The "What's Going On?" Podcast
Think casual, relatable discussions like you'd overhear in a barbershop. Conversations and commentaries from the common-person perspective, a mix of diverse topics and perspectives. The conversations will seamlessly pivot between politics, music, sports, and pop culture. Our goal is to be inclusive and inviting, a broad appeal, non-pundit vibe, and memorable.
The "What's Going On?" Podcast
Internet Blackouts, The New World Order and a lesson of Self-Confidence
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode, Keith, Mike, and Tom engage in a lively and passionate discussion about the New World Order, focusing specifically on Canada's Prime Minister's speech at the World Economic Forum. They start the episode by discussing the possibility of internet blackouts in the United States.
The episode ends with Mike sharing a relatable story from his high school days and how the importance of self-confidence and the value of always doing your best will prepare you for life’s challenges ahead.
https://youtu.be/flsgJe8mN-A?si=k96ef2TEiqzZ_kcu
In this episode, Keith, Mike and Tom engage in a lively and passionate discussion about the world Order focused specifically on the President's speech at the World Economic Forum. They start the episode by discussing the possibilities of internet blackouts in the United States. The episode ends with Mike sharing a relatable story from his high school days and how the importance of self-confidence and the value of always doing your best will prepare you and for life's challenges ahead.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Hey, what's going on? Keith Pickens?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hey, TC. What's going on, man?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Much. What's going on, Mike Miller?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Hey guys. Messed around and got a triple double.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801All right, all right, all right. All right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. See I saved that one too. I saved that one too.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you're full of them.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Be better them than it, right?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801It depends on your point of view. I dunno.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I dunno.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801better them than it. You could be full of it.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right, right, right. Some people say I am, but there we go. Okay.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801So, since our last conversation, so many things have happened, but I know we scheduled to talk about internet blockouts, so I just wanna touch on that. In particular because Iran is going through it. But once I started looking into it. I was wondering, would our government do that to us? That's the first thing I was thinking, when they do it because of protests, dissent and stuff like that. That's when the countries decide they want to, shut off the internet. And I was fearful because we're going down this road these crazy things that are going on in our country and no one's, holding anyone accountable. And I was like, this is easy for our government to do to us. So I started thinking about it and I just wanted to see, how often does it happen? And then who benefits from it if it does happen? So anyway, there's a ton of countries that have, implemented on a regular basis. India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Sudan, Ethiopia and China. Afghanistan did it in 2025. And of course. Iran had one in 2026, and then also in 2019. What do you think the probability is high. I don't even have to ask you that, but if it happens to us in the United States where we get the internet blackout purpose for internet black now, just like, a grid going out or a tower going down, I'm talking about the loss of internet. I know it'll have an effect on our economy. But is that where we finally have an uprising, as Mike likes to say, a revolution,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I think your lining not, I think, I believe you're lining,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I believe.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801You're lining up for it because, the countries that you named, I don't think, to my knowledge, I'm not an expert, but I'll go line and saying. I don't think those, or I don't believe those are democratic countries or countries where, people are afforded the same freedoms that we're afforded in some of the other countries that you haven't mentioned are afforded. So when we get to that point, when the fascist in chief to quote, Mike's name for'em, get to the point where he's totally, totally in control the way he wants, then at that point, you, one way, a huge way of keeping people from being able to communicate with each other and to also get, news outside of what you would get from, you know, from the regular channels. Mike was talking about how, even as we get news today, a lot of the media are complicit, but when you start taking control of the internet and keeping people from being able to get. Information freely. Then you've gone past a democratic state. You're now in a, what is it? Authoritarian
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Right, right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801And, and I think a lot of those countries that you named, I believe a lot of those countries that you named are authoritarian states. And so I believe it could happen. Um, but I hope that it doesn't happen. But if the media, if the different news channels continue to be complicit and they get the type of power that they're striving to get, I think anything is possible. They could decide to shut us down at any time.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. I mean, it's crazy and anything is possible. Just like you said, Keith, this is, at this point, it, don't know. It doesn't matter whether or not we have a democracy in place or not. Things are just happening as if we don't have one.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Correct.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. Correct. Correct.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I'm just baffled. And my mind is blown by the fact that, here we are having a conversation about potentially blackouts on the internet. I mean,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801have to, you have to think what, A week ago, Verizon had some kind of issue. Now all the software companies have issues
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801here and there,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yes.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801the end of the day.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801But to think about that happening and then that happening, the phones come back that day, the next day, that week, that
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. That month. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801all hell will break loose.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yep, yep,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Absolutely.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yep. Um, I don't see it. It can happen, it is probable, we know it's possible. Let me say that it's possible, but the probability, is high. You're correct. It would affect our economy greatly, and I think that it, no, I believe that within our economy, there are so many entrepreneurs, and not just entrepreneurs, but you know, big companies that depend on the internet to, uh, advertise and, and sell. If you did a. Amazon, right? If you did a blackout, you shutting down a whole lot of commerce. You shutting down your boys, you know what I mean? Fascist in chief, you shutting down your boys. So would he do it if it were totally necessary, in his mind,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801if it was totally necessary, but um, you know,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mike, we are not dealing with somebody who is levelheaded.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801we're not
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801And the fact that, he's got people in places like the Pentagon and, at the stock market and whatever else. He's got people in place right now
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801correct?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801can circumvent it. They can
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Correct.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801push it on and say it was a cyber attack and we were trying to
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uh,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801from a cyber attack.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801correct. Uhhuh, you are right. You are more than correct. Right. And people would just believe it.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801know,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801the
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801it.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801would buy into it. the, uh, stock exchange would buy into it, but everything would still be operating behind the scenes. But the rest of the country would be in the dark.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Somebody other than me said this. It is easier to fool people than to convince people that they have been fooled.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. I think I sent that out.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801How about that?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that. Sounds
