Israel, The Middle East, and Our Responsibility to Stop Misinformation

This week, we dive into the misinformation crisis and talk about how we can all do better when sharing information online. We discuss why the way we communicate matters just as much as the facts themselves, and how to separate what's happening now from what could happen next. Aaron, of course, brings another Middle East update, and we wrap things up with our local news stories of the week.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Chronically Informed Podcast. I'm Aaron.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And I'm Brittany.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

And this week we are going to talk a lot about the NDAA that was signed, as well as some misinformation. A lot of it is relating to the NDAA, more specifically, the thought that Israel's military is merging with the US somehow. I'm also going to give a quick little Middle East update. This week we're going to focus a lot on Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, which is a massive escalation in the conflict, and I will tell you why later. And then finally, for our local news this week, we spun the wheel. I got Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

I got Massachusetts, so wish us luck. Big things coming.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

So let's go ahead and get started. Just a few days ago, uh Congress voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026. A lot of people have been kind of up in arms about this, mostly because of uh subtitle D, which is matters relating to Israel. Um, a lot of that is going into the extension and modification of the United States uh Israeli anti-tunnel cooperation, cooperation for counter-UAS, uh authorizations related to munitions replacement, as well as the research, development, test, and evaluation of emerging technologies to further the warfighting capabilities of the United States and certain partner countries, Israel, uh, and then the uh a report on the US and Israel military exercises. So a lot of what I've been seeing going around is people saying that this is a merger of the US and Israeli militaries. I can understand kind of like why that's being said. Uh, I kind of get it because if you look at it and you look at the text, it's talking about how we are basically deepening our cooperation uh with Israel in terms of the research uh agreements, the uh tests and evaluation agreements, as well as some intelligence sharing. Uh so that's kind of what I want to get into first is all the ways that this is not a merger of the militaries and kind of what this like really means for us.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah, that is super important because all I have been seeing is people saying the US is merging militaries with Israel and people are spreading it like we are becoming one military unit, which is just not what's happening at all.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yeah, it's it's simply not true. Um, so one of the things that I want to talk about first is kind of how that military cooperation piece is coming together. So this is really focused on enhanced military trainings. Uh so joint trainings between the US and Israel, um, and kind of like the the research initiatives and things like that. These are things that we have with other countries. So it's like over 50 countries across the country that the US has similar like research uh and training agreements with, including a lot of the non-najor, non-NATO major allies. Um, so Israel is not like the first or only person or country, excuse me, that we've done this with. Uh, this is not anything new on the intelligence sharing side. A lot of people saw intelligence sharing and immediately went into uh we're giving them all the intelligence we have.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

And our war plans and our secrets and everything.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yeah, which is like beyond brain dead.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

I mean I hate Israel as much as the next guy.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Trust me.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Um, and to be clear, when we say we hate Israel, we we hate the current administration of Israel. Um, you know, in my personal opinion, I think that Israel absolutely has a right to exist, but there is a correct way to do it. Um, and the current way of existing is not the correct way to do it. A lot of that has to do with Netanyahu, the Lakud Party, uh, the current administration, which hopefully, uh with any luck in October here, they're going to be getting voted out soon. We talked about that on the first podcast with the dissolution of the uh Nesset, which is the Israeli parliament, but getting a little off topic here. So when it comes to the intelligence sharing agreement, I can tell you as somebody who currently works and will continue to work in the intelligence community, this is not some agreement to just give them all of the intelligence we have. When we talk about intelligence sharing uh between Israel, it's very similar to what we do with uh the Five Eyes countries, um, as well as like NATO allies and things like that. It's basically there are certain types of intelligence uh that we are sharing between countries, and typically it is whenever that intelligence would benefit us both. So, in the terms of what intelligence we're sharing with Israel, it's probably has a lot to do with like anti-terrorism matters relating to Hamas, relating to um the Houthis, potentially, relating to the IRGC uh as well as uh Lebanese Hezbollah. So, yes, it's not great. Um, in no way do I think that this is a good deal. I think that this needs to be shot down in the Senate because it's insane that we're writing this into uh a National Defense Authorization Act like this.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

And it most likely will be shot down in the Senate.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yeah, that that's kind of the hope right now. The the Senate will most likely shoot this down, uh, not just because of the Israeli stuff, uh because but because a lot of the other uh provisions that are in here, mostly the massive amount of funding that we're basically passing to support Trump's illegal war in Iran. Um, but I just want to get the things clear, and and this is kind of what we wanted to talk about. So, not so much what the NDAA is and what it contains, because it's a massive document with a lot of stuff in it, but mostly wanted to hit on the fact that the matters relating to Israel and subtitle D of this document have been the things that have been taken the most out of context. Uh, there's been a lot of misinformation and disinformation and all these different things that have been put out to kind of sway you in the wrong way of like what this actually means. Uh, and that's kind of a lot of what uh what Britney has to say.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

So basically, the first thing that I want to get out of the way is the difference between misinformation and disinformation. Okay. Because a lot of people seem to not know the difference. So misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is shared without the intent to deceive. So a lot of people share stuff. They're like, oh my gosh, Israel and US are merging militaries. I can't believe this. Because they read it once and they believed it. So a lot like majority of people are not intentionally spreading misinformation. Now, disinformation is false or inaccurate information that is intentionally shared and creative to deceive people.

