Blair:

Foreign. Here we are, Martin and I here to in the secular foxhole celebrating another

Blair:

episode.

Blair:

I believe it's number 98.

Blair:

Hi Martin.

Martin:

Hi Blair.

Blair:

It's good, good to hear from you.

Blair:

Same today here in the United States.

Blair:

It's Memorial Day.

Martin:

Yep.

Blair:

And it's where we honor our, our fallen soldiers.

Blair:

And I was.

Martin:

Is that clear? Missing in action also.

Blair:

No, missing in action means that they don't know what happened to the soldier.

Blair:

He could be in a prison of war camp or he,

Blair:

they couldn't find his body.

Martin:

Yeah.

Blair:

A prisoner of war.

Blair:

But missing in action means they couldn't find his body or he's still in prison camp or they

Blair:

just don't know his whereabouts.

Blair:

I was thinking earlier today that Ayn Rand the dominant ethics around the world is Judeo

Blair:

Christian and the word sacrifice is just oozing out of everyone's TV commentators

Blair:

mouths.

Blair:

But I like what Ayman Rand said that it's not a sacrifice to defend something you value.

Blair:

You know, that's.

Blair:

I think that that sentiment needs to be more

Blair:

widely.

Martin:

If you advertised, if you will.

Martin:

Yeah.

Martin:

If you defend values.

Martin:

Yeah, yeah.

Martin:

Defend values and liberty and freedom.

Blair:

That's right.

Blair:

It's not a sacrifice.

Martin:

Yeah.

Blair:

But it's a tragedy if you lose your life.

Blair:

But it's.

Blair:

If you understand the meaning and value of

Blair:

freedom and liberty, it's not a sacrifice.

Blair:

So. But that was something I thought of

Blair:

earlier and we are, you know, but this, it's a solemn day for many, many people across the

Blair:

country and around the world.

Blair:

But otherwise, you know,

Blair:

my wife and I had went out today and did some errands and did some things and had some at

Blair:

lunch.

Blair:

But what else did we do?

Blair:

I have a couple of interesting stories and some thoughts about.

Blair:

Again, this is episode 98. So we have one more before episode 100.

Martin:

Yep.

Blair:

And I'm trying to reach out to an objectivist intellectual.

Martin:

Yep.

Blair:

For show number 100.

Blair:

But he, that gentleman has not responded.

Blair:

Okay.

Blair:

So we will see if that takes.

Blair:

Takes fruition or not.

Martin:

Yep, it will, it will happen.

Martin:

We have some backup plans also.

Martin:

I mean with 100 episodes we could have a review.

Martin:

We could have a so called best of.

Martin:

Even if every episode is the best so far, I

Martin:

think you learn from it.

Martin:

And so and also of course the listener out there, what's your favorite episode?

Martin:

And then you could support us in that way, could send a gift for that episode because

Martin:

it's a creation and we are putting in time, energy and money into this and it's so called

Martin:

free because you could Listen for free,

Martin:

but it's not really free.

Martin:

And we will continue doing this.

Martin:

But it's great to get this appreciation and some support and getting something back, so to

Martin:

speak.

Martin:

But that's also as we are interested in

Martin:

philosophy and fundamental ideas.

Martin:

You often hear that giving back to the

Martin:

community,

Martin:

to the society, to the country,

Martin:

to the, to the race, to the labor party, whatever.

Martin:

And that's scary.

Martin:

So we don't want to have any sacrifice.

Martin:

But the good thing with this value for value

Martin:

model and with real money like parts of bitcoin satoshis, you could send a very small

Martin:

amount without any special fees and it would go directly to us and then we could distribute

Martin:

it and split it to our guests.

Martin:

So I really see the opportunities here in the future.

Martin:

But it will take time and still accept silver coins and check in the mail.

Martin:

They could send it to you and PayPal, we have several buy me a coffee and other things like

Martin:

that.

Blair:

But what was I my train of thought was.

Martin:

The guests that you're planning and also our episodes and you have reached out.

Blair:

Right.

Blair:

So hopefully that gentleman will respond.

Martin:

Yep.

Blair:

But as you just said there are backup plans and but I wanted to.

Blair:

I do have a bit of a sandwich today.

Blair:

New sandwich I have.

Blair:

I want to start off with a good some good news and of course when I look for good news I

Blair:

always go to human progress.org yep.

