Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - UFO Evidence and Other Conspiracies That Could Be True

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

It’s all about conspiracies today, people. Rachel and George are discussing delusion, paranoia, and the dark side of the Denver airport. Is there life on other planets? Was JFK really assassinated? We can’t say for sure, but whistle-blowers don’t lie . . . or do they? In this episode: ·     Rachel’s and George’s hot takes on conspiracy theories ·     The one conspiracy George admits he does believe in ·     Popular money conspiracies debunked Helpful Resources: ·     Get your finances organized, make a plan, build your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to www.everydollar.com/smartmoney to get a free two-week trial and $15 off your premium membership to EveryDollar. ·     Do you have a Guilty as Charged question for Rachel and George? Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. ·     Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/compa...   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: Lemon Pomegranate Mocktail Ingredients: 2 ounces pomegranate juice 1 ounce lemon zest simple syrup 6 ounces seltzer Fresh mint sprig (for garnish)   Lemon Zest Simple Syrup: Zest of 1 lemon 1/4 cup water 1/8 cup sugar   Instructions for Lemon Zest Simple Syrup: Simmer 1/4 cup of water over medium heat on the stove. Stir in lemon zest and sugar until sugar is dissolved. (If you want to speed up the process, you can microwave ingredients for about a minute instead). Strain the simple syrup into a small bowl. Instructions for Mocktail: Fill a cocktail glass with ice. Add the pomegranate juice, simple syrup and seltzer. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers in our Smart Money Happy Hour glasses, which cannot be purchased, by the way. It's an exclusive to this set. Hey, you should be. We can't afford that.

Weak, wink. This is delicious, actually. And it's a mock tale today. Very good. Probably one of the better mock tales we've ever had on this show. Yes, but this is a podcast, though. We're two friends who happen to be money experts. Talk about what you're talking about.

So everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today we are playing with fire, Rachel. But people have been asking for this episode, and I'm like, I'm very cautious. I'm nervous. I am too. I am frightened. I am scared. I share the same emotions.

This is Rachel's dream, and it's my nightmare. And it's all coming true at once because we are talking about conspiracy theories. Yes. Do do do do do do do. And I'll just say. before we even record the episode, we're gonna go like on like a, like if 10 is like,

you're crazy and you're gonna have to be censored from the internet and we can't have you here and one being like, you all are insane, everything they tell us is true, we're gonna go like to a three, four. Okay, that scale is very confusing to me. And if you all like this.

We're going from like cookie to insane on a scale. It tells me you're not okay. No, what? So 10 is like censored from YouTube. 10 is like you're censored. You are dis, you are misinformation. You are not allowed to have this video. Okay.

That's like we're going crazy. And one is you're insane. One is people saying to me, Rachel, you're crazy. Everything the government says is exactly correct. There are no conspiracies. You are exact. The world is perfect. and there's no evil and like

You're right We are definitely somewhere in between there Nailed it On a spectrum Of the government is perfect To your clinically insane And YouTube has censored you We are somewhere in between

No we're gonna be Oh my gosh This is a bad start We're gonna be at like a like a three Four We're not gonna be in We're not gonna be crazy I'll be at a two. You'll be at a nine. I think we can all agree on that. The average is what we're going for.

Sure. Well, this is the Wackadoodle theme hour, if you will. And before we jump head first into delusion and paranoia, which is Rachel's favorite pastime and hobby, let's share what we're sipping on, Rachel. Luckily, it's a mocktail. It is a mocktail. Which means things can't get crazier from here. No, we're going to be very solid. We're enjoying a lemon pomegranate moktail. You need to stick around until the end. We're going to give you the recipe, the rating, and the cost to make it. get at home. And the beautiful thing about mocktails is they're always very affordable because there's no alcohol. Yeah, it's great. And it's delicious. Good summer treat. There we go. So let's start with some background here. Let the people know why we're doing a conspiracy episode. Where are we doing this? Because I love conspiracy theories. I really do. I find them on one end entertaining and one end very enlightening and informative. So I talk about them a lot around and people have said, we need a conspiracy theory podcast.

