Latest / The Bluegrass Blues Podcast / The Bluegrass Blues Podcast: Episode 26

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The Bluegrass Blues Podcast: Episode 26 · The Bluegrass Blues Podcast

0:00
Hi, this is the 26th episode of the Bluegrass
0:04
Blues Podcast. I'm Amy. And I'm Jesse. Well,
0:16
has the Derby almost overwhelmed us so far? And
0:19
it's not even here yet, but there's nothing but
0:21
Derby activity going on in Louisville. That's
0:23
true, but before we do that, I'd love us to...
0:28
Tell the new listeners who we are before we get
0:31
into the conversation. Okay. Why don't you start?
0:34
All right. I'm Jesse. I'm a retired journalist,
0:38
and I've worked for newspapers all over the country.
0:41
I've worked in Florida and New York, Louisville,
0:46
California. Washington, D .C. Washington, D .C.,
0:51
England. Brussels, Belgium. So I've been in the
0:55
profession for a while. I'm retired now. And
0:57
I also worked in politics for a few years back
1:01
in the late 70s, early 80s and worked for a Republican
1:06
governor in Pennsylvania. But my politics have
1:10
changed significantly since then. And you are?
1:14
So I'm Amy and I live in Louisville and I am
1:20
an economic inclusion expert in the country,
1:25
and I've worked with the federal government,
1:27
state governments, tribal entities, all the states
1:31
in Puerto Rico to implement programs that build
1:36
wealth for underserved populations with the goal
1:42
of reducing the wealth gap, racial wealth gap,
1:46
sexual wealth gap, etc. And so, yeah, economic
1:51
empowerment is my game. And I ran for state rep
1:55
in Kentucky 20 years ago. Can you believe that,
2:00
Jesse? Yeah, that was a while. It's been a while.
2:02
It's been a hot while. So, speaking of this week
2:06
and all the excitement again, it is Derby Week.
2:10
Right, and it already was preceded by the Thunder
2:13
River Louisville, if you listened to us our last...
2:16
podcast you heard jet fighters screaming across
2:18
the sky and that was the day before thunder so
2:21
that's passed and since then we've also had what
2:25
else we've had a marathon through the city that
2:30
there's a half marathon that was 10 miles and
2:32
a full marathon that was full marathon length
2:37
a 23 miles i think it is that's 26 .1 okay 26
2:42
.1 you can tell i don't run marathons and i'm
2:44
never going to it's that long we've had a great
2:46
parade the pegasus parade right and the um it
2:50
just uh everything is leading up to the big race
2:53
actually not even the big race this weekend because
2:57
the races start when is it thursday with thurby
3:00
thurby let's let's come up with a new brand to
3:03
get people on thursday because We've also got
3:06
the Oaks on Friday and the Derby on Saturday.
3:09
And for all of you who are not from this area,
3:13
all the kids, all school kids get off school
3:16
on Friday because of the Oaks Day because we're
3:19
always promoting bourbon, horse racing, gambling,
3:23
all the things that get you out of school. And
3:27
do you think that because the Derby is so local
3:32
and such a big event here that, It's something
3:36
that's greeting everyone who lives in Louisville,
3:38
but you would be mistaken if you thought that
3:40
because... You tell me. Oh, because you can't
3:44
afford it. Oh, yeah. It's really, it costs so
3:47
much money, you guys. It used to be, I remember
3:51
the days when it was $50 to go in the infield.
3:54
That meant no seat. You were standing around
3:57
with a bunch of drunk people, mostly college
3:59
kids, who were either throwing up or showing
4:02
their body parts. And if you were going in the
4:06
stands, if you were like got a box, that would
4:09
cost a few thousand dollars. That used to be
4:12
affordable in the olden days. Now it isn't because
4:16
I've seen information where it says that some
4:19
infield tickets are going for $500. And I was
4:25
going to go to the Derby. I was thinking about
4:27
going not that many years ago. And I looked at
4:31
the prices and. Like I said, when I went back
4:35
in the mid -2010s, I spent thousands of dollars
4:40
for a box of seats. And last time I looked, that
4:44
price had about tripled. So I won't be going
4:47
back anymore. But over the years, we've been
4:51
to plenty of derbies. I went six times in the
4:55
infield. And the infield is a crazy madhouse.
4:58
And you really can't see any of the races. pressed
5:03
up against the inner fence, you can kind of,
5:07
for a couple milliseconds, see and hear all the
5:11
horses go by you. Yeah, that's all you can see.
5:15
But the thing about the infield isn't about seeing
5:19
the race anyway. It's about having a party and
5:21
getting drunk as much as you can. And that's
5:23
where you see all the... You see the students
5:26
from the University of Louisville walking down
5:28
to the racetrack. If you're going to... buy a
5:33
seat or get a ticket for a seat you have i well
5:37
it turned out i had to get a box because that's
5:39
six seats so you're paying hundreds of dollars
5:43
and now it's in the thousands of dollars to get
5:45
a box and the um the advantage is that you get
5:50
to see everything because the box we had was
5:53
on the first turn just as the race began so you
5:57
get to see the courses going around the track
5:59
and then you see them coming up for the final
6:01
stretch But the other part about the Derby, which
6:05
no one tells you about, is that it really is
6:08
just a place for people to get drunk. Even if
6:10
you're not in the infield, if you're in the seats,
6:15
it's just nothing but drinking mint juleps every
6:18
five seconds. And, well, the reason I will not
6:24
be going back to the Derby ever again is because
6:26
the last time I went and spent money for this...
6:30
box of seeds the people next to us were drinking
6:34
the whole time just mint julep after mint julep
6:36
they were loud they were obnoxious they were
6:38
drinking and they waited until the actual race
6:42
to start throwing up that's all i remember from
6:45
the derby was that year was that the people who
6:48
were drinking all day next to me started throwing
6:51
up during the derby, during the one race that
6:54
everyone was there for. So I've decided not to
6:57
go back anymore. And the atmosphere around it
7:02
isn't very pleasant because if you go outside,
7:05
if you're walking to Churchill Downs, it's like
7:09
every religious fanatic is out there trying to
7:11
convert people or telling everyone going there
7:14
that they're going to hell because they're gambling.
