 okay happy Festivus for the rest of us a merry winter solstice you'll we're no fool and hail Krampus this is our holiday special show of progressive discussions seven lucky bells for the holiday special show and an old-fashioned jingle bells remember when I used to do the Bosun's whistle and the cats would freak out 11 bells of that all right now can I say we all know that Jesus was in really born in December we all know that our the capitalist the greedy sleazy lying retail capitalist system with our wonderful oligarch fascist government you know they don't really give a rat's ass about when Jesus was born or the manger or any of the three wise men they do it so retail can get you to part with your money hook or buy crook any way they can and this includes lying infomercials so on and so forth so I mean I presented my Festivus airing of grievances last night I put it on Facebook it's there is very explicit I named names I'm sorry that I had to go that route but I have to honor Festivus properly by the airing of grievances now I also want to announce that today was the birth of a new page a new Facebook page called the International Brotherhood of Festivus and Krampus and it will be the new home of Chisler's Hall of Shame because it is in protest of the greedy retail companies using all of these fake phony fraud pagan tradition holidays as a as a way to exploit the consumer and to extract all of your money so at a protest today is the birth of that and I can't think of a better page to become the bastion of Chisler's Hall of Shame because they needed a good home that was apollicable to the cause okay got the nutcrackers are here visiting their friends of the Bernie bird Bernie bird sends his regards and that's pretty much it man I mean oh the practical joke that a parent could play on a very spoiled and coddled brat little monster that takes tantrums when he doesn't hear me he or she doesn't get their way is to what you do is you gift wrap a large box they open up the big box and within the box is another box a little small and then they open up that box and there's another box and they open up that box and there's another box and it goes down to a little tiny box and then when they finally open that up there's nothing in there and the and the parent says oh that's your gift a breath of fresh air what are you thinking at Reverend Dr. William J. Eisenman isn't that the funniest practical joke you've ever heard I think it's a lot of waste of paper and boxes cardboard I would just get them a lump of coal in their stocking what about a dirty stocking dirty smelly stocking in the stocking in other words you wear your socks for a couple weeks they're all sticky and sweat that joke has already been made by Jeff Dunham on his show with we did that yeah he did just did it about a half an hour every time I think I originated a funny idea some other motherfucker invented with the purple puppet what's the now what's the name of the purple puppet I know he had a show he had a series what oh this is from now Jeff Dunham is uh is the owner of madham right or madame yeah no well that was another guy that's enough this guy has Ahmed yes I know who you're talking about now the puppeteer Jeff Dunham yeah puppeteers you know puppeteers trollequist puppeteers are cool because they are more creative than your typical ventriloquist because they can have many many puppets with different voices and different characters and different personalities yeah going back I guess to the Middle Ages with the marionette now the nutcrackers their mouth moves hey how you doing how you doing that one looks like Richard how you doing you know from the planters commercial you remember better than me mr. peanut all you bastards all you suckers out there that's pissed away all your money buying gifts that you can't afford only for people to complain and oh by the way make sure you stick the receipt in the box so they can return their frigging gift instead of you having to return it hey company no cracker that's very that's very clever the companies are getting to not want to return have returns anymore another scam it's wait a minute hey buy it and like it dr. Bill that sounds like an anti-consumer retail scam to me and another thing another scam is the gift card because guess what if you read the fine print you'll notice that the gift card has an expiration date how can a gift card expire you say you ask well I don't know because you know beats the shit out of me man I figure if you buy a gift card it should be worth the money you paid for because the it's a gift card it's a gift so if you're gifted can you get the money to up front to the company to get the gift card so if you forget the gift card in a draw and you don't liquid data you don't use it guess what the company just stole the money that's it that the giver spent on the gift card that's it yeah that's a cracker nutcracker you're your absolute king nutcracker king you're absolutely right I'm always fucking right what are you talking about all right I gotta put you down because I gotta do little Paula Dickie right now if he starts if he starts talking now I'm headed out the door my tail between my legs okay I guess God willing next week will be our end of 2016 show you know happy new year if you want to call it a happy new year's Eve next Saturday huh New Year's Eve New Year's Eve Saturday oh yeah 2017 oh that's a peachy keen year unbelievable listen and then there'll be night well 20 days until the Trump takes over yeah all the already got us in an arm all the all the celebrities that refuse to perform as an inauguration wouldn't that be funny if Alec Baldwin did that fantastic Donald Trump imitation at the inauguration and Trump you know Trump doesn't doesn't have a sense of humor when people like when people tease him oh no and Alec Baldwin let me tell you something brother you do a fantastic Donald Trump I don't know if you're seeing the he does a great Donald Trump senior SNL yeah and they are the Vladimir Putin man it looks so much like him he comes on with the no shirt on unbelievable but he does the goldfish face perfectly and the voice and he's got everything down pat the facial expressions that's why Trump don't like it oh yeah Trump wanted to demand it an apology yeah how the hell is Alec Baldwin gonna pull this one off well let's put it this way he'll pull it off it'll get a lot of media attention and he won't be invited back again but at least it'll be out there it'll probably go viral you know if he does why he is invited that's what I heard I could be wrong I don't know I don't know but Donald Trump will provide a cornucopia of material for comedians in in the next four years to come that if you're a comedian you you will be very grateful for Donald Trump's presidency now if you're the little a little guy like a poor person or a middle-class person your doom is sealed oh yeah you got it man you voted for it you voted for the fascist oligarch right wing politicians you reelected Turtlehead Mitch McConnell Kentucky you reelected Paul Ryan Wisconsin you reelected all these incumbents these demonic incumbents you got it you asked for it American people I can call you the stupidest imbeciles who were ever conceived in a womb or I could talk about how the biased corporate controlled media never gave Jill Stein an even chance you know because the only reason why Bernie got any coverage is because of the amount of people should have showed up as rallies at his rallies compared to Hillary Clinton so they had a cover Bernie Sanders otherwise they would never mention his name but they never mentioned Jill Stein's name therefore Bernie Sanders would have won the primary if life was fair he would have won the election oh he was leading Trump by double digits in the polls that is correct yes yes he was so he was cheated so and then we would have got real change well I mean let's take I'll show you how capitalism works as far as rigging rigging because the Columbia South America they had a president who was buddy buddy with GW Bush he was a hundred percent pure capitalism the poor people got screwed and suffered royally there there really is no middle class per se and the rich well they just got a lot of freebies and he went and he ran against a democratic socialist and the crook won by a landslide in every every part of the country now how does a crook where where the people if you get sick and you don't have money or health insurance