Not So Civil Musk and Walters | 02.07.25

In this episode of 'Civil Union,' hosts Alex and Ryan dive into a variety of topical discussions, combining personal anecdotes with political analysis. They kick off with lighter banter about their week and humorous commentary on public figures like Trump's new press secretary and The Grammys, then move onto serious issues such as Elon Musk's controversial role in the U.S. government, the dismantling of pivotal agencies like the EPA and USAID, and the dire state of public education in Oklahoma under Ryan Walters. The hosts also engage in a trenchant critique of ICE's recent actions and the alarming rise of vigilantism. Balancing the heavy political discourse, they share fascinating new research on sea turtles and dolphins. They wrap up the episode with what to keep an eye on including emerging issues like the federal worker buyout. 

00:00 Introduction to the Civil Union Podcast

00:39 Weekly Catch-Up

01:06 Discussing Trump's New Press Secretary

07:05 Elon Musk's Influence on Politics

13:08 EPA and Government Shutdown Concerns

19:01 Game Time: Who Said It? Trump or Lucille

21:46 The Controversial Ryan Walters

33:28 ICE Arrests and Collateral Damage

39:55 Dolphins Getting High on Pufferfish

41:27 Things to Look Out For This Week

43:26 Wrapping Up

Music: What's The Angle? by Shane Ivers -

https://www.silvermansound.com

Transcript

0:07

Welcome to the civil union, the podcast where politics meets partnership. We're Alex and Ryan, a married couple navigating life and debates in a conservative state. We bring you sharp insights, bold opinions and honest conversations about political issues shaping our lives, especially those living on the society's margins. Tune in for real talk, a touch of humor, and plenty of passion. Because when it comes to politics, every voice matters. And we're here to make sure they're heard. So, So how has, uh, your week been so far? Oh, this week has been busy. I worked last night and I already felt like I had had a full week. And what was yesterday? Wednesday. I know it's been a, such a busy week. I was like, so worried about being able to record this podcast. Cause I was like, how am I going to fit it into my schedule? But. Um, we did it. So we make it work every week. Yeah. So, Hey, do you know about that? Uh, new press secretary that Trump has? Her name is Caroline Leavitt. I think I've only seen her a couple of times. I don't know anything about her. So, so, okay. So she's like, she loves God and everything, which is fine. But like, she's like. 27 years old, so she's like super young, but her husband, he is 60 years old, 60 years old. How old is she? 27. Oh my God. It's a big age gap. I know. It's like a 32 year age gap. I wonder how they met. I have no idea, but like if you, and not to disclose your age or anything, but like if you were him and at the age you're at and I was her. I'd be six years old right now. That is really weird to think about. You know, here's the thing. I'm fine with the whole age thing. I mean, there's a lot, look, real housewives. There's a lot of them that have that age gap. I mean, who's the one from Beverly Hills? Like, I'm totally cool with it, like if it works. But like, it is a weird, either way, it's, it's, it's very strange. It makes you wonder maybe if that's how she got that role, maybe through her husband. Yeah, I have no idea. But, I think it's, It's, I have no opinion, no judgment. You know, love is love, you know, and, uh, I think anyone should be able to marry who they love. So I hope she thinks about that for the, the gay community, you know? Absolutely. That also reminded me of like a who is who, so in this relationship, Alex, who is, um, the Mary and who's the Rhoda? Oh, I'm the Mary. I'm the Mary. Well, I would be fine with being a Rhoda too, honestly. Who's the Laverne and who's the Shirley? Um, I would be Shirley. Oh, I'll be Laverne. Yeah, I feel like I'd be good with Shirley. Okay. Who's the Lucy and who's the Ethel? I'm definitely the Lucy. I think you're the Lucy too. Oh, who's the, who's the Clarice and who's the Hannibal elector? Ooh, um, I'm definitely Clarice. Hey, do you get like a shit ton of roof callers? Like people trying to like fix your roof ever? No, you don't get calls like that. No. And it's no, I get calls like that all the time. Like this week, like just counting in my phone. I've gotten like 14 calls for people trying to like look at our roof. That is the most random thing. It's like those car warranty things. Yeah, I get people calling me about like credit extensions and all these different things with money like I don't ever have anything to do with our house. Yeah, I have no idea how they got my numbers. I should probably like stay on the phone and actually get their company name so I can like blast them on the internet. Like stop calling me all the time. Oh my God. And cell phones, you know, there was a moment where cell phones, you didn't get all that junk and now it's like, I get like, 10 phone calls a day from junk people. It's ridiculous. Did you watch the