Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Quarantine!
Home of the original Beer:30 Live podcast from Portland, Oregon. The show ran from 2006 to 2009.
Welcome to beer 30, everybody. It's, I'm Pete right. And it's weird not, sitting next to you people. I feel like I should I should put some fake, some fake, beer, bar sounds in the background.
Jamie:We should all drink beer, like, you know, but then you drink it alone. That's not really what I'm talking.
Pete:That's true. It's that suddenly feels pretty desperate. On the we're doing a a remote show today. We've got, Jamie Whitley, who is sitting, is quarantined right now. More on that in a second.
Pete:And Mary Bradbury Jones, who is, I don't know. Are you are you driving around with your cell phone, not hands free right now? Handheld. Yeah. With your handheld?
Mary:With my handheld. No. I'm at
Pete:Well, we are sitting here. We're doing a remote show because, Jamie, had the flu scare. That would
Jamie:good way to put it, the flu scare.
Pete:The flu scare. Yeah. It's because you were punked by karma is what that is.
Mary:I know.
Jamie:Well, I gotta tell you guys. I don't know if you know anybody that has the swine flu yet, and and we obviously thought we might have had it, so we kinda went into lockdown mode. But you don't wanna get it. So, dude, get your shot as soon as it comes out.
Mary:You know Why do you say you don't wanna get it?
Jamie:No. You do not. I I know. I why? Well, I know a a few people that have gotten it, and they say it's just miserable.
Jamie:And and the aches and the pains and and it takes quite a while to get over it, and it's just it's just miserable. And so it's, it's not something I would wish on anybody from what I am told from people who've gotten it. We, of course, thought we had it, with my oldest daughter, but there is no real test. There is a test, but it takes a couple of days to get the results back. And by the time you get the results back, you will know if you got it or not.
Jamie:So we elected not to get the test and just kinda go into lockdown mode and see what happened. And, fortunately, her fever went down, and and we're in good shape. But, it doesn't mean we might not get it tomorrow because word on the street from doctor's office is it's it's everywhere. It's just it's pretty prevalent at this point.
Pete:We had, we've had a couple of kids from my, my daughter's school, sent home with it confirmed. And, and, you know, I think originally, they were they were not even the doctors that you that, you know, are the school was calling, they they are to the point where they're not even, you know, seeing kids anymore. You described the symptoms, and they're telling you over the phone you that, okay. You've you've got it.
Jamie:Right.
Pete:Watch it carefully. And what they were saying the the the reason they were really terrified in the, you know, this early in the flu season is that they hadn't seen the regular flu hit yet. And so, you know, every case is the is the the h one n one strain. But now it sounds like, both flus are, you know, full on in season. The government has their new flu.gov website, which talks about the spread and what you can do and where you can get shots.
Pete:And and, you know, everything we've heard is it's just like the regular flu, but it hurts a lot more.
Jamie:It sucks more.
Pete:You have a much higher fever. And instead of being over it in, you know, 2 to 3 days, it takes 10 to 14 days to shake it.
Jamie:Yeah.
Pete:And so you really are suffering for a long, long time that, you know, the the thing that was, you know, so you add to that the fact that you can't you know, you're quarantined until 24 hours after the the fever has gone down. It's just this sort of unknown for for such a long time that you really are you know, I've got my kids scrubbing their hands to the bone. You know, I I we come home at the end of the day, and we we tape the duct tape the visqueen over all the windows, and we don't tie answer the door anymore. And and
Jamie:You're not going to a swine flu party like some people are doing?
Pete:Oh my god. What? A swine flu party?
Jamie:Yeah. Heard about that? No. Oh, yeah. Well, like, some idiot parents.
Jamie:You know how, like, if your kid gets the measles or the mumps and stuff, they used to, you know, go visit some other kid that has that Right. Chicken pox, I guess, is probably the right one. And and so that way, you can get it and you can get, you know, immune to it later on. So some parents have been purposely mixing their kids with other kids who had the swine flu, which I think is just flipping ridiculous to get
Pete:This is fantastic. A bunch of morons. I just I just found the article that says doctor Walter White of the University of Alabama at Birmingham saying bluntly, a swine flu party, it is a very, very bad idea. It goes against everything medicine and public health are trying to do to encourage social distancing for the infected, and it could hamper efforts to control the disease completely. Oh my god.
Pete:You know, this on top this whole parents, they're idiots. Alright? What is this hey. You heard about this thing now with the, with the parent in in a fight with the football coach, punching the football coach?
Mary:No. No. Oh, good lord.
Pete:See, now I brought it up. I don't have the article in front of me. But, it's it's just it's just this whole idea that parents are a a little bit overzealous in their, in their, know it all iness. And, it's it's starting to it's starting to get a little frustrating. I mean, I know I
Mary:advise disagreed with
Pete:parental rage.
Mary:Coach with coaching.
Pete:Yeah. Exactly.
Jamie:Setting a good example for their kid, you know, on how to act. Yeah. Moron. Hey. Speaking of examples, how about Maria Shriver set an example on how to drive and talk on a cell phone?
Pete:Oh, yeah. So so, I hear, Arnold Arnold is not very happy with you, Maria.
Mary:No. He's not.
Pete:Gonna throw you in the slammer.
Mary:He told the reporter, thanks for bringing her violations to my attention. There's going to be swift action.
Pete:I'm going to put Maria in my Iron Maiden in the basement for 4 days with only white bread and no cell phones.
Jamie:Do we have a role like that, mister Morgan?
Pete:I am not sure. I'm checking that right now, but the the biggest one is Utah's, text messaging law. Have you heard about this? Utah is the is the toughest of the the text messaging laws. And it says that, you know, you you can't if if you are using your wireless communication device for text messaging or email while operating a motor vehicle, you can be put in jail for up to 15 years.
Jamie:What?
Pete:Yeah. House Bill 290.
Jamie:Holy moly. Has stored hasn't passed yet.
Pete:No. It's, it was let's see. July 1, 2009, did it pass?
Mary:Wow. That's a bit much.
Jamie:So it's okay to have 2 wives, but you text to drive. I'm just saying.
Mary:Because I are married married 11 year old.