Blair:

And I'll just read this off if I may.

Martin:

Yes.

Blair:

Quote.

Blair:

Over the last few weeks there there's been a

Blair:

massive nuclear policy shift in Europe and North America.

Blair:

Belgium voted to abandon its nuclear phase out plan.

Blair:

Germany signaled that it will no longer oppose classifying nuclear power alongside renewables

Blair:

in EU law.

Blair:

Sweden plans to build an additional 5 gigawatt of nuclear capacity by 2035.

Blair:

Good for you.

Martin:

Yeah, it is.

Blair:

Then. See, President Trump signed four executive orders intended to expedite nuclear

Blair:

reactor approval,

Blair:

boost domestic fuel supply,

Blair:

authorize reactor construction on federal land and dramatically expand United States or US

Blair:

nuclear energy production.

Martin:

Yeah. And Blair, to be a bit symbolic, we have talked about that we are not as

Martin:

atheist per se because that's, you know, removal of God or whatever.

Martin:

Atheist, atheist.

Martin:

But the symbol is the atomic symbol for many atheists and it's also nuclear power.

Martin:

So that's interesting in a way with science and nuclear and this power thing.

Martin:

So that's something I saw that you did as fun as a co pilot and also the AI to the secular

Martin:

foxhole.

Martin:

And when you got the fox and a microphone and

Martin:

the word of our podcast.

Blair:

Yes, I think that should be I honestly think that should be our new symbol.

Blair:

But that's.

Martin:

Yeah, we will look into that.

Martin:

And that's.

Martin:

I mean if we find creators that are good at this and we could come up with some kind of

Martin:

cooperation with this value for value and the split.

Martin:

So every time the artwork is showing in the episode, the art creator will get something or

Martin:

if we could go and like a funding crowdfunding campaign or something like that, or using AI

Martin:

in a way.

Martin:

So I like what we have so far and it's worked for a long time, but I think it's a bit time

Martin:

to do a new thing and even with the jingle also.

Martin:

And we will talk more about that in the future.

Martin:

So that was great news to hear about nuclear development there.

Martin:

Of course it has to be safe.

Martin:

And that's a problem here in Sweden.

Martin:

When we had this so called election to go and vote for that, it was either.

Martin:

It was very scary tactics because it had been this, you know,

Martin:

tragic accident in Harrisburg.

Martin:

And so it was hard to promote safe nuclear because.

Martin:

And,

Martin:

but so much have developed over time.

Martin:

But Sweden then you're not allowed at all to

Martin:

do research and development or looking into the science and develop it over time.

Martin:

So it was shut down totally.

Blair:

That's crazy.

Blair:

That's crazy.

Martin:

And Germany was the leading pack there.

Martin:

They really put that.

Martin:

And then,

Martin:

sorry to say, many other European countries influenced and that's the Green.

Martin:

The Green Party and the Green Movement coming from Germany.

Martin:

That's original from that.

Blair:

Oh yes.

Blair:

Oh yeah.

Blair:

Well,

Blair:

otherwise I know that there has been significant advancement in nuclear safety

Blair:

certainly.

Blair:

So that should be incorporated into what's

Blair:

happening in here in the near future.

Blair:

So that.

Blair:

But as far as the new sandwich, the couple of bad news things both involve President Trump.

Martin:

Yeah.

Blair:

As you might expect, yes.

Blair:

He has betrayed the.

Blair:

The Afghanis who assisted the military in Afghanistan during that protracted conflict.

Blair:

He has not only threatened to send them back, he has actually sent them back to Afghanistan.

Blair:

The people that assisted our military for all those years and were,

Blair:

because they were loyal to us,

Blair:

they were granted access to the United States while he has kicked them out.

Martin:

Yeah. Strange.

Martin:

And as continue.

Blair:

So that's the right hand sucker punch.

Blair:

And the left one is that in this big beautiful

Blair:

bill it's in front of the Senate right now, there's a 62 word plank, if you will, that

Blair:

fellow objectivist Nicholas Provenzo has sounded the alarm about.

Blair:

I didn't bring that up and I. Let me see if I can get that his comment on that.

Blair:

But it's basically removing a protection of ordinary citizens,

Blair:

the constant, the constitutional protection of the people.

Blair:

So that is a huge alarming Trend.

