I was a communist for the FBI. Starring Dana Andrews and an exciting tale of danger and espionage. I was a communist for the FBI. Many of the incidents in the story you are about to hear are based on the actual records and authentic experiences of Matt Sevettik. Who for nine fantastic years lived as a communist for the FBI. Here is our star, Dana Andrews, as Matt Sevettik. During my nine years with the Reds, I learned that the Communist Party has a strangely limited diet. They thrive on corruption. When the Reds feel their right to be corrupt is being challenged, they fight for it. This is the story of the Reds' defense of their dubious championship. In a moment, listen to Dana Andrews as Matt Sevettik, under cover man. Who's as Matt Sevettik under cover man. This story from the confidential file is marked, My Friend the Enemy. The control commission, puppet masters of the Communist Party, chief strategist for party treachery, judges and jury for the red concept of justice. The control commission in conference, ignoring me for the first time in more than three hours. At first, I worried about being called here. Was I to share their secret strategies or suffer a part of discipline? I worried at first, but that was three hours ago. I didn't care now. I was too tired to care. All right, Comrade Sevettik. Comrade Spate beckoning to me. Comrade Howard Spate, upper echelon red, lowercase human being. Sevettik! More questions? Aren't you satisfied yet? Quite satisfied, Comrade. In here, please. Why? In this room, Sevettik. We have a lot of talking to do. Tired of talking, Spate? What's all the hocus-pocus for? Your new assignment, Comrade. All these questions, all this grilling just for us. Our big assignment. We had to be absolutely sure you were the right man for it. Am I? If you're not, Sevettik, you'll never have a chance to be wrong again. Vincent Colombo, Sevettik. You know the name? The racketeer? The big-time mobster? Let's refer to him as the distinguished president of Enterprises Incorporated. Ah, the legal front of his crime syndicate. What's the party went with that bunch of mugs? They need our help. The party knows that Enterprises Incorporated is operating on a shaky ground these days. How do we know that? A red operator working close to Colombo. We know that their whole organization has been deteriorating ever since Max Lucas was deported. That's when Colombo took over, wasn't it? Yes, but he's just a figurehead. Lucas is still the guiding genius of the syndicate. He tries to run it even now from his exile in Europe. He's worried about his syndicate. He wants to come back to the States. And the party is going... The party intends to help smuggle Lucas in. What for? We'll give them Lucas. They'll give us financial support. Can we really deliver, Lucas? Of course we can. And after he's delivered? Then... Then we'll have enough on Lucas and Colombo and the whole mob to extort them into submission. Those boys play rough. Someone might get hurt. Yes. You'll have to be careful, Sevetik. Very careful. The irresistible force was heading toward the immovable object. And I was doing the driving. The first stages were simple enough. Just phone Colombo and ask for an appointment. If I could reach him. I entered the phone booth with two coins in my hand. One for the call to Colombo. The other for the FBI. Obika, this is red. My commie pals are playing footsie with the old Max Lucas mob. They've done that before, haven't they? This time it's for keeps. They want to make a deal with Colombo to smuggle Lucas into the States. Good. Good. Sure. Listen. After they get Lucas in, they intend to blackmail the syndicate. Take over into prizes incorporated. What's good about that? It just makes the red stronger. How do you fit in, Matt? Well, I'm the convincer. I have to sell Colombo the deal. Then doots will drop a net over both outfits. Good luck, Matt. Any call? I'm sure he'll talk to me if you'll just tell him. I'm sorry. He's taking no calls from anyone. We'd like to leave your name. Yeah. Tell him Matt's Sevetik called. Sevetik? That's right. One moment, Mr. Sevetik. What? One moment, please. I have Mr. Colombo on the line for you. It was easier than I'd figured. The next afternoon, I was visiting the headquarters of Enterprises Incorporated. The offices were part of Vincent Colombo's palatial home, a vast sprawling estate just outside of town. What was the sort of thing you'd expect? Well-manacured shrubbery, a tiled swimming pool, fountains featuring pot-bellied cupids, and everywhere the aroma of fresh green lawns and fresh or greener money. Looking for someone? Oh, yes, I... Yes, I'm looking for Mr. Colombo. You're Mr. Sevetik, aren't you? That's right. I'm Joyce Cooper, Mr. Colombo's secretary. Come on, he's over at the pool. I see you've been there, too. My hair's a mess. Not at all. Frankly, I didn't feel like swimming today, but Vince, Mr. Colombo, did. And he doesn't like me out of his sight. That's understandable. Thank you. Come here. Come here? What are you... There's the pool over there. Comrade Spate had mentioned the red operative working close to Colombo. Here she was. One look at Joyce, with that robe sunk carelessly over her swimming suit, and a man could envy Colombo. One look at Colombo, a punchy, pasty-faced walrus rising out of the pool, and you knew Joyce had to be a loyal commie to play her role so well. Ah, man. The water's good. Vinnie, this is Mr. Sevetik. Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. Give me that towel, will you, baby? I didn't mean to break in on you like this, Mr. Colombo. Oh, forget it, forget it. I do all my business pools. What's on your mind? I'd like to talk to you in private. Okay, talk. This is private. Alone. Can't be more alone than this. Talk. He means me, Vinnie. Oh, no, no. Don't worry about Joyce, Sevetik. She's one of the boys. Talk. Lucas wants to get back to the States. He went to our comrades overseas for help. Yeah, I know.  