The verdict is in from the seven person jury on the defamation suit of Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard in the state of Virginia. Yesterday, five men and two women awarded 10 million dollars in compensatory damages and 5 million dollars in punitive damages for defamation by Amber Heard against Johnny Depp. Unfortunately, the state of Virginia has a limit of $350,000 for punitive awards in civil suits which jurors are legally forbidden from being told. (Interesting, huh?) Therefore, Mr. Depp will only receive 10.35 million dollars from Amber Heard, however, the jury also awarded 2 million dollars to Amber Heard from Johnny Depp for defamation due to her countersuit. Initially, Mr. Depp requested 50 million dollars and Ms. Heard requested 100 million dollars in her counter suit, both for defamation. I find it more than interesting that throughout the trial which was streamed and continuously commented upon in the media there was no evidence of defamation by Mr. Depp despite what may be considered some of his behavior being less than stellar while suffering years long abuse at the hands of Ms. Heard.

Typically, it is very difficult for public figures, and the more famous and publicly known the more difficult it is, to show defamation leading to some sort of financial injury resulting in compensatory awards. The fact that Mr. Depp was also awarded punitive damages clearly shows the jury believed it was malicious and purposeful activity on the part of Ms. Heard to defame. That alone should speak volumes regarding the evidence presented in the court about her activity.

The part about her receiving 2 million dollars as compensatory damages by Mr. Depp against Ms. Heard thereby reducing what Mr. Depp will receive from Ms. Heard to 8.35 million dollars based upon no real evidence other than a statement from Mr. Depp that was likely true but did nothing to damage her reputation is odd to me other than a simple nod to Ms. Heard for having to endure some of Mr. Depp's drunken escapades and emotional outbursts. I wonder if anyone could have endured being married to someone like her for years with the proven physical, mental and financial abuse evidenced in the court.

Please listen for more information and discussion of the trial and the verdict by Millennial Z and Boomer X.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified nine monkeypox cases in seven states in the U.S. as of Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Cases have been confirmed in Massachusetts, Florida, Utah, Washington, California, Virginia and New York. So far, virtually all of the cases have been gay and bisexual men who have sex with men except for one woman in the state of Virginia. However, the CDC calls for an approach to combat the monkeypox virus on a scientific basis and not by creating social blame, which is as it should be since the virus appears to be transmitted only through an exchange or reception of bodily fluids from an infected host.

In podcast #38, Millennial Z points out the history of the monkeypox virus, and it being discovered in 1958 while missionaries were deep in the Congo nation of Africa while attempting to eradicate the smallpox virus. The monkeypox virus didn’t make it to the shores of the U.S. until 2003 when infected prairie dogs that were purchased as pets from Africa became infected while housed in cages with other infected rodents awaiting shipment. Due to the relatively difficult transmission and early identification of the monkeypox outbreaks at that time, the virus soon dissipated. Currently, millions of vaccines have been prepared and are ready to ship for large outbreaks of the monkeypox virus within the U.S.

Monkeypox has symptoms similar to smallpox but is clinically less severe. Lesions typically become visible on the face, hands and forearms as pustules and boils, and the lymph glands become inflamed in the neck, back, armpits and groin. There is back pain and muscles aches with high fever and rashes throughout the body. After two to three weeks the lesions scab over and the person is no longer contagious. Lesions can also been found on the groin, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

The CDC has also issued a “level 2” travel warning due to the monkeypox virus. There have been outbreaks of the virus in France, Belgium, Italy and Australia as well as the U.S. Naturally, if you’re traveling avoid people with lesions, obviously ill, or dead or wild animals. Also avoid using materials contaminated by sick people or products used or derived from animals from Africa in the event they were infected.

So, use some basic risk assessment and aversion as well as some common sense and we should all be fine unless you are in a profession or have happened to come in contact with those who are infected.

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Hunter Biden’s laptop is only just now coming under any real scrutiny by the mainstream media although it has been an issue of contention or bit of evidence for at least three years. Why is that? Millennial Z and Boomer X talk about all of the potential issues surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop, and how it came to be an issue in podcast #37.

