WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 This episode is sponsored by StationWise, the 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.879 first staffing software to be truly firefighter 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:09.259 proof. Now you may be wondering why I have software 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:11.820 as a sponsor when I focus usually on physical 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:15.000 and mental health of the first responders, and 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.420 I will tell you exactly why. For the first time, 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:21.699 this is a staffing platform that also is able 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:25.140 to integrate wellness information through core 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:29.120 load tracking, exposures, and wearables integration. 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:33.119 Now, of course, StationWise focuses on staffing 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:36.420 and allows you to manage staffing, choose vacation 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:40.700 picks, put in rules for leave and trades, and 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.600 even deploying strike teams. But through the 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.759 latest programming and AI automation, they have 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:49.640 streamlined this process to free up battalion 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:52.159 chiefs so they can focus on what they're supposed 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.899 to be doing on the operational side and the fire 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:58.009 ground. Now, StationWise is also able to monitor 00:00:58.009 --> 00:01:00.469 not only how many calls we've responded to in 00:01:00.469 --> 00:01:03.210 a shift, but the duration of the call, therefore 00:01:03.210 --> 00:01:06.530 the rest and recovery in between, thus monitoring 00:01:06.530 --> 00:01:09.150 the sleep deprivation that degrades our health 00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:12.069 and performance. It's accessible not only through 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:15.030 the computer, but also on Apple and Android devices, 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:17.989 meaning that you can access it not only within 00:01:17.989 --> 00:01:21.450 the station itself, but outside as well. Now, 00:01:21.469 --> 00:01:23.730 one of the most powerful features of StationWise, 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:26.609 in my opinion, is the ability to run reports. 00:01:27.069 --> 00:01:30.590 Therefore, for example, be able to see just how 00:01:30.590 --> 00:01:33.629 much money is being used on overtime that could 00:01:33.629 --> 00:01:36.569 actually be front -loaded for proactive staffing, 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:39.930 as well as setting alarms knowing when you are 00:01:39.930 --> 00:01:43.090 hitting overtime parameters. And another important 00:01:43.090 --> 00:01:46.129 feature is the integration of other programs 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:49.189 and software for payroll, training, reports, 00:01:49.489 --> 00:01:52.920 etc. Now, StationWise is trusted by numerous 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.459 agencies in California, Texas, and Idaho. And 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:00.060 if you want to hear the full story from the founder, 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.439 who he himself is a son of a firefighter, listen 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:08.680 to episode 1163 with Marcus Edwards. And if you 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.979 want to book a demo or learn more, go to stationwise 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:16.000 .com. Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:18.039 As always, my name is James Geering, and this 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:19.979 week it is my absolute honor to welcome back 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:23.060 onto the show veteran law enforcement officer, 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:28.180 amputee, and Paralympian fencer, Byron Branch. 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:31.419 Now, if you missed our first conversation, it 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:35.680 was episode 503. In this second interview, we 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.719 discuss a host of topics. from reflecting back 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:40.580 on the lessons that should have been learned 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:43.780 during the pandemic, the actions of ICE through 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:46.599 law enforcement's eyes, the opioid epidemic, 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:51.639 homelessness, first responder fitness, marksmanship 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:55.379 in policing, and so much more. Now, before we 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:57.599 get to this incredible conversation, as I say 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.740 every week, please just take a moment, go to 00:03:00.740 --> 00:03:03.120 whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.759 to the show, leave feedback, and leave a rating. 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:10.360 Every single five -star rating truly does elevate 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:13.020 this podcast, therefore making it easier for 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:16.699 others to find. And this is a free library of 00:03:16.699 --> 00:03:21.360 almost 1 ,200 episodes now. So all I ask in return 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.620 is that you help share these incredible men and 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:27.740 women's stories so I can get them to every single 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:30.620 person on planet Earth who needs to hear them. 00:03:31.139 --> 00:03:34.159 So with that being said, I welcome back onto 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:58.699 the show, Byron. Enjoy. Well, Byron, I want to 00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:02.099 start by saying welcome back to the Behind the 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:07.599 Shield podcast. Thanks. Glad to be here. The 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:10.819 last time we spoke was episode 503. And for everyone 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:13.120 who hasn't heard your episode, I highly recommend 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:17.579 it now. And that was as we were emerging from 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:20.620 the pandemic. So I think it was mid -2021 was 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:23.319 when we recorded. So let's start with that there, 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:25.839 because I think it's always a really important 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:29.060 conversation. Wherever people kind of stood in 00:04:29.060 --> 00:04:32.620 the whole COVID thing, I don't think anyone would 00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:35.490 argue that when we came out, No one really had 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:37.730 learned any lessons. And what I mean that is 00:04:37.730 --> 00:04:40.889 we understood that the health of the individual 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:44.189 was one of the most important factors for surviving 00:04:44.189 --> 00:04:46.389 it. And then we also had a lot of discuss as 00:04:46.389 --> 00:04:48.990 far as the isolation and keeping people from 00:04:48.990 --> 00:04:51.290 each other and the impact on the mental health 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:54.550 of that. So without loading the question, when 00:04:54.550 --> 00:04:56.990 you reflect back now on that whole period, whether 00:04:56.990 --> 00:04:58.769 it was, you know, at home or when you were in 00:04:58.769 --> 00:05:01.139 uniform. What are some of the things that we 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:03.300 should be talking about today to make sure it 00:05:03.300 --> 00:05:07.139 doesn't happen again? I think one of the one 00:05:07.139 --> 00:05:11.500 of the big things that I had witnessed is people 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.839 will always say, oh, I would never do this or 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:16.740 I would never do that. And then when that situation 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:18.439 arises, you find they do exactly what they said 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:20.819 they would never do. Right. Oh, there's no way 00:05:20.819 --> 00:05:22.939 that the government can tell me to do X, Y and 00:05:22.939 --> 00:05:24.319 Z. I'm not doing that. But they're the first 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.709 in line. uh to obey everything that they're told 00:05:26.709 --> 00:05:29.069 first in line to get whatever vaccines they were 00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:31.050 told to get and they just they followed lock 00:05:31.050 --> 00:05:34.370 and step um you know and then what did we get 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:37.350 as a as a result of that we don't really know 00:05:37.350 --> 00:05:39.870 because it was like one second it was there we 00:05:39.870 --> 00:05:41.730 were locked down in our houses couldn't do anything 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:43.529 and the next second it was over and we're like 00:05:43.529 --> 00:05:45.790 okay do we go back to everything is normal do 00:05:45.790 --> 00:05:48.689 should we still wear masks um can i go visit 00:05:48.689 --> 00:05:51.290 people in hospitals or retirement home now because 00:05:51.290 --> 00:05:53.649 it did it just vanish you know overnight And 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:56.250 now it's not a problem anymore. I remember looking 00:05:56.250 --> 00:05:59.949 at some of the information that was coming out 00:05:59.949 --> 00:06:02.949 and I noticed during the height of COVID, there 00:06:02.949 --> 00:06:05.990 were no no treatments for the flu or any other 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:07.610 colds or anything like that. It pretty much it 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:11.100 absorbed everything. within COVID, it basically 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:12.839 was like a catch -all, you know, kind of like 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:14.620 in police work, disorderly conduct. I don't know 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:16.100 what to slap a person with. Disorderly conduct 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:18.199 covers everything. So COVID was like the big 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:20.199 thing. That's what covered all the illnesses 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:23.240 that were out. And then come 2021, boom, everything 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.600 had stopped. It had a huge impact on us as far 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.120 as like competition went, because I remember 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.439 sitting in 2020 in February, I was sitting at 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:35.649 the Olympic Training Center. And I get a message 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:37.769 from the lady running the team saying, hey, all 00:06:37.769 --> 00:06:39.889 these upcoming events are canceled now because 00:06:39.889 --> 00:06:42.790 of this mysterious illness that's spreading across 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:44.990 the globe. So this event in Brazil is going to 00:06:44.990 --> 00:06:46.449 be canceled. And I was like, well, that's strange. 00:06:46.709 --> 00:06:49.350 And then a week after that, boom, COVID was a 00:06:49.350 --> 00:06:51.569 thing. And next thing I know, everybody was inside. 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:54.149 People were racing to get toilet paper. You remember 00:06:54.149 --> 00:06:57.230 how crazy it was. It was insane. Yeah. And then 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:00.540 now it's over. You know, here we are. And the 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:02.899 question that I ask myself is because you see 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:04.639 in places like California where they're like, 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.879 oh, we got to mask up again and do that. The 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:12.500 thing that I am curious about is if the government 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:15.639 or any type of agency like the CDC comes out 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:18.079 and says, oh, we've got this 2 .0 version. Are 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:19.800 we going to do the same thing over again? Are 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:21.560 we going to repeat that same behavior? Are people 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:23.740 going to be like, you know what? It doesn't make 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:28.240 any sense to do it. I think where. i stood the 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.839 whole time was in the middle you know and yes 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.519 it is a real virus now whether it came from an 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.019 american or chinese lab or whether it was you 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:38.379 know the beginning of the rapture or whatever 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:40.480 it is that you believed it was a real thing and 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:42.939 people that worked in first responder and you 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:46.980 know medical um professions there were hot spots 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:49.220 where yeah they were stacking bodies no no question 00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:54.120 but at the same time it was also clearly basically 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:57.120 killing people who had pre -existing conditions, 00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:00.220 whether those are obvious, like obesity and chain 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:02.680 smoking, or whether it was maybe a chink in the 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:04.439 armor that some people didn't realize were there. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.959 So seemingly healthy people were dying as well. 00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:10.259 Some, they were an anomaly, but they were. And 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:12.160 so the conversation in the middle was just, well, 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:15.699 if we make people healthier, whatever you call 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:19.259 the next virus, it's going to be safer for the 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:21.819 community if we have a healthy nation. And that 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:24.259 was the conversation that was disregarded completely. 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:28.259 And so we come out of this and there is no putting 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:30.920 real food back in schools, you know, reinforcing 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:34.559 PE programs, pedestrianizing downtown, supporting, 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:37.860 you know, our Olympians and Paralympians and, 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:39.399 you know, all these things that would make a 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:42.679 healthier, happier nation that then would have 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.320 a much lower death toll. God forbid the next 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:47.590 virus comes through. So that was the ultimate 00:08:47.590 --> 00:08:49.970 disservice is we didn't actually do anything 00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:51.889 to make people healthy. I would argue actually 00:08:51.889 --> 00:08:55.710 we got less healthy from it at the end. No, and 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:57.690 I mean you see that time and time again because 00:08:57.690 --> 00:09:00.710 you go to your average doctor instead of trying 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:02.210 to figure out what your problem is and say, hey, 00:09:02.210 --> 00:09:06.210 diet, exercise, and get enough rest. Like that's 00:09:06.210 --> 00:09:07.809 the cure for about 99 % of the things that you 00:09:07.809 --> 00:09:09.990 have outside of things that you can't control. 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:13.549 But within those things you can control, that 00:09:13.549 --> 00:09:16.580 will improve your health. uh your mobility your 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:19.299 lifestyle overall but it's almost never ever 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:21.840 recommended you come in what's your ailment oh 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.399 you've got a b and c here's this fantastic pill 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.259 we got for that you know but it doesn't ever 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:30.220 solve the underlying problem um and you you see 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:32.000 like all kinds of uh complications with like 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.000 we can use uh um like ozempic for example or 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.679 any type of like dietary supplement complete 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:40.919 it was made for one thing then people started 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:43.419 using it uh got reckless with it and now we're 00:09:43.419 --> 00:09:45.259 starting to see ramifications complications from 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:46.779 that when really you could have just told the 00:09:46.779 --> 00:09:49.440 individual hey exercise eat right get plenty 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.220 of rest do it consistently and you'll find that 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:54.019 that is going to be the most beneficial for you 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:55.559 in the long in the long run because you'll get 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:57.879 used to it just like people who hey they wake 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.200 up they get their coffee they go to work there's 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:01.600 no thought process about getting that coffee 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.000 but it always fitted in It's no different with 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.019 that. Hello, wife. Sorry, my wife just walked 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:12.799 in. You're fine. Yeah, but I think that's that 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.440 even with the Zempic conversation, I had a Johan 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.379 Harion who wrote a whole book on basically that. 00:10:18.539 --> 00:10:21.360 And it was fascinating. When you look at more 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.399 extreme examples, like my wife lost her best 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.320 friend and I lost one of my fire academy friends 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.179 to gastric bypass complications. And arguably, 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:32.460 neither of them actually were that obese. They 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:34.639 were maybe on the, you know, clinically obese 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.919 scale, but at the very, very bottom level, if 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:40.539 anything, definitely overweight. But, you know, 00:10:40.539 --> 00:10:42.519 and so they both have these surgeries and then 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:44.879 they both have deadly complications, you know, 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.759 a few years later. So I think that, you know, 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.639 Zempik, if you are in a place where your obesity 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.299 is really becoming dangerous to your health, 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:56.629 I think absolutely it's a safer option. But that 00:10:56.629 --> 00:10:58.909 has to be used with like any drug. All right. 00:10:58.909 --> 00:11:00.889 What is the exit strategy? You know, what are 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:02.629 you going to be doing? Lifestyle changes, like 00:11:02.629 --> 00:11:04.850 you said, so that we can wean you off that drug, 00:11:04.929 --> 00:11:06.769 whether it's hypertension, whether it's a Zempik, 00:11:06.870 --> 00:11:08.929 whether it's, you know, if you're cholesterol, 00:11:08.990 --> 00:11:10.970 whatever it is, so that you don't need this drug 00:11:10.970 --> 00:11:13.929 anymore. But that's not the American model. Your 00:11:13.929 --> 00:11:16.269 doctor basically is prescribing like you're going 00:11:16.269 --> 00:11:17.850 to be on this for the rest of your life. And 00:11:17.850 --> 00:11:20.629 that's a disservice we do with these meds. Well, 00:11:20.710 --> 00:11:22.830 it needs to be done in tandem. You have to be 00:11:22.830 --> 00:11:25.460 like, hey, we'll put you on this. But in order 00:11:25.460 --> 00:11:29.259 for it to work and work well, you have to do 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:33.399 corresponding diet, exercise, rest. That has 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:35.360 to be done in tandem with it. So then once we 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.019 do wean you off of it, you'll be so used to that 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:40.039 new lifestyle that it kind of just takes care 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:46.080 of itself. I think people either have not experienced... 00:11:46.570 --> 00:11:49.509 what it, what it can feel like to go from being 00:11:49.509 --> 00:11:52.230 in, uh, the overweight out of shape or anything 00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:54.750 like that to getting yourself in shape and then 00:11:54.750 --> 00:11:56.889 realizing how much better they feel mentally, 00:11:56.990 --> 00:12:00.850 physically. Um, because if that is remedied by 00:12:00.850 --> 00:12:04.629 a simple medication and that work is missing, 00:12:04.649 --> 00:12:07.769 that got you to that final end point. Um, I think 00:12:07.769 --> 00:12:09.570 they, because they missed that there's a gap, 00:12:09.629 --> 00:12:12.960 there's a disconnect there. Um, It makes it really, 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:14.620 really hard to stay consistent because as soon 00:12:14.620 --> 00:12:16.259 as you stop taking that pill or you change that 00:12:16.259 --> 00:12:18.019 lifestyle, that weight comes back on and then 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:19.799 you're just bouncing back and forth, back and 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:22.360 forth. Whereas if we would just start from the 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:25.360 beginning, hey, we understand that you gained 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.340 a lot of weight during this period and we're 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:29.379 going to try and help you adjust and get that 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:31.000 weight off and we're going to do it by doing 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.039 X, Y, and Z and not just skipping straight to. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.039 Hey, here's this medication. Just take this. 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:36.039 This will solve all your problems. And really 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:37.720 all it does, what's it doing? Blocking receptors. 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:39.720 You're not eating, which is making you unhealthy 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:41.580 to begin with because your body is basically 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:44.639 starving itself. And you can eat and lose weight 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.519 as opposed to just not eating and starving and 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:48.399 then coming off of it. And then you just explode 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.919 after that or gain all the weight back, which 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:53.379 is what people tend to have happen to them. I'm 00:12:53.379 --> 00:12:55.679 no health expert. This is just what I've seen 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.200 or what I've read. Well, that's the irony. It 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:01.620 isn't that complicated. Is it hard? Yes, especially 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:03.879 when you're way back on the back foot, if you're 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.940 deconditioned or overweight or, you know, smoker 00:13:06.940 --> 00:13:09.519 or whatever it is, there's definitely a lot of 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:13.059 challenges to overcome. But fundamentally, principally, 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:16.240 you know, if you have a plate full of all different 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:19.039 colors of which, you know, there's no processed, 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:22.659 super refined carbs and you eat that two, three 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:25.960 times a day and you move a lot, that's it. It's 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:27.360 so funny when people come out with all these 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.360 books on fitness and exercise. The principles 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:32.840 are pretty damn simple. Do what we did up until 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:36.379 about 100 years ago, minus the Industrial Revolution 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:37.980 and some of these things that were detrimental. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.860 Don't put kids up chimneys. That's the answer 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:44.100 to it. It's not that complicated. But if you 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:47.799 find your lifestyle is so far from how we used 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:50.059 to be, then that's the goal. Get back to what 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:52.120 your great -grandparents did. It's that simple. 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:56.080 Yeah. That's what I say. it's the the easiest 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.759 hardest thing to do you know when you think about 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.100 it if i say hey all you have to do is this this 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:03.080 and this people like oh that's really simple 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.000 and then they try to implement it and like oh 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.559 this is really difficult but it's really not 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:09.879 you just have to wrap your mind around okay i 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:13.440 get up i i drink like you know eight ounces of 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.580 water and then i go exercise and then i eat like 00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:18.659 simple carbs and then bam a couple hours later 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:20.909 i'll have lunch but then people let You know, 00:14:20.909 --> 00:14:22.909 life gets in the way and I get that all kids 00:14:22.909 --> 00:14:24.990 sick. Well, I can't do this or so on and so on. 00:14:25.009 --> 00:14:26.909 You really have to you got to prioritize it. 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:31.509 You really need to prioritize yourself and just 00:14:31.509 --> 00:14:33.649 be consistent. Consistency is typically the only 00:14:33.649 --> 00:14:35.169 thing that's really missing. They know what to 00:14:35.169 --> 00:14:36.809 do. They just have a hard time being consistent 00:14:36.809 --> 00:14:39.509 in doing it. But if you look at almost everything 00:14:39.509 --> 00:14:41.970 else in their life, they're consistent at, you 00:14:41.970 --> 00:14:44.649 know, going to work, walking the dog, doing something, 00:14:44.690 --> 00:14:46.210 doing something like that. You got to make it 00:14:46.210 --> 00:14:47.850 something you want to do. As soon as it's something 00:14:47.850 --> 00:14:49.370 you want to do, it's very easy to be consistent. 00:14:50.530 --> 00:14:52.990 Absolutely. I think one of the other challenges 00:14:52.990 --> 00:14:55.350 is we're one of only two countries that have 00:14:55.350 --> 00:14:58.490 drug commercials on television. Us in New Zealand? 00:14:58.830 --> 00:15:01.710 Yes, that's right. Yeah. So we are, you know, 00:15:01.710 --> 00:15:04.470 so to be kind of compassionate to the masses, 00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:07.929 they are brainwashed into ask your doctor about 00:15:07.929 --> 00:15:10.809 this quick fix, this pill, this whatever. And 00:15:10.809 --> 00:15:12.309 then, you know, you watch the side effects and, 00:15:12.330 --> 00:15:14.330 you know, these antidepressants that cause suicidal 00:15:14.330 --> 00:15:17.210 ideations. You're like, is this really a good 00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:20.100 drug? But yeah, but I mean, this is the thing. 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:22.240 There's one of only two countries that have to 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.419 deal with that as well. Mentally, you are being 00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:28.440 subjected to propaganda constantly by drug companies. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.759 And the question is really, you know, how are 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:34.899 you going to break yourself out of that loop? 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.679 I am not a big fan of seeing those commercials 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:39.279 on there. And I'll be like watching my kids. 