Nick Craig In For Pete Kaliner (03-18-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepeatkalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] So there's a lot of issues that we're facing right now as a state, as a country, whole bunch of conversations going on. I could spend the next two hours rattling them all off. Let's just look here at North Carolina. We have a storm in Hurricane Helene that caused an estimated $60 billion worth of damage to the western half of the state. I would say that's a pretty big issue. You've got a federal government that is looking at repealing back some potential amounts that they give to states in regards to Medicaid expansion.

[00:00:58] Which could completely bust North Carolina's budget as they expanded that just back a couple of years ago. That's a major topic. We're in the middle of budget conversations. We've got a brand new governor and the former attorney general now Governor Josh Stein. Lots of things going on in the state. And you've heard about a lot of those topics. We talk about them in the morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour, which you can hear from 5 to 6 a.m. If that's too early, I get it. You can check out the podcast version. Listen throughout the day. We track the General Assembly.

[00:01:28] We'll see you very closely.

[00:01:58] And it's got a pretty interesting name. Skip the Stuff Act. So we like cutting down on something. Are we saving some government somewhere? Right? Are we skipping stuff within government? Maybe saving more money as taxpayers? No, not at all. I would like to read for you a part of the bill. A bill to be entitled an act to reduce single-use foodware in takeout and delivery of prepared meals.

[00:02:24] Yes, you heard me correctly. Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly, as you are dealing with all of the issues of the day, all of the issues of your life, trying to make it in middle-class America. Democrats in Raleigh are introducing legislation to reduce single-use foodware, a.k.a. plastic spoons, forks, knives, and the likes, in takeout and delivery prepared meals.

[00:02:51] That is the pressing issue for North Carolina Democrats in our great state capital of Raleigh. Now, the bill is about four pages long, and it lists out a whole bunch of issues that are taking place. For example, it says, whereas, this is in the bill, whereas, four million trees are cut down each year in order to make chopsticks in China.

[00:03:15] Eliminating forests, our natural carbon sink, and providers of habitats and clean air makes no sense during a climate crisis. That's line 14 through 16 in the legislation. Whereas, the manufacturing of napkins requires a significant amount of water. I did not know this.

[00:03:37] For instance, if 50% of the United States population used three paper napkins per day, that would total 450 million napkins for one day, which would require 31.5 million gallons of water to manufacture. Whereas, many single-use foodware accessories are made from plastic. As much as 23 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean each year, most of it generated in the United States.

[00:04:07] So, this is a left-wing bill to reduce the ability for you to eat with a plastic fork if you order takeout. Sounds like a very important issue. Not only is this bill ridiculous on its face, and I gave you the bill numbers so you can go and read it for yourself. House Bill 423, if you think I pulled this out of the Babylon Bee or the Onion or some other parody news outlet this afternoon. It's House Bill 423.

[00:04:35] House Bill 423, not only does it make all of these ridiculous claims, but it actually wants to hold restaurants as responsible parties if they give you these single-use items. So, if you order takeout or order delivery from a restaurant, whether it be fast food or DoorDash or Grubhub, whatever it might be.

[00:05:00] Well, according to this piece of legislation, a food establishment shall not provide any single-use foodware or standard condiments to consumers for on-premise dining, takeout, and delivery orders, or when using third-party food delivery platforms, unless the consumer requests the use of single-use foodware or condiments.

[00:05:27] So, if you are now going to order takeout from somewhere, you are going to have to put in those special delivery instructions. Oh, and also, I need a fork to eat this steak. Oh, it might be helpful to have a spoon to eat this soup that I'm ordering from Panera. I mean, you could just eat it with your hands, I guess. That would be probably better for the environment than this evil single-use plastic foodware.

[00:05:53] So, this bill would require these restaurants to ask you to opt in to receive utensils with your food. And if they don't, if they are reported, which this legislation instructs the Department of Health to spawn up a portal for individuals to report restaurants that are not following the law, it reads as follows.

[00:06:19] If the Department finds that a food establishment has failed to comply with the requirements of this part, the Department may issue a written notice to the food establishment in its findings and direct the food establishment to take remedial actions to comply with the requirement of this law. The Department shall allow the noncompliant food establishment 60 calendar days from the receipt of notice of noncompliance

[00:06:47] to demonstrate a compliance to the satisfaction of the Department. If after 60 days of following receipt of notice of noncompliance fails to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this law, the Department may impose administrative penalties against food establishment pursuant to general statute. So, if I'm reading this correctly, which I believe I am,

[00:07:13] this piece of legislation introduced by four Democrats in Raleigh would require restaurants to ask you if you need silverware to eat your food. If they don't ask you and they give it to you anyway, the evil action of providing you with paper napkins, plastic forks, knives and spoons, depending on what you're ordering, they will be reported to the state government. And you can guarantee that lefties across this state will be ordering food just so they can report restaurants.

