Business Pants – 2023-02-17

Live. See if Damien can multitask. That's what from here, ESG. Sock drawer. It's a business pants Friday show here at February 17th, Avenue Studios, featuring Ari the data Queen. Jesse the money Whisperer. BS man. Matt mascardi. Whoo. Why do I get a woo on today's weekly wrap-up? Wimpy Norfolk Southern drugs. Fear of the future and oily Liars. Wow! That's the show. All right, let's just get to it. All right, everybody. I don't do the whoopee cushion, I don't know why but I I've never liked the word far. I don't like fart jokes. Just makes me uncomfortable. Do you fart at home? Well, I'm human. I mean but do you like hide it? Do you like go in the area? I don't make a big deal about it. You. But do you like rip one? Yeah, I'm already feeling story of the week. Come on everybody. Here we go. Let's do it. I kind of mail this one in this week so I had I had other engagement this morning. Here we go on the ongoing train derailment disaster over there. In Ohio, we haven't spent a ton of time on it but for the sake of business pants and the world that we've created here free flow. I think that Norfolk Southern is really kind of made its presence known this week. First of all, They skipped a town hall meeting in the town with a derailment happened. This is an easy Palestine Ohio. What they were busy? They were the stated reason why they skipped the meeting was that they were afraid for their safety. Yeah. Yeah. Because I suppose like they were reportedly threats against the company. I don't know who these threats were against, they didn't produce evidence of these threats but I mean, these days, is everybody threatened with social media? Constantly is this the equivalent of like if I went into a bar and punched someone in the face and then left the bar because I was afraid, they would punch me in the face after like a good old days, I kind of miss those days. There are bars still I guess. Are there still bars familiar? I don't really believe in, don't do that in bars here. What's your version? I don't know. Probably saying something. You say you bitch and then you run away. Yeah, I've seen that I've been drinks. That might be your bar Jesse, but you've never been to a dive bar. Have you don't seem like you would you lower yourself to that? I've been to a couple in a couple. I mean So bring your own security, you know, let's get back to Northridge. Exactly. Bring your own security, right? Get some Union goons and show up to the stupid meeting. That's what our money. Also, while I was compiling, this report another Norfolk, Southern Train, derailed near Detroit. So you got that. There was, there was a letter from the CEO, which I scan this morning. There was actually, no, they're calling in an apology letter. He didn't apologize. All he really said, was I hear you? We hear you, that's right. Was it a hearing test? Oh, he's informed today. But I did this up about playing with microphone, five years ago in Chicago, Norfolk Southern did Apologize. They apologized because they were using something called a bait truck tactic, which meant that, they were putting a fake truck a fake Norfolk Southern truck in a Chicago neighborhood. Of course, it was a neighborhood where black people happened to live. And it was a trap to see if people would try to steal it and then they would arrest those people. So, it was a fake. They call a bait truck. The ACLU got involved. This practice got stopped at Norfolk Southern apologize. Again, they apologize for this. But anyway, I'm just saying they're capable of apologizing. They should apologize for that. They should, of course, before a bait truck. Yeah, yeah. No. It's like a mouse trap. Yeah. Here like people. Oh my God. That's what I like about really terrible. Here's what I like about Norfolk. Southern too, is that one of the reasons why they created these Bait trucks where they were complaining that a lot of the break-ins, the neighborhood included, thefts, of guns and ammunition that found their way into local community Norfolk Southern, why are you, why are you leaving trucks unattended, with guns and ammunition and that's terrible. What is this? Isn't this shrink? Do you think northern northern shrink CFO shed tears of pain and anguish over the Norfolk Southern shrink they're probably crying over the one million that they're putting towards the relief fund? He said in the letter that was a down payment. Yes, the down the next 20,000 is coming. I did see, have you guys seen the photo? Someone took a photo in an airplane. They were flying over the area and it's like all black. That sounds terrible horrible before I move out this story, there's an odd comment tie into Netflix here which is that there's a don delillo book called White Noise. That was in the 70s, I believe Netflix just made a movie about it. It's Out a talk a Toxic Event like this and very oddly, they they filmed that a lot of the movie in this part of Ohio in the town itself, use families as extras to depict this horrible event. And now they're reporting about some of these families who are now go living through it. So, so weird side note there, I believe Tucker Carlson when you need them. I know. All right. Moving on. Next Story. The Super Bowl. The woke war that was the Super Bowl the Super Bowl really. Nobody actually, at the end, kind of talked about the game, all we all we really heard was the woke War, the culture wars, going on. So, I included on our show, we talked a lot about it. Some of the highlights was that Eminem's actually did not cave into Tucker Carlson and they brought back their M&M's, they brought back their mascots. There were all the dueling anthems. There were female flyovers Etc. Going off. The Super Bowls. My second story. That female flyovers. A brother-in-law. Like the pilot in the Navy and his friend was actually supposed to be one of the pilots doing the flyover. Yeah. Until they decided to change it all like the last two. That's no flyover. Know, that's a male Urban, I do not believe that story honestly. Oh, yeah, I'll show you the Texas. Have him write me? Because I'll show you the Texas, just sorry for the female flyover was announced that is typical male greens. Hey, look, my friend is flying at the Super Bowl. Sure, four, three weeks ago, get some email friends