i have much more of an interventionist bent than trump. trump is doing this for political reasons and trying to fulfill a campaign promise. he's not all of them all. you also got to keep in mind, he may substitute u.s. troops for private military contractors. the whole notion is for him to have all the troops out by next may, but then by then you may be into a biden administration. and the troop levels could go back up again. really depends upon commitments by the taliban. and what have you, and you've got to consider that a biden ministration given the fact that a lot of neoconservatives may be jumping on board. his and ministration may pursue efforts to keep troops there. and even establishment republicans are calling for troops to remain in afghanistan and probably even in iraq kind of move in there with that report. and that's how things are looking so far today here. not even back again in testing. it's

joining me. everything on the alec simon show, and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics or business. i'm show business. i'll see you then during the vietnam war, u.s. forces there in laos. it was a secret war. and for years, the american people did not know how much it is officially country per capita, human history, millions of unexploded bombs still in danger. lives in this small agricultural country. and i mean, we have to point out, it cannot happen even today, kids in laos full victims of bombs dropped decades ago. this is the us making amends for the tragedy in laos to the people need in that little land

of greetings and sell you sold them just and then just slicing some pineapple. swipe into the right order and some grub from the get my lift back from the studio . once the show's done, who we love our apps, you know they become our new pet rock slash. we board it our time. but with every app comes, a lack of privacy apps today can track our movements document what we eat, hold our bank account numbers, they keep track of our social circles, and they even know who we pray to. we allow them to do this by simply clicking the

click. i accept your terms. but do we really accept them? do we really, would we really agree to these terms? if, if we knew that, you know where we go, who we see, and what we do is also being sent to and viewed by not just advertisers hungry to sell us the latest brand new thing we don't need. but also the united states military and their favorite private contractors, that my friends is at the core of a scandal that journalists working over a motherboard of uncovered after months of investigations. motherboard's joseph cox lays out the controversial findings, writing quote, the u.s. military is buying the granular movement data of people around the world, harvested from innocuous seeming apps. these apps unwittingly or willingly are sending the u.s. military, your location data, among other things, they include a loose limbed prayer and qur'an app that has more than 98000000 downloads

worldwide. a muslim dating app, a popular craigslist app and an app for following storms. and, and a level app that can be used to help, for example, install shelves in a bedroom. because nothing i want more in this world is for the u.s. airports general's own jack the ripper. knowing that i can't hang my bedroom shut up straight. let's look all kidding aside. this is without a doubt, a very serious invasion of privacy by the u.s. military industrial complex as u.s. representative bill and omar tweeted and points out she tweets the military industrial complex and the surveillance state have always had a cozy relationship with tech buying bulk data in order to profile muslims as par for the course for them, and is absolutely sickening. it should be illegal. no one should log on to a prayer or dating app with the expectation that the u.s. military is just behind your screen, buying up your medal data and violating your privacy. i mean that's what the n.s.a.

is for after all. now let's start watching the hawks. if you will, on a cd, you want to see this is this, you always state great displays systemic deceptions show which brings up the field welcome everyone to watch i robot. and i'm right, my friends like amazed that this is, this is pretty incredible when we really look at how all this breaks down. but the u.s. military has been caught. motherboard's found out that they are buying location data . and this story combines that kind of mysterious and dangerous location data in the u.s. military's obsession with that, which has become which, you know,

look at the end of the day. they've used for drone strikes that have ultimately killed civilians and things of that nature. it's a very dangerous issue. no, you're absolutely correct. and it's one that he'd been to a lot of the conversation about what about data privacy and what's been going on on some of these social media sites, as well as some dating apps because they are so popular, you have on there not even reading when there are disclaimers, but to my understanding for this type of thing, there hasn't even been a disclaimer that says where this information is going and people are unwittingly finding out by the thousands. sometimes more than that under erroneous pretense. and they're doing one thing and now they're step is being sold to, god knows who well in this case we do know who and i can go along with that. i mean, it's crazy because it's like, look, we all kind of expect a little bit of like we, we expect, but there's no privacy, especially when we click i accept, you know, as i mentioned earlier. but what's interesting with this is that motherboard's investigation, you know, basically uncovered 2 separate parallel streams that the u.s. military uses to obtain this location data and other metadata. the 1st use

