Episode 9: The clog caused some problems... allegedly (the conspiracy episode)

This week's topic: Crazy conspiracy theories

This week, Cori and Laura have some follow-up fails, but dive head-first into crazy conspiracy theories that will shock you. (Or maybe not.) Find out why the ladies will always be a little poor, but are safe from the government's watchful eye because they're merely harmless strategists. After this episode, they're probably on a list somewhere, though. Enjoy! 

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Transcript

00:02
This is another episode of My Crazy Friend, in case you were curious where you are. I am Cori. I am Laura, in case you got lost along the way. This is the podcast where we talk about crazy shit. Yeah, so many crazy, crazy, crazy shits. So many crazy shits. So this week, we're going to be talking about crazy conspiracy theories or stories. Dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun. Yeah, so I was going to whisper it.

00:32
that be more dramatic, but I don't know what came out. I don't know if that was a monster or whatever. It doesn't matter. But yeah, crazy conspiracy theories. Crazy. Yes, so before we get into this week's craziness, we wanted to touch on a few things from last week. Not me, because I was perfect, but I think you had something. Well, I will say last week, you did. You looked at the we were doing laws. Crazy laws. Crazy laws. And you gave a law, and then you would say why. And I was thank you for being so organized. You're so welcome. I didn't bother to do that.

01:02
That's it.

01:03
But we did deem that most of them were pretty self-explanatory. They're easy to figure out where it came from. But there were a few that I needed to like follow, you know, circle back on. Yeah. What was the history behind these crazy laws? Sure, sure. Well, sure, sure. This will be a follow-up fail. Oh, OK. Good job. But I, you know, I did want to, you know, say, you know, you know, if you know, let me know. But so it was why are there, why aren't flamingos not allowed in barber shops?

01:33
in Alaska. Right. That was the question and we didn't know. You know first I will tell you. Yes. I found out that they were pet. We were confused if it was plastic flamingos. Yeah like lawn flamingos or pet flamingos. It's pet flamingos. Okay. I mean okay. And I found out it was only in Juneau. Okay. Other areas of Alaska you can take your... Juneau, this is the only thing that I figured out. Juneau, I don't know much. That's about it. So we still don't know why they have flamingos.

02:03
I did read an article that said that they will decorate parts of Alaska with pink flamingos, especially in the winter because they're pops of color. Okay. So I don't know if it just flamingos became a cool happening thing in Alaska. So then people started getting pets and then it became a distraction at the barbershop. That is my theory. Okay, I'll take it. But that's all I got. That's better than the one I've got. Perfect. Because mine was somebody filled a lot of barbershops with plastic flamingos and they're like, no, no, no, you can't do that. We threw that one.

02:33
right out of the water. We did. Or out of the bucket or out of the boat, wherever it's done because they were pets. They were pets, I know, so yours wins. Perfect. It is now written, in fact, because that's where it came from. Wonderful. And you know what, if you have no idea where the law came from, maybe it's time to get rid of it. Yeah. It's just a thought, but go ahead. Yeah, someone might know. Maybe. Let us know. I'll hold out hope, but I'm moving on. Can you take a giraffe into a barbershop? I don't know. I mean, it just seems odd. You just, yeah, it's very specific. Yeah, oh well, go ahead. So yeah, no, we're gonna move on.

03:03
Okay. So the other one was why you can't wear sleeveless clothes in Maryland. Okay. In the parks of Maryland. In the parks, yep.

03:12
And again, follow up fail. I don't know. OK? To be honest, I just don't know. But I did get some additional information. For number one, it is $10 fine to do it. Really? So if you decide to go wear your little tank top, or yeah. So yeah, the sun's out. The sun's out, guns are not allowed to be out. That's a bummer. Which is fine.

03:40
But I couldn't...the only thing I kind of thought was it sounded like it's possibly that they just didn't want beach clothes in the parks. Okay. So it kind of reminded me a little bit like your France thong dilemma. Yeah. Where in France, to refresh your memories, we all thought that the Europeans just really love their Speedos. But apparently it's a law, at least in France, that you have to wear Speedos on the beach because they don't want swim clothes all in town.

04:10
people aren't gonna wear Speedos in town. Yep. So it's similar. Like don't wear your swim clothes in the park in Maryland, more or less. Right, kinda. Yeah, loosely. But I was thinking it's something to do with like, you just don't think it's appropriate. Again though, that's allegedly. Allegedly. That's just kinda what I gathered from my readings, but I really don't know. So that's it. That's all you're gonna get on those. If you need additional information, you're gonna have to find it yourself. You're gonna have to make the internet your friend. Because I tried, and that's all I got. That's it.

04:40
So anyway, you want to get into some crazy conspiracy theories? Yeah. Yeah. You know, this was a hard one for me because one, conspiracy theories tend to freak me out because I start going down rabbit holes and like, well, what if? What if? You know? Yes. Oh, believe me, so many rabbit holes. So instead of doing one that like freaked me out, I decided to do one that I thought would make you happy. Aw, you're always doing things like that. I know. I just care about you so much. Oh God, I'm scared.

