WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.719 You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM 2 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:05.559 six forty. 3 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.400 Am six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. It's 4 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.079 the Bill Handle Show. He's still on vacation. Back on Monday. 5 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:22.800 Wayne Resnik sitting in. It's always weird when you play 6 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:27.399 a bump. That's a song that's on my workout playlist. 7 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:30.719 It's like it like it tickles my brain in a 8 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:33.560 weird way. 9 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:36.399 Bad religion colligions. 10 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:39.039 Man, yeah, yeah, oh I know, bad religion. All right, 11 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:41.039 I'm sorry, I diverge it is. I just want to 12 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:43.119 say though, it's weird when you hear a song that 13 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:45.079 you hear a lot and that you hear it as 14 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:49.840 a bump on KFI. Not weird, it's it's whatever. Here's 15 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:53.240 some stories we're watching for you. There is a red 16 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:56.000 flag warning in effect today and tomorrow for parts of 17 00:00:56.119 --> 00:00:59.240 La and Ventura Counties. The Santa Ana wins are gonna 18 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:05.000 peak uh today later today into tomorrow. Gusts could go 19 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:09.000 up to forty five miles an hour. Very low humidity, 20 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.640 oh my gosh. Up in the elevations above four thousand feet, 21 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:17.079 you're talking about humidity levels less than ten percent and 22 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:19.760 in lower areas. It will vary more, but could be 23 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:23.959 as low as eight percent relative humidity that is dry 24 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.000 as dry can be, so fire danger is high. 25 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:28.400 Please be careful. 26 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:33.680 And two separate shootings in downtown LA within blocks of 27 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:37.400 each other, left four people entered last night. Everybody was 28 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.760 taken to the hospital. One of them is in critical condition. 29 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.040 I take that to mean the other three are better 30 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:46.760 than that, and police are still trying to figure out 31 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:50.879 if there's a connection between the two incidents. And I 32 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.000 mentioned that story to you because we're going to talk 33 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.280 a little bit about a new tough on crime attitude 34 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:59.359 here in LA and across the country. This is happening 35 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:04.400 everywhere in New York. I'm just giving you some examples. 36 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:08.319 In New YORKA, the governor ordered the National Guard to 37 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.840 go be in the subways to try to help with 38 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:16.919 the prime problems on the subways. In Louisiana, very different 39 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.560 place than New York, same kinds of ideas, though in 40 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:24.360 Louisiana they passed a law that seventeen year olds will 41 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:28.840 be tried as adults period, end of discussion. In Oregon, 42 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.879 another place that's different from the first two, they recriminalized 43 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:39.039 some drugs that they had previously decriminalized, and they said, Ah, 44 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:41.879 this is not working out, Let's make them criminalized again. 45 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:49.919 In San Francisco, of all places, voters approved a ballot 46 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:56.599 measure that requires welfare recipients to be drug tested and 47 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:00.000 also gives the police more power to surveil people. 48 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:01.039 They passed that. 49 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:07.759 The voters in San Francisco, Colorado, they voted to reduce 50 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:12.960 parole eligibility for people convicted of violent crimes. Now we 51 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.400 can go through and look at all of these things 52 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:17.599 that happened around the country, and I can see some 53 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:20.080 of them I think are good ideas and some of 54 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:23.479 them maybe not. But what the thing that ties them 55 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:27.039 all together is a sentiment amongst us the people that 56 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:32.080 we let crime get too far out of control. And 57 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:36.319 I do think the idea that we let it get 58 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:42.520 out of control is accurate historically and explains the backlash. 59 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:47.080 And that is certainly true here in La in La County, 60 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:52.360 and in California, because you may recall in terms of 61 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.960 local concerns, this has everything to do with Proposition forty 62 00:03:55.960 --> 00:04:01.039 seven that we voted for like ten years ago that 63 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:08.919 made certain felonies misdemeanors, and in La County ninety percent 64 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:12.800 of the neighborhoods. If you break down the voting maps 65 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:18.199 by neighborhoods, ninety percent in La County voted yes on 66 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:19.360 Prop forty seven. 