Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher - That’s What They Say… Guest: JP Decker, ED. Mercury One... | 2/13/25

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

Bird Flu in another human… New Monkeypox strain… Possible earthquakes at Area 51... Youtube watched on TV more than phones… Disney changing content warning… Shopify pulls Yeezy website… Email: [e-mail] Subscribe to Blaze TV www.faucicoverup.com/jeffy Promo Code: SMOKINGGUN $30 off a years subscription / while supplies last… McCartney special show… R&R Hall of Fame Nominees 2025… Guest: JP Decker Executive Director / Mercury One www.mercuryone.org Nashville firefighter wins court case… Joke of The Day… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Amex Platinum, you have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. So your experience before takeoff is a taste of what's to come. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Blaze Radio Network. And now, chewing the fat with Jeff Fisher. So we now have an Ohio man who has contracted bird flu, making the state's first case for the disease. during the current outbreak, the ODH, the Ohio Department of Health, said the reported probable case of

influenza AH5, also known as the highly pathogenic avian influenza or bird flu, was detected in the adult farmer in Mercer County, Ohio. Mercer County is roughly two hours away from Cincinnati. The infected man was in contact with deceased commercial poultry that was a infected with the virus. So right now there's, you know, general risk of bird flu for humans is low. You don't even have to worry

about it. We're just reporting it, but you know, you shouldn't really worry about it, except, well, those of you who own poultry should practice good biosecurity, keep their birds separate from wild birds, and you, you know, they have definite guidelines for you to

have the best biosecurity practices. And if you handle sick birds, or other animals, you should use protective equipment, such as gloves, N95 or well-fitting face masks and eye protection. Wash your hands thoroughly after touching birds or sick animals. Avoid touching your nose, mouth, or eyes after contact with birds or animals or any materials that may have been in contact with.

Change any clothing before contact with healthy birds and animals after dealing with sick ones. So outside of Ohio, we now have 60. total reported human cases of bird flu, including one death during this current outbreak. The majority of the cases have been in California, Colorado, and Washington. So heads up. Bird flu is, you know, making a big push during this current outbreak. They keep saying that. So just be on the alert for a bird flu during this current outbreak.

Welcome! Welcome to chewing the fat. Well, you know, we've got the bird flu outbreak, and we also now have a new strain of monkey pox that's been detected in the U.S., which is apparently prompting the alarms among health officials. So the New York State Department of Health confirmed that it had detected a case of clade 1B monkeypox, which also causes a rash on the hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, and or genitals. You don't want monkeypox. Okay, just saying you don't want that. I don't know that you want bird flu, but you darn sure don't want monkeypox.

So, Clayd 1B is related to the more deadly Clayd 1 monkeypox, which kills 3 to 11% of its patients that it infects. But so far, studies suggest that this strain has a fatality rate of less than 1%. So it's fine, just a minor, minor, mild case of monkeypox. clade 1B.

So apparently we have infections that were detected in New York, California, Georgia, and New Hampshire. Now, I mean, now in New York, New York State didn't give any more details about the case, and they didn't say they detected impatience who recently returned to the U.S. from abroad. That was all the other cases, but they didn't give any information on the new case. So the patient in California was described as having a relatively mild illness and was isolated at home. That's good.

New Hampshire person was isolated at home too. You know what? Just stay home. Yeah, we're diagnosing you with monkeypox and you should probably just stay home. That's what you need to do. So the U.S. is battling, I guess they're calling this an outbreak. Oh, okay.

of a clade clad two monkeypox c-l-a-de-2 monkeypox since 2022 which is so far sicked to more than 34,000 people and led to 58 deaths? Okay, I'm sure there wasn't any underlying symptoms to go along with the monkey pox. So far this year, 39 people have been diagnosed with monkeypox. So just a heads up. You don't want monkey pox. So, I know. If you get, it's a viral infection. It's transmitted with direct contact with sores or rashes on a patient,

which often appear around the genital area. Symptoms develop three to 17 days after infection. Yeah, you don't want any open wounds. You don't want the goo coming. You don't want to come in contact with the pox goo. You do not want that. So if you see somebody that has wounds from monkey pox, you do not want pox goo. I think we've covered that on this show before.