7:16
um the there were the most offensive t -shirts
7:19
sold ever at any sporting event i've ever been
7:22
to and that was at the derby but the thing about
7:25
the derby in terms of how it affects louisvilleans
7:27
is that Churchill Downs has decided that they
7:31
want all the money. It's ridiculous. Getting
7:34
a hotel room these days around derby time, it's
7:38
thousands and thousands of dollars when it's
7:40
normally a couple hundred dollars at most for
7:43
a hotel room. But now we're in the multi -thousand
7:46
dollar ranges. And it's just... Churchill Downs
7:51
is now sort of... It almost seems like it's declared
7:54
war on local businesses because... By moving
7:58
the Derby to NBC, they had to change the time,
8:02
or they made the time so that it was inconvenient
8:04
for people who operate restaurants to operate
8:09
restaurants. We know of restaurants around the
8:11
Derby, around Churchill Downs, that actually
8:14
close on Derby weekend because Churchill Downs
8:18
has consolidated all the food in that facility.
8:23
Also, traffic. Not only can people not get to
8:27
restaurants because of the change in timing and
8:31
sort of the consolidation of providing food and
8:33
beverage right at the track, but the traffic
8:36
is crazy and all kinds of exits and entrances
8:40
on the interstate are closed. By the way, I just
8:42
wanted to pop in. I did look up ticket pricing
8:45
this year. In -field general admission starts
8:48
at around $150. Two -day general admission in
8:53
the infield starts around $250. Reserve seating,
8:58
and remember, I'm talking starts roughly at.
9:02
Reserve seating starts roughly at $750, and premium
9:07
slash clubhouse can exceed $12 ,000 plus per
9:13
ticket. $12 ,000 plus. The key is that it can
9:20
exceed one ticket. That's right, one ticket.
9:24
And remember, everybody, I don't know if you've
9:26
ever watched a derby. Many of you have. But it's
9:30
not just the track. Well, of course, then you're
9:33
gambling. But it's the clothes. It's the hats.
9:39
It's a scene. It's a fashion scene. And then
9:42
there are really... Big parties like the Barnstable
9:46
Brown Party in the Highlands and Kid Rock and
9:52
all these celebrities go there. I mean, it's
9:55
a really big deal, and you spend a lot of money.
9:58
Okay. Right. Well, it's this coming weekend,
10:01
so I'm not sure if I'll even be in town this
10:05
time. But in past years, I've been in town, and
10:08
it's very difficult. I take very long walks,
10:11
and I usually walk by Churchill Downs. And if
10:15
you've been down in that area, I'm not sure many
10:17
people have been, but they've been doing a lot
10:19
of almost last -minute construction work or last
10:23
-minute ground repairs because I see them re
10:27
-cementing the sidewalks around the football
10:30
stadium. That's where most people are going to
10:32
park for the Derby. And they have put fences
10:36
up on Central Avenue. That's sort of like a bridge
10:41
that... connects the football stadium to the
10:45
baseball stadium because there's a track between
10:48
the two. And my experiences in the past have
10:53
been that there's also a huge military presence.
10:56
Lots of soldiers with very fancy armaments ready
11:02
to crack down on anyone. It's a madhouse around
11:07
there. It's impossible to drive. And you live
11:10
close by, too. We're walking distance to Churchill
11:14
Downs. I'll be out of town. And I probably will
11:18
be out of town this week, too. Jesse, I also
11:20
wanted to say this Barnstable Brown party this
11:24
year. Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Louis Fonzie,
11:28
and members of NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys
11:30
are coming. And it is consistently ranked. I
11:33
don't know how you rank this. One of the top
11:36
ten best parties in the world. How does that
11:41
work? I don't know. I've never heard that one
11:45
before. I know. But the thing to reiterate is
11:49
that the Derby is for very rich people, and it's
11:53
not for the people who live in town, even though
11:56
in years past it used to be for the people. But
12:00
that's the trend we're going through anyway in
12:03
terms of the wealthy are getting everything and
12:05
the rest of us. are getting the scraps if the
12:09
wealthy feel like leaving scraps so i want to
12:12
back up and talk a little bit about the history
12:14
of churchill downs because i'll bet a lot of
12:16
people don't really know this and you know it
12:18
is a big deal here in louisville when people
12:21
from around the world as we said come but Churchill
12:23
Downs started in 1875. And one of the things
12:28
that people probably don't know is that black
12:31
jockeys dominated the early derbies, winning
12:34
15 of the first 28 races. So this is from 1875
12:39
to 1902. Big deal. athletes, these black jockeys,
12:46
but they were forced out by Jim Crow era racism,
12:50
exclusion, and violence by the 1920s. I don't
12:54
think people know that history. And fortunately,
12:57
we have seen some really good exhibits about
13:00
black jockeys here at the Center for African
13:03
American Heritage. We have other black... museums
13:09
like Roots Museum, and there's a Black Jockeys
13:13
Club that's a restaurant owned by black folk
13:16
on 4th Street that y 'all should attend, and
13:19
it has a really good history of black jockeys
13:21
in there. Well, the reason that the black jockeys
13:29
were dominant at the beginning was because those
13:32
were considered... If you want to use the terms
13:35
of a certain orange menace, those are considered
13:38
black jobs. Well, also enslaved people mastered
13:41
horsemanship, making them the premier trainers
13:44
and jockeys after emancipation. But until money
13:48
started getting involved and more money was coming
13:51
in, then whites decided, okay, we don't need
13:54
the black people here anymore. We're going to
13:56
take those jobs. We're going to take that money.
13:59
That's just a scandal of history that, you know,
14:03
blacks were dominant in racing at that time.
14:08
They're not dominant in racing these days. But
14:11
this is the history of Churchill dance. Plus
14:17
the song. Oh, right. Well, my old Kentucky home
14:20
is the song that... You know there's a problem
14:25
with performing this song when you watch television
14:30
and the announcer says that this song is considered
14:35
controversial. And we do it anyway. And we do
14:39
it anyway. And we do it anyway. But, you know,
14:41
it's a song about, my old Kentucky home is a
14:44
song about a slave who wants to go back to his
14:48
master and slave. the plantation he came from
14:55
because that's where his family is it's not because
14:57
he's great wanting to go back to like because
15:02
he's so happy it's because well my family's in
15:04
bondage and this is where I gotta go and that's
15:07
why I miss my old Kentucky home so they play
15:10
that every year and they usually bring in like
15:13
what the one of the choirs And it's a big deal.
15:19
And the band plays at the UofL. You remember
15:23
when we were walking there, we saw the band practicing.