05:10
Just to be honest, a little scared. So I don't know if you remember this story about your childhood. My childhood? Your childhood? Super. Please enlighten me about my childhood. I'll give you the basics and I was hoping you could fill in some of the blanks. So when you were young, you used to go on field trips to DC and one year your class was going somewhere else.

05:38
Okay, okay. Yes. Can I just tell the story? I think that you should. Okay, good. So, all of my life. Oh, all of your life. Well, not just your childhood. This is worse than I thought. Go ahead, go ahead. So.

05:53
So any field trip that I was gonna be on in elementary school and childhood, we always went to DC. DC, DC, DC, every year. And I like DC, don't get me wrong. DC is awesome. I mean, you and I went to DC for a girls trip, had the best time. And we were going next time, by the way, for our girls trip. DC? No. No, where are we going? I'll tell you after our story. Okay.

06:16
Don't you think they deserve to know? After my story, it's part of my story, go ahead. Oh shit. Okay, okay, good, stay tuned. So.

06:25
Sorry, I'm digressing. No, I interrupted you. That was my bad. So anyway, so we, where am I? We love DC. Yeah, we love DC. But I was so tired as a kid. It was just, we did the same thing, the same Smithsonian, you know, every time, blah, blah, blah. And one year, we were going to dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, Johnstown. Johnstown Flood Museum, baby, and the inclines. And I was so psyched. Wait, so people that aren't from the Pittsburgh area might not know what the inclines are.

06:54
And they may not know that Johnstown is an actual place, like a little town in Pennsylvania. Yes, it is. And apparently there was a very big flood there. So if you're not familiar with that...

07:04
You know what? You're going to get an earful today probably. Sure. So you know what? Come on along. Anyway, so then right before we were supposed to go on this field trip, I got chickenpox. Chickenpox! And I could not go. This is before the age of the chickenpox vaccine. Yes, I'm old. So I had to stay home. I missed that field trip and to this day, I have bothered my friends and my husband and everyone who will listen.

07:34
I want to go to the Johnstown Flood Museum. And usually they're like, okay, cool. Like you were like, cool, let's go. And then my husband, Stu, was like, cool, let's go. And then he Googles it and he's like, core. It's one room in the middle of a city. It's not even a real museum. He's like, we're not going. And I think they're all wrong. I think it's probably major. I think we got to go. So you know what? I'm going to do you one better. I'm bringing the Johnstown Flood Museum to you.

08:04
Right now. Oh with an added bonus of a conspiracy. I'm so excited. So anyway, yes I was bitter and no, yeah, I know Not fair. So yeah, everyone thinks that I hold on to things too. Yeah, it's only what 35 years after that I probably 40 maybe maybe 30 20 Elementary school. Well, you're only 20 now. So yeah, but it's like sixth grade. Oh Still it's you've had on to this a long time enough to bitch about it to me

08:34
and a lot to the point that I remember it and I'm gonna tell you about it now. Thank you. You are so welcome. That was so nice. I'm so excited. Alright, take me there. Okay. It's like we're going there even though you guys won't take me there but whatever. Well, as our go-bunts trip, I will take you to Pittsburgh so we can ride the inclines on the Pittsburgh. Oh, tell everybody what the inclines are real quick. Um, they're just basically these little things that go up and down the mountain. Like a chairlift. Like a chairlift. Like an incline. Like clothes. Yeah, like chairlift. What are they called? A gondola? Those ones like...

09:04
in other places that travel. Like, it's like a ski lift. Yeah. But it's yeah, it's in Pittsburgh. Google it. Come on. Yeah. Jeez. Anyways. Sorry. So here you go. Oh, anyway, so when we go to our next Pittsburgh girls trip, see a concert or whatever, it will stop the Johnstown Flood Museum. Promise? Almost, yes. Depending as long as the- Weather time pending. Yes, exactly. Got you. It all works out. It's happening. Right, if it just happens to work out for us. Yeah. Great. Which it will. So. I will. I will.

09:34
be so, you know, thrilled, looking forward to it. I bet you will be. So Johnstown. Yeah. I'm going to give you a little bit of history on Johnstown and the situation surrounding the flood of 1889. So Johnstown was a small up and coming town in Pennsylvania. It had rivers surrounding it on two sides. And then so they created a canal, a dam, to build water for the canal at the top,

10:04
Above Johnstown and that was called South Fork Dam Okay, and it was an earth and rock fill dam created to provide water for part of the Pennsylvania Canal and this was in the 1850s So as canals became less and less used and railroads became more and more used Railroads replaced the canals and the reservoir became a private lake. So it was just kind of sitting there eventually a bunch of successful businessmen including Andrew Carnegie and Henry Henry Andrew Carnegie and

10:34
and Henry Clay Frick, I don't know why I can't say that name. It's okay. Who were some of the richest men in America at the time, called the area South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club and used the space as their own private getaway. Oh, right there you know that's bad. That's bad news. Yeah, because it's not getting probably maintenance and maintained anywhere. Yeah, so the richest people in America bought this, right? They own the land, they have more than enough money to maintain the dam, but you see where this is going. They didn't maintain it.

