise.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Make the pride flags official city flags.

[B]

Come again?

[A]

Oh, yeah. Boise and Salt Lake voted to make pride flags official city flags along with their other city flags so that. So that they can be flown in government areas.

[B]

Huh.

[A]

I'm sharing right now. My question is, why would you do that?

[B]

An attempt at being inclusive.

[A]

Yeah. Seems like virtue signaling to me.

[B]

Salt Lake City and Boise make pride flags official city emblems. Skirting flag ban laws. This is again, and this is gonna happen regardless of who is in office, the left or the right. There will be people who don't agree with what's going on, so they're gonna look for the seams in what is written down in black and white. They're gonna try to do stuff like this. Does it change anything for anybody? I don't know. I'm not a part of that particular community. I hope they're living their most rewarding and enriching life. I really don't give a shit what adult consenting adults do. If you touch children, I'll fucking would love to run you over in a steamroller. Yep. Feet first, of course.

[A]

Of course.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you can feel the pain.

[B]

Yeah. Take the time. Maybe run out of gas at. Around the kneecap or just have to refill. Just take your foot off. I would want it to be manual. This. You wouldn't be able to drive it because you don't know how to drive.

[A]

A manual, but I do, actually, so.

[B]

No, you don't.

[A]

Yes, I do. Well, yeah, I drove one for many years.

[B]

Okay, well, you've had a driver's license for about four years, so let's take four years.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Take it easy there, Dale Earnhardt. All right. Utah's capital of Salt Lake City created new flag designs while boys of the capital, Idaho made traditional flag one of the official sea flags. Go back up. The move came hours before a ban on unsanctioned flag displays took effect. Yeah, what they're looking for is they're. Again, people are people. They have their beliefs. Sometimes people with those beliefs are in a position where they can do something like this. Other times they're not. All they're trying to do is maintain their beliefs over the official federal guidance. I mean, again, I want people to live a fulfilled and enriched life. Does this mean that that state or city is more inclusive or caring or tolerant? No, not really. Yeah, you know, I don't. I don't know if it makes an impact on that community. Does it make him feel more seen? Perhaps, but. But, you know, I don't know what other impact there is other than that.

[A]

To me, it's. I mean, it seems pretty meaningless. Like is this really. We're worrying about this when there's other far more important things to be.

[B]

And my understanding is the flag ban was just very specific at federal buildings and state buildings. What exactly could be displayed? That doesn't mean you can't display it in every other street corner, in every other business. I mean. Yeah, to me this comes down to what do we want to pick and choose the limited time and bandwidth that we have to fight for. I understand that this is a very important issue for people who are involved or a part of that community. But as far as, you know, a flag being able to displayed when it could literally be displayed everywhere else other than federal buildings. If that is your. If that is your passion, bon voyage.

[A]

That's your heel to die on.

[B]

I mean, go for it. I'm not going to tell people what they, what they should be passionate about or not. I don't think it actually does anything.

[A]

No, 100% does.

[B]

Yeah. So.

[A]

Did you. So I'm pretty sure I read something a while ago that at one point in the.

[B]

Pretty sure. Are you sure?

[A]

Pretty sure.

[B]

Holy. This is a really weird preface to a sentence, but go ahead.

[A]

At one point, the military was considering the SCAR platform to be their main.

[B]

Yeah, I did play with it in 2010.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What scar? Heavy.

[A]

Specifically 762x39 was your opinion? Like, dislike.

[B]

The first firefight we got in overseas, I fired a round and the gun immediately jammed and then it became a single action piece of equipment for the remainder of that fucking day.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

Is it though?

[A]

No. That's horrible.

[B]

I can't even imagine the design was really weird. It had a reciprocating charging handle and it was. It would. If you were a right handed shooter or actually depending on. I think you could put it on either side. It's been a while since I've actually touched a Scar heavy. There's a Scar heavy and a Scar light. I forget what the. The actual acronym is 15561762.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

We went to 762 version because in Afghanistan they had learned the relative distance that a 556 round can be ineffective. So 762 can reach out a little bit more. A little bit more oomph, if you will. It'll knock down power. But this charging handle would go back and forth every time you pull the trigger. I think they've since fixed this. But it would sit right there, right where your thumb is on the forward grip. And you had to be really cognizant. It was there. You could either induce a malfunction or just take heavies on your thumb.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Personal opinion. What I'm about to say is only my personal opinion, with my experience with that weapons platform for 10 months only accounts for my opinion. It is an absolute steaming piece of dog shit.

