What's good with the MTA, tho? I heard you're getting rid of MetroCards. think it's gone, actually. Say hello to the OMNY card. So they just got rid of one card to give you another card. Yeah, but it taps it's a tap. I mean, can't your phone do that? I mean, of course it does the phone, duh, but I guess this is if like you don't got your phone on you or something? the sale of MetroCard cars is going to end the end of this year 2025. then they'll transition fully to the OMNY, which is the tap to pay. I gotta go grab me a Supreme card the last time. I think it's September. They usually do it,  if I'm not mistaken, it's during Fashion Week. I'd imagine that makes a lot of sense. Does the path gotta do pay to tap too? Cause don't they use the MetroCard? Yeah, yeah, actually they do use a MetroCard. You know what? They got TAPP. They got a different vendor. They already had tap only for the smart cards though. The smart rider, the smart, you know what talking about? But they got somthing called TAAP like tap that ass which is also "Total Access PATH Payment" so it's basically tap app Tap haha. Tap ha ha you can pay it for your ride directly on the turnstile with a contactless credit card debit card device Ha ha ha turns out do not set SmartLink or MetroCard card dang so they bought to phase out the SmartLink on the low That's what I was talkin bout SmartLink$3 for a path ride? Yo, yo, yo, Welcome to Concrete Cactus episode six. Tesla's crashing into bricks. I'm Brandon. I'm Ryan. So you've been watching baseball? You know, don't have time for shit no more, man, with this kid. If I have, it was probably through our calls during the week. So you was watching the Mets games with me? I was listening to the Mets games with you, inadvertently. No intention whatsoever of listening. Yankees games, we would have been watching them cheat. You know, bro, those bats are perfectly legal. I dont wanna hear that. Leave it to the Yankees to come up with something after 200 years, 200, around 200 years, has it not been? I don't even keep counting no more of playing the sport of baseball for them to generate a new bat. What do you, like? you know low long it took him to do driverless cars? But it's not even like It's not even like they presented it to the league or anything. just like, second game in, try these out, torpedo bats, like come on. Sound like something from Pearl Harbor, huh? Like what? And the fact that they were able to keep it under wraps, like I would expect something like this from the Astros. Yo, I was in Houston the other day, bro. I made the biggest mistake. did not leave the house without a Yankees hat. I wanted to make sure I came off that plane and walk into Houston with that Yankees hat and see what somebody was gonna f**king say to me. f**king p**sy ass. Astros fans. There's three states that I despise in this particular order. three this state. Number two Texas Number one Florida. that you hate? hate you hate the places that have fun. What was the first one? Arizona. oh Arizona, Texas. Florida So Arizona is a party state, ain't it? Really? We have party- we have a party city called Tempe. All the party schools, the biggest party schools are in Arizona, aren't they? It's ASU. U of A ain't really a part of school just because Gronk went there? It's a party school? Hey bro I went to a house party out there and in Tempe. It ain't no joke. I don't even remember what I was drinking. I just remember it was blue. and you would have gotten spiked, my G. You gotta go to like a South Jersey house party. I remember those days. That was a little different. South Jersey House Party. nobodys gonna bother you. you're not in a little ass apartment Nah, but it's a different party vibe out here. Never go to a nightclub out here though. It's not the same. Really? House parties are better than nightclubs out here. Yeah, I bet You know what though? What is good with those potholes out there? Hey man, it's just like, they just respawned. It's insane. talking about the one that happened on I-80? In Marlton, Yes, sir. is supposed to keep lanes closed for at least five weeks. Wow, I mean we've always known potholes, but you these arnt potholes their like I don't think I wanna say the word. Gloryholes. oo my God. No, but theoretically they are gloryholes and I'm  saying that in the appropriate manner because you know, California they actually have a body of water that makes one. It's like a big vacuum vortex thing. So they basically got gloryholes out there- More Glareholes than Ory-zona If you know, know. So, I mean, the bad thing about this is the fact that it's continuing to happen in New Jersey is showing signs of a wearing infrastructure. I Mean third state of the 13 original colonies you would think  Infrastructure is a little too ancient prehistoric basically New Jersey's one big old museum at this point you think about it I mean the amount of sinkholes that have happened in like the past five years. There was one that happened