November 14, 2024 • 40 mins
Don Vee shares on-the-ground experience with Amish millionaires. Wonko the Sane reaches out on the story of Chinese tech espionage. A Phlounder reacts to Ben's earlier question about social media, and the gang gives Dupont Dave some choice recommendations for tourism in Washington, DC. All this and more in tonight's listener mail segment, hurtling headward toward the American celebration of Thanksgiving.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is
riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or
learn this stuff they don't want you to know. A
production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome back to the show. My name is Matt, my
name is Noel.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
They called me Ben. We are joined as always with
our super producer Dylan the Tennessee pal Fagan. Most importantly,
you are you. You are here that makes this the
stuff they don't want you to know. Welcome to our
weekly listener mail segment where we get to hear directly
from you. If you're hearing this the evening it comes out. Also,
(00:49):
Welcome to November fourteenth. Thanksgiving. Kind of a big deal
here in the US is on the way, and we
wish everybody hearing this the just the absolute best when
you have to hang out with your family members and
your loved ones as you go toward that big dinner.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
And especially you know, given divisive times, we know it
can be difficult if people give Thanksgiving maybe differ in
opinions or politics. So I would posit that maybe just
leave politics at home for the Thanksgiving holidays, if at
all possible. It'll probably be good for your mental health.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I will add, Yeah, that's the point one to get to.
We can always feel that we are in a situation
where you have to hang out with people you don't
see them all that often. They've got a big info
download on stuff that's been going on with them. They
want to hear from you, So make sure there's some
give and takee be curious. As Ted Lasso said, ask
them about themselves, you know what I mean. That is
the key to a good conversation. We also have an
(01:49):
episode from back in the day about how to talk
with your relatives over the holidays.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
We sure do. I completely forgot about that one. That
is a good resource. I haven't listened to it in
a minute, but I'm sure we were very smart with
all the things we said.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
We definitely had our hearts in the right place, and
so do all our fellow conspiracy realists. We're gonna hear
from Wonko the saying, following up on a conversation we
had over a number of years, but in previous Strange
News segment as well. We're gonna hear from multiple platforms.
We'll see how many letters from home we get to.
There were a lot. But before we do any of that,
(02:27):
we want to return to you yet again with a
follow up on our episode regarding abuse in the Amish community.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yeah, we sure do, and we will get to that
letter after a quick brief word from our sponsor, and
we've returned and Ben, you're absolutely right. We had a
pretty big outpouring of response to the episode on abuse
in the Amish community. A lot of them from folks
(02:55):
that live in and around parts of the country where
there are significant, you know, Amish populations. And that is
the case from Don Vee, who wrote into us with
a very respectful and kind maybe a clarification, not even
a correction. I'll just get right to it, gentlemen. I
just got done listening to your episode on the horrific
crimes within the Amish community, and I wanted to thank
(03:17):
you on a fantastic job covering a little known and
quite taboo subject. Thank you very much. I am a
builder and welder out here in northeast slash Central Pennsylvania,
and while I myself am not Amish, there are numerous
intersecting communities surrounding me, and I deal with them several
times a week. I get my lumber from an Amish sawmill.
I buy my welding gas from an Amish supplier. The
(03:39):
steelyard I go to is Amish owned and run. You
get the idea. The one thing that I think you
got slightly wrong is a little quip stuck in a
line towards the beginning of the show where it was
mentioned that they eschee the trappings of the outside world,
including money, and that's where you're a bit off, and
I don't, don Vie. I don't recall exactly who said that,
sounds like something I might have said, but really really
(04:02):
appreciate the perspective here. So don Vi goes on. The
Amish not only don't regard money as evil, they are
some of the most hardcore capitalists down to their marrow.
Many of them will do just about anything for money.
The vast majority of puppy mills being run in Pennsylvania
are Amish, including ones that have been busted for breeding
and grooming dogs used in dogfighting rings. There is more
(04:24):
than one account of Amish barns going up in flames
because of an exploding meth lab within. We did talk
on the episode about meth production within the Amish community.
A little bit near the end. What most people would
be surprised to learn is the vast majority of Amish
men retire millionaires. They buy up enormous swaths of land,
including almost entire towns, where they then move others and
(04:47):
from other far away communities so they can vote and
install local politicians of their choosing before moving on to
another town to do the same. They are extremely shrewd
businessmen who hold a shocking amount of wealth, health, and
political juice in rural areas. Hope this clears up a
few misconceptions about this often misunderstood community. I do have
some hilarious stories of cultural divides in my years of
(05:09):
dealing with these folks. Should you ever get bored and
want a good laugh, take care, guys, thanks for being realists.
Don v as very sweet and incredibly informative. I did
not know about any of that stuff, and that is
the kind of thing that really would be hard to know.
And this is kind of probably some of the stuff
they don't want you to know unless you are like
Don and doing actual business with them or living in
(05:31):
and around those communities.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And Don, thank you for taking the time to first
check out our show, and thank you for writing in
with firsthand experience, which we always love. We also want
to give a shout out to some other folks, including
the Brockness Monster who wrote in regarding the puppy mill
phenomena that you pointed out there. Don It is fascinating
(05:54):
because we're looking at the interaction between a in group
and a out group. The plane or the English or
however the non Amish may be referred to, still do business.
They still live in a larger community. You know, you
can buy Amish furniture online. A lot of people in
(06:14):
Amish communities do have checking accounts, right, do have credit cards,
do use US currency here in the United States to
interact with the secular world. So it makes sense, no sense,
it makes dollars and sense. We should say that there
will be people in those communities who are able to
(06:35):
reach financial success.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Think about how much money the average person, let's say
middle Yes, I know, I buy.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
All the time.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I am super bullish, make.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Their own cowpoop from all the cap and with you immediately, Matt, please,
I'm so sorry to interrupt. You's got excited.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
No, no, I just I just think about recurring expenses
that you know now there are companies making millions and
millions of dollars and all they do is point out
your recurring payments on your credit card that you forgot about,
you know, like reread ads for companies that do that,
and just you know, I think about the stuff that's
in my house right now, that's all Like my hobbies
(07:23):
are something to do with electronics or gaming or movies,
and it's just it added up. Yeah, if you if
I personally could eliminate that stuff from my life, yeah,
my goodness, I would be a much wealthier man.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I see what you're saying. We also that brings up
a related point, which is that oftentimes people spend their
income or their largess on uh on status symbols right
within their community. And so the status symbols perhaps the
folks in the Amish community may differ from those in
(07:58):
the surrounding set secular communities. Like if you're not going
to suffer the death of a thousand streaming cuts out
of your income every month, where does your money go? Look,
just because someone has a different socio religious ideology or
lens through which they interact with the world, that never
(08:20):
makes them stupid. That just means they have different priorities
from you know, someone else. So there's nothing stopping people
from investing in property. Right to your point, don to
maybe farm implements horses, both of which can be very
expensive and very lucrative and very lucrative. That's a great
(08:41):
point now, and maybe even depending on because these communities
are not monolithic, right, some are more permissive in how
the secular community interacts. So maybe there are some folks
who made made a bank off stocks and mutual funds.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Sure, but they're likely You're not going to see anybody
rolling around in a maserati in an imp community maybe.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Whatever, like the Maserati version of a horse.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
The horse, Yeah, but that would just be for function,
just to have one that would last a long time,
you know, to have one that was well built. You'd
be investing in the right things. And I think there's
some lessons we could learn from the homage to your point, Matt,
about how to like live a little more frugally and ultimately,
you know, be more fruitful in the long term.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I'm seeing two things here, guys. The first one is
that if my hobbies weren't going around getting souls in
a dark soul's game or whatever, and I'm you know,
and playing drums and all that these other things that
are more entertainment.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Hobbies for me.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I could see and if I didn't leave my like
local area very often, I could totally see myself getting
into like, well, there is some land over there, and
I could save enough money for that, and I wonder
if I could use that land for something. Oh hey,
maybe I need to get in with the local commissioners.