Yeah, yeah, okay. Tell you what, Sevetik. I'll make the deal, but I want a daily progress report. Where Max is, are you handling the job from day to day? Exact details. Fair enough. One more condition. I want a watchdog on the job. A watchdog. Watchdog, yeah. Somebody to represent my outfit, to sit in on your strategy meetings, to keep a check on the whole project. We've got more than money in this, you know. We've got to protect Max Lucas. Sounds like you don't trust us. We'll leave it, Sevetik. All right. Let's draw up the agreement. It's agreed. Nothing on paper? People don't break agreements with enterprises incorporated, Sevetik. They know better. Even the commies should know that. The irresistible force was gathering speed now. I reported to Comrade Spath at party headquarters, told him about Colombo's conditions. Giving me his progress reports. But ignore that watchdog business. I'd be wise to toast the watchdog a bone now and then. Just to keep the peace. Not this time. You're seeing Dr. Hermes tomorrow. Who's he? Hermes is the doctor who's been treating Lucas in Europe. He's here on a visit, awaiting orders from us. One of our comrades? An important comrade. The link between the party and Max Lucas. You'll visit Hermes at his hotel tomorrow. You'll tell him to return to his home on the first available plane. He's to admit Lucas to his hospital immediately. And prepare him for treatment. Hermes knows. He'll see that Lucas has smuggled on to the right boat for America. Then he'll send us word through the usual channels. Here. What's this? The name of Hermes Hotel. Be there at nine o'clock and spedic. I can't overemphasize this man's importance to us. Be there on time. Hello, Matt. Joyce. Been waiting for you. How'd you know that? How about Dr. Hermes? Comrade Spath keeps in touch with me. And remember, Columbus watched out. What about it? It's me. You? He appointed you? Of course that trusts me. I must have an honest face of something. Yes, or something. He wants me to watch every move you make. Mind, comrade? Not at all, comrade. Come on. Oh, pardon me. Yes, sir. What room is Dr. Hermes in? Uh, Dr. Hermes checked out late last night. Checked out? That's impossible. He was all rather sudden, sir. He evidently got last minute reservation. Where'd he go? He didn't go back home, did he? No, sir. He said something about attending a medical convention in South America. South America? Well, that's preposterous. Hermes had specific orders to stay here until now. I know, Spath. I know. But we still have to report to Colombo. He's called three times already. Yes, yes. We'll have to stall him. Tell him this. Tell him that shipping schedules were changed suddenly overseas. You want more than that? Well, tell him that in order to protect Lucas, the party put him on a freighter bound for the West Indies. This will prolong the trip, but it's safer. Thank you. Believe that? He must believe it, Spathic. It's your job to make him believe it. If he doesn't, I'll lose more than my job. Who cares about shipping schedules, Spathic? Tell me something else. Tell me about this character, Dr. Hermes. What do you know about Hermes? Hey, listen, kids, you're not dealing with the neighborhood boy scout troop. We know Dr. Hermes was your contact with Max Lucas, and we know Hermes is on his way to South America. So... Well, that was just a dodge, a decoy. Oh. The party knew word would get out about Hermes by using him to throw the FBI off the track. Oh. Is that the truth? Sure it's the truth. The FBI's tailing Hermes to South America looking for Lucas, and Lucas is safe and sound on a freighter headed for the West Indies. Why the West Indies? We'll smuggle them in through Mexico. It'll take time, but... Hi, Betty. Who's your friend? Oh, oh, yeah. You two don't know each other, do you? This is Matt Spathic. I'm happy to know you, Mr. Spathic. I heard a lot about you since I got back.  Yeah. Yeah, I've been away. My name is Lucas. Max Lucas. As Matt Spathic and I was a communist for the FBI, and in the second...  A lie named Max Lucas deported mobster. He wasn't in Europe pleading with the commies to smuggle him home. He wasn't on the freighter bound for the West Indies, as I just told Vincent Colombo. He was here, here at the pool on Colombo's estate, shaking my hand and grinning. But how? How? How did this lie come to life? Something wrong, Mr. Sivetti? You look a little green. Yeah, well, well, you've just seen a ghost, Max. You afraid of ghosts, Mr. Sivetti? Oh, yeah, yeah. He's afraid of this one. All right, Colombo. You called my bluff. But now... Well, ask the boss. Max is the boss here now. Consider yourself my guest, Mr. Sivetti. I'm flattered. Just for a while. We'll see that you're adequately entertained. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, entertained. Before showing me to the guest room, Lucas and Colombo ushered me into the cabana Colombo used as his poolside office. There was no way out of this for me now. None at all. I was penned to my own double cross, the one I'd built from a Communist blueprint. Sit down, Mr. Sivetti. Well, stand, Lucas. Sit down, he said. Thank you, Benny. It's more comfortable, isn't it, Mr. Sivetti? You're pretty considerate of your guests. Why not?  Well, bet. We need you. Like you needed the Communist Party to help smuggle you into the state. Oh, that. Actually, when I established contact with your Dr. Hermes, I was sincere about asking the Reds for help. Why? You didn't need it? No. No, not really. Our syndicate could get me an arm. Which is just what we did. But I felt this way about it. There's a risk involved, I thought. Now, why put my own organization in danger when you commies would be willing to take the risk for us? Well, our syndicate can use your front organizations to extend our operations in countless directions. You think the Party would permit that? The Communist Party is bigger and stronger than your syndicate would. Politically, perhaps, in other parts of the world. But tonight, in this part of the world, enterprises incorporated will dictate the terms of a working agreement with your comrades.  The Party doesn't need your outfit. They will. Remember, we have you. We can extract enough secret red information from you to force your red leaders to meet any terms we demand. What makes you think I'd sell out the Party? They'd sell you out, wouldn't they? We won't ask you to sell out, Mr. Sivetti. I said we'd extract information from you. How? How we service. The conference is tonight, Mr. Sivetti. The executives of my organization will meet with your Party leaders. If the Reds refuse to accept their terms, we'll, uh, you'll learn quite a bit about our extraction techniques. Yeah, we wrote the book on the subject, Sivetti. All right, Vinnie. See that the guest room is prepared for Mr. Sivetti. The two mobsters walked out, leaving me alone in the cabania. But I knew I wasn't alone at all. I was being watched, carefully, secretly watched. I'd be under guard until tonight, at least. After that, I made the thing beyond the next few hours. It was nice to see the commies on the losing end for a change, but I was losing the most this time. I had to get away from here long enough to get word to the FBI before tonight, before Max Lucas was smuggled out of the country again, before the Reds and the hoods... Right this way, Mr. Sivetti. Hmm? Oh, hello, Joyce. Why so formal? I'll show you to your room. No smile, no expressions of friendship. Who's a friend right now, Comrade?  