And I think they're talking about a whole series, which I don't know, one day maybe we'll get there. But we're going to start with an episode because there are conspiracies around money, right? So like the dollar bill has some stuff around it. Like there's some fun things. So this is a fun episode. Everyone chill. It's fine. We're having a good time.

It's fine. And we're going to some fun because there's some good ones out there. And some that. They're all some good ones. So take this all with a grand of salt. Have an open mind. Obviously, Rachel doesn't fully believe all of these, but she is the conspiracy theorist out of all of our friend group.

And I am a man of logic and leisure, if you will. So we will discuss this. I would like to quote, though, a comedian. Oh. And I wish I knew as... Give me a quote. Maybe I'll know it. I probably should find his name to actually give him credit.

But he's like, I mean, how can you not believe in any... conspiracy theories. Oh, I've seen this video. Yeah, not all of them, but like you don't believe in just one. Like, you think the government's like bat in a thousand. They're bad a thousand. That's the line I remember. And telling us the whole truth, it's a strong stance to take, George. Yeah. I think we can all agree that government has not perfect. Something has to be right. And if they're not perfect, there's things that there may be hiding from us. That's right. So Area 51 is a U.S. Air Force military installation located in southern Nevada, okay, in the middle of nowhere.

So we know it exists. Yeah, public, yeah, we can't go there, but the public can't just walk in. It's under surveillance. Employees have to come by airplane. It's very restricted. What a commute. Yeah. So the history is, you know, weaponry for warfare and those kind of things.

But I don't know. Many people say that there's like extraterrestrial objects, things. In Area 51. Stranger things happening over there. Like Independence Day stuff. I was going Stranger Things to be relevant. You went with a less relevant reference. Independence Day?

Come on. Sure. Smith? I mean, I'm more of a Wild West guy, but, you know, teach his own. More of a steampunk futuristic, but it's all good versus aliens. So, yeah. So, but many people reported seeing unidentified objects flying in or around Area 51, and the CIA denies these claims.

It's very interesting. And I'm a Blink 182 fan and Tom DeLange from Blinkw 1902 has been a long time aliens exister, if you will. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah. They have a song called Aliens Exist. Great song. Obviously.

It's great. So I'm like, I'm not saying it's out of the realm of possibility. I know. I know. I need to have some humility and go like, it's possible. Yeah. All right, George. Let's talk about money because there's some very interesting symbols on the U.S. dollar.

I've heard about this. Can you explain this to me? Because I'm still a little bit shaky on it. So there's a lot. Okay. So there's number one, a pyramid with an eye at the top, which appeared on the dollar in 1935 courtesy of FDR. Okay. So apparently the founding fathers wanted this country to last as long as the ancient pyramids in Egypt.

It's the thought that counts. Yep. But new world order. You ready for this? New order is written in Latin above the pyramid and the island. And historians say that it refers to the birth of a new country, and FDR liked the way that it symbolizes the new deal. Okay.

New order, new deal, new world order, all together. Combine them together. That's your theory on this. A sign that the government has been taken over by evil forces somehow. Where does the evil forces come into play? That feels a little shaky. I just, yeah, it's just the layer of power above us as citizens, George. Okay, so they added a little, quote, world in there, and all of a sudden it's a little spooky.

Yeah, so. Weird. And. There is some sign. Who's a part of this? The eye is a sign. That's the Illuminati stuff. Yeah, I don't know how much I believe in all of it, but it is interesting when you look back.

Hey, National Treasure. That was kind of a... You're talking about that midlitter, Betty White? All Nick Cage. Oh, okay. Nick Cage. You've not seen National Treasure? I think you were talking about, like, who would be considered...

National Treasure. When I think National Treasure, I think Betty White. I don't think of the movie National Treasure. Everyone probably thinks it. I've never seen the movie National Treasure. You've never seen the movie. George, will you please come over and have you been out with my kids? It's my kids' favorite movie.

