Cognitive Dissonance - Episode 813: Raw Water and RFK Plans to Ban Drug Ads

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

Today's show is brought to you by Adam and Eve dot com. Go to Adam and Eve dot com right now and you'll get 50 percent off just about any item. All you have to do is enter the code word glory G L O R Y at checkout. Be advised that this show is not for children, the faint of heart or the easily offended. The explicit tag is there for a reason. Recording live from Glory Hole Studios in Chicago and beyond, this is Cognitive Distance. Every episode we blast anyone who gets in our way, we bring critical thinking, skepticism, and irreverence to any topic that makes the news, makes it it big or makes us mad. It's skeptical. It's political.

And there is no welcome mat. Today is Thursday, the second of January, 2025. Cecil and we are back from the only no show hiatus in the, I just want to point out the entire history of cognitive dissonance, we have never missed a drop until the last week, I think. I think last week we missed a drop. That's on me. That's a hundred percent on me.

It's on us both. It was too hard to schedule. But Dom, I know people are going to be interested to hear from you very specifically about how your family's doing and how Haley's doing. So can you tell us, give us a status update? Yeah. So let me kind of let you guys know kind of what, what, what happened and why we were off for such a long time. So, um, in early December, um, December 5th, my family got, uh, what we got, we thought was norovirus might've been, I dunno. Um, Haley's had some health struggles, kids got sick, Haley got sick.

Haley just has not gotten better. So here we are, January 2nd. We're about a month in at this point. And without going into too much personal detail about her health and her health history, she's really just not gotten better. So imagine getting norovirus, food poisoningirus, like food poisoning type, you know, vomiting and all the rest of it, and it just doesn't go away. And that's kind

of the boat she's been in. So we spent seven days inpatient, two days, one visit and five days, another visit, we spent our Christmas in the hospital, we've been in and out of the emergency rooms, we've had home healthcare nurses come in with fluids, just trying to keep her afloat. And we're just trying to figure out what the hell is causing this because it's clearly not neurovirus at this point.

Like there's something else that has happened. And the American healthcare system does not work. It is a broken shit garbage system. It is impossible to fucking navigate. And I want to tell you too, the best time to go to the hospital, Cecil, is definitely not the week of Christmas. So probably the worst time to go, right? My dude, let me tell you a little bit about this experience. So like, we get told, so we're, you know, you can't talk to a doctor, right? So you've got to send messages through like fucking my chart and then you wait and then

they get back to you. And it's not the doctor that gets back to you. It's a nurse who fucking read the message while like on lunch with one eye sort of like hopping on like their left foot, not paying attention. So you have these like insane person exchanges where they're just like, yeah, have you tried not being sick? And you're like, I'll fucking, I swear to God, I fucking gave that. Or like you tell somebody like, Hey, like, you know, my, my wife hasn't eaten anything in like, you know, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20,

22 days, whatever. And they're like, have you tried, um, like, uh, bland foods? And I'm like, no, no, we've been having Thai food every night. Like a bunch of assholes. Yeah, I just, what I do is I go and I get the hottest fucking sauce I can. I put it in a pastry bag. Dude, like, don't be giving me the most insane, like I get it. Like, here's the thing Cecil, like here's the thing that bothers me is that I understand that they have to doctor for the average person

Yeah, right that I've met the average person That's the average person is fucking chanting defense at a fucking game or whatever or like, you know At a fucking MAGA rally or like like the averages here are not good, right? So they've got to be like well, you know try like small sips of water and you're like, hey, you know She's lost fucking 15% of her total body weight. So we gave small sips of water a shot a long fucking time ago. We gave that a college try. Sure did.

What else do we have? Because she can't stand up without being supported because she's gotten so weak. She's literally starving. And they're just like, well, you know, like at one point, so like when you go to the hospital during Christmas week, they're short staffed because like people have off. So they've just got a skeleton crew, right? So we go to the emergency room. So your gastroenterologist is like,

you gotta go to the emergency room to get admitted. Normally we would admit you through clinic. We can't do that because the doctor's on vacation. So you gotta get admitted through the emergency room at Northwestern, right? So downtown Chicago. So like right there in the loop downtown, like 259 East Huron. It's like right downtown, right? So like we drive over there first thing in the morning, nine o'clock in the morning, we arrive. It's like a scene from fucking ER, Cecil. There's people fucking like falling down everywhere.

There's security guards like checking your fucking bags and shit to make sure you're not bringing, there's people on gurneys lining the hallways. Oh my gosh. The place stinks of like vomit and shit because people are like sickening on themselves. It's packed. And I'm just like, the amount of I don't wanna be here is maximal, right? Because I'm just like, the amount of, I don't want to be here is maximal, right?

Because I'm just like, and not because I'm, I'm like worried about like, I'm not trying to be judgy of the people that are there, right? But I don't want to catch the other things they have, right? Like one, I'm not sick. I'd like to stay that way. I have a lot of people to take care of.

Sure. Like Haley can't afford to catch the second thing. I don't want another thing, right? I don't want another thing. We are in that emergency room for six and a half hours before they bring us back. And like she is in absolute, just like world ending misery. You know, like she's not eaten in days at this point.

She's not kept water down at this point for a while. She's in, she's in real distress and six and a half hours a long time, you know? So she's like, she's laying there like a puddle and she's crying as a fucking train wreck. So they like get us admitted. And it's like this whole process. It takes, we have 9 a.m.

We finally get like a bed and a room and all of that sometime in the middle of the night. So sometime in the middle of the night that night. Jesus Christ. We get upstairs and we get like a room. We still haven't been seen like by a proper doctor, even though the ER doctor who's just like, yep, can't help you. We got to admit you.

And we're like, that's why we're here. I know, you know, it's like, that's a fucking mess. So like the whole first 24 hours is like essentially nothing. Like they're trying to do some symptoms management, but it's like, it's not really working. And we knew it wasn't gonna work because like we'd already tried that the first time we were inpatient for a couple of days.

So it's just like trying to keep everybody calm and like just trying to like be like, hey, you know, like tomorrow maybe we'll be a little bit better. We gotta try to like get through this shit. My guy, like I don't know if it was day two or three, but at one point like this doctor comes in and says like, oh, we got some test results.

And you know, it looks like you've got like some like fatty deposits on your liver or whatever it is. And she's like, do you drink? And Haley's like, I have not had a drink in more than five years. I don't drink at all. I don't, we just, we don't drink in our house. I haven't had a drink in over two years, Haley in over five.

