Dipping my toe into making things way too personal with this episode about a giant oil conglomerate! Who doesn't fucking love that? Amy Do and Blender Bluid are BACK, baby, to do just a tiny bit more set dressing on this season. We're talking about procurement; how did the companies in the upcoming season get their contracts in the first place? Turns out, even THAT is laden with some busted-ass shenanigans!  Ultimately, this is a podcast that is entirely informed by my comedic and artistic point of view. This particular episode on Halliburton is admittedly not as dense as they typically come - that's intentional. I've already lost sleep from jolting awake at night, haunted by the images, descriptions, and horrors that keep coming up in this research. So fuck it, let's do an episode about Dick Cheney's heart! Let's talk about B.O.B. and G-Unit! Let's discuss how I ruined the name Christian for my high school religion teachers! Follow @blenderbluid and please, sincerely, keep Amy Do in your thoughts right now.  Audio engineering by the wickedly talented Casey Synesael SOURCES:  Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq by T. Christian Miller, May 2007 A Web of Truth: Whistle-Blower or Troublemaker, Neely Tucker, Washington Post, 2005 Whistleblower exposes $7 billion no-bid Defense Department contract, CBS News, 2019 The Whistleblower’s Tale: How An Accountant Took on Halliburton, Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica, 2015 Australian academics apologise for false AI-generated allegations against big four consultancy firms, Harry Belot, The Guardian, Nov 2023 Heart: An American Medical Odyssey, by (I'm sorry) Dick Cheney and Jonathan Reiner, MD NBC's "Meet the Press" Transcript, Chuck Todd interviewing Dick Cheney, 2014 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102482_pf.html Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity, Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 2004 Iraq The Halliburton Connection: The Master Builder, Jyoti Thottam, TIME Magazine 2004

HELLO AGAIN, BESTIES! Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me for a season-long exploration into private military contracting. This specific episode explores some legal precedents that allow military contractors to operate with effective immunity from the law. Picture I just said that but in a SUPER funny way. If a tree falls in the forest, can anybody hear it? If a private contractor aids a soldier in a war crime, do we actually have any laws to hold them accountable for it? Along the way, we’ll declare war on a random Chicago comedian who broke my laptop, build a dike, then refuse to call it a dam, and we’ll Control+P…repare for a legendary season of podcasting! Follow Blender Bluid @blenderbluid on all social medias; don't follow Amy Do. She doesn't want you to lol. This episode had the pleasure of having Casey Synesael as the audio engineer! :D COOL RIGHT? SOURCES:  -Armed Guards in Iraq Occupy a Legal Limbo, John Broder and James Risen, New York Times, Sep 2007 -JFK Library Bell Report: https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/071/JFKPOF-071-004 -Appendix 2 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: https://jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/Documents/UCMJ%20-%2020December2019.pdf -Federal Tort Claims Procedure: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title28/part6/chapter171&edition=prelim -Boyle v. United Technology Corp (1988): https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/487/500/ -Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (Amicus), Center for Constitutional: Justice https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/kiobel-v-royal-dutch-petroleum-co-amicus -Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 569 U.S. 108 (2013) - https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/108/ -WHO'S DOING WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT?: MONITORING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMPETITION IN THE FEDERAL AND SERVICE CONTRACT WORKFORCE, March 2002: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-107shrg79883/html/CHRG-107shrg79883.htm -Accountability of Private Military Contractors, Arthi Thiruppathi, GW Justice Journal, Jan 13 2021

Hello besties! I'm just a girl with vocal nodes in a podcasting world!

Hey kids...who likes #Jesus?? Christian McCann is on the pod so I can finally answer questions he's been asking me for like a year now. Why is there a marketing campaign for Christianity, and who is paying for it? As it turns out, the answer is something that will matter for 10 billion more years. Join me to talk about the intracacies of tax law and mostly dish about terrible religious experiences. Rich people of any religion will always find ways to retain control of their money; this episode is just a sliver into that world!  Christian and I have a dueling pianos show we do together constantly. You can check that out @candcduelingpianos on Instagram SOURCES:  Servant Foundation Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/431890105/202320469349302877/full The Signatry website: https://thesignatry.com/who-we-are/our-history/ https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/18/21010108/larry-page-philanthropy-foundation-donor-advised-fund-christmas https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/02/13/this-billionaire-is-a-donor-behind-the-jesus-focused-super-bowl-ads/?sh=64c3297d7b29 https://www.propublica.org/article/family-research-council-irs-church-status Christian Community Foundation Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/751750059/202213469349301026/full S2 Episode 6: Billionaires, DAFs, and the Changing Face of Philanthropy with Teddy Schleifer of Vox's Recode; Ethical Rainmaker: http://www.theethicalrainmaker.com/listen-now/s2-episode-6-billionaires-dafs-and-the-changing-face-of-philanthropy-with-teddy-schleifer-of-voxs-recode deadass this little graphic: https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html#:~:text=It%20doesn't%20remain%20locked,even%20to%20operate%20a%20business. Tax advantages of Donor Advised Funds: https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/daf-tax-consideration/ https://jacobin.com/2023/02/christian-super-bowl-ads-he-gets-us-servant-foundation-abortion-gay-rights BOOK RECS: God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right, Daniel K. Williams  One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Kevin Kruse

Franklin Pierce impersonator Dylan Cohen drops by to gab about the grocery store that totally changed the game: Piggly Wiggly! I'm thrilled to have this season's rascal-centered episode, and I'm VERY excited to add a new weirdo from the early 1900s to the BBB collection. Grab your bibles, label your vegetables, and let's play some synchronous jazz while we talk about the weird twists and turns of Piggly Wiggly's dramatic changes-of-hands!  Dylan Cohen is performing in The Lincoln Lodge's Future of Comedy Festival on Friday September 29th at 7:30pm for "Powerpoint Night Live!" tickets at thelincolnlodge.com/futureofcomedyfestival SOURCES:  1. Clarence Saunders and the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise and Fall of a Memphis Maverick, Mike Freeman, 2011 2. When Piggly Wiggly Tried to Stick It to Wall Street, Shiva Nagaraj, Slate 2021   3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/768156903/?terms=clarence%20saunders&match=1 4. https://newspapers.com/image/774867648/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/244984597/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/768157998/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20civil%20war&match=1 7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/774867648/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1 8. Coach Houses, Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine 2008

Who wants to get drunk and talk about 1800s agriculture? MEEEEE apparently! Join myself and my sweet special friend J. T. Kost for an episode detailing the guano boom and bust of the 1800s: drunken reenactments of the Last Supper, yadda-yadda-ing our way through unprecendented imperial expansion, and plenty of descriptions of bird shit abound this episode! Not to get too TMI but I had to figure out a recording situation last-minute to produce this podcast, which means that the audio quality might be...shall we say different than previous episodes. I'm working on a solution and I hope you still like it anyways! This episode was a labor of love to my roots in academia, which is part of why the title is so annoying Tickets to Kost's show Giggle Hour SOURCES:  1) How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, Daniel Immewahr, 2016 2) Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History, Gregory T Cushman, 2013 These are pretty dense books, and let's be real, any other source I consulted was genuinely just taking their info from these books -- it's pretty obvious. But man these books are so effing dense I don't feel bad only having two sources lol.

Brazen antifeminist woman in STEM, Sarah, joins me to discuss the factory of girlfailures: Hewlett-Packard! Revolutionizing the world of personal-computers-you-kinda-know, this company has been run by a cavalcade of silly little clowns since at least 1999. This episode is packed top to bottom with shenanigans; spiders falling from the ceiling, being a Girl-FailedGubernatorialCandidate, somehow also private military contracting, and lots and lots of rich people problem-solving in unique, never-before seen foolish ways.  I'll be posting episodes every two weeks, which I think will make the podcast much more sustainable to make! I can't read all this shit in one day, no matter how hard I try. Thanks so much for sticking around. I hope y'all have been liking it so far! :) If you do, it'd help me out to leave a rating on Apple Podcasts. The algorithm loves seeing engagement. Write who you think the hottest HP failed CEO is! SOURCES:  How Hewlett-Packard lost its way, James Bandler with Doris Burke, Fortune Magazine, May 20123 wartime moments to remember in HP’s history, Garage Staff for HP, Nov 2022David Packard, Richard Nixon Administration – Historical Office of the Secretary of DefenseThe HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Founded Our Company, David Packard 1995Leadership Challenges at Hewlett Packard: Through the Looking Glass, David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series, Oct 2011HP: Grueling day for Hurd & Dunn, Grace Wong, CNN Money, Sep 2006Fiorina out, HP stock soars; CEO who engineered Compaq merger leaving after fight with board; will walk away with $21 million, Paul La Monica, CNN Money, Feb 2005Wisecrackers: A theory-grounded investigation of phishing and pretext social engineering threats to information security, Michael Workman, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(4), 662–674. 2008Oracle really does owe HPE $3b after Supreme Court snub

Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me to unpack the lengthy, complicated story of Pat Tillman. For a typically facts-dense podcast about corporate wrongdoings, this episode is decidedly more opinionated -- this isn't a single business for which we can dig up public reports, lawsuits, etc. Rather, this episode dives into the general misuse of someone's memory so that a variety of folks can milk ad revenue on Youtube and sell tee shirts. Plain and simple, I think that sucks!  I've never been in more physical pain recording an episode nor have I taken so many L's in the leadup to it. Thanks for your patience on letting me take a week off before dropping this one! Once I get everything fixed up we should be back to a normal schedule.  Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo  SOURCES:  Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman, Mary Tillman, 2008Pat Tillman Awarded the Silver Star, Billy House, USA Today, 2004REMEMBER HIS NAME, Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated 2006PRO FOOTBALL; Tillman Leaves N.F.L. to Join Army, Mike Freeman, New York Times, 2002New Details on Tillman's Death, Martha Mendoza, Associated Press, Feb 2007After Pat’s Birthday, Kevin Tillman, Truthdig 2006TACKLING PAID PATRIOTISM: A Joint Oversight Report, John McCain and Jeff Flake 2015"THINGS HAVE CHANGED BUT THINGS AREN'T BETTER", Gary Joyce, SportsnetThe NFL, The Military, and the Hijacking of Pat Tillman’s Story, Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept 2017https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuseRichard Tillman on Bill Maher, clip from funeral 1:00-ish in

Dry mouthed Emma Day did me a huge favor coming onto this podcast last-minute for a WHIRLWIND episode about trash. If you love cathaters and sewage being dumped into your Hawai'ian vacation resort water, suing a district attorney out of spite for 7 years, or committing literal textbook financial fraud, you'll freaking LOVE this one! Don't you wish a company tasked with a service that impacts public health and safety would do it...well? Nah, let's just pop some money into our retirement account and tell the next generation HAGS! Anyways, when Emma gets in the studio I just vibe. I love hanging out with her :) Thanks to everyone for listening, you can follow Emma @alldayemmaday and catch her occasionally on 101.9 The Mix. She produces @thelesbianlodge monthly and is a cool fella.  SOURCES:  Citizen Wayne: The Unauthorized Biography of H. Wayne Huizenga, Steve Almond, Miami New Times, December 1994Waste Management, Inc. Final Report - District Attorney Edwin Miller Jr. 1992Fraud at Waste Management, Ann and Rob Diamond, Ethics for Professional Accountants 2019SEC complaint against Waste Management INC, 2002Violation Tracker - Waste ManagementWaste Management Of Hawaii Inc. And Managers Indicted For Violations Of Clean Water Act, Conspiracy, Making False Statements, US Attorney's Office District of Hawaii, April 2014Federal court orders Chicago-area company to pay whistleblower $95K in back wages after US Department of Labor investigation, OSHA news release 2021 https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/stormwater-feature.html#:~:text=Stormwater%20systems%20were%20originally%20intended,and%20straight%20to%20our%20waters. https://leachate.co.uk/main/leachate-treatment/how-do-you-treat-leachate/