Maybe we should actually work on local election and start
(10:00):
doing that stuff. And the second thing I see here
is we're talking raw materials for construction that are being
pointed out here right steal lumber and welding gas. Yes,
those are crazy lucrative because any of these other companies
that want to come through and build things can get
(10:21):
their supplies from you. It's brilliant.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I think so too. Oh Man, thank you so much,
don Vie for that perspective. I think it's something that
really clicked with all three of us. So I know, Ben,
Did you have anything else to have before we go
to a little quick break.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
If you are a member, a current or former of
an Amish community or some related belief system, we would
love to hear from you directly. We will tell you
how to get to us online or through any other
method of communication. At the end of tonight's listener mail segment,
(11:00):
please stay tuned and again, as you said, Noel, thank
you so much to don Vie, and thank you to
everybody who wrote in or otherwise contacted us regarding these experiences. Also,
if you're one of the folks from the Mennonite community
I used to mess with in Guatemala, I hope you
guys are okay. I hope the bakery is still open.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
That place was awesome, lovely Mennonite community in my hometown
of Augusta, Georgia, and a great bakery, absolutely wonderful little
ham roll things. Well, let's see a quick pause for
the cause that keeps the lights on here, and we'll
come back with another message from you.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And we've returned. Guys, we've got a doozy, and by doozy,
I mean a very deep topic that I don't think
we're going to be able to handle in this fifteen minutes.
So let's imagine perhaps making a full episode on this
specific topic, because it goes deep and there's a twist
in here that we're going to get too that I
(12:02):
think is the reason for a lot of the forward
facing response to what we're going to talk about. So
with all that said, let's listen to a message we
received from Wonko Hi.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
This is Wonko, the same longtime listener, first time ever
calling her right into you guys, and you guys were
talking about the ban of Chinese software and hardware, and
I just wanted to point out that China has already
managed to infiltrate our pipeline. If you look up, I
believe it was Wired who had a fantastic episode about it.
(12:38):
A little micro chip smaller than the size of the
tip of a pencil that was basically able to take
complete control of massive numbers of servers. We're talking governments,
we're talking Apple, we're talking Microsoft. They had this tiny
little chip on all of these main boards that essentially
allowed them to duplicate and copy any data they wanted.
(13:01):
They could take control at any time. So as far
as Chinese made software and hardware, you never know when
the next attack is going to come through. And they
were listening in on embassies, they were listening in on
virtually every aspect of tech. They had their fingers in
there pretty deep. So as far as the ban is concerned,
(13:22):
long before the ban on Chinese hardware or software really
comes into play. We need to reevaluate our pipelines as
far as where our hardware comes from and actually start
to build things in country. Anyways, just my two thoughts
on the band and potential ban anyways, and how little
a band would have effect if we ignore our pipelines. Anyways,
(13:44):
you guys have great episodes. Hope you have a good one.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Thanks, thank you.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Wonka wait a minute, so yes, thank you. So that
chip is this is like industrial espionage or this is
like part of existing hardware and people, and it is known,
it goes, it goes happened.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, it goes deep, and it goes back in time
to twenty eighteen. So at least that's when we found
out about it because Bloomberg started talking about it. And
this is important. The publication, the outfit Bloomberg, they did
their own investigation and then it created a bunch of
(14:23):
other writing about this investigation. You can go directly to
the Bloomberg source if you want to. We'll go ahead
and tell you that so you can learn about this
as well. You will have to I think subscribe or
get one of those things, you know, sign up for
whatever to read the article. It is titled The Big
Hack How China used a tiny chip to infiltrate US companies.
(14:45):
It was written by Jordan Robertson and Michael Riley on
October fourth, twenty eighteen. It's a huge piece, a big
old feature. And then what we're going to do just
because it's what was mentioned by Wonko the Saine there
and yes, thank you so much for this Wonko. We're
going to go to Wired because they then wrote about
it on October fourth, Lily Hey Newman wrote about it,
(15:07):
so we're going to jump to that article in the
same year, right, same year, Yeah, same time. So, like
I said, Bloomberg starts the waterfall and then Wired catches it.
So that's where we're going right now. Wired's article is
titled There's no good fix if the supply chain gets hacked,
And I'm just going to read a little bit from
this to answer your questional because I guess we can
(15:30):
just say at the top before we get into it.
This tiny little microchip that Wonko is describing is an
extra microchip, like an extra CPU type situation that is
applied to a motherboard. I think we're all familiar with
what a motherboard is. It's the larger piece of silicon
that has a bunch of the components.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Printed circuit kind of situation.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
It's a printed circuit that components get plugged into, right,
and then that operates your computer or your server, right.
And you would have a bunch of these in a
huge array if you're talking about somebody like Apple or
Microsoft as Wanko mentioned, or Amazon. So here we go.
These are Lily's words. A major report from Bloomberg describes
(16:12):
an infiltration of the hardware supply chain allegedly orchestrated by
the Chinese military that reaches an unprecedented geopolitical scope and
scale and may be a manifestation of the tech industry's
worst fears. If the details are correct. That's important because
it's if Bloomberg's investigation is correct, it could be a
(16:33):
nearly impossible mess to clean up. So let's just get
into this. The chips that we're talking about here are
from a US based company called super micro Computer Inc.
Also known as super Micro. This is a San Jose
based company. The reason why we're talking about you heard
(16:54):
me say it's a US based company, right, But.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
The assemble things from other places into end user products exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
So again, just use the Boeing example because in my mind,
it's the easiest thing in my mind to see, like
the parts of a plane that get manufactured a bunch
of places then come together at one place and become
an airplane.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Same thing, or like that middleman company involved in the
exploding pagers story.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Oh yeah right, but more like for another thing that
will be familiar to people, the way that an article
of clothing can say made in the USA. Yes, if
the origin materials are not indeed from the United States.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
And made with slave or child labor. Whoo uh okay,
so here we go. This is back to Lily's words.
Cybersecurity experts often describe supply chain attacks as worst case
scenarios because they taint products or services at the time
of their creation. The Bloomberg report raises a much more
alarming specter that Chinese government actors compromised for so ubcontractors
(18:01):
of that super micro Computer Inc. To hide these tiny
microchips on super micro boards, so the official boards that
super Micro is putting out, and those things are crazy
popular guys with the big companies and with small companies
and medium companies. They are just one of the big players.
If you imagine going out to buy a new phone
(18:23):
right now. In your mind, you're probably thinking an Apple phone,
a Samsung phone, a Google phone. Right those are like
the three, and then there's a bunch of other stuff
you could go to microcenter to get or order online.
Super Micro is one of these companies if you're buying
server arrays. Yes, these chips, according to Bloomberg, offered a
(18:43):
fundamental backdoor into the devices they were hidden in, ultimately
helping the Chinese government access the networks of more than
thirty US companies, including Apple and Amazon, and they could
use them to gather intelligence on plans, communications, and intellectual property.
Here's why why the Bloomberg investigation is a bit called
(19:03):
into question here. As soon as this came out, right
as soon as this news hit, and even before because
these big companies like Apple and Amazon were reached out
to before publication. Those big companies refuted this report completely.
They said, no, this is not true, This did not happen.
(19:23):
They have never found any evidence that anything like this
has ever occurred. There's no attack on our infrastructure. Everything's good,
we're good. There are no malicious ships. Here's a quote.
Apple has never found malicious chips. Hardware manipulations or vulnerabilities
purposefully planted in any server. Cool, okay, sure, So then
(19:44):
of course it's on the journalists. They're at Bloomberg, and
for them they either have to say, hey, that's our bad,
we'll retract parts of our report or something like that.