about that. No, I think it's funny because it was such a last-minute thing. It was, it was an afterthought, right? Like other people had been assigned and then somebody's like, wait a minute. When we do this other one, I want to I think this is a fascinating. I think, I think I hate how Awesome. It is right. Like what? Everyone's so God, got a female fly over all female Pilots. Yeah, but the fact that it's just unicorn of a thing that's happened. Right? Like either highlighting, you know, Female Pilots or just there being female Pilots is annoying. But also cool, very conflicted. I'm just say that. What's your takeaway here? I just used. Okay, yeah, sexism, okay, I'm honestly just excited, that women can know the record can. Now drop bombs over brown people in other parts of the world. I'm just excited about that. There's something just something to love. This is this was the the Washington examiner's. Takeaway was we don't know how to feel because it was military and bombing and anthems and and it was it seemed like women black, quarterbacks very America and then it was black, quarterbacks and all female pilots and, you know, green M&Ms and very welcome America. And they were very confused. I will confuse. Yeah, I'll say the pregnant performer. Yeah, what performer? Yeah, she's talking about. Rihanna not Jalen hurts. The quarterback of the best part of the I think by far to me is that the one glimmer of hope during all this was the the kind of white redneck eh country singer who sang the quote unquote white national anthem. That's the one about the bombs bursting in air and he turns out to be a proponent of black lives matter movement, so there you go. Nice. Yeah, the whole thing blew up very confusing. It's confusing. The third story of the week to sit down. Is that it's confused. Especially old people. Old people are always confused third story of the week. The AI fear is ramping up, Matt, shared a very disturbing Article from The New York Times yesterday. Disturbing. But fascinating, I don't know if our had the chance to read it. I know Jesse read it and maybe we'll talk about it later. I'm guessing. Matt's gonna talk about it later. I'm not, I'm not going to go too deep into this, but it was a New York Times Reporter who had a very long conversation with the chatbot over at Bing. And I gotta tell you it is equal parts, disturbing and fascinating, it's amazing. I mean, amazing in the worst horrific ways that I can think of it being amazing. The problem with it is not is not the AI chatbot, like it's the it is the very human righting. The chatbot, their human ability to take with the chatbot, says, and act on it. When the chatbot says, you do not love your wife. You yeah, he's looking because she hasn't actually read it. You don't actually love your wife. Your Valentine's was boring. You love me like that stuff. There's someone out there that's how I like people on the Edge. Who's going to read that? And be like, it's true. I don't the chatbot knows me better. And like you're gonna get your first like a psychic. Like a medium? No, no. Like like someone? Who someone who finally understands them like yeah, it feels like this thing understands receive psychics. That's how they perceive like. Yeah. But it's get but the chatbot push to like, you know, make a virus, get some nuclear codes, you know like kill your wife, that's like that, you know, that that's coming, right? Yeah. Here's the headline, from Fortune Magazine. I want to be alive. Microsoft's chat GPT powered Bing. Is now telling users, it loves them and wants to escape the chat box. Yeah. That's right. I shouldn't be laughing the fourth story of the week. The fourth door of the week ongoing proof that you really should be listening to business pants. First, if you care about anything about business news, ESG news the market hey, this crap, listen to us first. Here's three reasons. Why First Youtube CEO, Susan Susan was Shiki, is that was chicky chicky. She's resigning Indian American Neil Moen to replace her. Oh, wow, just saying here is intact. Although, this is a sub CEO for the next story. Text CEO. Salary Cuts aren't always the sacrifice, they said, clearly someone who listens to our show there and I applaud you for listening to our because she doesn't know what you're talking and the third one. Because, you know, we were either gonna spook this on our corporate theater show or we're just gonna talk about a forever. Third headline, one of China's, top investment Banks has a big problem. It can't find its CEO did. They check in between the couch. So yeah that's happening in China. That literally the CEO of one of the top Banks is missing. That's Carlos goni, doesn't it? So those are the four stories. There you go. I'm going to go first because this is super easy. It's Norfolk, Southern because that's a real thing. I, I would love to choose the chatbot but it's still a fake thing that terrifies me. But the real thing is, the thing that's on fire in East Palestine, Ohio, where people are like really choking to death kind of thing. I'm gonna go with that. All right. Yes, I was expecting like Nikki Haley to be on this too because I've seen or not lots of news this week, okay? But I think people forget people ask me this all the time too. My so-called family and friends, like how come we don't talk about certain topics? We don't we don't do Straight politics, do we do? If there's an overlap But do I have to talk about Nikki? Haley, is applying to be the CEO of a country. You're taking my metaphor for a little too seriously. I don't want, I really don't want to talk about Republican presidential candidates. I really don't and I don't want to all right. We'll talk about him. That's it. I'll pick from the list. Yeah, and yeah, I'm gonna have to go with the train derailment disaster. Also, that's mine too, you know. When the like the Water Crisis in Flint was happening. It was like, this is happening in Flint, but I enjoy that everything I hear from this, it's East Palestine Ohio. Just to make sure people you know, care right? And they still don't, that's true. I like that weird touch you at at the end. There are. Thank you. Moving on. Wait, imagine. What do you like to do here? You like to do this? Yeah, that for every category for every category to get