But we're concerned that a new outbreak is pending as the new clade 1B is starting to make its rounds. But it's less severe. I still would remind you to stay away from the pox goo. you know, whether it's clad one or clad one B. All right, so then we found out that we had a series of earthquakes which struck near Area 51, which is, you know, that's the testing base outside of Las Vegas. So the U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 2.8 magnitude tremor

near the highly classified site in Nevada. I know they want to point out that, oh, these micro tremors each year happen a lot and sure, there's nothing. to worry about there. I just find it interesting that, you know, we have the seismic activity outside of Area 51. Was it an actual earthquake? Or was it something else causing the seismic activity? Okay.

All right, you tell me it's an earthquake? Sure, it's an earthquake. So there you go. I mean, you can worry about bird flu, you can worry about pox goo, or you can worry about, well, seismic tremors outside of a research facility, a military research facility in Nevada. Or you can just not worry about it at all. And maybe just follow a good rule of thumb as, you know, don't worry about it. And many of you don't have time to worry about things like that anyway,

because you're worried about the weather. I guess 90 million people are now under winter weather advisories or warnings as the snowstorms are sweeping across the U.S., Midwest and the East Coast, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, among other places, hit with large snowfall. And if you were traveling anywhere, the airlines have been canceling or rescheduling the airports on top of the bad weather. You're just stuck at home. So, you know, it's tough to say, don't worry about it because you're smack dab in the middle of it.

So just be careful and take care of yourself. And, you know what, don't worry about it. You know, if you're stuck in the snow and you might be considering moving and you think to yourself, man, we have got to get out of here. I can't take this anymore. Well, you know, any time in life that you make a big change, it's hard. And that's true, especially if you're planning to buy or sell a home. It's really complicated. It takes a lot of time, a lot of jumping through hoops.

And, of course, the stakes are just about as high. as they ever get in terms of financial decisions that you make. And, you know, but if you're at home and stuck in the snow and you're thinking, we got to get out of here. Let's just start cleaning this place up and, you know, putting it up for sale. Well, you're going to need a real estate agent to help you get through all of this. But you don't want just some ordinary agent who does this on the side. You're going to want the best.

So go to real estate agents. I trust.com. Real estate agents I trust pairs you with the top selling real estate. agent in your area, someone who knows the best practices, someone who understands the crazy housing market, someone who's a team leader and a closer. Someone you can trust. If you're thinking about buying or selling a home and moving to, you know, where it's warm, get in touch with them. You'll see what I mean. Real estate agents I trust. The name pretty much says it all. Real estate agentsitrust.com. Real estate agents I trust.com.

This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ, built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence, while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus at OnePeloton.com. According to YouTube's CEO, YouTube viewers are ditching phones for TV screens now.

TV surpasses phone and desktop viewing for the first time with YouTube. Americans now prefer watching YouTube on their TVs rather than their mobile devices. Wow. I mean, that's a big reversal to, you know, we have a mobile world, mobile phone world. So YouTube still beats Netflix when it comes to Nielsen ratings, which is, you know, I mean, they're number one go-to streaming destination. But YouTube shorts, quick hit vertical video basically built to phone scrolling, are also finding their way to the living room screens.

So now they're saying, oh, hey, we may need to rethink our strategy. I don't know if that's true. I don't think you need to rethink your strategy. You just need to know that people are watching it on television. And there's a number of times when a video is funny or whatever and you're in your living room, I just share it. You know, I have Samsung and I just share my phone screen to the TV. I don't know if that still counts.

I did have YouTube TV for quite some time, and then I ditched it because they started to charge me too much money. And now I have Hulu Live with a couple of bonuses on top of that, and I think I'm probably paying as much or more than I paid for YouTube. So it's just, you know, they're getting you coming, they're getting you going. That's just what they're going to get you either way. But it is interesting that YouTube is surpassed, you know,

people are watching it on TV rather than their phones more. But I'm in that group for sure. You know, I mean, I have, and I think what helped that, if they did not ask me, but I was thinking, you know, like I do share it. I share my phone to the TV screen from time to time if we're in, you know, if we're in the family room or whatever. And, you know, you want to watch something.