15:26
Yeah. So the Derby has a lot of problems, both
15:30
financially and racially. And, well, we're going
15:35
to do it again this year. But the thing is, Churchill
15:39
Downs is dominant in a field where, you know,
15:44
Horse racing is kind of dying in general. Here's
15:49
how horse racing is dying. Churchill Downs has
15:52
brought the rights to the Preakness. It's like
15:54
the intellectual rights and property of the Preakness,
15:57
which is the second leg of the Triple Crown,
16:00
the third leg being the Belmont Stakes in New
16:02
York. So Churchill Downs now owns two of the
16:06
biggest races in the world. But the racing industry
16:12
itself is in really... really having some hard
16:16
times because, you know, you have the scandal
16:18
with horses dying. You're running three -year
16:21
-olds in these races. And if something happens,
16:26
like if they trip or if they break a leg, they'll
16:30
be exterminated right on the field. And that's
16:34
happened in Derby history. And in 2023, the Derby
16:37
had a spike in horse fatalities with 12 horses
16:42
dying. at Churchill Downs. And so, you know,
16:46
of course, scrutiny starts and certain trainers
16:49
are suspended or whatever. But then the next
16:53
year, 15 horses died in 2024, you know, prompting
16:58
continued calls for stronger action. Jesse, wherever
17:02
money's involved. The ethics fly out the door.
17:06
And by the way, I just want to say as a parent
17:09
and a mother, can you imagine treating three
17:12
-year -old babies the way that three -year -old
17:15
horses are treated? They are pushed beyond measure
17:22
and they're hit throughout the race and in training.
17:26
And yeah, they're bred for speed, but... I have
17:30
actually been around these horses. My dad owned
17:34
a couple race horses with some other people.
17:36
And when they run, they are not happy. It is
17:40
brutal. It is torture. The other thing I don't
17:44
like about the Derby is that there is such an
17:47
exploitation of immigrant labor. You know, think
17:50
about all the people, mostly immigrants, mostly
17:53
low -wage. that are living on the backside of
17:56
the track. Their housing is substandard. Their
17:59
wages are substandard. And, you know, I just,
18:04
I can't stand the exploitation, both of the horses
18:07
and of the immigrants. And then the other thing,
18:11
you know, as someone who has some family members
18:13
with gambling addictions. It owns basically all
18:20
the gambling in Kentucky except for the Kentucky
18:22
Lottery. So it's a biopoly. It's concentrating
18:28
all the wealth in Churchill Downs, and I just
18:32
think it's wrong. And that's what we're going
18:35
to be celebrating this weekend. That's why we're
18:37
getting out of Dodge. Yeah, we'll be out of town
18:41
for this one. Oh, and you mentioned that Churchill
18:44
Downs is buying the Preakness. Yeah, they have
18:47
bought the rights to the Preakness. And I've
18:50
actually been to a Preakness. And I will tell
18:53
you that I preferred the Preakness to the Derby
18:57
because at the Preakness, at least if you're
18:59
in the infield, they have a live band. And it's
19:02
like a really, I heard one year that Bruno Mars
19:06
was there. I was there one year and I don't remember
19:09
the band, but I just do remember that. They played
19:12
a song and my first thought was, I know this
19:14
song. These guys must be famous. And then they
19:16
played another one. It's like, oh, I know this
19:18
song too. Never bothered to find out who it was,
19:21
but this is... The Preakness has a better setup.
19:25
They have, like, the infield has stage. They
19:28
had two stages when I was there. They have this,
19:31
I think, they have a special party with some
19:34
famous local celebrity there. It's a lot more
19:37
fun than infield at the Derby. And you can actually
19:41
see the race. Like, you can stand on the rail
19:44
and watch the horses run by, unlike the Derby
19:47
where you're just kind of confined. To a certain
19:49
area. And you can watch drunk people throw up
19:52
and fall down. Well, and that's not accidental
19:54
either. I mean, the bourbon industry is huge
19:57
here in Kentucky. And there's a lot of money
20:00
to be made on the bourbon trail and pushing all
20:03
these different kinds of bourbons. So, you know,
20:06
people are drinking hard liquor that may not
20:08
be used to drinking it as much. The mint julep
20:11
is a famous drink. I can't stand it because I
20:15
don't really like bourbon. And then people get
20:18
glasses. So there's just all this money around
20:20
pushing bourbon. Right. And, well, the other
20:23
side of this, too, is that the bourbon industry
20:25
is in trouble as well because of the tariffs
20:28
that are put on by the Trump administration.
20:31
And, you know, Canadians aren't, well, for one,
20:34
Canadians aren't coming to the country. Foreigners
20:37
aren't coming to this country anymore because
20:39
of the various things that the current administration
20:42
has done to offend the rest of the world. Plus,
20:45
we have all this gun violence. A lot of people
20:47
I know don't feel safe to come. Yeah, and others
20:51
are sending... Countries are actually advising
20:55
people not to come to the United States because
20:57
it's not safe. Right. Woo -hoo! And that leads
21:01
us into election talk. Right, and this is...
21:04
We are... Coming up on primary elections for
21:08
what offices are we doing this year again? We've
21:12
got the governor running. Mitch's open seat.
21:15
No, not the governor. Oh, right. Mitch's seat.
21:18
It's the Senate. There's a congressional election.
21:21
All House races. All House elections. Several
21:24
judges. The mayor is up for election this year.
21:27
The mayor in Louisville. In Louisville. So it
21:31
all begins, let's see, well, the way it works
21:35
in Louisville is that we have this in -person
21:37
excused absentee voting, which I've used in the
21:39
past because I didn't, I was working in another
21:42
state or in another city at the time. This is
21:44
statewide, by the way. Yeah, this is statewide.
21:47
And the absentee voting is allowed from May 6th
21:51
through May 13th. And then we have the... And
21:55
you have to have an excuse to do that. Is that
21:57
right? Well, the excuse I have is I'm going to
22:00
be working out of town. Right. That's it. Or,
22:03
you know, like if you're... Women who are pregnant
22:06
can go in and say, I'm expecting around this
22:09
time, so I'm going to get it out of the way.
22:10
Or if you know that you're going to have some
22:12
kind of medical procedure, or if you know that
22:14
you're just leaving town for that. uh for the
22:17
election that you have until may 6th through
22:20
13th to vote early and you get excused as long
22:24
as you have a good reason then you have the in
22:26
-person no excuse absentee voting that goes from
22:29
may 14th uh to may 16th and that's um you can
22:35
go in various places uh throughout your locations
22:39
you just have to contact your local county election
22:42
officials to see where to go and they will give
22:45
you information on how to get there. And then
22:50
the actual election is on Tuesday, May 19th.