11:03
kind of distance themselves from the people of Johnstown because that was a blue-collar working-class town and these were rich businessmen so they kind of shut everything off from Johnstown. There wasn't a lot of communication with the people there. So yeah, they would get reports and share them with the club and the club would kind of dismiss them. Like reports on the dam? On the dam, yeah. So... Like bad reports? Yeah, like this is structurally unsound. We have some concerns about this. It may not last. It

11:33
30s nothing like this one so they had known that it could flood it wasn't you know unheard of so the people were kind of always watching it so we are going to skip ahead now okay to May 31st 1889 okay this is the day of the flood yeah okay so it had been raining heavily for two days the water in the rivers continued to rise and the dam was at its breaking point so I mentioned the dam had flooded before mm-hmm and the town had experienced heavy

12:03
then. So they just kind of figured the dam held before, it's going to figure, you know, it's going to hold now. Right. They'd seen worse than this in the past. And eventually they figured it would burst, but probably not in their lifetimes. Kind of like not my problem. But in the meantime, so now the director, South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club owned this dam. So they were repairing it after the previous flood that I mentioned. And in the process of repairing it, they made modifications to the dam. So they cut its height by three feet to allow two lanes of traffic to go across

12:33
the top, which obviously limits the amount of water that it can hold. Well, so it could probably cause more wear and tear if stuff's driving across it. Well, that too. Then they added, they used the lake for fishing. So they added screens to keep the fish from spilling into the river below. Oh, shut up. So the screens got clogged with sticks and stuff and leaves. So it prevented water from going into the pipes as well as fish. So that clogged some, or caused, that caused

13:03
caused some problems. The Krog caused some problems. Thank you. You know what I'm saying. This is a tough one for me. So now it's raining and it's raining and it's raining. Yes. Okay and now the dam has a four-foot bulge in the middle. Okay it also lacked discharge pipes at the base of the dam.

13:26
That would permit its owners to drain the water from the reservoir So there was supposed to be discharge pipes at the bottom that were no longer there that people could go Well, that's part of the conspiracy. It's it's unknown exactly why were they there for there were they were there. They're no longer there So you couldn't go open the pipes for a discharge like an emergency to like relieve some of the pressure right wasn't there so

13:51
As of 18th this morning on May 31st, the water had risen two feet overnight and workers frantically tried to increase the height of the dam and dig spillways to remove obstructions and allow the water to flow. Okay, and so all this right now is true? This is all true. I'm just giving you facts. Okay, I thought you said when you skipped forward, I thought we were out of the history. Oh no, we're still in the history. Okay, cool. This is all true. Okay. So they're digging frantically trying to like do anything they can, you know, raise the levee and let the water out. But no.

14:21
So at approximately 3 p.m. the South Fork Dam finally gave way. Oh my gosh. So in less than 45 minutes, 20 million tons of water poured into the valley. So it was a small path for it to roar down. So it became a 70 foot wall of water and became filled with huge chunks of the dam, which you remember are earth and clay, boulders, whole trees, and then it just smashed through everything in its path,

14:50
the way to Johnstown. And so by the time it got there, it had picked up several hundred boxcars, a dozen locomotives, and more than a hundred houses as well as bodies.

15:01
So a New York Times article from June 1st reported that Johnstown had been, quote, practically wiped out of existence after the flood swept onward like a tidal wave. Houses, factories, and bridges were overwhelmed in the twinkling of an eye, and with their human occupants and within, and with their human occupants were carried in a vast chaos down the raging torrent.

15:23
So at that time, all they had was telegrams. There weren't phone calls. So they couldn't really just call somebody and say, hey, look out, you want to get out of here. So they had telegrams. So one telegraph operator told reporters that he counted 63 bodies flowed past his office in just 20 minutes. That's terrifying.

15:40
And he survived. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So I was going to give you a few highlights on the damage that. Can I just say something? Yeah. BKL? You're welcome. I hear you. This is a Debbie Downer. You're going to blame me, aren't you? Because it's Jonstown. Yeah. It was your idea. It's not my idea. It's 100%. Conspiracy theory, your idea. Jonstown flood, your idea. I totally understand why you don't want to go, because you don't like depressing things. No, I don't. They bum me out. But you know what? Stuart should take me. He should take you. Right?

16:10
you from outside. I'll wave in the window. I'll smash my face up against the window. You know what I found out? What? My brother got sick and wasn't able to go to Johnstown Flood Museum when it was his field trip. Oh wow. And he wants to go too, so I'm probably gonna just go with my brother. Well, there you go. I'll give you this conspiracy theory and you'll have something to talk to him about. Wow.

16:28
That'll work out. He's gonna add stuff. I know see you're welcome. All right, cool. So you ready? I'm ready So from the Johnstown area Heritage Association, okay These are more facts. Okay, I'm just gonna give you some facts to wrap your brain. I want you to wrap your brain around I'm like a headache. Just kidding. You had a headache before

16:53
I know I've taken like ibuprofen, everything, it hurts. Not even yoga helped. It helps for like a hot minute. Well, I'll try not to overwhelm you too much. You know what though, it's my fault. Because I drank alcohol last night. This is what happens. It's your fault. Alright. You focused? Everything's my fault. No, I'm not. But I'm going to get focused right now. K, K, go ahead. Okay, so.

