In today’s episode of Rush to Reason, John Rush is joined by Jersey Joe for an enlightening discussion on several pressing societal issues. From humorous takes on engineering mishaps to serious talks about the state of American education, this episode offers a unique blend of perspectives. They also tackle controversial topics like new grading systems and rights-related policies, making it a must-listen for anyone looking to stay informed on current events.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush. My advice to you is to do what your parents did!
SPEAKER 03 :
Get a job, Turk! You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference!
SPEAKER 07 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 20 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 18 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, we are back. Hour number three, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Jersey Joe joining us now. Joe, what’s up, sir?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, John, first, did you do a question of the day today?
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, I did, but I haven’t got to it yet.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, well, then I won’t give it up. I’ll let you do yours.
SPEAKER 12 :
I’ll give the answer to yesterday’s. Let’s do that. If a person walked one complete circuit around the entire equator circumference of the Earth at a steady and uninterrupted pace of three miles an hour, how many days would it take? It’s 345.8 days. That was quick. I had it in my head. It was 25,000 miles.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I did a quick one in my head, and instead of answering… I did it in years. But, yeah, it was 25,000 miles roughly at the equator.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s a long ways. I mean, you know, the average person, of course, couldn’t walk 24 hours a day. So if you even broke it up to 12 hours, most can’t even do that. But even 12 hours a day, of course, you can’t walk with the ocean and all that. But, Joe, even if you could, that’d be two years for the average person to make it around.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and that’s assuming you could find a way to get over all the water gaps.
SPEAKER 12 :
Exactly, exactly. Think about that, two years to walk around the Earth. That’s a long time.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is a very long time. I want to talk about education, but before we get to that, just a few little on the light side. You know, I’m an engineer by training. And, you know, people say, well, you know, how do you explain when things aren’t working and when you ask them what the problem was? And, you know, here’s how I explain as an engineer. Here’s how I explain a problem. When something wasn’t working, you know, I tell them, well, the problem was a high impedance air gap. And the translation to that is I forgot to plug it in.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. And the other one is… it became organically grounded. You know, the groundfall trip, you know, groundfall. And they say, why did they do that? Well, I say it became organically grounded, which means I got a shock.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, in other words, I was the ground.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I was the organic ground. Yeah, there you go. Been there, done that, by the way. And there’s more, but that’s how engineers will answer questions like that.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s funny, actually.
SPEAKER 05 :
John, I sent you a clip, and it’s very short. It’s two young college-age girls. I don’t know if they’re in college, but they’re certainly out of high school. And it’s humorous, but I want to use it as a stepping stone to a much more serious discussion about the quality of education. And again, these are two girls. They look to be 19, 20 years old, and they were asked a very simple question.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, let me play. Here we go.
SPEAKER 19 :
If you can solve this riddle right now, I’ll give you $100. If you’re driving 80 miles per hour, how long does it take you to go 80 miles?
SPEAKER 17 :
Two hours. I’d say like two hour, 30 minutes. No. Wait, how long is it each mile? If you’re going 80 miles the entire time, it has to be like 2.30. But how long is it each mile? Two and a half? Yeah, I’d say two and a half. Two and a half, I think. Is that right?
SPEAKER 12 :
No. Are you sure? It’s not. You’re driving 80 miles an hour. How long does it take you to go 80 miles, Joe?
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. And, John, you’ve seen these other… I mean, the answer’s right in front of you. Right. An hour.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Duh. Yeah, so it’s like, okay, well, we’re going to visit Grandma, and she’s 180 miles away, and we’re going to be traveling 60 miles an hour. How long is it going to take to Grandma’s house?
SPEAKER 12 :
Two hours, roughly.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, three hours, yeah. 180 miles.
SPEAKER 12 :
Sorry, I thought you said 120. Yeah, 180 miles, three hours, yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. And there’s a guy named Justin Awad. Well, you remember Jay Leno used to do the Jaywalking thing? Oh, yes. And then there’s a guy called Justin Awad. He’s all over the Internet. He has people all these, like, how many dimes in a dollar thing. If it’s quarter after nine, what time is it? They can’t answer the most simple questions. You know, what two countries border the United States? You know, obviously Mexico and Canada. And the level of ignorance in this country is just mind-blowing.
SPEAKER 12 :
I always wondered on those, Joe, and this is something that would be nice if I had a little inside knowledge would be, you know, is that, you know, 8 out of 10 that answer it that way? Is it 2 out of 10? I really would like to know some of the stats because you know they take all those clips out of the worst ones. But, you know, is that the majority of people that can’t answer correctly or is it the minority? Well, I’m hoping it’s a minority, but by the way… Well, I’m hoping it is, but I’m afraid, Joe, you and I are wrong.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and here’s some stats I want to get to, and this is from our Department of Education. So the Department of Education didn’t exist before 1971.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Actually, it didn’t exist before, I think, 1979.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, when they actually funded it and got it really ramped up. Yeah, you’re right. It was late 70s. That’s correct.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. But in 1971, and this is just some data we had from 1971, which is almost a decade before the DOE even existed, 58%, almost 60% of 9-year-olds could read at or above their grade level. You fast forward to 2022, that 60% has fallen to 33%. And only 31% of eighth graders are reading at or above proficient levels, according to the national data. Most shocking of all, 70% of sixth graders today can’t read proficiently. Now, on an inflation-adjusted basis, we are spending more than twice today per student what we were spending before. in 1971. I think today we’re spending around $16,000 or $17,000 per year per student. And on an inflation-adjusted basis, it was less than $8,000 back in 1970. So we’ve doubled In real dollar terms, we’ve doubled what we’re spending and getting half the result.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, but, you know, again, I always have to remind people, Joe, that while that is extremely frustrating and wrong at the same time, you have to go back and look at the Marxist agenda and what they wanted to do from the get-go. And they flat out have accomplished exactly what they set out to do in the 60s. It’s now some, you know— 50, 60 years later, 60 years later, and they literally have, within about 50 years, accomplished what they set out to do, Joe, which was A, dumb down America, spend us into oblivion, and they’ve done both.