Blair:

And so Mr. Provenzo, if you will, has urged every objectivist or every decent human being

Blair:

to write their senators to have that,

Blair:

that plank removed from this big beautiful bill.

Blair:

And so I'm going to formulate.

Blair:

And he actually wrote his.

Blair:

And he said he could.

Blair:

Anyone who wanted to, could use his template, just, you know, substitute your senators and

Blair:

so on and so forth to.

Blair:

To it.

Blair:

To that template and send it off.

Blair:

So that's what I'm going to do in the next day or so,

Blair:

because that they're not.

Blair:

I think they're still contemplating it.

Blair:

I don't think they're.

Blair:

Hopefully they'll take their time and look this thing over.

Blair:

Go ahead, go ahead.

Martin:

I will add a thing short commentary about.

Martin:

Because I will publish this on Ascension Day, or we call it in Swedish,

Martin:

like Christ Flying Day. It is so called when Christ was coming alive and going up to heaven

Martin:

with the apostles.

Martin:

So it's important for religious people.

Martin:

And then you could fly.

Martin:

And then Trump went to the Arab world and got

Martin:

a plane from Qatar.

Martin:

Right.

Martin:

Like a brighter thing.

Blair:

Yes.

Martin:

And you know, follow money where.

Martin:

What, what,

Martin:

what do they do in Qatar? That's something to think about,

Martin:

you know, with mosque building and religious dogma and other things like that.

Martin:

And the by.

Martin:

How do they call it, the studying schools that

Martin:

they are doing when they really put it inside their head, Quran thing.

Martin:

So that's something to think about why he went to these places in the Arabic world.

Martin:

You know,

Martin:

he even wanted to change the name of the Persian Gulf now.

Blair:

Oh, really?

Martin:

Yeah. And that were Pahlavi,

Martin:

the son of Shaun of Iran.

Martin:

He said that's BS it always have been called

Martin:

Persian Gulf and shouldn't be called Arabic or Arab Gulf in order to appease them.

Martin:

I mean, it's very.

Martin:

Yeah. Tragic.

Blair:

He's a blowhard.

Martin:

Yeah. So the positive ending, positive thing then, right?

Blair:

Yes, I wanted to discuss the positive thing.

Blair:

I want to discuss.

Blair:

I guess I could use the word triggered.

Blair:

People may or may not know that.

Blair:

Of course, I'm an objectivist to the best of

Blair:

my ability.

Blair:

I follow my own ability to reason based on Ms.

Blair:

Rand's ideas.

Blair:

But I am alone in my family in that regard.

Blair:

And I got a clip from a family member on Facebook about the Reverend Charles Stanley

Blair:

and his little five minute ditto or Diddy was about where would you be without Jesus?

Blair:

And I just thought, you know what,

Blair:

I've listened to it and that I immediately thought I need To I had bought the pamphlet

Blair:

and the Kindle version of On Cargatte's Finding Morality and Happiness Without God.

Blair:

So I started reading that as the antidote to Mr. Stanley.

Blair:

And I highly, highly, highly recommend our listeners to find that pamphlet on Amazon and

Blair:

either get the hard copy or the Kindle version.

Blair:

And it's 31 pages and it is a gold mine of sunlit ideas, if you will.

Blair:

So that's my new sandwich for the day.

Blair:

I can end on that.

Blair:

And I know that again we've,

Blair:

you know, this is episode 98. 98 episodes of this podcast.

Blair:

That's over what now five years?

Martin:

Yep, time flies.

Blair:

Yeah, I'm very proud of that.

Martin:

Yeah, you should.

Martin:

And,

Martin:

and, and me too.

Martin:

And we have been then recognized another time

Martin:

in a. In a list of secular secularism or secular podcasts.

Martin:

And this time we got the placement number five.

Martin:

So I will include that in the show notes.

Blair:

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Blair:

So in one survey we're number nine and in this

Blair:

new survey we're number five.

Martin:

So it looked.

Martin:

Yeah in similar in a way in the layout and

Martin:

design and so on, but it was a new domain and a new list.

Martin:

And also I pointed out to them because I tweeted to myself and others that on the list

Martin:

that our email address how we could contact and go to the secularfoxhole live and there

Martin:

you could have the contact information there.

Blair:

Right.

Martin:

We have listed because that's an address but it is a lightning address.

Martin:

So now it's getting this, you know,

Martin:

lingo but that's.

