Talking about UK speech suppression, Google win, and much more.
Hosted by:
- Jamon Fries
https://mindlessmeanderings.com
(00:00:19) Introduction
(00:02:53) Government Bureaucracy and RFK Hearings
(00:05:05) Political Commentary and Insider Trading
(00:09:09) Trump's Disappearance and Space Command
(00:14:44) International Politics
(00:20:07) UK Censorship and Free Speech Issues
(00:26:19) European Political Intrigue
(00:30:31) Energy Drink Regulations in the UK
(00:34:56) Google's Monopoly and Market Competition
(00:45:46) Advertising in Cars
(00:51:23) Minimum Wage and Tipping Culture
(00:54:33) AI Industry Legal Battles
(01:00:10) Trump's Legal Wins and Climate Spending
(01:03:48) Israel and International Relations
(01:06:50) Health Studies and Dark Chocolate Benefits
Good afternoon, everybody. It is, I believe, August 4, and we are live with episode number 59 of the Minus Meandrians. And I'm sitting in the dark because I just feel like it. And I'm Jesse Fries. And yeah. There you go.
[00:00:36] Jamon Fries:
And I'm Jamin Fries, and it's currently September 4.
[00:00:41] Jesse Fries:
Hell. Oh, yeah. It is.
[00:00:44] Jamon Fries:
And I actually was able to walk a little bit yesterday and today and the day before. Yeah. That is good. He's still using a walker, of course, but, I'm not feeling pain pain in my knee when I walk now. So it's very nice to be able to start doing that again. Oh, completely. Completely. That is awesome. That is awesome.
[00:01:07] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. So had to, get Zoe her, a new passport today. So that was a little bit fun. It's like Yeah. We had all the paperwork. We went there. Oh, I can hear myself in the background, by the way. Okay. Yeah. Yep. I'll turn the volume down a bit then. There we go. Is that better? Yeah. I think. I don't know. I'd have to talk. But You are talking. So so we got, the passport and everything like that, or we did everything. Everything we had everything that we needed. And then we get there, and he goes, oh, well, we need a copy of the birth certificate. Like, we have a copy. We we're giving the original, but he goes, oh, we need a copy of it. I go, why?
Because you'd it it did say that for requirements. He goes, because the they're they're gonna just flag it back. I go, sure, dude. Whatever. So I had to find some way to actually get a copy of that stupid thing after dropping Zoey off because the child under 10 needs to be present with the both parents to be able to get a passport. So Oh, man. And I thought I had a copy at home. They they didn't have a copy machine at the at there? No. At the post office? No. No. They're not gonna do that for you. And so, basically, I like I I thought I had a copy at home, so I just left the original copy there. And then I was gonna get to copy the copy I had at home, the extra one. And, well, I got home, and I didn't have an extra one. So I had to go back, get the original, and then I had to come back home to copy it. And then I had to go back again just to drop it off. Yeah. Oh, man.
[00:02:46] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. That's a nightmare.
[00:02:48] Jesse Fries:
Governments. Right? It's just Yeah. Yeah. Back and forth back and forth.
[00:02:54] Jamon Fries:
Absolutely. It's about, like, the RFK hearings going on right now by the finance committee.
[00:03:01] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. I I haven't even looked at those. That that's gotta be a shit show. It really does.
[00:03:06] Jamon Fries:
Oh, there there was there was one that was demanding that RFK Jr guarantee that he will send them public information by in ten days. So, you know, it's not like he can go and just look it up on the Internet to get it. He He needs RFK to guarantee that he'll send it within ten days. But as soon as RFK sends it, you know that the public is gonna wonder, is the government actually involved in this study? Therefore, we can't trust the study because the government is involved because it has to go because they're requesting it to go through the government.
[00:03:50] Jesse Fries:
Sounds about right. Sounds about right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:03:56] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Then after he after he didn't get that guarantee, he then started asking questions. And just instead of letting Arif can answer, he's like, well, I know you're not gonna answer that. So here's another question. I know you're not gonna answer that. So here's another question. Yeah. It's all for show. It's all for show. It is. Yeah. I I firmly believe that they that they need to be, that those senate hearings should not be broadcast live or otherwise potential. They
[00:04:25] Jesse Fries:
they should be. Do you know why? It's just like, the, prime minister's question period of time in The UK and in Canada. Yeah. It's just a shit show is what it is. It's just crazy back and forth. This is the the it's the entertainment. You know? And it's true. It was very entertaining. See? That's all that matters. It's for the entertainment.
[00:04:47] Jamon Fries:
We need some of them. How many of the questions being asked were just simply to get a, to get a a headline? You know? It it's, like, I don't care what the actual answer was. They just wanted that headline.
[00:05:00] Jesse Fries:
No. Yeah. That's all it is. That's all they care about, especially in today's world. They they don't care about anything else. They don't actually care about getting to the truth of the matter. But then again, I saw this one TikTok. It was awesome. This guy, he goes, I used to work in politics. Right? And you know something? The one thing you should know is politicians, except for a couple, are all stupid. They're just stupid. And he goes, well, we're all stupid, but they are, like, really stupid as well. You know? It it's there there there's nothing there. You know? So it's a don't be surprised. You know? They they just they'd like the limelight is basically what they are. Yes. They they want the power, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're they're bright, they're smart, they're better than anybody else. I know. They're they're they're just out there trying to make millions of dollars, you know, like Elon Omar, you know, and the Fed lady. You know? It's like Yeah. Yeah. Apparently, like, with Elon Omar, apparently, like, last year, she wasn't like a millionaire. This year, when when you count her husband, who isn't her brother, I think, not this one, she's now worth, like, $30,000,000.
Yeah. Due to his businesses. His his businesses last year were, like, a few maybe 10,000 or something like that dollars worth. And now they're $30,000,000 worth. You you know, it's like, do you think somebody maybe, started using them as a favor to Omar's to get her to do something? Yep. That's probably a possibility.
[00:06:33] Jamon Fries:
Other than that, it's, maybe information going the other way that shouldn't be getting out. It's allowing him to to I mean, depending on I don't know what he bit what business he's in. But if he were, like, in construction, you know, local governments and stuff like that, if your if your spouse is in construction and suddenly you know that this land is gonna be gonna be used for this, you can then say, hey. You should buy that land.
[00:07:00] Jesse Fries:
No. Yeah. Yeah. It's it might be that, but then it's also you you know, it's like just what? I just saw a headline where they said that they or many people in congress have proposed the no, what is it, insider trading for, congress members. Right? Yeah. And it's a bipartisan thing. You know, I bet I bet the way it is actually enforced is a thing within congress itself. I I don't think the fed would probably so so, basically, it would be a useless thing because you know they're not gonna sell themselves. Would help. Yeah. It's stupid. Yeah.
[00:07:38] Jamon Fries:
So So the peanut gallery just chimed in. Uh-huh. Ilhan Omar's husband has a company that she pays him to do her I to her campaigning and stuff. Yeah. I I I don't know how it is. Her campaign pays her. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I don't him, I guess. Yeah. So
[00:08:02] Jesse Fries:
yeah. Yeah. But, yeah. So yeah. Oh, you completely threw me off there, Damon. Okay. Anyways, and then we have, let's see here, the Lisa Cook thing. So apparently heard about that one. Yeah. Apparently, her primary residence, the first one that she bought in Michigan, it's in Ann Arbor. Okay. Which is where the University of Michigan is. Right. But, basically, apparently, people are renting the house, so it's not even our primary. So Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's time for her to go. Yep.