And she's like, oh, okay, well, you might, you might want to consider losing some weight. And I'm like, pardon? Jesus fucking Christ. And she's just going through a, you could tell, she's just going through like a routine, like a subroutine. Like a checklist. Like this is what you say when somebody has this issue.

And you're just like, and I, and she's not even looking up. And I was like, hey, like she is underweight. Like check her BMI. And she's like, well, what do you weigh? And Hailey tells her and she checks her BMI. And she's like, oh, well, everybody could stand to be a little healthier. And I was like, that's why we're here.

It's crazy making. It's crazy, like Cecil, the self-restraint I can't even express to you the amount of like leaping of the over things that you wanna do. Yeah, sure. It's just like, it just, and then you have to- You have to just open them up and climb in them. Yeah.

You know, like a tauntaun. And you gotta play this game where you're like, where you're like making sure not to be a difficult patient because then they write you off, it goes in the notes. It's a whole problem to be a difficult patient. So you have to be like, yeah, no, that is a good idea. Certainly we'll take that into consideration. I just want to point out I'm going to need something for the teeth.

I ground down into nothing. I'm going to need a something for that. Un... It's been, it's been teeth. I ground down into nothing. I'm gonna need something for that. It's been bad. It's been really bad. We are home. I think for the time being, we are safe. That's about the bed. We don't know what's wrong.

We've got some family support. We're gonna be recording from our respective houses until we get this under control. Until we figure it out. Yeah, and as soon as we get this under control. Till we figure it out. Yeah, and as soon as we get this under control, then, you know, Cecil and I will be able to be together in the studio again. But it just, we gotta get things,

we gotta think things figured out and under actual control and Haley some real relief, but it's been a mess. So I was just not able to record. I just wasn't even home. Yeah, it tumbles out. We spent Christmas, like I said, Christmas week was in the house, but we had another couple of days,

I think the week prior we were in the house. It's just been a mess. So we missed a few episodes for the first time. Yeah, first time in a while. In Cogniz history. It definitely needed, and it was, I think everybody wants to make sure that your family's okay.

I know that there was a ton of people sending messages. They were so kind. It was really, really nice. I saw all the messages on Patreon. I saw your emails. I saw the Facebook comments. That's really sweet. It really is sweet.

I also wanted to take just a minute and express kind of like my public appreciation and support for the people who pinch-hitted while I was out at the last minute. That's a big deal. Like, you know, like these are people, I was thinking about this while we were, you know, you got a lot of long hours sleeping,

not sleeping, I should say. Yeah, sure. Sitting in a chair. Sitting in a chair. You know, like Cecil, you and I started this show because you've been my best friend for 25 years now, you know, and Cecil, you and I started this show because you've been my best friend for 25 years now, you know? And so we were just like, well, let's fucking have a show.

And then now we have a show and we've had this next show. We have the other thing we've, you know, we've always had like projects and stuff together. It's 30 years, Tom. It's 30 years. It's 30 years. 30 years, Tom. That's what I throw that out there. Just to make you feel worse about it.

I just want to make you feel worse about it. We're fucking old, Tom. I just wanted to throw that out there just to make you feel worse about it. Immense amount of time. I just wanted to make you feel worse about it because you're like fucking 30 years. No, one of those beard looks a little gray. It's 30 years. But the other people in our sort of sphere are people that are newer to our lives. Sure, yeah.

And that we only met because of these shows. And to know that like you can use Cecil, and I feel like I could obviously do the same thing can pick up the phone or shoot a message out and say, Hey, I need help. And people will raise their hand and come to the, come to, come to their, come to their aid and pitch hit on a show. And they do that just like, like that. And I mean, I got messages from, you know, a number of people in our community saying,

hey, anything you need, let me know. And I don't know how to lean on people. So I didn't really know what to ask for. Sure. But like a car, a car. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

You know, but, but it's just like, that's a big deal. Like that speaks, I think to the, I don't know, it speaks to the enormity of the real connections that we've made. Like they're not just business associates. And they immediately, as soon as they hear something's wrong, they're just like, hey man, how can we help? And I just like, that's fucking cool. You know, Heath showed up on Dear Old Dads a few times.

Heath and Anne showed up on Dear Old Dads. Noah showed up on Cog Dis. You know, people- Aaron showed up on Cog Dis. Aaron showed up on Cog Dis. I thanked them. I sent separate messages thanking them. You know, that's just a big deal.

People just show up. And it's a great community. This first story comes to New York Times. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wants to ban drug ads on TV. It wouldn't be easy. So this is one of those stories where like, when I read it, I was like, I am in support of Robert F.

Kennedy Jr.'s proposal here. And I absolutely a thousand percent am in support of banning drug ads on television. I think you're cancerous, like problematic and every conceivable way. I was going to ask you this because Cecil, you still have cable, right? Yeah. So here's a weird thing. I don't have cable. So, but I still have like somehow when you buy a smart TV and all TVs are smart TVs.

Now, when you buy a smart TV, just, you just turn it it on it's connected to the internet and there's like a million channels Yeah, and and like I don't have cable, but they're just like these like crazy amount of channels They're all ad supported. But if you watch anything on those the preponderance of the commercials are drug It's crazy. Like when I when I'm at your house of the commercials are drug ads. It's crazy. Like when I'm at your house, you guys are watching cable TV and you get regular ads

like I remember growing up with. But if I watch like one of these like internet supported ad TV shows, I'm not exaggerating, dude. It's 80% of the ads are drug ads, maybe more. It's almost every ad are drug ads. It's kind of fucking crazy. But banning these drug ads seems like constitutionally, maybe impossible. Yeah, there's some uphill battles that they'll have to do.

They'll have to fight with the FCC. Well, they won't have to fight with the FCC because the FCC guy, the incoming FCC guys on board with it. The first thing I want to say straight up about this whole thing is that this feels not like a pharmaceutical problem. It feels like a capitalism problem. Right? Like we have a weird system for our fucking how people get drugs.