a company called babel street, which creates a product called locate x. . you socom u.s. special operations command, which is a branch of military tasked with counterterrorism and things like that around the world. they bought access to locate, locate x. 2, i guess, want to with assume with their counterterrorism activities. but they're still, you know, they obviously because everything is classified, you don't really know at the end of the day. the other stream is through a company called x. mode, which obtains location data directly from the apps and then sells the data to the contractors. and then by extension, the military, you know, as you see the kind of stages and how it ends up in u.s. military form or at their starts with the up the location data sent to like something like x. mode of defense contractors by location date off x. mode then handed over to the u.s. military. to me, it's just like this is a really dangerous precedent because we don't use a nap and we don't why we should have to use an apple no one around the world to use nap and worry about who is viewing their data, especially the military. no, you're absolutely correct in the thing with this is that we've seen somewhat of

a model that was similar in china, but it was used by china to spy on chinese people. we have yet to see something with the military using this social dating app. and it is going that that information is going towards another country. so not this is not happening, but this is the 1st like me to report what have being on that type of thing. i think that it, it poses some significant concerns. one not only related to privacy, again, that's something that americans have the knock down doors about warning our data to be private. so you knew lising, this is going to be and where it goes is going to be interesting. but also, just if it's done here, where else then who else is going to get the idea to do the exact same thing and at what point are people going to just, either not use these apps or these, these types of facilities again, or you know, what does this world look like when that's the problem? and also how can we point the finger at places like china and things like that, as you kind of mentioned, like how can we sit and point the finger at them and say, how dare you compile all your so this and stuff? well guess what? we're doing it to, you know, millions of people around the world, including and it very clearly

a lot of this like data mining that the military is doing is being very specifically targeting apps that cater to muslims. it's incredible how many i mean, one of the apps that was discovered sending data, the x. mode included an app called muslim pro, which reminds users when to pray and in what direction they never had any idea that their location data is being sent to the u.s. military, you know, by way of all these, the, from the hurdles is being sent to the u.s. military. they actually announced they are suspending business with x. mode after the motherboard. article come out, they're telling motherboard, quote, in respect of the trust of prayers put the trust of millions of probes, put some muslim pro every day. we are immediately terminating our relationship with our data partners, including with x. mode, which started 4 weeks ago that up and down like a $50000000.00 times in android and over $98000000.00 in total cross other platforms. so you see the size and scope of data that the government military could be collecting for us. and this makes sense if you're going after terrorists or going after some type of link sale where that's possible, but these are just regular citizens. so this is, this is kind of

a total use. be careful where you walk. glass is everywhere. women are shattering the glass ceiling from the 1st woman and woman of color to service by express it by president elect harris to the record breaking amount of women voting, fundraising, donating and taking part in america's 2020. alexion things are changing. the winds of change haven't only been in politics that major league baseball got in the action. they miami, miami, marlins announced on friday that kimmy would be the team's general manager. she's the 1st woman to hold the position and they will be for more humble beginnings as an intern for the chicago white sox in 1990, just kept climbing with 30 years of baseball experience. she now joins an elite previously all male group of g.m. . joining us now to ship more light on this story is our team sports producer regina hamm welcome and thank you. i have good news for once. good news. good news

. we all saw that nelson last week in social media was a blaze with everyone being excited over the 1st female g.m. in major league baseball history. well, in sports history, aside from that record breaking achievement, what do you think this means for the m.l. b. and other sports that have yet to fully accept women in that type of leadership role? so nobody has already had a rough is a nice word with their coach. it impacted season. they already shorten 60 games. they have players who are not being protocols. are they going to press for that? you know, relative quiet things perceived as normal. then you had a world series, you had a player test positive, still played on the field, they pulled him eventually, but he was still there. so this is good press for the league, but it's also good press for a lot of young girls and young women who want to be agents who want to be scouts who want to climb the ranks. ms. ng, she served in the l.b. commissioner's office for the past 9 years. she has reached the echelons of what many women in sports who work on the team side in the league side only dreamed of.

