404 – History Not Found

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome truth seekers, to Critical Defiance, the podcast brave enough to ask. Wait, where the hell did all the history go? I'm Neil Zolson here, along with my co host, Bobby Socks. And let's be real folks. It feels like we're living in a dystopian novel written by an edgy tech bro with a serious grudge against US History. Remember when the Internet was supposed to become this vast democratized library of all human knowledge? Yeah, me too. Instead, we're witnessing a 21st century book burning. But in the place of flames, it's lines of malicious code, and instead of torches, it's the delete key. [00:00:39] Speaker B: You used to be able to go online and find a wealth of information on history, culture, art, science, medicine and more using trustworthy resources from the US Federal government. Now they're all but gone, decimated and hollowed out, sometimes even replaced with propaganda messages. Others, you just get a 404 not found. Which is where we got the title of this episode. [00:01:04] Speaker A: The digital book burning is well underway, and the new regime is trying to seize control of your mind through the manipulation of what information is available. We're talking about mass deletion, selective editing, and the not so subtle art of rewriting history one server at a time. It's not just about what's missing, it's about what they're putting in its place. Think Orwell's 1984, but with faster Internet. [00:01:34] Speaker B: In this episode, we'll discuss how this happened, where it's at now, and what we can do about it. Because, let's face it, if we don't fight for our digital heritage, we'll be left with nothing but curated realities and revisionist propaganda. So grab your tinfoil hats. Just kidding. Grab your critical thinking caps and let's get into it. [00:01:57] Speaker A: As always, you can follow us, sign up and find out more about the show [email protected] Don't forget to subscribe to us in your favorite podcast app as well. It's really important that you do. We've got a lot of listeners, but not a ton of subscribers. And we need to fix that, guys. So hit that like button like it owes you money. If you'd like to donate and help boost our efforts, you can head over to buymeacoffee.com critical defiance every little bit helps on our journey to bring you great stuff. Okay, so this week we're going to try something a little bit different and more streamlined with the news. Instead of trying to recap every crazy thing that's happened in the Last seven days, Bobby and I are going to start focusing on the top three stories that we've selected each week. Think of it as a leaner, meaner news segment that focuses on what's important without all the fluff. We call it the Big Three. So without further ado, let's get started with this week's Big Three. And number one, Number one is Liberation Day. Oh, we got to talk about the tariff extravaganza and what is going on in the markets. Yeah, market and numbers for the week. But so the, the president, Mr. Crazy man, has decided that reciprocal tariffs. We're still working on what the meaning of that is. It's in the air. But it seems like if you have a tariff, we have a tariff. Tit for tat action. [00:03:26] Speaker B: From the last time we discussed tariffs, it really did help me and I believe our audience have a better understanding that a tariff is just a tax on the US Consumer. [00:03:37] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. [00:03:39] Speaker B: From that way of looking at it, I don't understand how a reciprocal tariff would do anything but just hurt the economies on both sides. [00:03:51] Speaker A: Other than triggering other reciprocal tariffs, there's not much else it can do. [00:03:56] Speaker B: Okay. [00:03:58] Speaker A: It's a huge impact on our economy, though, Bobby. The trade tensions between US and China triggered a huge downturn in the markets. The S&P5L100 dropped like a rock. The Dow was down 2,200 points on the week. It's insane where we're at right now. So the markets are plummeting. People's 401ks, their retirements are just being shattered. The dollar is not doing great and Trump is screaming about how much winning we're doing. I have some thoughts on why that is, and I think it's a little bit less than what's on the surface. Bobby, bear with me. The thing about Project 2025 is it lays it all out. It laid out all of this stuff about what they were going to do, how they were going to do it, when they were going to do it, and the execution of it. So I've been digging into it more and more, especially the documents from back in the day. And one of the things that we find is that tariffs in the Project 2025 model are not a tool for international trade or international negotiation. They're a tool for internal loyalty. See, what the game is, is to get the companies that are affected by the tariffs to bend the knee to the administration and or enrich it in some corrupt fashion and offer the administration certain things like self policing for anti Trump sentiment or self policing for Anti American bias or anti Christian bias or pro immigrant bias. And this is how you get the world that he's trying to build. So what's going to happen is these companies are going to come in and they're going to say, okay, what do we have to do to get an exemption