Joyce, the secret party worker operating close to the heart of this syndicate. She could help. She could be the key to my escape. She could win the praise of the party. But why this sudden freeze? Why so cold, so formal? Here's your room. Get in. Wait a minute. Get in. Now. Since when do you use a gun on a Comrade? Comrade? Look, Joyce, you've got to help me get out of here. I have to warn Comrade's faith... Nope. Sorry. Little Joycey has her chips on the winner this time. What? See this bracelet? I got it from Vinny for my tip on Dr. Hermes. If I hadn't told him, he never would have put the doctor on that boat for South America. Uh-oh. I see.  Am I? When did the party ever pay off like this? You'll keep the pamphlets, Comrade. I'll keep what these bums are giving me.  Once Lucas and Colombo work out a deal with Comrade Spath and the party, I'll be released. So? So you've talked too much.  I'll see that the party knows, too. You wouldn't. The party does that to people, too. You wouldn't dare. I'd be disloyal not to tell our leaders about you, Joyce. And you know the party's penalties for disloyal... Wait. All right. All right. What do you want? I want you to get me out of here. How can I? They're watching every... Leave that door unlocked tonight. So you can spill your story to the party?  How do I know for sure? You don't. You just have to take a chance. Get inside. Well? Get in the room. I'll think it over. She locked the door and left. All I could do now was wait. Wait and wonder if Joyce would return. If I'd been successful in frightening her. Wait. Wait and watch the darkness deep in outside. Listen to the crunch of car wheels and the driveway, and the voices of big-time thugs arriving to pay homage to their demigod, Max Lucas. Then Comrade Spate arrived. I saw his car, saw him and three other commie big-wigs head for the main house. The unholy alliance was about to be consummated. Wait. Later every minute. Too late, maybe. I had to get out of this room. I had to get out. I tried the door. No luck. No chance that it would open at all. The window. It was locked, but a chair would shatter it. Right now there was no time for curses and caution. I reached for the chair, swung it back. What? Who is that? Joyce. I had frightened her into helping me after all. It was late. The Reds and the Hoods were in the midst of their corrupt conference right now. But at least I had a chance, an outside chance, to get to the FBI. I opened the door, started out, then stopped. Joyce had the mind of a commie. She was trained in red treachery. This could easily be a trap for me. But I had to take that chance. There were a lot of important people in the main house for the FBI to grab. If I could get off these unholy grounds, I would reach the highway and a phone. Beaker, this is Red. You all right? Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, Lucas is here in the States. I know. Well, do it now. Don't wait. Right now. He and Colombo and all their muscle heads are at their state right now, making a deal with the Reds. Where are you, Matt? I'm supposed to be their prisoner, but I'm at the first gas station west of Colombo's place. Stay put. I'll be right out there. Well, make it fast, Beaker. If they find out I've ducked them, I'm going to be here. Well, I do have a distinctive sort of charm. Hey, wait. You're going the wrong way. Turn around. Relax, Matt. Relax.  Oh, that's better. We've got Lucas for a legal entry. We've got Colombo and his pals for smuggling, violating immigration laws. What about the commies, faith in the others? What can you hold them for? Dr. Hermes. You want to vote for South America? They never got there. Your comrade, Spath, ordered the party goons to take care of Hermes. They did. Now we'll take care of Spath. What are you doing? Letting you out. Better start walking, Matt. So soon? Can't take a chance, Chum. You're not far from town now. Those are the lights up ahead. Go find yourself some more commies. I can hardly wait. I'll take you out and from the FBI. Okay, Beaker. See you around. Salong, hero. And Matt. Good luck, Matt. Beaker was gone and I was walking again. The highway was dark. There were lights ahead. I kept my eyes focused on them. Car passed and then another. They'd reach those lights sooner than I. But what could I do? You can only go so fast when you walk. You can only go so far when you walk alone. Andrews will return in just a moment. Andrews, friends. The word liberty probably has as many definitions as there are people in America. Here is Walt Whitman's interpretation. Liberty, he wrote, knows no discouragement. Only when all life and all the souls of men and women are discharged from the earth, then only shall liberty be discharged from the earth. In the story you just heard, names, dates, and places are fictitious to protect innocent persons. Many of these stories are based on incidents in the life of Matt Sevetic, who worked undercover for the FBI. Next week, another fantastic adventure. Join us then, won't you?


You know, sometimes showing up for yourself means that you have to disappoint someone else. So I wanted today who you need to be willing to disappoint because you're committed more to showing up for yourself.


We developed a system based on texture analysis, which worked very well. We have a working software system that is being tested by some nuclear power plants. Once we did that, and the results were very impressive, we moved to the next level, which we used deep learning. Instead of processing just a single image, we process all the frames in a video. A crack might not be detected in some frames, but detected in some other frames. So how we aggregate the information that we extract from these frames is another challenge. And we use Bayesian decision theory to enhance the performance of our crack detection algorithm.


