Cover for No Agenda Show 1732: Sig Hale
January 23rd • 3h 19m

1732: Sig Hale

Shownotes

Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.

Trump
Trump office challenge coins or k-cups
Panama Canal BOTG
First, was on a call today with a couple of lawyer
friends down there. They see Trump’s remarks as a head scratcher. In
spite of that plenty of Panamanians like him. There are even some who
think he could clean up corruption in the board running the Canal (run
by a few rich families).
Which
brings me to a very interesting possibility. 2 days ago the Comptroller
of the Government announced investigation into the two port facilities
operated by Hutchison Whampoa at either end of the Canal. They are the
ports under concession from the national government that Trump has said
are ‘illegally operated by soldiers from China.’ It appears from some
announcements today that the Comptroller has found that the HK-based
multinational has not been paying all of its payments to Panama.
Hmmm,
I’m kinda guessing that the concession has been breached and will be
possibly cancelled, allowing Panama to expel ‘China’ from the Canal and
allowing Trump to claim a victory. Will be interesting to see how this
plays out. Here’s an article from the FT about it:
FT: “Panama begins audit of Hong Kong company in nod to Donald Trump”
FEDGOV Social Media Freeze BOTG
Current requirement for all HHS and DOD, possibly all federal government. No social media. Period.
Govees are prepping for massive layoffs. Current guidance:
- anyone on probation will be termed (possibly by Friday, as data call had a today response data)
- employees under 3 years with less that Good evaluations will be RIFd.
- expect early retirement buyout to be aggressive
Covid vax rules ended
BTC USD CBDC
Replacement Migration
Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship – The White House
Section 1. Purpose. The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift. The Fourteenth Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” That provision rightly repudiated the Supreme Court of the United States’s shameful decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), which misinterpreted the Constitution as permanently excluding people of African descent from eligibility for United States citizenship solely based on their race.
But the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Consistent with this understanding, the Congress has further specified through legislation that “a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is a national and citizen of the United States at birth, 8 U.S.C. 1401, generally mirroring the Fourteenth Amendment’s text.
TikTok
Big Pharma
Alcohol hit multipronged BOTG
Hey Adam,
I'm an Internal Medicine physician, and we've exchanged emails over the
years. I heard you and John touch on the bad press regarding alcohol,
and I didn't pay much attention until I received some studies in my
"doctor news" inbox - including a study by Nature
where they strongly word the association of alcohol and cancer for
those that just read the abstract/summary. However, when you look at
the actual data, the strong association is 11+ drinks a week, the sort
of strong association is 6-10 drinks/week, and all
the rest of us there is no association.
Then I started paying attention to other news pieces that highlight the
AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) - see 2024 summary
figure pasted below- they separate out excess body weight and poor diet,
and this makes alcohol jump to #2 of "modifiable
risk factors".
Anyhow, this is all to say that you guys are correct, for some reason
they are going after alcohol and it's not just in the media/M5M, but in
the official medical literature....why?
The 1st graphic is Nature Study the 2nd is AACR summary piece
TYFYC
Christy
Davos
Stargate
M5M
Biden
Biden Pardons Rob BOTG
Adam—Good chilly morning to you. For whatever they’re worth, I thought I might share my knee-jerk thoughts on President Biden’s last-minute pardons of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and the J6 Committee Members. Here goes:
1. It’s a bad look. A pardon is defined as an act that officially nullifies punishment or other legal consequences of a crime. Thus, to pardon a man presupposes that he’s vulnerable to a nonfrivolous criminal prosecution. President Biden’s pardons imply that all of these pardonees violated criminal statutes (or at least that the case can be made).
2. Advocates for the pardonees will say that these pardons are meant to preempt politically motivated prosecutions. Perhaps. But that argument can easily boomerang. It tacitly admits that DOJ and state prosecutors can indict and prosecute a proverbial ham sandwich—and just maybe, that’s what happened to President Trump.