from the tariff? And Trump's going to say, for starters, kiss the ring and end your DEI program. [00:05:52] Speaker B: So it's like he and the current cabinet are trying to use tariffs as a tool to make him a capitalist dictator. [00:06:04] Speaker A: You got it. You got it. It's not about his loyalty giving him power domestically. [00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Because when the loyalty is coming from the money, from the corporations, it doesn't matter what the want, the need, or the will of the people is unless the people decide to rise up and fight back against the dictator. But right now, that's what he's doing. It's almost like in the Hunger Games when they're trying to get people to sponsor them, to give them stuff while they're in the dome, to give them materials. Trump's trying to be like, okay, you give me money, I'll help you grow. [00:06:47] Speaker A: You have to look at it for what it is. You have to look at it for part of the Project 2025 plan, not as Trump having a stroke over international policy. That's not how they're thinking of it. What they're doing is manipulating the internal situation. And if the markets suffer, they suffer. They really don't care in the long run. Rich people always make out fine in situations like this because they have the funds to weather the storm. And eventually the stocks, which is where their money is, are going to bounce back. It's the rest of us that are further down the food chain that have to pay the price for these sorts of things. And we're going to start feeling it real hard, real fast. So that's my thought on what's going on and a little insight from my head about where things are going and why. I think it's important to realize that it's not just him being crazy. There is a method to the madness. [00:07:39] Speaker B: A terrifying one at that. [00:07:41] Speaker A: Yeah. And speaking of madness, if we want to see where they're going with all this, all we have to do is look at what's going on with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. [00:07:51] Speaker B: And I've heard about him. [00:07:53] Speaker A: Yeah. So this is a dad from Maryland, someone who was effectively accused of being a member of MS.13 because of a tattoo that he had on, I believe, his forearm of a crown with the word mom under it. And I don't know how well you guys know Hispanic and Latino and other Spanish speaking communities, but these are not uncommon tattoos. They're not gang related every single time. But somebody interpreted the guidebook with the little pretty pictures to mean that this man was a gang member. Okay, so he was expelled last month along with hundreds of gang members. And a US District judge basically has at this point ordered that he be returned to US custody no later than Monday, 11:59pm Their response to this has been flat out insane. The White House Press Secretary Levitt said, and I quote, we suggest the judge contact President Bukele because we are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador. [00:09:02] Speaker B: So they're trying to play it like that. We can't get him back because now he's in another country's jurisdiction. [00:09:09] Speaker A: You got it, you got it. Meanwhile, we are paying them as a contractor to hold him as a prisoner. So what is it? And the judge has even pointed out that Kristi Noem was able to go there to shoot a commercial wearing a $60,000 watch in front of barely closed prisoners. So she came back. [00:09:28] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's. [00:09:30] Speaker A: So this isn't about the prisoner anymore. It isn't about this gentleman anymore. It is about them testing to see what they can get away with when it's somebody brownish with a Spanish sounding name that they want to deport without due process. It's a test. And we can't let them pull this test off. This is one of those things, folks, where you really have to start talking and getting loud. This is one of those situations where people need to know about it. People need to be outraged and people need to be calling and writing and emailing and faxing their reps and driving them nuts so that something happens with this. Because this is the way this works. If they get away with disappearing a person with no process and then saying, we've disappeared them, there's nothing we can do about it. Now we are fucked up as a nation because they can do that to any of us and it's just a matter of time before they start doing it to other people. [00:10:28] Speaker B: And I will say it has already been happening enough that I can't keep up with the names of all of the people that are getting unlawfully detained, arrested. We have those now deported that we're saying we can't get back. Pay attention. Pay attention to the people they're taking. And when I say pay attention, I'm not only saying about their race or ethnicity. What Were these people talking about what were they doing? [00:10:57] Speaker A: One of them. All she did was write a pretty well thought out op ed that was pro Palestine, anti Israel. And the next thing we know, she's getting kidnapped off the street. Nobody knows where she is. This is where we're at, people. This is going on in America. This needs to stop. And the only way we stop it is if enough of us raise our voices. [00:11:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Because