That is not what they did. Those journalists said, no,
we've done our due diligence, We've verified everything before we
publish the story. We know it happened and it's true.
(20:05):
And the companies were like, no, it's not. And then
it just becomes Okay, who do you believe the investigative
journalists and like private investigators and people who are actually
you know, getting quotes from individuals from within some of
the operations, and.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
The independent white hats who also confirmed it.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yes, or do you listen to the big corporation that
has a lot to lose if like, think about what
we're talking about here, Apple servers, Amazon servers, just those
two companies, right, What does Amazon own Amazon Web services?
What types of information do they run through their servers?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
All of it, all of the things.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Most of it, I mean same with Apple, right, and
with personal information that you back up in the cloud.
Massive deal. But Guys, here's where it gets crazy, and
this is where I think we end the segment because
this is what we need to explore in full. A
couple of years later, after all of this was reported,
(21:05):
more information came out and it got weirder. Guys, it
got weirder.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Can I talk about, well, we'll hold it for an episode.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
We can hold it for an episode, Okay, but let's
say this. More details came out in like twenty twenty one.
But I think their wrinkle and why this is such
a massive deal is because one of the journalists who
wrote this article went on All Things Considered, It's an
NPR show on the day basically on October fourth, when
all of this is coming out, and he made the
(21:37):
statement which is also included in the Bloomberg article. But
he made the statement that the chip was also found
in servers of the Pentagon and the CIA, which would
might be a problem. I don't know, maybe.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Ed just last month the FBI got that court order through. Yes, yeah, okay, spoilers.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Folks, dude, there's stuff that we got to dig in.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Yeah, Wonko the same, thank you again. Yeah, this is
an episode we should go ahead and do it because
it's just going to get stranger the longer we hold
off on it.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Agreed, Wonco, You're the best. We will be right back
with more messages from you.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
And we have returned with just some letters from home.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
No.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
I mentioned in a previous program we would share stories
of some fellow conspiracy realist in the education space. We
are going to share those in the future. And speaking
of hardware and software and the interaction with the human mind,
we have a quick letter from home from our pal Flounder. Flounder,
(22:52):
thank you so much for calling, and also Matt, thank
you for hurting the voicemails.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Here we go.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Quick reaction to a statement I made earlier asking why
there isn't more positive social media.
Speaker 6 (23:07):
Gentlemen, good morning. Your most recent episode, you made the
comment that how come we do not have a positive
social media? I think the problem is the word social.
Problem is us people are what makes it bad, not
the technology. The call is coming from inside the house.
(23:29):
You can call me flounder a pH.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Oh, flounder. You told us how to spell it bird
the persona the handle is compromised. But also that is
a pretty good point, is it not. I think that
we use that as you know, I said that was
kind of a throwaway thing. In the conversation. We didn't
talk too much about it, but we did hit on
the idea, right, Like, it seems that the we're in
(23:56):
a chicken and egg situation. Is the algorithm pushing you
toward things arguable or is the algorithm showing you things that, uh,
just exacerbate your natural inclinations. What do you guys think?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, it's the things that we become fascinated by, the
things that are pleasurable to view the thing. Yeah, it's
it's all of those things that No, it is us.
I'm sorry, I keep thinking just that idea.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
It's a pickle, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
It's it's so many pickles dancing around.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
My algorithm is just pickles. It's pickles and this one
armed monkey from China, and it's yes, thank you for
bringing that up. You were perfect on it. That's great.
Everybody look up, jan.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Have you seen that one about the pickle ice cream? No,
thank you, sir, No, thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Oh, but of it is kind of salty.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
Yeah, what about the pickle juice and doctor pepper? That's
a big online turn. I'm sorry, we're not talking about
actual pickle stuff.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Dude, pickle juice ever since Hannibal I flick pickle juice on.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Yeah, yeah, get up there. We're talking about Hannibal Burris,
the legendary regiment, the late great doctor hanniballect Handle Elector
would also vibe with that if you told them, hey, man,
before you kill me, quick pro tip on the sandwiches,
fling a little pickle juice on the innards when you
eat them, And hannih will be like, thank.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You, yeah man, breditwards do I seriously, I've got I
buy those devil spit pickles that you can find at
your local pickle dealer, and they are so hot and
delicious and you can use that juice on anything.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
And I would say further that algorithms, while they may
while they may just exacerbate natural tendencies of the participant,
there are definite moves on social media platforms to push
you toward certain beliefs. And it's very difficult to be
cognizant of those pushes because they're they're pretty subtle. For
(25:53):
anybody who was still messing around with Facebook in this
evening and age, you'll notice that the bulk of your
feed has now become advertisements. I don't know why I'm
saying that, Like, I don't speak English. Listen to you
pickle dunce. So they've been sending that around. Also, AI
(26:16):
posts are proliferating, and often they are meant to learn
more about you and steer you toward certain decisions, which
is why, for instance, if you go to Twitter, oh
I didn't tell you. Guys almost texted you. It wasn't
important enough.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Did you know?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
There's a war on Wikipedia right now on the Twitter
page about how Wikipedia has decided they're not going to
call it X.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
What Okay, they're gonna die on that hill huh if.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Yeah, that's the hill they chose out of all the
other stuff. Forget the Middle East. They're fighting about Twitter.
If you go to the talk tab on the Twitter
entry for Wikipedia, you'll see that it's a bunch of
people trying to update it to X, and then a
bunch of other people saying, nah, a player.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
That's really funny, that's really.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Unfortunately, they're slapping it down. We are going to keep
it brief here, as many of our fellow American conspiracy
realists may well understand, We've got a lot of stuff
going on right now. We've got many things to do,
but we did want to do something I thought all
five of us would enjoy Tennessee, and Noel and Matt
(27:24):
and yours truly and you listening at home. What if
we give somebody a little bit of travel advice? Does
that a jolly good Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Can I give some travel advice? That my son and
I are obsessed with this travel Instagram account and it's
just it's getting the social media thing in and it
is travel. It's called unlikely Gems. Have you guys ever
seen this?
Speaker 4 (27:51):
Heard of?
Speaker 3 (27:52):
But I don't think I followed that one. It less
as Jingjing, the one armed monkey on it.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
No, it does not, it does not.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I'm missing out, all right, but it sounds it's I
feel like I have seen this, but I don't know
much about it.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Well, check it out specifically on Instagram. That's where I
saw it. At least it's called unlikely Gems. I do
not know the name of this human being that is
one of my it's one of my favorite human beings
in the world right now. It's like a reporter doing
the field, but with a very specific cadence, and he
does things like this and says that, and he just
points he goes to these places across California and points
(28:28):
out like a small rock that happens to be in
a very specific place or a stop sign. Uh, and
it is delightful. I cannot do it justice here, but
I just found out it's a part of the upstate
California Creative Core, Like it's a grant program for California's tourism.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Stuff like that. Well that's smart. That doesn't make it
necessarily bad nor sinister.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Oh dang, okay, I don't think so. It just head
over to Modoc County. That's all I know.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
All right, could you spell it for us? M O
doc there we go, not to be confused with the
absolute legend from Marvel Comics. Right, So, our our letter
from home here going back to you, our listener, We're
just gonna call you DuPont Dave. You wrote to us
earlier this weekend and you said, hey, longtime listener, first
(29:20):
time emailing or even contacting you all. Later this month,
I'm planning a trip to Washington, d C. I was
wondering if you all have any suggestions to go to restaurants, bars, attractions.