My friend who loves a shot and a beer, Karsten Runquist, joins me for this exploratory episode about the ins and outs of the United States' beloved decrepit children's toy retail store, Toys R Us! Let's get jiggy with some brankruptcy docey-do's, George HW Bush's infamous trip to Japan, giraffe sized coffins, and the lush world of private equity! This episode took much longer to research than is likely evident from the podcast because what on God's green earth is a motherfvcking "Leveraged Buyout?" Is mayonnaise a debt instrument? Anyways, huge thanks to Investopedia dot com for your articles that require 3 other articles to understand, like a Matryoshka doll of finance jargon.  Karsten and I hosted a Succession recap podcast called Succ Off: A Succession Podcast which is on, like, all streaming services I assume. You can also follow him on Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter at either @KarstenRunquist or @RunquistKarsten. Yay! SOURCES: Charles P. Lazarus, Toys R Us Founder, Dies at 94. Michael Corkery. New York Times. March 2018. COMPANY NEWS; Toys 'R' Us Opens Doors in Japan. James Sterngold. New York Times. Dec 1991Plunder. Brandon Ballou. May 2023These are the Plunderers. Gretchen Morgensen and Joshua Rosner. April 2023. The Real Toy Story: Inside the Ruthless Battle for America's Youngest Consumers. Eric Clark. January 2007Lessons Learned From the Downfall of Toys 'R' Us, Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg, March 2018 NOTE: The Plunder-ey books I’ve linked to the website where I get them with tenuous legality. I currently have a free trial on this website and it has been 1000% worth it. Considering getting a subscription and canceling my Scribd subscription, which is becoming less and less useful.

HIEEEEE!!!!! I'm back! My third-string comedian, first-string friend Kate joins me to talk about a company that has gotten away with evils that take place during every stage of a life cycle: Abbott Laboratories. If you like undercover FBI stings with costumes, vile descriptions of bacteria through the lens of art criticism, or selling your weight in illegally-marketed sedatives, this episode is for YOU! How can a business factor in losing hundreds of millions of dollars every few years because they're getting sued by the government? Fairly easily it turns out! Thanks for your patience re: me releasing season 5. If you like the episode and want to stay updated on why the hell it took so long, you can go to Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau and find stuff there! Otherwise, just tell your wonderful friends about this podcast; it means the world to me. Thanks so much! Love you bye! SOURCES:  FBI health-care sting uses mob case treatment, Bruce Japsen, Chicago Tribune 2003Abbott Laboratories, est. 1888, Andrew Clayman, Made in Chicago Museu, 2020The Department of Health and Human Services And The Department of Justice Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report For FY 2004“ 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2021 RX COMPLIANCE REPORT: VOL. X, ISSUE 14/NOVEMBER 30, 2011. “Abbott reserves $1.5 billion to settle Depakote off-label allegations.”DOJ Settlement agreement re: Abbott DepakoteHow Deadly Bacteria Spread in a Similac Factory—and Caused the US Formula Shortage. Susan Berfield and Anna Edney. Bloomberg. August 24, 2022Infant Formula Shortage Highlights WIC’s Critic

If you're looking for a season finale where I nearly spit out my Diet Coke several times, this episode is for you. I'll be honest: I wrote a pretty solid script involving Hertz's century-long history with highlights including consistent overcharging, under-delivering on vehicles, becoming a meme stock, and commiting insurance fraud. However. Meg Harris is the funniest person alive and I forgot to say like half the things in my script. Is this the most research-ey the podcast has ever been? No. But I'm an entertainer, not a journalist, so this is a bangin' episode. Check out They Call Us here: https://www.theycallus.com/ Here's where you can find my Patreon (where I WILL be uploading content during the break before season 5!!): https://www.patreon.com/bustedbizbureau SOURCES:  -https://abcnews.go.com/Business/rental-car-place-doesnt-hold-reservation/story?id=40626341 -CASETEXT: Moretti V Hertz: https://casetext.com/case/moretti-v-hertz-corp -https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2016/06/30/rental-cars-now-safer-due-to-new-federal-law/?sh=18bfc9776171 -https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-02/hertz-mistakenly-took-kate-klonick-for-a-ride -https://americanbusinesshistory.org/john-hertz-his-innovations-touch-millions-but-few-know-his-story/ -https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/07/10/oj-and-hertz-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-rent-a-star/fcee117c-d7c1-442c-a46a-da3f3e797488/ -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Frissora -https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-10601-s -https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikakelton/2019/05/02/hertz-makes-a-rare-move-by-suing-former-executives/?sh=54f8304c33e7 -https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/12/car-rental-shortage-covid/621068/ -https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/17/hertz-car-rental-accused-customers-auto-theft

