Latest / The TMI Show with Ted Rall and Manila Chan / Amazon Pregnancy Lawsuit, 9/11 Toxic-Air Records, TSA Gate Access and the CD Comeback | TMI Ep 458

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Amazon Pregnancy Lawsuit, 9/11 Toxic-Air Records, TSA Gate Access and the CD Comeback | TMI Ep 458 · The TMI Show with Ted Rall and Manila Chan

0:20
Oh, happy Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 on Manila
0:24
fans. That be Ted Raul. You are tuned in to the
0:27
Ted Manila Information Show's KMI show for short,
0:30
because we bring you way too much information.
0:31
It should be weird news Wednesday, Ted, but when
0:34
I was planning the rundown, I forgot the day.
0:38
It was Wednesday. Well, that's quite all right.
0:43
I mean, I kind of feel like, as you know, we've
0:45
had this discussion offline. I think... Every
0:48
day should be weird news. Yeah. You sound really
0:54
flat middle. It's like you're talking in an outhouse.
0:56
Yeah, it's true. Let me check the audio connection.
1:00
It sounds like it's not going through the mic.
1:02
It sounds like it's going through the computer.
1:04
Yeah, it's not like your computer microphone
1:06
and not your main one. Yeah. How about now? How
1:09
about now? Ah, there we go. Here it was on the
1:12
sure Mike but it for some reason it shows to
1:15
sure Mike I don't know whatever the camera AI
1:17
did when I switched them back and forth in all
1:20
kinds of wacky stuff my computer and I forgetting
1:22
to contact Now you're in and out Manila My god,
1:28
but you can hear me well now Say something maybe
1:33
yes. Sing a song A, B, C, D, E, F, G. That's
1:39
not a very good song, but we do hear you. OK,
1:42
that's a better test. OK, so yeah, well, I know
1:46
Ted wants to do everything weird. It's hard to
1:49
find just weird news. That's the thing. But that's
1:52
not true. Well, I think weird. I don't know how
1:58
you qualify weird, but. But it's like porn, you
2:02
know, when you see it. Yes. As for today, because
2:08
in my mind, it was Tuesday, I forgot that we
2:10
had, Monday was Labor Day. So I'm going to do
2:14
Weird News Thursday. Or something like that.
2:19
So there's a lot of stuff out there. That's true.
2:22
But some days there are not. And then we're figuring
2:26
out what we're doing with the YouTube and Rumble
2:29
thing. So we're having a team powwow tomorrow.
2:32
So we'll figure it out anyway. as the week goes
2:35
and we'll keep you guys posted we've been very
2:37
open and honest about you know what's going down
2:39
over here right like I don't I don't believe
2:42
in in keeping secrets from the viewers because
2:44
you create a community and they're all a part
2:46
of it you know so well we don't have any we don't
2:51
have any dark secrets here anyways no no I mean
2:54
like what we're gonna do like with the show and
2:57
stuff and like we're what platform we have to
2:59
move to we got to figure out what to do obviously
3:01
because we have to pay the bills we have to pay
3:03
we have to at least hit a break -even point and
3:07
With the new changes on rumble that isn't really
3:10
gonna happen. Like it's just not Not feasible.
3:13
So we're gonna figure out what to do manana But
3:16
as for today Wednesday We got stuff for you.
3:20
So we'll get we'll get to the news and and Ted
3:23
I want to make more use of stuff like this I
3:34
still think we need to get all the morning zoo
3:35
sounds. The duck. The air horn. Unpopular opinion?
3:46
I got that. I have um... Hand laughter. I don't
3:55
know what this one is. Oh, a punch. A punch.
4:01
Yeah, that one sucks. Don't ever use it. Yeah,
4:03
that one sucks. There it is. That's the morning
4:07
zoo. They have boings. Bounce. They call this
4:10
one bounce. Yeah. Although it's like, I kind
4:15
of prefer a more robust. But I know I'm a cartoonist.
4:20
That's why. Yeah, I could see that. There are
4:23
more, but we'd have to go through them and we
4:26
don't have. Let's really not. Let's get to Amazon.
4:29
Let's do it. We have a lot to talk about today.
4:31
That story makes me angry. So let's jump to the
4:34
stories. All right, so first story. As you know,
4:41
this affects me, Ted, and the picture of the
4:43
lady that they used, I thought before I read
4:46
the story on USA Today, I thought surely that
4:49
must be the grandma of the little baby girl.
4:53
But it was not. That lady had me beat. She became
4:59
a new mom again. at 47. Wow. Yeah. She had me
5:06
way beat. So there you go. But so this this really
5:11
hit home for me. So for former former Amazon
5:16
warehouse employees have filed a proposed nationwide
5:20
class action lawsuit accusing the company of
5:23
systematically mistreating pregnant workers.
5:26
The lawsuit alleges Amazon delayed or denied
5:30
Basic accommodations including things like chairs.
5:34
I mean Ted chairs for pregnant ladies Sitting
5:37
down You lazy bitches How dad water Water. Yeah.
5:45
Well, I mean I hate to say it. I think humans
5:47
need water Well, not just humans at restroom
5:53
breaks They're notorious for that. There's all
5:56
these stories of Amazon warehouse workers having
5:58
to piss into jugs. That's just non -pregnant
6:02
people. Think of pregnant women. I don't think
6:04
ladies would find an easy time peeing into a
6:09
jug. It's a little bit harder and especially
6:11
a pregnant lady when you can't even see your
6:13
feet, like your belly is out, like you're like,
6:16
where would I put this bucket? So it's really
6:19
difficult and you have to do it like every 20
6:21
minutes. Like in that final trimester, I don't
6:23
know how I got through the show, like an hour,
6:25
because it's like I was having to pee every 20
6:28
minutes. So workers say pregnancy -related absences
6:31
were counted against Amazon's attendance requirements.
6:36
This is like 11th grade all over again, leading
6:38
to discipline, unpaid leave, or even termination.
6:43
One of the key plaintiffs, Wilhelmina Barclay,
6:46
says she repeatedly requested accommodations
6:49
before suffering severe abdominal abdominal pain
6:53
while lifting heavy objects at a New York warehouse.
6:56
She was taken from work in a wheelchair hospitalized
7:01
and then later fired after missing work because
7:05
of her. What a sweetie. Wait, see? Oh, wait,
7:10
let me let me read that part again. Fired because
7:14
she missed work due to pregnancy related emergencies.
7:23
That called for that, for sure. Amazon denies
7:27
the allegations, of course. The company says
7:29
it approved more than 99 .9 % of pregnancy related
7:33
accommodation requests last year and provides
7:35
up to 20 weeks of paid leave. I presume they
7:39
mean mat leave to eligible employees. Just as
7:44
a sidebar. I wanted to add this in there myself.
7:47
So the United States does have some federal protections
7:50
for pregnant workers since Going all the way
7:53
back to 2023 Ted our great nation as progressive
7:56
as it is all the way back to 2023 the Pregnant
8:01
Workers Fairness Act has required employers with
8:04
at least 15 workers to provide reasonable accommodations
8:08
unless doing so creates an undue hardship Employers
8:12
generally cannot force workers onto the leave
8:15
when another reasonable adjustment would allow
8:17
them to continue working. And what America does
8:21
lack though is universal federal paid maternity
8:25
leave. The FMLA, which is Family Medical Leave
8:28
Act, offers eligible workers up to 12 weeks of
8:32
job protected leave, but it can be unpaid. and
8:36
excludes many many many many more workers that's
8:39
usually yeah this this goes back to the bill
8:42
clinton administration and man did democrats
8:45
ever brag about it and i guess it's better than
8:49
nothing but it's not much better than nothing
8:51
yeah this is look you have to be um i'm not a
8:55
payroll person but i think they call it the you
8:57
have to be an exempt employee where you're like
8:59
salaried or something and then and then you can
9:02
take your your leave and your job is protected
9:05
for a whopping 12 weeks. Unpaid. Right. It's
9:10
unpaid, but you can still have your job. That
9:13
wasn't my experience, but I had a much better
9:15
experience. But most hourly workers have no job
9:20
protections and guaranteed no pay. So by comparison,
9:27
Russia provides 140 days of paid mat leave. China
9:31
guarantees at least 98 days with longer periods
9:36
depending on the province you're in. France generally
9:39
provides six weeks of maternity leave supported
9:43
through its social security system. All three
9:45
countries also impose workplace protections for
9:49
pregnant employees. So they're basically, to
9:54
summarize that, it means all of those countries,
9:56
Russia, China, and France, if you are pregnant,
10:00
working lady if you ask for a chair you get a
10:04
chair you need to go pee you can go pee well
10:08
not at amazon no no they don't well they don't
10:12
have amazon in russia they have wild berries
10:14
which you know but american law does not require
10:17
a chair for at amazon right american law may
10:21
require a chair or additional bathroom break
10:24
it still does not guarantee That a woman can
10:27
afford to take any time off after giving birth.
