Just Two Good Old Boys

087 Just Two Good Old Boys

Gene and Ben Season 2024 Episode 87

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Is self-interest the driving force behind our political decisions, or is corruption inherently woven into the fabric of governance? Join us as we unpack the murky waters of politics during our recent escapade to Washington D.C. From questioning the motives behind voter behavior to exploring the challenges faced by political parties in effectively conveying their messages, we're here to challenge the status quo. Our candid discussions may leave you pondering whether our political landscape is a reflection of personal morals or something more systemic.

On a lighter note, we tiptoe through the whimsical world of marriage dynamics, Halloween costumes, and the quirky business of being Santa. With a touch of humor, we dive into the misadventures of adult-themed party attire and the surprising satire of political investigations. Whether it's a trip down memory lane with our most outrageous Halloween costumes or pondering historical narratives, there's plenty to chuckle about as we explore the humorous side of societal norms and personal anecdotes.

As we wrap up our episode, we embark on a journey through the realms of technology, gaming, and late-night TV, while touching on the complexities of social identity. Anime fans and sci-fi enthusiasts alike will appreciate our discussions on megastructures and the fascinating potential of AI in coding and music production. From the nostalgia of early gaming experiences to the intriguing world of late-night show's unique flair, our episode promises a blend of thought-provoking dialogue and light-hearted banter that captivates the imagination.

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Speaker 1:

Well, hey, ben, how are you today? I'm all right, Gene, working my tail off and getting stuff done, but that's okay, I like it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you've been a busy little beaver.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was in DC last week and lots and lots of things, lots of fun stuff.

Speaker 2:

And how did DC go for you?

Speaker 1:

lots of things, lots of fun stuff and and how did dc go for you?

Speaker 2:

uh, in the room with nothing but lawyers and government officials for three days. Oh, how fun.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean for me, maybe not, for I do not find that fun, yeah, yeah. I did get to watch the uh the uh debate uh though, so that was that was fun to watch.

Speaker 2:

You mean like in person?

Speaker 1:

No, no, no, no, but I watched it in DC around a bunch of interesting people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah yeah, dc is definitely a screwed up place.

Speaker 1:

No two ways about that um, the more I go there and the more time I spend there, the um more it is just very, very frustrating yeah, I think, um, um, I think dc is it.

Speaker 2:

It's a. Yeah, I think DC is a good example of why politics inevitably leads to where we are today, because this actually touches on the topic of conversation I had earlier with my dad. Topic of conversation I had earlier with my dad, but the idea that even people who lack an advanced mental capacity still act in their own self-interest. And if you start combining the actions that people take in their own self-interest, then you start combining the actions that people take in their own self-interest, um then, what many would call corruption, or you know the, the current system of politics that we have, uh, which is sort of synonymous with corruption, I think is very predictable. I don't know, I don't know if I would say it's inevitable, but it's pretty damn near inevitable. You mean like power corrupts.

Speaker 2:

Well, not even power corrupts. I was taking issue with the word corrupt because I think that for something to be corrupted, it had to have been different at some point in the past the past. I just think that it's just a question of what are the morals of the people entering the political sphere, because if you lack a high moral standing to begin with, what you do isn't really corruption, you're just acting the way you would act in any other profession. It just so happens to be politics, and politics is very uh, it's very lucrative for people that have low morals, because it's one of the few systems where you get to make your own rules for yourself, like, even like the cops, which we often point fingers at as having a personality type not too their own rules on the fly, where they abuse the rules that exist. For politicians, it's even broader than that. They can literally make up their own rules. They can create laws that govern themselves, and an example that I sent to my dad was a meme, obviously, because that's all I do these days is memes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, apparently stay on your phone 24-7.

Speaker 2:

Okay, I was curious to see how many people would figure out and understand that that's literally impossible. But running an app on the phone that doesn't allow the device to fall asleep does create a. Hey, you've been on 23 hours and 59 minutes. Maybe it's time you go rest. And I told you about this app too. I figured I found an app I can't believe I haven't known about it previously that will run on either Android or iOS and let you use those devices as additional monitors for Windows Ah, which is super handy in my opinion. So I can have a whole bunch of little portable monitors everywhere that are all connected to the same computer and then I can make a shape of a gun.

Speaker 1:

I don't know why I would want that, but okay. Data man.

Speaker 2:

It's Data man. It's all about the data I need to be bathed in it. It's the matrix. I just see it right there in front of me. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm, uh-huh. So I just think politics is one of those areas where people vote for a politician based on self-interest, a politician that will promise them things that they want. And the politicians act in their own self-interest, and I think neither one of those should be a surprise to anyone. You don't need to be an anthropologist to see how people act.

Speaker 1:

Agreed.

Speaker 2:

And so what got us on that whole topic in the earlier conversation was just talking about. Is it simply that the republicans don't have as good a pr, don't have as good advertising, they're not as good at doing the propaganda, and I could see some arguments for that, but I don't think propaganda is the reason most people that do vote Democrat vote Democrat. I think most people voting Democrat vote out of a very easy to see self interest.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

So it's not that they're, you know, clueless about what to vote for and happen to push the wrong button. And if only you can show them an ad that would convince them to push the right button. I think they look at like, hey, I'm getting X, y or Z. I don't want to lose X, y or Z. I'm going to vote for the guy that says I'm going to keep getting X, y or Z. In a sense, it's the same reason that if you like gun rights or the enforcement thereof, you're going to want to vote for a politician that says I'm strong on gun rights and not vote for a politician who isn't strong on gun rights. It's the same thing on the other side as well, except obviously they're not looking for gun rights.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that people do. People are motivated by their own self-interest and we have to consider that, I agree. I would say that there are people who have an ignorance about them, that they do not understand what is really in their own self-interest long term, that they are only short term thinkers say, oh, a dollar today is a dollar today, but that's going to cost me $4 over the next 10 years in inflation.

Speaker 2:

You know, yep, yep and no, you're absolutely right. And this was one of the other topics that kind of came up in my conversation with my dad is that I said you know, this to me is one of the rationales for having religion out there. You and I have talked about this where I've kind of probably in my 40s, decided that hey, wait a minute, religion may not be a bad thing after all. And that is because for a lot of people they cannot come to ethical and moral positions through deductive reasoning, and so for those people it's convenient to have other ways to get them to act morally. And I think this is one of the areas where a lack of religion in the United States over the last 50 years has partly been responsible for where we are today.

Speaker 1:

I think it's very responsible for where we are today.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I mean I I'm not going to disagree, I just I want to be moderate in my view. But but yeah, it's one of the issues that if everybody had a high intellect and a good capability, a capacity for deriving moral values, then religion would not be necessary. But that's not the reality we live in. We live in the reality where those people represent a fairly small percentage of the population and a much larger percentage of the population requires people to well, if we want them to have shared morals with us, we need to find a way to teach them other than assuming they're going to arrive at those by themselves.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, in the words of the late great barry goldwater, extremism and the defense of liberty is no vice, in moderation, in the pursuit of justice, no virtue.

Speaker 2:

Yeah that, that guy? Um, there's a few good quotes of his that I've seen he should have been president yeah, and it's. It's funny too how, uh you know, back back in those days I really was not involved in any political shit. I was mostly, you know you weren't born yet well, wait, wait a minute. What year is barry goldwater?

Speaker 1:

I thought it was uh barry, goldwater was 68, I believe oh, okay, then you're right, I wasn't born yet um.

Speaker 2:

I thought he was like early 70s, but obviously, obviously it was against.

Speaker 1:

It was against, uh, no, it was even 74 or 64 because it was against uh, johnson uh, who ran against ford?

Speaker 2:

did anybody run against Ford on the Republican side?

Speaker 1:

Yes, he was primaried. He was, I'm trying to remember.

Speaker 3:

I don't remember who all ran against him, I think historically.

Speaker 2:

Republicans have been very hit and miss in terms of who they offer in primaries. It's one of the unfortunate things about the party.

Speaker 1:

You know Goldwater. You know he got labeled it was a landslide victory for Johnson, and Goldwater, you know, got labeled that he was going to get us into a nuke war with Russia, right ussr at that point in time, and it was such a landslide barry goldwater only carried. What was it?

Speaker 2:

like six states.

Speaker 1:

Let's see, yeah, arizona, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, uh, georgia and south carolina, that's it yeah did you happen to catch the speech that Kennedy gave His pro-Trump speech? Rfk Junior. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Elon's.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, well, I like. I mean, there's certain things I disagree with him about, which is sort of what. I think he has a rose-colored sort of what the. I think he has a rose-colored version of what the democratic party used to be, because it was always a machine and the only reason his uncle got elected is because the mob in chicago. However, there are certain good things that he he notes in there, and, and one of the one of the things that um, uh, he mentions is, uh, that a big reason that he held back in actually being on on the Trump train was his wife, and I thought that was hilarious, cause you know that interview, you know well, so you must've watched it, then that's good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the interview with.

Speaker 2:

Peterson yeah, it's uh, oh oh yeah. Yeah, I guess he mentioned in there too. I, I think he brought. He talked about it in more than one place, but yeah, I thought that was a a pretty damn uh interesting rationale for well, you know, it's not that I was not in agreement here, I just my wife was upset yeah, I, I wanted to stay married.

Speaker 1:

Can people forgive me for that one? Yeah, sure, no, no if you're, says the divorced man exactly damn straight man.

Speaker 2:

No, it's. Uh, the principles are more important than the emotions. Yeah, well, and marriage is is literally the institution of emotions.

Speaker 1:

So oh, that I disagree with well, I guess it's the institution of emotions. Well, I mean for some men no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Turning it over to their lord and master yeah, no that you're thinking about marriage, all wrong right am I yeah, you are, because if you're, if you really look at the biblical model of marriage, oh, I'm sorry, are we living 2 000 years ago? I, I don't care, it's still what I want.

Speaker 2:

God damn it you can want it, it's just not what it is uh, okay, it's what it should be, and you know you should have a wife that will drive a stank, a stake, through a tyrant's eye when he's sleeping.

Speaker 1:

If, given the opportunity, yeah, you know, you should have a wife who is extremely capable but you can still, like you can, have one of those today does not mean she's not going to divorce you and then drive a stake through your own eye. Yeah, yeah, but you got to have not only the judges part and the Proverbs part, but you also have to have the Ephesians 5 part right.

Speaker 2:

I don't know, what does that say?

Speaker 1:

So Ephesians 5 is the model of marriage as far as I'm concerned, and you know, god is above everyone. It's literally describing marriage as a body, and the husband is the head and the wife and the kids and so on are the body. And literally, one of the quotes is love your wives, because to not love your wife is to not love yourself. Right. Right, it's the whole idea of becoming one flesh, one group, one people pulling together, the wives being subservient to the husbands. And I don't mean that in a submissive, kinky way, although that can be fun too. What I mean is a you cannot have a democracy of two.

Speaker 1:

Well, you know, hey know. Hey, I sent you my, my Halloween pumpkin.

Speaker 2:

I thought that was very cute.

Speaker 1:

I thought it was a Halloween pumpkin. Uh in, uh, dbsm group. Uh, you know bondage gear and the. The caption said Halloween is coming, but not till daddy says so yeah, I love that I can share perverted.

Speaker 2:

Jokes like that with eugene was that perverted? I didn't even catch that it was perverted, I just thought it was hilarious. You're like that's not perverted, that's normal, that is normal perverted at all. But the I I thought now this these are obviously not for kids, right, these are for adults. However, I've always thought like stuffed toys and bondage were really cute.

Speaker 1:

I, I, I find them disturbing as all hell, because why would an adult want that?

Speaker 2:

It's the kind of thing that you have on your sofa as a conversation piece, you know.

Speaker 1:

No, no, I don't.

Speaker 2:

No, there's a whole series of like Garfield looking things that are in bondage and I don't know Gene's got to get out for himself in the closet. I never bought anything that big.