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Uh,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801How
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801it's much easier to fool people
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Than it is to convince them that ha they have been deceived. You know what I mean? It's,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801about
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801should say it in that way's, easier to deceive people, that it is, to convince them that they have been deceived, and that is just what is going on now, and it's what's gonna continue to happen.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I agree.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Well, that was, that's all I wanted to do. I kind of the one to kick that can around
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801But it leads into today,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801All right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I mean, really you a perfect segue into what has happened within the last 90 minutes
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801after yesterday's, what's the name of that? Davos,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Davos.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Davos, uh, speech where he threatened, even though he kept saying, I can do it. I can do it, but I'm not gonna do it. Uhhuh, you threatened him.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801You are right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801You threatened him with military action.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801they don't capitulate, that's what you did. And that's what they're all saying. And that's what they're all saying. We are not going to capitulate. So after this yesterday. All of a sudden today, oh, let me back up a step after that speech yesterday, of course the stock market dropped over 800 points.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801So he comes back today and says, oh, we have a concept of a plan. We're gonna, everybody's gonna be very happy with what we've come up with. And it's good for both sides. And I'm not gonna do tariffs. Tariffs have been taken off the board and all of a sudden the stock, market went up
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801700 points so far at last, last time I looked. So that type of deception being played on the average person where you saw what happened with the stock market. And then to come back today and say, oh, I'm not gonna do any of that. What cha what made, what made you change your mind overnight? He said he had a meeting with, I forgot who, it was one of the prime ministers, over in Europe. And that NATO would collapse. You know, they should be grateful for our help.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Because if it wasn't for the us, we'd always be speaking German and maybe some, Japanese. I don't know. I don't know. That's what he said. That's his words. I'm not making this up.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801And he is correct. But who was we? Did anybody in your family serve in World War ii? Did? Well, you know, I, I don't know. I'm not gonna lie. I do not know if anybody in his family ever served in World War II.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801It just depends on what part of the tree you're talking
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uh, right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801his, his dad, his, his brothers, his immediate family.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801none
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right, right. But I,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801are
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801but I, I'm definitely part of, we,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801because I had two uncles that served in World War II
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801and one served in the Pacific, and yeah, he was black and what the, I'm not even going into all that, but, he did get an opportunity to shoot at some kamikazes. Okay. He did get that opportunity because they were attacked several times and it's no joke. It is no joke. You are in the middle of a bunch of water and this plane is coming at you. Right. It is not a joke.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801No.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801It's not like the movies neither. No, that's not what it's like. No, but they were well equipped and he was a, this guy was the last one, so they got him out the way. But my other uncle served in Europe in World War ii.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Okay. So we, I, my DNA is part of, we, we defeated the fascist, we defeated this, we, we, wow. My uncle came, left here, a normal person and came back what they called shell shot. Of course, today we call it, um,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801PTSD.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801PTSD.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Correct. And there was no help. So it lasted him all his life. And in the end, some POS person murdered him for his little government check. Murdered my uncle who. It wasn't for him. None of us would be, A lot of us wouldn't be around. So I don't wanna hear, I keep calling him the fascist in chief.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801a convicted felon.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Okay.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I don't wanna hear the convicted felon in chief. Tell me anything about Yeah. Draft I tell me about anything about we, what, you know, telling Europe, y'all should be grateful. You know that the speech that, one of the other leaders gave, oh, he didn't sound that he was grateful for our help. You know what?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Canada.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801All right. Thank you. Thank you. Keith can, wow. Wow. Thank you Canada for bringing help, bringing our hostages home who are held in Iran. How about that?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Does it, can anybody remember that
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uhhuh? How about that?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801How about that? Our people were trapped. They got him out safely
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801and alive, and this is what we do. Wow. I love you Canada. I'm gonna stop talking. I'm gonna stop talking. Somebody else talk. I'm getting mad. I done gone way off track. Way off track. Wow. Wow.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801just passion, Mike.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah, but you know, it, it is what it is. It is what it is. We are where we are. And I can't even remember the original question anymore.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Well, it was a follow up to what, what happened in the last 90 minutes.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh, the last 90 minutes. Right. Okay. So yeah, he lifted the tariffs,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801um, and the stock market went crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Yay. Everybody made a lot of money.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801saying he's gaming. He's gaming the system.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801know, there was never a plan. Let's be real. There was never a plan. Just like healthcare. There was never a plan nor a concept of a plan.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801No. No, there's never a plan. No, no. With Venezuela, there's not a plan. That's not a plan, not,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mike, is he gaming the system or is his, uh, his mental capacity taking a, a strong dive, and he's now, more or less demented or suffering onset dementia. Uh, because he babbles
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801he, like you said, what happened a couple hours ago, he said that they came up with a plan for Greenland, so that now we don't have to try to take it by force
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801that it's a plan. Get this, it's a plan that will last forever.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yes. Yes. He said that
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801forever.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801he
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801about,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801that.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801you know, how, how he's, uh, been successful and obviously stopping eight wars and
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801in the Middle East because of him
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801he brokered a deal. Uh, that, that, um,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Even though 30 Palestinians died today. Yeah, right. There's peace in the Middle East, Uhhuh.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801said, he said basically he's, convinced I ran not to continue, trying to, gain nuclear, access or nuclear power. And so, for that there's peace in the Middle East, like there's never been before.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801do a, I wish I could
