August 26, 2025 • 37 mins
Hour 4 of A&G features...
- Weight loss talk and building healthy habits
- Rules for the backyard BBQ
- Jason Owens, retired Border Patrol, talks to Jack Armstrong!
- Final Thoughts!
Stupid Should Hurt: https://www.armstrongandgetty.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio, the George
Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong Show, Katty.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Armstrong and Jetty and he Armstrong and Yetty. Do you
want people to click on your news story? Don't say
horse rescued with crane after falling in pit. Oh my god, Internet, please,
(00:32):
you invented clickbait. This is what you do.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
That's the best headline you could come up with.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Let me help you out.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Total stud pulled out of dirty hole, hung like a horse.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Pretty good. Bill maher tips for writing headlines. So Katie
came across this story. She started to tell it about
all of our weight loss goals that a lot of
US Americans had to start the summer, and I said,
hold off, we need to talk to everybody, so lay
it out force. What's the deal.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
So this is a study from the CDC, and according
to them, forty nine percent of US had a goal
of losing twenty pounds before summer arrived.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So half of Americans lie to themselves probably every year
and say I'm going to lose twenty pounds by the
time summer starts.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So you can't.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
You can't get into the gym for the first month
of the year.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Before you and I think, as we all know, try
to lose weight. It's way more about the eating than
it is everything else. It's you got to change your
eating a lot. But so half of us dilute ourselves,
probably every year into thinking, this year, I'm gonna lose
twenty pounds, which is a lot. I mean, if you're six,
(01:54):
four to twenty pounds is a lot. If you're five
to three, it's really a lot. As a woman, you're
not gonna lose twenty pounds before summer. You're gonna lose
twenty pounds so you can go out in your bikini
or your tank top of or short sworder. Anyway, how
well did we do.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Well? They're saying at one to two pounds a week,
that can take up to ten weeks, and that's.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Good math right there. Two pounds a week for ten
weeks is twenty pounds. Hey, thank you, CDC.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
You're the people that you're the people that brought us
stand six feet apart with that sort of math.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
They're saying that not many people reach that goal. They're
not giving me the exact percentage, but duh, you know
this is like the article the title of this article
should just be duh. If you didn't reach your goal.
The CDC says, however, all is not lost. You should
turn your summer plan into a holiday one because health
experts say that cold weather makes your body work harder,
(02:47):
which makes weight loss easier.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
What a bunch of crap? I mean? That is, you know,
technically true, but it's not going to have any effect
on people's changing. You'd have to radically change your lifestyle
to lose twenty pounds.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, and people don't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's just right. The CDC needs to stop funding it. Yes, Michael, who.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Wants to diet during the holidays, that's the worst time
for me.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
That's when I put on my weight. Well, and if
you weren't motivated to do something to where you're going
to start wearing less clothes like you're going to be
seen on the beach, You're definitely not going to be
motivated to lose your twenty pounds when you can cover
it up with a hoodie and a sweater.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Yes, cover up the fluff.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's hoodie season.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
It's I go cozy hoodie season.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I can just let her fly.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Give me those mashed potatoes I.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Have known I think a total of three people in
my entire life that lost a lot of weight and
kept it off. Three total. I've known dozens of people
that lost a lot of weight and then gained it back.
And that's not a knock on anybody. It's just what happens.
(03:57):
And we've talked about this before. We this has only
been known for a few years. But unfortunately, if your
body gets a set point on the weight, you lose
that weight, your brain goes into survival mode. Oh my god,
we're gonna starve, and it starts hoarding those calories, turning
them into fat, thinking it needs to do that to
(04:17):
keep you alive, slowing down your metabolism to make sure
you can keep weight on. I mean, it's horrible, but
that's what the human body does. So that's why it's very, very,
very It's damn near impossible to lose weight and keep
it off. You have done it, which I'm gonna ask
you about in a second. You did it. Our old
producer Vince did it. I've seen pictures of him. He
(04:38):
lost do youn't remember how much weight he lost. It
was over a hundred pounds. Yeah, and he's kept it
off and then I don't even remember who the third was.
I might not even have three. I might have two
in my whole life that lost a bunch of weight
and kept it off. It's just really really hard to do.
It sucks that that's the fact, but it just so
how did you do it? The losing part? I think
(05:00):
most people get the keeping it off part. That's where
the rubber meets the road or the milkshake meets the belly.
How do you do that well?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
And so I've been on both sides of that. I've
lost a significant amount of weight twice in my life.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh really, so not just this one time.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Not just this one time. I did it once in
my mid twenties because I got weight. I don't know
if this is actually a thing, but like having to
fight your weight runs on all sides of my family,
back generations. I mean, it's like weight loss has been
constantly a struggle. So I don't know if that's hereditary
or something.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Definitely to a certain extent. And you know, and then
you also get like family lifestyles tied in with that too. Yeah,
I mean I see it. Starbucks, A very big mom
and a very big dad given their little kid, a
big giant milkshake right, which may not be the best idea,
but genetics definitely plays a role. At your heaviest, what
(05:57):
was your height and weight?
Speaker 4 (05:58):
My heaviest was two hundred and ten pounds and I'm five.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Four five four to ten.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
You were two hundred and ten pounds when I started
on the show.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You were you carry it well?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Hey?
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Thanks?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Five four two ten mm hm. And now and then
then then then how much you do you look now?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Now? I am five four and floating between one five,
which I'm totally happy with.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, which is very very normal. You look great, so
there'd be no reason to lose weight from where you
are now.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
But the way I gained it all back was I
totally dropped my routine. I thought, oh, I'd lost the weight.
I'm good. You know. I don't have to keep working
out every day like I was. I can skip a
couple days here and there, you know, and I do.
I have my cheat days now, But I was. I
threw it out. I threw my whole routine.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well, if the body worked the way we all thought
it did, so you're like, you know, you're cruising along
whatever weight you are. You aren't gaining weight I'm I'm
overweight or fat, if you want to use that word.
I'm fat, but I'm not gaining weight eating the way
I'm eating, So you think I lose it was all
the weight, and then I'll go back to just eating
the way I was eating before, where I wasn't gaining weight.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
But that's not the way the body reacts now.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
The body says, we need to get back to that weight.
It is crucial that we do everything we can to
get back to that weight because that is our survival weight.