Grammys last Sunday? I worked last Sunday night, so I did not watch them live, but I did like look up the performances and it is extremely hard to look up the performances. By the way, the Grammys did a terrible job at putting up their performances online, but I was able to watch all of them and I thought like Charlie XCX did good. Sabrina Carpenter did good. Yeah. Charlie XCX did good. Yeah, I wasn't really Chapel Rhone. Yeah. Yeah. Chapel Rhone was great. You would have thought she had been doing it for years. Like she was, her performance was on point. I know. I love the fact that she's from like a really small town, like trailer park, literally, outside of Springfield, Missouri. So I like that. I think the city's like Willard, Missouri., I think that's really cool. What did you think of? Kanye West, that nude dress that his, I can believe it's his girlfriend, wore. Did you hear about this nude dress? Yeah, I saw something about it, but I didn't really pay too much attention. I didn't, like, what was it? I mean, the nude dress was literally a piece of plastic. Like, she was definitely nude. You saw everything. And they made him leave and whatnot. But I guess the, the controversy is she did not feel very comfortable. And it was like blatantly awkward and he like pushed her to do it because he's an a hole but like it was just a very awkward whole situation people are saying she's like in an abusive relationship all these things because he just like forced her to do this and it's like like tabloids and stuff yeah it's a mess but it She had a rocking body. That's for sure. I mean, if anyone could pull it off, she could it's nothing against her. She looked great, but it was just like a very awkward. You could tell Kanye had a huge hand in it. It's just really, really weird. We also had a Grammy winner from St. Louis. SZA SZA won a Grammy. Yes, I love her so much. Yeah, I think that's really cool. We had two two Missouri representations at won Grammys this past year. So that's pretty neat. The Superbowl is coming up. So what is it? The Kansas city chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Do you know who's,, performing at the halftime? I don't actually it's it's Kendrick Lamar. Oh, that's right. So I was like talking to, my, my, the person that cuts my hair or whatever. And we both. agreed that, we are at the age where we don't know any songs by this halftime performer, unfortunately. At least, I don't know any of them. I don't know the names of his songs, like, by title, but I know I would know the songs if I heard them, and I know he's a very receptive person. one of the best like in that genre of our generation. Like I know he's very, very like respected, but I don't, yeah, I couldn't think of like any of his albums by name or anything like that. I know. I feel horrible. I know he did the bad blood remix for Taylor Swift. That's what I know. I do remember that. That was good. That was a good music video. Yeah. So it was another, crazy, crazy weekend, uh, politics. And so here we go. Let's serve it up. Yeah. So our first topic we're going to go over is how would you feel about, about Elon Musk's influence right now on the government and politics in general? I mean, his name is probably talked about more than Donald Trump's at this point. It really is like, Hey, doesn't, doesn't, doesn't Elon Musk have Asperger's? I'm not sure what he has. I know he has something, which is what they used as an excuse for the whole Hitler sign that he did. And he's also like, an immigrant too, right? Yeah, I believe so. So technically, wouldn't he be like a DEI hire if he was actually, Hired by the government? That is a very good point. That's a unique situation that's going on up there in DC right now. Yeah. I mean, Musk is serving as a special quote, well, something called a special government employee. This status is usually given to part time employees. or outside advisors, and I think the main reason he was appointed this role is because he has so many conflicts of interest. I mean, blatant, blatant conflicts of interest. He has SpaceX contracts with NASA. We're talking Billions of dollars going through that. And then Tesla obviously, and then has with China, um, because of his status as a special government employee and not a full time employee, he can retain all of those conflicts and it not be as much of an issue. I mean, it is an issue, but he can get away with it because of that status. I just, I don't understand how a non elected billionaire who has never been vetted by Congress. has all this access to trillions and trillions of US dollars, like our social security numbers, your grandparents, Medicare, social security payments, but not one member of the Republican party is like throwing up a red flag saying something. They're just all, uh, listening to their leader, following their leader, Trump. It's just, it's really frightening. Um, it's crazy. Yeah. It means Sunday night was when he went online on X and was basically saying he was planning on halting treasury payments to the U S contractors. And then