How do you, well, wa new warning, Iran and its proxies are very likely planning attacks on the United States, not hardcore terrorist attacks as we saw in nine to eleven, and I mean that's all possibility. Look what happened in Austin, Texas, which was more like a lone wolf, crazy dude, but still again that's terrorism. I'm talking about cyber attacks. Are you prepared, as Willie would say, for attacks on American soil? Found the killing of Kamene? So what does that look
like for you? We hear about these large scale tax all the time. Maybe I don't know, you can't shop on Amazon, maybe your Twitter feed goes down for a little bit. What actually would happen and what might happen? Chris naiheis of Vigilant Cybersecurity in Cincinnati. He's the CEO again to talk about it, and this is probably the main concern, which would be cyber So are you at def Con one right now? How deep? How high a level of deaf con are you right now?
Chris?
Like a deaf Con two too, you know, but you gotta have awareness, you know, ultimately you don't want to ever operate in dufton one, even in your regular, everyday lives because your brain just gets tired to that and you just degrade over time. So sure, you want to be in heightened state awareness. And that's where we are
right now, just watching, watching everything. You know, you're always watching intently anyway, just because you never know when someone's going to try to creatively do something here in the United States. But you know now it's it's just being aware that you know more likely there's an imminent threat that's happening.
We've often talked about a cyber nine to eleven coming we saw now with AI and other sentence beings. Is that we have faced crisses before, but we always talk about like the big one, whether it's an earthquake, whether it's a terrorist a physical terroist attack.
This would be more digital one.
Is that more likely now with this or less likely because well we're on guard more on guard?
I guess yeah, So I think I think with this one, when you look at you know, the big one, right that would be coming from more of like a nation state like China or Russia. They're not really going to do those things unless they just decide day to just make a consorted effort to just take out the United the entire United States, because it would be a direct, active war and it's very coordinated. It would take multi nations to do it in this case, at least right
now anyway, because it's all about time and positioning. You know, I don't the the adversaries from like you know that that you know, Iran, et cetera. They do have the you know, when you look at Iran or Hamas or or the Taliban, et cetera, they have the technological ability to do these same types of attacks. It doesn't take long to do it. You can learn on YouTube. But on top of that, Iran was funding the development of
very intense, very good tools in Iran use those. What they were doing though, is giving those the terrorist organizations and training them up. And so whereas Russia, where China has had a lot longer to position themselves in our water systems and things like that, just like beauded to them, uh and and put hooks in there.
Uh.
These you know, Ran and these terrorist organizations haven't had that same length of time. But they but guaranteed from a you know, quote unquote cyber sleeper self standpoint, they've embedded themselves in certain places that are considered them strategic and you know, we're we're at war and I think in the United States a lot we think the war's over there, and generally that does happen, but cyber enables the war to come here really quickly.
Yeah, it makes sense.
So Iranian process, give me a sense of things that may have happened in a layman's terms, that Iran or their proxies have done to us in the past. What type of cyber attacks have we seen.
That we know?
Well?
So the and that's the that's the hard part, right is attribution knowing that they're the ones that have actually done this. We've had more military type approaches or hats in t get data, uh, defense defense type approach where they've packed into defense organizations. There's not there has not been a attributed you know, critical infrastructure takedown in the United States by Iran, and I think that was intentional because they knew if we attributed that back to them,
we would just have destroyed them. But see, the thing that's happened now is you know, just like you know, President Trump said yesterday, if he's assassinated, he has instructions for us to annihilate. You know, ran the same thing happens there, you know, if you know for them, you know, if the Iopola was taken out, guaranteed there's instructions to sleep or cells to do certain things, you know, after
he's gone. And so that's the part that you have to be aware of now, is that there would be instructions already in play, whereas it wouldn't have been there before because they wouldn't wanted to do it because we weren't at war, right, And that's the thing we just need to be aware.
We know Iran uses fake hacker groups as a front so they can attack people that officially taking credit kind of mentioned that but can't then Russia, China or pretty much any other nation state do that to us to try and make it look like it's Iran and not them and use this as an opportunity.
Is that going to happen?
They absolutely can. And that's why I was going back to attribution. It's really easy to make you look like someone else, right, I mean, anybody. That's why we all
have VPNs. Right, we jump on a VPN, we can make it look like we're coming from Arizona, or we can make it look like we're coming from Poland, right, And so you know, there's when you get into a very high level advanced attackers, they're not just doing a VPN, they're going through a VPN dark web, a system they hacked in another country back to another one, and they've
got multiple layers deep, and so yeah, they absolutely can. Now, one of the things that you find with tracking hackers is at the end of the day, there's still the poining code, and so a lot of times you can look into that code and you can see the way that someone writes or maybe they miss spell something the same time in the same way, or they write the same uh you know, uh, you know, the same type of code, and when that happens, then you can say, okay,
well I know it's that person. But but still even if they I you can you know, Russia could say give me an Iranian uh you know of malware and then just duplicate it and make it look like you Ran. So yeah, we have to be really careful in the response. Absolutely.
Yeah.
So when we talk about Ran retelling a cybertext, what does that actually mean for an ordinary American? Are we talking about you know, your phone and your network going dark, your bank account getting drained, the light's going out, what happened.
Yeah, I think all of those are on the table. When you look at again, just just deposing them against a Russia or a China, they're going to be less apt to do attacks against the United States, right, just like where lesser thing to do it. So then when you and and the reason for that is because we
operate under rules primarily. And one thing that you know I talked about before, there's a book called Unrestricted Warfare that came out of the PLA and a couple of generals wrote it, and what they said was the only way to take out the United States is to operate
on a different rules than they do. And what they realized is that the United States, in any real, big, large nation has to operate off of some rules, and those rules wrap around what you would do to people or what you would do to infrastructure, because mass outages can cause you know, significant widespread issues and even enough
to people start and invest and things like that. So when you look at Iran, where you look at a terrorist organization, they don't have rules, right, and so it's a very unrestricted warfare, and we're really not playing on the same level playing field. That's why you know, when you look at why can navy fields do the things navy fields do, is because they operate differently than a larger know, a lot of larger army does, sure, and so the same thing here. They're they're smaller groups, they're
more targeted. They can get into into into places that others can't. And and so when it comes to what should we be worried about, I don't. I wouldn't say be worried, but I would say be prepared that you know,
you could lose. They could take out a water system for for two weeks, they could take power down for four and and I would prepare for this, not running to the stores and grabbing tons of you all the bread off the shelves, but I would over time, as as just in your family, just have some extra food that would last maybe a week or two, has some extra water, because it's it's eminent something's going to happen down the road that will take out for services here.
Well, well in Cincinnati.
All they have to do is somehow is create the illusion that we might get snowfall like a classic.
We'd be riding like air is on fire.
He's the CEO of Cincinnai based vigilant cybersecurity Chris and I heights on the Scot Sloan show seven hundred WLW is Google and the government there at Google's top cyber threat analyst said, Iran will absolutely respond with a cyber attack.
We talked about stuff they've done in the past.
You mentioned our infrastructure, Chris, I believe it was a couple of years ago, three years ago maybe that Iran and hackers got into the water treatment plant computers in the US. Could you take us back how that happened and what does that tell us about how vulnerable our basic infrastructure is? And are we better at protecting it now than we were three years ago?
Actually, we're not better at protecting it now that we were. Cour were actually worse than we were. I would, you know, I would say I was even that seven eight years ago we were in a better position to protect than we were than we are now. Right, because a lot
of the cyber the cybersecurity industry has reduced effectiveness. Uh and and and I would I would actually say because of margin, right and so and the other part of it is that you know, is that companies have put a lot of their things in the cloud right, And so because they've done that, they've removed a lot of the security at their physical locations when we went to work from home. In a lot of cases, now the attacks are more widespread, so it's a lot harder to find.
So are what we would call in the industry an attack footprint. It got way way big.
Where it used to.
Be just at your office, now it's at everybody's home, and so it's a lot harder. Or it's in the cloud, right, So it's a lot harder to detect those things, and a lot of organizations have made the decision to remove the very security that could detect these things right now, like even AI attacks, it's a lot easier to detect AI attacks because we had a lot more data years ago, but because companies have removed a lot of this security the local location because they said, hey, data is in
the cloud, Well now it's up there. The other thing that's interesting today is that now we have a lot of people using the cloud as part of their everyday business operations. And if you haven't noticed over the last which I'm sure you have, over the last week, claud has gone out you know a few times. Well, when you know that claud is being used by the US
government to do AI targeting and things like that. Now those technologies become targets by the attackers, right, and so I look look at where the missiles have been going for a rand. They've been going to aws locations in Dubai, right, They've been hitting radar systems. So if you build your entire operations of your company around a specific technology, and that technology is also used by the US government, it's going to be attacked, right, and you're gonna have autes.
No, it makes sense, makes sense.
The experts are flag and energy, water, transmission, banking, telecommunications, as you just did, as priority targets. If you had to pick the single most vulnerable sector in the US right now for a cyber attack from the Iranians or their proxies, what it would be?
What would it be?
In one.
You know, I would uh, I would say, if I were to be the attacker, I would go after water. Electricity is one thing. But we're not in the winter right now, and so you know, it's it's not like it's going to take heat out. You know, no one's gonna you know, uh, you know, freeze, freeze to death. At this point, I would go after water and so and I would say both are electrical grid and our water system are both you know at risk. We we
do know they were physical attacks. I mean remember, uh, you know, I think they attributed that back to Rando when people were firing rifles at transformers out you know. Now, I think water is the first thing I think the I think water. I think electricity follows water because if we're without electricity here in the United States for you know, ninety days, we we have a we're gonna have a really really bad problem.
Is that possible that they can shut down at least you know, we have several grids here, but shut things down and to make that big an impact, Oh for sure.