I'm planning on going to the International Spy Museum and
one or two Smithsonians also museums in the area. If
(29:41):
you happen to be in DC, regardless of where you're from,
you're gonna dig the Aerospace Museum. Promise anyway, DuPont Dave says,
was hoping you all know any more fun or even
educational spots. And I thought this would be an opportunity
for us to really let the rubber hit throad. When
we say listener mails focus on our fellow conspiracy realist.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
We know d C.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
We've all been to d C right, never lived there,
but we visited.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
I haven't been a ton and I've said it before,
I've never been to any of the Smithsonians, So I
really I'm right there with you asking for Rex. I
haven't experienced a ton of DC at all. Dude.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
What you need to do right now is reserve a
Pentagon tour because they offer them. You can get them,
and you can tour the Pentagon.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yes, and you may. I love that, Matt. You may
have just enough time to do so. Also, you have
to report back. Okay, this is a covenant. DuPont Dave.
By hearing this, you have just shaken some hands, right.
So to Matt's point, further on Matt's point, there's a
place called DuPont Underground. It's an abandoned train station. It
(30:52):
used to be pretty difficult to get inside. You would
have to just know the right people to go to
this abandoned trolley station low DuPont Circle. But now it's
a pretty cool art exhibit spot. Like, now you can
walk through this abandoned area and you can you're almost
guaranteed to see some amazing art.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Dude, Hey, guys, can you guess the date the not
the year, but the month and day when ground was
broken on construction of the Pentagon? Just a wild guess
what month and day?
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Oh Jesus is six six?
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Ground was broken on September eleventh. Oh, No, nineteen forty one.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
I thought you were going for more of like a
diabolical numerology kind of situation.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
No.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Forty one is interesting, just a weird coincidence.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
That's a little weird.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
I mean it's a one out at three hundred and
sixty something chance, right, Yeah, but that is a big
It's a lot different from guessing someone's zodiac si. You
know what I mean. We still haven't done an astrology episode.
Let us know if that feels like it bags your badgers.
We also want to recommend for you DuPont Dave. We
(32:12):
want to recommend things like, well, it depends on what
you go what you go for, and how you're feeling.
If you want something peaceful, there's really kick ass Bonzai Museum,
the National Bonzeye Museum. One of the I think one
of the oldest trees there, if it's still alive, dates
back to the seventeenth century, early seventeenth century. I still
(32:34):
have no idea how bonds I can live that long.
You guys remember the movie The Exorcist.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Yeah, guys, I recall it vaguely. Also the Karate Kid
Part two. There's Bonzie trees in that one.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
That's all Oh, okay, yeah, okay, I'm back, We're We're back.
The Exorcist the Fame. No spoilers, folks. It is one
of the scariest films. If you recall, there is a
pivotal moment where a protagonist encounters some stairs. Those stairs
are in Washington, DC. You can see them. It is
(33:10):
an historic landmark. I feel like you have to very
much care about The Exorcist to go out of your
way to look at some stairs.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
I'm a bit of a pop culture stair tourist. You know,
I've been to the ones in Philly, that rocky exercise.
I have seen them. But I think that could be fun.
Someone should put together a list of historical and or
pop culturally important stairs.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
That's a good idea. Yeah, I agree. You can also,
if you're feeling kind of creepy, you can go to
a facimile catacomb complex. Yeah yeah, so all right, cast
your memory back. You're it's the SubTime of the early
(33:54):
nineteen hundreds. You're a bunch of Franciscan monks, and you say,
we need to show people the Holy Land. But a
lot of folks can't afford to get over the Atlantic
and visit that area. So if they can't afford the
trip overseas, what do we do? We make it at home.
(34:14):
We have catacombs at home, I mean yeah, yeah, so
they do have a papal endorsement. They do have a
very real skeleton in there. It's over at fourteen hundred
Quincy Street, Northeast. I don't know if it's it's kind
of a tourist trap, I think, but I like catacolm.
I think catacombs are cool.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
They feel like, you know, and while you're in the catacombs,
do yourself a favor and look for some old currency
that is no longer functional, because guys, in Washington, d C.
At fourteenth and C Streets you can find the Mutilated
Currency Division finally, and you can go walk up and say, hey,
(34:58):
can I check this out?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
We also have to recommend they'll probably just be interested
that you're interested, you.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Know, exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
We can also recommend look even the stuff that sounds
I guess very on the map and it's very touristy.
We promise you a lot of it is amazing. Right,
There's a certain it doesn't matter whether or not you're
from the US, there's a certain gravitas and grandeur to
the construction of the city, to the monuments and edifices
(35:32):
that have been built there. One of the ones that
I think always interested us were the Freemason the Freemason Complex,
and of course the Washington Monument, which started out as
something that looked way more understandable and ended up being
an obelisk.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Dude, I want to ask you, guys, is the is
this just a fake thing? The idea that the Washington
Monument was built around an old tree. That's just a
right the quote quote special tree.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
I haven't heard about that.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
I do like the pun of special tea special tree.
But I'm not. I wasn't. I wasn't on scene when
they were building. It's I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Oh okay, it's a it's that's good. Well you were around,
you just weren't there.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
But I think it's a TikTok thing or you know,
one of those like creepypasta things, like this idea that
there's this mythical tree with special powers that the monument
was built around.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Yeah, we do love a Washington legend. We also we
also recommend that you check out the Washington National Cathedral.
There is a crypt there that has the marble tomb
of Woodrow Wilson. Also Helen Keller's ashes are interred in
the area. It's a it's a nice way to encounter history.
(36:56):
There's so much stuff to do. You cannot throw a
stone or a bouncy ball without hitting something really cool
that you should check out in Washington, d C. I
almost said Deac because I just remembered you guys, the
DEA has a small museum in their lobby and one
of the weirdest things they have is their exhibit of bongs.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
What cool? Tell me more?
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Right right now?
Speaker 4 (37:24):
I got you back in Yeah, man, you're talking about
stairs right.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
They have a I think it's back open out closed
temporarily in twenty nineteen, but years of past. So if
you're cool and you're comfortable visiting the DEA, you could
check out their museum. As a matter of fact, a
lot of those agencies in DC and in Virginia have
(37:50):
little like at home museums.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
You can visit, dude, And when you get a little
a little hungry and you want to slice a pizza,
maybe we recommend comet ping pong.
Speaker 4 (38:01):
That's funny, Matt, check out the basement.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Sorry, we're joking. Sorry, but it is on Connecticut Avenue though.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
And we do hope that you report back. Furthermore, we
hope that any of our fellow conspiracy realists residing in
the area have their own recommendations, so please send them
to us. Is what are the hidden parts of DC
Caveat that a normal person can visit without getting in trouble.
We would love to hear more. We know it's a
(38:32):
very interesting time to visit the nation's capital. It's just true.
But there's amazing history here and you will not regret
checking out any of the weird things. We just recommend it,
So tell us your thoughts. Thank you to everybody who
wrote in. We can't wait to hang out with you
on the air later in a future evening. We have
(38:53):
so many explorations ahead. We want you to be part
of the team, so join up with the call. You
can find us via email, you can find us on
the phone. You can even reach out to us online.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
That's right. We exist at the handle Conspiracy Stuff all
over the Internet on various platforms of note, including Facebook,
where we have our Facebook group Here's where it gets crazy.
On x fka, Twitter, as well as on YouTube, where
you can find video content galore to enjoy. On Instagram
and TikTok. However, we are Conspiracy Stuff Show. Hey, do you.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Want to call us? Call one eight three three STDWYTK.