in Patterson, but like the car went  into the sinkhole. I don't know if you remember that. Like 20, I think that was like 2020. Yeah, the car got like completely swallowed up in the sinkhole. I think it was like from a water main break. Yeah, that sounds about right. I remember when we were a lot younger, water main breaks used to be like on the news every day. Like more water main breaks would make it on the news than people getting killed. Like... Mm-hmm.Even in Manhattan. I remember it used to happen out in the Bronx. Brooklyn Yeah. Not you dog. And then you got over in Dover, in Morris County, they got sinkholes due to like old mining tunnels collapsing. Remember that mine, that Sterling mine, Middle school, elementary school, we went to that mine and had the glowing rocks and shit. Damn. My memory is terrible and you don't remember? Where Where is that? Sterling Hill Mining Museum. It's in Ogensburg, New Jersey, which is... Where the f-ck is Ogensburg? Owensburg. never heard of it. by Sparta so this is North Jersey. North North Jersey. A leaky pipe underground equals soil washes away equals potential sinkhole. That's all I got on sinkholes. you got the federal government out there doing tours and shit. Matter of fact, think the secretary of transportation was out there and for some reason he was cutting a promo about the New York City subways being dirty even though he wasn't out there for the New York City subways. I don't think this man has took in the subway a day in his life. Hmm. the U.S. Department Transportation Secretary. Sean P. Duffy. ordered the MTA to take immediate steps to clean up its subways and buses according to a strongly worded letter to the chair and CEO of the MTA demanding  that the agency outline specific measures it is taking to restore order and protect commuters. That word, order! Failure to act, the letter warns, could result in federal enforcement actions including the withholding of federal transit funding. I doubt he rode a subway. A day his life. You're proably right. You guys should be more worried about some city with like more serious... crime problems. issues."The subway system could be cleaned up in 36 hours if New York Governor Kathy Hochul can take action. 36 hours." Sounds like slavery."If you want people to take the train to take transit and then make it safe make it clean make it beautiful make it wonderful" Yo, all these Trump ad-lib, yo My boy wanna be Trump. so bad."Don't make it a shithole, which is what SHE has done! She could fix it in hours, not days, not weeks, she chooses not to!" Crime is down 40 % compared to the same period in 2020,  right before the pandemic. Subway fare invasion was down 25% after increasing dramatically during COVID. It's making things that are still a problem more than a problem and they really are. What they call that brandon, fear mongering? pretty much. Yeah, like not for nothing- This gentleman had a point, but like telling somebody that  a little bit too much fluoride in the Arizona water and everybody's like trying to municipalities and the state to take all the fluoride out like it's Utah. Bingo. I don't drink the water out here anyway, so I can care less. But yeah. Congestion pricing update. No congestion pricing. Prickly passes, prickly passes. Herd March Madness, March Madness, March Madness? March Madness is in Jersey this year? Yeah, Its back at the Prudential Center in Newark First time in 14 years. First time in 14 years? You know, I was gonna say that, like, how long has it been since they did something like that? I know they did it once, but then I realized how old we are. And I was like, it's probably high school, huh? Mm-hmm. Prudential Center's only been there for about, yeah. It's been 14 years since it's been in Jersey. Maybe it has been 15 years. know 2007 is when it opened. Yankees have tied the Major League record for most home runs in a team's first three games to begin the season with 15. Back to those Torpedo Bats, right? Thats what happens when you cheat. the torpedo backs aren't accessible to y'all either? I think Volpe hit two home runs. What? Today? Or the entire season? the last two days, the last two games. He's from Jersey, I think. Yeah, he was born in New York and he is from South Jersey. North Jersey, South Jersey, which Jersey? I forgot which part of Jersey, but he is from Jersey. That is true. Morristown. North Jersey Volpe and his family moved to Watchung, New Jersey when he was in the fourth grade. What a guy. That's a Yankee for life. Lived in the upper East Side of Manhattan. but hey, I mean what what's up you got y'all can't pick. Yeah, I can't get torpedo bats either late? Well, if it's not banned by tomorrow afternoon,  I'm sure half the league will have it by the end of the week. First the tush push, now this. I wonder what I wonder what the Suns are gonna do next season. I wouldn't say tush pushing is cheating. I think that's just strategic. After your slick prediction I be knowin' You're