Speaker 2:

I did look at a while ago like 15 years ago I got invited to this, uh, this interesting christmas party, and I was like you know what? It would be hilarious if I came in a santa costume that was made out of black leather. And then I I priced it and I was like, okay, that's not going to be hilarious, it's going to be way too expensive uh we're talking like a thousand bucks for a fucking outfit. Um, and I do mean fucking outfit, but it's uh oh, and let's see what.

Speaker 1:

how many minutes are we in? I don't already off the rails?

Speaker 2:

This show went off the rails real fast. Yeah, exactly, but I I just always thought that, like you know, with the beard and everything, and this has a fun ring to it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, don't go play mall, santa Jean, you will be arrested.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I'm, I don't, I don't know man, I went to the shooting range with one of the professional Santas years ago and uh, the guy basically worked for about three months a year, made about a hundred grand. Oh, come on now. No, he did, he did, he was a professional Santa and, um, he did the corporate events. He did, uh, you know, large stores and stuff and we talked about it because we were shooting out the range and he made very good money because everything was natural the gut was natural, the beard was natural, the white hair was natural, he looked like Santa.

Speaker 1:

And that garners a uh premium price point well, you could do that three months out of the year I'm a yeah, I mean I.

Speaker 2:

I. I need to get my beard to be a little more white and unfortunately I don't have the hair on top of the head, so that's gonna have to be a wig, but I could definitely do a santa. I've said that before. Uh, problem is I'm not super fond of kids, so like that would not be jolly, I'm very jolly. Are you kidding me? I'm super jolly, I'm just not necessarily kid-friendly jolly yeah I'm more of an adult party santa uh-huh, uh-huh, gene's gonna get arrested anyway.

Speaker 1:

On that note, no, uh. So one of the funniest costumes that I uh ever remember uh was a buddy of mine showed up to a halloween party in a trench coat and we're like, okay, what are you supposed to be? And he just wait for it. And he waited till a bunch of girls got there and everything. And then he ran in and opened it up and was a flasher and he had like a two and a half foot summer sausage. Oh wow, his legs on jock straps and you know it was.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was one of those, it was funny okay, all right All right, the best Halloween costume I ever did was in 2008, when Barack Obama was running for president and I got an Obama mask and I wore some ragged out clothing and I've got some cardboard signs made up. I made some cardboard signs up and I went as a homeless obama begging for change yeah, okay, okay, I got it remember because his campaign slogan was hope and change.

Speaker 1:

It was yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was begging for change. Nice, I still have the sign. Someone stole the mask at some point.

Speaker 2:

I think you're gonna say you still have the outfit. Someone stole the mask at some point. I thought you were going to say you still have the outfit.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, someone stole the mask, but I still have the signs. The other good one I had was I went as a Pope and so I had a Pope hat and made it out of cardboard paper or something or construction paper, and I think I still have it somewhere. And on the front it said who's a naughty nun? And on the back it said Dude, where's my Popemobile?

Speaker 2:

So it was pretty obvious you were the Pope.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, exactly, Exactly. So if I was actually playing an accurate character, it would have said where's the, where's the choir boys, or whatever. Oh, I'm sorry, that's the Mormons, it's where's the? What was the Catholic? Who were the Catholic priests?

Speaker 2:

They're kids, obviously, and male.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I don't know Something, boys, I can't remember what that.

Speaker 2:

I mean, maybe just boys would be sufficient enough.

Speaker 1:

See, I'm not into that. I couldn't play the accurate one. And then the last funny one that I did was I went as a Baptist preacher and I went to Half Price Books and I got a pretty thick hardbound book and I cut some of the pages out and I put a flask in it and I wrapped it in paper and wrote Bible on it. That makes sense. Baptists aren't supposed to drink.

Speaker 2:

I'm trying to think. I don't think I've ever done anything politically related for.

Speaker 1:

I guess I did go to.

Speaker 2:

Castro. One year you went as what as Castro.

Speaker 1:

Why would you do that?

Speaker 2:

For Halloween? Yeah, I don't know, because I had a beard. You're a communist, but it well, you were the pope, that's worse.

Speaker 1:

Agreed, but started accusing me of portraying evil characters hey, speaking of people with freudian slips accusing themselves of stuff, tim waltz is apparently friends with school shooters I heard that I'm not surprised, you know. I know he meant to say the victims of school shooters like everybody's correcting him.

Speaker 2:

I don't think that's what he meant.

Speaker 1:

I think he said what he meant I don't think he said what he meant, because I don't think he knows what he means. I think he. You saw that meme where it's obama saying I need a vice president dumber than me, and it's joe biden and it says I need a vice president dumber than me, and it's kamala harris and it's her saying I need a vice president dumber than me, and then it's tim waltz yeah, you know who else saw that meme.

Speaker 2:

The writers on saturday night live. Did you watch snl on saturday?

Speaker 1:

I, I did not, but I saw clips.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, snl is back to actually being funny the irony is that they brought two people that used to be on snl many years ago back to do something actually funny. It's clear that modern staff can't do it, but but yeah, I mean guaranteed at least one of those writers saw the meme, because they're literally poked fun at the fact that she had to find somebody that was dumber than her. Yep so, and they didn't poke fun that she's dumber than Biden, but they certainly said in that same skit Biden's dumber than Obama. So it's kind of like oh interesting, so by Obama had a somebody dumber and she has somebody dumber, I guess the only one that wasn't dumber was her whatever that stupid laugh she has.

Speaker 2:

is sounds like a donkey yeah. It's a pretty good cackle. Have you been watching at all what candace owens is doing?

Speaker 1:

I have not. What is candace doing?

Speaker 2:

so candace, who's like hyper anti-semitic these days, but nonetheless, because I'm not, I watch her. I'm not, you know, racist in any stretch. So she has taken the mantle of going back and kind of doing what Trump was doing with Obama back in the day and really digging through relatives and ancestors of Kamala, and what she's finding is Kamala has exactly zero percent black DNA. Yep.

Speaker 1:

Yep Zero that I have seen.

Speaker 2:

And she's gone so far as to actually interview, like distant relatives of her and, uh, apparently the grandma that Kamala is referencing, who is pretty dark, um, she was the house servant, not her actual grandma I mean, she may have raised her like a grandma she may have referred not biologically her grandma, but not biologically her grandma whatsoever. Yeah, this was literally the woman that wore a maid's uniform for 60 years in their house.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and her family were plantation owners and slave owners and everything else, which my family, were slave owners. There's nothing to be ashamed of. My family were slaves. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2:

My family were slaves.

Speaker 1:

Back when we built the pyramids, Please.

Speaker 2:

You know on our land that we had Uh-huh.

Speaker 1:

I didn't know there were any pyramids in Israel.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, they all got torn down by the Arabs when they came and conquered.

Speaker 3:

Uh-huh. Yeah you know, maybe the temple wouldn't have been destroyed and everything had you know.

Speaker 1:

Jews recognized their Messiah when he came.

Speaker 2:

Wow. You could have skipped that whole exile in Babylon thing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, anyway, it's nothing to be ashamed of, but it's in today's modern politics. Like you, you can't choose your family, you can't choose who you are descended from. You have no choice in that, so to say. Oh my god, I'm so ashamed of xyz that my ancestors did why. It has no bearing on who you are, has no bearing on what you do but she's proud of the people who weren't her ancestors being a certain color exactly

Speaker 1:

it's insane, it's literally insane well, it's just the extension of this cancel culture that you want yeah, yeah it's.

Speaker 2:

I don't think it's something that's again, it's not surprising, it's just. It's one of those head-shaking moments where you go, yeah, makes total sense. Of course they would create a whole narrative of her being black, just like they created a whole narrative of her being black, just like they created a whole narrative of obama being american okay, alex have you seen that birth certificate?

Speaker 1:

dude, that was printed on the laser printer I, I have.

Speaker 1:

So I people are ignore that and call you a kook for it, just like people try and do with the last election or Sandy Hook or any of it. But when you really start looking into some of these things, if you don't have questions, you don't look at that and be like you know I don't know what the truth is, but I know I'm being lied to Right Like I don't know what the truth is, but I know I'm being lied to right like I don't know where obama was born. I don't really it. It's, at this point, immaterial.

Speaker 1:

No supreme court, even if he was found to be kenyan or whatever else, would it have mattered, and he would. His presidential record would not have been wiped out. Yeah, now do I hope the truth comes out eventually for history's sake? Yes, what that will be, man, I think there's so many other things to attack Obama on. And look at his legacy and look at all the shit that came from his crazy ass mother and his weird ass father and the man who raised him being in gay porn and everything else, and you look at who he was married to and, man, you gotta question that.

Speaker 2:

And then you heard about michelle obama have a third term yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

You heard about obama michelle coming out and saying she had IVF. Did you hear that?

Speaker 2:

I did.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you know what?

Speaker 2:

a form of IVF is. Well, I mean, it's test tube babies. But what do you mean? What's a form Surrogacy. Yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So you know.

Speaker 2:

Well, have we seen a picture of her in a swimsuit with her belly? Not that I know of dude or her dick or anything. Yeah well, you know anyway and I don't see what the big deal is. It's like isn't this a time where she could just come out as a man and it's not a big deal no, because the the the entire nation would lose its shit.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and so what? It's in the past. It's not like he's running for something right now. What are they going to do? It's like oh, and, by the way, my wife is a dude, so guess what? You all had eight years of that and you voted me in with a huge majority every time. Clearly, it makes no difference that my wife was a man. Mm-hmm. Okay, I think. Elon should run for president next election you think who should Elon oh?

Speaker 2:

well, he can't, he can. I'm sure he can get a better copy of a birth certificate that shows he was born in Hawaii than any other person.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but he can't. He can't legally run. I mean he, he could how could he put legally possibly run when you have a native-born citizen requirement?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I'm just saying he could be just as native born as obama.

Speaker 1:

I don't see a problem with that yeah I would say he's definitely at least as african as kamala. He's more at least as African as Kamala is he's more African than Kamala.

Speaker 2:

He was actually born in Africa. I mean, that's about as African as you can get for being.

Speaker 1:

That was the joke.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so Kamala was definitely not born in Africa.

Speaker 1:

She was born in Canada. She's born in Canada she's not.

Speaker 2:

She's born in Canada to a socialist slave-owning family and then a 100% fully-blooded Indian mother to be clear they were not slave-owning when she was a kid. We don't know that. We don't know any of that.

Speaker 1:

We do because slavery was not legal.

Speaker 2:

No, you don't know when it was legal in Jamaica. It's a whole different country, I'm just saying. Candace is digging into this stuff, so just pretty sure she's finding and it's looking pretty bad for old kamala because she ain't black, yeah, and on a good summer day she looks whiter than I do yeah uh.

Speaker 1:

So the british parliament abolished slavery in jamaica in 1834.

Speaker 2:

My friend, yeah, well, doesn't mean they implemented it, just means it was abolished in some way off distant country. Yeah, look.

Speaker 1:

What year? 1834.

Speaker 2:

So like 100 years after it was abolished in the UK itself.

Speaker 1:

No, no, no, no. Sorry, the UK didn't abolish slavery until the 1800s.

Speaker 2:

I'm pretty sure it was the 1700s. Nope, nope. Okay.

Speaker 1:

When did the UK abolish slavery? 1834.

Speaker 2:

And Darren would ask Chet GTP. Yeah, it was abolished in 1834, so for all of the UK and its protectorates, which Jamaica was one at the time- oh, yeah, yeah, I guess they they limited, they got rid of slave trade in 1807 and then they got rid of all slavery in 1833 1834 is when it took effect, but yes, Well, it's called the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, anyway, no chat GPT sucks, I got to say.

Speaker 1:

I've been playing around with some of the AI stuff a little bit and chat GPT is useful for idiots who don't want to check its work, and the reason why I say that is because it is one of those things that it will hallucinate, it will come up with stuff, it will misinterpret things and if you don't check it it will screw you.