You need to do that. It is so good. Are you saying that me, Amelia, Caroline, Charles, Winston, we're all just hanging out, eating pizza, watching National Treasure. I want Whitney to come. Why is Whitney involved? Because she needs to come and watch. it too. I'm sure she has seen it. She's for sure

seen it. She's a normal person. Okay. George, National Treasure. So there's a map on the back of the Declaration of Independence in the movie. Okay. A treasure map. So they're finding, and they have to, like, hit all these, like, points of history. How do we know that's not a conspiracy theory? That that actually exists. Wouldn't that be so smart to be like, hey, guys, let's make a fictional movie. That, to me, is the most

believable conspiracy theory out of everything you've spouted so far. I am so happy right now. When I thought things have ended for this episode, they get better. Someone go check the back and let me know what's on there. Hey, Nick Cage has. Wow. Can we trust Nick Cage? But I was to say, it's that idea that like within our history, there's symbols and like a map to like what it was really going on. And the dollar bill, you know, could show symbols of that. So I don't know. That's fair. It's very interesting. There's a lot going on the dollar bill. They could have simplified it, you know? Why have some Someone's face on there.

I know. All right. Let's go to my favorite conspiracy theory. The Denver Airport. Okay. So Denver Airport, I think, is one of the largest by square footage airports in America. 53 square miles to be exact. Mind you, the Denver Airport had a full functioning airport very close to the downtown area.

Suddenly, they needed a new airport far away. If you fly into Denver's airport, it takes like 45 minutes to get anywhere. It's a hall. You're in the middle of nowhere. They have an entire like tunnel system underneath the airport, which is very odd. And then there is a dedication, a statue outside of the Denver airport, dedicated to the New World Order. Hold on. And it says it on the memorial or the statue thing.

Hold the phone and screen my calls. Explain this to me like I'm five. Okay. So the New World Order is, it's kind of like Illuminati-esque, but it's a group of people that basically control the world. So, like, we all think, like, oh, yeah, we have, like, we go into the voting booths and vote for things. Like, we, we have a say in our lives. But the New World Order is basically a group of people that control a lot going on. We can go deeper in it.

Well, there's a lot of signs in the Denver airport. People go, hey, the murals. The murals are crazy, George. They contain doomsday condomsday. What does that mean? Is that some left behind? There's a man in a gas mask. Are you ready for this?

And children from all nations and coffins underneath. So, oh, yeah, it's bizarre. Are they trolling? The artist is, I don't get it, but it is, it's weird. The art around the Denver airport is strange. They just hire a conspiracy theorist to do the art? I don't know. Because that's a whole conspiracy on some.

But the whole thing is like there's going to be a mass genocide. And the timber airport is a place where there are bunkers. underneath where these tunnels are that are supposed to be baggage areas for like the baggage in the baggage well there's no baggage it's tunnels with bunkers for people to survive the mass genocide because in order to get a new world order in order to get a one world government you you can't do that with billions of people so like you got to like wipe out a certain number of the population which is the gas mask and the children in coffins and it's terrible it's terrible But that's what is the conspiracy.

So the question is, who gets in the bunkers of the Denver airport under the Denver airport? Clearly those that believe. This is interesting. There's a time capsule with a Colorado flag, a credit card, strange, and newspapers from the airport's opening day that is set to be opened in 1994. Series of tunnels, buried buildings underneath the surface, giant blue Mustang statue named Blusifer. Very uncomfortable. I don't know this one. Which apparently killed the sculptor who made it.

Oh, bad sign. Well, also don't name any statue, Bluifer, and maybe you'll be okay. Maybe you'll be fine. Like, what in the blues clues do you think you're doing? Naming a sculpture, Blusifer. I know, y'all. A piece of its head fell off and fatally injured Luis Jimenez, the artist.

People think it's cursed. Yeah, I get it. I get it. All right. What do you think about the government being involved in different murders in history. Everyone from Marilyn Monroe, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We can go Kennedys.

What do you think about all that, George? Do you think that the government would have a hand at anyone being taken out? A hand? No. I don't think a hand. A hand feels generous to the government. Okay.