It truly appears that almost no media outlet for years would say anything regarding the evidence revealed in Hunter Biden’s laptop, and when they did only that the information obtained from the laptop was “Russian disinformation” designed to create chaos or spread rumors regarding the U.S. government. Well, the first thing to always remember is that no politician is the U.S. government. Any elected official only has authority given to the position held by the politician due to a vote by the citizenry with authority created by other politicians sent by their people. Politicians are people that are interchangeable talking heads with no inherent value or authority except for that granted by the position they hold due to the people. So, why would it really matter that Hunter Biden’s laptop may hold some incriminating evidence or information for the U.S. government especially long before his father became president? Sure, he was vice president at the time, but it sure seems as if everyone involved in the government and the media was simply telling everyone who asked, “Nothing to see here, just move along. And if you do hear of anything it was those nasty Russians who worked with Trump and elected him into office,” which during an extensive and expensive years long investigation revealed quite the opposite. And now, finally, mainstream media is revealing that there may be some evidence to show a Ukrainian private company has paid quite a bit of money to Hunter Biden in order to receive “favors” from the U.S. government in some capacity. There are no details. It’s like pulling teeth to simply have a truthful statement regarding any potential illegal activity. Surely, very different that any reporting on anyone who isn’t a powerful Democrat.

Hunter Biden isn’t an elected official or even a government employee. So, what connection could he have that could provide favors…Ohhhh, yeah.

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Podcast #36 is about how different the U.S. military has become over the years from the time Boomer X was active duty and to when Millennial Z was active duty some 30 years later. Boomer X was in just as cursing or swearing was being discouraged by senior command, but was still common. Hands being placed upon recruits were also discouraged, but still happened and all the Drill Sergeant needed was a reasonable excuse for the contact. Almost no sleep the first three days for Boomer X after the intake process was complete and basic training truly began in the U.S. Army, with little sleep the next two weeks. Millennial Z did not experience this type of training at all with far less abuse of the recruits a few decades later.

Also, continuous insults and name calling was almost a competition between Drill Sergeants as to who could come up with the most creative put down for recruits during training. Millennial Z responded that he didn't experience that, but did experience jokes made at a recruit's expense which he found funny and frequently suffered consequences for laughing or "losing military bearing".

It was also clear during the discussion that the physical training and stress testing was far less after three decades as well as the mental stress. Millennial Z reported being injured and still able to complete the physical testing adequately without special dispensation where an injury in the past created an automatic recycling to an earlier training company as there was no way the recruit could complete the physical requirements of the time.

Please listen for more stories and descriptions of the experience for Millennial Z and Boomer X and subscribe to be sure and receive the next podcast.

Cryptocurrency is defined as an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of currency. It is monitored and organized by a peer-to-peer network called a blockchain that also serves as a secure record of transactions. Unlike physical money (or issued currency by a government or bank), cryptocurrencies are decentralized, or not issued by a single entity. Cryptocurrencies are created and secured through algorithms that are maintained and confirmed in a process called mining, where a network of computers or specialized hardware such as application-specific-integrated circuits (ASICs) process and validate the transactions. The process incentivized the miners who run the network with the cryptocurrency.

In podcast #35 Millennial Z and Boomer X talk about what has happened to cryptocurrency the last several months and several years while discussing the possible reasons for the movements of cryptocurrency. Should you be invested in cryptocurrency? Perhaps, but do it with as much information as possible! And only with money you can afford to lose. Far more volatile than the stock market, there are hundreds of different cryptocurrencies you can invest in. None have any real intrinsic value almost, but anything is as valuable as someone else is willing to pay you for it. But it's always up to someone else what that figure is.

