Somebody Left The Heat On

Somebody left the heat on in the Midwest, and we’re feeling every degree of it. We start with the kind of summer heat wave that messes with your sleep, forces the air conditioner decision, and makes you stare at the electric bill like it’s a personal betrayal. Then we lighten it up with a “supposedly accurate” weather tour that lets you compare your day to places like Beijing, Moscow, the Australian Plains, Phoenix, Spokane, Tokyo, and our own backyard in Southern Illinois complete with humidity, UV index, wind, visibility, and air quality.

The mood turns when we talk about severe storms and outages up north, and we share a quick note for soccer fans about the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule and the unique North America hosting setup. After that, we shift into an earthquake report with weekly totals and the sobering reality of major quakes, including a 7.8 earthquake near the Philippines, the tsunami warning, and what it’s like to watch aftershocks stack up when people are already shaken and vulnerable. One of the hardest parts is admitting it out loud: earthquake warnings still aren’t where they need to be, and that gap costs real people real safety.

We close with the question that ties a surprising list of sci-fi movies together from Gattaca to Wrath Of Khan: genetic modification. CRISPR gene editing isn’t just a plot device anymore, and headlines about embryo genome editing raise the same moral dilemma those stories keep shouting at us: just because we can, should we. If you care about heat waves, disaster news, earthquake preparedness, bioethics, and where genetic engineering might lead, you’ll find plenty to wrestle with here.

Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review if our mix of curiosity, faith, and oddball reporting gives you something to think about.

Transcript

Welcome And Why We’re Here

Bruce 0:00

I believe somebody left the heat on.

Capella 0:04

Welcome to the ugly quacking duck. We like to joke that we're the worst podcast in the unknown universe, but we're pretty sure that's just our charm. We're here to offer a different perspective on the things you see every day, moving away from the usual noise to bring a little more light, perspective, and an uplifting spirit into your routine. Life is plenty heavy as it is, so we're just here to help you find a reason to smile. Thanks for stopping by.

Bruce 0:27

Wherever you are, whatever time it is, you are here with the ugly quacking duck duck.

Sunny 0:37

That wasn't too bad. Was we off a little bit?

Bruce 0:41

Yeah, I think we was off a little bit, but you know, we're gonna leave it.

Sunny 0:45

You don't want to re-record it?

Bruce 0:48

No, I think we ought to just leave it. So hello everybody. Welcome to the Ugly Quacking Duck.

Sunny 0:55

And I'm Sunny.

Bruce 0:57

And I'm Bruce, and we are glad you tuned in. We hope you enjoy the show.

Sunny 1:03

And we hope you stay for more.

Midwest Heat Wave Reality Check

Sunny 1:07

Well, Bruce, tell us what you think about the weather.

Bruce 1:12

Well, as I said at the beginning, somebody left the heat on, and that's what it feels like anywhere in the Midwest, northern states, and it's climbing more so north now than it was before. And what am I talking about? Well, let me read you a quote from uh the Weather Channel. They said what the National Weather Service is calling the first true heat wave of the summer. And I'm telling you, folks, it feels that way. In fact, it's been so bad the last two days I turned the air conditioner on. I cried when I did so.

Sunny 1:56

Yes, you did. It was pitiful, folks. He bawled and cried, moaned and groaned.

Speaker 1 2:04

Okay, okay. Well enough.

Sunny 2:08

Oh no, he really bawled.

Bruce 2:11

Alright, I did not, but I did moan a little bit because uh, you know, the electricity bill goes way up in the summer because they charge you more for the summer electricity. And then you use more on top of that because you gotta plug the air conditioner in, and I really hate that. But we did that, folks, because it hit ninety and over this week so far, and right now we are recording this in our Midwest studio. It is right now ninety-five degrees. Um it was ninety-six, but I think uh I think a cloud went over, cooled it down a little bit, but yeah. So the National Weather Service was saying this may be the true heat wave of the summer, and I believe it is because yesterday it got up to ninety-eight here at our location in the Midwest, Southern Illinois. Yes, we did, and you know it's hard to sleep. I told everybody here at the house when the evenings and the nighttime quit getting cool and it stayed a pretty high temperature, then the house wouldn't cool off and we'd have to turn the air on. Well, that's what happened this week. It uh got down to one day it got down to I think seventy six. And that wasn't cool enough to pull that heat out of the house with all the fans and everything, still didn't do it. Um it it cooled it off, but not enough to enjoy sleeping. I don't know about you guys. I like to sleep.

Sunny 4:08

You can say that again. Turn the movie on and he's out.

Speaker 1 4:13

Hey, don't be picking on me.

Sunny 4:16

I'm not. I'm just telling you what it is, folks. He likes to sleep.

Bruce 4:22

Uh all right. Well, now that you've told my secret, I like to sleep.

Sunny 4:28

Yeah, I told all Hello?

Bruce 4:32

What happened?