SPEAKER 05 :
And they’re not done. Illinois… No, they’re not done.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Illinois has just passed a change to their grading. If you now get 21% on a test, you still pass the test. Right. Is it Illinois or Chicago? But now 21% on a test is passing grade.
SPEAKER 1 :
21%.
SPEAKER 05 :
21%. Wow.
SPEAKER 12 :
I’m sure it was the same for you. Back in my day, if you didn’t get an 80% where I went to school, and granted I was in private school, but we had to have an 80% or better, Joe, or we failed.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, when I went to school, I believe it was 90% or better. You got an A. 80 to 90, you got a B. 70 to 80 was a C. Mm-hmm. 60 to 70 was a D, and anything below 60, you got an F. So think about that.
SPEAKER 12 :
In my case, you had to have Bs or you didn’t get through school. You didn’t graduate.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, right. And New York State used to have something called the Regents Exam. I’ve got a lot of relatives in upstate New York, and they had what was called the Regents Exam. And no matter what your grades were in the classroom, if you didn’t, the regents were like the SATs, but every school had to take them. If you didn’t pass the regents, you didn’t get your diploma. You got left back. You had to redo your senior year and take the regents.
SPEAKER 12 :
We don’t do that now, Joe.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, we don’t. And we’re literally taking this grading on a curve thing. Here we go. I apologize. It wasn’t Chicago. It was San Francisco. And they’re doing this in the name of equity. So in San Francisco, let me read you the San Francisco Public Chief of Schools grading for equity, a plan that will affect more than 10,000 high school students in the deep blue city. The new grading system will award scores as low as 41 on a 100-point test with a C grade. Students with a score of a low of 21 out of 100 will pass with a D. But they’ll still pass. They won’t get an F. they will pass, and a 41 or higher, well, a 41 will get you a C. And so I apologize for Illinois.
SPEAKER 12 :
Terrible.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s San Francisco. And it’s called grading for equity.
SPEAKER 12 :
Grading for equity. Meaning we want to make sure everybody graduates, no matter what. Even if they’re not smart enough, too, we’re going to let them anyways.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and then we’re going to turn them out into the world. And, you know, some of those other questions, this guy Justin A. Wise says, you know, if I’m buying something for, $2.83 or $4.83 and I hand you a $5 bill, how much change do I get? Which, you know, obviously is $0.17. And they can’t answer that simple question. You know, you get $0.17. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
I’ve seen some of those videos as well. I’ve seen some of those videos where they’re literally at the cashier saying, okay, you know, the total was, you know, I don’t know, $21.50. So they give them, you know, $22 expecting $0.50 back and they can’t even do that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Can’t even do that. And one more rant. There’s a video we don’t have time to play tonight, and I didn’t send it to you, but there’s a video of my favorite senator, John Kennedy from Louisiana, interviewing our new secretary of education, Linda McMahon, who’s been tasked with basically shutting the place down. And he’s asking her about a program called TRIO, which I had never heard of.
SPEAKER 12 :
TRIO?
SPEAKER 05 :
TRIO, T-R-I-O. Google it. It’s a program that the Department of Education has had in place for more than a decade. that was sending colleges and universities, ready for this number, more than $150 billion a year, which is, and so more than a decade, John, we’re talking more than a trillion dollars, to assist them in doing outreach programs to poor students, from poverty level students, to get them to enroll in colleges. And then he’s asked Lyndon McMahon, well, what’s been the success of that program? How many more people from poor communities have, as a result of this program, what’s been the increase? And she said there’s no data anywhere in the system. A trillion dollars, John, and they have no data. A trillion? A trillion dollars over a decade, which have been given, just given. Universities, here, go use this in the best way you think you can to help get underprivileged kids out. to think about coming, you know, enrolling in college. It doesn’t have to be your college. It can be any college. Just take this money and, you know, run programs to try and get people from underprivileged neighborhoods to think about going to college. There’s not one speck of data anywhere in the Department of Education on how successful, if at all, that program has been.
SPEAKER 1 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 05 :
No accountability.
SPEAKER 12 :
Unbelievable. Shouldn’t be that way.
SPEAKER 05 :
I didn’t send you that clip, but I did send you another clip if you want to.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I can play this one. This is Kennedy.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is John Kent again. He’s interviewing. This is about six months old. He was interviewing a Biden judicial nominee for federal judgeship.
SPEAKER 12 :
OK, here we go.