Like, did you see the Obamacare website? Like, you think those people are capable of being like, yeah. Yeah, we're going to be involved in this murder. The CIA did not do the Obamacare's health website. Maybe they should have. They would have done a great job with it if they're so good at their job. Do you not think the CIA had any, with any prominent figure that was not either had...

Explain why they would, because that would help me. They either had information. They weren't doing the agenda that they needed. There was cross-information. They knew things they shouldn't have known. I mean, like, a bunch of entanglement. Like. I believe more in the fact.

I mean, you think about MLK. Okay. Okay. Now, let me say this. Memphis Hotel on the balcony, 1968. And there are people that are just evil and that will just, right. That's what I believe in more is crazy people. Yeah, there are.

There are. Versus like the government had a hand in this. Yes, yes. That's my vote. Okay. Okay. So, JFK, have you been to the Dallas textbook depository? Like, have you been in the window where he apparently shot out to kill a jacket?

Yes. Is there like a conspiracy theorist tourism hero? No, it's a place in Dallas you go with the grassy knoll and everything. And I will say when you get up there and people that have shot firearms that are great shots have said that would be a really hard shot to shoot. Like that's nearly impossible. Yes. I'm like, I look at JFK. He had tied, I think he had ties to the mafia.

Like there was stuff in that. Then I'm like, I just don't think some random crazy guy took him out. I think there was way stuff underneath there. I do. Okay. That's fair. And it's weird. That majority, like the assassinations, whether it was Lincoln, Kennedy, they all have three names.

Because apparently the-Kin. Also, three names. Yes, three names. Isn't it three-letter names? No, three names. Like John Wilkes Booth. Yeah, and it's because the public memorizes in threes. So when your phone number is a three digit than a four,

it's because your brain automatically memorizes three more than four. So it's a whole mind trick, y'all, that they know if they can get a name in you, and you're like, oh, yeah, yeah, this is what happened, this is what happened. Do you think you take it as fact and you run? Okay, hot take, doesn't everyone have three names if they have a middle name? But why? But they don't say, but you look at the Golden Gate killer. You look at these like other people that have killed people.

But if I murdered a prominent figure. They would say George Camel. They would not, what's your middle name? Like I'll tell you. I don't know what you'll do with this information. They don't do, like, majority people. What's your middle name, Nicole? Or Nikki?

Rachel Nicky Cruz. They would never say Rachel Nicole Cruz killed so and so. They would say Rachel Cruz did. John Bonae Ramsey. Does that ring a bell? Dave. And that's a whole conspiracy too.

Oh my gosh. How many cans of worms should we open on this episode? There's a lot, George. We've opened a can. There's a lot. And it's not of whoop, you know what.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's a whoop conspiracy. Let's go NASA, George. Man on the moon. Oh, that's a hot take. Did it happen? Because this is the idea

that the flag was somehow had airflow going through it, but there would be no airflow on space? Is that the idea? I'm not saying anything, George. Do you think man on the moon happened? I think it happened. I think it's plausible.

Okay. I mean, if Elon can do it. That's cute. If he can send a rocket. What year was it? 1961. Not so sure, are we? 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 69.

Someone Google it. Because if we can prove Rachel wrong on this. What year? 69. I think it's plausible. I knew it was in the same. 60s. I wouldn't put it past them. They could take the man, a man on the moon.

You don't think it happened. During a cold war with the Soviet Union. What does the cold have to do with it? Because the Soviets were trying to get to the moon too. Yeah, it was a space race. And J.F.K. said, yeah. Sputnik. Exactly. But you think it never happened. You think we just faked it in a studio to be like, hey, Russians, we beat you. Sorry. You're saying it so flippantly. It was during a true war, a nuclear I mean, it was high-pressured times To figure out who has power. Yeah.

Y'all, and when you go see it and you see the technology? The technology and everything. Okay, George, you would think if we went and lands in and walked around the moon, wouldn't we be up there all the time, walking around, hanging out, doing stuff? I mean, all the time seems frivolous. Considering how difficult it is, just travel in space age. I know. I'm just telling, I very much question.