this is the kind of pattern that leads to. If we don't stop this in the next six to eight months, it's gonna be buses of people disappearing, just being taken out homes right off the street. [00:11:33] Speaker A: It's gonna be your friends, your neighbors. It's time to start watching each other's backs, guys. And while this is all going on, while all of this is going on to show how out of touch our president is, story number three. There was what we call a dignified transfer of troops that fell from Lithuania to the US and dignified transfer is when they are seen off in a dignified fashion and then they are received in their home country here in a dignified fashion, typically by the president. And I'm going to go ahead and say not every president did it every time. All right. Biden certainly didn't. The man was getting quite old. But none of them went to their own club and played golf instead until this one, who left it in the hands of Secretary of State Jedon Pete to do the transfer. And I am just. I think it's beyond the pale that this is. One of the first things that goes on in this administration is this guy shows us how he feels about our veterans are fallen. [00:12:46] Speaker B: I was going to say, I'm like, I'm sorry, wasn't Trump one? Like, when you ask Trump voters why they voted for Trump, it's usually either, oh, they'll do great things for the economy, which we know isn't true, or because they love and respect the US Military. Now, going golfing doesn't qualify during a return of troops. That's. Yeah. No, that's not respect. Not to mention previous things he said in the past about other people who have served the country. But I don't know how people are lying to themselves anymore at this point, believing that Trump gives a shit about any of our armed forces. [00:13:29] Speaker A: It's different than, I can't be there. It's direct, disrespectful. [00:13:33] Speaker B: Yes. [00:13:34] Speaker A: That's why I wanted to call it out this week. [00:13:36] Speaker B: It's. I choose to not be there. [00:13:40] Speaker A: So that was our big Three. And I think it was pretty interesting. Big Three. [00:13:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:44] Speaker A: It's a weird world and we can't cover all the news, but I think doing it this way is going to be great. [00:13:50] Speaker B: All right, crew, buckle up, because we're diving head first into some seriously murky waters. Welcome to Big Thoughts, where this week we're dissecting the digital dismantling of our history one deleted webpage at a time. Since the dawn of this new regime, we've witnessed an unprecedented campaign of digital erasure. We're talking purges, deletions and manipulations of government websites systematically scrubbing our collective memory. It's like they're playing digital whack a mole. With our history and the targets overwhelming, and the targets overwhelmingly minorities and marginalized. [00:14:34] Speaker A: Communities, we're seeing a calculated effort to minimize or outright remove the very existence of these groups from public consciousness and in particular, any of their achievements and contributions to our society. They're trying to paint a portrait of a history that's dominated by straight white males, as if everyone else was just a footnote. [00:14:57] Speaker B: And let's be real. This isn't just about dusty old websites. This is about shaping our perception of reality, controlling the narrative, and dictating who gets to be remembered. It begs the question, how long before these digital book bans turn into actual book burnings? Will it take physical flames for people to finally wake up and see what's happening? Because, folks, this isn't just about the past. It's about the future they're trying to build for you to live in. [00:15:30] Speaker A: If we're going to start with talking about the future they're trying to build for us to live in, I'm going to go with one of the most obvious places where they've cut things down and just taken a chainsaw to it. And that's climate change information. You know, oh, my God. Find climate change information right now through the Environmental Protection Agency, the epa, or any government agency. It doesn't exist anymore. Now, we have been debating this and fighting over this and trying to find solutions to this for decades. This, this is a problem that was identified a hundred years ago if you dig into it. And now they want to act like it's just not happening. It's just not there. They just want to wipe all references to it. The impact that could have on everything from where we live to the crops we eat is mind boggling. And they're just sweeping it away in one wholesale maneuver. They're just sweeping it away like it doesn't exist and it's not happening. It goggles the mind. And that's just the first thing that comes to mind for me and us. [00:16:36] Speaker B: Coming from different generations, I feel like we both also have a very different view on climate change. Because I remember being in elementary school learning reduce, reuse, recycle, watching the Al Gore video, being told, hey, if we collectively use less. By the time I was in college, I was supposed to not be seeing the effects of global warming that I have been seeing the effects of for the past 10 years. [00:17:02] Speaker A: We were learning about the existence of the debate. Later