you die outside of the hospital on the on the sidewalk or street how does that person win by a landslide hey sounds familiar so I did in Syria so so you know it's like rigging is not anything new no it's old hat it's been around for a while and in this country of course you have gerrymandering and voter suppression and you have the media not it's not a liberal media but the media is on your side if you are a corporatist now the people never got to know Jill Stein whether or not the incorrigible redneck racist teabag or morons would have voted for Jill Stein if she was at the debates I don't know maybe maybe the people that are spellbound would have continued to vote for the people for those that they made up their mind to vote the gays and lesbians would now might have continued to back Hillary anyway they wouldn't have had to the rednecks would have went with Trump because they're not going to go with a sign so I don't know but the Bernie Kratz you see this is the thing Bernie Sanders capitulated concerning this grassroots revolution because he could have continued with democratic socialism 60 percent of Democrats did not vote they stayed so all the Trump didn't need you know well that more than more than his his regular we all know that that all the nuts make it their business to vote they show up the Democrats are made up of a lot of these these brilliant people that post these brilliant monologues on social media but if they're not happy they stay home and they don't vote now a vote not cast is a vote for a Republican that's correct automatically that's great because the the red the the right wing racist teabag or evangelical nuts the zealots they automatically show up at the polls and vote yep because they got this fucking 35 percent of it yeah they got this stupid obsession with the conception in the womb but the fertilized egg yeah they think it's a baby you saw that that video by Mr. science saying that a fertilized egg is not a baby and explaining why if you need explanation it's like it's no more baby than an acorn is an oak tree it is a potential human life just like a an acorn is a potential oak tree and that's that I mean I don't know I don't know where to post the blame but there's a lot of what ifs a lot of what ifs if Jill Stein went was in the debates I know damn well if Bernie Sanders would have would have as he quit the Democratic Party after he after the convention if he would have had a rally and said to his revolution okay obviously we got screwed the DNC screwed us so we are going to I'm going to continue to run as an independent or I'm going to start a new progressive party or I'm going to take the Green Party's offer I'm going to take them up on your offer three three things could happen for a writing right or he could he could encourage everyone look I'm I'm in it but I'm in it I'm in it as a writing okay people so all the legions that showed up at his rally would have wrote them in now but he didn't he didn't do that he pulled the same routine that all the establishment I don't know whether you want to call them moderates or blue dogs all the establishment Democrats in Doris Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders joined that why he joined that I'm sure look Bernie Sanders is not stupid by any stretch of the imagination for some reason he didn't want to go the route of a new progressive a third progressive party he don't want to go the route as Bernie Sanders the writing candidate he don't want to go the route of Bernie Sanders Jill Stein ticket for some reason he did not go that route because it's not you don't have to be an intellectual or a genius to know that that the options were there so getting back to the media yes the media tells us many lies and yeah you know now I mean there are there are conspiracy theories with some evidence pointing to the guilty party but not enough evidence yet so they're pending conspiracy theory like for instance pizza gate it's pending pizza gate is gone finished over with it was a lie that's horseshit the pizza place is still there a full of poopie you come in with a guy and shoots a guy in a pizza place still there no no no I'm talking about this whole pet of his whole satanic secret society a human trafficking thing internationally going on and all the the the perverted very rich old geezers they want the young chocha and they and they go to a special resort and they pay for it and many of them are famous rich famous rich old geezers yes I believe that is true I believe that the fascist oligarch has been addition out orders to American government and media for a long time now people are hoodwing people are fooled I believe I believe I believe there is an evil force that controls everything you don't want to believe it because maybe it it's too blood curdling for you oh it frightens me if you believe if you believe the Bible yeah as stated yeah of course there's an evil force involved it's his world well there's shenanigans going on yeah but these shenanigans that your pizza gate that you're talking about had nothing to do with you wearing the scarf okay I hope you like you see that now you didn't see that before I hope you liked what you got I mean you like you had to put your glasses on you like the hat no I saw the scarf I saw the plaid I just wanted to verify it I'm saying you like the hats they're thick trouble is they you know when the hell am I gonna go out no no you you it's draft I gotta sleep in them it's draft be back there no I mean not now no that's the warmest place at our house I mean not now I mean out here that's cold yeah no I mean not now I mean when when we get another cold spot hey right now we have unseasonably I think it's pushing 50 degrees not today but it's raining too it's going to be in the 40s for at least six days yeah yeah I mean we had freezing you know they always call it when it's cold when it's a wintery mix when it's freezing cold with wind they call it blustery the baby breezy blustery when it's a it's a summertime and you get a lot of breeze it's just summer breeze makes me feel fine I got jasmine on my mind you know but you know what I mean like it the different words like if it's cold and humid it's damp if it's cold and if it's damp if it's if it's in the summers muggy it's called muggy when you have high humidity with warm warm air it's muggy I don't know anyway I digress but getting back to you know the media is going to hold back on a lot of stuff that's going on and they do like the Aleppo situation that I hear I hear there the the true the truth of Aleppo in Syria is very much tampered with when it reaches the US media well you do know that somebody is knocking the place the hell won't you yeah and I know Putin is really really he's really pissed off at ISIS now oh really ISIS has about 30,000 people in it and now you got the Kurds you got the Iraqis you got Russia's oh the Kurds are the Kurds don't like the I don't like ISIS I'm just saying they fight in 30,000 why ain't they all dead by now why that's my boy aren't now trophy wants to come around and use nuclear weapons well recently ISIS burned two Turkish soldiers alive how do they get caught they've been chopping off Christians heads for a long time but how do they how do they capture people from a a organized well-trained army with their government backing them how does a band of terrorists wait a minute you're confusing me like what was government like the soldiers that fight ISIS are representing nations they're they're part of Iraq organized the toys I think to Kurds Iraqis the twigs supposedly Syria and Assad's men right Assad likes ISIS no ISIS is in right I think it's wrong whatever I don't know how I don't know how they point is they capture organized soldiers and organized army I don't know how they captured only 30,000 of them you got to capture them to chop their head off or or burn them alive right I mean I don't know how they like you said before why are they why bow by now and not only that have you noticed that you don't hear much more about Mosul anymore no did they capture the freakin city yet a lot did they kick ISIS out now Fallujah ISIS kept on recapturing Fallujah after losing pollution they keep on going back in the other words there like it's like a nap that you can't swat you know they keep on buzzing around and you just think you got them and you don't I mean they're spread out for Christ's sake 30,000 should be wiped out by now yeah and the Taliban