I mean if you look at if you look at the electrical grid, I mean remember years ago, uh, that circuar breaker popped in the northeast and it took out you know, and I think you know somewhere like New Hampshire something that took out the entire right all the way to Canada. So yes, I mean there are there are very if you think about it, you know a lot of a lot of our grid is held together with you know, the proverbial you know, surge protector with
a bunch of stuff plugged into it. And so you know, if you take out one of those facilities, and yeah, it does the other. The other risk to it too is that a lot of actually almost all of our uh you know, big transformers that you see when you're driving around. Those can't just be driven down the street. They have to be flown in. And where they come from is China, and China has like a two to three year you know, backlog on this if they even
decide they're going to give us anymore. So you know, if those things get taken out, it's not like you have two or three of them. We have one, right you know, in certain areas. So if that gets taken out, it could be a significantly long time before this come back on. But I would say from a cyber standpoint, I would say our water is the most vulnerable. And
we already know that. You and I talked about that a few you know, and I think what last month is about two hundred and fifty of our water districts are known to have attacks in it and right now and you know that they can't get out. There's a big news article on that, and you know we just we have to do.
So so when that's happens and not have probably when Chris and I heis, when a major cyber attack hits critical in for church, let's say water power good, whatever it is, What is the government's actual response going to look like? And is it a credible deterrent that makes around maybe think twice before on the trigger.
That's that's the thing. So one I think are there's an internal response and I think that's something FEMAUS keeps straight close because you don't want to let you know your attackers know what your responses are going to be. And I think that's why I think, you know, as what the US is, you know, you know, I would say, you know, kinetic or you know, you know, direct attack action will be I think it would be pretty swift.
I mean, you know Donald Trump is you know, he's he's big on making sure he he fights back pretty hard. You know, you can see that.
Our response would be good.
I just wonder how prepared right to get everything back online here Stateside?
Really?
What what the operation looks like?
Yeah, see, I think that's I think a good way to look at that is, well, what happens when uh, you know a snowstorm hits, right, and I take down tons of things. You can see what that response looks like. Think about that response, but you know, which is pretty good, right. But those responses are because you know, if it's that happens in Florida, they're bringing all the trucks from all over the United States down to Florida. I don't think we have the enough trucks and people to go fix
all of these things. And that's where I would say this. If there's anything I would tell people in the United States is you know, you said, how are we better prepared now than we were before? You know, there's a technological aspect of that, and then there's a people part of that. And I would say it is something like
this happened in the fifties for the sixties. I think people were a lot more self sufficient and they knew how to take care of themselves, right, I think, and I'm not saying that we don't as an as a society know how to take care of ourselves. But we don't have to do that in our everyday lives. You know, we don't have to think about power, we don't have to think about water. I'll tell you this this story.
I was just reading this on Twitter, this guy that he posted this up and he said he had been driving by this water main break for like four weeks and like, I mean, water is show in the street. And so he calls the water department and he goes, hey, do you guys know about this wire may break? And they said no, we don't, and uh, and so what
had happened? You know, he thought about it later and he thought, I bet all of these people, thousands of people drive by us every day, including him for four weeks, just thought somebody else was going to call. And and that's where for us as Americans, you know, you know, one thing that's always been a strength of ours is we come together. And so if something were to happen, which I believe it will eventually, whether it's small or big, don't rely on the guys in the trucks to just
go fix things. Right Like, we gotta we gotta start getting back to where we we go help each other and we we really come together as Americans and we bring these things back online in whatever way we can together.
It sounds like Chris that that back in post nine to eleven. If you see something, say something We've got to rebrand that imaging for today makes a lot of sense. Chris, I heist the CEO of Vigilant Cybersecurity here in Cincinnati. You've been warned about what Iran is most likely to do. Seem more cyber than it is physical terrorism hitting America's homeland here, Chris, all the best. Thanks for jumping on
this morning. I appreciate it. Good take care. We got to get a news update in and quickly more to follow her. We got that's going to rain for the next thirty years. Did I just blow the forecast? I thought I did. Anyway, I'll find up. I'm right here in seconds on seven hunderd WLW.
Slowly with you.
Here seven hundred WLW, meandering through this Tuesday morning with you. It feels like a second cup of cop maybe a third or fourth cup of copy day you already had your second cup of cough.
All right, Now that.
The smoke is settling somewhat from the attacks on Saturday, what now, seventy two plus hours after this whole thing, I think it's time to take a step back and look at what we're doing here, Because, first of all, I don't about you, but for me, for the first couple days of this thing, I was celebrating and celebrating the fact that Kamani is dead. I mean, this guy, by all measures, was a despot who ruled for almost forty years, almost four decades of just brutality against his
own people, cracking down on its dissenters. We saw a growth in Islamic extreme extremism. We saw a target attacks on civilized nations like the United States. And we've been fighting with this region since nineteen seventy nine, or this per country. I guess I should say the region much longer. But guy was an evil, evil man, And I think that the people of Iran would be better off with new leadership for sure. But okay, I think we can all agree on that. But it doesn't mean that better
leadership will rise out of what's going on here. According to the Federal Government court, I believe to the CIA that there's a chance that it may be replaced by someone who's worse. You want to hope, like with Arab Spring, that the people will rise up, overthrow the regime and install democracy once again, or a democratic form of government, or certainly a much more tolerable type of government there.
But if you look back at our history, at least in my lifetime and maybe yours, we haven't done very well.
As a matter of fact, we suck.
At trying to create regime change to try and make look like American democracy. I listened to all the I think there were at least fifteen instances in world history where America's tried it in our short two hundred and fifty years done this to little if no success. It actually made even things worse in a number of cases. So now that Commanie, we celebrate Commandie's dead. Okay, regime change, Maybe the people rise up and let's see what this
looks like. Now the reality is setting in right here on this Tuesday morning, and I think in this case, you know, the president offered pretty much not much justification
for the strike. You're still trying to figure out the why at this point, and we should still be a little bit leery of this too, considering most of us lived through uh the you know a Rock one point oh, Rock two point zero, and the mantra about no new wars, much like the mantra about we're going to open up all the Epstein files, Well, how do those he's oh for two on those things. So the no new war thing went out the window, and certainly the Epstein files thing went out the window.
What else.
As a matter of fact, members of the Gang of Eight Nations were brief yesterday on the attacks, and coming out of the meeting, Mike Johnson said, relative to an explanation for this through Marco.
Rubio, that it was a defensive strike.
Okay, So this is a difference because they were a massing what you know, there are massing stuff where they go.
Where have I heard that before?
So pardon me if I'm a skeptic of this, as much as I celebrate the overthrow of this horrible regime
and hoping for better but expecting the worst. Like we have been told that Iran was weeks away from nuclear weaponry, and as somebody who's since the nineteen nineties, as what like thirty forty thirty years ago, we started a war we're losing now, we've lost what six military personnel, and we've been told this is about well, they might have they're developing nuclear webs Okay, But even if they did acquire it, which they haven't for thirty years, Israel acquired
nukes illegally with the help of South Africa. I mean, you know, they're are our allies. I get that whole thing. But you know they kid Israel take care of themselves. Sure at this point, and several members of Congress said while they were talking the administration and they were told that missiles in southern Iran were an imminent threat to US. FORRCE is the region, and the missiles been there for
a long time. It doesn't mean that they weren't going to press the button at some point and at Thatack is sure. But the idea that this is a clear and present danger right now, well, you know, when you're up in the three decade mark here, maybe that's just the way things are. And I get the you know, the motive for this whole thing is well, I mean I look at what is the motive for the Why are we doing it now? I guess it is there a perceived weakness theirs because we have this giant uprising
among the students and they've been tortured, condemned, executed. It's a questered, jocked, locked up, thrown away the key and now this is a moment in time or hey, you know what, the people are rising up, Let's help them out. Little bit possibly, and when will that happen again, We don't know, But the question is the why now. As much as we want to see regime change in Iran and we're having regime change right now, it doesn't seem like this is well planned out, like there's an exit strategy.
The criticism was that under Bush, we don't have an exit strategy while we're doing that again, And I think it's fair as an American, especially if you consider yourself, you know, a patriot has a lot of people do to ask tough questions administration, going look, what's our axistrategy, what's the end goal here? Why would this effort at
regime change be any different? But typically what winds up happening is we do these things, we see them and go, okay, great, it's awesome's let's help, and we try to change it, and then we just give up because well, we have metrum elections or president's going to turn out here in three years, and all they have to do is keep at this for four years, I suppose, because new regime will come in and go, we're not doing this war stuff. We're pulling everything out, and you know, we pull the
carpet out on what it is. We spent lives and a lot of money on We did this not that long ago, and we're about to do it again. I just want a plan. We've already done it. Okay, the beast has been decapitated. Great, we can't put that back together, nor should we. We should be celebrating the Commandian is no longer in power. But we've really got to come up with a plan here, you know, just kind of spit this thing. Rubyosaying one thing, Johnson saying another. Trump's
not saying anything. Kind of need some a little bit of a containment here, don't we?
Would you agree?
I know the Democrats are gonna and they're about as facktless as possible here.
They have no juice.
They're going to lose a vote to check the authority to strike Iran, and they're preparing for a bigger fight over the funding. So you got the War Powers Resolution vote coming up. We could see that as soon as I believe tomorrow. This may indeed, this whole thing might bring the Democratic Party together on process anyway. But you know they're going to talk about a funding them, but Bernie Sanders wants to shut the funding down, controlling the
purse strings. Another Democrat said, the Middle Eastern countries we've been protecting need to pay for it. Sounds very trumpish, which is true. They've got the oil money. Should they be throwing money in and trying to move things along here or have a bigger role in regime change in Iran? At least they're a little bit closer to this thing, and it kind of gets our fingerprints off with to
some degree. I think there are legitimate questions to ask that because people but are so in their own heads, are in their own camp political camp that they don't want to but hell, I mean, you're looking at progressives here and MAGA Republicans United, and you don't see that very often.
Now that I'll tell you something that should tell you something.
Nonetheless, the Dow was taken into the shorts today it's down. The Dow is down about a thousand points or now I'm seeing the New York section down about thousand points right now, Dow Jones Industrial, So that's what two percent it is plunging right now. Stocks are selling off amid the conflict that we're talking about here. Coming up at eleven thirty five later the show, Andy schafferl be here
to calm you down a little voice or reason. We've done this before and now I guarantee you what he's going to say is that, look, people are.
Panicking right now. They're selling. Doesn't mean you should.