Like the reason why they don't need these in other countries and why they don't make these in other places in the world and why if you go to UK you won't see a drug ad like this is because they don't have the same kind of healthcare system we have. This is just it's inherent in our healthcare system that this sort of thing I guess it's also in New Zealand but but we're the only kind we're like one of the very few countries up to I think that allows this sort of thing to happen. Drug company companies can directly market to users like the end user, not somebody who's going to maybe give them the like prescription, but somebody who's going to use the actual drug. They can ask their doctor about whatever. And, you know, they they initially said the reason why they couldn't do it on TV is because there's just this big long list of

Like side effects, you'd have to read you just have read it intense amount of side effects And then they decided to curtail that and say well You just have read the most dangerous or only like a short list of the side effect problems And that's what they do on these commercials, but these things they basically churn out money for these these companies But it's because it's a capitalist system that causes this. There's a reason why this exists. And it's like, I think this is one of those things where you're like, okay, but there's a deeper problem.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and from a free speech standpoint, one of the things the article raises is like, hey, there's going to be real problems curtailing this kind of ad because this is a, it's a free speech issue. And we've already established that corporations. So this, this to me goes back to, to the horrible fucking citizens United decision, right? Citizens United is probably one of, if not the most damning. I mean, it's like Dred Scott

than fucking Citizens United. For real, at least Dred Scott's over. You know, at least Dred Scott got fucking tossed. They're still fucking in the middle of Citizens United. Hey, Tom, I just want you to know, maybe not. Yeah, I know, we're going back to it. Okay, then we go back to it as precedent. How do you know?

I know, right? Yeah, Jesus Christ dreading it. Then they go back to it as precedent. How do you know? I know, right? Yeah, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Yeah. Yeah, Brown versus Board, wrongly decided. Oh my God. Fuck me, dude. 100% could happen tomorrow.

100% could happen tomorrow. 100%, wrongly decided. Yep, yep. But like, with Citizens United establishing that money, it is money as a form of speech and the corporations are a type of people. It makes it damn near impossible to break this out to say like, okay, well, you know, we are not going to allow this specific kind of speech from this specific kind of company in this particular, using this particular megaphone. I get that. Like the thing is like I want the result. I desperately want the result. And I know the article does say that like, you know, that there is some reason to think that there are people who gain access to certain medicines or even gain access to certain diagnoses because they've asked

about certain medicines, because they go to their doctor and engage in conversations. And I'm like, okay, I'm a little dubious. I'm not going to lie. Like I'm dubious that that outweighs the fact. It feels like that was written for the New York Times by a pharmaceutical company. It really super does, doesn't it? Like I read that and I was like, okay, Jan, like, I don't know, man. Sure, Jan.

I read that and I was like, okay, Jan, like, I don't know, man. Sure, Jan. Uh-huh. Like, I want to acknowledge that that's in the article because like, mwah, mwah, mwah. You know, what's interesting though is there are things you can't advertise on television though. You can't advertise firearms. You can't advertise guns. You can't advertise cigarettes.

That's true. You used to be able to. So there's a precedent for that. Yeah, but they cut that shit out. That's true. That used to be able to. So there's a precedent for that. Yeah, but they cut that shit out. That's true. You used to not be able to... I want to say... There was a liquor or an alcohol or something I thought that wasn't able to be for a while, but now there... I thought it was hard liquor wasn't able to be advertised,

and then they changed the rules on that. Yeah, because I think I've seen advertisements for like booze. Oh yeah, I see like hard liquor stuff all the time. There's Jameson's There's fucking Crown Royal and all kinds of terrible whiskeys out there that people want to drink Yeah, no, so so like you there are things though that you can ban I mean, we've seen it you can't just be like, you know the AK-47, you know Every absolutely have to kill every motherfucker

You just got fucking Sam Jackson as your spokesperson. You can't put those on television. OK, so that's interesting. So that makes it that makes me a little more. I hadn't thought of that angle for some reason, but like that's very true. You also can't like I've never seen an advertisement for like the local adult bookstore either. Yeah, right. Like there's stuff like that.

So so it's possible you could get this through one. Another piece of this that I want to touch on is like, I think motive matters, right? I think like, I think like wanting to take this off because it's predatory from the companies and they're making a lot of money off this. That to me says that's a good reason. But I wanna read a tiny piece of this article. And this is Kennedy's explanation. Mr. Kennedy, however, has nothing positive to say about drug advertising. He contends that the drug ads are steering

sick Americans towards useless medications, contributing to high rates of chronic disease in the United States. Quote, they're not making us healthier. It's in a true free market, we would be getting good information and wouldn't be taking so many of them, end quote. And you're like, dude, like all of this to me feels like it there's an undercurrent of distrust of the medical industry. And I get that, you know, like, sure, should we distrust the pharmaceutical companies? I think so, you know, on a certain level, absolutely. You know, like, we definitely should be,

you know, we certainly shouldn't just be like, well, we'll just let you do whatever we want. We should definitely put regulations in. We should definitely make sure we keep our eye on them, et cetera, et cetera. But to undermine the entirety of what they do, that to me seems like a problematic statement. And when you create this narrative, you're undermining

medicine itself. Yeah. You know, the problem I have is that when we think about, in my view, when you think about medicine, I think it's really difficult to think about medicine in binary ways that are important and honest. So medicine is so medicine, the practice of medicine, the delivery of medicine, the consumption of medicine, these are all so bound up in these capitalist systems and in these different drivers that really make the idea of like, Hey, how much trust should we have? It's not complete trust. Right. different drivers that really make the idea of like, hey, how much trust should we have?

It's not complete trust, right? And I'll tell you an experience that tells me that, that I had when I was sitting in the emergency room just this last week. In the emergency room at Northwestern Hospital, downtown Chicago, that's a very nice hospital, it's a great hospital. There are signs all over every room,

there's signs all over in the hallway that basically say, you need to look up your own medicine, you need to learn about your condition, you need to advocate and talk to your doctor. Like they tell you, like, you can't just show up here and just be like, I don't know, do what you think you should do. Like there's signs all over saying, don't do that. Right. There's signs all over the hospital that say like, ask questions, look up your

medicines, learn about your condition. You know, like be your own advocate, bring somebody with you to ask questions. If you can't, there's signage up telling you like how to be a good patient in a way that does put some amount of onus on you. It's a, I think it's a true fact that like in America, we have a push pull where we want to have faith in the science of medicine. That's incredibly important.

We want to have faith in the science of medicine. We should also have some amount of credulity about the clinical practice of medicine. Sure. In other words, like you should, you should be involved. You should ask questions. You should not accept the first opinion. Opinions are called opinions for a reason, right?

