everybody welcome once again to the show that has absolutely no
commercials, no music, no jingles, no talent, no norovirus
and no agenda. Coming to you from a very dark and wet United
Kingdom. I'm Adam curry.
And I'm John C. Dvorak are getting pounded by huge storm.
You were just just before we started, you were what? are you
closing the window or something or putting a screen on?
The screen is gonna fly out into the ocean here if I don't, so I
had to open the window to grab it. Now it's and then we just
like get everything wet.
So what are the what are these wins because I even saw a news
report about it somewhere. I was aware of this. This was
happening.
Yeah, it's just a big you know, once in a while we get these
whopping Whopper storms. You don't get a lot of action
usually. But we had but there's these two storms that came in
one came in at four in the morning. Last night. It was just
like 60 mile an hour winds cold and raining. Like to an extreme.
In fact, this morning, I was doing trying to do some work
here. And it was like so noisy. I couldn't even concentrate.
Which is unusual. And it's also coming from a weird angle which
is always annoying it then it kind of messes up the you know,
most people's houses are kind of set up in a certain way so the
you know, so the so the shingles don't go flying off the roof,
right? I'm gonna check this roof after this one.
Okay, well, real sorry for all you folks in California. I mean,
we're used to that shit. We got high winds all the time.
No, you don't get this kind of strange weather. I mean, why
I've been in London when it's been pretty bad. But no,
it can be pretty, pretty weird. Anyway, it's Friday afternoon,
or at least it is. It's actually it's Friday evening, seven
o'clock in the UK. So one day early, or actually on time for
once.
Right? We're supposed to do it on Friday, but we never do. And
I figured out the Skype
problem and I really feel dorky about it. And you know, you
remember last week, the connection got so bad at a
certain point that we actually turn the conversation into how
can we do this in a in an easier, easier way that at least
will sound good. I had my DOM on the PC. And when I do this
because it's kind of like permanently installed in the in
the studio. And I had my my MacBook Pro up here in the
office. And I had left iTunes running. And it was oh, I know
I'm such a dick. So it was he was downloading podcasts. Well,
you know, when you're on the sorry as DSL line, like I have
here then that just blew it also, my fault won't happen
again.
Good. But you sounded fine. The whole podcast?
Well, yeah. Because it's recording my mic, or you listen
to it. You listen to the show. Yeah, really? No. I
mean, we're not but what I'm referring to is during the show
when we're recording, okay, no, I understand but you sounded
fine. I don't really listen to the show me why there's no real
reason to listen to the show since I write on the show.
Right. That's what I that's why I was surprised. I thought you
had gone back and listened to the show. I don't listen to my
show.
Once in a while, I will just to see how the quality is what most
people think
our quality is actually pretty decent.
That's not bad. Yeah. So you know, this week, of course, we
just happened to be having pod show meetings. And I asked you
so let's just do the show now. Because we were absolutely as
unprepared as possible, which I think is the kind of the theme
of the show. Just to show people that it can be done that way.
Yes.
And so I guess that's that's
why we talked about one thing that happened to you you had
norovirus Yeah.
That's the the epidemic that is sweeping across the continent.
Now. This they call it the vomiting virus not that I
vomited because I don't do that.
It's reasonable in the United States that would that would be
known as the stomach flu which we've had you know bouts with
now and again. And but it seems as though England in particular
is just very hard hitting now you're telling me it hit the
continent too?
Yeah, well, at least those those the reports that I've been
getting, first of all, they actually the the BBC report says
that the symptoms are projectile vomiting. So you know, that is
not just the stomach flu. I like it. I like the BBC writing that
down. Oh, you will projectile vomit. Which I have never done
in my life.
Did you projectile vomit? No.
I haven't puked in 30 years, John, I don't puke.
Oh, what are those guys I know I had a friend in high school that
never puked.
It's not like I like I you know, I just don't have to puke. I'm
sorry. So I'm not a puker What can I tell you? The whole family
is is anti You hear, by the way,
so you didn't have predict projectile vomiting? No. Well,
no. So that so, so much for the symptoms? No, because
the symptoms can be high fever, which I had. I had an upset
stomach for sure. It's just I don't puke. That's the only
difference. And believe me, you know, there's enough project
projectiles, just not vomit.
Oh, I get my drift. We will go there. Okay, thank
you. But this is highly contagious. And you know, so I
posted on my blog that you know, okay, I'm sick. And then the
reports came out about this virus and then everyone on in
the country is every news report is talking about it and the
saying, Look, you know, so you're, you're you got a fever,
you're sick to your stomach, don't go to the doctor, you're
only going to infect more people. It's infecting 200,000
people a week. And they believe that there may already be 2
million people in the UK alone who are infected. And when I
posted on my weblog, I started getting comments from
everywhere, from the Netherlands, from Germany, from
Finland from Italy. I mean, this thing is just and it's really
really, really fast and you get it by being in close proximity
to someone else. So sporting events, aeroplanes, ships, in
fact, I think it's the queen is the Queen Mary to that, that had
they set sail and and there's like 50 people who have the flu
on board now.
Yeah, well that you know, and of course the smart money whether
you have the flu or not, you say you didn't get a free ride.
Okay, so no, in fact, it's like the biggest scam going on right
now. People will do it again on a cruise ship and then they if
there's any indication that something's breaking out, they
go in with the symptoms. And you know, you have some good glass
of Tabasco sauce if you want to elevate your temperature. And
really does that work? Well, I know you can if you eat some
really hot food, you know, some very spicy Mexican food some
jalapenos, you can get your temperature up if you've not
just really I
should have known that as a kid man. I was always like running
around my room and you know, trying to to work out my body
temperature.