Or are they also, the new TVs have the YouTube app on them. So it's right there. So, you know, when you want a WhatsApp thing, it's right there on the television. I don't have to go to my phone. If I'm already watching an app, I know that I have my YouTube app on the TV. I just go there and watch it. So I'm sure that's helped a lot as well. Yeah, speaking of streaming, we talked last week, I think,

about Disney Plus losing 700,000 subscribers and, you know, Iger saying, well, that, I was not as as severe as anticipated. Oh, okay. All right, if you say so. But I do see that Disney Plus now is changing up their movie content warnings, which, you know, I mean, I guess we've got the DEI changes, and I'm not sure how much Disney is going to change in the new DEI world. But they're changing their older movie warnings, you know, their content warnings. These are older movies, and we can't just let the movie run. We have to warn you that the content, some of these older titles are, well, they're about a different time that we lived in. Oh, okay. So, remember, they had the versions that, or this film includes negative depictions and or mistreatment of people

of cultures. So I guess the updated version is going to read, this program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions. Oh, no. This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions. We're not going to watch it then. Okay. All right. So I know that we had, you know, they added content warnings to several titles from the 40s and 50s. Dumbull. with racist depictions. Come on. It's just in their older movies,

and that's the way that things were. Can we not just watch the movie and realize that's the way things were back then? No, we can't do that? Okay, well, just know that Disney is changing up their disclaimers. I'm sorry, their content warnings for many of their older movies, because, you are too dumb to realize

that the movie was made in 1915. and things were different then. Back then, you probably could sell a t-shirt that had the swastika on it. But not today. Not today. Shop of I pulled down Yeezy website run by Yee. After his online store began selling T-shirts with swastikers on them, pull it down.

Pull it down. We can't let people even see it, okay? Because we don't like it. Oh, okay. Yeah. a sign of hate and we are not going to try to sell that product. Okay, sure, no problem. Could maybe put a disclaimer on the site where it said, you know, some items on this site have images representing symbols of hate from the past and we don't agree with it, but, you know,

he can sell his product on our site. Nope. No, you can't sell the product on the site. Nope. No, you can't sell the product on the site and you can just stop selling it on our site. In fact, we're taking it down. We don't want people to see it. We don't want anyone to even acknowledge that this even existed. So thank you. Thank you, Shopify for caring about us. I mean, we all know Ye's off his meds and he's going off the deep end and then he'll be he'll be back when he realizes he needs to start taking his meds again. So let it, you know, who cares if he wants to do, oh, everyone is a Nazi. Okay. All right. We got it.

Yeah. Calm down. Take your meds, please. All right, let's go to the break room. I need something cold to drink desperately. Be sure to follow me on my social media at Jeffrey JFR on X. Jeff Fisher Radio on Facebook and Instagram. My YouTube page is chewing the fat with Jeff Fisher. You can order a cameo from me at any time at Jeffrey JFR on the cameo. app. That, of course, is not free. But it's worth every darn penny, whether they're making pennies or not.

It's worth every darn penny at Jeffrey JFR on the cameo app. You can email the show, Chewing the Fat at theblaze.com. Thank you very much for all your emails. I appreciate it. I see them. Those of you that are trying to keep up with jokes of the day, those of you that want to be contestants on what's the lie, those of you that have questions or comments about the show, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Chewing the fat. at the blaze.com. One of the things that help keep this show free is becoming a subscriber to Blaze TV. You know, I realize that if you're listening to this show right now

and you're not a subscriber, you're a freeloader. Nobody likes a freeloader, okay? Everybody likes free stuff, which is what this is, but nobody likes a freeloader. So if you're listening on one of your friends' platforms, my gosh, stop being a freeloader and subscribe right now. And plus, when becoming a subscriber, you have to follow the main rule is that whenever someone asks you what you're listening to, you have to say, Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher.

Now, I know you're going to be listening to other stuff, music, podcast, whatever, whatever you're going to be listening to on your phone or your laptop or your desktop. But if someone comes up and says, hey, what are you listening to? Your answer has to be, as a subscriber to Chewing the Fat, Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher. That's just, that's a rule. I mean, you have to follow it as a subscriber. You just have to. And for those of what one of the things that helps keep this show free is people who are members of Blaze TV.