Pete:Yeah. Right. Well, no. They they have the, it is legal to use a cell phone in Utah while you're driving if you're going hands free. So they're one of the states that's hands free only.
Pete:But, apparently, a kid, somebody killed a kid while text messaging, and, and so this was the response. And I'll tell you, I'm I'm totally on the fence. I posted this, I posted a link on my, my Facebook page about this, and and, I got some really interesting comments. I had a couple of of moms, write back saying, oh, well, you know, 15 years for, for killing somebody? Yeah.
Pete:That's that's, I think that's fair. Yeah. But I I Well, I
Mary:thought oh, it's I thought you said it's just 15 years for doing it.
Pete:Well, that's the that's the issue. Right? That's the that's the leap that people are making. The bill is 5th up to 15 years for doing it. Now, of course, there's so much gray area.
Pete:If you're just doing it and you're caught speeding, you're probably gonna get a slap on the wrist or whatever. But, you know, I don't I don't know. It's just a very serious thing. But what people are saying is that, you know, this law is totally appropriate for the crime, and I don't think it is. I mean, at what point, you know, I think if you kill somebody, you go away for killing somebody, not for text messaging.
Mary:Right. Exactly. You go away for particular manslaughter.
Pete:Right. There's already a law for that. It's like the Apple commercial. Right? There's a map for that.
Pete:There's a law for that already. You know, it's called don't be an idiot. And, and and you're gonna go to jail if you are an idiot doing something stupid. I mean, when is it gonna be somebody posted a comment on my on my Facebook page about, saying that, you know, when's it gonna be illegal to have a mustache while driving?
Mary:Right.
Jamie:Well yeah. But come on. I mean, let poll here. Have you ever texted and and drove or drive?
Pete:Not while moving.
Jamie:Not while moving? Mary?
Mary:Not while moving, but at stoplights. Yeah.
Jamie:Yeah. I have, and it's really distracting. I I mean, it just it's not something I recommend that anybody can, you know, do. So I can see discouraging people from texting and driving. Because I see people do it all the time.
Jamie:You're driving down the freeway and you look over and there's and it's usually, like, you know, somebody who's younger, a kid or something. Yeah. That's not always true. Texting and driving. And quite frankly, it's very distracting, and it takes your eyes off the road.
Jamie:So You
Pete:know, it's a Well,
Mary:why can't they just why can't they just lose their license?
Jamie:Yeah. I I agree with that. It should be something. 15 years seems a little ridiculous because, like you said, quite frankly, if you do run over somebody, there's a certain issue of manslaughter or some other crime that fits. Yeah.
Jamie:Just Right. Team.
Pete:This is this this sort of, trend to overlegislate because of emotion and, you know,
Mary:is Exactly.
Jamie:Is How? Coming from a liberal like you? That's great.
Pete:What? Are you serious? I'm telling you.
Mary:Liberals are not for legislating everything. Come
Jamie:on. Come
Pete:on. Give me a break.
Mary:Every break. You know? Wait.
Jamie:Oh, man. Don't even get me started.
Pete:I Really? That's not I just don't think that's a I don't think that's a fair assessment of my my I know you know. My historical stance on this show.
Jamie:You do tend to be pretty middle of the road.
Pete:I'm pretty middle of the road. I I'm I'm not for I'm you know, for example, I got okay. Here's I got a $100 ticket for, not wearing my seat belt.
Jamie:Yeah. What do you where
Pete:do you stand on the click it or ticket thing in light of the no texting and driving thing?
Jamie:I think you should be required to to wear your seat belt, and maybe that's not a very good thing coming from somebody who's pretty conservative. You know? The free
Pete:And who drives a motorcycle.
Jamie:Who drives a motorcycle. But the reason I say that, I I think you should be required to put on your seat belt is because, the cost to society is pretty high, in terms of trying to take care of people who don't wear their seat
Pete:belt. Yeah. I can I agree?
Mary:After an accident.
Pete:Yeah. I mean, I you know?
Jamie:Yes. Right.
Pete:For for that that's one of those things. It's sort of like I, I I find that interesting that you think that that's that's fine.
Jamie:Yeah. No. I can I can see that?
Pete:Yep. I, I was actually okay with getting this ticket, and it's and and the the reason was that, you know, I I now put on my seat belt every single time I get in the car because I don't wanna be that guy. But you know how much the fine actually was? It was $23. The you look at the breakdown of the receipt, and it's like the line item after line item of taxes and fees to get people up in the morning, to process this ticket, which is oh, and that that made me frustrated.
Pete:I was like, come on. Is so really the the penalty is worth $23 to you? It's just
Jamie:If if you like that, then, Pete, then you're gonna love the health care plan that was passed by the finance committee. I'm pretty is the hell out
Pete:of everything. I know. I'm pretty
Jamie:excited about that. Are you now? Are you excited about being taxed more, get the taxed more just so you can give insurance money to people who can't afford it so the insurance companies can make more money? I mean, how beautiful is that?
Pete:Yeah. No. This, this played out exactly as it should if you're a an insurance company executive. I mean, we've really taken care of the people in need, the the, you know, billionaire CEOs of insurance companies. And and I think it's important that we not forget that that they've been through a lot of trauma and emotional pain through this whole ordeal.
Jamie:Absolutely. I I don't know about you guys, but the bill as it comes out, my understanding is, again, tax you some more on on either way, you get really good benefits or if you buy things, like, maybe you need a wheelchair, let's tax that. And then give that money to people who can't afford insurance, so then the insurance companies just get a bigger pool to pull from. There's nothing in there about lowering the cost. There's nothing in there about creating competition, improving benefits overall.
Jamie:It's all about more tax money to cover more people so we can all just suffer a little more. What a bunch of bullshit.
Mary:Right. And they've already haven't they already come out and said that there's that premiums are gonna go up regardless?
Pete:Yeah. Exactly. That's what the insurance cut lobbies have said. The day before this was due to come out, for a vote, they come out with this report saying, we guarantee you that this bill will increase rates for everyone. Are you joking?