And most kids can't handle it. But yeah, you see a beauty you
see people that sweat I remember, I'm reminded of a
story says you know in California a lot of us eat a lot
of hot chilies. And although not necessarily as much as some of
us do, who are really kind of addicted to the chilli and and
I'm quite comfortable with the hottest imaginable food except
some places in India has served food that is excruciating, and
maybe too too much for me. But so I'm in Brazil.
Well, you're a professional job. Let's just be honest. I mean,
let's just call a spade a spade. Doing what your professional
foodie Yeah.
I'm a foodie. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, so I'm, by the way, the
thing about Chili's for people out there who wants to watch the
big kick? Well, I mean, besides the fact you get a little
endorphin hit, the real kick of chilies is it actually changes
because it burns out certain taste buds for a short term, it
changes the flavour profile of foods and you actually get in
the food tastes differently and sometimes it's meant to taste
that differently way for you to fully appreciate it. So I'm in
Brazil, where they where they really like hot chilies but not
that many people actually in Brazil eat them but they're all
over the place. And when I go to these churrascaria is which are
these Brazilian barbecue places which are all over the world
now. But any of them outside of Brazil they never have the
chilli sauces they usually in Brazil, you go to one of these
places where they have these barbecued meats on a sword they
bring out and you ask for this piece or that piece. They have
like this they have these hot some scotch bonnets and there's
really little bitty really dinky little peppers that are
extremely hot
and you eat for you before you get to the meat.
The peppers are usually soaked in a vinegar or vinegar oil
mixture and is that mixture though the oil and vinegar you
put on the meat. You don't ever eat the peppers. Okay,
generally, it's just a hot it's a really kind of a version of a
hot sauces. It's very evident it can be extremely hot. Anyway,
but so I'm in Brazil, and this guy's you know, in real action,
a little barbecue place right on the beach. And the guy says,
this guy, he's another journalist, and he's like,
challenges me to these peppers thinking I'm just some sort of
went from the United States who doesn't know anything about
peppers. So I said, Yeah, he says, Would you ever have these
peppers? I say yeah, those peppers are are pretty hot.
Pretty nice. He said, Would you ever eat one of the peppers?
What kind of a child was this guy? I know he's just a jerk is
typical journalist. Anyway, so oops. Anyway, so he says I said
yeah, you want if you eat one, you know here we go.
Hey, go mature. He's nice.
So he says, Okay, and so I took one of the peppers and chewed it
up and swallow it. And it was really it was hot, but it wasn't
intolerably hot. I mean, there's many pepper harder than the
thing. And he says, he says, you want it? You don't want to have
another one. I said, you want to have another one? Because he put
one in his mouth. And I said, Sure. And so we took another
white shoot it up and swallowed it. And you know, and that was
kind of the end of it for about five or six minutes. And then
all of a sudden, out of the blue, this guy
turns beet red and starts projectile vomiting.
Well, he doesn't do that. But that's a funny punchline. But
anyway, so he turns beet red, and he's like dying. Sweating is
drinking water. I said, what happened? He says, Well, I saw
you I said it. He says, I didn't eat the peppers. I just put them
in my mouth and
kind of kept them in his mouth. Oh, no.
And then he says, and then when I saw that you ate them and
swallow them with no problem that I decided. I decided they
can't, they can't be that hot. And so I just took it personal.
isn't one of those anecdotes? Show her the audience? Even
showing you how the immature adults can be.
So we were talking about this. Back to the flu for a second. We
were talking about that earlier in the week. And you said
something really interesting after I made a comment. And you
said it would be a great theme for a book. And this is a theory
that I've had for a long time is that you know, every season, I'm
sure some pharmaceutical conspiracy throw shit into the
air so that they can go sell all the antidote.
And I know you said that, and it's a nut job. thing to say,
but I was thinking well, what wouldn't actually be a bad idea
for a book or a crappy, you know, TV show or something like
that? Well,
just think about it. So that, you know, Patricia, as long as
I've been married to her, she and and even as long as I've
known her. She's always gotten the flu shot every single year.
She's a big believer, I am not a believer in the flu shot,
because at least I wasn't a believer in the flu shot.
Because I'm like, How the hell can they have this, this thing
changes and morphs, it comes back in different, at least this
is what I think we're led to believe is that when this flu
comes back, and it's amazing how it always comes back, kind of in
the wintertime. But now these flu jabs, which are not cheap.
They weren't gods come on. 10 bucks,
but the 10 bucks. But they, but they work right? Yeah, they do.
Okay, so
Well, you know what you're now you're changing your whole pitch
here. And then on the other story, I'm
saying I'm saying that
this is a form of it's a form of extortion.
Yes. Yeah. There you go.
Yeah, no, I understand that. I've thought that myself once in
a while. It's like these guys dream up these, you know, they
go and it's actually for typically for vaccines in a flu
shot for four different versions of the flu that they predict,
based on epidemiology and some other things. I don't know, is
it really a prediction? Or do they know what they're going to
throw in the air? That's what I'm saying.
Let's say that's what you're saying. And I can imagine other
people thinking that. I mean, it's an interesting theory to
consider. But I think if you talk to a virologist, you might
get a reasonable maybe she get one on the show and somebody can
explain to us how this actually does work because I don't
believe from it that they have to because of the way the flu
perpetrates itself or gender or self perpetrate is not the right
word, but you know, spreads itself. They don't have to do
that what you're claiming people do it on their own. You know,
people sneeze on each other, they don't, you know, use a
Kleenex,
the actual the actual flu itself, right? I mean, this
thing comes in, why does it appear all of a sudden, why does
the flu just appear? I mean, so, so they know what it is because
they can create the antidote for it. Right? Vaccine, the vaccine,
I like antidote sounds like it's funny. In and then and then lo
and behold, the virus shows up but where does that virus
originate from and how come it's exactly the virus that they have
the antidote for? China? Yet Yet, you know, bird flu we can't
figure out when that one hits. I don't know. It just I just got a
weird feeling about it. I don't know.
