Science, Peace, and Nobel Nominees with guest: Dr. Zafra Lerman (Ep. 115)

Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:59):
Well, alright. Hey, folks. This is Joe Roos, and we are coming to you live tonight
from the Asylum Studios,
broadcasting from the pimple on the backside of Texas,
the beautiful city of Eagle Pass.
And we are going to do the very best that we can to bring you the best quality talk radio we could muster

(01:22):
without all the bluster.
Welcome to the Joe Ruse show. And this transmission is being
sent out all across the interweb
at this
hour of nineteen
zero nine hours on Sunday, the sixth.
A correction, Tuesday,
July

(01:42):
2025.
And, folks, it is great to have you here with us tonight. I do have to fix the camera again
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tech crew you could possibly imagine. I mean, when I tell you they suck,
they

(02:03):
suck, and that's because it's me.
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Now that we got all that stuff squared away, as usual, it wouldn't be the start of one of my shows at least without some kind of a little

(02:24):
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That's correct.
We had nothing, nothing, nothing at all, and, just wanna say thank you to the folks at my ISP for,
getting us up and running at zero hour. I mean, total literally,
I think we got everything up and running

(02:45):
at 06:58.
So,
and then of course, you know you know how Windows is. You gotta have the million and one updates after you've, done something.
So yeah. And then, you know, I gotta remember to turn off the auto updates because then things just shut off and started going through this whole cycle. What a mess. What a mess. What a mess. The last couple of days we've been here with the tech.

(03:08):
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My end is the problem because

(03:28):
I spread myself way too thin, that's why. And
those that know me know that that is quite the
case. Well, folks, I hope you were able to join us on last night's show. We had a great time with, Pat Mingarelli,
and then we also had Marissa Lee.
Two completely
different approaches to everything, but yet somehow,

(03:50):
we had a great show last night, and, I really hope that you guys,
enjoyed that. And, some of the feedback that I've been getting has been really good, so thank you so much for for that. And I really absolutely
appreciate that to no end.
Also,
you know, we have a great show lined up for you tonight. We have, we have a somebody who's gonna be very, very, very interesting to talk to. Somebody who has a lot of worldly experience out there.

(04:17):
Somebody who has actually,
gotten involved
in in in world politics and events, doctor
Zafra Lerman, and she'll be joining us here in just a few minutes.
We're gonna take care of just some housekeeping stuff first, get that stuff out of the way, and then we'll bring her on in. So folks, just wanna remind you to head over to our website,

(04:38):
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(04:59):
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(05:22):
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Alright. So,
got a lot of ground to cover. But, before we get into the other stuff of the day, tonight, we have a guest

(08:53):
that is waiting in our waiting room right now for us.
She is a chemist,
an educator,
a human rights advocates advocate, and one of the most courageous
peace builders of our time.
Doctor Zafra Lerman
is the founder of the Malta Conferences Foundation, where she brings scientists
and enemy nations

(09:13):
from
from enemy nations. Think of Israel, Palestine,
Iraq, Iran,
and more.
All into the same room to collaborate on real world problems like water scarcity,
nuclear proliferation.
My English will get caught up. She's taught chemistry through, believe it or not, dance and hip hop.

(09:36):
Walked through dark Moscow alleys to meet Soviet dissidents,
and fought for the rights of persecuted scientists
around the globe.
Her work has earned her global recognition, including nominations for the Nobel
Peace Prize. Folks,
our little show has
a Nobel Peace Prize nominee

(09:57):
waiting in the wings.
How great is that?
Only in America, and only through podmatch.com.
She received honors from UNESCO,
the US State Department, and she's, and the presidential award for mentoring minorities in science.
But she's also an author. She's written a book called the human rights

(10:18):
called She's written a book called Human Rights
and Peace, A Personal Odyssey, which is a memoir that pulls back the curtain on the remarkable and dangerous life that she's lived.
Now, folks, if you care about peace, progress, and the power of science to unite us, this is a conversation that you really need to hear. So folks, let's welcome doctor Zafra Lerman.

(10:40):
Doctor Lerman, are you out there?
I see you checked in.
Gotta turn your mic on, turn your camera on. Let's fix the camera while you wait.

(11:02):
Let's see if she's texting on the device here.
There she is. The microphone is on. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. I can hear you. Just can't see you yet. Gotta turn your camera on too.
When I put the camera on, it tells me morning morning, you are about to be on stage. Yes.

(11:26):
Okay. What does he want me to do? I'm after eye surgery, so the letters are very small turn on
camera.
Okay. Well,
there you go. Oh, here I am. There you go. Doctor Leko, welcome
to the show.
Thank you very much. Thank you for the introduction.
And

(11:47):
I'm glad to be on this podcast
that does so many beautiful things.
And
how do you want to run this podcast? Well, I'm I have I have some questions that I'd like to ask you. We're gonna work our way down through a little bit of
work our way down to some some easy stuff, and then get to your book and talk about some of the experiences that you've had throughout your career. And, like, I I I basically given us a small resume

(12:15):
of what you've done over the course of your life, and it is an amazing story.
Absolutely amazing story. And,
you know, the and like I I said, it's not often that a little podcast like ours gets a Nobel Peace Prize nominee to sit across the way from us. And that is Yeah. No. Tom will compete with me. No. I don't know

(12:35):
who
can.
I don't know. I don't know. But,
but some of the quest I like to ask every guest that comes on the show just, like two two questions just to just to kinda get it get a sense. Okay? And these are kinda like fun questions. So what is something most people don't know about you, but should know about you?

(12:59):
That I'm scared to death of a mouse.
And that when I served in the military and was on guard for
two to four in the morning,
a mouse came,
and I told him, oh, you or me? He stayed, and I ran away.
Almost got myself

(13:20):
imprisoned as the result of it. From a mouse. Wow. For a mouse.
That's great. You're not scared to walk in dark colors in the Soviet Union,
but the mouse can scare the hell out. But the mouse gets you. That's great. That's funny.
Alright. So so what about, what what's your go to beverage that you like to have to unwind at the end of the day?

(13:44):
Wow. You will never believe
Fiji water.
Really? I like I like bourbon. So
I am not great on drinking alcohol.
So feed you more. I'll do I'll do it for you. No problem. Okay. You can enjoy that. And I'm not drinking alcohol right now. This is coffee. This is this is some of the great coffee that,

(14:08):
that, actually you get through rumble. It's called seventeen seventy five coffee. This stuff is amazing. It's it's absolutely fantastic.
And they're running a great deal right now where you can get, 15% off. You just go to rumble.com/studio
and get yourself your deal.
So,
now you've spent your life

(14:29):
at really at the crossroads of of of science, and peace building, and education.
Now for for for our listeners, for for for folks that may not have known of you prior to you coming on the show here, how would you describe what it is that you do?
First, I'm a scientist.
I have a PhD in chemistry.