It's our voicemail system. When you call in, give yourself
a cool nickname and let us know if we can
use your name and message on the air. Before calling,
Go ahead and put that in as a contact on
your phone just in case it calls you back. Because
it might. If you got more to say they can
fit in a three minute voicemail. Why not instead send
(39:47):
us a good old fashioned email.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
We are the entities that read every piece of correspondence
we receive. Be well aware yet unafraid. Sometimes the void
writes back, and sometimes we'll just answer the email on air,
but we owe you a bit of correspondence. We love
it when you send us the links, send us the leads,
take us to the edge of the rabbit hole. We
will do the rest. Thank you so much for joining
(40:11):
us on air, so we'll see you on the emails
out there in the dark. Conspiracy at iHeartRadio dot com.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Stuff they Don't Want you to Know is a production
of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is
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learn this stuff they don't want you to know. A
production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome back to the show. My name is Matt, my
name is Noel.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
They called me Ben. We are joined as always with
our super producer Dylan the Tennessee pal Fagan. Most importantly,
you are you. You are here that makes this the
stuff they don't want you to know. Welcome to our
weekly listener mail segment where we get to hear directly
from you. If you're hearing this the evening it comes out. Also,
(00:49):
Welcome to November fourteenth. Thanksgiving. Kind of a big deal
here in the US is on the way, and we
wish everybody hearing this the just the absolute best when
you have to hang out with your family members and
your loved ones as you go toward that big dinner.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
And especially you know, given divisive times, we know it
can be difficult if people give Thanksgiving maybe differ in
opinions or politics. So I would posit that maybe just
leave politics at home for the Thanksgiving holidays, if at
all possible. It'll probably be good for your mental health.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I will add, Yeah, that's the point one to get to.
We can always feel that we are in a situation
where you have to hang out with people you don't
see them all that often. They've got a big info
download on stuff that's been going on with them. They
want to hear from you, So make sure there's some
give and takee be curious. As Ted Lasso said, ask
them about themselves, you know what I mean. That is
the key to a good conversation. We also have an
(01:49):
episode from back in the day about how to talk
with your relatives over the holidays.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
We sure do. I completely forgot about that one. That
is a good resource. I haven't listened to it in
a minute, but I'm sure we were very smart with
all the things we said.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
We definitely had our hearts in the right place, and
so do all our fellow conspiracy realists. We're gonna hear
from Wonko the saying, following up on a conversation we
had over a number of years, but in previous Strange
News segment as well. We're gonna hear from multiple platforms.
We'll see how many letters from home we get to.
There were a lot. But before we do any of that,
(02:27):
we want to return to you yet again with a
follow up on our episode regarding abuse in the Amish community.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yeah, we sure do, and we will get to that
letter after a quick brief word from our sponsor, and
we've returned and Ben, you're absolutely right. We had a
pretty big outpouring of response to the episode on abuse
in the Amish community. A lot of them from folks
(02:55):
that live in and around parts of the country where
there are significant, you know, Amish populations. And that is
the case from Don Vee, who wrote into us with
a very respectful and kind maybe a clarification, not even
a correction. I'll just get right to it, gentlemen. I
just got done listening to your episode on the horrific
crimes within the Amish community, and I wanted to thank
(03:17):
you on a fantastic job covering a little known and
quite taboo subject. Thank you very much. I am a
builder and welder out here in northeast slash Central Pennsylvania,
and while I myself am not Amish, there are numerous
intersecting communities surrounding me, and I deal with them several
times a week. I get my lumber from an Amish sawmill.
I buy my welding gas from an Amish supplier. The
(03:39):
steelyard I go to is Amish owned and run. You
get the idea. The one thing that I think you
got slightly wrong is a little quip stuck in a
line towards the beginning of the show where it was
mentioned that they eschee the trappings of the outside world,
including money, and that's where you're a bit off, and
I don't, don Vie. I don't recall exactly who said that,
sounds like something I might have said, but really really
(04:02):
appreciate the perspective here. So don Vi goes on. The
Amish not only don't regard money as evil, they are
some of the most hardcore capitalists down to their marrow.
Many of them will do just about anything for money.
The vast majority of puppy mills being run in Pennsylvania
are Amish, including ones that have been busted for breeding
and grooming dogs used in dogfighting rings. There is more
(04:24):
than one account of Amish barns going up in flames
because of an exploding meth lab within. We did talk
on the episode about meth production within the Amish community.
A little bit near the end. What most people would
be surprised to learn is the vast majority of Amish
men retire millionaires. They buy up enormous swaths of land,
including almost entire towns, where they then move others and
(04:47):
from other far away communities so they can vote and
install local politicians of their choosing before moving on to
another town to do the same. They are extremely shrewd
businessmen who hold a shocking amount of wealth, health, and
political juice in rural areas. Hope this clears up a
few misconceptions about this often misunderstood community. I do have
some hilarious stories of cultural divides in my years of
(05:09):
dealing with these folks. Should you ever get bored and
want a good laugh, take care, guys, thanks for being realists.
Don v as very sweet and incredibly informative. I did
not know about any of that stuff, and that is
the kind of thing that really would be hard to know.
And this is kind of probably some of the stuff
they don't want you to know unless you are like
Don and doing actual business with them or living in
(05:31):
and around those communities.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And Don, thank you for taking the time to first
check out our show, and thank you for writing in
with firsthand experience, which we always love. We also want
to give a shout out to some other folks, including
the Brockness Monster who wrote in regarding the puppy mill
phenomena that you pointed out there. Don It is fascinating
(05:54):
because we're looking at the interaction between a in group
and a out group. The plane or the English or
however the non Amish may be referred to, still do business.
They still live in a larger community. You know, you
can buy Amish furniture online. A lot of people in
(06:14):
Amish communities do have checking accounts, right, do have credit cards,
do use US currency here in the United States to
interact with the secular world. So it makes sense, no sense,
it makes dollars and sense. We should say that there
will be people in those communities who are able to
(06:35):
reach financial success.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Think about how much money the average person, let's say
middle Yes, I know, I buy.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
All the time.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I am super bullish, make.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Their own cowpoop from all the cap and with you immediately, Matt, please,
I'm so sorry to interrupt. You's got excited.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
No, no, I just I just think about recurring expenses
that you know now there are companies making millions and
millions of dollars and all they do is point out
your recurring payments on your credit card that you forgot about,
you know, like reread ads for companies that do that,
and just you know, I think about the stuff that's
in my house right now, that's all Like my hobbies
(07:23):
are something to do with electronics or gaming or movies,
and it's just it added up. Yeah, if you if
I personally could eliminate that stuff from my life, yeah,
my goodness, I would be a much wealthier man.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I see what you're saying. We also that brings up
a related point, which is that oftentimes people spend their
income or their largess on uh on status symbols right
within their community. And so the status symbols perhaps the
folks in the Amish community may differ from those in
(07:58):
the surrounding set secular communities. Like if you're not going
to suffer the death of a thousand streaming cuts out
of your income every month, where does your money go? Look,
just because someone has a different socio religious ideology or
lens through which they interact with the world, that never
(08:20):
makes them stupid. That just means they have different priorities
from you know, someone else. So there's nothing stopping people
from investing in property. Right to your point, don to
maybe farm implements horses, both of which can be very
expensive and very lucrative and very lucrative. That's a great
(08:41):
point now, and maybe even depending on because these communities
are not monolithic, right, some are more permissive in how
the secular community interacts. So maybe there are some folks
who made made a bank off stocks and mutual funds.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Sure, but they're likely You're not going to see anybody
rolling around in a maserati in an imp community maybe.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Whatever, like the Maserati version of a horse.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
The horse, Yeah, but that would just be for function,
just to have one that would last a long time,
you know, to have one that was well built. You'd
be investing in the right things. And I think there's
some lessons we could learn from the homage to your point, Matt,
about how to like live a little more frugally and ultimately,
you know, be more fruitful in the long term.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I'm seeing two things here, guys. The first one is
that if my hobbies weren't going around getting souls in
a dark soul's game or whatever, and I'm you know,
and playing drums and all that these other things that
are more entertainment.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Hobbies for me.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I could see and if I didn't leave my like
local area very often, I could totally see myself getting
into like, well, there is some land over there, and
I could save enough money for that, and I wonder
if I could use that land for something. Oh hey,
maybe I need to get in with the local commissioners.