Well, I mean, I'd say I think a lot of people are like you, you
know misinformed. Blonde, really not too interested in science or
anything like
No, not at all interested in that kind of stuff. Forget about
it. Why don't
we get a virologist and we'll talk to him and we'll figure
this out and maybe educate ourselves and the public.
You know, we don't usually comment on news stories. But you
know the story that's been whipping around the blogosphere
about the Ri a apparently some lawyer in a court in the court
case, stated that making a copy of a CD. That would
do, by the way, this is my, this is my PC Magazine column for
this week, by the way.
Well, let me just see. Let me just see if we're talking about
the same thing.
Yeah, we're talking about the idea that if you rip now Wait,
wait, stop. No,
stop, John. No, no, I'm not doing my research. Listen to
this. Listen to this. It turns out that the this this started
in a Washington Post article written by a guy named Fisher, I
believe,
I know, I know, I refer to this article. And then Steve wells
strim, at the Business Week, and a few other guys had come out
and said, has his bowl.
No, not this doesn't No, no, no, you're missing it. You. Listen
to me. Now, let me finish this, let me finish the sentence. He
only he only cited half of the quote, the quote that the person
from the RIA made was, if you rip a CD, put it on your hard
drive in a shared folder. That would be deemed illegal. And he
chose not to quote that part in the article that you didn't
know.
Well, okay.
But that's it. But that's a big deal.
They have been skirting they have it's a big deal for this
particular episode. They have been skirting around this
possibility of finding some way to condemn mp3 to some illegal
status for some time, they talk about every once in a while, and
Wallstrom in at Businessweek wrote this up. And then they
cited the, you know, the there's a US Code law that says that,
you know, you're allowed to make it was put into law, you're
allowed to make copies for personal use, and it went on and
on. But if you read that law very carefully, and I wrote this
actually in a comment on the business wiki site, if you read
that very carefully, it specifically says what you can
make copies onto. And a computer hard disk is not one of them
under any circumstances. And I believe that they're going to
find some way because of the way that law is written to skirt the
personal copy. protection issue because a hard disk is not
protected by that law, the only things that are required audio
recording devices, whether digital or analogue, not hard
disks.
I think you're downplaying my point.
I, I'm not downplaying it, I'm ignoring it. When you're,
you're gonna hate it, because it's going to be bigger than the
story. It's the journalist, the journalist made a huge
journalistic mistake and won't admit it.
Oh, well, that's an issue. And I know what your point is, is that
here's a guy that took a thing out of context. And then he made
a big store article out of it. And meanwhile, it's like one of
those deals where you misquote somebody and you make a make a
federal case out of it. Yeah. Yeah, that's, you're right. It's
a completely different point in my point. But I still think that
underlying the whole thing is this is the RAS A's attempt to
genuinely kill off the mp3.
Wow, well, so is the reverse also true if I buy tracks off of
iTunes, and then I burn it to a CD? Is that okay?
No, no, that's all I know. I'm done. I'm have no further use on
this topic.
I'm sorry. I was really interested in the journalistic
angle to it. That's what a
journalistic angle is. He did a bad thing. And he's probably got
chewed out for it already, I'm sure.
Yeah. Well, he won't admit to it, which is the interesting
part about
it. Well, that is that that doesn't make sense. Generally
speaking, your best bet is to admit you screwed up as fast as
you can, and then go back to the point in the you know, that you
were trying to make to begin with and kind of prove that your
screw up had nothing to do with your point. It's what you try to
do if you can, but if you're obviously if the screw up is
fundamental to the point, then you're out of luck.
I'm really nervous about a new TSA initiative, John.
Oh, here we go again. Yeah.
You know, being a mild sufferer of Tourette syndrome. The TSA
has actually for a while now apparently have initiated the
spot programme which stands for screening passengers by
observation technique. I'm not kidding. Listen, listen, listen
to this. So it's been since January 2006. Behaviour
detection officers
love that title. I wonder if they like that. To get a
business card, I think I'm picking apart show business card
that has that as my title
behaviour detection officer have referred about 70,000 people for
secondary screening of those. Now check this out about 600 to
700. were arrested on a variety of charges, including possession
of drugs, weapons violations, and outstanding warrants. And
I'm like, wait a minute, maybe I'm just nuts. But now we have
the TSA just randomly choosing you at the airport. And, and so
and now if I'm carrying some some prescription drugs without
a prescription, you know, I can get busted. I mean, what is
this? It's just that Yeah. Isn't that unreasonable search?
Well, I think it's profiling, but they've come up with a new
way to circumvent the profiling provisions. Interesting. But
that's behaviour. I have to get that behaviour. What is it
again,
it's Hold on, we go back to it.
Behavioural observation officers and behaviour detection officer
behaviour detection officer.
So questions like How are you today? Where are you heading? Is
this all your property? This is saying this this article, it's a
great article, but here's where it was funny.
I got a blog it. Yeah, you do.
TSN. To emphasise the sensitivity TSA is bringing to
the programme. They had a meeting with an association for
people with Tourette's disorder to assure them that having a
tick will not result in a pat down. So I'm gonna get a note
from the doctor. So I'm sorry, you you can't actually pat me
down because I have Tourette Syndrome.