Speaker 1:

And, quite frankly, I find copilot more useful. I actually have used copilot for research, like working on a speech for last week. I totally use copilot to say, hey, tell me about this topic. And it sits there and spits it out and then I go to the links that it has where it's getting its information, and I read about it and I think about what it said and I can put something together there and it's good at collating together sources for you to do research. That is what it is useful for, and actually I will talk to you after the show about an idea that I came up with that might make all this ai computing power actually relevant to the cyber security community all right okay yep, like I have started writing an rfc on this um, okay, cool, yeah, I, I don't want to give away the idea out, uh, out in public, just yet.

Speaker 2:

I was waiting to show up to the podcast. I was listening to this indian dude who is um uh, the video was titled g or I don't know if it was GPE, but basically AI creates 97% better code than human programmers. So it's obviously a clickbaity title, but it was very good because he essentially talked about what is coding actually entail and then breaking that down into different processes and then showing how, basically, out of the five or six involved in coding, only one of them is better done by humans and the rest of them are much faster and better done by ai. So he's essentially making an argument for we need to take guys that are coding and turn them into AI managers yeah, whatever the term is for people that get really good at making sure AI is doing what they want it to do. Yeah, ai, jackie. I kind of like that, because the end result will be faster and more standardized code, which is always both things desired by any company.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and more standardized code, which is always both things desired by any company, until you end up with a bug across everything and it's very exploitable.

Speaker 2:

Standardization has its problems actually, but that means one fix fixes the bug across everything. That's always a benefit.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Do you not remember log4j dude?

Speaker 2:

No.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what was?

Speaker 2:

that.

Speaker 1:

Go look at log4j and tell me that was a good thing. This was a to use john c devorex term a microservices architecture that everyone had implemented in this bit of java code, which was a logging a system, and there was a privilege escalation vulnerability in it and every open source or thing that was based on open source code that used this logging implementation I'm sorry java has always sucked yeah, yeah, well, yeah, but yes and no.

Speaker 1:

Like java, I agree it sucks in a lot of ways, but it is code that can run basically on anything and yeah, and that's a benefit advantage I'm sorry it's not a benefit okay

Speaker 2:

well, it's, um, I I didn't like it when it first came out and we've seen, like I've seen I don't look anymore anymore, so I don't really give a shit. But back when I used to be in tech and I used to look at these things, java always had a hugely disproportionate amount of bugs and holes in it and exploits. I mean it was just like it was ridiculous and for a long time nobody would make any arguments to write mission critical software in Java, because it just there's no way. There's bound to be way more shit that still hasn't been found. That's broken in java. You see, if you want to do that, yeah, and I don't know man.

Speaker 2:

I haven't seen anything to make me believe. To the contrary, I I have. I will say though just one little thing and I'll wrap up this topic is I am somewhat surprised by how much progress there has been on oh shit, what's the guy I'm blanking out? What's the other coding thing that's very popular, the rust, no, not rust, similar, uh, what else? People write software and that's quick and dirty visual basic. No, god damn, what am I thinking?

Speaker 1:

php no um what kind of software?

Speaker 2:

so it used to be not compiled, but these days they're all combined. Oh, uh, uh, it's in the tip of my tongue, uh it's, I think it starts with p I think it starts with a give me a no pascal, god damn. What am I thinking of?

Speaker 1:

dude like I'm enjoying fucking with you at this. What's not?

Speaker 2:

compiled. What's a non-compiled or used to be thing that people wrote shit in that they don't really?

Speaker 1:

oh, are you talking about a scripting?

Speaker 2:

language, yes, yes, what am I thinking of? Language, yes, yes, what am I thinking? Starts with a p, I think maybe python. Python, there you go, perfect. I have been shocked at how python went from what I would just call a scripting language to having whole full functioning apps that are compiled, written in it now, and they actually they're not like quick and dirty things, they're like you couldn't tell that this app was written in python versus written in a real language yeah, except you gotta load the right python library I'm sure, I'm sure, but it's like that's the language I never thought would be where to stay.

Speaker 2:

I always thought it had a niche use, um, and certainly even uh, you know, I mean I've written a few things and I'm just mostly for playing around thinking with it, but, um, but I never thought that would become as prevalent as it has yeah wow, just my two cents. Okay, enough of that. What else we're going to talk about?

Speaker 1:

well, went full on foamer today with the kids you want to come to a train yeah, I sent you a link. Yeah, the Union Pacific big boy number four zero one four you went to see the big boy. Yeah, you told me about the big boy like two weeks ago yeah, we went to see it. Holy shit, that is a big train and was it running operational? Yeah, Like it rolled up, stopped in the middle of Navasota downtown, blew its whistle which loud.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that was the one. I was shocked that it was 1.2 million pounds.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of metal. Well, with the tender it's 133 feet long. It's huge. Yeah yeah, it's huge. Yeah yeah, it's half the length of a 747.

Speaker 2:

That's a pretty good-sized train.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

And how close could you get to it? Could you climb out?

Speaker 1:

No, you could get within 15, 20 feet.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so you just get close, take some photos. Yep, yep.

Speaker 1:

What, what the kids think? They thought it was cool. It's a big train, big loud machinery. They enjoyed it. So you know, we, it was a quick thing, go see it, look, oh yeah, cool, leave, you know it wasn't supposed to be something like amazing thing. It was just a little something fun to do, you know.

Speaker 2:

It was 25,000 gallon water capacity.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was originally a coal. They converted it to fuel oil. So, yeah, I read all about it. I went full on FOMR on this one.

Speaker 2:

It's traveled a little over a million miles of service while it was still in service.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's 20-year life, 20-year main service, but it's still traveling around the country doing tours and everything else. It's a neat, neat train. Actually, I am not into trains and stuff like that. My son, he's a little kid and he is, but I'm not. But given how interested he is in any big'm, I'm not. But, uh, you know, given how interested he is in any big machinery, we we had to go see it. My daughter even thought it was cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I always liked trains. I thought the trains were well, it's kind of steampunk ish right, by definition it's steam powered, so at least this one is yeah. Yeah, yeah, makes sense powered. So at least this one is yeah, yeah, yeah makes sense. But I I did like the uh, the intricacies of tubing and all the engineering that went into making yeah, like how a boiler is made yeah, but but like you know, being able to uh utilize the steam pressure like that it's. I'll tell you one thing that is somewhat analogous, right?

Speaker 1:

now, it's no different than a steam-powered power plant or any other steam engine. Exactly, it's just horizontal.

Speaker 2:

So here's something that I find fascinating you create a high pressure with raising the temperature of water to be on its flashpoint where it's going to turn into steam. To be on its flashpoint where it's going to turn into steam. So an interesting thing is I watched some videos on doing that same kind of thing, but with electrolysis.

Speaker 2:

So, normally you think of electrolysis as just being used to separate out the oxygen from the hydrogen in water and you know if you want to just create two different areas for those gases. But the pressure that can be created by doing electrolysis in a enclosed space is tremendous. It's huge. I can't remember how many atmospheres, but it was. I want to say it was around a thousand atmospheres. I mean it. Basically it don't care. Like once electrolysis splits the molecule, they're not going to join back up.

Speaker 1:

Not without burning, no, and so you are. But if you light a flame in that same container, they will recombine oh, yeah, absolutely very violently, but they'll recombine exactly.

Speaker 2:

It'll be a very fast combination, but it's a um, it is really cool. It's uh I because I never have seen anybody prior to do to watch this video actually utilize the pressure that electrolysis can create, cause it's always just been utilizing either either separating them or, like you said, like separating them just to recombine them and have a big fire, but this is using electrolysis as a piston driver, essentially.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's pretty inefficient, but yeah.

Speaker 2:

From an energy standpoint it probably is, but from a compactness size, holy shit, dude. Nine-volt battery that can lift a car.

Speaker 1:

Well, I mean, that's actually not that hard.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

Hydraulic pressure, dude, dude. All you got to do is have hydraulics, you know? Um, yeah, so in the interesting thing on the doe energy front, working with a company that just received a multi-billion dollar hydrogen grant, yeah and uh, people are asking money dude, we gotta get into that whole hydrogen scam yeah, well, people are, you know, shocked. It can't use the pipelines that natural gas uses. No, do you know the molecule size?

Speaker 1:

difference between natural gas and hydrogen like your. Your leak prevention systems are totally different. Your leak detection systems are totally different. Not to mention that if you ever ran a pig through a hydrogen pipeline, it's gonna go boom like this is not something you can think about and do this way no, no, you're better off running liquid water through that pipe and then electrolyzing it to separate the hydrogen out.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and then you could use a nuclear plant to do that, and then, once you separate the hydrogen now, you can run a hydrogen plant but why do that when I just do the nuke? Oh yeah, I'm just saying you could.

Speaker 1:

Now I will say that hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen combustion engines. Hydrogen the toyota hydrogen combustion engine actually interests me, like that is an engine that fuck. Fuck the electric vehicle, fuck the fuel cell vehicle, the hydrogen combustion engine.

Speaker 2:

I will buy the third or fourth generation yeah, not the first, that's for sure not the first couple, but you know yeah um those still have normal recirculating motors, right reciprocating motors, I should say uh, there's been a couple different designs.

Speaker 1:

Some of them are just like a gas piston engine, quite frankly. I mean, you know, the layman would not know the difference. Yeah, and then the um, the others have been. Uh, actually, the most successful designs thus far have been based off of rotary designs, which is pretty interesting.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's cooler. I think that's way cooler. I would love to see that in a jet design.

Speaker 1:

Sure, and you could. The only problem, I mean it's just fuel containment and making sure you don't end up with a Hindenburg right.

Speaker 2:

I mean we have in modern rockets. We have the burning of hydrogen actually spinning the compressor, so it's a yeah.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes modern rockets go boom.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, depends where they're made.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, see SpaceX.

Speaker 2:

Well, no, SpaceX has had very good, very good record.

Speaker 1:

And they've also had some unscheduled uh rapid yeah. There you go.

Speaker 2:

That's right, but the but those are. You know, that's a learning experience, that's what it's supposed to do, it's by design. I'm just saying, um yeah, so elon, apparently is uh buying up a lot of land uh between us okay but between us also gone uh nerd maga yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I that that dork maga is the in a guys, but that would be a more appropriate way to put it.

Speaker 2:

I think, uh, that video clip of trump introducing musk and then promptly stepping outside of his glass cone and then having musk stand in there as trump stands next to the glass.

Speaker 1:

I mean to me it's like this is hilarious, this is so freaking funny well, I mean the glass, yeah, well, he's obviously not afraid, obviously, but that glass still serves a security purpose because it removes some of the potential, you know, even standing to the side of it is yeah, you're blocking some angles sure but I just think it's funny because I like I would have imagined somebody.

Speaker 2:

When they planned this out, they're like all right, mr trump, we're gonna have two podiums. This one is exclusively for you, it's behind glass anybody?

Speaker 1:

you're gonna stand here use the second podium.

Speaker 2:

They will come over here here After you shake hands. You're going to stand behind the glass while they're talking over here and no nope, there's one fucking podium. Elon comes over with his black hat, with a big shit, and grin on his face.

Speaker 1:

Jumping up and down.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly Like a dork. And then Trump promptly walks out from behind the glass barrier Like oh, come on, people, the hell.

Speaker 1:

Well, you know, it was all staged, gene, it was totally fake. He didn't really get shot, it was a squib.

Speaker 2:

You know it still hurts when you get hit with a squib, and especially in the sensitive area. You could guarantee draw blood with a squib if you hit your ear. The ear is not an area that that that is going to take much damage. Dude, I've gotten blood from paintballs, hit my ear.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I. I actually, when I went to my high school prom I had a huge red whelp on my neck where a paintball hit me, and everyone you know thought it was a hickey. And no, unfortunately not but yeah, it's a much better paintball Dude. I destroyed my knee and my track career playing paintball, but it was worth it.