If you're a long term investor, you're four one k whatever it is that you have, whether you're off I Ira, if you got a little bit of money, don't flip or you know what, just be cool right now, or maybe shift some money into different things to take advantage of this. But they want to be pulling all your money out because everyone's hair is on fire on Wall Street right now. It will recover, as it always does.
That's how it works. That's how it works. Made Chris and I heis on a few minutes ago talking about these cyber attacks. I will point out to that a third person now is dead in that actual attack in Austin, in that mass shooting by the guy in the Allah sweatshirt or whatever it was, and that is more of like a lone wolf thing, not really like sleep or sell, which we have a fear of. But the biggest concern,
of course, would be cyber attacks here in Americas. Chris was talking about because Iranians have been doing this, and they have had a plan together for about fifteen years now, the most recent hitting US in twenty twenty three when a water treatment facility was attacked and shut down.
And he seems to think that that is.
Maybe not a likely or probable scenario, but that is the one that would have the biggest impact, that they could start shutting down water systems, because water today is gold, as you know around the world, but especially here in the US. Now we're blust because we have all sorts of of aquifers, the Ohio River, we've got the Great Lakes, and here in our state in Ohio, but out west, as you know, the desert in California, they are struggling
when it comes to water. Wouldn't take much to topple all that, and some sort of attack would certainly do that, and do a lot more than a physical bombing or something like that. I would think that that's probably more likely than some sort of physical effect, not that both can't happen together, but certainly that is a possibility here as we move forward and thinking about our infrastructure. You know, look at how many people flipped out, maybe you, maybe me,
you know, Verizon went down for a little bit. When Amazon goes down or Twitter, people lose their minds. Could you imagine like the water electric I mean water would be one thing, but I think the electrical gride if they had a problem to shut down the grade. Now you can't charge your phone, you can't use stuff. That's a huge problem right there. That is a huge problem. But I think in the reality is back to government. That that's the problem. Is that the private sector does really,
really well because money's involve. Their money's involved, the skin is in the game, The CEO answers, the shareholders, the shareholders of the CEO accountable, and it trickles on down. If you screw something up relative to it cybersecurity, you're going to pay a heavy toll heads a roll because that's people's money. Where's the government is. They don't look at it as their money. They look at it as kind of free money. This is no accountability. We often
talk about government waste, fraud, and abuse. Well, that's true, and especially when it comes to cybersecurity. You know, him saying that we're probably worse today than we were yesterday is not exactly what you want to hear from a guy who is in the cybersecurity game. But that is just typical of government, and that's why we in some
degree have to prepare ourselves. It doesn't mean, you know, the are going to stockpile fifty pallets of water drinking water because of this, or I don't know, put some solar farm in your backyard, order giant propane tanks, underground diesel, build your own nuclear reactor in your spare time. I don't know, Because you know, I think in that regard that preppers, the doomsdairs have a have something that's admirable is that they can take care of themselves for a
sustainable period. Our phones go out, we can't get on Twitter. People who say they're ready to jump off a bridge. The last time that happened, I can't get out. I can't check the I just bought a fifteen dozen socks on Amazon. I can't check what when is my deliver where's my package coming? People are ready to kill themselves in each other when that happens. I think a little preparedness is a good thing here. But we'll see what happens.
Because the Iranians, at least, if anything, they do have proxies, and they are maybe not the best but they're still pretty good at cyber attacks. It's cheap and it's very very effective. That is the biggest concern. It's a Scott Flown show on seven hundred wwe coming up at ten oh seven. We'll go in a different direction here. You ever notice the debate over the climate is just well,
everything's polarizing these days, but especially climate debate. Like you have people that are screaming that all the scientists are in the take and it's not happening. Everything's good even though you know scientists, you still measure things, and we have the technology to measure things, and the planet's wiring by a degree or two. But it's just a degree or two. Is that big deal? Well, I'll say yes, okay.
On the other side, you have people like Greta Thurnberg, like if we don't stop what we're doing right now, she said a few years ago that the world's gonna end, I don't know at midnight. Well that that's not true, that's not true at all. As a matter of fact, we've heard these cries before where it's it's doomsday, it's the world is ending, and it doesn't really come to fruition. You heard about you know, the whole theozone the ozone layer deals on the it fixed itself. We also heard
and I think this is interesting too. The story just came out today. The US birth rate. Remember it wasn't long ago. I mean maybe it was back in the sixties before my time, but the concern was over population growth, out of control population. You know, the Chinese instituted a plan and it was pretty brutal as a matter of fact, which led to the the death of a lot of girls. Uh you prior toorist boys, because you know, we're reducing too much. It's getting too big. Here in the United States.
The concern was a zero population. Population growth is going to kill us. We can't sustain ourselves. That was back in the sixties and into the seventies. Story today, the nation's birth rate, the number of live births per thousand people in a given year, is now down by more than twenty five percent since two thousand and seven. So in twenty years it's down twenty five percent. Factor in a drop in immigration, and you know, look at the
falling birth rates. It's it's a big problem. We need workers to support an aging population because workers pay taxes, so there's concern there if it drops twenty five percent since two thousand and seven, how is how is how are things our systems sustainable? Before we had too many people, Now we don't have enough people. And that's happened in my lifetime, let alone yours. So if we're wrong about that, could we be wrong about the environment, maybe to some degree.
But again the extremism of Grete Thurnberg versus the extremism of people saying it everything is fine. There's some sort of truth in the middle. Coming up at ten oh seven, Chuck Lorie's the chair of the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition. We'll debate this coming up at that ten oh seven this morning here in the Scots Loan Show on seven hundred WLW. And well, as I said too, we'll keep an eye on the markets. We have that coming out. I also want to get into at ten thirty five
this morning. I had a discussion yesterday about this time with Anna Alby, council member friend of mine. I like Anne a lot. We have now caught the two individuals most likely responsible for the nine people being shot Saturday night in Cincinnati on Kellogg Avenue at the club thirty five hundred people there clowns walk in with guns and
started shooting. I made a prediction, a bold prediction with her, and we'll get into that at ten thirty five this morning and examine what's really wrong here when it comes to our laws and guns and the like. So we got that coming up. Lots to do this morning on this very busy Tuesday here with the this moving in full forecast here, it's again it's just going to go.
It's going to rain forever. It looks like at this point we'll find out.
We'll get that in and then I said Chuck Lourie coming up from the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition at ten oh six on the Scott Sloan Show, seven hundred ww becomes so polarized.
You're just the environment, right.
We all like to go outside and bread, clean air, go to the parks, whoever it might be. If you're great at Thurnberg, I'm not trying to hear you. The world isn't going to end before the season finale of Surviving. Likewise, if I don't know they're the Cook brothers, for example, the size is pretty clear. The planet is changing. I mean, you got oil money trying to predict your investments. And then I get while you're trying to convince me, and you know, seeding people who will be your mouth piece.
I understand, I know the world works, but you know, as always, the truth is in between the extremes. To answer that question is Chuck Laurie. Chuck is the chair of the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition. Earth Day, of course, is approaching, I think next month. Chuck, welcome, How are you.
I'm doing great, Thanks too much for having me.
Yeah, of course.
The problem is, and I guess because you've been in this for a long time, you have people who absolutely want to change the planet overnight. If they're up to them, they would get rid of all fossil fuels immediately.
Somehow, I don't know how you do that.
On the other hand, people saying everything's fine, little sort itself out, which we've got to be better stewards the planet, for sure. But how did Earth Day or the environmental how did this become in conservation all that stuff and climate change? How did it get so polarized? How did we get to the point today where we don't even hear each other.
Well, that's a good question. Luckily we don't have that much of the polarization here in Cincinnati.
Do you have a sense of like, we care, but we can only do so much.
Every little bit helps.
It's a lot of initiatives. I mean, something that the city's focused on is just reducing food waste. You know, thirty percent of waste that goes into the landfill is food which can be recycled. You know, some of these things make just common sense.
Yeah, I remember touring, I said, a volunteering are some Matthew twenty five minut ministries a few years ago, and it was remarkable to me, Chuck that if you go in there and there's a lot of clothes and sundryes and things like that, but sample products from P and G for example, like I don't know, sunscreen, let's say, or the Campbell soup company, if the label was crooked on a can of soup, they couldn't sell it. It's
something they want to the law says, you can't sell it. See, you had all these Kansas soup they're perfectly find that in the past would have ended up in a landfill. Ditto for the sunscreen and all these other products, and instead Matthew twenty five ships it to war torn or natural disaster stricken countries to help people there along with the clothes like Sintas may have a misprint on a logo on a shirt or a name tag that would
end up in a landfill. Usually they do a wonderful job of this, And I know that's something when it comes to environment and helping people, helping mankind, And you're right about that. It's like, well that's common sense stuff. You know, the food waste restaurants throw a ton of food away? Could that be better suited to going to homeless shelf because I know there's a lot of other there's organizations to do that in Cincinnati, but do it
on a bigger scale. Stuff like that, Like sometimes the laws and health code and are in direct conflict with this. And that's just all common sense slam dun stuff that Whether you believe in climate change or you think it's all made up, I think we all agree on that.
That's a good idea.
Well, yeah, and the city has just rolled out composting bends all throughout the city in each each of the fifty two neighborhoods. I just got one here at Mount Storm Park in Clifton, so you just it's free for three months. You just get called up. Sign up gets your code and you can put your composed of food waste in there, and.
Then you turn that into what mult right you could throw out your garden or on your lawn.
It's the common orchard. Try Projeck here in Cincinnati turns it into multi and then they sell that. And but it's a terrific process. And I'd like everybody to check out the Common Orchards project dot org and and make this composting test of success for these first three months.
I tried that years and years ago, and I was really I was really bad at it. It seems like it should be pretty easy, but I struggled mightily with it. Chuck like I put, I forget it so long ago I forgot. But I was like, Okay, guy got some leaves in the yard and I did that. You put layers in the whole thing, and I think it's still sitting there. I don't think it's compost at all. I think Mother Nature hates me.
Oh, I'm sure it's composted by now. But it's easy to do. Just coffee grounds, food waste, just take. Don't put cape in there. And cardboard is great, you know, you just layer it, h give it a try. All the instructions are on the bend, you'll see them. They're all around the city.