So it hoards the calorie, slows it down your metabulism
until it gets you back to that weight, which is
really an awful thing about reality.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
It's that's fair, which my mom would slap me for
saying that.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Just now, it isn't fair given our modern lifestyles to
where we're sitting at a desk and food being yemmy
and cheap. I don't know if they'll ever come up
with a hack to that, to where you can change
your the structure of your genetics to where that doesn't
happen anymore. Obviously we have ozempic and all these other
(07:46):
new drugs out there. But anyway, so how long did
it take you to gain back the weight. I've seen
it happen shockingly fast. I'm not going to mention a
coworker we had. We've had a couple of coworkers actually
who lost so much weight and looked fantastic, and it
seemed like it was weeks before it came back. I
mean it was shockingly fast.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
It seemed like weeks. And I also felt like I
looked in the mirror and had like an OS moment,
like what the hell? When did this happen? Like I
didn't even see it myself, But I'd say it probably
took two and a half to three years for it
to come all the way back for and I came back. Oh,
I came back bigger and better than ever. Baby. I
was twenty pounds heavier than I was lad Like the
(08:26):
first time I was big, I was one ninety and
I lost it all. And then I came back and said,
hold my beer, I'll be two ten and watch me.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Go, watch me go.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
But I wasn't anywhere very fast though, considering my size.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
But yeah, I've seen that, and I've heard that from
people that you see you lose all that weight, you
gain it back, and then you end up bigger than
you were before.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
God, that's the most miserable feeling on the planet too,
I'll bet, cause you're like, I did all this work
and now I'm back where I was, or worse than
where I started.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
And older, right older. That it is unfair. I mean,
I don't know who you're complaining to, the white milkshake gods. Yeah, exactly,
the milkshake gods. It is incredibly unfair that it works
that way. So I don't believe in cheat days because
it it It never works for me. The cheat causes
(09:21):
me to gain weight, and I just it's just not
worth it. But you make cheap days work.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Yeah, I mean, well, so Drew and I we will
usually say screw it on Fridays for Saturdays, sometimes both,
depending on how we're feeling. But Sunday through Thursday it
is strict Jim regular diet at all times. And the
cheap meal it's only like one meal, it's not like
three meals in the whole day kind of a thing.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Oh okay, yeah yeah. Our old producer Sean, his joke
used to be about Tom Brady his cheat days. He
looks at a picture of a strawberry.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Yeah right, what is a cheat day for you. I
try not to because you were because you have like
a quarter pounder from McDonald's like twice a week, so
I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yeah, well, I'm an intermit and faster, so it's just
about the right. I only eat between for five hours,
and I kind of eat crap during those five hours.
But I only eat five hours.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And you're also the most active person I know, so
that I am.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I am pretty active. But if I eat healthy, which
I'm not probably going to, I'd probably really look fantastic.
I'd walk around shirtless all the time.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
But I just okay, don't eat healthy because no one
needs that.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
That'd be quite a treat.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I it's tough for everybody to be honest with themselves.
I mean that fifty percent of people saying they're gonna
lose twenty pounds by the summer, almost nobody is going to.
I mean like almost nobody. If one percent of people did,
I'd be shocked, including me. It's just you're not going to.
We're not going to because you have to radically change
(10:54):
your life so much. And just if people just play
aren't going to. I don't know how we delude ourselves
like this and we do over and over and over again,
whether it's you know, you buy a cello and all
of a sudden, you're gonna practice a cello an hour
every day until you become a celis, or you're you're
gonna start going to the gym every day, or you're
gonna stop it, just stop eating the way we aren't.
(11:18):
Most of us are not gonna change, including me. It's
just the way we're built. I don't know. I don't
know what you can do about that.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
And I hate that. It's so much easier to fall
out of a good habit than it is to build one. Yeah,
you know, to build that routine and okay, I'm gonna
eat this, this, this, I'm gonna go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
It is so much harder to build that than it
is to say forget it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Well, I always say, and I have found this to
be true, that habits are hard to break, good habits
and bad habits. But it does seem to be easier
to break a good habit than it is to break
a bad habit. Like I stopped chewing my nails finally,
after a lifetime of doing it. It was hard, and
now now it disgusts me, and I don't do it anymore,
but it was hard to do. Falling out of the
(12:00):
habit of working out or eating better would be easy
to break rock and gar doing that.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
So good at that. It's actually one of my talents.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Hold my beer, watch me go.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Grow pick one?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh man, it is unfair, God, why'd you do this? Yeah? Man,
it's actually evolutionary. I mean, probably more human beings have
starved to death than any other cause of death in
the history of the humanity, and so our body thinks,
oh my god, we're gonna starve. We need to hoard
all these calories in case there's not a good you know,
(12:39):
wheat harvest, or we can't find that elk herd this
year or whatever. But we don't need that anymore. Evolution
God or whoever, we don't need this anymore anyway. Do
you have any thoughts on any of this? We'd love
to hear from you. Also, one of the biggest drug
busts of all time happened just the other day. Details
on that are quite astounding, and other stuff on the
way are strong. Start with the guy who's annoyed at
(13:07):
the city council meeting about bike noises. Let's start there.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
I really just came up here to say that you're
either gonna hear them where they're allowed to be or
you're gonna hear them where they're not allowed to be.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
You need to thank you for the entertainment, all right?
Speaker 7 (13:30):
Is that it for public calm and anyone else? If
there's further disruption, we're gonna have to ask Italy.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
That's a pretty good two stroke motorcycle impersonation. Yeah, that
wasn't bad. If you don't know anything about dirt bikes
or fro four stroke dirt bikes which just sound like
a regular motor and there are two stroke dirt bikes
which sound like that. They're really high pitch. Those are
two stroke and they're hard to be around, and if
you have those anywhere near you, you will lose your mind.
(14:03):
So I don't know what town that was. What was
the other thing I wanted to get on? This was
a well, let's just stay silly for.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
A little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Let's do the whole rules for summertime backyard barbecues. Let's
go through these one time all right, rules for summertime
backyard barbecues on number set twelve thirteen fourteen. Hear me out,
raisins in the potato salad. Oh, hell no.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Raisins in the potato salad.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
O hell no, they don't deserve on the hay payesty high,
raisins in the potato salad.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Again?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Okay, so agree, by the way what I said. Agreed,
by the way, don't put raisins in potato salad. But
it heathen?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Are you?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Okay? I was just about to say so. This apparently
is a controversial issue whether or not you have raisins
in your potatoes.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
It's a thing, and it shouldn't be, but it is.
Hanson says it's a white person foul. Yeah, that's a
white person.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
My bad. Really, I don't think I would mind. I don't.
I don't know if I've ever had potato salad with
raisins in it, but I think I would think.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
That Jackie, you will you will mind, you will mind?
They don't belong in there?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
So is the rest of it just more of that
same song. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Let's find out.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
But here me of solve drinks. Hell now drags. That's funny. Yeah,
(15:49):
I grew up in an offing off brand soft drink family.
We drank something that tasted like sprite and was in
a green can, but it was not sprite. We drank
I think it said cola on the can uh, and
it tasted like cocher pepsi, but it was off brand.
So we were in an orange I think we had
orange cola, and then something that was like lemonish. Yeah,
(16:12):
and uh and clear and but uh. And while I
would give those to my kids, I would not take
them to some sort of gathering. Other people were there
off brand soft drinks. Oh hell no, I agree with
the guy completely. That's pretty funny. Okay. And one more
here we got fine Yeah, I don't know. Gotta beat
(16:32):
in the middle somewhere ribs yes, ribs.
Speaker 7 (16:45):
You up?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
He yes, there you go.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
That's so to say it. The first song was the
white guy singing about the raisins. The second gone song
or the second part was the black guy singing about
the off brand soda. And then they met in the
middle at ribs.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Off brand soda. Oh hell no, am I the only
one who's ever had off brand soda. No, y'all grew
up old money. You've had off brand soda?
Speaker 4 (17:17):
We had, we had, we drank.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
There was something my mom got it the like the
Food Giant or whatever their shoe issue would buy this stuff.
It was called chocolate pop too. It was chocolate soda.
There was even a fudge. Oh that was horrific.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah that sound nicey.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
My brother liked it, but I never did.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Well.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, we had cola. We had lemon, which was Sprite
seven up knockoff, and then orange.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
You should show up to the barbecue with raisins and
your potatoes, slad and a chocolate cola.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yes, we're actually having a cul de sac party for
the first time since I've lived in this new neighborhood.
So I will bring off brand soda and see how
it goes over among these people. We're gonna talk to
a guy who knows more about the border than practically
anybody you'll ever come across. And how about Canada's border?
