October 14, 2025 • 24 mins
(October 14, 2025)
California mail ballot prompts conspiracy theory that election is rigged. Multiple news outlets say they won’t sign new Pentagon rules on access. GoFundMe CEO says the economy is so bad that more of his customers are crowdfunding just to pay for their groceries. Lockdowns and a mysterious meeting: A quiet prison adapts to life with Ghislaine Maxwell.
California mail ballot prompts conspiracy theory that election is rigged. Multiple news outlets say they won’t sign new Pentagon rules on access. GoFundMe CEO says the economy is so bad that more of his customers are crowdfunding just to pay for their groceries. Lockdowns and a mysterious meeting: A quiet prison adapts to life with Ghislaine Maxwell.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty AM six forty bill Handle.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Here it is Hey Taco, Tuesday, October fourteen, And the
big news recovering is the aftermath of the cease fire
and the president has stepped back from a two state
solution and now the concentration is on rebuilding Gaza. And
(00:36):
can you imagine the costs of rebuilding Gaza. The entire
enclave has effectively been decimated and destroyed. Eighty percent of
the buildings are either severely destroyed or just gone. And
so it's rebuilding. Can you imagine how many hundreds of
(00:56):
billions of dollars? And who's going to pay for it? Certainly,
I don't think you're going to see the Arab countries
that are in the region because Hamas is going to
be controlling Oza.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
There's no question.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
We know they're already there. They've taken over the areas
with the Israelis have withdrawn now moving closer to home. God,
I love these conspiracy stories, and there's a new one
that is coming out that is sweeping the internet. Secretary
of State, surely Weber has to refute the claims that,
(01:35):
of course going viral that the holes in ballid envelopes
that we have those allow election officials to see how
California is voted on Prop fifty. Now the holes happen
to be an accessibility feature for site impaired voters, but
really not. And what the Republican leaders are sweating is
(02:00):
that these conspiracy theories that are spreading online could actually
suppress voter turnout among Republicans.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Not good news.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Now, a couple of things about conspiracy theories. They range
all the way from completely plausible. I mean whether they
happen or not. I mean they're plausible. For example, the
dominion voting machines which were reprogrammed to have Trump votes
(02:30):
move over to Biden votes can be done.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I mean it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
There was certainly oversight, but it's plausible. Then there are
some that are barely plausible that I don't know. That's
a tough one, That's what this is. And then the
fun ones are the crazy ones. For example, the cabal
(02:57):
of Democrats led by Hillary Clinton underneath the pe parlor
in Chicago and a group of pedophile Democratic pedophile congress
people are in fact molesting little kids, or Marjorie Taylor
Green telling us that the Rothschilds read the Jews, have
co opted satellite signals, have concentrated those signals, moved him
(03:22):
down to California and created the wildfires here in California.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That tracks.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, that is Marjorie Taylor Green, Thank you very much.
So that's kind of the ones that you go, no, no, no, no,
come on, guys, I mean, are you that Are you
that dumb that you're going to that direction? You know,
stick to the ones that aren't true, but at least
are plausible that you can actually Okay, it didn't happen,
(03:53):
but yeah, all right, it could be done. So this one,
which is just absolutely hilarious, the fact that the Secretary
of State Shirley Weber.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
But ay ways, anybody know who Shirley Weber is? No,
I understand.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
But prior to thank you very much, Amy, but does
anybody recognize the name Shirley Weber? No, nobody does, which
means positions like this, once you're in, you're in forever.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Because what do people do when they vote?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh? Yeah, the existing one, the one that's already there,
so she's in for a while. But today the move
for the disabled, you know, those that are in wheelchairs
for example, those that are site impaired.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Thoters are hearing impaired.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
For example, there is no press conference that doesn't have
American sign language next to the speaker or in the corner.
And I love those because the facial expressions of those
folks are tremendous, adding drama to the whole thing. So
this is another way of dealing with the impaired community,
(05:06):
and that is the holes. So people who are blind
can in fact reach through the holes and they're able
to read what's going on. And then they turn the
ballot around and send it in and so it is
(05:26):
a secure secret ballot, just like it's supposed to be,
and the holes are not meant so California voters or
California officials, for example, the Secretary of State, who no
doubt is a Democrats. She has to be, there's no
question about it, and so she has to push back
(05:48):
against this misinformation on social media.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
You know, I've said.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Over and over again it used to be these conspiracy
wing nuts and crazy people. The only place you would
ever hear them is on the corner with a bullhorn,
where everybody would ignore them, just these crazy guys blabbering on.