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801You, you did it. That was perfect. That was perfect. Keith, like there's never been before.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801This guy is so. Demented that he probably does think that he came up with a plan. But what he doesn't realize is, and all of the pundits and the people on the different, news stations are acknowledging that we've had a plan in place for years where we have access, we've got military, we've got everything we need, to the extent that we don't need to buy another country, we don't need to buy Greenland, because he wants access to their minerals and so forth and to their vast land. But essentially we have everything we want. We can literally do whatever we want there. so the pressure that he's putting on is back to what I always say, it's a matter of slight of hand, to your point. Mike, it do impact the markets, he'll say one thing, one day and the economy will tumble, or the stock market will tumble and then it'll come back and it'll self-correct because he's finally changed his mind or gotten back into line with whatever, what's going on anyway, what's normal or what's natural. But it's really odd to me that, the big picture for me is I'm watching a guy crash and burn the president of the United States. He's what, 79? Almost 80. I'm, yeah, I'm thinking he's almost 80. Can you verify that Tom almost? Is he 79 or eight?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. At least 76, 77, something like that,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801He's old. Okay. But even more importantly, that's really not pertinent or relevant being elderly or old because there are people who live, uh, to a
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801True.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801And beyond and still have, a clarity of mind
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801right?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801But this guy, if you listen to him babble, he can't even hold a thought for longer than five or 10 minutes. He goes off, he goes on a tangent about Norway and, not, I mean, he's so obsessed with not winning the peace prize that it's a part of almost every, discussion or every news interview that he has. But I'm more concerned that, and I mentioned this to Tom when we were offline, that he's more or less a figurehead. And a lot of presidents have been, but their influence has been. Such that, they worked both sides of the aisle to come to a proper, conclusion around policy. But I think there's somebody behind this guy. He's a, he's more or less a puppet now because
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yes.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801mean, he just doesn't have enough, mental, acuity or wherewithal to even make decisions around what we should be doing as a country because everything is based on his personal feelings and what he didn't get, or, it's all about me, me, me, me, me. It's not about the us. It's about, Donald Trump. And for
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Is in, in line with somebody who really has a diminished, mental capacity. And so that's a big, that's a, that's as probably as big a issue as anything that's going on because he's got so much going on every day that he can't keep it together.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801No.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I, I
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801No.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801A conspiracy theorist. That's the word I was looking for earlier Tom. but this guy is, uh, he's pretty local. That's the scary part. And they keep saying, and I've heard it than several times in the last week. This is the guy who has the codes to the, uh, the nuclear codes. who is more or
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uh oh. Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801And suffering, uh, parent or obvious dementia. And who knows if he wakes up in the morning and somebody pisses him off, what he might. Try to put into effect. Now, I imagine there's some safeguards against him solely being able to say, let's blow off a nuclear missile. Um, but the fact that he has the codes is scary. so, uh, like you, Mike, I may have gone off on a tangent, but, the decision that was made, a couple, few hours ago is all predicated on the fact that this guy's mind is just unstable.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. But with the things that he says, it puts us as a country in a, isolation situation because now countries are running away from us.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Absolutely.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Correct.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I don't get, how they let him ramble on or go off script. And he has these conversations publicly
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I don't think they're gonna sit around and wait until he's outta the office, because who's to say the guy that comes behind him is not like JD Vance or somebody else in that case is gonna be thinking just like him because the fact that he got into office is astonishing to a lot of folks out of the country, you know?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801there a second time,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801A second time. Right, right. That's the part,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801are we doing here in America?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801one year, look what he's done to the world order
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Right. In one year.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801in one year,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you know, they have to set themselves up to, and not be reactive. They need to be proactive in the case
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you know, this guy and his cronies, like Keith says, or his puppeteers, get him to do something outrageous, which he's already done a
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that are outrageous,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Well, at least we found out what MAGA really stands for. It. It wasn't Make America Great again.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801make America go away.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Absolutely.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801America go
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801that's what he's doing.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801That is what he's doing. He's not making America great again. He's making America go away.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801making America irrelevant.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Ah, yes, he is. Yep. Yep.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801definitely irrelevant isolated. And one of the
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Canadian, I think it was the Prime Minister. I'm not sure what his title is, but he had a speech, and I shared it with you guys, so when you get a chance, take, you know, read up or take a listen because it was very powerful. but, the scope of it was, he's considered, Canada power, if you will, where United States, China, Russia are akin to being superpowers. And he's saying, we've always more or less just gone along with. Whatever it is they wanted, but now they're at a point where, you know, they're flexing. When you say there, the US Russia and Ukraine, China world, globally, they're flexing and everybody else, Canada, France, Germany, we are at their whim. he said, we can't, ill afford to go into silos to try to defend ourselves against those superpowers, but now we have to be smart enough to come together and not rely on those guys or
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801that are
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801For our country, not so much waiting on what the united and go by what the United States wants us to do,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801a semblance of independence, but we must do it in unity so that as mid powers, we can gather strength. And
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801fact that the other countries are coming together and saying, you know what? We've relied on the United States for so long. Let's change the way we view things. Because even to your point, if. In three years, a democrat goes into office, the world order has been shifted so much that to your point in Tom we're now isolated. His first term I thought he was trying to put us on an island. but he's been more successful in doing so. He's done a ton of damage in one year. And when we come out of this thing, and he's no longer president, and if it shifts back to the Democrats, it's still gonna be tough to undo all the damage. That has been caused, we'll be in, in a totally different place in terms of respect and power. Uh, we are now, but my God, in three years, I can't imagine, how much tougher it's going to be. And it's going to impact, our strength, and, we'll be weakened, globally. To Mike's point, the economy, will tank when they start calling in their chips, right? Because,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uh.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801So many countries invest in this country, and when they say, Hey, look, you know, all of those loans that you guys have out, that, the money that you're printing, we don't need it. We don't need you. And if you want to be on the island, you'll be on the island and you'll see, we'll all fill it. I mean, of course their pockets will be fat because there'll be billionaires and Musk might even be a trillionaire by then. But the rest of us will fill it because of, this one man, this one sick senior. wreaking HAC on the, on the global stage?