When Trust Breaks: Missing Answers, Deleted Texts & Dirty Politics

Someone leaves for a July 4 celebration with friends and never makes it home. We examine the reported timeline surrounding Nolan Xavier Wells, the unanswered questions his family wants addressed, and why details involving a returned cellphone, alleged deleted messages, and attorneys entering the case have intensified calls for a thorough and transparent investigation. We avoid reckless speculation while standing firm on one principle: when a young life is lost, the facts must be clear and the process must be trusted.

Then we turn to a political storm in Maine involving Senate candidate Graham Platner and sexual assault allegations that he denies. We confront the difficult questions surrounding delayed reporting, due process, public judgment, and the responsibility to support survivors without treating unproven accusations as established facts.

We also react to a dangerous Empire State Building rooftopping stunt, the growing debate over artificial intelligence and job losses, and the unusual trend of Swifties wearing wedding dresses while waiting for a celebrity photo reveal.

This episode brings together tragedy, politics, technology, and pop culture through one central question: What do we owe each other when trust breaks?

Watch and listen to Thirsty Topics, then discover upcoming programs including R.O.C. and Lynn Logic at elrodtvnetwork.com. Subscribe, share the episode, and help more people discover Elrod TV Network.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Transcript

Welcome And Holiday Check-In

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Hello, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. Hi, Wonder.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Hey Lawrence, how are you, my friend?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

I am doing good. How about you?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

I'm I'm doing good, man. I'm like, I'm just I'm fighting the power. Fight the power would that be? I'm telling you, man. You don't look like what you're going through, I tell you.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

I hear you. Did you have a good holiday weekend?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Had a great holiday weekend. We hung out with friends, uh, left before all the excitement and everything. Because it kind of rained or whatever. We had the canopies and all they had a good time. Just you know, just kind of getting away from the regular norm. So it was just kind of nice having hanging out with friends. What about you?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Um, actually, we uh we cooked here at the house, uh, basically just sat back, relaxed. Um, but now we're gonna be going to the um to Taste of Chicago this weekend, so we're looking forward to that. Okay, yeah, the food looks great. Yes, yes. They have almost 60 vendors between restaurants and food trucks, so a lot to change from.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

All right, that's what I'm talking about. You know, yeah, just bringing some type of normalcy back, you know. I think that's really important and really key.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, I agree. I agree. Well, I'm gonna start off with a topic that's kind of troubling, uh, but we definitely need to talk about it. Um, it's the death of Nolan Xavier Wells. So the family of Nolan Xavier Wells, the 18-year-old Ocean Springs student, student athlete that was found dead on Horn Island this week, has retained nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crumb. The family is calling for a thorough, transparent investigation into how Nolan died. Just to kind of bring everybody um up to speed in case you haven't heard about this story. Uh, Nolan is an African-American young male. He traveled by boat to Horn Island with a group of friends on Saturday, July 4th, to celebrate the holiday. He was last seen on the island around 3

Nolan Xavier Wells Death Questions

SPEAKER_00 3:34

p.m. and did not return with the group, according to Jackson County Sheriff's Department. On the morning of Monday, July 6th, a U.S. park ranger found a body at the northwestern tip of the islands, and Nolan's family confirmed his death later that day. An autopsy was scheduled for this past Tuesday. Uh, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter has said that the investigation remains active and the cause of Nolan's death has not been determined. Nolan played football at Ocean Springs High School and was a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College, where he was set to return for the upcoming season. He would have turned 19 next month.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

It's um it's it's sad that we still have these stories. There's a lot to unpack. I don't want to make any assumptions, obviously, but the fact is he was the only African American on the boat. All his other friends are white. Some people allege that they saw Nolan arguing with some of his friends on the boat. So I don't want to speculate, but there's a lot of troubling things here in this story. What do you think, Wanda?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Wow. Um, you know, I I I you know, this is not really a discussion about assuming, you know, or spreading rumors. It's about a family wanting to get down to the real reason of what happened to their loved one. This was uncertain. So I can't even imagine sending my child somewhere or a loved one somewhere, and supposedly hanging out with friends, and they don't come back. Everybody else comes back with them. And again, we talk about the temperature and the atmosphere that we're living in, and you can't, you know, especially as an African African-American. So we're talking, we both have African-American children, uh, relatives, and so to have one of our uh children to not come back from a trip, you got some explaining to do. Somebody knows something. How many people are on the boat? You know, uh, and you you mentioned about the autopsy. What did the autopsy say, or they're waiting for the results?

