A few years ago I started writing a Dessert Menu on Sundays, highlighting topics I hadn't put into the show. Now though, I either push them to a different episode or put those things into the newsletter - which took that title anyway. So, because I want to get back in the habit (sister act) of writing, I will try to take one thing that wouldn't make the show and present it here.
(NOTE: Some of these topics will be a bit more serious in nature, which is why they won't make the show.) Let's do this!
Based on a True Story
I touched on this Sound of Freedom movie briefly, but I wanted to talk a bit about how this is being presented. I have not seen the movie, so I cannot judge whether it is good or bad. I do not know if it pushes any kind of QAnon conspiracy nonsense. But I do know that Tim Ballard (whose exploits the movie is based on) and Jim Caviezel (who plays Ballard) believe in the Q.
They both have claimed that there is this network of people who are kidnapping children to harvest their blood and organs for a substance called adrenochrome. Per NPR, at least Caviezel has been pretty open about it:
On a recent episode of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast, Caviezel claimed "the whole adrenochrome empire" is driving demand for trafficked children. "It's an elite drug that they've used for many years," he asserted, falsely claiming it is "ten times more potent than heroin" and "has some mystical qualities as far as making you look younger."
I said on Twitter the other day that even though the movie may not directly endorse these theories, the fact that its star does turns me off from going to see it. The movie also takes a few liberties with exactly how Ballard rescued these children, which is understandable because that's how movies work. But therein lies a big problem.
The people who have bought in to these "all of our kids are in danger from foreigners" conspiracies will ignore the qualifier. A piece like this lines up with their worldview already. They have been conditioned to believe literally anything their news sources tell them, no matter how far-fetched it is. It doesn't matter that the events are exaggerated or that the movie is playing to empty theaters because tickets are being papered. It apparently harps on the "foreigners want to hurt your children" trope and that is more than enough.
Once more before we go, like I said on the podcast: If the executives wanted to bury the movie and "keep people from seeing the truth?" They would have given it a limited run in theaters or not rented it to them at all. Never underestimate the power of rich people to quell anything they don't like. If you are able to see the movie and talk about it freely, no one is trying to silence whatever view you have.
How are we this dumb when there is so much information readily available to us at any moment?
Take Me for a Spin: Almost Awake - Cloudwalker
I never want posts to be entirely serious or upsetting, so I will end them by digging into the music archives from the show. This time: our first friends from Las Vegas, Almost Awake.
I don't regret playing this band on the show, but I do regret when I played them. Cloudwalker - a great song - was featured on Episode 166. That is the episode wherein I eulogized Buster aka cried for 30 minutes and then did a regular show afterward. I don't know why that episode wasn't just about Buster. It has been five years and I still feel bad about that.
UPDATE: I also remembered today that I played them a second time. Their other appearance was the episode after January 6. This band must not like me very much.
I looked up the band and saw that their last social media post was in 2020 and their website domain has expired, so it looks like they're not a thing anymore. That's a bummer because I would've liked a redo on featuring them. Anywho: Go stream their music because it's great!
🎶
So there we go. Sometimes Pat needs to get real and the podcast isn't the place to do it (I was a writer first, anyway). To recap: If you have the opportunity to see a movie in theaters, no one is trying to silence it, and apparently Almost Awake was my go-to band when real shit happened. My bad!
The newsletter will be out later today so click here to sign up for that. We should be able to get a normal episode out this week so come on back for that too. Until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do!
Crap open a cold one!
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