And I've got a special deal for you right now. Fauci coverup.com slash Jeffie. Fauci coverup.com slash Jeffie with the promo code smoking gun. Get you $30 off a year's subscription to Blaze TV. Now, what about why is it Fauci coverup.com? Well, Matt Kibby has got a new part four to his documentary series called The Coverup. It's up at Blaze TV. Most Americans have been aware of Anthony Fauci since the COVID pandemic took off in 2020.

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promo code smoking gun, one word for $30 off your subscription for a year's subscription. And that's good while supplies last. I don't know how long that's going to be worth. So get to it. ASAP You see where Paul McCartney had a special show At this Bowery ballroom

Which holds about, I don't know Five, 600 people Just incredible And all the reports Where the show was awesome He had the crowd in his hands I mean he was playing to the crowd That would be fun

It's really fun to see live entertainers and entertainment Especially you know someone like Paul McCartney In a a small venue like that. I mean, that's where you see such great acts, and it's so much fun because the acts are, you know, part of the audience.

And it talked about how he had the boys and the girls singing along, you know, so it felt like everyone was involved in the show. Really cool. It would have been really fun to be there. And if you were one of the special ones that had an opportunity to be at this Bowery ballroom with McCartney, playing all these hits and having fun with the audience. Lucky you.

Speaking of bands, I see where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed their 2025 nominees to be considered for induction into the hall this year. So that's great. Right? Right. This year's induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles in the fall. Boy, a lot of things going on in L.A. Better get those fire sores taken care of. So the select Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and donors receive exclusive opportunities to secure tickets to the induction ceremony.

Oh, that's special. That's special. And, you know, you can vote online and plays a small part into the nomination of who gets inducted into the hall. off with bad company The Black Crows Mariah Carey because nothing says rock and roll like Mariah Carey Chacker I don't know how he is not in the Hall of Fame already

Joe Cocker Billy Idol Joy Division New Order Maybe Cindy Lopper Manna I'm not sure who Mana is I should know, though.

Okay, they are a Mexican pop rock band formed in 1981, originally called Sombrero Verde. Ha! Okay, well, hey, good luck. Oasis, outcast, fish, the P-H-H-Fish, Sound Garden, probably, probably should be in. The White Stripes, I guess.

not a big one. Not a big one. I know on Pat Show, we talked about Phil Collins being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now, he's in with Genesis, but he's not in alone. That guy definitely should be. That's an embarrassment that he's not in alone. And I know Keith is yapping all the time about Tommy James and the Shandals. I'm sick of hearing about Tommy James and the Shandals.

so maybe I guess put them in just so I don't have to hear about them anymore. So there you have it, 14, 14 bands, which, you know, congratulations to all the bands, as they are nominees to be considered for the 2025 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. At just $39.99, how could I resist? This luxurious will throw for my sister.

This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss? Ooh, European chocolate for the crossing guard? At these prices, could I find something for everyone at winners? Stop wondering. Start gifting. Winners, find fabulous for less. Yesterday I'm getting ready to get out of the building

and I run into Jonathan Decker, the head guy over at Mercury 1. thought, you know, I haven't talked to Mercury 1 in quite some time. I've been thinking about him. So I pulled him into the studio and I wanted to talk to him about what was happening. What's been going on with Mercury 1. And I appreciate Jonathan for sitting down for a few minutes and telling us what's going on with Mercury 1 and what they're doing to help people around the globe. One person, one family, one neighborhood, one township. One city, one state, one country, one planet. Mercury 1.

That's how I came up with the name. Mercury 1. And I was thinking the other day that FEMA is making the rounds in North Carolina, and people are getting help that they need from the government. Amazing that it happened as a new president came into office. But it got me thinking about Mercury 1. and I wanted to talk to J.P. Decker, what is your official title? Official title is executive director.

So I've got the man, the executive director of Mercury One. Which thank you for making up the name, Mercury One. I was in the original meeting. It was you. I was in the original meeting. In New York, big wood table, I thought. Wow. It was a big day.