SPEAKER_00 6:19

They're waiting for the result. They literally just had it uh a couple of days ago.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

So, I mean, what what what what's some of the other circumstances around this? Was he uh was he thrown overboard? Was he found in water? Was he on the boat? Uh you know, maybe of some type of reaction. Was he beaten up if someone saw him?

SPEAKER_00 6:43

So, what what are some of the circumstances the details of that yet? So it'll be very interesting to see what happened. But here's a few things. When they returned back with Nolan, they said Nolan decided to stay. That doesn't make any sense, and then they come back with a cell phone. Anyone who has children know that a cell phone to a child or a young other is like cutting off their arm or their leg, they don't leave their phones anymore. No, okay. And if they do leave their phone, they grab it right away. I mean, that's how how how dependent they are to that phone. And then allegedly, there were some text messages that was deleted on this phone. Now, again, it hasn't been confirmed yet, but allegedly, these are some of the things that are floating around out there. And as you start listening to this stuff, you you kind of wonder, is there another side of the story that we're not being told about? Oh, absolutely it is. You know, we've seen this story before. Yeah. And you know, you can't help but to wonder, is there something bigger going on that we don't know about?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Oh, no doubt, because it even when it it's um it just reminds you even of the the allegations that are coming out

Phones Lawyers And Digital Footprints

SPEAKER_01 8:02

about um what was the Anthony? Um oh god, the young man that was supposed to stabbed the young the other young man, uh, group of white kids, you know, he was with them. And so something suspiciously happened to him, and there's other cases out there that we haven't talked about either. Um, so no, you somebody got to explain to do because, as you said, with that cell phone, uh the deleted text message, but what they don't realize is there's a digital footprint. You can delete all you want, but as the investigation, a complete investigation goes and an honest communication, they're gonna find out that something was was not right with that. That is sad. It's really a sad occasion. And then and the accountabilities, what if it was a mistake? I we don't we don't even know. I don't know. That's just a hard one to a hard pill to swallow because you can't keep saying, just like I saw a thing, we'll talk about that later on, about the ice ages, same thing going on again, and you're using the same excuse. Oh, they try to run me over. You can't keep crapping on the side of the road and blaming the dog. Something smells, something just is not right, and I definitely pray that uh uh justice comes out of this because people are not gonna just keep sitting back allowing letting this stuff happen. The temperature is rising in America, it is rising.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

And you know, a couple other notable things is um as of this today, me me talking about this, two of the other kids, their parents retain lawyers. Now, again, speculate, but why are you running to get lawyers? And just I mean, he's they know something. They know something. Okay, you know why I mean to me, if y'all supposed to be great friends, you should be there consoling the parents, trying to, you know, figure out what the heck happened, you know, whatever. But your thing is to get an attorney, and again, it doesn't mean that people are guilty, but it does raise eyebrows.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

You're guilty by association because if you're hanging out, um, and that's why it's imperative that we talk to our children about the people they're hanging out with. You know, my grandson's 17, he's you know, coming up age, wants to be grown on the one hand, and and then you're still a kid on the other hand. You have to be careful. My girl, one of my girlfriends back way back in the day was braiding my hair, I remember, and her son was upstairs in the building playing with another kid. All of a sudden, the gun goes off. Her son is dead. So we have to be very mindful of uh uh and and be aware and make sure you're talking to your children who are your friends, and trust and believe those the kids that got those attorneys, they've gotten their stories together. That they're talking about it. So somebody knows that something's not right in order to get an attorney. And I understand they were saying that um the the investigators are reviewing witness statements, available videos of the timeline of the events. And the authorities have said currently have no evidence of foul play, but he's dead. He left to go have a good time. If he had a heart attack or he something, you know, something nefarious is going on for certain, it seems, because if it was a medical emergency or anything, nothing to hide. If there was nothing to hide, come on. So something ain't right with that picture, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Well, we'll keep an eye on this. I'm quite sure there's gonna be more to this story, probably within the next few days or even a couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

So I was gonna say because transparency covers everybody, right? If you if you're transparent, it's you're not hiding anything. Yeah, so I'm I'm sorry, I'm on my soapbox here.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Oh no, no, I totally understand. Moving on to the next topic. Um, wonder what is the next topic?