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:41.919 My kids like. I do that. I have that. I'm like, 00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:44.419 no, you don't understand. There's a reason why 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:46.879 it says it's like, do you blink? Do you breathe 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:48.519 air? Have you stood up today? You might have 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:52.240 X, Y, and Z. Side effects include imminent death, 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:55.740 extreme vomiting, suicidal. There's no reason 00:15:55.740 --> 00:15:58.679 to be messing with any of this stuff. And you 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:00.500 see it time and time again. I can't tell you 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:01.460 how many times I'll be sitting here watching 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.220 TV with my wife and there'll be one commercial 00:16:04.220 --> 00:16:06.419 on with some product I can't pronounce. And then 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:08.220 the show will play and the next commercial will 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:10.429 be the same exact product. It does the same thing, 00:16:10.470 --> 00:16:12.470 but with a completely different name. And I'm 00:16:12.470 --> 00:16:15.529 like, I feel like if I have an issue and I need 00:16:15.529 --> 00:16:17.090 to address it with my doctor, I'll just go address 00:16:17.090 --> 00:16:19.570 it with my doctor. It's not like food. I'm not 00:16:19.570 --> 00:16:20.870 going to see it and be like, oh, man, I think 00:16:20.870 --> 00:16:23.350 I need to go get this. I don't understand it. 00:16:23.370 --> 00:16:26.269 I can't get my head wrapped around it or how 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:27.850 the pharmaceutical industry is able to even do 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:29.590 half the stuff that they're doing. But for some 00:16:29.590 --> 00:16:31.860 reason. we allow it and people accept it you 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:33.820 know but i remember remember when you were younger 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:35.940 and i don't think you might have been how long 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:40.539 you've been in the states uh 23 years okay oh 00:16:40.539 --> 00:16:43.039 no that's even prior to that i remember in like 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.419 maybe the late 80s and 90s there were still cigarette 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:49.600 and beer commercials on tv you know yeah we had 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.460 them yeah and now now you don't really see them 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:55.100 anymore right no but those were super prevalent 00:16:55.100 --> 00:16:56.399 occasionally on the super bowl i'll see like 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:58.899 you know, beer commercials and stuff. Sure. If 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:00.980 I'm watching TV, you don't see any cigarette 00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:02.659 commercials. They used to add cool cigarettes, 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:05.460 Virginia slams, Marlboro, Marlboro man, for example, 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:07.099 you know, but then you're like, ah, you know, 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:08.319 maybe we don't need to advertise, but people 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.019 still know where to get it if they want it, you 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:13.339 know, if they want to seek it out, but it's not 00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:14.500 something that needs to be just like thrown in 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:17.160 your face constantly. Yeah. The Marlboro Man 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:19.619 is a perfect example of changing your mind. He 00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:21.779 obviously, as an actor, was like, wow, I got 00:17:21.779 --> 00:17:23.759 this gig and I'm promoting cigarettes. And then 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.220 years later, he's doing anti -smoking campaign 00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:29.140 with a hole in his throat. And kudos for him 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:31.740 having the courage to do that. Yep, exactly. 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:36.460 You used the word side effects by mistake. And 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:38.599 I think that that would actually make millions 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:41.200 in the drug marketing world, where you actually 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:43.140 brag about the side effects as though they're 00:17:43.140 --> 00:17:46.609 a positive thing. now yeah so what's that oh 00:17:46.609 --> 00:17:52.250 these are the cider flecks all right well then 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:56.769 um you mentioned about uh how easily people were 00:17:56.769 --> 00:17:59.029 swayed when this happened i think this is an 00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:02.289 interesting thing um you know to break down psychologically 00:18:02.289 --> 00:18:05.430 there was the whole if you don't have vaccine 00:18:05.430 --> 00:18:07.609 then you're going to be a murderer propaganda 00:18:07.609 --> 00:18:10.029 that we were told and our children were told 00:18:10.029 --> 00:18:11.950 that too you murdered grandma if you don't get 00:18:11.950 --> 00:18:15.309 the the jab and every Every death supposedly 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:18.170 was COVID, as we said. Then ironically, let's 00:18:18.170 --> 00:18:21.730 move the pendulum the other side. Now, fast forward 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:25.349 to like 2023, everyone that died, regardless 00:18:25.349 --> 00:18:27.450 of underlying conditions, supposedly died from 00:18:27.450 --> 00:18:30.450 the vaccine. And now the other extreme, using 00:18:30.450 --> 00:18:34.470 the exact same fucking words. So what is it about 00:18:34.470 --> 00:18:38.250 all things society in the last 10, 15 or so years? 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:42.029 that have made it so easy to push people all 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:44.710 the way to the extreme left or right, rather 00:18:44.710 --> 00:18:47.029 than the kind of common sense, middle, critical 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:49.869 thinking area? Oh, you can answer that in two 00:18:49.869 --> 00:18:52.349 words, social media. That's the easiest way to 00:18:52.349 --> 00:18:56.599 do it. That is like social media makes... it 00:18:56.599 --> 00:18:58.700 makes it so easy to pass around inflammatory 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:01.200 ideas because that's what gets clicks that's 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:03.920 what gets attention um you have to actually really 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.019 dig or read through very dense scientific materials 00:19:08.019 --> 00:19:09.779 it doesn't have to be scientific if you really 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:11.099 want to find an answer you just have to dig through 00:19:11.099 --> 00:19:14.519 materials and do research the the problem that 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:16.460 i've seen over the past since like let's say 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:18.779 2007 when like social media really started taking 00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:22.480 off um probably see now is people they read headlines 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:24.500 and their opinions is based on that whatever 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:26.099 the headline says. And the headline could be 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:28.740 completely contradictory to what the actual article 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:30.779 says in it. But the headline is what you read 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:32.380 to get your attention. And then most people kind 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:34.000 of just drift off and they go to their next article. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.329 So if you read an article that says... COVID 00:19:37.329 --> 00:19:39.470 responsible for all deaths in 2023. And then 00:19:39.470 --> 00:19:41.190 you get down to the fine print. Now, there's 00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:43.369 been a mass increase in deaths that resulted 00:19:43.369 --> 00:19:46.589 from comorbidities associated with yada, yada, 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:48.609 yada. And COVID was one of the underlying factors. 00:19:48.769 --> 00:19:50.970 So you find out, oh, it's a mixture of comorbidities 00:19:50.970 --> 00:19:53.250 and COVID that resulted in the deaths. It's not 00:19:53.250 --> 00:19:55.529 just COVID. Same with, you know, vaccines where 00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:57.089 people are talking about being vaccine injured. 00:19:57.309 --> 00:19:59.150 That's, I don't know if you know Jimmy Dore is, 00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:04.670 right? For example. Oh, okay. He's just a commentator 00:20:04.670 --> 00:20:08.640 slash comedian. um on youtube and he talks about 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.819 that because he's in the la area does stuff in 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:13.440 hollywood so he knows a lot of comedians and 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.079 other people and he you know he was all on board 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:18.900 about the uh the vaccine and everything gets 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:20.839 it ends up getting complications from it and 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:22.299 it's like hey guys we need to slow down let's 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:23.700 take a look at this let's see what's happening 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:26.859 um and then he completely changed you know his 00:20:26.859 --> 00:20:30.529 idea and understanding of what you know, the 00:20:30.529 --> 00:20:32.730 vaccine contained because of what had happened 00:20:32.730 --> 00:20:34.569 to him. But then he said he lost a lot of other 00:20:34.569 --> 00:20:36.049 friends because they weren't willing to listen. 00:20:36.170 --> 00:20:37.250 They were like, no, this is what we've got to 00:20:37.250 --> 00:20:39.109 do. Here's what Newsom says. This is what we've 00:20:39.109 --> 00:20:40.569 got to do. This is what we're going to do. And 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:42.329 that's just kind of how people stuck to it. So, 00:20:42.369 --> 00:20:44.349 and you'll also see a big difference between 00:20:44.349 --> 00:20:47.130 people like where I live in the middle of the, 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:48.609 not even the middle of the country, but in the 00:20:48.609 --> 00:20:51.029 Midwest versus the people on the coast, you know, 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:54.769 that are just, they just follow what's said. 00:20:56.410 --> 00:20:58.069 they just you know they believe it and that's 00:20:58.069 --> 00:20:59.529 that's fine you know if you've got supporting 00:20:59.529 --> 00:21:01.730 evidence or you've seen some things happen i've 00:21:01.730 --> 00:21:03.869 had uh some of my relatives have people that 00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:06.829 they know that died from complications with with 00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:08.829 uh covid and that was their whole reason behind 00:21:08.829 --> 00:21:11.170 like okay well i want to go ahead and and take 00:21:11.170 --> 00:21:13.329 this this vaccination or this shot because i 00:21:13.329 --> 00:21:14.990 want to make sure that i'm protecting myself 00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:17.289 and maybe anybody around me who might have some 00:21:17.289 --> 00:21:20.529 immunodeficiencies or something like that it 00:21:20.529 --> 00:21:22.289 was interesting i was talking to my dad who was 00:21:22.289 --> 00:21:24.109 a veterinary surgeon for the longest time and 00:21:24.109 --> 00:21:27.250 ironically A lot of our best medicine comes from 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:29.829 veterinary medicine, but the human medicine world 00:21:29.829 --> 00:21:32.930 is, you know, rarely acknowledges that, you know, 00:21:32.930 --> 00:21:35.630 a lot of the pioneering stuff came from the animal 00:21:35.630 --> 00:21:39.130 side. And, you know, when it was happening early 00:21:39.130 --> 00:21:41.210 on, I was, I was asking him and, you know, it's 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:43.269 interesting getting his take on ivermectin and 00:21:43.269 --> 00:21:44.569 some of these other things, because that's basically 00:21:44.569 --> 00:21:47.970 a horse wormer, you know, or dog wormer. But 00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:49.849 he was talking about, I asked him the other day, 00:21:49.849 --> 00:21:53.750 like, what was it about the vaccine? that they 00:21:53.750 --> 00:21:56.250 think is creating myocarditis and some of these 00:21:56.250 --> 00:21:57.789 things that we're hearing people having seems, 00:21:57.849 --> 00:22:00.450 you know, heart focused. And he said, there are 00:22:00.450 --> 00:22:03.750 various ways that you can create a vaccine. And 00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:06.250 then he mentioned someone else who had got the 00:22:06.250 --> 00:22:08.789 much safer way of doing it already pioneered 00:22:08.789 --> 00:22:11.009 and was basically snubbed. And there's a thing 00:22:11.009 --> 00:22:12.630 called a spike protein. I can't remember exactly 00:22:12.630 --> 00:22:15.410 how that works, but by doing it that way, you 00:22:15.410 --> 00:22:18.789 do create a much more extreme kind of inflammatory 00:22:18.789 --> 00:22:22.069 response than you would by this other way. So 00:22:22.069 --> 00:22:24.130 again, it sounds like there would have been much 00:22:24.130 --> 00:22:27.170 safer ways of delivering a potential vaccine. 00:22:28.170 --> 00:22:30.289 But I'm sure behind the scenes, it was probably 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:32.609 whichever company had the most power and money 00:22:32.609 --> 00:22:35.970 was the one that got the vaccine that came to 00:22:35.970 --> 00:22:39.109 us. And I had it done, not through any fear of 00:22:39.109 --> 00:22:41.769 my own well -being, but I had to travel. And 00:22:41.769 --> 00:22:43.609 at that time, it was basically required. Then 00:22:43.609 --> 00:22:45.690 I was visiting my 104 -year -old grandmother. 00:22:46.150 --> 00:22:48.509 So I'm like, okay, well, I don't believe that 00:22:48.509 --> 00:22:50.369 this vaccine is going to kill me either. So I 00:22:50.369 --> 00:22:52.740 will take it just to... minimize a chance of 00:22:52.740 --> 00:22:56.079 me killing her but uh you know but that being 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:57.779 said have we not traveled i wouldn't have had 00:22:57.779 --> 00:22:59.960 it at all because i just didn't believe that 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:02.180 you know if you were a healthy person you were 00:23:02.180 --> 00:23:04.160 going to get anything more than a really shitty 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.019 flu for a few days which is basically what most 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:10.619 healthy people reported yeah and you know but 00:23:10.619 --> 00:23:12.619 that's how that's how they got you let's make 00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:15.740 it every aspect of your life and restrict it 00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:19.019 unless you're going to do what we say essentially 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:21.619 is what it boiled down to. Oh, you want to go 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:23.519 across state line? You're going to need this. 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:25.000 You want to fly? Oh, you know, you're going to 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:27.539 need this. And then I felt really bad for the 00:23:27.539 --> 00:23:30.319 people who had real extremes with it. So my friends 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:32.099 from Australia are visiting like right now. And 00:23:32.099 --> 00:23:33.700 I talked to them about the stuff that went on 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:36.339 there. I remember reading an article, a couple 00:23:36.339 --> 00:23:38.740 from Australia, they went to Fiji for their honeymoon. 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:41.079 No big deal. Cool. They were there for two weeks. 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:43.940 Well, during that time, Australia went into COVID 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:45.640 lockdown. They were stuck on the island for like 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:47.319 three months. Australia wouldn't let them back 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:49.299 in because, well, you don't have you don't have 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:50.460 the vaccine. So you can't back in the country 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:53.200 like we're in Fiji. There's no there's no hospital 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:55.000 here administering any of this stuff. We're on 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:57.640 this random small island at this hotel and they're 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.180 just stuck there, you know. And then I was talking 00:24:00.180 --> 00:24:02.460 to them and, you know, they're talking about 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:04.539 how you can only travel so many kilometers from 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:06.400 your house only to get groceries and you got 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:11.500 to go back. And I remember I was supposed to 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:14.059 go to Tokyo like I was I was on trajectory to 00:24:14.059 --> 00:24:17.339 make it to Tokyo for the games. and when all 00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:18.859 the stuff got canceled i didn't end up going 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:22.480 but they sent us this pamphlet this 33 page pamphlet 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:24.500 and it explained all the rules and all the guidelines 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:29.599 uh for covet and it was so intense so if you 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:31.700 competed on a wednesday earliest you could get 00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:33.960 to japan is monday had to compete on wednesday 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:36.440 had to leave by friday so you only be in country 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:38.519 for five days couldn't leave the venue couldn't 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:41.779 go to tokyo um you were tested multiple times 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:44.140 a day for the rona you basically just went from 00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:46.509 the airport to the venue got your stuff tested 00:24:46.509 --> 00:24:49.390 back to where you stayed you competed and then 00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:51.869 you left and and that was that was pretty much 00:24:51.869 --> 00:24:56.009 it so a lot of that stuff i think was was put 00:24:56.009 --> 00:24:58.750 in a place to basically kind of force your hand 00:24:58.750 --> 00:25:01.890 you know oh man especially remember nurses oh 00:25:01.890 --> 00:25:03.670 you guys you can't come to work unless you get 00:25:03.670 --> 00:25:05.730 this and so you've got people who have some serious 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:09.900 internal conflicts with having to take something 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:11.920 like that. They're like, I can't, I can't do 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:13.339 it. Whether it's for, you know, religious reason, 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:14.759 maybe they're just completely a hundred percent 00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:17.400 anti -vax. They don't take anything. Or they're 00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:18.920 just like, you know what? There's not enough 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:20.779 research done with this. I don't know what the 00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:23.299 long -term issues might be. I really don't want 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:25.599 to put this stuff in my body, but I got to work. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:27.559 I got kids. I got to put food on the table, you 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:28.960 know? So then your hand's forced to do that. 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:31.799 And then God forbid you end up doing it and you 00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:33.660 suffer a complication from it that puts you out 00:25:33.660 --> 00:25:36.259 of work indefinitely. Right. Like, and that's, 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:38.420 that's what you had to, to basically weigh out. 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:41.380 And I had argument after argument with my wife 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:43.799 about it. Cause you know, I was like, I'm a healthy 00:25:43.799 --> 00:25:46.420 individual. I don't need any of this stuff. I 00:25:46.420 --> 00:25:48.579 wasn't really worried about it at all. At any 00:25:48.579 --> 00:25:50.180 time, I was not worried about it. I was like, 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:51.980 you know what? I think I'll be fine. When I would 00:25:51.980 --> 00:25:54.900 run into people on the street, they weren't, 00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:56.559 they weren't worried about it either. Now, mostly 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.220 it was, you know, homeless people or even your 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:01.259 occasional addicts I would run into. I was like, 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:02.460 what do you guys think about what's going on 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:03.730 here? They're like, ah. I don't know anybody 00:26:03.730 --> 00:26:05.369 who's got it. I don't know any of that. Now, 00:26:05.410 --> 00:26:07.910 their circles are much smaller. They're not associating 00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:09.549 with hundreds of different people. So the likelihood 00:26:09.549 --> 00:26:11.369 of knowing anybody with it maybe might not be 00:26:11.369 --> 00:26:13.509 that great. But for the most part, they weren't 00:26:13.509 --> 00:26:14.930 worried about it. They were more worried about 00:26:14.930 --> 00:26:16.829 where am I going to get food next? Where am I 00:26:16.829 --> 00:26:18.309 going to find whatever it is I'm looking for, 00:26:18.390 --> 00:26:19.650 whether it's alcohol, drugs, or something like 00:26:19.650 --> 00:26:21.430 that. But they weren't out there running around 00:26:21.430 --> 00:26:25.250 scared for the most part. But it was just interesting 00:26:25.250 --> 00:26:28.430 how everyone else behaved, though. I've heard 00:26:28.430 --> 00:26:30.990 that from multiple people that work with the 00:26:30.990 --> 00:26:33.599 homeless in Skid Row. during that time. And they're 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:35.740 like, dude, we had almost no, didn't say dude, 00:26:35.900 --> 00:26:40.279 they said we had almost no COVID amongst the 00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:42.480 homeless. And again, now you take a step back 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:44.359 to what should have been talked about, because 00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:46.279 I've said this over and over again, what people 00:26:46.279 --> 00:26:49.339 were told was, be scared, we'll tell you when 00:26:49.339 --> 00:26:52.319 you can come out. stay in your homes get fast 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.900 food and alcohol delivered binge watch the tiger 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:58.079 king don't see your family and friends and it's 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:00.200 like if you wrote down how do you destroy you 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.319 know a nation that would literally be what you 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:04.819 wrote pretty much and if you look at the homeless 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:06.779 even though don't get me wrong i'm not saying 00:27:06.779 --> 00:27:08.200 that a lot of homeless people are probably the 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:10.539 picture of health especially if it's addiction 00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:12.660 you know but what are they doing they're moving 00:27:12.660 --> 00:27:15.599 a lot they're in daylight all day long they're 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:17.829 amongst each other You know what I mean? So there 00:27:17.829 --> 00:27:20.130 is community if you are parts of groups of shelters, 00:27:20.269 --> 00:27:22.490 whether you're living under the tunnels under 00:27:22.490 --> 00:27:25.329 Las Vegas or you're in shelters every evening. 00:27:25.470 --> 00:27:27.990 There probably is, you know, arguably more community 00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:30.309 in the homeless population during COVID than, 00:27:30.309 --> 00:27:32.329 as you said, people in the middle of millions 00:27:32.329 --> 00:27:34.529 of people in Sydney, Australia that aren't allowed 00:27:34.529 --> 00:27:38.150 to leave a hotel room. So what are the takeaways? 00:27:38.509 --> 00:27:40.690 You know, you should have gone outside. You should 00:27:40.690 --> 00:27:42.569 have exercised. You should have spent time with 00:27:42.569 --> 00:27:44.430 people that you love because, you know, that 00:27:44.430 --> 00:27:47.269 is the. Most important thing when it comes to 00:27:47.269 --> 00:27:49.130 physical and mental health is your relationships. 00:27:49.650 --> 00:27:51.809 So all the things that we were told not to do, 00:27:51.910 --> 00:27:54.269 flip it on its ass, and that's what you should 00:27:54.269 --> 00:27:57.430 do next time. And the irony is that the homeless 00:27:57.430 --> 00:28:00.970 people didn't seem to suffer from COVID, yet 00:28:00.970 --> 00:28:03.750 the so -called, air quotes, healthy people that 00:28:03.750 --> 00:28:06.250 were hiding in their homes were dropping like 00:28:06.250 --> 00:28:08.970 flies in certain areas. Wasn't that the Swedish 00:28:08.970 --> 00:28:10.769 model, though? Weren't the Swedes like, hey, 00:28:10.890 --> 00:28:12.369 this stuff's coming through. Like, you know what? 00:28:12.430 --> 00:28:14.910 Let's just keep things as normal and we'll see 00:28:14.910 --> 00:28:16.430 what happens. And it turns out nothing happened. 00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:18.890 So Sweden never I don't I don't think they went 00:28:18.890 --> 00:28:20.369 into lockdown or if they did, it was like very 00:28:20.369 --> 00:28:22.589 short. But I'm pretty sure the Swedes were kind 00:28:22.589 --> 00:28:23.990 of like, you know, we're going to just run business 00:28:23.990 --> 00:28:26.549 as usual. And they did. And then lo and behold, 00:28:26.789 --> 00:28:28.210 you know, nothing happened. There wasn't mass 00:28:28.210 --> 00:28:30.089 deaths to Sweden. We didn't go from, you know, 00:28:30.109 --> 00:28:32.029 nine million Swedes to like one million Swedes. 00:28:32.029 --> 00:28:34.210 And, you know, Stockholm's completely decimated. 00:28:34.430 --> 00:28:36.549 That never happened. They kind of just went about 00:28:36.549 --> 00:28:39.220 their business and things were fine. I think 00:28:39.220 --> 00:28:41.259 what they did is like, you know, most when it 00:28:41.259 --> 00:28:43.579 first came out, I think everyone was super careful, 00:28:43.619 --> 00:28:45.259 but Florida did something similar. You know, 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:47.599 it wasn't long after they started kind of opening 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:50.460 this, you know, this bigot again. And they think 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:52.579 they did restaurants first and then it was gyms 00:28:52.579 --> 00:28:54.759 and, you know, hair salons and all the kind of, 00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:57.059 you know, services to get people out. And it 00:28:57.059 --> 00:28:59.319 was just a measured response. Okay, we're all 00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:00.900 shutting down. We don't know what this is. Okay, 00:29:01.099 --> 00:29:03.359 it's not looking as bad as we thought. Let's 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:05.559 start kind of opening it up, see how it is. And 00:29:05.559 --> 00:29:07.339 we've got, you know, all these elderly people 00:29:07.339 --> 00:29:09.839 in Florida. But we've also got a lot of sunshine, 00:29:09.980 --> 00:29:11.680 a lot of space, a lot of green, you know, so 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:14.880 when you get people outside, and Sweden, I remember 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:17.559 being demonized by the world for what they were 00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:19.819 doing. And then, you know, Florida, certainly 00:29:19.819 --> 00:29:22.559 within the States was similar. But look at the 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:25.319 Swedish population, and Scandinavia in general, 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.519 they're very, very healthy, big surprise, they 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:29.460 didn't really seem to suffer much from COVID. 00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:32.220 So I think that was the perfect plan. Don't do 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:33.920 things that are going to make their health worse. 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:36.440 If it's what they're doing is making them healthy, 00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:39.299 keep doing that same thing. So, and yeah, of 00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:42.000 course, keep the immunocompromised and the elderly 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:44.720 and anyone else that might be in danger of any 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:48.019 sort of exposure, keep them isolated and then 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:50.740 the rest of us keep the world running so that 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:53.759 we can take care of those people. So again, where's 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.400 that conversation of who did it well and how 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.740 do we mirror them next time? And that's something 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:01.640 that they should look into, especially, I mean, 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:03.900 if you just statistically like look at the numbers, 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:06.539 you know, look at the death tolls and let's take 00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:08.559 Scandinavia. Let's look at the Norwegian, the 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:12.099 Swedes, the Finns and what they did and and then 00:30:12.099 --> 00:30:15.769 look at other. areas and see, OK, where did we 00:30:15.769 --> 00:30:17.450 experience more death? What were the vaccine 00:30:17.450 --> 00:30:20.529 rates like? But nobody seems to really be that 00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:21.990 interested. And it's kind of like once it was 00:30:21.990 --> 00:30:24.250 over, they're kind of like, oh, you know, and 00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:26.789 we're on to whatever the next big thing is now, 00:30:26.869 --> 00:30:29.470 you know, because what captured our attention? 00:30:29.630 --> 00:30:32.009 The conflict in Ukraine, like COVID was just 00:30:32.009 --> 00:30:33.650 like gone, like a conflict in Ukraine happened. 00:30:33.730 --> 00:30:35.309 Bam, it's like COVID was not a thing anymore. 00:30:35.690 --> 00:30:37.329 Nobody was talking about it. It was the next 00:30:37.329 --> 00:30:40.589 the next thing we had moved on to. But I think 00:30:40.589 --> 00:30:42.589 we do need to go back, reassess, look at it, 00:30:42.630 --> 00:30:44.170 and just make sure that we don't repeat that 00:30:44.170 --> 00:30:45.950 kind of behavior again. Because I feel like we 00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:49.430 could have learned a lot from it. And by either 00:30:49.430 --> 00:30:52.130 ignoring it or just moving on from it, we're 00:30:52.130 --> 00:30:54.089 missing out on that opportunity to understand 00:30:54.089 --> 00:30:56.289 what it is we did. Because that was basically 00:30:56.289 --> 00:30:59.430 a giant social experiment on human behavior. 