Speaker 2:

Sure, I love paintball, dude, but I played. It was some of the most fun I'd ever had. We should get into airsoft. You're more than welcome to. I'm not in shape for any of that these days. It will get you in shape Either that or it'll get me to break my leg. It's one of those two. Yeah, but paintball I would go there like for probably about two years I would be when the weather was warm enough, all day saturday, all day sunday. I guaranteed I was playing paintball and there was nothing else that was going on. And I know it annoyed uh, one of my girlfriends to no end back then because the only time we ever got together was during the week, because on weekends I was off playing paintball. But it was so much fun. Man, I was one of those guys that had the full head-to-toe ghillie with leaves and mud and shit on there and I would crawl on my stomach to uh get behind the front line and then start pelting people in the back. That was the best.

Speaker 1:

No, well, there's all. The paintball is fun, but uh, you know it's. Uh, it can be a contact sport at times.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and, and I think it's different now too, because you've got all the super high speed shooting automated crap Back when I was doing it, it was really probably gen two and still a lot of gen one guns, and so everything was mechanical. There were no electronics whatsoever. Uh, the electronic guns came out while I was playing paintball like the the angel, and some of the very early ones just started coming out, but it was all about just you know how good are you? The gun was going to be a small percentage of that, but not what it is today. Now you know when you can shoot 60 rounds a minute by holding a button down.

Speaker 1:

That's very different yeah, I remember the old double triggers so you could do the double trigger work and things like that, and you know that and you know you didn't have the velocity that some of the new stuff has and everything else.

Speaker 2:

So I don't know what they limit to these days aiming was a lob yeah, yeah, ours was, I think, 300 back in the day.

Speaker 2:

You couldn't be any hotter than that. Uh and uh um, I actually had an octagonal barrel, but most barrels were just, you know, they were just flat. There was like no grooves or anything in them, and I don't know how much difference the octagonal barrel made, but definitely their marketing worked on me. So I bought one um, which was the same kind of style as the first and second and I think third generation glag barrels were where the there's no groove, it's just the whole barrel is just octagonal. Good old days, fond memories. What were we talking about?

Speaker 1:

well, I've tried to talk about the debate a couple of times go ahead.

Speaker 2:

I just didn't watch it you didn't why, is everyone surprised?

Speaker 1:

because it was worth watching.

Speaker 2:

I saw the clips where he acted like an idiot the whole thing is worth watching.

Speaker 1:

To use a term of one of my college roommates, it was a metaphorical skull-fucking.

Speaker 2:

Yeah see, I don't care to see two guys skull-fucking each other, so maybe that's just not my style of entertainment Metaphorical Gene. Metaphorical. If you enjoy that kind of metaphorical skull fuckery, then uh the point is vance did phenomenal vance did great.

Speaker 1:

He, he, he nailed it the entire way, absolutely dominated the entire debate better than trump did at the real debate yes and very much so. But you know, vance kamala was able to get under trump's skin. You know, uh waltz had no chance of getting under vance's skin and in fact the just the the memes of vance looking at the camera and making the faces he did versus yeah, he's got weird faces oh my god, dude, that is not gonna die for years, no years so on snl, they also had him like trying to be friends with, um, uh, with vance.

Speaker 2:

Is there some of that going on too, or something, or not?

Speaker 1:

oh well, they're both midwestern, fake, nice bullshit and stuff like that yeah, it's not fake.

Speaker 2:

Nice midwesterners are nice. Look at me uh-huh uh-huh.

Speaker 1:

First of all, you're not a midwesterner, you're totally. That's where my persona's from yeah, what, what's your, uh, what's your brush to do? I could say it's hawaii, like everybody else's obviously oh good, one good I just bring it right back anyway, what else do you want to talk about, my friend?

Speaker 2:

uh well, you, you sent me a photo of a gun, so you obviously bought another one.

Speaker 1:

Um, I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker 2:

I don't want to talk about that on the podcast not too bad, you're talking about it, so I was able to pick up a sig p365 xl pretty cheap, right which you did hey, you should pick one of these up, they're really cheap. And I was like, no, I'm trying not to spend money. What I didn't realize is that you weren't just telling me to do it, you were actually planning on doing it yourself.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's going to replace my daily carry. It will replace the XDS as my daily carry. It will replace the XDS as my daily carry it definitely looks smaller it's slightly, it's actually not that much smaller.

Speaker 1:

The barrel is slightly smaller it's really not, but it is a little bit, and it's a double stack versus a single stack, so the Sig 365 XL is a double stack versus a single stack. So the Sig 365 XL is a double stack. The magazines that I use in it, because they have the extension, because my hands are big. It holds 17 rounds, so you've got 18 plus one, plus a reload, if you want it, but anyway, versus nine, you know eight plus one in the XDS 9, you know, 8 plus 1 in the XDS and it's a.

Speaker 1:

Even with the additional ammo, it is a lighter gun, so yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they're both 10mm right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, and you can get the XD. You know the XDS has a trigger safety and a grip safety and you know it's. You know plenty drop safe. The SIG has a lot of drop safeties in it and you can get it with an actual thumb safety or, like mine is no safety.

Speaker 2:

Oh, you got it without the thumb safety. Well, that's a shocker. I kind of took you for being a thumb safety guy.

Speaker 1:

It's been an evolution. I would say that on most guns I want a safety of some sort For this. I'm OK with it because of the way the trigger is, the way the trigger pull is, and they're just. There are some reasons and I'm OK with it.

Speaker 1:

Now, had I been able to get the same gun at the same price with a safety, I would have gotten the same gun at the same price with a safety, and what I would have done is I would have used the safety when reholstering or handling the gun in a way where I wanted the safety on but where it would have ridden on my hip, and the way I would have carried it day in, day out would have been with the safety off, which is what I've done with other guns. Out would have been with the safety off, which is what I've done with other guns. Right, but what I like about the grip safety on the xds is when you go to reholster, you can hold it in such a way as so, if a bit of clothing or something gets in between, you're not going to have an accidental discharge right so with something like this.

Speaker 1:

You just got to pay more attention, which you should be doing anyway. But no, there there, there are legitimate reasons for, like, I'm reholstering my gun, let me flip the safety on so I don't have an accident. That is okay.

Speaker 2:

That is not a bad thing to do well, and one thing back when I used to be an instructor you know that we always taught was that you want to draw and aim fast, but you want to reholster slow. So you get people conditioned into doing the reholstering at a way slower speed than they are drawing. Because if you don't tell them that they're going to try and do both at the same speed and there's no prize for shooting a bullet down the side of your leg Except for a medical bill, I guess the other thing I was going to say is I remember back.

Speaker 1:

How many cops have we seen shoot themselves when reholstering like it's? It's something that you have to pay attention to, and a lot of people not just cops, but yeah right, but it's one of those things that a lot of people don't think about.

Speaker 1:

this is a dangerous time. With the gun A you're flagging yourself by necessity as you're reholstering it, and you know there's no way to reholster without pointing the gun at your. You know at least grazing yourself and you know, as you're reholstering, clothing can get in there. You can snag it on something. It is a time to be careful, for sure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, you can snag it on something. It is a time to be careful, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I've obviously for concealed I was carrying an in in pants, um holster, but inside waistband and like a soft one, like a you know, literally something that just kind of makes the gun not feel like something sharp is poking you um, um anything interesting.

Speaker 1:

I I don't like soft holsters at all, like yeah, I don't either.

Speaker 2:

I, I don't either. I'm not arguing for it, I'm just saying this is what I used to carry when I carried like daily, which I don't anymore, but my preference was always to have open carry with a the same exact holster the cops use. It's it just on on the side of my hip, um, you know, with a locking mechanism so the gun doesn't fall out if I bend over or something yeah, like that safari land makes some great holsters yeah they're like that's.

Speaker 2:

That's really much more comfortable. I think I, I think I have, uh, I might even have more than one um of the the concealed under jacket holsters that actually point at whoever's behind you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the shoulder holster yeah, the shoulder holster, but there's two types there's one that points down and there's one that points straight back. The one that points down is more of a pain in the ass to get the gun out of it, even though it's a little safer. The ones that just put the gun basically below your armpit are much faster to get the gun out of. But I also don't wear jackets like I used to, so that's not a thing to get the gun out of. But I also don't wear jackets like I used to, so that's not a thing you know, when you're wearing a sport jacket, that's.

Speaker 2:

That's a much cleaner way of concealing it yeah sure but I I've never done the mexican which we used to call, call mexican, carry back when I was younger, um, which is literally putting your gun in front of your balls which seems to be the preferred style these days. Appendix okay, sure, I mean.

Speaker 1:

The gun is literally like in front of your it's well, I mean, there's a sweet spot to it, but I don't like appendix on top of the penis.

Speaker 2:

That's a sweet spot uh-huh.

Speaker 1:

Well, I, I don't like appendix carry, you know, and I I think, if you have, how do I put this without being too off the rails here? If you have any size to you, a penny scary isn't comfortable, yeah, and like any, you either have no dick or you have a very small gun.

Speaker 2:

Those are the only ways, appendix scary I could totally see chicks carrying it that way, or I would not say a word. But when I see dudes like trying to stuff their Glock into their jockstrap, basically I'm like what are you? What the fuck dude?

Speaker 1:

As long as you have the appropriate holster and you're doing it right. A lot, dude. There are some people like John Lovell and others that I very much respect that that is their preferred carry. It's not a comfortable draw for me. It is not where I want it. I prefer a 4 1⁄2 to 5 o'clock draw is where I want my gun at. That's what's comfortable for me. It's what works for me. It's easier to defeat clothing for me.

Speaker 1:

There's all sorts of things that people have done to show, oh it's safe, this, that and the other Cool, carrying a gun is a dangerous thing. That people have done to show, oh it's safe, this, that and the other. And cool, I'm not carrying a gun is a dangerous thing when a gun is in a holster. If the gun goes off, you're probably going to get hit one way or the other. Now the question is in appendix is that more dangerous? Probably not. But I'll tell you this If I can't sit in my vehicle and carry my gun comfortably or sit down somewhere comfortably, then I can't carry it. So to me, having it on my hip where I can sit moderately comfortably, is a far better option.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, I'm exactly there. I just noticed that for some reason, over the last 10, 12 years, this, this Mexican draws really gotten popular and it's um it. It never made any sense to me. I mean, given a choice, I would always rather carry unconcealed, Agreed.

Speaker 1:

I can't always do that Well, but it needs to become the the standard. Now there are reasons why people say, well, it's tactically better for you to have concealed, so people don't know you're carrying yeah, I got you. But when you have to draw, you have to defeat clothing and everything else. And and not only that, I will say this people, open carrying in public is a deterrent all its own, absolutely like there's an ineffable value to holy shit.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot of people guns here I will say that my my first real experience like that was in nevada. This is all pre of the uh, the shooting in ve. Obviously, everything's changed after that. They've become draconian about guns anywhere around Vegas these days. But, uh, I remember going to a school out there, um front site, which doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately. So I was a fucking member there and, uh, now my membership's lost. But, um, right after a class, everybody drives to prump for dinner and you've got literally a restaurant where 60 to 70 people all have holsters with guns on them.

Speaker 2:

There's the. It is the coolest feeling that I've ever experienced. I bet you feel pretty safe. It's. Not only do you feel safe, but you feel invincible because it's. I guess it'd be similar to like standing surrounded by a whole shit ton of bodyguards, because I don't even have to be the first one to draw my gun if something is going down. There'll be a shit ton of people that are faster drawing than I am, but they're they're gonna be doing it all around me. I mean, it's like it's a. It really is a. Uh, it's a very pleasant feeling to be surrounded by a bunch of people, each of whom has a weapon that is capable of taking human life. Now, maybe it would feel just as cool if I was sitting around a bunch of guys with katanas on them. No, it'd still be pretty cool though no, um.

Speaker 1:

Well, it'd still be pretty cool, though. No, because you'd be at a nerd convention and they'd all look like you and you wouldn't have it, wouldn't? You? Wouldn't have the same visual yeah, well, maybe I, I. But I dare you to find me a single skinny athletic man who knows how to use it, that has a katana that would open.