today, earlier on Thursday morning, the justice department agreed to temporarily restrict that access. But it's still an ongoing thing. It's not a for sure decision either way. But something that people need to think about is what would this mean? What if they find a contractor gave campaign donations to Democrats? Could they just stop paying that contractor the work? Or, Even when it comes to just normal citizens, how far will this trickle down? What if just a normal citizen like our grandparents or something or someone we know Helped canvas for a Democratic candidate could they stop that person's Social Security checks from coming to them? I mean the potential control of them having this access with the Treasury Department is highly Unsettling. Remember when we were so worried about TikTok getting all our data that we like temporarily like banned it. And then like, I think Trump is extended it by like 75 days or something to have someone buy it. But like, then this Republican party just gave Musk and his team. access to all of our information. Yeah, it's it's so backwards. And the other thing Musk is doing is he announced on X as well that he's planning on completely shutting down the USAID agency, which is the US Agency for International Development. This has huge implications worldwide. I mean, to Republicans, the USAID is a woke, left wing, evil branch of the government that spreads false information on gender ideology and gives out aid to abortions and HIV. But in reality, it leans more into contraception care, like birth control, in countries that Don't have that resource and HIV treatments that affects not only adults, but thousands of children in countries that need that resource as well. I mean, ignorance is the main word I can think of using when it comes to people's views of what the USAID does. The budget is 40 billion. It was 40 billion in 2023 and to a normal voter, that sounds like a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of things, it's less than 1 percent of the federal budget. Why does Musk even care about the USAID and giving aid to the world? It makes absolutely no sense. I just, I just can't imagine what kind of stress all these federal employees must be under not knowing, like. If you'll have a job to go to tomorrow or not, it's absolutely ridiculous. Like, these federal workers are civil, civil servants. Most who've served in our country's military. The frightening thing is the fact that once they fire all these people, They're going to replace them with all Trump loyalists. I mean, that's really, really scary. Yeah, absolutely. And those buyouts he's offering to basically every federal department so far. I mean, these options he's giving the people throughout the federal government, you got to think. It's attractive to the people who have options outside the government in the private sector, people who are sought after, basically. They're potentially, by doing this, encouraging the most talented people to leave. What implications will that have on the government? And what will the government look like when all these really talented cream of the crop people leave because they have other opportunities? And you're just kind of giving them a get out jail free card with this? With the situation, which, by the way, still, they cannot prove that they can even pay people through, what did they say, August or September of next this year? Like, there's no proof that that even will happen. So these people that have agreed for the buyout, it's not even a for sure thing. Crazy times, crazy world we're living in. That's for sure. The other thing that is getting shut down when we're talking about all these different departments is the EPA. They came out and basically have said that they want to shut down the EPA as well. They got rid of all these top officials there. And there's this idea, I think, in the public eye that the EPA is only about climate. It's not. It actually, you know, this department has huge hands in areas that affect climate. minority and low income areas. This includes your drinking water systems, sewer programs, lead pipe removal. I mean, before Trump took over, there was a 15 billion fund that Biden had actually passed. And that 15 billion fund hasn't even gone out to states yet. So where's that going to go now? You know, if the EPA gets dissolved, Where does that money? Will the states even ever get that money? Power grid systems. I mean, we're talking. Look at Texas. What happened to them back when they had that gigantic storm and all the power they couldn't have, you know, all the power grid systems went out. There's a lot of work that needs to be done with those systems. That's not gonna happen if the EPA is dissolved chemical and hazardous waste spills. Look at what's going on in California with the fires right now. There's such a huge cleanup necessary with all the different hazardous things going on because the fires and the piping what's going to happen with that? If the EPA is not there. Yeah, exactly. Sorry. Yeah, keep going. No. And I mean, with the pullback of FEMA as well, it's just, it's just, it's a recipe for disaster. Well, like in so a couple of weeks ago in late January, President Trump ordered the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to release approximately 2. 