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Well, the next topic, though, every unless you've been up on a rock, um, everybody's aware of this topic, which is another uh sensitive topic. You know, uh it's about Graham, uh uh uh Graham Platner, uh the gentleman that ran and won in uh June. He just won last month in June. Um, about him bowed out. I don't know, did you see the um the video? The 11-minute video?

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Not the 11-minute video. I've been seeing a bunch of clips about it.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Well, he he apparently was you know accused of rape and some other uh awful uh allegations uh in his um we'll read that Democrat Democrats

Senate Candidate Withdraws After Allegations

SPEAKER_01 14:26

in Maine uh began jockeying Thursday to become the new candidate for the pivotal U.S. Senate seat after uh progressive nominee Graham Platner announced he will withdraw from the race after sexual assault allegations. Democrat needs to pick a candidate to replace Platner on the ballot by July 27th. According to the state law, whoever is elected will have less than four months before facing longtime Senate uh uh Senator Susan Collins in the general election. Uh potential candidates had already been testing their interest before Platner, who denies the allegations. So basically, we are watching this man uh be he was accused, but he vehemently he vehemently denied any wrongdoing. It was a girlfriend at the time, someone he was saying it was consensual sex. She said that it was raped. Rape, we don't know either way, but he also said in uh uh the in this article about the timing, uh, it's ironic that here he is kind of blowing the whistle on what's been going on in Maine, uh running against Susan Susan Collins. And we know that sometimes when people uh want to uh you know put the blame on somebody uh or try to get rid of someone, either they kill them or they destroy their character. He threw out some really uh important points, which a lot of people, that's why they voted for him in the first place. So he voted that there are some people in Washington that does not want him to run. So of course he gave him a stick to beat him with, so to speak. Uh you you and I can I can't say that because then I'm saying that the lady was right. I can't say she was right or wrong. I'm not putting down someone if they have been sexually assaulted. My thing is being a woman, um, and I know it's hard sometimes. I can't say why or why a person didn't say anything, what five was it, five years ago? I've heard it was five years ago, it was a little longer than five years ago. For this man to come, he wasn't a politician until he ran for office. So he was a regular person. As we were saying, this is such a heavy topic. Like I said, when he he denied it being a rape, but uh but called it consensual. And none of us were in the room with him, but I do understand the fact uh that in the video when he said that uh that he was stepping down because it would probably you know not be good for the party, the Democratic Party. Now I'm watching different segments of this yesterday in breaking news, right? And I thought I was missing something when I heard the video. I didn't hear the things that some of the people and this this is a regular news station that I watch, and they were interpreting, and I heard in the round table discussion, somebody was kind of agreeing with me. They didn't agree with the host at the time that was making that he never apologized. He opened up, he said this thing, he never apologized. But why would he apologize for something he said he didn't do? So, why would there be a need for an apology if you say he didn't do?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

I think the most important thing is when someone claims that they've been assaulted, you have to listen to them and you have to look into it, regardless of who they are. Yeah, yeah, of course, yes. And I know that there's some people that are saying in fact, Marjorie Taylor Green was on the view again this week.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

I missed that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Her statement I disagree with about you know, if if you were assaulted or something happened to you, why do you wait until a person's running for office? Why not say it then? Well, I can tell you as a person that has been sexually, verbally, and mentally abused and emotionally abused as a child, it's not easy to come out. And we're at a point right now where it's much easier for someone to say that something happened to them. Even five years ago is not like today, and then longer than that, because when I was growing up, I can tell you right now that my abuser, he literally bust my nose, the police was there, and because he was a deputy sheriff working at the jail, even with blood all over my jacket and all over my face, they did not arrest arrest that bastard. So I'm telling you, you know, this one so this one that's what I was saying. You know, sometimes people gotta be careful because there are reasons my mom did not find out what happened to me until I was an adult.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