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. I don't know what to say after that.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801It, it,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801a lot there.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801it's a,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801He did.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801to take. It's a lot to take in.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801yeah. Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801It is how, um, I was listening to another podcast.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801It comes on Sunday mornings. I can't remember the name of it. Um. But anyway, it's kinda similar what these guys are younger, put it that way. These guys are much younger and their take on everything is a little bit different. They don't view it because they haven't been taught, they don't view, they keep thinking in terms of everything is gonna go back to normal. What, you know what,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801You mean in three years or,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I don't know what the timeframe was and I wish I could have called in. I don't know that, I don't think they had a call in session, but, um, to explain them, no, this is your new normal. This is your new normal. For the foreseeable future. And I'm not talking about three years because I keep saying there won't be midterms. And even if there are, unless the results are in his favor, they're gonna be thrown out. Now all of a sudden, I, now all of a sudden we have him saying there shouldn't be any midterms because of the success of his administration.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801He is planting a seed.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801he actually, yeah. Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. That there shouldn't,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801they came back and said he was just joking, but who jokes about something like that? Go
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801uh, no, no, no. I'm glad you No, I want you all, that's nothing to joke about.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801not at all.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801My vote is nothing to joke about. My tax dollars are nothing to joke about. Um, and I pay a lot in taxes as we all do
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801And have for a very long time. So. This, mindset that he seems to have that, the world belongs to him. He can do anything he wants to do. And, uh, this Monroe Doctrine, I know I'm going off. I know I am, but the Monroe, what they call it now, the, dun row. Doesn't they call it the Dun Row? Yeah. Dun Row. Ah-huh. You know. Well, we are masters of the Western Hemisphere.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801His words, these are his words, our dominance of the Western hemisphere will be unquestioned. That's what he said. Our dominance of the Western hemisphere will be unquestioned. A statement like that means he will go anywhere and do anything to any of these small countries that can't do anything. That don't have enough firepower to fight back. I don't know what I can say on this podcast, but I'm not gonna say that's not a very good move. That's a weak move to, to go after small countries that you know, can't,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801push it back.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right. That can't push back. Literally they can't. What do they have? They're not bothering you in the first place. Let's start with that. You do what you do in your country, on your land. They gonna do what they wanna do in their country, on their land. You don't dominate what? The you can't tell them what they're going to do. No. You don't own that. This guy. It wasn't the, um, fascist in chief. It was another guy came out and said, the history of our country is acquiring, you know, acquiring more land.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. That's history.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801May have
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801That's over with
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Scott Bessett,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Scott. Best. Okay. Yeah. That, that, that's over with.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Everything isn't about, uh, what happened way back when. This is the world we live in today. These are the boundaries that have been drawn today. There is no country in the Western hemisphere that is so important that we gotta take it over. You know, so important to us. We've gone 250 years without taking over all these countries. We are very secure. Our military might is, off the scale.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801But
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801So, gr
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801we are becoming, uh, less powerful
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801navy wise. you
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801true.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801control the
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I, right?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801do.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801And,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801you do.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801And we don't, Keith and I have watched a, I don't know if it was a CBS or some, we saw something
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uhhuh.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801long ago
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that they talked about the fleet and
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801was being outdone by China.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I agree.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801So,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801China's kicking our butt on the Navy side. That's right. Right,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801But, so, so key. So, uh, Mike, uh, you don't think Cuba is a country we want to acquire?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801You know, I'm sure. Okay. Let's start with the natural resources. Do they have anything we need?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I don't think so.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Okay, so it's a strategic value because of its location.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801exactly.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that's why we, that's why we are quietly, opening the base in, Puerto Rico.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Well, instead of acquiring Cuba, why don't we just invest in Cuba like many American companies want to do? Because once American companies invest in Cuba, then the military might will come in and protect Cuba, protect the, I say protect Cuba, protect that investment.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801So, you know, you don't have to take over a country.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that the concept for Venezuela By
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh, I don't.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801and, and, uh, the oil and getting the oil companies to come down there and do what they want them to do.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801What the oil companies
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801to
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801then bring the military in after that, like you're saying,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801it, it is, I'm sure, I'm sure there's a concept of a plan.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801of a plan.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. But, um, the oil companies all pushed back and said, that company is uninvestible. You know what I mean? They, they can't invest in that Don No. They're not trying to put that amount of money,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801No,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801into that country, uh, to get that. No. Let let them let that just sit there. We don't need that.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801You know?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801would be cost so much money because
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Correct.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801is it the word they use? Is it so crude? Is that the word they use? It
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Pretty much, pretty
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. It is.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801to refine.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801It's hard to
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right, right. It's not the light sweet, crude or whatever. It's a heavier crude oil. Well, like you said. Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801to
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801uh,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801even, let alone turn a
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801and