Jamie:Oh, I'm pissed. I just it's
Mary:a And you know what? What I heard is when you watch, you know, when you watch the finance committee, there's always this, oh, this brunette that sits behind, you know, Baca. I mean, they have all their staffers and stuff, you know, sitting behind them and coming up and whispering stuff in their ears, whatever. But this one, she's a Bob and and brunette. It's escaping my name.
Mary:But, anyway, she, of course, now works for Bachus, but she is a, she did come from WellPoint.
Pete:Oh, of course.
Jamie:And
Mary:she was big, kind of WellPoint, you know, lobbyist.
Jamie:This is this is a health insurance lobbyist bill. I mean, it's been Uh-huh. Made exactly for them. We haven't done anything to help the average middle class America. Nothing.
Jamie:It's a
Mary:I know. Liberal disgusting.
Pete:It's one of those things. You know? I mean, I I talked, I think, last week about how I'm I I don't really believe that the the our representatives in congress are up to the intellectual and political challenge of governance anymore. And I I really this, I think, is a major indicator. I get I'm I'm really getting tired of people who are so fired up about tea bagging and taxes and are not fired up about the people who've created this gigantic cluster.
Jamie:I I agree.
Pete:You know? I'm I I cannot it stuns me that we're we're trying to solve the wrong problem. The right problem to solve is, we need to vote out the entire congressional body. They need to be replaced. That's the message.
Jamie:Term limits. Right.
Pete:Term limits. Absolutely.
Mary:Yes. But even if you vote them all out, you know, I'll go back to my you know, what I've been broken record about is the system forces in many ways them to have to behave this way. So you get a whole new lot of people. Mhmm. It's still the same system where they have to have all this money to run.
Mary:So we're still really in the same place that we were.
Pete:But don't you think term limits don't you think term limits would fix that? I mean, if people didn't believe that they had that they could make a career out of being a a congressman or a senator, you know, if they don't you think we'd get some people in the body of, the body politic that, you know, that maybe weren't afraid of making some hard decisions?
Jamie:Yeah. That's the theory. I mean, I
Mary:Well, what are you what are you saying? Term limit of one time?
Pete:No. I mean, I have to say make it the same as a presidential term.
Mary:Well, but so but, you know, don't we don't really when that we have the with the president? I mean, we really get 3 year, you know, 3 years of well, not even that because it probably takes them really, truly a good 6 months to get completely ramped up.
Pete:Yeah. And another and then you
Mary:start when you hit
Pete:campaigning, you know, 18 months before the end of your term.
Mary:Exactly. Well,
Pete:you can have to wait
Mary:for the next 18 months.
Pete:Right.
Jamie:Well, Obama's already campaigning for midterm elections. I mean, I've I've I've heard him out on the stump, you know, on the on the official, stomping for candidates already. So, yeah, I mean, it it's it half your time is spent, as we all know, campaigning and half the time legislating, and and they don't do the legislative part very well anymore in my opinion. So I'm pissed about
Mary:And then we all stand around not understanding why nothing ever gets done.
Jamie:Yeah. Right. Or you get watered down solutions that are run by special interest, which is what the health care Yes. Reform has really become. It's a, from my perspective, it's a pile of crap.
Jamie:I hope what they pass today out of, you know, out of finance the other day, I hope that that does not become law. And I I hope it doesn't make it to the floor, and I hope it doesn't pass. It's crap. There's nothing but raise the rates. Doesn't help I agree.
Jamie:At all. Misses the bunch of crap.
Pete:It is. It's just terrible.
Mary:It's frustrating.
Jamie:It's very frustrating. I'm moving to Canada. That's not true. Here we come.
Pete:Tell me, yeah, tell me there's a segue in that. I don't have Canada on the rundown here.
Jamie:No. No. No. Oh, I'm not. It just it just frustrating to me.
Jamie:That's all. So but Yeah. It's gonna be
Mary:interesting because what comes next, though. Right? Now they go to the now they go to the floors, and they have to try to come up. They need to take all the bills and come up with 1. Right?
Jamie:Yeah. And what I hear is that, you know, public option is still on the table and that, again, my guy, Wyden, still, thinks that he's gonna be able to get through his piece, which is competition, which is what's missing from this bill. In in my opinion, there's no incentive to do change anything because there's no competition. Mhmm. So my hope is, you know, public finance in some way and and they're talking about it.
Jamie:Maybe it's a trigger. I mean, that would be better than nothing. And I hope that goes through, and I hope I hope Wyden's piece goes through so we can have true competition. But without those, I don't I don't know how you really have health care reform.
Mary:Trigger is a joke, though. I mean, trigger when? What? Yeah.
Jamie:I don't know. It probably I mean, it depends on how you do it. I I I just it it's the most
Mary:palatable 65% finally doesn't have health insurance, so we trigger?
Jamie:Yeah. I don't know, Mary. I I just think it might be the most palatable way to get it, because everybody says no at a lower cost. You know, the current program, you had a lower cost, you had to look up more people, blah, blah, blah. But if it doesn't hit its goals, then maybe maybe putting in a public option is is the right way to go.
Jamie:And so you you build a trigger in that says if you don't hit the requirements, we're gonna go we're gonna do a public option. That might stand a chance of passing, where a straight public option probably wouldn't stand a chance of passing by itself. Yeah. I don't know.
Mary:I just think they'll they'll have it so finagled and and and mismanaged that it won't the trigger would never happen anyways. Yeah. I don't trust them.
Jamie:That would be my fear. I wouldn't trust them either. That is my fear that they'll write some kind of loophole in there that it'll never really happen. And so they can say it's there to give themselves public cover, but in reality, it's it's not really a a real thing.
Mary:Yeah. I agree. It's just it I think it's also Olympia Snow's way to sit and ride the fence.
Jamie:It it probably is. I was a little surprised she voted for it. But
Pete:Well, she's had the spotlight on her for a good 2 months now, and and, that that can't hurt for the next election.
Mary:Yeah. Exactly. Of course, as she said, that doesn't mean this is how I'll vote on the floor.
Pete:Yeah. Of course. No. She's definitely got one foot in each pot.
Jamie:Yeah. It's unfortunate.
Pete:It's so frustrating.