Now, Yeah, they've made it much easier. I think it accessible for people too. There's I think the problem with the divide we have with environmentalism and it's become so polarized, is there's friction points. Right, there's like a small inconvenience that stop people from taking action even they want to do.
You see that around here a lot.
I mean I mentioned the difficulties or at least in my mind, with composting, it's kind of a small step. I got to throw stuff out anyway? Why not to do that? But it's like, wow, it didn't work for me. Are there other friction points like that to just prevent people from from being better about it?
Well, riding a bicycle the Queen City Trails has created a great matrix of bikeable paths, you know, the the bike paths along Central Parkway just removes that barrier that it's dangerous to interface with cars. Now you have your own bike lane. Well.
I also think though too, that you know you want to go to work? Do you want to? I mean there's some days where it's absolutely beautiful. Love to ride my bike, but you know, for most of the weather we just had over the winter, and then of course the summer is brutally hot as well.
For a lot of people. That's a turn off.
Well starting little little parts, you know, just bike when you can, so they we've got great bike trails to do that.
What about topping off your gas. I'm a topper, Chuck, I'll be honest with you. I know it's just signs up all of it. Don't top off your field. I got to hit that number exactly on the gas pump. I'm a bad person, right.
I think they're saying, don't fill up after sunset or you know, try to fill up after sunset when the emissions aren't going to be that large and the.
Lines are shorter there too. I got to hit that exact number. If it's like, you know, fifty bucks, I got to hit fifty bucks on those. Otherwise I got to go up to fifty one.
It drives me. The OCD is real in my life.
He's Chuck Laurier at the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition and talking about how we got so divided. Whether you're either on the Greta Thurnberg side or the Hey it's all a lie and it's all made up and it's all politics side. There's no oxygen left in the room to say, hey, could we be better at protecting the environment. I think the other element here too that gets lost, Chuck, is we also have to recognize we live here and now and today that with the debate over fossil fuels, for example,
oil is going to be around. We're going to be dependent on for our lifetimes and probably the next couple of lifetimes. It's just the way it is, you know. I think people say we've got to do more in America. Maybe it's more the little things like you're talking about, but the big seismic changes in switching all over to solar and wind and renewables.
Is a tough ask.
Is it reasonable to admit as an environmental It's like, you know, the people who want to do this overnight are equally out of their minds.
Well, it's not going to be done overnight. I mean it's a small smalls you know, put solar on your apps, driving an electric car are both becoming less expensive and that'll really drive it.
But the problem with evs of course it still depends on fossil fuel to charge that vehicle.
Well, the city Cincinnati is invested in a lot in some solar arrays. You know, twenty percent of the city's electricity comes from their solar array. It's a lot of small bites of the apple.
Yeah, no, no, that makes sense. If you can convert solar to energy, I mean, do it. And it's because the technology are getting better. It's not something that's going to happen overnight. And we also have to consider we live in America. When you talk about what's happening here, I think we're much better environmental stewards. And let's say China or India for sure, and that's the problem. We've got to compete with their economies. I think that's a
realism that some environmentalists don't want to recognize it. It should be more on us. But if they're not doing it, if they're not leaning into it, can what we do here offset that?
Oh? Absolutely? You know, we we have the Cincinnati recycling and reuse of you know, you can recycle every type of plastic at the Hub. It's it's an amazing resource and literally everything even your genes and aluminum foil. It's all recyclable. Yeah.
And that's the other thing to you here is that sometimes if you put stuff in recycling container, which I recycle, but there's been some studies, don't reports anyway that indicate that maybe not all that stuff gets recycled, it just gets thrown in the landfill anyway. Is that true or is that Are we getting better at that at the recycling end?
Oh not at all. You know you Rumpky loves to give you tours. We were lucky to have Rumpy. They have the best recycling program in the country. They take a lot of a lot of stuff. The HUBB will take the rest. Yes, it's important to know what you can put in those recycling bends. You know it's not with recycle, right, Don't put syrophoam in there because you wish they could recycle it.
But if it has that little logo on it, does that mean it's recyclable? You know, the little triangle made with arrows. I thought that meant that's recyclable.
Only specific ones in the Rumpty bins. But the hub they take all those all those numbers, and that is.
Again it's not one of those little hurdles, right, You look at it going well, I don't know if Rumpky's going to use this am I if I put you know, Kroger bags in there, we can't recycle those because it comes up the machine. But it seems like they change the standards all the time, like they're getting better at recycling different things. And I think that's one of those roadblocks for people, right is like, Wow, you're you're overwhelming with well this minutia. I want to do the right thing,
but you're making it more difficult. I mean, at some point, hopefully we'll be able to throw all our trash and I'll sort it all out using AI and lasers and all this other cool technology, but we're.
Not there yet.
Well, other countries like Japan, it's the culture of recycling. Germany, it's the culture. You go to the train station in Germany, there's there's six different recycling bends, even for different colors of blass. So it starts with the parents teaching the kids, starts with the kids teaching the parents. But it is an education.
Why do you think they lean into that more than we do here because you have two recycling bins and it's confusing. I'd stand there for a half hour fight, had six trying to figure out which one to throw it in.
I'll come there. It's more ingrained here, not so much.
Well, they it costs more. Gasoline costs more in Germany and Japan, and you know, resources cost more. So it's it's you know, we we were lucky here in the States. They have huge you know, landfill pills, but as we get more developed, that'll be uh, you know, I have the same problems that Japan and Germany do.
Chuck Laurie's here from the Greayer Cincinnati Earth Coalition. I'm talking about common ground here between the Hey, the sky is falling environmentalists and the sky is not falling deniers, And it's those two entities. Take all the oxygen out of the room, and there's little things you can do to help, But how much is that really going to move the needle? And it's a it's a good conversation
we're having here. We also as a state have a complicated relationship with environmental regulation EPA and the like because we have an energy history, we have a legislative history with that. Is that hard to navigate here while still making progress at the local level.
Well, the bio environmental Council lobbies the legislature to help make it easier for like two houses to get together and put solar panels that both houses share. You know, one state is recently adopted where you could just plug a solar panel into the outlet into your house. If your power goes out, at least you've got you can power your computer. Yeah, so little things like that, Ohio
Environmental Council is lobbying for. You know. The other thing with the city is we have the twenty thirty pledge by buildings. For example, the Contemporary Art Center downtown is made of pledge to reduce energy use by fifty twenty thirty.
Chuck Laurie, are you concerned about AI farms and the light going and what's the environmental concern?
Then? Well, like any energy use, that really should cost the people that use the energy the money to get the environment back to the way it was. You know, we it's going to burn fossil carbon. You need to be responsible for the decrimental effects of fossil carbon. Why can't we just charge? What can we just do that put the environment back to the way we found it?
Well, because I mean just by walking in the forest, you're damaging the environment. I guess, I mean, how how pristine can we go back? I also look at the past two Oh yeah, go ahead, what's that.
I don't think walking in the forest is exactly well, I.
Mean, what I'm saying is you leave a footprint, right, I mean, as a former Scout of scouter, you know, we find the campsite, we leave the campsite better than we found it, but there's still evidence that you were there. I guess, I guess, how pristine do you want to make it when you go just by us existing, we damage the environment?
Well, that's true, nine billion people, it's a lot of a lot of effects.
At a lot of footprints, a lot of footprints.
You got to work cut out for.
Where where's the environmental where's the environmental movement? Now?
Chuck on nuclear I think that's one. You know, I'm curious your take on this one is environmentalists that you know back in the day, and I was young, and I was a kid then I remember fighting over three mile island approach and no nukes, no nukes, no nukes. And now we look at it, gone, well, boy, that's a much cleaner alternative than than fossil fuel. For sure, maybe not as good as solar and wind, but that's limited in scales what you can do with that, whereas
nuclear it's pretty good. You mentioned these companies, and then we're moving towards putting small nuclear reactors in and around these things so they can power themselves. Do you think that was a missed opportunity back in the day that we maybe should not have protested so much about that. Not that you were part of that, but I think as environmentalists, I love your take on it.
Well, once again, if you're going to have create energy, you need to be responsible for the environmental harm that it causes. I mean, we we need the natural environment. We're part of the natural environment.
Oh we have to lose your.
So nuclear energy may have to cast more, just like the pots and fossil fuels. It's going to cost. What is making solar panels? Is it degrades the environment as well. Sure, we need to make energy more expensive so people will use less of it. It's really it's kind of our problem, you know.
Well, I suppose, but we also we also like things and we produce things. That means jobs, and now that's at odds with the economy. So if you make energy so cost prohibitive, that it's so limited and so used. Doesn't that doesn't that hurt the human condition?
No? Others, like I said, Germany and Japan, they deal with it, you know. It's it's maybe they have but a lot higher leg regulatory burdens than the US does.
Yeah, but lucky, Yeah, well we are lucky.
But but you look at our again here in America, it's about now we're a consumer driven economy and the GDP means I think to a lot of people, probably a lot more of the environment, and that that's probably news you don't want to hear. But I guess that's a reality. I don't know if that changes. He's Chuck Loria, the chair of a Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition, the gdc e C.
Thanks so much for the time. Chuck enjoyed the conversation. Be well.
Unfortunately, the hardline reality is that we have to live on this planet. We are going to make a footprint no matter how lightly we tread. We also have to exist today and we are married, of course to fossil fuels for the time being, for our lifetime and our kids' life and probably a great grandkids time for that matter. Another hundred plus years. In that regard, though, can we
do better? Sure, we should always be doing better. However, we do have the reality of the gross domestic product, and what we don't want to do is energy so expensive it causes our economy to collapse.
It causes us to lose jobs.
That doesn't improve quality of love as a matter of fact, and make a case that environmentalism goes out the window when you are trying to lift yourself up. Look at developing economies and that's what's happening. In developing economies. They don't care about the environment because they're trying to live to tomorrow. So they're not generally good, so they're not recycling. When you're living hand to mouth, that is a luxury for first world countries. You don't want to slip backwards.
Scott Sloan, seven hundred word.
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Sides Scott Sloan show. This is seven hundred WLW. Two men arrested in the Riverfront live mass shooting. You're not gonna believe this. They are already banned from having guns. How is this possible? How?