00:31:00.009 --> 00:31:03.829 And what's really scary about it is you make 00:31:03.829 --> 00:31:06.390 up the next boogeyman for whatever reason, whatever 00:31:06.390 --> 00:31:08.769 it might be, and you know exactly how people 00:31:08.769 --> 00:31:10.670 are going to behave. based on that criteria. 00:31:11.190 --> 00:31:13.470 Well, that's a good segue. Speaking of boogeyman, 00:31:13.670 --> 00:31:19.170 so ICE. Again, the normal people standing in 00:31:19.170 --> 00:31:22.930 the middle would in no way, shape or form argue 00:31:22.930 --> 00:31:25.390 with the fact that if people are over here illegally 00:31:25.390 --> 00:31:30.430 and are then not contributing positive to society, 00:31:30.750 --> 00:31:33.589 but actually being a detriment to society, they 00:31:33.589 --> 00:31:35.309 should be tracked down and sent back to where 00:31:35.309 --> 00:31:37.970 they came from. But I would argue, this is just 00:31:37.970 --> 00:31:39.930 my opinion, that also people that have been here 00:31:39.930 --> 00:31:42.609 for a long time that fled, whatever, they were 00:31:42.609 --> 00:31:46.309 fleeing for whatever reason, and have now been 00:31:46.309 --> 00:31:48.990 a functioning member of society and maybe even 00:31:48.990 --> 00:31:52.289 had another generation of children, shouldn't 00:31:52.289 --> 00:31:54.529 be hunted down like dogs. And maybe there should 00:31:54.529 --> 00:31:57.750 be a kind of grandfathering system there. That's 00:31:57.750 --> 00:32:00.309 my, James Gearing's personal opinion. Talk to 00:32:00.309 --> 00:32:02.369 me through a law enforcement officer's eyes about 00:32:02.369 --> 00:32:05.390 what you're seeing with this, the entire ICE 00:32:05.390 --> 00:32:09.920 mission. Because again, there's areas of complete 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.519 legitimacy, but it feels like there's also areas 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:15.319 that if you and your men and women did what we're 00:32:15.319 --> 00:32:17.900 seeing on the streets, you would be front page 00:32:17.900 --> 00:32:23.019 news and terminated the next day. Sure. And many 00:32:23.019 --> 00:32:26.359 law enforcement agencies don't really work in 00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:29.420 conjunction with ICE. And that has to do with 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:34.519 how the city governments are run. You know, if 00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:36.460 they if you work in like a sanctuary city, let's 00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:38.980 say Philly, Los Angeles, Chicago, places like 00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:41.859 that. Well, their their governments are say, 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:44.940 OK, here's what we'll do. We won't assist as 00:32:44.940 --> 00:32:46.660 in we don't provide information. They're not 00:32:46.660 --> 00:32:48.500 going to come to our jail and be like, hey, how 00:32:48.500 --> 00:32:50.339 many illegal immigrants do you got in here? They're 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:51.640 not going to do any of that. But if they stumble 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:53.880 across them, they won't necessarily interfere 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:57.220 with their ability to get them. Now, where I'm 00:32:57.220 --> 00:33:00.619 at, I can say I've only heard through word of 00:33:00.619 --> 00:33:04.710 mouth that the. immigration enforcement is in 00:33:04.710 --> 00:33:07.950 the area i've never seen them uh because maybe 00:33:07.950 --> 00:33:09.309 i'm not in the area where they're operating or 00:33:09.309 --> 00:33:10.950 maybe they're just saying like they're in the 00:33:10.950 --> 00:33:14.089 greater area but the way that dayton is made 00:33:14.089 --> 00:33:16.490 up it's like a greater metropolitan area of a 00:33:16.490 --> 00:33:18.869 lot of smaller jurisdictions outside of it so 00:33:18.869 --> 00:33:20.710 if they're operating in huber heights they'll 00:33:20.710 --> 00:33:22.150 just say oh they're in dayton they're not really 00:33:22.150 --> 00:33:23.470 in dayton they're in huber heights they're in 00:33:23.470 --> 00:33:28.700 like a town north of the city um So now to address 00:33:28.700 --> 00:33:30.359 what you said about people who had been here 00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:32.920 a long time trying to find some way to grandfather 00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:36.180 him. I know I think under the Obama administration, 00:33:36.420 --> 00:33:38.339 they had what? Didn't they grant like amnesty 00:33:38.339 --> 00:33:40.920 to a bunch of them? So maybe it covered them. 00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:43.799 I read a story about a guy. He was here. Can't 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:45.039 remember what country he's from. I don't know 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:48.160 if it was Iran. He'd been here like 60 years. 00:33:48.380 --> 00:33:51.460 He was a doctor. um out on the east coast somewhere 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:54.619 and and they they sent him back because he never 00:33:54.619 --> 00:33:56.980 never applied for citizenship but what i find 00:33:56.980 --> 00:34:00.640 funny i guess about it is so he's a doctor which 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:04.460 means he went to a university then he went and 00:34:04.460 --> 00:34:07.480 got his you know, PhD, went to med school, did 00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:08.820 all that. And at no point in time did anybody 00:34:08.820 --> 00:34:11.340 catch the fact that, oh, this guy's not supposed 00:34:11.340 --> 00:34:14.280 to be here. How did he get loans, you know, without 00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:16.119 a social security number and all this other stuff? 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:18.480 So I think if they really want to crack down 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:20.260 on it, they need to bolster all the other avenues 00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:22.280 with which people are able to function or operate 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:24.940 in the country. Or we can just adapt the Singapore 00:34:24.940 --> 00:34:28.300 model where come on in, but we're going to pay 00:34:28.300 --> 00:34:30.000 you exactly what you would make in your home 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:31.969 country. And then it makes it very difficult 00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:34.849 to live here because if Laos is only paying you 00:34:34.849 --> 00:34:37.230 59 cents an hour, that's all you're going to 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:39.090 get in America. It makes it not a very friendly 00:34:39.090 --> 00:34:46.449 place to be. So it's we don't really see a huge 00:34:46.449 --> 00:34:50.389 amount in in the city. Like, I mean, I run across 00:34:50.389 --> 00:34:54.829 I run across like people that are here illegally 00:34:54.829 --> 00:34:57.809 all the time, all the time. Honduras, Ecuadorians, 00:34:57.849 --> 00:35:00.519 you know, my job is not to. see them get their 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:03.360 information by hey ice hey yeah i got this guy 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:05.739 no we don't do that because that's that's not 00:35:05.739 --> 00:35:09.460 my job um we just find if they committed a crime 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:13.860 then we follow our steps and we either lock them 00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:16.119 up or we tell them they gotta like show up for 00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:18.300 court so i can give you an example of a call 00:35:18.300 --> 00:35:21.539 i was on uh this guy was assaulted we get there 00:35:21.539 --> 00:35:24.019 the man who assaulted him was an ms -13 gang 00:35:24.019 --> 00:35:26.039 member he had all the tattoos and all that stuff 00:35:26.039 --> 00:35:30.119 well a lady shows up and She speaks Spanish, 00:35:30.260 --> 00:35:33.139 but the MS -13 guy didn't know that. So he's 00:35:33.139 --> 00:35:35.239 making all these threats to this guy. And she's 00:35:35.239 --> 00:35:36.579 like talking to me. She's like, hey, he said 00:35:36.579 --> 00:35:37.920 he's going to do X, Y, and Z, blah, blah, blah. 00:35:38.300 --> 00:35:39.900 Talked to the other officer. I was like, hey, 00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:41.739 here's what we got. We end up arresting the guy. 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:44.340 That guy was deported in two weeks. Now, when 00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:45.820 it happened, how it happened, I don't know. But 00:35:45.820 --> 00:35:47.920 I know he was gone like immediately after that. 00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:52.460 So it works. It's effective. But for your average 00:35:52.460 --> 00:35:55.139 just, you know, it works in a restaurant or does 00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:57.179 roofing or something like that. Those people, 00:35:57.260 --> 00:35:59.239 I haven't seen them been concerned about people 00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:01.880 looking for them. And they continue kind of like 00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:04.099 just to work and they don't really bother anybody. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:06.500 The people who know that, oh, if we're committing 00:36:06.500 --> 00:36:08.280 crimes or doing something, they get caught very 00:36:08.280 --> 00:36:11.059 quickly. Somebody somewhere along the lines probably 00:36:11.059 --> 00:36:12.980 notifies them, hey, this person committed a felony. 00:36:13.099 --> 00:36:15.480 Oh, they don't have proper documentation or paperwork. 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:17.760 OK, we're going to work on the process to get 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:19.139 them sent back to, you know, wherever they come 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:21.239 from. Yeah, because it sort of seems like that. 00:36:21.260 --> 00:36:23.599 It seems to me, and again, I'm completely naive. 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:25.900 I come from the fire EMS side, no law enforcement 00:36:25.900 --> 00:36:28.840 experience whatsoever. But it seems like up until 00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:31.039 recently, that was already in place. Like we 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:34.420 had an aggressive immigration system where, yeah, 00:36:34.460 --> 00:36:37.139 if you, I was subjected to it. Like I was a green 00:36:37.139 --> 00:36:38.960 card holder for a long time. If I had committed 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.679 a crime, I'd be deported back to the UK. Yeah, 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:44.239 they sent you back. Yeah, so I'm fully aware, 00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:46.340 you know what I mean? But that wasn't people 00:36:46.340 --> 00:36:49.519 running around in balaclavas with no ID. throwing 00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:52.659 people into the back of suvs so that is what's 00:36:52.659 --> 00:36:54.599 changed it's not that we didn't have an immigration 00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:58.679 enforcement before the level that you know they're 00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:00.159 doing it now and it's funny i was watching the 00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:03.360 ufc on youtube just before we started recording 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.659 and an ice commercial recruitment commercial 00:37:05.659 --> 00:37:09.460 came up fifty thousand dollar signing bonus student 00:37:09.460 --> 00:37:12.500 loan forgiveness and i'm like i don't know any 00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:14.699 first responders that got a fifty thousand dollar 00:37:14.699 --> 00:37:17.780 signing bonus and we're out there you know all 00:37:17.780 --> 00:37:20.250 day every day So, you know, there's definitely 00:37:20.250 --> 00:37:25.909 a discrepancy as far as that even being than 00:37:25.909 --> 00:37:28.130 telling the story of that being a thing before, 00:37:28.230 --> 00:37:31.070 because it should be and it should be a deterrent 00:37:31.070 --> 00:37:32.730 for anyone that's thinking of sneaking in here 00:37:32.730 --> 00:37:35.530 and doing bad things. But it's what we're seeing 00:37:35.530 --> 00:37:38.210 now, that kind of overreach that concerns me, 00:37:38.269 --> 00:37:41.309 because as we said before, if we've got that 00:37:41.309 --> 00:37:43.289 kind of sheep mentality and we turn our heads 00:37:43.289 --> 00:37:45.889 to whatever our, you know, political Jesus is 00:37:45.889 --> 00:37:48.599 of that four years. and let them do whatever 00:37:48.599 --> 00:37:51.059 they want to do without any sort of checks and 00:37:51.059 --> 00:37:53.940 balances that's a dangerous way of of you know 00:37:53.940 --> 00:37:58.739 of being a civilian in this country yeah it can 00:37:58.739 --> 00:38:04.619 be um so i so what is it as if you come in the 00:38:04.619 --> 00:38:07.000 country illegally as they say it's a civil offense 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:08.900 it's not a criminal offense which is why people 00:38:08.900 --> 00:38:10.500 always the argument will be like well they're 00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:12.920 not committing a crime uh therefore they're not 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:14.539 criminals therefore they can't be detained and 00:38:14.539 --> 00:38:17.769 sent back that's like well either you have immigration 00:38:17.769 --> 00:38:20.309 and you enforce it or you don't. So if they really 00:38:20.309 --> 00:38:22.889 wanted to tackle it, they just need to make it 00:38:22.889 --> 00:38:25.389 a misdemeanor offense, misdemeanor criminal offense. 00:38:25.510 --> 00:38:27.630 I don't know, a legal trespass into the country 00:38:27.630 --> 00:38:29.210 or something like that, because I don't even 00:38:29.210 --> 00:38:31.369 know what the civil offense is called unless 00:38:31.369 --> 00:38:32.789 it's just like a legal entry, because technically 00:38:32.789 --> 00:38:33.909 you're supposed to come in through a port of 00:38:33.909 --> 00:38:35.989 entry. So like somewhere in New York or somewhere 00:38:35.989 --> 00:38:38.829 in California. But if you're from Angola and 00:38:38.829 --> 00:38:41.070 you walked in through Mexico, it's like, hmm. 00:38:41.500 --> 00:38:43.099 okay what are we doing here well because you 00:38:43.099 --> 00:38:44.940 know that what they're going to do is they're 00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:46.000 going to grab you they're going to give you a 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:47.559 piece of paper say hey you have to come to court 00:38:47.559 --> 00:38:49.260 for this so if you're seeking asylum this is 00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:51.239 what you got to do and then they vanish and there's 00:38:51.239 --> 00:38:54.579 no there's no follow -up so i think because the 00:38:54.579 --> 00:38:57.159 system the way that it's set up now is just very 00:38:57.159 --> 00:38:59.380 disorganized and very sloppy it's either it's 00:38:59.380 --> 00:39:03.199 either that or it's so backlogged that we can't 00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:05.699 even get to people that need to have their court 00:39:05.699 --> 00:39:08.380 hearing uh because there's like four million 00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:10.679 people in line and there's only like 20 judges 00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:13.739 that handle it or something you know so the process 00:39:13.739 --> 00:39:16.940 is so slow no wonder the people aren't showing 00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:20.320 up to court because you got guy a who comes up 00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:22.659 through the border he's here for whatever reason 00:39:22.659 --> 00:39:24.780 they catch him hey you gotta be a court in two 00:39:24.780 --> 00:39:27.340 weeks all this is explained in english the dude 00:39:27.340 --> 00:39:29.420 speaks no word of english has no idea what you 00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:31.099 handed him but he's like oh i got family in san 00:39:31.099 --> 00:39:33.420 jose i'm headed to san jose and then never shows 00:39:33.420 --> 00:39:35.320 up again but his family in san jose set him up 00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:37.760 with a job doing roofing or laying concrete, 00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:39.659 he starts working, starts sending money back 00:39:39.659 --> 00:39:42.440 home. And he's never heard from again, you know, 00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:45.699 and until he runs into police, whether it's for 00:39:45.699 --> 00:39:48.260 OVI, you know, which is a misdemeanor offense, 00:39:48.420 --> 00:39:51.159 depending on, I guess, your state or some other 00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:53.639 small offense, he'll go to court. He'll get a 00:39:53.639 --> 00:39:55.519 translator. They'll talk. They'll hit him with 00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:58.039 a little fine. They'll suspend the license that 00:39:58.039 --> 00:40:00.760 he doesn't have already and then send him on 00:40:00.760 --> 00:40:02.860 his way, you know, and then it just kind of operates 00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:07.539 like that. So. I mean, you're either going to 00:40:07.539 --> 00:40:08.880 really crack down on it or you're kind of going 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:10.960 to just let it operate as is. But if you want 00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:13.440 to do that, you've got to start with figuring 00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:15.059 out, do you want this to be a criminal offense 00:40:15.059 --> 00:40:17.039 or do you want it to be a civil offense? I know 00:40:17.039 --> 00:40:20.920 that if I go in somewhere like Europe, like I 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:22.539 remember when I was in Germany and I was studying 00:40:22.539 --> 00:40:26.099 abroad there, I overstayed my visa by a month, 00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:29.219 I think. I was there for a year. But I ended 00:40:29.219 --> 00:40:31.139 up leaving in June. I was supposed to leave in 00:40:31.139 --> 00:40:33.280 May when I get to the airport. The German guy 00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:34.820 and Germans, you know, they're very strict, very 00:40:34.820 --> 00:40:36.920 rule oriented. Looks at my passport. He's like, 00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:38.519 you overstayed your visa. I was like, yeah, I 00:40:38.519 --> 00:40:40.460 know. I was like, but I'm going home. He's like, 00:40:40.539 --> 00:40:42.239 we could ban you from this country for the next 00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:43.960 like three years. And from the whole Schengen 00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:45.559 area, if we wanted to, I was like, you really 00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:46.739 want to do that? I was like, I don't plan on 00:40:46.739 --> 00:40:49.179 coming back. And he's like, no, it's okay. He 00:40:49.179 --> 00:40:51.719 just stamped it and left. Good thing he did because 00:40:51.719 --> 00:40:53.579 I ended up getting an internship three years 00:40:53.579 --> 00:40:55.760 later in Frankfurt. So I actually did come back 00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:57.760 to Europe and I was glad I wasn't banned for 00:40:57.760 --> 00:40:59.159 like three to five years. I wouldn't be able 00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:02.750 to come back, you know? Um, but he had the power 00:41:02.750 --> 00:41:04.650 to be able to do that right then and there, but 00:41:04.650 --> 00:41:07.070 we don't have anything like that where if an 00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:09.969 ice guy picks you up, um, you know, they detain 00:41:09.969 --> 00:41:11.750 you for a second and you go to a facility and 00:41:11.750 --> 00:41:13.369 then the government kind of does what the government 00:41:13.369 --> 00:41:16.210 does takes forever to make any decision or do 00:41:16.210 --> 00:41:17.769 anything. And then you got all these people sitting 00:41:17.769 --> 00:41:21.030 in limbo or they get overwhelmed with it. So 00:41:21.030 --> 00:41:22.429 the real question is, you know, what do you, 00:41:22.449 --> 00:41:25.070 what do you do to make it more efficient? You 00:41:25.070 --> 00:41:27.329 know? So, and I don't have the answer to that. 00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:30.199 Well, I think the part of the conversation that 00:41:30.199 --> 00:41:35.519 you don't hear is what are we doing to make it 00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:37.639 worse in these countries where people are wanting 00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:40.519 to flee and come here? So I saw a video. I wish 00:41:40.519 --> 00:41:42.159 I could remember who it was. It was really well 00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:45.059 articulated. But they said, yeah, the example 00:41:45.059 --> 00:41:47.360 of someone comes over here from another country 00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:49.559 and they, you know, become a doctor. I think 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:53.599 that was literally the example they use. They 00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:56.360 said that that's great. I mean, they are. absolutely 00:41:56.360 --> 00:41:58.940 filling a role here. But what you've done is 00:41:58.940 --> 00:42:00.880 you've also taken a doctor away from, in this 00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:04.059 case, the example was India. So now that guy 00:42:04.059 --> 00:42:05.800 could have been a great doctor for the people 00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:08.780 of India, but he's over here. And you have, in 00:42:08.780 --> 00:42:14.199 theory, taken away a spot for a member of the 00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:16.280 US to become a doctor. And I think his point 00:42:16.280 --> 00:42:18.219 was, and look at our medical system. It's so 00:42:18.219 --> 00:42:21.280 hard. We have these ridiculous prereqs that these 00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:23.679 people have to pass, the high -level math and 00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:25.659 all these other areas. hundreds of thousands 00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:28.320 of dollars of student debt, it's a lot cheaper 00:42:28.320 --> 00:42:31.619 for these hospitals to hire an Indian doctor 00:42:31.619 --> 00:42:34.420 and bring them over. So that was more of a nuanced 00:42:34.420 --> 00:42:36.880 conversation then. It's not a racist conversation, 00:42:37.219 --> 00:42:39.420 but it's like, it's what I kind of mirror with 00:42:39.420 --> 00:42:41.880 Haiti. Haiti is on my doorstep here in Florida. 00:42:42.699 --> 00:42:46.260 Why is the US as powerful and affluent and influential 00:42:46.260 --> 00:42:49.000 as we are not be able to help Haiti get onto 00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:52.500 its feet and turn it into another beautiful tourist 00:42:52.500 --> 00:42:55.760 destination? Where they have a solid income and 00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:58.039 a solid stream of people on cruise ships and 00:42:58.039 --> 00:43:01.000 other things and be self -sustaining. But our 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:04.380 closest neighbors are in a fucking war zone. 00:43:04.500 --> 00:43:06.940 And it's no wonder they're coming to the Faridian 00:43:06.940 --> 00:43:09.559 Coast in boats because they're being hacked to 00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:13.019 death at home. That's easy to answer. Go for 00:43:13.019 --> 00:43:15.039 it. That's easy to answer. There's no return 00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:17.059 on investment. What does the U .S. get out of 00:43:17.059 --> 00:43:19.739 that? You just got to break it down to a numbers 00:43:19.739 --> 00:43:23.239 game. Now, conversely, you can argue, well, what? 00:43:23.559 --> 00:43:26.119 did the U .S. get out of assisting Ukraine in 00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:29.039 the conflict with Russia? Well, that's a geopolitical 00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:30.679 thing. You know, that's about where you want 00:43:30.679 --> 00:43:32.440 to have your influence. If we have influence 00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:34.639 in Haiti, what do we get out of that? We get 00:43:34.639 --> 00:43:36.519 an island that's half the size of Florida, maybe 00:43:36.519 --> 00:43:38.619 even smaller than that, right? And we give them 00:43:38.619 --> 00:43:41.860 a bunch of money and nine times out of 10, it's 00:43:41.860 --> 00:43:43.239 going to get laundered by whoever it gets to, 00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:45.800 you know, because you have to define what does 00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:47.659 the idea of help look like for them? Could we 00:43:47.659 --> 00:43:49.679 go in there with the U .S. military and get everything 00:43:49.679 --> 00:43:52.119 under control? Oh, ASAP. U .S. military is fantastic 00:43:52.119 --> 00:43:55.039 at that. But what the U .S. military is not good 00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:57.019 at and what we learned, especially in Afghanistan, 00:43:57.340 --> 00:44:00.079 they're not construction workers and rebuilders. 00:44:00.139 --> 00:44:01.900 They're not educators. That's not what they do. 00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:03.780 But that's what you have to do if you're going 00:44:03.780 --> 00:44:06.340 to go in and do that, right? You can go in. You 00:44:06.340 --> 00:44:07.739 can take over the whole thing. Two weeks, no 00:44:07.739 --> 00:44:09.559 problem. But then the question becomes, well, 00:44:09.579 --> 00:44:11.480 what do we do now? Who's going to run the country? 00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:16.099 Who has the best interest at heart for the people 00:44:16.099 --> 00:44:19.099 of that country? So while it's detrimental there 00:44:19.099 --> 00:44:22.289 and things are going crazy. It's not our responsibility 00:44:22.289 --> 00:44:24.590 to do anything with it. Yeah, well, I think it's 00:44:24.590 --> 00:44:26.710 just now that becomes a humanitarian thing. So 00:44:26.710 --> 00:44:29.690 I've said this a lot recently. We have the term 00:44:29.690 --> 00:44:32.289 World America, Team America, World Police, and 00:44:32.289 --> 00:44:34.590 it's so true. We go in there, just like you said, 00:44:34.670 --> 00:44:37.809 we're blowing everything up, but there's no real 00:44:37.809 --> 00:44:41.510 understanding of, is it making any better? Conversely, 00:44:41.530 --> 00:44:45.210 A, if we really invested in our own nation and 00:44:45.210 --> 00:44:47.010 got it where our people were healthy and happy 00:44:47.010 --> 00:44:49.030 and our children weren't rehearsing their murders 00:44:49.030 --> 00:44:51.880 in schools. Then we would be the poster child 00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:54.159 for true democracy and then be able to influence 00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:56.820 and help other countries and do it from a humanitarian 00:44:56.820 --> 00:44:59.820 perspective, not expecting a shitload of money 00:44:59.820 --> 00:45:02.340 in return. But the teacher man, the fish philosophy, 00:45:02.500 --> 00:45:05.000 don't just throw money at Haiti, help Haiti get 00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:07.440 back on its feet. But I think there's also a 00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:10.519 responsibility to look at our policies in the 00:45:10.519 --> 00:45:12.599 past and what impact have they had. And if you 00:45:12.599 --> 00:45:15.460 look at drug prohibition that was forced on the 00:45:15.460 --> 00:45:18.219 world by Harry Anslinger in the 50s and beyond, 00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:21.519 sorry, the 30s and beyond, epic fucking failure 00:45:21.519 --> 00:45:24.420 we all no one can dispute that you know it hasn't 00:45:24.420 --> 00:45:26.800 worked there are there are still addiction and 00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:29.099 now there's gangs and cartels and all these things 00:45:29.099 --> 00:45:32.539 that spawn what you know that has created a lot 00:45:32.539 --> 00:45:35.139 of these people fleeing el salvador colombia 00:45:35.139 --> 00:45:38.760 mexico etc etc so again how can we use this immense 00:45:38.760 --> 00:45:42.840 power that we have for the good to reverse some 00:45:42.840 --> 00:45:45.300 of this damage and therefore reduce the number 00:45:45.300 --> 00:45:47.300 of people that are fleeing their countries because 00:45:47.300 --> 00:45:50.619 they're now They feel happy and safe and want 00:45:50.619 --> 00:45:53.119 to be that doctor in India or Colombia or whatever 00:45:53.119 --> 00:46:00.340 it is. Yeah. So I guess what we would have to 00:46:00.340 --> 00:46:04.059 figure out is what is the underlying or systemic 00:46:04.059 --> 00:46:05.980 issue that exists in the country that these people 00:46:05.980 --> 00:46:09.519 are coming from, how to root that out, and then 00:46:09.519 --> 00:46:14.179 how to... get them to want to improve the situation 00:46:14.179 --> 00:46:16.920 that they have. And that is, there's so much 00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:20.900 work that is involved in that process. So you 00:46:20.900 --> 00:46:24.260 mentioned the word humanitarian, right? US used 00:46:24.260 --> 00:46:27.840 to be all about that. So I remember, let's go 00:46:27.840 --> 00:46:30.400 back to the fall of Yugoslavia in the 90s, right? 00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:34.320 Collapses, the Serbs started attacking the Bosnians. 00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:37.639 We're like, hey, we can help with this. Europe's 00:46:37.639 --> 00:46:39.099 like, no, we'll take care of it. It's in our 00:46:39.099 --> 00:46:41.760 backyard. Don't interfere. Cool. What happens? 00:46:41.940 --> 00:46:45.019 Srebrenica. 8 ,000 men and boys walk to a random 00:46:45.019 --> 00:46:48.039 area, killed. Now Europe's like, oh crap, we 00:46:48.039 --> 00:46:50.199 need some help. What happens? Clinton comes in, 00:46:50.280 --> 00:46:52.699 drops bombs for two weeks. Problem over, problem 00:46:52.699 --> 00:46:54.780 solved. End of conflict. We get Dayton Peace 00:46:54.780 --> 00:46:56.840 Accords here in Dayton in like 1995 or something 00:46:56.840 --> 00:46:59.440 like that. I don't remember the exact year. Then 00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:04.659 we get involved in Somalia, where the movie Black 00:47:04.659 --> 00:47:07.150 Hawk Down comes from. Another humanitarian assistance 00:47:07.150 --> 00:47:09.730 thing that went all bad on the helicopter crash. 00:47:09.929 --> 00:47:11.550 They dragged the Americans through their their 00:47:11.550 --> 00:47:13.909 bodies on fire, hanging from ropes in the streets, 00:47:14.010 --> 00:47:16.130 pretty much put a horrible taste in our mouth 00:47:16.130 --> 00:47:17.889 for getting involved in a humanitarian aspect. 00:47:18.150 --> 00:47:21.909 So post Black Hawk down, we really have only 00:47:21.909 --> 00:47:25.010 been involved in conflicts where we see some 00:47:25.010 --> 00:47:28.110 kind of end game benefit to us. So going into. 00:47:30.980 --> 00:47:33.199 what, like the Iraq war, where it was like under 00:47:33.199 --> 00:47:34.539 the guise of weapons of mass destruction, where 00:47:34.539 --> 00:47:36.400 people were like, oh, we want to get oil, some 00:47:36.400 --> 00:47:39.539 kind of resource, something that we can grasp 00:47:39.539 --> 00:47:42.340 onto that will have some kind of backend benefit 00:47:42.340 --> 00:47:47.460 for America. So without that being the main motivator, 00:47:47.539 --> 00:47:49.079 it would have to be kind of like the goodness 00:47:49.079 --> 00:47:50.400 of our heart. Well, you want to do something 00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:52.519 like that, you're going to have to do, I'm a 00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:55.900 big fan of referendum votes. Ask the people. 