Unbelievable. You don't have the cussing type so you have the
Tourette's it results in like one tick that's ridiculously
minor. That's hardly noticeable. That's it? Yeah. Well, are you a
neat freak, most Tourette Syndrome people, the ones that
have a good case of it? Or if above all need finance? No, not
at all. Not at all, then you don't even get the good
advantage of it now.
No. And it's in our family. It's hereditary.
We just have some you know, okay, so you don't have the neat
thing going no, no, it was a good special on PBS about
Teressa was quite quite an interesting. And you know, the
crazy progress. We're Tourette's where people come
out of the blue we just want the kids you talking about the kids
now as a whole, but it was just a whole shows a few years ago,
but it was a good education for anyone who didn't understand
what it was. Because you because you can see some of these people
once you want to say that guy's got Tourette's you don't think
much about it. Although I did see a guy thrown off of an
aeroplane for having it. Once you witnessed that. Really?
Yeah, no, the guy was coming. I find I saw right from the get
go. I mean, first he came. He was just he was a mess. And he
was he was cussing and
funny. You can't help but laugh.
Well, it was it was pretty it was kind of amusing, but I felt
sorry for the guy for being thrown off the plane because he
was obviously harmless. Yeah, but but he was like, you know, a
mess. And he was besides the cussing. He was shaking and he
couldn't roll his rolly cart so he had the wheels upside down it
was dragging along is bouncing all over the place. It was like
somebody's filming this for some TV show. And they finally got on
the plane and he and he couldn't stop cussing and so they took
him off
well don't forget we do have the no agenda drinking game. I mean,
I I do a little bit of cussing. Yeah, well, no but yeah, but
yeah, there it is. It is very very very mild. But there's
sometimes guttural grunting or there's all kinds of weird
little shit and and mood for me it's it moves around all over
the place. You know for all it's it's not consistent. Never has
been it's in variations degrees. It's It's really weird. And but
there was a I think it was. I don't know if it was a PBS
special. There was a special special about kids with Tourette
and my my cousin's son Connor was like the main the main
character main character yeah of this special it's rich. It's a
very very good I'll see if I can find I'm sure it's on Google
Video.
Maybe that's what I see maybe what I saw but I think not much
because it was gross. It was pretty I thought it was more
about adults actually. But does I mean I've not seen that one
but I want you to see that you understand what that is that not
as
no one really no one really understands it John there's no
I'm saying as
a as a member of the public that that doesn't suffer from it.
When you somebody with it. You know, it's not like a big deal.
No, and it's it's very identifiable once you get
familiarised with it, too. Yep. And I wouldn't have identified
your whatever that Do one tick you have anything other than
just a nervous? Tic that shows up once in a while?
Yeah, but it moves around. You can go from my shoulder or
whatever.
I just thought you were uptight.
Yeah, that's unfortunate, because I'm pretty fucking laid
back, John. Finally, just so you know. Ah, there we go. Yes. Nice
one.
Alright, so what else we got on the agenda here?
I don't know you have anything specific. I
was looking at some stuff that I didn't cover in my tech five
reports. There's a bunch of weird stuff going on. It's not
necessarily news related. It's just kind of trends. I noticed
one thing I'm doing on tech five as I'm, I'm finding all these
laundry lists at the end of the year. It's like very popular the
eight things about this the nine things? I heard it I seven
things. Yeah, well, they have and they're always there's a
formula, which is what fascinates me is that the last
item always sucks as an item. It's like they ran out of
material and they make something up. And without exception.
I was kind of happy. I was I was sick during the day, during the
Olden you know, the New Year's switchover? Because I couldn't
then resort to creating one of my own. Yeah. It's not just in
newspapers, it's every everyone's fucking web log, you
know, everyone's doing it. And I'm so so so sick of it.
Yeah, I mean, I used to work at a couple of places where they
required it, you know, you're a columnist, you have to do a
deal. What's going to happen next year predictions. And I
remember the one I wrote some years ago, it was like, you know
that predictions? Are all if anybody's any good at predicting
this because they have insight information. It's not predicting
anything. Yeah. Because especially with high tech, it's
just impossible. And the one thing that is being ignored and
I've been harping on this a little bit in some of my
columns, is that there's the switch that people are making
subtly that no one's ever said, this is a major trend when I
think it's the biggest trend in the industry, to switch over
from desktop computers to laptop computers, used as desktop
computers. Yeah, almost everybody had pod show except
me. Because I have a Mac on iMac with two screens. And I don't
feel like I should be dragging a laptop all over the place. But
everybody except me, as far as that maybe I think Garcia maybe
doesn't have a laptop. I'm not sure. But anyway, the rest of
the everybody has uses laptops. And they maybe they hook a big
screen to him. Most of the time. They don't even do that. They
just use those crappy little laptop screen, the crappy little
laptop keyboard, I can't take it. And they're all hunched over
these things. And everybody in most businesses now are using
laptops instead of desktops because the laptops are more
powerful in many cases.
Are you really sure about that? That? I mean, when you say most
businesses, I mean, you're talking really enterprise
to ask around. I'm asking around more and more and more, and I'm
getting more and more of this depart show. offices are just
the, you know, one of many places when given the
opportunity. People wake up, yeah, they choose the laptop,
they take the laptop home, they have everything they want on a
laptop, they lose the laptop, and then they're screwed. Yep.
They don't back things up properly. With a laptop, you
really have to be conscientious. You should have it password
protected. So if somebody steals that they can't take all your
data. And you I mean, you definitely should do nobody does
that. Nobody backs it up. It's a disaster waiting to happen for
most people. But it's but what's weird to me is that the trend
kind of took I think Scott every just taken everyone by surprise.