10:29
So it may require a chair. That's Mm -hmm her
10:34
bitch here May depending on the situation if
10:38
it doesn't cause Jeff Jeff Bezos undue hardship
10:42
for Wilhelmina Barclay to get a chair I Don't
10:46
want to cause, you know poor poor innocent Jeff
10:49
Bezos any undue hardship By asking for a chair.
10:53
Yeah be wrong So that lady that the article cited,
10:57
Wilhelmina Barclay, she was terminated, I guess,
11:02
just before her baby was born. That's awesome.
11:04
There was another lady they referenced, the one
11:06
I talked about earlier, the 47 -year -old lady.
11:09
I think her name was Jennifer something. She
11:14
was also terminated because apparently, Ted,
11:18
she was taking too many potty breaks and used
11:21
up all of her unpaid time. They calculated her
11:24
potty break times. Charming. And counted it against
11:29
her. So look, this is the problem. One of the
11:34
many problems here in the US is that globally
11:39
we have a declining birth rate, the United States
11:42
especially. We have created a society that has
11:47
told us Family is not important. Children are
11:50
not important. Babies are not. Certainly, fetuses,
11:53
babies in utero are certainly not important.
11:56
And the vessels that carry them, we are certainly
11:59
not important. We are disposable. Go make your
12:02
baby somewhere else on a pasture. You're replaceable.
12:07
And the whole, I feel like the whole of society,
12:14
as much as they try to harp on Like, oh, we've
12:18
progressed so much and we care about women and
12:22
children or whatever. I would argue if we look
12:25
at all of the businesses that the US has, I mean,
12:29
you can go anywhere from, I don't know, one of
12:32
Elon's companies, let's say Tesla or whatever.
12:35
All of these companies seem to have violations,
12:40
strikes against them when it comes to pregnant
12:42
women. Elon is the guy that says I don't want
12:45
to drag Elon into this but he's a tech oligarch
12:47
just like Jeff Bezos when it comes to their means
12:51
of production versus your me people like me uterus
12:56
having females Our means of production are Not
13:03
important and that's what pisses me off about
13:06
this country and we shit on all the other countries
13:09
like China We shit on Russia. We shit on all
13:12
these like these, you know, like Iran, those
13:16
people all have job protections and forced accommodations.
13:21
And you know what, Ted? When you're on the fucking
13:25
metro, people get up for a pregnant lady. They
13:29
didn't do that for me when I was pregnant with
13:32
my son. And thankfully for me, when I worked
13:36
for RT all those years and I had my son almost
13:39
eight years ago, Not only did did I have job
13:43
protections Every accommodation if I asked I
13:48
was like, oh my god I got major sciatica because
13:50
my son descended down on to my sciatic nerve
13:53
They people they had somebody help wheel me around
13:57
the studio because I couldn't walk from from
14:00
my office Onto the set they would wheel me to
14:05
the studio. They would have people help me they
14:08
accommodated Things that I didn't even ask or
14:11
think of and then when I came back from Matt
14:13
leave they surprised me with a private A private
14:20
space room that they made just for me so I could
14:25
pump That's what the evil Russians did for me
14:30
Manila, because I haven't studied the story very
14:33
much. These ladies, were they 1099 contract workers
14:37
or they actually Amazon employees? Amazon employees.
14:42
That is insane. W -2 employees. So there's four
14:47
ladies so far stepping forward to sue and they're
14:50
trying to urge other women from Obviously there
14:54
there's got to be tons more right Amazon employees
14:57
tens of thousands of people It's the second as
14:59
far as retail goes tens of thousands of employees
15:02
second only behind Walmart. So I imagine Annually,
15:07
there's got to be thousands of women who are
15:09
pregnant that are w2 employees of these corporations
15:13
They're urging these women to step up So I don't
15:18
know if some if you if you know an Amazon pregnant
15:20
Amazon lady or was pregnant or whatever Would
15:24
urge if you hear this you tell your friend Tell
15:27
them to to look into this class -action lawsuit
15:30
because nothing is gonna change until you hurt
15:33
them in the pocket Unless you you can kick Jeff
15:37
Bezos in the balls I don't know if it matters
15:39
because I think his balls went to Lauren Sanchez's
15:41
purse her maze bag but But it where it will hurt
15:48
him is in the pocketbook And if you sue the shit
15:51
out of him and make an example out of him, then
15:55
that's the only way things can change. I mean,
15:59
I don't know all the details of the of of not
16:03
only the laws, but what happened independently
16:06
to these women. But it sounds to me, Ted, that
16:10
like it came from the the the rules came from
16:15
the top down that the managers on the floor.
16:18
the Amazon warehouses were literally walking
16:23
around like the the older lady the 47 year old
16:25
lady They walked around to make sure You're doing
16:31
what you're supposed to be doing standing up
16:34
because the the 47 year old lady She said she
16:38
was basically given a demerit Because she found
16:41
a stool to sit on to do what she was supposed
16:44
to do like in the warehouse Which didn't require
16:48
her to walk around she was processing like returns
16:51
and stuff. She could do it from her station And
16:53
so she found a chair and she was like eight months
16:56
pregnant. She found a chair to sit on sat on
17:00
it the floor manager came around saw her sitting
17:03
took the chair from her Sighted her and that
17:06
went in her permanent file and ultimately she
17:08
was later fired. So you have hired People that
17:14
would have been I don't know in the Gestapo to
17:18
go be your floor managers and harass and bully
17:22
pregnant women. This is horrid, horrible. So,
17:28
I mean, my kid's only four months old, so I'm
17:31
like still coming off of like the tens of thousands
17:34
of percent increase in hormones. Hearing that
17:36
this was happening to other women just infuriates
17:40
me to no end. And also it makes me feel like
17:46
when I look back to when I was pregnant with
17:48
my son, how lucky I was that I worked for the
17:51
evil Russians because the evil Russians not only
17:54
paid my time off, gave me great health care benefits,
17:58
but then had every accommodation like they thought
18:01
I had for me. Like I never thought to have a
18:04
breast pump room. Like who would ever think to
18:07
ask their employer for that? Right. I didn't
18:09
even have to ask. I came back and they had it
18:12
waiting for me. I was like, what? You guys did
18:15
this for me? It's so nice. Yeah. I can't believe.
18:19
And meanwhile, you hear all the noise outside.
18:22
This is right in the middle of the Russiagate
18:25
stuff and all this stuff in 2018. And I was like,
18:29
if these assholes out there could only know what
18:32
was happening behind these studio doors of how
18:38
well they treated this pregnant lady. And then
18:40
there were subsequent pregnant people. They don't
18:42
care. I mean, facts don't matter. That was an
18:45
example of how U .S. employers should treat their
18:49
workers. But we don't. But we don't, because
18:54
we do not care about women and families and children.
18:59
The Russians do. Even the evil Chinese. Did you
19:03
see Tim Poole's morning stream, his video they
19:07
has up? No. Talk about a complete tool. So you're
19:11
talking about the evil Russians. That's how I
19:13
bring this up. He has a picture of a very menacing
19:15
looking Putin, just Russian attack on NATO thwarted.
19:21
Meanwhile, you've got slime bags like Jeff Bezos
19:28
doing this to Americans. Which of them is actually
19:32
a greater threat? Which of them is the problem?
19:35
It's not the Russian. It's not the Russian. It's
19:38
our tech oligarchs. Yeah, yeah mccade and over
19:42
in Australia. Thank you for the donation. He
19:44
says You obviously don't remember what happened
19:47
to the security guard in Seinfeld who got the
19:49
chair? Was it what I think was it George George
19:57
gave him the chair right George was like hey
20:00
Like I do remember wouldn't you be more comfortable
20:02
in a chair? That's that's exactly right that
20:05
in a nutshell is like the American workforce
20:08
and how we treat our employees. And then we wonder
20:12
why our society is uncaring and cold and mean
20:15
is because we, you hire the Gestapo to walk around
20:21
the floor and make sure everybody's doing exactly
20:25
what they're supposed to be doing on their feet
20:28
at all times. So anyway, any other pregnant ladies
20:32
out there that work for Amazon, please look into
20:35
this lawsuit. Please see if your rights were
20:38
violated. Don't be afraid. What about pregnant
20:41
men? Can pregnant men get in on this lawsuit?
20:43
I'm sure Bezos probably hired some pregnant dudes.
20:46
People with deuteroses. A deuterous. We can't
20:51
discriminate against pregnant men. No, I mean,
20:55
yeah, for sure. I mean, they're man China. That's
20:58
true. I'm only speaking for my own though. I
21:01
can only speak for my own people. I only know
21:04
that pregnant women I know that having been a
21:07
pregnant woman twice, that a chair would be useful.