2 billion gallons of water from two dams in California's Central Valley. They stated the intent was to increase water availability for farmers and to support the firefighting efforts in Los Angeles. However, experts and local officials have criticized this action as ineffective and potentially wasteful. They argue that the released water is unlikely to reach Los Angeles due to the geographical and in infrastructural, infrastructural constraints. I can't say that word. Big word. But additionally, releasing this water during the wet winter season may lead to unnecessary loss as the water could have been stored for irrigation during the dry summer months. There are also concerns about potential flooding risks in the Central Valley result resulting in the sudden release. You know, California, their wet season is in the winter and They're about to hit the dry season, which is in summer. So releasing all of this water, especially with the drought history that they've had over, gosh, the last like decade or so, we were very, they were very lucky that La Nina dropped a ton of rain and water on to California the last, what, last two winters. And then this winter there is no more La Nina. So it's been. particularly drier than usual. And so, yeah, it's just, it's really sad. It's going to be interesting to see kind of how this all rolls out, you know, and the thing is, I brought this up at the last episode, but it brings it back to this was all predicted in Project 2025. For instance, these warnings were from I had done some research and I found these warnings were from an article from the Center for American Progress back in August of 2024. They had said Project 2025 would neuter the EPA's ability to safeguard public health. EPA priority is to reduce the agency's size and scope, shrinking and dismantling existing EPA offices and programs. Specifically, banning EPA research on the cumulative impacts of toxin exposures, they would eliminate the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, which basically that department is the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, all of that is rolled into that. They would dissolve the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which is the office that would allow for justice when it comes to these lawyer things that happen with cases with water. Thank Erin Brockovich. The creation of this office comes after decades of activism within the environmental justice movement where Communities of color raise concerns about the unequal distribution of environmental burden. So, I mean, all of these things, they're right now, the Trump administration is taking steps that would eliminate all that. And these warning signs were there. You know, why else would they want to get rid of the thousands of, you know, these officials or these top officials if it wasn't for them wanting to replace them with people in that have connections in oil and connections in these other industries? What's going to happen when these people have other other interests? It's, you know, we were warned and no one was paying attention. These things were these things were out there. And no one, no one cared to read about it. Or maybe it wasn't an important factor of your voting. But these things were out there already. They campaigned on them, they were out there 2025. This book, no one took seriously. And it's just so sad, because now we're seeing this play out, you know, moving forward, whatever's in that playbook should be a good predictor for everything that this administration is going to do. Yeah, definitely. All right. Is it game time? It is game time. So every week we've been implementing a game. It's called who said it. Usually Ryan is the host, but this week I'm going to take over and I'm going to be asking Ryan the question. So this week we are seeing whether Ryan can decide if the quote I'm going to give him is either Donald Trump or Lucille Bluth from a character from Arrested Development and Arrested Development was actually a really funny show. Lucille Bluth. Hold on, let me look her up. The show went from like, like three seasons one year and then they brought it back. She's the rich, yeah, she was like the, the main lady in it. Oh, that's funny. I've never watched Arrested Development, but people tell me I should. So, okay, well, this will be interesting. All right. So, first quote I have for you. I've never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke. Was that Donald or Lucille? Lucille. Donald Trump. Interesting, right? Next quote. They didn't sneak into this country to be your friends. Donald Trump or Lucille? Lucille. Yes, correct. Ding, ding, ding. You got one right. All right, next quote. They're building a wall to separate, separate the U. S. from the immigrants, which was my idea. Donald Trump or Lucille? Trump, definitely. That was Lucille. No way. I know. It's kind of crazy. All right. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume are good people. Donald or Lucille? Trump for sure. Definitely Trump. That was Trump. All right. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Donald or Lucille? Lucille. Donald Trump said that. No way. I don't know when he said that. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes everyday. No clue. No clue. That's our president. Alright, last one. I have a great relationship with the blacks. Donald or Lucille? Lucille. Donald Trump. Oh my god. Did I do good at this? I think I failed. You actually did pretty good. It was like 50 50. Well, maybe. Maybe two. Alright. So, um, moving on. Okay, so have you heard of this guy named Ryan Walters in Oklahoma? I've heard of him very briefly, but I don't know much about him. So, this, this next, like, story is like, very true. And, it's not a national story. It's more of a state story. So, you know, take a little breath, nothing's national here in this next like story, but, it's what's going on in Oklahoma right now. So Ryan Walters. Is a guy who was elected as Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction. Basically, he heads the soon to be destroyed department of education in that state, but he's crazy. He has been a vocal critics of like CRT, LGBT student rights, teacher unions. And did I mention that Oklahoma is now 49th in the country when it comes to education? So his priorities are very, very focused on, you know, Dismantling everything else, but not focusing on actual education. So, back in September of 2020, Oklahoma's governor, Kevin Stitt nominated Walters to be the Oklahoma secretary of education. And then in May of 22, two sources in Oklahoma reported that, on a United States of Department of Education report, which found the bridge, the gap program, which was like a program that gave millions and millions of dollars to, uh, funding to schools to fix the COVID 19 situation that had damaged them or whatever, to reconstruct whatever. And so, they found that. Walters oversaw all this money, but few safeguards were, in place to prevent fraud or abuse and that federal auditors were actually investigating this distribution of COVID 19 relief money through that program. Following this, like the next week, the Democrats of the Oklahoma House of Representatives called for Walters resignation. The governor's office responded with Walters is doing a great job for parents rights, etc, etc. Later that same month, Oklahoma newspaper newspapers reported that while working as secretary of education, Walters remained the executive director of Every Kid Counts Oklahoma, which is an Oklahoma nonprofit profit. Walters was paid an estimated 120, 000 a year by this non profit compared to his 40, 000 state salary. So, you know, sounds like a little bit of conflict of interest, I have no idea. But, fast forward to August of 2023. Oklahoma State Auditor Cindy Bird found that through the COVID 19 funds, 1. 7 million was spent on various non educational items like power tools, furniture, entertainment, and the FBI got involved and started to investigate this misappropriation of funds. A multi county grand jury found that Stitt, Oklahoma's governor, and Walters Without specifically naming them, we're grossly negligent that their investigation, and that their investigation also uncovered deeply troubling practices. Stitt fired back at this grand jury verdict, saying that the grand jury was weaponized, and Walters just denied the blame. So, okay, that's going on. So, while all Everything is going on. Walters ran for Oklahoma's Superintendent of Public Instruction. While campaigning, he ran on the litter boxes and school hoax, which was a false rumor that alleged that certain schools across North America were providing litter boxes and toilet paper. bathrooms for students who identify as cats, just another horrible rumor and attack on the LGBT community and how he even won 53 percent of the vote is just beyond me. But you know, look at the education numbers in Oklahoma. So while he's superintendent, he gets the superintendent position. He's now superintendent. Walter's pursued these culture war or has pursued these culture war causes. In self recorded videos filmed in his car, he accused teachers of attempting to indoctrinate Oklahoma school children. He also referred to Oklahoma's teacher union as a terrorist organization. He even tried to connect the New Orleans New Year's Eve terror attack to an Oklahoma teacher's union. Like, are you kidding me? And on top of that, he claims that the separation of church and state is just a liberal myth. So one of his first acts in office was to instruct the Oklahoma Department of Education to revoke the teaching license of two Oklahoma teachers who had been critical of a bill that limited teaching concepts around race and gender. The Oklahoma's attorney general issued an opinion that the bill does not grant authority. To the state board of education to make administrative rules without proper direction from the state legislature. As