17:14
Here's some facts on the flood. Great. A total of 2,209 people were killed by the flood and 750 of them were never identified. Oh my God, that's so tragic. Right? The flood claimed 99 entire families, 99 families gone, including 396 children.

17:38
I know the water carried bodies as far as Cincinnati which was 300 miles away. Ohio. Yeah Yeah, holy beans Holy free whole ace Holy free whole ace Holy free whole ace yes, I mean told you how you come dad you realize you're just saying holy beans Holy is English free whole ace means beans in Spanish

18:06
So I just walk around going, holy beans, dad.

18:13
That is so funny. I don't know. Because I'm sure you've never ever heard anybody say that before. No, no. Just me and my dad. Wow. The last victim wasn't found until 1911. So that was what, 22 years? Oh my god. Right? The water wiped out four square miles of downtown Johnstown.

18:32
destroyed 1600 homes and caused $17 million of property damage. The flood lines were reached up to 89 feet above the normal river in some places. That is insane. Right? Wow. See that's epic.

18:49
Yeah, so I know until the Galveston hurricane a decade later The Great Johnstown flood was the largest single-day loss of civilian life in American history Yet few people are even aware of it. Wow. Well, I'm glad that we're educating. I know additionally Did you know no that it was the worst man-made disaster in the United States prior to 9-eleven? No Mm-hmm. Are you serious? I'm not I mean, yes, I am

19:19
No, wait, serious, yes. Yes, I am, yes I am. Yes, I am deadly. Wow, that's crazy. See, look at that. Just knowing me now you know so much more. I do, and you know what? One more piece of information on this one. Clara Barton and the Red Cross assisted, and this was one of their first major peacetime disaster relief efforts. The Red Cross? Yep. Cool. Yep, pretty cool, right? Wait, what a little chunk of history that we should totally go visit. Yeah, you should totally do that and let me know how it is. I was in until you turned me off of it.

19:49
You know what, I get it, but we went to the 9-11 in New York. There's one in Pennsylvania. You know, there's just certain, like the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in DC. It's like you got to at least go once. The Holocaust Museum. I've been there. And it's depressing. Right. I did this. This is my buzz kill for me. You're welcome. We'll see. We'll maybe go. Anyways, you want to hear the conspiracy around it? I do. Please. OK. So you know how I mentioned that Andrew Carnegie was one of the people that owned South Park or South Fork?

20:19
fishing and hunting, you know, rich people. Extravaganza. Yeah, I feel like I just want to keep adding words to it. Yeah. Anyway, so the conspiracy theory is that Andrew Carnegie knowingly flooded the town of Johnstown to get rid of his rival, Cambria Steel, who was located in the town. Oh.

20:43
Dun dun dun dun!

20:45
So some of the reasons why this might be plausible. So Andrew Carnegie thought he was better, him and his people thought they were better than the people of Johnstown, like we kind of discussed. The people would come up and kind of try and look in and see what's going on and they would put hedges up and shoo them away, tell them to go out. So there wasn't a lot of love between the two. The town and the people of the exclusive club. Yeah. Pitchfork club?

21:14
whatever they called it, South Fork Dam Club and hunting. Yeah, so the owner of Cambria Steel also lived in Johnstown. His name was Daniel Morel. So.

21:29
He had reports about the safety of the dam and had given them to the club and tried to get them to do something about it. And the club had said, no, we're not going to do anything. This is alleged. I think that this happened, but I couldn't find like actual fact. So you had said that they had gotten reports. They had definitely gotten reports. And I think that it was this guy that gave it to him to them and was like, look, you got to take care of this. I'm concerned about it. He died or did he survive? I think he survived. OK. And the and the Cambria Steel eventually did come back.

21:59
Oh, good. But.

22:01
So also, you know how I mentioned that the drain pipes had been removed from the dam? Mm-hmm. Rumor is that Andrew Carnegie had removed them because he needed iron and Cambria Steel had a monopoly on the iron in the area. Oh. So he needed iron to make his steel. Couldn't get any. The only option was to partner with Daniel Morel, his rival, or take some iron from the dam. So he took the iron from the dam. Wow. Yep.

22:31
So the removal of those pipes made the dam sag. So it kind of sagged in the middle. And then there was no way for the, like there was no outlet for the water to come out. Right. So that just sealed the deal for the dam. Yep. So and then also I had mentioned that the club had lowered three feet for traffic. Yep. And then by the time the dam flooded, the club had already evacuated. Wow.

22:56
So because of Andrew Carnegie's pool with the club, he was kind of like the leader with the club. When Daniel Morel gave the report and said, hey, this is a problem, the conspiracy theory says that Carnegie was like, thanks, go away. Meanwhile, he's like, yeah, I know. And when this bursts, not if, but when, I'm not going to have my problems with Cambria Steel anymore.

23:21
So they think that he ignored the reports, had already damaged the dam, lowered it, was part of lowering it. They think that he knew what they were doing was wrong. Because then when they went to court after the fact, they lied about the things they had done. They said they'd only lowered it one foot, and they hadn't done a lot of things to change the structure of the dam, and they hadn't changed its efficiency, efficacy, when in fact they found out that they had, in fact, they were never held accountable. So.

