Messy Times

Larry David did a great job hyping #FTX during the Super Bowl. Closer to the actual functioning of crypto derivatives markets, we welcome Larry Thompson, current Chairman of Ledger X LLC which was bought by FTX in October 2021.

Join us for a thoughtful discussion ranging across Larry's impressive career on Wall Street, his transition from traditional finance to the digital markets, and what these new evolutionary market moves mean for broadening financial opportunity and freedom across national boundaries. #Crypto and the fundamental #blockchain technology underlying new financial markets are transforming not only the global capital markets, but driving opportunity for communities everywhere.

Combat Control, one of the most important arms of US Special Operations Forces, remains opaque to most Americans. Despite being the crucial connection between ground and air forces to coordinate bombings and overall flight operations in a war theatre, they have not gotten the same amount of public fame as their counterparts in the Army Rangers or Navy SEALs. That relative anonymity is about to end, beginning with this episode of Messy Times. I am joined in the studio by two retired Combat Controllers, John Glowacki, now CEO of the Combat Control Foundation (https://combatcontrol.team) and Mike Lamonica, President of the Board of the Combat Control Association. I am blown away by the work this community does to provide assistance to those who have sacrificed enormously for our country and urge everyone to hop over to their website to donate as much as you can to support their mission.

Tune in for a fascinating discussion ranging across the history of Combat Control Teams (CCT), its indispensable role in American battlefield dominance and the insanely difficult qualification process which after two intensive years graduates 15 Combat Controllers for every 100 highly qualified program entrants. In addition, we discuss the impressive life of Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman, whose exemplary heroic action atop a remote mountain in Afghanistan must never be forgotten. His story is told in "Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World’s Deadliest Special Operations Force," currently being made into a major motion picture slated for release in 3Q23.

When you buy the book (or anything else) from Amazon, you can elect CCF as your donation choice: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/83-3980682

We are delighted to have John Faso visit us for a discussion about foreign policy, charter schools and the political realities underlying elections.  John served in the 115th Congress from 2017-2019 representing the 19th Congressional District in upstate New York. Prior to his stint in Congress, he was in the New York State Legislature where his most important contribution - in Messy Times's opinion - was in championing New York's charter school legislation.  You can learn more about John's background and history here: https://www.johnfasolaw.com/about/ 

Melissa Martz, Candidate for the US House of Representatives, joins Messy Times for a refreshing dialogue about our lively and invaluable Constitution and how her sense of Justice outraged by recent developments has moved her to run for Congress.  

Child sex trafficking, fentanyl overdoses, oppressive governmental overreach – she touches on it all and more!   

Join us for a welcome and invigorating conversation and be sure to visit Melissa’s campaign website www.melissamartz.com for more information about the candidate and how you can help her to preserve American Liberty.

We are delighted to have James Fok visit us to share insights from his deep experience in the global capital markets and more specifically at the coalface of integrating two different financial systems. One is the generally accepted set of rules evolved over centuries with origins in Western Europe, and the other is the newly powerful emergent economic power from Mainland Communist China.

His excellent book Financial Cold War: A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets is written for a motivated general readership and is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand the powerful, if complex and hidden, dynamics driving this century’s Great Power Conflict.

Can birds lie? Do birds lie? What are they chattering about anyway? Do feathers make the bird? These questions and more may or may not be answered by evolutionary biologist Jeremy Hyman during his highly Enlightentaining turn on Messy Times. Tune in! And be sure to buy his book: Bird Talk: An Exploration of Avian Communication: Ballentine, Barbara, Hyman, Jeremy, Webster, Mike: 9781501753428: Amazon.com: Books

Most people pay no attention to capital market structure, which is a wonky name for the ways in which a society interacting with regulators and governments creates the rules and practices for trading stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate.  We are delighted to begin a series of discussions on regional market structure issues and developments with David Alvarez, a long-time expert in global capital markets, with specific expertise in Latin America.  Pull up a chair!  We deliver pithy brilliance, sheer value for time spent!

We are joined in the Messy Times studio by Jim Thompson, one of the most knowledgeable experts on the global coal markets.  Our discussion ranges widely across the impacts to everyday Americans' quality of life and cost of living that arise from current fossil fuel "policies."

Sit back, relax with a soothing beverage and tune in for a highly Enlightentaining discussion.  You'd better hope your local power utility has enough coal on hand to generate the electricity required for you to hear our complete episode.  There's a prize at the end you won't want to miss! 

Messy Times is focused in 2022 on positivity.  It is easy to give everyone a sharp adrenaline burst of righteous rage by pointing out the details of myriad governmental failings.  But everyone else does that, which is partly why our levels of civility in engaging with others has been crumbling to dust.  Joining us for the first episode of 2022 is our old friend Heshy Tischler, who spends his time at the coalface of helping people fight off a hostile government in ways large and small.    

Have a listen as we debate whether cultural change in government bureaucracies is possible.  It is certainly desirable to have, say, building inspectors offer helpful advice to make a building safer, rather than their current focus on writing violations to steal money from hardworking citizens.  What will it take to make that change happen?

A friend gave me a copy of a letter a local child wrote to Jen Psaki in the White House, thanking her for explaining why a treadmill is a luxury item that he does not need.  Pete Buttigieg if he ever returns from paternity leave should be proud of his many accomplishments.