Longtime friend, firsttime caller Jon Oppenheimer finally joins my podcast to continue my tradition of not being quite topical by analyzing a months-old news thing: Southwest Airlines! December 2022 was far from the company's only meltdown that caused nationwide disaster. But Jon asked me to make this episode because we all had questions after the incident: why do we have so few choices of air travel yet so few consequences for airlines when they completely boof it? Who is in charge here? Is this how it's always gonna be? The history of commercial aviation in the US is actually fucking nutty, and the road to where we are now is paved with blood. This is a very dense and dry episode, which is kind of a fun twist for moi! Starting with the air mail scandal from the 30s through the airline deregulation act of 1978 through the present, this is a real highlight real of the relationship between the federal government and private airline companies. Also I whip out an incredible Lois Griffin impression about 42 minutes in. What's not to love?  Follow @joppenflopper and tell him a better twitter name Also follow @BustedBizBureau on all social media for more fabulous stuff from me. As always if you like the show, I'm on Patreon.com/BustedBizBureau THANKS!! SOURCES:  Mixed Emotions After Cemetery Near O'Hare Moved, Phil Rogers, NBC Chicago, April 2013Supreme Court allows mass grave exhumation to make way for O'Hare runway, Jake Griffin, Daily Herald, Jan 2011The Air Mail Fiasco, John T. Correll, Air and Space Forces Magazine, March 2008https://stjohnsfamilyassistance.com/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Berger_Group You can find financial data on how much O’Hare charges airlines for rent by year here: https://www.flychicago.com/business/CDA/factsfigures/Pages/financial.aspxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Mail_scandal_accidents_and_incidentsA Tiny Line Takes On Braniff in a Price War, NYT Staff, 1973Southwest Airlines, Keli Flynn, Texas State Historical Association, 2022

All I can say is I knocked it out of the park with this one. I'm finally telling my sweet friend Cookie the story of my absolute FAVORITE scammer: Liz Carmichael. This one's got everything: libertarian science fiction, engineering mishaps, three wheeled cars, stock fraud, Unsolved Mysteries, and a woman so magnetic that she girlbossed millions of dollars despite having NO PRODUCT. I sincerely mean it when I say that I am obsessed with her.  This episode honestly evades my descriptive writing skills -- in part because I've worked 14 days in a row, in part because it's got so much going on. I promise this is a great one. Go to splitendsfilm.com and watch Cookie's awesome movie! FOOTNOTES:  1) History’s Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed, Preston Lerner and Matt Stone 2012 2) The Strange Case of the Dale, Walt Woron, New York Times Oct 1975 3) Liz Carmichael's Dream Buggy Turns into a Nightmare, People Magazine Staff, 1975 4) The Trans Women Behind HBO’s Tale Of This Mysterious, Audacious Automaker, Dawn Ennis, Forbes 2021 5) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/05/21/dale-cliffts-original-three-wheeler-prototype-emerges-from-hiding-after-decades-heads-to-petersen 6) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1974-twentieth-century-dale 7) People v Carmichael (1980) https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1833667.html 8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand 9) The Lady and the Dale, HBO Docuseries, Zackary Drucker and Nick Cammilleri 2021

My beloved friend Derry Queen joins me for a real fast-and-loose episode about RuPaul's Drag Race. This one was a very fun episode for me because it's less heavy on the research since Derry has a lot of personal experience relating to the show. The standard working conditions in reality TV are absolutely bonkers, and we talk about some of that history. Don't forget to vote for ME for best podcast in the Chicago Reader, and don't forget to NOT VOTE FOR DERRY as best drag queen. Please vote for Irregular Girl!!! She is fucking awesome. If you like drag and you live in Chicago, you should absolutely check out her work.  SOURCES: I made it up -Tired, Tipsy, and Pushed to the Brink, Edward Wyatt, NYT 2009 -Reality TV's Low-Wage and No-Wage Work, Tanner Mirlees, Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research, 27. -REALITY’S KIDS: ARE CHILDREN WHO PARTICIPATE ON REALITY TELEVISION SHOWS COVERED UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT?, Adam P. Greenberg, Southern California Law Review 2018 -Reality TV's worker scandal: Shows accused of stealing millions in wages, Josh Eidelson, Salon.com 2013 -Shantay, You Pay: Inside the Heavy Financial Burden of Going On ‘Drag Race’, Rachel Miller, VICE 2021. -PEG countersuit v Adore Delano -Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched, Mark Andrejevic, 2004 -Bussy Queen's season 14 contract review on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=700Nvfa4wHk&t=757s&ab_channel=BussyQueen