You know what, and I look, I'm I I'm I'm my whole point is I wasn't there on either side. You know, I wasn't because I've also seen on the other side because I too have been a victim of uh you know being you know a sexually assaulted as a little girl and blah blah blah, send my book, read the book. So I too have been there. So I'm there's no way in the world that I'm putting down anybody's um story of saying that somebody's lying. That's some somebody's not being honest in this situation, and so when you look at both sides of it, when someone vehemently denies that, uh, and I do know that uh in a situation that you don't talk about that it's not I have a situation right now that's similar to a situation that could be very explosive if it came out, and one person would say, Well, why don't you bring it up now? So I trust me, I do know that it's never a good time to maybe talk about and you know, maybe this was the time. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good time for him. And when we are running for office and things of that nature, being your life is gonna be scrutinized, and if there is nothing, some people will find something on you. Remember, I was talking about the series

Believing Survivors And False Claims

SPEAKER_01 21:19

on billions, that series billions, the stuff that people do when they want what they want when they want it. Oh, yeah, and they pay the people to go out and research and find whatever. This man was running for office, so it's really unfortunate on both sides. But some of the things that he talked about uh were the powers that be, they are trying to take our democracy. And if we're not careful, and what you do with people like that, either you make them crazy, you kill them, you discredit them. So it's man, it's it's it's it's just it's it's it's that thing in the middle, man. And I I my heart goes out to that young lady. Uh uh that was a that she said that she was a victim. If this is true, my heart goes out to her.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

True. My heart goes out to her, and I think there's another side to it as well, too, is you know, sometimes there's a situation where one person thinks one thing happened, the other person thinks another. That's a difficult thing to go back and forth. But even though it's incredibly rare, there are situations where people purposely say these things to destroy a person.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

And I say I know I know of some people that have done that.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

So because it's so difficult and so hard for a person that's been abused to come to come up and say something, it makes it worse when that happens. And I think that when that shows up, that person that made their false allegations should go to go to jail. I say they should go to prison. Because you you're literally trying to destroy someone. It's a difference between feeling a certain way and knowing that something happened and you purposely trying to destroy someone. Those are two big different things.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Absolutely, brother. And and the thing about it, you are ruining a whole lot of people's life. And I and this came out of the news segment that I was watching because I was very and and uh I was very shocked that also what uh was insinuated in that um supposedly allegedly in the as people, the news people were breaking down what they heard. And it was a it was uh uh when he said something about whoever they picked should stay in Maine, and people in Washington shouldn't do that, it was alleged that these were Democrats that did. That to him, or that caused this woman to come out. They that that that's the word. Now, this is true because the Democrats want to put somebody in there. And that's why politics are so dirty on both on all sides, you know, when people are not right. So I'm not on one side, the Republicans, the Democrats, because to do something like this, and I could not believe, so you will hear more about this that it was so-called Democrats that put this all out. It wasn't the Republican. Allegedly. I'm telling you. Allegedly, allegedly, allegedly. And so I was just really shocked because I'm listening to this dialogue going back and forth. Uh, but of course, the Republicans are taking it and running with it as a campaign. But people are dirty on all sides. We we have someone in office that's been convicted of 34 crimes. You know, he's our president. That's a fact. So people people when he first got elected, people said, Well, uh, I'm a criminal. So if I go and fill out an application, is it still relevant for me to put down that I was in jail or that I was convicted of a crime? Just a regular Joe Blow. So, you know, and and uh Swarwell uh recently he was uh he he he stepped down as a senator, I think a congressman. He was some senator one one or the other, but he just stepped down, Swarwell, Eric Swarwell. So he just stepped down. So it's dirty people on both uh people I want to call them dirty, yeah. It's it's people on both sides that that have been uh accused of these crimes. But one thing about if it's not true to be accused of something and it didn't happen, that's you, you you're you're guilty regardless. So I hope they get to the bottom of it. Uh because they're married women. I used to do shows on my rock show. There are married women who have allegedly said that their husbands raped them because when they say no, it means no. So you go even to married women who have cried out about this. So it's nothing to sweep under the rug. It is certainly something to talk about or to keep in the forefront of our conversations, you know.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