SPEAKER 05 :
Play this one.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, hang on. Got to make sure I have the sound. Sorry, Charlie. That was my fault. Not yours.
SPEAKER 20 :
Here we go. In May of 2019, you remember writing an article for a publication? Well, rather the title of the article. Excuse me. The title of your article in which you say you didn’t take a position was called the Federal Dungeon Part Two Court Proceedings. You remember that?
SPEAKER 18 :
I do.
SPEAKER 20 :
Okay. And you were talking about it was then under President Trump, not President Biden. The Department of Justice then had a zero tolerance for illegal entry into the United States because that, of course, is the law. And this is what you said about that. Quote, technically the law was broken, but these particular defendants, poor, hungry, hardworking, and not dangerous, deserve a pass from prosecution. End quote. Saying that illegal immigration should not be criminalized is a position, is it not?
SPEAKER 15 :
It is. What I’d like to add is that everything that I wrote, I wrote while I was an advocate, not a sitting judge.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, I see.
SPEAKER 15 :
That makes a difference.
SPEAKER 20 :
Did you mean it when you wrote it?
SPEAKER 15 :
When I wrote it? Did you mean it? I meant it when I wrote it because— Okay, but you don’t mean it now? I do not mean it now.
SPEAKER 20 :
So if you take off your advocate hat— Today, do you have your advocate hat on today?
SPEAKER 15 :
I am no longer an advocate. I’m a sitting magistrate judge.
SPEAKER 20 :
Okay, so you don’t tell the truth when you’re an advocate, but you do when you’re not? Is it okay to lie if you’re an advocate?
SPEAKER 15 :
I don’t follow the question.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, of course he doesn’t, Joe. He doesn’t follow the question because he got caught in a lie.
SPEAKER 05 :
And for those that don’t know, Senator John Kennedy comes off kind of like a country bump.
SPEAKER 12 :
He does, but he’s very smart.
SPEAKER 05 :
He’s a Harvard Law School graduate.
SPEAKER 12 :
He’s extremely smart, Joe. There’s very, very few things you’re going to pull the wool over his eyes on.
SPEAKER 05 :
It is. Let’s see, a couple of more stupid things this week. The state of New York has fined Walmart for $16,000 for… accidentally selling toy plastic guns. Apparently it’s against the law of New York State to sell a realistic plastic toy gun. Yeah. And the way it happened is, you know, just like Amazon Walmart, if you go on the Walmart website, there’s a lot of stuff on there that they have to see. It isn’t in the store. It isn’t in the store. In fact, it’s being shipped directly to you from a third party.
SPEAKER 12 :
So you’re just picking it up either at the store, it’s coming right to your door, or one of the two.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, and it’s a – but Walmart – it’s not Walmart’s product. They’re just acting as the – That’s right. They’re a third party. They’re taking the order. They’re doing the billing. That’s right. They’re doing the order, but it’s not even their product. Well, apparently some of their third-party vendors had online some toy plastic guns, and those guns got some people ordered. Like nine people ordered them. And rather than the state of New York saying to Walmart, hey, some of your vendors are doing this. Tell them to quit it. No, no, they had to go find them. Oh, my word. So, all right.
SPEAKER 12 :
Revenue collection. Revenue collection is all that is, Joe.
SPEAKER 05 :
Revenue collection. And the other one, did you talk about the Colorado law that requires the state of Colorado to fund boob jobs for men transitioning to women? I did not.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, in fact, I didn’t even know about it. Tell me about it. I didn’t hear that one.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. Colorado has now passed a law that requires both health insurance companies and their own state Medicaid program to pay for breast augmentation surgery, if there’s a man who wants to be a woman, in other words, a transgender woman, but born a man, that the law requires his health insurance company or the state’s own Medicaid program to pay for the full cost of his breast augmentation surgery, but does not require those same groups to pay for a woman if she wants to have that same surgery.
SPEAKER 12 :
Doesn’t seem fair, Joe.
SPEAKER 05 :
To me, it just seems stupid. I mean, if you’re a man and you don’t have the wherewithal to pay for your own breast augmentation surgery, then maybe you should rethink. This whole transitioning to a woman thing.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, but that’s where, you know, on a serious note, this is where a lot of those individuals and a lot of their supporters feel like it is your job and mine as taxpayers to fund these things. And it’s and it’s and I’m you know, you don’t need Joe. I’m one of those where. Sorry about that. Sorry. Sorry, Charlie. My browser is still rolling here. My bad. Joe, this is the problem. These people feel like it’s our responsibility, and you and I are of the type, and I know I am, where, you know, you do you. I mean, if you want to go do you, that’s fine. In fact, even when it comes to the transition end of things, you know what, if you want to go transition above age 18, by the way, I think it ought to be just like it is with. In fact, Joe, let me go one step further. We don’t allow kids to drink until they’re 21 in the country, correct? Yes, or buy a pistol. Or buy a pistol. So if you have to be 21 to actually drink or buy a pistol, then you have to be, in my opinion, 21 to go get any kind of sex change operations, period. I don’t care what parents say. I don’t care what kind of documentation you get. I don’t care. At that point in time, if you’re going to go get selective or elective, I should say, surgery done, you’ve got to be over the age of 21. And by the way, if you are and you decide to do it and you can afford it, not on my dime but on your own dime, You know what, Joe? Knock your socks off. Here’s the deal, though, Joe. If we implemented that, most of those would go away because they couldn’t afford to do it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. But people say, well, health care is a right. This is a right. There’s no right in the Constitution that requires anybody else to pay a nickel. John, if you want to exercise your right of free speech— Does anybody else have to, do you have to have a GoFundMe? You can stand on the corner and exercise your right of free speech. If you want to practice freedom of religion, does anybody else have to contribute? Is there any money involved in you practicing freedom of religion?