Bloomberg reported on May 16, 2022, that the selloff in cryptocurrencies exposes the big lie that Bitcoin's plunge is an uncorrelated asset in relation to the stock market. Bitcoin has lost well over 50% of it's value since it's high over $60,000, and lost more today. Other cryptocurrencies have also lost a great deal of value costing investors billions in just the last several months. 40% of the people who have invested in cryptocurrencies at all have lost money. Now, of course, that means 60% haven't, but those people invested years ago with far less money than is seen today. If you 've invested in cryptocurrency in the the last year, you've probably lost quite a bit. Even stable coins, who as indicated in the name, are designed to be stable and tied to a physical currency lost a great deal of value. This has happened before, such as in 2018, but now there are more institutional and well monied investors, and it stands to reason they are taking profits and limiting exposure.

The fear is high in crypto markets which has caused many to "cash out". Despite the ability to print money 'as needed' we now have inflation to consider that seems continuing at very high levels; therefore there is only so much money to go around at the moment. And nobody wants to lose money. The stock markets have also dropped over the last several months with some good days.

Where is this going? Well please listen to the podcast and subscribe!

Millennial Z and Boomer X open podcast #34 up talking about the freedom of speech and whether or not it is dead. Does it still exist? The United States has the individual right of freedom of speech and the ability to protest peacefully enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution which is the bedrock of the government and its authority. Many countries do not have this right recognized by its respective governments and the people therein do not have the right to voice their opinion or dissatisfaction even if they are merely pointing out facts, and that’s Western, so called, enlightened countries. Looking at you, U.K. and other European countries.

Obviously, freedom of speech isn’t “dead” or we wouldn’t be able to make this podcast or write this article about it; however, it is in need of medical attention. Now! Ironically, it is the conservatives who are now championing freedom of speech and the dissent of opinion as opposed to the left liberals of the past many decades. You can always tell what type of government is in power and controls the media by the voices of dissent who are repeatedly ignored, or worse, extinguished. Boomer X remembers those in power who were conservatives in the 1960s and 1970s, and if they were as intolerant as the liberals of today there are many programs, ideas, issues and organizations that simply wouldn’t exist today not to mention the government departments and jobs created by liberal causes that receive trillions of tax dollars over the years. And you know what? That’s a good thing! Dissent creates open minded thinking and alternative viewpoints. Different opinions let you know that there are other perspectives and concerns that need to be addressed and considered.

The Associated Press reported in August 2021 that the Louisiana Attorney General and the Alabama Attorney General requested complaints of anyone who had been censored on social media for expressing conservative views. We discuss how social media, especially the large ones such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc., is obviously censoring content with a decided left leaning slant, and admitting the censorship, while claiming to be a private company and not held to the same restrictions as a government entity when violating people’s rights. Millennial Z disagrees stating that when you offer free public access and activity you open yourself up to being subject to governmental restriction the same as if a mall or private retail business opens it’s doors to the public cannot discriminate based on race, nationality, religion, sex and refuse service to those it doesn’t like, neither can a private social platform open to all discriminate based upon a simple opinion you don’t like that isn’t violent, inciting violence, nor is even disrespectful or rude, it simply doesn’t want that viewpoint expressed.

Georgia and Ohio are in the process of passing state laws banning social media censorship. That’s a step in the right direction. However, with the U.S. government creating the Disinformation Bureau that will reportedly not attempt to determine fact from fiction that can’t possibly be a good sign. What will its purpose be then? Making sure that only the government’s version of “truth” is the one repeated in mainstream media? If that’s not Orwellian, I don’t know what is. Well, perhaps cameras at every significant intersection in the country with live monitors 24/7 is pretty Orwellian, too.

Thank you for listening and please subscribe!

Millennial Z and Boomer X talk about student loan forgiveness in podcast #33. President Biden made student loan forgiveness a plank in his campaign for presidency, and has thus far made good on his promise by forgiving $17billion dollars to over 725,000 people who have taken out student loans to date according to the U.S. Department of Education. You can be assured that this is only the beginning as that forgiveness has only been extended to students who have been defrauded, not allowed to complete their education due to school closure, the permanent and totally disabled, and certain civil servants who are typically paid far lower than the private sector.