67 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.720 So that's why I say we did it. 68 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:30.240 It didn't just happen. We affirmatively made choices that caused 69 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:33.639 some things to happen that are now creating the backlash 70 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:37.839 against it. And that's why we passed Prop thirty six, 71 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.399 which rolls back a lot of the leniency that we 72 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:46.879 chose when we voted for Prop forty seven. And the 73 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:51.480 thing is, eighty seven percent of neighborhoods in La County 74 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:59.480 that voted for Prop forty seven also voted to overhaul 75 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:01.480 it and and roll it back. 76 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:05.560 It's not different people. 77 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:08.920 It's not like ten years ago some group of people 78 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.959 said let's make it more lenient, and now a different 79 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.480 group of people are saying, let's make it tough again. 80 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:20.160 It's the same people. There's a huge. 81 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:25.600 Correlation between voting for Prop thirty six to toughen up 82 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:29.120 some of these laws again and voting for Nathan Hoffman 83 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:30.600 as the district attorney. 84 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.839 So imagine because because. 85 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:39.079 Voting for him also is a vote for getting tougher 86 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.199 on crime. Now that's not being totally fair to him. 87 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.360 He's not one hundred percent tough on crime every time, 88 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:48.920 all the time, and that's all that I'm about. He 89 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:54.759 has spoken at length about other ideas that would not 90 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:57.319 be considered tough on crime. They would be considered smart 91 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:02.600 on crime and bringing sensible compassion into the system. 92 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:04.079 But if you. 93 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:07.680 Voted for him, there's there's no chance in hell that 94 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:12.399 anybody voted for Nathan Hackman because of those nuanced things 95 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:15.879 that he talked about. Everybody voted for him because they 96 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:17.480 wanted to get tough on crime. 97 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:18.920 In La County. 98 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.439 And therefore the two things go together so much so 99 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:29.439 that the group of voters that voted for Prop thirty 100 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.800 two thirty six, excuse me, and for Hawkman, it's like 101 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.480 forty percent of all the voters. What percent of La 102 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:44.120 County voters stayed entrenched in a soft on crime view? 103 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:47.959 These would be the people who voted no on Prop 104 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.240 thirty six. We don't want to roll back the leniency 105 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:58.399 of forty seven. They also voted for former DA George 106 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:04.680 Gascon that group fourteen percent, and then I guess everybody 107 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.319 else voted for one and not the other way. For 108 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:09.959 whatever reason, they voted for Prop thirty six, they didn't 109 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:14.240 vote for Nathan Hakman or the other way around. So 110 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:18.199 that shows some real I'm gonna say it's a population 111 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:24.680 moving in lockstep. The problem is this is cyclical. You 112 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.439 know what's gonna start happening this year. I promise you 113 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:32.480 I won't be here to gloat that I told you 114 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:35.199 so because I, as I announced earlier, I am retiring 115 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:36.680 fully from radio. 116 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:43.879 I guess next week. But you will start to see. 117 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:51.319 Calls for criminal justice reform again because already jail populations 118 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:55.399 are growing. They will continue to grow as a result 119 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:59.240 of these things that have happened. And as soon as 120 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:02.360 the jail popular start to grow, there will be more 121 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.240 cries about the conditions and overcrowding and that we're over 122 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:12.480 incarcerating people, and the pendulum will swing back. And I 123 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:19.160 think what's happening is the cycles are becoming shorter between 124 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:22.480 a bunch of tough on crime legislation and policies, and 125 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:25.040 it kind of like five years later, ten years later, 126 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:28.920 there's a move to make it not as harsh, and 127 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:30.959 then five and ten years later. But I think we 128 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:34.240 may start to see two or three year cycles now, 129 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.240 because it's just so political as opposed to being a 130 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:43.679 thing like how to build a road is not political. 131 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:46.600 Maybe whether to build one or where to build it 132 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.000 is political, but how to build a road it has 133 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.000 no politics in it. There's a proper way to build 134 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.720 a road, and there is a proper way to run 135 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:00.000 a criminal justice system. But the problem is nobody's interesting 136 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:05.480 in that. I'm going to throughout the show, since I'm 137 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:09.879 retiring completely next week, I'm going to be doing some 138 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:14.559 selfish things, just occasionally. One of those selfish things is 139 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.639 going to happen in the middle somewhere of this segment. 