Did you know that's a problem? Among other things. On
the way, stay with.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Us, Armstrong and Getty, I'm going to talk to.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
The former Border Patrol Grand Poobah, twenty sixth chief of
the United States Border Patrol, now retired. Jason Owens joins
the Armstrong and Getty's show this morning.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Jason, how are you today, Good Jack I've never been
called a grand Thuba before.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Thank you for that, the big cheese. So, what years
were you the guy in charge?
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So I was. I was the chief of the Border
Patrol from the summer of twenty three until March of
twenty five.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Okay, what do you know what the history is of
our border enforcement? I mean, did we used to have
much stricter border enforcement and people just chose not to come,
or did the economics change to where people want to
come across and so we now we need more border agents.
(19:07):
I actually don't know that.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I know the whole dynamic has changed. It's not just
about the traffic that we're seeing, but it's about the
public's awareness and attention to the issue. That the border
has always been an issue in some form or fashion.
It's just that we didn't pay as much attention to it.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Back in the nineties when I started, the Border Patrol
was a small agency that not many people knew about.
We only had a few thousand agents and predominantly focused
on immigration along the southwest border with Mexico. Nobody really
gave any thought to the economic migration. Most of the
folks came from Mexico. They'd come up and they'd try
and find work. They'd center emittances home and during the
(19:48):
holidays they go back home visit the family, and then
they'd try again as soon as the holidays were over.
And that's really the extent of you know, what was
border security during that time and throughout the the ages.
We've had those surges where we've had very busy times.
And I'm sure you know being out there in California,
you know, back in the nineties, San Diego was incredibly busy,
(20:10):
but it was a different demographic that was crossing then.
It was a very different mission because nine to eleven
hadn't happened yet, and our awareness of the threats that
are out there didn't exist.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
In what way was it a different demographic that was
crossing back then versus now?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Well, like I said, predominantly had a lot of folks
from Mexico, and they were mostly single adult males, and
they were coming forth to find jobs in the US
and send money back home and they would go home
to their families. Well, over time that started to shift
because people started to see that, well, the situation got
a little bit rougher. In Mexico, you had people from
(20:48):
Central and South America that were interested in coming up
as well, and people started to see that it was
more difficult for us to remove people from the country
if they didn't come from Mexico. Most of the time,
if you caught Jason Owens from Mexico and you said, hey,
do you want to go before an immigration judge and
see if you're going to be deported or if you
(21:09):
can stay here, most of the time they would say,
you know what, I'm going to voluntarily return and skip
all of that, knowing that it is probably going to
turn right around and try and cross again. And eventually
they made it because of the sheer. You know how
big the border is and how few agents we had. Well,
you can't do that with folks from other countries because
(21:31):
Mexico is under no obligation to take those folks back
if they're not citizens of Mexico, and we don't have
those those processes and procedures in place with these other countries.
In many cases, and in many cases it's a lot
more expensive than just walking them across the border to
the authorities in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, as there is no place in the country you
were going to get free healthcare as someone here illegally
not that many years ago, and now he can. So
there are different magnets rather than just jobs. Well, so
didn't have anything like fentanyl or meth way back in
the day. How much different has that made the drugs
(22:10):
that are available in our appetite for them here in
the United States.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Well, and talking about how the dynamic has changed along
the border, make no mistake about it. The cartels control
everything that's coming across illicitly across our borders. And that's
whether that's people, whether that's you know, illicit substances, whether
that's money, you name it. And so you know, back
in the again in the early two thousands and nineties,
(22:35):
and you know, it was all about marijuana, and you
had cocaine, and you had some meth cases and the
like and heroin. Those are the traditional narcotics that we
would come across. And of course, you know, the world's
view on marijuana has changed, and so the cartels adapted
and they look for the next best thing, because at
the end of the day, there's a business and they're
(22:56):
looking at how can I make money off of you
know what it is I'm doing. Well, they took a
pivot to two things. Number one fentnel started becoming much
more prominent because of how potent it is and how
easy it is to make comparatively, and then also they
got into the people business. They got into human trafficking
because for the longest time, there was not as much
(23:18):
risk associated. People would be a little bit more sympathetic
to folks that were smuggling people across the border than
they would somebody bring it across kilos of cocaine, and
so they shifted to the product that was going to
be in more demand and where they stood to make
the most money with less risk. That's especially been what
the cartel's business model has been and how it has
(23:40):
impacted the dynamic along particularly the southwest border.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
That's interesting. So that doesn't surprise me. But you say
the cartel, nothing's really happening without their approval.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Absolutely not. And there's different ones that are out there.
And if you talk to anybody in the national security space,
especially with CDP and Border patrol, they will tell you
that that is our true adversary. The smugglers, the criminals,
the cartel members, those are the ones that we face
off against every single day and when we go out
there to help secure the border, that is who we
(24:15):
have in mind. The immigration issue, it's an important one.
We have to have law and order, but the national
security aspect of border security is really what is first
and foremost on our minds because that represents by far
the greatest threat to our country.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
And the Mexican government just can't get control of those cartels.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Apparently it's a tough situation. They know, if you think
about an adversary like the cartels, that the amount of
money that they make. And I'll use Del Rio sector
in Texas as an example, because I was the sector
chief there before I took over as chief of the
Border Patrol. And that's a pretty remote, small sector. And
(24:58):
of course back a couple years ago that was front
and center with Eagle Pass and you all the and
the Haitian migration. Well, that little sector, just off of
human trafficking alone, we estimated that the cartels were pocketing
upwards of thirty thirty five million dollars a week. Wow,
you do the you do the math, and that's not narcotics.
(25:20):
That's nothing but human smuggling in one sector of nine
across the southwest border, you know. For and again my
Oklahoma math that that's over one point five billion dollars
a year in one sector that they're making. So you're
talking about an adversary that is well funded, unlimited resources,
(25:40):
and nothing but time to sit there and think about
how they're going to defeat whatever security measures we have
in place. And part of that is destabilizing the communities
and the governments in Mexico so that they can maintain
a foothold and keep an advantage. And that's been a
persistent problem for our partners over in Mexico for for years.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah, it's a very gentle way of saying it destabilize
the communities, as in, uh, if you're a the cops
in that town, you're going to die if you try
to take them on.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Absolutely, and I would. I would have conversations with my counterparts.
These they would be the Satana generals, or they would
be the colonels over some are and they would tell
you it's it's not that we don't want to respond
or we don't want to help out, it's just that
the life we're living down here is very different.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
They they literally deal with at times, gun battles in
the streets, people that are being murdered, dismembered, there are,
there are legitimate threats to their families, and they go
out there and do the job. So you have to
you have to respect and empathize with the situation that
they're in. So I don't always buy into, oh, it's
just it's just a matter of corruption. Now, there's there's
(26:47):
a lot of factors that get taken into account that
I think any of us in that situation would be
faced with.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, culturally, that's why we've got to hang on to
our culture of not having very much corruption, because man,
once you lose that, it's tough to turn it around.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
That's rough.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
So talking about it, talking about the border, when we
just say the border, we all assume the border between
US in Mexico, but you say, there's a lot more
going on between the United States and Canada, now the
longest defended border in the world.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It was always funny to me every time I would
talk to a member of Congress or staffers or in
many cases, reporters, and it still didn't get covered as
much as I would have liked. People forget, Yes, there's
about two thousand miles between US and Mexico, but there's
four thousand miles a border between US and Canada if
you don't count that vertical slash that Alaska shares, which
(27:41):
is another fifteen hundred miles. And oh, by the way,
we have thousands of miles of coast and most people
don't think about it in these terms. We actually share
a border, a coastal border with Russia because of Alaska.