Mary:And how many people live in Maine? Okay. I won't even go there.
Pete:Yeah. I know. We've been there before. But in light of all of this, right, I mean, in light of all of this, you know, health care nonsense still, Barack Obama wakes up one morning to the news that he has won, not only been nominated, but won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mary:Crazy.
Pete:Didn't even know he had been nominated.
Jamie:You know, I posted something on my Facebook page or or on our Facebook page, revered 30, about how Obama, though, it was snug, really, for for Nobel prizes in science and other areas. So I don't know what's going on with those guys.
Pete:What do you mean? He was like, he he didn't add another element to the periodic table.
Jamie:Yeah. I mean, come on. I mean
Pete:on a site.
Jamie:I mean, really, think about the peace prize. I mean, what has really Obama done in terms of, and I'm sure he's made a difference, but come on at this point. So he's probably contributed just as much to peace as he has to science or solving world hunger or any of the other, you know, noble things that the noble Nobel Peace Prize is known for. So disappointed. He just hasn't taken everything.
Pete:Well, you're right. A sweep would have been nice.
Jamie:Yes. Exactly.
Pete:But I I also I, you know, I think that, I think some of that is is, it's it's spin worthy. I mean, I think one of the things that that still in light of every all the frustrations that we have over how he is you know, how we've talked about how he's not, you know, he's not enough of a leader. He's not enough of, you know, whatever. What what I really, find, worthy of this is just the or that he is worthy of the award is that he has been, so active in changing the the global conversation toward the United States. And, I think that is a, I think that is an extremely positive, a positive thing.
Mary:But Well, it's really don't you think just a diss at George Bush?
Pete:Yeah. I mean, this is this is definitely a a way to show, the changing tide of support for the United States as a result of or in contrast to, that of George Bush. So that's definitely true.
Jamie:I it certainly seems that way. I think studies I've seen show that people are viewing the US in in a more favorable light. So I think that's that's good. I just think it's a little it's a little premature. And and I I was surprised he didn't, that he didn't just turn it down, and and move on and, you know, pick it up another time, which he probably
Pete:will. You know, I don't I don't know. When was the last time you heard of somebody being offered the Nobel Peace Prize and saying, you know, no. Thanks.
Jamie:But wouldn't it have said something to have turned it down and say, you know what? This is really gracious. But, there are other people who've contributed to peace, you know, far more than than I have, that are probably Didn't
Mary:he say that in his speech? He said that in his speech.
Jamie:He did. He did. It just I I was just a little surprised he didn't turn
Pete:it down. But I I think I don't think that's the play. I mean, I I really think what he did was, you know, take here. That's great. I I didn't know it was coming.
Pete:I don't necessarily agree, but I appreciate the recognition, and I'm gonna keep working toward, you know, toward this global dialogue of cooperation instead of consolidation and and competition. And, I'm gonna take the $1,400,000 that comes with the prize, and then I'm gonna give it to to, you know, associated charities and whatever. You know, it it it sort of puts it away where it belongs. Now his name's on a big list, and that's fine. And the Nobel Committee's happy.
Pete:They have snubbed George Bush, and the rest of the globe is happy. We can move on. I mean, it it's sort of not a I I think had he said no, it would have become a massive story.
Jamie:Yeah. Maybe so. I mean, I can buy that. Yeah. Hey.
Jamie:I I
Mary:He said he's trying to use it as a call to action to all countries to come to the table Right. You know, when it comes to nuclear proliferation or whatever the case may be.
Pete:Because now he's got, look what I got.
Jamie:Yeah. I I mean, it was probably damned if you do or damned if you don't type of thing. You know, I I was just a little surprised it came out in the 1st place. But
Pete:Oh, yeah. As as I think was he.
Mary:Yeah. Yeah. But
Pete:do you hear what, do you hear the, the Rush Limbaugh interview?
Mary:I heard, but this
Jamie:is he's he's going for the football team. Right?
Pete:Yeah. Maybe that's why he was interviewed. You know, he rarely does these, direct media interviews, but, you know, he's got a lot of heat on him right now. He's going for buying the St. Louis Rams.
Pete:And, so he sat down well, not and so, but he in addition to, he sat down with, with an NBC reporter and and, totally railroaded her in her anemic interview.
Mary:Girl, she's horrible.
Pete:What's she
Mary:what's this?
Pete:What's that, Jane?
Jamie:Was it CBS or NBC?
Pete:I think it was NBC. And, and so she sat down with him and asked him things like, you know, do you think you're ruining the Republican Party? Do you think you're leading the Republican Party? You know, why are you so mean? I mean, it's just really, really awful.
Jamie:And he to his show. Wherever she
Mary:got her journalism degree, they should be embarrassed.
Pete:No. It was it was, yeah, it was not a good, not a good example. You know, he did things like, you know, just yawning, to her questions just openly Right.
Mary:Well, that was just
Pete:yawning Yeah. Yeah. About the, tired he is of of these, you know, tiresome comments and questions. There was nothing really substantive except for when asked, to think of one thing that he really liked about Barack Obama.
Jamie:What did he say?
Pete:His response was, he's got a great voice. That man can read from a teleprompter like nobody I've ever seen. It's magical.
Jamie:That's why
Pete:Oh, it's fantastic.
Jamie:But, you know, he is not some of this in the the NFL thing's been a little overblown. He's not leading the group to buy the the Rams. He's just one of a consortium of people that is wanting to buy it. So he's an investor, prob and what I understand, not even a major investor in this group. So it's a little ridiculous that they're focusing on him.
Jamie:It's just like I bought shares in Intel. You know? So does that mean that all of a sudden if I get arrested, that's, like, a huge problem in Intel? I mean, it's a little overblown in my opinion.
Pete:Yeah. Well, I think in general, Limbaugh is overblown. You know, right now, it's he's sort of the voice box of of the angry Republican right. And, you know, I mean, you can't there's a there's a great article, or great post from Robert, Schlessinger at on US News and World Report today. It's it's don't blame liberals when Limbaugh can't buy the Rams.
Pete:Blame the free market. Like, you're not focusing on the right target.