(14:49):
And usually when I lecture and I say that,
everybody says, oh, I hated chemistry.
So now I cannot hear the reaction. I hated chemistry.
Okay. I did research
on
isotope effects.
So
I'm ready to give a lecture, but I'm sure nobody's interested in that.

(15:12):
But I just want to tell you that when you hear about enrichment
of uranium,
it's because there are
two isotopes of uranium that we mined.
And the majority is uranium two thirty eight. The ones that is needed for the bomb is uranium two thirty five,

(15:33):
and this is in a very small amount. Therefore, you need all the centrifuge
to enrich it as you listen all the time where is the enriched uranium
in Iran. So
this is isotope, but I worked on isotopes
of hydrogen,
carbon, and oxygen that are very different

(15:54):
isotope.
And they I did the research
at Cornell
and Northwestern
University
in The
US, at the Swiss Polytechnicum
and Czech in Switzerland
and at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

(16:15):
And in one stage,
I
I could not
hear
how people don't want science, don't will
cannot understand
science.
And I believe that science education is a human rights that belongs to all.
So I agree with you.

(16:36):
So I developed a way to teach science through art, music, dance, drama,
rap,
and became very popular around the world.
The way
I proved that I'm not playing with science, but I'm teaching
is I persuaded the chair of chemistry at Princeton

(16:59):
to go together with me on a proposal to the National Science Foundation to develop the same class
for my theater and dance students
and for Princeton non science
majors and the National Science Foundation
called it
our
flagship project,

(17:19):
and it became very popular around the world
with underprivileged
students. While doing that,
I served
as 26
as the chair of the subcommittee on scientific freedom and human rights for the American Chemical Society.
Wow.
And through that,

(17:40):
I worked a lot of few on human rights,
so in the Soviet Union.
In The Soviet Union,
I used to go with scientific group.
During the day, we were scientists, guest of universities
giving
scientific
lecture.
At dinner, I would look in my group

(18:03):
who did not look too frightened during the Soviet Union,
And I would tell this person,
if I'm not here tomorrow morning,
call the American Embassy, but don't ask questions.
Wow. And I would go after midnight
in dark alley,
and I arranged

(18:23):
in advance to meet one dissident
that then took me to the Flint
Alleys to collect more dissidence,
illegal by the Soviet Union to meet with dissidents.
Then at 2AM,
we would go to
a dark attic where I gave them

(18:44):
a seminar and distributed
scientific material
illegal in the Soviet Union.
And then I
all the CVs back
so I could walk on their behalf
to leave the Soviet Union. And the ones that were in prison or in
labor came in Siberia

(19:06):
to bring them all out
in the pleasure to go
after that to an ACS.
ACS is American Capital
Society
Okay. Meeting and suddenly see two people with
suits calling me,
and they were dissidents
that I walked on bringing them

(19:27):
to The United States.
And
in 02/2011
happened other
things.
I thought that we should
integrate my committee on scientific freedom and human rights. I work by the China.
There are a lot of stories about

(19:50):
after Tiananmen
Square and in Guatemala
and Peru.
I took delegations
to Cuba then worked on human rights in Cuba.
And
then
to the board of the American Capital Society,
the idea

(20:10):
of bringing together
under the same roof,
scientists
from all the countries in the Middle East.
Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinians,
the Saudis, the Kuwaitis,
everybody.
And the one roof,

(20:30):
no accompanying
members not to dilute the interaction.
Chemists know that if they dilute the solution,
the reaction is lower.
And Nobel laureates.
And during that week,
develop collaboration
on issues that you mentioned

(20:51):
that no one country can solve alone,
and they must work in collaboration.
And in addition,
develop
friendship that overcome the cousin of the past and intolerant.
And this is when the Malta conference
And in the beginning,

(21:12):
when I suggested that there was sight to hear people breathing. The people thought I'm completely crazy to suggest
something like that. Mhmm. But we are doing it already for twenty years,
And
now is a bad bad situation.
But

(21:33):
I'm in touch with all our participant
in Iran,
and they are all
okay.
Our participants
from Gaza
already with help of the Egyptian that participate
in Malta
to Egypt already
long ago.
Now I'm looking

(21:54):
pay for one family that has young children, and Egypt doesn't let them
the kids to school because Egypt
doesn't want anybody from Gaza
They want just to cancel.
So if there is anybody that has any power
in any country to help me one

(22:17):
in Gaza to take to another country,
they should write to you and you will know. And we will, like, stay with these kids Right. That we here are not in school.
So this is the summary. So everything I can,
if you can think about the fact that just get visa

(22:38):
for all these country
is mission impossible.
Wow.
No country wants all these group.
Nobody wants the Syrian in the country. Nobody wants the Iranian.
Many countries don't want the Iraqis too.
To get the visa is probably the toughest

(23:00):
part on putting something like that together.
And in my book, I described all
what I had in genuine
innovation.
It become a genius to think
what to do to
get a visa for these people.
So this is tough as then to raise the money to pay for everybody is another problem

(23:25):
and to deal with the collaborations
that are going on.
This is in summary. I wrote a whole book about that. Here is my book.
Mhmm.
We were gonna get to that. Yeah. But that's great. It's now in paperback.
Thank god. Because they
Amazon sold it for a fortune,

(23:46):
but now now it's affordable
because I have to pay for that. So I have to buy it too. Oh, I see. So I come to get present.
They give me only 10
for free. Really? I already needed many more to give presents,
and
we do I do
I give lecture and do book signings, so

(24:09):
it's good that now it's a normal price. That's great, though. That that is fantastic.
Before I go to the next question, I had I have to a commitment that I have to keep here. So let me let me do this really fast
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If you don't have the means, we're just happy if you watch us on Rumble, and help us spread the word.
Alright. Bill paid.
Okay.
Alright. So the next so another question I wanted to ask you was, so what inspired you though to use science

(26:10):
as a tool for peace building, especially in regions that that have been so ripped to pieces by by constant conflict?
First,
science
international.
Science doesn't see
language
in borders,

(26:31):
cultures.
Science
is
international.
I always in my lecture like to say
chemist from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Thank god there is a Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. I can use the example.
And the scientist from Bethlehem
on the West Bank

(26:51):
can communicate to each other without knowing each adult's language.
Mhmm. And
this gives science
a power
that no other profession
can have.
In addition,
science is not always solving all the problems in the world.