SPEAKER 12 :
Nope.
SPEAKER 05 :
If you want to be free from illegal search and seizure, do you need to be, anybody else have to fund that right?
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely not.
SPEAKER 05 :
If you want to exercise your Second Amendment rights, does anybody else have to contribute in order for you to exercise that right?
SPEAKER 12 :
It would be nice if they did, but no, Joe.
SPEAKER 05 :
No. Well, that’s my point. When people say, well, you know, health care is a right.
SPEAKER 12 :
A right, which it’s not.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, because other people, if other people have to pay for it, it’s not. Now, you have the right to seek health care. Right. All right. But you don’t have the right to be given health care at the expense of others. Anything that costs other people money. is not a right, because no other right in the country, if you look at the Bill of Rights and the Constitutional Rights, you can exercise each and every one of them without anybody else.
SPEAKER 12 :
And by the way, Joe, it’s the other thing some of those people seem to forget, and this is why, you know, the old saying, the golden rule, it’s the guy with the gold that rules. In other words, when you’re actually requiring somebody else to fund what you’re doing, there will be strings attached, Joe. Absolutely. It’s the way it works.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
And by the way, a lot of really quick jokes. It’s also why I’ve never borrowed money from anyone, including my folks, especially family members, because I don’t want that hanging over my head. I don’t want those strings attached.
SPEAKER 05 :
And let me go back to the on that same related topic back to the Department of Education. Now, you know, these days that the ratio of non-teaching administrators in any school system to teachers is is greater than one to two, in other words, for every two. Two to one. And in some cases, it’s almost one to one.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 05 :
And a great many of those non-teaching staff members are generating data to be sent to the Department of Education because if they don’t send the data, they don’t get their money from the federal government.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
So you’ve got this vicious cycle where the department says, we’ll give you money, but you have to give us all this data, which, by the way, I guarantee you, 99% of that data never gets read. It gets filed. So if they ever want to access it, they have it. Nobody reads that data, John.
SPEAKER 12 :
You’re right. You’re right, Joe.
SPEAKER 1 :
100%.
SPEAKER 12 :
No different than, I’m sorry to say, bankers that are out there. A lot of you are requiring this form, that form, you know, this thing to put in the file, that one to put in the file. Joe, at the end of the day, as long as it’s in the file, most of the time it never gets read. And I can vouch for that. 90% of the time it’s never read.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, it’s just, okay, well, we have it. If we ever want to check it, we have it. But nobody’s read it. I mean, John, there’s over… 100,000 K-12 schools in this country?
SPEAKER 12 :
They’re not reading all that. It’s impossible, Joe. It can’t be done.
SPEAKER 05 :
And they’re sending this data monthly. So can you imagine? That’s over a million data forms a year. It’s not happening. It’s not happening.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. Joe, good stuff as always. Appreciate you.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. Talk to you next week. All right, man.
SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, now, this, for some of you, not all, because not everybody travels by air. Okay, I get that. But a lot do. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that, you know, when I was, and I know I’m dating myself, but when I was a kid, and I think Charlie would agree with this, some of you listening would agree, man alive, you got on an airplane. That was a treat. I mean, you just didn’t hop on one at any given point in time. It was expensive. And in my family anyways, it just didn’t happen. You didn’t hop on an airplane for just every old reason. I watch, you know, today I see all sorts of, you know, families and kids and toddlers and so on. And they all hop on there, which is whatever. Fine. I mean, I’m glad they can. I’m not complaining about that. But my point is. It’s gotten to today where they’re just a bus with wings. I don’t know how else to say it, but it is. So a lot of people fly, which is good. But a lot of people still don’t. But here’s something that may actually help some of you when it comes to flying. The Trump administration is ending TSA’s Quiet Skies Traveler Surveillance Program. So the Trump administration is preparing to end a federal domestic surveillance program for travelers that’s meant to ferret out terrorist threats, but has sometimes ended up saddling Americans with inconvenient or invasive searches at U.S. airports. President Trump plans to discontinue the Transportation Security Administration’s Quiet Skies program, multiple sources have said to CBS. This is a CBS article I’m reading. An announcement could come as soon as Thursday, one official said. Aides have debated how to shut the Quiet Skies down without any lapses in security. Quiet Skies works to identify travelers who could present an elevated risk to aviation security. The program, which began in 2010. employs analysts and undercover air marshals to monitor people in airports and during flights using outstanding warrants, facial recognition software, identification of suspicious travel patterns and behaviors, and other data to try to prevent terrorist attacks. It has caught up some high-profile people in its dragnet, including Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat congressman who is now Trump’s director of national intelligence, and has led to debates about what has appeared at times to be an uneven application of the rules. TSA surveillance efforts have long attracted criticism for tracking U.S. citizens not suspected of any crimes. The circumstances that land an individual on the quiet skies list, or what gets them removed, have been mostly concealed from the public. Some Americans