Hello. I had myself a little nap. But stuff still
happened. So what's up? We're at... War? We're
not at war. Don't call it a war. Alright, the
US is just kind of just going bazonkers and doing
a lot of dumb shit. For example, renaming the
Department of Defense the Department of War.
Yeah, haha, Trump, the guy that everybody was
like, oh, he's gonna start no more wars, literally
is renaming the DOD to the Department of War
again. If you didn't know, that was what it was
originally called, kind of, and then it's been
the Department of Defense. Now it's going back.
My favorite part of all of this is that defense
contractors are now war contractors, if we're
gonna stick with the semantics. Which they've
always been, like we've known that, but yep,
I'm gonna invest in some war contractors. That
sounds real good. So that's just like one...
Little thing and they didn't really change the
name. It's like a an alternate name that can
be used But then they're saying that everybody
has to use it It's a mess and it's expensive
and it's a huge waste and it's basically just
because Pete Hegseth is insecure a big scary
Secretary of War It's it's genuinely embarrassing
Except for it's also my nation cool. So what's
the Department of War up to? Glad you asked couple
different avenues here They can really walk and
chew bubblegum at the same time because they
are both intimidating the people of Chicago and
also killing people on boats off the coast of
Venezuela. Let's tackle that in order. Chicago.
Trump posted a meme of like him invading Chicago
with military helicopters. Like posted a picture
of a city of which he is the president. on fire
as he's invading it. They love to say that everything
Trump does that's obviously egregious is to troll
people, and then when people are like, hey, this
is obviously egregious, they're like, ha, see,
he trolled them, like I said he's doing. It's
five -year -old shit, which is not surprising.
Him doing something completely unacceptable and
then people saying that's unacceptable, we shouldn't
stand for that. That's not trolling, that's just
being an ass. Solidarity with the people of Chicago.
I'm sorry that this is happening to your city
now. I do want to note though that it's not like
the military is about to roll into the streets
of Chicago and burn it to the ground and launch
an assault. That's not what's happening here.
Trump is a huge weakling and like doesn't actually
have the power he keeps asserting that he has
and he just keeps breaking the law and we keep
not doing anything about it but he can only go
so far before people would do something about
it. So he's trying to toe that line of like how
much can I do, how many headlines can I make,
how much red meat can I give to my base before
I actually get in actual trouble. Doesn't make
it better, doesn't make it okay, doesn't even
make it remotely alright. It's still fucking
awful. Quit strong -arming cities that don't
want your presence there. Don't know but moving
on to Venezuela and the whole situation there
because that's that's International scale pretty
fucking big essentially out of nowhere the US
bombed a boat that had left from Venezuela with
11 people on board just Obliterated it no warning
the top boys in the US government Trump Hegseth
Etc all started to say this is a drug smuggling
boat They said that it had 11 drug smugglers
on board and a whole bunch of drugs Which is
why they bombed it with military equipment. As
with most things with this administration, engaging
with the words they're saying on face value is
disingenuous. They are lying and they don't care
that they're lying. And yet, I'm gonna fall for
the trap. That's not how any of this works. The
military doesn't get to go after civilians of
another country just because we claim they're
drug dealers. First of all, they've produced
exactly no evidence for this. None. Just they
just said that that's the case. Our government
is capable of releasing information and proving
their claims, bringing people to court, even
if they weren't going to give them their rights
to a trial. They could at least give any evidence
at all. But that's not the case. So yeah, international
eyes are on this and they're like, you just bombed
a civilian ship with military personnel. That's
a war crime. It doesn't matter. They're not a
military target. The Trump administration keeps
trying to say that they're members of a gang
and that gang is tied up with Venezuela's state
government and so they're a supporter of terrorism
and therefore it's a target or something, and
all of that still doesn't apply. And here is
why it doesn't matter. All the words that I just
said were useless. Because JD Vance went on Twitter
and when someone said, hey, that's a war crime,
he said, quote, I don't give a shit what you
call it, and he's being applauded for this by
a lot of people. And I want to talk through that
a little bit. Now, I am not, I don't really give
a shit about this statement. Like, I don't care
about the fact that he cursed. I don't care that
he's being a bit of a dick. What I care about
is the sentiment and what it expresses. It's
perfectly in line with how they approach everything.