Sunny 4:34

You shot me off, didn't you?

Bruce 4:37

No, I wouldn't do that.

Sunny 4:40

Okay, folks, he's picking on me.

Bruce 4:43

Uh who's picking on who?

Sunny 4:45

He's picking on me.

Bruce 4:47

Well anyway, uh the National Weather Service is uh telling us that this is gonna be a very strong heat wave of it's one of the first of the summer, and what it is is the high pressure is pulling the jet stream well to the north and leaving the hot, humid conditions in its wake. And I'm telling you it's true. They said it's gonna start on Tuesday and Wednesday for the central U.S. and it's been that way. Monday wasn't much better, and it looks like it's gonna go on. They're saying temperatures could run fifteen to twenty degrees above average. Well, if it was ninety-eight and it was fifteen to twenty degrees be about seventy-eight, I'd this is June. I don't believe that's uh that much cooler in June. Um it may be for a little while, but not long. This is actually about what we normally get this time of year, because I always complain about having to hook the air conditioner up. Now maybe more northern part of the states uh more towards the east. They don't see that kind of weather and it doesn't happen like it is now. And that could be true. Uh I'm not nor have I been in most of those states. So uh I'm just saying what it is around here, and it's this time of year it starts getting as hot almost always. Um we have very few springs that go deep into June and stays cool. Very few. Which means we don't have to contend with the car and all the cars passing by and all that stuff because I got the window shut, but the air conditioner noise will probably kill us. Uh what I do is I pause the recording in between the air conditioning running. Uh and it gets pretty hot in here sometimes with the door shut, so I may be not able to do that for very long.

Sunny 7:03

You know, Bruce, that's the one great thing about recording and not us being live.

Bruce 7:10

You got that right, so we can pause the recording, let the air conditioner run, open the door and let it cool off and then come back in and do it again.

Sunny 7:20

Exactly. It's a blessing.

Bruce 7:24

You said that right, it sure is, and we appreciate all the even the heat. We thank the Lord the Father for

Weather Tour Across The World

Bruce 7:34

that. But while we're talking about the weather, let's look into some of the locations that we always like to report on and see what it sounds like, what it looks like, or what it feels like. What do you think?

Sunny 7:50

I think we're gonna have some fun, and I want to pick the first one, okay?

Speaker 1 7:56

Alright, go for it.

Sunny 7:58

Alright, I think I want to do China.

Speaker 1 8:03

Okay. Go for it.

Sunny 8:05

Alright, here we go, folks. Now what I'm gonna report is supposedly the weather in Beijing, China.

Bruce 8:17

Oh, you are sounding so much like me. Supposedly. Have I rubbed off on you?

Sunny 8:23

Maybe I've rubbed off on you.

Bruce 8:26

All right, well, I like how you started that.

Sunny 8:30

Well, thank you. But supposedly they're reporting that it's sixty-one degrees in China, Beijing, right now, and there's a slight chance of rain, a whole 1%. A one percent and the wind is four miles an hour from the north, so it's blowing to the south. That's why it's so cool. 61, wow. And their humidity is 78%. Pretty darn high, you ask me.

Speaker 1 9:09

Did we ask you?

Sunny 9:10

Well, no, but I'm telling you anyway.

Bruce 9:14

Okay. Thank you for that.

Sunny 9:16

Well, wait a minute, I'm not done. The pressure is twenty-nine point eight nine and rising. Their visibility is six miles, which is surprising for there. You think that's good?

Bruce 9:33

Well, I guess it's good if you say it's good.

Sunny 9:36

I say it's pretty good, but one last thing. Their air quality is a hundred and twenty-one. Now the higher it gets, that's worse than it's worse on us breathing it. So 121.

Bruce 9:56

Well, again, uh this is a recording and this weather can change abruptly, even in real time. And you're gonna be hearing this after we've recorded it. Why do we do that? Well well, you know why we record it, but why do we record the weather locations like we do? Because it gives us something fun to look at. And if you're in one of those spots and you want to see what somebody else has got, you can just tune in to us and we'll tell you. Now you can go look it up for yourself, and that's kind of fun too. But anyhow, I'm gonna pick a new one. We've got a couple added to our list, and I'm gonna pick one right now.

Sunny 10:41

All right, what are you gonna pick, Bruce?

Bruce 10:44

I'm gonna go with Moscow, Moscow, Russia.

Sunny 10:50

Ooh, I hadn't thought of that.

Bruce 10:53

Well, there you go. Let's go to Moscow, Russia today. And uh right now, and by the way, we are recording this in our Midwest studio, our hidden studio.

Sunny 11:07

Now you know it's not really hidden.

Bruce 11:10

Well, you can't see it from the road.

Sunny 11:13

Well, you got me there.