There was a video going around recently of a rocket. I think Elon Musk, I think it was a SpaceX. Yes, that is true. And it was in space. But there was like a mouse running around in the camera shot. I watched the video. It was a piece of ice that was flying at a billion miles an hour. How did the ice not just like, how was it not?

I mean, I can't explain to you how ice works. That's not a conspiracy theory. That's just science, but I don't have the, like, knowledge base. It was a moving animal. It was a mouse. Did you not see it? A mouse would not survive. What does that even prove?

Exactly. So, like, all of this is just like, it's not real. No, it's just not real. It's not happening. And they're all saying, oh, yeah, this is all happening. It's not. The footage was 480P. Do you understand what 480s?

80p is? Jeez. Do you know what 1080p is? I don't like numbers. You've heard of 1080p. Whatever. Which is good quality video footage. 480P is what I uploaded to YouTube in 2007.

So why are they using that technology? Because the person who uploaded it didn't have a good enough camera apparently. That's weird. Or didn't have a good enough file to upload. And I think our video crew can also... Agree that 480P is about the worst quality you can think of. Then why would they have that on a rocket ship? You would think it's 2023.

I feel like my in-law is filming 480P somehow on their iPhones. NASA should, no. I agree. NASA should upload 1080P or higher. 4K. It was weird. That's fair. So yeah, Kennedy, inside job, man never walked on the moon.

Denver Airport is sketchy. I'm going to go there. And that's my high-level, non-threatening conspiracies. I just think it's naive to watch any level of media consume it and take it as complete truth. Agreed. Okay. So the questioning comes into, okay, who has enough power and enough money that they can allow decisions to be made at a certain level that affect the downstream politicians and billionaires? The New World Order.

On a serious note, Rachel. And by serious, I mean less dark and crazy. And crazy. Let's talk about some of the true and common money myths, aka conspiracies that people believe. Okay. So we can actually debunk with fact. Someone said, people say all the time, I can't buy a house without a credit score. Conspiracy debunked.

Yep. That we know manual underwriting. You can actually still get a mortgage, which is the one type of debt we will not yell at you for. You can get that without a credit score. And I've debunked this by, I don't know, doing it. I did it. Doing it. I got a house.

I had no credit score. and I got a house with manual on writing. So that one's easy. Here's another one. Paying off your mortgage early isn't necessary or worth it. You should just invest instead. I mean, why pay off a house, Rachel? I know.

People are like, well, for the tax advantage and all this stuff. Listen, when you have no money going out and payments, you have that much more to invest for your future. And you're just free. You have autonomy. You can go do whatever you want. It's amazing, the freedom that comes with that. Yes. So I think it's a thousand percent worth it.

And it's part of our baby steps. Baby step six is pay off the house early and it can be done when you don't have any debt. Yep. Another conspiracy theory is that a budget is constrictive and I can't have fun on a budget. Now that is one you are passionate about. Yes. It's permission to spend. You can enjoy life and still have a budget.

I still have a budget every single month. Let's just reclaim it, rename it. A budget is a spending plan. It's a spending plan. It's an intentional spending plan. That's all it is. You can enjoy your money and still be on a budget. Tell your money what to do.

Be intentional with it. Another one. I'm too old to change my mindset around my money. It's too late for me to make any real progress. Not necessarily conspiracy theory, but I think it's a myth a lot of people believe that ends up keeping them broke. That's right. Yep.

So start where you are because also if you're not in a good spot and you continue just not to be in a good spot and change anything, you're going to continue not to be in a good spot. So might as well change it now and be in a better spot later. and I think overall the biggest conspiracy theory to me when it comes to money, the credit score. Oh, yeah. The fact that we all just believed as a society that you need this to exist is like lizard people to me. I'm like, why do you think that?

Well, you need it to. No, you don't need it to rent a car. You don't need to rent a hotel. You can get a house with manual underwriting. Yep. You don't need it to get good insurance rates. So all the reasons people have in their mind of why they need it is gone once they go, I don't need to do debt.

And if I need to get a mortgage, I can do that without it. Yep. It's great. Problem solved. Hey, we can do this all day. All day long. All day. Financial conspiracies I'm here for.