21:12
By the way, Manila, one of our commenters points
21:15
out that Phillips says, the oldest verified woman
21:20
to give birth is Aramati Mangayama. She's from
21:25
India. She gave birth to twin girls on September
21:28
5th, 2019 at the age of 74. Oh, I heard about
21:33
that. Was that natural though? Or was that? Or
21:36
preternatural? Or was it IVF? She had help. Come
21:45
on. I mean, I kind of have to say I call some
21:48
sort of bullshit on this. I'm not sure exactly
21:51
what nature of bullshit it is, but there's got
21:53
to be some bullshit here. Yeah, that's gotta
21:56
be true. It's just not possible. Your ovaries
21:59
are a fossil of that. Yeah, yeah, that's crazy.
22:03
That's Yeah, I like you that that's like I Mean
22:09
maybe it's not impossible, but I imagine that's
22:12
not that's not a natural conception We might
22:17
have different ideas about what verified means
22:21
than they do Maybe maybe I don't know, but I
22:26
know the Amazon ladies were not These are not
22:31
the highest IVF is expensive and Amazon is notorious
22:34
for not Not giving you the best benefits not
22:37
paying the highest and not whatever, right? I
22:40
mean there I'm sure there are worse But I'm fairly
22:43
sure Ted that these women were not IVF moms.
22:46
These were natural conception surprise pregnancies
22:50
and And this is how the shit rolled down the
22:55
hill on these women. They actually had gestapo
22:58
like Floor managers walking around taking chairs
23:02
away from them Well, I can't say any of this
23:07
is I mean honestly, I mean I I can't say I'm
23:10
terribly surprised I've had some really fucking
23:12
terrible bosses and worked for terrible people
23:15
How petty like what kind of a person are you
23:19
what no I used to I had a job Okay, I'll tell
23:21
this story. I had a job. I was not pregnant with
23:24
my deuterus. I had a job at the Bank of New York
23:26
It was in Jersey City I lived on the Upper West
23:29
Side of Manhattan. It's about an hour and a half
23:31
commute one way. Oh God, Ted. Yeah, it sucked.
23:36
I mean, you know, what can I say? I needed a
23:37
job desperately. So the job blew. But I was there
23:43
about a month and I got a horrible stomach bug.
23:50
And, you know, to the point where I couldn't
23:52
even make it, like, down the stairs of my building.
23:54
I mean, if I'd ridden the subway, I would have
23:56
been projectile vomiting all over New Yorkers.
23:58
I mean, and not to mention shitting my pants.
24:01
It was just impossible. You know, like, just
24:03
debilitating. So I called in sick. They said,
24:10
oh, well, you're still on your probation, 90
24:13
-day probation. You're not allowed to take any
24:15
sick days. So they fired me. So and they recruited
24:23
me by the way away from my previous job So so
24:30
this is how they treat a dude who got sick Yeah,
24:33
yeah, I mean And by the way, why would they want
24:37
a dude with a stomach bug to come in? I mean,
24:39
you know, I could have gotten a doctor's note.
24:41
It wasn't like it was all legit. I mean It's
24:44
like it was all true. I mean, I wasn't having
24:47
a good time Just kicking it at home or fucking
24:50
my girlfriend. I mean nothing was happening um,
24:53
but it was just like, you know, they just Yeah,
24:57
you're sick. So don't come in and you know, it
24:59
was great because I actually fucking hated the
25:02
job So I was like, all right. Yeah, but maybe
25:04
this works for me. It's not right. It's just
25:07
how how we treat workers is isn't Not very different
25:12
than how we treat prison inmates. I Mean I was
25:16
expelled from college because I was in the hospital
25:19
finals week. I mean, you know like like am I
25:23
going too far Ted we'll move on after this but
25:26
Am I going too far to say how we treat workers?
25:29
Especially laborers and I don't mean giving birth
25:32
labor I mean laborers people that work hourly
25:35
people that do the hard like the physical hard
25:37
work. Yeah We don't treat them too differently
25:40
than how prison guards treat inmates No, no,
25:44
I mean, well, it's a very similar relationship,
25:46
right? I mean people employers think that because
25:49
they pay you a salary that you are their slave
25:52
You're their property. You're like a stapler.
25:55
You're not a human being with needs and Physical
26:00
or otherwise, so of course they don't give a
26:02
shit about you Which is why it's hilarious to
26:04
me when I hear people being excessively concerned
26:07
about their About their their employer. I'm like,
26:10
yeah, fuck your employer. Yeah Yeah, that's why
26:12
we were saying like when when Gen Z started ghosting
26:15
on the the jobs that they had accepted good for
26:17
them Whatever Don't show up that That is punk
26:24
rock don't show up fucking leave them hanging.
26:26
Whatever couldn't agree more could not agree
26:29
Anyway, if you know Amazon people that were pregnant
26:32
have them check out the These women are trying
26:36
to gin up support and get more people to join
26:39
the class action. So if you know anyone that
26:41
was pregnant that had worked at Amazon, maybe
26:44
they should re -examine. And I am happy to actually
26:48
advocate for that right here on this show, because
26:51
having been fortunate, so fortunate, and to know
26:55
that the rest of all these other women in America
26:59
didn't have the experience that I had, the least
27:02
I can do is say, Pass the word on if you know
27:07
an Amazon worker and she was pregnant have her
27:10
look in or he or he How they were treated they
27:15
see what I did there they were treated in the
27:18
time that they were pregnant and if if their
27:20
rights might have been violated and This is how
27:24
you make an impact and how you affect change
27:26
going forward hit him where it hurts agreed Remember
27:33
the good old days before 9 -11, when you could
27:37
walk someone all the way to the airport gate
27:39
without buying a ticket? The TSA is bringing
27:41
back a limited version of that pre -9 -11 tradition.
27:45
A new program called Gapeside by TSA PreCheck
27:48
allows eligible PreCheck members to pass through
27:51
security even though they may not be flying.
27:54
That means you can accompany your relative to
27:56
the gate, welcome someone home, or meet a friend
27:59
during a layover. You can also... paid $19. I'm
28:03
going to skip that joke. Okay, the program is
28:06
free, but access is not automatic. Pre -check
28:10
members have to apply online between one and
28:13
three days before their planned visit. TSA will
28:17
review the request and issue a digital pass.
28:20
Visitors must bring an acceptable form of ID,
28:23
of course, and use a TSA pre -checked security
28:25
line. The pass remains valid for one calendar
28:28
day and allows multiple entries during that period.
28:33
I don't understand why it would allow multiple
28:35
entries. I feel like one time, right? I mean,
28:38
once. People enrolled in other trusted traveler
28:42
programs may also qualify if they have a KTN
28:45
or known traveler number. Gateside is launching
28:48
at 13 airports including LAX, Dallas -Fort Worth,
28:53
Vegas, and Salt Lake City International. TSA
28:56
says more airports will join in the coming months.
29:00
This of course was something that those of us
29:02
who are older remember Being able to accompany
29:05
passengers to the gate or meet someone. This
29:08
was very useful, especially if you had like a
29:10
elderly relative So this is a look Not something
29:16
I say very often. What about that? Oh, well if
29:20
you are if you have a TSA free check, you don't
29:22
have to take off your shoes God and the laptops
29:26
and all of that like you don't have to do that
29:27
either or take off your in my case take off your
29:30
belt They always make me take off my belt because
29:32
it always beeps. Um, yeah, but no, I mean so
29:36
look I think this is a great thing Good for the
29:39
government for fine, you know, they don't do
29:42
very many things, right? This is you know a this
29:46
is this is a small entry in the non retard category
29:50
and I want to give them props for that. And I'm
29:55
serious. It's like, good for them. Great. That's
29:57
fantastic. Good job. Good job. You can keep your
30:04
friend that's got a layover. You can keep them
30:07
company and say hi to an old friend that you
30:09
haven't seen in a long time. You would actually
30:11
then end up like dining at the airport restaurants
30:15
or whatever with your friend. You'd actually
30:17
boost economic Cape capacity maybe if you can
30:23
go in like so that way that way the traveler
30:26
doesn't have to go out and risk being late coming
30:30
back right like Because that's how that's happened
30:33
to me before Or like like with my mom. My mom
30:36
needs a wheelchair to get through an airport
30:37
as big as like LAX, right? That's Huge like she
30:41
can't hustle So you we had to rely if she was
30:45
traveling alone. We would have to rely on like
30:49
Ordering the wheelchair ahead of time having
30:51
one of the the the airport workers like stay
30:55
with her to get her onto the plane like it was
30:57
it's a whole thing, you know, like It's a whole
31:00
mess. But in this case, like you said if you
31:04
can have a friend there It makes everybody happy.