It's not the first set of laid out facts. It's not like, you know, not accepting the first fact or accepting the first opinion. Yeah. Like we should be very much in support of the science of medicine. I am deeply supportive of the science of medicine. I have a growing sense of distrust for the clinical practice of medicine. The problem I have with guys like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

and many on his side is that they have a distrust of the science of medicine. Not of the clinical practice of medicine. And I distrust of the science of medicine. Yeah. That's a good distinction. Not of the clinical practice of medicine. That's a good distinction, yeah. And I think most of the reason that the clinical practice of medicine has gotten so bad is because the profit motive has fucked the system

six ways to Sunday, up one side, down the other, and in the back end. And we have no, we have no like, there's like no getting out of it at this point. You know, like it's just, it's like, we've talked about it on this show a million times. There's a reason that like, you know, Americans have the worst health outcomes

of all nine richest nations. Like we, we don't have great healthcare in America. We have bad healthcare. We have bad health outcomes. You know, like doctors spend like something on average of like seven or eight minutes with you in a single appointment. Doctors have been consumed by these sort of like managed medical care groups. You know, like insurance companies increasingly are

the, you know, the funnel point that determine what kind of care you even receive depending on what your doctor wants. Like there's a lot of stuff as a patient to distrust. The problem with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is he starts with the science. He starts in the wrong end. He starts with like, let's not trust the science part. That's the only part we should trust. It's everything else that I don't trust.

It's everything else where I'm like, I'ma look that up, because I'm not sure you're doing the science part. You're all sick! Oh, be nice! Oh my son doesn't stand a chance. The whole world's gone gay. Oh my god what's happening now?

We work hard. We play hard. This next story comes from the New Republic. Trump pisses off MAGA fans with sudden reversal on Jimmy Carter. Donald Trump's public condolences for former president Jimmy Carter, who passed away at the age of 100 on Sunday, sparked an uproar among his fans. So what did he say? I just heard of the news about the passing of President Jimmy Carter. Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as president understand this is a very

exclusive club and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the greatest nation in history. The challenges Jimmy faced as president came at a pivotal time for our country and needed everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that we all owe him a debt of gratitude, Trump wrote. Melania and I are thinking warmly of the Carter family and their loved ones during this difficult time. We urge everyone to keep them in their hearts and prayers."

I think that his PR person wrote a very nice thing there. Cause that's a hundred percent not Trump. It feels so self congratulatory to me. It does, it does, but it doesn't sound like him. No, it doesn't. It definitely doesn't sound like him. No, and I agree with you. It certainly sounds like somebody wrote it

and then he might've edited it to like add another line about me Yeah, I know it doesn't sound like he wrote it at all No, and it has it has all the proper punctuation and capitalization. So you can tell he didn't write it Yeah, it's a hundred percent not and nothing's in all caps, right? Like it's just like you're like no that's too clearly you didn't write that Yeah, it's it's not a screed, you know it in no place doesn't mention immigrants. Yeah It's just greed, you know, and no place doesn't mention immigrants. So yeah. But the one thing I think I want to say about it is like, that feels like a normal thing that a president would do.

It does. It's the look, it's like there's some bizarre stuff in there that I was goofing around about, but it's the most normal thing. It's the most normal thing. That feels more normal than anything he did in his first term. Did you see his Christmas message? Biden put out a regular Christmas message, which is like, hey, ain't America grand? Merry Christmas. I mean, like, I'm like, summarize.

It was like, we should all hug the people we love. America Merry Christmas. Trump put out some thing like I got to look it up. His Christmas screed. Cecil I know we're a week late, but like, here's his Christmas message. Merry Christmas to the radical left lunatics who are constantly trying to obstruct our court system and our elections and are always going after the great citizens and patriots of the United States, but in particular their political opponent, all caps me. They knew that their only chance of

survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Also, to the 37 most violent criminals who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given incredibly a pardon by sleepy Joe Biden didn't happen. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky souls,

but instead will say, go to hell, all caps. We had the greatest election in the history of our country. A bright light is now shining over the USA. And in 2060s days we will make America great again. Merry Christmas. That's a troll message, dude. It's all troll message. Like I've come to the point where I don't pay attention

to the things he says anymore, because like all it is and all, like I watched a margin to the point where I don't pay attention to the things he says anymore, because like all it is and all like I watched, I watched a Marjit here, the green walk from one place to another and get asked a question by a reporter. And while she's walking there, she wouldn't answer the question. She's like, you're just mad because we kicked your asses in the last week, kicked your ass. We beat you up. We took everything back. We own everything. We're going to, we're going to do this and then you're like, I everything back. We own everything. We're gonna do this and that." And you're like, I know exactly what you're doing. You're trying to make me mad. That's what you're doing.

You're just trying to make me... And it's not working anymore. Like, it might have worked, like, four or five years. I'm like, I'm not mad anymore. I'm like, okay. Like, you won. Yep, you won. Now lead. Now lead. Go do it. Go do the work. You can't do it, because you don't have any platforms. You literally all you want to do is just make people mad. But if I'm not mad and I'm not contributing to that economy,

you don't have anything. You can't help anybody. You're not willing to do anything. You're literally useless in office. They're probably... Tom, I will be surprised if they can get a speaker of the house. Oh, Mike Johnson. They got two votes shy, they're like two vote, two vote shave in there. Those people hate each other. They're not gonna get anything done.

Dude, it's fucking chum in the water constantly over there. It is constantly chum in the water over there. It's a fucking giant train wreck, disaster buckle. They already had the least productive or one of the least productive Congresses in our entire history. Yeah. They accomplished virtually nothing.

And they'll do it again. They'll do it again. Yeah, they'll accomplish. I actually think with a majority, they'll accomplish less. Yeah. I really do. Because like they're all gonna feel, they're all fucking stupid

and they're all gonna feel empowered and they all think they have this mandate. It was a squeaker. You don't get a mandate off a squeaker. That's not how this works. Like you won the popular vote by like 1.6% or some bullshit. Like it was a fucking squeaker, you know? Like it's not a fucking, it's not like they don't have some overwhelming majority in the

house. They just, they've got like, they don't have some overwhelming majority in the house. They just, they've got like a couple dudes, that's it. That's it. They got two votes and they might lose more. Might be even if they lose, if certain seats like retire and stuff like that, like it could be bad for them. What a fucking, like, and that's, and really genuinely,

the only thing that could be good is a just a complete quagmire. Yeah, quagmire. A legislative quagmire. That's the best thing that could be good is a just a complete quagmire. Yeah, quite legislative quagga That's the best thing that could happen. Although they got to pass budgets Like they've got a fast budgets and keep and keep America functioning. Good luck. You got people like Marjorie Taylor Greene in there I know well, all she cares about is making the other side man. You're like, well great Yeah, I'm just not gonna get mad. No, not gonna get mad. Yeah, go lead Yeah, I'm just not gonna get mad. Nope, there you go. Not gonna get mad. Good luck.

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The second is Democratic Congresswoman retires with a message to all the old people in office and finally Kay Granger's senior living revelation draws fresh scrutiny to an aging Congress and Cecil. Our Congress is fucking old, but specifically the democratic side. Yeah. But specifically the Democratic side. The Democratic side has a real, I think, politically existential problem. And that is that the Democrats need, need, need, need to appeal to a younger voting block. The Republicans are doing it. They are succeeding and drawing young men into their tent.