23:51
I mean, I just wish they would have warned people. Well, that's the other thing. Like, why didn't they? I know, but it's not, you said it's like telegraphs and stuff. Yeah, and there was no easy, I guess somebody tried to get, but it couldn't get down, they couldn't get a message down. So I guess it's not easy to warn people. But at the same time, if you had developed relationships with them, instead of shutting them out, you probably could have gotten the information to them faster. Right, but if you had no intention to spend money on fixing it, then... And if you really didn't care and you left when it flooded... It's just so negligent, if nothing else. If nothing else.

24:21
negligent. So, but yeah. But as far as the conspiracy theory goes. Interesting. Not just negligent, but on purpose. Intentional. If that's the word. Wow. Intentional flooding of Johnstown by Andrew Carnegie. Allegedly. Allegedly. So that's my conspiracy theory for you. I mean, wow. That's crazy. And so Carnegie was a big turd, if that's true. Yeah. And you know how we were concerned that we wouldn't be able to make the death episode funny? Yeah. Yeah, we did.

24:50
Problem which I can make conspiracy theory funny. Oh my god, you know, yeah one. Well, you know what? It's interesting Yeah, it's crazy. So it is crazy. It's fine. It fits but you're right Not funny. Not really funny kind of sad. Yeah, I'm a bummer. All right. So let me see if I can do any better Yeah, I'm gonna pass that challenge over to you super You I'm gonna sit back and relax holy beans holy beans so I

25:20
I had actually read an article and it was all of the conspiracies that have actually come true. Government conspiracies mostly that have actually been deemed true. And I thought I'd share a few with you today. Freaky. Yeah. Freaky. Freaky. Is it now? Yes. All right. So the first one is that the government is surveying us. Oh. Bum bum bum. I'm pretty sure they are.

25:58
So this one, with obviously all the advances in technology and everything like that, there was a little bit of truth to it because in 2016, if you look at the, I don't know, I guess these were government documents, there was 400, or 49,868 requests for user data for Facebook. Wow. Almost 30,000 to Google and almost 10,000 to Apple. So, I mean- Wow, so the government's requesting information from these companies. Yes. About its citizens.

26:28
Yep, and so, you know, I guess like in that way, they can give me information. Yeah, that sounds shady. But, you know, I don't know if they're like tapping our phones, yeah, you know, or listening through, you know, I said, I have, I said before about my brother, when he comes to my house, he unplugs my Alexa. Oh, I don't think. Because, you know, she's listening, but I have nothing to hide, so you know what, Alexa? You can listen all you want, it's cool, I'm cool.

26:57
You know, I don't think we really have to worry about that because if they were actually listening, I would be in jail like five times over for the shit I've said. Right. I haven't done anything. Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one. It was about talking. Oh yeah, you say. They just don't take anything you say seriously, that's all. Oh, perfect. You know, you're an ideas woman, not an ideal. I am. I'm a strategist. So unless you get with someone who's a doer, they're fine. I don't know if that's extra steps. So, all right, next one. I'm a strategist. I'm a strategist. I'm a strategist. I'm a strategist. I'm a strategist. I'm a strategist. I'm a

27:27
Come on, we're gonna do, I have six of them. Okay. Okay, so number five, government mind control. So the CIA was testing LSD, this is the conspiracy, and other hallucinogenic drugs on Americans in a top secret experiment on behavior modification. And the truth is, it was, there was a program known as MKUltra, and it was real. And the CIA used volunteers at first, but they really fucked a lot of people up.

27:57
So this was this was LSD and did the okay so this is the one where like they would make people think that they were like they would commit crimes and stuff wouldn't they after they were experimented on I mean or is that something else I know that they fucked up a lot of people with this one. I know these people became permanently and mentally disabled okay but I don't know but yeah I know that it was this drug that they were using on people was like close to

28:27
came out like meth heads but I don't know if this is one where they were making people commit crimes like it I don't okay I don't know if it like that screwed up with that part of their brain where they were then I can't remember there were so many I read you either might have been other like if you read about MK ultra there might have been like other side effects or stuff that happened because these people were fucked up okay but I don't be I don't I didn't read anything where they altered them so they would fuck things no not

28:57
had to heard something after going through some of these experiments people were all like fucked up and parts of their brain like made them act like more like criminals or more like murderers murderers yeah yeah yeah yeah okay so so yes I think you're right yeah and I don't have all the details on that but anyway I don't either obviously yeah it was true that's nuts that's crazy that's fucked up right I don't even know I mean I just to me it's like

29:24
I understand why people go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. Because when shit like this turns true, you're like, how can I trust anything? Like this is fucked up. Right. All right, you ready for my next one? I don't even know. I guess so. Okay, so mine is another government one, but this is the Canadian government conspiracy theory. I thought they were perfect up there. I know, right? That's a bummer. I do like Canada.

29:54
Alright, so the Canadian government developed or tried to develop...