I mean, I've been a laptop guy only four years. I mean, I don't
even remember the last time I had a desktop. It's to me that's
quite normal. And all the companies that I've had in the
last 10 years it was I think all laptops even. Yeah, even from
the mid 90s.
Well, the crossover point for sales from laptops to desktop
has only been within the last couple of years. So not
everybody was that advanced, but it's an obvious trend to me and
it's you know, I still I guess I'm just gonna be the old
fashion guy because I still have a laptop that I use I
synchronise it with the desktop when I travel, I take the laptop
and I use it for mostly email and some surfing and stuff like
that. But I don't want to you if I can have a big screen and a
big powerful desktop like for example the machine I'm on now
which runs the this you know, I run I run a whole app through
it. I've got like two DVD burners one that's a two sided
and I have a couple of three and a half inch drives and I have a
five and a quarter inch drive on this thing for finding you
because I want some I find an old disc I need to convert it.
You know it's a pretty powerful you just got a lot of USB ports
and some other connectivity. It's fast. It's got a terabyte
in it. I mean, it just seems to me that I would rather have this
than a crappy little laptop that I'm hunched over. I don't know
man Maybe I'm getting I'm just out of out of the I don't know.
No, no,
that's cool. But just on the laptop thing, I really enjoyed
your article about the One Laptop per Child like totally
agree,
though that the Yeah, I got it I got a lot of that's one of those
artists, you
got a lot of negative negativity for it, I'll
bet you gotta get the mix that absolute split down the middle
type of response. I'm an idiot for suggesting it. These people
are trying to do good work and I'm in their way, which I always
find to be bold. I'm not in anybody's way. I'm just saying
stuff. And then there's other guys. Uh, yeah, this is a crock.
And you're right on the money. I mean, there's nobody in the
middle in any way. And it's just like, you're an idiot, or
you're, you're a great guy kind of thing and expect like an
article. That
was good though. I enjoyed that. It's just Well, here's one thing
I promised I was going to promise myself I was going to
talk to you about because, you know, when I was sick, I was
watching, you know, of course, you know, is laying there in bed
watching tonnes of conspiracy videos. No, not much more to do.
And to make yourself crazy, by the way, listen to that stuff.
I actually believe my I have. I've throttled back because
you're right, you go absolutely bonkers from it. But I did run
across a reference that came back a couple times. And I
started to do some research now because of course, I'd planned
to the show tomorrow. I don't have everything done, but the
origin of the name Al kinda do you know what that is?
Did you ever get that Dead video I sent you from the BBS dude.
That's what that's that's what started me off. I watched all
three of them. He made the power of nightmares. Yeah, yeah. No,
that was that was very good. That was very I posted. Thanks
for reading my fucking weblog. John. I even credited you
know, I don't read a lot. I'm a writer. I write I don't read. So
my reading days are over. I'm a lover, not a fighter. Anyway,
exactly the same. So the origin Yeah, al Qaeda. Do
you know the origins? You do?
Yeah, I do. Because I saw those same specials. But did you do
any research into this to make it to verify this information?
Well, so that's, that's what my whole preamble was. I did find a
couple of articles. The Guardian, I would say is
reasonably trustworthy wing yet? Well, yeah. Well, left wing, but
but the fact let me just read this to you. Because it's about
Bin Laden. Right. So Bin Laden was through a product of
monumental miscalculation by Western students throughout the
ADM Oh, wait,
wait, wait, wait before I think you'd better preface to the
listeners out there, what the answer to the question is,
before you start to document the answer and know the answer
to the question is coming up in this next sentence. Okay, go.
It's just what the Okay, the answer is, it stands for the
database. That's the answer. It's is it like it's Arabic for
for the database. And the reason why is throughout the 80s, bin
Laden was armed by the CIA, funded by the Saudis to wage
jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al
Qaeda, literally, the database was originally the computer file
of the 1000s of Mujahideen, who were recruited and trained with
help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. So okay, so the name
Al Qaeda originated with the CIA, according to this.
Yeah, well, those documentaries from the BBC claim that the that
even after the early events that took place against American
facilities, like the embassies, and whatever were, the al Qaeda
name came up, that were the ones who who foisted the name on
them.
Exactly. So but but it's, it's been, it's been marketed very
differently from what it is. And when they first came out and
said, it's al Qaeda, it basically means Yeah, the list
of guys that we gave money to,
right? I would have to assume so.
But if you ask anyone, what is Al Qaeda, they immediately
imagine this, you know, this complex network of terror cells
throughout the entire world of sleeper cells that are going to
pop up and annihilate us all you know, it's been marketed as as
you know, this this group you know, the guys in the I love
that every single time they're shown out they talk about an
outside a training camp. You see those guys on the monkey bars?
Don't you love that video? Season guys with hoods on on
fucking monkey bars, like, okay, yeah, that's really frightening.
But to me, it's just, it's like, wow, I totally believed al Qaeda
was like, No, this name of this, you know, these guys like, you
know, al Qaeda is the same as mean other like the IRA. You
know what I'm saying like a terrorist group, but it's not it
was just a fucking name of the database of the Mujahideen that
the CIA funded. That's to me is, is a revelation.
But since Yeah, well, but since then, haven't the people
involved with bin Laden, kind of adapt? opted are in fact co
opted their name and perhaps use it. Because I think I think
AlJazeera uses it as a, as a name of an organisation now and
I mean things change.