[00:08:48] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. Yep. Yep. Yep. It's amazing how how is just after they accused Trump of doing playing just playing soft loose with mortgages, how many of those people are playing soft with mortgages as well?
[00:09:07] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you you was there anything new on the Trump disappearing for two days, or was that basically the same thing we covered last time that you had?
[00:09:17] Jamon Fries:
Well, it was basically the same thing except I hadn't heard that, even Tim Waltz kicked in on it. Oh, all of them did. Yeah. Come on, Waltz. You know, I mean, I I can understand people on the Internet making comments about it. Mhmm. But someone at the at the level of a state governor should never have got involved in that at all.
[00:09:44] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. But he's known because he ran for, I know. And and he's the only he's the only he's the highest ranking Democrat that actually ran for president that is actually talking to the public right now or who was president. Because, Kamala Harris, she just completely said, screw politics. I'm not gonna do anything with it. Okay. And then she said, I'll work behind the scenes, but basically, nobody wants her anyways. So she's zapped. Obama, he he never has said too much. Every so often, he'll chime in with this or that. Right. Yeah. It's he's also out of the limelight. So it's like, okay. Tim Walz is still governor of Minnesota.
So Right. Right. Yeah. He he he might think he still has a chance in politics after this. I don't know. But, naturally.
[00:10:35] Jamon Fries:
He's delusional if he thinks that. But
[00:10:38] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. Him and Cheney should go, duck hunting together. Let's see what they're doing now. Really should. Yes. Let's see. Trump moved
[00:10:53] Jamon Fries:
space command, US space command. Yeah. I heard about that. There there was a whole bunch being said about that too with, you know, it's the where it's at right now. They said it it's gonna be it's gonna cost you way more to move it than it would be what it cost to keep it here. Newsom was chiming in saying, Alabama, no. You should have come to California. We are much more much more involved in the space race than Alabama is. This is Huntsville.
[00:11:25] Jesse Fries:
It is Yeah. I know. Do do they not know Yeah. Huntsville?
[00:11:30] Jamon Fries:
California is fifth on the list of of states that are that have that are involved in space. Alabama is much higher than that.
[00:11:40] Jesse Fries:
It it is. That that's where they built the Saturn five and everything like that. Yeah. That's where that's NASA is there. Everything is there. If you go wanna go to space camp, you have to go to Huntsville.
[00:11:52] Jamon Fries:
Yes. It just it Huntsville is, like, just the absolute perfect fit for Space Force.
[00:11:58] Jesse Fries:
That's bad. Yeah. They have the infrastructure. The NASA's kinda, like, left it alone for a long, long time. Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I I it's it's there. So NASA's there, so it kinda makes sense. And, you know Absolutely. Given how, pretty much the whole space race has just turned into or the space industry has turned into a private situation. You know, it kinda makes sense just to make NASA just just combine NASA and space command, really, if you actually It really does. Yeah. Yep. That that make a lot of sense. Make a lot of sense. Yeah. Because why do we need that? You know? Why do we need a nonmilitary space force, which is NASA? You know? We have, like, SpaceX and Blue Origin and, whatnot. Only one can get it up. But Yeah. Because it's
[00:12:50] Jamon Fries:
intended. At Huntsville, SpaceX is there. Blue Origin is there as well. I mean, everybody's there.
[00:12:57] Jesse Fries:
Where? Texas? At Huntsville. Yeah. Are they? Yeah. I don't I don't know. Because
[00:13:04] Jamon Fries:
SpaceX is down in What they what they were saying, they they listed off every everything that is in that infrastructure at at Huntsville Oh, okay. And SpaceX, Blue Origin, as well as a a couple of military, there's military outposts there and NASA. So, I mean, it's just it's like
[00:13:23] Jesse Fries:
where it's almost the center of the space race now. Well, that makes sense then, especially if all those other places are right there. Yeah. And it's cheap. Yeah. It it's Is there a way to save over $4,000,000
[00:13:38] Jamon Fries:
by moving there?
[00:13:40] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. It it's a cheap place to live. You know? I I went there. Yeah. There's nothing there. Yeah. No. No. There isn't. There's
[00:13:47] Jamon Fries:
literally nothing there. You know? And they have the highways needed. They it's big enough that they have highways, so everything is around. The infrastructure is set for it that you don't see you don't have to build new infrastructure. Well, I mean Oh. Yeah. It's it's like the perfect option almost.
[00:14:03] Jesse Fries:
It's it's like Colorado, what they have, what is it? The mountain with military in it. I can't remember what it's called right now. But, basically, where if it all blows up and everything like that, we still have a military because of it. But, you know Right. Yeah. It's not a great place for space, I don't think. But, you know No. No. There there I don't as far as I know, there are zero space
[00:14:27] Jamon Fries:
capabilities in Colorado.
[00:14:29] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You you know, maybe They may control the satellites there, some of the satellites there, but that would be Maybe they think they're special because they're, like, a mile closer to space. You know? Well, that could be. That could be. Yeah. Okey dokey.
[00:14:48] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Did have you seen the, strike on the drug boat in The Caribbean? I haven't seen it. I heard about it. Okay. Yeah. That would be I I it they've been playing it on the news quite a bit lately and, you know, of course, there's a lot of people up in arms about it, you know, that that they took out this boat that was transporting drugs by Trende Aragua Right. Who is a terrorist according to The United States, which means that it's a strike against that boat was just like a strike against Al Qaeda or ISIS or any other terrorist organization. Yeah. Yeah. And it was keep happening. It was outside the 10 mile marker, wasn't it? Yeah. Probably. It was in international waters.
Fair game, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess we've got five destroyers sitting in that area now.
[00:15:44] Jesse Fries:
Well, it doesn't take much. It's just The Caribbean, you know. You just sit in right there and you go, oh, there you go. You know? Yeah. Gulf Of Mexico. Maybe there's a difference. I don't know. All the same thing to me. But Well, the Caribbean the Caribbean I'm sorry. The Caribbean is kind of like
[00:15:57] Jamon Fries:
the border between most of the islands are are kind of the border between the Gulf Of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Jamin, we both did it now, dude. We dead named it. We dead named it. We did dead name it. Gulf Of America. Gulf Of America.
[00:16:13] Jesse Fries:
Gulf Of America. I I We'll be 80 years old going Gulf Of Mexico. People go
[00:16:22] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. It's only a few years from now.
[00:16:28] Jesse Fries:
I have over 30. You know? It's,
[00:16:31] Jamon Fries:
I have 30. That's not that long. According to doctors, that will have mean that I lived sixty years longer than I was supposed to.
[00:16:44] Jesse Fries:
Well, that works. That works. So so so so basically, you're just on bonus time. That's what you're telling me. I am. I've been on bonus time since I was 30. That is pretty awesome.
[00:16:54] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. They kept telling me if I didn't lose weight. This is when I was like, two eighty. They told me I wouldn't live past 30. Seriously, 30? Yeah. Yeah. That's what they were telling me when I was a teenager. And now that I'm, like, three times as much as I weighed back then Right. Right. Well, no. About three times as much as I weighed back then.
[00:17:15] Jesse Fries:
And I'm over 60. So I mean, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Where did they come up with that number? That is Well, I mean, over 50.
[00:17:22] Jamon Fries:
Not not over 60.
[00:17:24] Jesse Fries:
No. Yeah. Yeah. But where did they come up with that 30 number? That is weird. I have no idea. I mean, that that is just what
[00:17:32] Jamon Fries:
oh, that they probably because they thought I was gonna get diabetes so much earlier than I actually started to.