The Democrats have an age problem that is unique, and they have a seniority preference problem that is unique to their party. And it will be uniquely damaging to the Democrats as we move forward. Yeah, and I mean, there's first story that Jerry Connolly winning that oversight committee post instead of AOC, that dude has cancer and is 74 years old. That guy fucking, like, he's already nine years past regular retirement age. So if you and me, average retirement age for a dude is 65 years old.

That's the average retirement age, right? This guy is already nine years past that. Annie has cancer. Annie is in Congress. There's already somebody willing to take his place, willing to take that spot. Younger, somebody who's a powerhouse and a rising star, somebody who a lot of people seem to get behind,

who doesn't seem like she pisses off Both the centrists and the leftists at the same time like he does She's a good job of bringing those two tents together more so than I think a lot of people right like you ask a leftist about Nancy Pelosi and they'll fucking vomit in their hand I know you ask you ask you ask some of ask some of the centrist about other members of what would be the squad or whatever, and they're pissed off and they don't like them. She seems to be able to have this sort of bonding,

this bridge that she's able to create. And instead what we have is, you know, well, no, we're gonna go ahead and put the older person in. And you know, like, what the fuck did you just, what just happened? Did you not like, what the fuck did you just, what just happened? Did you not learn from what the fuck just happened? That everything you've been doing isn't getting you the votes you need to win an overwhelming majority.

Everything you're doing is squeaking by and you're losing ground every single election. You have the better policies. You have the policies that more people want, but you seem to be losing more and more people because you're entrenched in your ways. And like the right has this figured out. They've got this figured out.

They've got a whole cadre of young rising stars that their lunatic base really likes. We have a much smaller group of those people. And in many cases, the people that we have end up getting ousted. You know, like Katie Porter, she was great. She's not around anymore, man. Yeah. Like people get fucking booted out, like young, dynamic, exciting people. In the one of these articles, I don't remember which one, they talk about how in the Democratic Party, there is a strong preference for seniority. Seniority rules everything, which means that people are incentivized

to grow their power by staying in positions of power and authority for a longer period of time. That's not conducive to winning the broader younger electorate, which we have to do because that's not conducive to winning the broader, younger electorate, which we have to do because that's the cohort. Like we are running out of boomers, right? The boomers are dying off. They like, we're like, I know they're still voting.

I get that, but they're aging out here. The next group of people coming up, it's you and I, dude. It's Gen X. Gen X is a tiny cohort. There's not a lot of gen X guys. We're, we're a small group, like numerically. We're not a big demographic. Then it's the millennials, man.

That's how the generations work. We've got to get these people excited. We've got to get them excited. Gen Z as well. We've got to get them excited. We've got, and like the right is pulling younger people. They're doing a better job of getting more younger people. We've got to get that snowball rolling down that hill and you're not going to get it with a bunch of fucking septuagenarians and octogenarians. Just not.

We can discuss visa or MasterCard, but definitely not American Express, so don't even ask, alright? This story also from the New York Times. Trump backers battle online over skilled immigrants. Weeks before President-elect Donald J. Trump is to take office, a major rift has emerged among his supporters over immigration and the place of foreign workers in the US labor market. The debate hinges on how much tolerance, if any, the incoming administration should have for skilled immigrants brought into the country on work visas.

This is delicious. This is the Steve Bannon versus fucking Elon Musk pissing match. Yeah, man. This is a lot of leopards at your face stuff for them. There's an interesting interplay here. And what I think there's, there's definitely a shitty undertone to this entire thing because it's saying we want immigrants just the right immigrants. You know, there's definitely a really shitty undertone of like, yeah, no, we definitely want what we don't want is somebody who might be a poor immigrant. You know, we don't want somebody,

we want somebody who's gonna come here and essentially work for indentured servitude. And here's what we knew was gonna happen when he took office, when those people were talking about the deportations and all that stuff. We knew there was gonna be somebody and that person was gonna come up and be like,

hey, by the way, actually, you know, some immigration is good because there was no way they were going to be able to sustain their own workforce. If they were to just say like, we're going to, we're going to throw all these people out of the country. You can't sustain your workforce. You have to have, uh, you know, there has to be new immigrant blood in a lot of different places. Now, what Elon Musk does, and I think I saw Bernie Sanders talking about this, he's like, he just fucking under pays people and holds their visa over their head.

So he's super shitty about like bringing people over and then being like, yeah, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna pay you nothing. And then you work 20 hours a day. And what Elon wants is cheap labor from people, and then he's willing to trade their visas for it, right? What he wants is unlimited cheap labor from people who won't complain. That's what he wants.

And the thing is, is like, they're going to give it to him because clearly Trump is on his side. And so we're in this weird position now where Trump is following Elon's lead on this. I haven't seen Trump pull back at all on this. And there's a ton of people, Laura Loomer, other people. They're freaking the fuck out about how they don't... These people were horrible. They were horrible from the beginning.

They don't want to see a single immigrant in this country. And Trump ran on that. And guess what? You guys fucking... The thing thing is it didn't matter. The person who was going to pay for it, the person who was going to give them the most money was going to win and it was Elon Musk. It was Elon Musk. You know, what you have here, I think is a battle between the true believers and the

guys who were just saying shit to win. Right? Like the Laura Loomers, the Steve Bannon's. That's a great point. That's a great point. Those guys were all true, the problem is that they're true believers. They think that every immigrant is a bad immigrant.

Right, they believe all that messaging. They bought all of it, hook, line, and sinker. They're like the dumb motherfucker I rode bikes with that I told them, talked about before. It was just like, here are the things I've heard barf it out, right? It's just like these guys believe the bullshit. It is a false distinction. And I think it's a really important false distinction to make between, to prefer what we would think of as skilled versus unskilled laborers.

Yeah. That's a false distinction. Because our country, and not because there's no distinction between skilled and unskilled laborers, right? There is a distinction between skilled and unskilled labor. The problem is that there should be no preference between them as a country. We need unskilled labor.

We don't just need skilled labor. We actually have a strong economic need for unskilled labor. We have to have it. We have to have unskilled laborers. Our dairy farms rely on them. Our construction industry, one fully a third of the workers in new construction homes by most estimates are migrant laborers who are not what you would consider like skilled laborers.