SPEAKER_03 6:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

So majority of the stuff that we see online is misinformation. There are more people than not that do not research or understand what they're, you know, what they're reading.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

So they see it from like their favorite news source and they say, okay, they're reporting on it, therefore it's true, even if it's not, so it's like an accidental thing, or they really do think it's true, they post it. That would be misinformation.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

And well, the only difference between miss and diss is the the intent.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

The intention, okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

The intention is what separates the two of them.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

So, like I said, most people that are spreading misinformation genuinely believe what they're sharing is true. And a lot of people do not take time to verify information before passing it along. They'll see something, it will scare them, it will inspire them, it will make them angry, they will share it because of that reaction before even thinking, is this true, or does it just make me feel good or bad, you know?

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Um, and on top of that, 54% of US adults read below a sixth grade level.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Oof.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

That's a that's a massive amount of people.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

That's not good.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yeah. Um, so there's a very, very real and very large chance that whatever words you put out online will be misunderstood if they are not clear or if they're presented without context.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

That's mainly what this whole like section is about. That's the only thing I'm talking about this entire podcast, is that because the amount of times I've seen things online where somebody says one thing and then somebody responds to something that has nothing to do with what they were posting with assumptions and whataboutisms, it's like extremely frustrating to see online. And if we know that there are already so many people, like I said, 54% of adults read below a sixth grade level, that are so susceptible to being misled. And we have a responsibility, and this is aimed at the people that are trying to share news, people that think they're doing the right thing. We have a responsibility to communicate clearly and accurately. Because that's literally how we ended up in this political nightmare to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, that that makes a lot of sense. And I know that um, especially with your uh degree, you focus a lot on kind of like that media literacy piece um and and things like that, right? So you kind of have a little bit of experience in this uh and you've been kind of looking into it for a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Exactly. I I I yeah, I have. Sorry, I don't know why I didn't know how to respond to that. Um but yeah, and the there's the difference between what is a fact, what is a possibility, and what is an opinion or a concern. And people like really misunderstand whenever, for example, I'm gonna get into the threads post later and the responses we got. But when we post something like, hey, when people are saying that two militaries from different countries are merging together as one and becoming one military, that is factually incorrect.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

That has nothing to do with what is actually becoming public law and what is going down. That is the difference between a fact, a possibility, an opinion or concern. And they're all valid to bring up because presenting those facts as an absolute reality only ruins credit like your credibility if you're someone who's trying to do good. But if you bring it up and frame it like that, this is what is happening, this is what it looks like is it is shaping up to be, are completely different. And that's like where the disconnect comes from for a lot of people. And that's why presenting possibilities as facts is so so harmful. And we all know that fear spreads faster than facts, and every time we present a worst-case scenario as if it's already happening, you're just creating more confusion. And people panic and they spread it further, or they'll fact check it, realize what you said isn't true or it is exaggerated, and now you yourself are an unreliable source.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Now you have set the seed, even if it's just to a random stranger. Let's say that stranger doesn't think the same as you. They're like, oh, well, this is a fear-mongering leftist criminal.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

You know, and that's how like all these things happen. So it's like super, super important that if you actually care about informing people and you actually care about things being different, you have to stop blurring the line between what is, what could be, and what you believe.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Yeah, and we uh on our way to get uh barbecue yesterday. Delicious, by the way. Oh, so good. Um, definitely the best barbecue I've had in California. I can say that with with a like pretty high confidence.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Uh but yeah, we were talking about this in the car a lot uh because we were kind of discussing a little bit uh what we want to talk about on the podcast. We try not to discuss too much before the podcast, just so that we can, you know, kind of have some stuff to actually talk about and get like genuine reactions from each other type thing. Um, but we were kind of talking about how in my job as an Intel analyst, uh, there's a certain way that I talk about things, especially if I have time to, you know, write it out, something like a threads post, right? Um, a lot of it has to do with presenting things as um possibilities as opposed to facts before I say them. So, for example, uh in the case of the NDAA that we were talking about earlier, um talking about the merging, quote unquote, of the Israeli and US military, there is a way to say that you are concerned about our militaries getting too close and too closely entwined, especially considering the fact that the Israeli military, the IDF, is committing war crimes uh and are being directed to commit war crimes by uh their Minister of Defense uh Cats as well as Netanyahu, who are both war criminals. Uh, there's a difference between saying that and saying this is happening versus I am concerned this could happen. Uh so one of the ways that I present information in my job as an Intel analyst is these are the facts that we know. So, for example, with Iran, you know, shooting ships in the Straight of Hormouths, right? The fact that we know is Iran, you know, let's say in the last day has shot two ships in the Straight of Hormoes in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian infrastructure. The way that we would present that is the fact is two ships were shot. Uh we saw this happen in likely in response to US actions based on this historical precedent of when Iran shoots ships uh versus when they don't, most of the time it is motivated by a US action. So if the US takes action, so if we strike X, Y, and Z target, this is what we think Iran will do. The historical precedent says that they will shoot more ships. Now, that's not necessarily me saying that the possibility of Iran shooting more ships is a fact by any means. The way that I am presenting it is this is what I know, this is what we've seen in the past, and this is how the past is now informing a future decision, which in this case would be Iran shooting more ships.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