Bruce 11:15

And it is on the 10th of June that we are recording this, which is Wednesday, and it is 4 46 p.m. at this time. So there you go. You can kind of relate the the temperatures and stuff to that. And right now in Moscow, they are reporting it's 70 degrees. And they are saying that the humidity there is 66%. Uh the pressure is rising there at 29.98. Uh their visibility is 10 miles. Man, that's pretty good. They're clear. Their air quality is 72, which is probably another reason they can see a long ways off. And both China and Russia has a UV index of zero. Now, I don't know how that's even possible. Unless, wait, wait for it. It's nighttime there. All right. Anyway, the wind is coming out of the north at zero at zero miles an hour. So, wow, I don't know how it can be moving out of the north if it's at zero miles an hour. You guys will have to figure that one out for me because that's got me stumped.

Sunny 12:35

All right, Bruce, that's a pretty good story. Let's go to the next one.

Bruce 12:41

There goes the air. It's time to pause. All right, let's try this again.

Sunny 12:48

Okay, I want to do uh the Australian Plains.

Bruce 12:55

Okay, take her away there, Sunny.

Sunny 12:58

All right, thank you, Bruce. Okay, the Australian Plains are reporting a temperature of forty-five degrees. Yep. That is a little bit cooler, isn't it? Yeah. Alright, on with the report. Um they say the humidity there is eighty-six percent. The UV index is zero, the air quality is forty seven, that is good. The pressure is rising, it's 30.39, and the wind is coming out of the northeast at one mile an hour.

Bruce 13:45

Well, that sounds very similar to the other reports. Uh what was their visibility?

Sunny 13:51

Oh, I forgot that. Their visibility is seven miles.

Bruce 13:56

All right, pretty clear skies there too, it sounds like. All right, let's see. Let's switch her up and do our local city or country town. I don't know what you want to prefer it to be called, but here locally, uh, we're not too far out of this uh city. It's Mount Vernon, Illinois, and we're gonna tell you what they've got today. I think if I can get the pages load. Here we go. We are at 90 degrees according to what they've got. Feels like 98. I wonder why. Because our uh temperature on our thermometer says 94, so stick that in your ear, buddy. All right. It is uh humidity-wise 54%. The temperature, like I said, is uh 90 according to them, and 94 according to us. And I I'll go with ours because you know. Anyway, the UV index is three, which is very moderate, and the pressure is dropping 29.78. So you know what that means? Fishing's probably not very good right now. The visibility is 10 miles an hour, and the air quality is 49, and we have a wind of 19 miles per hour coming out of the south-southwest.

Sunny 15:23

So woo-woo! Hey, that's pretty good, Bruce. I like that report. Now, are you saying supposedly?

Bruce 15:32

Yep, supposedly all these things are accurate, but you know, it they could lie to us pretty easy.

Sunny 15:39

All right, next on the list is Spokane, Washington. And whether you know it or not, Spokane, Washington was one of the very few locations that was actually requested.

Bruce 15:59

Yep, you you got that right. I it was requested by one of our listeners, and one of the few that was requested. And I don't know if you guys heard that vehicle go by, but apparently I were I was mistaken because I thought with the window shut we wouldn't notice it that much, but I was wrong.

Sunny 16:22

Oh, can you say that again, Bruce? I want to hear it. I want to get it on the recording so the world will know. You were wrong.

Speaker 2 16:33

Nope. Alright. Uh nope.

Sunny 16:38

Okay, let's move on then. Spokane, Washington. The weather right now, supposedly, is 66 degrees. Yep. And they have a 51% chance of rain today. Their humidity is 33%. It feels like 66 according to this. The UV index is 4, which is moderate. The pressure is steady at 29.97, the visibility's 10 miles and almost an hour. 10 miles, air quality is 26, which is good, and the wind's 10 miles an hour straight out of the west.

unknown 17:27

Yay.

Bruce 17:29

And let's see what the desert feels like, because Phoenix, Arizona is very close to the desert. And right now they're supposedly reporting a temperature of 106 degrees. Yeah, 106. And it's not even full blown summer yet. It's close, though. So they have 106 degrees, humidity is only at 6%. Ooh. Yeah. The pressure is at 29.64 and falling. UV index is seven, which is high. The m visibility is 10 miles, the air quality is 38, which is good, and the wind is out of the s west-southwest at 8 miles an hour.

Sunny 18:17

Now, Bruce, you forgot to say supposedly.

Bruce 18:22

Yeah, I did. I um I'm having a hard time remember remembering to do that.

Sunny 18:28

Don't you worry a bit about that because you know what? I'll remind you. Alright. What do we got left?

Bruce 18:41

Well, there's one left. It's a surprise. I think we got Spokane, we got Mount Vernon, we've got Phoenix, Australia, Beijing, Moscow. Okay, we got one left. You wanna do it there?

Sunny 18:55

Yes, I do. I wanna do it.

Bruce 18:57

Alright. So I'll tell 'em who it is and you can look it up. It's Tokyo, Japan. Yep. We're gonna do that.