You need them in our agricultural industry. We need them in industries all across this country. We need them in many service jobs as well. There's an enormous amount. I want to point out really quickly though. I just want to point out like, you're using a term like unskilled. I don't want people to think like,

you think those people are unskilled. No, it's just that's how the classification works. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We talk about that. I just want to make sure people recognize that you're not calling these people like unskilled people. They just happen to not fit within a rubric that defines somebody's sort of occupational value based on capitalism.

That's exactly right. Yeah, I'm not making a connotated judgment. Like this is not a judgment of them as people. It's just like, this is broadly how labor economics. I'm sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to point that out. No, no, no, it's a good point because I don't want people writing like I'm an asshole. But like the truth is like,

we have a need for both types of labor. The problem is you've got these true believers on the one side and then you've got like these other guys who were just saying whatever they needed to say in order to get, in order to win. And then, you know, like the fucking technocrats, they recognize like, oh shit, well, I mean, I don't care about your dairy farm.

You guys can go fucking bankrupt. I can afford, you know, I can afford $8, $10 a gallon milk. I'm fucking rich. I don't care, but I want coders. I want software engineers. I want these guys. So like, yeah, what's good for the goose is not what's good for the gander.

The rules for me are not for thee. You know, it's lying. It's because they were never in it. They never believed any of the bullshit. Like it was all stuff that they said are not for thee. You know, it's, it's, it's lying. It's because they were never in it. They never believed any of the bullshit. Like it was all stuff that they said to get stupid people to sign on, to kick people out, so that all the prices of our fucking goods

and services could go up. They, you know? They knew that the fear was gonna win. They knew that they could play on that fear and have it so that those people would listen to them and would act on their words, right? They had the idea that if they scare these people enough about immigrants and how they're coming in,

they're gonna take your jobs. You know, like there was multiple things that have happened already since the start of this, since Trump won, that have already shown that he doesn't, he is 100% not going to follow through on a lot of the things that he's already said. And wait until he gets in office. I know we're saying that they want those HB1 visas,

but I guarantee the moment he gets in office, some of these dairy farmers are gonna get, and some of these, you know, egg farmers and whatever, they're gonna get an audience with him, and they're going to bend his ear and he's going to lax up. I don't think, I think this man, the moment you can see how easily swayed he is by Elon Musk and what Elon Musk says to him, there's no way any of these other major business people that come in, these other billionaires come in, they're not going to, they're going to be able to sway him too.

So he's going to do what he was going to do already, which was bent to the will of big business. Also, like the, the, the, the birth rate in America right now is somewhere around 1.7. It needs to be about 2.1 for replacement. Ain't enough. Not growth. Not enough. I'm not a mathematician, for a replacement. Ain't enough. Not growth. Not enough. I'm not a mathematician, but I know that's not enough.

So people, it's not like there's like a federal program to make people fuck more. Like I haven't seen that. I haven't seen like a please, like Uncle Sam wants you to get laid. Like I haven't seen that poster anywhere. We don't have any social safety nets. We don't have childcare.

Like we don't have any of that stuff in place. We don't have any encouragement to have. We don't have childcare. Like we don't have any of that stuff. We don't have any encouragement to have kids. That's right. So we haven't put any of the, any of the incentives in place. So that 1.7 is going to hover around 1.7 and people are actually saying it's probably going to go down. Sure.

So the only way to get to replacement is with- Going down is also a great way to avoid pregnancy. That is true. Going down will avoid pregnancy. If that's all you do. If that's will avoid pregnancy. If that's all you do. If that's all you do. If that's all you do. If that's all you do.

If you stop it going down. If you stop there. You stop there. Look, it can, it doesn't matter where you put it in the rotation, as long as you put it in the end as well. You can bookend. I'm just saying bookends are nice. Putting it in the end, another great way to avoid.

Another great option. Another great option. But like, if you don't get to 2.1 somehow with immigration, like you're going to run into the problem of like, look at what's happening in China, look at what's happening in Japan, look at what's happening in Italy. As those populations age, their economies begin to suffer. They collapse. There are not enough workers to replace the prior workers. It's not good.

Like an aging population is a bad thing for a country. So I don't know what the fucking plan is here, but I know the numbers don't bear out any of this, like ship them all away bullshit. Yeah. And that's the thing is like, like all of us, everybody here, unless you're like a native person, you came here just like

everybody else. You came to this country just like everybody fucking else, right? Unless you're a native, everybody else came here from some other place. And every single person wants to kick that fucking ladder out from underneath everybody else. Everybody wants to knock that ladder down. That's right. underneath everybody else. Everybody wants to knock that ladder down. That's right. Knock everybody off.

Now that you're going out into the world, there's something you should know. You see that? Yeah. That shit. And this? Shinola. Shit.

Shinola. Shit. Shinola. Son, you're gonna be all right. So, this is the New York Times, raw water devotees swear by natural springs, despite the risks. The raw water trend promoting untreated water from natural sources is gaining traction among certain groups, despite serious health risks. Advocates tout supposed health benefits, but experts warn that untreated water

often contains dangerous bacteria, viruses, and parasites. This risky practice reflects a misplaced distrust in public water systems and a romanticized view of natural lifestyles. Far from being healthier, raw water poses significant dangers to public health. Cecil, what the fuck is wrong with us? Raw water? This story is full of people who just like show up and there's like a pipe. You guys, I'm not even kidding. There's a pipe sticking out of a fucking hill and water is

fucking pouring out of it and nobody even knows who owns it. Nobody knows who owns it. It's just a magic pipe of water. It's just a magic water pipe. And people are like, yup, gulp, gulp, gulp. And they fucking break fucking gigantic bottles. And they fucking only drink this water. And you're like, dude, how do you know what's in it?

And then they start talking about all the crazy shit that can be in this water?" And you're like, dude, how do you know what's in it? And then they start talking about all the crazy shit that can be in this water, because they say, like, it's great because they say, look, you could test the water today. And that test doesn't mean anything. Because you have to test it over time to see what's in that water.

And they're like that, and especially because sometimes drainage can just dump in here It can fucking overflow sewage onto places and then drop that down there can be like Fertilizers and pesticides that work their way through soils. You can have fucking bacteria in here It there's all kinds of crazy shit you can get from drinking unpurified Spring water and that's what these people are doing. Just a fucking copper pipe in a hill.

And this people are like, it's fucking magic. I don't even know whose pipe. It's a weird, like the one guy's like a fucking UPS guy or whatever. And he just sees a line of people filling up water. He's like, I guess I'll fill up my water from this random side of the road pipe. Like what, what is these, all these people, I'm reading this story and I don't believe this because like I can't allow myself to believe this in my fullest heart Cecil, but like yeah, I kind of do. Like part of me is like fucking get sick, stupid.