140 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:21.919 But this segment is about a trend in corporate America 141 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:30.320 right now to lower the head count at companies, but 142 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.840 not necessarily in the way you may be thinking, because 143 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:38.279 one question when you look at a company, one question 144 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.840 that you can ask is how many employees do you have? 145 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:47.639 And then investors or debt holders can say, wow, should 146 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.679 you have that many employees? But there's another way to 147 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:53.320 look at a company or a government agency or any 148 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.720 entity really, and it's not how many employees do you have, 149 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:02.039 it's how many levels do you have? And the trend 150 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:06.480 right now has to do with flattening these companies. I 151 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:08.840 did clap my hands in a flattening move if you 152 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:13.279 heard it. Flattening the companies and reducing the number of 153 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:20.480 levels in the company. Every company has to have one 154 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:23.759 or or it could be two people some number of 155 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:28.120 people who are the very top people. Every company has 156 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:35.519 to have an ultimate boss. You cannot possibly operate without that, 157 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.120 or else you get like a lord of the flies 158 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:44.600 situation in your company. And in theory, every company has 159 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.879 to have somebody who's and I don't mean it pejoratively, 160 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.519 because I've been this a bunch of times. I'm this 161 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:56.000 now here that are on the bottom rung of the ladder. 162 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.879 Mainly that they they are not the boss of anybody. 163 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.440 They have a job to do, but their job in 164 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:08.240 no way involves having any oversight over anybody else. So 165 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:13.159 you have two levels. You have to have two. Now, 166 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:15.519 how many do you need depends on what kind of 167 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.080 company you are and how big you are. But there 168 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:23.240 has been a trend before now to put in place 169 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:29.639 level after level after level after level of management. When 170 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:36.120 I was with Defens, you had officers and then supervisors 171 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.320 and then you had deputy chief. I mean they still 172 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:47.279 do deputy chiefs, and then you had chiefs. And it's 173 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:49.399 not that there were that many levels, but a lot 174 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.039 of times I kind of thought, do we really need 175 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:54.720 I'm not going to say which I'm not going to 176 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:58.879 say which layer I questioned the necessity of, but I 177 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.639 did often question whether we really could have gotten rid 178 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:06.240 of one layer and it would not have affected anything. Now, 179 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:12.200 that's still relatively modest compared to some companies. Wait till 180 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:15.919 you hear about how many levels certain companies have. But 181 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.480 the move now is to get rid of entire layers 182 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:25.919 of supervision in a company. What that means is when 183 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.480 companies are doing big layoffs now in reduction and forces, 184 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:36.080 very often it's people in middle management or even upper 185 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:41.919 management who are being let go, like UPS, who says 186 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:47.440 since last year they've cut thousands of supervisor jobs. My god, 187 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:52.720 how many supervisors did they have? I mean, UPS is 188 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:56.559 a big company, They're all over the country. I would 189 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.519 agree they need quite a few supervisors. If they were 190 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.840 able to cut thousands of them and still operate properly, 191 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:07.440 how many did they have? Amazon has a goal they 192 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:11.480 want to increase the ratio of workers to managers. Every 193 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:15.159 manager for every manager there'll be more workers. 194 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:18.080 That means less managers. 195 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.480 That's a nice way of saying that less managers were 196 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:25.759 going to get rid of managers. Over at Google, they 197 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:32.559 have gotten rid of managerial roles by ten percent. Now 198 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.639 I'm not clear over what period of time did they 199 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:37.399 get rid of ten percent of their managers? 