undertake exhaustive efforts to get themselves removed from the list, with some even engaging in protracted legal fights. Now, I’m not going to read the rest of this, but I’m for this. In fact, I wish, and just really quick, too, I should note this, if any of you are out driving around, we have some very heavy fog. Moving into the – it’s already on the southwest end of town as Charlie and I look out. And I don’t know if it’s rain or fog, but it’s super thick. Visibility is going to be way down. So any of you that are out driving around or that are heading south, be aware that you’re probably going to run into some traffic and some things along those lines because what we’re watching come through. We’re on the 12th story, but as we’re watching this come through, to me it looks like – I think, Charlie, I can kind of see it. It’s a combination of fog and rain. So those of you driving around, be very careful. especially around the highways and so on, because all it takes is one knucklehead and all of a sudden you’re in a bad accident. We don’t want that. So be very, very careful. Sorry, I didn’t mean to break what I was doing here, but that’s something that we can look out the window and see. So those of you that are out and about right now, driving, driving home, whatever, be extremely careful. Back to TSA. I’m one. You could eliminate the whole darn thing for all I care. In fact, I have said this for years. This should go back to each individual airline. They should compete. It should be a part of what they do. Put this back into their hands and eliminate TSA altogether, period. TSA, in my opinion, is nothing more than one big feel-good measure for most travelers where they think by going through that process they’re now safer. They’re not. They’re not. I read an article the other day. I can’t remember what airport it was at. I’m sorry. I should have saved this, but I didn’t. But there was a very busy airport here in the U.S. whereby airline employees, they get to pass through their own area typically. And in this particular case, and still this way, not all of them have to be screened. They can just show their badge and walk in. There have been a plethora of loaded, in the bag, purse, whatever, handguns passing through, going right through security because they only inspect. You know, it’s random. They’ll just pull somebody out here or there. But numerous people roll through. Now, here’s the other caveat to this, which… Is it fair? Is it not? I don’t know. I don’t have an opinion on this one way or the other. If they’re caught with a concealed weapon in their bag or whatever, they don’t go through the same legal challenges that you and I would if we get caught. In other words, in this particular situation, the police don’t even prosecute them. It’s all handled internally, and off they go. It’s completely different than if you’re a regular passenger passing through TSA with a gun. Now, I don’t necessarily feel that’s fair, although I do think airline employees can have – they get screened, and they’ve got different background checks and so on, although – Although, what if you were a nefarious individual and you disguised yourself as one of them and had the badge and just walked through and you had a bomb, a loaded weapon or whatever? I mean, to me, it’s not that safe, not that secure. It’s why I’m saying I don’t think TSA is that. And I’m sorry, if you work for TSA, thank you for what you do. I appreciate it. You’re doing your job, all of that. But at the end of the day, I always wonder as I’m walking through there, what are they really catching? I mean, literally, what are they catching? I still look at it as just one big feel-good measure that government is trying to make you feel better about flying, safer about flying, when at the end of the day, I’m not sure it is. Really, at the end of the day, I look around the airport at times knowing because of some of the things that I’ve done in the past, knowing how you can actually get badges and do different things and so on. And I look at some of the vendors that their people will have badges and they can come and go out of back doors and so on. I just look at some of that and think. There are so many holes and openings when it comes to an airport and the ability for nefarious things to happen. I’m actually shocked we haven’t had more. I’m sorry. That’s how I feel about it. I’m surprised we haven’t had more since September 11th. And then you’ve got to wonder, is that because of other things that are happening inside of government surveillance and so on? Because I’m here to tell you, it has nothing to do with TSA. Sorry, nothing. Like Dr. Kelly was talking about in our 3 o’clock hour, we’ve got individuals from China that are coming in with pathogens that literally can destroy crops here in America. We caught them, luckily. But we’ve got that going on, and yet you can’t take four ounces of shampoo, but you can take 3.5 or 3.8 or whatever the stupid number is. Four ounces is too much, but you can take 3.8 or whatever the magic number is. I can’t remember, Charlie. Is it 3.7? 3.8 is some weird number. And it was like, who even came up with that? Why is it three point whatever ounces or four ounces or whatever? I mean, who came up with that? And is it really? I mean, is there some magic formula that if I had four ounces of nitroglycerin and I’m rolling through, that doesn’t do as much damage as five? Or whatever other kind of explosive you could actually have concealed in your shampoo bottle? You guys get my drift, and some of you are way bigger experts at this than I am. But where’s that magic number? I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know explosives. It shows you how ignorant I am. I don’t know what two ounces of a product versus six ounces of a product would do. On the same token, I do know this. They don’t really limit you as to how many of those little bottles you can have. So let’s say that you’re a nefarious individual. And you’ve got like six of these little pre-done, you know, shampoo bottles that, you know, are clear and all of that. And they’ve got liquid in them, which, by the way, they hardly ever look at as far as what’s in them. As long as it’s underneath that specification of the, you know, four ounces or whatever it happens to be. And by the way, you