on, you guys were learning about how to mitigate the situation and the impact of it. He just. For us, it was a discussion of this debate exists, and let's debate it a little bit and then move on to the next chapter. [00:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:19] Speaker A: Our science teachers were the ones that said, this is the writing on the wall. Keep an eye on this, because this is going to impact your children and their children. It's huge. But the rest of my schooling, no, they just covered it as the debate. So, yeah, you're right there. It was. [00:17:34] Speaker B: It was a little bit different for me growing up. When I was a kid, I learned to turn the water off while I'm brushing my teeth to save the water. So for me, it' very scary that they're trying to get rid of it at all while I'm also watching what they taught me would happen to the weather if global warming started happening, because not only did they teach us what to do to try to mitigate it, they said, hey, this is what's going to happen. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Yeah. This is what it looks like if it comes true. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So watching it happen and then watching it being deleted, the science, the research, the proof, the evidence, it's really talk about a cognitive dissonance for a whole country. [00:18:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. And they've gone to some other places that are pretty damn important, too. They've gone to more human places. They've definitely gone to more human places. [00:18:30] Speaker B: Yeah. They've been taking information off reproductive health websites. I forgot the Office on Women's Health. [00:18:38] Speaker A: Health and Human Services, the Office of Women's Health was where people first noticed that it was starting. But in fact, when it comes to reproductive health, women's health and abortion, the information out there from government websites nowadays is slum pickings. For reproductive health and abortion, it's pretty much gone. [00:18:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:58] Speaker A: For women health, if it doesn't relate to those two things, or transgender people, I guess it's okay to keep. But they're still looking. It's scary, this purge. And it is a purge. [00:19:10] Speaker B: It's definitely a purge. And also just talking about women's health in general, we obviously spoke last week about how transgender health care has had a rough history. And there's not a lot there. But women's history, sorry, women's health care, my bad. Women's health care is also still not fully developed. And now we're taking things out that we have finally learned. [00:19:35] Speaker A: Yeah, women's healthcare is underdeveloped and underfunded, and that's because we live in a male dominated world that doesn't properly allocate funding, research or budgeting for, oh, I don't know, half the species. But that's another episode. [00:19:51] Speaker B: We still don't have the complete information for women's healthcare. And to start taking away the important things like the reproductive healthcare and things that people need the information on it, it's not only terrifying, it's literally turning back the clock on human knowledge. [00:20:13] Speaker A: So as long as we're talking about reproductive health and segueing to women's health, we got to talk about women in general. Right. References to Women's History Month, those are gone across various agencies. The State Department, Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, gone. Black History Month, gone. Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, gone. Hispanic Heritage, Pride Month, all gone. Anywhere they could target and remove that stuff, they did. Anywhere where they could minimize it, they did. So they didn't just go for reproductive health, they went for women in general. And articles that discuss the integration of women into the military or highlighted female achievements were also purged from various websites like Dodger. So what does it, what does it tell us? [00:21:04] Speaker B: Black History Month, too. Aren't they trying to. We just got Juneteenth. We just got Juneteenth to be recognized. [00:21:13] Speaker A: I want to see how they handle Juneteenth this year. I want to see what Trump does with that. Because I got a feeling, I just, I have this feeling that Juneteenth is the kind of holiday that personally offends some of these guys. [00:21:26] Speaker B: They have also targeted Pride Month. I feel like in their efforts to get rid of dei, they are now trying to scrub DEI from our general knowledge on the Internet as a country. [00:21:40] Speaker A: What do you mean by that? [00:21:43] Speaker B: So diversity, equity and inclusion. Right? That's what DEI stands for. What are they getting rid of on the Internet? We're getting. Oh, yeah, we're getting rid of women, we're getting rid of queer people. We're getting rid of people of color. We're getting rid of natives. We're getting rid, like, we are getting rid of Anything that diversifies this country from just rich, white and cisgender hetero. Thank you. I was. Yeah, that one too. Male. [00:22:16] Speaker A: Male. That's what it is. It's. We are trying to make America a country where the white male, straight guy is the hero in all things. And that's not