22:54
That's where you're going to get, you have to
22:56
go to a specific polling place. Whereas the early
23:00
voting you can go to various polling places,
23:03
but on this day you have to go to one specific
23:05
site that you're Just go to your county elections
23:09
office website, type in your address, and they'll
23:12
give you the location where you have to go. Actually,
23:14
a really good place, a universal place to know
23:19
about for a lot of information is govote .ky
23:23
.gov. It shows you your voter registration, your
23:28
polling locations, sample ballots. Again, where
23:33
to vote. So govote .kentucky .gov. Oh, and by
23:39
the way, know that on Election Day, polls are
23:42
only open from 6 a .m. to 6 p .m. But if you're
23:45
in line before the polls close, they will let
23:48
you vote. That's what they're supposed to do.
23:50
That's the law. You know, we're talking about
23:56
coming in to vote. There's also the absentee
23:58
ballots. You can just go to, I think it's on
24:01
GoVote as well, and you can get your absentee
24:03
ballot, but you have to do it 14 days before
24:06
the election. So May 5th is your deadline for
24:09
that. Right. And the other thing about the election
24:14
day that you have to be aware of is... Just go
24:18
vote. It's that simple. One of the things we've
24:22
seen in the past, like in the last presidential
24:25
election, it's about 40, maybe more than 40 %
24:32
of Kentuckians didn't vote in the last election.
24:35
And, you know, if anyone is out there and complaining
24:40
about the way the government's running today
24:42
and they didn't vote, You have no excuse. You
24:46
have nothing to say because you had the chance
24:48
to do something about this and you didn't. You
24:51
failed in your responsibility. And I'm sounding
24:54
kind of scoldish right now, but sometimes you
24:58
have to start scolding because... Especially
25:00
with what's happening around us every single
25:03
day. Yeah, well, look at where we are now in
25:06
Kentucky in particular. As we've noted many times,
25:10
the... The state is dominated by Republicans.
25:15
It's just, you know, there are, if I remember
25:20
the statistics right, I think... There are 18
25:23
% of Democrats. 18 % of the legislature is Democrats.
25:26
20 Democrats in the House, and that's out of
25:29
100 representatives. And six Democrats in the
25:32
state Senate, that's out of 38. So Democrats
25:35
have no voice. If you're complaining about the
25:40
fact that your hospital's closing or that your
25:43
medical... You're getting thrown off Medicaid.
25:47
Or, you know, just some basic stuff. Gas prices
25:51
are over $4. You can't get your food stamps.
25:55
These are all things that the Republicans have
25:57
taken away from Kentucky voters. And Kentucky
26:01
voters keep voting for Republicans. They keep
26:03
putting them in office. And one of the reasons
26:06
is that about 50 % of uncontested races, Democrats
26:12
don't even show up. to give them a run. You mean
26:16
Democrats aren't on the ballot. Right. It's just
26:19
one name and it's usually like the one Republican
26:22
name. So how are you going to change anything
26:25
if you... Well, this goes back to the idea. Let
26:30
me jump in for this one. So 20 years ago, I mean,
26:33
I started looking. I was living in the eastern
26:36
part of Jefferson County, and I started looking
26:40
at who my state legislators were, all Republicans
26:43
for a long time. And I knew that people had voted
26:48
for fairness earlier than that. I knew there
26:51
were Democrats living out there. But I also found
26:54
out that for eight years, no one had run against,
26:57
in this case, it was Bob DeWeese, who was a state
27:00
representative. Eight years, no one had run against
27:04
him. So first of all, how are you going to get
27:06
a Democrat in office if you don't have one on
27:09
the ballot to vote for? So I ran, and I really
27:14
ran hard. I raised more money than he did. I
27:18
made him stop going out all across the state
27:22
to help fundraise for other Republicans because
27:26
he had to fight. He had to show up and do the
27:30
work in his district in a way that he hadn't
27:33
had to do for almost 10 years. So, and although
27:37
I didn't win, I ran a really good race. I was
27:40
close at about, let's see, 40, it was like 48%,
27:45
46 to 48 % of the vote. That's pretty good. given
27:50
that you didn't even have a Democratic candidate
27:52
for almost 10 years. And then the moral of the
27:55
story is, despite the fact that I didn't win,
27:58
now you have Democrats in those state rep houses.
28:03
Karen Berg is in a solidly Republican district
28:09
historically for state Senate. And so when we
28:13
run, even if we don't win, it sets up another
28:17
person to possibly win in a couple of years.
28:21
So the fact that we don't have Democrats on every
28:25
single ballot in the state is part of the problem.
28:29
Yeah, and if you look at Atticus Scott, who's
28:32
a local politician who's also very active in
28:36
various community efforts throughout. the Louisville
28:42
area, she has this whole piece on the sub stack
28:49
that talks about how Democrats can win in Kentucky.
28:51
And the first thing they have to do is... run
28:55
in every election because that's what the problem
28:59
here is. I'll quote her here. She said, you cannot
29:03
win a race you refuse to run. When a Republican
29:06
runs unopposed, voters have no choice. They get
29:09
no debate. They get no contrast. And they get
29:13
used to voting for the only name on the ballot,
29:15
which trains an entire generation of voters to
29:18
see Democratic absence as Democratic weakness.
29:22
Because it is. And I want to add something that
29:25
she wrote. Here's another thing that she wrote,
29:28
and I think it gives context for this conversation.
29:31
This is what she said to the Hardin County Democratic
29:34
Women's Club. We are raising children in a state.
29:38
where one in three Kentuckians depends on Medicaid,
29:41
and our legislature just voted to add co -pays
29:44
and work requirements to that program. We are
29:47
raising daughters under the strictest abortion
29:50
ban in the country. We are raising sons in a
29:55
state that just lowered the age to carry concealed
29:59
weapons to 18. And we are raising black children
30:03
in a state where a Republican supermajority is
30:07
actively dismantling the school board of the
30:11
largest school district in Kentucky because they
30:14
hate black people and DEI. These are not abstract
30:19
policy concerns, right? This is the reality of
30:24
what we're dealing with. And this is all happening
30:26
because you have a super majority of Republicans
30:29
in the legislature. And the result of that is
30:33
they will pass bills that have no debate. The
30:37
big budget over a billion dollars was not transparent.