So we have some legitimate things to think about in
vulnerabilities that exist along our multi borders and the threats
(28:02):
both state and non state actors that are out there,
and I think that deserves a space in the discussion
anytime we're talking about national security and especially border security,
because if you're going to resource an agency that's responsible
for keeping us safe, you have to take into account
all that they are responsible for, and not just one
piece that the mainstream media wants to focus on.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
What percentage of border patrol is on the southern border
versus the northern border. Do you have any idea?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Typically about ninety percent of our workforce is deployed on
the southwest border. So if you can you can do
the math, roughly twenty thousand agents depending on the season
that we're in, you have ninety percent deployed down to
the Southwest border. And the rest are on the northern border,
are coastal sectors and in many cases overseas and our
(28:55):
ants offices.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, Man, if it ever becomes a real problem, or
maybe you're saying it already, is of things coming across
the Canadian border. I remember when I drove into Calgary
one time. I was headed up to Calgary, just crossing
on a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere.
There's basically nothing there. Showed them a driver's license and
drove in. That's all there was to it. How many
drugs are coming across the Canadian border at this point?
(29:18):
Do you have any idea?
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Well, and that's that's the million dollar question, so to speak.
That we get asked a lot of times what's getting away?
There's what we catch, and that's between us and the
Office of Field Operations that works at the ports of entry.
Ours is the job between the ports of entry. So
there's what we actually catch, what we may see and
are not able to get to. But then there's that
(29:41):
great void, that great unknown and that exists even along
the southwest border that a lot of people don't realize
as well. There's so much of the border that we
don't have persistent surveillance. We don't know what's coming across
or what's going on because we're not out there and
we don't have the technology. In today's age, it's hard
to imagine that there's actually still areas out there where
(30:02):
there's no cell coverage, there's no reception, and you need
that for the technology to be effective. So there's a
lot of spaces out there where we don't have that
situational awareness, and so we can't tell you with any
level of certainty what's coming across, what's getting away. And
that's one of the things I always said. It keeps
us up at night. It worries is because we know
(30:24):
the potential and you don't want to have something like
that happen on your watch.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah, man, that is true. Jason Owen's twenty six chief
of the United States Border Patrol. Appreciate your time today.
That was very interesting stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Good talking to you, Jack. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
You bet you so. I first of all, when I
first started going down into Mexico, you could just cross
anywhere anytime with just a driver's license and then come
back across and it was no big deal whatsoever. And
I felt perfectly safe down there. Obviously times changed, and
(31:02):
so Canada today is about where Mexico was thirty forty
years ago. I wonder if some day it'll be the
same with Canada, where we have a really really pretty
heavy border presence and only a few places you can cross,
and lots of fencing and all that sort of stuff,
because just you got to stop drugs and stuff from
coming across. And I remember Tom Friedman wrote this quarter
(31:26):
of a century ago. It hasn't happened yet. Tom Friedman
of the New York Times, he said everything will change
with the border if a couple of guys with a
backpack come across and set off a dirty nuke somewhere,
which will probably happen someday. But if they trace it
back to a border crossing Mexico or Canada, all of
a sudden, the days of kind of having a porest
border will be over, and whatever amount of money needs
(31:48):
to be thrown at it will happen. You know, I'm
not looking forward to that happening, but I suppose it's
inevitable at some point when you have five thousand miles
of pretty much undefended border or north AnyWho, interesting topic.
We will finish strong next arm Strong Hetty.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Today we are witnessed to the largest drug offload in
Coast Guard history, a total of seventy six thousand, one
hundred and forty pounds of illegal narcotics. The sixty one thousand,
seven hundred and forty pounds of cocaine represent twenty three
million potentially lethal doses. That's enough to fatally overdose the
(32:33):
entire population of the state of Florida.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Man, some of these drug busts are really quite amazing. Um,
that's huge. Twenty three million potentially lethal doses of illegal narcotics,
sixty one thousand pounds of coke. I I don't know
(32:57):
what the popularity of cocaine is. I mean, I don't
run in any circles where I would have the slightest
idea versus pot. I mean because with drinking down, we're
a ninety year low for drinking, ninety year low for drinking,
which is astounding. Was it not tapering off for pot
(33:18):
and coke and meth and fentanyl and whatever else? Are
you all derelics are doing?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I know I have.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
I have a couple of acquaintances that have stopped drinking
and are strictly stoners now.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Really so that was a trade one for the other.
Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yeah, it was just one vice for something else.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
You don't have to get up and pee. Is that
the main reason?
Speaker 4 (33:38):
That's a solid thought? You know, you don't have to
break the seal or whatever it's.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Called or whatever it's called. Uh, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
I would think that with the headline after headline about
feentanyl and it takes a you know, the size of
a piece of salt, and all this could be mixed
into anything that that would deter you enough from any
form of powdered anything.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, Joe's always talking about that. I think it was
in the Atlantic, that big piece in the Atlantic about
there's no safe recreational drug use anymore. Not that it
was ever a good idea, but there was Back in
the day. If you were careful, you could find stuff
that was probably not you know, rat poison, it was
(34:26):
actually cocaine. But now there's nothing that's safe out there
because they there's so much money to be made by
putting fentanyl in it. Man, you are really risky. I
agree with you. I'm surprised anybody's willing to do it
with that risk out there. It's final thought, here's your
(34:58):
host for final thoughts because was on vacation in England.
Me Jack Armstrong, How are you, Jack, I'm good. Let's
get our first final thought from our technical director, Michael Angelo.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Michael, our topic about weight loss this past hour was
just I could relate to the yo yo dieting going up,
then down, then up, been down, and I'm sure I'm
gonna keep on doing that.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yeah, it's frustrating in it. That's why I don't believe
in cheap days, because it's just I'm an all or
nothing guy. The first cheat, then I'm off to the races.
That's the problem. Anyway, Let's get a final thought from Katie,
Katie the news Lady.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
I'll just to sticking with that topic. Drinking is also
another big problem for weight gain. Oh, if you're drinking
your calories, it's a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Slows down your metabolism.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
When you lost lots of weight both times, did you
cut way back on drinking?
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Oh yeah, I would probably have like one at the
bar maybe a week.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Uh huh.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
You don't eliminate all the fun stuff and left right
drinking cake, pizza, pizza exactly, Burgers, what the hell? Some days.
I have a really good, strict day, and I think, okay,
I had some nine green bread with low fat somewhere
else on it. And what is the point of being alive?
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Right?
Speaker 2 (36:17):
What am I trying to do here? I'm Strong and
Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday. So many
people to think that work on the show here Michael
and Katie and Hanson. But I'll also you listening, and
if you'd like to hearing you about anything we talked
about today, probably find it at the website arm Strong
in Getty on Demand. Also buy some merch there if
you want to. If you want to rock the merch,
(36:39):
We'll see you next time. God bless America. I'm Strong
and Getty. While Joey is away, Jack and Katie will
do Michael Angelo. But now it's time to go. It's
(37:01):
the end of the ship, but it's not the end
of our dead.
Speaker 7 (37:08):
Of our part.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
CAx stays on.