Jamie:Yeah. Absolutely. And and quite I I I think and I I've listened to Rush off and on. And, as I try to listen to a lot of folks as I have time, he's not as bad as people make him out to be, and he's not the god that other people make him out to You know? He's just in the guy with an opinion that happens to be pretty conservative and and, you know, articulates his opinion very well, and it's very, convincing to certain groups.
Jamie:But he's not he's not the devil, that would make him out to be. You know? He's an entertainer.
Pete:Well, that's the that's the truth. And I I think if more people would listen to him as an entertainer
Jamie:Yeah. Because he's not being a different player. Be something more than he is. He's not a politician. He's got opinions.
Jamie:Sometimes he's right. Sometimes he's wrong. I mean, you know, it's just the way that it is. But but to try and demagogue him and say that all of a sudden he can't own the piece of the Rams. Listen.
Jamie:Congratulations, dude. Millions of people listen to you. You've made 1,000,000 of dollars. If you wanna spend your money buying a piece of the Rams, go ahead. That's my opinion.
Jamie:You know? Look. They let Leonze or whatever her name was, you know, own pieces of sports teams, and she was as bigoted and racist as they come. So
Pete:She had some other issues too even more than bigotry and racism.
Jamie:But my point is is it I mean, if you're gonna let that happen, why I mean, you know, what's wrong with Rush? So
Mary:Good point. Of course, he, didn't, in the interview, Pete, say say that he's responsible for Glenn Beck. Or
Pete:Yeah. That that he's
Mary:Yeah. Glenn Beck wouldn't be who he is if it wasn't
Pete:for Roczen. For Rush. But I you know, and I think he was speaking more as a as a leader of a of a broader trend of, demand for the Limbaugh style of Yeah. Talk.
Jamie:Or the you know? I mean, radio and TV has become a lot more divisive, and so he certainly has kind of driven this this confrontational, in your face, take no prisoners type of approach, and he's probably been modeled by a lot of people on the left and the right. Good for him. I mean
Pete:Well, I mean, you know, you take that as a sort of a jumping off point for the White House's position on Fox News. Have you heard about this, this latest salvo? I thought this was surprising.
Mary:Uh-uh.
Pete:White House communications director Anita Dunn comes out and says that Fox News is no longer an a, news organization. It is a wing as, quote, a wing of the Republican Party. The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party.
Mary:Interesting.
Pete:It's it is, quote, an opinion journal journalism masquerading as news.
Mary:News. I totally agree with that.
Pete:Now, Jamie, you, you leave it on all the time at your house, right, to indoctrinate the kids. What's your stance on that?
Jamie:You know, I I think we have reached a point where journalism is under, attack as not being very it's it's always been supposedly this sacred thing that's that's fair, that's objective, that presents both sides, that that gets to the truth. And and I don't think journalism is is like that anymore, and on both sides. And so it tends to be more a kind of a hatchet opinion pieces, and Fox News is certainly full of a lot of people with a lot of opinions, probably more so than some of the other networks. And those Yeah.
Mary:Except, you know, they do I'm sorry. Go ahead.
Jamie:Well, those opinions tend to be on the right side, on the not they tend not to be left. They tend to be on the right hand side of the argument.
Pete:It's a, it's a funny thing. An interesting
Mary:I'm sorry.
Pete:Go go ahead, Mary.
Mary:This is so weird not being able to see who's talking. Well, the other thing that I always found that's interesting, and they've done it, like, multiple times, but the latest time I can remember that they did it was with Mark San Stanford when his whole, stuff was blowing up. And they had on the screen, Mark Stanford, democrat. And they've done that with multiple Republicans when they've, you know, had these scandals, and then they come on the thing and put a d after their name.
Jamie:Yeah. I don't know.
Pete:Well, you know, the problem is this, that Of
Mary:course, they're fair and balanced. You
Pete:know? Well, yeah. Fair and balanced. Right? That that ensures that they're not.
Pete:They they, the problem is this, that that modern media has been taken over by and and run by people who are not, in fact, journalists.
Jamie:Exactly.
Pete:You know, a journalist is somebody who went to school and studied the the craft of journalism, and that's a very different role than the role that that, you know, many of the cable news networks, sort of fall into today with this idea of of, you know, the good looking, the entertainers, the, you know, people on the air. Now Fox in has gone much further than that.
Jamie:Yep.
Pete:You know, I I I really tend to agree with Anita Dunn here that I you know, Fox is Fox is a troubled, sort of cancer on the media establishment. Not that they're all, you know, great, but Fox is really, really an exemplar of of, you know, poor media. But I love this quote. You know, if you were a Fox viewer in the fall election, what you would have seen would have been that the biggest stories and the biggest threats facing America were a guy named Bill Ayers and something called Acorn. Right?
Pete:The economy is grappling with financial crisis, 2 wars, and a historic election. And if you were on Fox News, you wouldn't have heard about much of that. So it's I mean, Fox is is, is a troubled, is a is a in a troubling place, in in my opinion. I think, I I think it's dangerous. I think it's a dangerous thing to to watch more than the others.
Pete:I agree.
Mary:As I was told by one conservative, it's the only place where you can get the
Pete:truth, Says Fox.
Jamie:Yeah. You know, it would be interesting to have a study, and I'm sure they have these. We'll have to spend some time. I a study on who watches certain channels, and I'll give you an example. I was thinking about this the other day.
Jamie:I was looking at an article online about who buys certain cars. And and people who buy Hondas, for example, tend to be, a little more educated. Their Internet use, they tends to be way up, so a lot of them use the Internet. People buy Chevys, for example, tend to use the Internet a lot less, tend to be less educated, etcetera. So it'd be interesting to tie that same type of study to different news channels of what is their education level, income level, you know, and that kind of stuff to kinda see where they're pulling their users from.
Jamie:I'm sure they've got that data. I just haven't seen it.
Pete:You know, you should check
Mary:out sure it's out there.
Pete:Check out the movie. It's a documentary called Outfoxed, which is Oh,
Mary:I've heard about that.