(06:14):
And now they're on social media and now they have
traction and how people believe it.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And the crazier the conspiracy theory.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Is the longer legs that it has. Where have we gone?
Where have we gone? Okay, Now, as I've said, this
administration is pushing the envelope beyond any administration ever has.
(06:44):
And here is the new one and the response, and
it has to do with news organizations. The response from
the New York Times, I mean all over the place,
all kinds of news outlets and New York Times associated Press,
even Newsmacs television. Newsmax is about as right wing as
you can get, and I mean insane Trumps supporters even
(07:08):
they're coming out and saying this is crazy and.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
We're not going to sign on. What does that mean?
Sign on? Well?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants these news outlets to sign
an affi David and.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Basically signing a statement and.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Agreeing to the new rules that bar journalists access to
large swaths of the Pentagon without an escort and say
that Hegseth that can revoke press access to reporters who
ask anyone in the Defense Department for information either classified
or release or otherwise that he has not approved for release.
(07:50):
Now the point of the reporters going through the Pentagon
without an escort, I can see that it makes sense
to have an escort go through the Pentagon with reporters.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Okay, I can see that.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Also allowing them to have classified information. Yeah, I mean,
who's going to allow classified information to be given to reporters?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And heck seth, that can revoke press access to reporters.
Here's the one that really this is where the line
has been crossed. That well, first of all, the de
Pitts Department can revoke press credentials.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Any department can. The White House can?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I mean how many times were lawsuits of filed against
the White House for not letting access to CNN for
a period of time? To other organizations and just as
a side line, side note, is that the President recognized
as legitimate reporters bloggers who blog about the president and
(09:01):
how great he is and call themselves journalists, Yep, they
are journalists. Now, the word journalists, it's not a legal concept,
but generally we know who a journalist is different from
someone who establishes a website and blogs, or does a
chat room or runs a chat room and so what
(09:24):
heg sas said, and this is the one that I
don't get at all, and that is they have to
sign on and if they don't sign on, then they
don't have access. Now, come on, guys, really, you can
(09:46):
stop them from going into classified or areas that they
shouldn't go to.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I get that completely.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
You can certainly say that we're going to determine whether
or not you're legit and go to court and say
you are, and CNN did that was allowed in but
basically saying you have you have to print what we
release or you can't print what we haven't released.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's a problem.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And this is where the news outlets are just melting down.
Journalists have said they've long worn badges, they don't access
classified areas, they don't report information that risks putting any
Americans in harms way. And in terms of reporting, and
(10:43):
this is another sideline the administration is choking off funding
for government run sources like the Voice of America and
Radio Free Europe which has been on for decades and decades,
and Radio Free Liberty. And this goes on to country
is that well, the information is controlled by the government.
(11:05):
They don't get information through the Internet, and so radio
free Europe's not so much Europe anymore, but certainly radio
liberty that goes throughout the world and gives the American
the Western view, uh description, and what's going on in
the world, and to shut those down makes absolutely no sense.
It pushes America, that's what it's about. It pushes America.
(11:32):
So it's just another step in the government controlling, in
this case, controlling the press and say you don't print
what we allow you to print.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
That's the difference. If you don't print what we allow
you to print or tell you to print.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Then we're going to reduce or we're going to yank
your press credentials. And even Newsmax as well as the
Washington Post as well as the New York Times as
well as so many news outlets throughout the country.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
All right, so.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Much for that. Yeah, another pushing the envelope story. What
a shocker, that is, all right, Moving over to go fundme.
Go fund me is a fascinating platform in which in general,
crowdfunding in general was kind of interesting. Now, one of
the more fun stories in the go fundme world.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Remember that.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Hispanic man, the Latino that had the taco truck in
Los Angeles and someone stole it. Little taco truck on wheels.
Someone stole it, and they started to go fund me campaign.