It was a big day when we created Mercury One. Well, great job. I appreciate it. So I was, as FEMA moved in and started doing, doing what they do, I thought, well, Mercury was done. You guys wrapped up, closed up shop, you're not even in the Carolinas anymore, right? Yeah, no, no, no, definitely not. We're not true.

We're still there. I mean, people are still struggling, right? We're still in Lahaina. Okay, okay. Well, I want to get to that, all right? So you guys have got, you've got Hawaii. Yep. And you've got the Carolinas. Yep.

Predominantly North Carolina. Predominantly North Carolina. And in L.A. And in L.A. With the fires you, how's that going? Holy cow. That one was interesting because we reached out to all of our partners and actually funny story on this is Harvest Church, Greg, Lori, good friend of ours.

Yeah, yeah. They said, hey, you know, we need about 200 generators to help in these areas. And we said, great. Okay. Called up Lowe's. We have a great partnership with Lowe's. And they said, okay, well, usually it takes us a day to get this, but because it's California and all the regulations, it has to be a specific kind of generator.

And so it took them three days when it normally takes us a day to get things to North Carolina. Because we gave, I think we're at like five or 600 large generators to North Carolina to go in those wooded areas. And then also in the Tennessee area and Florida. And so that was easy, but California was difficult. So California is a different beast. And I think they're starting to slowly see that California doesn't take care of their residents. They don't care about their residents. Yeah.

And so I think that's going to be an eye-opening thing for most of those residents there in California. So how is the rebuilding going after we saw the president say that they needed to hop sing a little in there? I felt like they were just kind of placating him and waiting for him to leave so they could just go back to be in California again. Is that what happened? They did. Of course. Of course. The next day, the mayor of L.A. came out and said, well, it's going to take us some time to allow you back in to your neighborhood.

What didn't you understand? I don't understand how hard this is. They live there. This is their property. They have every right to go there as much as they want and clean up. But there's regulations on cleanup. Right. Same that we saw in Lahaina. Right. I mean, the first home in Lahaina was just rebuilt by insurance. So almost two years it took them to rebuild the first house in Lahaina. And so, you know, we're still there. We actually are taking, bringing homes to some of the areas in Lahaina on the outside of Lahaina where a lot of the locals are living. But out of 11,000 residences in Lahaina. there's only 3,000 left because of those regulations, they couldn't wait anymore. Wow. And so the same thing's going to happen in California.

But North Carolina has been different. Okay. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. They've had without government help, I mean, we had Mercury 1. We had many other smaller organizations, groups of people come together and just start doing things,

right, without the government, which, you know, I kind of, of like that kind of like that planned yeah I think it was interesting because FEMA you know when we went out I think it was about three days after the hurricane hit we saw one FEMA truck and they were just doing communications so they literally hid themselves right on the side of the store and that's all that we saw and they just said you know we were sent here just to help people sign up for applications or get internet we're like okay well we already provided star links to most of the people so they don't need internet anymore um and you know since then it

You know, we have helped provide, I mean, we've helped rebuild homes. We've got a list of about 500. We're working with local construction companies that are there, and they're going to rebuild up to 500 homes in two years. So are they rebuilding like they were, or are we doing a little tiny homes? So that's, that's, so some of them, well, the plan is not tiny homes, because what happened was right after we started seeing all the RVs going in, which is great. You know, I mean, there's, there's great groups out there.

who do, I mean, emergency RV, they've provided, I think, 80 RVs to people there. They're amazing. And the issue, though, is that that's not long term. You can't live in that area during the snowstorms, during everything else, and that they've already dealt with since the hurricane. And it's just not long term. So what we have done, we have found ways in working with ministries that are there, literally going to live there for two years.