can carry in clear water bottles. No problem. They can’t have anything in them, but you can have a very large water bottle that you carry in as long as it’s empty. That’s fine. So here’s my point. And I’m not giving anything out, by the way. I’m not the only one that thinks this way. I guarantee you that nefarious individuals do. So what would keep you from having six or eight of these little bottles in your little carry-on, and then all of a sudden you decide, okay, I’m just going to make a little bomb out of this because I’ve got all the things that I need, and I’ve got my big, you know, I’ve got my one liter or my, because they don’t limit you on that, by the way. It could be an empty bottle of almost any size. You drag that through. You then go into the bathroom, go into a stall, empty all of these empty bottles. You take all these liquid bottles that you’ve now got, all the nefarious bottles with whatever liquid is that’s now explosive, and you put it into the big bottle. My point is, how is this changing anything at the end of the day going through TSA? It doesn’t. That’s how stupid some of these rules are. Literally stupid. There is no rhyme or reason for some of these. I mean, if they really want to keep this stuff out, eliminate liquids altogether. if that’s really what they’re trying to do, but they don’t. They just say you can have almost as many of, I mean, I’ve seen, I know I’m one of those weirdos, Charlie, we’ll admit it, where sometimes you get stopped or you’re going through the TSA thing and there’s other people that are stopped and you get to see what’s inside their bag, and I’m always amazed at how some people have a real inability to pack correctly. I know. I drive my wife crazy. I’m very organized. I use cubes. All my stuff is all dialed in. You could empty my bag and put it back together in a matter of seconds just because of the way I pack. Most people don’t. I watch some of these bags open up and it’s like, holy cow, what a rat’s nest that is inside there. How could you find anything? And they’ll dig through and they find whatever it is they’re looking for. And, oh, you can’t have this or you can’t have that or whatever. And I’m just thinking to myself, I’ve seen people with literally, you know, big, huge, large, almost laptop sized bags with all these different things inside of it with, you know, it’s usually ladies with makeup and this and that and perfume and blah, blah, blah. And I’m like, OK, I guess it’s all as long as it’s all under four ounces, you’re good to go. But I go back to my point a moment ago. What if it’s all the same liquid? They don’t know. They’re not testing it. They don’t look at it. I had a situation one time years ago, not long after 9-11, and I had a, I can’t remember what it was, a bottle of something. And it was over the four ounce minimum or maximum. But there wasn’t anything hardly in it. You could see by looking in the bottle, there might have been, I’m not exaggerating, there might have been a quarter ounce of fluid in the bottom of this bottle. In other words, it was basically empty. And the guy’s like, you can’t take that through. That’s a six ounce bottle or whatever. I’m like, but it’s empty. Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m like, okay, time out. You can see from looking at it. There’s literally less than an ounce left. Yes, I know it’s a four ounce or it’s a six ounce bottle, but there’s only like half an ounce left in the bottom of it. We’re not playing that game. That’s exactly what the TSA guy told me. We’re not playing that game. I’m like, I’m not playing a game. I’m just common sense looking at this. You know, I’m confused. Needless to say, I had to throw whatever that was out and continue on because that guy wasn’t going to allow me in no matter what. He was on his power trip that day. So hang tight. We’ll come right back. Roof Savers of Colorado is next. And if you’ve had any problems, storm-wise, damage, whatever, give Roof Savers a call today. Do not delay. Get that taken care of. And don’t call your insurance company. Call them first, 303-710-6916.
SPEAKER 16 :
Wind and rain and hail, oh my. There’s no place like home and you have to do what you can to keep a reliable roof over it. Summer hailstorms are here, bringing damage and door knockers. That’s where we come in. At Roof Savers Colorado, we take pride in helping homeowners like you find the right solution for your situation. We strive to provide peace of mind and a quality roofing experience for every customer. From plant-based rejuvenation treatments that give new life to dry, old, or minorly damaged shingles to full roofing replacements, we want to provide the best service for you and your home. Hail Season brings many out-of-state roofing companies knocking at your door, but we’re here to provide you with honest inspections, quality service, and customer care. Don’t wait. Call us for a free assessment before filing your insurance claim. Call today at 303-710-6916 or go to RoofSaverCO.com. That’s 303-710-6916 or go to RoofSaverCO.com to set up your free inspection.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, Group Insurance Analyst is next. If you’re looking for business insurance, even party insurance, some of you have special events and things like that that you need insured, Group Insurance Analyst can do all of that for you, e-gia.com.
SPEAKER 11 :
Finding the right home and auto insurance can be confusing, and picking the wrong plan can cost you thousands of dollars more out of your pocket. You need an expert in home and auto insurance to help you find the best coverage that fits your needs and at the very best premium. Call Paul Linegro at GIA Insurance, and his team of home and auto insurance specialists will help you find the right plan for your needs. As independent brokers, GIA Insurance can help you shop the market so that you get the right coverage at the right price. GIA never charges fees, and your premiums will never be any higher than going directly to the insurance companies or buying online. Receive the local hands-on service that you don’t get with a call center or online. Whether it is your home, auto, classic car, or liability insurance, GIA has got you covered. Call 303-423-0162, extension 100, or go online to e-gia.com. Get more without paying more.