Pete:It's a fantastic, view on just how bad Fox is, and and just how much of an active editorial role Rupert Murdoch takes. I mean, this is the Induced Corp is, in general, you know, he considers it and is on the record in this movie as saying that this is his editorial arm and he's, you know, he makes, makes editorial decisions not based on, you know, news, so to speak, but based on, you know, who he wants to angle, for the election. You know, Fox takes the the talking points and pretty much dumps them on the air, And Well, the Murdoch sits at the table there.
Jamie:If you control the media, you control the message. Right. That's that's the
Mary:Yep.
Jamie:Argument there. And and Obama, of course, has been penalized for being everywhere, doing everything. But I think part of it is he's trying to control the message, so that he gets heard through everything else.
Pete:Well, and that's the that's, I think, maybe the most interesting point in this whole thing is the fact that the White House took a stand against Fox.
Jamie:Yeah. It's a little although didn't Bush do the same thing against somebody else? I don't remember who it was, but I I don't think this is a
Mary:Bush ever went on anything anyway. Well
Pete:Yeah. You know, she she was asked, is is Obama ever gonna go on, on Fox? Is he ever gonna appear on a Fox show? And she said yes. But you have to understand that our opinion is when he goes on a Fox, to be interviewed by somebody at Fox, it's not going to be, to be interviewed.
Pete:It's going to be in a position to debate the alternative view. And If
Mary:he was on Bill O'Reilly.
Pete:Yeah. Sure.
Mary:Yeah. Yeah. At some point. I can't remember when, but Bill O'Reilly interviewed him.
Jamie:So Hey. Hey. Speaking of celebrities, this is a little off topic in politics. What do you guys think about, our friend over there, on the Late Show? Or the with The Late Show?
Jamie:It's nice.
Pete:Letterman. Yeah. Oh, Letterman. Yeah. I'm so interested in it.
Pete:I can't believe we haven't, been together in so long. What, man
Jamie:think. Right? So, I mean, he's been hanging around with some of his, you know, colleagues and, he's got himself a little bedroom upstairs, I guess. What do you think?
Pete:I want Mary to go first.
Mary:Is the bedroom upstairs?
Pete:He has a hidden bed couch or or, like, a sleeper in his office.
Jamie:Oh, that's what I thought.
Pete:That's the idea. And there there there I've heard mixed reports that it is a hidden sex den in his office to it's just a fold out couch that's Well, it's he has used to sleep his dad.
Jamie:Named Fox. Right? Fox News is probably saying
Pete:That's right. It was the sex den.
Mary:Yeah. Yeah.
Pete:I don't know. I I
Mary:Is anybody really that surprised?
Jamie:I'm not. I mean
Pete:No. No. No. No. I what I don't I don't think there's a surprise in it, David Letterman.
Pete:You know? I mean
Jamie:I'll go. 1, I'm not sure. You know? I mean, I'm not surprised in the slightest. It happens all the time in business.
Jamie:2, I think he handled it pretty doggone well. He just came out and said I did it. And Yeah. You know? And and these are the mistakes I made, and I'm sorry for my staff and and etcetera.
Jamie:And he just faced it front on. I mean, he did it way better than Edwards has done with, you know, I way better. Yeah.
Pete:I love that.
Jamie:I I think he did fine. Sure. Was it the cool thing to do? No. But, you know, he handled it pretty well, and he's moving forward.
Jamie:I I think he's done a decent job at it, and and good for him.
Mary:The Yeah. What's happening with the guy that tried to, blackmail him?
Pete:Oh, he's he's been arrested and taken away. Okay. Yeah. Okay. You know, it's a, it's an interesting thing.
Pete:So, yeah, he was he was a an Emmy Award winning, producer for, 48 hours. And and, you know, he's a a high profile, newsman at CBS. And so it was a bit of a surprise that that he would do that. Although, Olbermann was interesting because Olbermann has worked with both of these guys and, and said, you know, I mean, you ask me on a list of, 50 guys, not knowing any of this, if you say, here are these 50 guys that you know and have worked with. Who do you think would be most likely to be caught up in a scandal where he was blackmailing somebody famous?
Pete:And he said, this guy, frankly, would be in the top five. Like, he's kinda creepy.
Mary:Really?
Pete:Yeah. Wow. That was fascinating. He, the I I think more interesting is that National, Organization For Women. Right?
Pete:They were, furious, at Letterman. They think CBS needs to take action. I don't know what that means, take action.
Mary:But For what?
Pete:Yeah. You know, I
Mary:think an affair.
Pete:Well, yeah. I mean, that's sort of the the the stake. Right? It's this, it's this idea that he did something that was, what, illegal? No.
Pete:No. And we don't know if he had an affair because he's only been married for 8 months. We don't know when these happened. We know he had a series of sexual relationships with women on his staff. Maybe that's not nice.
Pete:Maybe it's not, it's not, going, in accordance with the HR rules of CBS. But really
Mary:It may not be the most ethical, but
Pete:Really? Is it is is it really something we're gonna lose a lot of sleep over and get fired up over? It's Dave Letterman. I mean, come on.
Mary:Alright. Yeah. Exactly.
Jamie:I agree with you, Steve. I I
Mary:I do too.
Jamie:And like I said, I think the way he handled it is really good. I know
Pete:If there's anything that we learned out of this is, man, just reaffirmed how well that guy can handle a crowd.
Jamie:Well yeah. And and the way that he did it, you know, confronting it, and and in his case, of course, he made jokes about it because that's just the way he is. That's his show. And and then just saying, listen. I I did it.
Jamie:I'm sorry. I made mistakes. And then moving on, I think it really sets an example for people of how you should handle this kinda stuff. And and this whole idea Exactly. Just ignoring it or hiding it or whatever, not fessing up.
Jamie:Go away. Yeah. It just it just hurts you. I mean, again, Edwards is a classic example of that versus how Letterman did it. So good for Letterman.
Pete:Yeah.
Jamie:Congratulations, dude.
Mary:Yeah. I completely agree.
Pete:Okay. So, speaking of celebrities, this is not actually speaking of them. What's up? What you, Mary, brought up the, the kidnap victim week. We've got, the first was it the first pictures of JC Dugard are coming out now?
Mary:Who's this? The first. Yeah.