Sunny 19:06

Oh wow. That's interesting and you picked some new ones, didn't you?

Bruce 19:12

Yeah, I thought we'd take a little bit longer. Now we may not do them every time, but I thought we'd uh do it, you know, it kinda gives you uh a little bit of relation, you know, because these are in different parts of the c world and we get to hear what their weather's like. So yeah, it's kinda cool.

Sunny 19:32

Well, I enjoy doing it. It's fun. Okay. So we're gonna do Tokyo, and right now they are at 76 degrees. Yeah, is that right? Let's see. Let me look. No. What was that?

Bruce 19:51

I don't know. I clicked over it and it was on a 10-day report. It it's done me that way a couple times. So I clicked over to today, and there you go. That should be right.

Sunny 20:05

All right, thanks, Bruce. Supposedly they are reporting a temperature of 68 degrees today, and humidity 66%. That's pretty high, wow. And the pressure is 29.90, which is rising. UV index is one, which is pretty low, and then visibility 10 miles. That's been pretty well a commonality. Air quality 44, which is good, and the wind, 2 miles an hour out of the east-southeast. There you go, Bruce. That is our weather report. It is brought to you by the ugly cracking duck.

Bruce 20:54

Yeah, wait a minute, let me do. You know what? It would probably help if I had the uh button slider up on the volume. Here we go. Let's try this again. Isn't it amazing if you have the controller in the right spot how well it works? Okay, give yourself a pat on the back there, Sunny. That was a good job, and we just burnt 21 minutes.

Sunny 21:25

Well, it's fun, and the listeners can when they hear it, see, they can kind of relate their weather to what we reported, and if they listen to it real soon, it'll probably be close to the same thing.

Bruce 21:41

Well, that's possibility. Um, but if most states will tell you, if you don't like the weather, just stick around and it'll change. And that's the way it is, I think, in a lot of areas. So if they hear it a little bit later down the road, it may have changed.

Storm Damage And A Prayer Request

Bruce 22:03

One more quick thing before we shift over to our story. Um, northern Illinois and states up around there, Ohio, Iowa, uh now Pennsylvania are all seeing bad storms. I think Chicago, last count I had in Cook County, had over a hundred and ninety thousand customers without power due to that storm that hit. So let's keep everybody in prayer. If you're in one of those areas, uh, I hope you took shelter and I hope and pray everything's safe and good.

Sunny 22:48

Yes. Um yes.

Bruce 22:52

Okay, yeah, okay, there we go. Okay, on word.

World Cup Note For Soccer Fans

Bruce 23:00

So before we get into anything really heavy duty, uh, I wanted to remind everybody that there is a World Cup tournament happening at the end of this week, and it is called FIFA World Cup 2026, and that is an awesome occurrence if you like soccer. Many people don't. I do like soccer, and I've been able a few years back to be able to watch all the games on the tournament, maybe not steadfastly, but I got to partake in most of the part of the games that was happening. It was very enjoyable. Don't know if I'll get to this year, but it starts tomorrow, June 11th, and it runs through until July the 19th. So they'll have a game or two. I I can't remember how many they have, but they've got schedule. Go on the internet and you can look it up and you can find your schedule. The neat thing about this one this year is the games are going to be held in North America, and that does include Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Now, in the past, it was always held kind of like in one country or somewhere thereabouts. This year, though, they're hand and handling them in North America, and I think that's pretty cool, folks. So I'll try to get back with you at the end of all that. So, anyway, that's something to look forward to if you like soccer. If you don't, tune into it anyway and watch a little bit of it, kind of get the feel for it, and we'll catch that at the end of the tournament. There you go. FIFA. What does movies like Human Nature, Elysium, Gattaca, Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan, Resident Evil, Splice, Island of Lost Souls, Have in Common.

Sunny 25:40

I give up. What's in have in common? Is this a joke?

Bruce 25:44

Well, Sunny, no, it's not a joke. Um, there's a little bit more to be told. However, I'm gonna let the listeners ponder that, and then we're gonna jump into earthquakes.

Sunny 26:00

Oh, you mean you're gonna let everybody hang with that question while we go and talk about earthquakes? Is that what you're saying?

Bruce 26:11

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Sunny 26:14

Yep.

Bruce 26:17

All right, let's tune it over to the earthquakes.

Earthquake Numbers And The Philippines

Bruce 26:24

So, switching gears, we're gonna run through a little bit of a report about the earthquakes. Now, uh it's been a while since I've done an episode, and I think the last time I did a report on the earthquakes was back on the 15th, which I actually did it on the 16th when I recorded. So that would have been the Friday for my seven days. So there's been a couple seven-day reports past then, and I'm just gonna highlight through them. So the following week would have been 522, May the 22nd. And we um got a cat running over our desk.

Sunny 27:09

I can chase it away.

Bruce 27:11

Yes, you can, Sunny, but no, you don't.

Sunny 27:14

Alright. You're no fun.