SPEAKER 10 :
The best export we have is common sense. You’re listening to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, here’s a text message I got in. It says, I went to Vegas, realized I walked through TSA in Denver with a pocket knife, and they patted me down because I went through x-ray because I have two prosthetic hips, proving my point that it’s just one big feel-good measure. Joe, go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
John, long time we haven’t talked, but anyway. It’s all right. Three quick things. Ever see somebody go through security in a wheelchair with a little oxygen bottle?
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Anybody ever check to see if that’s really oxygen in the bottle?
SPEAKER 12 :
Nobody ever does, Joe. No more than they check the liquids I was explaining earlier that are in the carry-ons.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. It could be cyanide. It could be nitroglycerin. Now, the second thing, you ever see somebody, you know, they’re going through and they put a bottle in a paper bag in the trash can and that long snake line leading up? Oh, yeah. What if that paper bag had a bomb in it?
SPEAKER 12 :
Then it blows the whole place up. Exactly.
SPEAKER 05 :
And you would kill more people in the TSA security waiting line than you would if you’ve got it on the airplane. That’s number two. Finally, the third idiocracy, you know, they went from the magnetometers to the full body scanner where you have to hold your arms up.
SPEAKER 14 :
Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Because somebody finally figured out, hey, you know, those magnetometers, somebody wanted to put a pound of C4 duct tape to the small of their back. Because, you know, C4 is like silly putty. Right. You know, our magnetometer, so we need to have the full body scanner to make sure nobody’s smuggling C4, you know, through our security checkpoints. Right. They don’t have them at every airport. So if you want to skip the body scanner, you drive up to Cheyenne, take the puddle jumper to DIA. They’ll drop you off on B concourse. And then you can get on your 757 with your C4. So my point is, if you’re not going to put full body scanners everywhere, why put them anywhere?
SPEAKER 12 :
Because it’s like I’ve said many, many, many times, and I mean this sincerely, and it’s not against anybody that works for TSA. It’s a job. I get it. But at the end of the day, Joe, it is nothing more than an appearance that we’re doing something to make all these passengers safe when, in fact, it’s doing nothing.
SPEAKER 05 :
Are you familiar with the phrase kabuki theater?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. And by the way, on top of that, it’s an inconvenience to passengers as well, but that’s another side note.
SPEAKER 05 :
And for those who are not familiar, kabuki theater is a highly stylized form of silent Japanese theater. And because nobody talks, all of the motions are exaggerated. It’s like watching a silent movie. And TSA is basically, from my perspective, just kabuki theater. They’re just – Going through the motions to make you feel good. And you’ve seen the reports, by the way, where they have like a 90, they do these random tests. They have like a 96% failure rate. And they fail a lot. It’s overnight. Everyone, there’s never been a test that I’m aware of that had a failure rate. Less than 90%. They’re always all above 90%.
SPEAKER 12 :
Joe, again, as a passenger, you have to do it. You can’t raise a stinker because now you’re going to really be on some list. So you abide by what you need to do. I fortunately have pre-check, which helps a little bit in getting through faster and so on, although a lot of people now have pre-check. But at the end of the day, I still watch what goes on, and sometimes I’ll kind of stand off to the side and just watch the lines. I just think to myself, what a bunch of hooey.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’ll give you one more. I was traveling one time. The guy in front of me, this is back when cameras still had film, and he had like a big 12-pack of film, a bunch of cameras. And he handed it to the guy. He said, I don’t want this to go through X-ray. It’s high-speed film. So he hands this box. It was about the size of a larger than a pocket novel. And he hands this to the guy, and he walks through the thing, and the security guard on the other side hands it back to him. I said, I’m the next guy in line. I said, Aren’t you going to check what was in that box? And the guy said it was sealed. And I said, did you ever hear of glue?
SPEAKER 12 :
I know. Joe, I watch things like you’re talking about even on the wheelchair end of things. I watched that the other day, actually, and I just look at that, and I think to myself, they don’t have – I mean, you could really be a nefarious individual. And for everybody listening, we’re not telling anything out, Joe, that nobody else has ever thought of. A lot of these people think of the very – they think of worse things than even what you and I are talking about. And the reality is if they really wanted to do it, they could.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely, they could. And by the way, all these people that deliver, when you go into these stores on the concourse where they’ve got, literally you’ll see them unpacking, literally on a hand truck, they get delivered like six crates of bottled water. Now, John, the guy that delivered the bottled water, he came in a white van, you know, through the gate. He didn’t go through security. No, no, that’s all done.
SPEAKER 12 :
I’ve been through that process before as a company. That’s all done through, you know, granted they do background checks and things like that. But, Joe, again, I mean, at the end of the day, if you, you know, and there’s movies out about this right now. I think there’s the one on Netflix that’s out there with Jason Bateman. whereby if you really wanted to blackmail and or threaten to kill a worker’s family or whatever, yeah, those guys could roll in and out of their Joe with anything you want them to.
SPEAKER 05 :
Or just hijack one. Just stop the guy, hijack one, and take his ID.
SPEAKER 12 :
You could do that, too.
SPEAKER 05 :
And pretend you’re him. And, you know, and bring a pallet. You can imagine, Don, if you bring up a pallet full of water bottles, a hand truck full of water bottles, six cases of water, what could be in those six cases of water. But, John, it’s not one person. I mean, those delivery drivers, you’ve got a magazine, newspapers.
SPEAKER 12 :
There’s hundreds of them, Joe. Thousands of them at some airports.