Speaker 2:

Carry it well, it's legal in texas now, which I'm very happy about, because it used to be illegal to carry a katana around and lots of things used to be illegal in texas.

Speaker 1:

Carrying a gun used to be illegal in texas um, but I've got an awesome katana man.

Speaker 2:

This, this is like a eight thousand dollar katana shocker. I'll show you uh, show it to you sometime, but this thing was I don't know that.

Speaker 1:

I want to see your sword oh, I don't believe me.

Speaker 2:

This is like gonna be the coolest sword you've ever seen uh-huh, uh and pretty much it's.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was handmade, obviously, but it was made by a guy that essentially learned the traditional Japanese method by living in Japan and then modernized it by using modern technology, and so this thing is actually made using cryogenic. Um, yeah, and so it. It is way harder than a traditional japanese katana sword, while retaining the flexibility from side to side. So it's cause. That's. The whole trick with katanas is that they're they're very hard and can break through bones going in the proper direction, but if they're hit from the side, they won't break. They'll actually just bend and then bounce back to where they're supposed to be. But I, as a total amateur, was able to cut three mats with that very, very easily, and the mats are a standard measure of the katana's ability to cut through a human limb. So three mats would be equivalent to chopping off three arms in the same swing. But there are guys that have done it. They've done like six or seven mats with this thing. It's a cool sword.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

It's named Grey Ghost.

Speaker 1:

You named your sword.

Speaker 2:

Did you not name yours?

Speaker 1:

I don't have a sword, well, I take that back. I do have swords that were my grandfather who had it over the family crest and I have them in my garage.

Speaker 2:

But you know, display only. Wow, I see. Well, this thing's been on display only for literally 10 years, but it has a kind of a cool story behind it, which is, I always appreciate, a cool story and it will retain its value forever.

Speaker 1:

Okay, maybe.

Speaker 2:

Which is another cool thing. No, they, when you buy it, they literally give you a money back guarantee forever.

Speaker 1:

Sure, and if shit hits the fan, you got to hook up with Michonne just to find a use for it.

Speaker 2:

I mean, shit hits the fan. That sort is going to see a lot more use than it would if shit didn't hit the fan. Sword doesn't run out of bullets.

Speaker 1:

Yes, but has limited reach.

Speaker 2:

It's long enough to chop off a zombie's head. Okay, Just saying what else? What else were we talking about? We talked about debate, SNL. Well, is there more about debate you want to talk about? I mean, go ahead.

Speaker 1:

Well, you know all I can say is JD Vance has been practicing debate his entire life and has shown himself to be a very, very good master debater.

Speaker 2:

He is a good master debater.

Speaker 1:

The couch proved it.

Speaker 2:

He's second only to Vivek Ramaswamy being a great master debater.

Speaker 1:

Yeah the couch proves it.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure it does. Yeah, yeah, you mean like in their uh fraternity couch oh my god, dude, you're missing, no, the story about him fucking his couch oh, I didn't hear about that. How? Do you fucking?

Speaker 1:

couch. So there was a joke running around that the liberals were taking is real okay about him being sexually attracted to his couch because you know he wanted to stick it between the cushions. You, you missed that.

Speaker 2:

You missed my joke dude, it was what I said was actually pretty funny and it went straight over your head I just, I, you know, I like said I didn't see it so I didn't didn't hear about it in couches, but uh, so what do you say about his couch?

Speaker 1:

he didn't say it. It it was. It was apparently an old joke that got drug up and they tried to use that as oppo research against him, and it just but what was so?

Speaker 2:

what was the joke though?

Speaker 1:

The joke was that he's sexually attracted to his couch and wanted to fuck it, and fucked it once, and the liberals took this as oh my God, look how weird he is. He's sexually attracted to his couch. They took it seriously.

Speaker 2:

I mean, who hasn't accidentally fucked a couch at some point in college? I was never that drunk and I got pretty drunk sometimes. Now, if couch is a euphemism for a fat chick.

Speaker 1:

I've got plenty of friends, oh, you went there yeah, one of my buddies in college man, he, he had this joke. He's like fat chicks are like mopeds. They're a lot of fun to ride, but you don't want your friends to see you on one.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I. I was surprised by how many guys I knew in college specifically in college that were chubby chasers. I was like I don't get it. I don't understand the.

Speaker 1:

They went for the low-hanging fruit.

Speaker 2:

I know, but how do you get hard man? I don't get it. I have to have something to work with and a fat chicken reaching preaching to the choir yeah, I just but but that's what I'm saying is, there's plenty of guys that you know, normal dudes, that were like totally into having all that cushion for the pushing. I was like I don't know, maybe maybe you guys, I guess they wanted a different fold every night.

Speaker 1:

I don't know. I guess.

Speaker 2:

But it's like okay, I guess if you're 12 inches you need that much, you know.

Speaker 1:

But holy shit, I I just didn't get the attraction whatsoever especially the bigger girls with no boobs, like that's just so unfortunate, it's not even funny, yeah I don't remember many of those.

Speaker 2:

I think most of them were pretty proportional. It's just so unfortunate, it's not even funny. Yeah, I don't remember many of those. I think most of them were pretty proportional. It's just they were, you know, on the Iowa side. Yeah, not my style, but whatever.

Speaker 1:

No, no, it's all good, but you know, a girl doesn't have to be a spinner either.

Speaker 2:

You know there's that range, yeah.

Speaker 1:

There's that range from little petite spinner to, you know, taller athletic girl, to maybe a little chubby, but she's got the ass and the tits that make up for it, you know there's the range. There's the acceptable range.

Speaker 3:

Oh, I agree, I agree, speaking right now no, it isn't.

Speaker 2:

How is that misogynist, dude? It's a joke. It's a joke, well, I get it. But somebody said that, oh, that that buddy of mine that I went to, uh, the liberal buddy that we went shooting with, you know, he was saying that he started listening to the podcast and like holy shit, I didn't realize how misogynistic you are. I'm like, well, what are you talking about? He's like well, the whole 19th amendment thing. I'm like, yeah, it's not misogynist, how's that misogynist? I love women. Women are great. Shouldn't vote, but they're great. One has nothing to do with the other.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, Gene, you know, a man runs over a woman. Who's at fault?

Speaker 1:

Well, if you ask the woman, we know who's at fault. No, no, there's a logical answer to this.

Speaker 2:

If a man runs over a woman. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I mean okay. Well, you tell me go ahead.

Speaker 1:

It's the man's fault. He shouldn't have been driving in the kitchen, but I'm pumped yeah. I need to get that sound effect.

Speaker 3:

Well, we need a few sound effects for this show, since we went off the rails early we need some groaners yeah, and some giggity giggity.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, giggity giggity, giggity, giggity's are good. Those are sometimes useful when the person doesn't understand where you're going yeah, yeah that's true, um I don't know what else, um finally cooling off. Good, it's been nice, happy about that in the evenings.

Speaker 1:

It's been like during the. This is the texas fall. It'll still get into the 90s during the day, but you'll be in the 60s, uh, in the evenings and that's that's the part that I like about california.

Speaker 2:

Right every whenever you're in california, it doesn't matter how far south in california could be san diego and it's a nice pleasant 78 degrees. During it might even hit 80, but at night it's like 62. I like that cooling off at night and I kind of wish we had that here. I don't know, do they have that on the gulf? If you, if you go to like be right on the water, does it cool off every night?

Speaker 1:

uh, it get well, it depends on the time of year, it depends on a lot of things. But the gulf like I grew up on the gulf coast and theends on a lot of things, but the Gulf like I grew up on the Gulf Coast yeah, that's what I'm asking the Gulf doesn't. The Gulf does not get as hot as inland. So for instance, where I grew up, in Crystal Beach, we would I mean I can't remember as a kid it ever breaking 100.

Speaker 1:

Like we might have a few days a year in the high 90s but usually we would top out in like 95 and you know it would cool down to the low 80s, 70s at night for the, for the vast majority of it now.

Speaker 2:

sometimes it's just you know, at night without running the ac?

Speaker 1:

I wouldn't. It'd be pretty humid and muggy. But yeah, you know that's the problem is it does get muggy, but like the if you have you ever been to like galveston in the fall?

Speaker 2:

I don't think I I've been there in the spring, I've been there in the summer, I've been there, and I don't know if I've been there in the fall so we, we used to throw when I was a kid.

Speaker 1:

My parents always used to and my grandparents used to throw what they called October parties, and the reason why they do that is all the tourists are gone, it's just the natives there and they would throw these parties and get togethers because you could still go swimming if you wanted. It's it's still warm enough to go swimming if you want. It's great weather to enjoy the beach. It's not so damn hot and you can do whatever you want right now. Like, if you have the opportunity to take a weekend and go down and spend a weekend in Galveston here in October before November hits, go do it. It's a great, great time of year. It's one of my favorite times of year.

Speaker 2:

Cool, that's nice. Probably won't do it this year, but yeah it's cool.

Speaker 1:

Use some of those Marriott points, man.

Speaker 2:

I know I'm traveling again soon, so yeah, me too Me too, I gotta go to Omaha at some point. Omaha.

Speaker 1:

I have never been to Omaha.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you're not missing anything, literally.

Speaker 1:

Well, you know, they've got a multi-billion dollar project going on.

Speaker 2:

Do they? What are they building in Nebraska?

Speaker 1:

Well, actually they're adding to their wastewater treatment facilities and storm management systems, as well as a real-time control center.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and they have. Everybody points those well, they, they.

Speaker 1:

They got some grants and some federal money and some other stuff and some money from the state. They're spending over the next 10 years around 2.4 billion dollars that's insane.

Speaker 2:

Well, let me know what you think when you go out there. My take on nebraska in general, and omaha certainly, is it's very meh. There's just nothing interesting. There's not an interesting climate, there's not an interesting trees, not interesting housing just nothing interesting there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I've been to Iowa, I've been to Kansas, I've been you know, city is way more interesting than Omaha is. Yeah. No, anyway, I've have been. You know, city is way more interesting than aloha is. Yeah, well, anyway, I've got, uh, I'll be up on the east coast some more this year. I've got uh, I, basically I've got at least three trips left, uh, beyond the reoccurring ones, and uh, like I'll be in california at some point so oh yeah, like winter is always good for those yeah, california, I dude, I don't like traveling anywhere.

Speaker 2:

I can't take my gun I know, I know I hear you like going to dc, just it.

Speaker 1:

It bugs me yep.

Speaker 2:

No, you feel weird not having it on you when you're used to it even if you fly into and stay in Maryland you really can't.

Speaker 1:

You can't, you can't carry and you can't have the gun. Even like if you go across the border into Maryland and you're non-resident and traveling, you have to have the gun unloaded and locked and the ammo locked in a separate container. Yeah, like there's just no point and it's very. You don't have any.

Speaker 2:

Uh, you don't have a concealed carry license either, so you don't get reciprocity well, and maryland doesn't have reciprocity anyway, so it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1:

And there's in. If you, if you've ever spent any time in the dc metroplex area, you will cross between the boundary of the district virginia and maryland yeah, multiple times throughout your visit, like you just will.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, yeah, unfortunately people that have a gun carry permit in Maryland can carry in Texas, but Texas gun holders cannot carry in Maryland.

Speaker 1:

That sucks or New York or a couple other places, and I don't believe the district has reciprocity with anyone.

Speaker 2:

No, I'm sure they don't. I'm kind of surprised I'm looking at a map right now. I'm kind of surprised Texas doesn't have Minnesota reciprocity, because back when I had a Minnesota permit, a ton of states had reciprocity with Minnesota.

Speaker 1:

Maybe it's changed since then.

Speaker 2:

Could be. I mean, Minnesota is now a Somali enclave.

Speaker 1:

Yep, it's heading towards that Sharia law.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it is for sure.

Speaker 1:

We need to make a song my Sharia.