Speaker 7 (37:11):
You only need it to.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Get along while we're on, like get down loaded. I'm
Strong and Getty often
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Armstrong and Getty
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio, the George
Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong Show, Katty.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Armstrong and Jetty and he Armstrong and Yetty. Do you
want people to click on your news story? Don't say
horse rescued with crane after falling in pit. Oh my god, Internet, please,
(00:32):
you invented clickbait. This is what you do.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
That's the best headline you could come up with.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Let me help you out.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Total stud pulled out of dirty hole, hung like a horse.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Pretty good. Bill maher tips for writing headlines. So Katie
came across this story. She started to tell it about
all of our weight loss goals that a lot of
US Americans had to start the summer, and I said,
hold off, we need to talk to everybody, so lay
it out force. What's the deal.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
So this is a study from the CDC, and according
to them, forty nine percent of US had a goal
of losing twenty pounds before summer arrived.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So half of Americans lie to themselves probably every year
and say I'm going to lose twenty pounds by the
time summer starts.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So you can't.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
You can't get into the gym for the first month
of the year.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Before you and I think, as we all know, try
to lose weight. It's way more about the eating than
it is everything else. It's you got to change your
eating a lot. But so half of us dilute ourselves,
probably every year into thinking, this year, I'm gonna lose
twenty pounds, which is a lot. I mean, if you're six,
(01:54):
four to twenty pounds is a lot. If you're five
to three, it's really a lot. As a woman, you're
not gonna lose twenty pounds before summer. You're gonna lose
twenty pounds so you can go out in your bikini
or your tank top of or short sworder. Anyway, how
well did we do.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Well? They're saying at one to two pounds a week,
that can take up to ten weeks, and that's.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Good math right there. Two pounds a week for ten
weeks is twenty pounds. Hey, thank you, CDC.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
You're the people that you're the people that brought us
stand six feet apart with that sort of math.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
They're saying that not many people reach that goal. They're
not giving me the exact percentage, but duh, you know
this is like the article the title of this article
should just be duh. If you didn't reach your goal.
The CDC says, however, all is not lost. You should
turn your summer plan into a holiday one because health
experts say that cold weather makes your body work harder,
(02:47):
which makes weight loss easier.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
What a bunch of crap? I mean? That is, you know,
technically true, but it's not going to have any effect
on people's changing. You'd have to radically change your lifestyle
to lose twenty pounds.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, and people don't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's just right. The CDC needs to stop funding it. Yes, Michael, who.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Wants to diet during the holidays, that's the worst time
for me.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
That's when I put on my weight. Well, and if
you weren't motivated to do something to where you're going
to start wearing less clothes like you're going to be
seen on the beach, You're definitely not going to be
motivated to lose your twenty pounds when you can cover
it up with a hoodie and a sweater.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Yes, cover up the fluff.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's hoodie season.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
It's I go cozy hoodie season.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I can just let her fly.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Give me those mashed potatoes I.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Have known I think a total of three people in
my entire life that lost a lot of weight and
kept it off. Three total. I've known dozens of people
that lost a lot of weight and then gained it back.
And that's not a knock on anybody. It's just what happens.
(03:57):
And we've talked about this before. We this has only
been known for a few years. But unfortunately, if your
body gets a set point on the weight, you lose
that weight, your brain goes into survival mode. Oh my god,
we're gonna starve, and it starts hoarding those calories, turning
them into fat, thinking it needs to do that to
(04:17):
keep you alive, slowing down your metabolism to make sure
you can keep weight on. I mean, it's horrible, but
that's what the human body does. So that's why it's very, very,
very It's damn near impossible to lose weight and keep
it off. You have done it, which I'm gonna ask
you about in a second. You did it. Our old
producer Vince did it. I've seen pictures of him. He
(04:38):
lost do youn't remember how much weight he lost. It
was over a hundred pounds. Yeah, and he's kept it
off and then I don't even remember who the third was.
I might not even have three. I might have two
in my whole life that lost a bunch of weight
and kept it off. It's just really really hard to do.
It sucks that that's the fact, but it just so
how did you do it? The losing part? I think
(05:00):
most people get the keeping it off part. That's where
the rubber meets the road or the milkshake meets the belly.
How do you do that well?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
And so I've been on both sides of that. I've
lost a significant amount of weight twice in my life.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh really, so not just this one time.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Not just this one time. I did it once in
my mid twenties because I got weight. I don't know
if this is actually a thing, but like having to
fight your weight runs on all sides of my family,
back generations. I mean, it's like weight loss has been
constantly a struggle. So I don't know if that's hereditary
or something.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Definitely to a certain extent. And you know, and then
you also get like family lifestyles tied in with that too. Yeah,
I mean I see it. Starbucks, A very big mom
and a very big dad given their little kid, a
big giant milkshake right, which may not be the best idea,
but genetics definitely plays a role. At your heaviest, what
(05:57):
was your height and weight?
Speaker 4 (05:58):
My heaviest was two hundred and ten pounds and I'm five.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Four five four to ten.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
You were two hundred and ten pounds when I started
on the show.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You were you carry it well?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Hey?
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Thanks?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Five four two ten mm hm. And now and then
then then then how much you do you look now?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Now? I am five four and floating between one five,
which I'm totally happy with.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, which is very very normal. You look great, so
there'd be no reason to lose weight from where you
are now.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
But the way I gained it all back was I
totally dropped my routine. I thought, oh, I'd lost the weight.
I'm good. You know. I don't have to keep working
out every day like I was. I can skip a
couple days here and there, you know, and I do.
I have my cheat days now, But I was. I
threw it out. I threw my whole routine.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well, if the body worked the way we all thought
it did, so you're like, you know, you're cruising along
whatever weight you are. You aren't gaining weight I'm I'm
overweight or fat, if you want to use that word.
I'm fat, but I'm not gaining weight eating the way
I'm eating, So you think I lose it was all
the weight, and then I'll go back to just eating
the way I was eating before, where I wasn't gaining weight.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
But that's not the way the body reacts now.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
The body says, we need to get back to that weight.
It is crucial that we do everything we can to
get back to that weight because that is our survival weight.
So it hoards the calorie, slows it down your metabulism
until it gets you back to that weight, which is
really an awful thing about reality.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
It's that's fair, which my mom would slap me for
saying that.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Just now, it isn't fair given our modern lifestyles to
where we're sitting at a desk and food being yemmy
and cheap. I don't know if they'll ever come up
with a hack to that, to where you can change
your the structure of your genetics to where that doesn't
happen anymore. Obviously we have ozempic and all these other
(07:46):
new drugs out there. But anyway, so how long did
it take you to gain back the weight. I've seen
it happen shockingly fast. I'm not going to mention a
coworker we had. We've had a couple of coworkers actually
who lost so much weight and looked fantastic, and it
seemed like it was weeks before it came back. I
mean it was shockingly fast.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
It seemed like weeks. And I also felt like I
looked in the mirror and had like an OS moment,
like what the hell? When did this happen? Like I
didn't even see it myself, But I'd say it probably
took two and a half to three years for it
to come all the way back for and I came back. Oh,
I came back bigger and better than ever. Baby. I
was twenty pounds heavier than I was lad Like the
(08:26):
first time I was big, I was one ninety and
I lost it all. And then I came back and said,
hold my beer, I'll be two ten and watch me.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Go, watch me go.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
But I wasn't anywhere very fast though, considering my size.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
But yeah, I've seen that, and I've heard that from
people that you see you lose all that weight, you
gain it back, and then you end up bigger than
you were before.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
God, that's the most miserable feeling on the planet too,
I'll bet, cause you're like, I did all this work
and now I'm back where I was, or worse than
where I started.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
And older, right older. That it is unfair. I mean,
I don't know who you're complaining to, the white milkshake gods. Yeah, exactly,
the milkshake gods. It is incredibly unfair that it works
that way. So I don't believe in cheat days because
it it It never works for me. The cheat causes
(09:21):
me to gain weight, and I just it's just not
worth it. But you make cheap days work.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Yeah, I mean, well, so Drew and I we will
usually say screw it on Fridays for Saturdays, sometimes both,
depending on how we're feeling. But Sunday through Thursday it
is strict Jim regular diet at all times. And the
cheap meal it's only like one meal, it's not like
three meals in the whole day kind of a thing.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Oh okay, yeah yeah. Our old producer Sean, his joke
used to be about Tom Brady his cheat days. He
looks at a picture of a strawberry.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Yeah right, what is a cheat day for you. I
try not to because you were because you have like
a quarter pounder from McDonald's like twice a week, so
I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yeah, well, I'm an intermit and faster, so it's just
about the right. I only eat between for five hours,
and I kind of eat crap during those five hours.