SPEAKER 05 :
coming in and out, not going through security. That’s right. They open the gate. They drive in. There’s a back elevator right to the concourse. They go right up to the concourse.
SPEAKER 12 :
Joe, again, not to give anybody any ideas, but let’s go one step further. And a lot of those vendors that are coming and going and have the ability to even drive and so on, all they have to do is get together with one baggage guy, slip a bag in full of whatever they want to. That baggage guy just slips it into the next big plane that’s ready to leave, and off you go. Same situation. No different.
SPEAKER 05 :
No different. And by the way, that’s how they do the same thing in reverse when they’re smuggling drugs. That’s right.
SPEAKER 12 :
No different.
SPEAKER 05 :
They bribe a baggage handler to pull a bag loaded with drugs. So it never goes on the conveyor.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep, that’s all they got to do. It’s not that complicated, Joe, at the end of the day. All right, man, I appreciate you very much. Nope, that’s going to do it. Golden Eagle Financial coming up next. And don’t forget, Al Smith, he would love to help you with your financial future. Over 30 years in that particular industry, licensed in Colorado and Wyoming. Golden Eagle Financial, Al Smith, 303-744-1128.
SPEAKER 08 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
All right, and if you get into any kind of legal problems or an accident and the other side’s not doing its part, give Kevin Flesch a call today. Criminal, civil, he does both sides. 303-806-8886.
SPEAKER 14 :
Here’s why you need personal injury attorney Kevin Flesch on your side. He understands the way the jury thinks. In the context of a personal injury case, you’ve been hurt by someone else’s negligence. The idea is that you’re going to try to recover so that you can get back to where you were just prior to that incident occurring. What that really means from a jurist’s perspective is that you’re going to be asking them to award you money. So when we talk about fairness, we’re talking about six people that you don’t know. Those six people view the evidence and make a unanimous decision that will decide what the fair value is. When you’re the one who’s hurt, you have a good idea of what you think it’s worth. The question is, can you persuade those other individuals whom you don’t know and were witnesses to believe that’s what the case is worth? Kevin Flesch understands the way the jury thinks. Call now for a free consultation. 303-806-8886
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, Dr. Scott Faulkner, if you listen to us during Hour 1 on Thursdays and listen to Dr. Kelly, I’ll tell you right now, Dr. Scott, literally, it could be Dr. Kelly’s twin, thinks exactly the way she does, has been through a lot of the same things that Dr. Kelly has and is on our side, your side, when it’s all said and done for your health care. 303-663-6990.
SPEAKER 02 :
Are you tired of crisis care and instead want true health care? Do you want to improve your overall fitness and beauty? Do you have a chronic medical condition that no one has taken the time to understand? Are you trying to meet a health or weight goal? Or maybe you’re just looking for a great doctor who thinks the way you do. Dr. Scott is a board certified internal medicine specialist, bringing decades of experience and expertise to the table. Dr. Scott is a true advocate of the latest advancements in health care. That’s why he uses umbilical derived stem cells, which have been clinically proven to be the most potent stem cells available. Worried about being lost in the crowd of impersonal health care? Fear not. Dr. Scott is a big picture doctor, not beholden to big pharma or big insurance like some other providers. He takes the time to understand your unique needs and will customize your health care to fit you, your body, and your lifestyle. Reach your full potential and achieve your goals. Call Dr. Scott today at 303-663-6990 or visit him online at castlerockregenerativehealth.com or find him at rushtoreason.com. Dr. Scott Faulkner and Castle Rock Regenerative Health Care is your path to a healthier tomorrow.
SPEAKER 13 :
As independent brokers, GIA Insurance can help you shop the market so that you get the right coverage at the right price. Whether it is your home, auto, classic car, or liability insurance, GIA has got you covered. Call 303-423-0162, extension 100, or go online to e-gia.com. It’s time to leave your safe space.
SPEAKER 10 :
This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, we are back and finishing things up here today on this fine Thursday. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Okay, we are officially in a recession, at least in Denver, but not the kind of recession that you may be thinking. We are in a marijuana recession. The city of Denver is now telling neighborhoods to halt their dispensary growth. In other words, depending upon where you’re at and what you’re trying to do, you may not be allowed to move your dispensary into certain areas because, frankly, there’s too many. The competition is too heavy. They’re not making money like they once were. They’re going out of business, and you’re starting to see that happen in lots of areas, by the way, not just in the city of Denver. In a lot of cases, they just flat got overbuilt. And then the other thing, of course, that’s happened to Colorado is we were the first to do the recreational sides of things, but a lot of other states, and I don’t want to name them all off, but there’s a bunch. I think there’s, Charlie, is it 13 other states now, I want to say, in the country? I think there’s more than that, Charlie said, more than 13 that actually will allow now recreational use of marijuana. You can have dispensaries and all of that. And because of that, you don’t have the marijuana traveling. You know, we used to be a destination for people that would want to come and do that. And even that has taken a big turn for the worse for those particular people. Yeah, marijuana tourism is what they used to call it. Yeah, we don’t have as much of that like we once did because of that as well. So there you go. There’s your update on the marijuana recession. Have a great night. We’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t go anywhere. Be safe. I should say we’ve got movies tomorrow with Andy, of course. Enjoy your night. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