are still going and one was recorded saying ISIS member if you celebrate if you celebrate Christmas the Quran says you should be put to death Quran doesn't say that I mean these are like these are like the the right wing fundamentalist evangelical Christians that rewrite the Bible right and decide they want to go blow up a Planned Parenthood or something like that it's right wing extreme is yeah get that through your head don't use the word radical because too many people in politics are using the word radical that's correct and radical means to go to the root of things as will have a right sense any moves it's a positive word that's correct socialism is a positive word liberal liberal is a positive word these are positive words I mean if you look them up and in the Miriam Webster's dictionary you'll see they're hot they have positive definitions anyway let us sink I don't know what time is it let us all right we're all right let us sink our teeth into these sink them baby a minute back and forth about nuclear weapons capability it was revealed on Friday that president elect Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin exchanged end-of-the-year greetings and pledged to improve U.S. Russia relations they both want to beef up the arms race nothing like a good friend that you you know you remind you know we could we could annihilate you many times over I mean that's a that's a pound a very nice letter from Vladimir Putin his slots are so correct Trump said Trump's office released the letter dated December the 15th in which Putin said he hopes to work with the new U.S. president in a constructive and pragmatic man in order to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts and we do not have to travel and alternate Trump said U.S. Russia relations will certainly be a major feature of the Trump presidency the intelligence community has accused Putin's government of hacking emails from Democratic Party officials in an effort to help Trump win the election in 2014 Russia annexed the territory of Crimea from Ukraine which triggered several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia by the United States and the European Union lawmakers in both parties are pushing an investigation into Russian involvement in the election Putin has denied the allegations Trump who made better relations with Russia a theme of his campaign has questioned whether the question were involved in the hacking scheme will the exchange with Putin on a day in which he criticized how conflict of interest laws affect his son he also golfed with Tiger Woods blew off reports that celebrities are funding his inauguration well that's not surprising and reaffirmed his Thursday tweet about strengthening and expanding the U.S. nuclear ability I think Rosie O'Donnell should be invited to Saturday Saturday night live and without all the new Trump and that that will be funny so Trump told MSNBC he is willing to engage in an arms race with other countries if necessary though his aides said he is more interested in modernizing existing nuclear weapons let it be an arms race because we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all yeah but my question is what good are nuclear weapons against ISIS or any other enemy person they blend in with the civilian population my point entirely what good are they it's like that's like taking a needle and putting throwing up a handful of needles in a haystack in different areas now you got the haystack of innocent civilians women and children and whatever and ISIS when blended in but you also have the land uninhabitable for long time you don't want you don't want and you get all the refugees up you get all the refugees refugies you know you're throwing the baby out with the bath there you go as the late great Carl Froderitz said off you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater and it's almost like Donald Trump is sexually stimulated when he mentions nukes well the problem is he doesn't know anything about you know when when we're on the receiving end of them that's what Reagan was in office he said that once you launch a particular missile or whatever you could recall it can't happen recall he's the one that always says I can't recall well I don't recall well you could recall back to the point is that he didn't know about this stuff and neither does Trump who's the guy that invented the Oppenheimer who atomic bomb it was a project by a bunch of people punch well one of them I I listened to the old speech after the test was done in New Mexico and the one of the prominent scientists it was Nevada felt like the end of the world they weren't he wasn't he wasn't thrilled at watching it we felt I we have created something about the the potential annihilation of mankind something like that yes we have created something that is not positive it's not something he wasn't proud of it let's put it that way what now we can do this we can annihilate all flak as the Bible says maybe maybe this is why 24 maybe this is why the Japanese dumping all that nuclear waste from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean maybe it's it's revenge for Hiroshima and Nagasaki you don't know I mean why why would they do it why would they want to poison the Pacific maybe they just don't care but they're in the Pacific so they don't care they they their coastline is the Pacific but they don't care because maybe they understand that we are all doomed oh it's is that like the Chinese having having horrible air pollution in certain major cities but they're making money hand over fist but they but the people have to wear ox oxygen masks for people huh profit before people yeah so they rather wear the oxygen mask outside in Beijing and and be the number one global economic a giant they rather have they rather in other words profit before people and the planet yes it's like a it's like a it's like a it's like an evil a spellbound obsession it's like it's like being under a under a satanic spell where somebody's a multi-billionaire and they don't have enough money they never have enough and now Donald Trump appointed all billionaires to his cabinet all billionaires all big Wall Street guys to this time and and what are the little people voted for I'm expect that they're gonna do something in their favor come on how how was a multi-billionaire going to have empathy and compassion for the poor middle class how it ain't gonna happen now I heard that the the Democrat mr. Murphy running for governor in New Jersey is a former Wall Street tycoon so how the hell was a former Wall Street tycoon we had we had one of them in Corzine John Corzine yeah he was a Goldman Sachs boy how were they gonna feel your pain representing the Democratic Party you see where I where I'm going with this how the Democratic Party has become just as bad as the the people they have been fighting yeah sure against for decades they have become just as bad incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday on NBC's morning Joe does he love Indian food spicy is issuing a warning of course to other countries they need to understand that if they expand their nuclear capabilities this president is not going to sit back he's going to act but it's okay for Trump to expand the US nuclear capabilities yeah but they can't expand on theirs and and what is he gonna do what is he gonna do against North Korea per se who doesn't give a shit who they destroy even themselves he's just he's just can I say kamikaze yeah well isn't that what a what a suicide bomber is with extreme Islam and a suicide country I mean how do you beat that Donald Trump is is like Yosemite Sam he has an itchy trigger finger finger finger he's just itching to nuke somebody he should nuke his hairstyle well you don't play around with nukes no because once you launch that they you might as well consider it a domino effect they're all going to be laws here you go the other side is gonna going to launch? First strike and it's all over. Well, you know, if you estimate that your missiles will reach a certain part of the world in less time, and they have the technology to do the same thing to you, so it ends up being practically simultaneous, so that first strike theory is not going to hold any water. Yes it will, because theirs are going to hit you first, then you got to fight what's left. But, but, but, as their missiles hit you, your missiles are probably two-thirds... Their missiles will be up in the air, when we