a result, Walters shot back saying rules regarding pornography and library books, sex education, et cetera, were unenforceable. A civil rights attorney named Ryan Kissel said in a KOSU story that After asking Walters to show him the pornographic material that Walters said that schools had, Walters emailed and had his staff hand deliver copies of these explicit materials to lawmakers offices. Though, he never said what schools, if any, the materials came from. And then we fast forward to June of 2024. This Ryan Walters guy issued a memo announcing that all public schools in Oklahoma would be required to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, And he also directed that every teacher in every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom. And on top of that, they will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom. This announcement was followed by a passage of a Louisiana law earlier that month that required all Louisiana public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Walter said that teachers who fail to comply by these rules, jobs. So in his budget requ Walters asked for 3 million to purchase Bibles for Oklahoma schools. So, in September, he opens up bids to companies to supply these, uh, 55, 000 Bibles to the Oklahoma Department of Education. The bids require that the Bible must be the King James Version, and must contain Old and New Testaments, and must be bound in leather or leather like materials. Amongst other things, the copy of, you know, the Bill of Rights, the U. S. Constitution, Pledge Allegiance should also be in this Bible as well. And, you know, only two Bibles fit all of that criteria. Lee Greenwoods, the guy who sang God Bless America, I guess he has a Bible, Lee Greenwoods, God Bless the USA Bible, endorsed by Trump, who Trump also receives fees for copies sold of this Bible. That Bible sells for 60 or the we, the people Bible, which has been endorsed by Donald Trump jr. And that sells for 90. Very expensive. In response to this, a group of Oklahomans filed a suit in the state Supreme court against Walters in an effort to block both the teaching mandate and the 3 million expediture. So. so we're telling you the story because we have like ties to Oklahoma and we have like a lot of friends that have children and Oklahoma public schools, as well as we know a lot of teachers in the Oklahoma public school system. And so a lot of them are, have been sharing like things on Facebook about this guy and how crazy is. So essentially like everything that I just told you is crazy. Recently, Oklahoma State Senate Bill 1017, recently introduced by State Senator Dusty Deavers and backed by Walters, proposes stripping away physical therapy, speech therapy, psychological services, counseling, and even basic eye exams from all Oklahoma public schools. Essentially shifts this burden entirely onto parents. Assuming that parents have the time, money, resources to cover what these public schools have historically provided um, to all children, regardless of their background, you know? Yeah, fun fact. First of all, this guy sounds like a piece of work, but earlier in the podcast, you had said that Oklahoma is ranked 49th in education and something I had looked up was Oklahoma was ranked 19th in the country under a Democratic governor. Brad Henry, when he took over and in 2003 he got the education ranked up to 17th in the country. Then when he left office in 2011, Republican Mary Fallon, who was also a piece of work, took over and the education system in Oklahoma just under her administration, fell from 17th to 40. Then, under Stitt, who is the most current governor, it fell further to 49th. Both Mary Fallin and Stitt are Republicans. So to me, this just says Oklahoma needs another Democratic governor. That's absolutely crazy. This guy, also the guy you're talking about, something I'd seen, made new waves, news waves lately because last Tuesday, Oklahoma approved a plan that requires public schools to request proof of citizenship or immigration status when students enroll. This would give districts not only the ability to track this information, which is scary, but then also report it to the Trump administration, which Walters has said he will happily do. It's nuts. Yeah. And so just yesterday, actually, he sent a letter to the U. S. Department of Education. Linda McMahon, who's like running it right now, asking for her to freeze federal funds for gender therapies and schools. He also said that he's going to launch an audit to expose D. E. I. Waste. But let's not forget at the beginning of this story about Ryan Walters. He was audited, investigated, and basically found guilty by the FBI and grand jury for his misuse of funds in 2022. It's absolutely fascinating what this guy is doing. It's almost like the pot calling the kettle black. In my opinion, it's just crazy that someone like that, that has so many flags, literally. bursting out of the seams of him can even get to that high of an office and still make decisions that he's making. I mean, some people just, in my