So big question? Why the system let them walk? Yesterday?
I had anna all be on with me, council member, I'll be and we're discussing the case, the investigation, and of course did so before we knew who they were.
I don't know how you couldn't see this coming with.
Something like this. It truly leads me, you know, a little speechless almost because to your point, there were security guards inside, there was a police detail outside, there was you know, metal detectors. So at some point we have to say, come on, like, we need responsible gun owners. We need people who know how to deal with their issues without pulling out a deadly weapon.
Look, I'm a gunner. Ninety nine percent of people are law abiding gun owners. This isn't someone being responsible or irrespond. This is just someone who has a gun and uses an extension to settle beefs. Basically, you know a man child or woman child. Generally it's a man child that this has nothing new with gun owners, a responsible gunnership.
This And I'll go on record as saying I'm going to I'm gonna bet the person that let that place up on Saturday probably was restricted from having a handgun because of prior felonies. I will in the bet that that person had a handgun under disability.
I don't know that that's information that's still, you know, under investigation.
I say, I don't know either, but I'm gonna bet and I'm gonna bet that that person should.
Not have had a gun.
Maybe that's true.
It was one hundred percent.
So the Riverfront live shooting nine people shot, six men, three women, private party, two guys arrested. Fernique Cobb who's twenty four and twenty an annear old Derek Long, both faithful onlys assault charges. Here's the detail that should if it hasn't stopped in your tracks already. Both men are ready legally prohibited from having fire arms. Both had previous convictions for weapons under disability. Both knew they weren't supposed to have a gun, Both were told by the court,
you can have one. Both had one anyway in our system.
The system is.
Supposed to stop this exactly through all these laws. Already had multiple chances to get it right, not once, not twice, at least three times, and they still screwed it up. This isn't about one bad night in Cincinnati, a bad night at Riverfront Life. This is about a justice system in Hamlin County and in the City of Cincinnati that has been warned, begged, and pleaded with to get serious
about these repeat offenders and repeatedly chosen not to. And the people who think that we ought to give them another chance get reappointed and reelected.
So this is what you.
Get as a law abiding gun owner. I'm ready to become a non lawbiding gun owner because you're not supposed to bring a gun into the premises of Riverfront Life. You're not supposed to bring a gun into places where you shootings, and these people do it anyway. If the idea is and you feel so concerned about your personal safety and the safety of those around you, including your loved ones, especially let alone bystanders. It's almost like, well, they're about gun crimes, so I should just bring mine
with me because knucklehead may do something stupid. You know, you may not like guns and despise guns. That's not the reality. The reality is things like this make you want to carry more, not less, not lock your gun up in a car and a lock box to go on a venue where the social predators out there like these two reign with impunity because they know, hey, I'm not allowed to have a gun here. They got one in any way, despite metal detectors and everything else, and
that's where the investigation will be focused on. It makes us infuriating that we've had this exact same conversation I had with analyob yesterday, to the point where you can predict that the people who are doing this stuff shouldn't have access to guns, but did the many way, despite all these laws they want to pass, despite Democrats and Congress in particular talking about how we need more gun laws,
we didn't enforce the laws we have. Well, you can't do that because you victimize these people then why have laws anyway? If someone's going to get it's not a victim, You're not a victim. If you're perpetuating violence, that doesn't make you a victim. I don't care about your your social background, your upbringing, quality of life. All that stuff is important when their children, okay, both. The minute you pick up a firearm and commission of a felony and do it several times, I'm sorry.
I don't have any more.
Empathy for you in your upbringing, what happened in your life to get to the spot. All I care about is getting you off the street and putting it behind bars before you kill another innocent person.
The Patrin Herringer.
Murder after the brawl, right after Kashanda Winn was shot in the back as an innocent bystanderd OTR. We had a summer of shootings and had residents and business owners literally at what's end.
And after all that, the Hamlin County.
Association Chiefs of Police took the step extraordinary step of publicly calling for a stakeholder roundtable cops, prosecutors, officials, judges, citizens, moms, dads, grandma's and grandpa's to get together to talk about how armed violent defenders keep cycling through the system back on the streets.
Judges refused to come.
You know the idea that, well, we can't because we have to maintain impartiality. That's not the answer. Not hey, well you know, we'll send a representative. Let's find a format that works as like, hey, not our problem, right, not our pony, not our circus. And meanwhile, you got residents in the West End talking about up to sixty shots fired on Clark Streak in a single night.
We saw the problem with with with privy that goes on.
And we all know and they were warned that this keeps and it just keeps coming. And then we're not even a summer yet. Man, what do you think is going to happen this summer? You should have a reasonable fear. I'm not trying to fear monger. I'm just being a reality monger.
I guess.
In the court rooms, it's the problem judges like Sammy silversk She last year walked off the bench with a dispute over a prosecutor or a bond and then issued an order saying no one is allowed to object to a bond rule, no ob Jackson's the bond and accord hearing.
In a criminal case. What if we were this case.
Montesa Merriweather convicted felon, bonded out on the weapons disability charge, and then participated in the violent downtown brawd that went viral. They said they had him on a gun charge. You let him walk. That's the ecosystem that Frinny Cobb and Derek Long moved through. It's all of this. You know you're gonna have criminals. You're gonna have people like Cobb and Long and Merriweather, and you can go on and on and on with the names. That doesn't matter. It's
a system that allows this. Sarah Herringer had been saying for months, and she's right. Her husband Patrick was killed by the man who caught off his ankle monitor. The state knew they had a warrant. Mordecai Black spent the next three months on a little one man crime spree, broke into his girlfriend's apartment, trespassed, and then stabbed Patrick Herndon to death in his own home at OTR four thirty in the morning. You know, Cobb and Long were
not ankle monitors, but the principle is the same. The tools exists to tract dangerous people, and the political will to use it aggressively consistently does not. Not in Columbus, down Hamilton County, not in Cincinnati. Nine people were shot at Riverfront Live on Saturday. These two clowns that got arrested and criminal records should have made it nearly impossible for them to access firearms.
They got them anyway.
So to talk about responsible gun ownership and responsible gun owners I'm done with the platitudes. The system had multiple times to intervene here, multiple intervention points, conviction sentences. They've been in the system time and time again, and each one it shows, well, we'll just go with the lighter option here. We don't want to stigmatize people. Then okay, you're accepting death and mayhem. You're accepting events like what
happened on Saturday night. Hamilin County has accepted. That's just part of it. Because we don't want to get serious about the laws we have, So don't bloviate about how we need more laws.
We need to be straight. It's responsible gunners and lock your guns.
Stop.
I'm done with it, are you? I'm done with it. It's nonsense. It's just hot air. It doesn't mean anything. Hamlet County judges won't sit at a table with the chiefs of police discussed the problem. They already said, Hey, we're out of this. Nope, nope, we're not going to do this. We're closing up probation offices. Right, yeah, we're going to We're gonna go, oh yeah, we're going to condense the probation All okay, great, you don't need neighborhood probation office anymore.
Supervision is shrinking. We're spending four hundred thousand dollars a year in a curfew center that served for four people. It's not a question whether the system failed this weekend, because it did. The question is whether anyone in a position of authority in Hamlin County wants to have an honest conversation about why, particularly judges and the people keep showing up in our courtrooms getting lighter sentences. Yeah, I promise, I'm going to get a job. But yeah, I'm going
to report to my parole officer. Of course, I'm not going to touch a gun. This guy that shot the place up Saturday night literally was out of prison for fourteen minutes or something. It's insane. He walked out with his papers, you know, like shawsh aink redemption. Okay, well, walk right in, got a gun and started shooting a bar up. And here's the thing, this isn't like okay, it's just ref raff gang members shooting game members kind of thing. Nine people to concert venue. Nine innocent people
largely paid for this neglect with their blood. Their blood is on the hands of these judges, and they're handwringing policies that just encourage more of this to happen. Yeah, we'll take your word for quit taking their word for it. You know, at the point where you pick up a gun and commission of a crime, you made a decision. You made a conscious decision as a most likely young adult to cross a threshold of which there's no going back. Five one, three, seven, four, nine, eight hundred the Big
One talk Back iHeartRadio app. You know, there's something like what four hundred million guns in this country. And the guns themselves, we know, they're inanimate objects. They don't cause disputes, but it raises the stakes when the dispute happens. Okay, we got a lot of guns on the streets. The guns don't create the conflict, but it removes a a natural ceiling on what would be consequences, and you know, Anna Alby mentioned that she was speechless and mentioned, you know, okay,
there's got to be better ways to resolve issues. You're she's right, right, But in the past, we had kind of like informal structures that afforded that some people, and I don't always dis agree with this, but that is, you know, we need more church.
You need to go to church. You got to go to church.
We had churches, We had extended families, we had neighborhood elders, we had you know, community organization stuff like that, and they would mediate the disputes before they got to points like this. Well, you know, society changed and we kind of lost that and now we're in this hole.
And I think digital has a lot to do this.
Everyone's their own brand and we're told, you know, you're special, you're snowflake, You're unlike everyone else, You're you're empowering, believe in you, no one else is, and so you feel like it's you against the world. We have a dignity culture, Okay, we used to, I guess we used to have a culture with center around digging, where you know, you kind of ignore minor slights and the big problems that you would settle, you'd mediate with those parties that I mentioned,
with neighborhood helders or whatever it might be. And now we have this whole honor culture because we've elevated the person, the individual, and the special. We got to make you feel so good about yourself that you're the only thing in the world that matters.
It's you.
No one can tell you about you.
We learn.
There's commercials I see all the time about this right about you know, affirmation and things like oh well and good. But when you tell someone they're special, you're also telling them that they're the only thing that matters in the world. And so we've gone from this dignity to like an honor culture now, and which would also call a victimhood culture because the same folks can't be told no because they see that as disrespect in an affront to them.
Like we can disagree, No, we can't. I'm one hundred percent right, you know, the old Uh it's become it's cliche now, but sit you know what is it? The safe spots on campus? Right, I'm allowed to use my First Amendment rights, but don't you dare challenge me. Yeah, it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way, snowflake.
I'm sorry.