(27:12):
Science is part of the problems in the world.
Weapon of mass destruction
could not happen
without scientists that welcome them. Right.
Therefore,
I felt very strongly
that it's the
responsibility
of scientists

(27:33):
to use the science
for the betterment
of the planet
and fight against
everything else that destroyed the planet. Right. And this brought me
to do
all the things I'm doing
that really are to make the
planet a better place

(27:55):
for living better because I protect the animals too. I don't eat them
because they are very nice. So not only humankind,
but any mankind too.
I just am afraid of the mouse, but I protect the beak.
So it's okay so it's okay to kill the mouse. We just don't wanna

(28:15):
Pick a good mom.
That's great.
You know,
doctor Lerman, you you've done some some amazing work. You know, and just just by reading your bio and just by by doing some just
very cursory
research, background research on you. You've done some incredibly
courageous work like you said before, meeting meeting Soviet dissidents in secret, you know, and and, in the dark alleys, and and advocating, for persecuted science scientists.

(28:46):
What's your motivation for this? What drives you to, to take those kinds of risks?
Probably the values
that were instilled in me when
when I grow up.
You don't
be you don't start trying
to do good for the world

(29:08):
if you don't have the right values. By the way,
I had to meet I don't know if all your audience, young people don't know even what the name Andrei Sakowov. They never heard this name. Or Tiananmen Square. They don't know what it means.
But I met Andre Sakowov.
He spoke with me with translator.

(29:31):
He did not know English. So he told me
that for the work I'm doing, I should take a crash course of
Russian. Okay.
I could go by myself
because
every translator
that I will have
will be a KGB agent.
Oh, that's That this is how it works.

(29:52):
That's so fascinating because you know, a lot of times I don't think a lot of people even think about that.
How
how how
the translators could be possible agents of the foreign government
and not even really translating what you're supposed to be gang,
but but kind of twisting it around.
They said if you don't know the language, you don't know what they are saying. That's right. Yeah. So this is why I took a class course in Russian

(30:21):
too. So I could speak Russian, therefore, I could go
by myself because I didn't need anybody
to translate,
but it's for sure
comes from the way I grew up.
My father

(30:41):
was a politician,
built the country.
He was always
involved
in
one of the people that
started with the
labor union
Mhmm. Not in The US. In case you thought that I was born in The US,

(31:04):
I live around I live in Evanston, Illinois, next to Northwestern,
but my accent is really not exactly a Midwestern
accent. Not with You mistaken
it for a Midwestern
accent. No. I I I kinda thought you were more, like, from, like, Louisiana or something like that.
Oh. You

(31:25):
know?
Not the Midwest.
Anyhow, I'll give you an example.
When and it's in my book. When I turned six,
I was already in school because I graduated
from kindergarten
in one day.
I saw the teacher pinching the child,

(31:46):
and I came home and I said, I got you.
Kindergarten and nothing
in the world could be there. So I went to first. Okay? And
for my sick day, my father
put a
note in my shoe when I woke

(32:06):
up. And
the letter that he left for me
and remembers
years old. And the letter said,
I hope you will go.
Today is your birthday. I wish you all that, and I hope you go will go up to be loyal
to your country, to your nation, and to your family. Wow.

(32:29):
Look
to order.
Then he said,
I'm giving you a surplus
and this amount of money,
and you will divide it by three.
One third,
you will donate
to help
children that lost their parents
and,

(32:50):
alone
to help them.
One third, to help to plant trees and forests in the country.
And one third you can do what you want.
When you grow up like that with these values,
you know that you came to this world
in order to leave it a better place than when you arrived. That's beautiful.

(33:14):
That that is To my students, I used to say,
every day I used to tell them,
I want every day before you want to sleep
to think about one thing. What did I do good
for somebody else today?
And if you did something good, you had a good day.

(33:35):
Wow. And this is what I was communicating
to my student.
That is beautiful. That that really is. That that truly is. Let me ask you this. Why why do you think that science or why do you believe that science,
education
science education, at least, is a human right?
Because science education is not just a subject.

(33:58):
Okay. It
developing
your critical
thinking
like no other
subject.
It develops your curiosity.
It develop your way logic way of thinking.
You remind me
my students
that used to do theater if they were siestre

(34:21):
student to show the
knowledge through theater because in my classes,
I used to tell my student
I hated
to have to write a multiple choice,
test and show in one
hour all my knowledge. And what if I did not feel well? My classes don't have things like that. Nice. Show me knowledge

(34:43):
as you want. You want to dance and dance. You want to act it, act. So
That's great.
And I felt
that
I have students in Hollywood now. They were film majors,
But they said I I was invited to the

(35:05):
Emmy award that one of my student got. And he said,
my success
is what I learned in new classes Oh, wow. In the film
department.
What a compliment, though. That's that's amazing. That's great.
When they were doing the projects,
they were imitating
my students, and they would say,

(35:27):
critical
thinking.
Critical
thinking with my accent.
It was hilarious
to see where all of them was crazy because I was telling them.
I don't care if you forget everything.
You know, I would think how many of you had to remember

(35:47):
a
the periodic table and the hands went up. I said,
here,
each of your periodic
table,
you don't have to memorize name.
Said, I'll tell you a secret. They by themselves
not don't know their names. So you don't have to memorize

(36:08):
their names.
That's great.
He doesn't develop anything.
It was all in order
to develop. And therefore,
I felt that if we prevent
such a huge part of the
society
from enjoying
this kind of learning,

(36:29):
we are forming to class society really that is divided not by royalty
Mhmm.
But
by their
learning of science
or
not learning.
That's interesting. I don't know. I can see the difference. I when I talk to students,
there is a huge difference

(36:51):
from students
in different
universities
if they
don't take any class that really,
really develops their critical thinking.
That's such a unique that's such a unique approach and such a unique technique
to to to to teach. That that's wonderful. That's that's, you know, it reminds me when I was in when I was in college,

(37:15):
you know, I I never liked, and I I was talking to my audience about this,
on a previous show. I never liked history. I always thought history was the most boring subject in the world. Oh, I was the same. You know? But but here's the thing, I didn't have an appreciation for history until I got to college.
And I had this one professor,
doctor Berger. I'll never forget this man. He would come into the lecture hall, and it was a fairly decent sized school, so it had, you know, pretty large lecture halls.

(37:43):
And, they have the theater style, you know, typical, you know, stuff, you know, the platform stage and everything.
And he would come marching into that auditorium,
and he would get up on that platform. He'd have no notes,
nothing nothing written up on any boards anywhere,
and he would literally
act out
on the stage for for the class,

(38:06):
scenes of history. And when I say he would he would pull back the bows, and he'd shoot the arrows, and he'd load the catapults, and he'd do that, and he'd march and stomp around the thing, and he'd swing the swords and all that stuff. Nothing in his hands just, you know, just just pantomiming the whole thing.
And
man, I I sat there and I was like, you know what? I have never seen anything like that from from from a teacher, from education.