and she's done so much. and she's also the 1st asian american to be in such a high position. so you now have women, minority women who are in this position. it is wonderful. she has shattered the glass ceiling in major league baseball, kim starters, and in turn, as you said, one was 30 years ago. and then rose through the ranks are definitely speaks to her determination to one day reach the level of achievement that she now has. what do you think that experience across multiple sports teams and working in the different capacities that she has taught her, prepared her for this new job? and you know, i think the biggest question is why was she chosen, why did they suddenly say, you know, what? now is the time she is one of the most. she's the overqualified at this point. she has worked away. like you said at the white sox, she was an assistant g.m., at 29 in 1908. and for the new york yankees, she's worked with now. marlin c.e.o., derek jeter, when he was assured stop for the yankees. she has 3 world series ring. she has, she is an impressive human being. and derek jeter sees that he is the c.e.o.,

of miami marlins. he's also not a stranger to hiring women. the c.e.o., caroline o'connor of the marlins is also one the highest in the league as well. so ms. ng joins a very accomplished group of women, but she has seen how teams where she has been a loser, your ship position. she has gained those skills that she needs to reform as a general manager and team to pass her over before for this i don't know why she guesses on anybody. but the fact that derek jeter has seen her rise is seen her growth. he is capitalizing on that see her, take the marlins in a brand new direction and she has earned it. and what message do you think that this sends to women and girls? this is such a monumental moment and we've heard, you know, the year of the girl i believe was supposed to be last year, but we're seeing women continue to shatter glass ceilings across the country and across the globe. what do you think this says to all these young girls, particularly minority girls, but young girls and women who are interested in sports and didn't previously for the opening? i think i should let miss ang tell her, tell us what she means 1st. so take a listen, you know,

in terms of these little girls, it means the world to me, and anybody who knows me knows that i have spent countless hours advocating for young girls advocating for young women. and really trying to help them advance their careers. that is something that is just so important to me. and so now having this high profile position, you know where you're out in public more and, you know, girls can see is, i mean there's an adage you can't be if you can't see it. i guess i would suggest to them now, now you can see that she's absolutely right. you can see it. she is the face of general management for the marlins and there's other women, not necessarily in the leadership positions. but in coaching, if you see becky hammon in the n.b.a. for the spurs, she is a name to watch. she is overdue for, a head coach position in the n.b.a. and the n.b.a. is already a very progressive league to begin with. so it's kind of surprising this that

didn't happen before this did, but you know, progress, and we seem to see it, you know, women break the n.f.l. sidelines as well in recent years to. one thing i want to ask though, is with the marlins looking at this team that she's now the g.m. of. what kind of situation is she walking into? is this a team that's like just built for success and she's going to ride that or is she got to make? is there a lot of hurdles that come with this job or like if you are a perennial viewer of the n.l. east, you will see the marlins are not usually contenders for the title. however, the 60 game season that we had just had proved otherwise. granted, if it was a fluke, we don't know, but there's a lot of rebuilding there in your 3 buildings. a lot of work to do. ok, so it's going to be a challenge. it's going to to ok everybody, but it was a great, thank you so much for coming out and bringing us this great news about what's happened in major league baseball. really just so much. all right, as we go to break one of the,, you can also still watching the hawks on the mound to the brand new portable t.v., which is available on all platforms. coming up, we enter the world of hard boiled detective, but war is author, georgetown. professor chris chambers, georges, to discuss his new book,

scavenger. you do not want to miss this, trust me state to watch the same wrong. lol. just don't hold me to shape out this day come to counseling and engagement because betrayal when so many find themselves worlds apart, just to look for common ground. a new gold rush is underway. thousands of ill equipped with looking to the gold

fields hoping to strike it rich as those that were children, a tool in between gold. my family was very poor. as i talked, i was doing my best to get back to see which side will have the strongest appeal greater tempered it is said simpson, exacerbating an alarming everyone mindlessly. actually what that means is we end up picking solutions that cost a lot, but actually do very little. it's just a kind of fuel, instead of the actual solutions that would fix global to

double indemnity from raymond chandler, dashiell hammett, bogart, and easy rawlins, the history of noir, both in film and literature here in the united states of america is both rich and deep. the reason behind this lies mainly in the fact that not only does the storytelling give its readers and viewers a gripping vibrant mystery and adventure story. but it also allows its authors and creators, much like their anti-hero protagonists, the chance to pull back the curtain on all the glitz and glamor here in the land of the free and reveal the dark twisted underbelly lying just just below the surface. often giving us a far more elegant, brutal, and honest look into the twist of soul, of the american landscape and experience than any has story. and could dream of capturing this year, author georgetown,

professor and friend of the show chris chambers released into the world of noir fiction. his new book scavenger, which takes takes place on the stone and marble one ratline streets of washington,, d.c. and features a biting takedown of the nation's capital. through the eyes of its homeless survivor and sleuth dickie cornish professor chamber joins us now to discuss his new book. thank you, chris. always a pleasure. thank you. so chris, i got to stop right out the gate. what was the inspiration for this new book? that you, you know, what, what got you to sit down and say, i know what i need to write this story about washington d.c. and this, and this homeless man living in it. and the adventure that he embarks on a couple of my spiritual creative george who had been writing about rendition about the city win back. the curtain on the real needs the for a long time that he's going to show rather than movie producers on the wire.

and i want to do something in but i also, you know, what the streets to me throw you in a neighborhood like the word ashore on every corner. and when you talk to them, they all have a story. and their stories are, you know, very what it is, not about failure and crime in the life of jared or i want you like that. and that's, you know, that's the nutshell basically because the city would be gone from the highs the lows, the gone from, you know, the years back to the obama years, even, you know, even before that never happened in the future. but the constant is the failure to address what go, you know, right from tomorrow. and i just, you know, to get,

you know, crime fiction. you have the opportunity to do that. i mean, a lot of that stuff was born in the populace. you know, some people should be writing 30. that's when you know dashiell hammett and all those guys, people call them all probably, you know, they really were, but that's where the stuff started just this to get into is both the underbelly and they were, they were attacked by people like wow, according to dan edgar hoover, most people were coming to one of the many important things you cover in your book is the ongoing gentrification of washington. d.c. is historically black neighborhoods businesses and communities. how devastating has that been to the community and what that a thing you set out to cover from the start or did it kind of organically originate as you were writing the story i,

i wanted to show what was going on strata and i know that strata is a derogatory term in terms of layers, but you know that strata of homeless people addicts, people trying to scratch by, they're able to look up and see all of the, you know, what is the boat. but even people who might be the working poor might not be able to see everybody's so. so fixated on on their own area. and i want to show how locating it could be to the people as observer because, you know, they see it all, they see the good in the bad. i mean, there or read the disco cation of the black community in this city has given rise to a lot of it. is that social behavior by other black people towards other black people

and the homeless people or are there at the receiving end of that a lot of so it gives you an idea of what the g. is. like when you introduce that trauma into a neighborhood, you know, one of the interesting things too. i like to buy your book is like the setting comes out so vibrantly. and why do you think the nation's capital here washington d.c. is such a great place for what essentially is a detective story, especially now in the age of trump and then coming into the age of buying them. i mean, remember a lot of the great classics of them are, you know, they were based coming out of world war 2 and the trauma from that, you know, why is d.c. such a perfect setting? now d.c. is allegory for a lot of the mare power and money power and money. and it also needs