I kind of want to go over just a couple of our th our threads posts that we posted.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Oh god, dude. This was such a time.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

It was a time, and it's less about us and people saying these things to us. These are just the examples that we have because it's a perfect example of people completely not understanding words that are written in front of them.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

I'll start with Aaron's because his fun replies I had some crazy shit. And they got blocked, so I couldn't find the replies anymore, unfortunately. But I I did save one. Um basically he said to anybody saying that the US and Israeli militaries are merging and we're giving them all of our classified information access. No, we aren't. It's a joint research and training plan with increased information sharing initiatives. Is it good? Fuck no, but the militaries aren't fucking merging. Please read the document. Basically saying, is this good? Absolutely not. The document that it was released does not say we are merging and becoming one, which is what everybody keeps repeating online. Now, once again, is this good? No, it is not. But from this post, it is just clarifying that these aren't things that are actually happening. It's not saying maybe it could happen. You are just saying this is not what's happening, factually, what we have information for.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Yes, is it good? No, but we can also report truthfully on what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Exactly. And we can disagree with things while reporting truthfully on what is happening. Um there is a response that says there is also a clause that says no more aid to Israel needs to be approved by Congress ever. Why frame this like it's not absolutely dangerous? Where, in what world did you frame that like it wasn't dangerous? You said it is not good. I I you can't be more clear than it is not good.

SPEAKER_03 15:26

Yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

And framing something like it is not absolutely dangerous is completely different if you were talking about that. The only thing you were referring to, like your response says, please reread what I posted and note that I am specifically mentioning the claim that our militaries are merging. And of course, no matter how many times you say that, people are gonna just keep responding the most asinine things that have nothing to do with what you're talking about. And that's how misinformation keeps getting spread, is people are reacting on fear, they're reacting on emotions as opposed to just understanding the words that somebody is saying.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

And I think one of my biggest issues is because I had somebody mention this to me, kind of saying, Well, we're sounding the alarm before these bad things happen. You can absolutely do that. Yep, please sound the alarm before these things happen. But you need to say things in like the proper way. You need to say this, this, and this do not add up to something good.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

This is what I am afraid of happening. I am afraid of our militaries becoming one. I don't want us even further entangled. That is 100% okay. But the absolutism and the claiming that facts are happening when they're just a concern, they're just an opinion, is completely different because that's how all of this misinformation spreads left and right, and even people that are on the right side of things and think that they are doing good end up doing more harm than they do good.

unknown 16:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

And it's very it's probably like one of my biggest pet peeves, and I think I wrote, I don't know, maybe four whole different papers on misinformation and media literacy because I was I'm just constantly so frustrated, which is okay. I have no issue talking about it, and I probably will continue to talk about it.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

As you should.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

So the post that we made on our podcast account, back to the threads posts, and responses, and you know, how people cannot take information correctly, I guess, a lot of the time. Yeah. Um we posted the US is merging our military with Israel. No, that isn't what the bill says. It's expanding military cooperation between the US and Israel, including things like sharing intelligence, developing defense technology together, improving cybersecurity, and coordinating on defense planning. Whether you support that or oppose it is up to you, but saying the bill literally merges our militaries, in quotes, isn't an accurate description of what's in the text. Read the bill, not just recycled posts. Now, have we already been sharing things like intelligence and defense strategies with Israel? Is this something that has happened with other countries before?

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yes, this is something that has happened before. This is not something new.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

This is not something new. It is strengthening the bond and expanding the cooperation, but this is not us becoming one military.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

That is the whole point of these posts. Mind you, I am just talking about people not understanding words. I am not talking about whether this bill is good or bad, because we have already said that this section is about misinformation because even people can hear me say these words and still not understand what I'm talking about. Yep. Somebody responded to that and said, This post has been sponsored and written by Netanyahu with a heart. It did make me laugh. I'm like, that is really funny.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

It is funny.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

But once again, we respond. We do not agree with this, and we do not agree with Israel. This was about the misinformation being spread. And of course, somebody else asked acting on emotions and on what they assume we mean, of course, responds with sure BB. As in Netanyahu. It's very funny, but it's just another example of people wanting something to be true and not wanting to accept facts that are being put in front of them because they do not like them.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

I do not like the facts. 90% of the time, they suck major ass. Truthfully. And another response was why would you consider expanding military cooperation with a country committing genocide to be acceptable? That is a great question.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yeah, never said it was.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Nowhere did we say that.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Not not at all. And you know, I'm just gonna mention our girl, our girl Brie. She's a little low.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Oh no. Yeah, this This woman I think is um verifiably insane. Um, I think that somebody needs to put her on a watch list at the very least.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

At the very least, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

There is some sort of mental illness going on.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

There is something. And that's just not us being rude.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

No, it's not because if you read her shit, she's like clearly, you know, in a different reality. Uh, and I very much hope that she does not own a weapon because that's dangerous for the entire country.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Amen. Um she responded to our post when I mentioned that Aaron was going to talk about what's going on with Israel and the US in this episode that we are currently recording. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