(38:29):
And that just
that just peaked my curiosity into history,
and I I developed a new love for it. And so from that point on, I I really spent a lot of my time in school, and actually after school. I think I did more of my learning of history on my own, in my own study, in my own research, than I did when I was in school. But that man put that

(38:51):
that that
spark
inside of me to to learn more, to want to know more, and to and to and to put myself into it. And that reminds me very much of what you're saying, you know. You know, if you if you could put yourself into it,
you'll get so much more out of it. And that's that's that's great. I love that. I think that's a fantastic way to do it. You know, theater students,

(39:16):
acted, a group of them,
They did the act on the chemical bond.
Okay. And
they did it. They followed Romeo and Juliet,
and they practically
just changed the words there to feed the structure of the atom, water, neutrons,
electrons,

(39:36):
and then a
sodium
falls in love with chlorine
to form table salt.
And then because it's a
it's a Romeo a Shakespeare,
it has to be tragedy.
The water came
and broke the bone, broke the
the marriage.

(39:56):
The students
played sodium.
I remember till now
by the way, all these videos are on our YouTube.
But there is the
students that played sodium,
he's saying to Chloe,
I am
sodium
from the other side of the periodic

(40:17):
table.
And I went to a Shakespeare play in Chicago,
and this
main actor said something.
That I did not hear what he said. To me, it sounded,
I am so doing from the other side. I looked at the program, and it was this student.
Oh, wow. That's amazing.

(40:38):
Backstage, And I said to him,
I recognize this
intonation.
And he said, I want to tell you something.
I forgot everything I learned in college,
but the periodic
table, the structure of the atom,
the ionic bond, I will never forget

(40:58):
because we wrote the script and we acted. That is his that is amaze it is hysterical, but it's amazing too. And I'll be honest, I would I would love to see something like that. That I think that would be so intriguing. I I think I would really like that. I like stuff like that. I'm I'm I'm kinda I'm kinda geeky that way, you know. But it's a that's a lot that's amazing. Intellectual
on my book,

(41:19):
and I concentrated
mainly
on the piece and the but I
mentioned the education.
At the end,
one woman raised their hand and said,
I
I enjoyed your lecture tremendously,
but I cannot
understand
how you could

(41:41):
teach science through dance. I said, okay.
I said, I need
nine
volunteers.
And I said, then you will be one of them, and I'll show you how you will dance now the depletion of the ozone layer.
Okay.
And my audience dance. I got a standing ovation

(42:03):
for fifteen
minutes.
That's funny.
It's taking ovation
to show to her how she can dance the depletion of the ocean land. My goodness. She cannot do it on the screen. I would have loved to have seen that. That that sounds, I guess, It's amazing. I would love that.

(42:23):
I mean, I I would be the I'd be the one in the background, you know, you know, probably making fun of it through the whole thing, but deep down inside really appreciating what I was seeing. You know, you know, those those kind of people. Oh my goodness. But you mentioned your book. Let's let's let's get to your book for a second here. So, your book, Human Rights and Peace, A Personal Odyssey.
So so what do you hope to get out of, or what do you hope for readers to take away from your book?

(42:45):
It's it's the re the book really
start with me growing up. I stay away from mentioning the name of the country, but I think I
and I should mention where I grew up.
I'm an Israeli. I grew up in Israel. I got my bachelor, master, PhD in Israel. My PhD is from the Weitzman Institute

(43:09):
of Science
that was chosen as one of the test 10 best research institutes in the world,
was attacked very badly now, and all the cancer research was destroyed, but it will be rebuilt.
So
it starts
my father is one of the pioneers

(43:32):
that came in 1920
Mhmm. To build this country. So it starts growing up
in Israel
serving
in the military. I didn't
volunteer. I was drafted, and
they it described all that. And
in high school, I was the only girl in my class. So

(43:54):
my life started growing up only with boys because it was math and science, and they were tough test.
And I don't know. Even in Israel, I was the only girl that ended up in this class.
So it was tough because my best girlfriends
going up were boys.

(44:14):
It was a very different
dynamic. I I could I could imagine.
Then I discussed this
way of teaching
that is practically
a call for
people to see that there is a different way to understand science,
And it's not something beyond

(44:35):
anybody, that everybody can understand
science.
The human rights and the peace part,
it's really
calling for action
to say to everybody,
look what you can do. Right.
Look what one woman can do.
For sure, everybody can do, and it's a call to action.

(45:00):
In addition, I came to The States for a postdoc to
Cornell.
I had a child. I got married very young, so I had a child as an undergraduate.
But by the time I came for a postdoc, I was divorced. So I came as a single mom.
And

(45:20):
I hate to hear
the people say, oh,
these children,
grow up with a single mom, blah blah blah. So it talks
to to show it too that you can be a single mom
and do a lot for the world. Of course. Yes.
It's a
it's there are a lot of messages

(45:41):
to people,
and this is why I wrote this book. I wrote it under a lot of pressure.
It's really three books that got
because the chair of Princeton and I had a contract
with Macmillan to write the book only on their education.
Okay. But which and and Amazon still

(46:03):
advertised like we wanted,
but we did not because it was very hard because of the distance
to pull it off. So I thought it's important to
have it written.
And,
I tried to keep it only 200 pages because it's very hard these days to read the book.

(46:24):
I ordered the book from Amazon, and it came 500
pages.
I said, I I can't
read 500 pages. Therefore, I wanted this book, but it's a book that shows
that you can
come
as
a alien to this country as an immigrant.

(46:47):
You know? You can be a single mother, and you can still do a lot to the world, and it can show what everybody can do.
If everybody will just
try to make the world a better place and not just concentrate
on themselves. So
this is why
this book but I was under pressure first to write a book on education,

(47:11):
then write a book on the piece, then I did everything
in one.
Yeah. I gotta pay a bill again, so one give me one second here.
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(48:22):
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Alright. Bill paid.
On to the next. Bill paid pays.
There's a little bit here there. I I I earned my 10¢. We're good. Alright.
So now, you know, of course, you know, there's a lot of conflict and a lot of things that, that's that's set back

(48:47):
peaceful talks and peaceful agendas, and and
and how do how do you find the motivation to keep going and keep believing in the prospect of peace?
I talk continuously
to people in all these countries.
And, you know, here is
Iran is being attacked
by my two nationalities.