I needed ten thousand dollars for a new one. They
raised two hundred thousand dollars. You never know where a
go fund Me campaign goes, but let me tell you
(12:55):
what's happening. And this is according to the Go Fundme CEO,
Tim Katagan, crowdfunding is getting more and more crowded, with
people asking for money just to buy groceries, that's it,
just to keep alive. A notable rise in campaign for essentials,
(13:20):
a shift from these one off emergencies towards simply every
day of survival. Basic things you need just get through
life have just gone up significantly in the last three
years in practically all markets, according to Gadigan. And this
underscores the new economic reality persistent inflation, higher borrowing costs,
(13:42):
really thin financial cushions, if any, and it forces people
to seek help in new in different ways. And one
of the ways they're doing it is crowdfunding. And they
go fund Me campaign as a poster child because it
was the first and big one, the biggest one of all,
(14:03):
and so historically it was a medical bill for a
surgery right that they couldn't afford, or were a disaster relief.
We lost our home, our home was damaged. We have
a community project going on. But what ends up happening
is the cost of food stretches paychecks past the breaking point,
(14:25):
which has happened to so many people, and all of
a sudden, crowdfunding goes from altruism helping people out to
straight out a parallel safety net. This is a real
problem for people. Inflation that is a problem obviously for
(14:47):
all of us. Now, well, it's not so much a
problem for me because I make a good living and
most people that make a good living are not happy
about inflation. But there's a lot we can do about it.
Just cut down, don't go to restaurant that you normally
would go to. Don't buy those incredible meats. You know,
for example, when I go to Costco and I have
(15:08):
a special meal and people are coming over, I would
buy prime meat, which is ridiculously expensive.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Don't do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It's uh, I know that sounds like I'm a Karen,
but Neil, it's it points out to where prices have
gone and even I'm affected, maybe not financially, but certainly
dealing with it in terms of my mental my mental
(15:37):
state and the way.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I approach this.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Some people are having a hard time buying food. They've
already gone through. Forget meat, we're buying chicken, We're buying
a lot more store brands, We're buying less, we're buying staples,
We're eating rice a lot more. It is very tough
for a lot of people. Inflation it was nine percent
(16:02):
under Biden. It is now what is it amy? What's
inflation now? Three percent?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I believe it was two point seven at the last three.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Point seven, and the we have the government wanting about
two percent. It was nine percent during Biden's last couple
of years, astronomical, and then it dropped dramatically. During Biden's time,
it dropped politically, it didn't politically. Donald Trump successfully was
(16:36):
able to argue inflation was Biden's fault. And frankly, presidents
don't have a whole lot of influence on inflation.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
They really don't.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
But the problem is now with inflation still going up
more so than what the Fed wants, more so than
the healthy two percent, and the nine percent already baked in.
Now we have an issue where people are paying much
higher prices.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Credit card prices have gone up.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Student loans remember those a moratorium on student loans under
the Biden administration.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
That's gone.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
People have to pay their student loans now, which can
be debilitating. Now, there is one good side of this mess,
and Cardigan points this out, and that is baby boomers.
As we die, we are leaving money to charity. The
Bill Gates of this world, the Warren Buffets of this world,
(17:37):
that are leaving their entire fortunes to charity and leaving
their kids just a dribble of money that never happened before.
It happened with Rockefeller, it happened with Ford, Henry Ford,
where you have the Ford Foundation, where you have the
Rockefeller Foundation, very very rare. Well, that's happening more and
(17:57):
more so. There is a sense of altruism that is
coming in that didn't happen now.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Is it enough? Of course?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Not? Of course not so. Is there an answer? Well,
it runs its course. The GDP has gone up. People
have gotten raises, healthy raises in some cases, but for
the most part the raises don't keep up with inflation,
and they're very uneven, very uneven in terms of the raises. Okay,
(18:29):
now let's move to a story about Glaine Maxwell. And
this is such a weird one and I don't know, well,
I do know where this is gonna go.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I'm gonna guess. Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Mid August, hundreds of inmates at a minimum security present
in Brian, Texas were locked down except one, Glainne Maxwell,
convicted for her role in helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse
underage t so her fellow and inmates are confined to
(19:04):
their dormitories because these are dorms that they have at
this prison because of minimum security. And while the inmates
were confined to the dormitories, Maxwell meets with several visitors
in the camp's chapel. Now Less than three weeks earlier,
the JUST Department moved Maxwell to the Federal Prison Camp
(19:28):
Brian from a higher security I think it was a
medium security facility in Tallahassee. Under Federal Bureau of Prisons rules,
prisoners with sex crime convictions do not serve their time
in the minimum security prisons except they have a special waiver,
(19:49):
and this was that transfer. Followed an interview with the
Deputy DOJ Attorney Todd Blanche and afterwards, Maxwell said she
had never seen the president during his long association with
Epstein doing anything inappropriate, and current and former inmates said
(20:10):
their interview said Maxwell appeared to receive unusually favorable treatment
and other inmates were straight out resentful. By the way,
they don't even know who it was that she met
in the chapel. But after the meeting, the Justice Department
released a transcript of her interview and.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Nothing wrong with what the president did.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Interesting They immediately released that interview, but are still keeping
the Epstein files under wraps.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And what's going on is.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yesterday the Supreme Court or last Monday, the Supreme Court
declined to hear an appeal by Maxwell, and so right
after the Supreme Court declined to appeal it, and she's
going to serve out her twenty year sentence. Right the
President was asked, are you considering pardoning her? And the
President said, I'd have to take a look at that.