30:42
And they're going to represent moneyed interests.
30:45
So the environment gets screwed. The people get
30:48
screwed. Our health care gets screwed. If it's
30:51
all about money and privatizing things, we're
30:54
going to suffer. Yeah, but this is why elections
30:59
matter. This is why you have to get out to vote.
31:03
Again, if you're depending on food stamps. You
31:10
have to vote. You can't say, I don't have time.
31:14
You have to vote. Your employer should be forced
31:17
to allow you to have the time to vote. That's
31:20
just a denial of your constitutional right if
31:23
they aren't doing this. If you have a rural hospital,
31:28
you have to vote because those are being closed
31:30
immediately because of what the Republicans have
31:33
done in the Kentucky legislature. If you have
31:35
children, you have to vote. If you're a woman,
31:37
you have to vote. If you're a man, you have to
31:39
vote. If you're white, you have to vote. If you're
31:42
a person of color, you have to vote. Right, and
31:44
this is because... But we have to also point
31:49
out that you have to vote, but Democrats also
31:52
have to show up and get on the ballot everywhere.
31:54
Right. This isn't something... And voter registration.
31:57
We're being outpaced by the Republicans for voter
32:01
registration in the state. What the H? But what's
32:06
the appeal? I still don't understand the appeal
32:09
of why people are voting against... everything
32:13
that they need and this is well first of all
32:16
if you don't have choice jesse That's one thing.
32:18
If the Democrats are weak and don't show up and
32:22
don't have strong candidates and don't work to
32:25
educate the public about why these policies are
32:28
killing them, then it's just as much on the Democratic
32:31
Party as it is on the fact that Republicans have
32:35
this supermajority and they're uncontested in
32:38
50 % of their races. Right. And we have to also
32:41
point out that Kentucky used to be a blue state.
32:44
And the reason that it's not is because Republicans
32:47
did these things. Like if there weren't if there
32:50
weren't Republicans on the ballots years ago,
32:53
they forced people to get on the ballot, not
32:56
to win, not necessarily to win, but just have
32:58
this presence so that people see there's a choice.
33:01
Right. And there is no choice right now in in
33:05
this state because a lot of seats are just going
33:09
uncontested. to Republican candidates, and that's
33:12
why you have a supermajority that defies just
33:17
logic. Well, actually, it defies serving the
33:22
people that it's supposed to serve because it's
33:25
more interested in the financial interest, and
33:29
that's why Republicans are now... You see it
33:33
at the federal level, state level, local level.
33:35
Speaking of that, I want people to know that
33:39
if you don't know who to vote for, you know,
33:42
say it's your jailer or sheriff or a certain
33:44
judge. So the Fairness Campaign in Louisville
33:50
has very good recommendations for Jefferson County,
33:53
except they wussed out on mayor with a double
33:57
recommendation of Craig Greenberg, the current
33:59
mayor, the developer mayor, the mayor that promises
34:02
affordable housing and doesn't deliver, the mayor
34:05
that got rid of sanctuary city status to a city
34:10
that's the fourth largest in refugee resettlement,
34:12
very large immigrant. population, you know, the
34:16
mayor that was going to put a giant pickleball
34:19
court without any community input at Joe Creason
34:23
Park, et cetera, et cetera, because he's a developer
34:26
mayor. He's a wealthy mayor versus Shameka Parrish
34:30
-Wright, who has been in public service, is a
34:33
current Metro Council member, has lived experience
34:38
of... being hungry, of being unhoused. She's
34:44
a black woman. She is such a good community organizer
34:49
and she cares about the people. by far the better
34:53
candidate for mayor in Jefferson County. So the
34:56
Fairness Campaign is a place to look. Also, the
34:59
League of Women Voters, which is a nonpartisan
35:03
body, that is a really good place to go to their
35:06
website, and you can do a bill tracker, for example.
35:09
Now you can see all the bills that passed. that
35:14
were opposed or recommended by the League of
35:17
Women Voters. So there are resources. Kentuckians
35:20
for the Commonwealth is a great resource if you
35:23
care about labor issues, social justice, environmental
35:27
justice. They make very good recommendations
35:30
for whom to vote for. So not only is there no
35:34
excuse for you not to vote. But there is also
35:37
no excuse for you not to do a little bit of research
35:41
to understand who the best candidates are to
35:45
move our state forward. Because, frankly, friends,
35:48
we are going backwards in almost every category
35:51
that you can imagine. Strictest abortion ban
35:54
in the country, terrible water and air regulations,
35:59
and, you know, it's just, it goes on and on.
36:02
It's, well, your life expectancy is decreasing.
36:06
It's already a big gap between red and blue states.
36:10
Yeah, and Kentucky is doing very badly in these
36:13
areas. One thing about the election, though,
36:16
that we should point out is that depending on
36:18
where you are, there's a Republican ballot, there's
36:22
a Democratic ballot, and there's a nonpartisan
36:25
ballot. Louisville area as an example we are
36:30
going to be voting for a US senator state rep
36:34
county attorney county clerk sheriff and those
36:38
are under the Democratic category so but mayor
36:41
is under nonpartisan so that that's interesting
36:44
because I I will I've said this before but I
36:51
want to know what party the person running for
36:54
office represents, because that is a determinant
36:58
of what they believe in terms of their, you know,
37:01
their policies and their activities. And for
37:05
some reason, they've decided that the Louisville
37:07
mayoral race will be nonpartisan. So you don't
37:10
know who the Republican or the Democrat is. And
37:13
I also point out that, you know, you go through
37:15
this list of names in the ballot, and it's a
37:18
nonpartisan, they're not an alphabetical order.
37:21
And Shameka Parrish Wright is the last name on
37:24
that list. It's interesting because Greenberg,
37:28
there are like 12 people on the ballot, and I
37:30
think Greenberg is number four. But I have no
37:32
idea who represents what or who any of these
37:36
people are. So we have to do our research on
37:39
who. Well, this is an example of there are Democrats
37:44
on the ballot and there are Republicans on the
37:46
ballot, but you don't know which is which. Whereas
37:48
in the other parts of the ballot, they're specifically
37:51
for your party affiliation. And in Louisville,
37:54
particularly, if you're nonpartisan, the only
37:57
thing you get to vote for is the mayor. You can't
37:59
vote for any of the other candidates on any of
38:01
the other ballots. And I want to just mention
38:05
Attica's words about, you know, this kind of
38:08
dire situation that we have. Because, you know,
38:11
she, like us, she ends with... action invitations.