Happy holiday Hey y'all it is thirsty so just some advice I have existential oils I have a lot of existential oils for your little one and even from yourself Just do a little dab one or two on your sleeves like this especially for the little ones because JB a lot of times He'll rub his nose like this and that way they get a width of lavender oil or lemon oil And I'll just affect their mood.  We ain't gonna get into that. Give me sweetheart. Does it smell good? Okay, and give me your arms Okay, give me the other one. Give me the other one Now smell it That's good make you feel better. Yeah, oh don't cry baby. All right y'all. I am just drop off JB All my work out partner cancel our first workout together, but she's sick y'all gotta do something with this lighting I'm sorry y'all hold on hold on hold on I finally I have a workout partner who was a true workout partner meaning she needs to lose weight And I need to lose weight cuz look I told y'all I had another mom who was like you should come work out with me She already fine Like she does 15 minutes of cardio and then do weights because she doesn't she just maintaining She ain't got nothing to lose and she's fine So I'm like no I need someone who has minimum 15 to 20 pounds to lose like me give a take five or so pounds so Another mom is like we should start working out together and so But and I'm like, yeah, so well she's sick and we were gonna work out at her apartment complex Which is ironically the apartments that I used to stay in out here So I already know what the gym is like because I used to go in the gym every now and then so I'm gonna go ahead and do my battle ropes this morning And that is a workout like literally I was only out there the first time even though it was the first time I was out there working out for I'm telling you 10 minutes a 10 minute workout with battle ropes is Intensive it really was so y'all it's beginning to wrap up the end of the year and it's kind of slowing down at work finally I'm just tying up some loose ends, you know, I'm still working time up some loose ends But what I'm gonna do this morning is go to the Dollar Tree to find some items for JB's teachers Christmas gift so I like to create what's called at least for teachers depending on the position you're in I like to create what's called an emergency kit for teachers And so I'll put things in there like Advil wipes chap stick Candy hard candy your favorite candy a school item, you know stuff like that for the teachers themselves and You know lotion maybe some lipstick lip gloss maybe need to go somewhere after right after school You don't have time to go home to brush up your makeup And I know a lot of teachers have stuff like this and they're you know personal items at school But maybe you just need some extra stuff. So just go to the Dollar Tree girl and get some stuff and yeah It's gonna be a busy week like I said it's Thursday and y'all my vlogs for vlogmas or One to two days behind. Yeah, my eye has been twitching. I don't know what's going on for the past two days It's been actually like week almost it's been this eye and I haven't had my eye twitch like this in years So I know it's cuz I'm it's good stress. I'm on it. I'm under some stress.  Yes, it's it's dropping now so yeah, that's going on and What else tomorrow's Friday? I'm gonna be having lunch with JB at school tomorrow And yeah, y'all, let's just go ahead and go to the Dollar Tree. I Was wanting to find some new cleaning products The house cleaner only comes now like every four to five weeks, especially since we need those coins for other stuff I mean, it's $100 and then I tip her on top of that. And so yeah, I gotta buy Christmas presents girl I do have a Sponsored at or what am I trying to say y'all I Am now a read by kiss ambassador. I don't like that now stuff all the time Yeah, I'm a read by kiss ambassador. So they're sending me some stuff this week. I will probably review that next week Which means I'm gonna be taking these this stuff out soon next year you guys That we'll be having a end of year review video talking about, you know, how things went this year what to expect for next year I'm telling y'all this right here. It's gonna be next year And when I'm gonna be doing reviews is really not gonna be reviews There's gonna be comparison videos of products. I've already reviewed. Good morning Sorry I am a klutz. Okay. I'm here to get several things The main being JB's teachers Gift Let me I Everything's so pretty Sorry y'all I love this time of the year. So I I yeah Hmm This is really pretty but she doesn't what I'm giving her will basically There's two these are two so I'm gonna get both of these just in case yeah, all right And I just got an email from a teacher that they're having an ugly sock exchange I'm gonna get some socks here. Of course. I'm looking at the stickers and These stickers are bomb. I did go ahead and get some tape Let me show you how the craft section they reap market and it is Awesome. Okay. So first of all it starts here. You have your florals And I got stuff on my wedding here in my she room Okay, you have this side you have glass I was telling my friend Robin like for her wedding She should definitely get some centerpieces here because they're on the budget. Hey, I'm here to Zola tree get your centerpieces So now the other side of the craft start Right Here look at this y'all they have felt I got my felt here They have craft beads this stuff is new meaning it just came within the past three or four months and yeah Glustics craft glue pom poms painting supplies look at all of the canvases and Then now we have paint. This is a palm deal for a dollar. Yeah and then would Cutouts paint brushes Adhesives Yeah So I'm excited about being off and doing some things for JB. I think the Christmas socks are at the front But I'm just checking the scarves and stuff. Let me show you what I got But I'm looking at Email Yeah, I could tell Ms. Robin today when we were dropping off the kids She was telling me she's sick and I said, you know what your It's it's rough being sick this time of the year y'all and honestly besides my asthma. I haven't had a cold Girl I can't tell you when the last time I've been sick Well, first of all because I don't really go anywhere, but this is the reason why I tell y'all my germaphobe hand sanitizers Um, whenever I get in my car the first thing I do is take this out and use a hand sanitizer I literally if I'm shopping if I'm touching a kiosk if I'm at the gasoline station Yeah, and I use my nails to Touch stuff instead of my fingertips. And so yeah, so yeah, I The grace of God like I said I have not been sick since 2014 2014 2014 is when the last time I've been really sick any other type of illnesses have been due to asthma or Asthma related so let me show you what I've got a little mini Dollar Tree haul with with the intention of Mostly getting stuff for his teacher now. I'm gonna go ahead and open me up something to eat client. I am hungry. What time is it? nine o'clock I'm eating a protein meal bar chocolate peanut butter I'm normally don't go for these things because I don't believe in eating artificial protein But I'm hungry It's okay girl, I Got a jay with his ugly socks for um, you're having a holiday party girl, please a dollar I did get him getting that big bag because I got a lot of stuff but The tissue I have at home tissue the tissue I have at home won't match I don't like that y'all. I Think I have white But I think most of it is red. I'll look at him when we get home. Okay All right, so As far as snacks again, this is a teacher emergency kit as far as snacks I got her some M&Ms. M&Ms are her favorite candy apparently and The nature crunchy oats and honey, there's four bars and in here Almost 200 calories. That's good. That's a quick, you know, and that's probably due to the That's probably Some nuts in here, which can be high calorie Got her some hair ties. She has medium length hair But this is just quick to get her hair out of her face out of the way when the kids getting on her nerve Speaking of getting on the nerves. I got some Advil They have these really cute roll on Lavender oil, they had it in lavender oil They had tea tree oil and they also have peppermint oil I'm gonna come back in a couple more days and get a couple of those and just give them out to people That's a good deal ingredients are made with 100% pure lavender oil and sweet almond oil and this is 100% pure and natural oils. So when it says stuff like this, they probably used Probably eight to ten drops of lavender oil because that's what I do I have roll-ons at home, but I have my own mixture But I think I may go back and get a couple of these like seriously and give them to some moms Like I'm not even kidding. I think that's a good girl.  