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801in investment. And, and so. Uh, and that's not really feasible from a business standpoint.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. But that's, again, that's a guy talking off the cuff of his wishlist of things he wants to do,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801yeah,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you know?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right, right, right. But once a oil companies say, no, we're not gonna do that, except maybe Chevron. I don't know what they're gonna do,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801It becomes, less, less desirable. It becomes a burden on us,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801here
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801All
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801to have, to do, to have to keep a military presence there and run it the way it should be run, to hear them say it. I'm like, okay, enough is enough.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801What that,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I, I,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that's my whole, I'm sorry. Can go ahead.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801no, no, no. I was gonna turn,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I was gonna, I'm changing the
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801but go ahead. If you have a thought on that,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Well, e essentially I was changing the subject too, only because, I mean, it's relevant and it's pertinent, but you know, the, the types of monies that they're trying to throw out, whether it's going into Venezuela or going into Greenland, it was said that why not take that money and invest in the us let's come up with a plan for Medicare. I mean, not for Medicare, but, but for, uh, for medical, for all, all citizens, right?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801free medical, like other, other countries, um, edu I mean, they've taken away more are mo more, uh, um, programs in the guise of having too much government, but then talking about going to, to buy Greenland or to, you
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801And, but, but that takes money. So why not use that purported money that's so available that's out there. To take care of the citizens of the United States, right, to
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801And
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801to me, everything is just twisted. Everything is twisted, and it's basically a design to make the rich richer, right? So it's Robin Hood in reverse, right? taken from the poor
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801to the rich
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right, right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Really, it's really sad because it was unfathomable because, we are just kind of going along, year to year, decade to decade we're having elections. And whether or not you're Democrat or Republican, uh, you know, if you're a Democrat and a Republican gets in, you have to deal with it for at least four years and likely eight. But the
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801always turns and the status quo is still the status quo. There might be programs that are not necessarily favorable for one or the other, but it's never just something that's just totally taken away that's gutted that just, just. You know, not only, have an adverse impact on the citizens of the United States, but in the case of what they're doing now, it's just totally impacting the world order. And so when you start making threats, when you start disrespecting your allies, when you start, being isolated, it really makes for, I don't know, it's tiresome, but at the same time, you can't really look away from it. And Mike, it seems like when you, you, you were talking about the podcast, you listen to it, for the younger guys, it seems like their notion is, know, if you don't pay attention to it, it'll go away. Or even if you pay attention to it and just kind of hang in there for the next couple
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801back to the way it was. But people don't realize it's not going, it's not going to simply go back to the way it was, and it may never go back to the way it was, at least not in our lifetime. My point, a Tom was that, it's just disproportionate. The way the wealth is set up in this country what the powers, the current powers that be, are doing to, take more and more and more so that they can do what they want to do. Whether it's building up ice as his own personal thugs or army or going into another country to drill oil, which in Venezuela is not a good idea, or to go to Greenland, to buy a country that we have every access to. We can literally, they said, you can literally do what you want to do, and if you want a mine for minerals, you can do that. So,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Uh, uh.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Don't want to be owned by the US and it's just, you know, it's just sad because we're used to things being a certain way and no more.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. Correct. Correct. No more Uhuh.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I was gonna transition to was, you know, kind of, uh, affordability
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801touched on the key because you said, take those dollars that were so happened to have readily available to purchase a country, almost a trillion dollars.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801that trillion dollars in pay down the debt that we have. That's almost$3 trillion. I don't
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801it is. Two or three, whatever it is, trillion dollars. Pay down the debt that we have or get programs back to benefit the, the US citizen.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Correct. Correct. You know, why, why are we the only industrialized country, uh, that doesn't have healthcare? For all of its citizens,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801A uniform, free or low cost healthcare plan for all of its citizens. We give Israel, we defend Israel, and we give them billions of dollars, and they all have free healthcare.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801in the world.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yes.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. Why don't we have that?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Exactly. You know, so,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801it's,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801to,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801it's funny to say, um, I, I don't know if you guys seen this or we've talked about it before, but just recently been conversation like companies like Amazon and Walmart, how they pay their employees so low that they're on assistance from the federal government.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801double dipping, you
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Right?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801they're getting these tax breaks,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801here we are as taxpayers. for the programs they need to survive, but they can't get a living wage,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you know?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right, right, right. It's, you know, that's what we do. Someone wiser than me has said, America has always has, and always will need its slaves. And slaves were, was a metaphor
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Paid worker to do the dirty work. But they can't get ahead if you are making a living wage or put it this way, they don't see themselves as getting ahead if everybody else is making, a living wage,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801you have to be struggling.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801do you, oh, oh, okay. All
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Yeah,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Okay.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. You have to be struggling for them to feel like, you know, they're so much better than you.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Um. And that's how this country was founded. Not it was founded on free. Labor Capital. Free labor. Free labor. Free labor,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801But now you have the so-called wage, and if the minimum wage kept up with productivity, it should have been like$25 an hour.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801exactly. But it's not gonna keep up with that. That's not, no, no. So what?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801not that you have the answer to this, but why not?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I know. I know. But it, it's evil. It's evil.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Just, it's sheer evil. It's sheer evil. They can't, they just don't feel like they're ahead. If you're happy and you have a chance. Okay, let me back up a step. The middle class of this country. Was the happiest group of people ever on this planet that I can, you know, in my mind, that I can, uh see
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801to, middle class hourly workers?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801right from the sixties and seventies