Like I don't care. Like I hope all your fucking hair falls out and you have lead poisoning, you know, and like you get like a fucking amoeba in your brain or whatever. You stupid idiot. Who the fuck would... I... Look, man. Jesus. There's a reason you need to put somebody in charge of your drinking water. Yes!

There's a reason there needs to be people that are responsible for your drinking water. Here's the thing, man. If you get sick from your drinking water, you can sue your city. You can take your city to court and be like, you didn't fucking provide, pay you fucking monthly for your fucking, this stuff and you didn't give it to me. I'm on a well here.

I got multiple filtration systems that feed that shit in my house. I don't just take the water from outside. And just, I just have a gutter. I don't have a gutter that just leads into my sink. Like I take a well, the well comes in, but I have a leaf. I run that water through like two or three different filtration systems before I even consume it, right?

I have to do that on my own, right? These people are just like, well, well, give me a bucket, boy. What the fuck, dude? Throughout all of time, I'm not even fucking exaggerating, throughout all of time in history, for the majority of the human species, finding clean, safe drinking water and lack of access to same was a major priority and a major problem right so like in in in in London like the the the book the ghost map

outlines what happens when water systems become contaminated cholera outbreaks pop up right because like there can be trace amounts of fecal matter and bacterias and viruses and all these things that can run off like you had mentioned. You can't tell, you can't tell. When there are natural disasters, when like hurricanes swoop in and they like devastate places like Haiti,

one of the things that happens is there are massive disease outbreaks that are always related to the lack of clean, safe, potable drinking water. Why wake up in the morning and I piss in the cleanest and safest drinking water that the world has ever known? That's what I take a fucking morning pissing and these people are looking that gift horse in the mouth, slinging their, driving their dumb asses out to the hills in order to get random water from a property they don't even know where it comes. They don't even know that it's from a spring, Cecil. They know it's from a pipe. That's what they know. They don't even, it could be a well, it could be a

spring, it could be runoff, it could be a spring, it could be runoff, it could be fucking from a CAFO farm. They have literally no way to know. They have no way to know. There's nothing tested. Just like, well, it's clear. It's like fucking water's clear, stupid. Fuck you.

That person who got the brain eating amoeba probably said the same thing. God fucking raw water. Your raw dog in your war, you stupid... Jesus, we're a dumb species. I will point out too, like, you know, you're talking about how difficult it is to get clean water. There's places in Africa where people spend half their day getting their drinking water.

They have to spend half their day traveling, walking, getting safe, clean drinking water from some sort of system and then walking back to where they're at. Come on, man. Like, we've been able to pipe that into every single house in the United States. Every house has fucking, well, I mean, maybe some fucking weird shack in the woods doesn't, but like most houses have water. Many of those systems are municipal systems run by the government

There's a person there who's making sure that every single day the water that goes in your house is safe every single day There's a person who's in charge of that shit I would much rather have the guy who's in charge of it than a some fucking random fucking raw dog It's so tragic. You know, like I used to think that the most tragically stupid thing that we did, Cecil, was to allow companies like Nestle to take our municipal drinking water, squirt the same shit that comes out of your faucet, literally no difference, squirt it into a fucking Dasani bottle, mark it up to a fucking $2.14 or whatever, and sell it to your stupid ass. And then you believe it tastes better or it's safer.

It's literally municipal drinking water. What the fuck is wrong with you, right? It's just in a plastic bottle. So you think you got one, right? It's the same thing. I used to think that was the dumbest thing that we did. This, the intentional like, I wish things were less safe. I'm only gonna eat on a plate made out of bullets.

Dude, we are a victim of our own success. For real, dude. Man, it's so fucking crazy. That's why I was like, I fucking hope they all get everything. Just, you know, like, I just know, like I'm over here, like, trying to keep people fucking alive, you know, and like, there's people like, I'm gonna drink a random road water.

Just like, I fucking hate you. I'm gonna drink a random road water, and then I'm gonna crack one of these fresh eggs in my mouth. It's like, I fucking hate you. I just pulled it out of a factory farm chicken. There was some Scientists trying to figure out the Sasquatch riddle then they figured out it was a missing link In search of Sasquatch that was a kickass in search of with Leonard Kicking out the jams The story comes from KJW.

Tom. Tom. Am I not supposed to laugh? Tom. I'm not supposed to laugh. You're not supposed to laugh, Tom. Cecil, I'm sorry. I sometimes forget that I'm not supposed to laugh when schadenfreude happens.

Two Portland men, aged 59 and 37, were found dead in Washington's Gifford Pinchant, man, I probably said that wrong, National Forest after a three-day search. They had embarked on a Christmas Eve expedition to find Sasquatch, but failed to return, prompting a family member to report them missing on Christmas Day.

The Squamania County Sheriff's Office attributed their deaths to exposure, citing harsh weather conditions and inadequate preparation. day. The Squamania County Sheriff's Office attributed their deaths to exposure, citing harsh weather conditions and inadequate preparation. The search operations involved over 60 volunteers, including canine, drone and ground teams, as well as assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard. Cecil, I do want to point out they sent 60 fucking people, dogs, drones, ground teams, the Coast Guard, they found two fucking dead bodies, but no fucking Sasquatches.

It's been awesome. Wouldn't it have been great though if they come across one of the guys and he's cut open and there was a Sasquatch inside trying to stay warm? I would have been impressed if they didn't find the guys but they found sasquatch If they yeah, they like fly out and the sasquatch is like I don't I never met the guy I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know. He's wearing one of the guys like a hat to my sasquatch boy He's wearing one of the guys like a coat he's just got he's got him draped over like a cowl and he's just like Jim I've never seen a Jim before.

It's like a sash with his face on it right over his shoulder. Amazing. Yeah. Dude, they went Sasquatch hunting. Aren't the people who go Sasquatch hunting, I would think that these people would have a heavy fucking Venn diagram overlap

with the Prepper people. So when I read this and it's like a lack of preparation, I'm some schmuck who lives in the suburbs in Plainfield, but I know that if it's December and I'm gonna walk around in the woods for three days, my ass is not unprepared, right? Like I've got a fucking sat phone, I got it all. I'm making sure that I don't die of exposure because like, respect man, that's the woods.

It's December in the woods in Washington. Well, maybe like a Sasquatch stole all their gear. There's a Sasquatch calling his girlfriend on a sat phone right now. He gave them both a wedgie and just walked away with their tent. He's like, fuck you. He dumps their food on the ground like they're books and he just walks away. It would be so impressive if like they finally like they get these guys back and they bury them and they have all their sad fucking, oh boo hoo.