They're rebuilding up to code, the current code. and FEMA originally last year said, well, it's going to take us two years to really figure out what the new code is going to be. And to figure out if it's a thousand-year floodplain, which it already was, we're going to have to reduce that thousand-year floodplain. The governor was talking about reducing that,

and they're not going to be able to move back to that. We can't rebuild on that property. No, there's so many areas that they're just not going to be rebuilt. But when you think about FEMA, they're only offering $42,000 for that land, which if you've ever been in North Carolina or Asheville, Swaranoa, it is some of the most beautiful

area I've ever seen. And your 42,000 is going to buy a new house. It's not going to help you move. It might help you move a state next door, maybe. But to get a new house, you can't do that, especially in today's economy. No way. And so it's been interesting to watch

how the new FEMA director has come in temporary, obviously, because I think the president would like to abolish FEMA and give it back to the States. So that's interesting to watch. But Mercury 1, we plan on being there for as long as it takes to get Asheville to be Asheville again and Swananoa, Black Mountain, Batcave, which living in Batcave, it's kind of a dream of mine.

Kind of cool. You know, it's kind of cool. Yeah. But I think the infrastructure has really started to get better. Thanks under this administration, they've already said they want to reopen the road that leads Tennessee to North Carolina. It's been closed for, you know, eight months. And so, Sean, the new, Sean Duffy.

Sean Duffy, thank you, came and said, we're going to have it done by March 1st. So, you know, it's those little things are going to be super helpful in the long term. We've seen some FEMA trucks already showing up. A Corps of Engineers have showed up to finally clean out some of the river that just has had, you know, multiple degree. I mean, when I was there, I was there a couple months ago. And I went about an hour out of Asheville. And the whole way, it was 20 to 30 feet high of just debris that still hasn't been cleaned up. And on some of those mountain ways, because I was going to look at this property.

What do they do with it? No, seriously. What do they do with this? Do we find a gravel pit and burn it? Yeah. That's what they're going to have to do because there's no way to go through it. No way. And it's unfortunate for a lot of those locals because, you know,

One guy that we helped, his barn, his barn had trucks in it, his tractor, and it was moved 300 yards down the river. He had water that came up to his house, 22 feet high, and he's got pictures of it all. And the items that he has in there are either still in there, ruined or moved somewhere else. Or stolen. There were some people who came in. It wasn't me. Don't look at me. Are you sure?

Yeah, no, it wasn't me. He said there was an old dirt bike in there. So, yeah. I mean, if I had a bit of the internet of the woods, maybe. But no. Yeah. You know, I think it's just, it was interesting. Back to what you originally were talking about, the locals stepped in and just created

their own hubs. Yeah, we're just doing it. And they're like, we're not going to wait on the government. Which I'm all for that. And that's, that's why Mercury 1 was created. We're not going to let, like, wait on the government. We go in within a few hours through our partners and help people. Yes.

I mean, you know, when I found out about the hurricane, I texted Congressman Mill. who's a good friend of ours and said hey do you have any helicopters and he said well yeah i can get two and i said okay of course i mean i don't know what you didn't call me captain america she'd called me i got a couple out back who hook you up with no problem right who doesn't who doesn't have a couple of helicopters and so he got on it and he got a cargo plane we loaded it up in florida gave it to north carolina but everyone just got together because we were tired of waiting that's awesome and you know that's what that's what we do so i mean when people want to, they want to help and don't know what to do, really, donate to Mercury One.

Yeah, you know. I mean, 100% of that money goes to help the victims. And you can earmark, you know, I mean, your tentacles are everywhere now. Yeah. I mean, you're around the world. We are. So you can pretty much earmark where you want your money to go. You can. And that's what's, it's so cool about Mercury One is that we don't take any admin costs. A lot of these other nonprofits, which they're great partners of ours. We love to work with other nonprofits, but when you take that 10% of that dollar of yours, it's a lot. It's a lot and go to administration costs. So that's why we don't take administration costs when it's for a specific need like North Carolina or L.A. or Lahina.

And it just goes directly downrange. So how many with the Mercury 1 tentacles that are everywhere, not only California, Hawaii, Carolinas, I mean, do you, when you go to another place, that you're in. Yes. All right. How long do you stay? What's the average state? I mean, once you move in, are you the neighbor that won't leave?

I mean, we are pretty much. Yeah. And that's what's so cool about is that we wait until, and whenever we go in anywhere, we always tell them, we're not here for Mercury 1. And they usually look at us like a, what do you mean by that? Everyone else is asking us to post their logo. And we always say, well, it's not about us. it's about what we can do to help you rebuild your town.