30:02
a gaydar in quotes. Wow. Yes, and this is a true freaking story. So the conspiracy is the Canada, Canadian government was so paranoid about homosexualities in the 1960s that it developed a gaydar machine so it could figure out who was gay in the government and federal employees. Wow. Because that's important. Right? So awful. But you know, it was the

30:29
At least people still suck. So anyway, it really happened in the 1960s. The government hired some kind of this university professor to develop this way to detect homosexuality in federal employees. And it was a machine and it measured your pupil dilation. Okay. So they would get, they would show you a picture and then they would measure your pupil dilation. And apparently that's going to say if you're gay. Okay. So regardless, it, you would look at something.

30:59
I guess sexually erotic? Yeah, so I did hear a little bit, I did read about this before. Oh, you did? Calling it the fruit machine. Oh, that's even worse! Right, it's awful. Yeah, I think they would show them different pictures. So they would put, the person would sit there, kind of like a machine, like an eye doctor machine, with like pictures in front of you, you're looking at through like whatever lens. Sure. And then there was off to the side was a machine that measured like the dilation of your pupils, like your pupil size.

31:28
put like regular pictures in, some pornography pictures, some like women on man pictures, and then some man on man pictures. And if you're, the thought was that your eyes would dilate at the things that you found intriguing. So if your eyes dilated, when you were looking at man on man pornography, clearly you were good, and you had to go. Wow, that's insane. On top of like the underlying problem of why the, on Earth, would you do that. Like, they didn't even do it right,

31:58
the measure off to the side so they couldn't actually properly measure a pupil like the size of your pupil and they didn't take into account the distance between people's eyes. They didn't take into account different pupils starting size like whether how much people's eyes can dilate more than others. Some came in already dilated or... Right, absolutely. There's so many different things. Some people's eyes are naturally like that or they make them like that if you know what I mean. No, I'm just kidding. Well, and some people like... I know. I didn't take any...

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Bye.

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Just saying. Just saying. So. Yeah. So all of those things. Right. On top of like, you know, creating this awful machine. Right. They didn't even do it right. So just think of, I mean, I can't remember how many people's lives were ruined. You might have that. So yeah. So apparently they used it to fire more than 400 men from civil service, the military and Maltese from this. And they got them in because they told them they were testing them for stress. They wanted to rate their level of stress. Are you serious? So they volunteered.

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I didn't even know what they were being tested for. No. They were just like, hey, yeah, I'd like to know my stress levels. Yep. Are you serious? Oh, come in and sit down. Let me show you some pictures. All right. So freaking shitty. Yep. Wow, fired forever. Your life is ruined. A little more stress now than I was when I walked in, if I'm being serious. Right. Oh my god. All right. So yeah. So good job, Canada. Yeah. You bit the big one on that one. Yeah, two thumbs down on that one.

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All right, so my next one is the president's wives run the country. Yeah, most women do. I mean, this is definitely not far off. However, they're saying that it actually happened, that a wife actually was running the show. And this happened to the wife of President Woodrow Wilson. That is the conspiracy theory. I thought you were going to say Bill Clinton. Go ahead. I mean, that makes sense too.

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state's president Woodrow Wilson, incapable. So his wife was the one that stepped in and governed and no one knew about it and it is they found out the truth. That's awesome. Wilson did suffer a debilitating stroke towards the end of his presidency but the government felt it was like in the country's best interest to just kind of keep that quiet. Wow. And just go on with business and the the public never learned about it till way way later. So Edith Wilson was making

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Decisive Decisions at the time. Wow. Go Edith. So yeah, she's badass. Yeah she is. Who says she can't do shit? She did lots of shit. So we've had a woman president allegedly on the DL. Allegedly, factually. Well yeah that's factually but it was on the DL. That's pretty cool. I forgot I was doing actual conspiracy theories that came true. Yeah yours are factual. Edith is a badass. Right? I love her. Okay. So the next one is that the government.

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Wow, that's rude. So the conspiracy was... Might as well poison our air or our water. Right? I mean, come on. I mean water for sure, for sure. For sure, for sure. So during the prohibition, the government, the conspiracy was that the government poisoned the alcohol that they were using to make the illegal drinking alcohol so they could keep people from drinking. And...

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alcohol is made out of... From what I gathered? Yeah. This is during like the Prohibition. Right, yeah. They couldn't get, I guess this is industrial alcohol, okay? And they never poisoned the alcohol, the drinking alcohol, but industrial alcohol is the same properties as drinking alcohol. So a lot of bootleggers and stuff were using it to make alcohol and the government

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alcohol and making it into drinking alcohol so they made it worse. So bootleggers would buy industrial alcohol and make moonshine and sell it. Right, in different ways. Yeah, it's not the only way obviously to make moonshine and all that stuff, but at the time... But in this instance, that's what was happening. Yes. Okay, got it. And so the government found out about it, knew about it.

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Poisoned it. Knowing that people were still going to do it. Yeah. Because the people didn't know it was poisoned. And they apparently didn't give a fuck. So. Wow. It's one of those things where, you know. You sit and think about it too long, it can really fuck with your head. Right. And by the end of the Prohibition, more than 10,000 Americans had been killed by tainted boos. By their own government. Yes. Wow. Yes, they want to discourage bootleggers. So you know, like, heartless, heartless government. So again.

37:12
We're gonna get on a list. Yeah. So, all right, my last one, are you ready? I don't know. Am I? You tell me. I don't know. All right, ready? Yeah.