3. Legally speaking, these pardons won’t necessarily get anyone off the hook. First, as other producers have astutely observed, the pardonees can no longer invoke their Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination for the pardoned conduct. They can now be forced to testify, which could implicate many other people. Second, suppose a pardonee testifies falsely, destroys documents, or gives false information to law-enforcement personnel. That conduct would give rise to brand-new “procedural” crimes such as perjury, false statements, or obstruction of justice. Plus, anyone else who participated in that conduct will become an accomplice and would be subject to squeezing.
(I realize that some might say that a pardonee can just lie about everything and walk away. Sure, it’s possible, but it’s very unlikely. Any investigator or prosecutor will tell you that, by the time they start interrogating or cross-examining a witness, they already know the answers and already have the proof. They’re also asking the same questions of multiple people at the same time—and untruthful answers rarely match up. By that point, the questions are basically just honesty tests that the subject had better answer truthfully.)
4. The military retains jurisdiction over Gen. Milley. Even with the pardon, DoD could take administrative action against him—for example, reducing his retirement pay or changing the character of his discharge from honorable to something less. This is highly unlikely, but it’s a cudgel that investigators can use against him—especially if he commits a procedural or other unpardoned crime. Again, he’s not totally off the hook.
Haha, either word works when you’re dealing with me. 😂
One quick clarification about the interesting (but unlikely) Gen. Milley scenario. Normally, the military can go after retired personnel both criminally and administratively. Here, the criminal route isn’t available because of the pardon. But a pardon doesn’t preclude _administrative_ action.
Indeed, military members who’ve gone through trial _and been acquitted_ can still be kicked out administratively, possibly with diminished benefits and/or a less favorable discharge classification of “general” or “under other than honorable conditions.” The military does that all the time. While unlikely, this same thing can happen to retirees.
I just wanted to make clear that the pardon applies only to criminal actions, not administrative actions. (And again, it doesn’t apply to future crimes such as perjury, obstruction, false statements, etc.) Again, it’s unlikely, but I’d bet Gen. Milley is thinking about it. Meanwhile, the M5M won’t even acknowledge it.
Oh, one more thing! This is more political than legal, but if the pardon-supporters out there argue too loudly that these pardons were necessary to avoid political persecution, that might give Trump the green light to immediately pardon everyone who is currently on the hook due to the same thing. It’d be risky—usually you’d wait till the end of a term—but they’d be opening the door.
Big Tech AI and the Socials
Most people probably don't realize how bad news China's Deepseek is for OpenAI.
They've come up with a model that matches and even exceeds OpenAI's latest model o1 on various benchmarks, and they're charging just 3% of the price.
It's essentially as if someone had released a mobile on par with the iPhone but was selling it for $30 instead of $1000. It's this dramatic.
What's more, they're releasing it open-source so you even have the option - which OpenAI doesn't offer - of not using their API at all and running the model for "free" yourself.
If you're an OpenAI customer today you're obviously going to start asking yourself some questions, like "wait, why exactly should I be paying 30X more?". This is pretty transformational stuff, it fundamentally challenges the economics of the market.
It also potentially enables plenty of AI applications that were just completely unaffordable before. Say for instance that you want to build a service that helps people summarize books (random example). In AI parlance the average book is roughly 120,000 tokens (since a "token" is about 3/4 of a word and the average book is roughly 90,000 words). At OpenAI's prices, processing a single book would cost almost $2 since they change $15 per 1 million token. Deepseek's API however would cost only $0.07, which means your service can process about 30 books for $2 vs just 1 book with OpenAI: suddenly your book summarizing service is economically viable.
Or say you want to build a service that analyzes codebases for security vulnerabilities. A typical enterprise codebase might be 1 million lines of code, or roughly 4 million tokens. That would cost $60 with OpenAI versus just $2.20 with DeepSeek. At OpenAI's prices, doing daily security scans would cost $21,900 per year per codebase; with DeepSeek it's $803.
So basically it looks like the game has changed. All thanks to a Chinese company that just demonstrated how U.S. tech restrictions can backfire spectacularly - by forcing them to build more efficient solutions that they're now sharing with the world at 3% of OpenAI's prices. As the saying goes, sometimes pressure creates diamonds.