opinion, just want to see the world burn. Well, why are people voting for him anyways? Oh, I don't, I don't know. It's a very interesting story and it is kind of crazy. So. Moving on to ice, I feel like this week it's like a nonstop thing with this whole, this whole subject. It's hard to even read about it. Sometimes. So far, ice has arrested 7400 people. Um, at least that was the last metric I had seen. I'm sure that number is up due to it being such a large number. There's this idea that there's probably collateral arrest involved with this. You know, the Trump administration initially had said that said they were only going to go after criminals, but then Trump officials have said that other immigrants found nearby could also be arrested in detainment, known as collateral arrests. So it's very concerning, you know, and one thing to know when they say criminals, when they're mentioning that this includes people with traffic violations. So, you know, you're thinking criminals, criminals, people who hurt people, but that's not the case. They're going after people even with basic traffic violations. You know, there, this Trump presidency is instilling fear and the sense of invincibility with these actions, in just the past two weeks, they've dehumanized these communities of people. One thing I talked about in the past episode was this threat of vigilantism, vigil, vigilantism due to the January 6th rioters being pardoned. This idea of being able to get away with anything you want. Would people start self policing in the form of hate? That's something I had kind of questioned. Well, this week, that's exactly what happened. People are now impersonating ICE agents in hate crimes towards individuals. Thanks for watching! This past week alone, three states arrested people, North Carolina, South Carolina and Pennsylvania in South Carolina, this 33 year old dude detained a group of Latinos impersonating a police officer. There is a video circulating of this instance online. You can check it out. The parents, basically his parents, when he got arrested, got him off on bond and then said he struggled with mental issues. That was the, that was the excuse this guy had in North Carolina. Another guy impersonated an ICE agent. Sexually molested a woman in a Motel 6 and threatened to deport her if she didn't comply. I mean, this is just starting and I think it's going to get worse because obviously there is this idea that these people can just get away with anything and it's just really scary and it's, it's sad that this is the state of the country that we are in where we are, we are targeting a community of people that is brown when immigration not only affects brown people, but it affects, it's not about skin color. You know what I mean? Yeah. Can the police arrest you for being an immigrant, or is that like an ICE thing? I'm pretty sure you have to be an ICE official to enact those things, like in cities that they're doing this, they're ICE officials. Interesting. Yeah, I know in Texas, the governor or whatever made the Texas National Guard have the ability to assist ICE. They can make arrests, but an ICE official has to be on the shift with them. You know, the Texas governor is like overturning the DEI thing, the DEI, which I knew nothing about four weeks ago, let's be honest here. Is overturning the DEI thing and all of his federal agencies, but, but he's in a wheelchair, like, you know, like the Texas governor is, can't walk. He's in a wheelchair, like DEI helped ramps get installed, you know, like all of that, like, it's just, it's, it's. It's crazy to me. I don't know what these people think it again. It's like they're just trying to burn the world down. They're trying to just go opposite of every what everyone's beliefs are. It's just kind of crazy to me. Moving on to lighter news. It's about time. Don't you think we are going to cover two fun little stories. At least I think they're fun. In new research that came out Wednesday from the Royal Society Bee, researchers have clarified the mysterious early stages of life in young sea turtles. I love sea turtles. There's actually two in the aquarium that's near us and I love looking at them, trying to find them in the tank. You know, before this research came out, there was this 10 year gap between when sea turtles hatched and when they when we actually could start tracking them. little hatchlings, their shells actually shed, which I never knew that that happened, but it makes sense. So the tracker would fall off, which caused issues. So this study basically, over the last decade, has tracked three different types of species of turtles, 114 turtles, I think, total. And what they found was, Instead of this idea that turtles, these little baby sea turtles just drifted with the current, they found that these turtles could actually swim and that they can go where they want and avoid what they want to avoid. You know, you're probably thinking, okay, so we learned that they swim. Cool. Well, what's the big deal? Well, by knowing where these turtles are journeying to, Scientists can use