Speaker 2:

My Sharia. I guarantee you that song exists, right, you just have to find it, not make it. Yeah, I've seen. So there's these couple of guys I watch on YouTube called the Apologetics Roadshow Called the Apologetics Roadshow, so it's an ex-Muslim and a very renowned Christian scholar that do this kind of talking show, where they lately have been mostly talking about not just Islam but actually about the stuff going on in Israel. But originally they were mostly just talking about Islam and one of the various terrorist leaders, and so then there's people that started oh, you should have a whole YouTube channel of nothing but these songs. So he made a channel and within about a week, youtube shut this channel down. Okay, uh-huh, and not because they're AI, because they don't like what he's promoting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm just not worried about the middle East. Just pull out, let them figure it out. Let them deal on their own. If Israel can stand on its own, even if they have to use the Jericho option or whatever, let them Cool Do whatever Doesn't involve us.

Speaker 2:

I totally agree. It has nothing to do with us, and the more they just go off and do their own thing and not have us be involved, the better it is for everybody. Better for us, better for them, absolutely, um, but it's uh, like I'm just. The reason I brought it up is because of the ai songs, that is definitely, and you wanted to sneak israel in for the bingo card.

Speaker 2:

Well, I didn't really need to. I mean, I guess we could, but didn't really need to do that. There's also a gaming YouTuber. I watch that. He's really good at a certain kind of video game combat in Elite Dangerous, named Commander Mechon, um, named commander mechon, and he has been working on. I think this is a little less ai than the other guys, but still fairly ai. Uh they.

Speaker 1:

They actually write the lyrics and then use the ai to generate the music yeah, you can do that with, like Sonos or whatever you're using for our theme song.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, obviously I take the lazy way out. I just want to give it a theme and then have it come up with everything and then either thumbs up or thumbs down what it comes up with. But some people like to actually spend the time to put together more of it themselves. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And the Sonos do a pretty good job. I just generally speaking, I I just I'm not going to be listening to that kind of music myself, so I don't tend to spend a whole lot of time creating it what kind of music do you like, gene? I like a ton of music. It's just generally music without lyrics.

Speaker 1:

Then it's not music.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay Did you not take violin lessons?

Speaker 1:

I did. But the meaningful part of music is the message behind it.

Speaker 2:

No, that's just the bullshit poetry that some people like to insert in there message. No, no, that's just the bullshit poetry that some people like to insert in their actual music is all about the, the tones and the vibrations and the combinations thereof you're a techno guy, aren't you? I am a techno guy, you're absolutely right. So I yeah, I was gonna get there eventually. I was taking a long time to get there.

Speaker 1:

It's like given the choice suits, katanas and techno pretty much sums up jeans life. You got to add the cocaine in there and then you got it all.

Speaker 2:

So I got the empty Mountain Dew cans sitting on the desk. Jesus, that's a the box of week old pizza.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Do you? Do you have a case of balls in your fridge?

Speaker 2:

I mean, do you not?

Speaker 1:

I haven't drank balls since I was in college and, uh, part of a hacker league that threw land parties yeah, now, balls sponsors a lot of teams, so you get it a lot of times for free yeah, we, you know I don't drink balls, I drink iced tea, but yeah, dude'm a big man, dude.

Speaker 1:

So I was a member of the LC web monks at one point in time and you know we did these massive lamb parties and I remember setting up the network for one, and this was when I was 17 and. I before I came to A&M.

Speaker 2:

So like senior year of college right.

Speaker 1:

And anyway, we were setting up this network and you know we spent a ton of money to get the cisco switches to have full 10, 100 throughout everything yeah like we were running at 100 megabits per second across the entire network full duplex baby oh yeah, and you know this is in 2003.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and we were running uh, we had a server there for people download iso, share stuff, move stuff around so people could install games. And we were running unreal, we were running quake, we were running a whole bunch of different servers like so we had literally two full racks of equipment between all the switches and the servers set up to run this thing.

Speaker 1:

We had over 200 people show up to this land, party and play in a whole bunch of different leagues, a whole bunch of different games and setups, and the most impressive guy I saw there was using a fucking track ball.

Speaker 2:

Yep, I got one right here.

Speaker 1:

It was crazy and you know kids today don't understand this kind of gaming Like that's gaming that I can get behind, because you got to go build the network, you got to go build the stuff out, you got to go do it yourself. And you know you're not just getting on an Xbox and hopping on a server, you're running the server yourself.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah xbox and hopping on a server. You're running the server yourself. Oh yeah, and you know, I remember when I was, uh, I was taking a cisco class in high school and uh, I, I I'll never forget, you know, we were doing the lab.

Speaker 3:

It was our last class of the day and the um.

Speaker 1:

The teacher said hey, y'all can play Quake if you can fix the. There you go. Cool If you can fix the network and get Quake running across the WAN. Because we had a lab WAN network set up with old Cisco serial connections to emulate T1s, a whole bunch of different stuff between routers and everything else, and he had sabotaged the network. So we had to figure out what was wrong between routers and everything else. And he had sabotaged the network. So we had to figure out what was wrong, fix it and everything else. And whatever time we had left we got to play games. That was cool, like that. That's educational.

Speaker 2:

Totally. I think that's a great approach to education, not learning like you know how many genders there are Problem solving with good Well.

Speaker 1:

Jean, solving with good well, gene, there are their own. There aren't any num set number of genders, there's only the genders in our hearts.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, let's keep them there. Let's just shut the fuck up and not mention them and keep them where they belong uh-huh, uh-huh how's that?

Speaker 1:

uh um, yeah, so the uh we have gone totally off the rails. This is not a kid safe episode at all.

Speaker 2:

No, no, totally, totally not. We, we alternate. You know, we probably do two or three in a row that are pretty good, and then yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Which is which is a trap, trap for the parents. They got all these guys are all right, and then they're listening and might have to rate this one adult content.

Speaker 2:

Yeah yeah, some guys are all right, they're listening and have to. Might have to rate this one adult content.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, some some poor dad's listening, thinking I'm gonna listen to the boys today and laugh and have a good time with gene and ben and uh, you know we're listening and yeah, I want my pumpkin to have bdsm you know, you think they would say that.

Speaker 2:

I think, by by the way the kids are raised in society today, they're going to be the ones they'd be telling the parents, parents, yeah, exactly, they know all the terminology before they're 10 years old and that's horrible, that's a sad thing, because the whole point of a kink is it's supposed to be not mainstream. Like, you lose all the coolness factor of of having a kink if it becomes mainstream.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well don't you think? I. I said, uh, you know, I I think you're into whatever you're into and that's okay, um, but regardless, huh I still don't understand furries.

Speaker 2:

How is putting on more clothes supposed to be hotter, well? Well, I mean literally, it'll make you sweat, but uh, no, like I, I saw a walking upstairs I well, I mean, that'll make you sweat anyway, but it's kind of like what, like you're, you're gonna dress up, unless you admit that you're actually into bestiality and that the furry thing is just like a safe way to be for it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know someone was arguing.

Speaker 2:

I'm definitely putting adult content on this one yeah, especially after that comment.

Speaker 1:

I saw a post where someone was arguing that furries were the expression of germanic culture, because you know, the germanic tribes used to wear wolf hoods and it was paganism and all this, that and the other, and it's like you're dressing up as a cartoon character version.

Speaker 1:

I don't think that counts, dude no, it definitely if you went and go, went and killed a wolf and tanned its hide and put that on, okay, cool, fine, I might be able to get behind and respect that. But when you look like you know fluffy snuffigans over here and you're wanting to bang like that, that's just I don't get it.

Speaker 2:

No, this is what I always thought was hilarious on Craig Ferguson's talk show was the horse he had. Do you remember his horse? No, did you ever watch Craig Ferguson?

Speaker 1:

Ohon, oh, too young I know who craig ferguson is. I like his stand-up. I've watched him a lot of stuff, but I don't like I've never seen his stand-up, like I never liked late night shows so craig ferguson had the anti-late night show it was after midnight and it had to be a late night show basically no rules, unlike all the other shows which had rules I did watch the man show his, uh, okay, his, he'll hold we need girls tramping, jumping on trampolines, gene that's always good.

Speaker 2:

His whole shtick, in fact, that was one of the first ai generated pictures I ever did. Girls jumping on trampoline, uh, but his whole shtick, in fact, that was one of the first ai generated pictures I ever did. Girls jumping on trampoline, uh, but his whole shtick was basically just to have very, very, uh what's the what's the word? Uh, double entendre style flirting with his female guests. Most of his guests were females like vast majority were females and you know, they'd spend like 10 minutes just flirting on camera and that'd be it and they were gone and next guest would come out. So, but he had weird props. He had a skeleton that talked. He was a gay skeleton. And then he had this horse, which was, you know, two interns in the horse suit.

Speaker 2:

Um, he also had a pretty hot producer, a fake producer chick, which was hilarious so was the gay skeleton in his closet oh no, he wasn't in the closet, he was on stage, but he was the skeleton dude it was all that joke no, I got the joke. I got the joke, but he wasn't in the closet at all. Uh, he was very out, totally out, um, I meant in steve ferguson's closet implying.

Speaker 1:

Steve ferguson is gay uh okay all right, never mind Someone out there will get the joke as I told it and laugh.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure, I'm sure. Yes.

Speaker 1:

Remember, gene identifies as a six foot two gentleman with 160 something, iq, 186. Yes, I'm sorry, something that's impossible.

Speaker 2:

Got it. Do you know the history of that or why? Or you just think I just did that because it was for fun? I mean, I did, I thought you were mocking the people who have identities that I am, but there was a guy that literally I copied and pasted that from to where he's on twitter, whose profile said blah, blah, blah. Six foot two, 186, iq, and I was like this is so insane that I have to copy it.

Speaker 1:

Well, I mean surely he recognizes that's not a possible iq on any scale I don't know the backstory on him of why he did it.

Speaker 2:

for all I know he did it because it was funny somewhere else too. But when I saw it I was like this is so absurd, I have to do this. And uh, you know what? You were the only guy that gave me shit about it. Nobody else did. Yeah Well, I met you in person and, and you could tell my iq was above that huh yeah uh-huh, no, so technically, technically, you know, 186 iq realistic not, not realistic exactly.

Speaker 2:

Uh, there there are several people that claim to have iqs higher than that. Um, I don't think that there's any actual intellect difference between them and people that are 20 IQ points below them, because once you get past a certain number and I think that number is about 160, the difference isn't really relevant. Difference isn't really relevant. It's not like you'll be able to solve problems faster than the guy who's got a iq of 160 versus 170. There's no marked difference in iq there, and I think it all depends on the test as well. Obviously, that's the other part of it, because I think, yeah, they're not standardized. They have different questions. So if you take the mensa test versus like the, well and they're scaled differently.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, that's the biggest thing and here's the thing that people need to realize is, iq is a rolling average uh test, so a hundred, by definition, is always average iq.

Speaker 2:

So if For a generic sample group.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and if that generic sample group one year scores 105, well that becomes the new 100. Or if they score 98, that becomes the new 100.

Speaker 2:

Right, but then you can take the subsets of that group and then people can have higher or lower scores.

Speaker 1:

Sure.

Speaker 2:

Especially based off of their genetic profiles. I know that's the part nobody wants to talk about, and their sex that's the other part nobody wants to talk about, although I think sex is kind of tied to your genetics right, but I'm getting at the greater male variability hypothesis, where you know you have way more male idiots and way more male geniuses and that the bell curve for men is much flatter than it is for women, where women have a higher bell curve and bunch in the center, which actually makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 1:

It does, actually.

Speaker 2:

It really does. Yep, from a reproduction standpoint, that is exactly what you should have. You should have men willing to try a whole bunch of things, and part of them get killed in the process. But the ones that succeed, they have babies with a whole bunch of women. I think Elon Musk is a good example of this. I think he's got like 16 kids from seven different women.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I mean, do you think Musk is he's? He can't be over like a one 51, 60.

Speaker 2:

I know I think he is about a one 55. I don't think he's the highest IQ person I've seen there. I've never met him, obviously, but but I've. I've met a lot of really fucking high IQ people over the years, and a lot of them uh, they, they have similar social skills to Elon Musk, which means negative, negative social skills.