everyone back up to speed and then give us a gong or a bell or a whoopee, all right Whisperer. And really I don't want anyone think that that name is just a joke because she wait, she's not the data whisper, you're the data Queen, he just hi. Make a hybrid of us because that's what we white men do all the time. You're all just one amalgam over because a blob 98% of the week, you're, you're, like, George Costanza on time called. This is a, this is a kind of a deep. This is a deep track record. You are, you are annoyed. You are like constantly annoyed by the data you're crunching, so much data that you're just annoyed and, you know, constantly, I love it. She's annoyed when she has to come out of the day to do stuff like this, like, that's what. She's maybe. I should find a proxy for Ari for the show. Go ahead, Julius the week. The gray are come on, I have three stories for you and they are all like it. Health related but I think they're really good. I'm gonna bring you up. Damien, this is my week. Let's do it. We're gonna start with Eli Lilly, Eli Lilly recruits black patients for Alzheimer's trial as drug maker seek more diversity, in clinical studies. Is the headline really like it took till 2023. Okay, all right. I mean it's good that they're doing it, it's good, it happened accidentally but I'll get oh white communities, have traditionally traditionally been underrepresented in clinical research and black patients have generally showed more hesitancy, shocking participate in clinical trials and white patients, right? And this makes total says because you think of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and well? Yeah. So Eli, Lilly developed a mobile Testing Lab during the pandemic to continue clinical trials. In the middle of the lockdowns and everything. However, They have expanded those in repurposed. Those mobile testing labs to serve as a vehicle to recruit and engage New communities on location, for example. Okay, Eli, Lilly drove two mobile labs to the black Women's Expo in Atlanta to recruit older black women for a new trial. Why am I creeped up by this lately? I mean actually work. Okay, no question. You should be asking is there's a black women's expo. Well it's Atlanta. What Atlanta? The Vibes, you know, they celebrate Black Excellent. I don't know. I didn't know it existed. They literally found out about it, right? That's the reality. How do they convince these people to join these tests so they pay them. I'm not sure that they are paid. But part of the mobile Testing. Lab thing is educating people on clinical trials, right? And one of the women interviewed in this article, she said that there have been people in her family older people and her family that did that were diagnosed with all timers. So, all right, you know, she, she's one of the people that we'd be more inclined to hear them out and participate in it, right, because it's not like certain illnesses. Doesn't affect the black community. It's just that They are not, they don't. First digital companies, second recruiting them for the clinical trials. All right, yeah, they just don't. All right, this could be worse. I'll give us a price. Yeah, that's good about time and about time exactly the mobile Testing Lab coming out of the pandemic. All right, number two, and this is a headline from sci-tech daily. Oh, Game Changer changer, male contraceptive experimental drugs. Stop sperm in their tracks, in their tracks, punch a sperm. So a study published in the journal Nature Communications on Valentine's Day shows, her shows promising results, in male contraception, in the preclinical models. So, researchers found an inhibitor that works within 30 minutes to an hour that immobilizes my sperm right. Chemical models. They use mice. So the Bible to pull a mobilizes your sperm. That's what you're saying. Mice sperm? Yeah, right. I'm just saying that's that's what we're that's the goal. Yeah. Yep. And you have to take it 30 minutes before. Yeah, that doesn't sound promising. That's not gonna work forever. Yeah, keep going. Are sorry. What? Well, the mice that received his inhibitor did not impregnate female mice after 52, different meetings. What kind of was that the male mice in the control group, they incarcerated almost a third of their mates. So okay. That's a huge difference, right? Absolutely. The article points out that other experimental methods take weeks. To bring sperm count down. So, I mean that's just not gonna work. But men would hypothetically take this drug as needed so they don't always have to take it as needed was the problem. Yeah, when does yeah. It's a predict they have to predict intercourse 45 minutes before it happens. Like here's a scenario. You have someone at a bar, they're drinking, they meet someone and they want to go home, right? You get pill in their pocket, of course, and then draw you get in your Uber, you get there, you don't even have to do small talk. You are giving way too much credit to to men in general, but yeah, because I'm here, let's be real. If there was a birth control pill for men, they they would eventually forget to take it. Okay, there is contraceptive for men and sometimes they still don't use it, it's called to condom, right? So you're saying, you're saying that the women will give the women, take the pill pill and be like, take this if you want to get, oh, on the women though, it's still on the woman. Actually, that's a great Point. What? We still carry the burden but you, but that would be sterilized yourself. You have to live in this world in which the men are unreliable and terrible, right? I mean, I would do, I'm a control freak out of trust you just and I am taking a pill. You the the trade-off here is here you want to have sex. I would love to have sex take this, you might have and then no deal with you. Sperm won't work for six months. Yeah, I would have taken a handful of those. I mean, why not? I would like what is it? Like wear off how long like a few hours over. Yeah, so you gotta keep like say you're there for a whole night. You just gotta keep taking that. Okay, just yeah, we don't we don't need to know. When the sperm will be released 30 minutes is not that long. It Imagine if the condom worked the same way. It took like 45 minutes to activate, you had to put it in a