31:07
So this is nothing at all. Nothing. It is a Ted.
31:11
Is this a Homeland Security thing? It's well,
31:15
yeah, it would be TSA is is DHS. Yeah So things
31:20
are improving after Kristi Noem left. Well, that's
31:24
not surprising. I feel like, you know, every
31:27
time I wake up and Kristi Noem is like not like,
31:31
you know, near me is a day that like I've benefited
31:34
from. She's not in your face on the news. Just
31:38
in general, just not having Kristi Noem around
31:41
is good. But she's busy going through her divorce
31:45
from her balloon -boobed husband. Well, that's
31:48
true. But on the on the other hand, he's now
31:51
free. So the ladies, you know, are going to be
31:52
lining up to date him. Do you think he's going
31:57
to date or do you think he's just going to keep
31:59
doing his online fetish thing? Yeah, his balloon
32:04
boob fetish thing. I would suspect he will continue
32:07
to balloon boob. Once you're a balloon boober,
32:09
always a balloon boober. Oh, totally unrelated,
32:14
but tangentially, since we're talking about like
32:16
balloon boobs and it's Weird News Wednesday.
32:19
this morning. So not too far from here in Maryland,
32:23
every year around this time, they do the Renaissance
32:26
Fair. I've never been, I'm not into those things,
32:30
but the Renaissance Fair. You're not gay. That's
32:33
right. So the Renaissance Fair is coming through
32:36
and for whatever reason, this made it onto local
32:41
news. This year, they are implementing like dress
32:46
code restrictions, right? Like they encourage
32:48
you to dress in, you know, like if you want to
32:53
wear a costume, you want to look like a princess,
32:54
you want to look like a knight, whatever, that's
32:56
great, fine. You can have some face paint. So
32:58
this year they said, they told people if you're
33:00
coming, you cannot have like any scary, scary
33:03
costumes, like this isn't Halloween, you can't
33:06
look like this, you can't look like that. An
33:08
absolute all out ban on furries. Um, I'm okay
33:15
with that No, I mean, I think there should sort
33:18
of generally be a ban on furries like even in
33:21
your private home Like it should just be like
33:24
no It's the only form of of expression that I
33:30
believe should be banned by law So the first
33:32
amendment should have a specific carve -out against
33:35
furry expression So there's no furries allowed
33:39
at the Renaissance Fair this year and I would
33:43
presume going forward Because apparently the
33:47
people and they they justified why they said
33:49
the people that tend to dress as furries Don't
33:53
listen to rules and they act out of line. They're
33:58
insolent Mm -hmm. They they behave out of line
34:03
with how you're supposed to behave at the Renaissance
34:05
Fair I don't know what that means because I've
34:07
never been but apparently you just walk around
34:11
and You suck in the medievalocity, that's all.
34:20
So apparently these furries are putting on their
34:23
own little sideshows that are unauthorized performances.
34:27
And they're, like you said, insolent. So there
34:31
you go. No furries allowed at this year's Maryland
34:36
Renaissance Fair. Okay, then. There you go and
34:40
exile the Knights of Malta now we had a story
34:43
about Malta yesterday says Ted I think I might
34:48
have the ultimate recruiter story a recruiter
34:50
had me in her car and So I was a captive audience
34:56
and then she explained She's Jeffrey Dahmer's
35:00
cousin Well, was she threatening like if you
35:05
don't enlist I'll eat you Like if you don't join
35:08
my company, I'm gonna do to you what my cousin
35:10
like it's in the family This is what we do like
35:13
we we be to be behind we be angry We eat we eat
35:19
our workers like Well, you know that that seems
35:22
like the ultimate expression of capitalism right
35:25
to eat your workers. Well, that's true and look
35:28
To be fair to cousin Dahmer Well, what did he
35:34
ever do? When did he ever hurt anyone? It was
35:37
a she. It's not her fault. Right. Or his. It's
35:41
not her fault that she's Jeffrey Dahmer's cousin.
35:45
All the serial killers, they have family. They're
35:47
not necessarily all but mostly. Well, somebody
35:52
had to birth them. Some people don't have any
35:55
family. No, I mean, literally somebody had to
35:57
birth them, so there's extended family somewhere.
36:00
So, I mean, I went to school with the Booth sisters.
36:06
Ring a bell, Ted? No. Booth? No, I don't know
36:09
who that is. As in John Wilkes? Oh, OK, that's
36:13
going way back. OK, all right. I went to high
36:15
school with the Booth sisters. They're like the
36:17
great, great, great. whatever, grand nieces or
36:21
something, of John Wilkes. It's not their fault.
36:26
It's not their fault. Their great, great, great,
36:29
great, great grand uncle is a president killer.
36:32
True. I never held it against him. He was a hero.
36:36
John Wilkes Smith was a hero. He did the Lord's
36:38
work. Six simple tyrannus, thus two tyrants.
36:44
So well either way just because their great uncle
36:48
grand uncle was a murderer doesn't mean I held
36:52
it against the girls They didn't do anything
36:54
that you know murderers people eaters. They all
36:57
have relatives purple people eaters Yeah, they're
37:01
not necessarily bad people Oh, by the way, I
37:07
know it says rats drop but I think that says
37:10
porn star What do you think of furries Robbie?
37:14
Besides being like part of the Tyler Robinson,
37:20
that's what Tyler Robinson, the alleged Charlie
37:23
Kirk killer was into. It wasn't him, but they're
37:27
weird. Now Renaissance Fairs, I do enjoy them.
37:29
I think they're a lot of fun, especially like
37:31
the jousting. I'm dead serious. I mean, you can
37:36
see why back in the day people would go and they
37:39
would go watch these tournaments because it's
37:40
freaking awesome. These horses are huge. And
37:44
you just see these two men with these, you know,
37:46
those lances just going, just doing their best
37:48
just to knock the other poor bastard off of his
37:50
horse. It's, it's, uh, it's safe for them. It's
37:55
a little gay, but all right. So it's kind of
37:59
cool. I think homosexual kind of way. Sure. So
38:02
I think that, well, Ted, would you outlaw jousting
38:05
or football if you had to pick one or the other?
38:07
No, I'd have to go football because it hurts
38:08
a lot more people. Well, maybe by definition
38:12
then in Ted's world is far more gay, but no,
38:15
I mean seriously I mean it was really good because
38:19
it's it's a snapshot to a world that no longer
38:22
exists That's mano a mano. I Mean, it's just
38:26
like it's right there talking to talk about a
38:29
warrior ethos and Ted you being French No, I
38:32
get you're probably still upset about Calais
38:34
itself. Now the English did not play by the play
38:36
by the rules but Jessie's pretty awesome. But
38:42
furries are not according to Robbie. Furries.
38:45
They're just really bizarre. Why would you want
38:49
to wear like an Easter bunny costume in the middle
38:51
of like 95 degree Washington, D .C. area heat
38:55
with like 82 percent humidity like today? Like,
38:59
why? Why? Why would you want to do that? I don't
39:02
think that's really the. The issue I don't get
39:07
like why the furries want to dress like like
39:09
why would you want to do that? And then show
39:11
up to the Renaissance Fair where it's like almost
39:13
a hundred degrees and almost a hundred percent
39:15
humidity in the in like swamp weather like why?
39:20
That's not smart like it No, makes no sense Like
39:25
I don't get it. But anyway, we're not furry fans
39:28
here You should do it in the in the wintertime
39:31
at least in a more in a more mild climate like
39:34
DC Just do it in the winter time. That way you'll
39:36
be less stinky. I agree. If you're going to wear
39:39
your furry outfit in public, wait till the winter.
39:43
And, you know, maybe then that's why you'll be
39:45
less angry and not because you won't be sweating
39:48
all gross under your Easter, your Easter bunny
39:51
costume or whatever else they wear. I don't know.
39:54
Montana might be better for you because it's
39:55
so much colder here. So that way you'll be able
39:58
to stay warm. Yeah, but hunters might mistake
40:00
them for like a giant. True. Well, that's to
40:05
me that's a bonus but all right And also this
40:09
is for the there's so much bigger than the animals
40:12
that it would be kind of like, you know a bonus
40:15
to To the hunters. It's like for the there's
40:19
hunters who are starting out. They're like they're
40:21
like eight They're not good shots this gives
40:24
them a chance to Annie Annie Annie in the rumble
40:28
chat says Ted a little gay ain't so bad and M
40:31
Scott says It's more for geeky types, not gays.
40:35
More lesbians, probably. You know, it's mega
40:39
-geek for sure. That's very, very true. I would
40:43
agree. I know a few people that go to those things.
40:47
Wait, as furries? No, no, no. To the medieval...