[00:17:39] Jesse Fries:
I no. Because pretty much But even diabetes wouldn't be 30. It's like looking at America right now. It's like yeah. No. It's no. Yeah. I think they're just trying to I think they're trying to scare you straight, that sort of thing, you know. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's It obviously didn't work. Has it ever worked? You know? Like, scary to get straight? I I really don't know. No. No. No. They're always gonna be gay, you know? Yeah. I know it's a good play. Right. Right. It's a good play. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Let's see here. What's this, Trump appeals?
[00:18:30] Jamon Fries:
Yeah.
[00:18:31] Jesse Fries:
The, the The tariff thing.
[00:18:33] Jamon Fries:
The appeals court has ruled that Trump did not have the authority to put the tariffs on. Right. Right. So they're they're trying to put a kibosh on all of that. So Trump has very quickly gone to the Supreme Court and is trying to, hurry a ruling from them
[00:18:50] Jesse Fries:
that on on whether he did what he did was appropriate or not. Well, yeah. Because the judge put his like, the not his decision, but he put the inaction of it, on hold until October.
[00:19:03] Jamon Fries:
Yeah.
[00:19:04] Jesse Fries:
To give Trump time to, Yep. And and, you know, it's like this one, it's I heard that there's some I I don't know what the laws that congress has passed since the constitution about terrorism, what the president can do. But if it's just a constitutional issue, yeah, then Trump is in the wrong. Right. But if I don't know what the Congress has passed the laws that allow Trump to do something like that, then Correct. Correct. I then Yeah. Because I don't know those laws, especially going over the hundreds of years since Right. Constitution. So I really don't know exactly where it'll fall or anything like that. But Right. In general, constitutionally, I would say Trump is in the wrong.
He just needs to get with Congress, have them pass it. So have senate once again, as I always say, get rid of the filibuster, and then you can pass on through, and then we can, go about our lives. You know? It's, Yeah. Absolutely. I'm 100%. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Let's let's go to The UK because The UK right now is kind of crazy. It's, When isn't it? This they're just crazy. Okay. So there is this guy. He he do you know the, IT crowd? The IT crowd? That TV show? It's a UK TV show. I'm not familiar with it. Okay. Well, it was a big hit. It was a comedy and everything like that. Okay. And this guy, he he created that show, wrote for that show, and he he's just comedian as well.
He wrote a a Twitter post basically stating that, women have the right to defend themselves, in the bathroom if a man trans walks in there. Right. And he he said even up into the point of kicking them in the balls. Right? Okay. He he he he posted that while he was in Arizona. Right? Mhmm. By the way, this guy is Irish. Irish citizen. Not British citizen, not American citizen. He's Irish citizen. He posted that while in Arizona. He flew into Heathrow because he lives in Greenwich over there Okay. Right outside London or in Yeah. Part of London. But, anyways, he flies into Heathrow, and, automatically, he's arrested by five armed police officer. Armed, mind you. Now this is The UK. They they sent armed officers after him? They sent armed. You you know? It's like Wow. It if it if it wasn't if if it was The US, who cares? Everybody's armed. You know? Every cop is not. But this is The UK. They sent five armed cops to arrest him for that Twitter post.
[00:21:52] Jamon Fries:
They only they only send armed cops if there's a very strong threat
[00:21:57] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Of endangering an officer's life. And this was at Heathrow. So Yeah. He flew through. So, you know, there's no guns on him. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. All for this that one post. And The UK right now is open arms. Somebody said, well, we always wondered when The UK would become North Korea. We have a point in time now. Yeah. I'm kidding. JK Rowling is just going nuts over it. Oh, I can imagine. She she goes, so he he he threatened to kill or kick somebody in the balls, but I get all these death threats and not a single last one of them. Exactly. Yeah.
So, you know, it's like it is crazy. I, you know, I know nobody listens to this podcast. But Right. But, you know, I I am planning on going over there next year, so I don't know if I'll get arrested or not. You know? It's like Yeah. Wow. If you could do that too, so we where they posted that from outside The UK. He he was in The US, so when he said that he had freedom of speech. Yes. Indeed. He did. But, apparently, I heard that The US knew about this, knew that they were gonna arrest him. So shocked me. Yeah. No. It it's all just it is just completely crazy over there right now. Yeah.
The who is it? The chief of, the London Police, he goes, I I don't. We we filed the law because we had to file the law, but I don't agree with this. The the chief he's just like, oh, there's no way. You know? It's and then I saw this one where it's, like, somebody was on a Twitter post, from JK Rowling. Somebody wrote, well, you know, there's nothing we can do because the computer tells us we have to do it. It's like, so so the the do UK cops go by what computers tell them to do? Is this how is this policing in The UK now?
[00:24:06] Jamon Fries:
It must be.
[00:24:08] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Computer.
[00:24:10] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Wow. The computers will rule the world. You know? That's they've always been saying that, and this kinda proves it more than anything else.
[00:24:21] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. It is completely crazy.
[00:24:24] Jamon Fries:
I just
[00:24:25] Jesse Fries:
they no free speech. No nothing. It's like Yeah.
[00:24:30] Jamon Fries:
Another little bit of craziness out of London.
[00:24:33] Jesse Fries:
Uh-huh.
[00:24:34] Jamon Fries:
So they they've they decided to give the to restore Big Ben. Okay. They they wanted to put it back to its original colors of blue and black or blue and gold. They and there was a lot of, stonework was problematic with it. The the stone was all degrading and everything. Right. So a company came in. They they gave it a face lift, and they put an elevator into it so that you don't so you no longer have to climb the stairs all the way up to the top. Pansies. They are now up for the top architectural award in England. For for putting an elevator?
For putting an elevator and giving a building a face lift.
[00:25:26] Jesse Fries:
Well, I you you know? Yeah. That is a very old tower. So maybe trying to figure out. But I mean, there was absolutely they they didn't like they didn't like reaffirm up the architecture,
[00:25:37] Jamon Fries:
the infrastructure, anything like that. They just put new bricks on, and they're they they're they're up for this award because they use the old style of putting bricks on a building.
[00:25:49] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. So so did Notre Dame, you know, that's I know.
[00:25:56] Jamon Fries:
But there's, like I mean, there it's one of, like, three or four other brand new buildings that are pretty impressive that are up for this award. Right. Right. And yet they they put Big Ben in for this award when they didn't do anything architecturally to it.
[00:26:12] Jesse Fries:
Sounds perfect to me.
[00:26:14] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. That's just a little bit more of that craziness.
[00:26:19] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of, European craziness, have you heard about what's been happening to the AFD, alternative for Deutschland? So they have a, like, a election coming up. Right? Okay. I'm not sure. I don't think it's, like, a country wide election. I think it's just for smaller seats or something like that. I I don't know exactly what. I don't follow that that closely. But Right. Within the last two weeks, seven a f d, what was it? People going up for election. You know, they're they're gonna become part of the parliament or whatever. Seven of them have died. Yeah.
Yeah. Now don't give me sounds a little,
[00:27:11] Jamon Fries:
fishy.
[00:27:13] Jesse Fries:
It's just a little bit just a little bit. No. Don't get me wrong. These aren't spring chickens by any stretch of the imagination. Right. Right. You know you know, it's like, okay. If you have one, it's like, okay. Okay. That sixty nine year old, he just died suddenly. You go, okay. That that that's one. And then, yeah, it was a 51 year old, and then it was a 81 year old, and then it was this, and then that, and then it is like, dude, that's seven in two weeks. You know, it's like, I I don't think it's even statistically possible.