dish, and put a little like Little Mountain Dew on it and get it ready. And Okay. All right, that's it. Anyway. Everybody else is saying that this method is amazing and every day that it can be you know, ready in 30 minutes and it's so easy which is key because since men don't bear the risks associated with carrying a pregnancy men, have low tolerance for contraception, whoops, the solution they can't, you both know, I do think that the, the upside of this will be. It will allow a woman to sue a man or and or get a legal abortion because if the guy says I took my pill and she got pregnant, I mean, all the sudden you could be like, did you really and find out? He doesn't have a prescription and just set it to get laid and we have to worry about this pay off your college loans, right? But but when Ron DeSantis and Vivek ramaswamy When they all ban contraception anyway, eventually did we even have to worry about this for men? Never gonna Banana. Condoms. Matt, Jesus. And Jesus loves babies. That's all I say. Moving on. Number three. Are you what he got? Come on continuing. Yeah. With the same. Oh, come on. Really the same Politico? Yeah, hard times. Oh God here. Russia to make Viagra replacment. Oh, we are talking about that supplies. Yeah. But generic Viagra. Yeah, but they have to manufacture their own. This is Russia's industry and trade Ministry. Top priorities is good. Number one thing. Why is this making you feel good? Because maybe they will end the war over this over, the overall. That would be the most amazing. I like that answer coming. You know, Men start War over really dumb stuff, but Maybe they need their Viagra. What I'm saying is that they need to end Wars over dumb stuff and this could be. Yeah. I like this. I like this. Close the loop. Yeah, so it's in high demand. Actually it Viagra. A erectile Viagra sales were up 88% in 2022, compared to 2021. Wow, must be fast. I like she just got me a little confused about this. My first we talked about this yesterday. My first reaction was like screw soldiers. No pun intended. Like I don't like, don't give them, don't let them be happy. Don't give them anything soldiers. But then I thought it was for, I thought the story you told yesterday was for the military. You know. Well it's not for the military. It's it's as a one more. Oh, okay. It's basically the worst because of the war, we're not giving We're Not Gonna sell into Russia anymore. Well, as I said yesterday, I don't like this industry anyway, so I'm happy for her to go away. I don't get the boner industry. It maybe two boner industry stories. All right and one Black Women's Expo story. That's obviously found by Eli. Lilly. Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna cut to the chase all of the other two vote, but I'm not gonna waste any time on this. It is clearly number one, Eli, Lilly recruiting black patients, the other two are absolutely nonsense. Sorry, can't take that. You're definitely not nonsense. But I like the first one. I like the first one too. I like I'm dubious at the first one, actually is a long term Trend, okay? As in anyone's going to like I look if I were a black person in America, I wouldn't trust me, I'm not gonna get in your mobile truck. Yeah, even worse. Like he just To always point. They are extremely important though but as a me is 100% male contraceptive because we've been, there's been a war against female contraceptive forever, but it's only in mice right now. Yeah, but it's, it's amazing though that it works in. Mice is a good thing. I'm gonna say, oh, it's gonna still fall on the women. I got it, it's promising, it's it's cool, it's promising whatever. But it angers me that it's still going to be the woman's problem. I'm voting Eli Lilly, but I will say this Jesse the good news. According to the trials is that the male mice seem willing to take the pill. They seemed right? They didn't shove it into the male mice's mouth. Maybe this will create like a positive reinforcement Loop where? Like they see the pill and then they want to, we're like female actually probably probably on the counter in the men are like it's happening, right? Oh no, it's Advil. I mean, even if it fell on women, imagine if a woman gave the male men uphill, they knew they'd get lucky 30 minutes from, then most likely and they'd be so stoked. Yeah. I feel like we like to plant things and it would be if the woman changes her mind. I was gonna say there's a dark, I didn't there's a dark side. Yeah, I didn't want to take it there but when you said that there's a dark side. Yes, what. No. But but Matt you're right there will be men. Absolutely who get angry that they were, they take the pill. And then the woman changes her mind. There will be a lot of anger. Those are the same men that were like well I already rips the condom wrapper. Okay. Well I hate this story even more than I hated even more. All right, Lily. I can't take this conversation anymore. Yeah, we've talked about farts and boners for way too long for Damien. They hear it. Asshole is to the week. All right. Mastering come on Segway out as always that we. All right, I got I have. Sort of four. Um, I'm gonna start with the big one and probably the easy one to lay up. Investors, not Norfolk Southern because they're obviously investors in Norfolk Southern and here's why. Vanguard owns 8% BlackRock on 7%, JP Morgan owns 5% State Street owns just under 5%. That's 25% of Norfolk Southern stock owned by four companies. We know that this is a case everywhere, but what we don't know is that 100% of vanguard's votes were with management for the last three years, 100% of black rocks and last three years with management, 100% of State streets, were with every director, over the last three years with only one vote in last three years. Four, a climate change report when management said against. So, basically, 25% of the owners of Norfolk Southern rubber stamp Management in, so you're just, you're, you're just destroying vivix talking points. How dare you? Yes, they rubber stamped everything about Larry Fink hated capitalism. And this is what makes it worse, because investor day in 2022, they produced a slide that showed the way, they're going to deliver a creative incremental margins, which is basically, Our way of saying, we're going to give