And so, yeah, sometimes they need to kick us out. But we're going to be there as long as it takes until we can get, you know, North Carolina back on its feet. And now that we've got, you know, some of the support of the government going and doing the things that, you know, honestly, it's tough for any nonprofit to do, which is to rebuild some of these highways and these roads that were taken out. I'm not doing that. You can't, I mean, you can't do that.

A lot of locals did, which was awesome. but yeah no we plan on being there for a very long time and we don't plan on leaving we helped a lot in Texas last year with the horrific fires that happened in the West and helped with providing hay for the ranchers that just they can't afford it anymore because of just what was happening so we're still there well they lost their revenue with the fires they can't catch up you can't catch up that's yeah that's amazing

so all right so we covered California covered Carolina what's left Florida it So I'm out in Florida. Yeah, with Florida, especially last year, we did a lot. Our partner, Jack Brewer Foundation, they're amazing. An amazing partner. He's a former NFL guy. Yeah, I know Jack.

And they go into prisons, rehabilitate them. They turn their lives to Christ. And if they're allowed to get out of that prison after their term, they end up becoming disaster relief partners. So they actually go and they clean up. That's awesome. And so we've partnered with them. And in Florida, they were cleaning, they've still started to clean up in some of those homes.

still are cleaning up in those homes. And it's so interesting because, yes, DeSantis is amazing, especially big scale things. But these nonprofits like Jack Brewer Foundation, they can go into those little neighborhoods and clean out all the trees, clean out all the debris, muck out the homes, and get that done faster than the government can.

And so that's why we partner with them. So, yeah, we're still in Florida. And that's kind of what Donald Trump was saying in California. Just why can't, do we need to let the people take, care of their own stuff. Right. They'll go in and they'll take care of it and we'll be done with it.

Let's not waste time. Yeah. Well, we saw it in Lahaina. We saw, you know, the locals again stepped in and created hubs throughout all the neighborhood. And there were some areas that we, myself, was not allowed in because they had guards at the front and we're like, we're not allowing any NGOs, no government officials, no one into our area because this is what we're doing.

care of our people. And I mean, okay. I'm like, okay. I mean, if something like that were to happen, I don't blame them. Other than we could have provided them with some help. And we ended up finding a way to help those neighborhoods. But yeah, in the same thing was happening, though. I talked to a lot of council members in Lahaina and they said, it's government bureaucracy. The governor doesn't care about us. We got $750 to, you know, and that's in La Hina. But then you, and I warned a lot of the people in California. I said, hey, this is what's going to happen. These are the next steps. The government's not going to really help you. And you're probably going to get locked out of your property until they figure out what the EPA says. Thank God we have Lee Zeldon running the EPA. And hopefully they can

cut some of that red tape. But again, they're starting to see, well, it has to be cleaned up a certain way so that the ocean doesn't get damaged. And certain people can, are the only ones that can pick it up. Yep, yep, certain people and certain people can also only clean up their certain houses. There's, you know, there's obviously that going on as well. But it's so interesting to see. That's a shame. If it goes back to the states, I do think there'll be a different vote for governor in a lot of these states. Because we've already seen Newsom doesn't care about people. And we saw Green in Hawaii doesn't care about his people. So it's it's so interesting. You know, I mean, you know, my background's TV and news and media.

And so I always kind of still, I always pay attention to it. But being on the nonprofit side, it's so interesting to see how fast we can get things done compared to a politician who doesn't really care about their own state and they care more about their own needs. Right. And it's just interesting because with Le Hino, with our partners, we're providing. I mean, I'm here to help you, but really I'm here to help me. Me, yeah.

But like, we were able to be there within 24 to 30 hours, in Lahaina, providing setup with Starlink's to the National Guard, because the National Guard asked our teams to do it because we could cut all the red tape. We didn't have any. We got to get a communication. Let's go. It's just so interesting to be on this side of the nonprofit and on the political side, because there is such a protection for policy when you're not,

when you could go a little faster to take care of your own people. And they're all afraid to, well, if I let it slide this time. Yep, you're going to, it's going to go. We can't let it happen. Yeah. Well, you know what? If someone's life is on the line, you're going to do whatever it takes. You have to.