Speaker 1:

And there there definitely are some of those that, yeah, I think that's more common than it is not where you know, once you reach a certain point, you are at a how do I put it? You're very vertically integrated into how your intelligence is expressed, and thus you don't necessarily have, but then again there are a lot of people not a lot, but a subset of the people with the same IQ will have the ability to more or less seem normal.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, big Bang Theory is like you've got these guys that are, by society's measure, completely socially inept and very intelligent in their respective fields, but they're kind of like children when it comes to common sense and things like that. But to each other they're all on a similar level and it's just that. They're you know they're all on a similar level and it's just that they're. Uh, they're you know they're. They're higher level of intelligence. But the way that it's perceived by people with lower levels of intelligence as is as a a lack of ability versus a lack of ability versus a higher level of ability.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So let me ask you this, and I want your immediate first reaction Okay, Penny or Bernadette oh gosh, that's a tough one.

Speaker 2:

Probably Bernadette, although I hate saying that. Why do you hate saying that Is Bernadette has a very stereotypical Jewish personality in that show.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but she's also very hot you know, both.

Speaker 2:

I mean, there's no wrong answer here Look you know there is no classically speaking, penny has a much better body, like way, way better oh no, no, no, no, no, no no penny has ideal proportions mathematically, no, you go.

Speaker 1:

But look at that actress in a swimsuit. My friend, both of them. They are both very well proportioned no, they are, but.

Speaker 2:

But bernadette is top heavy and she's short I that's. That's fine by me fine doesn Doesn't make it ideal. Fine is a preference. Ideal is mathematically derivable. Yeah, all we need now is to have an argument about Star Trek and this show will be just perfect. This whole episode will be perfect, but it's. You know, that's one of the things that I remember. The first time I talked to you on the phone, ben is, I said ah, it's very clear that, based on this guy's communication style, that he's very smart.

Speaker 1:

He's a complete and total moron.

Speaker 2:

Got it. No, I said very smart. Because you were an incoherent, so clearly you must have had a high intellect level. Because you were an incoherent, so clearly you must have had a high intellect level. And I find that I enjoy having conversations with people with higher intellect more than I do with people with low intellect.

Speaker 1:

Uh-huh, kiss and ass I got you.

Speaker 2:

I mean, if that's how you interpret the lack of communication skills, then sure, so what do you?

Speaker 1:

think is the All right. Let's end it on a Star Trek argument. Uh-oh, worst Star Trek series of all time worst series, oh, that's easy.

Speaker 2:

Deep Space Nine wrong?

Speaker 1:

no, that's correct you obviously haven't watched Discovery no, I like Discovery.

Speaker 2:

I think Discovery is probably my second favorite original Discovery too woke, too much stupid shit in it. No, I like discovery. I think discovery is probably my second favorite for the original discovery too woke.

Speaker 1:

Oh wait, wait, wait, wait, wait wait, hold on.

Speaker 2:

I have not watched discovery.

Speaker 1:

You're absolutely right you're thinking of strange new worlds I'm thinking of strange new worlds, yeah, strange new worlds is fantastic.

Speaker 2:

My second favorite now. Yeah, yeah, no, you're absolutely right. I literally skipped discovery when I read about it and I said, nope, not going to go there. I already made a mistake of watching a star Wars movie. I'm not going to make a mistake of ruining star Trek.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you know a lot of people would say the animated series, which is where I thought you'd go. But hey, the animated series had some good stories.

Speaker 2:

It's got a few things. I don't think it's as funny as you think it is, but I did.

Speaker 1:

I was talking about the 1970s animated series not I thought lower decks, current animated series, lower deck.

Speaker 2:

No, that's called lower decks.

Speaker 1:

Star trek. The animated series was okay. After the original series it was a short run, yeah I don't remember that.

Speaker 2:

I'm pretty sure I watched it as a kid, but I don't remember it. But I do, uh, I do say or I do say, I do say, I do think that the um, I do believe, I do believe in w that yes, my dear watson of the series that I've seen, probably the worst is probably Deep Space Nine. I just never saw the actual worst one.

Speaker 1:

So Deep Space Nine. The first season was rough, but after that, like when you get into the Dominion War and everything else, I thought it got pretty good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I may have stopped watching it but, I think I stopped after the first season yeah, okay, there's your problem deep space. Nine, god dude.

Speaker 1:

That's like saying the next generation was a crappy show because of its first season.

Speaker 2:

It had a bad first season, but afterwards it got really good people thought it was, though, because I remember watching it in its original broadcast. This Riker pre-beard.

Speaker 1:

And.

Speaker 2:

I thought it was a little schmaltzy and not quite as serious.

Speaker 1:

Did you bring out the Jewish?

Speaker 2:

language. Don't be a putz.

Speaker 1:

You're starting to talk in Yiddish.

Speaker 2:

My Siri is now starting to say that it's not understanding Yiddish all of a sudden. It's bullshit. I don't don't see Yiddish Anyway, Um yeah, so quit being a putz. And I think that the, the series, uh, even that first season, it was not as good as the third season, for example, but I don't think it was as bad as some people claimed that it was back in the day yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, I feel the same way that you do about ds9. Like I, a lot of people will say ds9 is the best star trek season series and I will say, no, it is not. Don't know anybody um, yeah, okay well, anyway, you know, okay, well, anyway, you know, voyager TNG and DS9 all had rough first seasons.

Speaker 2:

Voyager, I thought had a very good premise.

Speaker 1:

Yes, but it was still a rough first season.

Speaker 2:

To me it always felt like they didn't have the budget of the other shows. They did at the end, they did at the end we only got like a quarter of the money. Shows Like they were like okay, let's, they did it. Uh, we, we only got like a quarter of the money, let's. Oh, let's hire a chick, that'll be cheaper. And then uh we'll make them a loss, but they won't actually be landing in any planets. That'll be better.

Speaker 1:

I mean, am I wrong? I think you need to re-watch some shows uh, I'm not.

Speaker 2:

I didn't dislike it, but it was definitely like my favorite character. Uh was the hologram doctor, obviously oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, ricardo whatever his name is yeah multiple fantastic yeah yeah absolutely he was a good character and he was the right he was the right actor to play that character 709 could assimilate me any day well, just back then, especially jesus christ god jerry ryan in that skin suit.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I literally had a poster of that in my in my room in when I was in high school, like I bet you did uh-huh, yeah, yeah jerry, I'm sorry and how was jerry?

Speaker 2:

I mean, I'm sure you have fond memories I don't know what you're talking about I, I do think that without the clothes, without the skin tight clothes, I think um what's her name? Uh, blaylock the Enterprise Vulcan.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, she had skin tight clothes too.

Speaker 2:

She did, but I think without any clothes she looks a little better than Jerry without clothes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and that's to Paul, by the way. Paul, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

She's got by the way if you can't tell.

Speaker 1:

I have seen some Star Trek in my day and I'm a little bit of a nerd on it Recently.

Speaker 2:

I remember when you started doing that. Yeah, and I'm going off memory of original runs here Not the first one, obviously, I wasn't around for the first one, but I thought she was probably the most sensual of all female, all, just all females period in Star Trek, because the episodes that she had with trip where they're doing massage oh, yeah, yeah, yeah blind pornography man I mean like she is not just attractive looking, but she acted extremely seductively, like she was really good at that and I think that was also a career in there for her.

Speaker 1:

I think that she she went from modeling to doing star trek to doing nothing, being his wife well, you know they're talking about doing an enterprise movie, so we'll see uh, man, they'd have to have a lot of different actors then uh, that, or they, you know, do a, we're old now and admiral are just getting the group back together yeah, I mean, I guess would they be relative to uh, to the, the new, the current show, um to uh the strange new world.

Speaker 2:

Strange world, yeah, or strange it would be, they would be how far before them.

Speaker 1:

I'd have to go look at canon to tell you off the top of my head. But it's, you know, strange new worlds is close 150 years they'd be far enough.

Speaker 2:

Off that, jesus, let's look at worlds yeah timeline from enterprise to strange new worlds yeah, okay, I don't want an explanation of the timeline, just give me the damn translation 23rd century. Yeah, that doesn't mean anything, so 2066 to 2289.

Speaker 1:

And so, like a hundred years, yeah, no, no, no, you're misreading. So Star Trek Enterprise covers 2151 through 2155. Discovery starts in 2256. Strange New World starts in 2256. Strangely, world starts in 2259. So that's over a. You know, that's a hundred years difference A hundred years.

Speaker 2:

That's what I said. How am I misreading it? Okay? So I literally said a hundred years.

Speaker 1:

They couldn't do a crossover is my point.

Speaker 2:

Although they did do a crossover with the original Star Trek. Yeah, but that was only 70 years. Oh, but that was only 70 years oh yeah, that was 100.

Speaker 1:

And McCoy was supposed to be one of the oldest living people and all that. And then you had Scotty, the Scotty episode where he was stored in a transporter buffer, and yadda, yadda, yadda Right.

Speaker 2:

Oh Vulcans, they live a long time.

Speaker 1:

On a Dyson Sphere. On a Dyson Sphere. Yeah, I just think Dyson spheres are cool. They are cool.

Speaker 2:

We first got to get off this planet. Before we start talking about building that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, you know we got to find a nice solar system with plenty of material that's uninhabitable.

Speaker 2:

Honestly, a Dyson sphere around Venus would be great.

Speaker 1:

That wouldn't be a Dyson sphere. No, a Dyson sphere goes around a star dude.

Speaker 2:

Is it just a star? Okay, what's it called when you build what looks like a Dyson sphere on the planet? I don't know, but the entire point of a dyson sphere is to capture all the energy output of a sun. Yeah, yeah, but there's also something that's there's a whole bunch of different potential theoretical megastructures that, yeah, you know. Yeah, no, you're right the dyson sphere is that, but there is also something that basically is that for planets as well where you're instead of being on the planet and mining the planet.

Speaker 2:

you're on a structure completely surrounding and encapsulating the planet and you're fully disassembling the planet inside.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, let's have Ringworld. There you go, there you go, which, by the way the first ring world book not bad like the fifth ring world book.

Speaker 2:

Holy shit, shoot me now I'm trying to remember how many of them I read. I may have only read two I read a lot yeah you read more than me, that for sure. I still haven't finished that last book we were talking about.

Speaker 1:

By the way, larry Niven on his own eh. Jerry Pornel on his own, eh, larry Niven and Jerry Pornel together fucking fantastic books. Yeah, like the Moat in. God's Eye, lucifer's Hammer, footfall all of those were really good books.

Speaker 2:

Some people are better in a collaborative environment Yep, yep, yep. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like James A Corey.

Speaker 2:

What did he do? He sounds really familiar. The Expanse is a collaboration between two authors with the pen name of James A Corey. Right, right, right, okay, it's not a him, it's a them. Yeah, exactly, and those guys did.

Speaker 1:

And when you say them you don't mean the singular.

Speaker 2:

Well, them doesn't mean the singular ever period, it just.

Speaker 1:

Well, I mean, they could be a them, they.

Speaker 2:

Well, they could be, since there's two of them. Yes, indeed.

Speaker 1:

They could be a them day Watching the hamster stutter on the wheel between your ears is hilarious.

Speaker 2:

It's just so absurd that the idea of somebody effectively being able to tell you to subvert the English. There's a great video that I saw. I don't think I could refine it because it was one of these spur of the moment, post it to X and then move on, kind of things, but it was a video of an either british or australian news anchor that was bringing on a person to talk about some mundane topic or something totally unrelated, to woke shit right. Just like, oh, like, oh. And here's.

Speaker 1:

Here's Billy Bob.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, he's going to talk about what she thinks about the weather.