No, I understand but that's the beauty of it. And you know, they
threw a fucking media virus into the ether on its stock. I mean
that does it makes meme a meme. Yeah, but it makes no
difference. I'm just amazed that to me, it's just another little
little tick the box there as to how all this all this shit was
orchestrated. I mean, that's a that's a that's a good job on on
pumping that one out there that people now have this al Qaeda
meme and they believe that it really is this true terror
network? That's pretty impressive.
Well, you gotta do something to get the people riled up.
I'll do some more research on it.
Yeah, I think it needs you. I don't think I don't know if
there's anyone's explored it to the nth degree, because I'm sure
you could actually find some one person. If you really did your
homework. I hate to use that term, because it's not really
homework. But if you actually didn't have research, you could
probably narrow it down to some one guy. Unless, of course, it's
very deep within the confines of the of Langley. But I would
assume that, you know, somebody came up with this bright idea,
calling it that.
Yeah. Well, that's all sorry. I'm sorry. No, go ahead. No, I
was just say those documentaries are fantastic that now who is
the name of that guy that produces those people should
look him up? Because they have most of them on YouTube? They're
quite good. Yeah, the one I linked to here, he's new one on
fear is good. And there's a couple other ones I have to
we'll have to add
them to Curtis. That's his name. Adam Curtis Curtis. Right. He
has a new one on fear. Is that what you said?
He's got another one out. That's, that's really
outstanding son fear or fear of the politics of fear or
something like that as another three or four parter goes on
forever. But in with him, you know, he does the voiceover. And
he's got this really interesting voice because it's got the
cynicism built into it. The tones. I enjoyed
it thoroughly. I mean, it was they were they were the
documentaries were well, well put together, for sure. I really
liked watching him.
Yeah. And he has and he uses sound effects much the way you
and I do here and there, which is always hilarious. And he uses
that boying boy,
you know, there was another documentary I was watching,
while bedridden. And it was, it's funny, because it was
called, always about the binge drinking here in the UK. And,
you know, this, this new year, celebration all time high, I
think the record was at 1.5 100 calls per second, we're coming
into the emergency services about people who, you know,
basically alcohol related problems at that very moment,
like dying of poisoning, etc. But alcohol poisoning and and
it's just, um, but this documentary was unbelievable.
People of Britain, you're killing yourselves. It's, it's
an epidemic, John.
How much drinking does it entail? Oh, hold on. Oh, you do?
Yeah.
I rolled over the headphone wire, and then my head like, got
stuck between my knees. Sorry. Well, you know, so they had this
girl, she's the singer for some non ignant important pop group
Liberty acts, you know, basically needed a gig. And they
follow her phone was one of these 30 Day deals like format,
and so they follow her for 30 days, while she just binge
drinks with everyone else and, you know, keeps along pace. And
then, you know, they basically follow her physical, but also
our mental abilities. And of course, you know, you know,
what's going to happen and how they decline and et cetera, but
just looking at, and of course, you know, it's just one view,
and it's edited to show a lot of bad shit. So, you know, but, but
I do have a 17 year old daughter, and, you know, she
tells me everything, and this is actually happening everywhere
and it's bad. What happened? Well, what happens is, the
Brits, I'm just going to generalise for a second, they
like to they the consensus that I got from the documentary is
that the Brits, only real few really feel comfortable
socialising when they're drunk. They and but, but it's okay.
It's not like they they're not
driving it. Then they have to write do they have to be quote
unquote, drunk?
Yeah, no, yeah. Drunk. Like drunk. Yeah. Like, yeah, like
one beer? No, it has to be like eight eight beers, you know? And
it's unshared. Right. eight pints. Oh, John, you have no
idea how much people can put away here. And I've talked to a
lot of Brits about it, and they say, hey, it's our culture, you
know, and look, it's okay. But and by the way, the majority of
the Brits, you know, hold their liquor with decency. And with
that, I mean, they don't all get rowdy. In fight, they don't all
projectile vomit. They don't all
the Irish who are I've been in many of British pub and an Irish
guy comes up to you and he starts yelling exactly, no,
no. I mean, and in fact, I have a he hasn't called him in a
while, but I had Charles the drunken Londoner who would call
my show completely fucking hammered, you know, and, and he
was great. You know, in fact, he started calling sober and he
wasn't that funny anymore. But but, you know, so they're,
they're happy drunks, then I got no problem with it. But man,
they're fun. You're killing yourself. It's just, it's, it's
unbelievable that it's gotten to a very, very, I think, a
critical point. And meanwhile,
Well, isn't that why they used to close the pubs early, and
then they changed the law now you can drink all the time. Now
it's 24
hours. Yeah, but it doesn't really matter. It the increase
is not because of that, necessarily. I don't think
that it's a coincidence.
I mean, that there's been lots of studies and you know, some
places are you know, turning it back and I don't think it's
mandatory you know, you can you can set a curfew in in a
municipality, I guess, if you want to, but it starts early,
you know, it's, it's, you know, let's let's drink eight pints
or, you know, what I saw on the documentary 1818 pints, no,
1818. Up
and up. BBP. And all day? Yeah, well, well, you know, there's a
lot of cultures like review go and people I don't think
Americans especially don't understand this because, you
know, we don't really like to. I mean, it's a funny gag to say
that you drink during the day, but most people don't even drink
usually at lunch and I find it difficult to have even a couple
glasses of wine and a big lunch because I get low GI Yeah, I
can't you know, I'm like tired. I gotta take a nap. I mean, the
French can do it. Because they, you know, they take most of
their
cars, they get to work, man. They're lazy French fuck house.