00:47:56.360 --> 00:47:58.159 Hey, here's what we have. Here's what we could 00:47:58.159 --> 00:48:01.340 allocate. Are you interested in doing this? We've 00:48:01.340 --> 00:48:03.960 got this conflict in, let's say, Namibia. We 00:48:03.960 --> 00:48:06.460 could allocate them $3 billion and end this conflict 00:48:06.460 --> 00:48:08.300 overnight. Do you guys want to do this? Yes or 00:48:08.300 --> 00:48:10.900 no? We're voting on Tuesday. America comes out 00:48:10.900 --> 00:48:12.719 and says, yeah, we're about this. It's a very 00:48:12.719 --> 00:48:14.559 little amount. It's less than the missiles that 00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:18.400 come on a B -2 bomber. Let's go ahead and cover 00:48:18.400 --> 00:48:20.460 that cost. And we do it, and everything turns 00:48:20.460 --> 00:48:22.460 out great for Namibia. Yeah, but we had a choice. 00:48:22.559 --> 00:48:24.760 We had a say in that. Nine times out of 10, though, 00:48:24.860 --> 00:48:26.900 we don't. All we do is we wake up in the morning. 00:48:26.980 --> 00:48:29.320 Oh, we just bombed what? Someplace in Syria. 00:48:29.440 --> 00:48:30.619 What are we doing that for? And then you have 00:48:30.619 --> 00:48:33.159 to start doing research, you know, six months, 00:48:33.179 --> 00:48:35.800 a year prior to to figure out why we were getting 00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:37.519 involved in something that we had no idea we 00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:40.840 were doing. So I feel like a lot of times we're 00:48:40.840 --> 00:48:43.000 either in the dark or the government's like. 00:48:43.519 --> 00:48:44.699 You know, we're going to do what we think is 00:48:44.699 --> 00:48:47.320 in our best interest and the American people 00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:48.679 will find out about it after the fact. But at 00:48:48.679 --> 00:48:49.559 the end of the day, there's not really anything 00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:51.820 they can do about it because voting is only every 00:48:51.820 --> 00:48:54.320 four years or every six years or whenever you 00:48:54.320 --> 00:48:55.579 have your like state votes that are going to 00:48:55.579 --> 00:48:56.960 determine who you're going to put in. But it 00:48:56.960 --> 00:48:59.300 works so slowly, you're not going to be able 00:48:59.300 --> 00:49:02.739 to change or control any of that. So if you want 00:49:02.739 --> 00:49:05.579 to help the folks in Venezuela or you want to 00:49:05.579 --> 00:49:10.159 help the folks in Haiti or anywhere else, I don't 00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:12.809 really know how you do that. within the next 00:49:12.809 --> 00:49:16.750 decade you know so yeah you can do it financially 00:49:16.750 --> 00:49:18.730 but they're going to need more than that because 00:49:18.730 --> 00:49:20.530 the question becomes how do you teach people 00:49:20.530 --> 00:49:23.690 how to effectively run a country yeah you know 00:49:23.690 --> 00:49:27.250 that's a process in and of itself so and i don't 00:49:27.250 --> 00:49:29.380 have the answer to that right here but that's 00:49:29.380 --> 00:49:31.139 ultimately what you have to be able to do you 00:49:31.139 --> 00:49:32.380 can give somebody all the money in the world 00:49:32.380 --> 00:49:34.440 but if they squander it or they launder it and 00:49:34.440 --> 00:49:36.440 only certain people hold on to it well who did 00:49:36.440 --> 00:49:38.579 you benefit nobody you send them food but the 00:49:38.579 --> 00:49:40.000 government interrupts those shipments and they 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:41.500 take it for themselves well who did you help 00:49:41.500 --> 00:49:43.920 nobody but you spent a lot of money you wasted 00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:46.500 a lot of money and what do the people who gave 00:49:46.500 --> 00:49:50.480 that get in return nothing right except for maybe 00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:51.780 they might feel good about it till they find 00:49:51.780 --> 00:49:53.980 out that the the food you sent was set on fire 00:49:54.489 --> 00:49:56.369 And they recorded it like, look, we don't want 00:49:56.369 --> 00:49:57.889 any of this American stuff coming in here or 00:49:57.889 --> 00:49:59.489 the money was used to purchase our own weapons 00:49:59.489 --> 00:50:00.789 that we end up selling back to them that they 00:50:00.789 --> 00:50:02.349 use to oppress the people that they're already 00:50:02.349 --> 00:50:05.510 oppressing in the first place. So, yeah, people 00:50:05.510 --> 00:50:07.670 can pontificate on length that like what to do 00:50:07.670 --> 00:50:09.550 with this. So, you know, should we get involved 00:50:09.550 --> 00:50:12.230 in the humanitarian stuff? I mean, that's that's 00:50:12.230 --> 00:50:15.420 up to you, really. I think I mean, again. like 00:50:15.420 --> 00:50:17.400 you said this is what i've heard a lot americans 00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:19.699 are very generous if you look at the amount of 00:50:19.699 --> 00:50:21.400 donations and things that they've done you know 00:50:21.400 --> 00:50:22.940 and let's look at the service for christ's sake 00:50:22.940 --> 00:50:24.639 you know the last 20 years of people that put 00:50:24.639 --> 00:50:27.719 their hand up post 9 11 um even if as you alluded 00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:30.480 to sometimes that was used to send people to 00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:32.300 iraq completely wrong country that's a whole 00:50:32.300 --> 00:50:35.500 other conversation but um you know i think that's 00:50:35.500 --> 00:50:39.119 just it if you could show well hey We've got 00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:41.280 these incentives that are actually going to make 00:50:41.280 --> 00:50:43.480 our own country healthier, which is going to 00:50:43.480 --> 00:50:46.519 bring down the immense health care costs incredibly. 00:50:46.880 --> 00:50:48.760 And that's how we're freeing up the money. And 00:50:48.760 --> 00:50:50.460 what we want to do with some of it is to actually 00:50:50.460 --> 00:50:53.260 help our neighbors to the south. I think, you 00:50:53.260 --> 00:50:55.440 know, that when it's put that way, it would. 00:50:55.559 --> 00:50:57.460 But if it's like, oh, they want more of our money 00:50:57.460 --> 00:50:59.960 to go help Haiti, then I think people are going 00:50:59.960 --> 00:51:01.860 to be like, well, fuck Haiti. I'm worried about 00:51:01.860 --> 00:51:05.659 my gas prices. You know, so it's not about needing 00:51:05.659 --> 00:51:08.389 more money. This is what I like about Bernie 00:51:08.389 --> 00:51:10.769 Sanders when he was talking on Joe Rogan and 00:51:10.769 --> 00:51:12.789 people gave him enough time to actually articulate 00:51:12.789 --> 00:51:15.670 his entire - I watched that. Yeah, yeah. There's 00:51:15.670 --> 00:51:17.909 so much wasted money. It's what I talk about 00:51:17.909 --> 00:51:19.849 in the fire service and I'm sure law enforcement. 00:51:20.050 --> 00:51:22.869 You look at the money that is wasted on this 00:51:22.869 --> 00:51:24.909 retention and recruitment crisis that we have 00:51:24.909 --> 00:51:27.389 at the moment and forcing the men and women in 00:51:27.389 --> 00:51:30.170 uniform to work all those extra time and be away 00:51:30.170 --> 00:51:32.130 from their families even more and then the impact 00:51:32.130 --> 00:51:34.309 on their health and that increasing the workman's 00:51:34.309 --> 00:51:38.429 comp. you know, claims and the premiums and all 00:51:38.429 --> 00:51:40.190 these other things, and not to mention the lawsuits 00:51:40.190 --> 00:51:42.869 and everything else that comes from overworked, 00:51:42.869 --> 00:51:46.210 under -supported people, that's your money for 00:51:46.210 --> 00:51:50.030 more staffing, more training, more, you know, 00:51:50.090 --> 00:51:52.389 a higher salary, better benefits, all the things 00:51:52.389 --> 00:51:54.389 that will attract the best candidates to come 00:51:54.389 --> 00:51:57.269 in. It's not we need more taxpayers' money, it's 00:51:57.269 --> 00:51:59.889 we need to use the money properly. I think exactly 00:51:59.889 --> 00:52:02.840 to your point. Your basic argument is it's a 00:52:02.840 --> 00:52:04.440 spending issue. It's always a spending issue. 00:52:04.539 --> 00:52:06.159 It's not a tax issue because how many times do 00:52:06.159 --> 00:52:08.099 we see in the news? U .S. government collected 00:52:08.099 --> 00:52:10.139 record taxes. Like, that's great. But on top 00:52:10.139 --> 00:52:12.159 of that, we did record spending. We outspent 00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:14.400 what we took in. You know, this is always spending. 00:52:14.500 --> 00:52:17.079 It always boils down to spending. Funny you mentioned 00:52:17.079 --> 00:52:18.280 something, though, since you were talking about 00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:19.739 fire. And I wanted to I'm going to flip this 00:52:19.739 --> 00:52:22.199 around on you and ask you a question. What are 00:52:22.199 --> 00:52:26.219 your thoughts on who Mamdani in New York picked 00:52:26.219 --> 00:52:29.199 for the FDNY? I don't know anything about the 00:52:29.199 --> 00:52:31.000 lady or anything like that, but I figured you 00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:34.099 might know something. Yeah. I also, one other 00:52:34.099 --> 00:52:37.280 thing, I did not realize how little EMTs in New 00:52:37.280 --> 00:52:39.719 York city make. I thought they made so much more 00:52:39.719 --> 00:52:42.239 than that. So I can see why it's, it's the conversation 00:52:42.239 --> 00:52:44.760 that it is. Cause I was really surprised. I don't 00:52:44.760 --> 00:52:46.199 know how you're able to even live there making 00:52:46.199 --> 00:52:48.179 so little. And that's the real conversation, 00:52:48.380 --> 00:52:50.639 isn't it? Like, is the person a good leader or 00:52:50.639 --> 00:52:52.539 not? But one of the things I always talk about 00:52:52.539 --> 00:52:55.480 prejudice in the first responder providing fire, 00:52:55.559 --> 00:52:58.949 especially because I saw. Again, from one extreme, 00:52:59.730 --> 00:53:02.530 you know, this kind of laughing at who this person 00:53:02.530 --> 00:53:04.730 is, their gender, all this stuff. And, you know, 00:53:04.730 --> 00:53:07.269 just had EMS and no fire experience. And then, 00:53:07.309 --> 00:53:09.030 you know, the other side, I've seen people saying 00:53:09.030 --> 00:53:11.190 they've got a great track record. They're a good 00:53:11.190 --> 00:53:13.090 leader. And so, again, I don't know. I don't 00:53:13.090 --> 00:53:15.010 work in New York. I don't know this person personally, 00:53:15.170 --> 00:53:17.230 which is the only way I'd really be able to have 00:53:17.230 --> 00:53:20.289 a, you know, hand on my heart perspective of 00:53:20.289 --> 00:53:25.590 this. But our profession as a whole is in crisis. 00:53:27.389 --> 00:53:29.670 Because of that, you can look at the people who 00:53:29.670 --> 00:53:33.309 were at the helm in wherever we were. Were they 00:53:33.309 --> 00:53:36.550 trying to make a difference in this crisis or 00:53:36.550 --> 00:53:38.409 are they the people that created this crisis? 00:53:38.670 --> 00:53:42.730 So whatever their track record is, male, female, 00:53:42.849 --> 00:53:45.269 whoever the commissioner or whoever the person 00:53:45.269 --> 00:53:48.590 is, that's what I would look at. All right, we 00:53:48.590 --> 00:53:50.369 have a recruitment crisis, we have a retention 00:53:50.369 --> 00:53:53.329 crisis, we have a physical mental health crisis. 00:53:53.800 --> 00:53:55.960 locally here i can tell you it's got fucking 00:53:55.960 --> 00:53:58.659 worse so the people that are in charge of departments 00:53:58.659 --> 00:54:02.480 around me should be fucking got rid of and new 00:54:02.480 --> 00:54:04.659 people brought in and all the way up to the county 00:54:04.659 --> 00:54:08.079 commissioners because we have had so many bad 00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:10.400 things happen from most recently four firefighters 00:54:10.400 --> 00:54:14.000 arrest for hazing which have resulted in 10 terminations 00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:17.659 a week before christmas so some of those people 00:54:17.659 --> 00:54:19.760 i'm sure had nothing to do with it and were just 00:54:19.760 --> 00:54:23.239 you know thrown under the bus No looking at all 00:54:23.239 --> 00:54:27.500 at the top. So I don't know. When it comes to 00:54:27.500 --> 00:54:29.460 New York, I'm so disconnected from that that 00:54:29.460 --> 00:54:31.500 I don't have an opinion. It's not me being safe. 00:54:31.619 --> 00:54:36.079 It's just I'm completely undereducated. So for 00:54:36.079 --> 00:54:39.559 me to say anything would be irresponsible. But 00:54:39.559 --> 00:54:41.780 if they have a good track record of being a great 00:54:41.780 --> 00:54:44.219 leader and have made big improvements in wherever 00:54:44.219 --> 00:54:46.880 they were responsible, then great. Let's give 00:54:46.880 --> 00:54:49.619 them a chance. If they've been part of the problem. 00:54:50.159 --> 00:54:52.699 which, you know, I can say locally here, then 00:54:52.699 --> 00:54:54.579 absolutely not. It would be a horrible pick if 00:54:54.579 --> 00:54:58.000 we had the re -election of the people that we 00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:00.599 have at the moment. So that's my thing. It's 00:55:00.599 --> 00:55:03.320 pretty fucking obvious to see these days if you've 00:55:03.320 --> 00:55:06.099 got a good leader or not, because our professions, 00:55:06.159 --> 00:55:09.659 plural, are in shambles. And there are some really, 00:55:09.719 --> 00:55:12.280 really good thought leaders in this space and 00:55:12.280 --> 00:55:15.719 a lot of fucking morally cowardice, you know, 00:55:15.739 --> 00:55:17.940 people that just happen to have a bunch of bugles 00:55:17.940 --> 00:55:20.869 on their shirt. So track record speaks everything. 00:55:21.110 --> 00:55:23.590 If you have an apartment where people are lining 00:55:23.590 --> 00:55:26.210 up to work for you and people hardly ever leave 00:55:26.210 --> 00:55:29.409 and cancer, suicide, addiction, all those are 00:55:29.409 --> 00:55:32.510 relatively low, then fantastic. You've got a 00:55:32.510 --> 00:55:35.329 really, really great culture and leadership there. 00:55:35.550 --> 00:55:38.309 If it's the opposite, then there's your sign. 00:55:38.869 --> 00:55:41.829 Yeah, but who's doing that? I can't think of 00:55:41.829 --> 00:55:44.670 a single EMS fire police agency where people 00:55:44.670 --> 00:55:46.489 are like, man, that's where I'm trying to go. 00:55:46.969 --> 00:55:49.170 This is where I want to be or else we would hear 00:55:49.170 --> 00:55:53.510 about it. Record people line up to work for Oklahoma 00:55:53.510 --> 00:55:55.769 City Police Department or something like that. 00:55:55.869 --> 00:55:58.989 But we're seeing the exact opposite. And I know 00:55:58.989 --> 00:56:02.849 you wanted to hit on recruitment, right? For 00:56:02.849 --> 00:56:07.150 the type of work that we do. Well, what I've 00:56:07.150 --> 00:56:09.349 been saying for a long time, and this would even 00:56:09.349 --> 00:56:11.110 make it more difficult to get the numbers up, 00:56:11.190 --> 00:56:15.010 but our line of work, whether it's Fire EMS or... 00:56:15.480 --> 00:56:18.380 or police it should pay really well and be very 00:56:18.380 --> 00:56:20.219 difficult to get into absolutely that's where 00:56:20.219 --> 00:56:21.559 you're going to get your best candidates from 00:56:21.559 --> 00:56:25.260 because what we tend to see is the bar keeps 00:56:25.260 --> 00:56:27.099 getting dropped lower and lower and lower and 00:56:27.099 --> 00:56:30.519 then people are surprised when um we start seeing 00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:33.239 these things in the news about an officer did 00:56:33.239 --> 00:56:35.300 you know x y and z here or firefight like you 00:56:35.300 --> 00:56:36.860 said been arrested for hazing or something like 00:56:36.860 --> 00:56:38.920 that well how did we get those individuals or 00:56:38.920 --> 00:56:40.840 how did they end up getting in these positions 00:56:40.840 --> 00:56:42.840 these trusted positions where you want the best 00:56:42.840 --> 00:56:44.880 of the best showing up well that's what you do 00:56:45.260 --> 00:56:47.159 You reel them in with the money and then you 00:56:47.159 --> 00:56:49.340 make sure that the standards are so high that 00:56:49.340 --> 00:56:51.199 by the time that they're finished, they're going 00:56:51.199 --> 00:56:52.860 to be the best of the best. And you're not going 00:56:52.860 --> 00:56:54.579 to have any worries when they show up. They're 00:56:54.579 --> 00:56:55.659 going to be professional. They're going to be 00:56:55.659 --> 00:56:59.059 fit and they're going to be well educated in 00:56:59.059 --> 00:57:01.719 the ways of departmental policy and how to do 00:57:01.719 --> 00:57:05.619 their job effectively. So in the fire side, there's 00:57:05.619 --> 00:57:08.440 a couple of examples like in my career, Anaheim 00:57:08.440 --> 00:57:11.099 Fire. I mean, we I've said this many times. This 00:57:11.099 --> 00:57:15.300 was when recruitment was better. But I was testing 00:57:15.300 --> 00:57:18.480 against a thousand people, certified candidates 00:57:18.480 --> 00:57:21.340 in the convention center in Anaheim for 30 spots, 00:57:21.539 --> 00:57:24.860 3 -0. There was two classes of 15. Then you get 00:57:24.860 --> 00:57:27.800 in and through attrition, because that bar is 00:57:27.800 --> 00:57:30.219 held so high in that first probationary year, 00:57:30.280 --> 00:57:32.880 usually they would lose another 25 % of that 00:57:32.880 --> 00:57:36.409 probate class. So you end up being basically 00:57:36.409 --> 00:57:40.250 1 % of that room per class. So I was 1 % of those 00:57:40.250 --> 00:57:42.449 thousand people that they actually made it through 00:57:42.449 --> 00:57:44.849 to the end of probation. So I've kind of lived 00:57:44.849 --> 00:57:46.769 that high bar. I've lived the low bar that's 00:57:46.769 --> 00:57:49.849 dug in a trench where 18 and a heartbeat, come 00:57:49.849 --> 00:57:52.869 on in. Oh, you know, you do a test and you scored 00:57:52.869 --> 00:57:54.949 number one, but wait, we've got to redo the test 00:57:54.949 --> 00:57:57.250 because you find out later down the road that 00:57:57.250 --> 00:57:59.070 the son of a chief didn't make it to this the 00:57:59.070 --> 00:58:01.449 first time. So they redo it and now he's magically 00:58:01.449 --> 00:58:04.019 made it. I mean, that kind of shit going on. 00:58:04.440 --> 00:58:07.960 And then recently, I think it was either New 00:58:07.960 --> 00:58:10.519 York or one of the big, big metro departments. 00:58:10.980 --> 00:58:14.760 Someone was telling me that in the PD side, they 00:58:14.760 --> 00:58:18.800 had five applicants for a posting. Yikes. You 00:58:18.800 --> 00:58:21.719 can't even have a class with five people. So 00:58:21.719 --> 00:58:24.619 this is the thing. I could not agree more. This 00:58:24.619 --> 00:58:27.260 is a job where you cannot be taking all of the 00:58:27.260 --> 00:58:30.539 lists. And when I was so frustrated locally, 00:58:30.639 --> 00:58:32.400 and it just hit me like last week, I'm like, 00:58:32.440 --> 00:58:37.119 why? Why is this a thing? Why, you know, are 00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:39.940 we seeing such issues and locally here when I'm 00:58:39.940 --> 00:58:42.000 seeing all these departments around the country, 00:58:42.119 --> 00:58:44.960 lean into these solutions, there's so much pushback. 00:58:45.440 --> 00:58:47.760 And I didn't realize until recently, they've, 00:58:47.760 --> 00:58:50.059 they've been basically hiring everyone on the 00:58:50.059 --> 00:58:53.940 list for decades here. So this is what we're 00:58:53.940 --> 00:58:57.239 seeing now is when you get that. shitty candidate 00:58:57.239 --> 00:58:59.039 that never would have made it in a good fire 00:58:59.039 --> 00:59:03.280 department now you give them bugles now you're 00:59:03.280 --> 00:59:06.159 really in fucking trouble because that low bar 00:59:06.159 --> 00:59:09.260 firefighter is now a chief or lieutenant or a 00:59:09.260 --> 00:59:13.619 captain or whatever and now you're screwed because 00:59:13.619 --> 00:59:16.219 they don't understand leadership and they don't 00:59:16.219 --> 00:59:18.440 understand moral courage and now they're in charge 00:59:18.440 --> 00:59:22.019 like they are number one number two so this is 00:59:22.019 --> 00:59:25.159 what's terrifying is We have people, you know, 00:59:25.219 --> 00:59:26.940 we're worried about, oh, if we drop the standards. 00:59:27.019 --> 00:59:28.519 Well, some places the standards have been dropped 00:59:28.519 --> 00:59:31.239 for a long time. And now we're seeing those people 00:59:31.239 --> 00:59:33.659 in class A's with, you know, with all the bugles. 00:59:34.039 --> 00:59:37.400 And you imagine the ripple effect on lives that 00:59:37.400 --> 00:59:39.360 that has when someone who never would have even 00:59:39.360 --> 00:59:42.619 made it into wearing the fucking uniform is now 00:59:42.619 --> 00:59:46.239 in charge of an entire fire department. Well, 00:59:46.340 --> 00:59:47.860 then, so I guess the question becomes like, well, 00:59:47.960 --> 00:59:50.340 what do you do? You know, because if you if you 00:59:50.340 --> 00:59:52.139 let's say we do raise the standard and you've 00:59:52.139 --> 00:59:55.119 got 200 people and just based on the standard, 00:59:55.199 --> 00:59:57.440 even if you just kick it up a notch, I only got 00:59:57.440 --> 01:00:00.480 10 people that even meet the lowest part of that 01:00:00.480 --> 01:00:03.019 new standard. So now you can't have a class. 01:00:03.199 --> 01:00:06.219 Well, you do that for a few years. Now, your 01:00:06.219 --> 01:00:08.440 rate of attrition at any given department where 01:00:08.440 --> 01:00:11.780 you're at is to the point where, oh, well, now 01:00:11.780 --> 01:00:15.130 we're. 100 people short or 200 people short so 01:00:15.130 --> 01:00:16.949 then i think that's kind of like what leads to 01:00:16.949 --> 01:00:18.630 the bar getting dropped because like oh we need 01:00:18.630 --> 01:00:21.010 bodies you know to to get it filled back up and 01:00:21.010 --> 01:00:23.769 then we'll figure out uh where to put the standard 01:00:23.769 --> 01:00:26.090 after that because once we hit like the the 300 01:00:26.090 --> 01:00:28.849 400 500 people that we need then we can work 01:00:28.849 --> 01:00:31.250 on being more stingy about it but the problem 01:00:31.250 --> 01:00:34.639 is We're all at bare minimums now across the 01:00:34.639 --> 01:00:36.780 country to where apartments are offering these 01:00:36.780 --> 01:00:39.039 sign on bonuses. They're trying to like siphon 01:00:39.039 --> 01:00:42.460 people off from other areas to fill these spaces 01:00:42.460 --> 01:00:46.800 that I feel like they're forced to just kind 01:00:46.800 --> 01:00:50.159 of having to accept anyone, you know, because 01:00:50.159 --> 01:00:53.099 they don't want it to be where there's a documentary 01:00:53.099 --> 01:00:56.039 on Netflix about Flint, Michigan. I remember 01:00:56.039 --> 01:00:58.860 watching it and I was so shocked because they 01:00:58.860 --> 01:01:02.039 had. One officer responding to a domestic violence 01:01:02.039 --> 01:01:06.119 where the suspect was on scene. I was like, that's 01:01:06.119 --> 01:01:09.239 horrible. Then they had another one guy. He was 01:01:09.239 --> 01:01:12.599 feloniously assaulted. They didn't respond to 01:01:12.599 --> 01:01:14.599 him until three days later. He was already out 01:01:14.599 --> 01:01:17.800 of the hospital, head all stitched up, and they 01:01:17.800 --> 01:01:19.840 just didn't have the power to respond. So, you 01:01:19.840 --> 01:01:21.300 know, that's the extreme, of course, where you 01:01:21.300 --> 01:01:23.880 got an apartment with 20 people in a place that's 01:01:23.880 --> 01:01:26.579 got 100 ,000 citizens. That's not going to work. 01:01:26.659 --> 01:01:29.880 One accident or one. officer involved thing, 01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:31.840 your whole department is tied up. Tanner Iskra, 01:01:31.840 --> 01:01:33.980 Imagine a school shooting. Tanner Iskra, Exactly. 01:01:34.340 --> 01:01:36.340 You don't even have enough officers to lock down 01:01:36.340 --> 01:01:38.679 a school, let alone search it. So you need mutual 01:01:38.679 --> 01:01:40.420 aid from the county or neighboring jurisdictions. 01:01:41.739 --> 01:01:43.659 And so that in and of itself causes a problem. 01:01:43.780 --> 01:01:48.239 But I remember it was really post, like it was 01:01:48.239 --> 01:01:51.960 kind of bad already, but post George Floyd, annihilated. 01:01:52.360 --> 01:01:54.300 police departments across the country as far 01:01:54.300 --> 01:01:57.000 as recruiting went you know because they were 01:01:57.000 --> 01:01:58.800 they were getting viewed poorly in the media 01:01:58.800 --> 01:02:01.920 and then on top of that it was difficult to try 01:02:01.920 --> 01:02:04.599 and get recruitment from certain areas of the 01:02:04.599 --> 01:02:07.099 city where you might be trying to recruit and 01:02:07.099 --> 01:02:09.739 now because you don't have anybody well what 01:02:09.739 --> 01:02:12.059 do you do how do you get those people in you 01:02:12.059 --> 01:02:13.820 can incentivize them with money but if the money's 01:02:13.820 --> 01:02:17.699 not there then that's not an option so what you 01:02:17.699 --> 01:02:20.519 get is you get these really great academies or 01:02:20.519 --> 01:02:22.739 these really great cities to put people through 01:02:22.739 --> 01:02:25.659 training and then they leave. They become the 01:02:25.659 --> 01:02:27.659 official training academy for the state and then 01:02:27.659 --> 01:02:29.179 they just go elsewhere. Oh, I got my certification. 01:02:29.440 --> 01:02:30.519 I'm going to go where there's more money, where 01:02:30.519 --> 01:02:33.719 it's safer, where I have to do less work that's 01:02:33.719 --> 01:02:35.099 going to put my life in danger because I want 01:02:35.099 --> 01:02:37.559 to get home at the end of the day. See, it's 01:02:37.559 --> 01:02:40.360 interesting and it's more nuanced with your profession. 01:02:40.539 --> 01:02:42.079 I want to explore it in a second, but with the 01:02:42.079 --> 01:02:45.769 fire. The solutions are so glaringly obvious, 01:02:45.869 --> 01:02:47.590 which is what kills me because we don't have 01:02:47.590 --> 01:02:50.010 the bad press element that you guys had forced 01:02:50.010 --> 01:02:51.909 on you. No, you guys are great. Everybody loves 01:02:51.909 --> 01:02:55.610 fire. They do superficially when it comes to 01:02:55.610 --> 01:02:57.389 actually standing behind and understanding the 01:02:57.389 --> 01:02:59.849 profession, not so much, but at least there is 01:02:59.849 --> 01:03:02.469 that kind of, you know, post 9 -11, you know, 01:03:02.469 --> 01:03:05.809 I say adoration and I don't mean that like anyone 01:03:05.809 --> 01:03:07.610 wants to be feel that way, but there is, there 01:03:07.610 --> 01:03:10.170 is that kind of, you know, firefighters are respected 01:03:10.170 --> 01:03:12.909 profession, but when it comes to actually. Putting 01:03:12.909 --> 01:03:14.289 your money where your mouth is getting behind 01:03:14.289 --> 01:03:16.409 your firefighters, that's where, you know, the 01:03:16.409 --> 01:03:17.909 rubber doesn't meet the rose a lot of times. 01:03:18.369 --> 01:03:22.090 But we had, as I mentioned, you know, such a 01:03:22.090 --> 01:03:28.210 high recruitment standard 20 years ago, where 01:03:28.210 --> 01:03:30.570 I know friends, you know, when I went to California 01:03:30.570 --> 01:03:32.989 that were testing four or five years before they 01:03:32.989 --> 01:03:35.389 finally got picked up. And these were good candidates. 01:03:35.530 --> 01:03:37.849 They ended up being great firefighters, but it 01:03:37.849 --> 01:03:41.119 was just, it was so, so competitive. So the first 01:03:41.119 --> 01:03:43.019 question is, both of our professions, well, what 01:03:43.019 --> 01:03:44.940 have we done wrong? And obviously you can allude 01:03:44.940 --> 01:03:46.760 to, because if you think about it, yours was, 01:03:46.820 --> 01:03:49.119 you know, post Rodney King, and yet it was still 01:03:49.119 --> 01:03:51.579 very competitive in the early 2000s. You know 01:03:51.579 --> 01:03:53.659 what I mean? So you can recover from those events. 01:03:54.480 --> 01:03:57.340 But in my profession, it's just simply that the 01:03:57.340 --> 01:04:01.050 way that we were worked. you know, was completely 01:04:01.050 --> 01:04:03.969 misunderstood with the integration of EMS, with 01:04:03.969 --> 01:04:06.650 the increase of relying on 911 for all things 01:04:06.650 --> 01:04:10.630 healthcare, you know, from the slicing and dicing 01:04:10.630 --> 01:04:13.449 of department budgets. I mean, these all contributed 01:04:13.449 --> 01:04:17.829 to a downward spiral. And if you look at simply 01:04:17.829 --> 01:04:20.730 a budget sheet of a fire department's overtime 01:04:20.730 --> 01:04:23.409 and the costs of training someone and then leaving, 01:04:23.800 --> 01:04:26.599 And then the workman's comp premiums. And like 01:04:26.599 --> 01:04:28.940 I said, the lawsuits and the medical retirement 01:04:28.940 --> 01:04:31.420 payments and the line of duty death payments. 01:04:31.619 --> 01:04:35.780 There are millions and millions. LAFD, their 01:04:35.780 --> 01:04:38.340 overtime, it was in the paper a few weeks ago, 01:04:38.480 --> 01:04:41.320 their overtime for the last four years was $1 01:04:41.320 --> 01:04:46.000 .2 billion. Overtime, not operating costs, overtime. 01:04:46.639 --> 01:04:49.550 So the money is there. And they obviously expand 01:04:49.550 --> 01:04:51.610 contracts on the size of the city and the county, 01:04:51.650 --> 01:04:54.010 but the money is there. It really is. So for 01:04:54.010 --> 01:04:56.710 my profession, you front load the money. Yes, 01:04:56.849 --> 01:04:59.949 you will need a bump in taxes initially. But 01:04:59.949 --> 01:05:01.510 again, like we said with the Haiti conversation, 01:05:01.869 --> 01:05:04.090 you tell your taxpayers, but here's how we are 01:05:04.090 --> 01:05:07.429 running so inefficiently. Our ability to deliver 01:05:07.429 --> 01:05:10.230 service to you at the highest level is being 01:05:10.230 --> 01:05:13.449 brought down. So we're going to remedy that by 01:05:13.449 --> 01:05:14.969 we're going to invest. We're going to hire more 01:05:14.969 --> 01:05:18.320 firefighters. And then. you know, this unneeded 01:05:18.320 --> 01:05:21.300 overtime and all these ripple effects of exhausted, 01:05:21.440 --> 01:05:25.880 you know, injuries and issues and mistakes, they're 01:05:25.880 --> 01:05:29.119 going to all but go away. So that's my profession, 01:05:29.219 --> 01:05:32.039 you know, but you've got to create an environment 01:05:32.039 --> 01:05:34.320 that tells a cop or a firefighter or a paramedic 01:05:34.320 --> 01:05:37.920 or an EMT that we value you. We're going to pay 01:05:37.920 --> 01:05:39.719 you well. We're going to give you the physical, 01:05:39.719 --> 01:05:41.300 mental health surroundings. We're going to put 01:05:41.300 --> 01:05:44.079 in a fitness standard so you stay healthy. you 01:05:44.079 --> 01:05:46.159 know which drives me crazy when unions fight 01:05:46.159 --> 01:05:49.159 that so that now you these young candidates are 01:05:49.159 --> 01:05:51.380 excited and then like you said you put the damn 01:05:51.380 --> 01:05:55.059 bar high because that's the misnomer the low 01:05:55.059 --> 01:05:58.179 bar doesn't attract people it only attracts the 01:05:58.179 --> 01:06:00.639 wrong kind of people a high bar attracts the 01:06:00.639 --> 01:06:02.639 right kind of people but the right kind of people 01:06:02.639 --> 01:06:05.099 also know all the other things that need to be 01:06:05.099 --> 01:06:07.079 in place for them to operate at a high level 01:06:07.079 --> 01:06:08.940 and they value their time at home they value 01:06:08.940 --> 01:06:12.820 their physical and mental health So the way that 01:06:12.820 --> 01:06:15.159 we pull young people back into our professions 01:06:15.159 --> 01:06:18.139 collectively is we show that we give a shit about 01:06:18.139 --> 01:06:21.260 them and we challenge them to rise up to, you 01:06:21.260 --> 01:06:23.579 know, to rise to the occasion, to reach the bar. 01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:26.719 And so this lowering of bar, I think, is a complete 01:06:26.719 --> 01:06:29.420 false economy. It's not working. We know it doesn't 01:06:29.420 --> 01:06:32.079 work. So we have to invest in the profession, 01:06:32.360 --> 01:06:35.719 give your profession not only a good salary, 01:06:35.780 --> 01:06:38.139 but show where all the training is. Like we are 01:06:38.139 --> 01:06:39.659 going to get you to a high level. We're going 01:06:39.659 --> 01:06:41.440 to expect you to be fit and strong. We're going 01:06:41.440 --> 01:06:44.260 to expect you to shoot in a certain way. You 01:06:44.260 --> 01:06:45.840 know, there's the options to go into all these 01:06:45.840 --> 01:06:48.599 special operations areas. That's how I think, 01:06:48.599 --> 01:06:50.559 you know, in my profession, which I obviously 01:06:50.559 --> 01:06:52.440 know a lot better, is how we turn it around. 