Episode 28 - Aaron Task - Straight Financial talk, Epic interviews, Evolving culture, and how unfunny Pete Davidson is.

This Week The Pack is joined by Winston Sterzel, (on Twitter @serpentza) also known by his  YouTube pseudonym SerpentZA. We talk about his time in China, his need to flee, How China has changed, and the chilling effect they have on free speech in the US.  Russia, Ukraine, and Vietnam and how China has its hand in global events.   He lived in Shenzhen in the Guangdong province of China for fourteen years. His videos cover a variety of topics relating to life in China from a Westerner perspective. He moved to China to work as an English teacher after first visiting on business in 2005. In 2015, he was one of twelve South Africans in China profiled by China Radio International. He started uploading videos in China in 2007 and became a full-time vlogger in 2016. His videos primarily focus on life in China as viewed from a Western perspective. Sterzel has also made videos about motorcycle trips through China. With fellow YouTuber Matthew Tye (who goes by Laowhy86) and other friends, he has taken extended journeys and produced documentary series titled Conquering Southern China and Conquering Northern China. He and Tye operate the YouTube channel ADVChina, a motorcycle travel vlog. Sterzel was also co-founder of a small, China-based custom motorcycle business, Churchill Custom Motorcycles, that is no longer in business. In late 2018, he said he desired to create "positive content" about China, but that a negative interaction with the Chinese police spurred him to move out of China. In 2019, Sterzel moved to Los Angeles because he felt he would lose his life or be incarcerated in China following threats by ultranationalist Internet users, who accused Sterzel's wife of being a spy and a threat to national security. Sit back have a drink and let's talk about China since we can't go there.  Links https://www.youtube.com/c/ADVPodcasts https://www.youtube.com/@serpentza https://twitter.com/serpentza https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Sterzel  

This week The Pack is joined by an American business icon.  David Sokol, David is the director and chairman of Atlas. David founded three companies in his career to date, taken three companies public, and as Chairman and CEO of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, he sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. in 2000. David continued with Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. until he retired in March 2011, when he left in order to manage his family business investments, Teton Capital, LLC, as Chairman and CEO. Teton Capital, LLC is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is a family-holding company that oversees investments in the banking, manufacturing, consumer products, energy, real estate, and technology businesses. Over Mr. Sokol’s 40-year career, he has chaired five corporate boards and over a dozen charitable or community boards. David Sokol’s business philosophy, based upon vision, strategy, and six operating principles, is described in a book he authored in 2008, Pleased But Not Satisfied. It is a simple business model with a definite focus on developing future leaders. Links America in Perspective: 1776 | Episode 1 https://www.amazon.com/America-Perspective-Defending-American-Generation/dp/1637588135 https://atlascorporation.com/leadership/ https://www.breitbart.com/podcast/2022/07/17/exclusive-david-sokol-explains-the-forces-behind-woke-capital/    

This week The Pack is joined by friends to remember one of the teams, a remarkable and unique individual, someone who was always behind the scenes helping but a person who will always be at the forefront of our thoughts... Author, Poet, Artist, Investigator, Marine,  and my friend    In Matt's words -Ruthless, secretive, and sometimes seedy buy-side analyst, dedicated qualitative/investigative short-seller, and activist-short in small- and mid-cap US-listed sometimes global equity. Links   https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-farrell-74492199/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Charlottesville/comments/yebrdo/rip_matthew_farrell/?utm_source=BD&utm_medium=Search&utm_name=Bing&utm_content=PSR1   https://dailyprogress.com/news/stony-point-slaying-victim-was-author-and-arts-provocateur/article_571176f4-5574-11ed-badd-87dc80cd98cb.html   https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1f6yg8n93jyfh/The-Ruthless-Secretive-and-Sometimes-Seedy-World-of-Hedge-Fund-Private-Investigators    

This week The Pack is joined by  Dr. Art Laffer. (on Twitter @LafferCenter) His economic acumen and influence in triggering a worldwide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s earned him the distinction in many publications as “The Father of Supply-Side Economics.” The Laffer Curve is one of the primary theoretical constructs of supply-side economics, illustrating the tradeoff between tax rates and actual tax revenues. We talk about politics, Taxes - his new book Taxes Have Consequences.  Why Michigan sits above Ohio and more.  Dr. Laffer tells stories from the past and how it relates to where we are now.   Sit back have a drink and call the accountant.     Links Taxes Have Consequences: An Income Tax History of the United States   https://laffercenter.org/   https://twitter.com/LafferCenter      