Pete:Well, JC was the the person the the girl who was kidnapped when she was younger and then forced to live as a I don't know. What do you call her?
Jamie:Oh, in that guy's backyard or something.
Pete:18 years. Yeah.
Jamie:Yeah. Yeah.
Mary:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, can you just imagine being I mean, that long as parents?
Mary:I mean, you you know you would have come to, you you know, the conclusion that that her you know, your child had to be gone, you know, had
Pete:to be dead. Here's the Here's
Mary:What? I mean
Pete:There's a piece that makes me particularly sick over it because, you know, this is a this is a fear I think every parent has at some level. It's the the fact that in this case, her father saw it happen. He saw her
Mary:take it. Right. Yeah. They And chased it. They chased the truck.
Pete:Yeah. Exactly.
Jamie:Uh-huh. Wow. That's right.
Pete:Can you I mean, can do you where do you even start to deal with that kind of rage and guilt? I I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Jamie:I don't know.
Mary:Parents stay married. They didn't, did they?
Pete:I don't know the answer to that.
Jamie:I don't know. Yeah. I've read that a lot of times.
Mary:That's that's the type of thing that would rip a marriage apart too.
Jamie:That's what I heard.
Pete:So what was the news this week, though? Did she what happened?
Mary:Well, it's just that she's she's finally, you know, making telling a little bit of her story, and I guess she's on the cover of people. So and it's the first time people have actually really seen her since she's been sheltered and and hidden since they found her. Yeah. So that's a big thing. And then I guess because on a lot of the magazine covers now too is Elizabeth Smart.
Mary:And I guess it must be it she's maybe just testified or is going to testify against her captors. I'm doing a quick Google here to see if we can get find her story quickly. But No. She she was the one that was kidnapped. She was what?
Mary:Gosh. Maybe 7 or something at the time, and and they came into the he came into the house in the middle of the night. Oh, that's true. Her out of her bed. Uh-huh.
Pete:Wow.
Mary:And, let's see. Or she the kidnapping occurred in 2002, in June, and she's from Salt Lake, Utah. And then she was found she was found 9 months later on March 12, 2003.
Pete:Wow.
Mary:One wandering, in a parking lot, I think, or something. I mean, her captors were nearby. Oh my goodness. Anyway, so she's back. She's back in the news.
Mary:And, I mean, like I said, I just I just was glancing at covers when I was in the grocery line, and I think it I think maybe that there's something. She's testifying now finally or or I don't know. Anyway
Jamie:The other one that's come out, and and I don't know all the details, but I I saw it briefly this morning is one of the mothers from the Columbine kids who, has come out with an essay talking about, you know, her feelings. And and and I think what I've read online is, it's it's helped create some closure for some of the other parents of because they've never the parents have never publicly talked about their kids and what happened. And, and so for her to sit down and kind of bear her soul about what happened and how she feels, and did she know, and did she have any inklings of her kids and all that, I think, has been, healing for a lot of folks and very what little I read excerpts were very interesting.
Mary:Yeah. She said she had no inkling her son was suicidal or depressed.
Jamie:Yeah. She said that when when she heard the school was locked down and people were killed, she was worried that it was her her son that had gotten killed. She had no idea that Right. He was the one who is is committing the the crimes.
Mary:Yeah. And then she later said that she thought that he was coerced into it. You know? And so she says she had no idea that he and the other and Eric had assembled an arsenal of explosives and guns. So we believed his participation in the massacre was was accidental or that he had been coerced.
Mary:We believed that he did not intend to hurt anyone.
Jamie:Which is what any good
Mary:That's what you say. You know?
Jamie:Wouldn't you think that about your own kid?
Mary:Yeah. Exactly.
Jamie:Yeah. So, I mean, I it's you would never think that your kid would be capable of doing something. So well, I'll have to I'll have to read it. It sounds very interesting to me, and I I just
Mary:But it also kind of it also kinda freaks me out, you know, like that to be where it had no inkling her son was depressed or suicide. I don't know. Just kinda scary
Pete:as scary. That's the that's the other thing you carry around. Right? That you never know what one thing you're gonna say to your kids that starts this sort of shadow side, and one day you end up Right. Simulating an arsicle.
Pete:An arsicle? What am I even talking about? Arsenal.
Mary:I mean Well, it also speaks to, you know, how how much do you how much do you snoop's not the right word, but well, maybe this. As a parent
Jamie:You know, that's a good question. We have actually talked about that with our kids. Have you guys?
Pete:The snooping part?
Mary:No. I think mine are too young, don't you? Yeah.
Jamie:Probably. Yeah. Yeah. What, we've told our kids is that, they live in our house and everything's fair game. And and they they have no privacy.
Jamie:However, we will not snoop unless we think we need to for something. So their job is to not give us any excuse to snoop. But if they do give us an excuse to snoop, we will, and we have every right to, and they have no right to complain about it.
Mary:Yeah. I mean, I Good approach, I guess.
Pete:Yeah. I I kinda look that way. The thing that that scares me more, they I've got a. My youngest is a 3 year old and, I mean, here's a kid who walks up to a computer and, you know, he'll walk up to, you know, my wife's laptop sitting on the kitchen table during dinner and he'll go into Itunes and start some music, you know. I mean, he's that it it's the computer snooping that I think, I think is more scary.
Pete:That's more terrifying than than anything else.
Mary:Yeah. Are you gonna you mean, snooping you mean it's you're gonna snoop to see where your kids are going on that computer?
Pete:I mean, email, you know, web, communities, social networks, that sort of stuff, I think is it's worth keeping, keeping up to date on that stuff.
Jamie:Yeah. I agree. And we do. We do typical things, computers in a public area, passwords everybody knows, access to accounts, all that kind of stuff. Because part of it's not that you don't trust your kids.
Jamie:It's that they're young and and they can be influenced pretty easily, and so they don't know who's influencing them. Right. Because that's it it's not that.
Mary:Exactly. It's
Jamie:and and my kids ask about that. Well, don't you trust me? And he says, you know, honey, it's not that I don't trust you. Just that you are not yet a grown up, and so you tend to be a little more impressionable. And somebody can come along and say, hey.