launch ours. Right. Theirs will be going to their targets before ours get to their targets. But once the missiles are airborne, both sides. Well, you're not going to do it at the same time. A first strike is a first strike. North Korea launches their missiles against the United States. They're up in the air. We launch back. Theirs are going to hit us first. Yeah, because they got to jump. They got a head start. Exactly. Now, now Russia is capable of the high-speed missiles, too. You know? Yeah. But the United States has more warheads and missiles than any other country. And another problem is... On the globe. Another thing is that many missiles can be launched, not from silos that are stationary, static stations. Trucks. No, nuclear subs. Mobile. Submarines, polarises, for God's sake. You don't know where they are. They could be, they could be, they could be right, right off the coast of Cuba. It could be Soviet nuclear subs. And the Caribbean, short distance. Well, how do you know it could be Russia? That God does the first strike. There are several countries with nuclear weapons. Pakistan, India, North Korea. Hey, I read an article that China's, China's, China's answer to NASA is very advanced. They're very advanced. The article says they have the warp drive technology that was on Star Trek. Well, if I knew what warp drive was, I would, you know... That's cool, man. But I don't know what the hell it is. No, there's another word for it. They don't call warp drive. It's, it's... That's what I'm saying, but even if they call it... It's a drive that's pretty fricking fast. Yeah, but how does it operate? What is its mechanism? I have to fully, I have to actually study the article. That's a good question. And I will... A few years ago... I will bring it to your attention. A few years ago, we were talking about fusion as an energy source. Fusion, the energy source that fuels the sun. It goes on and on and on and on and on and on. Right. And then there's... And then all of a sudden, it disappears. And you don't hear no more about it. It's anti-matter too. I watch the documentary on anti-matter for... As a source of energy. And then I don't hear about it anymore. I heard about the perfectly preserved frozen woolly mammoth in Arctic Siberia that was found. And they had the DNA, everything, the blood, the muscle, everything was intact. They were going to put the DNA in a female Asian elephant. I haven't heard anything about that. That is correct. They found a good DNA in Montana of a Tyrannosaurus rex. They found... They got the DNA. They were going to do it with the chicken, which is like the closest relative to the dinosaur. I didn't hear the dino chicken or the whatever. I didn't hear anything about that after that. So things are kept secret from us, my friend. Things are kept secret. Or they're just bullshit in the first place. Talking about fake news. If you have good DNA and you have a close relative to the species, you can do this. Yeah, I know, but they ain't doing it. It doesn't go any further. So it might just be fake news. You trust the media that you see on TV too much. Trust but verify. You and Bear... Bear, you don't seem to want to do the homework. You got to do your homework. What's the homework? Going to Snopes? Going to Snopes? Going to any other fact checker? He likes Snopes. I've never used Snopes in my life. You know about Snopes, you know. I know about it, but I've never used it at all. So why say that? You don't want to see the T-rex or the wooly mammoth come back. That's what it is. It blood... I'm talking about fake news. It hurdles your blood to think that these things exist. Fake news. It doesn't matter what it is. Oh yeah. And you know what? When Hillary Clinton talks about fake news, that's just... that's just, you know, that's just a distraction to get you away from reading about things about concerning her. And Donald Trump says fake news to keep you from reading things about him. Yeah, it could be, depending on the fake news. But if there's fake news, you have to have a way of verifying whether it's true or not true. Some fake news. See the thing about... the clever thing about the people who perpetuate fake news is that lots of news everywhere, not just online, is fake. It really is fake. Yes it is. And I don't mean... I don't mean preposterous or ridiculous like the onion. I mean, you know, that's like... that's a satiric website. But I'm saying real fake news that's sneaky, you know, like propaganda. That's what it is. You know, like I read... I found the banner where Adolf Hitler himself called his media fake journalism. There you go. Because they were probably... Because they didn't print what he wanted. Because they were printing what they wanted, right? Yeah. The victory of Donald Trump. Yeah. Does not... does that mean there will be a new group of pigs at the trough? Look at his proposed cabinet. Older white billionaires. Are they really going to drain the swamp? That's the oligarch for you. Older white billionaires. Can I sell you a bridge? Old, old geezers, yes. A tea party, the budget director. I pity the poor, as life will only get more difficult, as budgets are slashed. You hear that redneck evangelicals that don't... don't have a pot of pissing down... way down south out yonder and out west that they keep on voting for Republicans. You're going to suffer more. The real question is whether there is any sanity left in the Republican Party. Will it stand up for what is right and decent and unite with Democrats to prevent the coming-on slot of misguided policies? Or will it buckle to the autocrat? Sadly, America must put its hopes in Republicans. We live in strange, dangerous time. Oh, that is true. That is very true. Excellent article. What's the... what's the name of the gentleman who wrote that? It was a letter. Oh. Mark! Mark. That's it. Shoot. Mark. No, I didn't... I gotta read it. It's... it's upside down. Alright, never mind. Don't worry about it. Mark Schoenfield. Mark Scho... Mark Schoenfield. Great job. Mark Schoenfield, even though you probably won't see the show. The column by Linda Chavez should be included in every civics and government text used in our schools as someone who has served both as a president of a state board and as a mayor. I can vouch for the veracity of every word in that column. I have spent the better part of a lifetime futilely trying to explain why government cannot be run like a business. Yeah, look at all the conflicts of interest Donald Trump has. Oh my, it's gonna be very complicated for him. And Chavez makes it crystal clear. Added to the interactable bureaucracy, so well described, is the problem of direct governance. Whereas a CEO has final say in decision making, the head of a government entity, be it president of our country or a mayor of a small municipality, must gain the approval of the relevant legislative body, which often changes the original intent beyond recognition. Whereas a business organization chart is shaped like a triangle, a government entity is more like a rectangle. And whereas a corporation is responsible to a finite group of stockholders with a common interest profit, a government entity must satisfy a constituency with many different goals and interests. Public servants, as the bureaucracy titles itself, have a motto. Elected officials come and go. But we survive them all. Doesn't look good. And people have themselves to blame. So I have to say, nobody wants to really educate their mind. Many Americans are lazy. They just rather just sit their fat ass in front of the TV and watch mainstream media, you know, and they don't They capitulate or not atrophy. No, they just don't care. They're lazy. They don't want to do their homework. Apathy. There is that old motto that people use all the time. I haven't read a book since I was in school. I don't read shows. I don't I don't I get my news from Fox News. Oh, my God, you know, those people, oh, they are definitely imbeciles. Now, there's so many educational documentaries on YouTube that you literally do not have to read nearly as much as people did in the old days. I mean, there are long educational documentaries on YouTube. Yeah. And I mean, how many in a how many and though are by people like a Gary? No, you know, there's no what you're going to what you're getting is as close to the truth as we can get. You know, there is such a massive amount. I don't know how YouTube's Google YouTube servers handle it. There are