So everyone's a victimhood, everyone's a victim in this case, and the biggest percentage of shootings probably like this one start his arguments over something trivial, something stupid, And that code shows that law enforcement is distrusted, that social status is the only real currency, and the willing to see is violence becomes a survival instinct, and social media has just made this far and far worse. At five three,
seven hundred, the Big One. Let me go do a bill in Westwood on the Scott Sloan show, Bill Morning.
Good morning, young man.
How are you today?
I'm doing fine. What's up?
Well?
You mentioned the fact that the judges aren't doing their jobs. That's because Mayor Pure of All, when he was a clerk of courts, told them that if they went with high cash bail or heavy sentences, they would be primary. So no one wants to be primary, so they just went low. You have people who don't want large portions of the city or their favorite voting demographics put in prison because you're going to make their friends and family mad at you, and they won't vote for you and
you will lose political power. But what was really interesting was when the city manager was bloviating on responsible gun ownership. And now that it turns out that these two guys were both mellons and having firearms under disability, I wonder if she's going to come out and take the proverbial banana cream pie in the face.
No, and no, there'll be no statement about this whatsoever. No one will talk about this because it doesn't further the argument. And that's the other part of the problem is elected officials used to be a fountable to not only the people that got them there, but also the people who who voted against them and saying, hey, listen, we have to do right by the community, or we have to lift everyone up, not just a certain group. It doesn't fit in the narrative and therefore we don't
discuss it. And that's true on the left as it is the right.
Well.
As a gun owner of some fifty years, none of my firearms has ever gotten out and committed any times or anything like that. I have, and you know, I'm really grateful for that. But you know, if I wanted to go to one of these venues, I wouldn't because it's not safe. Therefore, my money stays in my pocket. And you know I can stay home. I can stay home, go visit friends, watch you do, do whatever I need to do without worrying about being shot. And eventually the business people are.
Going to like complain, well, I you know, here's what I'll let you go. Sounds like you got water right, don't waste water? Please turn out water where you you're paying for that, or it's really raining out there somewhere thanks to the call.
I appreciate.
But you know, as you get older and you called me young man, and I'm old, So as you get older, you know, the world shrinks, it does you know, you're not going to go out and do things like you used to and run the streets and new experiences you tend to you know, you tend to be a homebody. So we're kind of like out of that demo that they target. Anyway, I'm talking about younger folks. I'm talking about gen z ors in particular, maybe younger millennials. Maybe not,
you're going to go out and do stuff. I like, still like to do cool stuff. I like to go and catch new music. I like hip hop. I don't think I would go to Cincinnati live unless I saw there someone there that I really wanted to see. But you know, the problem, of course, is not that it's
like I just choose to stay home. And you know, if you're on you mentioned YouTube, social media, you're gonna get a steady diet because the algorithm is going to feed you a steady diet of things that just reinforce your worldview, which is going to make you maybe a little bit more scared.
I understand that, and that's how it works.
And that also adds in this the fuel of what we're talking about here about the great social divide. But the reality is like, if you're a judge and you don't want to engage in the probably make the process better because you're fear you're going to lose your impartiality. It doesn't feel like that impartial right now? You know
we got to be impartial. Yeah, But from where I say, you just keep catching people who are violating the laws that you swore an oath to enforce, right, I mean, that's what a judge does, rule guilty or innocent, and you just turned the blind eye to going, Well, you're going to promise not to do it again, right, Oh yeah, absolutely, And if they do it over and over again, I don't know what that has to do with In partiel,
it looks like you're incompetent, is what it is. I mean, at the end of the day, it's you know, peer of not necessarily peer of all or all be or any member of the council. It's not her. The problem is the judges, and they don't want to be held accountable. And I don't know, because you know, when when people are getting shot with think that as a judge, you kind of want to make sure that doesn't happen again.
It makes you look bad. But in Cincinnati maybe not.
And where the political element comes as well, we have this environment and these folks just keep getting re elected, even by wider margins. So is this what the community is? This what the city wants? It looks like they're getting it. But if you want to engage in society and be part of it, and you have a concern that violence could break out at any moment, then I think you have every right according to the Constitution, to protect yourself
regardless what these laws are. I say, Okay, I'm a law abiding gun owner that I'm neutered because I can't bring it anywhere. That's not stopping these felons who get innout. Now, I guarantee it. If it's you and you do it, guess what they're going to make an example lot of you. Right, here's a gun owner I can't seal. Okay, they shot this person. It was a wrong shoot and they're gonna make a big deal out of that. You're going to go to jail much longer than these two clowns who
shot up Revel Riverfront Live bar. That's not a good look for the city, does not make people want to come to downtown Cincinnati and spend their money.
And that's the bottom line.
It's about money and small business and quality of life and your undermining this whole thing. Got to get a news update in more to follow Scottsland show seven hundred WW since now EPEX hearing group in Montgomery and fight up literally across the Middle East, Bahrain saying they've down seventy three missiles and ninety one drowns.
The embassy and Kuwait targeted by Iran.
Other embassies and other places inside the Middle East under siege to some degree various degrees by Iran. And President Trump announcing that we have a virtually unlimited supply of US munitions, and Iran has already been crippled in so many shaped way shapes and formed. But of course this is about regime change, and for the first time in forty six years, we have a legitimate chance at regime change in Iran, but we are bad at it historically here in America.
Where does this war go? Hongs at last, and what should the outcomes be.
Joining the show this morning is retired Major General Bob Dy's the United States Army. He commanded the US Israeli Combined Task for US for Missile Defense for some thirty years out the National Study National Center rather for healthy bets.
General D's welcome.
Oh, great to be with you, Scott, Thank you.
Thanks. As with all I know, we honor the service of our military and their sacrifice, particularly those who've given their lives, and we pray for God's comfort to their families so they may illustrate self with service.
Amen.
The big question would be out is the aircraft that got shot down? The three F fifteens were shot down by Kuwaiti defenses. With technology, with our allies and especially with aircraft friendly fire seems like something that shouldn't happen, yet it does. Have we gotten better, We had to be much better than it used to be. But with the technology out there, how's that happen?
Yeah, we've done a lot better.
But when you talk about relationship between international forces that haven't trained together with the aircraft and air defense in this manner before in a major way, then it happens fractor sides always tragic. Gratefully the pilots lived, and I'm sure this is a warning antidote to many people around the region of these other nations.
That are we have a lot of US Air Force.
Other nations air force flying around. We need this identification process needs to work much better than it did in this case.
Obviously, we had nearly nine hundred strikes in twelve hours. That seems to me to be an extraordinary operational tempo. So from a military standpoint, page what does that tell you the pace? What does that tell you about the planning timeline and the level of readiness and how preposition we are for them?
Yeah, well it's the Chairman of the Joint Chief Staff just recently said this morning, this is an unprecedented scale. And I was in charge of the war plans in the Pentagon in the late nineties. I know this particular mission was part of the planning process back then. You know, you plan against all sorts of contingencies, and so in some cases the planning has gone on for decades, understanding
the terrain and understanding the people. But then now the integrate of all the technology we now have is critical, and it's amazing, frankly to see once and again how this integration has produced good results. Albeit this is a large conflict and we're going to see some loss of lives as well.
This has been going on for forty seven years.
Why now, yeah, yeah, well it's just come to a boiling point. You know, the Iranians, you try all elements
of national power. Regrettably, over the forty seven years since the Islamic Revolution happened, we've never had anything decisive to tell them to it's not healthy to say death to America or death to Israel, and to promote terrorism and continue to try to gain nuclear weapons and to empower their surgus throughout the region, and then of recent to kill many of the innocent protesters within our inn itself. So all of that brought it to a boiling point.
Our president and the administration worked hard on the negotiating side, and it became obvious to really the whole world that the Iranians were delaying and delaying and just trying to play it out until they broke out with a nuclear weapon.
Yeah.
So the decision to strike in a daylight rather night, to catch commanding the other senior officials together is described as a like a tactic deliberate tactical surprise. That's a pretty significant decision. And also that should tell you us a lot. And you the quality of intelligence that drove us from the.
CIA, Yeah, you're exactly right.
Well, the CIA and certainly the Israelis. Yeah, there was a real time intelligence, no doubt that brought this the timelines forward. That you take more risk when you do it in the day, but the element of surprise was powerful and ineffective.
Iran fired nearly three hundred missiles, roughly three hundred missiles I think in retaliation from their estimated stockpile. What's their remaining cap of capability? How long can they sustain that rate of fire?
Yeah, well that's good questions, Scott. I don't know.
I doubt that the US military planners know that with precision. They have done this for decades, produce these ballistic missiles. They probably have quite a few stockpiles left. The question really is can they command and control that. Have we knocked down enough of their three hundred missile launchers to make it where they can't deliver the missiles. So I imagine they have a huge stock pile. It's just but that's not the.
Long pull in the tent. We need to get their launchers.
We need to disrupt their command and control, disrupt their intelligence, their targeting capabilities.
And then that'll deny some of the use of those missiles.
I imagine this is just part of the first wave here. Typically in a battle plan like this, general, how does that plan? How I guess how deep in the deck do you wind up getting?
Here?
You apply with paces out of our you know, President said, be prepared. This could go on for months. We're hoping days, but it could be months, and I think maybe a temper our expectations like that.
But how far out do you plan things like that?
Yeah, well, you plan all sorts of eventualities and it's really condition based. So they'll start with a target set, they'll prosecute that the targets, and there were hundreds and hundreds I'm sure of targets with all these resources that are employed. And then you do battle damage assessment and that's how effective was that particular strike. And based on battle damage assessment, then you reattack or you say okay,
let's move on to something else. And the tempo with that with which that occurs technically takes will determine how long this conflict lasts.
Yeah, the straight of horror moves is already showing disruption there in a shutdown. So from a strategic standpoint, how serious is the threat of ranch shutting all that down or maybe putting placing minds and other things out there to dissuade vessels from going in and out. And what options of the navy has? All right, maybe you have the counter that.
Yeah, well it's a very serious threat.
I mean, we obviously have mind sweepers and things, and we're working that. We're trying to create ahead of time preempt some of those. I know that we've already attacked much of their naval capability. We taken down I think to this point seven Iranian Navy ships and so forth. I just read a report don't know the details. Electronic warfare against ships and GPS signals in the strait suppor moves also that could significantly disrupt the traffic going through.