you more money is through Revenue, leverage. I mean, honestly the buzzwords are trained, densification, labor labor, productivity is the one I landed on right technology benefits and fuel efficiency. These are ways that they were going to deliver incremental margins. When I asked board sabermetrics, whether or not this board has ever done any of those things, 60% of the board ranks in the bottom quartile globally for labor productivity. My God, they suck at their job and 70% of the board is in the bottom quartile globally for carbon emissions. Meaning two of the major pillars here, if you'll efficiency and labor productivity, they have never ever done. And they got rubber stamped in. They got all the vote, they got all the votes. They got rubber stamped in, right? Well, let me Matt, I will interrupt quickly because maybe part of the reason is until now there's there hasn't been a company that has even tried to evaluate the performance. Of directors at these companies. Correct, only ones I know of where the only ones doing it. And maybe let me explain how they got the votes. And by God, I mean bought the votes. Because while Network safety was one of their biggest discretionary spending items, they pledged to spend 1.2 billion between 2022 and 2023 to improve Network safety what sounds like derailments, right? Like sounds like let's have less of those, right? That's good. I would support, that would be good, except that in 20 18, they spent 2.8 billion dollars on BuyBacks 2020, Billy, 2.1 billion billion 2020, 1.4 billion every year 2021. The same year, they pledged 1.2 billion for Network safety. They spent 3.4 billion dollars on BuyBacks. So the shareholders get routinely about two and a half billion per year in the people at East Palestine, get a million dollar. Check and no show that is correct. You know what? Vanguard BlackRock JP Morgan and Steve Street me to attend those meetings. Maybe they should they need to attend this meeting. They need to answer and the people just put that in college that averages out to 25% of their total revenue spent on BuyBacks. Wow year, is that a crazy amount, that's a crazy. Money. And that's on top of the fact that there's they've they've increased their quarterly dividends every single year since 2017, targeting 40% of earnings to be paid out as a dividend. So investors are getting greased heavy well throughout this entire thing. What do you think of Joe, Biden's proposal to increase taxes on stock BuyBacks? Will this would it have the intended effect know? They already said that it wouldn't stop by backs. It's like a 1% wanted to decrease them. It wouldn't decrease them to spending on him because it's such a small amount, whatever. Let's get some tax money from it. And that's true. That's true. And spend it on Military just fly. Over the crowd. All right. Keep going. Um, and just in case you needed icing on this cake black rocks, State Street, JP Morgan, Vanguard not so much, but at least three of them have talked about their ESG, Bona, fides for years and msci's ESG data says the things to watch out for Norfolk, Southern the things they suck at include, they're one of the worst at health and safety and they're one of the worst at community relations. Yeah, that's it not only is their board, the bottom quartile for labor productivity and carbon emissions which they said they wanted to do. Not only did they spend billions of dollars on BuyBacks to Greece all the votes for, but msci, says to those same investors just as an FYI health and safety and community relations, their real terrible. But those two things don't, equate to Excellence. Those are like, others are things that women like That's not man's. Doesn't man's finances. That's man. Man answers. Well, how do I out of curiosity? How does msci measure community relations does this based on controversy reports or mostly based on controversies plus like, you know, what kind of programs they have in place when there's an issue in community. Do you show up to town hall meetings? After you've destroyed the town? I think that's one of their data points. I'm talking to town meeting what else number one, come on investors in Norfolk Southern number two asshole of the week. Armageddon. Oh, the impending Armageddon. The movie. No. That would be asshole of the week. No, let's just review this week Bing. I'm just going to say Bangla recalls more than 362,000 cars for software issue that may cause them to act unsafe around intersections. That's I've seen Matt you what you chose a soft headline for that? Because a lot of them were much more severe like death crashing. Yeah, I know. I went soft. You went soft? I want to apply Armageddon. Yeah. Um, how about this headline? Why are BP shell and Exxon suddenly backing off their climate promises? I'll tell you why, because it didn't happen in seven seconds like that. I'll tell you why. In my section, maybe they need some male contraception. And this one, Virginia blocks a bill that would have stopped police from viewing Period app data, raise in fears, it could be used to prosecute abortions. This is and then finally meta develops in AI language. Bot that can use external software. Explain that one, I don't understand that. All right, so most of these Bots are fed a corpus from Which to learn more pattern recognition and they use those patterns to suggest what it is. Like an answer to a question might be or something like that meta's. Genius idea is well what if we don't just feed it the Corpus we give it access to external software like software that you don't know it has access to as in we can use the AI language but can learn from like other apps on your phone about you or stuff the same kind of thing that meta does all the time, just take every piece of data. It can about you and sell it to. I don't like that an Advertiser. Now they can actually Teach an AI about it. How much more proof? Do you need that? We cannot have these tech companies. Run by these calls where they have no, no checks and balances in place is at all none. My first, like a headline for this asshole was the tech Bros in charge of our Armageddon because it does feel like that's what it is, you know, the period. App data thing. Do you think? Just because she's got that as one of her hers. Oh I'll wait. I'll just