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Dead babies. Oh God. Stolen, dead baby body parts stolen for government testing. Oh my God, okay. Dead babies. Dead babies. Babies are back. Dead baby body parts. Say that 10 times fast. I don't think I wanna. All right, cool. Let me see, dead baby body parts. No, it's not that bad. Yeah, you might be laughing. I don't know why I am. Strap it for a good time because the government, the conspiracy was the government was stealing

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body parts to do radioactive testing. God, that's awful. And dun dun dun. It was true? It's true, shocking. I know, wow, I thought you were gonna say, this one is where I getcha. I gotcha, no. Nope. Nope. The government was stealing because they needed young tissue and they did this worldwide network with agents to find recently deceased babies and children. And they would take their limbs,

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and legs and collect them without notification or permission. More than 1500 grieving families have babies that were buried without part limbs and legs and arms and all kinds of stuff because they were taken by this project. Guess what the name of it is? I don't know. Project Sunshine! Oh my god, that's awful. Right. Horrific. You know, people call their kids, I call my kids Sunshine. Oh, I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin it.

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It was right after in the wake of Hiroshima and they wanted to know how like radiation and all those things reacted on like skin. They used it to like, they used that skin to like see what would happen. Wow. Yes. So was it bad? Did they find out? I mean, I'm going to guess it was bad. It was bad. I'm going to guess. Not a shocker. Like who, what makes the government think that dead babies?

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are their right that they can just take them from their families. Horrible. So, and there was there was even a story of a woman who wanted to put a christening dress on her baby after it had died. Yeah. No, they wouldn't let her. And it's because it didn't have limbs. She found out later. That is, ugh, it's making my stomach churn. Well, sorry, I saved babies. You said I was a buzzkill. I saved dead babies for you for last. Oh, okay. Thank you then. I know, it's terrible. It's terrible. It's not exploding heads. No. Yeah, I know.

39:52
I just saw something recently. I was watching, I know, how many times am I gonna say it's because I'm watching it right now and everyone, the whole world has already watched it. Yeah. Stranger things. But in that there was like exploding head kind of thing. Yeah. And I watched and I thought oh I bet you Laura liked this episode.

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that so much. So weird. So we can just do something for me. You know, but you cut your grapes. Yeah. Not grapes. Grape tomatoes. Grape tomatoes. Yeah. I just like to splice them out. I don't mind the explosions in my mouth. I just like to have as many of them as I can. Oh, that's right. If you cut it in half, you have two. Yeah, because I like, I love that they pop in my mouth. Yeah. It's my favorite. You're a nut. I know. So anyway, that is it. Those were my conspiracies that came true. Wow. But I do have a conspiracy

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recently that I'd like to share that has just been on my mind. Oh, all right. And we'll try to do it quick and then I'll be done. OK. All right. Well, I got nothing else, so it's all you. Awesome. I'll just give the people what they want, more of me. So anyway. That's what they're asking for. Yeah. More cowbell. Choo, choo, choo, choo. You know what? Cowbell, not as good as a tambourine, but still. Still a viable instrument. You could always use a little bit. All right. So tell me your conspiracy theory.

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are hooked on right now. Alright so the Titanic never sank. What? Dun dun dun. According to various sources, Miss Laura. Various sources. Various. I read so many different articles on it, I'm not even going to tag them. You know what, this is something that you can find various. You took a word from here, a word from there. I think there's even a... You pretty much compiled your own research at this point. There's even a book. There's a book. Okay. Oh, on this conspiracy theory. On this conspiracy theory. Wow, alright. Um,

41:42
So in 1902 JP Morgan funded a company called White Star Line Ships to build three luxury ships. Okay. And they were going to be the biggest and the best at the time. Okay? Yeah. They were in competition with another company who had better ships and they were like, fuck you, we're going to have the best ships. Okay? Yeah. So they built... Hold my beer. Hold my beer. So they built the Britannica, the Olympic, and the Titanic. Okay. Alright.

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So the Britannic, you know, the Olympic was the first one to be built. Okay. And she was pretty. She was a good looking boat. She did her job. She did her job well. She kicked ass. Okay. Cool. And then one day, uh oh, she, a little trouble, in 1911, she collided with another ship. Oh. Yep. And guess what? She sank. No, she didn't sink. Oh, well I guessed. It was deemed her fault. Oh, I wasn't seeing that.

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It was her fault. The whole thing was her fault. So guess what? They could not Get money or insurance on it and oh no now star line is in big trouble Well, yeah, they're just they're shit. That's like, you know what a car world You just t-boned somebody else. Is that what happened? All right, and you you total your car and they're like, sorry, you didn't have comp and collision. You're getting nothing You have no car Wow same thing Wow JP Morgan. Yeah, exactly. So JP's freaking out

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Right, right. He can't pay his bills Neither can starline. They have no money they for repairs. They can't do they can't do anything Well, guess what was coming up? I don't know the launching of the Titanic brand new and shiny. Oh, well good Thank God. Yes, cuz I don't help them make up for their lost money from the sinking of their Olympic Well, it didn't sink you would sink. Yeah, I but They had to delay it. So now they're hurting even more. Oh shit. So they devised a plan. Ooh

43:41
Allegedly. This is all a legend. Oh, okay. Mine is just a conspiracy theory. Okay, this Titanic is no legend. I am just, you know, everyone knows the Titanic. I didn't feel like I needed to give a big history. No, I'm glad you didn't. I mean, the boats is true. There were three boats, that's true. I've never seen the movie, so I feel like I'm behind. Oh, wow. That's fine. Allegedly. Allegedly. They devised a plan. Okay. They were going to shine up the Olympic turd. Oh. Well, she wasn't a turd, she was pretty, but she was old. I thought she was totaled. She was, no, she had a hole. Oh.