This week The Pack is joined by Lars Emmerich (Twitter @Lars_Emmerich), Lars is an American thriller, crime, and mystery author who enjoys reading a good story as much as he does writing it. He was a fighter pilot before going full-time into writing. Then came Crypto, Lars became a miner and investor in some of our favorite non-fiat currencies. Almost like a character from one of his books, there is nothing that this guest can not do well. We dig into everything from his best-selling books, China & Russia, Crypto, Celebrity Alcohol, Some of the worst pilot "call signs" and why he won't watch Top Gun Maverick.  Sit back have a drink and make sure that enemy MIG does not get tone.     Links https://store.ljemmerich.com/ @Lars_Emmerich

This week the Pack is joined by Attorney Zachary Greenberg, Senior Program Officer, Student Organizations, Campus Rights Advocacy at FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.  Their mission is to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought. The Pack discusses why every college professor believes the exact same thing and why you need to be a liberal to work at any state university in California. Sit back, have a drink, and enter our free speech zone.   LINKS    https://www.thefire.org/ https://twitter.com/TheFIREorg https://www.youtube.com/thefireorg  

This week the Pack is joined by Nick Reid, a film producer and executive vice president of the Moving Picture Institute a production company and talent incubator that creates high-impact films designed to entertain, inspire, and educate audiences with captivating stories about human freedom. Nick is responsible for fundraising and working on MPI Original productions, and serving as a member of the executive team. His executive producer credits include MISS VIRGINIA, PINBALL: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE GAME, A PIECE OF CAKE (Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2020, Nominated for Best Narrative Short), THE PERFECT ONE, and MPI’s forthcoming Original feature documentary PROJECT HOME: 3D PRINTING THE FUTURE. Nick is currently executive producing MPI's forthcoming narrative features FREEDOM HAIR and KEMBA. Sit back have a drink and put some extra butter on the popcorn.   LINKS    https://www.thempi.org/ 

This week the Pack is joined by Retired General Paul Kern, who wisely avoids social media. We discuss Russia's military prowess, vital rare earth minerals and the CCP eyeballing Taiwan.   General Paul Kern graduated from West Point in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He holds master’s degrees in civil and mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006. He was a National Security Fellow at the J.F. Kennedy School, Harvard University and was a member of the Defense Science Board for 15 years. General Kern commanded operational units as a platoon leader in the Blackhorse Regiment in Vietnam receiving the Silver Star for valor and three Purple Hearts.  He retired after 38 years with the US Army as the Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command. The command of more than 50,000 personnel has worldwide responsibility for supply and maintenance support to the Department of Defense, manages the Army depot system, and conducts research for all the ground and rotary wing equipment. In June 2004, the Secretary of Defense tapped General Kern to lead the military's internal investigation into the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He has a unique career which blends technical expertise, combat operations, program management, policy development, and advisor to senior political leaders. He currently serves as a Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group and serves on multiple advisory boards including US Rare Earth LLC, a company focused on developing domestic supplies of strategic materials. Sit back, have a drink and mine your back yard for lithium.    SHOW LINKS   https://cohengroup.net/who-we-are/team/paul-j-kern

This week The Pack is joined by SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce (@HesterPeirce on twitter).  Commissioner Peirce was appointed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the President and was sworn in on January 11, 2018. Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Commissioner Peirce earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and her JD from Yale Law School. Commissioner Peirce offers insights into crypto regulation and shares her regulatory philosophy.  In addition to discussing SPACS, stablecoin, and the proliferation of passive investing, she answers the age-old question, Who is better Michigan or Ohio State? Sit back have a drink and get ready to invest in the Wolf SPAC. SHOW LINKS Commissioner Pierce Twitter   https://www.sec.gov/biography/commissioner-hester-m-peirce    

This week the Pack is joined by Dr. Matthew Hamill, a man with 14 letters after his name.  We discuss Monkeypox, HIV treatments and other infectious diseases. Dr. Hamill is a UK-trained physician in internal medicine and an expert in sexual health and HIV. He spent 3 years conducting research in Soweto, South Africa. In addition to his primary affiliation with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he is also affiliated with the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Sit Back have a drink and remember to use protection.   Links https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/matthew-hamill