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Who weren't making a ton of money, enough money to survive and have a house, a nice house, a car or two, a boat, a my block in Detroit on Eileen, down the street from Mumford High School was at the end of my block. Every house had two cars. It was plenty of boats, you know, not big watercraft, of course, this is Michigan, so everybody had a watercraft,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801uh, you know, we were all happy. You went to school, the kids got a chance to go to college.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801You know, my ceiling is my son's floor. That was the mindset back then. The ceiling of the middle class where their kids floor and their kids go up from that.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I said, son, I should say child. I didn't mean to leave the the women out. I didn't mean to do that. No, but yeah, yeah. My floor is my child's, I'm sorry, my ceiling is my child's floor.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801And they go up from that. And that's what happened with the middle class. People got ahead and other people that it looked like other people, you know, got ahead, got hired before any DEI.'cause you still had to prove yourself, no matter whether you were hired at before or after DEI. We, we weren't hired. I wasn't hired because of any DEI. Neither was Keith, neither was Tom. That was before we were, we were working before DDEI programs were instituted
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801And we had to prove ourselves and we did. I don't wanna hear it, that, opportunity was taken away from somebody else. You know what I mean? Because that's, that he's still saying that. He's still saying that civil rights took, made a lot of white people. A lot of white people were treated badly because of civil rights. And that simply is not true.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801No.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801It's simply is not true just because. Someone had an opportunity, someone was looked at, who would not have been looked at before at all, uh, got an opportunity and succeeded. They still had to prove themselves. It wasn't like they was given a job and say, okay, go. No, no if you didn't make your number, you are out. If you didn't do whatever was required of that job, you are out. It's still economics. The business has to survive. So either you can cut the mustard or you can't, and that's what it is. So, you know that narrative that, someone of lesser intelligence or lesser, ability was promoted over someone with more, but no, no, no, no, no. They were just looked at,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801and given the opportunity. Because in my mind I'm going to, no, yeah, I'm gonna say it. I believe, I believe the alternative to DEI is give us our reparations.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm. Mm
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. You don't want DEI, you don't want a level playing field. Okay. I get that. I get that. But where was my 40 acres and a mule? And when I say my, I mean my ancestors. We didn't get no 40 acres and a mule. Very few people got any acres or any mules even. Go ahead.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801the, uh, the people in is Oklahoma, where the Black Wall
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801So what did they do? Was that bootstraps or did they get something from,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801No, that was bootstraps.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801government
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801That was bootstraps, and that's why I was, yeah,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801it was basic economics time
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801what I mean by that is,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801economics within the community.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah, within the community, within the community, it was self-serving. You had black businesses and you had black people supporting black businesses. The middle class is integral to the success of a flourishing economy,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Because goods and services have to be purchased by somebody,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801if you got a group of people who basically are just living paycheck to paycheck and they're unable to purchase cars or TVs or refrigerators or food, or God knows whatever is being produced, then where those, where does those products go? And if we're isolating ourselves from the world economy, we won't be able to sell'em anywhere.'cause who's gonna wanna buy them? so it would behoove the powers to be to provide a living wage. As we started out with this discussion, talking about for people who can afford back to your affordability point in Tom. Who can afford to purchase the goods and services that drive the economy. Okay. And so now the direction we're going in, it's halfs and half nots,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Correct. Correct,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801co
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801correct.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801is being propped up
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801by the half. Anybody
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Exactly.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801$150,000 or
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. Yes,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801up the economy
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801yes, yes, yes.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801their consumer activities.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right. That's where at least 80% of the spending is coming from. Correct.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801so, so if that falls off, what happens?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Woo.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. I know. If it falls off, we in World of Trouble.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801The problem with, with it is not, not that people are going to collectively pull back for the sake of making a statement. The problem is. People get to the, to a point where they won't be able to do certain things, or they'll be so cautious with their spending that they'll pull back from, going to ball games or concerts or buying books or, heaven forbid, vinyl time. People will start to, to take a look at their finances and their situation, their home situation and say, you know what? I have to be able to sustain what I have. I have to be able to take care of my family. And so now you take a minimalist approach and you're no longer going out for these luxuries, if nobody's buying them, they're stockpiling. Now.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Now,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801economics would say supply and demand. If people aren't buying them, you gotta push the prices down to make it affordable for people to buy, right?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801We are at a point where, and now don't even start talking about AI and displacement of people. Of workers and if that money
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801government is not there
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Those people, what will people do ultimately when they're unable to get a job and they're unable to get support from the federal government? Mike, does that signal a revolution? Tom? Does that signal a revolution? Because what do people do? What, when? There's nothing else you can do. What do you do? Right? Because we're, if you're not creating your own businesses or you're not in the place to create your own businesses, you're relying on somebody else to employ you,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Right, right,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801And you're at their whim. If there's no minimum wage or if it's so below the line or if it's at the poverty line. It's just a, it is just a cycle of people having to either work two or three jobs just live, in a menial way where they're just getting, the basics, whatever. I saw something the other day where, the Trump administration, I don't know what, which person said this, that, the average person should be able to rely on a$3 meal
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh wow.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801the meal was and it literally was a small piece of meat. It was one, um, I don't know what
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Probably,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801was processed meat. It was processed meat. They had, one, is it, that's called a spear broccoli when you just had one, what do you
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801ah, uh,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801One,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801spear of broccoli. Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Broccoli. Um, they had, if you wanted a dessert, they included like a peppermint, that's the dessert.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Wow.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah, I
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Wow.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801literally, they showed it on the, on TV and you know, it was one of those things where they said the current administration is in the mode of, uh, let them eat cake.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801But it's not even cake because for$3 you won't be able to get a piece of cake.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right, right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Getting the, basic sustenance, that, while the fat cats are living large, and eating these huge, 20 ounce steaks or whatever, you got people who you're telling to live off$3 a day, a$3 a day meal. And that's the reality of where we're at today, in the us, administration trying to justify, not taking care of its people