Remember when Juul was a verb? The generecized word for vape? I REMEMBER! That business really came and went like a beautiful comet. Joining me to talk about the historic rise and fall of Juul is my dear friend Emma Day! The legal machinations behind regulating cigarettes is FASCINATING, and the status of cigarettes in the law affects the ways we make e-cigs. Also, we just talk about the smoking cessation industry in general, which is a hilarious thing we invented to solve the problem of overproducing unbelievably addictive yet dangerous objects. Emma is so fucking funny, please listen to her podcast Do You Have a Sec? everywhere! SOURCES:  Books:  The Cigarette: A Political History, Sarah Milov, 2019 The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, Siddhartha Mukherjee, 2010 Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition, Robert Proctor, 2011 Web:  https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/MassvsJuul.pdf https://www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-voices/how-fda-regulating-e-cigarettes https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02991-w https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-vaping-juul/juul-use-more-than-doubled-among-u-s-teens-young-adults-in-one-year-idUSKBN1ZK2SV https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-09/juul-to-pay-1-2-billion-in-youth-vaping-settlement https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/nicotine-replacement-therapy-market https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/juul-appeals-block-fda-ban-e-cigarettes-2022-06-24/ PS, I'm nominated for a Chicago Reader Award! Vote for me at this link (under "city life" for "best podcast") https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/2022-ballot-voting-nominations/#/gallery/357091644/

Blender Bluid and Amy Do are back on the podcast for a VERY absurd episode. We get into the down and dirty of the free market's response to the very USA-based problem of school-based gun violence. As far as the more grim episodes go, this is one that we tried to bring a lot of levity to (especially about 24 minutes in). First we take a look at the products, then the politics, then profit-based active shooter training programs. There's a lot of ways to make money off of national policy failure and consistent tragedy, apparently.  A little note I want to say to everyone: I think this episode is very important, but I beg of you to not inappropriately share this episode every time there is a mass shooting. It's a (relatively) funny one, and I don't think it's appropriate to plug it under inevitable tragedies. That already happened to my NFL episode in the wake of the Damar Hamlin injury, and I just want to say that it makes me really uncomfortable. I'm proud of my work and I'm SO happy people are spreading it, but I want to do my part in being an upstanding and thoughtful creator. XOXO.  SOURCES:  Methodologies for different school shooting tracking statistics:  1. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/methodology 2. https://rockinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Overview-American-School-Shooting-Study-TASSS.pdf (page 4)  3. https://www.chds.us/ssdb/methods/ Products/Industry Talk: 1. The Free Market Responds to America’s School Shootings, Ben Schott, Bloomberg, July 2022 2. https://fightingchancesolutions.com/  3. Armored school doors, bulletproof whiteboards, and secret snipers, John Woodrow Cox and Steven Rich, Washington Post, 2018 4. Experts cast doubt on high-tech efforts to stop school shooters, Laura Meckler, Washington Post, May 2022 5. CMS staff warned security system didn’t work. The district expanded it anyway., Annie Ma and Fred Clasen-Kelly, The Charlotte Observer, January 2020 6. School security technology at center of fierce debate after Uvalde shooting, Max Zahn, ABC News, June 2022 7. Schools Are Spending Billions on High-Tech Defense for Mass Shootings, Natasha Singer,  New York Times, June 2022 (this is where I got the 3 billion number; the nonprofit is cited here) 8. These Businesses Say They've Got What You Need to Survive a Mass Shooting, Melissa Chan, Time Magazine, Oct 2019 9.