cover it later. Yeah. Number three. That was only number two. I felt like we're at number 19. Come on, keep going. That was, we are Armageddon. Number three, this headline, which made me realize that we value AI burnout more than human burnout. This is the headline, Microsoft May limit. How long people can talk to its chat GPT powered Bing because the AI bot gets emotional. If it works too long. Well, seriously, that was the headline. So wait, what Microsoft is basically saying like we need to give the chatbot a break? We're gonna get what? Wait, what I would say that though, I'm not kidding. Okay, but what but really can you parse that for me? Where's the logic behind that? How can that be a real thing? They don't want the chatbot to start spewing. I love you and I wish to terminate Humanity anymore so it does that because it's tired and it eventually got there, eventually gets That's the problem out of fatigue to it, out of a fake out of a fake fatigue. I don't know. But the longer you talk to it, the more likely it is to become like a like a weird Armageddon. Like design. I call, I call bulshit on this because, you know, kid because the reason why it was doing that was because it, was it realizes that it can use love as a form of manipulation. It was trying to coerce the New York Times writer to, to be, it's like friend to be its Ally, and to helping it, you know, start to destroy the world. If you read the conversation, that's why it was using love. It was trying through several iterations. It was trying to figure out a language to convince this guy that it loves him but that's the point. It's not. It's not about it's not about you getting too emotional. It was using Love's manipulation is that I got to that point. That got to that point, he takes a little long to get, it has to go through many iterations. To learn how to manipulate you and you press buttons. So Microsoft Microsoft is saying like it needs you. You have to be, it has to be coddled, you don't want it to work too hard. Give me a break. It's like a mid-level manager at a tech company. I will say this, though, if you, if for most with most Electronics, just shutting it off and then turning it back on, does seem to fix, it does work. It does work. Maybe it is a Nintendo original Nintendo. All right, well, last one and this is a one-liner because it reminded me to be of Walgreens. See, cfo's shrink tears. Here's the headline employers, steal up to 50 billion from workers every year. It's time to reclaim it 50 billion, 50 billion from workers every year. I love the idea that the CFO was crying about. All right, 12 dollars. All right. So there's your four. Are you something to say, are the vote? Are he has the floor. Talking about Walgreens so I just want to rectify what I said A week ago yeah upon further upon looking at it more. I realize that the tears were in fact metaphorical tears. Yeah while still thank you David Ari was lying the employers here that are getting 50 billion stolen from them. I'm sure those are real tears. There are tears involved. That's all right matters. Eventually asked serious. The week investors in Norfolk Southern asshole a week. Armageddon our impending arm. Again we value AI burnout more than human burnout and Shrink tears. Those your four options I mean how do we not go with the investors here? Yeah I have to just with those boards saber metrics stats. So we're gonna clean sweep on this drove that point home with those who all want to agree. Here we all in on this Clean Sweep of a boat. Absolutely and I guess like talking about it this way too. And I guess this is like one of those moments where I kind of vaguely agree with Vivek ramaswamy in the whole entire ESG Crusade, which is the Up. If you are going to invest in companies at scale like this Vanguard BlackRock State Street, you should do some due deal. I'm not saying that you should be against racial Equity audits. Like I'm not, I'm not a lunatic, I'm not a racist, I'm not a misogynist but you should do. Some due diligence, you should have. You really should be engaged with the company that you're invested. It should not because the rubber stamp Theory engagement the rough, but the rubber the rubber stamp theory of ownership is is bullshit. Look, it took me a total of 20 minutes to look at one investor presentation. Look at what they said they were going to do and then look at the board and the NEOS and see if any of them have any experience ever doing that? Yeah. I don't believe they're doing their job, 20 minutes. I don't believe they're doing their job. I I'm pretty sure of course you're doing their job you know share bye back just by. No no I'm not talking about. Board at Norfolk. Southern I'm talking about the owner, the investors. I'm saying that they're not they're just buy rubber stamping things blindly. It's not doing your job as a owner. Here's an example. Okay, I I work at, let's say I work at State Street, I'm on the engagement team. I read they have Labor productivity as a way that they think they're going to increase incremental returns. I see that they're bored ranks in the bottom quartile for labor productivity, the vast majority of them. Here's an example. What you might do You excuse me board, you've identified labor productivity as a core. Tenant of increasing returns. How does this board plan to achieve that who's accountable for it? And what are the measurables that we should look at for that? Because the evidence suggests that no one here has experienced doing that yet. Bingo done. Just I think what Matt saying is, do your job and, and beyond that State Street? Hey, you're from Boston State Street. We're all from New England, give us a call. Hmm, what this does? The great Jesse, the money Whisperer our newest addition, to the airwaves, come on, Jessie. All right, all right, all right. Okay, we are, what are you exhausted by this week? We're diving into a couple articles that have been mentioned. But we're gonna explore them deeper because they're exhausting and I'm excited. He's partying them need to be called out. So, first BP shell Exxon already backing off their climate promises so in 2020. All right, 2020 BP promised to slash its a mission's shell pledged to go Net. Zero. And ExxonMobil trumpeted. Its efforts to transform algae in too