200 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:40.639 In a year, in a month, in a day. 201 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:45.720 Public companies in the United States have cut their middle 202 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:53.240 manager head counts by about six percent since the pandemic. Now, 203 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:55.759 you don't have to believe me, because there's a data 204 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:59.879 provider called Live Data Technologies, and they did an analysis 205 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.919 over twenty million white collar workers and that's their conclusion. 206 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:11.200 That's middle managers, senior executives. I assume these are like 207 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:15.559 senior vice presidents and things like that. They're down five 208 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:21.000 percent since the end of twenty twenty one. Now it's 209 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:25.919 not just people losing their jobs. It's also when you 210 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.080 flatten a company and you take away layers of management. 211 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.919 And this is probably what's more important for people like us. 212 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:35.639 I mean, I don't know how many people listening are 213 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:38.320 upper management in a company. I'm sure some of you are, 214 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:40.480 but I suspect most of us are. 215 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.120 Either in the middle or lower. 216 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.759 When you flatten a company, you take away advancement opportunities. 217 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:53.200 So people who are middle managers who were aspiring to 218 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:57.519 become senior executives there may be no positions that even 219 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:02.519 exist for them. At some companies, people who used to 220 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:07.159 be bosses have had to move into jobs where they 221 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:11.399 are not the boss of anybody, and not necessarily because 222 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:17.440 that's what they wanted to do. The job market is 223 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:27.679 apparently flooded right now with managers. So I want to 224 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.960 tell you about City City Bank City. 225 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.639 They are one of these companies. 226 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.120 That have been flattening and getting rid of middle management, 227 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.360 and they were proud to announce a restructuring last year. 228 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:43.200 Late last year. 229 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.679 They were very proud of this that they cut the 230 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:51.159 number of management layers at City. They cut it down 231 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:57.360 down to eight levels of management. 232 00:15:58.200 --> 00:15:59.399 You know how many there were. 233 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:05.320 Before thirteen levels of management. Now City is a huge corporation, 234 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:08.600 and I get that, but if you're a teller at 235 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:14.879 a bank and there's twelve people between you and the 236 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:19.399 head of City, that's too many. Eight is probably too many, 237 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:24.559 but I guess can't do it all at once. So 238 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.480 here at iHeart you. Remember I said every company has 239 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.840 to have. There's got to be somebody at the tippy top, 240 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.159 and there has to be somebody at the bottom. So 241 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:36.240 I'm the person on the low rung and at the 242 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.799 high rung. Here at iHeart, I think it's two people 243 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.559 kind of are sharing the high rung, Bob Pittman, the CEO, 244 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:47.039 Rich Bresler, the COO CFO. If anybody from management listening, 245 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:50.799 don't get nervous. I'm not doing anything crazy. So I 246 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:52.879 would just like to say, though, in light of my 247 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.519 impending retirement, I would like to say one thing to 248 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:59.399 the CEO of iHeart, Bob Pittman. Bob Pittman, I know 249 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:04.319 that you have a very good tequila company called Cosa Dragonis, 250 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:08.519 And I'm just saying putting it out there in the 251 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:13.720 world that boy, wouldn't a nice bottle of Cosa Dragonis 252 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:23.359 tequila make a wonderful retirement gift for oh, I don't know, somebody. Well, 253 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:28.480 remember when every company wanted to get into diversity, equity 254 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:29.720 and inclusion. 255 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.400 DEI that's changing big time. 256 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:38.799 Corporate America is pulling back on their diversity programs, partly 257 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:41.640 because of pressure from activists. 258 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:46.599 Who have sued. In many cases some of these companies. 259 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:52.000 And then with a new administration coming in, you know, 260 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:54.720 I think we can agree the new administration is not 261 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.960 as friendly to DEI ideas as. 262 00:17:57.799 --> 00:17:59.119 The current administration is. 263 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:02.559 So they're gonna have activists on their backs, and they're 264 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:05.599 going to have an administration that's not going to be 265 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:13.519 very sympathetic to any of their DEI efforts, and they're 266 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:18.599 starting to because if you have an administration that is 267 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:23.000 friendly to DEI, then you're not probably going to have 268 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:27.480 any luck getting the government to do anything about federal 269 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:32.039 programs in this