She seems very you know, I Got some earphones for me and then I got her some highlighters So yeah, I think that's a really cute, you know, what I mean teacher emergency kits some stuff. She can leave it at school Yeah, all right y'all. I'm gonna get ready to go home. Um, I Already planted out my Christmas dinner and we will be having traditional Southern food. Yeah, I was laughing my buff off looking at I guess Leia's mom has moved they moved to Washington, DC and When you First of all during the holidays when you're in the South they put out buckets of certain food We used to eat a lot of different food. I didn't eat it. I did not for taking it cuz I was like that's disgusting But my family eats an assortment of pork I mean like little literally all the types of pork So especially in East Texas and all over the South you will see buckets You know what I'm about to get to those big red buckets of chitlins What's your intestines was I'm like, no chitlins you can find A lot of smoked meats Neck bones all types of pieces of the hog and Hen is really pop. You know those type of meats when I moved out here I could not find him. First of all chitlins. Yeah, rarely would you find that? Limited hams, but very limited in your ham selection And so I mostly use hen when I make my dressing I used to hand broth and I straight up the hand I Won't be able to find a hand y'all and hopefully maybe I'll find one at Walmart when I first moved out here I found them at Walmart and I'm not talking about the little Cornish gain hands I'm talking about the big juicy hands are juicy big juicy hands and that it just makes really good broth, right? Mmm-hmm There's different ways to cook stuff, but we cook things very simple Like I said, I know some people like oh, it'll be so much better if you add cream cheese It'll be so much better if you add cream of mushroom increment. Why? They didn't have that back then The dressing that we make is like a hundred year old recipe. I'll show y'all I already have a video on it, but no, there's no need if you do it, right?  I Have not cooked with that stuff since I was in my early 20s. I know how to make my own rule from scratch I know how to use creams, you know Heavy cream to make it taste like it's a cream or something, you know, I mean that's all it is You know is what you're trying to do is basically add it and make it make it moist and make it more flavor Add some more seasoning, add some chicken stock or chicken bouillon. I get literally those ways to get around in that stuff. I Would rather use real butter and extra herbs or whatever than to use that can't cream of stuff because that's the it's full of What it wasn't what's in it, you know what I mean? So now I don't want to eat that stuff But if you do it, you know pop more power to use your household your body.  I'm just seeing what I do in my household. That makes sense So let me tell y'all what I'm cooking I'm making smothered chicken wings in the oven And I like you did what's called flash fried my food real quick and then bake it So that way all that oil isn't seeping in the meat I don't even bread some of my food sometimes. It just is what it is. I don't yeah I will Depending on what it is. Don't don't get me wrong like if I'm making chicken tenders Absolutely, I'm gonna bread it and deep-fry it, but we don't eat that all the time either So yeah, then I'm making collard greens I'm gonna do those a traditional way without any pork my husband doesn't eat pork and we really don't miss it You know, I will use chicken stock sometimes to help, you know, add more flavor What else but in a squash? Dressing of course Homemade cranberry sauce. I know people still like the canned stuff. Let me tell you when you make it, right? Homemade is bomb.com Devil's food cake and there's something else I'm making Now I am gonna have both rolls and cornbread because I can't have greens for cornbread cornbread I may do hot water cornbread, but I really make me some nice fluffy cornbread and have some rolls too I know we'll be in greeting, but that's it. All right, y'all. I said it was so slow today at work I went ahead and went and got my nails done. It's pretty very pretty holiday color Oh, and I stopped by Ross and got my husband some Burberry Cologne That's our my Christmas present for him Yeah, Tina You gotta, you know Stand firm some stuff when people be trying.  I might do what?    Um, oh, I need to get this off because this is dangerous If JB get a hold of this, yeah, it's because it's funny I need to straighten up around the house that I helped me with my anxiety a little bit Just go through every room and make sure make sure things are in order. Thank God. I put on some soup yesterday I'm just gonna warm that up and eat that for leftovers. I'm gonna be making something new this weekend For it look like it's gonna rain y'all for Saturday. I'm gonna be making Nan pizza So tomorrow, I'm hoping tomorrow will be as quiet as it was today Um tomorrow is gonna be since I got my nails done today tomorrow I need to go grocery shopping after I drop JB off and I'm gonna be having lunch with him tomorrow. So yeah, I probably go to Chick-fil-A and get me something of course He wants raisin cane child. Why does he not want raisin cane? So yeah, I'll get myself Chick-fil-A games and raisin cane have lunch with him tomorrow come back here and just chill out Um, I may be a little bit of organizing. I have certain areas that I want to organize before the new year Organize my purses go through all my purses clean stuff out get rid of receipts go through the kitchen drawers organize I plan on doing that between now and Before Christmas basically, I'm gonna do all that before Christmas and just do a little bit of everything every other day You don't have to be all in one day. So let me hush up and get things together. I'm excited. I'm anxious when I'm excited I love this time of the year. It's the most wonderful time of the oh and I've been watching Movies on YouTube Hallmark movies Christmas movies. I watched one and it wasn't necessarily a Christmas movie It was called a love letter With masterpiece son and Rudy from the Cosby show. I don't know her real name. It was cute It was a good clean none Ratchet African-American movie. I love it. I love Christmas movies you guys and yes Christmas even Christmas day I will watch a Christmas story probably four or five times Cuz that's just how it is. I love this time of the year