a brand-a-domis. Giants signed a what's this guy's name? Mr. Unlimited. FUTURE's arch nemesis. is really gonna eat throughout the entire episode. Don't worry about me, keep talking. We can hear you eat. Mr.Unlimited, @DangeRuss AKA Ciara's Man AKA Baby Future's Other Dad. Yeah man, he just got signed to Giants, one year, 21 mil. Up to. with all of the bonuses and contract. Thingies incentives there you go. That's the word I was looking for. So Giants quarterback room now has Russ. Come on, you got it. Don't let me tell you. Jameis Winston Tommy cutlets and soon to be Nope. We'll see. We got a few weeks. the Giants quarterback room has DEI DEI Hmm. They don't got no O-line, so everybody going D-I-E. HAHAHAHA! Got that right! Check this out. Because of... Mr.Crab Sticks and Ciara's Mans Being acquired by the Giants For the first time ever the NFL has a division with all black quarterbacks an unsolicited stat You know what that means. It's time for white quarterbacks. No, I was gonna say- since we're making the switch. The guys who are intercepting gotta be the opposite race. That's some DEI right there I was gonna say this is The ah the ni n***a league Black Quarterbacks getting intercepted by white cornerbacks and white quarterbacks getting ntercepted by black cornerbacks Mmm. Making America great again. One position swap at a time. That's not all we have. no, we still gotta talk about Steven-A! Steven-A! Steven-A! Steven-A! Steve Stephen a More stuff came out about that LeBron I was gonna call him Le-let it go Like let it go Yeah, he looks type crazy. He did a taped interview with Pat McAfee, you know the uh... antivirus. and he said a couple things Obviously about Stephen A Smith no alarms no surprises, but was surprising those what he said about lovable Brian Windhorst Who also by the way had covered LeBron literally most of his life. LePipe down. I mean we knew lebron Wanna hear Windy's response to all that? Sure. You can't hate that man. It's hard to hate that man. He do his job, stay out the way. The people you can count on one hand that work for ESPN that you don't find annoying when they show up on TV, bro And LeBron doesn't diss that poor dude. Now he's not poor. He's made some good money off of LeBron, literally, but he done diss the man. unnecessary too. he's never had anything disparaging to say about the man. I mean, but we knew Lebron was phony, bro. Like, he been lying. He been putting on a front. LeCap he reads books upside down on the first page. He ad-libs rap lyrics. incorrectly. Great family, man. Great ball player, but... Human being? Would I want LeBron to be my friend? Hell f**king no. Money changes you. Speaking of billionaires, Purple Politics! gives a well-respected shout out, well.. President Trump. Did this the other day. as he was introducing his personal lawyer as an interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of New Jersey. THATS RIGHT back to business here. Who is Alina Haba? She's a staunch defender of  the president in the courtroom and in the media. She emerged as a fierce muter surrogate for Trump  while representing him in the New York Civil Fraud case. U.S. Attorneys are appointed by the President and then confirmed by the Senate. But the President can appoint an interim top federal prosecutor when there is a vacancy. And ironically, there was a vacancy. Habba said Friday that she and the President has been through  some very dark days together. Mayor from New Jersey who was caught driving under the influence with a two year old in the backseat. what's in this alcohol? Arrested and charged with DUI on March 17th. She admitted to the police that she had been drinking before picking up her two year old son from daycare. with reckless driving, child neglect and endangerment, driving under the influence and driving with an expired license. Wait hold up, is she a Cowboys fan? body cam footage showed that she was stumbling while being  questioned by officers. That's something. in her own driveway. Hmm. Wait, which town is she in? Marion? Lumberton Township. she looks good for 45. she got a two-year-old. People driving drunk in New Jersey, that's an anomaly, bro. mean, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Politicians driving drunk in New Jersey, that's an anomaly, bro. Home from daycare, though? She had a two year- yo this woman had her toddler in the car. Wow, come on man. This is Arizona shit right here, yo. Body cam footage shows her admitting to  drinking a little bit of vodka speaking to the officers in front of her house. clip shows the officer smelling a plastic water bottle they found in the front of her car saying it reeked of alcohol and finding  a small bottle of what appears to be alcohol. Damn miss she can be seen tearing up and telling officers I'm sorry as she's placed under arrest. I'll give it to her husband though. He came in cover her fine ass that's pretty  quick. He said his wife is gonna help with addiction and ask for support