Speaker 2:

And she said she and this person who looks like a chick with makeup, right, she's looking back and kind of half smiling, saying you know, was there a reason that you had to misgender me? And now it's back in the news anchors corner where she's like well, I don't think I misgendered you. I said that you were going to talk about this and of course you're a woman, so I refer to you as a she and this person then, instead of talking about whatever the hell they were brought in to talk about, starts talking about well, you know that I use they, them, not she, her and this to her credit. This Australian or British, whatever it was, anchor said you know, you're more than welcome to use whatever version of the English language you prefer to use. I will use English language in its proper sense and I will refer to plurals as they, them, and I refer to singulars based on the sex of the person. So she just wasn't going to have any of it. She put her right back and good for her. Good honor, as they say in Australia.

Speaker 2:

And because, uh, you know what, what the hell? You're being brought up to talk about some topic and instead of using that time for what you were brought on. You're going to refocus on your personal kink, which is having people say shit, that's incorrect in the english language. How absurd it is, because it's really to me that whole topic of the, the fake genderism that's out there, is exactly like the furries. It is the same thing. It's people that get a rise out of having somebody see them wearing clothes like an animal while fucking, or this is an adult show.

Speaker 2:

Or, uh, hearing somebody use incorrect English language to describe them as a form of dominance. That's all it is, because you can't take words that already exist. At least the Z-zers, at least they were creative and came up with some new words that they then can also say hey, if you create a new word, you're entitled to create the meaning for that word as well. So I don't have a problem with that. I'm still not going to use them, because if I'm referring to somebody as a pronoun, then I'm not going to use what is effectively a proper name for them, which is the Z or the Zerd that they came up with. Well, and let's be clear At least it's not burning the English language.

Speaker 1:

Well, it is because when sex is unknown, so if you have someone androgynous before you, the appropriate response should be to refer to them in the masculine. When sex is unknown, you assume the masculine.

Speaker 2:

That is how the English language works, or you could refer to it as a thing?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well anyway. So as incomprehensible is the federal response and Kamala's response to the hurricane and the devastation in Appalachia.

Speaker 2:

My God, we forgot to talk about the hurricane.

Speaker 1:

Let's do that. I just brought it up.

Speaker 2:

I'm glad you did, cause I would have forgotten to, and now we didn't forget. Good thing I remembered. Well, anyway, the $750 loan that they're talking about like the optics of this are so bad dude they're talking about, like the optics of this are so bad dude. How much more insulting can it get?

Speaker 1:

is my question uh, kamala, not even going or doing anything like it's like she's given up as a presidential candidate.

Speaker 2:

To be honest with you, isn't she still the vp currently? I mean, we have no president. That's pretty obvious, but it seems like we have no right either but she knows she's about to get fired and she doesn't care.

Speaker 1:

She's got that senioritis bullshit or she knows she's about to be done and it doesn't matter yeah, I, I mean it's.

Speaker 2:

I think it is the whole point of fema is supposed to be to help people deal with emergencies that are not their fault.

Speaker 1:

They're out of money. They can't afford this next hurricane that's coming because of climate change.

Speaker 2:

Oh, because of climate change or because they gave up?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, not because of HAARP, and they're steering it or anything like that, but because of climate change, which I think both hypotheses, by the way, are literally the same level of ludicrous. Climate change is not causing storms or intensifying storms and harp is not driving them.

Speaker 1:

I may eat my words on the on the, I mean, we don't know I may eat my words on the latter but not the former, and what it comes down to is here. Here's the thing storms have always, have always happened. Storms have hit. We have not had a very bad hurricane season in a while and, quite frankly, this hasn't been a bad hurricane season. Even what hit Florida and went up through the Carolinas. It wasn't the wind, it wasn't the hurricane, it was the amount of rain that got dropped because it stalled out a little bit, and, quite frankly, the mismanagement of a lot of aquifers and everything else and the geography that happened to just screw over some people, but you can't deny that the current government steered it right over the current red states.

Speaker 1:

I have no evidence that the government did anything other than their inept response.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think that's true. They have a very inept response. But if you were to point the finger at some intelligent being doing this, would you rather point it at the current government or God?

Speaker 1:

Well, I don't think either has any control over this. I think god can steer things. I don't think he does like god set up this machine in motion and, other than a few events throughout human history, his hands have been pretty much off. God doesn't go. I'm gonna steer this over the red states, that'll be fun.

Speaker 2:

What's the point of praying then? Either god's hands on or he's hands off. Which one is it?

Speaker 1:

Alright, Micro or macro scale. It's like does evolution happen? Micro or macro?

Speaker 2:

Who knows? Just a theory.

Speaker 1:

Alright, you can pray for God to let you win the lottery. You're not going to win the lottery, because God helped you win the lottery.

Speaker 2:

What if you win the lottery? Would you going to win the?

Speaker 1:

lottery, because god helped you win the lottery. But what if you win the lottery? Would you not thank god at that point?

Speaker 2:

okay, back to the topic of the hurricane, because I don't want to get drug off in that direction right now, because you know we're recording this at 7 30 at night so anyway, I I think it's a one of the worst responses we've had since katrina oh, it's way worse than katrina okay, well, it could be, but it's at least as as bad as katrina yeah, and it is the same goddamn tactics too. Where they're, they're basically trying to disarm people under the guise of weather yep and they are blocking people from going in and rendering civilian aid which, as far as I'm concerned, they have zero right to do. You cannot stop some two people from engaging in private commerce just because it's not even commerce.

Speaker 1:

People are flying people in and out and doing everything else and they're putting up temporary flight restrictions.

Speaker 2:

They're doing all sorts of nefarious things here it's. It should all be disregarded. Now, not lawyer giving advice here, but I'm just saying there comes a point and I I've I've asked this question on x of people. It's like when the government has literally failed in, in a very broad sense of the word failed, when you have a failed government, what do you do next?

Speaker 1:

um, this is why thomas jefferson wanted to chain the government so they did not become legalized criminals. Well, we failed at that, so it's time for another revolution is what it's time for okay, I was asking that to be answered silently, but clearly.

Speaker 2:

You said it out loud.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, I mean you're not wrong I didn't call for a violent one there are people I'm saying we need a revolution and you can call it a great awakening 3.0, whatever you want, but we need a come to jesus moment where people realize what liberty matters and what things matter and how they can rectify their lives both from a societal standpoint, inside their own families and within their government.

Speaker 2:

So let me say something that's pretty scary here. Is that? What if people don't want that? What if a majority of people actually are okay with what's happening right now?

Speaker 1:

Then the 2000 year leap and revolution that we have seen in America will die not with a bang but with a whimper, and those of us who still learn, yearn for freedom, will lament its passing and have nowhere to go.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I'm I'm not sure that nowhere to go thing, but um, it's. I think that it's. It's easy for a lot of us to assume that when we see complete and utter failure of the government the way it's happening right now, that everybody sees the complete and utter failure of the government. But to some people this may actually be government working as intended.

Speaker 1:

Oh no, and I think the people in the affected areas definitely see it. And did you see the FEMA video?

Speaker 2:

where they were doing the. I was referring to the affected areas.

Speaker 1:

I was referring to people in california right, but did you see the fema video where the planners were talking about how they need to focus on lgbtq plus iap? Americans and saving them because they already have a hard life, and this just makes it worse don't like how fucking narcissistic are you looked at in this country through a lens of oppression.

Speaker 2:

And everything made has to be made based on a person's standing within the hierarchy of oppression, and so the more successful you are, the more you actually manage to do things for yourself, the lower your standing is. Yeah, I refuse to accept that it really just feels like not only have we been living in 1984, uh, but that kurt vonnegut book um bergerac well, the short, yeah, yeah, the short story the something, something bergerac uh is person to bergerac, which what's his name?

Speaker 2:

harrison to berger harrison, harrison, yeah, yeah is really come to life. Is that the idea that the way that you make everybody be equal is by imposing all the negatives on people that don't have them? You want everybody to be equal. Well, you effectively force everybody to be a fat kid.

Speaker 1:

You've got the lowest common denominator, yeah lowest common denominator across the board.

Speaker 2:

If somebody's too smart for their own good, you need everybody to be of equal intellect.

Speaker 1:

So let's, you know, hit his brain a few times, jostle it around until it no longer is as smart as it used to be yeah, you should read anthem by ayn rand I read the anthem by ayn rand before you were born okay, well, you should reread it and, you know, pick either the fountain head or, uh, you know, atlas shrugged, because I think that that's. We are dealing with the looters of society right now.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, we are. I mean, I think that goes without saying. But telling me to read those books is sort of absurd.

Speaker 1:

But yes, sure, my point was your references to 1984 and Harrison to Bergerac. While I get it, and I tend to agree with you, I don't think we're in 1984, to the draconian sense of the party being that overt. I think we are in a covert 1984. I don't think we're in a place.

Speaker 2:

We're probably more in an animal farm than we are in 1984.

Speaker 1:

Right, we're not in a place of Harrison to Bergerac where, literally, because I am strong, I have to wear weights, or because, I'm smart, I have to wear headphones that distract me. We are not in those overt systems. We are in a system where the looters are overt and overt in their success, but it's slightly different. That was my point.

Speaker 2:

You're not wrong, you're not wrong. Point, you're not wrong, you're not wrong. But I I get tired of saying uh, you know that people should read atlas. Shrug your fountainhead, because it's a. I've literally been on that bag when bandwagon for 35 years so it's it's a I'm trying to. I'm trying to use broader references than the standard go to diet that I always have.

Speaker 1:

And you know what I read it probably. Oh shit. At least 26 years ago for the first time. If not longer yeah.

Speaker 2:

Which, which one?

Speaker 1:

Which one did I read first? Yeah, uh, atlas shrugged. And then I went and read the fountainhead yeah, and you know, you got to remember, I'm like 12 reading this right, right, right which what the fuck was wrong with my parents that they let me read atlas, shrugged the fountainhead, and heinlein the way they did at an early age yeah, I can tell you absolutely nothing. That's what well and I met you wants to know where the conversation came from.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's my point yeah, fair enough, fair enough. But uh, come on, by that age you were already. You would have found kink elsewhere if you wouldn't have seen it yeah yeah yeah, it's, uh.

Speaker 2:

I think just we're dealing with too many npcs, that this is, to use modern terminology. I think that's a huge. Part of the problem is that those of us who are not on PCs assume that everybody's an actual player character, but that's a bad assumption, because a huge number of the characters are NPCs In fact, the majority are and they will not behave in predictable ways unless you acknowledge that they're an NPC, and then they will behave exactly as you expect okay and the problem with that is that's eugenics.

Speaker 1:

People don't like that ah, I don't know if it's eugenics or just well it's.

Speaker 2:

It's seeing the differences between different groups of people and right, but you know the problem with eugenics, right. Well, which one? Which one are you referring to?

Speaker 1:

Like not even the moral problem, but the problem of the regression to the mean.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So eugenics is a failed thing regardless, because, A the morality of it but B the regression to the mean means you breed two smart people, you don't necessarily end up with a smart kid. In fact, they will be a statistical deviation below where the two parents were well, it's I.

Speaker 2:

I think that the genetics is just providing the support structure. The actual building has to be built, and that that's not genetics.

Speaker 1:

That's the upgrading, the culture, the belief system Right, but I'm saying that eugenics as an experiment to breed superior genetics doesn't work is my point.

Speaker 2:

But it doesn't. Well, I think it does work and honestly I mean we're going to get into it, let's get into it. I think a perfect example of that is the percentage of black people on sports teams in this country yeah, let's save that for the next podcast, because it's almost eight o'clock and I'm hungry all right, fair enough. I just I grabbed some food before we started, so but yeah, I mean it's like look we, we can save it for next time.

Speaker 2:

Let me just sorry, people are not left totally wondering. The the slave trade provided, without intent, a form of eugenics, by having the weakest members of the slaves that were being transported not survive the voyage, so you effectively have a population made up of only survivors. Anyway, we can chat more on that topic later. We'll wrap this one up. Get to chat as usual, ben, and remind me, just so I don't forget to mark this episode as adults.

Speaker 1:

Gene. Mark it as adults only.

Speaker 2:

Well, remind me. Not right now, though. Well, I don't know when you're going to post it. Well, remind me before I post it, goddamn.

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