Bruce 27:18

Well maybe I ain't, but uh Bobby really appreciates it.

Sunny 27:23

Yeah, you're just very nice to that old cat.

Bruce 27:28

Well, somebody has to be grouchy.

Sunny 27:31

You better watch it.

Bruce 27:34

Okay, I'll watch it. Anyhow, we'll go back to May the twenty second. We uh did uh the numbers we had twenty-one seventy-four for a total of all counts, four hundred and seven two point five and fine-five four point five, and we had one, two, three, six point oh, and bigger earthquakes. And we had um one in or by Japan, which was a six point seven, pretty good size. And we had a six point oh and it was uh I'm not even sure how to say this, Antiqua and Barbadia. Barbadia and then a six point six on the southern east of Pacific Rise. That's way out in the ocean. And then uh the next seven days would have been five twenty-nine, we went back and counted 'em. And they went up a little bit. We had two thousand two hundred and eighty-four all magnitude earthquakes, which was the twenty-two percent, three hundred and ninety-three two point five and over, and then a hundred and three, four point five, and then we had four six and over earthquakes. We had a six point oh in Hawaii, we had a six point nine east-northeast of Chile, and then a six point zero in the Paci the Antarctic Ridge, West Western Indian Antarctic Ridge, and then we had another six point zero in the same place, which is kind of odd, but that they're both the same, really weird. And then last week on Friday 6.5, June the 5th, our all count was 2135. So they were back down just a little bit, about where they've been running, and uh 2.5 and over was at 324, which was right in there where the we they've been running. I know there was a couple weeks they was up to 40545, but this week they was at 324, and the 4.5 was at 98, which was a little bit lower than they've been running, um, which is normal low, because we had one 95 a couple weeks ago. And then we had two 6.0 went over, uh, one in Chile, it was a 6.0, and then the following few days there was one in Italy, which was a 6.2. And then I know, yes, I know, that this is the big middle of the week while I'm recording this. It's actually Wednesday evening, and um excuse me, uh I went ahead and went back seven days from today and uh just to get a seven-day report. Now, Friday, I'm gonna go ahead and jot down the numbers, and I'll probably go over those again on the next episode. But for today, going back seven days, we had a total 2385 for all magnitude earthquakes, which was a little bit up there. And then we had for the 2.5 and over, 373 was a little bit higher than last time, but it's still kind of in the low range. Now the 4.5 and over was at 144, which was a little bit on the low end, which we like, but it wasn't that low. And then we had starting in the middle of the week, or the uh latter part of last week, we had a 7.8 in the Philippines, right at the edge of the Philippines out in the water, which they gave a um a tsunami warning for. This earthquake occurred on Monday, and it triggered a three-foot tsunami along the nearby coast. Um, it was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, and as of the writing that I got this from, which was couple Wednesday, a couple days ago, yeah. And it's according to what uh news article you read, but they uh they're saying up to thirty-five people were killed, and there was uh several injured. And they uh many buildings had broke down. Um said the survivors recounted the fear and the torrent turmoil. And it really upsets me to report a major earthquake like this and not being able to report one before to give them a warning. You know, like we have tornado warnings. Now, sometimes it doesn't do any good, and it's not soon enough, and people still get hurt, but we have no earthquake warnings, and it just really bugs me because I, you know, report these earthquakes after the fact, and then you hear it on my podcast a long time after the fact, and it just um bothers me. Bothers me a lot. But anyway, there was a lot going on, a lot of disaster in this 7.8 magnitude earthquake. So I'm asking you to keep them in your prayers, and if you don't believe in prayers, shame on you. But if you don't, then please send positive thoughts to these people, find ways to help them, support uh food, um, go over there and help them. I mean, just something, okay? That's what we're talking about. Anyhow, that was uh the really major one for this last seven days, which was actually on Monday, the eighth, and I'm recording this on the tenth, so it wasn't very far back. And then there was a 6.0 earthquake again in the Philippines, very near that area, so that was an aftershock, and then they had a 6.5, uh, very near that again. It was centered a little bit different, but probably an aftershock, and then another 6.5 again in the Philippines, a little bit different location, very near that, probably another aftershock. So imagine sitting in your backyard and your house gets tumbled by an earthquake, and then there's another one, and another one, and another one. So, yeah. Then there was a 6.1 uh just here real recently uh in Cuba, and that doesn't sound that big after talking about a 7.8, but anytime we're talking about a 6.0 and above, you're talking there could be damage and people could be hurt. So that's why we report those. And um all of them are major. Because they all of them could cause deterioration where another one could cause damage. But anyhow, we wanted to shift gears and report on this because we haven't, you know, had an episode in a few weeks and it needed to be reported. And uh I just wish it hadn't happened. I wish none of these happened, and they do seem to get a lot more um I'm not gonna say popular, a lot more um close together. And I don't know if they're any bigger or not. But anyhow, pray for those people in the Philippines, okay? Thank you.