[00:27:43] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. No. No. The the possibility of seven pundits from the same party that are up for that are that are trying to replace the the the old party Right. Suddenly dying Yeah. It definitely
[00:27:58] Jesse Fries:
sounds very fishy. Within a matter of weeks of the election. Within two weeks. Yeah. So now they have to try to rush the ballots to try to get those done.
[00:28:07] Jamon Fries:
Oh god. Yeah.
[00:28:09] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Seven, dude.
[00:28:13] Jamon Fries:
It's like Well, you know, they've also gotta, like, give everybody a huge security detail because, I mean, you know, you can't let anybody else die as it gets closer to the election.
[00:28:24] Jesse Fries:
You know, it it's like the police are going, there's nothing here, man. There's nothing here. These are all natural, man. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:28:35] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. What what happened was all seven of these people all just went to the same restaurant and ate the same exact food, and they died of food poisoning. Yeah. That's it.
[00:28:47] Jesse Fries:
Or or, you know, if it's in Russia, you know, they just just all happen to, like, fall out of the window all at the same time. You know? It's Yeah. Apparently, they like natural causes. That's the way to get rid of people over there. Russia likes the window. Yes.
[00:29:01] Jamon Fries:
Refenestration is the is the best way.
[00:29:04] Jesse Fries:
Exactly. Exactly. So yeah. Yeah.
[00:29:08] Jamon Fries:
Wow. That's insane.
[00:29:10] Jesse Fries:
Isn't it? Yeah.
[00:29:13] Jamon Fries:
What's this other story you have from England about, you know, energy drinks?
[00:29:18] Jesse Fries:
So apparently because because The UK because because they just have to regulate everything. Oh. They're they're they're making it that you have to be 16 years old to buy energy drinks. You can't buy them if you're younger than 16.
[00:29:32] Jamon Fries:
What's their reasoning? Do they have any for that?
[00:29:35] Jesse Fries:
Well, it it because it might affect your sleep. But but but so what? It's they they even, like, go okay. So it's like a monster. It's worth about 4 colas during the day. Right. Like, one okay. Kid can easily drink four colas. Oh, yeah. Like, I've seen it happen easy. Happens very regularly.
[00:30:02] Jamon Fries:
Exactly. Exactly. So I'm like, there's kids that I've that I've found it weird if they didn't have at least six.
[00:30:08] Jesse Fries:
Right. And that's that that that that's cola. Yeah. Mountain Dew. You know, you would just die Mountain Dew in high school. This is what you would do. It's like you you don't drink coffee, but you still have to stay awake for school. To you with Mountain Dew in it. Yes. You still have to stay awake. You know? You you might not be into coffee because flavors and everything like that. Right. Yep. Yep. But you still need the caffeine. Yeah. You know, you're you're you're staying well, I don't know how school over there is probably different than ours. You know? They probably don't have sports or theater or after school or anything like that like we do. But
[00:30:44] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. No idea.
[00:30:47] Jesse Fries:
But, yeah, still, you need it. Just say it. Wake up in the morning. You know, you need something. So it's it's like they say, like, a can of prime is, like, one and a half double espressos. It's like, okay. Or three and a half colas. It's not that big of a deal in my book. You know? A monster is like four cans of cola, you know. Yeah. Yeah. You're not gonna just sit there and no. Some will chug a couple of them in a day. But, you know, generally, you don't need that much, but it's Right. You need something. Well, you know, the the biggest problem I have with with them banning energy drinks is
[00:31:25] Jamon Fries:
if they're doing it because of what's in the energy drink, then they should also be banning anything that has those same ingredients for other people. You know, you really shouldn't give them ideas. You really shouldn't give them drinks is caffeine and sugar. I mean, that's the primary between that. So, therefore, under 16, you should no longer equip if you follow their their their reasoning, all soda products should become illegal, all coffee, all everything should become illegal.
[00:31:57] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. From the BBC, so, basically, that's the UK government. Right. Right there, it says too much caffeine can cause a rapid heart rate, abnormal heart rhythms, and seizures. Although rare, there have been some deaths linked to excess caffeine. How much caffeine do you have to
[00:32:18] Jamon Fries:
take? You'd have to down, like, five energy drinks in a row to get that meant to get that much caffeine.
[00:32:24] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Right? So it's like Yeah. Although rare.
[00:32:29] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. I don't get it. I really don't get it. It's a drug. It's possible to overdose on. That's I mean, it it it it's just that they just they decided that it's a drug that doesn't need to be banned. So Well, no. They've decided that it needs to be banned. So, you know Well, no. Now they're saying that well, no. It's not that they're if if it was a drug that needed to be banned, they would ban all forms of caffeine. They're only targeting this one form of caffeine.
[00:32:58] Jesse Fries:
Yep. Yep. Yep. Here's that.
[00:33:00] Jamon Fries:
So it it's not that the drug is bad for you. It's they're they're concerned about the volume of it, and the volume in one sports drink is not going to put you into a into a state of overdose.
[00:33:17] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. No. And and they're not banning coffee. Yeah. So it's like so so you can have one and a half double espressos or three espressos. And that that's easy to do. Those things are just tiny little shots. You know? They they just take them. So yeah. Regulation
[00:33:36] Jamon Fries:
of the the amount the amount of caffeine in an espresso versus the amount of caffeine in the same amount of energy drink would be much higher than the energy drink. Yep. Yep. Because energy drinks are very large vessels.
[00:33:53] Jesse Fries:
No. Completely. Generally. Yeah. Yep. Oh, on on the the JK Rowling, thing about the the free speech thing and everything like that Mhmm. I saw this one comic. It was kinda funny. So so this these two people talking, and it's like, so what's it like living in The UK? Other guy, I can't complain. That's good. No. I mean, I can't complain. I might go to jail.
[00:34:22] Jamon Fries:
I love it.
[00:34:26] Jesse Fries:
That's awesome. This guy's about to go on trial too. That that guy, I just Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. He'll probably get jail time because that's how it works. You know? It's like if you in DC, you're gonna if you're a Trump supporter, you're gonna go to jail no matter what you do for stubbing your toe. And if, you will threaten to assassinate the president, you're gonna be get off scot free. It's just how it is. Yeah. Yeah. That's how it is.
[00:34:52] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. The so how about we go on to the business world now? Business world? Business world?
[00:34:59] Jesse Fries:
Well, we could do no. No. No. We we we could do that, but let's quickly we are talking about caffeine, which is a drug. Let let let's go into the other drug. So Matt Matthew Perry. Matt Perry. Right? From the Friends? Oh, yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So he died, right, a while ago. Yep. They have actually, sentenced the the lady who was basically the drug dealer. She's called the Ketamine Queen. Yeah. And well, actually, they haven't sentenced her yet. It looks like she faces up to sixty five years in prison, for running drug rings from her home in Hollywood.
[00:35:36] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. I mean, it it's good that she's no longer gonna be running those drug rings. But Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:35:44] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. But yeah. So there's that at least, you know, somebody's actually gonna pay for Pretty good. Yeah. His death, you know? It's Yep.
[00:35:52] Jamon Fries:
That Oh. That's always one of those things. Yeah. And then the the the one that that, I skipped over here, what's this about? The sea level rise is not accelerating?
[00:36:04] Jesse Fries:
Oh, yeah. Somebody actually did a real study. Not not not,
[00:36:12] Jamon Fries:
A climatologist?