(21:10):
To tell you a little bit about Camp Brian, the
guards don't even carry weapons, and during the morning shift,
six guards oversee more than six hundred inmates. Because minimum
security prisons are places where inmates don't screw up, because
(21:32):
if they do, if they act out, they go to
a higher security prison where it's not dormitories.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
It isn't where the prisoners can.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Back and forth, walk from the dorms to common areas,
watch TV, none of that.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
So they tend not to screw up.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
It's just really interesting that she got this kind of treatment.
She was transferred right after the Deputy Attorney General interviewed her.
Todd Blanche, Now, you know, does this prove anything? No,
(22:18):
it just does it pass the smell test. Not particularly
minimum security prisons all over the country offer job training,
vocational opportunities, cleaner facilities, higher level of freedom, better food.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
As I said, the ability to go.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Back and forth, and just before the transfer to the
warden called a town meeting for the inmates, warned that
if inmates made threats to Maxwell at all, they're going
to be shipped to a higher facility, a harsher facility.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
See what pans out. Oh and here's my guess.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Here is my guess if the president does not pardon
her now, and let's calendar this one, because we have
three and a half years to go. Presidents virtually always
at the very last day or the last hours of
their presidency issue pardons Joe Biden did for not only
(23:25):
marijuana violators who had been locked up for a period
of time or convicted, but also his son Hunter, who
Biden had said, I Am not going to pardon him.
Bill Clinton pardoned a whole bunch of people like Mark
Rich who had ripped off a couple of hundred million
dollars from investors. Boy, there was a pardon. So I
(23:49):
am guessing that Trump is going to pardon Maxwell. That's
my guess. That's what's going to happen, if not now,
during the last stages of his presidency.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Kf I am sixty. You've been listening to the Bill
Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Catch My Show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty AM six forty bill Handle.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Here it is Hey Taco, Tuesday, October fourteen, And the
big news recovering is the aftermath of the cease fire
and the president has stepped back from a two state
solution and now the concentration is on rebuilding Gaza. And
(00:36):
can you imagine the costs of rebuilding Gaza. The entire
enclave has effectively been decimated and destroyed. Eighty percent of
the buildings are either severely destroyed or just gone. And
so it's rebuilding. Can you imagine how many hundreds of
(00:56):
billions of dollars? And who's going to pay for it? Certainly,
I don't think you're going to see the Arab countries
that are in the region because Hamas is going to
be controlling Oza.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
There's no question.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
We know they're already there. They've taken over the areas
with the Israelis have withdrawn now moving closer to home. God,
I love these conspiracy stories, and there's a new one
that is coming out that is sweeping the internet. Secretary
of State, surely Weber has to refute the claims that,
(01:35):
of course going viral that the holes in ballid envelopes
that we have those allow election officials to see how
California is voted on Prop fifty. Now the holes happen
to be an accessibility feature for site impaired voters, but
really not. And what the Republican leaders are sweating is
(02:00):
that these conspiracy theories that are spreading online could actually
suppress voter turnout among Republicans.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Not good news.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Now, a couple of things about conspiracy theories. They range
all the way from completely plausible. I mean whether they
happen or not. I mean they're plausible. For example, the
dominion voting machines which were reprogrammed to have Trump votes
(02:30):
move over to Biden votes can be done.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I mean it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
There was certainly oversight, but it's plausible. Then there are
some that are barely plausible that I don't know. That's
a tough one, That's what this is. And then the
fun ones are the crazy ones. For example, the cabal
(02:57):
of Democrats led by Hillary Clinton underneath the pe parlor
in Chicago and a group of pedophile Democratic pedophile congress
people are in fact molesting little kids, or Marjorie Taylor
Green telling us that the Rothschilds read the Jews, have
co opted satellite signals, have concentrated those signals, moved him
(03:22):
down to California and created the wildfires here in California.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That tracks.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, that is Marjorie Taylor Green, Thank you very much.