[00:07:43] It will be reported to the state. The restaurant or establishment will receive a notice from the state. And if they don't do so, they will be fined by the state government. If that is not the most absurd thing I have ever seen, I don't know what is. This is what we're tackling right now in our North Carolina General Assembly. We've got nothing better going on in this state right now. We don't have a $60 billion storm that affected the western half of the state back in September.

[00:08:11] We don't have major discussions about choice in education, budget surpluses, budget shortfalls being projected in the near future. Huge time increases with state health plans is set to come up here in the next year or so. None of that is irrelevant enough. Now we need to report these restaurants and then we need to find them. If they are not cooperating with this legislation.

[00:08:41] Unimaginable. House Bill 423 has been introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly. The Skip the Stuff Act introduced yesterday in Raleigh. We'll keep a very close eye on it and pass any details along if you think it's absurd. Love to hear your thoughts on it. Maybe you think this is a great thing. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina? Just a quick drive up the mountain. And Cabins of Asheville is your connection.

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[00:10:02] And they have pet-friendly accommodations. Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. We are talking about an interesting piece of legislation introduced in Raleigh yesterday.

[00:10:20] House Bill 423, the Skip the Stuff Act, which deals with restaurants and them providing you with the plastic spoons, forks, knives, and other sorts of condiments and utensils when you order takeout from them. This is what Democrats are working on in Raleigh with all of the issues that the state is facing right now. So, 704-570-1110. That's 704-570-1110. Lisa is hanging on line one. Lisa, good afternoon.

[00:10:49] You're on the Pete Calendar Show. Go ahead. Hello, Nick. Nice to meet you. Likewise. What's up? As a former food server, I totally understand about to-go forks, and I'm okay with this bill, but not all of it. Quite often, I'll order something at home. I prefer a metal fork, and therefore, I end up stuck with a drawer full of to-go forks that I don't need.

[00:11:15] I think that they should make it easier on the website, or they ask you on the website, do you need a fork or do you need condiments where you don't have to, you know, where you just go click-click like you would ordering your egg rolls. As far as being a fork Nazi, that is absolutely ridiculous. The world is made of plastic. We have Ziploc baggies.

[00:11:37] We buy, you know, food comes in bags, and then it's in plastic bags, and it's individually wrapped in little plastic, more plastic inside. Plastic bags at the grocery store, the paper straw thing is ridiculous. If you really, really, really want to deal with the issue of plastic, forks and straws are not the answer. Lisa, it sounds like you're willing to put our environment at risk. It doesn't sound like you're taking climate change seriously enough.

[00:12:05] All those plastic forks are causing the planet's temperature to skyrocket. Are you serious? It's the most absurd thing in the world. The idea that we're going to solve the Earth's problem of so-called man-made climate change, and you're no longer going to get a spoon with your takeout soup order is the most absurd thing in the world. I can't imagine that anybody thinks that this is a useful venture of government. I do agree with you.

[00:12:33] I mean, the idea you always, and just like you, I have my drawer full of those plastic utensils. But you want, why does government need to be involved in this, Lisa? I mean, that's really the kind of the question that I'm asking myself. Why does the General Assembly need to be involved in this at all? They're bored. They have nothing else to do. They don't want to pack a real issue. Shall I go on? I mean, it's exactly the case. Are they paid off? Are they paid off to come up with dumb stuff?

[00:13:01] Oh, I think that judge has paid off, by the way. Somebody got to him. Yeah, big plastic fork in the industry that is controlling the lobbyists down at the North Carolina General Assembly. Lisa, thanks for the call this afternoon at 704-570-1110. And, you know, if restaurants who are spending money, by the way, on these utensils, if they want to ask you, do you want these? That's their prerogative. It would save them some money if that was the case. But we're now going to be fining restaurants?

[00:13:31] We're going to now be sending the Department of Health into restaurants to figure out whether they are giving out plastic utensils when you order food? Dude, this bill directs the Secretary of Environmental Quality to go forth and start investigating these cases. And if a restaurant is found in compliance for the first violation, the penalty should not exceed $200. For a second violation, $500.