Maybe we should actually work on local election and start
(10:00):
doing that stuff. And the second thing I see here
is we're talking raw materials for construction that are being
pointed out here right steal lumber and welding gas. Yes,
those are crazy lucrative because any of these other companies
that want to come through and build things can get
(10:21):
their supplies from you. It's brilliant.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I think so too. Oh Man, thank you so much,
don Vie for that perspective. I think it's something that
really clicked with all three of us. So I know, Ben,
Did you have anything else to have before we go
to a little quick break.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
If you are a member, a current or former of
an Amish community or some related belief system, we would
love to hear from you directly. We will tell you
how to get to us online or through any other
method of communication. At the end of tonight's listener mail segment,
(11:00):
please stay tuned and again, as you said, Noel, thank
you so much to don Vie, and thank you to
everybody who wrote in or otherwise contacted us regarding these experiences. Also,
if you're one of the folks from the Mennonite community
I used to mess with in Guatemala, I hope you
guys are okay. I hope the bakery is still open.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
That place was awesome, lovely Mennonite community in my hometown
of Augusta, Georgia, and a great bakery, absolutely wonderful little
ham roll things. Well, let's see a quick pause for
the cause that keeps the lights on here, and we'll
come back with another message from you.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And we've returned. Guys, we've got a doozy, and by doozy,
I mean a very deep topic that I don't think
we're going to be able to handle in this fifteen minutes.
So let's imagine perhaps making a full episode on this
specific topic, because it goes deep and there's a twist
in here that we're going to get too that I
(12:02):
think is the reason for a lot of the forward
facing response to what we're going to talk about. So
with all that said, let's listen to a message we
received from Wonko Hi.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
This is Wonko, the same longtime listener, first time ever
calling her right into you guys, and you guys were
talking about the ban of Chinese software and hardware, and
I just wanted to point out that China has already
managed to infiltrate our pipeline. If you look up, I
believe it was Wired who had a fantastic episode about it.
(12:38):
A little micro chip smaller than the size of the
tip of a pencil that was basically able to take
complete control of massive numbers of servers. We're talking governments,
we're talking Apple, we're talking Microsoft. They had this tiny
little chip on all of these main boards that essentially
allowed them to duplicate and copy any data they wanted.
(13:01):
They could take control at any time. So as far
as Chinese made software and hardware, you never know when
the next attack is going to come through. And they
were listening in on embassies, they were listening in on
virtually every aspect of tech. They had their fingers in
there pretty deep. So as far as the ban is concerned,
(13:22):
long before the ban on Chinese hardware or software really
comes into play. We need to reevaluate our pipelines as
far as where our hardware comes from and actually start
to build things in country. Anyways, just my two thoughts
on the band and potential ban anyways, and how little
a band would have effect if we ignore our pipelines. Anyways,
(13:44):
you guys have great episodes. Hope you have a good one.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Thanks, thank you.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Wonka wait a minute, so yes, thank you. So that
chip is this is like industrial espionage or this is
like part of existing hardware and people, and it is known,
it goes, it goes happened.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, it goes deep, and it goes back in time
to twenty eighteen. So at least that's when we found
out about it because Bloomberg started talking about it. And
this is important. The publication, the outfit Bloomberg, they did
their own investigation and then it created a bunch of
(14:23):
other writing about this investigation. You can go directly to
the Bloomberg source if you want to. We'll go ahead
and tell you that so you can learn about this
as well. You will have to I think subscribe or
get one of those things, you know, sign up for
whatever to read the article. It is titled The Big
Hack How China used a tiny chip to infiltrate US companies.
(14:45):
It was written by Jordan Robertson and Michael Riley on
October fourth, twenty eighteen. It's a huge piece, a big
old feature. And then what we're going to do just
because it's what was mentioned by Wonko the Saine there
and yes, thank you so much for this Wonko. We're
going to go to Wired because they then wrote about
it on October fourth, Lily Hey Newman wrote about it,
(15:07):
so we're going to jump to that article in the
same year, right, same year, Yeah, same time. So, like
I said, Bloomberg starts the waterfall and then Wired catches it.
So that's where we're going right now. Wired's article is
titled There's no good fix if the supply chain gets hacked,
And I'm just going to read a little bit from
this to answer your questional because I guess we can
(15:30):
just say at the top before we get into it.
This tiny little microchip that Wonko is describing is an
extra microchip, like an extra CPU type situation that is
applied to a motherboard. I think we're all familiar with
what a motherboard is. It's the larger piece of silicon
that has a bunch of the components.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Printed circuit kind of situation.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
It's a printed circuit that components get plugged into, right,
and then that operates your computer or your server, right.
And you would have a bunch of these in a
huge array if you're talking about somebody like Apple or
Microsoft as Wanko mentioned, or Amazon. So here we go.
These are Lily's words. A major report from Bloomberg describes
(16:12):
an infiltration of the hardware supply chain allegedly orchestrated by
the Chinese military that reaches an unprecedented geopolitical scope and
scale and may be a manifestation of the tech industry's
worst fears. If the details are correct. That's important because
it's if Bloomberg's investigation is correct, it could be a
(16:33):
nearly impossible mess to clean up. So let's just get
into this. The chips that we're talking about here are
from a US based company called super micro Computer Inc.
Also known as super Micro. This is a San Jose
based company. The reason why we're talking about you heard
(16:54):
me say it's a US based company, right, But.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
The assemble things from other places into end user products exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
So again, just use the Boeing example because in my mind,
it's the easiest thing in my mind to see, like
the parts of a plane that get manufactured a bunch
of places then come together at one place and become
an airplane.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Same thing, or like that middleman company involved in the
exploding pagers story.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Oh yeah right, but more like for another thing that
will be familiar to people, the way that an article
of clothing can say made in the USA. Yes, if
the origin materials are not indeed from the United States.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
And made with slave or child labor. Whoo uh okay,
so here we go. This is back to Lily's words.
Cybersecurity experts often describe supply chain attacks as worst case
scenarios because they taint products or services at the time
of their creation. The Bloomberg report raises a much more
alarming specter that Chinese government actors compromised for so ubcontractors
(18:01):
of that super micro Computer Inc. To hide these tiny
microchips on super micro boards, so the official boards that
super Micro is putting out, and those things are crazy
popular guys with the big companies and with small companies
and medium companies. They are just one of the big players.
If you imagine going out to buy a new phone
(18:23):
right now. In your mind, you're probably thinking an Apple phone,
a Samsung phone, a Google phone. Right those are like
the three, and then there's a bunch of other stuff
you could go to microcenter to get or order online.
Super Micro is one of these companies if you're buying
server arrays. Yes, these chips, according to Bloomberg, offered a
(18:43):
fundamental backdoor into the devices they were hidden in, ultimately
helping the Chinese government access the networks of more than
thirty US companies, including Apple and Amazon, and they could
use them to gather intelligence on plans, communications, and intellectual property.
Here's why why the Bloomberg investigation is a bit called
(19:03):
into question here. As soon as this came out, right
as soon as this news hit, and even before because
these big companies like Apple and Amazon were reached out
to before publication. Those big companies refuted this report completely.
They said, no, this is not true, This did not happen.
(19:23):
They have never found any evidence that anything like this
has ever occurred. There's no attack on our infrastructure. Everything's good,
we're good. There are no malicious ships. Here's a quote.
Apple has never found malicious chips. Hardware manipulations or vulnerabilities
purposefully planted in any server. Cool, okay, sure, So then
(19:44):
of course it's on the journalists. They're at Bloomberg, and
for them they either have to say, hey, that's our bad,
we'll retract parts of our report or something like that.
That is not what they did. Those journalists said, no,
we've done our due diligence, We've verified everything before we
publish the story. We know it happened and it's true.