but people are calling for her resignation. Yeah man, you might need a resign though. Own that shit. You wanna hear some crazy shit that's going on in Arizona right now? Yeah, what you got going on? So as you may know, Arizona is stereotypically a very military, veteran friendly state. And with that comes, well, people who try to take advantage of what  service members and veterans like myself are afforded here in Arizona, At the federal level, Stolen Valor Act 2013, it makes it a crime to fraudulently claim  military declarations or medals with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefits. A similar initiative here in Arizona is called House Bill 2030. Its sponsored by an army veteran by the name of Walter Blackman. The bill aims to criminalize the act of impersonating US armed forces veterans or falsely claiming military service or honors, So the bill passed unanimously in the House,  but upon reaching the Senate, it encountered an obstacle. Senator Wendy Rogers, chair of the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee and Air Force veteran, removed the bill from the committee's agenda, expressing concerns that the bill could weaponize state government against federally  regulated veterans and emphasize the need for legislation to align with federal law. The situation has escalated into a public dispute Blackman has accused  Rogers of blocking the bill for personal reasons,  alleging she is protecting a political ally accused of misrepresenting military service. Army VS Air Force. Wow. The friend is this guy named Steve Slayton, who pretended to be a Vietnam combat veteran. He ran against Walt Blackman in an election and lost. Another senator has found a workaround. She took a different bill and swapped its  contents with the stolen ballot bill. That might save the bill,  but the final vote has to happen. And the Senate president doesn't seem eager to help. Anyway. What's Mayor Meme doing? He proposed a $225 million public safety training facility, referred to as Cop City... supposed to aim to consolidate training  for multiple city agencies, including the NYPD's Academy campus in Queens. And there's opposition. Why? they're arguing that the project is a misallocation of taxpayer funds and fails to address the NYPD's ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. Mm-hmm. Mmm, I thought they were taking the AOC route to that for a second there. In response, Adams has defended the project stating that consolidating training facilities will enhance efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. He's criticized his opponents, accusing them of the police mentality. I saw a video, these cops, they panicked when they had put out a taser. This is why I believe in cop city. What is happening in this video? How many tasers got pulled out? Four? cop movie, that's all I know. This ain't our generation by the way. They gotta be 23, 24 years old, max. Yeah, these look like kids out of high school. They look like kids out of Arizona high school. That's the junior police force. They look like the cats that I served with that just came out of bootcamp and Wow, I'm showing my age right now. Shit. They should learn Jiu Jitsu. And not every black person is a......armed and dangerous suspect. I say we go to errors and omissions. What we we got, errors and omissions. Yeah, what we say last episode that wasn't accurate enough. Last week he made a comment and said,  Kari Lake appointed by Trump to run Voice of America, but she wasn't. She was not. never happened. was rumored Trump might get her some media gig, but she did not run Voice of America. She ended up being appointed to run the USAGM. Which isn't some gig you get handed like a gift card to US Agency for Global Media, known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Ironic, something that Kari Lake tried to be but failed. Supposed to be an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information, soft propaganda. and update on that bit though concerning Kari Lake. There is a judicial ruling that blocks Kari Lake's drive to shutter  Voice of America. So apparently that is still up for dispute. There is a temporary restraining order against Lake, the agency and  its acting chief. meaning that they can't take any more additional steps to shutter Voice of America So about you, that 14 year old cop killer. Apparently we were off by three rounds in the bull account. You said 29. Apparently it was 26. horrifying, but... accuracy. No pun intended. Unfortunate situation. The next one was about Lebron and Bronny being better than half of the league his comments supposedly or apparently I guess would be the better word yeah  exact words weren't exactly half he said some then he said a lot and it was on league pass. You want to see the tweet, by the way? This one. Yeah, so what does it say? Man, Bronny definitely better than some of these cats I've been watching on League Pass today. Shit, lightweight, hilarious. laughing