[A]

And that's a pretty well informed opinion.

[B]

Maybe I did. Maybe I got one that didn't function as well as the others. And again, I'm take my opinion for what it is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

One person's experience with one weapons platform. It sucked.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

A mile of Kentucky dick.

[A]

I feel like that's similar to when in Vietnam they first rolled out the. What it was M16.

[B]

Yeah. Probably M16.

[A]

A1. Yeah. And everybody was like, what the is this thing like that?

[B]

I mean, you know, the M4s are a version of that. That particular platform and chassis has changed over time, but that thing has stood the test of time.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[B]

That scar, you know, which is an fn, I believe. I'm pretty sure it is. Yeah. It's an fn.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't know how they got that contract. It was a SOCOM directed weapon that we carried. And. God. Yeah, it was rough.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

First firefight, boom, click, and then just tap, rack, bang for.

[A]

For the rest of the day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So what did you end up getting? Just getting another gun from there or what?

[B]

What do you do? You just think there's a room full?

[A]

Well, no, but. So did you have it for the rest of that?

[B]

Yes. And so essentially I had to keep that thing. I had to strip it down and clean it after every operation. Whether it was Used or not, Just to get. The tolerances were so tight, most the time I slung that thing and it's. I've just whip out the 300 win mag. Yeah, it's a guaranteed tack driver right there, boy. Yeah, they'll fucking. That'll get her done.

[A]

Hell, yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Cool. And then after that, when did you go back to. What was it? M4S?

[B]

That was my last deployment, so I don't know what they're currently using now.

[A]

Oh, that was your last deployment? Okay. Okay, gotcha.

[B]

Couldn't tell you what they shifted back. I. What I can say, and this is anecdotal, but this is just in the conversations that I had with the people that were with me only on that deployment. They shared my sentiment with their frustrations on that weapon platform. But for me personally, the opinion I gave is based on my personal.

[A]

Yeah, you actually had like a. A malfunction.

[B]

Oh, many. That was not the only time that.

[A]

Oh, it happened.

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

Great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's awesome. Good for you.

[B]

It's fun. It's always good to practice your remedial action drills in the middle of a firefight. Like. Oh, sweet. I really wanted to work on this.

[A]

Yeah, it's an opportunity more than anything.

[B]

Fortunately, I'm really good at hiding behind rocks. I can find cover.

[A]

Yeah, that's.

[B]

Do you know the difference between cover and concealment?

[A]

Yeah, Cover actually protects you from bullets.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Concealment, it's just they can't see you.

[B]

It's. One helps you win hide and seek. The other helps you stay alive.

[A]

Indeed.

[B]

It's rough to confuse the two in a tactical environment.

[A]

That would be.

[B]

I have seen my enemy confuse me.

[A]

Try to use cover.

[B]

I say, hello, good sir.

[A]

You said, thank you very much.

[B]

I said, hello, good sir. I see you behind that bush, and I am gonna shoot into that bush a lot.

[A]

Yeah, that seems like a pretty good. Good plan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It was cool. When it's. It's really hard at distance to determine exactly where somebody is shooting at you from, and you would see somebody using cover behind a rock, and they would slowly lose track of where their fire was coming from, and they would start.

[A]

Hiding and be exposed in the wrong angle.

[B]

Yeah, that seems like slam dunk.

[A]

Yeah, seems like a bad idea.

[B]

Always a good idea to know. It's tough, man. With echoes and valleys and the terrain. Yeah, it's tough.

[A]

How do you figure that out, where it's coming from?

[B]

Sometimes it's difficult. It's taken me before up to five minutes to determine where fire is coming from. You do your best. I mean, get some cover where you think it's come from, and then honestly, you just start looking.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So for a time, you may be covered.

[B]

I was just about to ask you if you've ever been shot at. I realize the ridiculous nature of that question. When you're shot at it.

[A]

In fact, I have not.

[B]

So it makes a snapping noise because it's supersonic as it goes by you. And sometimes, again, depending on the terrain, you could use the. The snap is going to come before you hear the gunshot because it's moving faster sound. Right. So. But then you can kind of like correlate the two a little bit to get. You know what I mean?

[A]

Like, like kind of here, here. Okay.

[B]

And if it's. If they're not incredibly accurate, the snaps are quieter. Not that it is less of an emotional event.

[A]

Right.

[B]

They get real loud. Like, we're like, not. Probably not ear damage loud. We were wearing Peltor headsets anyway. But when they're really loud, they got you dialed.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But up until that point, you know, you can kind of use the two. You can get a general idea. Right. And then, you know, you gotta take your time and look. Sometimes you can see dust. You know what I mean? Oftentimes you would see a vehicle or a motorcycle. And it's funny, too, when they would start shooting at you, then you could. You'd be like, oh, there's some motorcycles over there. I didn't see those before. And they were able to get there without being seen, but they're like, right in the open.

[A]

Yeah, you just.

[B]

It's hard to look 360 degrees.

[A]

Yeah. Have you heard of the. This is kind of going off of this. The movie Warfare? I think that you haven't seen it.

[B]

But I heard of it.

[A]

Yeah, I haven't seen it either, but I have heard that it's one of the most accurate depictions of being in a firefight.

[B]

Cool. Yeah. I think that one was urban Iraq, and that is different. An urban environment is different than a rural environment, which is different than a high desert environment, which is different than a jungle environment or a damn near tropical environment. Like down the Western Euphrates River Valley. That. I mean, we're talking lush green.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Oh, dude. Which it was, like, bookended by a complete desert, right?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

But, man, poppy fields or irrigated fields or high altitude, it's all different.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We just hit an hour. You want to do one more?

[B]

One more.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Make it good, Michael.

[A]

Okay. Let's see what I Got here. So Trump declassifies jfk, RFK, and MLK files. And I don't know exactly what has come out of that yet, because I think it's going to take a long time to actually sift through all of that.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I remember seeing that, and, yeah, I don't remember anything incredibly revelatory coming out of any of those.

[A]

What. I think it was a lot of what we already knew.

[B]

I think so as well. And honestly, they might claim full transparency of disclosure.

[A]

Yeah, I don't know that I would believe that.

[B]

I think sometimes transparency and disclosure has to be pieced back together from a shredder.

[A]

Yeah, it may be difficult.

[B]

I just. I mean, again, we're talking about people and. Yeah, I'm not trying to be pessimistic or conspiratorial. I've. I've talked about this. I do believe that there is a deep state, but I don't think it's a group of people who, like, put broad swords on the table and meet in Monaco. I think it's an attitude of people who are in power, who want to stay in power, who want to have influence, who have their. It's a mentality. I completely understand that. I think that's far more plausible. And some of those people might be in these. I mean. Yeah, I mean, I'm sorry my hair did not get blown back.

[A]

Yeah, I, like, I was like, oh, that's cool. Maybe we'll actually find something out. But then it's just like, no, it seems like nothing came of it.

[B]

Yeah, it seemed like it was a big nothing scene.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. And it's just like, okay, thanks, I guess.

[B]

But I don't know. I mean, all of those things, those were all decades ago. I think the move to soften the information as you trickle it out over time, because then you can say, well, look at this massive disclosure we did of things we've already told you over the last 40 years, a little part and parcel at a time. Now you're looking at the complete document, but if you look at it in totality, you're like, well, we had 98% of this. What I don't find in any of the stuff or I haven't seen, and I feel like we all would have seen it is any level of definitive boom. Yeah, this is exactly what happened by who.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And that hasn't. I mean, I don't think we would be able to avoid seeing that if that was the case. That would trend somewhere somehow.

[A]

Yeah. And I also feel it's Pretty general consensus. I don't know, maybe like half of the country is like, yeah, the CIA killed JFK and our and mlk. A lot of people believe that. I think they believe involvement.

[B]

Sure. I think it would be hard. Well, and then this is like, well, what does involvement mean? Let's define that. I think it would be hard to argue against that. The government, those government agencies. And I think you have to be careful. Was it the entire agency or again, we're talking about people that make up an agency. It could be four or five people inside of the agency, which people probably don't realize how compartmentalized it is. And even back in that day, they were using cutouts and organizations to obfuscate responsibility and how things were happening. I think it would be hard to argue though that there wasn't some level of involvement or support or at least, you know, level of being complicit by at least individuals inside of the agency. It's easy to say it was the CIA that killed both. Like, well, was it people inside of the CIA or was this legitimately like a backed operation?

[A]

Orchestrate all of those.

[B]

I can see the, the, you know, the small individuals taking those actions. I, I would have a hard time with the agency at large doing that. But again, this goes back to, you know, people are people. Yes. If you work for Ford Motor Company and you're an assembly plant worker and you, for whatever reason, you're like Ford and what it stands for. So you leave the lug nuts loose on the left rear tire and it causes accidents. Is that Ford causing accidents or is that a dude at Ford?

[A]

Disgruntled.

[B]

Disgruntled worker. You could probably claim both. I prefer to view that. Let's take it back to the individual and then see what their overall involvement is before taking an entire organization and saying fuck you guys.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Personal choice. That's how I do it. Live your life.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Closing thoughts. Michael, what do you have? Tell us about your trip, where you're getting ready to go, where you will again. Not talk to any women.

[A]

I'm going to Ireland.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And the uk?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah. Just with family.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

To see the motherland.

[B]

All the shell tay.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I did the cap roll with your brother the other day.

[A]

Yeah, he told me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Told me he bled on you.

[B]

I made him bleed his own blood. He made himself bleed his own blood with his own movements.

[A]

Yeah. I'm actually not sure what happened. It doesn't sound like he got hit or anything.

[B]

No.

[A]

But yeah, I think he just do.

[B]

You know, garage Greg, the purple belt.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He fucking elbowed me in the face four times last night. After the fourth one, I looked at him, I said, hey, are we playing elbows?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because if you want to play elbow, I'm trying to let you play elbows. Yeah, we played elbows for a little bit. I held him down by just putting my elbow in his eye socket.

[A]

Nice. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

He was just like, ah, like you, you brought us here, started this.

[A]

I feel like Greg though didn't really make mean to do that.

[B]

No, we were fine. Yeah, we stopped and I'm like, he, I'll be honest, he had a little bit of black eye, slight discoloration which he earned because I like smacked my teeth. I'm like, what the dude?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then we rolled like three more times. Totally fine. Like he and I are the best.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

But I just said, I said, hey, if we're doing elbows, let me know.

[A]

Yeah. Because we can do elbows play this game too.

[B]

And I'm not gonna let you work and you're gonna get tack driven to the bottom and all I'm gonna do is this pointy elbows to control you.

[A]

Hell yeah.

[B]

Yeah. So Ireland in the uk.

[A]

Ireland, uk Yep. And do you go out to some.

[B]

Bars, look for some lasses?

[A]

Mayhaps, mayhaps, mayhaps.

[B]

Okay. I feel like Ireland is the land of the ginger. You're with your people?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, no, I think I'll be.

[B]

I feel like you could come back with a freckled, redheaded Irish wife probably. Let's start with girlfriend.

[A]

I gotta make sure we're not related first. After that.

[B]

I think you're going to be okay. Your family has been out of that island for a long time. Yeah, a long, long time.

[A]

Like two generations. Three.

[B]

You're okay?

[A]

Yeah, I think, I think I'll probably be good.

[B]

What are you going to do if you find a you're out and about at a restaurant, a stunning, red headed, freckled Irish postcard woman. What's your move? Show us your Riz. What do you got?

[A]

Well, I would probably not do anything because I don't want to bring any more redheads into this world. I don't want to curse my children with the redheaded gene. Do you know how likely it would be to have a redheaded child? If both parents are redheads, you're not.

[B]

Likely to have any children because I cannot get you to have a conversation with a woman.

[A]

You know I'm joking.

[B]

No, I actually, as soon as you open with. I'd probably do nothing I realized that you were sharing your truth with the world.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Sharing my truth?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

All right, dude, you do you.

[A]

Yeah, I will.

[B]

I know. I look forward to the debrief from the trip.

[A]

Oh, I'll let you know all about it.

[B]

I bet. More pictures of, like, sculptures, architecture, masonry work.

[A]

Why would I not take pictures of that? What else am I supposed to take pictures of?

[B]

Whatever floats your boat. Dude, you're gonna die. 23. Single forever.

[A]

23. I'm 25.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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