01:06:52.539 --> 01:06:55.840 But even in yours, it's not a case of, you know, 01:06:55.840 --> 01:06:58.579 making sure that every candidate is, you know, 01:06:58.599 --> 01:07:01.559 paraplegic African -American, you know, transsexual, 01:07:01.599 --> 01:07:04.079 because let's be honest, that's been the conversation 01:07:04.079 --> 01:07:08.889 too. It's finding and mentoring from underserved 01:07:08.889 --> 01:07:11.349 communities that maybe don't have the resources 01:07:11.349 --> 01:07:14.130 to enter the law enforcement, finding people 01:07:14.130 --> 01:07:16.909 of all backgrounds, and then challenging them 01:07:16.909 --> 01:07:19.309 to reach that bar. And I think if we had that 01:07:19.309 --> 01:07:22.110 environment, police, fire, and EMS, we would 01:07:22.110 --> 01:07:25.389 see that downward trajectory turn and then start 01:07:25.389 --> 01:07:29.989 going back to 20 years ago. Yeah. And a thing 01:07:29.989 --> 01:07:31.670 that I've seen that has proved to be an issue, 01:07:31.769 --> 01:07:36.389 and I can attest to the police side, is how do 01:07:36.389 --> 01:07:40.050 you make the how do you make the job appear appealing 01:07:40.050 --> 01:07:43.190 you know how do you get that person who has either 01:07:43.190 --> 01:07:46.530 grown up had poor experiences with police and 01:07:46.530 --> 01:07:49.289 not due to their own not due to them specifically 01:07:49.289 --> 01:07:50.889 but because maybe like the environment or people 01:07:50.889 --> 01:07:53.769 around them and get them to say you know this 01:07:53.769 --> 01:07:55.960 is something i think i want to do you know, this 01:07:55.960 --> 01:07:57.260 is something I want to be a part of. Cause I 01:07:57.260 --> 01:07:59.280 run into young kids all the time. I'm like, Hey 01:07:59.280 --> 01:08:00.920 man, how old are you? Oh, I'm 20. I'm like, you, 01:08:01.000 --> 01:08:02.559 you getting been in any trouble? You don't, you 01:08:02.559 --> 01:08:03.519 don't have any feelings or anything. I'm like, 01:08:03.539 --> 01:08:05.360 nah, I'm like, you should become a cop. Like 01:08:05.360 --> 01:08:07.840 you can make really good money. Um, it's a really 01:08:07.840 --> 01:08:09.760 good job. There's a lot of different things you 01:08:09.760 --> 01:08:11.280 can do. You're not going to be just stuck on 01:08:11.280 --> 01:08:12.780 the street if you don't want to be, you know, 01:08:12.800 --> 01:08:14.159 if you really put your mind to it, you can go 01:08:14.159 --> 01:08:16.060 and do a lot of different things. And the answer 01:08:16.060 --> 01:08:17.960 is always the same. I'm like, no, no, but well, 01:08:18.060 --> 01:08:20.899 why not? You know? And the answer is kind of 01:08:20.899 --> 01:08:22.880 very, some are just very simple. I don't like 01:08:22.880 --> 01:08:25.479 police, you know? Okay. That's fine. I was like, 01:08:25.539 --> 01:08:27.760 but you're thinking about it incorrectly. Like 01:08:27.760 --> 01:08:29.460 I'm giving you an opportunity in a way to get 01:08:29.460 --> 01:08:32.000 out of the situation that you're in. And it doesn't 01:08:32.000 --> 01:08:34.699 mean you have to do it forever. You could do 01:08:34.699 --> 01:08:36.380 it just long enough to get you on your feet and 01:08:36.380 --> 01:08:38.239 then go on and move and do something else. But 01:08:38.239 --> 01:08:40.180 time and time again, because that's the recruitment 01:08:40.180 --> 01:08:41.880 question. I don't know if FIRE has a recruitment 01:08:41.880 --> 01:08:44.539 problem. I don't know if they're having issues 01:08:44.539 --> 01:08:46.640 filling or getting enough people. Because if 01:08:46.640 --> 01:08:48.680 you are getting plenty of people, then yes, that 01:08:48.680 --> 01:08:50.739 bar skyrocketed because you're getting more than 01:08:50.739 --> 01:08:53.890 enough people. You can be picky, right? But for 01:08:53.890 --> 01:08:56.550 us, we can't do that because there's such a negative 01:08:56.550 --> 01:08:59.069 connotation with police work and what you see 01:08:59.069 --> 01:09:00.970 because the media is not going to cover the officer 01:09:00.970 --> 01:09:03.430 who finds the old lady who has dementia and gets 01:09:03.430 --> 01:09:05.069 her in contact with her family, right? That's 01:09:05.069 --> 01:09:06.470 not going to get covered. No, what's going to 01:09:06.470 --> 01:09:08.430 get covered is the dude getting pulled out of 01:09:08.430 --> 01:09:12.390 his vehicle and Molly whopped on, but you don't 01:09:12.390 --> 01:09:14.109 see the context beforehand where, oh, maybe he 01:09:14.109 --> 01:09:15.449 pulled a firearm or did something like that, 01:09:15.529 --> 01:09:16.770 right? Because they only show the snippet that 01:09:16.770 --> 01:09:20.550 is going to make police look poor or like they're 01:09:20.550 --> 01:09:22.569 making bad decisions. But when I watch a lot 01:09:22.569 --> 01:09:24.460 of things, do it in a completely different context 01:09:24.460 --> 01:09:26.800 but i have to wait until i get the whole video 01:09:26.800 --> 01:09:28.539 right don't show me 30 seconds or something show 01:09:28.539 --> 01:09:30.779 me the the 25 minute interaction that led to 01:09:30.779 --> 01:09:32.520 the 30 seconds that you want to show me and then 01:09:32.520 --> 01:09:34.600 i can make my opinion from there but i think 01:09:34.600 --> 01:09:37.500 so many people have such a short attention span 01:09:37.500 --> 01:09:40.079 because again of social media that they only 01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:41.560 see that 30 seconds their whole opinion is made 01:09:41.560 --> 01:09:43.319 up on it and there's no change in it beyond that 01:09:43.319 --> 01:09:46.159 and so that is kind of what i feel like police 01:09:46.159 --> 01:09:49.600 are having to uh combat against especially when 01:09:49.600 --> 01:09:51.800 it comes to hiring or anything like that because 01:09:52.590 --> 01:09:54.810 And there's just so much negative connotation 01:09:54.810 --> 01:09:57.409 that's associated with the job that nobody's 01:09:57.409 --> 01:09:59.130 really particularly interested in doing it anymore. 01:09:59.310 --> 01:10:01.710 Remember, I know when I was growing up, all the 01:10:01.710 --> 01:10:04.890 cops knew my name. I knew them. You wave to them. 01:10:05.090 --> 01:10:07.250 They come over, they show you their car. People 01:10:07.250 --> 01:10:09.670 weren't afraid of them. At least where I grew 01:10:09.670 --> 01:10:12.890 up, it was like that. And now I try to do that 01:10:12.890 --> 01:10:14.810 in some of the areas where I patrol, where people 01:10:14.810 --> 01:10:16.390 get familiar with me and they'll say my name 01:10:16.390 --> 01:10:19.659 and stuff. that kind of recognition because when 01:10:19.659 --> 01:10:21.439 push comes to shove and you need some assistance 01:10:21.439 --> 01:10:23.180 those people that recognize you as an officer 01:10:23.180 --> 01:10:24.640 is doing your job and doing your job well will 01:10:24.640 --> 01:10:26.199 be more than happy to assist you because they 01:10:26.199 --> 01:10:28.159 remember something you did on the back end some 01:10:28.159 --> 01:10:31.359 years ago uh just an example when i'll let you 01:10:31.359 --> 01:10:34.520 respond i was training this kid and i tried to 01:10:34.520 --> 01:10:36.399 tell him i was like no matter what you do no 01:10:36.399 --> 01:10:38.140 matter who you're dealing with you've got to 01:10:38.140 --> 01:10:41.270 treat everybody fairly You wouldn't believe how 01:10:41.270 --> 01:10:43.630 far it goes where you take the most hardened 01:10:43.630 --> 01:10:46.409 criminal and you refer to them as sir or mister, 01:10:46.550 --> 01:10:48.430 whatever their last name is, Mr. Smith, let's 01:10:48.430 --> 01:10:51.170 say, because they'll remember that. You run into 01:10:51.170 --> 01:10:53.789 hundreds of people a day, right? But they only 01:10:53.789 --> 01:10:56.109 run into you once. So you have one chance to 01:10:56.109 --> 01:10:58.850 make an impression on that person. So we're going 01:10:58.850 --> 01:11:01.609 into juvie court and this guy, he got gold teeth. 01:11:01.949 --> 01:11:04.829 He's just your typical dude I'd probably run 01:11:04.829 --> 01:11:06.770 into on any given day. He comes up to me, he's 01:11:06.770 --> 01:11:09.359 like, oh. Hey, hey, Officer Branch. I was like, 01:11:09.420 --> 01:11:11.079 hi, what's up? He's like, you don't remember 01:11:11.079 --> 01:11:12.960 me, do you? And I was like, I had no idea who 01:11:12.960 --> 01:11:15.000 this guy was. Didn't remember him at all. But 01:11:15.000 --> 01:11:17.199 then he started talking and the kid I'm training 01:11:17.199 --> 01:11:18.359 is standing right next to me. We just had this 01:11:18.359 --> 01:11:20.649 conversation two days prior. He starts talking 01:11:20.649 --> 01:11:22.109 to me, telling me about the issues he had with 01:11:22.109 --> 01:11:23.909 his child's mother, how I helped him kind of 01:11:23.909 --> 01:11:26.590 navigate that situation, get away from that. 01:11:26.630 --> 01:11:28.689 He was able to get custody of his kid, got himself 01:11:28.689 --> 01:11:31.029 on his feet, has a job, all because I was willing 01:11:31.029 --> 01:11:33.770 to listen to him, not arrest him initially, because 01:11:33.770 --> 01:11:35.909 once I understood his story, it made sense. Oh, 01:11:35.949 --> 01:11:37.989 he's not the aggressor. He doesn't need to be 01:11:37.989 --> 01:11:40.550 arrested for this. He actually ended up being 01:11:40.550 --> 01:11:42.189 the one who got domestic charges against her. 01:11:43.319 --> 01:11:45.399 That put his life on a good trajectory. So he 01:11:45.399 --> 01:11:47.859 was at juvie court finalizing his custody for 01:11:47.859 --> 01:11:49.800 his kid so he could get out of that situation. 01:11:49.960 --> 01:11:52.460 He just wanted to thank me for that. So that's 01:11:52.460 --> 01:11:54.159 why I just tried to explain to him and he could 01:11:54.159 --> 01:11:56.399 actually see it in real time. Hey, this is what 01:11:56.399 --> 01:12:00.159 it actually looks like. I mean, that just sums 01:12:00.159 --> 01:12:02.079 it up. It's those relationships that have been 01:12:02.079 --> 01:12:04.100 fractured. I don't think it was just the George 01:12:04.100 --> 01:12:05.739 Floyd thing. I think there were so many areas. 01:12:05.859 --> 01:12:08.420 And I've always said this. It's so unfair on 01:12:08.420 --> 01:12:11.470 law enforcement. For a number of reasons. Firstly, 01:12:11.710 --> 01:12:15.010 when you see one of those gray area events, for 01:12:15.010 --> 01:12:19.369 example, no one ever says, well, how many shifts 01:12:19.369 --> 01:12:21.529 has that guy been forced to work back to back? 01:12:21.729 --> 01:12:23.369 You know, when did they last get some sleep? 01:12:23.409 --> 01:12:24.789 You know what I mean? You try making the decision 01:12:24.789 --> 01:12:26.770 when you cross -eyed because you're so exhausted. 01:12:26.909 --> 01:12:28.810 So there's that. But there's also, you know, 01:12:28.829 --> 01:12:31.850 as we alluded to Sweden, and they've actually 01:12:31.850 --> 01:12:34.329 had a little issue with violence recently, but 01:12:34.329 --> 01:12:36.810 Scandinavia as a whole, normally in most parts 01:12:36.810 --> 01:12:39.170 of it, you're not seeing gangs on the street. 01:12:39.520 --> 01:12:41.380 You're not seeing homelessness. You're not seeing 01:12:41.380 --> 01:12:43.359 a lot of these issues. So what is it that we 01:12:43.359 --> 01:12:46.220 as a society are doing wrong that's making it 01:12:46.220 --> 01:12:49.020 harder and harder and harder to even be a police 01:12:49.020 --> 01:12:51.460 officer in America? Full stop. And people complain 01:12:51.460 --> 01:12:54.340 about the tactical way. They go into war. Well, 01:12:54.439 --> 01:12:56.319 yeah, because some of these streets are like 01:12:56.319 --> 01:12:58.520 a war. People are trying to kill them. We see 01:12:58.520 --> 01:13:01.300 it on the TV all the time. So I think one of 01:13:01.300 --> 01:13:03.399 the biggest recruiting tools would be as a nation 01:13:03.399 --> 01:13:06.710 just trying to show that we're actually... standing 01:13:06.710 --> 01:13:09.329 behind, not waving a fucking flag with a blue 01:13:09.329 --> 01:13:11.409 line in the middle, but actually standing behind 01:13:11.409 --> 01:13:14.789 law enforcement and politically trying to address 01:13:14.789 --> 01:13:16.970 some of these issues that are making it so dangerous 01:13:16.970 --> 01:13:20.010 on our streets, whether it's to help our police 01:13:20.010 --> 01:13:22.630 officers or just to help the civilians. I mean, 01:13:22.649 --> 01:13:25.210 what's happening in our schools? Every time there's 01:13:25.210 --> 01:13:28.949 a shooting, there's a World War I trench conversation 01:13:28.949 --> 01:13:32.229 on gun ownership versus all the other things 01:13:32.229 --> 01:13:34.520 that are contributing to this. You know, when 01:13:34.520 --> 01:13:36.699 it comes to the gangs, like, where's the conversation 01:13:36.699 --> 01:13:39.159 again on the epic failure of drug prohibition? 01:13:39.220 --> 01:13:40.979 And people think, oh, is he just going to go 01:13:40.979 --> 01:13:42.760 in the grocery store and buy meth now? Like, 01:13:42.800 --> 01:13:45.119 no, dipshit. That's not what this is about. It's 01:13:45.119 --> 01:13:48.020 just that if you are an addict, you take some 01:13:48.020 --> 01:13:51.300 of that money from the epic failed war on drugs 01:13:51.300 --> 01:13:53.800 and you put it into, you know, drug addiction 01:13:53.800 --> 01:13:58.239 counseling, mental health counseling, job creation, 01:13:58.479 --> 01:14:01.739 housing, and you get these people that. you know, 01:14:01.739 --> 01:14:03.960 from an altruistic point of view that are struggling 01:14:03.960 --> 01:14:05.319 and you help them, if you want to look at an 01:14:05.319 --> 01:14:08.359 economic point of view that are using taxes to 01:14:08.359 --> 01:14:11.939 earning taxes, you know, you get people back 01:14:11.939 --> 01:14:14.300 on their feet. Of course, you can't save everyone, 01:14:14.359 --> 01:14:17.140 but there's a lot of people that we could proactively 01:14:17.140 --> 01:14:20.119 invest in and get them to where instead of finding 01:14:20.119 --> 01:14:21.819 themselves on the wrong side of the law, they're 01:14:21.819 --> 01:14:24.079 actually a contributing member of society again. 01:14:24.239 --> 01:14:26.199 But you don't hear that in the law enforcement 01:14:26.199 --> 01:14:28.840 conversation. You guys are just sent out like 01:14:28.840 --> 01:14:31.020 stormtroopers to mitigate whatever thing that 01:14:31.310 --> 01:14:34.090 that politician in power at the time is telling 01:14:34.090 --> 01:14:36.909 you to do, whether it's go help ICE in this or 01:14:36.909 --> 01:14:39.350 go arrest these people for not having a vaccine 01:14:39.350 --> 01:14:43.729 or whatever the thing is. So I don't think it 01:14:43.729 --> 01:14:46.649 would take that much. But as you said, it's the 01:14:46.649 --> 01:14:48.989 messaging. It's getting back to that community 01:14:48.989 --> 01:14:52.689 policing. But if you're worried about being executed 01:14:52.689 --> 01:14:54.729 in a Chinese restaurant while you have your lunch 01:14:54.729 --> 01:14:57.890 break, it's very hard to go from that to walking 01:14:57.890 --> 01:15:00.409 the beat like law enforcement did in the 50s. 01:15:01.720 --> 01:15:04.680 No, 100%. To touch on what you said about the 01:15:04.680 --> 01:15:06.600 drug stuff, I think that was the big problem 01:15:06.600 --> 01:15:09.359 that Portland had for the past, I think it was 01:15:09.359 --> 01:15:10.939 like three years up until maybe the last six 01:15:10.939 --> 01:15:13.800 months or so. They want to do the Portugal method, 01:15:14.020 --> 01:15:17.420 right? Let's legalize it, but let's make it to 01:15:17.420 --> 01:15:18.840 where there's safe places for this. We can work 01:15:18.840 --> 01:15:22.979 on rehabilitation X, Y, and Z, right? Well, Portland 01:15:22.979 --> 01:15:25.800 decided we'll allow open -air drug use. But they 01:15:25.800 --> 01:15:28.020 never did anything on the back end. They didn't 01:15:28.020 --> 01:15:29.239 create the programs that they said they were 01:15:29.239 --> 01:15:31.960 going to do. Law enforcement didn't enforce anything 01:15:31.960 --> 01:15:33.359 on it. And then people were coming to them like, 01:15:33.420 --> 01:15:36.819 why is this guy sitting over here using intravenous 01:15:36.819 --> 01:15:38.779 drugs in front of my six -year -old? This is 01:15:38.779 --> 01:15:41.020 a park. And the cops' hands are tied because 01:15:41.020 --> 01:15:42.539 they're like, well, it's perfectly legal for 01:15:42.539 --> 01:15:43.779 them to use this space. Like, yeah, but aren't 01:15:43.779 --> 01:15:45.500 you supposed to take them and put them in a facility 01:15:45.500 --> 01:15:47.140 where they can get the assistance they need in 01:15:47.140 --> 01:15:49.220 order to get off of this? And like, well, they 01:15:49.220 --> 01:15:50.920 never set that up. The money wasn't spent there. 01:15:51.020 --> 01:15:52.539 And then three years later, they're like, oh, 01:15:52.600 --> 01:15:54.930 we need to make these. illegal again because 01:15:54.930 --> 01:15:57.010 it's not it's not doing what we thought it would 01:15:57.010 --> 01:15:59.109 do but again they failed to follow up on the 01:15:59.109 --> 01:16:00.729 back end of what they were supposed to do they 01:16:00.729 --> 01:16:02.930 should have and again this is my opinion i'm 01:16:02.930 --> 01:16:05.430 not an expert of this stuff set up all the facilities 01:16:05.430 --> 01:16:07.729 and everything you need first then the last thing 01:16:07.729 --> 01:16:10.489 you do is make it legal 100 then you got everything 01:16:10.489 --> 01:16:12.670 you need to do it not like hey well we think 01:16:12.670 --> 01:16:14.069 it's a good idea to make this legal because let's 01:16:14.069 --> 01:16:16.470 let's be honest those people aren't voting you 01:16:16.470 --> 01:16:18.550 know what i mean they're like oh man they let 01:16:18.550 --> 01:16:20.109 us use drugs out in the open space we got to 01:16:20.109 --> 01:16:21.510 make sure to vote for them here in the next six 01:16:21.510 --> 01:16:23.329 months or two years down the road that's not 01:16:23.329 --> 01:16:26.649 happening so i don't understand how that would 01:16:26.649 --> 01:16:29.109 have been beneficial for the people who lived 01:16:29.109 --> 01:16:32.180 in that community you know what does the guy 01:16:32.180 --> 01:16:34.600 who's working his nine to five down the street 01:16:34.600 --> 01:16:36.140 from his apartment what does he get by having 01:16:36.140 --> 01:16:38.800 to walk around a guy who's smoking a meth pipe 01:16:38.800 --> 01:16:41.560 or doing heroin on the side of a car when he 01:16:41.560 --> 01:16:43.560 walks outside he doesn't want to see that you 01:16:43.560 --> 01:16:46.100 know especially not if he was more forward thinking 01:16:46.100 --> 01:16:47.800 more progressive and it's not like oh i do want 01:16:47.800 --> 01:16:49.560 these people to get their help so if we can get 01:16:49.560 --> 01:16:52.180 them a safe place to to use their drugs but they 01:16:52.180 --> 01:16:54.619 get rehab they get housing they get weaned off 01:16:54.619 --> 01:16:57.140 that drug that's what they really support i'm 01:16:57.140 --> 01:16:58.539 sure if you ask them hey would you support people 01:16:58.539 --> 01:16:59.960 just using drugs out in the open they're like 01:16:59.960 --> 01:17:02.520 no but i do support people getting help like 01:17:02.520 --> 01:17:05.220 exactly but when it's but when they did it backwards 01:17:05.220 --> 01:17:07.319 they saw oh this didn't work and then they had 01:17:07.319 --> 01:17:09.460 to go back and make it illegal again well i almost 01:17:09.460 --> 01:17:11.659 i mean a part of me thinks that was you know 01:17:11.659 --> 01:17:15.239 was that even the plan the whole time because 01:17:15.239 --> 01:17:17.159 if you want to show something doesn't work you 01:17:17.159 --> 01:17:19.520 do exactly that because you hear oh i didn't 01:17:19.520 --> 01:17:21.720 work in in portland i was like no he didn't do 01:17:21.720 --> 01:17:24.750 it right important like you said If you go to 01:17:24.750 --> 01:17:27.069 Portugal, they're not arrested. If it's, again, 01:17:27.210 --> 01:17:30.390 someone caught with a user's amount or a week's 01:17:30.390 --> 01:17:32.989 worth or whatever it is, they are given, basically 01:17:32.989 --> 01:17:35.069 are educated on the resources that are available. 01:17:35.329 --> 01:17:37.630 It's such a great system. And they literally 01:17:37.630 --> 01:17:40.250 reversed from the highest addiction issue to 01:17:40.250 --> 01:17:43.090 the lowest within less than 10 years. But they 01:17:43.090 --> 01:17:45.010 still have addicts. And as you said, those addicts, 01:17:45.010 --> 01:17:47.090 if they can get them, they still go to safe injection 01:17:47.090 --> 01:17:49.689 sites or they go to the methadone clinics or 01:17:49.689 --> 01:17:52.279 whatever it is. And they're still in the hands 01:17:52.279 --> 01:17:55.579 of the medical community. So unlike Ohio, where 01:17:55.579 --> 01:17:58.600 police officers and medics are responding constantly 01:17:58.600 --> 01:18:01.640 to overdoses, they're actually given a clinical 01:18:01.640 --> 01:18:05.140 amount and they're being monitored so they get 01:18:05.140 --> 01:18:07.659 there high, safely, and they're not dying under 01:18:07.659 --> 01:18:11.180 a park bench somewhere. So by piecemealing it, 01:18:11.220 --> 01:18:14.199 Obamacare is another perfect example. I had a 01:18:14.199 --> 01:18:16.899 bike years ago. My parents bought me a bike for 01:18:16.899 --> 01:18:19.039 my birthday and it was called a hybrid. And it 01:18:19.039 --> 01:18:21.159 was supposed to be the best part of a racing 01:18:21.159 --> 01:18:23.720 bike and the best part of a mountain bike. It 01:18:23.720 --> 01:18:26.659 was the opposite. It was the fragility of a racing 01:18:26.659 --> 01:18:30.220 bike and the slowness and weight of a mountain. 01:18:30.239 --> 01:18:33.100 It was absolute dog shit. So if you half -ass 01:18:33.100 --> 01:18:35.079 something, you know, you're going to get that. 01:18:35.199 --> 01:18:37.479 And if it's done, you know, if you do that, you've 01:18:37.479 --> 01:18:39.920 just added fuel to the fire of anyone who opposed 01:18:39.920 --> 01:18:42.520 it in the first place. What Portugal did, and 01:18:42.520 --> 01:18:44.359 it's funny you use the word referendum, that's 01:18:44.359 --> 01:18:46.310 what they did. They put it to the country. hey 01:18:46.310 --> 01:18:49.390 this american model is not working you know this 01:18:49.390 --> 01:18:51.989 whole war on drugs lock up every addict we're 01:18:51.989 --> 01:18:53.670 thinking of different you know different way 01:18:53.670 --> 01:18:56.170 they put it to the country they had a majority 01:18:56.170 --> 01:18:58.989 you know vote yes let's try this and then by 01:18:58.989 --> 01:19:00.909 the time i think it came to the next vote even 01:19:00.909 --> 01:19:02.789 all their opponents were on board like this is 01:19:02.789 --> 01:19:04.850 awesome and the only challenge they've had is 01:19:04.850 --> 01:19:07.510 so many people got well but then as politicians 01:19:07.510 --> 01:19:09.210 do some of the people like well we can start 01:19:09.210 --> 01:19:11.069 taking some of the money from that project now 01:19:11.069 --> 01:19:13.750 and now they've actually put the money back in 01:19:13.750 --> 01:19:16.180 because you take away those resources you're 01:19:16.180 --> 01:19:17.800 going to have people start to struggle again. 01:19:18.739 --> 01:19:22.439 But I mean, clean, safe streets and people who 01:19:22.439 --> 01:19:25.140 are struggling being taken care of by the medical 01:19:25.140 --> 01:19:28.720 community versus what we have here, dangerous 01:19:28.720 --> 01:19:30.659 streets and people who are struggling empowering 01:19:30.659 --> 01:19:34.260 the underworld. Yeah. Yeah, no. No, exactly. 01:19:34.359 --> 01:19:36.880 Because I mean, if I take an addict and I arrest 01:19:36.880 --> 01:19:40.760 them because I have F5 level of drugs on them 01:19:40.760 --> 01:19:42.520 and they go to jail, I write my little report 01:19:42.520 --> 01:19:45.510 or whatever. they'll be out in two days and they're 01:19:45.510 --> 01:19:47.109 going to do the same thing. And it's over and 01:19:47.109 --> 01:19:48.829 over again. That's job security for me. Cause 01:19:48.829 --> 01:19:50.750 I know about, Oh, Hey, there goes Jack Smith 01:19:50.750 --> 01:19:52.770 again. I'm going to go, let me check him out 01:19:52.770 --> 01:19:54.630 real quick. He's always got drugs on him, you 01:19:54.630 --> 01:19:57.229 know? And that's, I always refer to it as like 01:19:57.229 --> 01:19:58.609 the cycle. Like everybody has their different 01:19:58.609 --> 01:20:00.729 cycles, you know, whether it's Tammy and Tom 01:20:00.729 --> 01:20:02.289 always beating up each other when they get drunk, 01:20:02.409 --> 01:20:03.909 one of them gets arrested and so on and so on. 01:20:03.909 --> 01:20:06.329 There's their cycle. Or, you know, you got Mark 01:20:06.329 --> 01:20:09.010 and his son. tim tim's always running away i 01:20:09.010 --> 01:20:10.609 gotta go get him bring him back home that's the 01:20:10.609 --> 01:20:12.250 cycle that he's in and addicts you know they've 01:20:12.250 --> 01:20:14.010 got theirs everybody's got their cycle of what 01:20:14.010 --> 01:20:16.329 it is they do or what they're struggling with 01:20:16.329 --> 01:20:19.810 but arresting somebody putting them in jail for 01:20:19.810 --> 01:20:22.770 drugs having to get back out doesn't it doesn't 01:20:22.770 --> 01:20:26.489 get them off drugs you know so is it is it helping 01:20:26.489 --> 01:20:29.409 or is it hurting you know so because then you 01:20:29.409 --> 01:20:31.710 gotta ask yourself well who who deserves to be 01:20:31.710 --> 01:20:35.689 here the guy who is caught in an abandoned shed 01:20:35.689 --> 01:20:37.850 behind a house with nobody living in it, who's 01:20:37.850 --> 01:20:39.270 doing some drugs because the neighbor saw him 01:20:39.270 --> 01:20:43.989 and called, or the guy who is constantly assaulting 01:20:43.989 --> 01:20:46.390 his loved one in the house. Everybody's going 01:20:46.390 --> 01:20:47.869 to say the latter. That's the one who deserves 01:20:47.869 --> 01:20:50.109 to go. Get the first guy help, get the other 01:20:50.109 --> 01:20:52.289 guy in jail where he belongs. And then hopefully 01:20:52.289 --> 01:20:56.689 the person that he's assaulting will press charges 01:20:56.689 --> 01:20:58.529 on him and make sure he goes through with proper 01:20:58.529 --> 01:21:02.380 sentencing. I think that if we were to develop 01:21:02.380 --> 01:21:05.079 or improve the back end of what's supposed to 01:21:05.079 --> 01:21:07.460 assist with addiction and with housing and all 01:21:07.460 --> 01:21:09.739 that stuff, we'd be able to get a lot of people 01:21:09.739 --> 01:21:11.140 off the streets and solve a lot of the problems 01:21:11.140 --> 01:21:14.199 that we're having. But that issue in and of itself 01:21:14.199 --> 01:21:19.420 is kind of a symptom of a larger underlying issue. 01:21:19.680 --> 01:21:21.439 And that has to do with unemployment and jobs. 01:21:22.909 --> 01:21:26.170 used to be a hub for manufacturing when delphi 01:21:26.170 --> 01:21:28.229 was there and a couple other massive companies 01:21:28.229 --> 01:21:30.949 when they left now you got all these people between 01:21:30.949 --> 01:21:34.970 1864 with no jobs um struggling to find work 01:21:34.970 --> 01:21:37.850 you know they they get depressed then they go 01:21:37.850 --> 01:21:39.770 into addiction whether it's alcohol or some other 01:21:39.770 --> 01:21:42.810 kind of drug next thing you know they're caught 01:21:42.810 --> 01:21:44.989 in a cycle they would have never envisioned and 01:21:44.989 --> 01:21:47.470 because the place that their grandfather's grandfather's 01:21:47.470 --> 01:21:50.720 grandfather worked at doesn't exist anymore My 01:21:50.720 --> 01:21:53.119 wife's from North Canton. They have the Hoover 01:21:53.119 --> 01:21:56.380 factory there. So same thing that they left years 01:21:56.380 --> 01:21:59.619 ago. But you look at Portsmouth, Ohio, you know, 01:21:59.619 --> 01:22:02.319 some of the hubs of the fentanyl crisis now and 01:22:02.319 --> 01:22:04.460 you reverse engineer, you know, when did this 01:22:04.460 --> 01:22:06.279 start? You know, it began with the prescription 01:22:06.279 --> 01:22:09.439 drugs. And again, that legal side, we're preying 01:22:09.439 --> 01:22:12.569 on these very... areas of the country, they knew 01:22:12.569 --> 01:22:14.989 what they were doing, the Purdue farmers and 01:22:14.989 --> 01:22:16.850 some of these other ones, you know, the mining 01:22:16.850 --> 01:22:18.710 industries and the, you know, some of the other 01:22:18.710 --> 01:22:21.789 industrial areas where accidents were more prevalent. 01:22:22.409 --> 01:22:24.609 And then, you know, the pill mills get shut down 01:22:24.609 --> 01:22:27.430 ultimately. And now the cartels are bringing 01:22:27.430 --> 01:22:29.789 in the black tar heroin hitting the exact same 01:22:29.789 --> 01:22:32.689 areas. But again, like you said, reverse engineer 01:22:32.689 --> 01:22:35.609 is a mental health issue. If you, you know, are 01:22:35.609 --> 01:22:37.590 earning well and you feel comfortable and you've 01:22:37.590 --> 01:22:39.909 got benefits, you know. What's the chances of 01:22:39.909 --> 01:22:41.869 you having a mental health crisis? A lot less 01:22:41.869 --> 01:22:44.670 than now everything that you work for, that you 01:22:44.670 --> 01:22:47.489 poured yourself into for 15, 20 years has been 01:22:47.489 --> 01:22:50.090 snatched from you. And now, you know, if you're 01:22:50.090 --> 01:22:51.649 working at all, it's not going to be probably 01:22:51.649 --> 01:22:53.350 what your skill set is and you're struggling 01:22:53.350 --> 01:22:55.489 for money. And then anything that was lurking 01:22:55.489 --> 01:22:57.130 beneath the surface is obviously going to come 01:22:57.130 --> 01:22:59.210 up. And now you've got these predatory, whether 01:22:59.210 --> 01:23:04.070 it's legal or illegal, pill pushers. literally 01:23:04.070 --> 01:23:06.430 saturate in your town. And then you see exactly 01:23:06.430 --> 01:23:08.529 what we're seeing, which is hundreds of thousands 01:23:08.529 --> 01:23:11.050 of Americans dying from opioids every single 01:23:11.050 --> 01:23:15.050 year. When I first started in 2016, that was 01:23:15.050 --> 01:23:19.109 the height of the opioid epidemic in that section 01:23:19.109 --> 01:23:22.090 of Ohio. It was not unusual. I remember one day 01:23:22.090 --> 01:23:25.210 I went to 18 overdoses in one day. And because 01:23:25.210 --> 01:23:27.329 I was new and I was still really interested in 01:23:27.329 --> 01:23:29.630 finding out about people and kind of where they 01:23:29.630 --> 01:23:32.510 were coming from, I went. from a two -person, 01:23:32.710 --> 01:23:35.970 one fatal overdose directly after that to a three 01:23:35.970 --> 01:23:38.449 -person overdose. I found these two kids in the 01:23:38.449 --> 01:23:42.069 basement, got them Narcan. They came back. They 01:23:42.069 --> 01:23:43.470 were fine. Go upstairs because they were like, 01:23:43.510 --> 01:23:45.010 hey, there's a lady upstairs. There was a third 01:23:45.010 --> 01:23:48.970 one up there. Go up there. She was 45. I started 01:23:48.970 --> 01:23:51.569 talking to her once she was Narcan. I found out 01:23:51.569 --> 01:23:53.869 she had a warrant. But then I was like, you have 01:23:53.869 --> 01:23:56.829 no history. How do you go from no history to 01:23:56.829 --> 01:23:58.970 me finding you in an abandoned house on the second 01:23:58.970 --> 01:24:02.659 story in a bed? Just like in the situation you're 01:24:02.659 --> 01:24:04.619 in. And it was the same story I heard over and 01:24:04.619 --> 01:24:08.359 over and over again from people. Had a job, got 01:24:08.359 --> 01:24:11.300 injured. They prescribed me opioids. Insurance. 