They went out for a sasquatch walk and now they're dead. Who cares? Did the world get worse or better, Cecil? Did the world get worse? Somebody died on a Sasquatch hunt. I'm not going to answer that. I need my Sasquatch lawyer before I answer that. Bigfoot, big deal. You know?

Like, one thing that makes me upset about this is like, they had to get 60 fucking people together to go find these people. So these people go out and do an asinine thing, like try to find a Sasquatch with a windbreaker on overnight. They fucking, they wind up dying from exposure, but we've got, like there's dedicated people that have to go out into the wilderness, risk their own lives

in some cases, walking through dangerous places in inclement weather to try to find the bodies of people who like didn't care enough to take care of themselves. Like I'm, I'm, I'm actually a little upset that like that could also injure someone else. Like your negligence and idiocy can hurt someone else. Okay. So here's something that I've thought about with respect to this stuff before. So like I am at my work,

I have, like I'm like a big boss and I've got managers that work for me, right? And sometimes like newer managers that I'll be mentoring, they'll be like, ah, they'll be so frustrated that the people underneath them have done something stupid. And I say to them all the, they'll be like, ah, they'll be so frustrated that the people underneath them have done something stupid. And I say to them all the time, I'm like, you should be glad they did a stupid thing.

If you wake up in the morning and there's no problems, we don't need you. Like your job is to solve problems. So like you should be glad that people are waking up and fucking shit up. It gives you a reason to exist and get a job and get a salary and get a paycheck. So every problem you solve, that's not a headache for you,

that's a reason for you to pull a paycheck. So you should be glad when these things happen. It reframes it. I wonder sometimes with search and rescue guys, if it's just, cause like, it's not like you like, don't want that job. If you're a search and rescue guy, you don't want to be like the Maytag repair guy where nobody goes off Sasquatch hunting and you never get to rescue anybody

He's in all this cool training. Isn't there a difference though between somebody who like legitimately just like was out on a boat and their shit fucking broke and then they're stuck in like a terrible storm and you got To go rescue him versus somebody who's like I think there's a sea monster. So I'm gonna gotta go rescue him versus somebody who's like, I think there's a sea monster, so I'm gonna wade into the water. Yeah, but dude, I would bet, I don't know this, this is me making shit up. I'd bet like a good percentage, 25 or 30%.

Like I'm not saying they're all hunting sea monsters, but like they're doing something stupid, right? Probably right. You often need to be rescued because like, you fucking tied one on or, you know, or like, you know what I mean? Like, you've like very rarely does somebody make all the right choices and need to be rescued. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. Yeah, yeah.

But it's usually like, so if I'm a search and rescue guy, I'm like, yeah, man, go hunt Sasquatch's dumb ass. Like I need to do something. Yeah. I have a high stride. Job security, baby. You know, one thing I do want to blame this on though, too, is these fucking goddamn TV fucking shows. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where they're like fucking Sasquatch Hunters and fucking The Squatch or whatever on the

U. You got to watch The Squatch this weekend. But like, man, these fucking shows are basically putting out this information that makes it seem like there's a realism to these things. Like this isn't just bullshit. There's people in this country that cannot fucking discern between watching that show and not realizing that it's all tongue and cheek.

They don't think, they're like, nope, that dude went out in the forest and he heard a crazy sound. Hey Bill, you want to go out here, crazy sounds out in the forest? No, you get, you get these, you get these, I feel like these people are partially responsible for this shit. They are, man. You know, like man, you fucking, you guys, you guys are stoking this fire and you don't realize there's a group of people out there who can't discern this anymore

Yeah well I also like something you just said like it just as a quick aside Makes me laugh like ever go out in the woods and you hear like a really weird sound in the woods Akaya, do you know why it's a really weird sound? Because you never know all the wood sounds is you're never in the woods because you're not a fucking woods expert It's not a weird sound to the guy who spends all of his time in the woods. He just hears that sound. He's like, that's a fox. And like every scary sound is a fox. That's what I've decided. Everything that

you've ever heard that's been scary, that's a fox. Maybe a coyote, probably a fox. But like these guys go out and they're like, well, I didn't know what that sound was. And you're like, that's cause you don't know lots of stuff. The real, like you not knowing doesn't make it unknowable. That's just like, you don't have- That's the argument for ignorance, stupid. Right. It'd be like if I opened my car hood and I'm like,

well, it's all magic inside, cause I don't know how it works. I don't know how it works. I just don't know how this works. This is like, it's an engine, the end, as far as I'm concerned. Like I know where the washer fluid goes. And then the other thing, I know where to take it,

which is not my house to be fixed. Exactly, yeah. Like these guys are out in the woods, just like, I heard a weird sound. And like, it's like, that's not a weird sound, that's a wood sound, dumb ass. ["The Sound of a Wood"] All right, that's gonna wrap it up for this week.

We're gonna have a funny show for you on Thursday of this week. So check that out. Should be pretty good. Should be fun. We wanna, of course, thank you guys for all your messages that you sent us. We got a ton of messages from people who just

outpouring of support. And then a bunch of people who were just like, hey man, don't worry, you missed a week. But, you know, like Tom and I, we've been doing this for a long time. And it did, it felt kind of weird to be off. And I'm glad we got a chance to see each other and talk to each other tonight, Tom.

I, you know, like, I think like, you know, we hadn't spoken in a long time. We had texted a lot over the, while you were gone, but we hadn't spoken for a long time. So it's great to hear your voice, great to see your face. I'm glad we're able to do this today. Thank you. All right, that's gonna wrap it up for this week.

We're gonna leave you like we always do with the Skeptics Creed. Credulity is not a virtue. It's fortune cookie cutter, mommy issue, hypno Babylon bullshit. Couched in scientician double bubble toil and trouble, pseudo quasi alternative, acupunctuating, pressurized, stereogram, pyramidal, free energy free energy healing water downward spiral brain dead pan sales pitch late night info docutainment Leo Pisces cancer cures detox reflex foot massage death in towers tarot cards psychic healing crystal balls bigfoot yeti aliens churches mosques and synagogues

temples dragons giant worms. Atlantis, dolphins, truthers, birthers, witches, wizards. I'm gonna flick you in the nuts with my balls. Shaman healers, evangelists, conspiracy, double-speak stigmata, nonsense. Expose your sides. Thrust your hands. Bloody, evidential, conclusive.

Doubt even this. Thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed the show, consider supporting us on Patreon at patreon.com forward slash dissonance pod. Help us spread the word by sharing our content. Find us on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Preds, all under the handle at DissonancePod. This show is CAN credentialed,

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