This is we're doing it. We're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Um, and she, after already going off on Aaron about something we never spoke about, she brought in Russia and how her family has Russian mob. I don't know. Certifylly insane is what I'm saying. Um, I'm making sure that stupid bitch keeps his mouth shut about the US merging with Russia because Israel will be wiped off the map because the I in B R I C S stands for India slash Iran slash Indonesia. Indonesia. Isn't that right? Turn off his account if you have to. Tell the Senate to stand the fuck down and stop this horseshit right now. Now I don't know why you think Mr. Aaron has any power over the Senate.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Let's mention some of the accounts that she tagged, by the way. Okay, sure. She tagged the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, um, a group called U24Gov, um, which I'm pretty sure is also a Ukrainian organ organization, also tagged a random US senator um and a democratic energy group.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Apparently.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Yeah, like a bunch of official accounts, and these are the same accounts uh that she tagged whenever she was coming after me specifically. Uh she tagged a few more like Ukrainian accounts, uh, but just very odd in general because she was I it seemed like um it seemed like she was trying to make reference to like having connections with like the Russian mob or something like that, and that she was gonna send somebody to to fuck me up or something. I don't know what it was. Uh I did offer my address and she clearly didn't want it. She said that her friends are already on it, so I will be expecting a knock on the door. I mean, hopefully by Monday. I know everybody's gotta take weekends off, so you know, get some time. To rest and relax. But yeah, like this girl was just popping off and and really just like talking nonsense. But what was crazy is that it doesn't matter what we said, it doesn't matter what you said, what I said, anything, her response was always the same thing, which is something, something Russia.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Something that has nothing to do with what you were talking about. Yeah. Which is, even though she's probably insane, furthers the point that a lot of people do not understand information that they are given. They do not understand how to what's that word I'm thinking of?

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Critically think.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Well, yes, critically think. They do not know how to process the words that they are reading on paper at all. So it is it's not impossible though for you to get information out and sound normal and level. You know, it's not impossible. I people keep going, oh well, the Trump administration lies all the time. Why can't we lie? If they go low, we go lower.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

I I cannot stand that.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

In some instances, I'm okay with going lower. But when it comes to information in the way that our society is being shaped to believe things, you cannot do that. That's just not okay. That's we don't want to lower ourselves to the standards that they couldn't keep. You know? Um But yeah, basically, just because the other side spreads inform misinformation doesn't mean that we should, and this is where you can protect your credibility or throw it away. And we absolutely can and we should raise alarm about where things appear to be heading. But we have to be honest about the difference between this could happen and this is happening.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Because if your concern is genuine, you don't need to exaggerate or fear-monger to make a compelling argument. The facts are enough to start with, and then expand on those with your predictions and concerns from there. Because people can be worried about what might happen or they can be worried about something that's not even happening at all. What I basically am like really trying to promote is people need to remember to explain things for people who don't know better. Because not everyone has read the same article as you. Not everybody understands context in the same capacity as you. Whenever people are trying to like take in information, you don't always have to be combative. You don't always have to dunk on them. That's not the point. If you genuinely want people to believe what you were talking about and be on your side, you should lead with facts and then follow with concerns.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yeah, I one thing I want to point out with that too is that um it's happening on both sides. And I hate to be, you know, the weird centrist guy who plays devil at devil's advocate all the time because I'm not that person. But it is in fact happening on both sides. Uh the same people who continually complain about the way that right-leaning media reports things, the way that uh, you know, trolls online or like far-right people online, whatever, the way that they like interact with people, uh, they're always just like, oh, you're so quick to attack and this and this and this, but then they'll turn around and like their next two posts are them immediately attacking somebody because they posted something that one they probably didn't read. Um, either the person posting it or the person reading it probably did not read. They saw the headline, and the headline was provocative enough that now you are instantly attacking them. These are also the same people who say that all civility in politics is gone. Well, part of that is because you're allowing it to be. Uh, the creation of social media, um, as well as like these algorithms that very much favor clickbait and outrage and prey on emotion rather than facts, uh, is a horrendous uh development in our um in our free press.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Um, and it's something that is very hard to combat but still can be combated. And the problem is that whenever you see a headline that makes you emotional, instead of reading into it, instead of trying to critically think about what facts are being presented, if any, and then expounding on those facts. So if an article says that the US and Israeli militaries are merging, you see that headline, it makes you emotional because who in their right mind would ever approve something like that? Um, you see the word merging and you instantly think that the IDF is gonna be patrolling the streets of Washington, um, things like that. Instead of then clicking on that article, reading into it a little bit, trying to see, hey, was this title just clickbait? Um, it's okay if clickbait works because the whole point is that you then read the article uh and find the facts. Um so instead of doing that, you immediately go online and you post breaking with the dumbass little red siren emoji, which fucking- I wish you people were stopping that. Like, please, God. Uh, what you're saying is not breaking news. Um, but anyways, you say breaking with the dumbass little red siren emoji, and you say Israeli and US militaries will be merging based on NDAA uh approval that just came through Congress, whatever. Instead of reading the facts, reading maybe the document for yourself, or even a good summary of a document that like a trustworthy or trustworthy news source like Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, or like literally any other uh accredited like independent media is posting. You see the headline from whatever source of news that you like to get, and you just immediately say, Alright, well, I'm gonna go on threads, I'm gonna go on Twitter, I'm gonna go on Instagram, and I'm gonna say the military is emerging, and this is it. What's even worse to me is the people who do that and then try to like uh and this is also going back to one of my threads posts where somebody responded with an Instagram reel of some dude who identifies as an anti-Zionist Jew who basically was like talking about how this is like merging the militaries and how bad this is, etc. etc. But the problem is that if you watch the reel, none of what he's saying is based in facts. Everything that he's saying has been gleaned very specifically from headlines. There is not an ounce of actual factual information in there. It's basically him just compiling headlines and then reading them out one by one, uh, and then reporting under the guise of I did the research, I did this, I did this. But he didn't do any of that because if he did, then he would actually talk about the facts. He would maybe quote some of the document or even like try to summarize the document.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