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801What, uh, you know, and Trump, I know you guys have seen where Trump said, and instead of getting two dolls, you know, just get one doll,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801That's excess. don't get several pencils. That's excess. Get one pen and one pencil while he puts gold
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801in the White House.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801right, right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801what I'm saying? So it's
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801it's kind of hard to believe that if somebody has that theory that you do$3 a day when you know companies are paying per diem of$50 a day.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801a day.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801can't, Hey, you know what? You can't make this stuff up. That's the sad part about where we are. These are sound bites that we're getting every day from the news.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801You.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mike, did you want to jump into your Save the Children?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh, part two from, last Week's Saved the Children when I told
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801story about Ms. Branch.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah, Ms. Branch and the chemistry class. Now that was a class I was failing. I was failing that class horribly. I ended up with a C because I got a hundred percent on that final. But the moral of that story was, never underestimate yourself. Whatever you have to do to succeed, buckle down and do it. And I knew in order to succeed, I had to learn that periodic table. There was no cell phone computers. No, no, no. And when you went in the class, the periodic table was covered up. You couldn't see, any other time it's open. So you can look at it,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801you can know the atomic weights of everything. You can calculate it. You can balance those. Nope, you can't do that on a test you did. That's covered up. You have to know the atomic weights of all the minerals, uh, uh, uh, everything. All right. So part two, we fast forward to my, this would've been my junior year because Steve Moore was in class. Right. And Steve was a senior, so I had to be a junior. All right, so junior year. The second semester, Mr. Ogletree.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Do you?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Ah-huh.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801go to Cass. I knew that name.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mr. Ogletree. We used to call him tree dog
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801because tree dog didn't take no stuff. I, when I say didn't take no stuff, I meant didn't take no stuff. You did not go in that class laughing and giggling, messing around. When you went in that class. You better be about your business. And he was deadly serious. In that class was myself, Lloyd, Marshall Howard. We used to call him, skip God rest his soul. He's passed. Bruce Anderson, who was a genius,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Bruce was like. Going back to junior high school, Bruce was the man, you know, on, on, on, on smarts, on, on grades. Bruce was a genius. I think he's a doctor or dentist today. I'm not. Or he might be an engineer, but Bruce was really smart. Anyway, now I'm in my junior year and that's Algebra four x, which is trigonometry. I wasn't scared. I was not intimidated. In fact, we all like, not tree dog, you not gonna out math me. You know, we all had that attitude like. You know, Uhuh Tree dog, you, whatever you put up there, we gonna do. You know what I mean? It was a different attitude at that time after accomplishing what I did as a sophomore, once you get to junior year and you get the hardest class, you know, up on the eighth floor of Cass, the eighth floor that's above the lunch room,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Okay.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801To, yeah. It wasn't no elevator. You had to walk up them steps to get to the eighth floor in this little cubby hole of a room and tree dog was there waiting on you. Just like with that bow tie. Oh yeah. Anyway, um, wasn't scared, but the thing about Tree Dog or Mr. Ogletree class, no matter how many A's and B's you got all, semester long, that only counted, accounted for 30% of your grade.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_16080170% was on that final. So you could have every A and B, you could be the smartest person all the way up until, but if you mess up on that final, you done. No,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801It was his finals killers.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801all his quizzes were killers. Every single one man, he pushed you. He pushed you. But he knew you could do it.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801you didn't go into finance then?
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I don't know. He knew you could do it. He pushed you and they wanted me to go into engineering.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801No.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Back then. That's what, and I was adamant I wanted to go into business. That was popular business, business business.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801was,
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801boy,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Wish I had went into engineering but anyway, um. Yeah, you had to get at least 70% on that final, I believe, to pass the class. And like Ms. Branch, when At every test, every quiz, he started with the highest grade and came down to the lowest. And I was never at the bottom. That's right. But this time I'm confident. Oh yeah. I'm never at the bottom. And always I'm up there with the A's and B's. I had a couple of C's, okay, let me get my stuff.'cause he would, I mean, he would really push you.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801So if you were lazy, you know? Got you. Let me see how you came up with the answer. Not just, did you get the right answer? You had to show, how you came. Oh yeah. So we get to the final and we all knew it was so important. I mean, so important. We once again, my name did not come up in the A, the Bs or the Cs,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801and he's looking at me every time and I'm going, what the now? In my mind, I said, okay, tree dog, you ain't fooling me. I said, I must have put the answer on the wrong line. You know what I mean? Like answer A was on line B, you know, something, I'm, something must have, because come on man, you know, there's no way I'm confident in my ability,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801All
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801know, Hey, you ain't gonna fool me. He get down to the D's and stuff, and then he once again. He goes, we had one person who scored a hundred percent
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Michael Miller, come up and get your paper. But this time it was different
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801all, you ain't fooling Metri dog.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801You
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I was confident. Right. I was confident and competent. So no, I knew I hadn't failed that test. But any, at any rate that for all the parents and the young people listening, you know, have confidence in yourself.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801put in the work, don't let you know they're gonna do what they gonna, the teacher's gonna do what they're gonna do. You know, they gonna try and throw you off. That's to push you.'cause they know you can do better.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I mean? They gonna push you as far as they can push you and that's okay. That's good for you. Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801good for you. You will be a better person because of it. Oh, at first it's a scary, oh, it's scary. Woo. I don't wanna do this. My brain don't wanna do this. Eh, guess what? You a better person for it.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh, yeah. So don't, yeah, don't you know Mr. Ogletree, God rest his soul. You know, him and Ms. Branch were the two most influential teachers I had in high school.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Um, because they pushed me. They pushed all of us because they didn't accept anything less than the
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801at
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801best, right? Nothing less than our best.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Not ever, not on anything. And boy, are we better people because of it?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801There's no question.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801No question about it.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I can't say that I had those teachers, Keith, it, I mean, not to put you on the spot, but did you have somebody like that?