Swiss Miss Ali Fish(er) is on the pod to talk about one of the most prolific COVID testing scam sites in the country. What I didn't realize is how piecemeal our testing infrastructure was over the past 2 years, and this particular scam goes fucking nuts. How can two owners of an axe throwing range wind up as the 12th most federally funded COVID testing site in the country? Why did we regulate those testing sites as businesses and not health clinics? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE!?  I neglected to mention in the episode that all of the information is as of Jan 1, 2023. There may be more charges that befall the fraudsters, but it doesn't look like anything's coming down the pipe any time soon. But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong! That'll teach me to do anything remotely topical.  SOURCES:  1. At pop-up COVID testing sites, customers report improper masking and social distancing, lengthy waits for results: ‘It’s kind of the wild, Wild West.’ - Nara Schoenberg and Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, Jan 2022 2. Center for COVID Control under investigation by Oregon DOJ, Better Business Bureau, Grace Hauck, USA Today, Jan 2022 3. COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, It’s Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints, Kelly Bauer, Block Club Chicago, Jan 2022 4. MINNESOTA AG COMPLAINT AGAINST CENTER FOR COVID CONTROL, January 2022 5. OREGON AG COMPLAINT AGAINST CENTER FOR COVID CONTROL, April 2022 6. ARIZONA JUDGE RULING FOR AG COMPLAINT AGAINST CENTER FOR COVID CONTROL, July 2022 7. AG: Center for COVID Control owners barred from doing business in Washington, Fox 13 Seattle, Oct 2022 7. https://www.yelp.com/biz/studio-six-fifteen-schaumburg 8. https://web.archive.org/web/20220113035953/https://www.bullseyeaxelounge.com/2021/01/08/covid-19-diagnostic-testing/ 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyzX0Y0VlAs&ab_channel=MichaelFigueroa 10. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10414537/Federal-probe-serial-entrepreneur-couple-cashed-COVID-testing-boom.html 11. https://figmic.medium.com/the-center-for-covid-control-scam-or-success-story-b5cdfab4f5b0 11a.

**REUPLOADED, IDK WHY THIS EPISODE IS GIVING ME SUCH A PAIN IN MY ASS So I just closed out ONE WHOLE YEAR of this podcast! The first episode was January 3, 2022. It's now Jan 2, 2023 (honestly, I thought this episode uploaded but it simply didn't LOL) Here is a self-indulgent, naval gazey episode with me and my roommates. My ex girlfriend and my ex coworker. Don't make this your first episode of the podcast, but if you already like listening to me and want to hear the household dynamic, check this one out. Next week I'm coming back with a big ole scam! Stay tuned!  THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for listening to BBB this first year. If you told me a year ago how different my life would be by this time 2023, I would have been so mad at you. But I've cracked a LOT of eggs this past year and now I'm eating omelettes, baby.  If you donate on Patreon.com, know that you are helping my journey away from having 15 jobs and into the journey of being a fulltime creative! If you want to join the fray, feel free to hit Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau. If not, plz keep following me on the socials @bustedbizbureau.  Thank you love you bye!

The wickedly talented, remarkably hungover Christian McCann drops back into the pod to talk about his only personality trait: hockey. If you like insurance fraud, broadway plays, or describing labor stoppages using the imagery of an ancient greek myth turned modern broadway musical....you're soooo in luck! This one has three pretty clear acts. Act 1: about 18 minutes of trying our best to choke out any words through the thickened hazy fog of a Disonysian-level hangover. Act 2: The NHLPA's founding executive director, Alan Eagleson, committing a litany of crimes against the players he was meant to represent. Act 3: The introduction of the salary cap -- a move that limits a lot of player's maximum earning potential -- in 2005, as told through poetic and beautiful storytelling.  Thanks for listening! Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau is how you can get some behind the scenes and gossip about this episode, or to support me I guess. Cheers! SOURCES:  1. Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey, Russ Conway, 1995 2. How one cantankerous man inspired the creation of the NHL, The Ontario Educational Communications Authority, Jamie Bradburn, 2017 3. The Hockey Lockout of 2004-2005, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Paul D. Staudohaur, December 2005 4. MAN ON A MISSION RUSS CONWAY'S INVESTIGATIVE WORK MAY BRING DOWN A HOCKEY POWER BROKER, Sports Illustrated, Michael Farber, 1995 5. ALL ROB RAY FIGHTS VOLUME 1, Youtube  6. Those Who Doin't Learn Fron History Are Doomed to Repeat It, 2004-2005 NHL Lockout with Bruce Dowbiggin, Agent Provacateur with Allan Walsh and Adam Wylde, October 2022 7. Kelly ousted as head of NHLPA, ESPN News 2009 Wikipedia Pages of -Tim Horton -Clint Malarchuk -Ed Kea