So I really hope that the Democrats didn't do this behind the scenes. That's the word if they did, then the Democratic Party has a much bigger problem than we we are aware of.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Absolutely, that's what I'm saying. So that's that's that's and it's on national television, so it's not like it's something that I heard it today, you know. So it's not like it's you know, allegedly this is where it was leading to. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Well, talk about an interesting situation. I'm quite sure you've heard about this wonder, but a couple was arrested after a proposal on the top of the Empire State Building. So Angela Nicolou and Ivan Kuznesov were arrested on Wednesday after the stunt, which featured the pair dressed in all black, unfurring a unfurling a peace banner and kissing. He also got down on his knee and proposed to her. So Nikolou, 33, and Kozensov, uh Kozensov, a 32-year-old, also known as Ivan Burkus, are Russian nationals who share an address in New York and New Jersey uh records show they are prominent practitioners of the underground thrusting activity of rooftopping, in which self-styled urban outlaw scales

Empire State Rooftop Proposal Stunt

SPEAKER_00 28:00

skyscrapers and other tall buildings to take breathtaking photos, videos, and make political statements.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Oh my god. In this atmosphere, oh my god. First of all, they're already married. They were uh they're uh in the reporting, they are already married, so they didn't know what that deal was with him getting on his knee. That's wild. That is wild. They're already married, they're Russians. I don't even want to get in trouble. I just don't even want to get in trouble. And then to get to the top, and you put the flag out, who was the flag for? Was that was that a cold word? Was that a cold word for somebody?

SPEAKER_00 29:00

But the crazy thing about this this whole thing is there are better ways to thrill seek, in my opinion, because while they climb up there, now again, they're not supposed to be up there, they're not tethered with any kind of safety harness, which means if they trip, something goes wrong, it's over. There's there's no in-between, it's over.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

And I just personally don't see how this is a thrill to me. Me putting my life in jeopardy is not fun. I don't see that. Maybe it's because I'm a little older now, but I just don't understand it. But it looks like what they're trying to do is make an example out of them because their lawyer was saying that they should be held in courts, they shouldn't have been arrested. But the other thing that's important, I think what they're trying to do, and this is just my opinion, is I think that they're trying to make an example out of them and deter other people from doing it as well.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Uh, you you got that right because we are we are open right now, we are vulnerable, and there are so many test runs. Was that a test run? We don't really know what that was, you know. And in this season that we're in of unbelief or disbelief, after we keep seeing things happen, so many different things are happening, and we're just in disbelief. We we're we're we're like caught with the deer in the headlight. There's so many different firsts, there's so many different things that are happening, and we don't know what's false and what's not false. The fact that they're from Russia with love, you know, and you you do something like that. Who who was this really for? Who was this really for? I mean, behind the scenes, a lot of talk is going on. What would what was that really all about? You say that it was about love and they were already married. They reported on the news this couple was already married. So, right there is the check mark. Why do you bend down and propose? You're already married.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Well, they're they're known to do all kinds of crazy stuff like this. This isn't the first time they've done something like this. Now, when I was young, me and and and my childhood friend, we used to climb up on top of my house and jump off the roof. Now, we had a lot of fun doing it. Looking back as an adult, you kind of wonder, wow, what the hell were we thinking? We're doing, yeah, yeah, yeah. Never in our wildest dreams did we think of, hey, let's go climb one of the tallest buildings in the city and go up top and put a flag up there. You know, that never crossed our mind.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

No, it takes all kinds of people to to make a world, you know, that that's been said too. But again, when there's so much doubt and so uncertainty, the waters are murky. Man, people you you can you you can believe what you want to believe in this day, man. Or it's hard to believe. When you know, wow.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

But you know, in a in a crazy way, this kind of takes us away from all the other nonsense that we have to deal with, and it gives us something else to talk about. Because it is kind of crazy. And to me, it's kind of funny because it's something I would never do. But some people, for whatever reason, it's almost like when you get on roller coasters now. Like me, I would never get on roller coaster anymore because roller coasters used to be fun. You know, it went up a few stories.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Because you ain't know no better.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

But you know, now roller coasters they want to make them as high as the tallest building, they want to go so fast, you know, a steak dip. And it's like, okay, me feeling like I'm gonna die is not fun. That doesn't matter you catch that right. Call me old, I don't care, but that doesn't something I can find some other way to be thrilled, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Yeah, and I had to mention that uh we we were thinking about going to uh what's it great America? I had to be messed with to take my grandson, and I don't know about getting on roller coasters and stuff like that. But yeah, you're a real right, but like I say, it takes all kind of people, and then uh it it's it's um people's side. You see all the the memes they made with uh Trump on the tower, they had Obama on the tower, so they had all kinds of people, you know, with the with the uh AI type stuff, you know, uh on top of that tower. So yeah, it's it was it was really crazy, it was very unsafe, unsafe for the people that had to rescue them. They had one today. Somebody else climbed with that a day. And the same rescuers have somebody I think he had just just trained, and he was on a bridge in New York. I think it was in New York. It was somebody on the bridge about to jump off.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Let me ask you this. Wonder do you think that this couple should be put in jail or just fine?