But the culture is somewhat different. And your engineering
you do things differently there. But anyway. Where was I going
with this? I got interrupted by an im from someone and I get the
phone ringing. So let that go. Now you actually can pause this
for one second. Or you just want me to know I'm paused. Anyway,
so I was rudely interrupted by someone sending me an I am
telling me I made a bunch of money on a stock. So I've lost
my train of thought because of that, because that never
happens. So anyway, so if people don't know Americans don't know,
you know, we're we're pretty circumspect about how we drink.
I mean, that doesn't mean that people don't get drunk but and
it is probably more of a problem if you wait until like nine
o'clock and then just start at, you know, pounding drinks, which
I think people do. But like in Europe, like in Denmark, for
example, I was first time I went to Denmark, which was done an
over a decade ago, I should go into the airport because I did
get an early flight out. And I'm at the airport at eight 830 And
everybody's drinking Carlsberg. You know, they all have their
beers. For breakfast. Yeah. And I'm thinking, well, that's kind
of interesting.
Oh, the Dutch, the Dutch Prince, when he was still alive every
morning, he would have a Heineken beer.
Yeah. Prince in the morning.
Yeah, in the morning for breakfast.
Well, you know, it's a it's a thought. Yeah,
I think I'll try that. It's a lifestyle choice. Anyway, you
know, from a social perspective, this country also happens to
have an enormously high divorce rate. There's tonnes of kids
that are shuttled back and forth between moms and dads and
cousins and uncles. I mean, it's an island, right? It is a
fucking Island. And, and, and sexual health is also not too
fantastic here because people are so fucking drunk. You know,
they don't wear protection. Their teenage pregnancy is
outrageously high. I mean, it's, it's.
So I don't know how many years everything I've been people have
to realise when we're talking about somebody drinking eight
pints, which are these big giant beer glasses, or 18 Is that the
beer which is actually ale in England mostly, is very high and
alcohol often. It's not the 3.2 crap that we get in the United
States. It's more like six sometimes 7% Oh, yeah, no, it's
real good.
It's at least five five
so 18 pints is like eight and a half litres.
Yeah, that's a that would be a lot of alcohol. And that would
be like drinking a bolo or buy a whole bottle of vodka, maybe
something like that. I'm not sure
but that's that's what that's what people do, John. I'm not
kidding you. Yeah, yeah. So you learn something new.
Yeah, well, I'd be I've gone pub crawling. When I go to London
with you. There's some of my friends there and I will float
around but generally speaking Especially an after work pub
crawl consists of you know, you actually have two pints Do you
have one at one pub and then you go visit another and then you
find another probably want to stay and you have another pint.
Yeah. And that's it. Because if you have a third pie which you
know, like people love to see you want to float around and
have three pints of beer, it will affect your it will affect
your sense of balance. And other thing just you know, pretty
fast. I mean, you can do too and you have to you don't just
guzzle them. You do a couple. I mean, you can drink one faster,
you're thirsty, but generally speaking, I mean, you could stay
out all night, I guess. But eight? Yeah, I don't even know
how you can manage it. Yeah, well, I mean, I'd be drilling I
would be throwing up a night and I know how to drink.
Well, we're all going to be safe. John. This just came in.
So happy about this 10s of 1000s of airline passenger jets will
soon be flying with anti missile systems courtesy that make
courtesy of the TSA
what does that supposed to mean?
Well here Well, the it's exactly what it means the here three
American Airlines have already been outfitted they fly daily
round routes between New York and California anti missile
jamming laser jammers.
God that's that's that's not encouraging.
It said let me see what it is. Uh oh, it's it's uh oh of course
because we want to we want to jam shoulder fired fired
missiles. Can you believe this short
who manufactured those shoulder fired missiles in the first
place? Well,
I'm sure some fine American company manufactured them. Here
it is all the although there has not been an attempt to take down
a jet on US soil with the shoulder fired missile Homeland
Security has a
lot of people still suspicious of that TWA Flight which one the
one that blew up bought so you know after takeoff Oh in New
York became a big conspiracy theorists.
I don't I think that was I've seen the accident data on that.
I think that was a very unfortunate rudder problem that
was later corrected will tank
exploded. That's what they claim is like the fuel tanks blue. I
feel what you mean the one that landed like in Brooklyn. Now is
the one that blew up in the middle of the air is through TWA
Flight whatever it is seven something or other 700 Maybe.
Oh, that one. Oh, no. I thought they already said that. That was
a like a tape recorder that had no that was pan and 103 Fuck I
don't know, man.
No, it was a it was the there was the lowest.
Right right off the coast of Maine.
Yeah, and then somebody's you know, there was a witnesses that
said that they saw a missile, you know, but then these guys
were shut up by the government. Nobody wanted to say anything
after that. Right. Well, whoever's making the hairstyle
and this is the one where Pierre Salinger came out and you know
the next president guy you know presidential spokesperson for
Kennedy comes out and says, he says is a great government
conspiracy because he got suckered by one of these
conspiracy websites and humiliated himself. Oh, boy.
Anyway,
so it'll only cost $1 million per plane to have this
installed. Oh, gee, I should get into the missile jamming
business.
Good business shit Yeah. Unbeliev so is this thing gonna
just be shooting laser rays down at the public or what I don't
understand.
No, I think there's Well there's two ways that you can and I
guess the shoulder missiles so they're either either they're
heat seeking which then you use what's called chaff which is
basically like throwing aluminium foil into the air and
that distracts the the missile thinking it needs to go hit that
or that wait, that's chapter chapter that is hot chaff. Yeah,
yeah, hot flares us not yet. The flares and chaff and and then
they're gonna jam the rain. I'm like, What the fuck happens
after the jet jams the radar, then that thing comes back down
to earth, though, doesn't it?
There's nobody shooting missiles at these planes.