40:51
No, Renaissance bear. It's wild because, for
40:54
example... If you ever go through, if you read
40:57
any of the old military manuals from back in
40:59
there, like the Shoddy Geekon that was written
41:01
by Maurice, it was written like in the 400, involved
41:03
the 500s, I guess. It's a snapshot into a world
41:07
that no longer exists. And I think that's one
41:10
of the things that's really cool about the way
41:11
that the Renaissance spheres were. Not the fantasy
41:14
of Merlin and stuff. I'm talking about the actual
41:16
sports back then, like the sword fighting or
41:21
the jousting. It's like a photograph from the
41:26
1800s. It's capturing something that no longer
41:29
exists. It's pretty cool. Medieval times is still
41:32
a thing in Los Angeles or in Buena Park, actually
41:36
in Orange County. Have you guys ever heard of
41:38
medieval times? Of course. And it's amazing.
41:42
Do you remember? That's where they go in Married
41:46
to the Mob and Married to the Mob. Medieval medieval
41:51
medieval times is kind of cool and the barbecue
41:54
they serve is pretty good But they do the jousting
41:57
and they do the whole thing and like you can
42:00
buy your you know Like your your princess crown
42:03
and your whatever you can you can you could you
42:06
could play a dress up there all year round It's
42:09
Southern, California. Whatever and they do the
42:11
jousting and stuff. So one time at my school
42:14
they brought they They did this for the poor
42:18
kids back then in the 80s they brought medieval
42:20
times to our school and we we got to see like
42:24
the horses came and they jousted and stuff and
42:27
like this is like the first time city kids like
42:29
me got to like be up close and personal to a
42:31
horse so do they still do that i hope that they
42:34
do i don't think so i i think there's i don't
42:39
know there's it probably costs too much and parents
42:42
were like oh you're bringing giant beasts into
42:45
the school i don't know they had stuff in the
42:48
80s Yeah, it's violent. It's, you know, all that
42:50
stuff. Yeah. Even the hood ain't hood anymore.
42:53
Everything that's really cool doesn't happen
42:55
anymore. Right. Right. Because everyone's like,
42:57
oh, it's violent. And remember, I said I'm from
42:59
the hood has gentrified where I'm from. It's
43:02
not as hood. It's not the hood. It's not the
43:04
hood anymore. It's hood light. Very, very, very
43:07
light. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very light. Yeah. So
43:11
there you go. All right. Alright this one out
43:18
of pissed head off So for nearly 25 years New
43:22
Yorkers have questioned what government officials
43:24
knew about the toxic air surrounding ground zero
43:27
after the 9 -eleven attacks a massive collection
43:29
of city records may finally provide some answers
43:32
mayor Zoran Mamdani's administration is Releasing
43:35
more than a hundred seventy thousand pages Jeez
43:39
a lot of documents concerning air quality health
43:43
risks and government communications following
43:45
the collapse of the World Trade Center The records
43:48
suggest officials possessed at that time evidence
43:52
that conditions in lower Manhattan could be dangerous
43:55
even as residents, students, office workers,
43:58
and cleanup crews were encouraged to return,
44:00
you know, go back to life as usual. One internal
44:03
document known as the Harding Memo showed city
44:07
officials were already anticipating thousands
44:09
of possible lawsuits related to toxic exposure
44:12
in October of 2001. month later they were like
44:17
bracing for a slew of lawsuits. The memo also
44:22
discussed ways to limit the city's potential
44:25
legal liability. The collapse of the towers spread
44:28
asbestos, silica, metals, pulverized concrete,
44:32
glass, and other hazardous materials across lower
44:35
Manhattan. Fires continued burning for months,
44:37
releasing additional carcinogens into the air.
44:40
Thousands of first responders Recovery workers
44:43
and survivors have since developed respiratory
44:45
diseases and cancers associated with that exposure.
44:49
Many spent years fighting the government to recognize
44:51
their illnesses and cover their treatment. The
44:54
document release follows a prolonged health battle
44:56
by 9 -11 Health Watch, which sought the records
45:00
through Public Information Sophia requests, the
45:03
organization accused multiple mayoral administrations
45:06
of withholding documents and resisting transparency.
45:10
The central question is no longer whether the
45:12
air was dangerous. Decades of illness have answered
45:15
that. The question is whether officials understood
45:18
the threat, reassured the public anyway, and
45:22
prioritized reopening lower Manhattan while quietly
45:26
preparing for legal consequences. Because the
45:29
New York Times Page. Oh, sorry. This came from
45:34
the New York Times. So this. This whole internal
45:41
memo release, Ted, these are like these are like
45:48
emails going back and forth, right, like between
45:50
government officials, other workers, lawyers.
45:54
Yeah, all like basically everyone knew. And no
45:58
one wanted to say anything. And that's what,
46:00
like, why is Mamdani releasing this now? Is it
46:02
just the ceremonial 25 years? Is it just, I mean,
46:06
where were you 9 -11? I never asked for some
46:09
reason. So to answer your question, I think that
46:14
Mamdani is genuinely interested in them. Look,
46:18
I'll give you what I mean. I think he's interested
46:21
in the transparency. Mostly, this is going to
46:24
make his Republican and Republican -lite predecessors
46:28
look bad. Because starting with Bloomberg and
46:32
three terms in a row, they covered up these memos.
46:37
They stayed under Eric Adams, who was effectively
46:40
like a dino. He was basically really a Republican,
46:43
same thing. And yes, there was a Democratic administration
46:50
mixed in there under God, what's his name? I
46:56
can't, it's his mind. He's a big tall, big tall
47:00
lurchy one. Lesbian, lesbian black wife. Right,
47:04
exactly. That one, it'll come to me. Anyway,
47:09
those guys, but basically it's been covered up
47:11
now for all these years. Part of what's good.
47:15
I mean, I think the cynic in me says look Mamdani's
47:18
catching all sorts of shit for being a Muslim
47:19
mayor It's the 25th anniversary of 9 -eleven
47:22
right wingers are you know tacky? How could you
47:25
have elected a vice president? How could New
47:27
York have elected a Muslim mayor after what happened
47:29
on 9 -eleven such a bunch of racist assholes
47:32
anyway That ended up so this does distract from
47:37
all that I will give him props for the fact that
47:39
look This is a good time to talk about it because
47:42
like people are thinking about 9 -eleven, but
47:44
he didn't do it on 9 -eleven So it doesn't blow
47:46
up the news for the 9 -eleven memorial ceremonies.
47:50
It doesn't do that. So You know, it's like this
47:53
is a good time to attract it to make a big splash
47:56
with it and without being tasteless It is really
48:00
important. It's a reminder that This continues
48:03
to go on Where I was was I this is I was on my
48:10
way to Philadelphia. So Me and two other dudes
48:15
Had like a rain we were about to open up an alt
48:19
weekly newspaper in Brooklyn called Brooklyn
48:21
weekly because Brooklyn didn't have an alt weekly
48:24
It was 2001 and we thought that was a big business
48:27
opportunity. So we had finally nailed down the
48:31
big meeting where we were traveling to philadelphia
48:34
to pick up the 1 .5 million dollar check to seed
48:39
our company so we were on the train um when my
48:44
wife at the time called me and said oh and i
48:47
was just listening to npw i was listening to
48:50
wnyc where did you guys live at that time um
48:52
upper west side okay and um She told me what
48:57
was going on. We were by this this point in Trenton
49:00
and we like we were like, well, we should you
49:02
know, let's go ahead and Finish our let's go.
49:06
We have a we have a million dollars to get so
49:08
meeting we got a meeting So we go so and I think
49:11
by the way, I had one of the first jokes of 9
49:14
-eleven We were walking by the Liberty Bell and
49:18
display. And the National Park Service guys were
49:22
running around like crazy, blocking the entrance
49:25
to protect the Liberty Bell. And I saw one of
49:27
the guys and I looked at him, I said, what are
49:30
you worried about? Isn't it already broken? And
49:35
then we went to the meeting. And then obviously,
49:39
so hilariously, we had the first really dumb
49:41
comment of 9 -11, the head of the Pennsylvania
49:45
newspaper group, um looks who was gonna do the
49:49
seed thing looks at look we're all watching tv
49:53
on on uh it's like 11 30 in the morning we're
49:56
all watching tv and uh watching you know what's
49:59
going on in new york and he pushes away and he
50:01
goes no one will ever do business in new york
50:05
city again and i looked at him and i said dude
50:10
they do business in Hiroshima I'm like, I was
50:14
like, we lost two really big buildings. We have
50:17
thousands more. I mean, big buildings. Yeah.
50:21
Like seriously, are you a retard? And I didn't
50:25
say that last part. I said all the, I did say
50:26
all the other stuff. Um, but that was it. Deal
50:30
off. Then he withdrew support because he's like,
50:35
yeah, yeah. 9 11. Nope. No, New York is dead.