So it is a strategic choke point. But it's a mixed bag because if you knock out, if you close it totally, a lot of that oil is oil that's being supplied to China and other nations, and so if that's knocked out, then it many ways works to Iran's detriment.
He is a retired US Army Major General. Bob D's on Scott Sloane Show on seven hundred wwe commanded the US Israeli Task Force or Missile Defense and joins the show with his insight on what's happening as we speak right now. This is the largest regional military build up, I believe since two thousand and three. A couple carrier groups, a dozen destroyers, you've got air assets. Is that force package that is sufficient enough for a sustained operation?
Do we have to call in more support?
Yeah?
Well, I think it's a definite force package.
Now, what you have to realize.
Is that you've got forces from the United States, You've got strategic command, you've got transportation command people that are providing from the United States assets that provide aerial refueling for many of the forces in region. We have long range bombers that come out of the intal United States. So yes, I think it's certainly enough in the region. It's a real dense package of force of capability.
In the region.
But we're a global power and so a lot of the power comes from the United.
States other places.
Also, other nations are starting to lend their support to include the Arab states that have been attacked by Iran of recent right.
And the other thing too is I know Iran has some paramilitary forces and they're just been described think as the ace and a hole for unconventional warfare. So what should our troops expect in terms of a proxy retaliation or relatedvaliation involving allied parties from the Iranians both in the region.
But what about here on US oil?
Yeah, well, Hezballah has already started knocking ascending rockets towards Israel and there's an ongoing conflict on the northern nature of Israel right now. Domestically, as you know, there was a terrorism incident over the weekend in Austin, Texas.
Pretty unusual, they.
Say, terrorism incidents, suspected terrorism, and there'll be a lot of lone wolfs like this, And with four years of open border, there's probably a lot of valid sleeper cells that are otent that rise up. If, as many Iranian clerics say, this is an existential threat, this is the end times, this would be the time they would pull the trigger on all assets who are in the United States as well as around the world.
Do you think by now we have a good handle on who is here to do that kind of work from our intelligence in stateside?
I think absolutely we don't.
I saw the amount we've been into infiltrated before nine to eleven in the sleeper cells, and now with the open border in twenty years, hence there's a lot more that are embedded in the United States.
So we.
Need to be on our toes. We're grateful for the account intelligence efforts of the FBI, but we're pretty vulnerable right now domestically as well as more domestically than we are internationally.
Frankly, yeah, I wonder, you know, trying to pull all this stuff together. General D's and I tend to believe in Ocham's razor, which basically leads the most common sense explanation, usually the right one. And I don't want to give elected officials and administrators administrative set too much credit here for being long term planners or thinkers, because I don't think that's ever been the case. But in this regard, I look at what happened with Maduro and Venezuela, and
that was a precursor. Allegedly to get well was to get rid of fentanyl, which really wasn't the day. We got oil out of that. And in addition to that, we also activated ICE, and their mobile eyes are going around from Minnesota and elsewhere. It'd be much easier for them to pivot to going from that kind of enforcement to terra cells and rooting those individuals out. But at the same time, you're going to shut down the Straight of Hormuz here choking about about twenty percent of the
world oil supply. Now we have a steady supply of Venezuela oil coming into this. I think those two things with ICE but particular Venezuela, were pretext for this.
Yeah, I'm not sure about the pretext for ICE.
I do think that these problems are not separable. A lot of the ice operations are against people that are bad actors. Some have been bad actors in our potential terrorist threats, and so that'll be complementary. On the oil thing, it's hard to figure out. You know, you can say America is just trying to get oil, but if you go back, I know, my father in law was an
oil man in Venezuela a long time ago. Venezuela's can be a very productive country with a very productive oil economy, but the Maduro regime and previous had just disrupted all that. So they were producing oil, but most of it was going to corrupt means the who.
These have already demonstrated ability to strike our assets and survive sustained bombardment. That's another element here in country. How significant is that threat to well carrier groups like the USS Abraham. I was on the Lincoln for a cruise, the Abraham Lincoln and other naval assets in the region right.
Now, Well, it's a significant threat. Uh.
And they they they are right on the choke hold of the Straits of Horror moves there and so we got to continue to fight them. And it's certainly they're attacking Israel at times, but right now they're attacking American assets in the region and particularly shipping lanes in the region these days, with guided missile capabilities. Uh, you know with uh, without a lot of effort, that they can produce some significant outcomes. And if it's in the Straits
of Horror Moves. Now, if we have that going on there, now the shipping is set down, shut down. I understand they've already been attacking old tankers in the Straits of Horror Moves, so significant. Scott, Yeah, and Abraham Lincoln's the impressive now, yeah, it really is.
Those those carrier groups are amazing things when they get rolling. Uh, what is your threat assessment of Hesbala and they're.
Rolling us.
Well? Uh.
I think today the Israelis reported.
They they killed the.
Key has the leader, one of the main terrorist leaders there. The Israelis will continue to attack that. A number of villages I think it's fifty villages in southern Lebanon have been directed to evacuate because Israelis could use ground operations there to shut this down, and certainly they're doing air operations. When I was the commander of the Israeli Combined Task Force for Missile Defense, I mean we even from the
Beca Valley. Up at Lebanon, we had gliders that were coming down and those are hard to pick up coming down men on gliders with bombs or terrace to intent and so the Israelis are good at this, but they're fighting on all fronts right north southeast above.
Yeah, well we got you got this three person transitional council because the head has been caught off and there's a lack of a clear command authority. Does that make things there for our troops more or less dangerous?
Well?
I think it's more dangerous because here you have a wounded animal, one that we always had malintent towards us, and now they're wounded and they're striking out and to shoot the ballistic missiles towards their Arab neighbors and then claric towards US and civilian targets as well as military targets.
They are pretty desperate. And they may say that they have a three person ruling council, but with that type of death and destruction at the top of their leadership, I suspect it's very fragmented at best.
Yeah.
Well, the Revolutionary Guard, of course here is probably going to try to consolidate power, because a full regime change doesn't really seem likely. Plus we're also bad at regime change here in the United States. We've talked about that. If they do indeed emerged stronger of this whole thing, is that a success or of failure.
Well, I think that would not be a success because, as we say, this has gone on for forty seven years. So we really do need to change the intent of the nation of Iran from death to America, death Israel, death to many others in the area, to one of economic aiming economic prosperity and peaceful coalition in the region.
Trump said, the bombing will continue as long and necessary. From your chair their general military planning standpoint, What does that off ramp look like? I mean, what, how do you declare, hey, victory, We're going to pull the hell out of here. And how many weeks or months do you think that takes?
Yeah, well, well I would say weeks, not months. Uh And and I would say it all depends on what we see. If we see Iran continuing to shoot missiles and and other things, you know, the naval and the Straits of Hormos, we will pursue all of that until it's no longer about you know, a valt a threat and that be depending upon the BDA, as I mentioned the battle damage assessment and the overall campaign objectives, it could be you know, a few weeks before that happens.
I don't think we're talking months though.
Yeah.
Is there back channels going on within that three member panel to determine what leadership looks like? Is that something that's negotiated or are we just completely obliterate them for they cry uncle?
Well? I think it depends. We got to see that.
Does this three member panel do they really speak for the nation of our end? Are they really controlling the IRGC or are they just puppets at this point in time? And and you know, if the IRGC is the one calling the shots and continuing to find we need to defeat them, if not destroy them, before this conflict is properly ended.
All right, weeks not months is what you or guess would be?
Uh?
And informed one of that? And what the X how we how we pull out of this thing looks entirely different than what the aftermath is of course too, is all in question. He is made your General US Army retired Bob D's He commanded the US is rarely combined task force or missile defense back in the day now at the National Center for Healthy Vests in Virginia.
General, thanks for the time. I appreciate We'll talk again soon. B.
Welsercot, thank you.
News update seconds away. Here the very latest now seventy two hours into the fight, and this is rocking markets.
On that.
Andy Shaeffer from all Worth Financial joins the show next to talk about the volatility, what's happening, where it's going to go, and and a little bit of calm for if you're worried about the gas price is going up the economy in particular, maybe your savings, if not, your retirement plan, your far oh one K. He'll break it down for you. Next, little little calming voice.
In the room for you.
Almost guarantee that with Andy Shaeffer. Right after news on seven hundred W W. Scotts LUNCHA.
You need money, how to make it, how to keep it, and how to keep others off your stash.
This is all Worth Advice with Andy Shaeffer. Andy Schaeffer, good morning.
I just wish there was more going on the world to discuss when it comes to finances.
Yeah, what do you want to talk about this.
I want to talk about financial imageddon that's happening today.
That's what I want to talk about.
All right, we can do that. How do you want to start?
No one listening is going to ever be able to retire. Quit there.
You're gonna have to get a If you have three jobs, you're gonna need five. Right, Is that what's going on?
All right?
So we we, along with Israel launch Coordinator strikes at Iran, targeting military, government, energy infrastructure. We're bombing the hell out of them right now, and Tehran is responding. And then you go, okay, well, gas prices, let's start there. Are we prepared to see gas prices go up to well or about three a gallon I think nationally right now, but maybe four or five dollars a gallon?
Where's the breaking point here? Do we know yet?
Well?
I think you know, if you ask if we meeting the average citizen of the United States, probably not.
You know, we're a little bit worried about it.
And I think you have to understand and unpacked this from a big picture standpoint.
You know, the main issue with this Iran conflict is oil.
Prices, and you know the immediate problem is probably going to be cast prices that we're going to see at the pump, you know, when we you know, get gas to go to work or whatever it is. But from a larger sense, it's more about the supply issues, you know, And we've talked about the Straight of Horn Moves over the last couple of years and how important that is.
And the Straight of War Moves is about a twenty four mile stretch through the Persian Gulf where about twenty percent of our total oil supply from a global standpoint comes through.
And right now that's locked up.
Well what does that mean.
