There are too many gauntlets to run in too little time; Episode 303 of ModState's flagship podcast finds your hosts ("Crazy Eddie" Magic and "Sailor Jack" D) navigating lots of terrain, some trickier than others.

From another dive into AI (was Cortana absorbed by the "JEDI" program at the US Department of War?) to the black market for cannabis (exacerbated by some sky-high taxes in some American states) to the global, Hydra-like reach of the US Dollar, your duo covers an immense amount of ground here. With Argentina already the beneficiary of US Government financial "outreach", they've now opted to move their economy closer to that of their American allies by more closely embracing the US Dollar. That much was established, and so your hosts only touch on that briefly; what was not previously known was the apparent backroom wheeling and dealing that finds Russia (yes, the one headed by President Vladimir Putin) apparently contemplating underpinning its economy (or at least a huge portion of the involved transactions) via the US Dollar as well.

While this would be a massive, watershed moment, we cannot say for certain whether or not that is the case. However, it would explain the protracted nature of a conflict (the War in Ukraine) that is beleaguered by peace talks that remain bogged down. The Devil is truly in the details, some of which would find Russia receiving extensive financial sanctions relief in exchange for more closely underpinning heretofore unspecified aspects of its economy by way of US Dollar-denominated transactions.

Were these developments to pan out, not only would it fundamentally rewrite the script for ending the conflict in Eastern Europe but it would also make servicing the ballooning US Federal debt a less painful task. There's a lot to unpack here, and we will surely return to this topic in the days and episodes ahead.

As a personal aside, Eddie Magic's parents celebrated their Ruby (40th) wedding anniversary, a milestone most marriages never reach. Congratulations are in order, to be sure!

With that, we hope you enjoy the episode, and we thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us back into your lives yet again. Au revoir!

For as long as is reasonably possible, we'll try and keep this as light as we can.

Some of the subject matter makes this a lot tougher at times than others, and while we'd rather focus on the pros and cons of AI and its macroeconomic impacts, we'd also be remiss to not review things like (former Prince) Andrew being arrested. We vowed not to obsess over the JE Library / not to bring it up in lieu of a major development, and given the reality this whole sequence of ignominious events could bring down The (British) Crown, we'd say that qualifies.

If it's "just" andrew mountbatten windsor having leaked insider trading-type information (albeit from nearly the pinnacle of UK power) for the financial benefit of JE Epstein and their fellow ne'er-do-wells, the Crown likely survives.

However, if this puppy turns into a drip-drip-drip-drip of news worsening daily? Even removing him from their formal line of succession may not prevent No10 Downing from hosting dialogues of a more existential variety regarding the Crown's future.

Returning for Episode 301, "Crazy Eddie" Matuk & "Sailor Jack" DeViney kick the new year into high gear by going over the numbers, nuts and bolts of just how much AI is NOT revolutionizing the economy. Neither one of them are naysaying the tech, which has limitless potential, but neither is naive enough to be blind optimists about it, either. Taking a middle-of-the-road, pragmatic approach, they question just how much money the firms involved are saving when they fire thousands of people only to pour billions into data centers that not only cost massive amounts of money to launch but also further untold millions to maintain.

While there's still much to come on the subject, they remain agreed largely that Artificial Intelligence won't replace workers (much less work itself) but will change and greatly augment work itself. As opposed to eliminating strain and stress on the job, it is likely to exacerbate it given its potential benefits for productivity.

In addition to a sweeping wrap-up of some current events odds and ends around America and Earth at-large, they close with a cautionary, realistic assessment of the multimedia library published by the United States Department of Justice as pertains to the Jeffrey Epstein "files". While the e-mail correspondence contained therein is rife with asides and possible references to potentially ghastly events and horrifying social gatherings, one big takeaway from this should be that we don't know much of anything for certain about most of the people involved. While Epstein himself was a convicted sex offender, names such as Woody Allen and Elon Musk may be tough to miss and even tougher to ignore, their names being mentioned in the correspondence and/or their being participants in correspondence does not in and of itself make them guilty of similar crimes.

The duo, Mr. Matuk III and Mr. DeViney, feel the bottom line, at this time, is that the Jeffrey Epstein library (available for public viewing by those aged 18 years and older [perhaps the ultimate irony] on the DoJ website) should be viewed with caution, yes, and also for what it is: bits and pieces and individual parts of a much larger investigation that, truly, we hope is ongoing.

https://www.justice.gov/epstein

Amidst the tumult of this chaotic era, rife with strife and inundated with filth from seemingly every direction, "Crazy Eddie " Matuk reconvenes with his counterpart, "Sailor Jack" DeViney, to discuss a handful of issues of the day.

AI, corruption, cultural rot, social capitalism and future endeavors on behalf of America and Her People are at the fore, and this time around, our aspirant duo has a longtime colleague of DeViney's on the show. Here to augment the discussion with her near-eidetic memory and effervescent brand of charismatic centrism, we welcome Mariel Campbell as part of our celebration of marking Episode Three Hundred.

With an extensive background in catastrophe aid and disaster response, Mariel has an enduring love for America's People, Her Republic and their collective futures, and has a noteworthy desire to dedicate her own future to making all of the above better off.

No need for spoiler alerts because we'll venture no further in the description. Join us for Episode 300 Part One of the ModState Podcast; yes, we posted it after part two because we had some issues with retrieving the entirety of the full-bandwidth studio recording and, lastly, because we can!