such a massive amount of videos that are uploaded into YouTube and Google that it's like you could find practically anything you want. And you can get you can get several dozen opinions on the same subject. And one and well, that's the best way to verify isn't it? And one guru is better than the other. Yeah, you know, just take your pick. Yeah. That's how you got to find out the truth sometimes. Yeah, like let's say you want to build something. Let's say you want to do a little Bob Vila, you know, let's say you want to build something. Ask this old house, like for instance, there's a video out on how to build the Festivus pole. Oh, cheese. I wish I were to kept my aluminum pole from the 70s. All you have to do is buy buy a dancing pole for your for the woman and just put it up. No, it says it shows you I showed you about how to glue the wood so it's in an X form of an X and how to make the hole and all that shit. But I'm sure there are many other instructional videos on that subject, or it could be a solar a solar barbecue, which the first time I ever saw it was in the Edmunds scientific company was a it was a rectangular magnifying glass called a Fresnel lens. But you had to build it. You know, I'm not handy that way. But you can get one that you can buy. Oh, you can you can get so many and interwoods with you. Yeah, I mean, you could get so many instructional videos on how to make anything. I mean, it's incredible. Really? I mean, at one time, yes, you had to rely only on books. You had no choice. Or the blacksmith down the street. Or there was a car. There was there were carpenters and handyman in the village in the community. There was, you know, old America had only Main Street. And you had everybody on the main drag within. Well, I mean, a lot, a lot of people didn't have people did not live in congested boroughs, congested towns. They everything was based on the county. So you might have you might be in a village and you own your own family farm, but then you got the village. There was distance between. Yes, you had to travel to get things that you don't make yourself. You don't grow yourself. I guess New Jersey Governor Chris Christie believes that he has done such an extraordinary job that a book about it is justified. Didn't the judge recently pardon him from Bridgegate? Didn't pardon him. He's not going to the judge don't want him involved. Oh, there's this guy that's trying to make the make it stick. But he's getting no help that, you know, all of his tries. In his memoirs, I do hope he will include a chapter on how to commit public fraud using a bridge or perhaps a tunnel and another on how to alienate and punish the press. Allah Richard Nixon. And just like tricky dick, he may benefit from his misdeeds. Can you dig that brother? Editorial page editor Alfred P. Doblin certainly is correct in his criticism of Governor Chris Christie and the Democratic leadership of New Jersey. However, he omits two other groups deserving of criticism. Republicans in the legislature have backed Christie almost without fail. They have been a study in cowardice for the past seven years. The other group deserving a harsh criticism is the New Jersey media, including Doblin. Christie was praised for his tough guy persona. He put critics at his down all rallies in their place, especially when it was a lone individual. You were either on the bus or run over by the bus. This was great fun to watch. The snarling moly surrounded by sycophants, especially when the target was teachers and their supposed outrageous benefits and cushy jobs. Doblin also praised Christie for ending the Arc Tunnel Project. Christie showed the petty vindict the man he really was. When the Democrats stood up to Christie's outrageous attempt to pack the state Supreme Court, Doblin criticized them. The vast majority of the state's media gave fawning praise to Christie and played a large role in creating the monster who has become one of the worst governors New Jersey has ever had. If you vote for the two-party system, you're voting for the establishment either either side. That's it. I mean, I don't feel comfortable voting for a Democrat that was a Wall Street big shot. Really, they don't have, they will not have my best interest. Of course not, but how long does it take people to understand that? Now, if, let's say, there is a Green Party of New Jersey, actually the Green Party has established many branches in different states. If the Green Party of New Jersey applies themselves enough, they could get more New Jerseyans to know they exist. And through the Green Party of New Jersey, they can get to know the Jill Stein campaign, Jill Stein videos, and so on and so forth, which yes, this is their speeches. I mean, I don't know what's up with Bernie Sanders. He's got the organization called Our Revolution. What he's going to do with it, being that he left the Democratic Party, I don't know. I don't know what his plans are. I know they mean well. They mean well in what they're doing, but people need a third progressive party. They need a no party. Well, you got to vote for someone, but it shouldn't be a Democrat or a Republican. Why can't you vote for a person? Oh, I'm fine with that. Oh, I'm fine with that. If my person's name is on the ballot, I'll vote for him or her. Parties came into being to make people feel like you belong to something. Power. Power. Well, people like organizations. They like to feel like they belong to something. They like tangible things. Tangible. Like, you know, pretend this was solid bar of sterling silver. It's tangible. It's in my hand. People like that. Well, they don't like individuals. That's why they've made they've made shrimes with statues. That's why they kill people like Jesus and then they worship them thereafter. Well, didn't the Israelites turn their back on God and Moses after when he went up to get the Ten Commandments? Absolutely. And then other times Sodom and Gomorrah. That was in Israel, right? Sodom and Gomorrah was in Jordan, in the land of, it was somewhere over there. Well, it was there over there. Yeah. I mean, you know, but there was rebellion that's many times. Yes, but there's always there's always a rebellion, fear, whatever you want to do against the individual. What do you think happened to all the prophets that God sent? Now, there were no books at the time. He sent prophets. Word of mouth, probably. Israel to tell them what they're doing wrong, what you gotta change. And they got smited over and over. Exactly. And what happened to 11 of the apostles? Martyrs. They were martyred. Except for John, John the Pat on Patmos. Patmos wrote the book of Revelation. But yeah, they were, they all got killed in it. That's right. You know, and the old, the evil, greedy, multi-billionaire, trillionaires make up the one top one percent of the world. They live to a ripe old age. They just keep on living. They don't croak. Well, eventually they do. Well, eventually, yeah. But they can afford to get all those hard transplants. But they make a lot of trouble in the meantime. Oh, yeah. I mean, let's take the warmongering, war profiteering companies that make money off of the lives of the little guy, the men and the women and the sons and daughters of the little schmuck. Or how about the war criminal, the poor, Kissinger, who thinks of the army as just pawns. You gotta talk about... To the people who are backing from... I'm right here. You're the one who has you. You got this freaking monstrosity. You made me look right. Oh, my voice gets there before that. Well, the point is, I forgot what I was saying. You lost your train of thought. That's a soul train. All right. We're talking about the... You're late to start this. Yeah. Okay. We're going to break for lunch. Now you will hear promo. Feel free to hit the pause button, read and learn. And we'll see you... We'll see you in a few. We'll see you in a few. Time to have... Time to take part in a little gastronomy. Smells good. Part hitting podcast, holistic health talk, and progressive discussions. I want to talk about the very foundation of our entire organization, the newsletter that was founded by my co-host and mentor, the Reverend Dr. William J. Isman in 1977. And that newsletter is called Censored. Newsletters Censored is truth and news fighting censorship and conservative propaganda. We believe we are living in the end times, and you need Newsletters Censored. Newsletters Censored provides the kind of truth