And that is disinformation.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

And that is disinformation.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Just taking headlines and spreading it without doing the work, which is kind of what everything comes down to. This does not apply to people who are reacting to things online. This is applying to people at least what I am talking about is people who are trying to stand ten toes down on these misinformed things, facts, like misinformed opinions, thoughts, statements. If you are somebody that is trying to spread the news in any way, if you consider yourself, even if you have 20 followers, dude, if you consider yourself a voice and you want to make the country you're living in better, and you want people around you to be better, you really, really have to take that responsibility to present the facts and separate them from the opinions. Because there is a difference, 100%. If you don't agree with what's happening, that is fine. But you have to take the facts. This is what is happening, pause, and this is why I don't like that and what I think could happen next. It's it's not that difficult, and I think anybody that speaks out online about politics or news has a responsibility to hold themselves to that standard.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Because if you don't, you're just spreading disinformation, you are just as bad as the other side.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Period.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

And it doesn't matter what media sources is coming from. I mean, listen, dude, I love crooked media, I love Pots of America, I love all of their shows, but there will never come a point where I listen to, say, one of their podcasts or read one of their uh uh one of their like Substack posts, whatever. Uh, there will never come a point where I read that and then immediately accept that as fact. There is one thing in my line of work uh that is called trust but verify. Um, and the other thing in my line of work is that your credibility is everything, and without your credibility, you are nothing and you have nothing. So I I don't know. We've talked about this for a while. Basically, what we're trying to say is Be better. Be better. I mean, I mean, you have a responsibility. If you're the one posting the information online, you have a responsibility to make sure that it is accurate to the best of your knowledge. Uh, and if you are the person who is engaging with these people online, you also, I think, in my opinion, have a responsibility to be able to engage with some sort of civility. Uh now that obviously depends on the content. If it's something that's like very blatantly anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, whatever, if it's somebody who's just out there uh just spreading hate and discontent, uh emotional response, ready said, go, fuck that guy. Um or girl. I've seen some women do it too. Or that. It's mostly men's.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Girls, gays and thays.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Girls, gays and thays, but let's be real, the girls and gays are not, girls, gays and thays are not posting that. Um, but I I think in my responsibility or my opinion, you also have a responsibility to approach that with some sort of civility, approach that with some sort of facts-based something.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Period.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Alright, so now that we've spent 30 minutes talking about this.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

And I'll spend 30 more. Here's what else I have to say.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Uh now that we've done that, uh, it's time for everybody's favorite segment. Um, Aaron talked about the Middle East.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