But I only eat five hours.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And you're also the most active person I know, so
that I am.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I am pretty active. But if I eat healthy, which
I'm not probably going to, I'd probably really look fantastic.
I'd walk around shirtless all the time.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
But I just okay, don't eat healthy because no one
needs that.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
That'd be quite a treat.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I it's tough for everybody to be honest with themselves.
I mean that fifty percent of people saying they're gonna
lose twenty pounds by the summer, almost nobody is going to.
I mean like almost nobody. If one percent of people did,
I'd be shocked, including me. It's just you're not going to.
We're not going to because you have to radically change
(10:54):
your life so much. And just if people just play
aren't going to. I don't know how we delude ourselves
like this and we do over and over and over again,
whether it's you know, you buy a cello and all
of a sudden, you're gonna practice a cello an hour
every day until you become a celis, or you're you're
gonna start going to the gym every day, or you're
gonna stop it, just stop eating the way we aren't.
(11:18):
Most of us are not gonna change, including me. It's
just the way we're built. I don't know. I don't
know what you can do about that.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
And I hate that. It's so much easier to fall
out of a good habit than it is to build one. Yeah,
you know, to build that routine and okay, I'm gonna
eat this, this, this, I'm gonna go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
It is so much harder to build that than it
is to say forget it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Well, I always say, and I have found this to
be true, that habits are hard to break, good habits
and bad habits. But it does seem to be easier
to break a good habit than it is to break
a bad habit. Like I stopped chewing my nails finally,
after a lifetime of doing it. It was hard, and
now now it disgusts me, and I don't do it anymore,
but it was hard to do. Falling out of the
(12:00):
habit of working out or eating better would be easy
to break rock and gar doing that.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
So good at that. It's actually one of my talents.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Hold my beer, watch me go.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Grow pick one?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh man, it is unfair, God, why'd you do this? Yeah? Man,
it's actually evolutionary. I mean, probably more human beings have
starved to death than any other cause of death in
the history of the humanity, and so our body thinks,
oh my god, we're gonna starve. We need to hoard
all these calories in case there's not a good you know,
(12:39):
wheat harvest, or we can't find that elk herd this
year or whatever. But we don't need that anymore. Evolution
God or whoever, we don't need this anymore anyway. Do
you have any thoughts on any of this? We'd love
to hear from you. Also, one of the biggest drug
busts of all time happened just the other day. Details
on that are quite astounding, and other stuff on the
way are strong. Start with the guy who's annoyed at
(13:07):
the city council meeting about bike noises. Let's start there.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
I really just came up here to say that you're
either gonna hear them where they're allowed to be or
you're gonna hear them where they're not allowed to be.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
You need to thank you for the entertainment, all right?
Speaker 7 (13:30):
Is that it for public calm and anyone else? If
there's further disruption, we're gonna have to ask Italy.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
That's a pretty good two stroke motorcycle impersonation. Yeah, that
wasn't bad. If you don't know anything about dirt bikes
or fro four stroke dirt bikes which just sound like
a regular motor and there are two stroke dirt bikes
which sound like that. They're really high pitch. Those are
two stroke and they're hard to be around, and if
you have those anywhere near you, you will lose your mind.
(14:03):
So I don't know what town that was. What was
the other thing I wanted to get on? This was
a well, let's just stay silly for.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
A little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Let's do the whole rules for summertime backyard barbecues. Let's
go through these one time all right, rules for summertime
backyard barbecues on number set twelve thirteen fourteen. Hear me out,
raisins in the potato salad. Oh, hell no.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Raisins in the potato salad.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
O hell no, they don't deserve on the hay payesty high,
raisins in the potato salad.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Again?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Okay, so agree, by the way what I said. Agreed,
by the way, don't put raisins in potato salad. But
it heathen?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Are you?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Okay? I was just about to say so. This apparently
is a controversial issue whether or not you have raisins
in your potatoes.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
It's a thing, and it shouldn't be, but it is.
Hanson says it's a white person foul. Yeah, that's a
white person.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
My bad. Really, I don't think I would mind. I don't.
I don't know if I've ever had potato salad with
raisins in it, but I think I would think.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
That Jackie, you will you will mind, you will mind?
They don't belong in there?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
So is the rest of it just more of that
same song. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Let's find out.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
But here me of solve drinks. Hell now drags. That's funny. Yeah,
(15:49):
I grew up in an offing off brand soft drink family.
We drank something that tasted like sprite and was in
a green can, but it was not sprite. We drank
I think it said cola on the can uh, and
it tasted like cocher pepsi, but it was off brand.
So we were in an orange I think we had
orange cola, and then something that was like lemonish. Yeah,
(16:12):
and uh and clear and but uh. And while I
would give those to my kids, I would not take
them to some sort of gathering. Other people were there
off brand soft drinks. Oh hell no, I agree with
the guy completely. That's pretty funny. Okay. And one more
here we got fine Yeah, I don't know. Gotta beat
(16:32):
in the middle somewhere ribs yes, ribs.
Speaker 7 (16:45):
You up?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
He yes, there you go.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
That's so to say it. The first song was the
white guy singing about the raisins. The second gone song
or the second part was the black guy singing about
the off brand soda. And then they met in the
middle at ribs.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Off brand soda. Oh hell no, am I the only
one who's ever had off brand soda. No, y'all grew
up old money. You've had off brand soda?
Speaker 4 (17:17):
We had, we had, we drank.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
There was something my mom got it the like the
Food Giant or whatever their shoe issue would buy this stuff.
It was called chocolate pop too. It was chocolate soda.
There was even a fudge. Oh that was horrific.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah that sound nicey.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
My brother liked it, but I never did.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Well.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, we had cola. We had lemon, which was Sprite
seven up knockoff, and then orange.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
You should show up to the barbecue with raisins and
your potatoes, slad and a chocolate cola.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yes, we're actually having a cul de sac party for
the first time since I've lived in this new neighborhood.
So I will bring off brand soda and see how
it goes over among these people. We're gonna talk to
a guy who knows more about the border than practically
anybody you'll ever come across. And how about Canada's border?