SPEAKER_01 34:17

That depends on what they find, because I'm telling you, they're from Russia. I mean, that depends on what they find. Uh I think they definitely need to be made an example of jail time. I don't think, I don't necessarily think jail time, but definitely if they need don't need a slap on the wrist because they're gonna do it again. So I don't know, it's not my call.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Yeah, I think personally that they may they risk those people's lives to save them, yeah. They may pause for a minute, but I doubt very seriously gonna start. And the reason why I say that is because they've been doing it for so long prior to this. So and this may slow them down, but they don't strike me as the type that's gonna stop.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Wow. Well, yeah, like I say, who really knows the real reason why they did that? Because the thing about it, they hid inside the building overnight.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

So, anyway. Well wonder since you brought up AI, what what's the next topic?

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Oh my goodness, here we go again with another topic where people have their own opinion, right? AI leaders are suddenly changing their tunes on jobs. The biggest name in AI are walking back their dire warnings about what the technology will do to the job market. But it is because they now better understand the ramifications of worldwide or widespread AI adoption, or because they don't want to scare off potential customers. They have noticed that the labor market is genuinely not changing or imploding as rapidly as they expected. Ding, ding, ding, ding. You we talked about this the turn of the century, from the horses to the cars to evolution. It's it's part of AI is

AI Job Panic Meets Reality

SPEAKER_01 36:34

not gonna take the job of a lot of people, they're just not. There are certain jobs that AI can't do. You need humans to do them.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Well, here's the thing a lot of companies feel that hey, now this AI is out, we can replace a lot of people because we've seen a lot of layoffs happen. Yeah, and I'm really not totally surprised that there are some companies rehiring these people back because AI is a great tool, but it's not a replacement for a human being. It's not there's certain things that we we even talked about this. You know, if you were to put together a script and you put in certain things like make it about uh uh a shark, a great white shark attacking people at the beach, so on and so on, it may turn around and spit out a script of jaws. Well, guess what? You can't use that script because you're gonna get sued. Okay, so you still need a human being to go through and go, oh God, we can't use this and change this and maybe even throw it out altogether. And that's a great example of showing that it's a great tool, but in my personal opinion, it's not a replacement. Now, will that be the same five or ten years from now? We don't know that. But as of right now, it is a tool, and companies are finding it out the hard way.

SPEAKER_01 38:01

Now, and I and I just say it just goes back to how the person or a person is utilizing technology because for me, I I was I was spending money, I was frustrated, uh uh getting certain jobs done because I couldn't do certain things, and I would pay people and it would take them weeks to come back. It was just it was frustrating. I'm a very impatient person, and I am impatient, and so for me, the tools of using AI, it is fantastic because I can get things done, I can save a lot of money, and Lord knows the frustration. So it works for me, and I can create uh uh uh scenarios with what I'm doing with my with the nonprofit, what we're doing with uh you know teaching technology to to the youth, uh going out working with other people, it's enhancing. And I need other people to maybe as crew members to come on and go with us to do these things, right? So fear is false evidence appearing real, and people now there are some people that can do these jobs and whatever, and perhaps they can't do it, but you can just enhance what you're doing. I'm not afraid. McDonald's is not scared of Wendy's.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

I keep saying that that is true. Now, are you surprised uh now that some companies are rehiring these employees that they laid off that they thought they were gonna replace with AI?