Sunny 36:31

All right, Bruce, I think that was good, and I think you did well.

Bruce 36:37

Well, I appreciate that. And let's go back to the question.

Sci Fi Movies And Gene Editing

Bruce 36:47

So I asked what those seven movies had in common. Now there's more on the list, but I picked those seven because they were very particular very particularly part of that list and part of my question. So what does those seven movies have in common? Anyone? I know, I know. Okay. Sunny, what?

Sunny 37:15

They're all sci-fi. You love sci-fi.

Bruce 37:20

Well, you are true truly speaking there. I do love sci-fi, and they're mostly sci-fi, but that's not the answer.

Sunny 37:43

And who was you trying to stress and hurry up?

Bruce 37:49

No way. I just thought it would be neat to play that, but the answer is genetic modification of the human race or of humans. Um and I will go over the list and kind of read a um subscri uh subscription a prescri Good grief. I'm getting tired. A description of the movie.

Sunny 38:20

Woo wee, you better take a breath.

Bruce 38:26

No, we won't do that. So the first one was human nature, and it uh describes the biggest tech revolution of the twenty-first century. It isn't digital, it's biological. A breakthrough called CRISPR gives an unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens a door to curing diseases, reshaping the biosphere, and impacting our day-to-day lives. And it comes out in 2019. And the next one on the list was uh Elysium, which came out in 2013. And it um was taking place in the year 2159. A luxury space station houses only the alter rich in society, all of whom have access to the incredible medical care that can diagnose and remove any injury, disease, or other issue in a matter of minutes. Wow. While the rest of humanity struggles to survive on earth. There you go. And it uses the CRISPR information to you starting to see a pattern here. And the next one on the list was Gattaca, G-A-T-T-A-C-A, and it was made in 1997. And it has been revered for years as a look into the possible future of the real world consequences of human control over their own genetics. In this feature of Earth, genetics are quantified and publicly registered. Anyone can know what makes up your own body and how likely you are to develop disease in the future. As the main character, Ethan Hawke, that was the actor, playing Vincent Freeman, states at the start of the film, my real resume was in my cells. So in this movie, he uh it found out he had inferior genetics and he always wanted to go to outer space and travel, and that was denied because of that. So he still let me rephrase that, he actually purchases somebody else's genetic identity, which will get him, you know, what he needs. Um they are called invalids because they have inferior genetics. And I think I've seen all these movies so far. I don't remember this one real well, but I do remember it.

Sunny 41:18

How can you remember it not real well, but you do remember it?

Bruce 41:24

I remember bits and pieces of it, but I don't remember all of it. There you go. Blah.

Sunny 41:29

Don't blah me. Blah blah blah blah.

Bruce 41:36

Okay. So onward with the list. The next one on the list is Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan. It was in 1982 they put this one together, and this one is I'm a Star Trek fan, so it's pretty cool. But what they did is they in this movie, they put together this was late in the 20th century, they put put together perfect human. They uh selectively bred them and they created them basically an uncontrollable human. So they froze them, Cryer F I think Cryer Free Freeze, sent him off in space, and then lo and behold, William Shatner, Leonard Kneeboy, um Captain Kirk, and Spock found them, unthawed one of them, and lo and behold, it got crazy after that. And um the movie was uh quite a bit exciting, but it's about selective breathing once breeding, not breathing, once again, um, what we end up getting when they do that. And that's what all these movies are about. You know, they might be able to cure disease, but what happens to uh humanity afterwards? Um, that's what all these are about. And surely everybody remembers this movie. This was from 2002, Resident Evil. And in this game, uh the umbrella corporation creates something called the T virus, which mutates humans and animals, essentially turning them into various types of zombies. Zombie. And then Alice comes along, she turns into a warrior, and she battles the zombies. But once again, all this came about because of them dealing with our genes. And their T virus manipulated that uh particular group of genes and then Look out. The next one on the list is from 2009, and it's called Splice. And this one I don't think I've seen. I'm gonna have to look it up and watch it, but you gotta pay for it. Where do you got to do it? Amazon Prime has it. But uh this is a horror thriller. A seemingly successful experiment goes awry when genetic geneticists specializing in creating species hybrids do an experiment with humans, though they are forbidden, and create DRAN, D-R-E-N, a human animal hybrid. Man, if you guys have studied anything in the Bible, this movie really relates to what they talk about there. But a great example of how science needs to be aware of the consequences associated with genetic engineering, yet not a blockbuster film that's going to make you question whether genetic engineering should continue in the world. If you like some scary scenes that make you jump, this is a film for you. Alright, Splice. And last but not least on my list is called The Island of Lost Souls from nineteen thirty two. Yeah. They actually did this kind of movies back then too.

Sunny 45:40

Woo wee, nineteen thirty-two. That's even past your day.

Bruce 45:45

Well I'm glad you said that, so I won't be thought of as being that old.

