Fighting off the urge to green out guest EMMA DAY is back on the podcast for some geriatric fun! Join us as we talk about the developer behind The Villages senior living community in America's gorgeous right ventricle, Florida. Home to some of Florida's key rightwing voting bloc, The Villages has been a destination for every Republican presidential candidate in my lifetime. But don't be fooled by the gazebos that pump out Fox News or the tirelessly petty community bulletin boards, The Villages is also a land for greedy land developers to take advantage of EVERYBODY!

This story is absolutely crazy, and does in fact have a guy going to jail. Just not the guy you're hoping it is...

Thanks to Ryan Grim for reporting on development and updates to this crazy tale - you can follow him and Jeremy Scahill's recently-launched Drop Site News for important and interesting journalism!

Also, this was recorded on 11/27 before the UnitedHealth CEO assassination. All talks of assassination are purely coincidental...or should we say manifesting?

Follow Emma's comedy show @thelesbianlodge (which I also produce) or @alldayemmaday on IG

Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau

SOURCES:

1. Ryan Grim's original article in The Intercept about the Oren Miller Saga "The Villages Vendetta: How a Grassroots Revolt in the Iconic Retirement Community Ended With a 72-Year-Old Political Prisoner" https://theintercept.com/2023/02/05/ron-desantis-florida-villages-oren-miller/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

2. Ryan Grim's Drop-Site-Exclusive Update Post https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/a-revolt-in-the-villages-takes-a/comments?utm_source=substack&publication_id=2510348&post_id=147556878&utm_medium=email&isFreemail=false&comments=true&utm_campaign=email-half-magic-comments&action=post-comment

3. Andrew Blechman's 2007 book Leisureville : adventures in America's retirement utopias

4. Amanda Brian's article in the Southern Cultures journal ("The Faux History of The Villages") (Note, the link is to the illegal website I use lol); https://sci-hub.se/10.1353/scu.2014.0037

5. Random interesting article about the real estate fraud 1968 ban: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2768&context=caselrev

6. The Bloomberg nerds' article "Billionaire Morse’s Florida Dirt Bonds Not Tax-Exempt" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-05/florida-billionaire-s-development-bonds-not-tax-exempt-irs-says?embedded-checkout=true

7. Random Letters to the Editor in The Village News: https://www.villages-news.com/2024/11/20/ed-mcginty-offers-harsh-assessment-of-donald-trump/

https://www.villages-news.com/2024/11/14/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-with-hooters/

https...

Adam Conover - unmedicated and toes out - joins me on my epic return to podcasting in this episode about the Ford Motor Company!

This chaotic traipse through Ford's history takes us all over the globe (and by that, I mean to the Amazon Rainforest over and over again!) From bumbling sex pest managers misunderstanding tropical climates to THEE OG risk assessment calculation that probably inspired Fight Club...this episode's got everything! In an effort to be less of a huge effing bummer since the military contracting season, this one is a little bit more breezy.

A journalist called Walter Lippman, a man born in 1889, wrote of Henry Ford: "Mr. Ford is neither a crank nor a freak…[but] merely the logical exponent of American prejudices about wealth and success." I did not read that quote in context - I took it from Grandin's book. I didn't say it in the episode, but wanted to spotlight it here because I think it nails what Ford is all about. And I just felt really connected to this guy's words despite the fact he was born over 100 years before me. ANYWAYS.

For those of you wondering - I mentioned in the episode I was 2 days away from vocal surgery at time of recording. Now on the other side of it, I have to build my voice back up before I'm allowed to podcast again. Should be in the next few weeks though, as I have stuff planned and written!

Thank you to my Patreon subscribers - who largely move in silence and don't comment or like most of what I post on the platform lmfao. They're my besties, for realllll. If you'd like to join the league of oft-disappointed folks who give me 3 dollars a month, you can do so at Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau.

Adam's standup special is available on Dropout here: https://www.dropout.tv/adam-conover-unmedicated

OK THANKS BYEEE

SOURCES:

Watch the first Taurus XL launch fail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puEEyi-DHrY

Wanna watch another one?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BFAxZflkW0&ab_channel=issmania11

NASA Investigative Summary: Taurus XL T8 and T9 Mission Failures: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/oco_glory_public_summary_update_-_for_the_web_-_04302019.pdf?emrc=2fce7a

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City, Greg Grandin 2009: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/fordlandia-the-rise-and-fall-of-henry-fords-forgotten-jungle-city_greg-grandin/273197/?srsltid=AfmBOoq09JCr4ag6REQoXvIMUNoJcRceUvQgF0iqfD-KlP6jdceRu9Se#edition=5254322&idiq=3929545

Read the "infamous" Ford Pinto Memo here: https://www.autosafety.org/wp-content/uploads/import/phpq3mJ7F_FordMemo.pdf

Pinto Madness, Mark Dowie, Mother Jones 1977: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1977/09/pinto-madness/

Ford’s Electric Pickup Is Built From Metal That’s Damaging the Amazon, Sheridan Prasso and Jessica Brice, Bloomberg 2023: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-ford-f150-electric-car-rainforest-damage/?embedded-checkout=true

...

Do you ever have a years-long hyperfixation with a company no one's heard about?

Blender Bluid and Amy Do continue our millions-years-long season about private military contractors. This time, I'm telling them about the worst of the worst: Betsy DeVos' brother Erik Prince's rich kid lodge! Blackwater! Clean off your guns and meet me at the lodge - we're in for a real effing doozy.

Fair warning, this episode does brush over some truly horrific stuff. As mentioned mid-episode, my podcast isn't really the appropriate place to regale those stories in full detail, so only some of the key informational facts are mentioned out of respect for those who suffered cruel, pointless deaths during this war. Jeremy Scahill's book is a fantastic read to get the full picture on the politics, events, and horrors of Iraq, linked below.

Jeremy, if you're listening, I'm so sorry sweetie please look away - this is a comedy podcast by a clown. But THIS clown loved your book!

Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo. Thanks to the WONDERFUL Casey Synesael for fully editing this episode! Audio engineer and tastemaker, methinks.

SOURCES:

1. Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army - Jeremy Scahill, March 2007 (I read the revised 2008 version tho)
2. Firearms training centers on schools under assault - Jon Frank, The Virginian-Pilot, Oct 1999
3. Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy - Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, January 2010
4. Erik Prince: An American Commando in Exile - Robert Young Pelton, Dangerous Magazine (originally published in Men’s Journal), November 2010
5. Blackwater founder takes aim at his critics in memoir - Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov 2013 (the “Field of Dreams” quote is in this)
6. Falluja lawsuit: Blackwater families settle case - BBC News, 2012
7. The Dark Truth about Blackwater - Peter Singer, Brookings Institution, October 2007
8. I scraped the Nisour Square legal timeline just from the Nisour Square Massacre wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisour_Square_massacre

Other recommended reading from the pod is Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Thanks for listening. Plz feel free to leave a review, and some extra stuff is on Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau