Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher - Ep 642 | From Gatekeeper to the Hoosegow | Guest: Michael Farquhar

Episode Date: June 11, 2021

Black stuff on the beach is what?... Email claims I won $1.9 million… Stimmies worked… Bezos should eat the Mona Lisa!?... El Chapo wife from gatekeeper to jail… Ring of Fire… New Ocean… Subscribe to the YouTube Channel… Email to [e-mail] Subscribe www.blazetv.com/jeffy Promo code jeffy… Netflix selling goods now… MoviePass deceptive practices… ‘In The Heights’ is out… Space Jam and new Lord of the Rings… Interview / Michael Farquhar: More Bad Days in History. CDC eases some travel restrictions… CDC has an emergency meeting… J&J gets extended… Vax Cruise gets a positive… Hiring if you’ve been vaxxed Keystone XL done for good… Katie Hill to pay a hundred grand or more… FBI won’t say… Kim Kardashian West / worth $900 million / God Bless the U.S.A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get no frills delivered. Shop the same in-store prices online and enjoy unlimited delivery with PC Express Pass. Get your first year for $2.50 a month. Learn more at pceexpress.ca. So if you're walking along Wells Beach in Maine and you are wondering to yourself, hey, what's this black substance that's all over the beach and getting on my shoes? It's just dead bugs. It's just millions of dead bugs.

Don't worry about it. Okay? One of your fellow beach walkers, Ed Smith, took some photos, and he sent it into the State Department of Environmental Protection. And he got a hold of Steve Dickinson, Steve Dixon, a marine biologist with Maine Geological Survey. And they wanted to figure out what the heck was going on. So he got in touch with an oceanographer,

and they took a sample from, the beach and they looked at it under a microscope and it's just bugs it's clearly little bugs now the millions of bugs are floating in the ocean and they're just settling on the beach as the waves wash ashore and just stay in there on the beach when the tide goes back out but hey don't worry about it we know it's millions of dead bugs they're clearly bugs we're not sure what kind of bugs they are we're not sure where they come from and we're not sure if this is going to going to be a regular occurrence. But it's fine. Don't worry about it, okay? Okay, good, good. Welcome. Welcome to chewing the fat.

Received an email yesterday that says your email just won a mega jackpot of 1.9 million USD, parentheses, $1,900,000. comma reply back for claims congratulations man do I want to reply back to this email it's under the heading winners lotto millions and it's millions winners winners lotto reversed at an email account at a website I really want to reply saying hey how do I get my 1.9 million USD. But no, I am not going to reply to that email. I do not want to be hacked.

I don't want someone to reach in and say, all you have to do is send us a thousand dollars processing fee and we'll give you $1.9 million. No thank you. But man, do I want to? Because I don't know about you. I could use $1.9 million, but can't use it that bad. Plus, if you're getting your stimulus checks, you're fine, right?

I mean, the IRS commissioner, Chuck Reddick, in his testimony on Capitol Hill the other day, said, the stimmies have been fantastic for us in terms of getting into the communities. Oh, that's nice of you, Commissioner Reddick. I wouldn't want to call the Stimmy's, stimulus checks while you're, you know, doing your testimony on Capitol Hill, right? Yeah, you wanted to sound hip and cool.

Hey, you know, the stimmies. The stimmies have been fantastic. Oh, have they, Chuck? Have they? In all seriousness, I know the stimulus checks have helped a lot of people through the tough time of the pandemic. However, to have the IRS commissioner, Chuck Reddick, using the word stimmies as he's doing his testimony on Capitol Hill like he's kicked back in his living room.

Yeah, the stimmies have been fantastic for us in terms of getting into the communities. We were just raining ones down, you know, just like we were at the club. Right, Chuck? That's the kind of issue I have with that. And at some point, we've got to turn the machines off. Maybe not turn them off, but we got to, you know, maybe slow them down a little bit. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Those bad boys are smoking, and we are continuing to print it, baby.

Okay, why didn't I know about this particular petition? There's a petition out there urging billionaire Jeff Bezos. Yes, our man, Jeff Bezos, to buy Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and eat it. Oh, okay. Yeah, we're going to do that. According to this, nobody has eaten the Mona Lisa. Really? Yeah, and we feel that Jeff Bezos needs to take a stand and make this happen.

So the petition is up on change.org. It's got hundreds. I didn't say tens of dozens, dozens of tens. It's got hundreds of signers. And one of the signers wrote Gobble de Lisa. Kind of funny. We need to make Jeff take the sacrifice for society. Oh, okay.

Now, the French government owns the Mona Lisa, and it's on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris. Now, I know that Jeff is, you know, worth a couple hundred billion, and he's spending, you know, a billion a year or more on his blue origin, and he's, you know, got Amazon cranking out a bunch of goods for Jeff to make a lot of money. Okay? There's no doubt about that. I know that he's spent 500 million on his 418 foot yacht. I know that he's, you know, spent almost 100 million on his apartment penthouse in New York. I get it. It's all good.

I mean, Joe's got money just to, I mean, he does have enough money to rein dollar bills at the club. I got it. In fact, Jeff could rain more than $1 bills, that's for sure. But over the years, I guess the idea of selling them all. Mona Lisa came up because they think that's a way that France could get out of debt. So, okay. And I guess there was a CEO, the Stephanie Distinguid, who said that the government should sell it, and it would get like 50 billion euros, and that would help the country through the pandemic.

Well, there's a bunch of art experts that say, yeah, you're not going to get 50 billion for the Mona Lisa. you maybe are going to get a billion? Maybe. I know that Da Vinci's one painting just sold for $450 million, and that's not the Mona Lisa. So, I mean, let's say best case scenario, $2 billion for the Mona Lisa, right? You're not getting $50 billion for that.

But according to this, change.org petition now has, and I said hundreds, and it's hundreds. But to be exact, it has at the time of this recording, on the 11th of June 2021, it has 448 signatures. So, man, there's 448 people out there, Jeff, that want you to buy the Mona Lisa and eat it. And, you know, if I was a petition signer, I might sign it just to see if you. you would do it. So yesterday we had breaking news on the show about El Chapo's wife, and she, you know, was charged with willfully conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine.

She also pled guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and to engaging in transactions with a foreign narcotics trafficker. And we talked about her being arrested in February at Dulles International Airport. And she's been in jail ever since. But you want to talk about a fall from grace, man. She was living like a queen, right? I mean, she is the wife of El Chapo. She went to the trial of El Chapo every day back in 2019.

She was going to launch a clothing line, the El Chapo Guzman line. She had, you know, icon status in Mexico. She was wearing expensive watches. expensive jewels, expensive clothes. She was living. And then, you know, when the king fell a little bit, she took over. She was the gatekeeper helping to control who had access to her husband while he was running the cartel.

And then she decided, well, you know, I'm already here at the gate. What the hell, I might as well take over. Now, you know, when you're in that business, you're going to prisoner you're going to get killed at some point in your life you if you think you're not i guess that's how you stay in the business right i mean nobody thinks they're going to get caught i got it but you just are at some point and she's a big personality right and she's they have two children and she's you know living this huge life and dressing nice and wearing high heels and she's the sinolaola diva according to to some of the

cartel studiers around the world. Red lipstick, diamonds, tight jeans. She, you know, was the image of a narco's love interest, something called a bussana, a busona.

She defines the term. Expensive clothes, Louis Vuitton purses, everything is an exaggeration. She's a perfect representation of the image. And even along with the plastic surgery. So, and now it's over.

Done. Goodbye. Have a nice day. And don't forget when they were at trial, right? She was, everybody was wondering why she wasn't turning on her husband. One of the, one of his mistresses, long-term mistresses, turned down him at trial because she made a deal with prosecutors. So, you know, I remember during the trial when the, uh, when the, when the,

mistress testified she wore a matching jacket to el chapo to you know kind of say you know the heck with you he is mine shut your face and then you know the fall from grace so man you want to i don't know i know it's a fall if she fell from grace she's a drug dealer that's really what it boils down to she's just a drug dealer and just a larger scale drug dealer. Do you know that more than 300,000 people have been killed in Mexico since 2006? Huh. Really interesting how that happens and then it's being run by these drug cartels. Hmm.

Weird. Isn't it? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Hey, If you were out and about yesterday morning on the 10th of June, 2021, did you get a glimpse of the ring of fire? The solar eclipse? I know.

I did not see it. The annual eclipse was mostly visible over Canada, Greenland, and Siberia, plus a small sliver of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They got it right. It's Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But plenty of people saw the partial phases of the eclipse, and it was right around sunrise, making it what they say was a particularly eerie spectacle. And there's some great pictures with the Capitol building and the lighthouse in Delaware, and there's some beautiful pictures of it.

And I'm sure that if it was anywhere close to here in this neck of the woods, my wife would have been out taking pictures because they claim that the solar eclipse, if you were in the right place, it would look like the death star in front of the sun. Okay, all right, I love that. So people in the northern hemisphere were able to spot the ring of fire in the sky as the moves across our planet. And so it was a good look. I did not see it.

I hope you had an opportunity to see it wherever you're listening to this podcast from. I'm sure it was really cool to see. And, you know, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to see it. Did you know that there is a brand new ocean on the planet? No, aliens didn't come down and just say, hey, here's a new ocean and give us a bunch more water. I know. The National Geographic Society said the Southern Ocean. It's now the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctic.

Antarctica is going to join the Arctic, the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific as the fifth world ocean because of its unique geographic features. So the Southern Ocean. Okay. It's rimmed by the swift Antarctic circumpolar current. It is the only ocean to touch three others and to completely embrace. a continent rather than being embraced by them. Okay.

So you have the brand new Southern Ocean. Wow. Okay. So there you have it. We've decided that the water down, the water over there, down there, under there is now we're just, you know what, that's just call that the new ocean.

All right. What do you want to call it? Let's call it Bill's Ocean. Now, you know, Fred's. No, southern, yeah, let's do with that. Let's down south. Let's call it the Southern Ocean. Okay, there you have it.

Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and the Southern Ocean on the planet as we speak. I can't wait for Ballerby and Company globe makers to have the new globe out with the Southern Ocean on it. And Peter, Peter Ballerbie, who is the head Grand Puba of Ballerbie, and company globe makers. If you'd like to send me, Jeff Fisher, or the show, Chewing the Fat,

with Jeff Fisher, a new globe with the Southern Ocean on it. We'll accept it with open arms and we'll share it with everyone by showing pictures and talking about it. But you can, you know, call me. Pete, call me.

And we'll talk, we'll chat. I know you're in London. I'd love to talk to you. We've talked before. And then you can send me a new globe with the southern ocean on the globe. Thank you. That'd be great.

Appreciate it. Whether it's a pair of running shoes or a new car, you check how well something performs before you buy it. Why should investing be any different? At Fidelity, we get that performance matters most. With sound financial advice and quality investment products, we're here to help with accelerating your dreams. Chat with your advisor or visit Fidelity.ca.

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Oh my gosh. I don't know if I ever told you this. I'm going to take another drink here because it is really good. So Netflix has now launched Netflix. Dot Shop. I know. They're going to be selling products from Netflix shows, which is, you know, good for them. About time.

I know they've done collaborations with Walmart and Sephora and Target and other branded items from their, you know, from a bunch of their shows. But now their Consumer Products Division, the head of Netflix Consumer Products Division, Josh Simon, said that with its own online storefront, will be able to shop to your Bojack Horseman Prozac pending faster. Oh, that's funny. That's funny is what that is. We're talking within days of a character trending on Twitter. So they've partnered with Shopify and they're launching a store. Okay.

Good. I hope it works out for them. Why don't they? I mean, you should be able to. I know that we talked about doing this on the blaze and it never really happened. And we may have talked about this before, but I always thought it would be what we wanted it to happen is when you see a product on the screen, you're watching the blaze on your computer and you put your mouse over the pillow.

And it says, hey, buy now. And you click and you buy it now. But, you know, maybe Netflix will have that technology and do that. Okay. I know, I know, we'll see. Good for them. No, I mean it, good for them. Do you remember a movie pass?

Remember when they offered, you know, it was $10 a month, allowing you to see a movie, you know, in theaters every day? I mean, it was a great idea. You buy the pass and then you could just go to the theater. This was, of course, pre-COVID. And see a movie every day. And then everything got all boggled up. and the movie theater companies were saying,

no, it's only one new movie a week, and I mean, it just got all bogged down. Well, they just settled a deal with the Federal Trade Commission because there were allegations of misleading customers. Oh, wait, what? Yeah, I know. They would lock customers out of their accounts to prevent them from seeing films

as often as they'd like. so the parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics and principals Mitchell Lowe and Theodore Farnsworth had to promise not to do it again. That's how much trouble they're in. Right? I know. Man, you don't want to be in that kind of trouble. You do not want to be on that kind of trouble where you have to promise not to do it again. They are going to be barred from misrepresenting their business and data security practices. In addition, any businesses controlled by MoviePass, Helios, or Lowe must implement comprehensive information security programs. So there, take that. All I know is they've promised not to do that again.

So I'm good with it. I am good with it. I mean, we had such a, the movie pass deal was a really, that was a smart thing. And it threw a wrench into the theater business. And they didn't know what to think of it. And then they thought, well, that's such a great idea. We just do it ourselves. We're AMC.

We could do it ourselves. And we're at this movie company and we can do it ourselves. Okay. All right. Can you? Can you? Not the country, but can you? And, you know, so that it just, you know, a battle ensued.

And according to the Federal Trade Commission, They misled customers, and they promised not to do it again. So, okay, thank you. Appreciate it. And I see where, and I see because I had to watch it with my daughter, In The Heights is out. It's in theaters. And it's also up on HBO Max through July 10th.

And it's Lynn Manuel Miranda, Miranda, from his play that they, made into a film and it's a musical and it really is a musical i mean it's a it's a it's a they everything is singing i mean very little uh dialogue without singing and i believe you know i just if you haven't seen it it's uh in washington heights new york it's where lynn is from and uh it's it's about uh it's about a community a tight-knit community at the intersection of it all is a likable the magnetic bodega owner who hopes, imagines, and sings about a better life. And it's right there, just outside of the 181st Street subway, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies of vibrant and tight-knit community.

It's kind of agonizing. I mean, I like musicals, but I like it to be intertwined with some sort of dialogue, and this was not. This was more of a play. You know, and so it was nice, and I do believe, I honestly, I think this movie had every Spanish, American, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Republican, South American star that they could find is in this movie. There is not another one left that was not of this movie. It's incredible. And there's dancing and singing and some big numbers.

Some big street numbers and alley numbers that are pretty impressive. And so I guess I did kind of enjoy it. But you better like singing. You better like Lynn Manuel Miranda, his style. You better like plays and not necessarily movies. And you better like Washington Heights. Or maybe you'd grow to like it by watching this movie. But that's my review of In The Heights.

and then I see where Space Jam is coming out on the 16th of July I can't take it LeBron James with Space Jam I want and that's going to be on HBO Max too holy cow I told I told my kids if they watch that I'm pulling HBO Max from the house not really I just said that but I can't I don't want to give him any love and maybe already by subscribing to HBO Max I've already given LeBron love as far as his pocket book, but if I don't stream it, if my IP address doesn't stream his stupid movie,

then they, you can't blame me because I can't take it. I can't. I may be able to take the new line and Warner Brothers new animated Lord of the Rings film, Roherom, War of Roeherom,

Lord of the Rings. So it's been 20 years, 20 years, the Fellowship of the Ring was released, bringing the J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to the screen. So New Line has announced, Lord of the Rings War of the Royal. And the movie is set in Middle Earth. So there you go.

Coming to a theater near you sometime in the next, you know, couple hundred years. They did not give a release date. They did not do anything other than, yeah, it's coming. It's coming. No problem. We've got the director. And I might have to apply for a voice job or something on there.

You know what? I think I will. I need to be working on Lord of the Rings. I want a gig. I want a gig on War of the Roam. And then the Lord of the Rings new animation film. Okay, so I'm applying. New Line and Warner Brothers,

call me. I'm here for you. I should probably call them. That's probably the way it works. Is Michael Farquhar on the line? All right. Can't wait to talk to Michael about his new book, More Bad Days in History.

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or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling problem call connects Ontario 1866-531-260. 19 and over, physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggettcasino.com for details. Please play responsibly. I want to take a moment here on chewing the fat to tell you about a new book that is out called More Bad Days in History, which I have the hard copy right in in front of me. And it's by and I know I'm going, I'm just going to spell the last name,

F-A-R-Q-U-H-A-R. Michael, I'm going to say it wrong and so you're going to be angry with me. So just tell me your last name. So yeah, I'll preempt you. So you know, it's Farquhar. That's what I said, Farquhar. That's what I said, Farquhar. I knew I was right. You were right. Michael, thanks for joining us on Chewing the Fat today. Good to see you. Good to talk to you. It's great to be here. Thank you. So I've been kind of thumbing through the new book, more of bad days in history, and it's been fun. It's been fun. I love this stuff. I mean, we cover a lot of this stuff on chewing the fat, and it brought back some memories of some stories that I had forgotten. And I know that the book itself is really just about, well, what the title says, bad days in history.

So as you were going through this and creating it, I see where you've developed, you know, you went through 12 months of the year. Oh my gosh, there's 12 months in the year. And each month you brought those bad days to life. Which, how much hit the cutting room floor? How much hit the floor? That's the maddening part, Jeff. It's, you know, you can, with all the research that goes, it's, you're reading something, you're finding something else. And then you go, oh, I'll add that to my template for, oh, and that happened on May 5th.

All right, put it there. And then you end up with five really good days for May 5th. And you're like, oh, which one do I do? So some of it's informed by what was there on the day before. So I don't want to have two sports history bad days in a row. So that would help make a decision. Right. So when does the, before we even, I mean, we haven't even hawked the new book yet.

So when does the latest edition of Outer, outtakes of more bad days, you know, bad days on top of bad days come out. Oh, I would imagine that a little much longer after I hang up with you. I hope it'll be a third volume because I'm telling you, man, I've got so many more to do. I believe that. This is the whole span of human history. You're not going to have two volumes. I'm going to cut it.

I mean, seriously, everyone has a bad day from time to time. So some people have more than others. What was your favorite? I mean, we could go through month to month, and I could just, let's start with January. What was your favorite out of all? And I know that you're going to say, well, they were all great, Jeff. Don't be foolish.

They were all great. But when you got done, you thought that's my favorite one. Yeah, I mean, you're right. I probably would want to give you the answer that you just predicted. Because really, the reason it's hard. to say is because it spans so many different genres of history, arenas of history. So, you know, you're excited about that sports date or you're excited about that royal history date. And you go, oh, my God, you know, this is great for that.

But I don't know. But take gallery, buying for $32,000 a can of some artists, crap, literally, poop in a can, $32,000, which, just so you don't think the tape was the only dummies. The Matt in New York bought it too. Another can. There's like five cans of crap.

All individually labeled. Nobody knows who actually owns can number two. But, you know, it's stuff like that. You go, oh, my gosh. Too good to be true. I love the President Jackson's Parrot story. Oh, yeah.

Funeral, fantastic. I mean, you'd think maybe they wouldn't get rid of the parent as it's, you know, blasting foul language at the mourners? Yeah, the parent is, I guess it was, Jackson loved them. His name was Paul or her, P-O-L-L, I don't know, Polly. I don't know, one or the other anyway, he or she had a foul mouth. And I guess it was at the funeral in the first place because, beloved of Jackson, but it shouldn't have been any surprise to anybody at the funeral.

So, accident besides being a homicidal maniac. I was just going to say, he's not that good of a guy. Not that good of a guy. I mean, in some ways, you know, give him a break, but he was certainly salty, if nothing else. And it was his parrot. And I guess that's why they hung out and enjoyed each other. That's fantastic.

So as I was plumbing through more bad days in history by Michael Farquart, I've come and run across the story, and I happen to read it to my father-in-law who lived with me. and was in Vietnam, and I read the Jimmy Hendricks story about getting kicked out of the army. And what a fantastic, you know, a great story, of course, and my father, he was 1001st. I used to love that guy. Oh, really? Yeah.

Yeah, so it was a good piece on Jimmy Hendricks. Do you believe him, that he actually knew him? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so it was, I mean, how much can we say? He was, got kicked out for playing another, another kind of instrument, which was his own. And it didn't go over well.

That was just the tip of the iceberg. Hendricks. Thank you. All right, you can give me a room. It wasn't, it wasn't just that that got him kicked out of the Army. Now, I'm sure that. That's the kind of story. You go, okay, is that true, really?

And so as a reporter, I mean, as a reporter of history, I'm not a historian, I report on history. So you really do have to do your reporting. your homework and your research. So I found the records of the discharge papers and the recommendations for his discharge. And that episode among, as you mentioned, several others, was right there. And so I'm going, wow, that's awesome. Right. And conversely, it's frustrating when you hear a tip bit like that and you do your homework and you do your research, talk to the experts and go, oh, that was true. Yeah, that was some myth that emerged 100 years ago. And it's just a lie.

Now, I know, I'm sure, you know, look, you're, you know, a lot smarter man than me, Michael. But, I mean, perhaps maybe a book about, you know, greatest lies of history would be an opportunity for you. You know, I don't know about your comparative analysis of our intelligence. I'm pretty good at fooling people and the thinking I might know what I'm talking about, except when I opened my mouth. I did do a Treasury of Deceptive, which had a wonderful. some of the great lies told in history. Yeah, really fun. Eventually,

eventually I'd like to narrow the, if I can, I mean, if we continue to be lucky enough to sell this kind of history, specific themes of, as you said, maybe one full long lies. So, I mean, that's great. This is, you've got this sprinting through National Geographic again. And I really, I've had such a good time

thumbing through it. It's well worth the read. There's so many other little stories. I love the George Washington's mother, you know, had mortified him that he was scared. You know, little tidbits on that that you don't really don't think about, really. Right. You're right. I mean, we kind of think of George Washington as this, you know, dignified icon, which he was.

Right. And his mother goes and writes a letter to the Virginia House of Burgundy says, I need money. He's not giving me any money. and so George Washington gets this letter from the house what do you want us to do you want us to pay or something are you going to take care of what's

happening here the number one man of the family fathers is for to write this excruciating letter to the house of Burgess to say no no no she's well taken care of she does this all the time she's always got her hands of our pockets

all over the kids and let it be just let it be pretend like you didn't get the letter. Right, right, exactly. Just ignore it. You'll be fine. Just kidding. You know, we talked about Jimmy Hendricks,

and there's, you know, a couple of, you know, rock star rock stories in there. But I know one was kind of fascinating with the Beatles, right, getting attacked. Yeah, man. I mean, this is something I did not know about until recently, and I'm a pretty big Beatles fan. but as you know, they did their first U.S. concert in Washington, D.C., where I'm talking to you from.

After the concert, they were invited to the British Embassy here in D.C. And it was a mess. You know, the staff at the embassy were treating them like dogs. Like, you will sign this and you will like it. And then the Washington elite that are invited are acting like the teenagers that they had just left at the Coliseum. trying to pull them apart and get their autograph and so why he whips out a pair of scissors and cuts off a chunk of Ringo's hair right in the British embassy

John Lennon by the end of the night but not by the end of night he left early he goes I can't know this is just this and and I think very soon after proceeded to write I'll cry instead no kidding yeah and you'd think you know, I mean, you could make the joke, so maybe you ought to get another Beatles hair instead of Ringo's. But, you know, Ringo's still hanging out. It's okay. He's still part of that. Yeah, Ringo's still here doing his thing with hair. Right. And, you know, what's the, I was just thinking of an old Beatles joke. And now I can't remember the guy's name, the former Beatles drummer that got kicked out before that made a thing. I wrote about him actually in the first book of the bad days.

He wakes up every morning with, darn. Yeah, I think he, I mean, how can you not? Yeah, absolutely. You see what the party is making. So the new book, obviously more bad days in history and by Michael Farkwar. And the, I got to tell you, I'm just a, I'm a fan. And I'm happy to have the book in my hand. And thanks for joining us.

I know you're busy man. So I just wanted to steal a few minutes and let people. know about the latest edition of Bad Days in History. Any special story that you want to, you can tease Wes with, you know, you kind of danced around your favorite story. So I want the answer right now.