But what a fantastic this is. Well, of course, this is off of
AOL news. So what's the top of their news today?
Well, now we know we don't cover the news. Yeah, you're right. So
what else going on? I think that's it. Yeah.
We could talk about the caucus, but I don't really understand
the
caucuses. Who cares? This is like, oh, you know, just a good
thing to you know, these people. It's it means nothing.
I don't quite understand it either. I
mean, we're glad the caucus is a different system for picking
represent You know, the way the system works, we pick a bunch of
representatives they go to the convention and they pick the guy
who's going to run for the office. And the way they do in
Iowa is they use this caucusing system which is a little
different than voting because you keep you can keep changing
your vote. If you don't get if the guy doesn't get a majority
then you can and you vote for a guy who only got 15% You can
change your vote to somebody else in the next round until
they finally decide on who they're going to pick. Right and
it's a complicated process as you know that's not the way it
used to be in this with a smoke filled rooms and I'm of the
opinion and I say this often is that I think we had better
politicians running the country when we were doing it via the
smoke filled rooms and people were you know, people knew what
they were doing were rather than the public or suckered by you
know idiots
by Huckabee playing bass on Leno
right and things like that. And you know Britney Spears would be
the president you know if given a shot and in the old days the
olden days with the smoke filled rooms cigar smoke filled by the
way Yes. I thought gave it some better people although you know,
there's a bunch of boneheads Ultra so
how many states have have a caucus then? 14 is only a couple
of or four, maybe just some really old school thing that
just kind of
stuck away. Right. Right. And I was the only one I know of i but
that I could did all
the original. The original states did they all caucus back
in the day or was
I you know, I should know. I don't know. But I'm guessing
they probably did smoke filled rooms mostly or they may have
called it caucuses because the way a caucus back in the day. Is
that storm again just gonna blow the screen out of here. Back in
the day, there is a the caucuses were closed. These are open.
No. Okay. Well, Ron Paul certainly sucked.
I don't think he's gonna make it.
I don't understand how that happens. He's not
the chosen boy. They got the old things rigged. That's the way I
see it.
Well, if it was truly rigged, then then According to your
theory, McCain would have I talked to Patricia about McCain.
Now McCain has to stay in third because he's the he's the the
horse running back in the pack. So they don't, the negative
media attention is not going to be focused on him. And by the
time all these other guys are beaten to death by the system,
Donald
but that that's not that's when Ron Paul is gonna sneak ahead
you watch that's when it's gonna happen.
He's already beaten to death.
I don't know. I mean, I have to remain positive. First of all,
if you say it's rigged, but you know how so rigged?
It's rigged. There's these guys that have already chosen who's
going to be running, and they just make it happen. I don't
know how they do it. If I was part of that system, I'd be
wouldn't be talking to you.
Thanks. You'd be out there. Reagan more systems. Exactly.
Yeah. making your life miserable. I'd be saying, well,
who's this curry guy? Let's put them on a watch. Let's
fuck with him for a while. Yeah. All right. So but then it's got
to be rigged on the Democratic side as well. Oh, absolutely.
Okay, so interesting.
And here's the way I want to tell you again, how I think
that's gonna play out, it's gonna be Hillary, but she's
gonna have to concede to Obama, so he becomes the vice
presidential candidate. And so it's going to be those are gonna
be the two, I can't see it going the other way around, because
she's not going to be vice president. You won't put up with
that. But I think it's got to be her as president and him as vice
president, which they can argue you can rationalise that as an
unbeatable ticket, because you get all the women and all the
blacks to vote for this party. And you know, for these two
people, and you will win, you know, statistically, except for
the fact you're not going to get all the blacks to vote for this
guy, you're not going to get all the women to vote for her by any
means. And so the fact is, is going to be actually an
unelectable ticket because there's going to be so much
negative energy that that is focused on that thing that
whoever the Republican is will win easily.
It's almost like a Hollywood script. What you said by the
way, you should that description
of what's going to happen you should save a copy on your in
one of those folders are yours. And so when after the election,
we can play this old no agenda and you can hear this again, you
know, you know, a year later how unbelievably accurate I am about
this stuff,
right? But of course, so the Democrats won't win, it'll be
McCain who will who's going to win because he will win the
Republican ticket and who is his VP gonna be?
Well, I was initially thinking Giuliani and I'm going to kind
of stick with that for a while but whoever the Republican run
that runs is is going to win that's for sure. And I'm gonna
stay right now with the prediction is going to be McCain
at the top of the ticket and he'll win no, against no matter
who the Democrats run. They got nobody I mean, were they going
to run John Edwards that guy? I was listening to him after the
thing that guy sounds coked up. Y'all, so people kind of talk
like this. Well, he's talking like this Lowry like, he can't
breathe through his nose and maybe
like maybe he has the norovirus. Come on, man get
up the projectile vomiting. Yeah.
Very interesting. Well, I shall certainly save this in one of my
folders, one of my shared folders. And, and, and we'll
see. Okay, well, I still have hope. Yeah, I guess that's all I
can have. And I can I can continue to support Ron Paul.
You know, I think as long as people are getting the message,
that'll work because, you know, God forbid, if that really does,
that scenario really does play out. It's going to be a very
confused country.
Well, it doesn't make any difference that there's more to
the story that, you know, I'll discuss in future episodes of
this fine show.
Oh, boy. Well, I can't wait. And on that note, Mr. Dvorak, thank
you very much for joining me.
It's a pleasure
coming to you from the curry manor in the United Kingdom. Hi,
I'm Adam curry.
And I'm John C. Dvorak and stormy indeed, Northern
California.
Have a great weekend, everybody. We'll talk to you next week.
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