regard. But with the new administration coming in, 270 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:36.519 the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, that is a 271 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.240 place that has sued many companies over their DEI policies, 272 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:45.079 and now they've identified sixty one federal programs that they 273 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:50.359 think could be should be eliminated and that they could 274 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:55.880 sue over, like the program that gives technical assistance for 275 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:02.839 minority farmers, or program that give preferences in contracting for 276 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:08.599 minority owned law firms that are helping the United States 277 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:13.920 collect money that's owed to the United States. And it's 278 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:17.079 not just that generally the tone of the new administration 279 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.880 is more anti DEI. It's also that one of President 280 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:26.440 Electrump's top advisor, Stephen Miller, actually ran a group that 281 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:30.640 sued companies over their DEI policies, so he has some 282 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:37.440 experience going after it. Because of this backlash and because 283 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:44.440 of activist behavior and lawsuits, for example, Ford Motor will 284 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:50.759 stop providing workplace data that it was giving to the 285 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.599 Human Rights Campaign, which is a gay rights I mean, 286 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:58.519 I'm kind of broad brushing what they do, but if 287 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:00.480 you said, you only have a few words to say 288 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.839 what they do. They're a gay rights lobbying organization and 289 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.799 they've been very successful over the last twenty thirty forty 290 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:17.319 years in treating companies to make their policies more gay friendly, 291 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:22.079 bisexual friendly, transgender, all that stuff. And Ford was in 292 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.799 an agreement to share workplace data with them, basically to say, 293 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:26.599 look how we're doing. 294 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:28.440 What do you think? And they said they're not going 295 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:29.599 to give them the data anymore. 296 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:33.200 UBS said, we're not giving any more of these twenty 297 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:36.400 five thousand dollars grants that we were giving to businesses 298 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.599 led by women of color, those grants no more. Walmart 299 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:45.160 used to fund a charity that it made. It created 300 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:48.680 this charity to address racial disparity and of course fund it. 301 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.839 And they said, we're not going to renew funding for 302 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.680 it anymore. If it can exist without us, that's fine, 303 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:59.200 but we're not going to give it any money. Also, 304 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:02.200 in the courts now, I would say, in the courts, 305 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:06.559 we're getting mixed messages about these DEI lawsuits. For example, 306 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:13.400 earlier this month, Federal Appeals Court told NASDAK that they're 307 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:17.160 racial and gender targets for the boards of its companies. 308 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:19.759 You know, if you list your company on NASDAK, there's 309 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:21.440 certain rules we have to follow if you want to 310 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:24.720 be traded on NASDAK. And they said, we want to 311 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:28.359 have rules about the racial and gender makeup of your 312 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:32.440 board of director's company. And there was a big lawsuit 313 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.240 and Federal Peace Court said you can't do that. You 314 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.920 can have certain rules for these companies, but that's not 315 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:43.119 one of them. One of the first companies to start 316 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:48.240 this trend was Tractor Supply. Tractor Supply made a big 317 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:54.079 announcement in June saying they were going to not support 318 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:57.079 anymore LGBTQ events, not that they were going to fight 319 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:59.480 them or anything, but they weren't going to actively support them. 320 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.759 And they issued a statement saying we've heard from customers 321 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:06.680 that we have disappointed them, so they were hearing a 322 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:11.480 lot from people who do not like DI. Some court 323 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:18.160 cases have upheld various DEI programs at different companies, so 324 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:21.440 the judicial side of it, it remains to be seen 325 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:25.839 where that's going to go. But generally speaking, there is 326 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.519 a trend to move away from DEI. One company though 327 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.400 it's too bad, bills not here right now. Because one 328 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:39.039 company that is not moving away, that is not caving 329 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:43.640 to the pressure is cost Co and they've got this 330 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:47.839 group called the National Center for Public Policy Research that 331 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:55.079 wants the shareholders of cost Co to vote to require 332 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:59.279 the company to issue reports on how financially risky it 333 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:04.559 is for Costco to have these programs. They do cost 334 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:08.119 companies money to operate, they absolutely do. So this group says, 335 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:11.400 you have to tell your shareholders how much money you're 336 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:16.039 spending on DEI stuff, and Costco said, no, we don't want. 337 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:19.519 We opposed that. We don't want that, don't vote for that. 338 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:26.039 And they have a chief Diversity officer. Their supplier program 339 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.720 is focused on expanding small and diverse businesses to supply 340 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:36.880 goods to Costco. It donates to organizations like the Thurgood 341 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:41.359 Marshall College Fund that serves minorities and other underrepresented groups. 