(20:05):
And the companies were like, no, it's not. And then
it just becomes Okay, who do you believe the investigative
journalists and like private investigators and people who are actually
you know, getting quotes from individuals from within some of
the operations, and.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
The independent white hats who also confirmed it.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yes, or do you listen to the big corporation that
has a lot to lose if like, think about what
we're talking about here, Apple servers, Amazon servers, just those
two companies, right, What does Amazon own Amazon Web services?
What types of information do they run through their servers?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
All of it, all of the things.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Most of it, I mean same with Apple, right, and
with personal information that you back up in the cloud.
Massive deal. But Guys, here's where it gets crazy, and
this is where I think we end the segment because
this is what we need to explore in full. A
couple of years later, after all of this was reported,
(21:05):
more information came out and it got weirder. Guys, it
got weirder.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Can I talk about, well, we'll hold it for an episode.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
We can hold it for an episode, Okay, but let's
say this. More details came out in like twenty twenty one.
But I think their wrinkle and why this is such
a massive deal is because one of the journalists who
wrote this article went on All Things Considered, It's an
NPR show on the day basically on October fourth, when
all of this is coming out, and he made the
(21:37):
statement which is also included in the Bloomberg article. But
he made the statement that the chip was also found
in servers of the Pentagon and the CIA, which would
might be a problem. I don't know, maybe.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Ed just last month the FBI got that court order through. Yes, yeah, okay, spoilers.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Folks, dude, there's stuff that we got to dig in.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Yeah, Wonko the same, thank you again. Yeah, this is
an episode we should go ahead and do it because
it's just going to get stranger the longer we hold
off on it.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Agreed, Wonco, You're the best. We will be right back
with more messages from you.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
And we have returned with just some letters from home.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
No.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
I mentioned in a previous program we would share stories
of some fellow conspiracy realist in the education space. We
are going to share those in the future. And speaking
of hardware and software and the interaction with the human mind,
we have a quick letter from home from our pal Flounder. Flounder,
(22:52):
thank you so much for calling, and also Matt, thank
you for hurting the voicemails.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Here we go.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Quick reaction to a statement I made earlier asking why
there isn't more positive social media.
Speaker 6 (23:07):
Gentlemen, good morning. Your most recent episode, you made the
comment that how come we do not have a positive
social media? I think the problem is the word social.
Problem is us people are what makes it bad, not
the technology. The call is coming from inside the house.
(23:29):
You can call me flounder a pH.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Oh, flounder. You told us how to spell it bird
the persona the handle is compromised. But also that is
a pretty good point, is it not. I think that
we use that as you know, I said that was
kind of a throwaway thing. In the conversation. We didn't
talk too much about it, but we did hit on
the idea, right, Like, it seems that the we're in
(23:56):
a chicken and egg situation. Is the algorithm pushing you
toward things arguable or is the algorithm showing you things that, uh,
just exacerbate your natural inclinations. What do you guys think?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, it's the things that we become fascinated by, the
things that are pleasurable to view the thing. Yeah, it's
it's all of those things that No, it is us.
I'm sorry, I keep thinking just that idea.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
It's a pickle, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
It's it's so many pickles dancing around.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
My algorithm is just pickles. It's pickles and this one
armed monkey from China, and it's yes, thank you for
bringing that up. You were perfect on it. That's great.
Everybody look up, jan.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Have you seen that one about the pickle ice cream? No,
thank you, sir, No, thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Oh, but of it is kind of salty.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
Yeah, what about the pickle juice and doctor pepper? That's
a big online turn. I'm sorry, we're not talking about
actual pickle stuff.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Dude, pickle juice ever since Hannibal I flick pickle juice on.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Yeah, yeah, get up there. We're talking about Hannibal Burris,
the legendary regiment, the late great doctor hanniballect Handle Elector
would also vibe with that if you told them, hey, man,
before you kill me, quick pro tip on the sandwiches,
fling a little pickle juice on the innards when you
eat them, And hannih will be like, thank.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You, yeah man, breditwards do I seriously, I've got I
buy those devil spit pickles that you can find at
your local pickle dealer, and they are so hot and
delicious and you can use that juice on anything.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
And I would say further that algorithms, while they may
while they may just exacerbate natural tendencies of the participant,
there are definite moves on social media platforms to push
you toward certain beliefs. And it's very difficult to be
cognizant of those pushes because they're they're pretty subtle. For
(25:53):
anybody who was still messing around with Facebook in this
evening and age, you'll notice that the bulk of your
feed has now become advertisements. I don't know why I'm
saying that, Like, I don't speak English. Listen to you
pickle dunce. So they've been sending that around. Also, AI
(26:16):
posts are proliferating, and often they are meant to learn
more about you and steer you toward certain decisions, which
is why, for instance, if you go to Twitter, oh
I didn't tell you. Guys almost texted you. It wasn't
important enough.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Did you know?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
There's a war on Wikipedia right now on the Twitter
page about how Wikipedia has decided they're not going to
call it X.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
What Okay, they're gonna die on that hill huh if.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Yeah, that's the hill they chose out of all the
other stuff. Forget the Middle East. They're fighting about Twitter.
If you go to the talk tab on the Twitter
entry for Wikipedia, you'll see that it's a bunch of
people trying to update it to X, and then a
bunch of other people saying, nah, a player.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
That's really funny, that's really.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Unfortunately, they're slapping it down. We are going to keep
it brief here, as many of our fellow American conspiracy
realists may well understand, We've got a lot of stuff
going on right now. We've got many things to do,
but we did want to do something I thought all
five of us would enjoy Tennessee, and Noel and Matt
(27:24):
and yours truly and you listening at home. What if
we give somebody a little bit of travel advice? Does
that a jolly good Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Can I give some travel advice? That my son and
I are obsessed with this travel Instagram account and it's
just it's getting the social media thing in and it
is travel. It's called unlikely Gems. Have you guys ever
seen this?
Speaker 4 (27:51):
Heard of?
Speaker 3 (27:52):
But I don't think I followed that one. It less
as Jingjing, the one armed monkey on it.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
No, it does not, it does not.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
I'm missing out, all right, but it sounds it's I
feel like I have seen this, but I don't know
much about it.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Well, check it out specifically on Instagram. That's where I
saw it. At least it's called unlikely Gems. I do
not know the name of this human being that is
one of my it's one of my favorite human beings
in the world right now. It's like a reporter doing
the field, but with a very specific cadence, and he
does things like this and says that, and he just
points he goes to these places across California and points
(28:28):
out like a small rock that happens to be in
a very specific place or a stop sign. Uh, and
it is delightful. I cannot do it justice here, but
I just found out it's a part of the upstate
California Creative Core, Like it's a grant program for California's tourism.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Stuff like that. Well that's smart. That doesn't make it
necessarily bad nor sinister.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Oh dang, okay, I don't think so. It just head
over to Modoc County. That's all I know.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
All right, could you spell it for us? M O
doc there we go, not to be confused with the
absolute legend from Marvel Comics. Right, So, our our letter
from home here going back to you, our listener, We're
just gonna call you DuPont Dave. You wrote to us
earlier this weekend and you said, hey, longtime listener, first
(29:20):
time emailing or even contacting you all. Later this month,
I'm planning a trip to Washington, d C. I was
wondering if you all have any suggestions to go to restaurants, bars, attractions.
I'm planning on going to the International Spy Museum and
one or two Smithsonians also museums in the area. If
(29:41):
you happen to be in DC, regardless of where you're from,
you're gonna dig the Aerospace Museum. Promise anyway, DuPont Dave says,
was hoping you all know any more fun or even
educational spots. And I thought this would be an opportunity
for us to really let the rubber hit throad. When
we say listener mails focus on our fellow conspiracy realist.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
We know d C.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
We've all been to d C right, never lived there,
but we visited.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
I haven't been a ton and I've said it before,
I've never been to any of the Smithsonians, So I
really I'm right there with you asking for Rex. I
haven't experienced a ton of DC at all. Dude.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
What you need to do right now is reserve a
Pentagon tour because they offer them. You can get them,
and you can tour the Pentagon.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yes, and you may. I love that, Matt. You may
have just enough time to do so. Also, you have
to report back. Okay, this is a covenant. DuPont Dave.