Martin:

We have one albit in order to get support and

Martin:

donations and this giving back in in a way.

Martin:

And that's looks like an email address but

Martin:

it's going to.

Blair:

Oh no, that's not an email address.

Blair:

No.

Martin:

Yeah, I pointed out that to them.

Martin:

So. Yeah, so.

Blair:

But they still haven't changed it.

Blair:

So they need to change it.

Martin:

But they.

Martin:

They.

Blair:

Another way to reach us, if I may just interject.

Martin:

Yeah.

Blair:

Is those who want to write us can just write us@secular foxholemail.com Good, that's

Blair:

very easy.

Blair:

Secular foxholemail.com yeah, but otherwise

Blair:

that's about all I have for this time.

Martin:

Great.

Blair:

And oh, I do want to mention one more thing.

Martin:

Yes.

Blair:

I don't know, Martin, if you have Netflix.

Martin:

No,

Martin:

but I haven't.

Martin:

I'm not a subscriber.

Martin:

That's again talking about value for value.

Martin:

It's often lock you in.

Martin:

So I would like the model that you put pay for as you want and you pay for a certain movie,

Martin:

whatever not locked in per monthly but it could be a good thing also.

Martin:

I mean saying that if you are listening out there and want to do that in an easy way, you

Martin:

could support us on a monthly basis.

Martin:

So that's an option also.

Martin:

But yeah.

Martin:

Well, what's on Netflix? Any new good stuff?

Blair:

Well, it's a Swedish film called Caliphate and I'm sure you can imagine what

Blair:

that's about.

Blair:

And so,

Blair:

and I follow on,

Blair:

I think it's Bing. I follow someone who reviews Netflix under the radar things and

Blair:

that was one of the things that they mentioned a Swedish film called Caliphate and so I

Blair:

haven't seen.

Blair:

I've started to watch it but I haven't finished.

Martin:

So please, please send the link and I'll include that and I will, I will check it

Martin:

out and see if it's original Swedish or if it's, I.

Blair:

Mean it's Swedish with English subtitles.

Martin:

So yes, then I definitely have to see it and find it.

Martin:

Maybe I will find it on the so called state public television but we pay it by the tax

Martin:

money there.

Martin:

We can't choo.

Martin:

But otherwise it could be on a commercial channel also.

Martin:

So I mentioned that in the Green Room to the Armageddon movie that's about the last battle

Martin:

and that's a scary movie but that's only I think available now on Alazera so that you

Martin:

have to take it with a bit of grain of salt, so to speak.

Martin:

But it's an interesting documentary to watch about how the religious.

Martin:

I think it's the evangelist,

Martin:

how do you call it? Evangelical,

Martin:

how they,

Martin:

you know, plan for the future about the last battle, the Armageddon.

Blair:

Well, I mean that's part of.

Blair:

I'm assuming that's probably part of

Blair:

revelation in the Bible.

Blair:

I would assume, yeah.

Blair:

And there are,

Blair:

I don't know how many Christian sects.

Blair:

Sects, S E C T s sects.

Blair:

There are probably over 200 and probably each one of them has their own bizarre version.

Blair:

And it is bizarre, I'm sure nonetheless we will continue to advocate reason,

Blair:

individualism and capitalism here at the secular Foxhole.

Martin:

Yeah, and the Trader principles.

Martin:

I will also include that in the show Notes on

Martin:

the Rand lexicon and also about this value for value concept episode when they're talking

Martin:

about that.

Martin:

And also a segment that you could listen and that's in a way coming from religious because

Martin:

they have been good at that.

Martin:

After the sermons you have this collection box

Martin:

or the net so it's time.

Martin:

But you listen to us and you spend time on that.

Martin:

We value that and then your talent, if you want to help with your future jingle or new

Martin:

artwork or maybe helping with chapters in the future.

Martin:

And then, of course, treasure, that's payment and gifts giving in different ways.

Martin:

So that's this concept.

Blair:

Right.

Martin:

We do that in the show notes also.

Martin:

So very good.

Blair:

Yes.

Martin:

Great player.

Blair:

All right, Martin.

Blair:

Well, thank you very much.

Martin:

Yep.

Blair:

And we will.

Blair:

I think we can call it a wrap.

Martin:

Yes, we will do that.

Blair:

All right, Martin, thanks.

Martin:

Bye for now.

Blair:

Bye.

Martin:

Bye.