Given everything that's happened over the past few years, is it acceptable for everybody to hate on everything Chinese right now? Because that's how it feels. Welcome everybody to the Hop Pop, boys. We got a special episode. We're gonna start with a personal story. And it's going to lead, of course, into a larger macro conversation. But David, start it off. What happened to you over the weekend? Okay, you guys, this is a larger analogy, but a very personal story. This girl on Instagram, Andrew slid into my DMs. Wow. Influencer girl. Very pretty. Does this happen all the time? Tens of thousands of followers. No, it doesn't. I don't know you, I know you guys are shocked. No, it doesn't. And she's, you know, replying to my stories, sending me smiley faces. And I was just like, oh man, she's really feeling me. And then all of a sudden in the conversation, it comes up, oh, by the way, are you Chinese or Taiwanese? Hmm. I say Chinese and boom, the interaction is over. Did she? That was it. No other replies. Well, you know, it was a drawdown from that point. Basically, she lost interest once she found out that I was Chinese and not Taiwanese. Guys, so this is just one little personal story, but it does lead to a larger macro discussion and something that's going on on Reddit right now. There's a viral post about how people feel that there is so much slander against China and how it is seeping into our daily lives as Chinese Americans. And it's even affecting people emotionally. So we want to talk about this on a micro, a mid and a macro level. If you guys are excited about this conversation, please hit that like button and let's get into it. Oh man, on a micro level, let me tell you this, Andrew, by the way, I'm not salty, but I was hurt. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't feel good to get rejected for anything you can't change. It doesn't get, it doesn't feel good to get rejected for your, for your like nationality or your culture or whatever. Especially when she just was really interested in me when she thought I was Taiwanese. Yeah, your Taiwanese for like five days. Clearly you were Taiwanese passing and then all of a sudden boom.  And this happened to a lot of people out there. It used to happen to me because a lot of Korean girls think I'm Korean. So I would talk to them at first and I tell them I'm Chinese and then they'd be like, okay, maybe I'm looking for a Korean guy. It happened to our Viet friends that look Filipino growing up. Sometimes Filipino girls, you know, they were looking for a Filipino guy and there's so many hierarchies guys. Sometimes East Asian girls think Southeast Asian guys are not proper enough. Southeast Asian girls think Asian guys are not swaggy enough.   And then at the end of the day, Andrew, the thing that nixes you right at the finish line is you're not the right type of Asian. And first of all, I want to say that when it comes down to dating preferences, anybody can have a dating preference, especially when it comes to marriage. I know a lot of people do want to marry someone of a similar tribe. That's very, very common. So I'm not going to be shocked by this, but it's just funny how potentially geopolitics from the motherland can seep into your dating life in America. And that's what we're going to be talking about. This girl was like 27, 28, who probably was, to be honest, if you made me make a guess, more looking towards that like marriage zone. So David, what are people mostly saying in the Reddit thread on a micro scale? All right. So that was my story on the Reddit thread that went super viral. People are just saying, man, I just can't stand looking at anything on social media, sometimes even in mainstream media. There's just like 80 to 90% chance that anything mentioning China, specifically mainland China is negative. Yeah. And we are, like we said, in a cold war with China, meaning that it's essentially a rap battle where the two sides, America and China, in their own respective fields are going to be talking the most trash about the other one. They're not going to want to highlight anything positive and they're going to only want to highlight the negative. And both sides are doing it. Both sides are like going hard like smack DVD. Yeah. I'm sure if you're in China watching Chinese media, they're not going to say too many good things about the West, but since we're here in America, it hurts us being Chinese. The reason this Reddit thread Andrew went crazy is because there were so many theories. Somebody said everything from light as well. You know, we don't like each other right now. And that's just how the Western media is all the way to a crazy theory where it said, yeah, well, white people are just dehumanizing Chinese, getting ready for the cold war to turn into a hot war because it'll be really way easier to do it once you dehumanize your enemy. So though I was like, whoa, yeah, got some crazy stuff. Yeah, got the spectrum. But moving on to kind of the mid section where you zoom out and you're and you're talking about the 50 to 300 people around you taking it out of the personal space. David, I guess like, what is your takeaway from your situation in the mid? Okay, from my situation in the mid, and I know it's kind of like crazy because we're like going between ultra macro Reddit thread and by just like getting dis by a Taiwanese girl.  But you know, even the Indians in our hometown or South Seattle, it's mattered so much whether you were seek seek Muslim or Hindu. And then even then there was like income levels. So it was like nine separate boxes. And that was just for Indians, you know, like, I was always looking at their situation. My Indian friends like, man, that's hyper complicated. So I mean, these things, I'm used to it. Andrew, I used to date a Korean girl, like five, six years ago, and it was kind of like a big deal within her family that she was dating a Chinese guy. Now, I'm not not every family's like that. No, I mean, I think it really depends on your sensitivity and how close you are to the culture. The more traditional and closer you are to your culture. And depending on what your parents tell you, you are going to care more about these cultural differences and geopolitics from the motherland. I think some people when they're like, Hey guys, listen, we're just in America. I know I want to live an American life. Nothing matters. It's cool. We're all here. We're all Asian. However, some other people, you know, who are very deep within their own culture are going to care more that you're from a slightly different Asian culture. For sure. I mean, some people were in the Reddit thread, Andrew, to bring it back to the Reddit thread. We're even talking about how some Chinese, especially Chinese girls from China, when they come to America, almost try to push the Chinese identity away too. I mean, I've seen that last year, I dated a girl from China from Chengdu, and she was only post on Instagram when we went to go eat Japanese or Korean food. She would never even I we went to like nice Chinese restaurant. She just did not want to be associated with it. I mean, people like that, they can still acknowledge who they are and where they come from. But as far as like in a social media type of branding or how they want to be perceived, they don't want to be any more of that one thing. Right. There was a story in the Reddit thread of this guy whose sister didn't like being like, I guess that like a villager, Cantonese background, right? You know, from like some city, I guess three hours out of Guangzhou. And she married a Japanese guy and changed her middle name. So this girl was really trying to get away from it because she had the Canton middle name and she changed that and changed her last name. So is that right or wrong? You let me know in the comments down below. It's hard to judge. I don't want to judge it because because there's the personal aspect of it where you just want to make your life better and be like you to be considered like a clean, civilized, organized on time Asian versus like Chinatown, which has a reputation for being dirty and is disorganized Asian. Yeah. Like, I mean, that's just, I guess like an elevation and identity, right? I mean, at the end of the day, a lot of people are going to choose the path of least resistance, the path that gives them the highest bump up, you know, the path that is going to give them the highest ranking. And listen, if you have multiple identities, like let's say this Southern Chinese girl from this family that, you know, the sister of this brother who made this post where she's like, she was always into Japanese culture like legitimately, maybe she learned Japanese already. So of course she's going to be wanting to look for a Japanese guy because that's the culture that she looks up to. And I see a lot of that to be honest from like, especially Chinese people. Andrew, I was at a ramen shop in Toronto this past weekend. I'll shout it out. Kinton ramen. Everybody there is Chinese speaking Japanese to each other