So that's kind of the ones that you go, no, no, no, no,
come on, guys, I mean, are you that Are you
that dumb that you're going to that direction? You know,
stick to the ones that aren't true, but at least
are plausible that you can actually Okay, it didn't happen,
(03:53):
but yeah, all right, it could be done. So this one,
which is just absolutely hilarious, the fact that the Secretary
of State Shirley Weber.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
But ay ways, anybody know who Shirley Weber is? No,
I understand.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
But prior to thank you very much, Amy, but does
anybody recognize the name Shirley Weber? No, nobody does, which
means positions like this, once you're in, you're in forever.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Because what do people do when they vote?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh? Yeah, the existing one, the one that's already there,
so she's in for a while. But today the move
for the disabled, you know, those that are in wheelchairs
for example, those that are site impaired.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Thoters are hearing impaired.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
For example, there is no press conference that doesn't have
American sign language next to the speaker or in the corner.
And I love those because the facial expressions of those
folks are tremendous, adding drama to the whole thing. So
this is another way of dealing with the impaired community,
(05:06):
and that is the holes. So people who are blind
can in fact reach through the holes and they're able
to read what's going on. And then they turn the
ballot around and send it in and so it is
(05:26):
a secure secret ballot, just like it's supposed to be,
and the holes are not meant so California voters or
California officials, for example, the Secretary of State, who no
doubt is a Democrats. She has to be, there's no
question about it, and so she has to push back
(05:48):
against this misinformation on social media.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
You know, I've said.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Over and over again it used to be these conspiracy
wing nuts and crazy people. The only place you would
ever hear them is on the corner with a bullhorn,
where everybody would ignore them, just these crazy guys blabbering on.
(06:14):
And now they're on social media and now they have
traction and how people believe it.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And the crazier the conspiracy theory.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Is the longer legs that it has. Where have we gone?
Where have we gone? Okay, Now, as I've said, this
administration is pushing the envelope beyond any administration ever has.
(06:44):
And here is the new one and the response, and
it has to do with news organizations. The response from
the New York Times, I mean all over the place,
all kinds of news outlets and New York Times associated Press,
even Newsmacs television. Newsmax is about as right wing as
you can get, and I mean insane Trumps supporters even
(07:08):
they're coming out and saying this is crazy and.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
We're not going to sign on. What does that mean?
Sign on? Well?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants these news outlets to sign
an affi David and.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Basically signing a statement and.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Agreeing to the new rules that bar journalists access to
large swaths of the Pentagon without an escort and say
that Hegseth that can revoke press access to reporters who
ask anyone in the Defense Department for information either classified
or release or otherwise that he has not approved for release.
(07:50):
Now the point of the reporters going through the Pentagon
without an escort, I can see that it makes sense
to have an escort go through the Pentagon with reporters.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Okay, I can see that.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Also allowing them to have classified information. Yeah, I mean,
who's going to allow classified information to be given to reporters?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And heck seth, that can revoke press access to reporters.
Here's the one that really this is where the line
has been crossed. That well, first of all, the de
Pitts Department can revoke press credentials.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Any department can. The White House can?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I mean how many times were lawsuits of filed against
the White House for not letting access to CNN for
a period of time? To other organizations and just as
a side line, side note, is that the President recognized
as legitimate reporters bloggers who blog about the president and
(09:01):
how great he is and call themselves journalists, Yep, they
are journalists. Now, the word journalists, it's not a legal concept,
but generally we know who a journalist is different from
someone who establishes a website and blogs, or does a
chat room or runs a chat room and so what
(09:24):
heg sas said, and this is the one that I
don't get at all, and that is they have to
sign on and if they don't sign on, then they
don't have access. Now, come on, guys, really, you can
(09:46):
stop them from going into classified or areas that they
shouldn't go to.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I get that completely.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
You can certainly say that we're going to determine whether
or not you're legit and go to court and say
you are, and CNN did that was allowed in but
basically saying you have you have to print what we
release or you can't print what we haven't released.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's a problem.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And this is where the news outlets are just melting down.