Clips & Documents

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All Clips
22 states file lawsuits over Trump's bid to cut off birthright citizenship; includes NJ and Del. ABC Philly.mp3
ABC Live - Andrew Dymburt - the 'KKK' cruise 'misunderstanding'.mp3
AOC About Sig Hail.mp3
BankofAmerica CEO on crypto [SAB21] It's just another form of payment.mp3
Bannan quoted on NPR.mp3
BBC - trump announces the stargate project, multi-billion AI program - 1.mp3
BBC - trump announces the stargate project, multi-billion AI program - 2.mp3
Biden on preemptive Pardons 2020.mp3
Bishop lectures stony-faced Trump in church, calls for 'mercy' • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
CBS - Major Garrett - Trump commutes Ross Ulbricht sentence.mp3
CBS E - Norah O'Donnell (1) Chief Thomas Manger - response to J6 pardons.mp3
CBS E - Norah O'Donnell (2) Chief Thomas Manger - Leonard Peltier pardon.mp3
CBS E - Weijia Jiang - Trump puts DEI employees on leave.mp3
China hawk Rubio kicks off Trump's foreign policy with Indo-Pacific 'Quad' meeting Euro News.mp3
CNN - Anderson Cooper - Kaitlan Collins - Elon pour cold water AI announcment.mp3
CNN - LuLu Garcia - Scott Jennings - Elon hand gesture 'salute truther'.mp3
CNN - Michael Fanone - response to Stewart Rhodes pardon [explicit].mp3
CNN This Morning - Kasie Hunt - trump's sweeping pardons.mp3
CNN This Morning - Kasie Hunt, Jonah Goldberg - biden and trump pardons come with unbelievable moral hazards.mp3
Davos - Altman - Humans will always like each other blather.mp3
Davos - António Guterres on AI and climate change.mp3
Davos - Misinformation is the biggest short-term risk to the world, says WEF EuroNews.mp3
Davos - Queen Ursual - This is not a time for conflicts or polarization.mp3
Davos - Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez calls TO END ANONYMITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA.mp3
Dem Senator Asks Elise Stefanik -1- Point Blank About Elon Musk 'Doing 2 Heil Hitler Salutes'.mp3
Dem Senator Asks Elise Stefanik -2- Point Blank About Elon Musk 'Doing 2 Heil Hitler Salutes'.mp3
Donald Trump tries to negotiate TikTok sale on live TV.mp3
EU climate chief Woepke Hekstra - Europe must ‘fill the vacuum’ after US exits climate talks.mp3
EU must spend more than to prevent war, Kallas says.mp3
EU Parliment - Denmark's Anders Vistensens - Greenland Trump F-Off.mp3
First suspected case of bird flu in Philadelphia detected in snow goose ABC Philly.mp3
Former CBI scientist accused of mishandling DNA told investigators she didn't have a reason Denver ABC.mp3
Hegseth NBX Smear nor.mp3
Hegseth NBX Smear TWO nor.mp3
ISO Cinderella.mp3
ISO Hard.mp3
ISO Sums up.mp3
ISO TWO GUYS.mp3
JASON Paul goiing at Media.mp3
Larry Ellisson on mRNA 'vaccine' against personalized cancer.mp3
Long Island farm forced to kill entire flock of 100,000 ducks amid bird flu outbreak.mp3
Mass evacuations after new wildfire erupts near Los Angeles • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
Megan Payout - Prince Harry settles lawsuit against Murdoch's UK tabloids • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
Megyn Kelly on Sanchez looking like a hooker.mp3
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on $500B Stargate project Davos snow shot.mp3
Migrants stranded as thousands of appointments to enter US cancelled • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
Mini cut Pardons.mp3
Musk raises eyebrows with salute gesture at Trump rally • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
New Cancer Reason - Radon gas poses health risks; experts urge home testing and mitigation WGN.mp3
New Irish Govt npr.mp3
NPR Up First - health officals muted - 1.mp3
NPR Up First - health officals muted - 2.mp3
NPR Up First - health officals muted - 3.mp3
NPR Up First - new ICE policies - 1.mp3
NPR Up First - new ICE policies - 2.mp3
Over 18,000 Costco employees vote to approve nationwide strike ABC Philly.mp3
PARDON Supercut 2020.mp3
Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker misspells 'Eagles' during chant.mp3
PORN site age verification laws.mp3
Rare snowstorm blankets Houston and New Orleans in white • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
REEL Golf Cart girl.mp3
Saudi crown prince MBS says kingdom intends to invest billions in US during call with Trump EuroNews.mp3
The Trump administration and cryptocurrency ABC Philly.mp3
TikTok ban delayed 75 days ABC Philly.mp3
TOK AntiTrump Translament.mp3
TOK Chinese propaganda.mp3
TOK Coming Out Day Lesb.mp3
TOK funny no siff.mp3
TOK Satanist non binary.mp3
TOK Trans kids age.mp3
TOL Post DeLuLu winner.mp3
Trump (1) big ugly windmills.mp3
Trump (2) favorite word in the dictionary 'tariff'.mp3
Trump announces Stargate -DW- 1 - Joe Ellisson and data centers.mp3
Trump announces Stargate -DW- 2 - Pre-emptive agains China.mp3
Trump commutes sentences of Jan. 6 rioters, including former Philadelphia Proud Boys leader ABC Philly.mp3
TRUMP DEI and Hilarity NPR.mp3
Trump discusses assassination attempt against him during inaugural address.mp3
Trump effect ntd.mp3
Trump gag orders HHS.mp3
Trump orders end of government DEI programs, LGBT protections • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
TRUMP Pardons One guy NPR.mp3
TRUMP Pardons TWO BS.mp3
Trump says Putin 'destroying Russia' by refusing Ukraine deal • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
What impact will Trump's withdrawal from Paris climate deal have on Africa • FRANCE 24.mp3
Why did you remove John Bolton's security clearance, sir.mp3
Wild Ca5rd podcast plug for fat.mp3
World leaders react to Trump's return as US president • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
Wuhan marks 5th anniversary of lockdown Today • FRANCE 24 English.mp3
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