01:24:11.619 --> 01:24:12.979 Didn't have any more because I couldn't work 01:24:12.979 --> 01:24:14.739 because I didn't have a job. Heron was the next 01:24:14.739 --> 01:24:16.640 best thing I could use. And so this lady who 01:24:16.640 --> 01:24:18.739 had worked her entire life had never had any 01:24:18.739 --> 01:24:21.100 – she'd never been arrested. Now I'm arresting 01:24:21.100 --> 01:24:24.460 her for drug possession. Because when she came 01:24:24.460 --> 01:24:26.800 to, she had drugs on her and she had a warrant. 01:24:27.560 --> 01:24:31.220 And that is a – a cycle I see nine times out 01:24:31.220 --> 01:24:33.619 of 10 for a lot of people that I arrest, um, 01:24:33.840 --> 01:24:35.920 who are, who are dealing with addiction. And 01:24:35.920 --> 01:24:38.859 there's the, there's the very rare breed that 01:24:38.859 --> 01:24:42.100 I run into where a loved one or a parent actually 01:24:42.100 --> 01:24:43.979 injected them with drugs or got them on drugs. 01:24:44.100 --> 01:24:46.399 That's more rare than anything, but it's still, 01:24:46.479 --> 01:24:50.260 it's, it's not so rare that it's not uncommon. 01:24:50.560 --> 01:24:52.739 You know what I mean? It's not like, Oh, I've 01:24:52.739 --> 01:24:55.260 only heard this once. No, I've heard 10, 20 times 01:24:55.260 --> 01:24:57.539 that story. But the most common one is had a 01:24:57.539 --> 01:25:00.460 job, got hurt, got on drugs, Then lost the job 01:25:00.460 --> 01:25:02.500 and so on and so on. That's definitely the most 01:25:02.500 --> 01:25:05.859 common one. So, you know, it's unfortunate, but 01:25:05.859 --> 01:25:07.479 that's, you got to meet people where they're 01:25:07.479 --> 01:25:09.060 at. And a lot of times that's, that's what I 01:25:09.060 --> 01:25:10.399 ended up seeing and what I ended up having to 01:25:10.399 --> 01:25:12.800 deal with out there. And I think a lot of that 01:25:12.800 --> 01:25:15.659 could be remedied if you make the areas, especially 01:25:15.659 --> 01:25:17.279 the ones that are hard hit with drugs. If you 01:25:17.279 --> 01:25:21.119 make them beneficial to businesses to operate 01:25:21.119 --> 01:25:22.399 in where they say, Hey, this is a place where 01:25:22.399 --> 01:25:23.840 I really want to, I want to establish a business 01:25:23.840 --> 01:25:25.840 here. You got plenty of people of age that could 01:25:25.840 --> 01:25:27.979 work. Let's, let's get that started. Let's bring 01:25:27.979 --> 01:25:33.409 them in. But with the way that manufacturing 01:25:33.409 --> 01:25:35.850 has gone in the U .S. over the past four or five 01:25:35.850 --> 01:25:38.529 decades, I don't know how we're going to make 01:25:38.529 --> 01:25:41.829 these areas like Detroit, these areas like Dayton 01:25:41.829 --> 01:25:45.329 or other Rust Belt areas more beneficial to operate 01:25:45.329 --> 01:25:46.970 for these companies so they end up coming back 01:25:46.970 --> 01:25:50.750 and wanting to develop the areas. I had a conversation 01:25:50.750 --> 01:25:54.920 with some guests a few weeks ago now. And this 01:25:54.920 --> 01:25:57.000 wasn't the topic of the conversation, but they 01:25:57.000 --> 01:25:58.840 were in Detroit. And then I was asking again 01:25:58.840 --> 01:26:00.380 about, you know, from the fire side, there's 01:26:00.380 --> 01:26:02.399 a lot of vacancy. Detroit fire are constantly 01:26:02.399 --> 01:26:05.520 fighting fires, but they're just, you know, arson 01:26:05.520 --> 01:26:08.520 usually. And I was saying, well, how is the city 01:26:08.520 --> 01:26:10.560 doing now? And what's interesting is apparently 01:26:10.560 --> 01:26:15.260 some of these places that were the hub of addiction, 01:26:15.479 --> 01:26:19.100 they've seen this kind of circling round of people 01:26:19.100 --> 01:26:23.069 that have become clean. And then created groups 01:26:23.069 --> 01:26:27.010 or even businesses, you know, for, you know, 01:26:27.010 --> 01:26:29.630 addiction counseling and support groups. And 01:26:29.630 --> 01:26:32.189 they're actually now coming back to those places 01:26:32.189 --> 01:26:34.970 and they're seeing almost gentrification is the 01:26:34.970 --> 01:26:37.329 wrong word, but like reinvesting in some of these 01:26:37.329 --> 01:26:39.350 areas again and start rebuilding. Apparently, 01:26:39.529 --> 01:26:41.710 Detroit is one of them. And it was funny because 01:26:41.710 --> 01:26:44.329 you talked about arrest. One of the huge successes 01:26:44.329 --> 01:26:47.590 of the Portuguese model is say, you know, I'm 01:26:47.590 --> 01:26:51.069 an addict and you. detained me, because I'm not 01:26:51.069 --> 01:26:53.569 being arrested, and you give me this education 01:26:53.569 --> 01:26:56.590 on what's available to me, I wasn't arrested. 01:26:57.310 --> 01:27:00.670 So I lost my job, I fell, you know, I fell into 01:27:00.670 --> 01:27:03.310 depression, I, you know, hurt myself as well, 01:27:03.310 --> 01:27:05.609 was on these pills, found myself addicted, and 01:27:05.609 --> 01:27:08.710 the pills went away. So now I'm going to heroin, 01:27:08.949 --> 01:27:12.109 you know, you've caught me. But now I'm told, 01:27:12.170 --> 01:27:13.949 well, here are these resources, and you haven't 01:27:13.949 --> 01:27:16.289 given me a criminal record. So when I get back 01:27:16.289 --> 01:27:19.930 on my feet, i'm far more employable again here 01:27:19.930 --> 01:27:22.630 how can you tell an addict well wouldn't you 01:27:22.630 --> 01:27:24.670 just get a job you know or homeless whatever 01:27:24.670 --> 01:27:27.250 it is when you've got a arrest record for being 01:27:27.250 --> 01:27:29.869 homeless or being an addict now don't get me 01:27:29.869 --> 01:27:31.710 wrong you beat people up for money or you rob 01:27:31.710 --> 01:27:33.529 houses it's a whole different conversation but 01:27:33.529 --> 01:27:36.989 if it's just those those two things you've impact 01:27:36.989 --> 01:27:38.970 you know you've set them up for success if you 01:27:38.970 --> 01:27:42.289 haven't arrested them but you've given them It's 01:27:42.289 --> 01:27:44.630 education. So I think this is what's exciting 01:27:44.630 --> 01:27:46.710 now is there seems to be a movement where people 01:27:46.710 --> 01:27:48.550 are understanding what we've talked about today. 01:27:48.649 --> 01:27:52.250 We're seeing psychedelics and MDMA healing the 01:27:52.250 --> 01:27:54.609 very people that had to arrest people for it 01:27:54.609 --> 01:27:56.949 before, you know, so the whole PTSD conversation. 01:27:57.430 --> 01:28:00.750 But I think there is an awakening now where people 01:28:00.750 --> 01:28:03.529 are starting to come full circle to where this 01:28:03.529 --> 01:28:06.510 all began and actually start bringing the solutions. 01:28:06.590 --> 01:28:08.909 And I hope, you know, conversations like this 01:28:08.909 --> 01:28:11.949 will move the needle on how to do. proactive 01:28:11.949 --> 01:28:15.569 addiction, you know, address addiction in a proactive 01:28:15.569 --> 01:28:18.649 way so that we can get as many as we can back 01:28:18.649 --> 01:28:20.569 on their feet. There'll always be those ones 01:28:20.569 --> 01:28:22.250 that are just too far gone and it's heartbreaking. 01:28:22.710 --> 01:28:25.869 But how can we get that large portion back on 01:28:25.869 --> 01:28:28.189 the right side of the tracks again? And then 01:28:28.189 --> 01:28:30.329 they become a force multiplier in helping other 01:28:30.329 --> 01:28:34.020 people. Yeah, I mean, we have stuff like that. 01:28:34.020 --> 01:28:35.640 That's like outside of my scope, like what I 01:28:35.640 --> 01:28:38.100 do, I see it kind of more on the periphery, because 01:28:38.100 --> 01:28:43.079 I know where the clinics but I know where some 01:28:43.079 --> 01:28:46.000 of the locations are where addicts go to get 01:28:46.000 --> 01:28:48.439 rehabilitation, and things of that nature. And 01:28:48.439 --> 01:28:51.779 I'll stop and I'll talk to them to see is it 01:28:51.779 --> 01:28:53.680 working for them? Or if it's not working for 01:28:53.680 --> 01:28:55.500 them? Why isn't it working for them ran into 01:28:55.500 --> 01:28:58.319 this situation? Actually? When was it? It was 01:28:58.319 --> 01:29:01.210 the day before Thanksgiving. this giant rehab 01:29:01.210 --> 01:29:04.409 facility out of nowhere the guy who runs is just 01:29:04.409 --> 01:29:07.109 like y 'all gotta leave and i was talking to 01:29:07.109 --> 01:29:08.010 people i was like what do you mean you gotta 01:29:08.010 --> 01:29:09.750 leave like where are you supposed to go like 01:29:09.750 --> 01:29:11.550 well the place ran out of money it's been run 01:29:11.550 --> 01:29:12.909 out of money for six months i talked to one of 01:29:12.909 --> 01:29:14.250 the employees she's like i haven't been paid 01:29:14.250 --> 01:29:16.109 in over a month i'm still here though trying 01:29:16.109 --> 01:29:17.329 to get these people somewhere to stay i was like 01:29:17.329 --> 01:29:19.270 it's the day before thanksgiving i was like it's 01:29:19.270 --> 01:29:21.369 gonna be just it's a building these people could 01:29:21.369 --> 01:29:23.789 just stay in the building but no the guy was 01:29:23.789 --> 01:29:26.989 forcing them forcing them all out so you can 01:29:27.659 --> 01:29:29.819 You can kind of run into like that's a caveat 01:29:29.819 --> 01:29:31.399 with some of these places that allow you to get 01:29:31.399 --> 01:29:32.800 rehabilitation, but it's also a place that you 01:29:32.800 --> 01:29:36.960 stay in, because if the funding runs dry and 01:29:36.960 --> 01:29:38.699 everybody's got to vacate, well, then where do 01:29:38.699 --> 01:29:40.699 they go? Well, they end up on the street and 01:29:40.699 --> 01:29:42.899 they end up right back at square one doing the 01:29:42.899 --> 01:29:45.760 same thing. So the question then becomes, OK, 01:29:45.859 --> 01:29:49.460 how do we. better prevent stuff like that happening 01:29:49.460 --> 01:29:51.079 in the future well that's going to boil down 01:29:51.079 --> 01:29:53.319 to like well who's running the place you know 01:29:53.319 --> 01:29:55.000 because the guy was running this place i've heard 01:29:55.000 --> 01:29:57.020 his name through and through the streets and 01:29:57.020 --> 01:30:00.500 i've never heard anything good about it so if 01:30:00.500 --> 01:30:02.920 i know that and all the people there know that 01:30:02.920 --> 01:30:04.840 how come the people above him who are providing 01:30:04.840 --> 01:30:07.819 this individual money are unaware of that either 01:30:07.819 --> 01:30:14.010 someone's lying or someone is Not being honest, 01:30:14.090 --> 01:30:16.029 which is technically the same thing, I guess. 01:30:16.770 --> 01:30:19.090 Either what they're saying is true and it is 01:30:19.090 --> 01:30:21.409 happening, or they have a misunderstanding about 01:30:21.409 --> 01:30:23.810 what's happening. But because I've heard this 01:30:23.810 --> 01:30:27.170 individual's name for the past two years, I even 01:30:27.170 --> 01:30:28.770 ran into somebody from Homeland Security, I think, 01:30:28.789 --> 01:30:31.529 who's looking into the guy. I'm more likely to 01:30:31.529 --> 01:30:33.130 believe them because their stories are always 01:30:33.130 --> 01:30:35.960 consistent. about what's happening there so it 01:30:35.960 --> 01:30:38.739 sounds to me if you're going to have an environment 01:30:38.739 --> 01:30:41.399 or a business like that where you're going to 01:30:41.399 --> 01:30:43.020 do rehabilitation and you're giving these people 01:30:43.020 --> 01:30:45.720 housing it needs to be run by somebody who really 01:30:45.720 --> 01:30:48.220 understands how to keep that afloat because the 01:30:48.220 --> 01:30:50.260 last thing you want is to kick out 100 people 01:30:50.260 --> 01:30:52.439 the day before thanksgiving to the streets when 01:30:52.439 --> 01:30:54.420 it's 27 degrees outside because it gets really 01:30:54.420 --> 01:30:57.189 cold here and they've got nowhere to go And everybody 01:30:57.189 --> 01:30:59.590 was scrambling, like trying to find somewhere 01:30:59.590 --> 01:31:01.670 to be. And I was even to the point where I was 01:31:01.670 --> 01:31:03.369 going to offer some people rides. And we ended 01:31:03.369 --> 01:31:06.029 up doing it. One of the rookie officers I was 01:31:06.029 --> 01:31:07.550 with, I was like, hey, let's throw their stuff 01:31:07.550 --> 01:31:08.789 in the back of the car. We'll put their bikes 01:31:08.789 --> 01:31:10.149 in there. They said they had a place they could 01:31:10.149 --> 01:31:12.869 go because they were getting trespassed, I guess, 01:31:12.890 --> 01:31:15.489 for arguing. So we just took them down the street 01:31:15.489 --> 01:31:17.770 and they had a place to stay. But that was one 01:31:17.770 --> 01:31:20.670 of. 100 people who were sitting there some people 01:31:20.670 --> 01:31:22.510 are in wheelchairs like what do you do with them 01:31:22.510 --> 01:31:23.970 you're just gonna be like oh sorry put them out 01:31:23.970 --> 01:31:26.149 on the curb like here you go good luck lock the 01:31:26.149 --> 01:31:28.890 place up and leave you know part of me feels 01:31:28.890 --> 01:31:30.529 you feel for them because you don't want anybody 01:31:30.529 --> 01:31:34.010 to be in that situation but at the end of the 01:31:34.010 --> 01:31:36.550 day there's only so much an individual like myself 01:31:36.550 --> 01:31:38.470 can can do for somebody like that i can kind 01:31:38.470 --> 01:31:40.329 of guide them hey here's where you might be able 01:31:40.329 --> 01:31:43.329 to go um but sometimes it's not always feasible 01:31:43.329 --> 01:31:45.810 for them again it goes back to what i was saying 01:31:45.810 --> 01:31:48.439 what's being put on the shoulders of first responders 01:31:48.439 --> 01:31:50.760 or police or fire or EMS while everyone else 01:31:50.760 --> 01:31:52.800 kind of turns their head or is drawn into their 01:31:52.800 --> 01:31:55.100 TV screen. And this is it. I mean, we have enough 01:31:55.100 --> 01:31:57.479 resources to make sure no one is homeless, full 01:31:57.479 --> 01:31:59.439 stop. People always say, oh, I know a guy. And 01:31:59.439 --> 01:32:01.380 even if you helped him, he wouldn't want to. 01:32:01.380 --> 01:32:03.180 Okay, well, then that's the guy. He's an urban 01:32:03.180 --> 01:32:04.979 camper now if he's choosing to be out there. 01:32:05.060 --> 01:32:06.920 But what about all the other people that don't 01:32:06.920 --> 01:32:08.500 want to be homeless, you know, that do want to 01:32:08.500 --> 01:32:09.899 have a roof over their head and food in their 01:32:09.899 --> 01:32:13.170 stomach? Maybe not have to tie their dog to a 01:32:13.170 --> 01:32:15.909 lamppost while they stand by traffic, inhaling 01:32:15.909 --> 01:32:18.289 fumes for nine hours a day, holding a cardboard 01:32:18.289 --> 01:32:22.010 sign. I don't think that was in their wish list 01:32:22.010 --> 01:32:25.550 when they were in elementary school. I think 01:32:25.550 --> 01:32:28.770 that going back to that humanitarian thing, we 01:32:28.770 --> 01:32:31.670 have been in this environment that's so money 01:32:31.670 --> 01:32:34.789 -focused for a long time. How do we get back 01:32:34.789 --> 01:32:37.640 to that? humanity that we do have in this country 01:32:37.640 --> 01:32:40.020 we are a very compassionate nation i would argue 01:32:40.020 --> 01:32:42.899 so and then boil it down to the community level 01:32:42.899 --> 01:32:45.079 where we're helping our own you know whether 01:32:45.079 --> 01:32:46.880 it's the homeless the addicts you know anyone 01:32:46.880 --> 01:32:49.399 else who's struggling the sex workers and getting 01:32:49.399 --> 01:32:52.619 them back to to being in a place where they dreamed 01:32:52.619 --> 01:32:54.479 of when they were a child because there's no 01:32:54.479 --> 01:32:58.100 no desperate person out there dreamt of that 01:32:58.100 --> 01:33:00.420 when they were three years old you know sure 01:33:00.420 --> 01:33:03.909 so the big difference though between that example 01:33:03.909 --> 01:33:05.550 and then like the stuff with haiti as far as 01:33:05.550 --> 01:33:08.689 humanitarian stuff goes is um again return on 01:33:08.689 --> 01:33:10.710 investment there's a massive return on investment 01:33:10.710 --> 01:33:13.850 on getting an individual who is street ridden 01:33:13.850 --> 01:33:15.449 addicted to drugs getting them off drugs getting 01:33:15.449 --> 01:33:16.850 them off the street getting them in housing getting 01:33:16.850 --> 01:33:19.750 them a job they they went full circle from being 01:33:19.750 --> 01:33:22.510 productive being on the street living that life 01:33:22.510 --> 01:33:24.350 and then back to being productive again yeah 01:33:24.350 --> 01:33:28.319 you know i've always said is you you give a man 01:33:28.319 --> 01:33:30.680 purpose and i'm just using man just as a general 01:33:30.680 --> 01:33:34.579 term give a person purpose right and they'll 01:33:34.579 --> 01:33:36.859 find a way to succeed on their own but if you 01:33:36.859 --> 01:33:38.560 look at your life and you wake up and you open 01:33:38.560 --> 01:33:40.619 up you know the the lid on your cardboard box 01:33:40.619 --> 01:33:42.359 and look outside and there's no purpose to anything 01:33:42.359 --> 01:33:44.000 you're doing you're not going to do anything 01:33:44.000 --> 01:33:46.840 so the return on investment on getting that individual 01:33:46.840 --> 01:33:48.579 off the street getting them back on their feet 01:33:48.579 --> 01:33:52.399 getting a job it pays for itself you know tenfold 01:33:53.170 --> 01:33:55.329 They they're back, they're working, you know, 01:33:55.329 --> 01:33:57.850 are paying taxes or whatever. Maybe they go get 01:33:57.850 --> 01:33:59.390 an apartment and then they get a house and so 01:33:59.390 --> 01:34:03.310 on and so on. And if you do that multiple times, 01:34:03.430 --> 01:34:06.170 you know, again and again and again, that's that's 01:34:06.170 --> 01:34:09.109 a net benefit to society, you know, and I'm not 01:34:09.109 --> 01:34:11.949 talking financially. It's a benefit to that individual. 01:34:12.050 --> 01:34:13.829 It's a benefit to the people around that individual 01:34:13.829 --> 01:34:17.029 because maybe that same person that got themselves 01:34:17.029 --> 01:34:19.439 squared away. knows person who's in the same 01:34:19.439 --> 01:34:21.359 situation and go talk to them like hey i know 01:34:21.359 --> 01:34:23.479 you talk to experts who have never lived this 01:34:23.479 --> 01:34:25.100 life but i've lived it i've been there that's 01:34:25.100 --> 01:34:27.079 why i love listening these people talk who finally 01:34:27.079 --> 01:34:30.500 get themselves um squared away when they talk 01:34:30.500 --> 01:34:32.479 about the the detriments of living on the street 01:34:32.479 --> 01:34:33.859 how they were able to find their footing like 01:34:33.859 --> 01:34:35.600 those are the people you need to listen to they're 01:34:35.600 --> 01:34:37.420 the experts on it because they've done it not 01:34:37.420 --> 01:34:39.640 somebody who went to grad school and studied 01:34:39.640 --> 01:34:42.640 you know homelessness from a book they have no 01:34:42.640 --> 01:34:44.989 idea what they're talking about academically 01:34:44.989 --> 01:34:46.649 they might you know they can throw a bunch of 01:34:46.649 --> 01:34:48.489 statistics at you but they've never been digging 01:34:48.489 --> 01:34:50.489 through garbage trying to find something to eat 01:34:50.489 --> 01:34:52.850 to make it to the next day you know so i'd listen 01:34:52.850 --> 01:34:55.189 to the person with the experience versus the 01:34:55.189 --> 01:34:57.489 person with the the knowledge they attained from 01:34:57.489 --> 01:35:00.489 reading in books absolutely couldn't agree more 01:35:00.489 --> 01:35:02.649 all right well one more area before we go to 01:35:02.649 --> 01:35:06.270 some closing questions you are a high level fencer 01:35:06.270 --> 01:35:09.930 as well so again we were talking last in 2021 01:35:09.930 --> 01:35:12.210 so what are some of the kind of highs that you've 01:35:12.210 --> 01:35:16.329 had in that sport since Like I said, in 2021, 01:35:16.729 --> 01:35:23.789 I was on the cusp of going to Tokyo because that 01:35:23.789 --> 01:35:25.949 all got delayed. So this actually goes back to 01:35:25.949 --> 01:35:29.510 2019 when a lot of that stuff was happening. 01:35:30.170 --> 01:35:34.529 And because that all got kind of ruined by what 01:35:34.529 --> 01:35:36.470 happened with COVID, I was like, you know what? 01:35:37.949 --> 01:35:39.670 done fencing so i actually like was just like 01:35:39.670 --> 01:35:41.189 not gonna fence anymore i didn't officially retire 01:35:41.189 --> 01:35:43.869 from the sport but i was like uh i'm old enough 01:35:43.869 --> 01:35:46.529 i'm i'm i'm not gonna do it so i stopped fencing 01:35:46.529 --> 01:35:50.289 i didn't fence uh at all in 2022 and then i got 01:35:50.289 --> 01:35:55.329 a phone call from from a retired rocket scientist 01:35:56.360 --> 01:35:59.520 Oddly enough, and he had crunched all the numbers. 01:35:59.920 --> 01:36:02.300 And he was all like, Hey, I know, I've heard 01:36:02.300 --> 01:36:04.119 that you're not really competing anymore. But 01:36:04.119 --> 01:36:06.960 I wanted to tell you, based on the numbers and 01:36:06.960 --> 01:36:10.399 what I've done, you're still the number one ranked 01:36:10.399 --> 01:36:13.159 person in this hemisphere. And I feel like if 01:36:13.159 --> 01:36:14.920 you come back, because they changed the qualification 01:36:14.920 --> 01:36:19.100 criteria for Paris, I think like you have a really 01:36:19.100 --> 01:36:21.220 good chance of making it and I was like, Uh, 01:36:21.479 --> 01:36:25.220 okay. Who are you? I'm a rocket scientist. Yeah. 01:36:25.899 --> 01:36:28.140 And then, and then he tells me and like, I, I 01:36:28.140 --> 01:36:31.479 still know who he is now, but, um, I was like, 01:36:31.520 --> 01:36:35.039 okay, cool. So I, I looked into what he was saying. 01:36:35.199 --> 01:36:36.760 I realized that he was right. I was like, okay, 01:36:36.779 --> 01:36:38.880 I gotta, I'm going to have to get some, some 01:36:38.880 --> 01:36:43.380 money together to be able to do this. And I ended 01:36:43.380 --> 01:36:47.640 up going back down to Brazil for the Pan Am games. 01:36:47.899 --> 01:36:49.539 Now, bear in mind, I hadn't fenced in like a 01:36:49.539 --> 01:36:52.479 year. and i i think i practiced like for like 01:36:52.479 --> 01:36:54.220 one hour i was like i think i can move around 01:36:54.220 --> 01:36:56.140 a little bit in the chair okay let's see what 01:36:56.140 --> 01:36:59.420 happens i go down there man it was rough i think 01:36:59.420 --> 01:37:02.859 typically i would in pools if i pulls like five 01:37:02.859 --> 01:37:04.520 six seven people it's like how many people you 01:37:04.520 --> 01:37:06.939 fence in order to get direct elimination uh i 01:37:06.939 --> 01:37:08.680 think i lost like two or three bouts to people 01:37:08.680 --> 01:37:10.180 i'd never lost for before i was like what is 01:37:10.180 --> 01:37:13.720 going on um then i got into direct elimination 01:37:13.720 --> 01:37:16.640 and i won every single bout pretty much with 01:37:16.640 --> 01:37:18.979 ease after that and as i remember a director 01:37:18.979 --> 01:37:20.720 came over to him he's like oh i saw you you knocked 01:37:20.720 --> 01:37:23.100 the rust off in those uh those pull bouts and 01:37:23.100 --> 01:37:24.520 you finally found your footing and like because 01:37:24.520 --> 01:37:27.359 i think i won my first my first de was like 15 01:37:27.359 --> 01:37:30.560 -1 then 15 -3 then like 15 -0 wow um and then 01:37:30.560 --> 01:37:34.479 i won the final like 15 uh it's like 15 -3 or 01:37:34.479 --> 01:37:36.800 15 -4 or something like that um but actually 01:37:36.800 --> 01:37:40.420 me and the guy who i won against we had made 01:37:40.420 --> 01:37:43.340 history because it was two two americans uh garrett 01:37:43.340 --> 01:37:47.340 who's also on the team uh he went we went one 01:37:47.340 --> 01:37:50.039 and two so it was it was america and first and 01:37:50.039 --> 01:37:52.760 second place which was really cool and then i 01:37:52.760 --> 01:37:54.579 was like okay i was like i i think i can probably 01:37:54.579 --> 01:37:56.659 still do this again and what they changed about 01:37:56.659 --> 01:37:59.699 the criteria for qualifying was so i'm a foilist 01:37:59.699 --> 01:38:02.579 i fence one weapon i don't fence multiple weapons 01:38:02.579 --> 01:38:04.359 there's some people who do and i understand why 01:38:04.359 --> 01:38:06.159 you would like if you're going to fly to thailand 01:38:06.159 --> 01:38:07.920 you don't want to just compete in like one event 01:38:08.350 --> 01:38:09.829 fence as many events as you can because you're 01:38:09.829 --> 01:38:11.729 already there you spent 27 hours getting there 01:38:11.729 --> 01:38:15.109 you know fence as much as possible me i'm just 01:38:15.109 --> 01:38:17.029 kind of like i want to do one thing i'm not interested 01:38:17.029 --> 01:38:19.369 in doing the other stuff well it used to be you 01:38:19.369 --> 01:38:21.250 had to do two weapons and they would qualify 01:38:21.250 --> 01:38:22.590 you based on the two weapons well they changed 01:38:22.590 --> 01:38:24.210 the criteria for paris to where it was just one 01:38:24.210 --> 01:38:26.050 i was like that's great because all i do is foil 01:38:26.050 --> 01:38:30.689 so win that pan am games um and then i just kind 01:38:30.689 --> 01:38:33.729 of went on about with the rest of the season 01:38:34.439 --> 01:38:36.460 uh i think that might have been the same year 01:38:36.460 --> 01:38:39.800 i was like 15th at world championships in south 01:38:39.800 --> 01:38:43.880 korea and then fast forward to i want to say 01:38:43.880 --> 01:38:47.699 it was may of 2024 i'm back at the pan am games 01:38:47.699 --> 01:38:51.020 again in brazil now this same guy who told me 01:38:51.020 --> 01:38:54.859 that i had really good prospects for making it 01:38:54.859 --> 01:38:57.680 to the games for whatever reason he decided to 01:38:57.680 --> 01:38:59.939 tell me that february so three months before 01:38:59.939 --> 01:39:05.050 may came along oh by the way if this guy from 01:39:05.050 --> 01:39:08.810 columb or sorry from argentina wins he'll take 01:39:08.810 --> 01:39:11.630 your spot and you won't go to the games and i 01:39:11.630 --> 01:39:12.729 was like why on earth would you tell me that 01:39:12.729 --> 01:39:14.649 three months in advance just let me fence i'm 01:39:14.649 --> 01:39:15.829 not worried about i don't want to think about 01:39:15.829 --> 01:39:17.409 any of this stuff so for three months i got this 01:39:17.409 --> 01:39:20.670 in the back of my head oh crap if this guy went 01:39:20.670 --> 01:39:23.189 like i don't need to win this guy just can't 01:39:23.189 --> 01:39:25.909 win so if he loses and like the round of eight 01:39:25.909 --> 01:39:27.909 or the round of four, I'm fine. My spot's solidified. 01:39:28.069 --> 01:39:30.770 So we get there, get back to Brazil. I'm like, 01:39:30.810 --> 01:39:32.810 all right, let's go. I show up at like seven 01:39:32.810 --> 01:39:34.069 in the morning thinking I'm going to fence at 01:39:34.069 --> 01:39:35.449 nine. They're like, no, you're ranked number 01:39:35.449 --> 01:39:37.029 one. You don't fence till two in the afternoon. 01:39:37.229 --> 01:39:39.510 I was like, oh. So I had to like sit around all 01:39:39.510 --> 01:39:43.189 day. So I get there. I'm just hanging out. And 01:39:43.189 --> 01:39:44.529 then lo and behold, I'm looking at the bracket. 01:39:44.670 --> 01:39:47.010 I'm seated number one. And the guy that cannot 01:39:47.010 --> 01:39:49.430 win is seated number two. And I was like, oh 01:39:49.430 --> 01:39:53.149 no, here we go. So I fenced my first match, win 01:39:53.149 --> 01:39:55.260 that. Since my second match, when that who's 01:39:55.260 --> 01:39:57.140 in the finals, me and the guy who's not supposed 01:39:57.140 --> 01:39:58.939 to win, because if he does and I don't go to 01:39:58.939 --> 01:40:02.279 the game. So it really boiled down to that particular 01:40:02.279 --> 01:40:04.699 match. Like that was I knew when I was sitting 01:40:04.699 --> 01:40:06.760 out in front of him, like, OK, if I lose this, 01:40:06.920 --> 01:40:09.060 I don't go to the games. If I win this, I definitely 01:40:09.060 --> 01:40:12.159 go to the games. And one minute in the score 01:40:12.159 --> 01:40:14.539 was 13 -3. And I was like, oh, I was like, I 01:40:14.539 --> 01:40:16.420 think I'm OK. So then I laxed up. He got like 01:40:16.420 --> 01:40:17.979 four touches in a row. And then I was like, pow, 01:40:18.079 --> 01:40:20.350 pow, ended it. And then that was it. And then 01:40:20.350 --> 01:40:22.550 I was like, I was qualified for the games. Now, 01:40:22.630 --> 01:40:25.710 Garrett, the guy I mentioned earlier, he was 01:40:25.710 --> 01:40:29.229 kind of in he was kind of in this weird limbo 01:40:29.229 --> 01:40:34.510 spot because he was in he was like on the cusp 01:40:34.510 --> 01:40:38.250 of qualifying. But he was like, oh, my God, I'm 01:40:38.250 --> 01:40:40.149 running out of time. I have to go back home. 01:40:40.210 --> 01:40:42.409 I have to work. And I was like, call work. I 01:40:42.409 --> 01:40:44.590 was like, you need to stay. Stay one more day, 01:40:44.710 --> 01:40:46.829 because if you do well enough and this next event 01:40:46.829 --> 01:40:50.159 will qualify as a team. lo and behold he stays 01:40:50.159 --> 01:40:52.659 one more day ends up doing fantastic qualifies 01:40:52.659 --> 01:40:54.479 and so he ends up going had he left he would 01:40:54.479 --> 01:40:56.020 have never gone and we wouldn't have had the 01:40:56.020 --> 01:40:58.180 team when we went there and then this kid noah 01:40:58.180 --> 01:41:00.199 ended up doing fantastic ended up winning his 01:41:00.199 --> 01:41:02.779 event and he also qualified so a bunch of us 01:41:02.779 --> 01:41:06.060 three all three guys who ended up going were 01:41:06.060 --> 01:41:08.979 all first time uh paralympian qualifiers so it 01:41:08.979 --> 01:41:11.539 was actually really cool um that we got to go 01:41:11.539 --> 01:41:16.140 so um then everything after that was kind of 01:41:16.140 --> 01:41:18.829 just crazy We had to do press stuff, had to go 01:41:18.829 --> 01:41:22.369 to OTC, and then doing opening ceremonies in 01:41:22.369 --> 01:41:26.409 the games was crazy. I'd never seen so many people. 01:41:26.590 --> 01:41:28.109 Macron was there. The president was there. He 01:41:28.109 --> 01:41:30.310 came and gave a speech and talked to us and everything. 01:41:30.689 --> 01:41:33.270 We got to compete in something called the Grand 01:41:33.270 --> 01:41:36.510 Palais, which is a big venue just outside of 01:41:36.510 --> 01:41:39.510 the Eiffel Tower. That's where they usually have 01:41:39.510 --> 01:41:42.550 the CIP event, which is a big able -bodied fencing 01:41:42.550 --> 01:41:46.329 event they usually have at that venue. So the 01:41:46.329 --> 01:41:48.729 French were like super receptive. I talked to 01:41:48.729 --> 01:41:50.529 a guy when I was in France. I said, how do you 01:41:50.529 --> 01:41:52.149 feel about the games being here? Oh, I was like, 01:41:52.189 --> 01:41:53.949 I hate it. He's like, but what I do love is how 01:41:53.949 --> 01:41:56.109 clean everything is. So they cleaned up the whole 01:41:56.109 --> 01:41:59.270 city everywhere you went. It was pristine. It 01:41:59.270 --> 01:42:02.689 was great. And so I was I'm big into trading 01:42:02.689 --> 01:42:04.210 patches with different police departments. And 01:42:04.210 --> 01:42:06.449 I saw these guys ride by on these bikes. So I 01:42:06.449 --> 01:42:07.710 walked up to him. I thought they were French. 01:42:08.300 --> 01:42:10.260 and uh i was like hey excuse me the guy turns 01:42:10.260 --> 01:42:12.399 around he's like hey and i was like oh they were 01:42:12.399 --> 01:42:15.060 british guys it was four british cops so i was 01:42:15.060 --> 01:42:16.420 like i was like hey you guys want to trade some 01:42:16.420 --> 01:42:18.079 patches and they're like oh we don't have any 01:42:18.079 --> 01:42:19.819 patches and this guy like pulled out this giant 01:42:19.819 --> 01:42:21.520 bag he's like what do you need and like opens 01:42:21.520 --> 01:42:23.600 it up and so we exchanged a bunch of patches 01:42:23.600 --> 01:42:27.680 with them then i went competed uh i won my won 01:42:27.680 --> 01:42:30.159 my first bout and then i lost my second one to 01:42:30.159 --> 01:42:33.960 uh italian guy and then he lost to a chinese 01:42:33.960 --> 01:42:36.739 guy and the chinese guy he ended up winning four 01:42:36.739 --> 01:42:38.960 gold medals at that event and come to find out 01:42:38.960 --> 01:42:40.840 they haven't lost since like 1996 or something 01:42:40.840 --> 01:42:43.340 like that the chinese are very dominant in in 01:42:43.340 --> 01:42:47.420 my sport then after the games we did the um closing 01:42:47.420 --> 01:42:49.199 ceremonies once everything was all said and done 01:42:49.199 --> 01:42:52.539 which was wild it was a giant soccer stadium 01:42:52.539 --> 01:42:54.979 or football stadium for my european friends out 01:42:54.979 --> 01:42:58.220 there and uh there were 70 80 000 people all 01:42:58.220 --> 01:42:59.800 cheering it was pouring rain but it was still 01:42:59.800 --> 01:43:03.560 really cool they had a huge show um then i come 01:43:03.560 --> 01:43:06.869 back to the states And that was in August. And 01:43:06.869 --> 01:43:08.750 then in September, was it September, October, 01:43:08.949 --> 01:43:13.369 October, went out to D .C., met the president. 