(49:11):
Okay?
And
I contacted,
the the Iranian,
and all what I could hear is
it proves to you how Malta is important.
If the,
Nature magazine
did the review on my book,

(49:33):
and then they have
something that comes out that has one paragraph
on few of the most important
article.
But in the middle,
they have quote of the day. So the quote of the day one day was for my book. Okay. And what the quote that they

(49:53):
picked up
was that if I will be able
to form
a critical mass
of scientist,
then we can start a chain reaction
for peace. You know, this is how the atom bomb works. You must have a critical mass Right. Of a uranium two thirty five to start the chain reaction

(50:19):
that becomes a. I just
played and nature picked that up as quote of the day, then they advertised
the
my my book. I believe
if I would have the means
to have
several
conferences

(50:39):
like that where it really you can form a critical mass.
When the Iranian came the first time, they came to me with tears in their eyes, and they
people 60 years old, top scientist,
president of
university, and they said,
all our life,

(51:00):
we learn that the Israelis are monster. They don't look like everybody else.
And here, we meet the most wonderful people, great scientists.
We want to collaborate
with them.
Why are they spreading all this?
It was for them the first time in their life to see

(51:21):
in Israel,
and they were shocked that they looked
like that. Just like everybody else.
Therefore,
if we can have a platform
where we can
stop the demonizing
of the unknown under,
we can get to to peace. The people

(51:42):
people want to live with peace. People don't
hate it either. It's coming
somehow from above.
And in one interview, somebody asked me,
how do you think
we will achieve peace in the world?
I said,
if we would

(52:03):
would not have politician.
That's right. I agree with that. He helped to achieve peace in the world. I agree with that. Good night. Yeah. It's a good one.
Yeah. I'm gonna have to write that I'm gonna write that one down. I'm gonna save that one.
So,
by the way, I knew you were from Israel, by the way. Oh, you knew it? Just by your accent, and I'm gonna tell you why. While I'm not sure if this is now. Because

(52:32):
my closest friend, my best friend
growing up from kindergarten
all the way through
until I I would say that when did he when did he leave?
Probably somewhere around
1996
or '7 or so.
He he,

(52:53):
an Orthodox
Jewish young man from an Israeli family,
living in Brooklyn where I grew
up. My best friend You grew up in Brooklyn. Yes. Not in excess. No, ma'am. I'm a transplant. No, I'm a transplant. I'm born and raised in Brooklyn.
I I worked in, I worked for New York City in law enforcement for twenty five years and, or close to twenty five years, and I came to Texas about ten years ago.

(53:18):
Yeah. Got away from that. But but he, but he was he grew up together, loved loved him, loved his loved his family, and, you know, he he moved to Israel.
And, now he's living a wonderful life in Israel,
very happily married. And the funny thing is is that to hear, he has a mix of an accent.
He has an accent very similar to yours with a Brooklyn

(53:40):
undertone to it. So it sounds really funny. But, so I was able to pick it up a little bit from you. So I knew that is where you were from, but, I didn't wanna throw I didn't wanna throw it out there. That's I left that up to you to do it. But,
hey. So I I didn't know if you did mention it, but, you know, we live in such a crazy world. Yeah.
I'm very proud of being Israeli and You should be.

(54:03):
Israel and all the people,
you know, that don't want anything from Israel should throw away first their iPhone.
Mhmm.
Because so many parts here are for me. That's yeah. That's that's very true. The first thing they should throw away. That's very true. To ever use waves to try to drive because waves is is rare. That's right. So

(54:26):
I'm I'm very
proud of this, but, you know,
I didn't know if you just canceled it to
to mention it
or what. I knew I'll mention it. I just Yeah. Nothing wrong with it. You know,
I
take I had three eye surgeries.

(54:47):
I had
COVID that affected my vision. Okay. So I have to take Ubers,
and my drivers are Mohammed
and and
I start conversation.
And I say, I'm an Israeli. From where are you? And
it's it's
I never feel any animosity.

(55:08):
Yeah. I
feel that human being can talk and,
but it's crazy now in
The US. So I I know. I I have I have been I, you know, I've been following a lot of a lot of folks,
for for a long time and,
just listen to news and whatnot. And, you know, I'm just so surprised at some of the rhetoric that I'm hearing, you know, from from folks that it just really can it it just baffles me, you know. And my background, you know, I'm I'm a I'm a born again Christian, you know.

(55:39):
I I believe I believe in the Lord, and, you know, I read my Bible, and, you know, I study, I teach Bible, I I I preach, I'm in the street preaching,
you know. And,
you know, I have a great deal of respect
for the Jewish people and the culture. It's a very rich history,
you know. I may not agree with some of the political decisions that they made. But the political, it's true. But but the culture I disagree.

(56:03):
You are Exactly. And from my activities.
But look at that.
My
people from the Malta Conference Mhmm. From Gaza,
who took them
out to safety?
I I'm in Israeli.
I took the people,
and I
ask every country. I beg

(56:27):
for a visa for one family so the kids will go to to school.
And with all the demonstration,
no country
wants people from Gaza in this in their country.
So
Which I also found very interesting too because,
you know, the the the people in Gaza, they're they're mostly Islamic.

(56:48):
And you have all of these Islamic nations around them
that, Nobody
them. I'm sorry? And nobody wants Nobody wants them. One family.
I have connection to royal families,
and
they don't work out. I met the general from England.
He said he has a lot of fame. We spend a lot of time. He said he will do it. Mhmm. After a few months, he called me.

(57:14):
I have a lot of connection in Malta
with every port,
and
they already wanted the passport and everything. And I thought in the last minute, it was no.
So That's it. And that's that's why I find that so fascinating, you know, as Yeah. But who is the one that spend day and night to help this

(57:37):
Gaza, this rally? That's right.
That's what you have to think about. Yeah. Not the people that demonstrate
on the street. Right. I I don't think I I think that, a a lot of times,
media focuses on all the negatives
just to kind of drum up

(57:57):
this, perception that there's all this conflict and all these difficulties and all these problems when really I don't like, I if if I'm not mistaken, and again, you know, my like I said, my friend lives in in in Israel, and I hear from him a lot.
You know,
Muslims, Christians,
Jewish people, they
they they all live together

(58:18):
in in Israel. Israel is a very secular country, of course, but but, but, But they all get there and and And they get along.
The the
I just
had a Zoom with one of my participant
that is a Christian
Arab. Mhmm.
And he said from all the Middle East these days, for the Christian Arab, Israel

(58:43):
is the safest.
Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. Also, they are Arabs, but they are Christians.
Them Israel is the safest.
Yeah.
So it's it's,
you know,
bottom line,
Ishmael
and Isaac were brothers,

(59:05):
children of Abraham. That's right. Jesus
was Jewish.
Mhmm.
So it's all related.
It's all in we with the Arabs, we call each other cousins. Right. Because we are cousins.
Because because all because because all
of
the Eastern religions

(59:26):
are Semitic
in background.
They have that connection to it. Yeah. Absolutely.
That's that's amazing. So let me ask you this. What what's what's the most fun or surprising reaction you've ever had you you ever ever seen from a student?
What is the most fun? Or surprising reaction you've ever seen in the student

(59:49):
from from your teachings and when you would teach?
Look, I had a lot of surprises
when they were
showing their projects because this is their test. Mhmm. And there were a lot of surprises.
But to I want to tell you one
reaction. I hate science fiction.