You have to. You have to. Don't you? Yeah. I mean, we're supposed to. We're supposed to. We're supposed to. We're supposed to.

Yeah. So Mercury, I appreciate you spending some time. I just was thinking about you the other day, especially when I talked about, you know, other things going on around these disaster. areas and I thought Mercury One is done. They're doing nothing. Nothing going on. Nothing going on. Yeah, nothing happening.

So Mercury1.org, you can go there and see everything that you're involved in. And, you know, obviously if you want to help and can help, please do help. And one of the things that is really cool is the, every year we have a fundraiser and that's what pays the bills so that when you want to donate to these disasters, every dime, I was going to say every penny, but Penny's going away pretty soon. So every coin that you donate goes to that particular disaster, which is awesome. And executive director, we'll make sure I had that title right. Executive director, JP Eckert, thank you very much.

I appreciate it. All right. Appreciate you joining me. Boating for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes. What? Sounds like Ojo time. Play Ojo. Great idea.

Feel the fun with all the latest slots in live casino games. No wagering requirements. What you win is yours to keep groovy. Hey, I won. Feel the fun. The thing will begin when passenger Fisher is done celebrating. 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned by your gambling or that if someone close, you call 1-8665-3-3-1-2-60 or visit Commexonterio.C.A. All right. One last story on a joke of the day. We'll get out of here for this Thursday, the 13th of February 20, 25. Wow, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Valentine's Day. said Thanksgiving. No, we just had Thanksgiving, Jeff, you dummy. Tomorrow is the 14th of February, which is Valentine's Day.

So just a heads up. If you're listening to this live, you have tonight and, I don't know, partial day tomorrow to get your flowers and your chocolates or whatever you're going to, whatever you're going to buy your loved one. In Tennessee, there was a firefighter, Tracy Turner, then a captain, he, He just settled, he just got a settlement in a court case against Nashville. I just love this story because he had posted some stuff on his personal Facebook page. And they demoted him. They berated him.

They gave him a hard time. And then he decided, you know, I got a 25-year track record of good performance. And my posts were non-threatening. I think my post was protected by the first. Amendment. Yeah, I know you didn't like what I said, but he said, and protesters are, this is during the BLM riots, way back in 2020. These protesters are the stupidest people on the planet, other than the arsonists and looters that hang out with them. I am not or ever have been a slave owner or a bad cop, me or anyone else I know have never spoke to the white privilege office. If you have their number, please share. So quit looting and

trying to burn down my city. If I offend you or you offend me, get over it. And, I mean, he was placed on leave. He was later demoted. He did end up, he did end up apologizing, which I wish he wouldn't have. I guess he felt like he needed to,

but they don't care. They don't care that you apologize. So why apologize? It's just, no, I'm not going to bend the knee. Because you don't care if I apologize. They demoted him. They berated him. And so then he decided that, you know, I've got a 25-year track record and good performance.

And my posts were non-threatening, and they're protected by the First Amendment. So I'm going to sue them. And he did. And then the city metro legal department, Nashville's Metro Legal Department, said, hey, why don't you settle for $105,000? This was in March of 2024, so four years later. Why don't you settle for $105,000? and the council members were like, no, no, we're not doing that.

The facts and the law demand that we reject this settlement. And the legal council was like, you ought to take this settlement for $105,000. And they, no, I'm not doing that. Okay, council members, no problem. Well, the jury just awarded our man, Nashville firefighter, Tracy Turner, $1.8 million. Yeah, you probably should have settled for that $105,000 and listened to your attorney. You dopes.

So good. Good for him. Good for him. All right, let's get out of here. Thanks to JP, executive director from Mercury 1 for stopping by earlier in the show. I really appreciate him and everything that Mercury 1 is doing. The joke of the day sent to me to chewing the fat at the blaze.com. from John and put a smile on my face even though I'm pretty sure John didn't write it but I appreciate it

and I you know thanks for listening John and emailing the fat at the blaze.com what did the guy say to the one-handed man who was struggling to tie his shoes do you need a hand? Don't look at me like that John said it not me Stream and subscribe to more Blaze Media content at theblaze.com slash podcasts.