01:43:14.029 --> 01:43:15.590 Actually, I have a picture with Hunter Biden, 01:43:15.729 --> 01:43:19.470 which is really funny because he was I'm sitting 01:43:19.470 --> 01:43:21.050 at the bleachers. I'm sitting next to Garrett. 01:43:21.810 --> 01:43:24.510 And he's like, hey, who was that guy over there? 01:43:24.569 --> 01:43:26.010 Because this guy came out behind the bleachers 01:43:26.010 --> 01:43:27.609 and was like walking around like he disappeared. 01:43:27.729 --> 01:43:28.989 And I was like, I don't know. And then he pops 01:43:28.989 --> 01:43:30.310 back up again. I was like, oh, that's Hunter 01:43:30.310 --> 01:43:34.310 Biden. That's that's. president biden's son did 01:43:34.310 --> 01:43:40.449 he ask you for your email address so so uh president 01:43:40.449 --> 01:43:42.590 biden ends up finishing like his speech or whatever 01:43:42.590 --> 01:43:44.390 which was actually pretty funny he was pretty 01:43:44.390 --> 01:43:45.869 funny he comes over start shaking everybody's 01:43:45.869 --> 01:43:48.090 hand saying hi to everybody i saw merrick garland 01:43:48.090 --> 01:43:51.630 sitting uh just in front of like where the president 01:43:51.630 --> 01:43:52.869 was so i was going to go over and get a picture 01:43:52.869 --> 01:43:54.229 with him because most of these people i was with 01:43:54.229 --> 01:43:55.770 they don't really follow politics so they don't 01:43:55.770 --> 01:43:57.510 know any of these people there was like 700 people 01:43:57.510 --> 01:44:00.020 there watching and everything And I spotted Merrick 01:44:00.020 --> 01:44:01.220 Garland right away. I was like, I'm going to 01:44:01.220 --> 01:44:02.539 go try and get a picture. But by the time I got 01:44:02.539 --> 01:44:04.300 up and walked over there, he was gone. So then 01:44:04.300 --> 01:44:05.859 I started walking this little U because they 01:44:05.859 --> 01:44:07.859 had us like walk in this U area where all these 01:44:07.859 --> 01:44:09.220 people could say like, hello and congratulations 01:44:09.220 --> 01:44:10.939 to all the Olympians and Paralympians that were 01:44:10.939 --> 01:44:13.220 there. And lo and behold, Hunter's just kind 01:44:13.220 --> 01:44:14.659 of like standing there, like looking around. 01:44:14.760 --> 01:44:16.859 I was like, hey, Hunter. And he looks over like 01:44:16.859 --> 01:44:18.399 kind of surprised that anybody said his name. 01:44:18.619 --> 01:44:19.979 And I was like, let's get a picture. He was like, 01:44:20.060 --> 01:44:23.140 OK. So I took a picture with him. And like that 01:44:23.140 --> 01:44:25.800 was kind of like my claim to fame for for that 01:44:25.800 --> 01:44:28.560 thing. And then. after that went back home and 01:44:28.560 --> 01:44:31.720 then i've taken all of 2025 off i'm not competing 01:44:31.720 --> 01:44:35.239 at all uh this year i've trained some but um 01:44:35.239 --> 01:44:37.880 and i went back to washington uh washington state 01:44:37.880 --> 01:44:40.720 where my coach lives and i've done some training 01:44:40.720 --> 01:44:44.140 out there but my first competition is in february 01:44:44.140 --> 01:44:46.039 in cincinnati and i'm just going because it's 01:44:46.039 --> 01:44:47.960 close i don't typically fence nationally anymore 01:44:47.960 --> 01:44:50.300 but it's right there it's a 45 -minute drive 01:44:50.300 --> 01:44:52.850 from my house so i was like i gotta go And then, 01:44:52.850 --> 01:44:55.289 like I said, Bradenton is the first World Cup. 01:44:55.390 --> 01:44:57.649 That's kind of where I'll see where I'm at physically. 01:44:58.010 --> 01:45:00.470 And then the first qualifying event is in Brazil, 01:45:00.609 --> 01:45:03.670 I think in October next year. And then 2027 is 01:45:03.670 --> 01:45:07.069 when everything ramps up for for L .A. So we'll 01:45:07.069 --> 01:45:09.130 see how it goes. The nice thing is, I feel like 01:45:09.130 --> 01:45:11.770 once you qualify once, the pressure of trying 01:45:11.770 --> 01:45:14.470 to qualify again doesn't it doesn't feel the 01:45:14.470 --> 01:45:16.029 same. Like it's not really there. Like I've done 01:45:16.029 --> 01:45:17.369 this before. I've reached the pinnacle of like 01:45:17.369 --> 01:45:19.949 the highest thing I can do in my sport. Now everything 01:45:19.949 --> 01:45:21.489 else is kind of just like cruise control, really. 01:45:22.560 --> 01:45:25.880 You said there's three types. Is it foil, epee, 01:45:26.020 --> 01:45:28.859 and saber? Yep, those are them. All right. I 01:45:28.859 --> 01:45:30.920 fenced for a heartbeat a long, long time ago. 01:45:30.960 --> 01:45:32.319 I should remember if that's right. So just for 01:45:32.319 --> 01:45:33.779 people listening, what are the differences between 01:45:33.779 --> 01:45:37.279 the three types? Mostly it's, so there's a concept 01:45:37.279 --> 01:45:39.010 of right -of -way. Easiest way to think about 01:45:39.010 --> 01:45:41.750 it is like whose turn it is to attack. So in 01:45:41.750 --> 01:45:44.229 foil and saber, just because I hit you first 01:45:44.229 --> 01:45:46.810 doesn't necessarily mean it's my turn. So whoever 01:45:46.810 --> 01:45:48.550 has right of way, that's what it'll qualify for. 01:45:48.890 --> 01:45:51.270 In my event, the easiest way to think about what 01:45:51.270 --> 01:45:53.770 target area is or where you can get hit is take 01:45:53.770 --> 01:45:56.760 a t -shirt, cut the sleeves off. that's it you 01:45:56.760 --> 01:45:58.619 can be hit anywhere that that shirt would cover 01:45:58.619 --> 01:46:02.600 um down to your waist uh in saber anything from 01:46:02.600 --> 01:46:05.199 the waist up is target including your head but 01:46:05.199 --> 01:46:06.859 not your hands so everything from your wrist 01:46:06.859 --> 01:46:09.880 all the way to your waist and your head um and 01:46:09.880 --> 01:46:11.380 in that particular weapon it's not a point weapon 01:46:11.380 --> 01:46:14.239 so you can be hit with the side of the blade 01:46:14.239 --> 01:46:17.380 as opposed to just the tip and then in epa epa 01:46:17.380 --> 01:46:19.279 is the easiest one to understand there are no 01:46:19.279 --> 01:46:21.100 rules your whole body's target whether it's your 01:46:21.100 --> 01:46:23.520 toe your head your fingertip doesn't matter the 01:46:23.520 --> 01:46:26.699 whole objective behind that one is hit the person 01:46:26.699 --> 01:46:28.920 do not get hit yourself that's pretty much it 01:46:28.920 --> 01:46:30.819 which is why a lot of people when they're introduced 01:46:30.819 --> 01:46:34.119 to fencing epa is the easiest to start with because 01:46:34.119 --> 01:46:36.659 the concept of hit them don't get hit and they 01:46:36.659 --> 01:46:38.619 can hit you anywhere is very easy to understand 01:46:38.619 --> 01:46:40.819 where i start talking as soon as you start talking 01:46:40.819 --> 01:46:43.300 right away the eyes go dead people get confused 01:46:43.300 --> 01:46:45.579 they have no idea what you're talking about and 01:46:45.579 --> 01:46:47.479 i'm like no it's like tag it's like when it's 01:46:47.479 --> 01:46:49.699 your turn to attack you can and as long as they 01:46:49.699 --> 01:46:52.479 don't take your blade and you don't miss They 01:46:52.479 --> 01:46:54.619 don't take right of way from you. So as long 01:46:54.619 --> 01:46:56.239 as you hit them, whether it's on target or off 01:46:56.239 --> 01:46:59.680 target, you'll be fine. So it's a lot easier 01:46:59.680 --> 01:47:02.279 if you learn foil or saber first to go to Epe. 01:47:02.300 --> 01:47:05.199 If you learn Epe, you pretty much just stay in 01:47:05.199 --> 01:47:07.140 Epe because you're just complicating stuff by 01:47:07.140 --> 01:47:10.420 adding the right of way rule to it. But I've 01:47:10.420 --> 01:47:13.600 fenced foil for 20 some odd years. So that's 01:47:13.600 --> 01:47:15.600 just what I'm comfortable with. And you fenced 01:47:15.600 --> 01:47:18.460 before the accident, didn't you? Yeah. I fenced 01:47:18.460 --> 01:47:24.029 from 2000 to 2000. 16. Okay. So I got hurt. And 01:47:24.029 --> 01:47:26.529 my whole point of doing that was I just wanted 01:47:26.529 --> 01:47:29.609 to qualify for the veteran world team when I 01:47:29.609 --> 01:47:33.390 turned 40, which would have been last year. Or 01:47:33.390 --> 01:47:35.029 no, sorry, two years ago. Jesus, I'm almost, 01:47:35.189 --> 01:47:39.609 I'll be 42 next year. So that was my main goal. 01:47:40.090 --> 01:47:45.750 But after the accident, I stepped away from fencing. 01:47:47.000 --> 01:47:49.100 for like two years and then my buddy lauren i 01:47:49.100 --> 01:47:51.239 talked to uh who i used to fence with who actually 01:47:51.239 --> 01:47:52.779 fences vet now like he would have been the guy 01:47:52.779 --> 01:47:55.000 i would have been fencing with um he's like hey 01:47:55.000 --> 01:47:57.060 you know you need to check out this pair of stuff 01:47:57.060 --> 01:47:58.640 and i said okay you know i'll do it and that's 01:47:58.640 --> 01:48:00.279 kind of how i got into it because i still really 01:48:00.279 --> 01:48:03.899 liked fencing yeah it's different it's the best 01:48:03.899 --> 01:48:06.659 way i can explain it is like boxing is a footwork 01:48:06.659 --> 01:48:08.739 heavy sport people don't really realize how important 01:48:08.739 --> 01:48:11.159 your footwork is fencing is the same way so like 01:48:11.159 --> 01:48:13.890 imagine boxing you're in the dudes distance of 01:48:13.890 --> 01:48:15.729 getting hit with his jab his hook and everything 01:48:15.729 --> 01:48:17.609 else and you don't do anything with your feet 01:48:17.609 --> 01:48:19.250 and that's pretty much fencing in a chair because 01:48:19.250 --> 01:48:21.189 you're at a stationary distance you're not getting 01:48:21.189 --> 01:48:23.409 away from the person you can't use any footwork 01:48:23.409 --> 01:48:26.510 you just you have to be faster your timing has 01:48:26.510 --> 01:48:28.109 to be better and you have to have better movement 01:48:28.109 --> 01:48:31.930 from kind of like the waist up now i will say 01:48:31.930 --> 01:48:36.590 two things have changed since paris one i don't 01:48:36.590 --> 01:48:40.029 know who was upset by this but they some people 01:48:40.029 --> 01:48:43.829 were not fond of a category fencers and b category 01:48:43.829 --> 01:48:47.069 fencers fencing against each other in the team 01:48:47.069 --> 01:48:49.369 event how it typically goes you'll have two a's 01:48:49.369 --> 01:48:53.409 and one b um fence but the problem is the b fencers 01:48:53.409 --> 01:48:55.689 don't have the kind of mobility that a fencers 01:48:55.689 --> 01:48:58.170 do so if you're fencing and let's say the score 01:48:58.170 --> 01:49:03.789 is 23 to 13 okay one team is down but their b 01:49:03.789 --> 01:49:06.409 fencers going against their best a fencer well 01:49:06.409 --> 01:49:09.550 now the score is 30 23. because the b can't get 01:49:09.550 --> 01:49:11.390 away because they don't have the mobility to 01:49:11.390 --> 01:49:14.850 move the way the a's do so the a just sits back 01:49:14.850 --> 01:49:16.770 knowing the b can't hit them and then waits and 01:49:16.770 --> 01:49:18.890 then hits them are they both in chairs different 01:49:18.890 --> 01:49:21.409 types of mobility okay yeah you're both in chair 01:49:21.409 --> 01:49:24.449 but bees typically have um they might have like 01:49:24.449 --> 01:49:26.510 a spinal injury that really limits their ability 01:49:26.510 --> 01:49:28.890 to move back and forth a's have the most flexibility 01:49:28.890 --> 01:49:31.109 a's typically like myself maybe they're missing 01:49:31.109 --> 01:49:33.829 a foot or maybe they're just missing a hand or 01:49:33.829 --> 01:49:36.859 an arm but they have a complete mobility uh my 01:49:36.859 --> 01:49:38.779 buddy pierce who fences for the the british team 01:49:38.779 --> 01:49:40.899 i mean he can lean all the way back and like 01:49:40.899 --> 01:49:43.260 put his head on the ground he's got hyper mobility 01:49:43.260 --> 01:49:45.640 in his in his spine he's able to just get away 01:49:45.640 --> 01:49:50.319 incredibly far um so it somebody was like this 01:49:50.319 --> 01:49:53.279 isn't fair so they changed um how it's going 01:49:53.279 --> 01:49:55.420 to be for la because of that and then another 01:49:55.420 --> 01:49:57.979 thing that changed is the qualification criteria 01:49:57.979 --> 01:50:01.359 or the classification criteria for who is allowed 01:50:01.359 --> 01:50:04.560 to fence so we lost i think like eight fencers 01:50:05.050 --> 01:50:06.930 got kicked out of para fencing they can't fence 01:50:06.930 --> 01:50:11.369 anymore so and the guy who won four golds the 01:50:11.369 --> 01:50:13.909 uh the chinese guy he got kicked out he's one 01:50:13.909 --> 01:50:15.649 he's won like eight olympic gold or something 01:50:15.649 --> 01:50:17.510 and now he can't he can't do the one sport that 01:50:17.510 --> 01:50:19.930 he's done he just got booted and i was like wow 01:50:19.930 --> 01:50:22.890 that's that's really crazy because of the level 01:50:22.890 --> 01:50:26.670 of disability i i don't know they changed the 01:50:26.670 --> 01:50:28.850 classification criteria i'm not sure i always 01:50:28.850 --> 01:50:31.630 thought he had like um i thought i'd have to 01:50:31.630 --> 01:50:33.250 look at him again i thought he had like a limb 01:50:33.250 --> 01:50:34.850 deficiency where one leg was slightly shorter 01:50:34.850 --> 01:50:37.430 than the other but they decided that's not enough 01:50:37.430 --> 01:50:42.489 of an issue so he got the boot there was a french 01:50:42.489 --> 01:50:45.970 girl um same thing happened with her i'm not 01:50:45.970 --> 01:50:47.810 sure what her ailment was but they said it's 01:50:47.810 --> 01:50:51.630 not enough she got booted um i know a hungarian 01:50:51.630 --> 01:50:54.649 girl who got kicked out so And these were, these 01:50:54.649 --> 01:50:56.470 were like high level people. The Hungarian girls 01:50:56.470 --> 01:50:59.109 won gold medals at the Olympics before. So, and 01:50:59.109 --> 01:51:00.630 they're getting kicked out. So you're taking 01:51:00.630 --> 01:51:02.630 a sport that's already really small and has not 01:51:02.630 --> 01:51:04.329 a lot of participants and making it even smaller 01:51:04.329 --> 01:51:06.529 now because of the new classification criteria. 01:51:07.130 --> 01:51:09.369 What's really annoying is, is I have to reclass, 01:51:09.369 --> 01:51:12.489 even though like I'm missing a limb. So I clearly 01:51:12.489 --> 01:51:14.270 it's not growing back. Nothing's going to change. 01:51:14.369 --> 01:51:16.909 I was like, I have to reclass. Yeah. Just be 01:51:16.909 --> 01:51:20.680 like, Hey. here it is uh okay you're good you're 01:51:20.680 --> 01:51:22.600 class a right because i don't have any spinal 01:51:22.600 --> 01:51:26.319 issues um there's also a c category also and 01:51:26.319 --> 01:51:28.960 they're like the very extreme end of it they 01:51:28.960 --> 01:51:30.739 have like they have like grip issues so a lot 01:51:30.739 --> 01:51:32.420 of times you'll see their weapon will be taped 01:51:32.420 --> 01:51:34.739 to their hand and they have like almost no mobility 01:51:34.739 --> 01:51:37.340 you rarely see them but for the most part it's 01:51:37.340 --> 01:51:39.859 just a a and b is just the two sub categories 01:51:39.859 --> 01:51:43.659 of pair fencing a most mobility b a limited mobility 01:51:43.659 --> 01:51:51.200 c almost no mobility stephen hogan level Yeah. 01:51:51.200 --> 01:51:52.739 You're not doing, you're not doing anything. 01:51:53.140 --> 01:51:56.000 I don't, I don't personally know any, uh, any 01:51:56.000 --> 01:51:58.760 C level competitors. I've seen them though. Uh, 01:51:58.840 --> 01:52:00.199 world championships, they'll have like a little 01:52:00.199 --> 01:52:03.340 event for them and stuff. But again, when the 01:52:03.340 --> 01:52:05.279 criteria is what it is that the pool of people 01:52:05.279 --> 01:52:07.960 that you're going to fence is so small. Um, give 01:52:07.960 --> 01:52:09.460 you an example of like why I don't compete nationally. 01:52:09.899 --> 01:52:11.500 This event I'm going to in Cincinnati, there's 01:52:11.500 --> 01:52:14.319 only five people. Most people, I wouldn't put 01:52:14.319 --> 01:52:16.859 on my socks to compete in an event. If it was 01:52:16.859 --> 01:52:18.979 in California, like Anaheim, I'm not going to 01:52:18.979 --> 01:52:22.859 go. I'm going to spend $800 to $1 ,000 to compete 01:52:22.859 --> 01:52:26.020 against five people and then fly home. No, I'm 01:52:26.020 --> 01:52:27.619 not going to take off work for that. Luckily, 01:52:27.659 --> 01:52:29.159 this is in Cincy. I can just drive down there, 01:52:29.199 --> 01:52:31.840 compete, and I can come back. It's like jujitsu 01:52:31.840 --> 01:52:33.760 now. Everyone I know does a tournament seems 01:52:33.760 --> 01:52:36.619 to get a gold, a silver, or a bronze. I think 01:52:36.619 --> 01:52:38.880 it's because they make the category so small, 01:52:38.939 --> 01:52:41.750 from what I understand at least. almost everybody's 01:52:41.750 --> 01:52:43.109 talking about everyone gets a trophy well it 01:52:43.109 --> 01:52:44.949 seems like middle -aged men that start jiu -jitsu 01:52:44.949 --> 01:52:47.930 always get a trophy because it did i've that's 01:52:47.930 --> 01:52:49.970 i don't know how many hundreds are in in the 01:52:49.970 --> 01:52:52.210 broad category but like you said for some some 01:52:52.210 --> 01:52:54.149 way they're able to kind of narrow it down where 01:52:54.149 --> 01:52:58.810 each of the the you know the um the brackets 01:52:58.810 --> 01:53:01.289 seem to just have a small amount of people so 01:53:01.289 --> 01:53:02.569 which is great i mean you don't want to be there 01:53:02.569 --> 01:53:04.590 all freaking day but at the same time you know 01:53:04.590 --> 01:53:07.029 it's funny how there's that whole participation 01:53:07.029 --> 01:53:09.529 trophy conversation but if you look at jiu -jitsu 01:53:09.529 --> 01:53:12.220 i mean i don't think they actually one of the 01:53:12.220 --> 01:53:14.460 all the belts you know the age group for that 01:53:14.460 --> 01:53:17.760 event yeah if you only have three people like 01:53:17.760 --> 01:53:22.520 for instance in fencing they give out um in the 01:53:22.520 --> 01:53:24.899 really big events they'll give out eight eight 01:53:24.899 --> 01:53:28.140 placement medals um it's usually first second 01:53:28.140 --> 01:53:31.079 and then they do two threes so two people get 01:53:31.079 --> 01:53:33.460 bronze and then you do fifth sixth seventh and 01:53:33.460 --> 01:53:35.840 eighth place um and the pair stuff they'll do 01:53:36.189 --> 01:53:38.510 again they'll do four so gold silver and two 01:53:38.510 --> 01:53:41.590 bronze we've only got five people uh four people 01:53:41.590 --> 01:53:44.710 are gonna get medals by default you know um so 01:53:44.710 --> 01:53:46.470 yeah if you go to an event there's only three 01:53:46.470 --> 01:53:48.350 people everybody's getting a medal you don't 01:53:48.350 --> 01:53:50.409 really you might as well flip a quarter you know 01:53:50.409 --> 01:53:53.750 but you see that fairly often in the really really 01:53:53.750 --> 01:53:58.069 small events um so that's why i like doing like 01:53:58.069 --> 01:53:59.890 the international events you'll get a lot more 01:53:59.890 --> 01:54:02.079 competition and it all depends on like where 01:54:02.079 --> 01:54:03.840 the events are there's some places not a lot 01:54:03.840 --> 01:54:05.680 of people are going to show up surprisingly america 01:54:05.680 --> 01:54:07.939 is one of the places so yeah we're having that 01:54:07.939 --> 01:54:10.460 world cup from bradenton um but something that 01:54:10.460 --> 01:54:12.960 i was unaware of was how many of the fences from 01:54:12.960 --> 01:54:15.100 other countries need visas in order to come to 01:54:15.100 --> 01:54:16.500 the us and sometimes they just don't get approved 01:54:16.500 --> 01:54:18.659 in time and they just can't get here or they're 01:54:18.659 --> 01:54:21.100 expensive uh the first time i fenced in brazil 01:54:21.100 --> 01:54:22.899 i needed a visa to get in there it was cheap 01:54:22.899 --> 01:54:25.399 it was like 10 bucks um and the process took 01:54:25.399 --> 01:54:27.880 like three days but it wasn't a hindrance to 01:54:27.880 --> 01:54:30.859 me but i started noticing certain people from 01:54:30.859 --> 01:54:32.479 certain countries just weren't coming we had 01:54:32.479 --> 01:54:36.539 an event in dc and i was like where are all these 01:54:36.539 --> 01:54:38.239 people like oh they couldn't get visas in time 01:54:38.239 --> 01:54:39.859 and i was like oh i was like i didn't realize 01:54:39.859 --> 01:54:41.100 that was the thing i thought you just came here 01:54:41.100 --> 01:54:42.640 because you wanted to come here like no i was 01:54:42.640 --> 01:54:43.920 like their country requires a visa i was like 01:54:43.920 --> 01:54:47.939 oh okay so america being so far removed from 01:54:47.939 --> 01:54:50.119 everything else is typically one of the harder 01:54:50.119 --> 01:54:54.180 countries to come to uh but everybody goes to 01:54:54.750 --> 01:54:57.210 Like Poland, that was one where Poland is not 01:54:57.210 --> 01:55:00.310 super far from the far east. So the Japanese, 01:55:00.369 --> 01:55:03.590 the Chinese, the Koreans will come. And then 01:55:03.590 --> 01:55:04.989 everybody in Europe, you know, Poland's right 01:55:04.989 --> 01:55:06.609 there. They're all going to show up. And then 01:55:06.609 --> 01:55:08.430 it's really only a trip really for Americans. 01:55:08.630 --> 01:55:10.529 But again, it's not an expensive place to go 01:55:10.529 --> 01:55:12.569 to. So I'd spend more money going to Korea than 01:55:12.569 --> 01:55:15.630 I would go to Poland. So everybody likes going 01:55:15.630 --> 01:55:18.170 to that. It's usually a huge event. Amazing. 01:55:18.970 --> 01:55:20.449 All right. Well, I want to throw some closing 01:55:20.449 --> 01:55:23.170 questions at you before I let you go. The first 01:55:23.170 --> 01:55:25.310 one I'd love to ask, is there a book or are there 01:55:25.310 --> 01:55:27.470 books that you'd love to recommend? It can be 01:55:27.470 --> 01:55:29.529 related to our discussion today or completely 01:55:29.529 --> 01:55:32.210 unrelated. If you just want some really good 01:55:32.210 --> 01:55:36.949 old, some old school reading, Freedom in Chains 01:55:36.949 --> 01:55:41.289 by James Bovard. I think I think it's his name. 01:55:41.329 --> 01:55:48.670 Let me see. Let me see here. Oh, yeah, that's 01:55:48.670 --> 01:55:52.979 it. That's a good book. And then also there's 01:55:52.979 --> 01:55:58.359 another book. It's called Fiasco, The American 01:55:58.359 --> 01:56:01.239 Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks 01:56:01.239 --> 01:56:06.739 is really good. That book kind of explains how 01:56:06.739 --> 01:56:10.039 the U .S. military works with incredible military 01:56:10.039 --> 01:56:12.060 precision when it comes to fighting conflicts. 01:56:12.699 --> 01:56:14.619 but really struggled with the rebuilding process 01:56:14.619 --> 01:56:16.840 because let's face it, the military is not for 01:56:16.840 --> 01:56:19.300 rebuilding, right? But it talks about all the 01:56:19.300 --> 01:56:22.840 different things that happened leading up to 01:56:22.840 --> 01:56:26.000 basically what ended up being a disaster that 01:56:26.000 --> 01:56:29.539 was Iraq and kind of how it happened. So that 01:56:29.539 --> 01:56:31.039 was a fascinating book to read. I read that in 01:56:31.039 --> 01:56:35.699 grad school though, probably, oh, 12, 17 years 01:56:35.699 --> 01:56:38.960 ago, a long time ago, but very good books. Yeah, 01:56:39.039 --> 01:56:41.220 I know. Was it Halliburton made a crap load of 01:56:41.220 --> 01:56:45.000 money from that? Oh, a ton, ton, ton. Cause when, 01:56:45.000 --> 01:56:47.039 when you go in and you do the stuff and then 01:56:47.039 --> 01:56:48.300 you're like, Hey, this needs rebuilt. I have 01:56:48.300 --> 01:56:50.220 a company that rebuilds stuff. Oh, we'll contract 01:56:50.220 --> 01:56:52.420 you and we'll pay you 10 times what it costs 01:56:52.420 --> 01:56:54.319 because we all know that government just like, 01:56:54.399 --> 01:56:56.159 you know, you get a government hammer, it's a 01:56:56.159 --> 01:56:58.199 hundred dollar hammer, not a $3 Stanley hammer. 01:56:58.380 --> 01:57:00.380 You know, government nail is a $50 nail, not 01:57:00.380 --> 01:57:04.680 a, you know, 5 cent nail. So yeah, that doesn't, 01:57:04.680 --> 01:57:06.539 that doesn't surprise me, but all kinds of stuff 01:57:06.539 --> 01:57:08.520 like that, that happens all the time. Yeah. And 01:57:08.520 --> 01:57:10.380 again, we're talking about COVID. I think war 01:57:10.380 --> 01:57:11.899 is not the one we need to have a discussion. 01:57:12.490 --> 01:57:14.850 Okay. You know, how do we find ourselves in this? 01:57:14.949 --> 01:57:17.789 Did anyone benefit from it that may have maybe 01:57:17.789 --> 01:57:20.449 pushed us into this in the first place? How do 01:57:20.449 --> 01:57:22.750 we stop that happening again? A hundred percent. 01:57:23.010 --> 01:57:26.189 Yeah. All right. What about films, documentaries, 01:57:26.489 --> 01:57:30.569 TV shows? Oh, well, the greatest TV show of all 01:57:30.569 --> 01:57:32.489 time is The Wire. You never convinced me otherwise. 01:57:32.750 --> 01:57:35.090 I just watched it. I don't know if you recommended 01:57:35.090 --> 01:57:36.829 it when we spoke before, but it had come up a 01:57:36.829 --> 01:57:38.970 few times and I finally binge watched the, what 01:57:38.970 --> 01:57:41.170 is it, five seasons? I swear, I don't normally 01:57:41.170 --> 01:57:43.390 binge watch. I binge watched the shit out of 01:57:43.390 --> 01:57:46.210 that show. It was phenomenal. So now that you 01:57:46.210 --> 01:57:49.430 have, wait a year, go back and rewatch it and 01:57:49.430 --> 01:57:51.069 you'll catch stuff that like you completely missed 01:57:51.069 --> 01:57:53.170 for the longest time. It wasn't until the third 01:57:53.170 --> 01:57:55.409 or fourth time I rewatched it that I started 01:57:55.409 --> 01:57:57.760 to appreciate the second season. Because after 01:57:57.760 --> 01:57:59.220 the first season, you're like, this is so great. 01:57:59.359 --> 01:58:00.319 The second season, you're like, I don't care 01:58:00.319 --> 01:58:02.579 about these docs or the Greeks or none of that. 01:58:02.800 --> 01:58:04.899 And then you realize how important a lot of the 01:58:04.899 --> 01:58:08.539 stuff they cover in that series is. Another great 01:58:08.539 --> 01:58:11.819 show. So my top three are going to be The Wire, 01:58:12.039 --> 01:58:15.420 Bosch, and Billions. Damian Lewis and Billions 01:58:15.420 --> 01:58:17.520 and Paul Giamatti are fantastic. Did you ever 01:58:17.520 --> 01:58:20.239 see Billions? I didn't watch that one, no. Okay. 01:58:20.300 --> 01:58:26.050 So Billions is about an SDNY attorney. who just 01:58:26.050 --> 01:58:28.630 cannot stand hedge fund guys. He thinks they're 01:58:28.630 --> 01:58:30.149 all corrupt. They're all just stealing all types 01:58:30.149 --> 01:58:32.689 of money. Damian Lewis runs a giant company called 01:58:32.689 --> 01:58:34.689 Axe Capital. And it's literally, there's no action. 01:58:34.750 --> 01:58:37.390 It's all dialogue. And it's fantastically written. 01:58:37.970 --> 01:58:40.449 One of those shows where it's good from the first 01:58:40.449 --> 01:58:42.210 episode to like the last one, like you'll be 01:58:42.210 --> 01:58:45.390 satisfied with like everything that happens in 01:58:45.390 --> 01:58:49.989 it. And then let's see, what's another good show? 01:58:50.090 --> 01:58:52.229 Have you watched Landman at all? I haven't. We're 01:58:52.229 --> 01:58:54.920 watching Yellowstone at the moment. But that's 01:58:54.920 --> 01:58:56.319 what I actually need to watch, because I guess 01:58:56.319 --> 01:58:57.800 another show came out called U .S. Marshals. 01:58:57.819 --> 01:58:59.340 My wife was talking about it yesterday. And she's 01:58:59.340 --> 01:59:00.779 like, oh, you have to watch Yellowstone first, 01:59:00.939 --> 01:59:03.199 because the guy who's in U .S. Marshals is one 01:59:03.199 --> 01:59:05.859 of the guys from Yellowstone. Taylor Sheridan, 01:59:05.880 --> 01:59:08.180 he's been killing it with his shows. I've liked 01:59:08.180 --> 01:59:10.779 pretty much everything I've watched of his. I 01:59:10.779 --> 01:59:12.380 like the way that he writes. I did not know that 01:59:12.380 --> 01:59:15.840 he actually wrote Sicario. It was directed by 01:59:15.840 --> 01:59:20.579 by Denis Villeneuve. But he Taylor Sheridan actually 01:59:20.579 --> 01:59:24.260 wrote it. And I really like. how that whole story 01:59:24.260 --> 01:59:28.720 kind of kind of pans out um what else is really 01:59:28.720 --> 01:59:35.920 good that we watched recently um i can't think 01:59:35.920 --> 01:59:37.840 of anything else off the task was pretty good 01:59:37.840 --> 01:59:41.100 on hbo that's only one season of that that was 01:59:41.100 --> 01:59:43.439 that was very entertaining i liked what they 01:59:43.439 --> 01:59:46.939 did with that show um you asked me about what 01:59:46.939 --> 01:59:49.000 shows and movies you said movies also movies 01:59:49.000 --> 01:59:52.380 documentaries any of those You know what? Predator 01:59:52.380 --> 01:59:55.039 Badlands was really good. I was surprised. I'm 01:59:55.039 --> 01:59:56.140 gonna let my kids watch it when they come out. 01:59:56.220 --> 01:59:59.420 It was more of like an adventure slash coming 01:59:59.420 --> 02:00:01.420 of age film than it really was like a horror 02:00:01.420 --> 02:00:03.640 movie. Nothing about it is scary. There's a guy, 02:00:03.720 --> 02:00:05.659 he's underestimated by his people. He goes off 02:00:05.659 --> 02:00:07.640 to try and prove that he's worthy and goes on 02:00:07.640 --> 02:00:08.920 an adventure trying to do it. I was like, oh, 02:00:08.939 --> 02:00:12.039 this is classic. So Disney honestly didn't mess 02:00:12.039 --> 02:00:15.060 it up. I was really satisfied with it. I would 02:00:15.060 --> 02:00:16.939 definitely watch it again. And I think my kids 02:00:16.939 --> 02:00:18.760 will be really entertained by it. And they got 02:00:18.760 --> 02:00:22.239 away with the... the pg -13 rating because no 02:00:22.239 --> 02:00:24.859 people die in it you got androids and you got 02:00:24.859 --> 02:00:27.380 crazy alien creatures and that's it no no people 02:00:27.380 --> 02:00:30.720 are harmed so and it's mostly subtitles you have 02:00:30.720 --> 02:00:32.479 to get used to that because they the predator 02:00:32.479 --> 02:00:34.140 guy speaking his own language the whole time 02:00:34.140 --> 02:00:40.199 um but very very entertaining film um and i'm 02:00:40.199 --> 02:00:42.579 sure you saw top gun maverick right yes i did 02:00:42.579 --> 02:00:45.279 oh fantastic like that movie through and through 02:00:45.279 --> 02:00:46.960 it was like this is how a movie should be you 02:00:46.960 --> 02:00:48.479 know we got it we got a problem we got an enemy 02:00:48.859 --> 02:00:50.840 How do we resolve this? Here we go. And nothing 02:00:50.840 --> 02:00:52.920 else was put into it. I was like, that's great. 02:00:53.000 --> 02:00:54.619 Cause you know, we don't know who the enemy was. 02:00:54.760 --> 02:00:56.359 Is it China? Is it Russia? No, it doesn't matter. 02:00:56.539 --> 02:00:58.840 It's an enemy. Right. And that's it. And here's, 02:00:58.840 --> 02:01:01.079 here's what we got to do. So I was, I was a big 02:01:01.079 --> 02:01:06.560 fan of it. I was going to segue. I just took 02:01:06.560 --> 02:01:08.539 a breath to say something and I just totally 02:01:08.539 --> 02:01:11.300 brain fog. Give me one second. Hold on. Well, 02:01:11.380 --> 02:01:13.260 usually you ask me like, who else should you 02:01:13.260 --> 02:01:14.640 interview? I was going to, but I was going to 02:01:14.640 --> 02:01:18.529 have to, how do I make that flow? Yeah, I really 02:01:18.529 --> 02:01:22.270 liked Top Gun. The only thing I found was the 02:01:22.270 --> 02:01:23.750 whole piano thing. Maybe they could have come 02:01:23.750 --> 02:01:25.289 up with a slightly different way of doing it 02:01:25.289 --> 02:01:27.050 rather than the exact same thing as his dad, 02:01:27.130 --> 02:01:30.609 but that was my only criticism. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 02:01:31.029 --> 02:01:33.149 All right, well, next question. Is there a person 02:01:33.149 --> 02:01:34.869 that you'd recommend to come on this podcast 02:01:34.869 --> 02:01:37.390 as a guest to speak to the first responders, 02:01:37.649 --> 02:01:39.810 military, and associated professions of the world? 