Go right back to the Department of War. They
think this is cool and a show of strength. They
would happily bomb far more places and then just
make up stories about what they bombed. to get
people to support them in doing more war crimes
because they think that they have the quote authority
the absolute authority that's the term they keep
using to just bomb shit as America the whole
concept of like we shouldn't be the world police
god like they're just saying we have the right
to do this because vaguely we can say that they
are drug dealers and drugs are dangerous to our
society and therefore it's national security
It's cynical and it's just them wanting to be
able to bomb shit, mostly so they can distract
from how terrible things are going domestically,
and how not released the Epstein files are. And
so with all of that, don't spend time asking
questions like, where's the Second Amendment
people now? Or where's the small government people
now? It was always disingenuous. Where they are
is cheering this on. Because this is what they
wanted. This is what they voted for. And like,
yeah, it's going to erode their own rights. The
government's already talking about how they can
try to strip guns from trans people, which is
against the Second Amendment. The party who's
like, absolutely no infringement whatsoever,
ever, ever, is like, hmm, how can we infringe
just a little bit? And then maybe we'll just
crank that up over time. But like, even the NRA
came out against that. Like, that's how out of
pocket that shit is. Anyway, don't let the government
lie to you to create the preconditions of war.
We've learned this over and over. We're gonna
do it anyway. Like, that's just what humanity
does. On loop forever. But still. And that's
not me being a doomer. That's not - That's just
- That's just history, baby. Noooo - It's my
Mario Party announcer impersonation. ICE has
set a record for the largest single workplace
raid in the Department of Homeland Security's
history. It's the Hyundai LG factory thing. If
you haven't heard about this, essentially what
happened is there's a factory in Georgia that's
currently being set up that's a joint venture
by Hyundai and LG. ICE recently raided this factory,
which is in the process of being set up, mind
you, and arrested hundreds of South Korean nationals
who they claim were working illegally. chained
them up, detained them. So come here, come here
real quick, because, yep, working illegally.
They are illegally contributing to the economy.
Let's back up, and then we'll come back to the
whole bunch of people getting arrested and what
happened. May of 2022, Governor Brian Kemp of
Georgia is announcing the largest economic development
project in the state's history. This project?
A battery factory owned by Hyundai and operated,
which would employ people in the area, but, you
know. set up by a foreign company. For the past
few years, they've been building this facility,
they've been setting it up, and people from Hyundai,
from like, you know, South Korea, where Hyundai
is, have been coming over and setting it up.
But here's the thing. Working in the United States
sucks, and not only does it suck to just be a
worker in general, but working here as somebody
who doesn't live here is very confusing. Working
here as someone who does live here is confusing
too. like navigating healthcare plans, if you
even get one. I digress. Point being, there's
a whole bunch of different ways to be here to
work. But ICE reportedly got a tip that shit
was going down at this factory, so they went
and raided it. Arrested hundreds of South Korean
workers who they claim were here illegally on
visas that either expired or didn't cover the
scope of the work they were doing. So it's not
even that they are here illegally. It's not like
Hyundai smuggled in a bunch of illegal immigrants
and had them do enslaved labor. They're literally
just like here on visas and some of the visas
were like they didn't check the right box or
something to that effect. Now, could it be a
systemic thing and the companies are trying to
like skirt paperwork? Absolutely! That happens,
and most of the time it doesn't matter because
countries are not trying to kick out foreign
investment because they want to go after people
because they're racist. That is not what usually
happens. Sorry, it's truly getting to be too
ridiculous to even talk about. Where we are now,
the people who were detained by ICE have largely
been sent home. The South Korean government,
the president actually, got involved directly
and was like, hey, what the fuck? They got a
plane chartered, people got on the plane, they
went home. So that's mostly settled. But South
Korea made a commitment to invest hundreds of
billions of dollars into America, and this was
part of that. And ICE essentially just came in
and took a big dookie all over it. And now they're
like, what's going on? Are we really doing this
investment or is it not worth our time? So thanks
ICE, you literally just cost a bunch of people
from Georgia their future jobs. Because it turns
out after a factory gets built, they hire people
from around the factory. Weird. Oh, speaking
of jobs, we got the jobs report and it fucking
sucked. The job reports for August came out.