For 45 minutes. For 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

Uh, I guess this is just gonna be a long one today. Uh, this one actually is pretty quick. Um, I really just kind of want to focus on the fact that a major development has happened uh in the Middle East conflict. Has nothing to really do with Iran. I mean a little bit, but not a whole lot. Uh the major development here is that the Houthis have effectively said that they have shut down the Bab al-Mandab Strait to any Saudi Arabian vessels transiting. Uh, that includes Saudi Arabian flag, affiliated, or vessels going to or from Saudi Arabia, which by the way is very similar to the blockade that has been imposed by both Iran and the US. They have very similar uh like requirements, I guess. Um, if you are flagged as a country that they see as an enemy, uh they're gonna go ahead and engage you. If you are heading to a country uh that they see as an enemy, they are also gonna go ahead and engage you. Uh, this is not necessarily new in terms of imposing this type of blockade. Uh the Houthis in Yemen um have had something similar uh with like Israeli shipping for a long time now. Uh but what makes this important, what makes this a major update, is that they are now specifically calling out Saudi Arabia. Now the history behind the uh behind Yemen really in Saudi Arabia is kind of complicated. Uh, but to kind of sum it up, there was back in 2014, um, civil war in Yemen. The Houthi movement, which is an Iranian-backed uh rebel group, actually forced out the Yemeni government into exile following the seizure of Sana'a, which is the capital of Yemen. The following year, in 2015, Saudi Arabia then intervened at the request of the Yemeni president. Um, following the reports of war crimes, a worsening humanitarian crisis caused by that intervention, as well as the 2020 COVID pandemic, which compounded everything even more. Saudi Arabia ended up announcing a unilateral ceasefire in March of 2022. Now, since then, there have been some strikes being traded between uh the Houthis as well as Saudi Arabia. A lot of the times the Houthis like to send, you know, drones or like smaller missiles or whatever at some of Saudi Arabia's uh like oil industries and things like that, just to basically be the thorn on their side and remind them that they're still there. But the important part is that the large amount of fighting, especially on the ground, has mostly ceased uh since 2022. However, this recent Iran war has now brought that Houthis and Saudi Arabia conflict back into focus. Um, and analysts around the world, including myself, really, uh continue to wonder whether the Houthis are going to officially enter the conflict. There have been a few times where uh media has reported that the Houthis have basically thrown their hat into the ring. And while I think that's true, it's not entirely true because if we were to really see that, you would then see uh something similar to what you're seeing between the US and Iran, which is like pretty consistent exchanging of strikes. Uh, the Houthis would be sending missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, as well as Israel on a more consistent basis. The fact is that has not really happened. However, the most recent attack against Sana'a by Saudi Arabia, which um if anybody has read the news in the last couple weeks, uh essentially Saudi Arabia targeted the Sanaa airport uh following the funeral procession of uh the former Ayatollah Khamini. Basically, they were targeting this plane because it had some Iranian officials on it and they wanted to essentially make sure the plane was not able to land at Sanaa. Uh, it ultimately did, but Saudi Arabia did basically strike the Sana'a airport. So, following that, the Houthis then announced this blockade against Saudi uh affiliated shipping and have since then started striking Saudi affiliated ships in the Bob al-Mindeb. For anybody who doesn't know, the Bob al Mindeb Strait uh is between Yemen and uh Djibouti. It is a very, very narrow strait. Uh, however, a large, large portion of the world's shipping traffic goes through that strait. Um having closed that off, there is pretty much only one reliable way for shipping to get anywhere. Um, specifically, if you talk about the Saudis trying to ship to like a lot of their Asian uh countries, excuse me. Especially if you talk about the Saudis trying to ship to a lot of their Asian customers, they essentially have to go up uh north through the Suez Canal, um, which is basically taking them into the Met and then all the way around outside of Europe, down south, around uh Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and to Asia and their Southeast Asian customers. This adds, I mean, a significant amount of time to that transit, which is only hurting the oil market more. So, in terms of oil prices, goods prices, and things like that, probably gonna continue to see prices go up. Uh, I think it was either yesterday or the day before, so either Friday or Thursday of this week, uh, oil had once again topped $100 a barrel. I know we're seeing gas prices go up uh here in California. Yeah, it's like somewhere close to like six uh six bucks here in California, at least in the area that we are living. Um, but really the the bottom line of this is that this Iranian war, um, we've talked about it a few times, has shaken the world economy. Um I mean it's absolutely ruined some economies. The Southeast Asian economies are in big, big trouble. The Iranian economy has been in trouble for a while, and this is only worsening that. It's been worsening a humanitarian crisis that's been happening in Iran for a while now. Um, you have the president of the United States who is supposed to be um, you know, like this bulwark for a free and fair democracy and things like that, and um kind of like a uh a sense of civility throughout the world is now threatening and following through on war crimes, bombing bridges, bombing water desalination plants, bombing power plants, uh, all these different things in Iran. This conflict has expanded to a level that any analyst could have told you it would expand to before this conflict started. This is a needless war. More people have died. We are now up to about a total estimated between 7,000 and 9,000 killed, with about 46,000 injured across all involved parties. That includes in Iran, in Lebanon, uh throughout Gulf countries, as well as American casualties. And yet this war continues without the approval of the U.S. Congress. The president continues to unilaterally make illegal decisions in continuing this war, has essentially declared that this is the start of a second war with Iran so that he can get around the 60-day requirement for acquiring congressional approval to continue hostilities against Iran. And all of this started because the president decided that Obama did not negotiate a good enough deal. Now we have lost, I think we're up to 18 U.S. lives. All the casualties that I mentioned before, almost 50,000 people entered across this entire conflict, and we've gotten nowhere. The president needs to accept whatever fucking deal he can get, and he needs to get the fuck out. Because now we're not only seeing this localized conflict in Iran and the Gulf states, but it has now spread to where we have potential for a new Yemen civil war. And for those of you who don't know, that civil war in Yemen resulted in over 377,000 deaths. A lot of that came from the horrendous humanitarian crisis that came with that. And now we're potentially seeing that start again. This war is horrendous. This war is illegal, and it needs to stop immediately.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Okay, guys, I know we've heard a lot about Aaron talking for the past, I don't know, most of the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Hour and a half, probably.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Our podcast isn't even a 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 39:51

So that's what we edit it to.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Okay. Calm yourself, big guy. Um we're gonna get into our states. This week I got Massachusetts, and Aaron got what did you get?

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Oklahoma, dude.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

Oklahoma. So I I guess I'm gonna start. I'll start with Massachusetts. So some news out of Massachusetts that relates to I guess the nation is the impact of Trump's new tariffs on Canada ever since the wildfire that he blames Canada for. He said, huh, your country's on fire. 50% tariff to you. This man's a nut. Um Massachusetts businesses are bracing for the impact of Trump's new tariffs, including a 50% tariff on Canadian imports and 10 to 12.5% on dozens of other trading partners. Um since Canada is Massachusetts' largest trading partner, industries like medical devices, seafood, retail, construction, manufacturing could all see higher costs, and business leaders are scared.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