By hearing this, you have just shaken some hands, right.
So to Matt's point, further on Matt's point, there's a
place called DuPont Underground. It's an abandoned train station. It
(30:52):
used to be pretty difficult to get inside. You would
have to just know the right people to go to
this abandoned trolley station low DuPont Circle. But now it's
a pretty cool art exhibit spot. Like, now you can
walk through this abandoned area and you can you're almost
guaranteed to see some amazing art.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Dude, Hey, guys, can you guess the date the not
the year, but the month and day when ground was
broken on construction of the Pentagon? Just a wild guess
what month and day?
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Oh Jesus is six six?
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Ground was broken on September eleventh. Oh, No, nineteen forty one.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
I thought you were going for more of like a
diabolical numerology kind of situation.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
No.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Forty one is interesting, just a weird coincidence.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
That's a little weird.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
I mean it's a one out at three hundred and
sixty something chance, right, Yeah, but that is a big
It's a lot different from guessing someone's zodiac si. You
know what I mean. We still haven't done an astrology episode.
Let us know if that feels like it bags your badgers.
We also want to recommend for you DuPont Dave. We
(32:12):
want to recommend things like, well, it depends on what
you go what you go for, and how you're feeling.
If you want something peaceful, there's really kick ass Bonzai Museum,
the National Bonzeye Museum. One of the I think one
of the oldest trees there, if it's still alive, dates
back to the seventeenth century, early seventeenth century. I still
(32:34):
have no idea how bonds I can live that long.
You guys remember the movie The Exorcist.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Yeah, guys, I recall it vaguely. Also the Karate Kid
Part two. There's Bonzie trees in that one.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
That's all Oh, okay, yeah, okay, I'm back, We're We're back.
The Exorcist the Fame. No spoilers, folks. It is one
of the scariest films. If you recall, there is a
pivotal moment where a protagonist encounters some stairs. Those stairs
are in Washington, DC. You can see them. It is
(33:10):
an historic landmark. I feel like you have to very
much care about The Exorcist to go out of your
way to look at some stairs.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
I'm a bit of a pop culture stair tourist. You know,
I've been to the ones in Philly, that rocky exercise.
I have seen them. But I think that could be fun.
Someone should put together a list of historical and or
pop culturally important stairs.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
That's a good idea. Yeah, I agree. You can also,
if you're feeling kind of creepy, you can go to
a facimile catacomb complex. Yeah yeah, so all right, cast
your memory back. You're it's the SubTime of the early
(33:54):
nineteen hundreds. You're a bunch of Franciscan monks, and you say,
we need to show people the Holy Land. But a
lot of folks can't afford to get over the Atlantic
and visit that area. So if they can't afford the
trip overseas, what do we do? We make it at home.
(34:14):
We have catacombs at home, I mean yeah, yeah, so
they do have a papal endorsement. They do have a
very real skeleton in there. It's over at fourteen hundred
Quincy Street, Northeast. I don't know if it's it's kind
of a tourist trap, I think, but I like catacolm.
I think catacombs are cool.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
They feel like, you know, and while you're in the catacombs,
do yourself a favor and look for some old currency
that is no longer functional, because guys, in Washington, d C.
At fourteenth and C Streets you can find the Mutilated
Currency Division finally, and you can go walk up and say, hey,
(34:58):
can I check this out?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
We also have to recommend they'll probably just be interested
that you're interested, you.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Know, exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
We can also recommend look even the stuff that sounds
I guess very on the map and it's very touristy.
We promise you a lot of it is amazing. Right,
There's a certain it doesn't matter whether or not you're
from the US, there's a certain gravitas and grandeur to
the construction of the city, to the monuments and edifices
(35:32):
that have been built there. One of the ones that
I think always interested us were the Freemason the Freemason Complex,
and of course the Washington Monument, which started out as
something that looked way more understandable and ended up being
an obelisk.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Dude, I want to ask you, guys, is the is
this just a fake thing? The idea that the Washington
Monument was built around an old tree. That's just a
right the quote quote special tree.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
I haven't heard about that.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
I do like the pun of special tea special tree.
But I'm not. I wasn't. I wasn't on scene when
they were building. It's I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Oh okay, it's a it's that's good. Well you were around,
you just weren't there.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
But I think it's a TikTok thing or you know,
one of those like creepypasta things, like this idea that
there's this mythical tree with special powers that the monument
was built around.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Yeah, we do love a Washington legend. We also we
also recommend that you check out the Washington National Cathedral.
There is a crypt there that has the marble tomb
of Woodrow Wilson. Also Helen Keller's ashes are interred in
the area. It's a it's a nice way to encounter history.
(36:56):
There's so much stuff to do. You cannot throw a
stone or a bouncy ball without hitting something really cool
that you should check out in Washington, d C. I
almost said Deac because I just remembered you guys, the
DEA has a small museum in their lobby and one
of the weirdest things they have is their exhibit of bongs.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
What cool? Tell me more?
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Right right now?
Speaker 4 (37:24):
I got you back in Yeah, man, you're talking about
stairs right.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
They have a I think it's back open out closed
temporarily in twenty nineteen, but years of past. So if
you're cool and you're comfortable visiting the DEA, you could
check out their museum. As a matter of fact, a
lot of those agencies in DC and in Virginia have
(37:50):
little like at home museums.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
You can visit, dude, And when you get a little
a little hungry and you want to slice a pizza,
maybe we recommend comet ping pong.
Speaker 4 (38:01):
That's funny, Matt, check out the basement.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Sorry, we're joking. Sorry, but it is on Connecticut Avenue though.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
And we do hope that you report back. Furthermore, we
hope that any of our fellow conspiracy realists residing in
the area have their own recommendations, so please send them
to us. Is what are the hidden parts of DC
Caveat that a normal person can visit without getting in trouble.
We would love to hear more. We know it's a
(38:32):
very interesting time to visit the nation's capital. It's just true.
But there's amazing history here and you will not regret
checking out any of the weird things. We just recommend it,
So tell us your thoughts. Thank you to everybody who
wrote in. We can't wait to hang out with you
on the air later in a future evening. We have
(38:53):
so many explorations ahead. We want you to be part
of the team, so join up with the call. You
can find us via email, you can find us on
the phone. You can even reach out to us online.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
That's right. We exist at the handle Conspiracy Stuff all
over the Internet on various platforms of note, including Facebook,
where we have our Facebook group Here's where it gets crazy.
On x fka, Twitter, as well as on YouTube, where
you can find video content galore to enjoy. On Instagram
and TikTok. However, we are Conspiracy Stuff Show. Hey, do you.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Want to call us? Call one eight three three STDWYTK.
It's our voicemail system. When you call in, give yourself
a cool nickname and let us know if we can
use your name and message on the air. Before calling,
Go ahead and put that in as a contact on
your phone just in case it calls you back. Because
it might. If you got more to say they can
fit in a three minute voicemail. Why not instead send
(39:47):
us a good old fashioned email.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
We are the entities that read every piece of correspondence
we receive. Be well aware yet unafraid. Sometimes the void
writes back, and sometimes we'll just answer the email on air,
but we owe you a bit of correspondence. We love
it when you send us the links, send us the leads,
take us to the edge of the rabbit hole. We
will do the rest. Thank you so much for joining
(40:11):
us on air, so we'll see you on the emails
out there in the dark. Conspiracy at iHeartRadio dot com.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Stuff they Don't Want you to Know is a production
of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know News
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Matt Frederick
Ben Bowlin
Noel Brown
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