Give it to us. So good, George. Well, that was fun. That was fun. Thank you for being vulnerable. I know it's uncomfortable for you. To share some of your most wild, craziest, unlogical thoughts with us.

Is that a word? It could be true. That could be true. But to your point, we don't know. We don't know. And just don't believe everything to hear people. That's all I'm going to say. Yes.

All right. It's almost the end of the episode. And we end every episode with guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty charge question every week. And if we are guilty, take a sip of the drink. Lindsay, what is it? Are you ready for this one? I don't know that this will apply to you as much as I'm targeting Rachel in this.

Have you ever gotten in a fight over talking about a conspiracy theory? Oh. With friends, family. You could have had me and have you ever gotten in a fight. Huh? What did you just say? Like a fist fight? No, an argument.

Oh. Yes. With who? I've gotten mad. You got to take a drink of your mocktail. Are you over to the fight? Have you guys made up? I think it happens a lot.

I think I get very passionate. And just know that like all of this for me, I'm like an 80% in. There's 20% of me that is normal. Like the average listener out there. That is thinking, you're crazy. I get it. She's only 80% lizard person. She's 20% human.

But there's like, yeah. So there's a part of me still that I'm like, I know this is all crazy. But can you admit that part of it is just fun to talk about and entertaining? Oh, it is so fun. That helps kind of give a caveat of the listeners. The whole run in the mill life. Like, really, are you going to just take what everyone's giving you? Like, let's spice it up.

Let's just think differently. Yeah, add in some New World Order, some lizard people, and let's spice up this recipe. Stir it up. Because life is too short to not believe in other planets. Exactly. I think that's fair. Thank you for being vulnerable, Rachel. As much as I like to razz you for it, which was kind of the purpose of this episode,

I do respect that you have very passionate beliefs. Thank you. About things that are not plausible. And to that, I will cheers you. Cheers. We didn't walk on the moon. What about you, George? What are you so passionate about that you've argued with someone got into an argument about?

I think trucks. I think trucks are the biggest. You've gotten into an argument? Like a legitimate argument? Yeah, I think here's my hot take. I think people with trucks have daddy issues. That's not a conspiracy. Like, that's like...

Oh, my gosh. I think it's a thing. Oh, okay. Your husband has a truck. My husband has a truck, so. Tell me about the relationship with their dads. They're actually great. I think Winston would look at you and say, oh, he has to drive an electric car.

Electric car people are a different breed. Conspiracy theory. Oh, that was fun, Rachel. Thank you for being guilty, as usual. Always, always. Always a pleasure to hear your stories. Okay, the mocktail is great, George. I just straight up down this thing.

because it was real simple and delicious. It may be one of my favorite mottails we've made so far. It was a lemon pomegranate beverage, if you will. It had lemon simple syrup, pomegranate juice, seltzer water, and mint, and it comes out to $1.93 per glass if you want to make it at home. We'll drop the recipe in the show notes if you want to try it this weekend. Let me know what you thought about, Rachel.

What's your rating? I would make that for people. I'm going to go 10 out of 10. Yeah, I'm going 10 out of 10. I would make a punch bowl of this at a party. I would too. at a baby shower. You know, keep it kosher.

Well done, Jorns. You're so in the mindset, and I love it. Baby Camel. Come on, come on. Wow. That's nice. That's real nice. You can't make it in a smart money happy hour glass,

but maybe one day. A boy can dream. Are you guys? Make sure to subscribe to the podcast. And hey, leave a review. I want to know if I'm the only crazy one, but do y'all have your favorite conspiracy theory? I know you have them.

Drop them. And this is your spot. This is a safe place. This is a safe place. We, no judgment, no judgment. The other, like, YouTube comments may judge you, but we won't. We will not. But I would love to know.

So I can, like, because sometimes us, if you're one of me, you introduce more and you think, I didn't know that. And you wouldn't have known that if there weren't for others. So I... That sentence made just as much sense as the Illuminati does. So if you understood what she said, you are in the Illuminati and please leave a comment so we know who you are. And again, subscribe so you don't miss a new episode every Thursday of Smart Money Happy Hour.