According to U.S. News on May 8th, the Biden Administration reportedly planned to forgive up to $10,000 of student loan debt to those who made less than $125,000 per year. The Democrats have been pushing for student loan forgiveness of $50,000 and no mention of a salary cap. While it’s nice that some reap the benefits of forgiveness, it does leave a bad taste in people’s mouths when something seems inherently unfair, and when one person suffers paying back a student loan that can’t be discharged by working two or three jobs for years while others just complain loudly and things happen for their benefit alone. It starts to rankle when others seemingly don’t have any obligation to do anything and you’re always stuck with the tab. Both Millennial Z and Boomer X agree that there needs to be a maintenance of personal accountability with regard to student loans for the borrower, but that also needs to extend to the lending institutions and the universities themselves who enjoyed the “free money” for decades and both enjoyed the guarantee of the federal government behind that money coming in.

However, how do you ensure that we aren’t creating a society of irresponsible, short sighted and selfish individuals while also attempting to be compassionate and thoughtful? Well, you could change the way student loans are made and through whom. You could also repeal the law that makes student loans exempt from bankruptcy discharge. Nobody wishes to declare bankruptcy, and it is conducted through a hearing and enacted by a judge. You could also remove the requirement for a co-signer as this allowed lending institutions to pursue parents and harass those who did not reap the benefits of the loan. These students are adults and should be treated as such with the same expectations. If they aren’t a good risk for the loan, then it shouldn’t be made. Obviously, this may have an impact on how much universities are able to extract from students.

Another point mentioned is the impact of many billions of dollars being injected into the economy which was not previously available due to the required student loan repayments. The main reason for inflation currently is too much money in the system, and now we are going to provide more…much more, and for an extended period because those years of required payments are now gone.

We talk about these points and more, please subscribe!

Podcast #32 of Millennial Z and Boomer X is about how entertainment for each generation has changed over the years. in the early 1970s to the present there have been massive technological changes providing a myriad of choices of entertainment for people, but it wasn't always that way. Boomer X recalls receiving a poor signal on the television, no nearby playmates or friends, no means of meeting up, no internet, no cell phone and entertaining himself with limited outlets or resources. Paradoxically, this creates a homogenous type of society and expectations with conservative views on acceptable activities while contemporaneously allowing more freedom due to fewer regulations and intervention by official government authorities.

While movies remain a viable form of entertainment, the availability of movies in the past is nothing like it is now. Movies in the past were more special, they weren't able to viewed on your phone from the cloud whenever and wherever you happened to be interested.

What became very obvious in the discussion is the lack of physical activity or movement, especially by children or teenagers, in recreational activities just for the sake of entertainment with friends or without. It seems that if their isn't an official group to join, people don't seem to play like they used to anymore, but remain indoors watching screens or talking to people through the internet, but not sharing the same space. Adults also used to be more active as a form of entertainment through hunting, gardening or fishing although most did not go to the gym in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. That culture didn't start to emerge until some time in the 90s, and didn't become popular or mainstream until the early 2000s, however, adults were more active with a purpose other than physical maintenance in the past.

A main fixture of entertainment before the advent of ubiquitous pocket computers connected to the internet and each other instantly was a pack of cards. Hundreds of card games had been invented and adults used to gather weekly or bi-weekly all over the country to socialize and entertain each other by playing card games together. You may hear about men getting together for "poker night" if the wife allows every once in awhile, but not often. And you rarely hear or know of a few couples that have arranged a continuing appointment to meet and play cards. Of course since the pandemic, people haven't gathered together but even just prior to it simply didn't happen.

Also, the idea of older teenagers working on cards and racing on seldom driven roads late at night is considered almost insane now for a number of reasons, but that simply goes to show how the economy, society and people of changed since that time. It was mentioned that seeing kids wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle in the past was strange and unnerving while today it's encouraged and required. It's even strange to see a child without a helmet on a bicycle today when you happen to see one. Mostly, only adults seem to be bicycle riders today when in the past every kid wanted a bicycle and rode it every day. Neighborhoods today rarely have bicycle riding children roaming the streets when in the past it was very common.

Millennial Z provides more perspective on the latest forms of entertainment in further discussion and Boomer Z offers his own experiences with varying forms of entertainment over the years. We hope you enjoy this podcast and please subscribe!