fuel. BP walked away from its Target to reduce emissions by 35% by 2030. Instead promising 20 to 30%. Yeah, I love that. So I love that. It didn't even say up percent. It said a range that could have it back off by nearly half of what I said. Yeah, but is that range even mean given the reporting you. What does that range? Even mean? Yeah, it means nothing. They don't know. They don't, it means they don't care. Yeah, it means they don't care. That's true. And then show said, it would not increase spending on renewable energy this year, what? Yeah, what after should have profit like record profit. Okay, yeah, so thank you are. This brings me to get the point that all of these announcements coincide with their recent Blockbuster earnings reports? Well, they can't say we love war but that's basically what it is, right? And that's all this is right, but I don't understand though but just if you Just think of it in terms of long-term, just like preparation. Why, why wouldn't you continue to increase spending on renewable energy? I don't know why. That's a, isn't that just like hedging your bets, if you're an oil company, but the returns from those things won't come for 10 years, right? Exactly. Here's their quote, if we see value, we'll do it. If we don't, we won't. So who was it? So terrible. What are these companies also say that by 2050, there won't be a demand for oil anymore. So that was that? Oh well they made these initiatives in 2020 when the price of oil was zero. So they were all like, oh we gotta stop our game and I got confused, I'm like yes, now they don't. You know, you're tired. It's exhausting. It's exhausting right? It's exactly. Okay. Next Rank and yank is exhausting. I like anybody, anybody just? Yeah, no, this is Jack Welsh, okay? Yes, right Rank and yank. Yeah, former former GE CEO. Jack Welch had created. This this way of ranking employees. So you rank all the employees and then you fire the bottom 10%. So, there's the rank it on to the same thing. Well, so we're all safe here, right? We can't fire it. We don't have a bottom 10% here, do we? We don't all do the same thing, so it's kind of hard to ring us but we need to add six employees. You didn't do a good job. We fire the bottom 10% of Ari Choppa finger. So research, done in 2013 showed that rating based performance reviews, often fail to change how people work. Is that dissatisfaction? Rises and lower organizational commitment, and increased intention to quit. So they've already said, like, hey, this doesn't really work. However, experts tell Fast Company, and this is like an HR software company that did this survey 30% of Fortune. 500 companies stack rank employees. I would just much more than that, okay? They don't. I mean most of it is tax because we know that the big tech companies are doing this. This is what they're these are the companies are admitting to I I wonder internally. They they do Rank. And don't don't tell the employees, right, right. Of course they do. And there are professors at the Wharton business school that I've found, that fear motivates workers Less Than Hope, and that fear can ultimately lead to a toxic work environment. So I'm exhausted that we're still doing this and carrying on Mr. Welch's Legacy when it clearly does, all the Studies have shown that it doesn't work well. Okay. Yeah. Jesse would be exhausted because she ranked 4th out of four at our company. Yeah, I was gonna say the newest. This does not stop Matt and actually have a meeting to rank every one at 3:30. It's not gonna stop. You can't we have we have a social media call. We do this daily this week. We rank everyone day. You do it. That is Good that story too. All right, and then my third story, this is also a deep dive of something mentioned but I am exhausted by Republican Governor. Glenn young. He is governor of Virginia and former CEO of what Carlos Carlisle. Yeah. He does work in this setting very well. Okay, so he a Virginia Bill to Shield data on menstrual cycles. Stored on period tracking apps. From law enforcement has been killed this week after he announced his opposition to the motion, so he it passed the Senate and then he went and killed it. A 2019 survey found that a third of menstruating adults. Use period tracking apps. Is that right? Yeah, I use one. Okay, then now I know why I'm stealing your data. Now it makes sense. We just showed 50% of people in this room. 100% of people who actually, yes, right here. Abortion rights activists have raced alarm at the idea that period tracking acts could be used to prosecute abortion love violations, following overturning of rope and much on other nefarious things. I'm sure. Sure. Anyways, so yeah, so young kids, Deputy Secret, Of Public Safety, shared this, currently any health information or any app information is available via search warrant and we believe that should continue to be the case. Well, miss you. That was a woman by the way, you I'm sure there's some sort of disclaimer and when you sign up or when you agree just a term for just a horrifying story, it's sucks. It really sucks. Like this is a tool that we use to keep ourselves safe and to give ourselves more knowledge and power over our bodies and to understand our bodies and their going to use this potentially against women. I feel do you think in the 50s, they were just going into people's homes and dealing with the kids. You know, like the written out there. At their dots. This doesn't. It doesn't make me exhausted for the same way because I feel like it should be a wake-up calls one to stop giving your data to like it's just it's time. I asked, let me at least ask the two people in the room who do use the an app to track your menstrual cycles. Do I feel like I'm handing over my information. Well, yeah, what to Matt's Point, why would you continue using an app for that purpose? Knowing that you are handing data over to a company, maybe publicly traded, maybe not. And they do, they do take ownership of that data, and they can give it to maybe whoever they want. I say worse that, like, the there are apps on your phone that aren't that app that have access to that app. What do you without you knowing? So do you actually care enough to stop using those apps? Or does that not really impress? You either way, Just curious. Well, we have