Expectations were already pretty low. We expected
around 75 ,000 new jobs and got 22 ,000. Just
22 jobs. 22 ,000. Very abysmal. The previous
two months also got adjusted. June now had job
loss, which is the first time that that has happened
since Trump's previous term when COVID broke
out. I also want to note that as people have
been pouring over the data and the jobs reports
and all the economy stuff, wouldn't you know
it, black women are affected by an outsized degree
on all the job losses. Hundreds of thousands
of black women have left the workforce and have
not been able to return or were laid off, and
it's way more than any other demographic by population.
Maybe all that anti -DEI stuff has, uh, you know...
misplaced values. You may recall that the last
time that a job support came out, the numbers
were so bad that Trump actually fired the head
of the bureau that puts out the numbers. Unfortunately
for him, again, he's a shitty president and doesn't
know what he's doing, and telling people that
they are not hungry only lasts so long. But moving
on, I never said anything that I've ever said.
That's my RFK Junior impersonation. I'm not doing
the voice. RFK Jr. is a well -documented anti
-vaxxer whose own family and a global coalition
of medical experts call a threat to humanity.
So anyway, the Director of Health and Human Services,
RFK Jr., had a hearing in the Senate recently,
and it was bizarre. Here's how basically every
conversation between him and a senator went.
First, the senator would be like, hey, you said
this thing, and it sucks. To which RFK would
be like, I didn't say that. You made that up.
And the senator would be like, nah, I've got
it right here. I've got a transcript. It's on
video. To which RFK was like, no. And also, you're
the problem, and I'm the solution, and anyone
who believes you is wrong, and everyone should
believe me. End hearing. It was basically back
and forth with senators being like, you're inept,
and him being like, nuh -uh. But for real, he
essentially just sat there and denied that the
COVID vaccine was effective, or at least hemmed
and hawed about it, as opposed to being like,
yes, obviously, the data shows that. And then
he was like, I'm not an anti -vaxxer. And then
he tried to downplay the fact that he continuously
tries to link SSRIs to murders. He just said
a whole bunch of crazy bullshit, which is completely
par for the course. It's RFK Jr. A bunch of medical
organizations are calling for him to step down.
We've got measles outbreaks. Florida is trying
to overturn vaccine mandates. The head of Health
and Human Services is taking shots of raw milk
and telling people that he can see their children's
mitochondria. Last thing about RFK and the whole
-ass United States before I move on. There was
a 10 % drop in the stock of the company that
makes Tylenol after it came out that RFK is likely
soon to release a report that links Tylenol use
in mothers to autism in children. Now... That's
not true. The claim is not true. The stock drop
did happen. There has been a ton of research.
It's not, that this is not, it's just not a thing.
It is not a thing and they're just gonna be constantly
searching for, quote, the cause of autism forever.
Because it's not a thing that we need to find
the cause of. Stop it. It's not how this works.
I'm so tired of having to say that's not how
this works. Just be competent. A little bit.
Ever. Elsewhere, Japan is down a prime minister.
They only have the one, but it's gone now. Prime
Minister Shigeru Ishiba has stepped down or announced
his resignation a little under a year after taking
office. Essentially, he took office and like
right after that his party lost both the upper
and lower houses of government. But he's largely
been working to try to figure out what the fuck
is going on with the Trump tariffs, saying that
he wanted to get all that settled before stepping
aside so as to not cause more chaos because the
tariffs... are a lot. So he is stepping aside
and he's calling for his party to do a vote to
figure out who the new Prime Minister is going
to be. I don't know a lot about Japanese politics.