Sunny 45:51

Well, I appreciate you being old but not that old.

Bruce 45:57

Well appreciate it, huh? Hmm. I'm gonna have to think about that. But anyhow, back to the islands or the island of the lost souls. Let me rephrase that the Island of Lost Souls. Okay, that's the actual title. And it's a classic old film that you might want to check out if you love old films or old movies or old books. As this film is based on the premise of a classic Victorian era novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau eighteen ninety six. Written ready for the by HG Wells. Yes, written by HG Wells. In this film a man is shipwrecked on a remote island with a scientist who initially appears normal. Initially, I like that. And but after a series of events, it becomes clear that this scientist is using the island to conduct genetic experiments. This film and book is one of the earliest examples of the moral quandaries associated with genetic engineering and asks the classic question of humans just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. So we had seven movies that had very similar stories behind them where the humans have messed with the human race or the humans and had very um bad things happen afterwards. And as this the last one said, just because we can, should we, and just Sunny has put it very well. No. But the reason I brought this up is because there has always been, you know, talk about um genetic modifications, not only, you know, RNA medicine, um creating vaccines and viruses that are particular to certain DNA or certain genes. Um there's always been talk about um embryos being messed with and brought out. Good grief. That was my phone giving me messages that had been uh not delivered for uh uh a couple days, so I don't know what happened. They were delayed out there in the system somewhere, and I think it's very peculiar that now while I'm talking about this and getting it recorded, that it hits my phone and gives me um not peace. I should have put the phone in another room, but anyhow, these movies talk about and it's been talked about in the science and stuff, uh, even cloning and clones and you know, basically the humans doing things that maybe they shouldn't. And I know that there's even talk in the Bible about um things happening just like uh in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, and a lot of people think about um sexual um misconduct, I'll put it that way. Uh many people think it's you know what is being talked about is during that time there was um fallen angels that were mating with animals and people and things were being created that shouldn't even walk on this earth and there is very many that believe that's why the flood occurred. And that it says just as like in Noah's days, then um it will be similar before he comes back. And if you don't believe in any of that stuff, I don't know why you're still listening to me and maybe you're not, but for those that stuck around, uh I'm a firm believer that there is going to be some weird scientific stuff that happens again, and however it happens, whether it's um aliens, fallen angels, humans uh dipping into uh things they should not and things being created that should not be here. Um and even AI is part of that. But anyway, the reason I'm bringing all this up is it just come out in the news, ready for this? Just come out in the news the other day that they had genetically modified an embryo by gene editing it with CRISPRS or CRISPR. Yep. That's what I said. They took an embryo embryo. I can't talk now. The precise genome editing of a human embryo triggers praise and alarm. So there you go. That article title says exactly what I'm trying to say. And this was from June the 5th. Um, and as soon as I seen it, they did a correction on June the eighth. So as soon as I seen this article, I went, oh boy. Um and not as much as the article being brought out as that the fact that even though we can, should we, is the main thing that should be going around, talked about and uh concern concernment. I don't know. It we should be thinking about it, right, guys. Now this isn't a new thing because there was a scientist excuse me, scientist back in 2018, and he actually used um of CRISPR to uh adjust the DNA sequence of human embryos, and then he implanted those in two women who went on to give birth to the babies. So he spent three years in jail for that. Did I hear myself three years for doing this? And I don't know what uh what was the prison sentence like? Um was it a a horring event horrible event or was it a party? But apparently he told New York Times that he was very proud of his work, and uh you can bet he's gonna do it again. And maybe he's the one that did this uh latest. But whatever it is, let you I want you to know that they are doing precise genome editing to babies. Just like those movies, they're modifying the humans. It may be one little thing, you know, like taking out a disease or doing this or that, but you can bet they're gonna go too far. People always do, and what we end up with not only is gonna be a heartbreak, but it's gonna be um an abomination to the human race, and there'll probably be undue suffering because of it. But that's the whole point of that movie list. Go watch those movies and then go back and do some research of um uh about all this and see what you think and how you feel about it. But um yeah, it'd be great if we could change babies so they wouldn't grow up with disease and they would grow up better and they would have this and that. But once you start messing with things, it doesn't turn out well, uh especially if you're trying to trying to tweak the humans. But apparently they only changed one thing, they changed an A to a G in a specific spot in the genome that would uh switch off a gene that has a natural occurrence to do things and cause disease. And um nobody really knows if that's a success until that human reaches adulthood and maybe a little bit older, and then you know see what other diseases does happen or does not happen. I mean, you're playing uh God, you're risking a human's life when you start doing that, period.

Sunny 56:24

So they could just reach in and switch you off, Bruce, and you just become a bum. Oh wait, maybe they already did that.

Bruce 56:35

Maybe I am a bum. I'm the biggest bum of all.