As they should be.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Yeah, they the challenge that they're having isn't the tariffs themselves, it's just the uncertainty. Trump will put tariffs on things, throw a wrench in everything, and then take them away randomly a week later. It's like taking your cell phone from your kid for getting a D. You know, it's except it's obviously so much worse because these are businesses and consumers are seeing higher prices because of it. We all know tariffs. We've all had our fair share of complaints about those. Um but just in related in relation to Massachusetts, um, business leaders are saying that policy changes are making it difficult to plan hiring, inventory, pricing, and everyday goods are gonna see higher prices, and the businesses have to decide should they absorb these added costs or pass them along to the consumers in order to stay afloat. And that just isn't fair for anybody. So these tariffs that Trump is putting on Canada and any other country or state he feels necessary that week, whoever he woke up and had a bad dream about and wants to punish is just really ruining life for these businesses and the consumers that live in these cities and states. And I guess the bigger economic issue is is it the tariffs, or is it the uncertainty that they bring to communities and businesses?

SPEAKER_00 42:21

I think it's I think it's both really. I mean, yeah, the tariffs have already proven to be pretty detrimental to the American economy. Um, I know that there are reports like, oh, the economy is still strong because the stock market's strong, but that's not necessarily how the economy works. Um it it's Trump claims to be very like pro-business and pro everything because he was a businessman, even though he was a horrendous businessman. Um and what he doesn't understand is that these tariffs are a lever of power that you don't necessarily want to or need to pull you know a thousand times in one term. Like it's insane. And what it's doing is it's it's driving up prices on you know goods across the country. This is an international um effect. It's it's affecting the countries that have to pay the tariffs, and it's affecting US people who have to also essentially pay the tariffs because we end up paying more for our goods and everything else because these tariffs keep getting levied. And then you talk about uh going with Canada. We used to have the free trade agreement. Uh it doesn't get better than free, to quote Isaiah Martin. Um, shout out Isaiah Martin. I know you're listening, big dog. Um, but it doesn't get better than free, and so what we did was we decided to make it worse by levying tariff after tariff after tariff and making life even harder for normal Americans who already can't afford shit.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

Yeah, because there's nothing more stressful than instability.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

Not knowing where something is gonna come from, not knowing if you're gonna be able to afford X, Y, and Z. One day you may, and the next day you may not.

SPEAKER_03 43:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

Because everything is just changing so much, and companies usually for the most part. Part are gonna pass the tariffs on to the customer because they're paying we're paying the tariffs.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Yes, because whenever companies and businesses have to pay higher prices to get the goods or you know materials or whatever it is that they need, whenever they're paying higher prices, they basically pass that to the consumer. There is really none, if any, or very few if any companies that are gonna say, like, hey, um, we may be playing or paying higher prices now, but we're we refuse to pass that on to our consumers. Fuck no. They have a bottom line to meet.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

And they don't really care if it affects consumers.

SPEAKER_01 44:37

No, they don't when it comes down to it. All of these millionaire-billionaire companies do not care. Yep. And these tariffs that Trump is imposing on certain countries and manufacturers are only hurting regular people. These billionaire and millionaire businesses don't give a fuck. I mean, sure, they're like, oh no, I can't make more billions of dollars, but we are the ones that are hurting.

SPEAKER_03 45:00

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Everyday citizens are hurting. We can't buy food. Our gas prices are expensive because they do not care about the everyday person. He ran on America being great and better. A man of the people, America being first, and all he's doing is put putting the American people last.

SPEAKER_03 45:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:19

Everything he does hurts the American people as a whole.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

Yeah, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

And nobody sees that, and that's another line of frustrating talk I would love to get into one day. But that's pretty much it on Massachusetts. I only went with this one story. We usually only do one, but I wanted to get something out that you know related to other stuff that's in the news. So if you live in Massachusetts, good luck. I'm sorry about Canada. If it makes you feel any better, Trump always chickens out. Big taco. The tariffs will probably be gone.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

The big taco, dude.

SPEAKER_01 45:51

They'll probably be gone at some point, but for now, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 45:56

Alright, well, moving on to my topic, uh, Oklahoma. So this one, surprise, surprise, is all about an Oklahoman. Oklahoman?

SPEAKER_01 46:05

Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

I think Oklahoman. Oklahomian. No, it's got to be Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

My Oklahomies.

SPEAKER_00 46:11

My Oklahoma. So uh an Oklahoman Republican lawmaker uh is facing accusations of improper conduct with staff. Shopper. Yeah, who could have fucking seen that coming? The you know, supposed parall or party of religion and morals is always seems to be the one that is dealing with these accusations of misconduct, whether they be sexual or not, uh, because they are massive pieces of shit. Anyways, so Republican Representative Danny Williams um recently had a bombshell investigation uh dropped against him, or not dropped, excuse me, but levied against him after it was alleged that he had improper conduct with the staff. Um there was a six-week investigation that was conducted, uh, which basically led to that allegation. Uh, as a result of this investigation, he has been indefinitely removed from any committee uh committees that he was on, and his physical office has been moved from the fourth floor to the fifth. Not really sure what that does.

SPEAKER_01 47:09

I I know the fifth floor?

SPEAKER_00 47:11

Yeah, they they took away his desk and gave him a slightly smaller one.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

Oh no, they moved his desk one half inch to the left.