Journalists have said they've long worn badges, they don't access
classified areas, they don't report information that risks putting any
Americans in harms way. And in terms of reporting, and
(10:43):
this is another sideline the administration is choking off funding
for government run sources like the Voice of America and
Radio Free Europe which has been on for decades and decades,
and Radio Free Liberty. And this goes on to country
is that well, the information is controlled by the government.
(11:05):
They don't get information through the Internet, and so radio
free Europe's not so much Europe anymore, but certainly radio
liberty that goes throughout the world and gives the American
the Western view, uh description, and what's going on in
the world, and to shut those down makes absolutely no sense.
It pushes America, that's what it's about. It pushes America.
(11:32):
So it's just another step in the government controlling, in
this case, controlling the press and say you don't print
what we allow you to print.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
That's the difference. If you don't print what we allow
you to print or tell you to print.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Then we're going to reduce or we're going to yank
your press credentials. And even Newsmax as well as the
Washington Post as well as the New York Times as
well as so many news outlets throughout the country.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
All right, so.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Much for that. Yeah, another pushing the envelope story. What
a shocker, that is, all right, Moving over to go fundme.
Go fund me is a fascinating platform in which in general,
crowdfunding in general was kind of interesting. Now, one of
the more fun stories in the go fundme world.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Remember that.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Hispanic man, the Latino that had the taco truck in
Los Angeles and someone stole it. Little taco truck on wheels.
Someone stole it, and they started to go fund me campaign.
I needed ten thousand dollars for a new one. They
raised two hundred thousand dollars. You never know where a
go fund Me campaign goes, but let me tell you
(12:55):
what's happening. And this is according to the Go Fundme CEO,
Tim Katagan, crowdfunding is getting more and more crowded, with
people asking for money just to buy groceries, that's it,
just to keep alive. A notable rise in campaign for essentials,
(13:20):
a shift from these one off emergencies towards simply every
day of survival. Basic things you need just get through
life have just gone up significantly in the last three
years in practically all markets, according to Gadigan. And this
underscores the new economic reality persistent inflation, higher borrowing costs,
(13:42):
really thin financial cushions, if any, and it forces people
to seek help in new in different ways. And one
of the ways they're doing it is crowdfunding. And they
go fund Me campaign as a poster child because it
was the first and big one, the biggest one of all,
(14:03):
and so historically it was a medical bill for a
surgery right that they couldn't afford, or were a disaster relief.
We lost our home, our home was damaged. We have
a community project going on. But what ends up happening
is the cost of food stretches paychecks past the breaking point,
(14:25):
which has happened to so many people, and all of
a sudden, crowdfunding goes from altruism helping people out to
straight out a parallel safety net. This is a real
problem for people. Inflation that is a problem obviously for
(14:47):
all of us. Now, well, it's not so much a
problem for me because I make a good living and
most people that make a good living are not happy
about inflation. But there's a lot we can do about it.
Just cut down, don't go to restaurant that you normally
would go to. Don't buy those incredible meats. You know,
for example, when I go to Costco and I have
(15:08):
a special meal and people are coming over, I would
buy prime meat, which is ridiculously expensive.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Don't do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It's uh, I know that sounds like I'm a Karen,
but Neil, it's it points out to where prices have
gone and even I'm affected, maybe not financially, but certainly
dealing with it in terms of my mental my mental
(15:37):
state and the way.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I approach this.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Some people are having a hard time buying food. They've
already gone through. Forget meat, we're buying chicken, We're buying
a lot more store brands, We're buying less, we're buying staples,
We're eating rice a lot more. It is very tough
for a lot of people. Inflation it was nine percent
(16:02):
under Biden. It is now what is it amy? What's
inflation now? Three percent?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I believe it was two point seven at the last three.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Point seven, and the we have the government wanting about
two percent. It was nine percent during Biden's last couple
of years, astronomical, and then it dropped dramatically. During Biden's time,
it dropped politically, it didn't politically. Donald Trump successfully was
(16:36):
able to argue inflation was Biden's fault. And frankly, presidents
don't have a whole lot of influence on inflation.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
They really don't.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
But the problem is now with inflation still going up
more so than what the Fed wants, more so than
the healthy two percent, and the nine percent already baked in.
Now we have an issue where people are paying much
higher prices.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Credit card prices have gone up.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Student loans remember those a moratorium on student loans under
the Biden administration.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
That's gone.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
People have to pay their student loans now, which can
be debilitating. Now, there is one good side of this mess,
and Cardigan points this out, and that is baby boomers.