02:01:40.909 --> 02:01:43.729 Oh, wow, that specifically? I mean, it could 02:01:43.729 --> 02:01:45.869 be anyone. The guests are so diverse on here, 02:01:45.930 --> 02:01:48.949 but... Oh, well, then Larry Sharp. Do you know 02:01:48.949 --> 02:01:51.090 who he is? It doesn't ring a bell. Please educate 02:01:51.090 --> 02:01:57.229 me. He is a libertarian guy in New York City. 02:01:58.590 --> 02:02:00.750 I'm sure he'll be able to address issues that 02:02:00.750 --> 02:02:02.350 are concerning, anything like police fire, anything 02:02:02.350 --> 02:02:05.470 like that related. But the man has fascinating 02:02:05.470 --> 02:02:07.710 ideas when it comes to like education, fixing 02:02:07.710 --> 02:02:09.670 the education system and just certain things 02:02:09.670 --> 02:02:11.010 he would have liked to have done in New York. 02:02:11.050 --> 02:02:12.689 He gets no recognition because in a place like 02:02:12.689 --> 02:02:14.449 New York, unless you got a D by your name, you're 02:02:14.449 --> 02:02:15.489 really going to have a really hard time there. 02:02:15.590 --> 02:02:17.810 He never gets more than like point zero seven 02:02:17.810 --> 02:02:19.449 percent of the vote because I think most people 02:02:19.449 --> 02:02:22.770 don't know who he is. But he was on the I found 02:02:22.770 --> 02:02:24.390 out about him because he was on a Joe Rogan podcast. 02:02:24.630 --> 02:02:26.949 And I thought he was just a really interesting 02:02:26.949 --> 02:02:30.109 guy. His ideas were kind of interesting. Nothing 02:02:30.109 --> 02:02:33.229 really. new per se because he's siphoning off 02:02:33.229 --> 02:02:36.630 a lot of the ideas of um kind of how they do 02:02:36.630 --> 02:02:38.930 school in in europe like by the time you hit 02:02:38.930 --> 02:02:40.829 your 10th year you kind of get to decide do i 02:02:40.829 --> 02:02:42.510 want to go college trajectory or do i want to 02:02:42.510 --> 02:02:44.930 go like occupation trajectory and then like at 02:02:44.930 --> 02:02:46.689 that point is when you start like okay i'm going 02:02:46.689 --> 02:02:48.090 to start focusing on i want to be a welder this 02:02:48.090 --> 02:02:49.989 is what i'm going to do from from here on out 02:02:49.989 --> 02:02:53.109 so he has like ideas very similar to that um 02:02:53.109 --> 02:02:58.449 now for somebody to talk to the our kind of profession 02:02:58.449 --> 02:03:04.369 man you'd have to find, I don't think there's 02:03:04.369 --> 02:03:07.449 any like commissioners or mayors or anybody I 02:03:07.449 --> 02:03:11.170 can think of who's done such a, such a fascinating 02:03:11.170 --> 02:03:15.170 or good job that it would warrant them. You spending 02:03:15.170 --> 02:03:16.909 your time talking to them. You know what I mean? 02:03:17.449 --> 02:03:19.590 Like a retired police chief or something really 02:03:19.590 --> 02:03:21.829 cool. Hell, you know what? Get ahold of my old, 02:03:21.890 --> 02:03:24.369 get ahold of my old major, major Weisman, the 02:03:24.369 --> 02:03:26.350 guy who's in Bradenton. He's the assistant chief 02:03:26.350 --> 02:03:33.050 down there. If you, just text me and I'll get 02:03:33.050 --> 02:03:34.710 ahold of him and ask him if he's interested in 02:03:34.710 --> 02:03:36.750 talking to you. Cause I mean, he's done police 02:03:36.750 --> 02:03:39.149 work for years and I really liked him and I'm 02:03:39.149 --> 02:03:42.140 sure. because he was more command staff level 02:03:42.140 --> 02:03:44.399 maybe he can answer some of those questions that 02:03:44.399 --> 02:03:46.560 we can about the inner workings of like how that 02:03:46.560 --> 02:03:48.199 happens where yeah it's easy for us to sit here 02:03:48.199 --> 02:03:50.779 and say oh blah blah this is happening and then 02:03:50.779 --> 02:03:52.760 he can explain the why of like well here's why 02:03:52.760 --> 02:03:54.239 it's difficult to do this and there's some stuff 02:03:54.239 --> 02:03:56.520 maybe we're unaware of that's happening on the 02:03:56.520 --> 02:03:57.859 back and well you know you got to get approval 02:03:57.859 --> 02:04:00.319 from such and such people in the state so on 02:04:00.319 --> 02:04:02.659 and so on because i can give you a small example 02:04:02.659 --> 02:04:05.720 really quickly when you get habitual runaways 02:04:05.720 --> 02:04:08.500 right every time a kid right if a kid runs away 02:04:08.500 --> 02:04:10.789 on monday Comes back on Tuesday and then runs 02:04:10.789 --> 02:04:12.310 away again on Tuesday, comes back on Wednesday. 02:04:12.569 --> 02:04:16.050 Every time they do it, you have to resubmit the 02:04:16.050 --> 02:04:22.409 same information to our record system that puts 02:04:22.409 --> 02:04:24.449 the kids into the Leeds database. So that way, 02:04:24.489 --> 02:04:27.329 if a cop runs across them in Kentucky, it'll 02:04:27.329 --> 02:04:30.050 show up as missing. Well, every time that happens, 02:04:30.130 --> 02:04:31.609 even though nothing has changed, the kid's height, 02:04:31.689 --> 02:04:34.600 weight, hair, eye color. um doesn't change you 02:04:34.600 --> 02:04:36.199 have to resubmit that information every time 02:04:36.199 --> 02:04:38.199 so i was like why don't we do it where if we 02:04:38.199 --> 02:04:40.340 have a habitual and we know he leaves monday 02:04:40.340 --> 02:04:41.699 he comes back monday he leaves tuesday so on 02:04:41.699 --> 02:04:44.100 and so on and so on why don't we just leave that 02:04:44.100 --> 02:04:46.439 information in for like a week so monday through 02:04:46.439 --> 02:04:48.720 friday and if it doesn't change then we go we 02:04:48.720 --> 02:04:50.359 go back and change what does well it's because 02:04:50.359 --> 02:04:53.520 it's a state thing The state requires you to 02:04:53.520 --> 02:04:55.920 do that every time. And until that law is changed, 02:04:56.100 --> 02:04:58.180 you don't have a choice to do that. So there's 02:04:58.180 --> 02:04:59.840 no like instant thing we can put in like, Hey, 02:04:59.859 --> 02:05:01.180 here's the person that ran away. Oh, we have 02:05:01.180 --> 02:05:02.500 all their information. Boom. They enter it. They 02:05:02.500 --> 02:05:04.479 send it off. No, it has to be submitted every 02:05:04.479 --> 02:05:06.899 single time because we have to fill out these 02:05:06.899 --> 02:05:09.520 like dental forms for them. Even if it doesn't 02:05:09.520 --> 02:05:10.819 change, even if they don't even have a dentist, 02:05:10.979 --> 02:05:12.340 because a lot of times you're running into kids 02:05:12.340 --> 02:05:14.079 at like group homes and stuff. They don't know 02:05:14.079 --> 02:05:15.979 any of that stuff. It's like, nah, you know, 02:05:16.039 --> 02:05:18.069 the kid's name is Adam Smith. He's this tall. 02:05:18.569 --> 02:05:20.529 He weighs this much. His hair and eyes this. 02:05:20.649 --> 02:05:22.090 This is what he was wearing. Oh, okay. What's 02:05:22.090 --> 02:05:24.449 his dental information? Oh, we don't know. Okay. 02:05:24.550 --> 02:05:25.670 Well, then I don't have to fill out that piece 02:05:25.670 --> 02:05:28.109 of paper, but I still need to send it in saying 02:05:28.109 --> 02:05:29.930 they don't have this information because it's 02:05:29.930 --> 02:05:32.350 required by the state. So it might be something 02:05:32.350 --> 02:05:34.510 like that that they're running into. So I think 02:05:34.510 --> 02:05:37.930 he would be a good person to try and talk to. 02:05:38.949 --> 02:05:41.229 Brilliant. I appreciate it. All right. Well, 02:05:41.270 --> 02:05:42.989 then the last question before we make sure everyone 02:05:42.989 --> 02:05:45.710 knows where to find you, what do you do to decompress? 02:05:48.710 --> 02:05:52.050 I go to the gym or I play a lot of heavy metal 02:05:52.050 --> 02:05:53.829 music. And I mean, like, listen to it. Like, 02:05:53.850 --> 02:05:57.470 actually, I write it. So I play guitar and I 02:05:57.470 --> 02:06:00.829 shoot. So I recently as I'm going to do the fencing 02:06:00.829 --> 02:06:02.210 stuff, you know, I'm going to try and go to L 02:06:02.210 --> 02:06:06.729 .A., but I'm working on transitioning into USPSA 02:06:06.729 --> 02:06:08.750 competition shooting. So I do a lot of competition 02:06:08.750 --> 02:06:11.329 shooting now, which is loads and loads of fun. 02:06:11.569 --> 02:06:13.609 Even just doing dry fire practice in my room 02:06:13.609 --> 02:06:16.170 or going out and physically shooting because 02:06:16.170 --> 02:06:19.130 it's way different. when because it's a competition 02:06:19.130 --> 02:06:21.369 setting there's one thing to like go out to a 02:06:21.369 --> 02:06:23.930 field you know put a couple magazines in a gun 02:06:23.930 --> 02:06:26.170 and just shoot aimlessly with no purpose you're 02:06:26.170 --> 02:06:27.989 just wasting money at that point in time but 02:06:27.989 --> 02:06:29.630 if you're like hey i want you to engage these 02:06:29.630 --> 02:06:34.109 three targets at at this distance at this time 02:06:34.109 --> 02:06:37.989 right to you know establish whatever you make 02:06:37.989 --> 02:06:40.250 up your criteria that's when it becomes fun then 02:06:40.250 --> 02:06:42.710 it's a whole process okay it's like well this 02:06:42.710 --> 02:06:44.529 is my closest target so i'm going to engage this 02:06:44.529 --> 02:06:46.090 one last you don't want to engage that one first 02:06:46.090 --> 02:06:47.710 because you don't even have to look at it you 02:06:47.710 --> 02:06:49.789 start far you work your way in as opposed to 02:06:49.789 --> 02:06:52.130 starting close and working your way out because 02:06:52.130 --> 02:06:54.510 when you talk to the grand masters in the game 02:06:55.520 --> 02:06:57.340 they're thinking about like the position of their 02:06:57.340 --> 02:06:59.159 feet, you know, stuff that doesn't even occur 02:06:59.159 --> 02:07:00.899 to me. No, they're like, when you enter, when 02:07:00.899 --> 02:07:02.220 you enter in this section, you want your foot 02:07:02.220 --> 02:07:03.939 facing this direction. So that way all you have 02:07:03.939 --> 02:07:05.920 to do is pivot at your waist and you don't actually 02:07:05.920 --> 02:07:07.239 have to shift your feet. Cause that slows down 02:07:07.239 --> 02:07:09.159 your time. And like the, the way that they think 02:07:09.159 --> 02:07:10.420 about, it's kind of how I think about fencing. 02:07:10.779 --> 02:07:12.779 like i see more than just two guys with metal 02:07:12.779 --> 02:07:14.920 sticks clinging them together i'm seeing like 02:07:14.920 --> 02:07:16.359 all the action happening like that's how the 02:07:16.359 --> 02:07:18.859 grandmasters are in shooting so i started getting 02:07:18.859 --> 02:07:20.680 into that because one i already like shooting 02:07:20.680 --> 02:07:22.920 firearms and two it's just a lot of fun and i'm 02:07:22.920 --> 02:07:24.539 a member of a club that's not too far from my 02:07:24.539 --> 02:07:27.039 house right now anyway where they they do that 02:07:27.039 --> 02:07:29.520 kind of shooting on a regular basis and i might 02:07:29.520 --> 02:07:32.060 try and get into jiu jitsu too because i just 02:07:32.060 --> 02:07:35.300 like doing physical stuff with that you know 02:07:35.300 --> 02:07:37.859 even though we were closing out with that exposure 02:07:37.859 --> 02:07:41.229 to a higher level of firearms Talk to me about 02:07:41.229 --> 02:07:46.470 your perspective on the standards in your profession 02:07:46.470 --> 02:07:50.409 when it comes to not only qualification range 02:07:50.409 --> 02:07:55.310 shots, but actual tactical weapons training and 02:07:55.310 --> 02:07:57.130 then even integrating the fitness on that side. 02:07:57.569 --> 02:08:02.319 So the tactical aspect, I really can't. Really 02:08:02.319 --> 02:08:04.380 can't elaborate much on that just because I don't 02:08:04.380 --> 02:08:06.680 do a lot. I guess when I think tactics, I'm thinking 02:08:06.680 --> 02:08:08.800 like SWAT, how they enter stuff, it's like that. 02:08:08.979 --> 02:08:11.000 But if you just mean like standard practice that 02:08:11.000 --> 02:08:14.300 police use in order to engage on individuals, 02:08:14.619 --> 02:08:17.960 I would like to see one. Qualification standards 02:08:17.960 --> 02:08:21.199 are a joke. That is what it is. I could give 02:08:21.199 --> 02:08:22.439 you a gun right now if you never shot in your 02:08:22.439 --> 02:08:24.060 whole life and you could pass the quals. I'll 02:08:24.060 --> 02:08:26.460 give you 10 minutes. No problem. You'd be able 02:08:26.460 --> 02:08:29.979 to pass them. Because for your non -shooters, 02:08:30.000 --> 02:08:32.279 you don't have any training scars. So you're 02:08:32.279 --> 02:08:33.840 going to do exactly what I say, exactly how I 02:08:33.840 --> 02:08:35.260 say to do it, because that's what I told you 02:08:35.260 --> 02:08:37.479 to do. Whereas if you're somebody who shot for 02:08:37.479 --> 02:08:39.479 20 years and I'm like, hey, do this. Well, this 02:08:39.479 --> 02:08:40.819 is the way that I do it. This is how I'm going 02:08:40.819 --> 02:08:42.500 to do it. Then you find out you're not passing 02:08:42.500 --> 02:08:45.779 the test. Right. So the standards are they are 02:08:45.779 --> 02:08:49.060 so easy. I remember one time just for fun, I 02:08:49.060 --> 02:08:51.239 did the whole test with just headshots and I 02:08:51.239 --> 02:08:53.720 passed it flying colors. It's very, very easy. 02:08:54.720 --> 02:08:57.119 But again, there's a reason why they're like 02:08:57.119 --> 02:08:58.520 that, because you want everybody that you're 02:08:58.520 --> 02:09:00.539 bringing through that process to qualify. Well, 02:09:00.600 --> 02:09:03.300 then the question that I would ask is, is it 02:09:03.300 --> 02:09:06.060 more important to be accurate with the shots 02:09:06.060 --> 02:09:08.000 you put down range? Or is it more important to 02:09:08.000 --> 02:09:10.600 qualify shooting at a paper target that's not 02:09:10.600 --> 02:09:12.520 going to be shooting back at you? Because what 02:09:12.520 --> 02:09:15.319 you see time and time again, and all the statistics 02:09:15.319 --> 02:09:17.140 and everything, the average cop shoots like 11 02:09:17.140 --> 02:09:21.260 rounds and like one hits. Right. Because it's 02:09:21.260 --> 02:09:22.939 just you're just shooting and all the fundamentals 02:09:22.939 --> 02:09:24.859 that you're taught and all that because you only 02:09:24.859 --> 02:09:27.859 spend five weeks doing it in the academy. They 02:09:27.859 --> 02:09:29.979 kind of just go out the window because that's 02:09:29.979 --> 02:09:32.760 you're not experiencing that stress when you're 02:09:32.760 --> 02:09:34.699 just standing stationary shooting at paper. It's 02:09:34.699 --> 02:09:37.460 very easy. It's calm. There's there's nothing 02:09:37.460 --> 02:09:39.960 about that that is stressful. So we don't know 02:09:39.960 --> 02:09:42.079 and we don't have an indicator of how you're 02:09:42.079 --> 02:09:44.380 going to behave in a high stress situation where 02:09:44.380 --> 02:09:46.529 somebody is actually shooting back at you. Now, 02:09:46.550 --> 02:09:49.369 what you will see on some of those videos where 02:09:49.369 --> 02:09:52.949 officers, especially guys who have like a military 02:09:52.949 --> 02:09:54.430 background, who have been in that situation, 02:09:55.029 --> 02:09:57.930 man, they just go to work immediately. No problems. 02:09:58.090 --> 02:10:00.430 They just, they engage, put the target down on 02:10:00.430 --> 02:10:03.050 the radio, being clear as they can about it. 02:10:03.069 --> 02:10:05.510 You know, shots fired, suspect down, going to 02:10:05.510 --> 02:10:06.829 need a medic and the person needs assistance. 02:10:06.970 --> 02:10:09.390 I'm going to start, you know, life -saving care 02:10:09.390 --> 02:10:10.729 or whatever at that point in time. And they just 02:10:10.729 --> 02:10:12.569 go about it. And then conversely, the people 02:10:12.569 --> 02:10:16.270 who are unfamiliar with that. You see panic, 02:10:16.310 --> 02:10:18.369 you see magazines dropping out, you see guns 02:10:18.369 --> 02:10:20.890 with their slides racked back because they're 02:10:20.890 --> 02:10:24.550 panicking in that moment, which is fine. That's 02:10:24.550 --> 02:10:25.729 going to happen. You never know how you're going 02:10:25.729 --> 02:10:28.130 to react until you're in that situation. But 02:10:28.130 --> 02:10:32.789 what I would love to see are getting your initial 02:10:32.789 --> 02:10:34.590 training and your shooting to pass your qual, 02:10:34.689 --> 02:10:38.850 sure, but then a shit ton more of advanced training 02:10:38.850 --> 02:10:41.569 beyond that. high stress, like high, high stress. 02:10:41.789 --> 02:10:44.369 Oh, great. Something simple. We want you to gauge 02:10:44.369 --> 02:10:48.050 your target at 10 yards, three shots, eight seconds. 02:10:48.109 --> 02:10:50.310 That is a lifetime. I can do that with my right 02:10:50.310 --> 02:10:53.310 hand with my wrong eye open, right? Okay. Let's 02:10:53.310 --> 02:10:55.729 take that same scenario. Do the same thing. You've 02:10:55.729 --> 02:10:57.890 got one second. That's where you'll see the wheels 02:10:57.890 --> 02:11:00.170 fall off. And that's the point that you work 02:11:00.170 --> 02:11:03.050 from. Then you start adding, okay, 1 .5 seconds. 02:11:03.090 --> 02:11:05.600 Okay. Two seconds. Oh. you can do this in 1 .87 02:11:05.600 --> 02:11:07.920 seconds well now let's reduce it and let's keep 02:11:07.920 --> 02:11:10.319 going to where you can get it no problem because 02:11:10.319 --> 02:11:12.000 if you can get three rounds off on target in 02:11:12.000 --> 02:11:14.300 one second nine times out of ten you should win 02:11:14.300 --> 02:11:17.500 that gunfight right but if you can't if you can't 02:11:17.500 --> 02:11:20.279 do it in in that time period because all because 02:11:20.279 --> 02:11:22.460 your spread is is missing the target you got 02:11:22.460 --> 02:11:23.939 a ground you got a shot in the ground and ground 02:11:23.939 --> 02:11:26.779 in the air one on paper but not on the target 02:11:26.779 --> 02:11:29.500 that's not going to do you any good in person 02:11:29.500 --> 02:11:33.199 not to mention your objects are moving a lot 02:11:33.199 --> 02:11:34.989 of the time Very rarely you're shooting somebody 02:11:34.989 --> 02:11:36.149 who's just standing like right in front of you. 02:11:36.590 --> 02:11:39.470 So, but a lot of times departments have a hard 02:11:39.470 --> 02:11:41.310 time doing that. It's a budget issue. You know, 02:11:41.310 --> 02:11:43.489 if you have a department of 500 people and you 02:11:43.489 --> 02:11:46.449 want to have a high intensity training on that, 02:11:46.489 --> 02:11:47.970 and it's going to cost a hundred rounds per person, 02:11:47.989 --> 02:11:49.529 do the math. You're going to spend a ton of money 02:11:49.529 --> 02:11:51.050 doing that. Plus you got to get people off the 02:11:51.050 --> 02:11:52.489 street or people in on their day off and you 02:11:52.489 --> 02:11:53.789 guys are paying for overtime. So, and you can 02:11:53.789 --> 02:11:56.329 see how the issue compounds itself. So what I 02:11:56.329 --> 02:11:59.430 would do if I was in charge, I would introduce 02:11:59.430 --> 02:12:01.949 it as, Hey, we've got this high stress, high 02:12:01.949 --> 02:12:05.829 level. high tactical program we want to do who 02:12:05.829 --> 02:12:08.310 are the officers interested in doing this some 02:12:08.310 --> 02:12:10.010 of these this might occur on some of your days 02:12:10.010 --> 02:12:12.350 off we can get you comp time for that we have 02:12:12.350 --> 02:12:14.689 a limited space we're going to do 100 officers 02:12:14.689 --> 02:12:16.329 or so let's say over the course of the next six 02:12:16.329 --> 02:12:18.149 months who's who's interested and let them do 02:12:18.149 --> 02:12:20.229 it because you know at the end of the day you're 02:12:20.229 --> 02:12:21.189 going to have people who maybe you're on the 02:12:21.189 --> 02:12:23.109 cusp of retirement not really for you you're 02:12:23.109 --> 02:12:24.329 thinking about your house in florida that you're 02:12:24.329 --> 02:12:25.569 building you're not going to be interested in 02:12:25.569 --> 02:12:27.470 that then you got your new officers who can't 02:12:27.470 --> 02:12:28.810 qualify for it don't have enough time on the 02:12:28.810 --> 02:12:31.010 department then you got that mid -tier guy with 02:12:31.010 --> 02:12:33.699 two years to 10 years on, that's right up their 02:12:33.699 --> 02:12:36.199 alley, right? Hey, put me in. Can I do this? 02:12:36.300 --> 02:12:37.760 And I'm like, yeah, no problem. We'll get you 02:12:37.760 --> 02:12:39.319 in. And then you get that training in there. 02:12:39.739 --> 02:12:41.579 And then they can spread word. Hey, this training 02:12:41.579 --> 02:12:43.340 is fantastic. We learned how to move and shoot 02:12:43.340 --> 02:12:44.739 really well. We learned how to engage multiple 02:12:44.739 --> 02:12:46.939 targets, really small targets at up close, far 02:12:46.939 --> 02:12:50.479 distances, so on and so on. And that's essentially 02:12:50.479 --> 02:12:53.420 what USPSA does. It teaches you how to engage 02:12:53.420 --> 02:12:55.479 varying targets at different speeds, different 02:12:55.479 --> 02:12:57.659 distances. I don't see anything that would make 02:12:57.659 --> 02:13:02.250 that detrimental to police work. Brilliant. Yeah, 02:13:02.329 --> 02:13:04.670 I hear this over and over again, between the 02:13:04.670 --> 02:13:07.289 fitness and the jiu -jitsu literally being a 02:13:07.289 --> 02:13:09.470 deterrent for a lot of hands -on events in the 02:13:09.470 --> 02:13:14.350 first place. And then, you know, my goodness, 02:13:14.649 --> 02:13:18.149 my brain's just turned off. Lieutenant Colonel 02:13:18.149 --> 02:13:21.369 Dave Grossman. There we go. Oh, yeah. Let me 02:13:21.369 --> 02:13:24.569 just write that down. I'll say that again. And 02:13:24.569 --> 02:13:29.199 then listening to the lieutenant. And then listening 02:13:29.199 --> 02:13:31.600 to Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman talking about, 02:13:31.640 --> 02:13:33.279 you know, it's literally like a martial art with 02:13:33.279 --> 02:13:35.039 a weapon and some of the stories of these great 02:13:35.039 --> 02:13:37.340 marksmen truly saving lives in some of these 02:13:37.340 --> 02:13:40.279 events. I mean, having that bar, we're circling 02:13:40.279 --> 02:13:41.600 around to the beginning of this conversation 02:13:41.600 --> 02:13:44.739 again. When the bar is set high, the chances 02:13:44.739 --> 02:13:47.460 of a law enforcement officer being killed, but 02:13:47.460 --> 02:13:49.300 also the wrong person being killed, whether it's 02:13:49.300 --> 02:13:51.020 in a hostage situation, whether it's, as you 02:13:51.020 --> 02:13:53.100 alluded to, one of those stray billets like we 02:13:53.100 --> 02:13:55.479 had in an event not too long ago. I think it 02:13:55.479 --> 02:13:57.890 was in a Walgreens and they shot through. end 02:13:57.890 --> 02:13:59.510 up killing someone else in the changing room, 02:13:59.569 --> 02:14:02.590 I think. I mean, the better marksman we can get, 02:14:02.689 --> 02:14:04.689 anyone who carries a gun for a living, it just 02:14:04.689 --> 02:14:07.710 makes perfect sense. But, you know, we save lives 02:14:07.710 --> 02:14:09.909 and you can even take, like I can with drugs, 02:14:10.149 --> 02:14:13.350 even take lives. So we have to be held at the 02:14:13.350 --> 02:14:17.569 highest level, but that also creates needs. You 02:14:17.569 --> 02:14:20.170 have to have an environment that forges that 02:14:20.170 --> 02:14:22.869 performance and you can't overwork, understaff, 02:14:23.090 --> 02:14:25.630 you know, sleep deprive people that make these 02:14:25.630 --> 02:14:29.560 life and death decisions. Yeah. And I think lastly, 02:14:29.699 --> 02:14:31.319 the one thing that we're really seeing, and this 02:14:31.319 --> 02:14:34.239 is why, you know, yeah, it's great to have additional 02:14:34.239 --> 02:14:37.079 firearms training, but we really need to work 02:14:37.079 --> 02:14:41.000 more on going hands on with people. A lot of 02:14:41.000 --> 02:14:43.239 people become really reliant on their tools. 02:14:43.460 --> 02:14:46.460 If you tase a guy and he's walking towards you 02:14:46.460 --> 02:14:49.720 and it does nothing, that's a scary feeling because 02:14:49.720 --> 02:14:51.699 you're like, oh, this thing that I thought was 02:14:51.699 --> 02:14:53.300 supposed to work, that really only has like a 02:14:53.300 --> 02:14:56.199 33 % effective rate, didn't do what it's supposed 02:14:56.199 --> 02:14:58.920 to. and you're scared to go hands on, grab them, 02:14:58.939 --> 02:15:01.840 grab a hold of them, figure out what their worth 02:15:01.840 --> 02:15:04.520 is. Is this person going to fight? Did they tense 02:15:04.520 --> 02:15:06.760 up? Or did I just completely take all the air 02:15:06.760 --> 02:15:07.979 out of their balloon and now I've got complete 02:15:07.979 --> 02:15:09.380 control of this individual? Well, you won't know 02:15:09.380 --> 02:15:11.420 that until you put a hand on them. But you see 02:15:11.420 --> 02:15:14.720 a lot of times, a lot of officers, and I've seen 02:15:14.720 --> 02:15:17.420 it in different videos, are really timid about. 02:15:17.760 --> 02:15:19.500 going to hands -on because they're worried about 02:15:19.500 --> 02:15:21.199 either stuff on the back end you know what's 02:15:21.199 --> 02:15:23.060 what's going to happen if i do this well if you're 02:15:23.060 --> 02:15:25.039 tasting somebody it's a use of force regardless 02:15:25.039 --> 02:15:26.640 it's no different than if you grabbed him and 02:15:26.640 --> 02:15:30.380 you hit him a couple times um but i think being 02:15:30.380 --> 02:15:32.220 able to go hands -on really has to do with your 02:15:32.220 --> 02:15:34.640 own kind of like confidence like if you're well 02:15:34.640 --> 02:15:37.100 trained and what to do once you grab somebody 02:15:37.100 --> 02:15:39.840 then you'll be fine it's like i always tell people 02:15:39.840 --> 02:15:41.840 who are really fast runners that's great that 02:15:41.840 --> 02:15:42.979 you're fast you caught the dude what are you 02:15:42.979 --> 02:15:44.960 gonna do when you get them If you're really bad 02:15:44.960 --> 02:15:46.359 at being hands -on, he's just going to work you. 02:15:46.680 --> 02:15:48.079 It's like, great, you caught him, but he's going 02:15:48.079 --> 02:15:49.979 to throw you off and he's going to keep taking 02:15:49.979 --> 02:15:54.000 off on you. But if you're really confident in 02:15:54.000 --> 02:15:57.279 your ability to control yourself, not panic when 02:15:57.279 --> 02:15:58.460 somebody gets on top of you and you know how 02:15:58.460 --> 02:16:00.600 to work through that problem, you'll be fine 02:16:00.600 --> 02:16:03.319 out there and you won't be reluctant to go hands 02:16:03.319 --> 02:16:05.899 -on with somebody. I've seen officers who are 02:16:05.899 --> 02:16:08.920 great with that. One, they're very confident. 02:16:09.279 --> 02:16:11.399 and their ability to do their job. They've got 02:16:11.399 --> 02:16:13.159 great command presence because they know if things 02:16:13.159 --> 02:16:15.140 go sideways and the guy does try something, they 02:16:15.140 --> 02:16:16.680 know how to handle themselves and they're not 02:16:16.680 --> 02:16:19.720 worried about it. But if you are and you go out 02:16:19.720 --> 02:16:21.579 there and you are timid or you are concerned, 02:16:21.859 --> 02:16:23.840 you'll go to your taser and it doesn't work. 02:16:23.920 --> 02:16:25.300 Your pepper's not working because you're fighting 02:16:25.300 --> 02:16:27.020 somebody who's like high on PCP and meth and 02:16:27.020 --> 02:16:28.720 they're on like an eight day bender and that 02:16:28.720 --> 02:16:30.500 stuff's not going to work and you don't go hands 02:16:30.500 --> 02:16:32.459 on it. Well, you're not going to shoot them. 02:16:32.719 --> 02:16:34.540 You don't have grounds for that. And if you do, 02:16:34.600 --> 02:16:36.790 well, then you're looking at a massive. either 02:16:36.790 --> 02:16:39.450 a lawsuit or a possible you know prison term 02:16:39.450 --> 02:16:42.010 for that because you took it to that level yeah 02:16:42.010 --> 02:16:43.850 the guy was in maybe like an induced psychosis 02:16:43.850 --> 02:16:45.829 and he was like beating up a fence but he wasn't 02:16:45.829 --> 02:16:48.770 aggressive towards you he was aggressive but 02:16:48.770 --> 02:16:50.530 not towards you and then you shot him as a result 02:16:50.530 --> 02:16:52.309 of that you have a hard time explaining that 02:16:52.309 --> 02:16:54.530 to a jury you know what i mean oh i tried my 02:16:54.530 --> 02:16:55.950 taser didn't work and he kept beating up the 02:16:55.950 --> 02:16:57.329 fence i pepper sprayed him and he kept beating 02:16:57.329 --> 02:16:59.149 up the fence like any time you turn around to 02:16:59.149 --> 02:17:01.690 like do anything to you well no what would you 02:17:01.690 --> 02:17:05.049 shoot him for you know So, but if you're, if 02:17:05.049 --> 02:17:06.610 you're confident on like knowing what to do, 02:17:06.729 --> 02:17:09.590 you got two people there, one goes low, one goes 02:17:09.590 --> 02:17:10.989 high, get them on the ground, get control of 02:17:10.989 --> 02:17:12.549 them, get them in handcuffs and then you're good. 02:17:13.469 --> 02:17:16.629 Um, but again, that's going to boil down to, 02:17:16.690 --> 02:17:18.549 okay, can we get people in for this more advanced 02:17:18.549 --> 02:17:20.250 training? Cause you get very, you know, get basic 02:17:20.250 --> 02:17:22.129 level training. And if you got that in the first 02:17:22.129 --> 02:17:24.430 two months of a six month academy, then you hit 02:17:24.430 --> 02:17:25.969 the street, you're off probation. And the next 02:17:25.969 --> 02:17:28.389 time you are in any physical altercation is three 02:17:28.389 --> 02:17:31.059 years. From the time you learn that in the academy, 02:17:31.239 --> 02:17:33.219 are you expected to retain that? Not unless you 02:17:33.219 --> 02:17:35.200 willingly want to do it and you participate in 02:17:35.200 --> 02:17:37.840 a gym that does hand -to -hand stuff on a regular 02:17:37.840 --> 02:17:39.620 basis. No, you're going to go back to what you 02:17:39.620 --> 02:17:41.159 know. And the only thing you know was the one 02:17:41.159 --> 02:17:42.739 time you got in a fight with little Timmy on 02:17:42.739 --> 02:17:44.280 the recess playground when you were in third 02:17:44.280 --> 02:17:46.139 grade. And that's what you go back to. And he 02:17:46.139 --> 02:17:48.139 finds out, oh, it doesn't work against this guy 02:17:48.139 --> 02:17:50.799 who's 100 pounds more than me. And he's drunk 02:17:50.799 --> 02:17:52.159 out of his mind. I'm trying to get him out of 02:17:52.159 --> 02:17:56.139 the car. That's why you got fired as a teacher 02:17:56.139 --> 02:18:00.510 though, fighting the third grader. but that's 02:18:00.510 --> 02:18:02.809 what i would like to see just more more firearms 02:18:02.809 --> 02:18:04.850 more more hands -on stuff because there's at 02:18:04.850 --> 02:18:06.809 no point in time where that's not beneficial 02:18:06.809 --> 02:18:09.729 so a lot of times when i sign up for classes 02:18:09.729 --> 02:18:11.870 that's just how i explain it it's like there's 02:18:11.870 --> 02:18:14.850 there's no net negative reason to get more firearms 02:18:14.850 --> 02:18:16.690 training or to get more physical hands -on training 02:18:16.690 --> 02:18:19.329 it's all beneficial to the job 100 i'll even 02:18:19.329 --> 02:18:23.049 take a class that has to do with um uh report 02:18:23.049 --> 02:18:25.590 writing or just talking to people in general 02:18:25.590 --> 02:18:28.409 communications You know, that's all a net benefit 02:18:28.409 --> 02:18:32.209 to the job. Absolutely. Well, for people listening, 02:18:32.350 --> 02:18:34.229 I know where to find you because you and I are 02:18:34.229 --> 02:18:37.450 what people call meme buddies. So for anyone 02:18:37.450 --> 02:18:40.110 else, where are the best places to find you online? 02:18:41.209 --> 02:18:43.409 I mean, you can find me on Facebook, just like 02:18:43.409 --> 02:18:45.409 it's my name, just Byron Branch, pretty generic. 02:18:46.030 --> 02:18:48.489 That's going to be all pretty much just fencing 02:18:48.489 --> 02:18:52.040 related stuff. Had to make it for... media publicity 02:18:52.040 --> 02:18:54.280 and stuff like that for the sport um and then 02:18:54.280 --> 02:18:58.079 like it's byron branches like my uh public instagram 02:18:58.079 --> 02:19:00.659 account where anybody can like follow me or ask 02:19:00.659 --> 02:19:02.840 me any questions about anything i just got to 02:19:02.840 --> 02:19:04.459 make sure they spell my name right you know because 02:19:04.459 --> 02:19:06.040 most people spell brian and then never find me 02:19:06.040 --> 02:19:07.739 but that's why it's always i'm always like no 02:19:07.739 --> 02:19:10.159 it's byron like that's like the joke behind like 02:19:10.159 --> 02:19:13.090 how i got the uh the username brilliant Well, 02:19:13.129 --> 02:19:15.110 I want to thank you. It's been such a great conversation. 02:19:15.209 --> 02:19:16.649 I really didn't have anything written down what 02:19:16.649 --> 02:19:18.389 we're going to talk about. And we've gone through 02:19:18.389 --> 02:19:20.590 two and a quarter hours of conversation now. 02:19:20.670 --> 02:19:23.370 So I want to thank you so much for being so generous 02:19:23.370 --> 02:19:25.930 with your time again and coming back on the Behind 02:19:25.930 --> 02:19:27.969 the Shield podcast. Sure.