342 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:46.359 So a lot of companies are caving. Costco is not caving. 343 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:54.880 And I don't really know how you decide whether or 344 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:59.960 not to patronize a company visa the what their DEI policies. 345 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:04.039 If you're anti DEI, do you actually refrain, like will 346 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.839 you not be a cost Co member because they are 347 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:11.319 pro DEI? I don't think about it that much. Maybe 348 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:13.279 that makes me a bad person, or maybe that just 349 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:17.480 makes me if I'm in consumer mode. I'm in consumer 350 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:22.400 mode and I'm gonna do business with whatever company best 351 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:27.119 meets my consumer needs at the time, and not necessarily 352 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:28.920 try to research everything about them. 353 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:31.640 But you do you boo. 354 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:40.160 Oh, alrighty, let's ummm yeah, let's get into it. Gift 355 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:46.400 giving season is winding down, but sometimes gifts are given 356 00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:50.039 all year round. It's time to talk about animals in 357 00:24:50.079 --> 00:25:05.039 the news. Never in an upsetting way. This is heavy petting. 358 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:16.119 When people give gifts to other people, the percentage of 359 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.599 times that they're doing it to have sex is minimal. 360 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:24.039 Of all the gifts that are given in a year 361 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:27.160 by humans to humans, very few of them are being 362 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:29.599 given for the sole purpose of trying to get the 363 00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:32.039 gift e to have sex with you. 364 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:36.319 But in the animal kingdom, that is the main reason. 365 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:41.240 It's the main reason gifts are given, and many animals 366 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:42.559 give gifts. 367 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:45.960 Now, when you give a gift, and this is. 368 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:52.519 I think exclusively, although there might be an exception out 369 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:56.559 there somewhere. I think it's exclusively the male of the 370 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.440 species giving a gift to the female in order to 371 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:08.799 get permission to mate. Snails do it, earthworms do it, 372 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:15.160 Squids do it, birds do it. But where you see 373 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:21.519 this the most insects and arachnids, bugs and spiders. For example, 374 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.839 the male six spot burnet moth gives the gift. Now, 375 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:32.559 hold on, I will explain why gives the gift of 376 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:35.279 cyanide to the lady. 377 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:38.880 Hello, would you like some cyanide? 378 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:39.119 Oh? 379 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:42.200 My goodness, I certainly would. 380 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:46.880 Well, then let's go at it now. For us, cyanide 381 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:48.880 is bad and deadly and we don't want it. But 382 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:53.920 in the case of the six spot moth, it's actually 383 00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:56.839 they use it as a defense mechanism, so they like 384 00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:03.400 to get cyanide inside of them. Nursery web spiders go 385 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:06.960 a man will go to a lady with some kind 386 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:12.319 of of tasty morsel wrapped up in silk and then 387 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:16.279 sprits some chemicals on it that they have to make 388 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:20.440 it even more alluring. And if the if the guy 389 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:24.359 shows up, hey, I wrapped this larva in silk for you, 390 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.720 and the lady goes nah, the guy will go back 391 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:31.559 and wrap more silk and then come back and go 392 00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:35.680 what about now. Now here's the thing, though, sometimes these 393 00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:42.720 guys are cheapskates. Sometimes the male nursery web spider will 394 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:47.000 try to trick the lady by taking some kind of 395 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:52.240 low quality prey or maybe even like they ate half 396 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.319 of a larva and then they got full, and now 397 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:58.160 there's this half eaten larva and they're like, I'll just 398 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:00.000 wrap it in silk, and you know, see if I 399 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:03.920 get this lady to take it. Because the here's what happens. 400 00:28:04.279 --> 00:28:06.920 Do you know what's in a gift before you unwrap it? No? 401 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:10.480