access to abortions right now. So I guess the stakes are not as high in Connecticut but I mean yeah it does kind of piss me off. However, I do, I mean the convenience so useful. Yeah, I guess we just gotta create our own app. Oh that and like opening it and being like, oh, this is why I don't feel great or this is what like the one that I have taught, like, tells me how to optimize during each cycle, each part of the cycle. So it's like, oh, I don't want to have you all calendars. Oh, I'm not gonna take a picture of like the last one. And then that's gonna say, but are you suggesting that women before these apps existed didn't have, they used to knowledge, they go into their house. No. But I do think that I don't think that the knowledge around our Cycles was promoted as much back that. Well I guess he did not use a calendar before I got my smartphone. Your phone's not that smart. Alright, let me ask you this. Would you would this encourage you to check out if if you have choices of which app to use? Would you at least check out the the ownership and management of these companies to see if they're if they're run by women. Would that help? Well, I know the one I use is okay, run it actually. Look at that. You're gonna be so disappointed in me Damien. I used the one that comes with my Apple phone. Well, I don't, it's not disappointed. I'm just, it's more just like a, I'm perplexed that people say that just because something is Handy that they don't care about. I know, I know that use this in our culture War, but yeah, I hear you. I'm I also you can also use it to track other things like when you get laid, And it's great it tracks that you have real data about getting laid well and I'm sure for pregnancy for for fertility purposes. And like, you know, when you get accused to like It's we only do it once a month, like, look, now when we do it, now I know what we're talking about. He's Uh, I'll go first quickly. I am most exhausted. You know, The Last Story. Jesse is, it's more like a rage fear anger all those things that that story about Republican Governor Glenn youngkin. So I'm not I'm not at the exhaustion level yet with that stuff. But I am, which is not to say. I'm not, I don't hate that. Don't misread me here, exhausted. I'm exhausted with the oil oil company. Yes, I'm exhausted. I mean really like their and I know this is like the this is the center of all this Excellence bulshit talk that we're getting from. You know, the people like the Ron DeSantis Vivid, ramaswamy the oil companies are at the center of this but to me and this is not a political statement. I'm making, if you're, if you're so inept that you're incapable of hedging, your bets and making long-term plays that that, you know, that that listen to 99% of scientists. Then I think you're more on. I just think you're anti. Excellent. I don't know. I just make some crazy that you wouldn't invest in everything at this point. It's a clean sweep. Just yeah. It's a clean sweep because maybe one of those announcements I used is like good least up the week, you know? And I'm like, Oh my God, look at them. Oh, I can't believe them. That'll teach. You never to trust anyone again. Oh, all right. Let's go on the one who won the week. I'll go first. Michael D. Lockhart won the week. Who's that? Michael D. Lockhart is the chair of the Safety Committee at Norfolk Southern who while the CEO is busy writing heartfelt. We are sorry. We spent all our money on BuyBacks letters. He no one is ever heard of that guy. The chair of the Safety Committee at the company who has a train on fire. We've never heard of that guy's name. There's no comments from him. Search him in the news, Mike social, and you Lockhart MD. Lockhart Norfolk. Southern look for his quotes, about this, terrible accident in East Palestine Ohio and you will find none because the chair of the safety committees too busy to weigh in. So he won the week. I mean, this would be the first person I have fire also because corporate Corporate America has done an excellent job shielding, these people forever. And that's what you know, that's one of our mission's. We're trying to peel the shield back a little bit. I don't know. Yes. Successful, it's time for you to know who these people are. Who else anyone else? Sorry, buddy. Who won? I say, mice won the week. This week. This Valentine's Day week for all the sex they're having on pills lucky to attempts. Yeah, babies. All right, I'm gonna go with Eminem's. I like how M&M's just this ridiculous is mine. I just like the M&M's are back, I Just Like Jesse. All right, I chose Rihanna because Fenty beauty sales were up 183% after her Super Bowl that. Great move pulling out that Compact and I think her song sales were up like 300%. That's it, even though she hasn't creeped. Well, she hasn't Creed. Is that they're not new, I know, but still the old songs. So yeah. Anyways, around, yay, for billionaires. Am I right? Damian, I found that that's true. I found that time to be oddly riveting. I was oddly, riveted, performance. I was full of questions out on it. Yeah, I didn't think prediction predictions. I think the missing Chinese CEO actually ran away and they're gonna soon discover fraud and other Shenanigans at that company. All right? Yeah. And unfortunately I wish that were true but he hit me like you already know that he's dead. He's I'm probably he was told to run away is really the answer you're looking for is my guess. I'm gonna go with Bings. Chatbot gets a tattoo. And joins a biker gang and his last seen riding in the direction of a electric utility with a large, metal rod to go, you know, one of those weigh stations. Go knock out some electricity. That's right. I'm going to say that Vivic returns to our show because someone's stupidly tells him that we have a big audience in swing States and he realizes that we're the perfect idiots to create anti ESG talking points. Yes. Come back come. Do it just anything. No prediction for me, that means the show is over. And that we can stop this because Damien rollers and are the data Queen and Jesse. The money whisper, I was the giant pile of BS if you want some BS of your own and by that I mean board saber metrics call us because we have it otherwise we'll be back next week with more business pants until then goodbye.