[00:36:14] Jesse Fries:
No. No. No. No. No. This was a actual study. This was not a computer model. There you go. Oh, okay. Because everything has been a a computer model. Yeah. That that that that's how they've always said it. It's everything they say where it's they they say the world's gonna end, it's all because of a computer model. Not once has there actually been a physical study. Right? Until now. Until now.
[00:36:40] Jamon Fries:
I'm glad that that's finally went out.
[00:36:42] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. And, so, apparently, the average rate of sea level rise in 2020 is about 1.5 millimeters per year Okay. Versus what the models predicted, which was three to four millimeters per year. So it was double, if not more significant difference. Yeah. In the computer models. Yeah. So, basically, over, like, a hundred years, it'll just go up a little bit. It won't even Yeah. Yeah. And you never know if it'll even do that. You know? So it's like yeah. Yeah. So so this is a actual study. You you know, see, this is the thing. People say, oh, it's settled. There's nothing settled. You know? It's like No. Science is not settled. You know? It's like, don't get me wrong.
[00:37:31] Jamon Fries:
Yes. Science can never be settled because once they supposedly settle it, it's no longer science.
[00:37:39] Jesse Fries:
No. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:41] Jamon Fries:
But even beyond that, you can't settle science whenever when all the scientific data that you have is computer model. Because computer model means that it's based on the input that you put into it. And so if if the input you put in is not right, it's gonna give you wrong answers.
[00:38:02] Jesse Fries:
Well, there's no way it can be right. We don't have Well, no. All the
[00:38:07] Jamon Fries:
factors included Yeah. Than you have. Well, not only do we not have all the factors, but we don't know which factors impact this. It Yeah. That's what I mean. That's what I mean. That's what I meant by the factors. Yeah. Yes. Because because all of the climate models from Al Gore on are all based on greenhouse gases being the absolute worst issue.
[00:38:32] Jesse Fries:
Right. Especially c o two for some reason. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But yet every single result, every single
[00:38:38] Jamon Fries:
supposed result that that it predicts has never happened even though it should have happened, like, ten years ago.
[00:38:47] Jesse Fries:
Mhmm. Yep. Yep. You you you know, it's like you could really see how this is because, you know, it's like I I think what was it? It was like Obama or something like that. It's like so he he said that, it it it's a danger. But, you know Right. When he buys a house on sea level
[00:39:06] Jamon Fries:
Yes. You you might wanna question whether he actually believes it or not. Not. You know? That's really true. Yeah. If if he thought that his house that he was gonna lose value, that if that his house was gonna be under in the ocean, he never would have bought it.
[00:39:21] Jesse Fries:
Yep. Exactly. So, you know Wow. Yeah. I hadn't thought that far. Yeah. I I can't remember if it was Obama exactly or something like that. But it was like a former president or a prime minister or something like that. They they Okay. Built they bought a house or built a house at sea level. Yeah. Or, you know, just a couple feet up from sea level. You know? So it's like yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Okay. So Google. Yes. Google. Yeah.
[00:39:55] Jamon Fries:
The anti minute they they found again that Google was a monopoly.
[00:40:00] Jesse Fries:
Right.
[00:40:02] Jamon Fries:
But then when they said what Google can still do, they didn't take anything away from it.
[00:40:11] Jesse Fries:
Well, it kinda did, but not really.
[00:40:14] Jamon Fries:
Well, the the only the only thing that I found that they did was said that Google has to share some of their information with other with their with their, competitors.
[00:40:23] Jesse Fries:
No. Yeah. Yeah. Which is actually a huge win for, like, Apple. Like, crazy for
[00:40:27] Jamon Fries:
Apple. Yep. It it absolutely is. But that means that it's not technically a monopoly if all you have to do is share information. Well, it was like some information with the information was all was all gotten by their by internally.
[00:40:43] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. They also had to make sure that you you it's not the default. You have to pick and choose which one you want and everything like that. You know, all that stuff that they always do. It's just I've never understood these lawsuits, really, especially when it comes to, like, the browser and stuff like that. Oh, yeah. It's like Absolutely. Scares, you know. It's Yeah. It's like when they went after, Internet Explorer and everything like that. It's like, okay. Wait. Wait. I don't see anything. A lot of competitors in the field. It just so happens that theirs is more popular. Well, it's a market share situation. Yeah. You know? It's, and that's what it's always argued. It's like, oh, we don't have the market share. It's like, well, can you still run a business? Yeah. Okay. There you go. You know? It it's like You know? It's like it's like Coke and Pepsi.
It's like Coke and Pepsi. You you you know, there's Coke, which is this huge monstrosity of a company, you know? And Oh, yeah. You know, Pepsi had to buy three fast food chains just to get people to drink their soda. Yep. You know? It's
[00:41:48] Jamon Fries:
which really depressed me because now you can't get Coke there.
[00:41:51] Jesse Fries:
Right? It would have been KFC with Coke would have been so much better. It would have been. Taco Bell, you can't save that at all, but it would have been better with Coke. At Pizza Hut, you know, it's like, okay. I have Coke at home. Yeah. Exactly. Yes.
[00:42:11] Jamon Fries:
But yeah. No. It it is yeah. I I've never really understood you know, I mean, to me, I don't drink Pepsi. I used to drink a lot of Mountain Dew, but I've stopped drinking that too. Yeah. Mountain Dew is much better than yellow yellow. So Yes. It is. Well The if I were to drink any soda, though, it would definitely be usually a Coke product, and that's because they're not as sweet. Pepsi versus Coke. Pepsi is so much sweeter than Coke is. What's the coca And I'm and I'm not drinking it for that sweet taste. So It's the cocaine, man. Yeah. It's the cocaine.
[00:42:52] Jesse Fries:
Actually, did you know that, Coca Cola can actually import Coca leaves? They are the only company in The US that can import Coca leaves because it's still part of the recipe. It's not cocaine. It's just Coca leaves. It it's Yeah. Yeah. That that's I that's very interesting. I had never heard that. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently, they could still do it. You know? Hey. Coca Cola, they they knew how to run a business. It's like a Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. It's like World War two. They made sure to become a supplier so that they could still have sugar.
Yeah. Yep. Same with M and M's. That's why M and M's was there, you know, so they would be a supplier. K. Because otherwise, you couldn't get the chocolate because they all went to Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. But if you become a supplier,
[00:43:36] Jamon Fries:
you can survive. Makes sense. That makes sense.
[00:43:40] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. I had that same thing to, Google. Keep Chrome, must stop exclusive search deals. You know, that's, pretty much about it. They can also keep Android. So but, you know, it's like Yeah. They they don't have to let go of any of their of their companies or any of their products. Exactly. Exactly. You know, it's like Chrome that that's just a browser. I don't care. But when it comes to, like, Android, shifting that off would have destroyed it. It would have. Yeah. Absolutely. Because Google, they they spend so much money on that. Yeah.
You would have to start paying for it, and they just give it away for free. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah.
[00:44:22] Jamon Fries:
Well, you know that my argument to that, if they would have tried to chip that up, would be if the product is given away free, is it really a monopoly?
[00:44:33] Jesse Fries:
Yes. Because so is Chrome.
[00:44:36] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Well, I I know that. But, I mean, that that's that's still my argument though. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know, if the product is free and they're not it's not a product that they're selling, then it's not a monopoly because it's not being sold. No. I
[00:44:57] Jesse Fries:
but they're making money off of it is what it is. So Well, they're making money off of it in different ways. Yeah. Who coo money? Because we are the we are the product. Yeah. Yeah. They're they're getting our information,
[00:45:09] Jamon Fries:
which is what is which is what becomes their product.