SPEAKER_01 39:39

No, that that's buyer's remorse. Oh again, but it's again, it's about being humble enough because some people like, well, you fired me, I'm not coming back to you, whatever. But I'm glad you need me. They they should be grateful that this company felt that like they needed them, you know. So no, I would I I don't think there's anything wrong with that. My thing is again, people you know, we we are we higher learning. Man, don't be afraid to expand your horizons. That's all I can say. Yeah, so no, I am not shocked. I am not shocked, just like I think going back to even some things that happened with uh Elon Musk when he got rid of a lot of people, they go that they're slowly hiring those people back when he did all those cuts and stuff like that. So, yeah, they're finally coming back. So it's it's about us uh keeping our minds focused, man. It's about coming together because right is right, and not about Democrat, not about Republican, independent, not about white, black. It's about us coming together as a diverse group of human beings, seeing how we can you know be our brothers and sisters keepers. That's what I'm about, and not be afraid, man. I think the only people that want you to be afraid are the people that's greedy, it's the greed. That's true, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

That is definitely true. Yes, I I personally am a little bit surprised because you would think that they would do the research before you know just blanket laying off a bunch of people. It almost reminds you of the of Doge when Elon Musk had Doge, and they literally were firing departments in the government and had no idea what the departments did. So then they had to kind of go back with the tail between their legs and go, oh, we need to bring all these people back. How do you fire people and not know what they do?

SPEAKER_01 41:37

Well, that's that's when you again you you you're being led, the blind leading the blind. And that's all that was about. The blind was leading the blind. And now, again, because America is so great, man. We have so many laws and and uh the institutions that were laid out, you it's not gonna change overnight, even though it appeared that uh we were dealing with 2.0 now. Some stuff was already laid out in the first uh the first situation, first term, and so now they've that's why they that's why it seemed to be going so fast. But the people, the people, just like in Maine, it's gonna be the people says not so fast, not so fast, and unfortunately, it's probably gonna get ugly before it gets better. Because think about it, what's going on now? All the stuff and the alleged stuff that's going on. Oh my god, they're not gonna want to get that up too easily. So that means if they're gonna be some sacrificial lambs, some sacrifice and we and if there was ever a time that the American people need to come together, it is now. It is now.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

That is true, that is definitely true. Well, our last topic, we're gonna end on a on a happy note. I know there's been a lot of gloom and doom today, but yeah, talk about what everybody's talking about, and that's Taylor Swift. Okay, congratulations to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey on their marriage. Hopefully, they have a beautiful time, a beautiful life, and they get everything that their hearts desire. We want to talk about this new trend. So, Taylor Swift fans are wearing their dress, their wedding dresses, until Taylor shows them hers. And no, this is not a misprint, but Taylor Swift fans and radio hosts such as Anna Zabotsky in Connecticut are wearing their wedding dresses in playful protest, waiting for Taylor to release a photo of her custom Christian Deer Ground from her July 3rd wedding to Travis Kelsey. I've

Swifties Wedding Dress Protest Debate

SPEAKER_00 43:58

seen this on social media. Yeah. I mean, if she so shows it great, she may not want to because that is kind of intimate, kind of private, or whatever. What do you think about this trend?

SPEAKER_01 44:20

Well, you know, crazy is what crazy does, right? You know, they're gonna be some funky dresses, man, because if they're gonna wear them until she shows them, they are not gonna be smelling good because you you you're not gonna take it off. You're gonna wear it, wear it, wear it. So, and I and I guess in the in the fun part of it, uh, it just shows you how deep is your love. They shows how deep their love is uh for Taylor Swift and and their admiration for her. But on the same token, you know, enough is enough, okay? They they they did the wedding, and I know the New Yorkers are glad that they can travel better because they you should have seen the interviews of the people couldn't get here, couldn't get there because of all of the the barriers that were put up. Uh so no, so I mean, if you're a fan, you're a fan, you're a diehard fan. That's why they call them diehard fans, right? Uh, you know, I like her. I'm not, you know, I wouldn't go that far. I don't think for anybody, but God, you know. Uh, and even with him, with God, he's the ones to be fanatics, you know. But uh, yeah, so I think this it is it it's a little bit over the top to to wear a dress, you know, and everybody wants that five that five minutes of fame, too.

SPEAKER_00 45:37

It's true. So wonder you wouldn't wear your wedding dress until Taylor shows you hers.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Is there a hell no button? No, no. I I I like her, I don't I don't I don't dislike her, you know, so no. No, no. Like I said, how deep is your love? You know, they're they're fans. And so if that's what the fans do, uh uh, the crazed fans, as they want to call them, themselves, whatever they they, and I guess she's probably sitting back and being admired because I was that flattery, what's that? I don't want to mess up saying up. Flattery is the best. No, imitation is the best form of flattery.