SPEAKER_00 47:19

If that was Captain Hole, he would notice immediately. Uh, you guys are crazy for doing that. But anyways, um essentially his big uh his big defense is that the improper conduct is not sexual in nature. So that's like his big like, hey, don't be mad at me. Um this isn't a sexual misconduct allegation, which doesn't make it better. Um because misconduct is misconduct, so if you were just being a piece of shit, um then you were just being a piece of shit. Like that's that's the bottom line, whether it was sexual or not. Um his exact quote in response to an interview. Uh, the question was, There's nothing sexual involved in the allegations. Question mark. His response was no, absolutely not. I go home, I love my wife, I'm a family man, I'm a follower of God, I do things that are right, and no, I haven't done any of that stuff, he replied. So sorry. He's a family man and a follower of God, but is now going against the advice of God, which is basically love thy neighbor, uh, by being just a massive piece of shit to his staff enough to get allegations of misconduct levied against him. So whether these are sexual or not, you're not a follower of God, and if you are, you're not a very fucking good one.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

You're kind of an asshole, I'd say.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Kind of a fucking asshole. Um he was also asked uh if he sees why his constituents, constituents, excuse me, maybe worried that he's facing expulsion. Uh his response was, Well, my constituents, I had a meeting yesterday. We were working on developing a foster home for people that we that we could take kids, displace kids out of DHS and put them there immediately. I said, You're going to see some unpleasant things about me today. They're not true as far as I'm concerned. It's not true, but I said, you'll just have to do that. And they said, Listen, we know you. Um, so bunch of words out there. Sounds like he's been listening to Trump too much, um, but essentially it seems like he's trying to uh negate the allegations by mentioning a project uh that he was working on, um, which seems like it could be a good project on the surface. Although to be honest, I haven't researched this project much, so I don't know anything about it. Um, and basically his response to his consensual is like, hey, you're gonna see some really shitty stuff about me. Ignore it, move on. It's not true. Which seems to be really just the that's kind of the Republican stance. The MO. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:39

Um, but anyways, that it's it's a small piece of news. Really, our focus today was on more of this international stuff. Um, but quite frankly, in these two states, it seems to be kind of a slow news day. So um that happens sometimes, and you know, we'll we'll bring you the more breaking stuff as we find it, but the wheel wants what the wheel wants, and the wheel gets what the wheel wants because who are we to go against the wheel? And this week, the wheel won in Massachusetts and Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_01 50:07

So before we wrap up, we want to leave you with one thing. At chronically informed, our credibility matters more than being first, getting clicks, or telling people what they want to hear. We're always gonna tell you what the facts are, even if we don't like them. We'll also tell you when we're giving our opinion, when we're making a prediction, or when we're talking about something we're genuinely concerned could happen. Those are important distinctions, and we're not gonna blur them just for engagement. There's enough misinformation already out there, we don't want to add to it just because it benefits our side or makes a better headline. Once you start treating possibilities like their present-day facts, you stop informing people and you start misleading them. We believe people deserve honesty. Sometimes reality is disappointing, sometimes it's scary, sometimes it's more nuanced than a viral post may make it seem. But we'd rather have difficult conversations grounded in reality than easy conversations built on misinformation, and that's the standard we're gonna hold ourselves to every single week.

SPEAKER_00 51:01

Yeah, we're and by no means trying to sacrifice any of our integrity and our credibility and what the facts are for clicks, uh, for engagement, for subscriptions to YouTube channel, Spotify channel, whatever. Because quite frankly, dude, we've got like six people who listen to this podcast right now. And at the beginning of this, we decided that we don't care how many people we reach as long as we're reaching somebody. Um and we're gonna stick to that. I mean, on threads alone, like between the two of us, between two accounts, we have like maybe 3,000 followers. Um, so it's like there's a little bit there, but like when it comes to the podcast, when it comes to anything else that we're putting out, our entire goal is to put out accurate information that means something to people, and our entire goal is to reach somebody. Somebody, not everybody, because we know we can.

SPEAKER_03 51:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:50

And we refuse to blur these lines of credibility and factual information just so that we can get more followers.

SPEAKER_01 51:59

Exactly. And we're not perfect, we know that. Yeah, our opinions we do not shy from them. We will always let it be known when we think something is not good or when something is detrimental to society. But we will make sure that those opinions are separated from the facts that we are given. A guess is just a guess.

SPEAKER_00 52:20

Yep. And it will be stated as such on every one of our podcasts.

SPEAKER_01 52:23

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

Alright, guys, well, thank you very much for listening this week. Uh, that pretty much wraps up the episode today. Um, once again, we are on Spotify now.

SPEAKER_01 52:33

We are on Spotify.

SPEAKER_00 52:34

We are on Spotify. We all have a TikTok account too. Oh, we do. We do have a TikTok account. So if you like more of the short form stuff, we're gonna work on trying to get some more clips out there. Right now we've got like what, three videos up?

SPEAKER_01 52:45

Two?

SPEAKER_00 52:46

Two videos up.

SPEAKER_01 52:47

One follower, what up?

SPEAKER_00 52:49

What up to our one follower? It might be me, actually.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

It's not. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 52:52

Um, but anyways, uh, thank you guys so much for listening. And we're gonna do our best to bring you nuanced and factual news uh each and every week.

SPEAKER_01 53:02

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

Have a good one. Bye.