50:38
That was it. That was it. Um, I so so I I kind
50:42
of am like so i'm personally So sama bin laden
50:47
cost me some money i'm kind of pissed at him
50:49
and And then um, and then we then we uh got back
50:53
on the we figured we tried to get back into new
50:55
york Uh, we got on the train Um, we we took the
50:59
septa which is regional transit from philadelphia
51:02
to trenton Then, uh, they they said oh we have
51:05
the first train all the trains were stopped The
51:07
first train is going to go only as far as newark.
51:10
We're like, okay. Well, we're it's like zeno's
51:12
paradox We're getting closer to new york. We'll
51:15
go up to newark right and see what happens there
51:17
So we get up to newark and then they're like
51:20
the first Train of any sort is going back into
51:23
New York City. It's a path train Which is regional
51:27
like subway and they're like go go go go go and
51:30
there's like no fare. No fare I still have my
51:32
ticket from that day and everybody get piles
51:35
on we all end up on that we all get on the path
51:37
the path train goes across the marshes and it
51:40
gets it has a amazing view of Lower Manhattan
51:43
and so there we're all leaning up against the
51:46
windows looking at the flames which were 20 30
51:51
40 stories high from that side. Oh my god, and
51:54
the and just the black clouds Total silence everybody's
51:59
just looking and then it's the trains It was
52:02
the to my knowledge the first train allowed back
52:05
into new york after the attacks um We the train
52:09
skipped all the downtown like granite village
52:11
stations and went all the way to the terminus
52:14
at 33rd street At herald square where macy's
52:17
is got out got out of the car and there's like
52:20
little fine layer of dust like falling on the
52:24
street which we now know is partly asbestos and
52:27
then and then and then uh i'm where we there
52:35
was a bus akimbo in the middle of the street
52:37
where like basically the bus driver had run off
52:40
and had left the engine running. I don't know
52:42
why. So people just like left their cars and
52:45
people just left shit. And there was a stream
52:48
of like fire engines and fire trucks and EMS
52:51
guys coming across 34th Street from the Queen's
52:54
from the Queen's Midtown Tunnel, all from like
52:57
little suburban towns like Hop Hog and Patch
53:00
Hog and, you know, places like Ron Conkoma, Long
53:04
Island. And I was like, wow, like this is serious
53:07
when like New York City usually helps smaller
53:10
places, smaller places don't have to help New
53:13
York City. And I started walking down between
53:17
6th and 7th Avenue and I heard breaking glass
53:20
and there were some ruffians breaking one of
53:23
the windows at Macy's. There were cops across
53:26
the street sort of standing there. The cops did
53:29
not intercede, but the cops were like, one of
53:31
the cops goes, guys, really? And they just stopped.
53:36
And then like left and then got into the subway.
53:40
The subway was no longer traveling south of 34th
53:44
Street, like at all. And they make sense. And
53:47
they were like, but I lived north anyway. I get
53:50
on the train. It was just me and a cop covered
53:52
from head to toe with dust. It's like soot and
53:56
holding and holding a bottle of vodka. And as
54:00
he was just had this like the thousand miles,
54:03
you know, there. And I remember thinking, well,
54:07
that guy's probably earned his vodka today. And
54:11
yeah, so it was quite a day. Got home. Asmetic
54:16
Ted was probably. Oh, yeah, that was a that was
54:18
a big win for me. Great. I mean, and like not
54:21
to mention you could. I mean, look. Upper West
54:23
Side was not the direct line of wind That's good.
54:27
But there was still the Upper West Side smelled
54:30
like shit and like basically you could smell
54:34
like sort of you know that burning that burning
54:37
electricity electricity smell like like model
54:40
train, you know what I mean? Like oh, yeah. Yeah.
54:43
Yeah like that. It smelled like that And I guess
54:47
you sort of imagined it smelled like burning
54:48
corpses, too, but that's probably not true. No,
54:51
probably not. Probably more building than people.
54:53
But it was definitely a lot more building than
54:55
people. But it smelled horrible. And definitely,
54:58
you know, you just knew the air was foul. And
55:04
when Christy Todd Whitman, the head of the EPA
55:06
under Bush, said she's like, It's a win. Now
55:10
she has, she has apologized for whatever that's
55:13
worth. Um, but she told everyone within like
55:16
a day, it's like, how could you know that anyway?
55:21
And I knew, cause from having studied civil engineering,
55:26
that 40 % of the world trade center was built
55:28
with asbestos. So there was no fucking way it
55:31
wasn't. Probably nobody should have been allowed
55:34
to even go there. Anywhere near lower Manhattan
55:38
for the next like 10 years, but she didn't care
55:41
because it's real estate It's like billions of
55:44
trillions of dollars of real estate. They're
55:45
not gonna like the stock exchanges down Chernobyl.
55:49
It's Chernobyl. Yeah We got a couple. Thank yous
55:52
Robbie, which I'm gonna get to is that what you
55:53
okay a couple Thank yous here to turtle 30 3
55:57
3 5 8 6. Thank you for the generous donation
56:00
turtle says Here to support love the show. Thank
56:04
you for that donation turtle on YouTube Thank
56:06
you. Horses. Thank you for your donation. Horses
56:10
says, Robbie, check out HEMA. H -E -M -A. You'd
56:13
get a kick out of it. I don't know what that
56:14
is yet. Horses did not expand. And our buddy
56:19
Ray in the Rumble Chat says, Bill de Blasio,
56:21
guys. That's it. De Blasio. That's it. Couldn't
56:25
remember the big lurch. Yeah. He was so, like,
56:31
ineffective and just so... Terrible, Mayor. We're
56:34
just terrible. Like what? Like what? Yeah, and
56:38
but now I'm very resentful because I was so excited.
56:42
He was kind of accidentally became mayor And
56:46
so suddenly we got like a progressive mayor.
56:49
He was like pre -mamdani like left -wing Sort
56:53
of dsae. He was not dsa, but like dsa It was
56:57
all like as a presentation as a package. He's
57:01
like my dsa type black lesbian wife. Right. But
57:07
it was an accident. He wasn't really supposed
57:09
to be elected mayor. I don't know how you guys
57:12
elected him. Well, what happened was it's Michael
57:16
Bloomberg's fault. So what happened was Michael
57:18
Bloomberg wanted to he he so when he ran the
57:23
return term limits that had been passed by the
57:26
voters, the mayor could only run for two for
57:28
two terms. He He wanted to run for a third term,
57:35
however, and so he couldn't go to the people
57:38
to get them to reverse it because the people
57:40
wouldn't have reversed it. So he went to city
57:43
council and did an end run against the plebiscite
57:46
and got Kathleen Quinn, who was the head of city
57:50
council, to run through a reversal of the term
57:54
limit so that he could run for a third term.
57:57
So he did and he won. And then what happened
58:01
is after his third term, Kathleen Quinn was set
58:05
up to be the new Democratic, was going to be
58:08
the Democratic nominee and therefore the likely
58:11
heir apparent. But the New Yorkers were so angry
58:16
at what she had done for Bloomberg in reversing
58:19
the term limits that She was primaried out, and
58:22
people voted for de Blasio in the Democratic
58:25
primary. He was running against, of course...
58:29
He's a spite candidate. He's a spite candidate,
58:32
and he's like Mocha Joe. Yes, he's a spite store.
58:36
He's a spite store, and he ran against... And
58:40
he ran against, who was it? Oh, what's his name?
58:44
The guardian angel, Curtis Sliwa, who was a sacrificial
58:48
lamb on the Republican side. Yes. Yes. There
58:51
was no way, I mean, Curtis has his place in New
58:53
York history, but... Look, I love him. I think
58:56
he'd be a great mayor, but... Curtis Sliwa? Yeah.