that most people are afraid to hear. Can you handle it? Newsletters Censored is for the independent, critical, free thinker with an open mind. Besides the reading of Censored, Newsletters Censored also has the God project and how to defeat a conservative. There is nothing in the mainstream media or the press like Newsletters Censored. So simply go to www.newsletterscensored.com and with your gift to support this work, get your free annual subscription to the newsletter that started it all in 1977. Newsletters Censored. You need Newsletters Censored. That's www.newsletterscensored.com. Greetings. This is James P. Madonna of Megalife 21 Hard Hitting Podcasts, Holistic Health Talk and Progressive Discussions. I want to talk about the very foundation of our entire organization, the newsletter that was founded by my co-host and mentor, the Reverend Dr. William J. Isman in 1977. And that newsletter is called Censored. Newsletters Censored is truth and news fighting censorship and conservative propaganda. We believe we are living in the end times and you need Newsletters Censored. Newsletters Censored provides the kind of truth that most people are afraid to hear. Can you handle it? Newsletters Censored is for the independent critical free thinker with an open mind. Besides the reading of Censored, Newsletters Censored also has the God Project and How to Defeat a Conservative. There is nothing in the mainstream media or the press like Newsletters Censored. So simply go to www.newsletterscensored.com and with your gift to support this work, get your free annual subscription to the newsletter that started it all in 1977, Newsletters Censored. You need Newsletters Censored. That's www.newsletterscensored.com. Okay. We're back. This is Progressive Discussions Holiday Special Show. Okay. Mary Winter Solstice Yule, Hail Crampus and Happy Festivus for the rest of us. We begin with the balance of this holiday show. Let's continue. Change of pace here. Tomato paste. My mother-in-law has recently started a Facebook account. Oh God, mother-in-law. I wish she's spying on people. There are three of us, sisters-in-law, and we all find this a great way for her to keep up with the grandkids. However, she shares every single photo we post. Oh gosh. An aunt is widowed and has been speaking to men over Facebook and one of these men shared a photo of my daughter to his Facebook friends. Oh boy. This was alarming. Why, her daughter's hot-looking? I immediately asked this person whom I've never met to take the photo down. After a day, I was still so shaken and then I deleted my account. You're not going to take it down just because she says so? My mother-in-law was heartbroken. Facebook photo-sharing is tricky with relatives. There's no specific setting to not allow people to share photos. You can only restrict an audience. I don't want to restrict family members from photos. I just don't want them shared until Facebook develops this feature. How do I respectfully explain to my mother-in-law? I don't want her sharing so many pictures because others in her circle seem to think that by her sharing they are welcome to do as well. Yeah, what she's talking about is like what they do on the internet with, let's say, a copyrighted image and you try, if you try to download it, a little message box would come up saying this image is copyrighted by the artist who made it. It kind of like blocks you from downloading on it. But I mean, once you're on the internet and you have photos, you're fair game if your daughter is hot-looking. She's going to get people are going to, you know, it's going to travel. It's going to travel. And if your daughter has a Facebook account, they're going to find her and all the guys are going to like send her messages. Outside of an honest conversation with my mother-in-law, is it appropriate to make a disclaimer in the description of the photo or status to ask for my permission before sharing? Oh yeah, like this woman thinks because she snaps her fingers people are going to comply. Dear mom, they want to bang your daughter. Face it. Until Facebook gives people a way to lock down their own photos, you can try to at least control who sees them by customizing your settings, restricting who sees your photos to only friends or a family group. This means that even if your mother-in-law or aunt shares a photo, it won't actually be seen by anyone outside your designated circle. You should also use the Facebook tools for tagging. So you will be notified whenever your child is tagged. Yes, you want to tag her. However, it is important to remember that anyone can take a screenshot of a photo and share it freely. Explain to your mother-in-law why social media sharing is not like running into a friend and showing them a cute picture of the grandkids. Understand that this is a typical rookie mistake. It is basic Facebook etiquette to always ask permission to share someone else's material. If you decide to hop back on Facebook, whenever you post a photo, you don't want shared. Definitely post a request along with a photo. Please don't share this or any other photo without permission. I got a funny story to tell you right after you finish this. That's it. One of my, one of the guys who was a member of a couple groups and on my friends list, friends list, Steve Carlitini, he cracked me up. He tells me, he says I'm upset because my girlfriend won't comply with my request of having sex with both her and her daughter. Minaj Jatois with his girlfriend and her daughter at the same time. So his girlfriend got upset and said and refused and he says her daughter, her daughter's hot and he wants to bang the both of them. He says he actually wants to bang her daughter, but you know, if I don't, I figure if I didn't invite her, she would be highly, highly angry, you know, upset and might not be him not inviting her. So, but he just expected her to comply. Sure. Why not? What the hell? That's pretty wild and kinky, right? Doing mother and daughter at the same time. If, if the daughter is hot, I don't like, I don't like audiences when it comes to that. I don't know. Some people like that, voyeurism. Yeah. You know, performing. Yeah. Performing as an audience. I don't like that. I never cared for that. Anyway, I found out to be rather whimsical. Not a popsicle, whimsical. Back to Governor Christie of New Jersey for poor little chubsy-ubsy. He has been squeezing the juice from the proverbial orange for seven years. Hey, if he sat on the orange, it would be totally like juiced in a nanosecond. He has been unapologetic about getting every perk, every trip and every moment in the sun he can while New Jersey's governor. On Monday, legislators said no more. At stake were three proposals pushed at breakneck speed through the assembly and the state senate committees. Christie and the legislative leaders from both sides of the aisle had made a backroom deal to let the governor profit from a book deal, give raises to legislative staffers, judges, and some other state employees. The last move would result in the probable loss of 200 to 300 jobs at newspapers across the state. None of these proposals was good public policy. This was political sausage making. And legislators figured that out after there was a loud cry from the public. The only thing worse than being served the bad sausage is discovering that you are actually filling the inside casing. Yeah, so such as the case with Democrats and even some Republicans. Yeah, what's this what's this point? I don't know what they put in the casing. I thought that was going to be said but it didn't. There is no appetite in New Jersey for giving Christie with an approval rating of 18% anything, let alone the opportunity to make more money off his job. The governor is not bound by the same ethics rules as other public officials so he has been able to squeeze the orange for trips to Jordan and to football games. He and his wife filed a joint tax return for 2015 showing nearly one million dollars in income. You can buy a lot of Tropicana with one million dollars but the book deal wasn't enough for the trade and which led with legislators for boosting some salaries. Well this never enough is never enough for a Republican. Christie wanted to exact revenge on the state's newspapers. He's like Trump. He doesn't like what they write. No. He's claimed that pooling public notices from newspapers would save taxpayers 80 million dollars is under substantiated, unsubstantiated. He