SPEAKER_00 46:20

Yes, that is true.

SPEAKER_01 46:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 46:22

So yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

So and she she's a mega, she's a mega star, so you know, yeah, give it to her, give it to her. Swifties. Hang on in that Swifties.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

There have been a handful of pictures or whatever that slipped out, but for the most part, it's pretty impressive that everything was pretty much kept under wraps. I'm I'm actually impressed with the amount of people that came, but really nothing has leaked out.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

And you know what? Even if if it wasn't a Taylor Squid or somebody famous, I think that's so wrong for people to go to a wedding, anybody's wedding, and you post up pictures before the bride and groom can post the pictures up. And I've I've heard it say to the people, please do not post pictures up or whatever. You know, so I think that's kind of distasteful for somebody to go to a wedding and they post up somebody's wedding pictures, you know, with you know, before they can, you know, do their own thing. So that that so that's regular people's weddings. You know, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 47:34

I went to my cousin's wedding last year, and one of the things that they I mean announcement, they asked people, please do not take pictures or whatever during the actual ceremony because they did not want the pictures to go out prior to the couple putting official pictures out. And because I don't go to a lot of weddings, I was like, wow, this is surprising. But I was actually told by some people that this has been a big problem. I said, Oh really? Big time. Where literally someone's getting married and it's already on social media, literally before they said I do. So I was like, wow, I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Yeah, well, according to Taylor Swift, I think they had everybody, they couldn't even bring in a phone unless somebody had like a duplicate or something like that. But again, if you were privileged privileged to actually be at that wedding, you wouldn't want to do anything to uh to mess that up and get kicked out of that because they they had the it was locked down, locked, it was locked down, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:39

Yeah, and and I think that and I'm happy for them. Oh, yeah, and I I don't think that anyone's gonna want to burn bridges with them because if you pull out a camera, there are gonna be people around you that see you pull out the camera too.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

So yeah, oh yeah, and like I said, you don't want to be the one going out like a chicken wing. It will it's not gonna be pretty, I promise you it won't be pretty. But I'm just glad that they did it. I didn't think it because they definitely had people thinking, are they really there? They had snipers on top of the building and things of that nature. And I said, I said, what if they really are not there and they and they're somewhere else? But they saw people going in, but they do when they saw the people, the guests coming in. I think they that that was really the hint that they were really there.

SPEAKER_00 49:25

But yeah, you just you you certainly wouldn't want uh to have pictures uh uh posted up, and of course, I haven't seen any, so and you know, some people were kind of saying that you know the blacking off on the streets of snipers was an overkill. Actually, it was when you think about the list of the people that are going in. Unfortunately, we're in this day and age where that's a prime target for some bad people. It's a shame that you have to think this way, but yeah, you have to make sure you lock down that area and protect the people coming to the wedding because these are some of the most powerful people in the world that's coming to the wedding. Oh, yeah. You know, not only in entertainment, but also in business. You know, Taylor Swift does know a lot of different people, so does Travis Kelsey. So I don't think it was over the top, especially because of the big global star that trade uh that um that Taylor Swift is. So that didn't surprise me at all.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

Well, and then on top of that, it there's a political side to it, you know, to that uh because she made some comments and stuff like that. So that was the political side to it as well. So you just never know. It's better safe than sorry. So I'm glad they did it. I'm glad it's you know, I'm I'm happy for the newlyweds and even the Swifties, you know. That's your thing, chicken wing. You wear that dress, just put some deodorant on. If you're not gonna take it off, now if you're not gonna take it off.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

That is true, that is true. That is a good great way to end our segment today. Yes, yes, for everyone out there, thank you for watching us. Thank you for always continuing to support us. Please, please let people know who we are. And also on LrodTV Network.com, we have new shows coming in pretty soon. Rock is coming on. There's a new show called Lynn Logic is coming on on board, and we also have some other ones that are going to be coming on very shortly. So please let people know who we are and where to find us. I'm Lawrence Elrod.

SPEAKER_01 51:36

And I'm Wander P. And you can also follow me on all the social medias as well. Peace.

SPEAKER_00 51:41

Thank you, everyone. Take care. Bye.