emoji, laughing emoji, laughing emoji, laughing emoji. shit, lightweight, hilarious. So yeah. light, we hilarious. What does that mean? LeBron James, who knows? he like 40 something? Didnt make this shit up about him and emojis Light weight, hilarious, what is it? Light weight. Can I get a definition on this? the f-ck is that? that we gotta research what somebody 10 years older than us said, slang wise, is diabolical, if you ask me. People turned it into a chat room names, lightweight hilarious. I've never heard anyone ever in my life say that. What was next on this list? Remember when I was getting philosophical during the viewer comments concerning your mother? I realized that I didn't misspeak, but me being the OCD ass n***a I am, I gotta like, add a little bit more context to clarify any potential, misinterpretations And that is that some people aren't necessarily pretending to be healed. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what are you going into right now? Just, just roll with it. Just roll with it. Some people aren't pretending to be healed to deceive anyone. They're pretending because they haven't made peace with the parts of themselves that still hurt. It's not always a conscious performance. It's a  defense mechanism that's become a lifestyle for many or some, but not all. It causes damage,  but all of it's intentional, but it's accountable behavior with growth. Or so one can hope. If they really mean well. That's what's up. shit, I haven't seen tht in a minute. Try it again. Ha! I feel like I'm 12 again. Some folks aren't just ready to set down that armor yet, but the longer you wear it, the heavier it gets, and the harder it becomes to remember who you were without it, or who you can be without it. I guess that's a good way to pull out, no ditty of this lovely episode six of. our lovely iCarly knockoff that is concrete cut casts Con Cass? concrete caucus. Comcast? Where we- concrete cacti. cactus anything you got to put out to the youth to the world? on episode six? I think now would be a good time to let people know what's coming up for concrete cactus. Good question. I mean, it's not a question. We're of just sharing it with the world right now. Stay tuned. We're coming close to the end of the season. I so. When we return with season two, we plan to be revamped with better product. We've only been doing this for less than three months,  y'all. And we are forever grateful and appreciative of all of y'all who follow  the socials and give us questions, comments, and concerns, and yeah. We started this from scratch y'all We're kind of just building it out as we go. if you're if you've watched 000 you kind of see the improvements we made Episode over episode, Mm-hmm. finding a direction. this didn't become an idea until like the end of last year. And we  just made it happen like that. It's magic of ADHD. Our intentions aren't just to entertain you and make me feel less homesick, but to really put a different frequency of voice out there when it comes to podcasting. Because one thing that... I can say I've noticed a podcast consumer and just an overall human being is that a lot of things that are said and reported on about people, it's like you're laughing at and not with them. If you guys haven't noticed, we've definitely provided critique and criticism for people, but we do it in a way that comes with a silver lining for say or what can we do next  time to prevent this from happening. Just know and understand that we're not your typical podcast but we're also not a A shell company for like some megachurch somewhere that's trying  to stay hip. We definitely have the best intent of you,  the listener or viewer, as well as the people we discuss because... You can't facilitate or encourage or inspire change unless you,  well, speak of it and do of it. not the last episode, but I'm going to talk a whole monologue. It's the last episode, but hey, listen, hopefully this podcast has entertained you thus far, has inspired you to learn a little bit more about where you live, whether you like it or see the best in people, but not to the point to where you're blinded  by their ignorance. but just enough to where your first instinct isnt to put their  head on a platter. If they do something absurd or ridiculous say, Unless it involves CP and SA. I say life is discretionary. I'm not saying don't kill a pedophile, but... innocent until proven guilty, US court system. Well, to wrap up this week's episode, make sure you guys like, comment, subscribe, hit that share and reminder button,  follow us on Instagram, follow us on TikTok, follow us on X. Thanks. and bluesky  for the future forward people in the social media sphere these days you if you want to be technical you know the metaverse that would include threads too. But yeah, from the concrete. yo, look at this, check this out. Is that like a Muppet Devin Booker? You call it that. Cactus. Open your mail. Tip of the week. another TriCare bill. Stay warm!