(01:00:11):
Cannot
stand science fiction. Not movies, not book,
nothing.
So
a group of theater student
did a terrific
project on the depletion of the ozone layer,
but it's all like star war. It's
like star war. It's the music of star war

(01:00:34):
and everything, but they do it like the ozone. The ozone is three atoms of oxygen.
Oxygen that you breathe is two atoms. In the atmosphere,
they go back back and full. Right. Two ozone becomes three oxygen
and back and forth.
But why was the depletion? Because the chlorine radicals start pulling in oxygen away from the ozone.

(01:00:58):
They showed it all like Star Wars.
And I said,
you know, it's a terrific project, but there is one part that I don't know why it's there, and you must take it out. There is a part of it. There is some crazy guy.
I don't know what the sword, and this should be taken out. What is that doing here? And what did they say? This is doctor

(01:01:25):
what who is there is a doctor something in Star Wars. Darth Vader.
Yes. And I'd never seen it. I wanted this part out because I said, what is this ugly
figure doing in the woods?
And the whole class
was laughing like crazy because I said, it's a very good project. If you can take out this part out Nice. That's great.

(01:01:54):
And it was all falling
in Stonewall,
but I didn't want this part. It it looked to me angry.
So the students, we used to make a lot of fun of me and then my my accent, but I was laughing with But, you know, the accent's great though. I mean, it just it it it it just adds something to the host to this to the story. It just adds something to the whole thing. It's a great it's a great accent. I love it. It's good. But a lot of them used to imitate it when they would

(01:02:22):
do
their project. They will talk with
it. That's that's great. Because I used to say that we
are under the umbrella
of environmental
studies.
And when they did the project,
we are under the umbrella.

(01:02:43):
You know what I mean?
They
they they had a pleasure to to to to imitate my accent.
That's great. Out of my accent. It's okay. It's a charming accent. Oh, it's fine. Yeah. Yeah. And like I said, as soon as soon as you started speaking, I knew exactly where you were.

(01:03:04):
I realize that you don't say it till I said he's leaving it to me. I will have to say it at one stage.
Not getting off a program.
A country less.
Well, you know, I like to leave things to my audience to try to decipher for their own, you know, you know, try to, you know,

(01:03:25):
spark this the, the the the intellectual juices in the mind there a little bit. And you gave them enough time till I say That's it. We did. So
so there is something
on me that could have where is it that could The yellow ribbon?
The ribbon.
But not everybody knows. No. Because honestly, I I I I wasn't sure what it was. What it was what it represented.

(01:03:48):
The hostages.
Yes. Okay. Yeah. The hostage. Tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree.
Yeah. There you go. Yeah. But the this
pin, if you see Israeli television
everywhere. They're they're wearing it. Yeah. That's actually that's that's true. Yeah. I didn't notice that until you just mentioned that. That's that's that's great. Working with. Alright. So we're coming up on the hour. So let let me just let me let me try to wrap this up here for you. So,

(01:04:12):
so,
who's somebody that you deeply respect right now, and what are they doing that we should pay attention to?
I now?
God, it's a tough question.
Well, the the the guest that I the guest that I had on last night said it was me. So, you know, I'm kidding.
No. I I think you have a lot of fun. I would like to to have a Zoom to talk to you. Oh, for sure. Yes. I have a lot of question to you, but,

(01:04:41):
I don't know who else is here. I don't
like to talk when I don't know who's there. Well, I don't know who's here either, but that's alright. Yeah. But we could definitely just do another call sometime, a private call. That'd be that'd be a lot of fun. I had it just now with somebody else. I did the Zoom.
He has a Zoom on nature and science.
And

(01:05:01):
talking to me,
he got excited.
He must have a degree in chemistry
to develop
a way to teach
organic
chemistry more creatively.
So he got back on a Zoom with me to see to hear my opinion about what I
what you did there.

(01:05:22):
So we had the chance to talk not on the podcast,
but somebody
that I really
respect these days.
It's a tough, tough question. Yeah. You know, it actually it actually is because there there are just so many just

(01:05:42):
wicked people out there right now. It's hard to find some Wicked people.
It's hard to find a diamond in the garbage bill.
And politician who is doing something good these days.
A lot of the people that do good are gone.
No. Linus Pauling was my hero. He's gone long ago. He

(01:06:06):
he Wow. He he worked for peace. He is the only human being that cut two
unshared Nobel law
touches. One for chemistry and one for peace.
But now It's amazing.
Now it's it's hard to say who is you know, for sure, there are Nobel laureates who are doing wonderful

(01:06:27):
work, but this is for us within the
scientific community. It doesn't mean anything to the
general public, but people like Andrei Sakowov
that really was
outspoken
and
for
you don't hear many people like that.

(01:06:50):
That's a shame too. Yeah. It it it really is.
People ask me, who is the person you ever respected?
Since I was six years old or five years old, my dream was to meet Albert Einstein.
I knew you were gonna say that. I I I I don't know why, but that that that was a name that was in my head. Yeah. The person I admire. That's why. It's amazing. That's great.

(01:07:13):
Alright. So let let me ask you this then. Alright. Maybe let me this might be a little bit of a a a of an easier question to pull from. So if you could speak one sentence into the minds of everybody that's listening right now,
and know it that know that it would stick in their minds, what would that sentence be?
That sentence be that we all of us belong to the same humanity.

(01:07:36):
Wow. Yeah. And therefore, we should all
love each other and live in peace.
We can have differences and we can discuss them, but we there is only one humanity
that we are all members of.
Amen. Amen to that. Alright. And last question. Where can the audience go to learn more about you and and support the Malta Conference?

(01:08:03):
My personal
website
is safalairman.com.com.
Yes.
In the Malta Conference
website,
in there, there is a page to support
is
multiconferences
Okay. Foundation.org.

(01:08:25):
Alright. But it's conferencesfoundation.org.
Not the conferences
foundation.
And if they refer to you,
I don't know. Did they communicate to you by email? I don't know. It was through the it was through the match service. So, I I have I have all that information, and we've included all of that in the audio show notes. And when I generate the video show notes, I'll make sure all that information is in there as well so the folks can, get in touch with you. Alright. Well Yeah. I don't need that one to get in touch with me directly.

(01:08:59):
My email is my name.
So the the students
decided it's a regular Gmail, but the student changed it. So it's Safra@SafraLerman.com.
Alright. Anybody that wants to communicate to me is welcome. I love all of you there.
That's great. And we'll make sure we have all that information in all of the complete show notes. Doctor Lerman, thank you so much for spending your evening with us. We really do appreciate Safra. Safra, thank you so much for spending your night with us. Really do appreciate that. And I will be in touch with you, and we can we can do something on the private side. Talk more Yes. To you. Let's do that again. Outstanding.