All right. Well, first, let me just say to you, thank you for those kind words. I really do appreciate it. Maybe my favorite story is with all the great mobsters gathered up in upstate rural New York for a confab, which is probably the largest.

ever. And, you know, it was from all over the country, Campino, Barberra, Banana, the whole crew, and underbosses, consigliary, all of them. Right. And this kind of gets suspicious about seeing all these out-of-state license plates and all these fancy cars. It calls in reinforcements. It ends up these, you know, these proud, tough guy mobsters scurried from this house like rodents and run into the woods in their fedores and silk-clad shirts and they you know they get stuck in the mud they get caught up in trees and this cop is excuse me laughing at them he goes oh my god so trapped we just picked them off one by one so it really it really left a huge amount of egg on the face of the mob more than the muck on their shoes yeah no

I really got mortified by this episode as Jay Edgar Hoover. The FBI director. He didn't know about it. He knew nothing. Matter of fact, he denied any, I mean, that there was a mob. I mean, he sprawled on a memo about the mob, baloney. Yeah. Well, I mean, if you want to get deep into it that, you know, I know is more bad days in history.

But, you know, there were plenty of rumors. That's why Bobby Kennedy took after. after the mob because they couldn't get Hoover to do it because he wouldn't, he wouldn't admit it. They either had something on him or he just wanted to deny it. But yeah, I mean, it could be, you're right. It's a rich, it's a rich field. But this was an embarrassing episode of, because then it became public. Yes.

This vaunted G man, the head G man, the one of men of this, he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. You know, that he's completely incompetent. It was good fellows having bad days and a bad fellow having a really bad day. No doubt about it. Okay, Michael, I'll let you go. Thank you, Michael Farkwara. More bad days in history is the latest edition.

Pick it up wherever books are sold. It's available on every street corner and website in America, I'm guessing. Jeff, you're a good man. Thank you so much for a good chat. I appreciate it. And yeah, you can get it everywhere. Absolutely. Thank you, Michael.

I appreciate it. All right. Have a good one. The CDC has now eased travel recommendations on 110 countries, territories, and that includes Japan. Huh. Big surprise that they're doing that was we're getting close to the Olympics. So it looks like the Olympics are going to happen.

I did not think they would. So the new ratings, which were not previously reported and posted on a CDC website, lowered 61 countries to level three, including France, South Africa, Canada, Mexico, and Mexico. Russia, Spain, and Italy. Another 50 countries and territories have been lowered to level two or level one. And the CDC has said that it has also revised its ratings for the United States to level three from level four. Now, the U.S. State Department has said it had updated its recommendations to reflect the recent methodology, but noted not all ratings were revised because of other factors, including commercial flight

availability when we know the airlines are pushing for this as well, restrictions on U.S. citizen entry and impediments to obtaining COVID test results within three calendar days. Now, we also know that Johnson & Johnson has received an extension on its vaccine expiration date by six weeks. So that's supposed to help maintain vaccine supplies, despite maybe a a little slipping in the old daily vaccine rates? So at least we're trying to, you know,

keep it out there and available to everyone. And believe me, it is available to everyone. We are giving, you know, millions of doses to other countries for free for no strings attached, according to our president. And so they want everyone fully vaccinated. I just saw the number. I think it's 70% of Americans are vaccinated with at least one.

shot. That's pretty good. That's pretty darn good. Now, two passengers aboard, we talked about the cruise ships starting to cruise again. So they had a ship in North America. They went vaccinated, fully vaccinated. Everybody's vaccinated on the ship. Celebrity Millennium. Well, two guests sharing a state room on board the Celebrity Millennium tested positive for COVID-19. So they were conducting their required end of cruise testing. So everybody's vaccinated and they still have to get tested at the end of the cruise. Individuals are asymptomatic and currently in isolation and being monitored by the Millennium's medical team, I guess. We are conducting contact tracing, expediting testing for all close contacts and closely monitoring the situation.

So the entire crew and all the guests fully vaccinated, They're following the comprehensive protocols that align with our destination partners and exceed CDC guidelines to protect health and safety of our guests. All the guests on the Millennium were required to show proof of vaccination as well as a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours before sailing from St. Martine this past Saturday. All right. Now, they're saying, hey, this situation demonstrates that our rigorous health and safety protocols work to protect our crew, guests, and the crew. guests and the communities we visit. I agree. The vaccine is not an all-out guarantee.

You're not going to get it. And if they're not asymptomatic, they tested positive. Could it have been a false positive? According to the nurses when I was in the hospital, there's no such thing as a false positive. Oh. Okay.