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Um, I don't have the stories that he had, but yeah, I did have teachers who were challenging encouraging you know, if I'm being honest, there were times when, I probably raised more cane than I probably should have.'cause I can remember, being in chemistry with Mr. Sellers and I know his intentions were good. But my intentions weren't good if I'm keeping it real. And I'll tell you, throughout my school career, I always had the capacity to do whatever I wanted to do. If I put my mind to it, I could do it.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801there were, there were classes that I just kind of checked out I said, you know what? I'm not doing this. I'm not interested. If I knew, if I knew then what I know now,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801would've gave a hundred plus percent in
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801class. Okay.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801same
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Because, yeah, in every class. But, uh, yeah, I had, uh, I had teachers who, who were really, really challenging and like you, Mike, I had a pension for, for math. I was pretty good at math, but apparently not good enough because I'll never forget, Mr. Bernie, was a math teacher who I admired and I would get. You know, really good grades, but apparently somebody was getting better grades because he wouldn't, he would be more encouraging. and I think they may have even had a math club, but it wasn't something that I sought so I wasn't a part of, but my grades were such that if I had decided that was something that I was interested in, but I didn't know then what I know now. Um, like you, Mike, I probably would've gone into engineering, not that any of us by any account did bad. Right.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right, right, right, right, right. Right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Doing, doing, doing well, in the scheme of things.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801getting
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I played catch up, man. It was
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801That's what I tell Marsha now. I've made so many sacrifices for the family
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You were, you were, you were mature in that way.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. I had
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801You were,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801out
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801yeah. Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I guess in a sense I had focus because I, immediately transferred out of the school that I was supposed to go to based on where I lived and based on where I went to junior high school, knowing that I wanted to go to college. And I felt then that if I had gone to that particular school, having known so many people through, elementary and junior high school, that I would not have been focused enough to really do what I needed to do get into college. And fortunately, there's two sides to the coin. Fortunately, I was able to have a GPA that was good enough to get me into college. But I didn't build the relationships that a lot of people build when they go through that school experience. I'm somebody who's never been to class reunion. not that I didn't make friends, I didn't embrace it the same way I would have if I had gone to the initial school where I already knew everybody. They were lifelong friends.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801that was the sacrifice I made because my thought was, I have to be I have to get the grades, I have to do what I need to do. I didn't come here and it sounds funny to be such a young guy. I didn't come here to necessarily make friends. Although I, like I said, I did make some friends, but my focus was getting a grade, getting out, going to college and advancing on. And so that's what I was able to do.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801it's strange. That's something we have in common.'cause we never, all of three of us didn't go to the school in our neighborhood.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yep.'cause
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Sure didn't.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I would've been at Mumford had I
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801I would've been at Munford if I hadn't went
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yep.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801to Cass. Yep.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. I would've gone to McKenzie if I went to the school there.'cause I went to Drew Junior High School and McKenzie was right across the street, and that's where I would've gone. That's the area where I grew up. I, actually ended up going to Cooley. But like you, Mike, my thought was to go to Cass. I had the grades to Cass, but, at that point it was like where I was living and getting a Cass on the bus every day.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801I'm not doing it.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801it was, yeah. That was a struggle. Yeah.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801is 2020, you know, I mean, the
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Right, right.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Are, typically, almost, geared towards success. Back then the Cass was it. I don't even know if, I don't even think Renaissance was around then, but,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801No, Uhuh,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Cass, if you went to Cass, you were almost, geared for success.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801uh.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801you know, that was a highly intellectual school.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yep. I
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Alright.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801tested to go to Cass, but I don't think I made it in,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Okay.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801to go to UofD and my parents were willing to pay the tuition, but I didn't want to go.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh, yeah. Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801had I been forced to go
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801kids, I
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801go play. Well, actually we had a conversation with Justin about high school
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801he begged us not to go to one school, but he did. He came out okay when he went to Belleville High.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Looked at him going to a academy, a charter school for
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh, okay.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801he
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Right.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801'cause he wanted to have the experience and he,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801know, so, but yeah, I had an opportunity to go to UD high school
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801um, my parents were willing to pay the tuition and I just didn't want to be there
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Thanks. But no thanks, huh?
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801I was turned off by the whole all boys thing, you
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801and I
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801turned off. But here we are now talking about that and the attorney general over in Minnesota, he was a UD graduate.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Oh wow. Wow, wow. Okay.
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah. I can see his face. He's been on the news quite a bit lately.
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Yeah.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801Yep. He was in Congress before he went back to the state of Minnesota, so I don't
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801Yes,
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801intentions to do,
keith-b--pickens_1_01-21-2026_160801yes.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801or what, but
michael-miller_1_01-21-2026_160801Mm-hmm.
thomas-corley_1_01-21-2026_160801All right, gents
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