38:16
And she says, Republicans have, this is in Kentucky,
38:19
Republicans have the numbers now, but they don't
38:23
have our heart. They don't have our community.
38:25
They don't have the people who are afraid and
38:28
show up anyway, who know exactly what these bills
38:31
mean for their families and refuse to be silent.
38:35
And then she says, some of us are not waiting
38:37
for permission to run, and that makes our party
38:40
angry and vindictive. I experienced that in 2006.
38:44
We are not waiting for the perfect moment, the
38:46
perfect conditions, or your permission. We are
38:50
running because the people of Kentucky cannot
38:53
afford for us to wait. And then lastly, May 19th
38:58
is coming. Make your plan. Bring your people.
39:01
Talk to your neighbors. And remember, you only
39:04
get the roses if you run the race. That's back
39:07
to a dirty restaurant. See how we did that? That
39:12
was very impressive, I thought. Don't you think?
39:14
But we're not stopping there. We're going on.
39:16
We're going on. Can we talk about fun stuff now?
39:20
Oh, please. Let's do that. Thank you. I just
39:25
wanted to mention that I had the most amazing
39:28
weekend. Last week, I went to the Smoky Mountains
39:32
and went to the 76th Annual Spring Wildflower
39:38
Pilgrimage. And this is when all kinds of flower
39:43
nerds and nature nerds and birding nerds and
39:47
all the nerds come together and stay and pigeon
39:51
forge. Or Gatlinburg, yeah, Tennessee, or anywhere
39:56
they can so that they can learn and experience
40:00
more flowers and other wildlife and things like
40:05
that. So all of these experts on ferns, on salamanders,
40:11
on wildflowers, botanists, all kinds of people
40:16
come in and they lead hikes and give talks. for
40:22
free to all of the pilgrims that come to the
40:26
Smoky Mountains. And I have just got to say,
40:29
it really was a spiritual experience. It was
40:32
amazing to see nature this way and to walk alongside
40:37
these roaring streams with... cascades everywhere
40:42
and to see all of these wildflowers. I think
40:46
probably the best one I saw was the pink lady
40:49
slipper and there was like a whole bunch of them
40:52
in one spot. And then, oh, oh, I saw lichens
40:58
that glow in the dark under UV light. They gave
41:02
us this little cheapy UV light flashlight and
41:05
I shined it on a tree. and I saw the craziest
41:10
neon colors. I saw yellow, orange, and blue.
41:15
And I'm 62 years old. I had no idea. All right,
41:19
a few fun facts that I also didn't know. By the
41:22
way, ferns were around 300 million years ago,
41:26
and they covered the Earth's surface, okay? So
41:30
there were tall ones and short ones. They were
41:32
everywhere. And then as... flowering plants vascular
41:37
plants come around they crowd them out okay and
41:41
then did you know that so much of our fossil
41:44
fuels coal right around here is ferns from 300
41:49
million years ago. That kind of blew my mind.
41:52
Did you know that, Nancy? Who's Nancy? Did you
41:55
know that, Jesse? Yeah. Well, I knew that that
42:00
was part of the fossil fuels. It's like dinosaurs
42:02
and ferns and all this stuff that was around
42:06
300 million years ago. It's all underground.
42:08
The dinosaurs weren't around 300 million years
42:11
ago. Much, much sooner than that. Oh, okay. So
42:14
wherever, all those things that died are now
42:18
in the ground and have been converted to oil.
42:21
Right. So that's my extent of knowledge. So I
42:26
got to share a couple more things I learned.
42:27
Another thing I learned was the erosion over
42:31
the last 400 million years of the Smoky Mountains.
42:36
basically has deposited all the sand on all the
42:42
southeastern coasts, Gulf. and the Atlantic,
42:46
and also that erosion actually infilled a big
42:50
part of the state of Florida. Did you know that?
42:53
I didn't even know what you're saying. I don't
42:55
get it. What's that mean? Well, over 400 million
42:58
years, you know, the mountains looked like the
43:00
Rocky Mountains when they were young, right?
43:02
And so over all these years, all that top...
43:06
You know, the rock, the quartz and all that stuff
43:09
has been, sandstone has been eroded away and
43:13
it flowed down to the coast and made sand for
43:17
all of our beaches. So when the continents separated,
43:20
this is what happened? This is after Pangea.
43:23
Okay. Yeah. So that's interesting. Yeah. I mean,
43:26
I thought it was cool. So what fun have you been
43:29
having? Amy talks about being out in the country.
43:34
I'm going to talk about being out in the city.
43:36
And one of the things I do regularly is I take
43:39
very long walks all around town. um i i don't
43:43
know which way i'm going when i leave the house
43:45
it just depends on oh that that looks interesting
43:48
so i'll walk in that direction so the miles can
43:51
be any um the number of miles i'll walk it could
43:54
be eight miles one day this morning i walked
43:56
five miles i usually walk around the university
43:59
of louisville campus and right now it's it's
44:04
a pleasant time to walk in the city because it's
44:09
we're going through that transition where kids
44:11
are graduating from college so if you walk by
44:14
the university you see all these bright shiny
44:17
faces in their college gowns taking pictures
44:20
and you know just looking eager to get out in
44:24
the world or you just walk around the city like
44:28
i was walking uh to the downtown area earlier
44:32
this week And I didn't go out for Thunder Over
44:36
Louisville, but I see that there was like an
44:38
amusement park or a little carnival set up there.
44:41
So I missed that. And one of the things I do
44:46
a lot, and I'm probably going to make a post
44:49
of this eventually, but I take pictures of murals
44:52
I see in the city. And you'd be surprised what
44:55
you find here. Complete sides of buildings are
45:00
now... pieces of art. Which I love. I love street
45:03
art. Like if you go down by Churchill Downs,
45:08
there's a mural on a building of Rosemary Clooney.
45:11
If you go up to the downtown area, there's a
45:14
mural with Prince. Well, and Rosemary Clooney
45:17
was also a native Kentuckian. Right, and the
45:19
aunt of George Clooney? Yes. Yeah, so there's
45:23
the connection there. Prince wasn't a Kentuckian.