Well, no problem then. I know the state fair in Texas is getting ready to open up. I think it starts in September and runs through sometime in October, the 2021 State Fair of Texas. I know it was canceled last year. So they are looking to hire thousands of people as seasonal workers. They're going to pay you 1238 an hour, raised from 1115 an hour in 2019. So you're going to go up over a dollar an hour. I'm going to go up over a buck an hour.

I know. that's impressive. But there's 7,000 seasonal job opportunities at the state fair. Again, I put the big butt in there. No, not mine. Everyone who wants to work at the fair must be vaccinated. And you must have proof of vaccination. So there's that.

And we'll get to a couple more stories before we wrap this. thing up here on Friday. Keystone Pipeline, completely gone now. It's over. It's done. History. Have a nice day. T.C. Energy said yesterday, we're pulling the plug. The project is over. Wow. So, I mean, it's been a decade now since that Keystone Pipeline XL has been in the works and being built. And now it's completely over. So it wasn't, I mean, I know it wasn't an active construction site. I mean, Biden already rescinded the pipeline's construction permits on day one. But the announcement marks the end completely, which had pitted environmentalists and Native American tribes and farmers against the Canadian officials and the industry, the energy industry. So they're happy that those people are happy that this has happened.

But what I didn't realize is, okay, so it was first announced. back in 2008, and the plan was to build the pipeline carrying 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, where it would link up with existing pipelines to carry it to the Gulf Coast revineries. President Obama delayed the project. Then President Trump said, yeah, go. Let's get this thing going. Alberta spent $1.1 billion on the project, which is, you know, they're a little pissed. Plus, I didn't realize this, they loaned the T.C. Energy

$4.7 billion for some of the construction. So the Canadian province is out $5.8 billion? No wonder Canada is pissed. And look, you might say, so it's Canada. No. I mean, that hurts America, too. That's incredible. I know the environmentalists are all happy and it's a great day for Mother Earth.

Is it? Is it Larry Wright Jr., chairman of Nebraska's Punkah Tribe? Is it a great day for Mother Earth? Okay. All right, if you say so. So you remember Katie Hill, the former Democratic California representative. She, you know, had ended up getting out of there. she had the affair with the female campaign staffer,

and there were picks of her naked and smoking pot and partying and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. Well, a judge has now ordered her to pay the Daily Mail more than $100,000 for the posting of her leaked nude photos after the lawsuit. She posted a judge just ordered me to pay the Daily Mail and over the $100,000 for the privilege of them, publishing nude photos of me obtained from an abuser. The justice system is broken for victims. Um, Katie, you are really not a victim.

You had all these pictures taken of you naked and smoking pot and partying and having sex. That was your choice? I know. I know. But, and your husband, your ex- husband gave the photos to the Daily Mail. So, you know, maybe you're a victim from him. Maybe.

I'll give you that. But you got to pay the Daily Mail's legal fee because we all wanted to see those. Well, I mean, a lot of people may not have wanted to see the pictures. I, on the other hand, did want to see the pictures. And I will say, thank you. And I say that because, look, the pictures are out there. I'm going to look. That's me.

That's chewing the fat. I do that for you. I do that for you. I look at this stuff so that you don't have to. Okay? So really, you're welcome. Also, just so you get through the day, the FBI, the head of the FBI,

wouldn't say whether Donald Trump is under investigation for the January 6th riots. Oh, okay. He said that there are hundreds and hundreds of investigations. into January 6th involving lots and lots of different pieces, adding that he wants to be careful not to speak in absolutes about a massive investigation. So you can bet that there is an investigation on Donald Trump. I don't know what you make of that or whatever comes out of that.

Just agonizing. And as I'm reading the Donald Trump story, I look down and there's a little pop-up news video going. and the video news talks about Kim Kardashian West is worth $900 million. And in this little video news reel, if you push play, it continues on and it talks about she is selling a 20% stake in her cosmetic company, KKW Beauty, to the beauty giant Cody, COTY, for $200 million. The deal values Her KKW Beauty at a billion dollars.

So if anyone tells you that America sucks and America is bad and you just can't make it in America anymore, tell them that's a lie and point out Kim Kardashian West, is it still West, I don't think the divorce is final yet. right. Kim Kardashian West. And along with her husband, by the way, Kanye West, who's a billionaire? And let them know that yes, you can still make it in the greatest country on the planet of this Earth. The United States of America. God bless the USA.