[00:45:13] Jesse Fries:
They have the age they they they have, the information to my junk mail. That that's a Yeah. Because I I just set up emails for junk, for businesses and everything like that. That that that's the only reason why I use them. You know? Beyond that, I'm Apple and whatnot. You know? So Yeah. Yeah. I don't use anything Google. And I even wanna get rid of those Google ones, but Carol doesn't want to. So Yeah. No. So Yeah. I'm I'm in the process of getting rid of my Google. Uh-huh. Yep. Yeah. Just makes sense to me. Yeah. Makes sense to me. Let's see here.
Speaking of well, just companies that just wanna make money on ads. So Jeep, I I I I think I may have heard this a while back or something like that, but, apparently, they have ads in the car. As in you stop, and it'll pull up an ad on your screen. Oh, god. Yeah. It's all of Stellantis does this. So cheap RAM. Right? They say you can opt out, but do you get discount on the car with that? You know, it's like a TV. Do you know why TVs are so cheap, by the way?
[00:46:19] Jamon Fries:
Well, it's because probably because of the advertisement
[00:46:23] Jesse Fries:
advertise they get money because of the advertising and stuff. Well, it's not only that because these things are also smart, so it actually monitors everything you watch. And then it sells all and and it's anything you plug in, it will monitor what is being watched. And then it'll send all that data back, and they'll sell that data. Yeah. That's why you can get a really super cheap TV. Okay. Uh-huh. Yeah. Now if it's not a smart TV, it's not really that way. Right. And you could just cut off the Internet to that and have your own box, because I use Apple TV. I prefer that. Right. So yeah. Okay.
Mhmm. But yeah. But yeah. Ads in your Jeep. Can you can you even imagine? No. Yeah. They wanna make an extra $20,000,000,000 a year because, apparently, making and selling cars is not enough.
[00:47:14] Jamon Fries:
I I well, I mean, it is cheap. So
[00:47:16] Jesse Fries:
Well, right. No. I I it's it's like GM doesn't do that, but I they they still do stuff like that. You know? They they they still sell your data. They got in trouble with the FTC and everything like that, and they're trying to fix that real quick. Yep. But, you know, it's they're always trying to sell data this. You you you know, if you make a good enough product, it should be fine. And I'm sorry. That $100,000 pickup, isn't that enough? I I I Yeah. No kidding. No. If it's not, you got issues. You know? It's, I don't wanna say it because my wife works for GM, but, you know, you could pair it back a little bit here or there, you know, wherever you need to do, you know. But it's Yeah. Yeah.
I just don't get it. And then ads in the car. That would just piss me off. I would be chucking that radio so quickly. Yeah. I put my foot in it. Yeah.
[00:48:08] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. I mean, you know, I I I I I wish that the prices of vehicles were lower like they were back when we were young, you know, when $80,000 dollars would have bought you a hell of a nice car.
[00:48:23] Jesse Fries:
No. Well, it still will overall, but, yeah, it's, Right. But, I mean, now it's like every
[00:48:28] Jamon Fries:
just the standard cars are almost up to those prices in some cases. Yeah. It's it's like on TikTok, I saw this guy, he was
[00:48:37] Jesse Fries:
talking about apparently, something like Gen Z was complaining about spending, like, $850 on a car a month. And I go, okay. And he goes, I can't afford anything else. You know, how is this possible? I was like, dude, why do you have $850 car? No. You know? That's just that's ridiculous at your age. He was in his twenties. You're it it was like 800 and it was like the same thing. It's like, I had the same kind of situation at the when I was teaching. I had the student, and I I got my new Cadillac. Right? And Yeah. He he goes and I'm like, oh, yeah. It was a pretty good deal. And the kid is just driving this, like, two door whatever, you know, basically Ford Fiesta sort of whatever. Yeah. Yeah.
And he was paying more for that car than I was paying for mine.
[00:49:30] Jamon Fries:
Damn. Yeah. He was paying, like, $600
[00:49:34] Jesse Fries:
a month. And I'm like, oh, gosh. It's like, how how are you affording this to? What what and then the they go, well, I want a safe car. It's like, no. No. No. When you're poor, you get a clunker. That's what you do. Yeah. Don't you realize this? Yeah. You get a clunker.
[00:49:50] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. When you put when you're poor, you go and buy a 3,000 vehicle. Exactly. That's what I did.
[00:49:58] Jesse Fries:
Or or something where you can get a payment to, like, a 100 to $200 a month or something like that. Yeah. And you can do that? Yeah. But but 600 is, like, how about your credit, dude? You you are ripped off. I'm just saying. Yeah. Big time. Let's see here. Speaking of minimum wage and all that sort of stuff, apparently, McDonald's, they've, actually quit the restaurant, guild or whatever it is. I can't remember exactly the name of it. Okay. But they've left it because, well, they're in a fight with everybody else because they have to pay minimum wage. Now these other places don't have to pay minimum wage, like Chili's and whatnot.
Chili's is selling a burger for the same price as McDonald's, but they don't have to pay minimum wage because they work on tips. Right. So they wanna make it so that, you you have to make minimum at least.
[00:50:53] Jamon Fries:
Well, yeah. I mean, it you know, that I that's probably the one of the biggest pet peeves I have with our government Uh-huh. Is that they is that they they set up that certain industries don't have to pay don't have to pay the minimum wage. They set a much lower minimum wage for it. I mean, the that in and of itself has developed the necessity of the, of the tipping culture that we currently have. No. Completely. Completely. Yep. And it never should have happened.
[00:51:26] Jesse Fries:
No. No. I heard one thing that goes back to slavery and something like that. They didn't wanna have to pay black people, for went right out of slavery, and that's where the I've heard that argument too. But I don't know if it's real or not. That's what I just saw. You never know. I haven't I haven't done the research, so I don't know. I just heard it. But, it would kinda explain why we tip and nobody else in the world really tips. So
[00:51:52] Jamon Fries:
Well, I mean, we we got tipping from Europe.
[00:51:58] Jesse Fries:
Did we?
[00:51:59] Jamon Fries:
Yes. Well, I did I I read an article that was talking about this. Yeah. Everybody thinks that The US was the beginning of tipping.
[00:52:06] Jesse Fries:
Right.
[00:52:07] Jamon Fries:
But what actually happened is the rich people here in The US were would often travel over to Europe. Uh-huh. And back in those days, it was customary for the nobles when they went to visit other nobles to tip the staff there so that they would get better service. Yeah. That would make sense. That makes sense. And so that so he so the rich people here in The US picked that up from them. And that's that's what introduced tipping into America. So it's just like soccer.
[00:52:38] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. They come up with it, and then they blame us for it. Absolutely. Freaking Europeans.
[00:52:48] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. I I was very shocked that it actually originated out of Europe. That that was because, I mean, I'd always heard that it's a US thing.
[00:52:55] Jesse Fries:
Right. Right. Because, well, you always blame The US. Right? That that Of course. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and, you know, here at the Mindless Meanderings, we are value for value model, and we would like some tips. Just saying. Yeah. Yeah. We would really like some tips. Yeah. What this means is that whatever you think the show has worked to you, you send it to us. It could be a dollar. It could be a $100. It could be anything. If we give you some entertainment, if you chuckle a little bit, let us know. Send us some money. Send us a note. You can email me at jesse@themindlessc.com, or you can email jamen@jamenatmindlessmeanderings.com.