poorly because they're trying to give you that otaku vibe. But they're actually Chinese. But that's how much they adore Japanese culture that, you know, they're trying to say, I would say most of the cooking words, even to each other in Japanese. I mean, like cosplaying Japanese, I don't think I would ever see Japanese do that in reverse. Dude, in a media and pop culture way, for sure, for many, many decades, Japan would have been considered the America of Asia as in they had the strongest pop culture. Everybody wanted to speak the language. Everybody liked the style, the look. Let's just say this. Japan was a first world country way before any other place in Asia was. Andrew, I guess for me, how legitimately wacky is it to be Chinese? Because obviously this girl, and I'm not going to say her name blank blank, she thought that maybe she had this extrapolation that even me and whatever position I have, I was going to bring down her family. Well, maybe she's even thinking about it because her family has put it into her head for so long. Hey, marry a good Taiwanese boy, marry a good Taiwanese boy, so that when you bring them to dinner, we know that he's, we know what his political views are going to be or something like that. But I guess, I guess, I guess to acknowledge the real, like let's just say, for example, China is coming out of third world. It's in the second world. I don't know where it's at right now, depending on where you're in the country. It's like 1.75 to 1.5 world. And then obviously Taiwan, you know, Korea, Japan, Singapore, at least Hong Kong, island side, first world. Are they like legitimately able to like judge people with the identity from, you know, like, I guess a lesser developed place that's just not as high on the development timeline yet? I don't actually, I think the hate on China is actually not about fully it being developed or not. I think it's very, very political right now. And especially the fact that all those other countries when we're talking about South Korea, Japan, even Singapore, their problem, their pro America and China is a rival to America right now and also not to mention the whole HK stuff, the Taiwan thing. All right. All right. First of all, Andrew, I will agree with you, but where I will add on and I will sort of disagree with you is that they're still pointing out the details from the not advancement. Right. But what have you said from the third worldness that still there's a lot of traces of it, whatever happened in Hubei and stuff like that, they're like using those details. I agree with you that that macro political environment sets the attitude and the desire, but they still have to have the stories because you would say for sure we know that China is a much better place and it's produced way better products in the past 12 years. Even since it got much better, even since we started YouTube, it's become a better and more powerful place. But the image has become more scary and negative and potentially dangerous and more supportive of America's enemies. And of course, Taiwan is pro America and all this other stuff. But David, what if you had said instead of Chinese, you had, let's just say you had said Shanghai needs. Like I'm not, I'm Shanghai needs because Shanghai is right across the water from Taiwan. Shanghai is a more developed westernized part of China. It really would depend on how they like perceive that. Like, yeah, right. Do they perceive Shanghai is that different of a place? Shanghai needs people do to be honest. But listen, no, no, no, I'm just tough to say. Listen, I think for certain people, and I'll just focus on this lady that you were talking to, it's like maybe if she was a very, very like go get a person and knew exactly what she wanted out of a potential mate. And she was very, very picky and she drew the hard lines. Then yeah, unfortunately, I could see how this conversation I've never been that hard filtered that early because I very rarely do people think that I'm Taiwanese for like five days. Exactly. Because a lot of people who already know we're not Taiwanese would not even message us if they're looking for a Taiwanese guy. Yeah. Well, I guess she was looking for a Taiwanese husband made a shark line for and then I hit her with the shark repellent, which was being Chinese. And I guess that, you know, we're using dating as just a relatable proxy to talk about much larger macro things because sometimes those macro things are just you watch like 500 other channels if you want to talk about it. David, the Western media is messing with your dating life, man. But it depends. You know, some people don't live in macro narratives. Some people literally live in the mid in the micro. No, some people are going to leave a comment and be like, wait, why is she even thinking about it? That's not even that big of a deal. I'm a Taiwanese person who married a Chinese person or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Listen, I get it. But some families are just more political than others. Don't make that internet mistake of thinking that everybody's tapped into the mid micro and macro the same levels you are. Everybody out of 100% pie distribution distributes their perspective differently across macro narratives, just middle tier community lifestyle and the micro at home 1v1 lifestyle. As far as macro takeaways go for me personally, I'm just like so over feeling bad about something I can't control. You know, I don't know what African Americans feel when they see, you know, gang stuff on TV. I don't know what Latino Americans feel when they see cartel stuff on TV. I don't know what white people feel when they see like KKK or like mass shooters on TV. I don't know what Arabs feel when they see terrorism on TV where it's like, but I know what it's like to be Chinese and look on the TV right now and see that everything with the word China in it where my parents are from is bad. You know, I don't know what it was like to be like a Jewish person once the tides turn around against Israel. You know, I just know that these are things and I think it's unfortunate that this redditor is really struggling with it because for me, I know that I'm I could feel the same thing, but I just have been going through it my whole life to the point where it doesn't really like impact me like it affects the people on Reddit. Yeah. I mean, again, I do think that given everything that happened in the past few years that there has been an uptick in the negative image being portrayed of China. So of course, I think some people who maybe didn't think about it as much throughout their life are getting hit with it now. And basically what you're seeing is people trying to figure it out and they don't know how to feel. My final piece of advice to close out the video for people who are struggling with this is just to separate it out. I mean, listen, you're in America, you have access all the different cultures and countries and content. Find the things that you like about it. I mean, there's a lot of great Chinese content coming out right now, whether it's the funny Douyin's or the food or whatever it is, you can dive into that and focus on the positive. And I think definitely don't compare yourself to like a Japan or Korea, because they're pretty much going to have like 90% positive coverage and China's going to have 90% negative coverage. So, you know, or just go to K-pop shows and just, you know, do the fighting thing. I don't know. I mean, I guess you could just see it however you want. You know, I think everybody handles it differently. I don't know. We don't control anything. We can just talk about it. And remember guys, Internet comments is one thing, but you still got a real life to live. All right, everybody, let us know in the comments below what you thought about this discussion or how you even feel about some of these geopolitical motherland beefs. How close to it do you feel? What's your sensitivity level? Let us know in the comments down below. Thank you so much for watching this episode of the Hot Pop Boys. And until next time, we out. Peace.