really the way this country works. There's way too many of us and way too many of us get involved in the country for it to be the way it works. So I. Yeah, they're trying to create this illusion of this white America run by the men for the good of everyone that doesn't exist and never did. [00:22:45] Speaker B: And they're also trying to get rid of the history of this country and make it look like the history of this country is that rich cis, straight white men have been the heroes, always have, never hurt anybody. And just look at this great country they have built, which is just. I don't even know the word for that. Ludicrous. [00:23:07] Speaker A: Yeah, we're talking about marginalized groups and we were talking about State department, hhs, doj, anything in terms of LGBTQ plus, lgbtqia, whatever phrasing you want to use. Rights. Information seems to have gone bye bye, particularly and nefariously if you're trans. If you look at government websites right now, it's like trans people never existed. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Yep. [00:23:39] Speaker A: And gay people. It's shrinking, folks. Keep watching because the amount of information out there is shrinking and getting more and more selective. And that's the writing on the wall. Trans people, I've said this a dozen times now, are not going to be the last. They're just the test case because they're the easiest target. [00:24:00] Speaker B: And I feel in an era specifically when it comes to queer information being taken off of websites, and we're talking about healthcare and stuff right now, too. We're finally in an era where there is health care for HIV that works. There's preventative health care for HIV, there's PrEP that works. And in an era where we finally have this medicine, this medical knowledge, we're going to start taking information about queer people off the Internet, about gay people. What's next? The AIDS crisis is going to be fake. [00:24:39] Speaker A: I 100% agree with you. I 100% agree with you. There's the big thing here, and the thing that I think the audience needs to take home and scream about to everybody they know, and I know you agree with me is this is book burning, folks. This is raiding the library, dragging the books into the street and setting them on fire. The difference here is there's no ashes. So if nobody notices, if you do it in the middle of the night when nobody's looking, there's almost no evidence other than the memories of folks who are concerned about the topics that you are trying to edit. [00:25:15] Speaker B: The reality of what they're doing right now is they're almost forcing a Mandela effect, if you want to look at it that way. You want to talk about Berenstein, Berenstein Bears. They're forcing this right now. It's like the last thing we can do is have somebody keep a 24 hour watch on these websites with screenshots so we could see the exact moment that information was taken down. Because it's the Internet. What other way do we have? And then even if we have someone doing that again, it's the Internet, where we could have somebody from the other side say, oh, they faked that. That was never like that. Now we have the other side gaslighting us. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Books are next. Books are next. You know, we're talking about libraries. Let's talk about libraries for a second. If we look at the US Naval Academy's library this week, almost 400 volumes were removed based on orders from Pete Hagseth's office. The school was ordered to get rid of books that promoted topics including diversity, equity and inclusion. So books on the Holocaust went. Books on the history of feminism went. Books on civil rights went. Books on racism went. Maya Angelou's autobiography went. [00:26:31] Speaker B: I'm sorry, you said this was the library for the U.S. naval Academy. Okay, so a branch of our military, and we are taking away books on historical wars and what led up to historical wars. Sorry, I just needed to point out. [00:26:46] Speaker A: You looked on the Holocaust thing and lost your mind like I did. [00:26:49] Speaker B: I. Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. Books that, yeah, probably mention things that are dei, but then also probably mention how the US Infiltrated or defeat. [00:27:01] Speaker A: Cool. [00:27:01] Speaker B: We're getting rid of that extended to. [00:27:04] Speaker A: And including the history of warfare if necessary, because we shouldn't talk about diverse, equitable or inclusive topics. So you talked about a couple of things there that were very interesting when we talk and you mentioned African Americans, you mentioned Native Americans. I'm going to go through a couple that were purged since you mentioned them. You remember the first American military aviators that were African American? The Tuskegee Airmen. Gone. That tripped enough outrage that they brought them back. But initially they actually got rid of info on the Tuskegee Airmen and on the Navajo code talkers from World War II. In both situations, there was enough public outrage that this situation was corrected. But it seemed like it wasn't really corrected willingly. And then also the Japanese American service members, references to them just gone. What the hell is that? [00:28:04] Speaker B: The level and type of anger this erasure is bringing, I feel like for me personally and maybe for others who are realizing it is just so new because it's something we didn't think would happen. [00:28:19] Speaker A: We didn't have the ability to do it with the press of a button before either. You used to have to actually go to the library to get the book to burn it. Now you don't. You can do it from the comfort. You can do it from your own home while sipping scotch. [00:28:32] Speaker B: Yeah. And that makes it even more diabolical. [00:28:36] Speaker A: And infuriating because it's so easy for them. It's so easy for the people in power to edit not just our history, because we've been talking about history, but also our perception of reality. [00:28:47] Speaker B: Yeah, that too. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Now take all of this and watch it culminate last week in an executive order that targets the Smithsonian. Basically, there is now an initiative led by, of all people, J.D. vance, to get rid of UN American bias and portray America in the correct light at the Smithsonian and its related museums. [00:29:19] Speaker B: That also connects to how I believe it was Trump and fans who want to get rid of the Montgomery Bus Boycott museum in Alabama. [00:29:30] Speaker A: Yeah, they're going for museums now. They are going through museums now, starting with the Smithsonian. They're going for museums. They are not starting small. They're starting everywhere. But again, they want to edit history and your perception of reality. And I think where all this is going, Bobby, I'm pretty sure you'd agree here is we have to stop them, people. We have to raise our voices and do something to stop this. And we're in the process of learning ways we can do this. But one of our favorite ones is to rankle our reps. Yeah, that phone. Call your rep and ask them why the hell they're letting them fuck with the Smithsonian. [00:30:12] Speaker B: Call them, text them, email them. We have it on our website. You can download the app five calls, which will help make it real easy to call your reps. There are also websites now that will help you fax your reps from a computer. You don't need your own fax machine. Make your voice heard. We need to, before our voices don't exist anymore. And that, folks, is the state of our digital reality. A landscape where history is as malleable as a politician's. Promises and facts are as endangered as a dodo. It's easy to feel overwhelmed like we're fighting a losing battle against the digital overlords. But remember, they can delete the data, but they can't delete our curiosity. [00:31:03] Speaker A: We've shown you some of the smoke and mirrors, the sleight of hand, and the outright lies. Now it's up to you guys to be the watchers. Question everything, verify everything. Don't let them rewrite your past, because if they control the past, they control your future. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Arm yourselves with knowledge. Share what you find. And refuse to let the digital book burners win. Because in a world where information is power, ignorance is their greatest weapon. [00:31:38] Speaker A: All right, guys, so it's time for Freedom Fumble. And we've got two this week. And the first one, I. I guess they're both ridiculous. I like it when Freedom Fumbles are funny, but these are sad. So the first one. We're all aware of the massive earthquakes in Myanmar that took place recently and the huge human impact that's taken. And the photos we've seen of buildings collapse on people. Giant buildings. Buildings, not little houses. And the world responded. The world reached out to me and more. And there's two countries in particular that were very quick to provide support and aid, and that's China and Russia, who sent hundreds of people to assist immediately. We waited a few days. We waited a few days and then we sent in three people to administrate. [00:32:37] Speaker B: God, to supervise what the supervisor. [00:32:43] Speaker A: What the rubble? Each other countries. I don't know. I do know that this is what happens when USAID doesn't exist. [00:32:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:56] Speaker A: This is what happens when we don't have the apparatus for correctly dealing with this stuff. Yeah, it's a fumble. It's just not a funny one. It's a frickin sad one. I know what you think, Bobby. Three people. [00:33:09] Speaker B: Three people. [00:33:11] Speaker A: Wow. [00:33:11] Speaker B: Three people. I. [00:33:15] Speaker A: It just. It staggers the mind. [00:33:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't even know what to. Like, why three people? Why send anyone? [00:33:23] Speaker A: Like what? Yeah, really, truthfully, why send anyone? Because it's not like you're having a huge direct impact. [00:33:31] Speaker B: We'd have looked better if we didn't send anyone. [00:33:33] Speaker A: Like if one of them maybe. [00:33:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:37] Speaker A: But the closest to that they have is Elon, and he's still trying to figure out how to sell a cyber truck. [00:33:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, there are places he should be sent, but I can't say them on the air. [00:33:48] Speaker A: And the land is stupid. The other one I got ahead is Signal Gate Part two. Electric Boogaloo. You guessed it, kids. Members of President Donald Trump's National Security Council, including the National Security adviser. Let me say his name one more time. Because signal gate wasn't enough. Michael Waltz have conducted government business over their personal Gmail accounts. [00:34:12] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:34:13] Speaker A: According to documents reviewed by the Washington Post and interviews they had with three US Officials, these people are using Gmail. [00:34:24] Speaker B: I. I feel like I need to send the White House the Internet security DVDs I watched in elementary school about stranger danger on the Internet. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Holy shit. [00:34:40] Speaker B: Like, what are you doing? I just. At this point, if you're gonna keep making your These mistakes each time, just fucking Facebook Live stream all these meetings at this point, Facebook Live from the discussions. Let us know what's going on. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Just start a Facebook, a public Facebook group called National Security. I'm bombing somebody. And we'll all know to stay out. Okay, guys. Yeah. That's freedom. Fumbles. And, God, do they fumble. I can't. At least once an episode, I got to say it. I have to say it. You can't make this shit up. [00:35:16] Speaker B: Hey, man, I just. Maybe if they keep fumbling this way, finally have access to Area 51. All right, guys. So we had our normal news. We had our fumbles, and now we want to give you guys the big wins of the week, because we spoke about finding joy during this dystopian hell we're all living in. Let's give you some big joys. Big wins. Firstly, want to talk about Cory Booker. Cory Booker, a senator from New Jersey, broke the record for holding the floor. The record was previously held by. From Thurman, who held a filibuster for. I believe it. Was it 24 hours? [00:36:09] Speaker A: Yeah, it was a hair over 24 hours. [00:36:11] Speaker B: Thurman held that filibuster for a hair over 24 hours, arguing against civil rights. Now, Cory Booker, I believe we spoke about. There wasn't anything very specific that was being discussed on the floor. [00:36:27] Speaker A: He covered so much ground. And in Booker's case, he wasn't filibustering a piece of legislation or holding the floor over a measure or anything like that. He simply held the floor to hold the floor to make a statement. But I think it was an important statement because he broke Thurman's record. Here we have a person of color breaking that record in 2025 to take the floor and speak out against what is happening inside of our government on behalf of his constituents. [00:37:00] Speaker B: Yeah, that kicks ass. It kicks ass. And the symbolism in that is just Chef's kiss. [00:37:08] Speaker A: Yep, yep. And then I just learned that Ruby Bridges has a new children's book out, and if you don't know who Ruby Bridges is. Let me refresh. You remember that little African American girl that had to be escorted into her school while they were throwing rocks at her when they first integrated this educational system? Her, she's still alive. She's got a great podcast and she's written several books. But her current want to talk with her teacher is really cool. This one is a love letter to teachers who hold the power to change lives. It illuminates the lasting impact that the best of teachers can have on the lives of their students. It's a reunion between two long lost best friends and it's really beautiful. [00:37:49] Speaker B: That sounds like something I definitely want to read. And it's just, it's amazing to know that I've seen those pictures of Ruby Bridges in my history textbooks. And don't let the black and white fool you folks, she's definitely still alive and only 70 as of yesterday day. [00:38:06] Speaker A: She's out there, she's doing it. [00:38:08] Speaker B: It's great to grow up to see her in my history textbooks, to now see her writing her own books, that's just, it's heartwarming. And she is still blazing a fire for civil rights to this day. [00:38:24] Speaker A: The real trailblazers blaze on. And she is one of those. [00:38:29] Speaker B: And speaking of trailblazing in different ways, I wanted to bring up how our boycotts are going because I think some of us back in February when the word boycotts were brought up were like, yeah, we'll never be able to get that many people to listen, to do it, to agree to make a change. My friends, we've been defined as hell and we are fucking shit up. DEI based boycotts are working people. Tesla's terrified, man. That's why we have this orange man pimping them on the White House lawn. There are protests and boycotts happening for Tesla globally. It's beautiful. And just keep it going. Whether it's sending back in your Tesla boycotting or protesting at dealerships, you're doing it. Guys. Keep up with that. Not only is Tesla down Target, we have made such an impact on Target. I did learn something this past week about why it seems that for all of the companies out there that we could boycott Walmart, Amazon. Why do we go for Target so hard? Target headquarters we all remember the name George Floyd. George Floyd was killed in the same city that the Target headquarters exists in. A few months after George Floyd's passing, Target came out saying that they were going to put 2 million into working with POC Brands creators and promoting them through Target, selling them at Target, and that was supposed to start in December of 2024. Come February 2025, where Donald Trump starts talking about DEI. Before Target puts a penny in to POC business owners, they're pulling out a DEI, including that. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Wow. Oh, wow. So it's not just what they've done in terms of marginalized communities or minorities. It's a direct slap to the community. Wow. Wow. Oh, that's some stupid PR there, Target. Whoa. Wow. [00:40:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Let's also highlight some of these companies that have kept DEI going strong, like Costco. Costco has not gotten rid of the dei. Costco has not changed the price of the hot dog. [00:41:07] Speaker A: Apple hasn't gotten rid of the dei. They tried to introduce it at a shareholder meeting, and the shareholders, by vast majority, said, oh, hell no. [00:41:18] Speaker B: Even while we're talking about tariffs and things getting more expensive, Dollar tree kept dei good. [00:41:25] Speaker A: Good. The more the better. The more, the better. It is what this country is about. If we're not based on diversity, equity, and inclusion, I don't know what we're based on. [00:41:33] Speaker B: I believe there are plans to start going harder with boycotts for Walmart and Amazon, but those are slowly going down as well. And a hack for anybody having a hard time getting away from using Amazon for shopping, because I know not having a car, being disabled, whatever situation you're in, Amazon has unfortunately become really handy. Search for something that you need or that you usually get on Amazon. Find the name of that brand. Search that brand in Google, see if you could buy that directly from the seller's webpage. Just that difference of taking Amazon out as the middleman does help, especially if. [00:42:14] Speaker A: It'S a small business. Especially. [00:42:15] Speaker B: Especially. So just wanted to give that tip out there for those still trying to work to boycott. [00:42:22] Speaker A: That's awesome. And I think I'm gonna take that as a place to tilt into things we can do, because we like to talk every week about things we can do. And I've got a couple in my head. We can go back and forth on this one. But the first one for me is it's big. It's why I podcast. Share the outrage people. Make sure that everyone you know knows what's happening and the magnitude of it. Don't let this stuff go by. Don't keep your mouth closed. Don't sit still. Share your outrage. Spread the word. [00:42:54] Speaker B: Don't sit and burn on this. While it does affect each of us individually and we all have our own struggles that we're going through, this is struggle for our country at this point. So talk to people, organize. And another thing, talking about talking to people. Talk to your reps. Gonna keep saying that. Use five calls. Fax them, call them, text them, email them. I don't know any of you. Do any of you know how to train carrier pigeons? Start sending them the pigeons. [00:43:28] Speaker A: I got a guy for that. Yeah. Whenever I say that, A, it's true, but B, 75% of the time, it's like Roger from American dad. I'm just gonna go change clothes. Come. A slightly different accent, and we're going to do business. Okay. [00:43:47] Speaker B: All right, so what else can we do? [00:43:51] Speaker A: I want you guys to check out two things this week. We're talking about the deletion of things. There are two big targets for deletion that they keep murmuring about what they want to do to them. One of them is our old standby, Wikipedia. And the other one is the Internet Archive, archive.org Check those two sites out. See how damn useful they are. And if you can go ahead and do something to help them survive, send them a buck or five. [00:44:18] Speaker B: I know a lot of us don't have a lot right now either, but if we're going to put it anywhere, let's collectively put our money to what matters. And what matters is the truth. The truth of our history, existence of. [00:44:32] Speaker A: Reality, our very soul as a nation. [00:44:37] Speaker B: And I'm gonna add, and I feel like I'm just gonna also keep saying this every episode, whether we have it written down or not, because it's a free thing you can do. Get a library card. Get a library card. Go to your library. Use your library. Look at the other resources your library has. Get books, CDs, movies, games. Your library can help you find cheaper food. Your library can help you find cheaper housing. Talk to your librarian. Make use these public services. It's free. [00:45:07] Speaker A: All right, Bobby, it's you this week, so time for the sign off. [00:45:11] Speaker B: All right, thanks for joining us on Critical Defiance this week. Don't forget to subscribe and share our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you listen. It's important. Hit the subscribe button. You like us? Hit the subscribe button. While you're at it, sign up for updates over@critical defiance.com. give us a like on Facebook or find us on Blue sky or Threads, if you're into that sort of thing. Bonus points if you tell your friends how to find us. And remind them to subscribe, too. Until next time, this is Bobbysox and my partner in Defiance, Nils, signing off. Stay informed, stay engaged, and keep the spirit of democracy alive.