45:27
No. He's just like... a good person to draw a
45:29
mural of. They're all over near us. Shelby Park
45:33
and Schnitzelberg, Germantown. So there are plenty
45:37
of things to see just walking. And I know no
45:39
one, people hardly walk here because that's,
45:42
I think that's an advantage for me because I'm...
45:46
I'm from places where people walk a lot. Like
45:49
I was in San Francisco. You go to San Francisco
45:51
in an afternoon and the streets are just crowded
45:54
with people walking along the Embarcadero. New
45:56
York City. I was in New York City. Just any time
46:00
you go there, you go downtown, walk around the
46:03
museums, walk around Broadway. Always excitement
46:06
there. In D .C. There's plenty of places to look
46:13
around. All the monuments are there. They're
46:15
all free. And you're also talking about places
46:19
that have really good public transportation,
46:21
which we lack. Right. We have a problem with
46:24
transportation because there are times when I
46:26
want to use a bus here. And I have an app that
46:29
will tell me when the buses are going to arrive,
46:31
and there may be a half hour between buses. And
46:35
by the time the bus gets there, I could have
46:38
walked. That's one of the reasons I walked, because
46:40
there's no reliable mass transit here, and I'll
46:44
get somewhere faster. by walking than by waiting
46:48
for the bus to come. And, you know, big events,
46:50
I just want to say. I went to Bourbon and Beyond,
46:53
which is a big concert festival that we have.
46:56
I think that's in the early fall, in September.
46:59
And I looked up the bus route because I did not
47:02
want to park, I did not want to deal with the
47:04
traffic, and the bus never came. And I tried
47:07
a second day, which is the definition of insanity,
47:10
doing the same thing over and over and expecting
47:12
different results. And the bus just was really,
47:15
really late. But then it didn't come to take
47:17
me home, and we had to take an Uber. Right. That's
47:20
crazy. The thing, too, is that there's no reliable
47:22
bus service from the airport. I always take mass
47:27
transit. Whenever I go to any city, I don't rent
47:30
a car because who wants to drive in a city? But
47:33
every other place, you can get on a train or
47:37
get on a bus, and it'll take you to downtown.
47:42
the schedules are pretty reliable maybe every
47:45
15 minutes or every 20 minutes you can get something
47:47
in louisville if you want to get a bus from the
47:50
airport it's an hour at least an hour between
47:54
buses and this is every day so just a quick question
47:59
why would anybody want to come here if it's so
48:02
if that if there's not enough facilities or enough
48:06
transportation to get you to where you want to
48:09
go Yes, they will say, use an Uber. But historically,
48:14
you look at this town, it used to have streetcars.
48:17
It used to have a bigger bus system. But every
48:21
year, they keep cutting the services. And they
48:24
keep cutting the services, which affect poor
48:27
people more than rich people. Of course. We're
48:29
going back to that again. And the reason they're
48:31
cutting the services is because of Republican
48:33
budgets. Right. And this is, you know... And
48:36
money people, I mean... There's privilege in
48:39
having money, right? So you have access to your
48:42
own vehicle. Maybe you have multiple vehicles
48:44
in your car at your house. And then you have
48:48
a house where you can park your cars. All right,
48:52
well, we turned fun into another complaint. So
48:55
I'm going to segue to, you know, I always try
48:59
to lift up actions for us. And May Day, which
49:03
is coming up this Friday, which is also Oaks
49:06
Day, I believe. Is that right? jesse is always
49:08
the day before the derby and the derby is on
49:10
saturday always the first saturday of may for
49:13
the derby and that's by the way we usually don't
49:16
plant our summer gardens until derby weekend
49:20
although um because of climate change it's moving
49:23
up like at least two weeks but oh and speaking
49:26
of that when we were in the smokies things, native
49:30
plants had already bloomed. So the spring wildflower
49:33
pilgrimage was late and that's because of climate
49:36
change and they've moved it up two weeks. But
49:38
I digress. It also happens in Washington because
49:41
of the cherry blossoms. Exactly. Everything,
49:43
you know, all the things that you plan to see
49:45
if you're scheduling based on the past, climate
49:50
change has changed those kind of natural phenomena.
49:53
So, you know, like... um probably the the changing
49:57
of leaves in the fall or that's going to be later
50:01
or whatever the plantings that you're going to
50:05
be later everything you're looking at It's just
50:09
we're going through like this really weird weather
50:12
now where there are tornado warnings or severe
50:17
thunderstorm. We had a severe thunderstorm warning
50:19
last night. Yeah. Probably going to have another.
50:21
I was at choir practice. That was fun. Yeah.
50:24
Just figuring out how people were going to drive
50:26
home safely. It was a mess. Right. But this is
50:30
climate change. But, of course, this is another
50:33
thing that's always controversial that the Republican
50:36
legislature doesn't. believe in so going back
50:39
to mayday if you go to maydaystrong .org you
50:44
will find out about this very large protest and
50:49
it's basically workers over billionaires is the
50:52
tagline national it's a national day of action
50:55
for labor and community rights so maydaystrong
50:59
.org and you could also text solidarity S -O
51:05
-L -I -D -A -R -I -T -Y, to 58910 for updates.
51:12
That's solidarity to 58910, and you'll get updates
51:19
about the May Day protest. Yeah, and one thing
51:24
about May Day, it's not just something that happens
51:28
in the United States. It's recognized worldwide.
51:32
as a day, International Workers' Day. And it's
51:36
been a public holiday in lots of places. In the
51:41
United States, it commemorates the riots that
51:45
took place in the labor movement in the 19th
51:49
century. um and you know it's the thing that
51:53
they're talking about this year is the economic
51:55
blackout with no school no work no shopping and
51:59
these are things that we are concerned about
52:02
now because the economy has changed significantly
52:05
and it's changed for the worst since a certain
52:10
person has been president it's just Something
52:15
we see now. We know that gas prices are up. We
52:17
know that food prices are up. We know the cost
52:20
of housing is getting more difficult. We know
52:23
that AI is taking over jobs. We know that medical
52:27
concerns are falling apart. When the administration
52:34
doesn't even know what 100 % is, when they say
52:39
that you're going to drop the price of a drug
52:41
by 600%, not only say that stupidly because that's
52:47
impossible, but say it in a Senate hearing defending
52:50
that statement, which Robert Kennedy did last
52:54
week when they were talking about Elizabeth Warren
52:58
asked Robert Kennedy, how can you drop drug prices
53:02
600 %? And Kennedy said something stupid like,
53:05
well... Donald Trump has his own form of math.