African, I am Maya in Africa. Listen, I am on a journey to celebrate every single African. I am saying that no African will be left out on this channel. No matter what you're doing in your small corner, if what the Maya gets the chance to meet you, I will tell your story. And this is why I'm telling you all, tell all your friends that there is an annoying guy on a journey to celebrate every African and it's about time every African support this journey. Have you subscribed to the channel yet? Tell your friends and family because we are here to inspire you. We want every African to be great wherever they find themselves. I went to Uganda and I found myself in Buindi Impenitrable National Park and it was one of the surreal moments of my whole life. So huge. But that dream wouldn't have been possible without the support of these porters. These porters help carry your bag so that you get the chance to enjoy the beautiful take for it. I love the fact that this whole gorilla trekking has created some kind of employment for the locals. As you can see, they are more of what do you call it? Porters. I think when I went to Kilimanjaro, I had porters with me. Hi. Hi. So these are the local porters, eh? Yeah. So are they... Are they going to go with us or something? If you don't need them, they won't. If you need them, they will cause the hire. Okay, so it's like... So they go with you if you have a backpack or then they can use to the hand. Where you need them? I didn't carry anything. So you may not need... Or if you want to support them, you might if you don't see them. Your money is finished? Okay. Because we hire them, one is hired at the minimum of 20 USD. 20 USD. That's equivalent to about 70. You have my wallet? Wallet? Because... Listen, I came here by myself. I don't have any bags. I think when I went to Kilimanjaro, I had a lot of porters that climbed with me. But today I don't have anything. I'm just here to see the gorillas. I don't have anything here. Okay. This is France. You don't have... I don't know. I'm so sorry. But maybe you guys can keep this. Yeah. Listen, you can't change it. So yeah, thank you so much. Thank you very much. I wish I had things so that I can carry you all along. But this is all I can do. Thank you so much. Before I went for the trekking, I gave them $10. And on my return, they gave me a certificate to congratulate me for trekking the gorillas. For the first time.  My name is Kababweza Kerebu. One of the... from this community, next to the forest. And I work at the porter. And my post, I'm a treasurer of the association. I'm also a member of this community. So when they select the porter, they select the porter from the... from the neighboring villages, they enable the forest. So that's my work. Agandhi. Hey. Hey. Thank you so much. Get closer to me. Thank you so much for having me. You guys built this? Yes. How? From this money from correction on the Golilla permit. And some from us. When we take a client from the tip, we collect a small ton. Also we contribute. Wow. So which means the little money that you get from the Golilla permit and the money that you get from tourists. Yes. Then you put it together. Yeah. To build this. Yeah. A round of applause, man. But I want to know why you guys decided to build a resort in here? Why? Yeah. Why a resort? Yeah. The reason, since we... the Golilla stayed here a long time, the trucker, they bring the clients and then drive them back to the Bahama and there was no lodge here. So we copped from the other side. We knew that it was a studies project either. Also host clients decide. Wow. Is it complete now? Not yet. Why is it not complete? The budget, you know, because of the budget, the challenge, you know, we still need funds. We still need funds. Also to complete. Even expanding, you know, because we have... You guys want to expand? Yeah. How many cartridges do you have? One, two, three, four. What is this? The last one. The last one, eh? Yeah. A restaurant. You know what? They are saying that the budget is not enough because they don't have enough money. So I just want to tell you guys that any time you come to track the gorillas, make sure you look for them and tip them. Now it's going to be by force. But again, again, hey, babes, give me my wallet. Oh my goodness. See, I have nothing, eh? This is all I have and I know this one, you can't change it. So this one, you can change it, right? Yeah. So I am starting, yeah? This is what we're going to do. I... That's the only money that I have. I wish I had more money. Yeah. But I just want to tell you guys, I'm going to leave a number. I'm going to... I mean, any contact? Yeah. Call them and then send them money. And especially people living in Uganda, do you guys have mobile money? Yeah. Uganda is watching this video. I'm asking for Momo. How much is... 20,000 is okay. Every Ugandan, this is the number on the screen, each and every Ugandan needs to send this number, 20,000 if you see this video. Can I have a round of applause to them? We are tanking you in advance. Yes, I know that you guys are going to send the money because we... By the time I come back next time, I want to see a full result, man. Okay. I hope you're going to have civil pool. How long have you guys been doing this? How long? How long have you guys been building this? Building this? Yeah. How long? This one has four years old. Wow. Yes. So it's so slow because no money. Yeah. No funds. Yeah. But how many are you guys? How many? Potters. Yeah. Yeah, potters we are 53. 53? How many members are here from... for this side? Okay. So this result is for this camp? Yes. For this side? So this camp, how many are you? We are 53. 53. So 53 people? Wow. Can we clap for the 53 people? Now, what is the name of the result? No name. I've got a name. What is the name? Let me suggest one. Okay. Thank you. The Potters Lodge. Potters Lodge. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The Potters Lodge in Uganda. See, I want to make sure... come closer. I know I have a... come closer. I want you guys to do this for me. By this year, I want to make sure this is finished. Thank you so much. So whatever I'm going to do to make sure that this is done, I'm going to do it. So I need help because I'm not from here. But I need somebody to come and check all the time. Okay. But I will use my network to get you guys more money to be able to finish this to support your families. All right. All right. So please help me make this dream come true. The Potters Lodge. The Potters Lodge.  Any message to Africans watching us right now? If you have anything to tell Africans? Yes. Yeah. Anyone watching us? Say something. Yes. Thank you for your coming. Thank you. I'm Nyuwaga Agur. Yeah. In the name of Nyuwaga Potters Association, I thank you very much. And I send the message to all the Gannanis the whole nation that are watching us right now. Yeah. Yeah. To support us to make our thing complete. Oh. Oh. I feel like if we make this come true, it's going to be a dream for all of them.  That would be amazing, man. See, this would be one of the projects that I want to make sure by December 2023, I'll come myself for the opening. Okay. See, please help me. Let's do this. Thank you. Each and every one of you, I'm going to, I mean, set up a GoFarmme page for this. And also, I want you to send, I mean, I'm going to put the numbers on the screen and make sure you send them. If you're in Uganda, I'm asking for money from every Ugandan watching this video. You don't necessarily have to be a Ugandan living in Uganda. You can be Ugandan abroad, any African. Let's come together and make this dream come true. And I believe that this is going to be the happiest dream of all these people. My name is Wadabaya. Please share these videos around and let people know that there are portraits in Uganda that are building a resort out of just $10. That's incredible, man. I want to say, Baranakari!