And all complaints just go to jamen. That's the complaint department. Just saying. Even though he hasn't gotten one yet, so we must be doing something. Right? Doing pretty good. No complaints yet. Yeah. Yeah. We have, like, two listeners, but, you know, there there you go. There you go. That works.
[00:53:47] Jamon Fries:
And one of my sister-in-law. So I I know that for sure.
[00:53:50] Jesse Fries:
I'm not sure anymore. I haven't heard from her in forever. But, anyways Okay. Either way, you know, you could help us with ideas for the show. You could help us with artwork, jingles, whatever. Just help us out. Send us what you can. And remember, it's just about what you think this was worth to you. Deep in your heart. What do you think this was worth to you? Was this more than the PBS, you know, that that that is you know, it's gonna be a little bit slanted, to the left? You know? We're a bit more slanted to the right. Not that we're fully right or anything like that, except we are always right, but not fully right. Absolutely. We are. So please help us out in any of which way you can, and that would be great.
Okay. So let's see. What's legal here? What's going on in the legal world?
[00:54:34] Jamon Fries:
Oh, I I found this story very amusing. So Scale AI, which is a a company that helps prepare people to train it helps prepare data to train other companies' AI models.
[00:54:52] Jesse Fries:
Okay. So it's a AI that helps other AIs? Is that what you're talking about? It's a company that prepares the data for AI training. Okay.
[00:55:01] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. So, essentially, I think that means that it's a company that buys information from other companies and then uses that to help train AI models, I think. I think. How it works. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it did something like that. Well, there was an employee that left there, and they're saying that this employee who started to work for their rival company, Merkur, took all of their thoughts and ideas on how to market their product and gave it all to Merkur, and now they're trying to take one of the biggest company one of their biggest, the biggest companies that they worked with away as a client.
[00:55:48] Jesse Fries:
Okay.
[00:55:49] Jamon Fries:
Now if I'm not mistaken, when a sales rep goes to a new client, they a lot of them try to bring their old clients with them. Right?
[00:55:58] Jesse Fries:
A a lot of companies forbid that, actually.
[00:56:02] Jamon Fries:
Yes. But there's no contracts from what from everything that I can see, there is no contract that anyone has signed that says that you can't do that.
[00:56:10] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. But
[00:56:12] Jamon Fries:
Usually, I mean, honestly, most companies have noncompete clauses, so you can't even go to work for arrival right after leaving.
[00:56:20] Jesse Fries:
Some do, some don't. But, yeah, it's a bit this says confidential documents. I don't know. So could be any sort of thing. You know? I I I'm not sure exactly what that is. So Well, what it what it was was the
[00:56:34] Jamon Fries:
this guy had a personal computer at home that he had, that he had put files onto when he was working for the other company.
[00:56:43] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. That's a no no. Okay.
[00:56:45] Jamon Fries:
No. I mean, this was approved by the company. Oh, well, that's stupid of them. Yeah. So he he did absolutely nothing wrong according to the rules of the company. But now the company is saying that he gave those files to Merker. Uh-huh. And so they now want to have access to Merker's files so that they can look and see if they actually have it. No. They want complete access to Merker's files Right. So that they can see if if anything was given to them. Oh, yeah. No. This this is a very typical,
[00:57:19] Jesse Fries:
strategy, actually. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's not that you're actually gonna sue them. It's just you sue them so that you can actually get access to their information. Yes. Yeah. The the the the this is a it's pure you get because once you
[00:57:34] Jamon Fries:
yeah, you can compel it. The judge can compel sending everything over and everything. Yeah. The the guy was, like, I it was on my computer when I was working for you. You knew about it. I haven't looked at it since I quit working for you. I can go in and delete it from my computer if you want me to. Like, no. No. No. We don't want you to delete it. We just want access to their servers now to prove to make sure that you didn't give them that information.
[00:58:00] Jesse Fries:
Hey. I was gonna go downhill anyways. You you you you know, it's it's a handy tool, but I don't think it'll ever I'm not sure if it'll ever actually get to where
[00:58:09] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. I I don't People
[00:58:12] Jesse Fries:
you know, it's just a tool, you know. It's not Yeah. It doesn't really think, you know, that they No. It doesn't. You know, it it can It's it's a great tool for compiling data, and that's about all it is. Or or making artwork because I just made artwork for our show today, you know, with it, you know, and it looks pretty good. Especially Well, I mean, that that's still a compilation of data because it just takes all of the artwork artwork in the world
[00:58:35] Jamon Fries:
and creates a new version of the of the same artwork. Yeah. So, I mean, it's it's not creating something new. It's just compiling all the other artwork artwork out there. Yep. Yep. Yep. And, you know, I the the the funniest thing about this story is that this comes after a lot of employees and a lot of clients are leaving Scale AI okay. Because they've essentially been bought out by Meta.
[00:59:03] Jesse Fries:
Well, didn't go after Meta. You know?
[00:59:06] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Well, scale scale AI was bought out by Meta, so they're losing all these clients and stuff. Their their data infrastructure is probably not as good as Merkur's. And so to be more effective for Meta, they wanna first get Merkur's information so that they have a a rough, a in-depth file background for when Meta takes over.
[00:59:32] Jesse Fries:
Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:59:37] Jamon Fries:
The craziness.
[00:59:39] Jesse Fries:
It is pure craziness. It it's just like the back and forth of the judges. You know? It's like a Oh, yes. Yes. So Trump now, you know, he won in the DC Circuit, against Biden because he wants to cut, climate change spending and everything like that. Right. And appeals court now said that, yeah, that can go through. The cut can go through for now. Mhmm. You know, it's always there's gonna work its way up into the Supreme Court as well. Yeah. Yeah. Just another at least temporary win for Trump. You never know where it's gonna end up.
[01:00:10] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. Yeah. Another one headed that way is, the judge has ordered Trump administration to unfreeze the 2,200,000,000.0 that in federal grants to Harvard.
[01:00:24] Jesse Fries:
Okay.
[01:00:25] Jamon Fries:
Okay. Citing free speech. So free speech has to deter has to do to determine whether the government is going to send money to a research facility or not.
[01:00:41] Jesse Fries:
Right. Right. See see, the thing is is that, yes, everybody has free speech, but federal employees don't have free speech. They can't Well, yeah. But, I mean, this isn't federal employees. No. No. No. No. No. What I'm saying is that it's federal money. That's where I was trying to get to. Exactly. It's federal money.
[01:00:59] Jamon Fries:
And so whatever you want to, but you're not but it's not guaranteed that you're going to get funding because of it. I can remember many stories where universities and schools funding was dropped because they refused to teach the liberal ideology or because they wanted to teach a conservative ideology.
[01:01:20] Jesse Fries:
Mhmm. Mhmm.
[01:01:22] Jamon Fries:
I remember the education of department not funding schools because of that.
[01:01:28] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Yep.
[01:01:29] Jamon Fries:
So So where was their concern when it was the public schools instead of this Ivy League college?
[01:01:37] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. It's no. I I I I see I see no problem with cutting Harvard off. Yeah. No. No.
[01:01:45] Jamon Fries:
The government gets to choose where it sends its money. That's the I mean, that's no one is guaranteed no one's guaranteed to get government money.
[01:01:55] Jesse Fries:
Exactly. Exactly. And free speech, it doesn't fall under that sort of thing, you know. No. No. It doesn't.
[01:02:03] Jamon Fries:
So And it's up to the government to set procedures as to who they're going to give money to. And if the government decides they're not going to give money to anti Semitic organizations or organizations that support anti Semetics. Yep. That's their right.