won't produce his numbers. Over the weekend in an opinion piece he ran on a social media site he claimed the state newspapers refused to publish the piece. That was not true. No request was made to the record. Legislators could see something was wrong with all these bills. The speed by which they were being pushed and the zeal with the governor's office were both signals that this was solely about politics. In their last legislative session Monday before the holiday break legislators could not pass these measures. The book deal is dead. The salary increases may see the light of day in another variation or legislators may wait until there is a new governor. But Jeremy Rosen, a spokesman in Christie's office, made clear the governor isn't with the state's newspapers, isn't through with the newspapers. If the assembly wants more time to consider the legal notices bill that is acceptable to the governor. Rosen said in a statement Monday evening however this will be a top priority when we return from the holidays. New Jersey has 10 credit downgrades under Christie. The public pension system is grossly underfunded. The gas tax has been heightened but there is still not nearly enough money to help pay for a new rail tunnel or other infrastructure. Because they're rich you're not getting taxed. And pulling legal notices from newspapers is Christie's top priority. That says a lot. It speaks volumes about Christie. Legislators who intend on serving the people of New Jersey should see this from what it is. They put it to that by an unpopular governor. The orange is dry. New Jersey will no longer be squeezed. Well guess what? You reelected him you idiots. You reelected him. You complained about him during his first term and you went and reelected him. I do not feel sorry for the people of New Jersey. Same thing with Wisconsin. You reelected Scott Walker. You reelected Paul Ryan. I don't feel sorry for the people of Wisconsin either. That's it plain and simple. Same thing with Florida. And the walking dildo head Rick Scott you know. What if your doctor's gender could influence your chance of surviving a visit to the hospital? A study of older patients hospitalized for common illnesses raises that provocative possibility. Patients who got most of their care from women doctors were more likely to leave the hospital alive than those treated by men. Well women by nature have more compassion and empathy. I mean not all but you know in general. Compassion, empathy towards other people, nurturing personality compared to men you know in terms of bedside manner. And treatment obviously. Well they all have that they give. Yeah well if they're a board certified specialist it shouldn't matter what gender they are. No race. But the point is that it has been known for years that women do not get the same concern from a male physician as per treatment as the men do. Well man. And the women's like let's say women with a hard condition is treated less important than the male. Oh yeah it's like a woman going to an auto mechanic. The mechanic is uh he's rubbing his hands together when he sees the woman putt-putt-putting into his driveway. You know it's like gonna be like taking candy from a baby. You know that is true that is true. And just like tall people usually get more respect overall than short people. Even though you're an asshole and you're tall you know you're going to get farther in life. Remember a couple weeks ago we were discussing the Copacabana and the guy that wears the fringes and you were thinking it was I mentioned Jim Carrey in the mask and I mentioned Desionnes. The frilly shirt. The entertainment puffy shirt with the frills. You were thinking it was Barry Manilow. No he just sang a song called Copacabana. Well it was actually Peter Allen that I was thinking of. But that is a traditional Cuban shirt that they entertain his wear musicians and what have you. And that's what he did. I think it's a linen. It's a white linen shirt with ruffles. Ruffle, roughly. Yeah. About 11% of patients treated mostly by women died within 30 days of entering the hospital. Versus 11.5% of those treated by men. The research team estimated there would be about 32,000 fewer deaths each year in the United States if male physicians performed at the same level as females. The study did not probe why these differences in survival exist. And Dr. Ashish Yakh, JHA, the lead author said the study doesn't mean patients should avoid him or all other male physicians. But he said male doctors could take a cue from women doctors. Tendencies that might contribute to better care. According to other research, women doctors are more likely than men to follow treatment guidelines. Provide preventive care more often and communicate more with patients. Well, I also see more compassion in foreign doctors than American doctors. Bedside manner, attitude, general attitude. Willing to answer questions and not cut you off. Well, yeah, I have a personal story on that. I was at my doctor's once. And I was waiting in the cubicle, you know, for him to come around. Oh, the second waiting room. Yeah, check me out. Yeah. And it happened to be close to, I guess, his desk room or whatever he was. He was on the phone with his broker discussing his situation and taxes and money, et cetera. Well, I'm sitting there waiting for him. Like your time is not valuable. So American doctors are, you know, basically more appointed towards the goal of making moolah. Well, they overbook their appointments. Their waiting rooms are packed. Yes. Because they overbook patients for appointments. Right. Yeah. They're like like, like, like, like the medical version of a sleazy, shyster lawyer. Yeah. Yeah. That's how they are. Donald Trump's book, The Art of the Deal, should have been titled The Art of the Doop. Our soon to be president has an uncanny talent for diluting the unwary. The imbeciles. Not yet in office. He is already building the Trump dynasty. Two sons, a daughter, a son-in-law, are helping to lay the cornerstone of that establishment. Could you imagine how many conflicts of interest there will be if he wants to maintain the Trump dynasty and be president of the United States? He's in for a rude awakening. They attend high-level meetings, intelligent briefings, and they close on profitable business dealings. They will be well-experienced, fully primed to step into the Oval Office in 2017. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. That cabinet, please. Before leaving office, spoke of the military-industrial complex. Oh, yeah. And exhorted the nation to guard against the combination as a danger to our liberties and democratic processes. Sure. Combination of church and state, too. Now, all that was pre-warrant. He warned the nation to take nothing for granted and avoid becoming a community of fear and hate. The proposed cabinet of Donald Trump consists of generals and super-rich CEOs. We will be ruled by demagogues in 2017. So the fox is now guarding the henhouse. Well, you might as well say it. He's not guarding it so much. He's eating the chickens. Well, if the fox guards the henhouse, then the fox has first dibs to enter the henhouse. I'm saying exactly this. You know, I mean, it really is. He's not shy about hiding anything. It's very obvious that the corporate fascist oligarch has control. I mean, and he's shoving everybody's nose in it. What did he say? He could shoot somebody in the middle of New York City. Yeah, and still, you know, Dave Mummel. That's how it looks. Hey, man. Satan comes as an angel of light and to deceive the world. And it seems like for every intelligent progressive you know, hear of, it's probably a whole castle, a cargo ship full of morons that are completely spellbound by their cult religion and by their insane political views. That, you know, I know two people personally that think very highly of Fox News as a source for their news. Two of them. And they're both, in general, intelligent people. Now, if an intelligent person that went to college thinks that Fox News is the only one of the very few stations you should keep on TV, something strange is going on, something strange is in the water. Fair and balanced. Yeah, sure. Divorced last year. Change of pace. Tomato paste. After 14 years of marriage, we have a 10-year-old son together while staying with his father on weekends. He has overheard his father and new girlfriend having sex. It has happened a couple of times. Why should the father change his lifestyle to some fucking kid? And each time my son comes home in tears. It's a fucking bad. You trying to cock block your own father from getting laid? His father has promised not to let it happen. Oh, he's a pussy. Here we go again with this modern way of parenting. My son is worried that I am doing the same thing. Squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, squeaky. Here the mattress comes. And he is treating me like a child. And he is the power. You know, I love to see a jealous little prick cock block in his, all right, his mother's boyfriend. Her boyfriend turns around and says, yeah, we're going to bang your mother tonight. So shut up. Get lost, little monster. He seems to think that people have sex only to have babies. And he is worried. You've been listening to Republicans and the Catholic Church too much, right? Do I need to get him some kind of counseling? Squeaky, squeaky. Or will this get better as he gets older and the matures? I am angry that his father didn't use his head before using his actions. And now I'm the one being punished for it. Well, the kid shouldn't be nosy. Was his father in a room with a door shut? Well, then the kid was nosy. Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought him back. If your son hasn't had the talk with you or his father. Birds in the bees. It should start immediately. So he knows that having sex doesn't always mean the result will be babies. Hey, kid, let me tell you something. You got something called a schlong. And the peg fits in a hole. For every peg there's a hole. For every hole there's a peg. And it goes inside and you go hit it out. And unfortunately the mattress goes squeaky, squeaky, squeaky. And while you're at it. Tell your son that you are not planning to have any more children any time soon. So he has no reason to worry about you, excuse me. Hey, jealous little prick. He wants to be the number one baby in the house. No sharing mommy's affection, not even with a boyfriend. Oh, yeah, if you hear mommy screaming and you're whaling, she's not in trouble. She's not being hurt. You know what, you've got to show your kids you're the alpha, just like a pet. You're the alpha. Anyway, is that that time to say bye-bye? I don't know, what are you on? What time is it? I got a one here and it looks a lot pretty long, right? Hold on. It's five or four. All right. One more, do not let the scammer snow you into buying an itone gift card. An itone gift card. Oh, this is a very applicable reading for this time of year. Or any gift card or any gift card. Hey, speaking of devil, wasn't I mentioning that early? That's why I said I love it. Yeah, yeah. Even though it's a biggie. Go ahead. When we popped into a CVS pharmacy one evening to buy holiday stuff before a snowstorm, I was taking it back. Taking it back. When I heard something far different from Darlene Love singing Marshmallow World. Who the fuck is Darlene Love? She's one of those girl groups. Oh, no, 60. Oh, hey, I watched Dean Martin with Frank Sinatra singing Marshmallow World and they did a great job. I want to hit upon the best for Christmas. No, no, no. I want to hit upon the best for Christmas. No, that's stupid. I don't like noisy aiding songs. I like Marshmallow World was nice. When did the right people sing it? The in-store radio was broadcasting a rather lengthy warning about how you shouldn't buy iTunes gift cards after you get a call supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service demanding lots of cash. Scam. This will be a good chiseless hall of shame inductee. The on said underlying message. Don't let scammers know you. Snow you. As we enter the gift card season it's interesting to spot the extra efforts to warn consumers about the perils of buying gift cards for scam artists. We're not talking about the dangers of putting five or ten dollars on a McDonald's gift card for the crappy kid next door. We're talking about the hardcore. Steal every dollar you can and make somebody feel really dumb. Scammers. One of the hot news scams of 2016. Getting victims to put cash on iTunes, gift being addressed in fragrance aisles and at the cash register in some stores. Gift cards and prepaid card scams are a challenge to all retailers. As a result CVS is incorporating a new point of scale warning when it comes to gift cards. If you buy a gift card at a CVS register you'll see the following message on the screen at the checkout. Protect yourself from prepaid card scams. Common scams include requests related to lotteries, taxes, a new job and helping someone in need. The warning goes on to tell consumers never to provide any prepaid card information including a pin number or a card number. To anyone they don't know. If you feel you are a victim of fraud reconsider your purchase and contact local law enforcement. A consumer can even hit cancel on the screen when it comes to buying that prepaid card. If they think they're about to hand over money to a con artist. Such warnings come not a minute too soon especially as we'll jump into the tax season. I wrote a story in late September about a young college student who put $1,762 on an iTunes card to pay what a con artist convinced her that she owed in back taxes. She didn't know anything. Sophisticated fraudsters who are getting sizable resistance lately from authorities will no doubt soon resume attempting to file fraudulent tax returns to generate generous tax refunds for themselves. Oh they got it down to a to a science these scammers. Oh yeah the treasury inspector general for tax administration issued a new poster and flyer last week to warn taxpayers about the fraudulent calls from people impersonating the IRS and treasury department officials. The poster is designed to be printed out and used wherever gift cards are sold. But it can be helpful as senior senators or other locations to warn people about this crazy gift card scam. The inspector general is working with private and public partners to fight the scam. Unfortunately we cannot get the word out enough about why you don't want to put any money on an iTunes gift card to pay tax bills or deal with other demands. Despite the excellent progress we have made in our investigation of this matter the callers are aggressive and relentless. Once they have your attention they will say anything to con you out of your hard-earned cash. Widely publicized law enforcement actions took place in October in the U.S. and in India and reportedly have cut into much of the tax-related scam activity. After a three-year joint investigation the U.S. Department of Justice obtained an indictment in October involving dozens of alleged fraudsters based on the U.S. excuse me and five call centers in India all accused of tricking people into paying fake tax bills either by wire or placing money on prepaid cards. At one point authorities were hearing of 150 new scam victims a week but for the week that ended in December 5th only 11 consumers reported falling victim to the scam. Still federal watchdogs are concerned that scammers will attempt to restart their engines at any time or copycats will get into the game as soon as the filing season begins on January 23rd. The iTunes part of the scam began heating up in the spring. TIGTA put out warnings in April and June that scammers were demanding payment on the Apple iTunes gift cards as well as other gift cards. Con artists including those involved with other scams often request payments on green dot prepaid cards, money pack pre-made prepaid cards, reloaded prepaid debit cards, and prepaid credit cards. Wow so remember that people avoid this Apple iTunes gift card scam scam avoid it. Yeah okay that's it thank you for joining us for our holiday special here at Progressive Discussions. Have a safe and pleasant and happy holiday, eat good food, drink and have good company, good quality grog, and hopefully have good company which will vary depending on the kind of relatives you have and the kind of friends you have and you know yeah but don't eat while you're upset no you can pick and choose your your your friends but not your relatives right that's what they say pretty much stuck with them so that's why there's good booze good bottle of hooch um so have a happy and we'll see you for the uh year ending show um New Year's Eve special show bye bye enjoy Heidi Ho that's um that's Mr. Hankey the Christmas Pooh from South Park he lives inside of you this has been a mega live 21 production