Did you know that's a problem? Among other things. On
the way, stay with.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Us, Armstrong and Getty, I'm going to talk to.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
The former Border Patrol Grand Poobah, twenty sixth chief of
the United States Border Patrol, now retired. Jason Owens joins
the Armstrong and Getty's show this morning.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Jason, how are you today, Good Jack I've never been
called a grand Thuba before.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Thank you for that, the big cheese. So, what years
were you the guy in charge?
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So I was. I was the chief of the Border
Patrol from the summer of twenty three until March of
twenty five.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Okay, what do you know what the history is of
our border enforcement? I mean, did we used to have
much stricter border enforcement and people just chose not to come,
or did the economics change to where people want to
come across and so we now we need more border agents.
(19:07):
I actually don't know that.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I know the whole dynamic has changed. It's not just
about the traffic that we're seeing, but it's about the
public's awareness and attention to the issue. That the border
has always been an issue in some form or fashion.
It's just that we didn't pay as much attention to it.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Back in the nineties when I started, the Border Patrol
was a small agency that not many people knew about.
We only had a few thousand agents and predominantly focused
on immigration along the southwest border with Mexico. Nobody really
gave any thought to the economic migration. Most of the
folks came from Mexico. They'd come up and they'd try
and find work. They'd center emittances home and during the
(19:48):
holidays they go back home visit the family, and then
they'd try again as soon as the holidays were over.
And that's really the extent of you know, what was
border security during that time and throughout the the ages.
We've had those surges where we've had very busy times.
And I'm sure you know being out there in California,
you know, back in the nineties, San Diego was incredibly busy,
(20:10):
but it was a different demographic that was crossing then.
It was a very different mission because nine to eleven
hadn't happened yet, and our awareness of the threats that
are out there didn't exist.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
In what way was it a different demographic that was
crossing back then versus now?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Well, like I said, predominantly had a lot of folks
from Mexico, and they were mostly single adult males, and
they were coming forth to find jobs in the US
and send money back home and they would go home
to their families. Well, over time that started to shift
because people started to see that, well, the situation got
a little bit rougher. In Mexico, you had people from
(20:48):
Central and South America that were interested in coming up
as well, and people started to see that it was
more difficult for us to remove people from the country
if they didn't come from Mexico. Most of the time,
if you caught Jason Owens from Mexico and you said, hey,
do you want to go before an immigration judge and
see if you're going to be deported or if you
(21:09):
can stay here, most of the time they would say,
you know what, I'm going to voluntarily return and skip
all of that, knowing that it is probably going to
turn right around and try and cross again. And eventually
they made it because of the sheer. You know how
big the border is and how few agents we had. Well,
you can't do that with folks from other countries because
(21:31):
Mexico is under no obligation to take those folks back
if they're not citizens of Mexico, and we don't have
those those processes and procedures in place with these other countries.
In many cases, and in many cases it's a lot
more expensive than just walking them across the border to
the authorities in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, as there is no place in the country you
were going to get free healthcare as someone here illegally
not that many years ago, and now he can. So
there are different magnets rather than just jobs. Well, so
didn't have anything like fentanyl or meth way back in
the day. How much different has that made the drugs
(22:10):
that are available in our appetite for them here in
the United States.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Well, and talking about how the dynamic has changed along
the border, make no mistake about it. The cartels control
everything that's coming across illicitly across our borders. And that's
whether that's people, whether that's you know, illicit substances, whether
that's money, you name it. And so you know, back
in the again in the early two thousands and nineties,
(22:35):
and you know, it was all about marijuana, and you
had cocaine, and you had some meth cases and the
like and heroin. Those are the traditional narcotics that we
would come across. And of course, you know, the world's
view on marijuana has changed, and so the cartels adapted
and they look for the next best thing, because at
the end of the day, there's a business and they're
(22:56):
looking at how can I make money off of you
know what it is I'm doing. Well, they took a
pivot to two things. Number one fentnel started becoming much
more prominent because of how potent it is and how
easy it is to make comparatively, and then also they
got into the people business. They got into human trafficking
because for the longest time, there was not as much
(23:18):
risk associated. People would be a little bit more sympathetic
to folks that were smuggling people across the border than
they would somebody bring it across kilos of cocaine, and
so they shifted to the product that was going to
be in more demand and where they stood to make
the most money with less risk. That's especially been what
the cartel's business model has been and how it has
(23:40):
impacted the dynamic along particularly the southwest border.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
That's interesting. So that doesn't surprise me. But you say
the cartel, nothing's really happening without their approval.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Absolutely not. And there's different ones that are out there.
And if you talk to anybody in the national security space,
especially with CDP and Border patrol, they will tell you
that that is our true adversary. The smugglers, the criminals,
the cartel members, those are the ones that we face
off against every single day and when we go out
there to help secure the border, that is who we
(24:15):
have in mind. The immigration issue, it's an important one.
We have to have law and order, but the national
security aspect of border security is really what is first
and foremost on our minds because that represents by far
the greatest threat to our country.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
And the Mexican government just can't get control of those cartels.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Apparently it's a tough situation. They know, if you think
about an adversary like the cartels, that the amount of
money that they make. And I'll use Del Rio sector
in Texas as an example, because I was the sector
chief there before I took over as chief of the
Border Patrol. And that's a pretty remote, small sector. And
(24:58):
of course back a couple years ago that was front
and center with Eagle Pass and you all the and
the Haitian migration. Well, that little sector, just off of
human trafficking alone, we estimated that the cartels were pocketing
upwards of thirty thirty five million dollars a week. Wow,
you do the you do the math, and that's not narcotics.
(25:20):
That's nothing but human smuggling in one sector of nine
across the southwest border, you know. For and again my
Oklahoma math that that's over one point five billion dollars
a year in one sector that they're making. So you're
talking about an adversary that is well funded, unlimited resources,
(25:40):
and nothing but time to sit there and think about
how they're going to defeat whatever security measures we have
in place. And part of that is destabilizing the communities
and the governments in Mexico so that they can maintain
a foothold and keep an advantage. And that's been a
persistent problem for our partners over in Mexico for for years.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah, it's a very gentle way of saying it destabilize
the communities, as in, uh, if you're a the cops
in that town, you're going to die if you try
to take them on.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Absolutely, and I would. I would have conversations with my counterparts.
These they would be the Satana generals, or they would
be the colonels over some are and they would tell
you it's it's not that we don't want to respond
or we don't want to help out, it's just that
the life we're living down here is very different.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
They they literally deal with at times, gun battles in
the streets, people that are being murdered, dismembered, there are,
there are legitimate threats to their families, and they go
out there and do the job. So you have to
you have to respect and empathize with the situation that
they're in. So I don't always buy into, oh, it's
just it's just a matter of corruption. Now, there's there's
(26:47):
a lot of factors that get taken into account that
I think any of us in that situation would be
faced with.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, culturally, that's why we've got to hang on to
our culture of not having very much corruption, because man,
once you lose that, it's tough to turn it around.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
That's rough.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
So talking about it, talking about the border, when we
just say the border, we all assume the border between
US in Mexico, but you say, there's a lot more
going on between the United States and Canada, now the
longest defended border in the world.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It was always funny to me every time I would
talk to a member of Congress or staffers or in
many cases, reporters, and it still didn't get covered as
much as I would have liked. People forget, Yes, there's
about two thousand miles between US and Mexico, but there's
four thousand miles a border between US and Canada if
you don't count that vertical slash that Alaska shares, which
(27:41):
is another fifteen hundred miles. And oh, by the way,
we have thousands of miles of coast and most people
don't think about it in these terms. We actually share
a border, a coastal border with Russia because of Alaska.