a little theater in the it used to be like there was an age of robert and it could be senator that's going out the window now. because you know, this is personal, racial, social and, you know, all of that, new york, new york, brooklyn you know, new orleans, but a laboratory already there. and the purpose of the show, the so many look at it because you do have money and power it is part of can credible. and if it's about it, because, as you pointed out of there is where there we are, the nation's capital,

and yet we have one of the big, almost populations in this country. we have, you know, some of the biggest transportation taking place in this country. and just so people understand why is that, you know, the influx of well as misha was talking earlier with like the influx of, you know, stores and big box retailers and things like that. coming in the neighborhoods, how does that actually hurt of neighborhood and then hurt a city and hurt a culture? well, i mean you can see it in the book with him going to looking up and then he's back. and he's, you know, part of or to become, you know, clean it up if you will be troubled. and, and, you know, made him a danger. but you see around him the, you know, the people who will be helped by this or me. well, the people who are on the glee enjoying what should you know, be the kind of hipster culture pretty hollow as well. and

neither of these, these, these, these worlds interest set. nobody getting anything out of at least the very rich the belle of earth. and the politicians who were, you know, were kind of controlling all of this kind of marionette. so you know, even the people who were living in the apartment and knew, you know, $1000000.00 or are not getting out of it, what they think they're getting out of the so everybody is basically being rude to me and that even war crime fiction, everybody's through that we have to try to take it to the people who are the screwer is the love of it. well, chris, i definitely recommend people took out your book scavenger. it's an, it's a great read in a very fun read and, and formative reading. that's all you can ask for some, for some good crime fiction. thank you so much for joining us on the show today. thank you. undoubtedly, at least in my mind, the most mysterious, yet beautiful and shockingly intuitive point is that being

a spy trapped studies show that this plant short term memory can last 30 seconds. when an insect touches the plant tears, it remains still. well, at least it burst upon the 2nd touch, the carnivore plant will snap shut, catching its prey like a bear trap. scientists have long known that some plants have long term memory, but the venus flytrap is a bit different because not only does it in twit to police its weather patterns and seasonal changes. it also seems to adapt its memory and the flytrap does all of this without a brain or nervous system. research suggests calcium plays a role in this. their genetic engineering scientists found that calcium is the connective tissue that unlocks the plant secrets. images of the be misapplied trap captured the glow of calcium in the plants as the mineral surges when sensory hairs are activated. this wave of energy that results in the catching its prey at record speed seems to all come down to memory adaptation driven by calcium. so because it

was not just good for bones, right, but kids apparently died for her for being a spy traps. it's like, hey, this is how we all look like we need to load up on workout gear. man. look at the things we've learned. thank you. so that was always fascinated with you on what would you buy, what i've, what i wanted, i was like, but i haven't just got exactly what i don't know. you've got no excuse. i can't keep a regular i don't know about the bible well, feeds itself, but it's because by forever frees us up, right, everybody that is are so for you to bear. remember in this world we're definitely not told the real love. so i tell you all, i love you, i robot and i will keep on watching all those hawks up there and have a great day. and later a new gold rush is underway and gonna thousands of ill equipped workers are flocking to the gold fields, hoping to strike it. rich as they are,

children are torn between gold was very poor. i thought i was doing my best to get back to school, which side will have the strongest appeal? during the vietnam war, us forces also bombed to neighboring laos. it was a secret war. and for years, the american people did not know until our cell, my skin is officially mouse country per capita. human history, millions of unexploded bombs still in danger. lives in this small agricultural country. jordyn wieber. even today, kids in laos full victim to bombs dropped decades ago. is the us making amends for the tragedy in laos. what helped to the people need in that little land of mine?

join me every week on the alex. i'm unsure when i'll be speaking to the world, but i'm sure i'll see that the german police fire water cannon is protest movements refused to back down in the capital, looks to pass a new law to increase its powers. meanwhile, violence on the streets of paris to his friends debates a bill to ban publishing, images of police with intent to harm them, correspondent was caught up in the trouble. we all cells for simply shocked up by

the police, my cameraman grabbed by.