(01:09:37):
Thank you very much. You're very welcome, ma'am. You have
a
great night. Thanks. Okay. Bye bye. Bye bye now.
Alright, folks.
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(01:10:06):
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Plus you're also getting yeah. I say roach free because did you know that the FDA says that that in ground coffee, you know, they're they're allowed to include some roach parts. Mhmm.
Gold spoon clip.
Try to change subject on you now. Gold spoon clip because freedom isn't scooped with plastic, folks. Frothers

(01:10:51):
are strong enough to stir up your coffee and your mother in law's political opinions.
And a black 1775
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A $170
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This is the one for, the folks that have been watching seventeen seventy five blow up on Rumble,

(01:11:16):
wondering if it's actually worth it. The spoiler here it is, absolutely is. Wonderful coffee. I love it. I have it several times a day. That's why I'm so jittery sometimes when we do the show. But, you gotta try it, folks. Go to 1775coffee.com/studio
and grab your starter kit before they're gone. That's 1775coffee.com/studio.

(01:11:38):
Bold beans, clean fuel, and a morning routine that stands for something just like rumble does. Start your day with coffee that actually backs what you believe. 1775coffee.com/studio.
Alright, folks. So what we'll do here is we're gonna take a, a very short break. I'm gonna go get some more of my seventeen seventy five coffee. Come back, just touch a few quick things, and then, we are going to, call it a night, and then we'll be back here with you tomorrow night at 7PM.

(01:12:05):
Alright, folks. So just, stick around for just two minutes. We'll be right back, and,
God bless you. That was a great conversation. That was amazing. Looking forward to it again. Alright, folks. We'll be back right after this. Just stay with us.

(01:15:32):
Alright, folks.
Welcome back to the Joe Russo. Hour number one is in the books.
Here we are coming on into
hour numero dos
for all of our Spanish speaking friends.
So what'd you think of Doctor. Luhrmann? That was amazing, right? I'm telling you,

(01:15:54):
I
really enjoyed that. That was a lot of fun.
And, what a remarkable life. What a remarkable story.
And you know something?
It just blows me away that we actually had a Nobel Peace Prize nominee on
this show.
How amazing
how amazing is that? That is absolutely incredible.

(01:16:16):
Well, folks, just wanted to, just quickly remind you guys of just a couple little things here. You know, this is a, a value for value podcast. And basically, what that means is that, we are totally dependent upon our listeners for their support.
So if you could,
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we would really appreciate it if you could help us out in covering some of our expenses. And you could do that by making a donation. You can make a donation of a one time donation in any amount you feel appropriate based on the value that you receive from watching the show.

(01:16:48):
You could also, do a monthly recurring donation,
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You also we also have our producer tier for $18.36
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(01:17:09):
tier and the $50 tier, all recurring monthly donations.
Now, the benefits to these things are this, you get the shout out on every single show, you get included in all the show notes at, also in any emails and any notifications that we send out. Your name is listed right there as someone who is involved in helping us put together

(01:17:29):
this show.
This amazing show that we have
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podcasting. That's the beautiful that's the beauty of podcasting in general

(01:17:50):
and, and vidcasting. So it's it's a great thing, and we can only do it with your help. So as a producer of the show, you get the shout out, you get the inclusion in all of our show notes, you also get inclusion in all of the, mailers and anything else that we do send out. Now, in addition to that, at the executive producer level for $25 a month, you get all of that plus you get to book a thirty minute session with us, segment with us, I should say. Session sounds more like therapy. Right? Yeah. It might be for some, you know, some folks.

(01:18:19):
But,
you get to book a thirty minute segment with us right here on the show, and you get to sit and talk to us, and tell us what others are on your mind, and vent. You can tell us, all about yourself. Is there any pet subjects you wanna talk about? Whatever it is. And it even if it's the subject of the day, you could talk about it with us right here live on the show at the $25
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(01:18:55):
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(01:19:16):
You can you can help us out with a donation in Ethereum,
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(01:19:40):
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(01:20:02):
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to everybody who's been helping us out. Alright. So, I didn't wanna let the night go by. I wanted to make a couple of comments on something here. So one of the biggest topics going on right now in Washington DC

(01:20:26):
is the, the one big beautiful bill. Right? We're we all know what that that is. And yeah.
You know, so when you say it that way, it sounds like something you'd name a prize winning pig at the country fair. Right? But
this isn't a pork barrel. Okay? This is what's called a reconciliation
package.
And,

(01:20:46):
and the and the reason why I wanna bring that significant that that that, that
difference up is because it is significant. Okay?
People think that this is a a budget bill. It's not a budget bill. This is a reconciliation
package.
And basically, what it is, it's just, you know, it's,
you know, reconciliation
package package is what? It's,

(01:21:07):
it it like I said, it's not a it's not a budget. Alright? I'm trying to think of the easiest way to explain this. A reconciliation package is is really a special kind of legislation that congress uses to fast track changes
to taxes, spending,
debt,
bypassing the usual senate filibuster.
Alright. So, okay. So what does that mean, Joe? What's what does that mean in English? Talk to us here. Alright. So the translation is this, it's basically, if you think of it like this, it's a political cheat code

(01:21:36):
to get big stuff done with just 51 votes
instead of 60 votes.
And I'm telling you, they used it. Alright. They used it. So the, the one big beautiful bill was signed into law by president Trump on, July 3,
and,
and and and reality, the bill is a beast. It it really is.

(01:21:58):
Some of the great things about it, it makes the 2017
tax cuts permanent.
It, cuts jaw it's it,
it it it's makes it 2017 I just lost my train of thought. It makes the 2017 tax cuts
permanent,
so basically
protecting your paycheck from taking a huge hit,

(01:22:19):
when they were set to expire.
It's, throwing tax breaks for, for tips. Right? Remember? No tax on tips. So shout out to all you servers out there.
No tax on overtime.
That's huge because you know that they tax overtime at a higher rate.
Right? So now that's done. So it gets rid of the taxes on overtime,

(01:22:41):
and it even takes away the taxes on auto loans.
Alright? Plus, it bumps up the standard deduction
by about a thousand dollars for a single person, $22,000 for married couples.
It also jacks up the SALT deduction cap from 40,000,
for folks earning under half a million.
But,

(01:23:02):
now here's the plot twist to that.
Alright? And this hasn't really gotten spoken about too much. The salt boost that we're talking about is only good for five years.
Alright? For five years.
Unless they can, you know, when the budget comes out, they can separate that thing out and they can make that into
and to codify that into into tax law.

(01:23:22):
Now,
it's not all tax cuts
and confetti. Okay? The bill has
some pretty interesting changes to it as well.
So Medicaid is getting a makeover.
Alright?
And the makeover it's getting is involves work requirements
for adults who can work.