At any rate, without further ado, thank you for returning and sharing your day with us; your time is no doubt as precious to you as ours is to us. Time is one of the few things we cannot make more of, and thus is an incredibly precious, finite thing that is a delight to respectively share together. We hope you enjoy taking part in our discussion as much as we did in having it in the first place, and please do not hesitate to provide comments here and we will discuss them on the next episode. Or, e-mail us at modstate@modstate.com and we will review your correspondence there.

Thank you and goodbye for now!
Merci et au revoir pour l'instant!

After a successful Holiday hiatus for recuperation from a bizarre year, co-hosts "Crazy Eddie" Matuk and "Sailor Jack" DeViney reconvene with renewed vigor. While the same cannot necessarily be said for all parties in America, our duo remained determined to speak the truth about current events while simultaneously approaching some sensitive topics with the nuance that they deserve.

AI continues to be misreported, misrepresented and misunderstood; the pair discuss what it is and what it isn't, coming to the consensus that it won't end up replacing work so much as it will change it.

Unfortunately, the conversation shifts to the ghastly turn of events in Minnesota. They couldn't NOT talk about what happened, as much as they'd rather it hadn't.

Thank you all, as always, for returning and sharing your lives with us. Thank you for the feedback and for the continued encouragement, and we look forward to communicating with you all more frequently as we near the decade mark of the inception of ModState.

Happy New Year!

As ModState preps to meet and surpass a milestone it wasn't sure would come (the 300 mark) in the first place, Crazy Eddie and his counterpart (Sailor Jack) reconvene for a less structured, more relaxed look at some of the things that define America in this day and age. While both men love America, Her Republic and Her People very much, there nonetheless remain some things that could be better. There are some trends in our society (with regard, specifically, to our treatment of one another as People, as human beings) that need to go away and/or shift significantly.

Following someone in traffic to bust their window or verbally accost them is not OK, for example. Nor is busting an old lady's window in traffic a normal brag. What's even more concerning, however, is this needing to be said in the first place.

Take a listen as the two take a more light-hearted stroll and preview some future discussions and America, holistically, at a glance.

With upwards of fifty percent of the Internet now estimated to be AI-generated slop (propagated by [you guessed it] AI "agents" [chatbots]), Edmund Matuk III (Crazy Eddie) and his co-host, (Sailor) Jack return to this developing story.

New York City mayoral race leader, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, has been reportedly on something of a private apology tour with members of the NYPD and their corresponding union. Then, called out on Fox News about his purported remorse being behind closed doors, the New York State Assemblyman offered a public mea culpa. As our leaders are inherently imperfect (being chosen from among us, imperfect beings ourselves), why isn't the public more willing to forgive the perceived failings of its leaders? Is it because we automatically assume the worst and refuse to believe any request for forgiveness to be genuine? Your co-hosts discuss these matters of the heart in an effort to ascertain where we're at as a Nation.

The duo then segues into our zero sum, binary thought processes as a society: for instance, both agree murder is wrong. We can all agree on that, right? So why can two things not be true at once? Why can one not call out the ghastly events of 07 October 2023, killings at the behest of Hamas, as being just as wrong as the subsequent innocent civilian deaths at the hands of the Israeli military? If you (the Royal "You) condemn what Hamas did, then automatically you're a Zionist with no regard for the plight of starving Palestinian babies? Or, on the other hand, if the same Royal "You" expresses consternation over the conduct of the Israeli military, then you're an anti-Semite who disregards the death of Israeli grannies? Is there no sensible framework for discussion here, no middle ground to be found? Or is this truly "the foreign policy equivalent of Roe v. Wade", just as polarizing as abortion rights in America?

With episode 300 looming not far in the future, Edmund Matuk III & Jack DeViney also discussing 1 or 2 of their upcoming guests. One of them, a dynamic woman of nigh-unparalleled insight and wisdom at so young an age, is one of the brightest minds DeViney says he's had the privilege to encounter. They also discuss inviting Representative Ocasio-Cortez (AOC [D-NY]) on and that, like another aforementioned guest, they also intend to let her complete sentences and finish her thoughts. Fancy that, right? But apparently, modern public discourse features a good many men who do not believe in showing their peers (women, in particular) the same respect they'd like to receive. SAD!

As always, thank you all for joining us and sticking with us as we near the end of our first decade as a publication. Merci!

While the 5th Republic continues to struggle in the Motherland (France) with the fall of five prime ministers since June 2024, POTUS Donald Trump has inexplicably managed to force the primary parties (Hamas & the State of Israel) to the table through sheer willpower and force of personality alone, it seems. Whether it holds or not remains to be seen, but hats off to POTUS Trump for the effort. Does this lend any credibility to a possible, similar effort to broker peace betwixt Kiev and Moscow?

Meanwhile, AI continues to overpromise and under-deliver, and the Trump Administration appears poised to take historic action on cannabis by removing it from Schedule I. Is a change to Schedule III what the doctor ordered, or does this leave large issues unresolved?

Edmund Matuk III (Crazy Eddie) and his counterpart, ModState deputy managing editor Jack DeViney, reconvene to discuss and elaborate.

Speaking of reconvening, big ol' Episode 300's but a short distance away! Thank you, as always, for tuning in!