As we die, we are leaving money to charity. The
Bill Gates of this world, the Warren Buffets of this world,
(17:37):
that are leaving their entire fortunes to charity and leaving
their kids just a dribble of money that never happened before.
It happened with Rockefeller, it happened with Ford, Henry Ford,
where you have the Ford Foundation, where you have the
Rockefeller Foundation, very very rare. Well, that's happening more and
(17:57):
more so. There is a sense of altruism that is
coming in that didn't happen now.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Is it enough? Of course?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Not? Of course not so. Is there an answer? Well,
it runs its course. The GDP has gone up. People
have gotten raises, healthy raises in some cases, but for
the most part the raises don't keep up with inflation,
and they're very uneven, very uneven in terms of the raises. Okay,
(18:29):
now let's move to a story about Glaine Maxwell. And
this is such a weird one and I don't know, well,
I do know where this is gonna go.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I'm gonna guess. Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Mid August, hundreds of inmates at a minimum security present
in Brian, Texas were locked down except one, Glainne Maxwell,
convicted for her role in helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse
underage t so her fellow and inmates are confined to
(19:04):
their dormitories because these are dorms that they have at
this prison because of minimum security. And while the inmates
were confined to the dormitories, Maxwell meets with several visitors
in the camp's chapel. Now Less than three weeks earlier,
the JUST Department moved Maxwell to the Federal Prison Camp
(19:28):
Brian from a higher security I think it was a
medium security facility in Tallahassee. Under Federal Bureau of Prisons rules,
prisoners with sex crime convictions do not serve their time
in the minimum security prisons except they have a special waiver,
(19:49):
and this was that transfer. Followed an interview with the
Deputy DOJ Attorney Todd Blanche and afterwards, Maxwell said she
had never seen the president during his long association with
Epstein doing anything inappropriate, and current and former inmates said
(20:10):
their interview said Maxwell appeared to receive unusually favorable treatment
and other inmates were straight out resentful. By the way,
they don't even know who it was that she met
in the chapel. But after the meeting, the Justice Department
released a transcript of her interview and.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Nothing wrong with what the president did.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Interesting They immediately released that interview, but are still keeping
the Epstein files under wraps.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And what's going on is.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yesterday the Supreme Court or last Monday, the Supreme Court
declined to hear an appeal by Maxwell, and so right
after the Supreme Court declined to appeal it, and she's
going to serve out her twenty year sentence. Right the
President was asked, are you considering pardoning her? And the
President said, I'd have to take a look at that.
(21:10):
To tell you a little bit about Camp Brian, the
guards don't even carry weapons, and during the morning shift,
six guards oversee more than six hundred inmates. Because minimum
security prisons are places where inmates don't screw up, because
(21:32):
if they do, if they act out, they go to
a higher security prison where it's not dormitories.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
It isn't where the prisoners can.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Back and forth, walk from the dorms to common areas,
watch TV, none of that.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
So they tend not to screw up.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
It's just really interesting that she got this kind of treatment.
She was transferred right after the Deputy Attorney General interviewed her.
Todd Blanche, Now, you know, does this prove anything? No,
(22:18):
it just does it pass the smell test. Not particularly
minimum security prisons all over the country offer job training,
vocational opportunities, cleaner facilities, higher level of freedom, better food.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
As I said, the ability to go.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Back and forth, and just before the transfer to the
warden called a town meeting for the inmates, warned that
if inmates made threats to Maxwell at all, they're going
to be shipped to a higher facility, a harsher facility.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
See what pans out. Oh and here's my guess.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Here is my guess if the president does not pardon
her now, and let's calendar this one, because we have
three and a half years to go. Presidents virtually always
at the very last day or the last hours of
their presidency issue pardons Joe Biden did for not only
(23:25):
marijuana violators who had been locked up for a period
of time or convicted, but also his son Hunter, who
Biden had said, I Am not going to pardon him.
Bill Clinton pardoned a whole bunch of people like Mark
Rich who had ripped off a couple of hundred million
dollars from investors. Boy, there was a pardon. So I
(23:49):
am guessing that Trump is going to pardon Maxwell. That's
my guess. That's what's going to happen, if not now,
during the last stages of his presidency.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Kf I am sixty. You've been listening to the Bill
Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Catch My Show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
The Bill Handel Show News
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