Well, yeah, prices are probably going to rise a little bit, but in a larger sense, from an economic standpoint, that can significantly impact the global economy. And the reason that it can impact the global economy is not you and me getting from work and back, but the cost of energy and shipping costs. So if the cost of energy increases because the lack of supply from the Straight of Horror Moves, you know, is cut off, that will translate
to higher trasportation costs, which will translate to inflation. And that's certainly what we don't want to see. And you have to remember from a market standpoint, The markets are predictive indicators of how we feel about the economy looking out six months to a year, and investors right now are saying, oh no, if oil prices continue to rise, that's going to translate to higher inflation if we don't
get this thing worked out. And so that's why you're starting to see the market's tumble a little bit, because investors are fearful because we don't know what's going to happen.
Yeah, I know Congress meets his meeting now as a matter of fact on this issue, and I'm sure that's first and foremost is like, hey, well, looks like we finally beat inflation. It took a long time, and now that may all be undone in the drop of a bomb.
Yeah, But unfortunately, I think that you know, we've kind of anticipated a little bit of this, so our supplies have increased quite a bit here in the United States. You know, we we did anticipate a little bit of conflict in the Middle East, and other global powers have as well. We have an East, our oil production, we have increased tracking those types of things, but you know, ultimately that we still need the oil that comes out
of that region. You know, Now, Iran's total oil production amounts about four percent of the total global production, So is that going to have an impact. No, but there are other nations that ship goods out of that area. The other thing that's going to have an impactful outcome there is we get a lot of the world's fertilizer from that area as well, and so that's going to hurt the agriculture industry. So here's the timeline on this. I think if this lasts a week, it's probably not
a problem. If if it goes two weeks, it becomes more of a serious problem. If it goes three, then we can see some impact, you know, from an economic standpoint. You know, when you when you look at the technical aspect of it, when you look at oil prices, oil is up about fifteen percent or so year over year.
If it really when we go back and we look at the data on a year over year basis, it doesn't become a significant crisis until oil prices get to be about seventy five percent higher year over year.
So we're still a little bit far off of that. But if you see those.
Prices increase at seven eight nine percent on a daily basis, we can get there pretty quickly.
Okay, So when you say the most valuable piece of water, the most important piece of water in the entire world would be the Strait of Horror Moves.
I mean what you just described.
They're twenty percent of oil and also liquid natural gas goes through that quarridor. I can't think of something that the world depends on more than the Straight of Horror Moves, can you.
Yeah, whether it's the Strait of Malacca, which is kind of a north of Australia, kind of in the Indonesia area. But the thing about the Straight of War Moves is that it's so tiny. It's only twenty four miles wide, so it's very easy for any nation to clog that up. And that's exactly what I ran did. I mean they you know, they basically cut that area off and we're trying to figure out ways to get around it. And
so now it becomes a geopolitical issue. You know, who's the leadership and I ran, and who do we talk to. They're saying that they're not willing to negotiate. Donald Trump is saying, hey, we're open to talking. They're saying, well, we're not talking because you know, you guys came and bombed us and kill our leader and all this kind
of stuff. So, you know, as this continues to escalate, we have to watch it very carefully, not from a political standpoint, but from an economic stand sure, we have to be nimble enough to understand not only you know, what happens if this continues, but where are the way that we can you know, position our investments that are going to be more advantageous during this period of time.
Yeah, he and is Andy shaff are all worth financial talking about war and of course the impact on the economy.
Gas.
We're talking about natural gas and liquid gas too for that matter too. As we move into the summer months now, so we're not going to freeze to death, but oil and we're also doing the summer blunt switch over right now, which is driving things up. You mentioned about four percent of the world's oil comes from Iran. What about Venezuela. We have full access now to Venezuela. The tap has been opened up to full. But what percentage is that does that offset Iran?
It does to some, but you know there's still some you know, I would say, you know, process issues there, you know, because most of the stuff that comes out of Venezuela is unrefined, and you know, that's why China has a big, you know, a big interest over in Venezuela because they have a big refining industry and things like that, and so you know, and I don't want to get too fearg into politics here, but all of
this is going to significantly hurt China. China was the biggest importer of Iran oil and until large degree they were getting a big discount because we have all these sanctions on Iran and China was one of the few countries that was actually buying their crew and so they're going to have a big impact. Yeah, you're going to be impacted by it. And also they were getting a
lot of Venezuela oil. So I think, you know, in the big scheme of things, from a geopolitical standpoint, China has the most to lose in all this, and so that's why you haven't heard a lot coming from them because they want to make sure that this gets all worked out as well, because they're going to be the country that really is impacted, you know, from a geopolitical standpoint.
Yeah, gotcha, Andy Shafer from all Worth Financial, What would it take for us to fall into recession on its own. Could could it be a couple of weeks of very high gas prices? I mean, what would it take for all of this to be undone? It would take a while.
So right now, you know, from a domestic economic standpoint, you know, we're we're actually performing fairly well. You know, we still look at the labor market, unemployment rates still around four point three percent, inflation is still coming trending down. You know, you take I ran out of it. You know, we're in a pretty good spot. You know, we continue to see you know, jobs be in a pretty good place.
So you know, when we look at our projection from a GDP standpoint, we're looking at expansion somewhere around three percent.
For the year.
So if this continues on and it goes, you know, months and months, that could have an impact on inflation, and that's when we start to see some of the indicators start to lead towards recession. But right now you have to understand you cannot get caught up in the minutia of geopolitical activities. Seventy five set of the time.
When we go through these things, the market will rebound in the next three to twelve months following these major geo political events, and so you know, if we you know, you see the markets fall, it's it's largely due to investors reacting to these headlines. And you have to remain confident and remain secure that your portfolio and your planet remains in good shapes. Now, there are some things that
you can do. You can look at certain different types of investments when you when we go through these defents and aerospace are always good. Energy and natural resources, go into cybersecurity. CrowdStrike, for instance, is probably a good play consumer states Procter and gamble here locally, that's also a good investment choice. But you don't want to make get out of the markets. You just want to make small tweaks to your portfolio. Yeah, it makes sense, but here's
the thing. You say, Hey, don't panic, hold steady. It's going to improve, but always bounces back.
Right.
But I'm looking at the ticker right now, I'm looking at the DOW, I'm looking at the NASDAC, I'm looking at the Rustle, I'm looking at all these things, and they're all they're all tanking because the people who have people are selling, they're not buying or no they're not holding they're moving positions, and so the sky is falling. Those are much smarter people than I am.
Or are they not?
They're not And that's that's exactly the thing.
My money's tied about to people that are dumber than me. That's not confidence inspiring.
Yeah, well, well, and I think that's when you really make portal craft.
We're in trouble.
Yeah, but you know, stocks have experienced corrections on errors fourteen percent per year since nineteen eighty. You know, the average annual return total during those years was a positive thirteen percent, And so eighty three percent of every year that you're invested is positive. So what side of the coin do you want to be on? You want to be on the side of being invested or not. Well, if you're eighty three percent of the time is positive and we always go through these types of shocks, you
want to make sure that you are invested. You know, this is specifically relevant. When the Gulf War began in nineteen ninety one, Okay had the nine to eleven attacks back two thousand and one, the Iraq evasion invasion back in two thousand and three. All of these years were positive. By the end of the year. When Russia a next crimea back in twenty fourteen, the market was up for the year fourteen percent. When Hamas attacked Israel just a couple of years a few years ago, the market was
up thirty four percent. So we go through these things. You just have to make sure that you remain calm and remain poised, let things play out, and remember that the markets are different and the economy is different from geopolitical events.
Okay, So if you go back and look all these conflicts nine to eleven, the Arab spring you mentioned, rocks, Russia invading Ukraine, all these things, at some point it does start to swing the other way, but you've got to give it not seven days, but maybe seven months.
Yeah, And like I said, you know, seventy five percent of the time during these conflicts the market is up. And so you just have to have a little bit of poison. Understand what the underlying data says. And again, the economy in the United States is based on you and me, Scott. It's about the consumer. As long as we're employed and as long as we have the ability to earn a wage that translates to higher corporate prices and higher corporate gains and those types of things, and
that's really what matters. It's the health of our economy. Our economy is so robust. Iran's economy is really about the size of West Virginia's. You have to keep that in perspective.
Okay, No, that makes a lot of sense, Andy, And so it just kind of stayed the course. Maybe make some adjustments because even in a crisis, there's a hell of a lot of opportunities. You said, you know, put a little more into cybersecurity. We're going to need that. I just spoke to Chris and I Heist the first hout of the show at nine oh six. If you missed it, it's on the podcast at the iHeartRadio app.
But he was saying, hey, listen, you know, the likelihood of us being attacked physically as we did not eleven is much much lower than it would be with a cyber attack, specifically critical infrastructure, water, electricity, things like that, but also denial of service. It's all possible. It's on play because Iran and its proxies have been doing that
for about fifteen years. Three years ago, they were able to shut down a water supply uh here in the United States briefly, if you recall that whole story, we could see that on a much bigger scale, that would read probably just as much, if not more havoc because now you're you're you're you're playing with critical infrastructure here.
That is something we all fear. But at the same time, according to him, is like the government is less prepared today than it was six years ago, five years ago, which is is unbelievable.
Yeah, and I don't I don't know if I believe that. I would like to hear statistics on that. You know, because you know, from a corporate standpoint, you know, one of our biggest outflows that all were financial, is security, and and I think most companies recognize the importance of it. I mean, you have to have specific uh firewalls, you have to you have to test it, you have to have you know, a lot of security within your own infrastructure.
From a technology standpoint, otherwise you're not gonna have business because you have to make sure that not only is your business safe and secure, but the information of your clients is. So our second biggest outflow other than our payroll, is through security, and I think that's important. I think most companies in corporation fall in line with that, so I'd be curious to hear what he has to say.
You know, as far as the government is less prepared, because I feel like we pourt more and more money into that because we know how important it is.
Here Andy Shaffer all Worth Financial. Their show airs at six tonight on our sister station fifty five KRC. It's simply money. Andy jumps in Tuesdays. Not a good Tuesday. Hopefully next week will be better. We'll find out, buddy, Thanks again, appreciate it.
How it going all right? Scott talking? Here you go, So there you go.
You may think that these people are really really smart that are running them, but they're apparently they're not.
We're smarter than they are. How about that?
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