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her up as best as possible like not good enough just patch her. Oh and she was still sailable? Yeah they sailed hers like slowly and you know back to shore. Okay gotcha. But there was just a lot of damage. Okay gotcha. So they did not sink. So they were gonna patch her up, shine her up, make her look gorgeous and send her ass back out. Okay. As the Titanic. Instead of the Titanic? Yes and then they were gonna sink her. On purpose. On purpose. To make up for the money they lost.

44:41
so they could get their money back. And they'd still have a good new brand new shiny boat. But they'd get their money that they lost from the Olympic.

44:51
You're catching on. So, they put red carpet everywhere because it was very... Fancy? No, like the Olympic was old and it was warm. Oh, it needed to be spruced up. So they took that extra time, they spruced it up as best as they could. So because the floors of the Olympic were dirty and tiled and had spilled drinks on them in footprints, so they covered the whole thing in red carpet and then they would move cabins

45:21
They switch things to be like the Titanic and the only thing and this is how they prove the theory The only thing they couldn't switch were the deck portals in Deck C. Okay Olympics were completely different than Titanic's a portal like it was like windows Yes on that deck level. Okay, and they show pictures if you look at the one that's sunk in the ocean Mm-hmm. It looks just like the Olympic not like the Titanic They use the Olympic in all of the brochures for the Titanic

45:51
towards the end like they didn't like why would you put not the ship that you're doing in the thing there were so many like little things and then the other part of this was that JP Morgan apparently they said was trying to start the Federal Reserve oh and he had people that opposed him oh and they were on the ship and the ship just happened to not have enough life like this life but like life boats it didn't have flares didn't have all the stuff and you know women

46:21
likely that they would you know kick the bucket that was just an added bonus that was the insurance was the main thing and to top it off JP Morgan had a beautiful suite since it was like his boat that he financed his boat and it was it was the maiden voyage and he was supposed to be on it he was supposed to be a big shot and like other big shots are supposed to be on it like Milton Hershey was supposed to be on it and all these big like

46:51
minute they all canceled for unknown reasons he said he was feeling sick but everyone saw him in France just fine he was buying artwork so he just decided not to go on and then dun dun dun the boat friggin hit an iceberg and sank and they said they actually high-tailed it towards the iceberg this theory did oh well all that together and the Titanic never sunk

47:21
I'm like, holy shit. And I mean, I think they debunked all of it, whatever, you know, back and forth. But again, after reading that other stuff, I don't know-

47:29
What to believe? Who can't you trust? I mean, you know how much, like, how many people get rich on insurance fraud? And like, that kills me because JP Morgan Chase, like, they're, you know, they're a real thing to this day. Yeah. So if that's true, allegedly, that's fucked up. Right? So anyway, yeah, so that's I Go Down Rabbit Hole. And there are some heartless stories to hear if people do anything for a buck. Yeah. So. Or a lot of bucks. Or a lot of bucks. You know, if it's going to put you under, and I guess there was added pressure because the competitor, you know.

47:59
He had that rival with the other ship company. Oh, right. And he was losing face. They were losing customers. It was like a whole thing. He was desperate. I'm feeling a lot of JPMorgan, Andrew Carnegie. Right? Similarities. Right? And it's like, wow. You know, I often say that, though, Laura, to get really wealthy. I feel like a lot of times you have to be willing to do some shitty stuff. That's why we'll always be kind of poor. Yeah, always. Always. And you know what? I'm OK with that. It's all good. It's all good.

48:28
So yeah, that's all I got. It was a tough one. Conspiracy theories. Yeah, next week something a little lighter. Yeah, we're gonna dial, I was gonna do aliens. I was gonna dial that back. I was gonna dial that back. I was gonna dial that back.

48:39
Aliens freak me the fuck. I knew you were gonna say lighter just so we could get out of aliens. You're doing it Not not this next week. I'm not I Will see we'll see your ghost monsters. Keep you up. I know I go look we did was like ghost Conspiracy is like the dark series. Yeah, it is. Well, anyway, that's all I got. All right. Well, I got no more All right, cool. Well that you know that that calls it though. So wraps it up till we meet again later later

49:06
Hey, before we go, wasn't there something you want to tell all the peoples? Hahaha!

49:12
Yeah, don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to our little podcast wherever you like to listen. We heard it's important. Super important. Yep, and where else can they find us, Laura? You know what, I'm glad you asked. They can also find us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram at My Crazy Friend Podcast. And if you have anything you wanna tell us, just email us at mycrazyfriendpodcast.gmail.com. All that is accurate. So yeah, until next time. Later.

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you