53:07
And it's like, yeah, his own form of math is
53:11
wrong. If you drop something 100%, that means
53:14
it's free. It's free. You don't drop it 600 %
53:17
because that means they're going to pay you five
53:19
times what you would have paid. They're going
53:22
to give you the money to take their drug, which
53:24
is not going to happen. So, you know, we've taken
53:27
this again and we've gone negative. But one of
53:31
the things that did just happen is, A supposed
53:35
assassination attempt by President Trump? You
53:38
see, I don't have a problem saying that it was
53:41
an assassination attempt, but I do have a problem
53:44
in that it is the epitome of incompetence if
53:50
that guy got as far as he got. Like, pictures
53:53
I've seen, this naked guy running around with
53:54
a gun. There's no way that can... The Secret
54:00
Service is there in this hotel. The guy is registered
54:03
in the hotel. They don't bother to check out
54:07
the people who are in the hotel. They're saying
54:11
that it was an assassination attempt. Well, there
54:14
were shots fired, as Carolyn Leavitt said before
54:17
the event, which makes it kind of questionable
54:19
as to whether it was planned or not. That's why
54:22
there are people raising questions about it.
54:26
You know, it's just, there's a major Secret Service
54:31
incompetence. And the fact that they're using
54:35
this as an excuse to build a ballroom. Right.
54:40
And also distracting from the Epstein files.
54:43
But there's no logical connection to this because...
54:46
Oh, but the ballroom's going to make them safer
54:48
because there's a bunker. Yeah, but events, there
54:51
are events. Presidents go to events that are
54:53
not in the White House. There's no ballroom in
54:58
Chicago if he goes to Chicago. There's no ballroom
55:01
in Louisville if he's coming to Louisville. So
55:04
that whole argument that you need to build a
55:07
ballroom in Washington, D .C. for a ridiculous
55:10
amount of money for something that is... It's
55:14
all bullshit. It's just bullshit. This is a problem,
55:18
Jesse, in so many ways. I mean, again, it reinforces
55:22
this. You don't know what to believe, right?
55:26
Well, that's the thing. I talked to a family
55:29
member of mine very recently, and all he could
55:32
do is just rail on the violence, particularly
55:36
against the president. This person told me, of
55:40
course, you don't think he's a fascist, and I
55:43
can't stand the violence. And then he started
55:45
talking about all the Muslims in the world and
55:48
being so fearful about all the Muslims in the
55:51
world. Well, let's talk about the violence. Okay,
55:53
so this guy has a gun. Do you know that, and
55:56
we've discussed this earlier, but in Louisville,
55:58
the legislature... passed a law that will let
56:02
18 year olds carry guns now conceal carry 18
56:06
year olds can't buy alcohol right uh they have
56:10
to they can't get abortions can't get abortions
56:13
can't do anything that a responsible person can
56:16
do but you're going to let them have a gun does
56:18
that make sense right and again the the answer
56:22
to this um quote unquote assassination attempt
56:26
is make stronger gun laws Like, people who are
56:29
mentally deficient don't let them have guns if
56:33
they have a record. But Trump turned it all around
56:36
and made it all about how great he is. Right,
56:39
right. And that's why he needs a ballroom. That
56:42
makes no sense. But, okay, we're going to build
56:45
a ballroom for hundreds of millions of dollars.
56:47
But we're going to take away food from babies.
56:50
Yeah, and health care. Yeah, so it's all. And
56:53
clean water and clean air and the boundary waters
56:57
and other places that people go to, like, breathe.
57:02
Yeah, so again. But you did it again. I did it
57:05
again. Gee whiz. I'm sorry, people. I just. Okay,
57:10
so everybody, go take a walk. Yeah, go take a
57:14
walk. It's sunny out now. Look at the flowers.
57:17
It's spring. If you have allergies. Hug your
57:19
loved ones. Go to your kids' baseball games.
57:24
I went to my grandson's t -ball game this weekend.
57:28
It's interesting to watch little kids learn a
57:31
sport. It's so fun. You know, those kinds of
57:35
things are the diversions from, not the diversions,
57:38
but those are the things that are important.
57:40
Yes. Staying present in the moment. Staying present
57:43
in the moment. And being of service. And being
57:45
aware of who you are. And being educated and
57:48
voting. Yeah, right. So these are the things
57:50
you have to do. Another reminder, the primary
57:54
itself is on May 19th. Yeah, and Democrats better
58:00
be on all the ballots in every place if they
58:03
want to win. In the future. Because it's too
58:06
late now for this election. Right. Well, no,
58:09
we have an election in the fall. This is the
58:11
primary. Yeah, but you have to file in January.
58:15
Right, right. No, too late for this year. Yeah,
58:18
but just keep remembering that if there's an
58:22
empty... For all the people out there who have
58:26
thought about running for office, this is the
58:28
time to do it. It's really a rewarding experience.
58:32
It's fascinating. You meet some of the best people
58:34
across the state that you have friendships with
58:37
for the rest of your life. And it leads to other
58:42
things. It can lead to other things professionally.
58:44
It can lead to other things from a service volunteer
58:47
standpoint. You might run again and win. Other
58:50
people will run again and possibly win. It's
58:54
really a win -win -win. Right, and you don't
58:56
have to be the candidate yourself. You can support
58:59
someone, like work for that campaign. This is
59:03
the time to do it because we saw what the Kentucky
59:06
legislature did this year, and we can't just
59:10
let that stand unless we want to. in the same
59:14
situation again next year listening to people
59:17
complain about the cost of living and lack of
59:20
health care and you know all the crime in the
59:26
streets crime is going down but you know but
59:30
the thing too is that as crime is going down
59:35
but they're building more prisons yeah because
59:37
not that are owned by billionaires yes that's
59:40
the reason it's not because there's more crime
59:42
it's because billionaires want to make more money.
59:44
Plus then you have slave labor. Yep. That's what
59:47
that is. And let's, I won't go into that, but
59:50
anyway, I think we're going to wrap this up.
59:54
Yeah, let's wrap it up. Okay. So thanks for listening.
59:58
We will be back in a couple of weeks and we will
1:00:02
let you know what the Derby was like for us.
1:00:04
Although we're not going to go. A neat trip that
1:00:07
I'll talk about next time. All right. Thanks
1:00:09
everybody. See ya. Our closing music is by John
1:00:15
Chamberlain.