I'm not gonna pretend that I know anything about
this guy, but there is a quote from him that
I do want to read because it's very foreign to
me as a resident of free country USA. Quote,
I have consistently stated that I do not intend
to cling to this position and that I would make
a decision at the appropriate time after accomplishing
what needed to be done. What needed to be done
being settling the tariff stuff and now... He's
doing that! Wow! Thanks, Guy! I mean, I don't
know if thanks, Guy, but thanks, Guy! Over in
eastern Afghanistan, there have been a series
of devastating earthquakes. What started on August
31st with the 6 .0 magnitude earthquake has resulted
in several aftershocks, thousands have died,
and thousands more have been injured. Entire
villages have been wiped out, and a lot of the
villages in the area are mud and stone construction,
and they were just devastated. I do want to say
that there are efforts, there are rescue efforts
and aid efforts now in the area, but the continued
aftershocks, there were two more earthquakes
after the initial one that stopped efforts for
a while. Like, there's so much rubble and so
much destruction that it's hard to navigate in
the first place, let alone while there's also
the threat of earthquakes. But it's another example
of people coming together in the face of absolute
horror to help each other. They're a long ways
away, but my heart goes out to everyone who was
affected by this disaster. And just once more,
like, thank you to any and everyone whose focus
in this world is to help people in their time
of need. Stay righteous, y 'all. Game it! Silk
Song is out. Silk Song is out. Silk Song is out.
Silk Song is out. That's my Silk Song song. You're
either hyper aware of this game, or you have
no idea why everybody's freaking out, or you've
no idea what I'm talking about. But Silk Song
is out. What the hell is Silk Song? You know
those things that are just like franchises that
become a meme when you're just waiting for the
next installment? You've got your Game of Thrones,
you've got your Grand Theft Auto, stuff like
that. We've been joking for decades about Half
-Life 3 at this point. Silksong is kind of one
of those. So there was a really popular game
called Hollow Knight where you play as a bug
and you explore stuff. It's really sweet, really
casual. That's not true. It's very hard. I suck
at it. Silksong is a sequel, or the next game
in that franchise, and the developers announced
it in 2019. Now, as an indie game developer,
I am very, very aware of... how long it takes
to build stuff, so like no hate against the studio
for needing time to build an amazing game. However,
essentially years of speculation of when this
game is gonna come out led to it just reaching
that same meme status of like GTA 6 and Half
-Life 3, etc. And then lo and behold, like a
couple weeks ago, they announced... that it was
gonna come out on September 4th. It was a blindside
announcement, so much so that other game developers
rescheduled their launches two weeks out. And
then on launch day, there was so much hype that
it brought down basically every digital storefront
worldwide. Steam, Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation,
and GOG all went down when it launched. So that's
neat. I don't... I'm bad at it. I hope if you're
excited about this game... Have fun, have a blast.
I suck at Metroidvanias. Hey, do you want more
of this? Stuff Keeps Happening is supported by
listeners, readers, and viewers like you. I'm
like PBS over here. I'm like PBS, but I can swear.
Your support is how I keep this ad free. It's
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me out and help keep this going, I deeply appreciate
it. Head to isupport .dev. Alright, let's move
on to... Oh. Lightning round! Sorry, that wasn't
good enough. Let's try that one again. Lightning
round! Australia hates fun, and so now you can't
have the soy sauce packets that come in a little
fish. It's like a little fish -shaped packet.
It's because it's a single -use plastic. Like,
we should ban those, but... but my fish. There's
limited early research into the potential use
of an over -the -counter nasal spray that might
be able to significantly reduce the chance of
COVID infections. I want to conclude this is
early. It's early! But it's... it's... that's...
that's huge, if true. Ranchers and biologists,
wildlife experts, etc. are experimenting with
using drones that blast music and like movie
lines at wolves to keep them away. Literally
blasting AC DC at a wolf. About as metal as it
gets, Aura, the ring, the, like, wearable fitness
ring thing, they made a partnership with the
Department of Defense, or I guess the Department
of War. Aura maintains that your data is not
being shared with the DoD, it's only for people
who are in the DoD and opt into it. That's what
they say, and that's all I can say. And finally
for today, someone's multi -million dollar yacht
sank right after it was deployed. Which, uh,
if anybody wants to buy a multi -million dollar
yacht... Save yourself the trouble and just give
me the money instead. I won't sink. Fast. Thank
you so much for listening to today's episode
of Stuff Keeps Happening. Head to skh .news for
sources, bonus content, and a discount on a previously
million dollar yacht. My name is Endeavorance.
We'll talk again soon. Take care and be well.