[01:02:20] Jesse Fries:
It is. It is. It's just like Norway's right to, like, cut all ties with Caterpillar. Did you hear that?
[01:02:26] Jamon Fries:
No. I didn't hear about that. Yeah. Because Caterpillar
[01:02:29] Jesse Fries:
has some ties to Israel or something like that. They, like, send some of their big things over there. Yeah. And and so because of that, Norway because, you know, the world hates Israel. So Norway has decided that they're gonna cut all ties to Caterpillar. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like, okay. If you want, but Yeah. I'll never understand that. No. No. The world is crazy. You know, you get attacked by somebody, then all of a sudden, you're at fault. I Yeah. You know?
[01:03:04] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. They're trying to get rid of it, but, you know, they work out. You know, I honestly, I think early on, they should've just done they should've done what they're doing right now, which is just take over of Gaza. Well, that's what that that that's why they're doing it. That's exactly I know. I know. But they're finally doing it. They should have done it right away in my mind.
[01:03:22] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. We got their back, so it's not it's not a bad Yeah. Yeah. It's yeah. It the world, I don't know, people love to hate on Israel and love Hamas. Yeah. Love Hamas as a terrorist organization, and I think they prove that they are. So
[01:03:39] Jamon Fries:
but I digress. Well, they're they're a terrorist they're a terrorist organization that is still currently holding hostages. Yep. Yep. Exactly. You know, as long as they're holding hostages, I firmly agree that Israel should not just say, okay, we're go we're gonna have peace.
[01:03:58] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. But I I don't think they should. I I think Israel I I I I have no problem with what they're doing. You know what I mean? No. No. It could it's just war. And war is Yes.
[01:04:10] Jamon Fries:
Hell. It's just Oh, absolutely. It is. And they didn't start it this time. Just saying.
[01:04:15] Jesse Fries:
No. Yeah. They didn't start it this time. No. Let's see here. Apparently, Newsmax is suing Fox News, because Fox News is to them, apparently, is a monopoly. Really? It it it couldn't be that, Fox News actually knows what it's doing. Right? And Newsmax, they have bad sets, bad lighting, bad scripts, bad
[01:04:40] Jamon Fries:
everything. Nothing to do with I I was very disappointed, though. I Wow. Went to the hospital a couple nights ago.
[01:04:51] Jesse Fries:
Uh-huh.
[01:04:54] Jamon Fries:
And only one channel came up as, no channel found. Uh-huh. And that was Fox News. ABC, NBC, CNN, they all came in crystal clear. Fox News was not there. It just said no signal. That's what it was. Yeah. Yeah. That tells me that the hospital is blocking Fox News.
[01:05:24] Jesse Fries:
It it sure seems like it sure seems like it is Lawrence though, Jamin. So It is. It is. Yes.
[01:05:31] Jamon Fries:
And knowing knowing Lawrence, people would probably get very triggered watching Fox News, and so it's not safe in the hospital for them to watch Fox News.
[01:05:41] Jesse Fries:
True. True. True.
[01:05:43] Jamon Fries:
True. That's all a health thing. Yeah.
[01:05:50] Jesse Fries:
So, apparently, dark chocolate and tea is just as good as pills for lowering blood pressure. Really? That's what a study says. Now once again, we have to remind everybody Yes. Most studies are junk because there is a study that said that most studies are junk. So Absolutely. Just just our warning here, guys. This is our warning for studies. Okay? So don't believe anything I say because the study
[01:06:20] Jamon Fries:
is junk. The study could be junk. Not necessarily is. But
[01:06:25] Jesse Fries:
but it might be right. So yeah. You bet. There's no way for us to know. There's no way. No. You know? But, apparently, you need, like, let's see, five hundred to six hundred milligrams per day of tea or dark chocolate or apparently apples too. It's like five to six hundred milligrams per day or roughly two to three cups of tea, one to two servings of dark chocolate, or a few apples.
[01:06:58] Jamon Fries:
So Did I specify what kind of tea at all?
[01:07:02] Jesse Fries:
Let's see.
[01:07:04] Jamon Fries:
Is it a black tea or is it a green tea or That's what I'm that's what because there's pretty big differences between those two.
[01:07:12] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Green actually has more caffeine.
[01:07:15] Jamon Fries:
Yeah. It's also considered healthier for you by by many people.
[01:07:22] Jesse Fries:
Yeah. Salty. Yeah. Apparently, it's flavonols is, wet is good. It's a flavonoid.
[01:07:35] Jamon Fries:
Okay.
[01:07:36] Jesse Fries:
So green and black tea, it doesn't matter. Looks like coca, green black tea, grapes, apples, and even some Okay. Berries. Interesting. So, basically, it's the tart or bitter note that you taste in dark chocolate or strong tea. Okay. That gives you that. So Interesting. Not sure what happens if you dump a buttload of sugar for, like, a southern sweet tea, how that affects the whole situation. But, you know Yeah. Maybe so. Maybe not. Yeah. Yep. Yep. But yeah. So yeah. If you have high blood pressure, just just down that dark chocolate. I'm doing see, you know, with a mouthful. I'm doing this for my health, man. You know? There you go.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, if one to two servings is good, you know, three to five. It's just you got it.
[01:08:34] Jamon Fries:
Yep. Must be. I mean, well, you know, it's, you know well, one to two servings is good for your blood pressure, which means that if I have really high blood pressure, if I eat five or six servings, you know
[01:08:50] Jesse Fries:
Exactly. Exactly. It's even better for you. Yeah. Maybe you'll, like, be too good, and then, you know, then I'll have the opposite problem. You know? Yep. Yep. But yeah. So, just at least it's dark chocolate, not milk chocolate. So, you know, there's that. So but with that, that's pretty much the only story I have. So Okay. I don't think I've got one that, scientists
[01:09:14] Jamon Fries:
are now suggesting with another study Uh-huh. That smoking while pregnant has another health issue. Oh, yes. And that is teeth. Okay. Supposedly, if the mother smokes while while the child is in utero Uh-huh. The development of the chi teeth sometimes, will not develop the, the protective enamel.
[01:09:41] Jesse Fries:
Uh-huh.
[01:09:42] Jamon Fries:
Other times, it'll comp it it the result is a missing tooth, so one tooth doesn't form, and other stuff like that. So, yeah, just another reason not to smoke.
[01:09:57] Jesse Fries:
It took them this long now that people really aren't smoking to come up with this? Yes. Yes. Okay. Or or well, I guess this is good for the Europeans because they still smoke too much. Yeah. So Well, I mean, this explains the British teeth. I mean, it must. No. But the French smoke more, so it it doesn't make sense to me, though. Darn. Darn. I was I was trying there. Yeah. The Brits actually don't really smoke that much, actually. No. They don't. No. No. It's, the the French, though. Oh, oui. Oui. Yeah. Yeah. And with that, I'd like to thank you for joining us for episode 59 of the Mindless Meandering podcast. I'm Jesse Fries. And I'm Jamin Fries.
And we will see you all next week.
Introduction
Government Bureaucracy and RFK Hearings
Political Commentary and Insider Trading
Trump's Disappearance and Space Command
International Politics
UK Censorship and Free Speech Issues
European Political Intrigue
Energy Drink Regulations in the UK
Google's Monopoly and Market Competition
Advertising in Cars
Minimum Wage and Tipping Culture
AI Industry Legal Battles
Trump's Legal Wins and Climate Spending
Israel and International Relations
Health Studies and Dark Chocolate Benefits