Jamie:Let's go do this, and you haven't fully thought it through, and I don't want you to do that. So my job is to protect you and keep you safe. And, yeah, we have Right. We have 13 year old Kit, and our oldest is 13, so we're prime in the middle of that. Ugh.
Jamie:And it's Oh, yeah. It's not easy. It's not, you know, it's not fun. But yeah. It
Pete:just it turns my stomach. Just that, you know, that's coming. How do you deal with that stuff?
Mary:I know. I do.
Pete:Let me let me tell you what else, turns my stomach.
Jamie:Yeah.
Pete:How do you how do you guys feel about Krispy Kreme? Just donuts in general.
Jamie:Love them.
Pete:Do you? Do you eat them? Do you pat do you double fist them?
Jamie:I don't eat them very often because I'm not sure that they're particularly good for me. But, oh, yeah. They're good.
Pete:Well, let me let me ask you a a corollary. How do you feel about, bacon cheeseburgers?
Jamie:My favorite standby. Absolutely.
Pete:Alright. So now we've got, we've got 2 yays on the we love the Krispy Kreme. We love the how would you feel about a Krispy Kreme donut burger?
Jamie:Yeah. No. Oh, god.
Pete:That's a big deal, apparently. It's a 1500 calorie, hamburger with, with Krispy Kreme Donuts as buns.
Jamie:Uh-oh. Oh
Mary:my no.
Jamie:That's disgusting.
Mary:You're making that up.
Pete:No. I'm looking at it right now. A new twist to eating your dessert first. The Krispy Kreme Donut Burger is a big hit at fairs this year. The bacon cheeseburger that uses 2 Krispy Kreme Donuts for buns has 15 100 calories.
Pete:Basically, a day's worth of calories in a meal. Junk food creation is said to have originated in Decatur, Georgia, of course. According to the story, one bar owner ran
Mary:out of
Pete:buns one day and used 2 glazed Krispy Kreme Donuts instead. This created what he called the Luther Burger after singer Luther Vandross because, of course. Since then, the, creation's been featured by the southern cooking queen Paula Deen. You can see her creating the Krispy Kreme burger and trying it online. She calls it stinking wonderful.
Jamie:Oh, no.
Pete:At this year's Massachusetts Big E Fair, they've sold 1,000 of the Krispy Kreme burgers each day. The fair lasts 17 days.
Mary:Oh. At
Pete:the Big E Fair, they call them the craze e, capital on the e, burgers.
Jamie:You gonna put that up on our site?
Pete:I will. It's, it's not good.
Jamie:Yeah. Yeah. Doesn't even sound amazing.
Pete:No.
Jamie:Very spicy. So clearly, it's not appetizing. But even though it it just
Pete:What's they actually grill the Krispy Kreme. You see the grill lines on the Krispy Kremes themselves. I mean, that's really a they it's a well thought out burger if you're if you're gonna be doing that.
Mary:Well, you get your savory and your sweet in one bite.
Pete:I know. It's almost like, it's it's it's moving through the meal too fast. You know? I mean, I I I wanna savor it.
Jamie:People over here too.
Pete:Well and, you know, it's this kind of innovation it's this kind of innovation that may just save Krispy Kreme. Don't you think?
Jamie:Yeah. Krispy Kreme has certainly struggled growing too fast, and the health care kick, they're certainly not, you know, on the right side of the tracks in that respect. But I don't know. I I do have an adult every once in a while, man, just stopping by and picking up Krispy Kreme. Oh.
Pete:Oh, yeah.
Jamie:And it's just
Mary:They're melt in your mouth.
Pete:They that's the truth. They do they literally melt in your mouth. How do they do that?
Jamie:I don't know.
Pete:When they take them when they give them to you right off the glazer
Jamie:Oh, yeah.
Pete:I mean, it's just all I hear is a sweet sucking sound.
Jamie:Well, your artery is shrinking?
Pete:Yes. Exactly.
Jamie:Hey. By the way
Mary:They need to come up with a low carb one.
Pete:No. No trans fats.
Jamie:Hey. So speaking of gross things, if you guys are interested, you can buy Michael Jackson's burnt hair from the Pepsi commercial. Did you know that?
Pete:Oh, that's horrendously awful.
Jamie:Oh, seriously. Yeah. I think it's on eBay or something. I'm I'm looking at the ads.
Mary:How much is it going for?
Jamie:Well, let's see. Jackson's burnt hair up for sale, says that it's doubled in price over the last couple of year well, since he died. Just trying to find some details here. Looks like it's going to it's selling the item, oh, in, in London on October 17th. So if you wanna make a bid, you better hurry up.
Jamie:I'll I'll post this on our site so you guys get all the info if you wanna make a bid. So
Pete:Yeah. I mean, count count me in. Right? Yeah. Wow.
Pete:I wanna
Mary:And how how are you guaranteed it's his burnt hair?
Pete:Well, they talked my own hair and
Jamie:Yeah. They talked about that that when when he you know, his hair caught on fire during the Pepsi commercial that somebody ran up to him and grabbed him with his jacket and covered him and and that the hairs were extracted from the jacket and certified at the time or something. So Ah. Yeah. So you can get you too can be a part of the Michael Jackson legacy.
Pete:Oh, that's just horrendous.
Mary:DNA record with it?
Jamie:I would suspect so. I don't I don't know. Yeah. So I'll put it up there. So, anyway, if you're interested, burn hair for sale.
Pete:That's awful.
Jamie:All yours.
Pete:Oh my god.
Mary:Oh, yes.
Pete:Well, people, I think we are, with that. I think we're officially out of things to talk about.
Jamie:Can you top that?
Pete:I can't top that.
Mary:All over the map today.
Pete:Yeah. I know. Seriously. But, thank you guys for, you know, working through the Skype, quarantine alternative to our live beer show. Thanks.
Pete:It's been hoping it's worth correcting. Next week? Yeah. We'll we'll figure something out for next week
Mary:Yep.
Pete:If Jamie's out of lockdown. And, thank you all for listening on behalf of, Jamie and Mary. I'm Pete Wright, and this has been another fun filled episode of beer 30 live.
Mary:We're out.