(01:23:43):
So
no more just sitting back collecting
collecting Medicaid benefits
when you are capable of actually working.
Alright. Now you hear a lot of politicians saying, well, that's gonna leave 16,000,000
more people uninsured by 2034.
Okay. Well,
it's interesting the language that they use. Alright. Because some of the some of the biggest recipients of Medicaid are illegals.

(01:24:08):
Alright. And the majority of that 16,000,000 that they're quoting is gonna get kicked off are illegals.
Alright? So just keep that in mind.
Snap or or, food stamps if you wanna be generic about it. It's also getting a little bit of a shake up.
In that regard, it states are gonna actually start footing some of the bill for it. And,

(01:24:33):
now now here's the downside to that. Alright? The, Congressional Budget Office, the CBO,
says that this whole package could
add $3,300,000,000,000
to the deficit over a decade.
Now the White House says, no. That's fake news.
Alright? That's not gonna happen.
But according to the CBO, those are the numbers. So I guess you will have to we'll we'll see where that goes. I tend to agree more with what the White House has to say about it than what the CBO says because

(01:25:05):
partisan politics.
Alright?
And of course, you got some folks
complaining
that, especially on the left
that,
you know, the rich aren't gonna be paying their fair share anymore. I'd first of all, I'd like to know what the fair share is, because,

(01:25:26):
rich rich folks do pay
quite a bit in taxes. Alright? And what a lot of people don't understand is that, you know, most folks who are wealthy are just using the existing tax system to their advantage.
And I don't care, to be quite honest with you. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.
If somebody
whether the even if they inherited the money, they didn't earn it for themselves,

(01:25:46):
or they worked hard and and made their money, made their fortune, God bless them.
Good for you. I'm happy for you. I don't want your money.
Don't want it. Don't need it. Don't care about it.
You know my position on taxation in the first place? It's theft.
It's immoral,
and it needs to go away entirely.

(01:26:07):
That's why I'm fully supportive of president Trump when he said that he was going to,
you know, through the tariffs, he was going to eliminate
the IRS.
Well, on the campaign trail though, he said he was gonna eliminate it altogether.
Now he said now he's saying that for he's gonna eliminate,
federal income tax for,
how for for for folks that make less than $200,000

(01:26:30):
a year. It's a start. Great. Appreciate that. Wanna see that happen, but
but I'd rather see the IRS obliterated completely and gone,
because taxation is theft.
People say, well, how do you say it's theft? You know, who's paying for this, who's paying for that, who's paying for this. It's theft when

(01:26:50):
the government comes to you, basically puts a gun to your head and says, you either pay us
or we're gonna put you in jail.
Alright? That's robbery.
That's theft.
Alright? And if all these liberals
are so excited about paying taxes and wanna keep paying taxes, wanna pay tax tax tax tax tax tax tax,
did you know that you could actually voluntarily on your income tax return say that you wanna pay more

(01:27:16):
and pay more.
Did you know you could do that? Yeah, you can.
You can. And if you feel that you're not paying enough in taxes, then pay more. Go right ahead.
Leave me alone.
Plain and simple. I don't want the federal government in my life.
I go with

(01:27:36):
what the founding generation's view of the central government as what they called it.
And that that was
that the activities of the central government should have absolutely
zero impact, zero goose eggs, zero impact on my everyday life and your everyday life.
Zero impact.

(01:27:56):
So
if you wanna pay more in taxes, go right ahead. I don't. I want the government out of my life as much as possible.
You're an anarchist. No. I'm not. Because I advocate for central I act advocate for state government, local government.
So there it is. Anyway, off on a on a on a rabbit trail there. So,

(01:28:18):
they say that the wealthiest households will be looking at a $12,000
boost.
The poorest could lose $1,600
a year, thanks to the cuts in Medicaid and and food aid, which, you know, come on. That's not that's not I I don't believe that for a second.
Alright? And then what about the middle class folks? You know, the average everyday folks like you and I. Well, you know, you'll be getting that that modest 500 to $1,500

(01:28:43):
tax break.
Beautiful. That's great. So I guess, you know, depending on your bank account,
this bill's either a high five or it's gonna be a total gut punch to you.
We'll see.
Okay? I tend to I I I
tend to trust president Trump
and his decisions, and if on on financial matters because so far he's been proven right in everything he's been doing.

(01:29:09):
So
that's where I stand on that.
But this bill itself, it it barely squeaked through the congress. It it passed congress at, two eighteen to two fourteen in the house.
And then, of course, in the senate,
our vice president, our great vice president and future president of These United States,
JD Vance,

(01:29:30):
had to get involved. He had to roll up his sleeves. He had to cast out the tie breaking vote.
Democrats were completely against it, completely united against it,
which you would expect.
Okay? And and because the first of all, it's an it's an I hate Trump thing.
That's one.
And the one thing the Democrats are very good at is when the party says,

(01:29:52):
this is how you are going to speak, and this is what you're going to say, and this is how you're going to vote, they jump right in line and they goosed up right along the way.
Whereas, on the Republican side, on the conservative side, you know, there was bickering, there was arguing, there was debate, which is healthy, which is important, which is what you need.
We bickered over the social programs. We bickered over the price of the of the taxes. We bickered over these things, which is healthy. You're supposed to do that.

(01:30:24):
But ultimately, everything, you know, the Republicans gathered up,
came together, pushed this thing through, and now the big beautiful bill is law.
So overall, I would say this is a big win for president Trump
in a lot of ways, and it's got everybody talking about it, everybody talking from Wall Street to Main Street.

(01:30:45):
So, my question to you
folks, and I really would like your opinion on this, and we're gonna close the show out right after this, but I really would like your opinion on it. What do you think
about
the big beautiful bill?
Is it still big and beautiful, or is it just a big mess?
I mean, I guess we're gonna find out soon enough. Right?

(01:31:07):
But in the meantime, drop a comment down below, shoot us an email at info@joeroos.com,
info@joeroos.com.
Alright, folks. I think that's gonna be it for us for tonight. Now, as always, our shout outs
to our executive producers, Wayne and Rosanna Rankin and Carolina

(01:31:32):
Jimenez. Thank you so much for what you guys have done for us. God bless you for it. Thank you. Also, a huge shout out to our producer, anonymous Angela. We're gonna have to give her a promotion soon.
Anonymous Angela, thank you for all the work you've been doing, especially with the bookings. It's been a lot. Thank you.
Alright, folks. Don't forget to head over to joeroos.com.
Drop us a comment. Let us know what you think. Donation page, if you can help us out, we'd really appreciate it. We will see you tomorrow night at 7PM.

(01:31:57):
Folks, make make Texas independence independent again.
Go podcasting.
Keep a steady stride,
and we will see you
tomorrow night. Good night, folks, and goodbye.

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