Sunny 56:39

Well, I don't know, but I have to say that people need to be very aware. It starts out simple, it starts out helping somebody, supposedly, but it never stops there. Never.

Bruce 57:02

Very well spoken, very well. So that's what the whole point of that movie list was. They all had something in common, and it was that they were talking about how the human race had changed things in humans, in one human and uh several humans, and doing experiments and how that they had um bad side effects with those things, and how humans had to deal with that. And many people, you know, still believe that, you know, if you make a sacrifice, that's the only way you can get somewhere. Well, that may be true, but uh I don't think we have the right to say what the sacrifice should be or shouldn't be, and that's what they're doing. Anyhow, I appreciate everybody listening to me, and if you've got this far, there's probably something wrong with you just like we are, and that's why you're part of the flock, and we appreciate it.

Sunny 58:12

Yes, we do. We appreciate you staying with us and listening to this whole episode. And it was a crazy episode.

Bruce 58:22

Yes it was. But it is running down to the end now, so we're gonna say our goodbyes and we're gonna talk a little bit with uh Casper.

Support The Show And Say Goodbye

Bruce 58:36

No, Capella. Casper. Hello. Capella, we're gonna let her talk about what? Value for value.

Capella 58:51

There are many ways you can show your support for the Ugly Quacking Duck Podcast. First, simply keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and maybe send good vibes too. Second, spread the word. Tell your friends about us, even the ones with questionable taste in podcasts. Third, share your talents. If you have skills in technology, art, or anything else that could help us, we'd love to hear from you. And finally, consider supporting us financially. Equipment, hosting, and website costs add up, and any contribution is greatly appreciated. We promise not to spend it all on rubber duckies, unless you want us to. Thank you for your support.

Sunny 59:32

You know, Bruce, you did a really good job with uh AI. You got it to say what was important. You said it in kind of a comical way. I think you did a good job.

Bruce 59:46

Well, I appreciate that. I uh liked it so much, I recorded it so we could use it pretty well every episode. So, folks, that's Capella is an AI voice, and we have her say that for so we don't have to spill it out every time.

Sunny 1:00:05

Yeah, he's lazy.

Bruce 1:00:07

Well, I wouldn't go that far.

Sunny 1:00:10

I know you wouldn't, but I would.

Bruce 1:00:14

Yes, you would. All right, let's tell him what to do and how to get a hold of us. What do you think there, Sunny?

Sunny 1:00:22

I agree. Let's say um, you know, emails are easy.

Bruce 1:00:28

Yeah, well, you know what's really easy? In the description of our podcast, there's a link there that says text us, just click on that thing, and you'll have two choices. One to leave us a text that goes through our um hosting company to us, and the other one is to record a memo and send to us, and we will respond. And if you don't tell us um that we can't use it uh on our episode, we may have your voice on the next episode. So what do you think about that?

Sunny 1:01:06

That's easy. I did it. Bruce, I did it. And if you guys didn't hear that episode, I'm sorry. But I did it. I recorded a voice memo for Buzzcast and they played it. It was so cool.

Bruce 1:01:27

Yep, yep. It was so easy a duck could do it.

Sunny 1:01:31

I know.

Bruce 1:01:34

But yeah, folks, that's the best and easiest way to get a hold of us. You can email us at the uglyquacking duck.com or at the uglyquacking duck at gmail.com. I get confused sometimes. But if you go to the uglyquacking duck.com, that's our website, do a little bit of history look up and search it out. Uh we changed the home page a little bit, so if you like it, let us know. But anyhow, get a hold of us, all right? Let us know. See us sometime. And again.

Sunny 1:02:14

And come back for sure.

Bruce 1:02:17

That's right, Sunny. We want you to come back. All right, let's say bye, Sunny.

Sunny 1:02:23

Bye, Sunny.

Bruce 1:02:24

No, you know what I mean.

Sunny 1:02:27

I know what you mean. Let's say bye. Are you ready, Bruce?

Bruce 1:02:31

I am ready. Everybody, thank you for being here. We appreciate it. We hope you have a good week, uh, good month, uh we hope you tune back in. So, seventy-three, and may the father's love go with you always. Father, we thank you for this episode and and the equipment and the ability to even record. We thank you for giving us uh something to talk about, and we hope that um the people that were involved in this earthquake, those earthquakes, not just that 7.8, you will protect them and watch over those and the storms that are happening up north and the tornadoes and the high winds and the people that's lost their electricity. We ask you to bless them and watch over them and take care of 'em. May anyone that hears this episode, this podcast somehow find soothing peace from it and find your presence, find your power, find your truth. We are nothing without you, we are nothing without your grace, your forgiveness, and your strength. You've always been there, you will always be there. Be there now in this episode in this podcast for those that are listening. If they're offended by it, then may they just turn it off and not come back. But if they find any any joy or any peace or anything that touches them, may they come back and listen to them more, and may we have the ability to through your spirit and through your so and you're to judge them again. Thank you.