59:00
Yeah, I do. Even though we don't share the same
59:03
politics, but yeah. But he's New York through
59:07
and through and through and through. True. Like
59:09
he's as New Yorker as they come. Yeah, I think
59:12
he's incorruptible. Yeah, I would agree. I would
59:15
agree. Tara Preta -Wild says, HEMA is historical
59:19
European martial arts, actual sword fighting
59:24
like England 1300 AD. Huh. Never. Huh. Historical
59:31
European martial arts. Interesting. That is something
59:35
Robbie would probably like. Yeah. All right,
59:40
we should move on. Last one, last one. All right,
59:45
so for this one, Manila, I think I need to have
59:48
a little bit of visual stuff here. You will see
59:53
there, my CD collection. Okay. Yes, your wall
59:58
of CD. Well, there's more than those. There's
1:00:02
just some. there's uh and anyway so the point
1:00:05
is that is relevant that is germane to this next
1:00:08
story um dust off the discman and dig through
1:00:12
that binder through under your bed compact discs
1:00:15
are back cd sales jumped to 16 during the first
1:00:20
half of this year reaching 16 .3 million units
1:00:24
far more than vinyl which by the way was has
1:00:27
been doing great, which still grew by 2 .4 %
1:00:30
during the same period. Part of the surge, driven
1:00:33
by K -pop of all things, BTS sold 600 ,000 copies
1:00:37
of its latest album by releasing multiple CD
1:00:41
editions. But even without that, CD sales still
1:00:43
were up 7%. Gen Z is rummaging through their
1:00:47
parents' music collection. 60 % of young listeners
1:00:50
reportedly say they mostly listen to music. released
1:00:54
during the 90s or earlier. Yeah, I can vouch
1:00:57
for that. My son listens mostly to music from
1:01:01
the 80s and 90s. So, collectors say that CDs
1:01:07
offer better sound, physical artwork, and liner
1:01:10
notes, although vinyl probably technically has
1:01:14
better sound, but it's harder to manage. You
1:01:15
have to keep the records clean. They can scratch.
1:01:20
They're delicate. CDs are You know, they can
1:01:24
smudge and they can skip but they're easier to
1:01:26
take care of So CDs also can't suddenly disappear
1:01:31
from your hard drive because the streaming service
1:01:33
lost some licensing agreement Properly handled
1:01:36
CDs can last for decades without the wearer that
1:01:39
gradually damages vinyl records and cassette
1:01:42
tapes the of course if you're really really really
1:01:47
studly you have the I mean, not the HRX, that's
1:01:53
the real reel. Anyway, price is another advantage.
1:01:57
CDs generally cost less than vinyl. Independent
1:01:59
musicians can produce them cheaply. One musician
1:02:02
estimated a manufacturing cost of about $4 .50
1:02:05
each, leaving a reasonable profit if you sell
1:02:09
it for 10 bucks. However, it is kind of hard
1:02:12
to find a player. Most new cars no longer have
1:02:15
CD players. Although you can buy a thing, a doodad,
1:02:20
and portable CD players. And portable players
1:02:22
have largely vanished from stores. Still, they're
1:02:25
cheap, durable, and portable. They let you listen
1:02:28
to an entire album the way that God intended,
1:02:31
rather than have an algorithm interrupt it. So,
1:02:35
you know, we were made fun of as CD dorks. We
1:02:39
went through that we weathered the storm. Look,
1:02:41
I don't give a shit. I'll tell you I'm actually
1:02:43
kind of sad about this I don't want anyone to
1:02:46
discover CDs I want because when CDs were were
1:02:50
down and out you could go to a lot of stores
1:02:52
and get them for a couple of bucks each and Now
1:02:56
that it's becoming hip that the good times are
1:02:58
coming to an end. So but I will say Physical
1:03:02
music is inherently superior and I'll tell you
1:03:04
why let's say you let's say you want to just
1:03:07
buy let's say you bought This album, this album
1:03:10
has like, I don't know, 25 songs on it, right?
1:03:14
This is probably why you'd have to download this
1:03:16
double. You'd have to download this. You're going
1:03:18
to pay a buck each, right? 99 cents per song.
1:03:21
OK, that's going to be 26 bucks. OK, I can buy
1:03:25
the same fucking thing for probably 19 bucks
1:03:30
or less if I'm careful and I get it on eBay.
1:03:34
And let's say I can pass it around to my friends.
1:03:38
and they can all burn it or I can just send them
1:03:41
the files for free if I'm so inclined. But the
1:03:45
point is, and when I'm done, I can fucking sell
1:03:48
it probably for 15 bucks online. So it's like
1:03:53
it's a lot cheaper way to produce music. A gift
1:03:56
keeps on giving. You've got this thing that looks
1:03:58
awesome. Right. And like, you know, it's like
1:04:01
the thing is when you're thinking about you thinking
1:04:05
about music, you don't Think of like a, it's
1:04:07
like your eyes glaze over when you just look
1:04:09
at a list of titles and tracks, but you're like,
1:04:13
here you're like, you know, I'm like, oh, like,
1:04:16
what do I want to listen to? You know, do, oh
1:04:19
yeah. Do I want to listen to Dave Edmonds? Like,
1:04:21
yeah, maybe I want to, maybe I want to listen
1:04:23
to John Fox from, do you know who that is? Quick,
1:04:25
quick test. He's from ultra box or the late or
1:04:29
the liars, the guy who just died, just Jeff Connelly
1:04:32
or made the super, super eighties. Visage Wow
1:04:36
or the new lady Tron or do a lot of those you
1:04:41
won't find on streaming services Well, that's
1:04:43
the other thing too. You get music that you're
1:04:46
just that's the other thing It's like it's like
1:04:48
the movies if you have a certain thing in mind
1:04:51
The odds are you're not gonna be able to find
1:04:53
it unless you know sure if you're into Taylor
1:04:55
Swift You won't have a problem, but you know,
1:04:57
but if you're Madonna or whatever, but if you
1:04:59
have what's the word I'm looking for so that's
1:05:01
right good taste you are probably gonna Find
1:05:05
yourself running short, coming up short a lot.
1:05:08
Now, the biggest reason at a time when intellectual
1:05:12
property is under siege to buy CDs is because
1:05:16
it supports the artist. Pandora, Spotify, do
1:05:20
not. So like, this is actually true. You buy
1:05:25
a CD. directly from the website of an artist,
1:05:30
that's the equivalent of that artist getting
1:05:33
hundreds of thousands of listens on Pandora.
1:05:38
So it's like - Oh, because they get paid like
1:05:40
a penny, let's say, per spin. A fraction of a
1:05:42
penny. Oh, God. Whereas like they might make
1:05:46
10 bucks or eight bucks. So each time, so if
1:05:51
you care about music, And you're a fan of that
1:05:54
of that artist go to their fucking website and
1:05:57
buy cds directly from them Which by the way nowadays
1:06:00
they'll they'll sign for you and uh, you know
1:06:03
And they'll send swag like stickers and stuff
1:06:07
because they try to encourage people to do it
1:06:09
by the old school It's the direct. Yeah, it's
1:06:11
it's it's a direct interaction, you know with
1:06:14
the fans which is kind of fun for the band and
1:06:16
also obviously for the fans so See, I I am Kind
1:06:22
of I'm not really sure the kpop pop angle is
1:06:25
very odd to me But that's weird, but hey, whatever
1:06:29
works, right? I have little college age cousins
1:06:32
That are into the kpop and they were like they
1:06:37
came they came to crash at my house For one day
1:06:40
just so they can go to this BTS the big korean
1:06:45
k -pop band was here like well in the dc metro
1:06:48
so they were like can we come crash and we're
1:06:51
like i guess but we're not gonna stay we're just
1:06:55
gonna go to the concert i'm like okay yeah whatever
1:06:58
and they were like so excited to i heard them
1:07:01
saying something about buying the merch and because
1:07:04
i kind of zoned out you know it's like K -pop
1:07:08
blah blah blah. Yeah, I don't find that music
1:07:11
interesting. Yeah. No, not at all. But I mean,
1:07:14
I think you can find The weird thing is like
1:07:17
that stuff you get all the new stuff you can
1:07:20
find on streaming services like Spotify or Apple
1:07:22
Yeah, but I think it was the different editions
1:07:25
that like added this collectability aspect to
1:07:28
it, right? So maybe but I hadn't thought about
1:07:32
Supporting the artists directly because I remember
1:07:35
and I think I've said this story before on air
1:07:37
was like during kovat I remember seeing something
1:07:41
like the cure is my favorite band and I have
1:07:45
all of their albums every single one of them
1:07:48
as you all the CDs So I saw during kovat that
1:07:55
they were starting like a freaking go fund me
1:07:58
even like because They said, you know, all their
1:08:01
concerts are canceled. Yep. And they mentioned
1:08:04
something about how, you know, yes, we do get
1:08:07
millions of streams on blah, blah, blah. There's
1:08:10
no money. No money. That's right. And that's
1:08:13
what and that's what Robert Smith said was. But
1:08:16
unbeknownst to you, the listener is that we get
1:08:20
like frack pennies. Nothing. pennies so we can't
1:08:26
survive if all of our shows are canceled, you
1:08:29
know, and I'm like you're the freaking cure like
1:08:31
how How can this be? How can you be creating
1:08:34
a go fund me? You're the freaking cure and Then
1:08:38
to your point had this is this is why it's that
1:08:40
all of these streaming services pay fractions
1:08:43
of a penny and so your favorite artists are actually
1:08:46
going broke like because streaming has stripped
1:08:50
away their ability to to make a living like they
1:08:55
did in the 90s by selling CDs. And that's a good
1:08:59
enough reason to me. It's kind of a bummer. For
1:09:05
example, if you go to YouTube, if you become
1:09:10
a channel subscriber, or I would say five bucks,
1:09:16
that one $5 subscription, is the equivalent of
1:09:20
you watching over 1 ,000 hours of content and
1:09:24
never skipping an ad. That is the same. That's
1:09:29
the whole reason I moved my gaming channel over
1:09:32
to YouTube. But this is why Spotify has done
1:09:36
this to the artist. It's the same thing. It's
1:09:39
the exact same thing. And that's one of the reasons
1:09:41
why AI music is becoming more and more prevalent.
1:09:44
It's because human beings cannot afford it. You
1:09:48
can't afford to make to make the content you
1:09:51
love like that. And that's freaking heartbreaking.
1:09:55
So, you know, I guess I would say I'm glad to
1:09:59
hear that the people that the kids are buying
1:10:02
CDs, the only problem is, where, where are they
1:10:05
going to find CD players? Well, there are okay.
1:10:09
So first of all, there are still people who make
1:10:12
high quality CD players. You Can play them through
1:10:18
your, let me see if I can find this thing. The
1:10:21
thing that you plug to your computer, the disk
1:10:22
drive. Here you go. Yeah, one of these. I have
1:10:26
one of those too. So this is for, yeah, and you
1:10:28
can also use it to burn CD, music so that you
1:10:32
have the MP3 on your device, right? So that's
1:10:37
another thing. We talked about the iPod coming
1:10:39
back. The other thing is if you load up your
1:10:41
phone with ripped music. then even if you have
1:10:44
no internet connection at all, you can still
1:10:47
listen to music on your phone. And so that's
1:10:51
cool. But yeah, there are old, there's a lot
1:10:55
of old CD players on eBay, but they still make
1:10:58
them, you know? And they last a long fucking
1:11:01
time. I mean, so. And they're cheap now. They
1:11:04
are really cheap. Yeah, you get one for 300 bucks,
1:11:07
that would have been 2000 bucks. Oh, geez. And
1:11:09
for... For all the bands that were hard to find
1:11:12
or some of their albums like for example, I you
1:11:14
and I both I think Ted we love Joy Division Yep,
1:11:18
true God loves Joy Division, obviously But a
1:11:22
lot of their albums were not available because
1:11:25
obviously they've been performing since the 70s
1:11:27
So they a lot of their stuff was not available
1:11:30
You had to go buy CD and it's almost like you
1:11:32
don't want them to cave to to big download or
1:11:37
to big Uh, I don't know. What would you call
1:11:39
like spotify and apple music to big streaming?
1:11:42
Big streaming You like you don't want them to
1:11:45
sign their rights over but maybe they saw no
1:11:49
Potential any other way maybe I don't know but
1:11:51
they recently signed over all their catalog to
1:11:54
spotify Yeah, because I mean basically it's like
1:11:56
look what the the pitch is this is how people
1:11:59
are consuming music Do you not want to be in
1:12:02
the mix? Do you want to have people just forget
1:12:03
that you ever existed forget about joy division?
1:12:06
Right. I mean, seriously, for kids, how would
1:12:09
they know, right? That's how you get discovered
1:12:12
or whatever. Yeah, but that's disgusting, right?
1:12:15
I mean, basically, these streaming, look, the
1:12:18
streaming divisions simply don't pay enough.
1:12:21
This is where you would kind of think that some
1:12:23
government regulation is called for into the
1:12:26
free market, where they just say, like, there's
1:12:29
some, you should just pay more. And if you can't
1:12:32
afford that, then maybe you can't afford to be
1:12:34
in business. You know, the artists should be
1:12:37
getting paid more per stream. How much more?
1:12:40
I don't know, but more than that. More than what
1:12:43
they are. Yeah. Yeah. A fraction of a penny.
1:12:46
So I get it. It's ridiculous. It's hard to create
1:12:49
content. And especially like I have I hold musicians
1:12:53
in such high regard because that is that is a
1:12:55
talent I do not possess. Right? Like that is
1:12:58
I can't create I can't hear sounds in my head
1:13:01
and put it on paper and then Like bring it to
1:13:04
life, you know that that is like truly if if
1:13:07
you don't believe in god when you sometimes you
1:13:09
hear an artist and they open their mouth for
1:13:11
example, and you're just like Wow, that is that
1:13:15
is a gift from god Even when I went through my
1:13:18
atheist phase There were times that made me second
1:13:22
guess when I heard a singer or a musician or
1:13:26
whatever Do their craft and you're like I need
1:13:29
to second guess this because this person didn't
1:13:32
go to You know music school art school or whatever
1:13:34
and they they could do this Like that is so yeah
1:13:40
from para preta says ted alas cd cds degrade
1:13:45
rather quickly many made in the 90s are are uh
1:13:50
D delaminating vinyl lasts for centuries or millennials
1:13:54
first of all I don't plan as a vampire to be
1:13:57
around for millennia But um, I will say I have
1:14:00
never ever Had a CD and many of my CDs date to
1:14:05
the early 90s late 80s. I've never had one delaminate
1:14:08
not one. Yeah, I have many many many many many
1:14:13
many many That's only a small fraction. I guess
1:14:17
if you don't leave it like on the dashboard of
1:14:19
your car to bake or something Oh, yeah. No, I
1:14:21
think if you did that then shit's gonna happen
1:14:23
If they're stored under normal normal climate
1:14:27
controlled conditions, they should I kept all
1:14:30
the artwork My CDs are in like a Book, right
1:14:35
and vinyl can warp and I mean, you know, I mean
1:14:38
more delicate Yeah, I mean look I have tons of
1:14:42
vinyl too, you know But but that you have to
1:14:46
be careful. I like the sound quality of vinyl,
1:14:47
but I think it's really cool. It's great It's
1:14:50
just it's just it's a little harder to handle.
1:14:52
It's also I mean See, you know a CD can have
1:14:56
like 70 minutes of music on one side You know,
1:14:59
so like you can put it on and not have to get
1:15:01
up every two minutes to but like, you know, there's
1:15:04
albums that are literally like 18 minutes per
1:15:06
side, you know, like constantly up and out of
1:15:08
your chair, which I guess that's good gets you
1:15:10
off your ass, but it's a little bit like, you
1:15:13
know, kind of a pain in the ass sometimes. It's
1:15:14
like it's always like you're walking over there
1:15:16
to turn to handle this thing. I mean, I guess
1:15:19
it could be a 78. Those things were really fast,
1:15:23
but. I've never seen one of those, but anyway.
1:15:25
So there there you go. I I love that story. I'm
1:15:28
glad I'm glad we talked about it because it is
1:15:30
it's it's kind of weird but I I'm really these
1:15:33
are some of the things that do Make me really
1:15:35
like gen z like the youngest of the gen z's.
1:15:39
Oh, they're great They're they're gonna I think
1:15:41
they're gonna be okay the older ones. I'm sad
1:15:44
for them because They have no job opportunities
1:15:48
That is a problem but the littler ones going
1:15:51
into my kids age group like the gen alphas like
1:15:54
the No, they'll have zero they'll have zero but
1:15:59
they're definitely gonna find more More of what
1:16:05
made life simple and yet great in the 80s and
1:16:08
90s I think they're gonna bring all of that back
1:16:12
so I think we're gonna move away towards like
1:16:15
this this AI and streaming domination of the
1:16:19
world and then we're you know, you're basically
1:16:21
pickpocketing the artists who create That stuff
1:16:25
or the content creators. I think we're gonna
1:16:27
see a real reckoning Because the the youngest
1:16:31
of the zeers of the zoomers I they get it. You
1:16:35
know what I mean? They get it They know and they
1:16:38
I think they won't allow the exploitation to
1:16:40
continue Right So let's that's my hope. Anyway,
1:16:45
i'm just projecting i'm an old lady projecting
1:16:48
ted. Uh, so there you go That's it for weird
1:16:50
news wednesday. It's gonna be weird tomorrow.
1:16:52
I think I have a few weird stories. We will raid
1:16:55
a baby streamer because we still have the raid
1:16:57
requirements here on TMI. So we're just going
1:17:00
to jump over to some underserved rumbler with
1:17:03
one person watching. It's probably him. So let's
1:17:07
go make their day. And then tomorrow we're going
1:17:10
to discuss how we're going to approach this new
1:17:12
rumble picking our pockets. They just stole our
1:17:19
wallet. They didn't pay us. They held us up at
1:17:23
gunpoint. They're such scoundrels, really. I
1:17:28
can't believe it. All right. All right. Have
1:17:30
a great Wednesday, everybody. We'll see you tomorrow.
1:17:32
Happy Wednesday. Bye, everybody. Thank you. Bye,
1:17:35
everyone. Bye, Manila. Bye, Robin. Bye, Dan.