So we have some legitimate things to think about in
vulnerabilities that exist along our multi borders and the threats
(28:02):
both state and non state actors that are out there,
and I think that deserves a space in the discussion
anytime we're talking about national security and especially border security,
because if you're going to resource an agency that's responsible
for keeping us safe, you have to take into account
all that they are responsible for, and not just one
piece that the mainstream media wants to focus on.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
What percentage of border patrol is on the southern border
versus the northern border. Do you have any idea?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Typically about ninety percent of our workforce is deployed on
the southwest border. So if you can you can do
the math, roughly twenty thousand agents depending on the season
that we're in, you have ninety percent deployed down to
the Southwest border. And the rest are on the northern border,
are coastal sectors and in many cases overseas and our
(28:55):
ants offices.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, Man, if it ever becomes a real problem, or
maybe you're saying it already, is of things coming across
the Canadian border. I remember when I drove into Calgary
one time. I was headed up to Calgary, just crossing
on a two lane highway in the middle of nowhere.
There's basically nothing there. Showed them a driver's license and
drove in. That's all there was to it. How many
drugs are coming across the Canadian border at this point?
(29:18):
Do you have any idea?
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Well, and that's that's the million dollar question, so to speak.
That we get asked a lot of times what's getting away?
There's what we catch, and that's between us and the
Office of Field Operations that works at the ports of entry.
Ours is the job between the ports of entry. So
there's what we actually catch, what we may see and
are not able to get to. But then there's that
(29:41):
great void, that great unknown and that exists even along
the southwest border that a lot of people don't realize
as well. There's so much of the border that we
don't have persistent surveillance. We don't know what's coming across
or what's going on because we're not out there and
we don't have the technology. In today's age, it's hard
to imagine that there's actually still areas out there where
(30:02):
there's no cell coverage, there's no reception, and you need
that for the technology to be effective. So there's a
lot of spaces out there where we don't have that
situational awareness, and so we can't tell you with any
level of certainty what's coming across, what's getting away. And
that's one of the things I always said. It keeps
us up at night. It worries is because we know
(30:24):
the potential and you don't want to have something like
that happen on your watch.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah, man, that is true. Jason Owen's twenty six chief
of the United States Border Patrol. Appreciate your time today.
That was very interesting stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Good talking to you, Jack. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
You bet you so. I first of all, when I
first started going down into Mexico, you could just cross
anywhere anytime with just a driver's license and then come
back across and it was no big deal whatsoever. And
I felt perfectly safe down there. Obviously times changed, and
(31:02):
so Canada today is about where Mexico was thirty forty
years ago. I wonder if some day it'll be the
same with Canada, where we have a really really pretty
heavy border presence and only a few places you can cross,
and lots of fencing and all that sort of stuff,
because just you got to stop drugs and stuff from
coming across. And I remember Tom Friedman wrote this quarter
(31:26):
of a century ago. It hasn't happened yet. Tom Friedman
of the New York Times, he said everything will change
with the border if a couple of guys with a
backpack come across and set off a dirty nuke somewhere,
which will probably happen someday. But if they trace it
back to a border crossing Mexico or Canada, all of
a sudden, the days of kind of having a porest
border will be over, and whatever amount of money needs
(31:48):
to be thrown at it will happen. You know, I'm
not looking forward to that happening, but I suppose it's
inevitable at some point when you have five thousand miles
of pretty much undefended border or north AnyWho, interesting topic.
We will finish strong next arm Strong Hetty.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Today we are witnessed to the largest drug offload in
Coast Guard history, a total of seventy six thousand, one
hundred and forty pounds of illegal narcotics. The sixty one thousand,
seven hundred and forty pounds of cocaine represent twenty three
million potentially lethal doses. That's enough to fatally overdose the
(32:33):
entire population of the state of Florida.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Man, some of these drug busts are really quite amazing. Um,
that's huge. Twenty three million potentially lethal doses of illegal narcotics,
sixty one thousand pounds of coke. I I don't know
(32:57):
what the popularity of cocaine is. I mean, I don't
run in any circles where I would have the slightest
idea versus pot. I mean because with drinking down, we're
a ninety year low for drinking, ninety year low for drinking,
which is astounding. Was it not tapering off for pot
(33:18):
and coke and meth and fentanyl and whatever else? Are
you all derelics are doing?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I know I have.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
I have a couple of acquaintances that have stopped drinking
and are strictly stoners now.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Really so that was a trade one for the other.
Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yeah, it was just one vice for something else.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
You don't have to get up and pee. Is that
the main reason?
Speaker 4 (33:38):
That's a solid thought? You know, you don't have to
break the seal or whatever it's.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Called or whatever it's called. Uh, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
I would think that with the headline after headline about
feentanyl and it takes a you know, the size of
a piece of salt, and all this could be mixed
into anything that that would deter you enough from any
form of powdered anything.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, Joe's always talking about that. I think it was
in the Atlantic, that big piece in the Atlantic about
there's no safe recreational drug use anymore. Not that it
was ever a good idea, but there was Back in
the day. If you were careful, you could find stuff
that was probably not you know, rat poison, it was
(34:26):
actually cocaine. But now there's nothing that's safe out there
because they there's so much money to be made by
putting fentanyl in it. Man, you are really risky. I
agree with you. I'm surprised anybody's willing to do it
with that risk out there. It's final thought, here's your
(34:58):
host for final thoughts because was on vacation in England.
Me Jack Armstrong, How are you, Jack, I'm good. Let's
get our first final thought from our technical director, Michael Angelo.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Michael, our topic about weight loss this past hour was
just I could relate to the yo yo dieting going up,
then down, then up, been down, and I'm sure I'm
gonna keep on doing that.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yeah, it's frustrating in it. That's why I don't believe
in cheap days, because it's just I'm an all or
nothing guy. The first cheat, then I'm off to the races.
That's the problem. Anyway, Let's get a final thought from Katie,
Katie the news Lady.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
I'll just to sticking with that topic. Drinking is also
another big problem for weight gain. Oh, if you're drinking
your calories, it's a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Slows down your metabolism.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
When you lost lots of weight both times, did you
cut way back on drinking?
Speaker 4 (35:50):
Oh yeah, I would probably have like one at the
bar maybe a week.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Uh huh.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
You don't eliminate all the fun stuff and left right
drinking cake, pizza, pizza exactly, Burgers, what the hell? Some days.
I have a really good, strict day, and I think, okay,
I had some nine green bread with low fat somewhere
else on it. And what is the point of being alive?
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Right?
Speaker 2 (36:17):
What am I trying to do here? I'm Strong and
Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday. So many
people to think that work on the show here Michael
and Katie and Hanson. But I'll also you listening, and
if you'd like to hearing you about anything we talked
about today, probably find it at the website arm Strong
in Getty on Demand. Also buy some merch there if
you want to. If you want to rock the merch,
(36:39):
We'll see you next time. God bless America. I'm Strong
and Getty. While Joey is away, Jack and Katie will
do Michael Angelo. But now it's time to go. It's
(37:01):
the end of the ship, but it's not the end
of our dead.
Speaker 7 (37:08):
Of our part.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
CAx stays on.
Speaker 7 (37:11):
You only need it to.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Get along while we're on, like get down loaded. I'm
Strong and Getty often
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Armstrong and Getty
Hosts And Creators
Joe Getty
Jack Armstrong
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com