that information to know where to focus conservation efforts, like protecting from fishing, pollution, boating. Before this, the Gulf of Mexico, or should we say, what was it? Gulf of America? You know, it was such a large Don't ever say that. No, it's always Gulf of Mexico. It was such a, this is such a large space that it's hard for conservation people to know where to put their efforts. And so this allows them to really concentrate that, which is great. Also, this research propelled the technology of animal tracking forward in new technology. They use solar powered GPS. Without the limitations of battery life. So we'll see what this does for animal tracking going forward. I mean, right now, you know, we had bought those follow bracelets. F. A. H. L. O. It's a company that you can buy and that you can track animals with them. But the problem is we'll get warned when you get them. Like sometimes the tracker dies and they'll assign you with a new animal. But with this new technology, maybe you'll be able to track your animal a lot longer. It's going to be very interesting. It's really, really cool research. That is really neat. The next fun topic I have is also dealing with sea animals. This time though, we are talking about dolphins, which everyone loves. Who doesn't love a dolphin? Humans, it turns out, are not the only ones that have substance abuse problems. A new BBC documentary called Spy in the Pod revealed dolphins getting high. on pufferfish. I guess pufferfish produce a potent defensive chemical, which they eject when they're threatened, when they like puff up, I guess. But in small enough doses, however, the toxin seems to induce a trans like state. So these dolphins were filmed. for the first time, I guess, gently playing with a pufferfish. And then what happened is they would pass this pufferfish around to each other for 20 to 30 minutes. It looked like they, this pufferfish was kind of on their nozzle. Like they were just, it would have it, they had it on their nose. And then shortly after that, they just transed out like these dolphins were high as kites. Supposedly at one point they are seen like chilling right under the surface of the water looking up and they're just entranced by their own reflections for like minutes. That's crazy. Wow. Hilarious. And it, you know, it gives a whole new meaning to this puff puff pass idea because they used a puffer fish. Isn't that hilarious to you? That is funny. I thought it was. Actually, I really want to watch the documentary now just to like see this film situation. That's hilarious. All right. Anyway. Yeah. That's what do we got to look out for? So the three things to look out for this week, in my opinion, bird flu is one. It's starting to be detected in dairy cows. So I would watch it for that. That's crazy. I know where every time that man gets in the office or some sort of crazy like health scare. That is true. Yeah, true. Yeah, that is true. You know, but look for developments with this going in the weekend because things are really ramping up with this really fast. Obviously, don't become emergent. It's not a big deal yet. Virgin emergent. Don't become a virgin. Virgin and I thought you meant to say vegetarian emergent don't well that's who don't become vegetarian either. It's fine because Emergent like don't like don't get crazy like it's not an emergency yet. Yeah, don't go crazy But because it's not like affecting anything yet But eggs obviously are going up in price. That's going to continue happening. Anyway, that's one thing to keep an eye on. Super Bowl is also Sunday, which we talked about, but I will not be watching. I'm working, but I have heard a fun drinking game would be anytime they show Taylor Swift to take a drink. So someone should try that out and let us know how it works out for you. Um, the last thing to really look for these upcoming days, we're going to take this slowly. So I'm not saying next week. I'm saying, think about this for the next few days. But the federal buyout fallout, as of Wednesday, only 50, 000 workers have accepted the buyout. That's only around 1 percent of the workforce, federal workforce. So this is significantly smaller than Trump had expected. So the question is, what will Trump do next? Also, the newest update is this buyout has been paused by a judge. So we'll see what that kind of does with this whole situation as well. If Trump and Elon feel threatened. and didn't meet their mark, what are they going to do? What, what's going to happen next with this whole situation? So just something to look, look towards. Cool. So, all right. So that's, uh, that's it for this week, guys. Um, Thank you for joining us and listening. Share the podcast, tell your friends about it, um, and we'll love you even more. And yeah, follow us on Instagram at the civil you, that's just the, the letter you, and feel free to send us an email, letting us know your thoughts, questions, what we got wrong, or anything you think we should discuss at the civil union, 25 at gmail. com. Thanks for listening. Thank you guys. Have a good one.