[00:14:01] If it happens a third time, this piece of legislation instructs the Attorney General to institute a civil penalty against the county in which the restaurant operates. So we're going to have the Attorney General of the state going after counties to recoup money from restaurants that are including plastic silverware. Government's got nothing better to do.

[00:14:32] 704-570-1110. Carol is hanging on line, too. Carol, good afternoon. You're on the Pete Calendar Show with Nick Craig. What's up? How are you? I'm doing great, thanks. I would actually like to record these restaurants. One day, don't put the silverware in the bag. So, wait. Hold on a second. Hold on a second. You don't like eating your food with your hands? You don't like eating your soup by sipping it out of a cup, Carol? Is that what I'm understanding? I know. I know.

[00:15:00] How rude of me to actually want silverware. You know? Yeah. So, like, there's been many times you go to these places and they don't give you the silverware. We don't get to report it for not giving the silverware, but apparently, yeah. It's getting so insane I can't even stand it anymore. I was just listening to the program and just like, you've got to be kidding me. This is really not happening. But apparently, they're trying. I thought it was fake. I'm going to be honest with you. I saw this come across my ex-feed yesterday afternoon after I was done filling in for Pete yesterday.

[00:15:28] And I saw it come through and I was like, this can't possibly be real. So, I went to the General Assembly's website, typed in the bill number, and lo and behold, not only is it real, I got to see the faces of the representatives, the four Democrats that introduced this legislation. And it's just, it's absurd. This is, not only should government not be involved in this at all, but the fact that Democrats think this is a good idea with everything going on right now is just pretty shocking to me. Well, again, yeah, like you have said, like, there's nothing else going on.

[00:15:58] This is our biggest concern. Come on. You know what? The Democrats, they're just pulling straws, plastic straws at that, to find anything just to make our lives miserable. I swear, they really are. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News.

[00:16:28] It's an app, and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news.com. I put the link in the podcast description, too. I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right.

[00:16:58] See for yourself. Check.ground.news.com. Subscribe through that link, and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. We are discussing a very, very important piece of legislation out of the North Carolina General Assembly, House Bill 423, the Skip the Stuff Act.

[00:17:28] This is a bill introduced by four Democrats in Raleigh yesterday that would require restaurants to ask for your consent to give you plastic utensils and napkins as well as condiments when you order takeout food.

[00:17:43] If they do not ask for your consent and they continue to give you knives and forks and spoons without asking permission first, they are to be reported to the state and then fined by the state for including that silverware or plastic utensils within your takeout order. Chris is hanging on line five this afternoon. He has the reason as to why this might be going on. Chris, good afternoon. Welcome to the Pete Calendar Show. Enlighten us. Hello, Nick.

[00:18:09] Basically, there might be a second reason why these leftist legislators are doing this, and that is because there is a man in North Carolina who has developed a biodegradable flatware that's supposed to be as strong as plasticware. He was featured on a show on PBS called SCI-NC, play on words there.

[00:18:35] But he's making this biodegradable flatware, which I think would be unethical, but maybe they're trying to help this guy out so it can spread and he can grow his market. That might be part of it. I'm just guessing. You know, I do find it interesting. Restaurants, for individuals that have not worked in and around the restaurant industry, outside of alcohol, it is a relatively low-margin business.

[00:19:01] I mean, if you've watched shows like Kitchen Nightmares and things of that nature with Gordon Ramsay, restaurants are not the cash cow business that it might seem. Their expenses are very high with all of the food costs and their employees and the salaries and rent, everything associated with running a restaurant.

[00:19:18] If these restaurants, which operate in the free market, if they were losing boatloads of cash handing out utensils, plastic silverware to individuals, they would, in fact, stop doing it. And we had a call in the previous segment indicating that might already be happening. I don't know why the state needs to be involved in this at all. Chris, thanks for the call this afternoon. Appreciate it at 704-570-1110. I just don't know why the state needs to be involved at all.

[00:19:45] Dan's got a pressing question on line four. Dan, what do you do when a restaurant does not give you any of this silverware, maybe even if you requested it? What do we do then? Let me lay out the doomsday scenario for you. Please. And first, let me also point out that whoever these four legislators are probably got beat up a lot in grade school and junior high.

[00:20:06] But if I pull into my favorite chicken spot and I order my three-piece chicken dinner with my filthy rice and my Creole pintos and some coleslaw, and I drive away, get home, not even get home, get back to work and find that they didn't include a spoon, a fork, even a spork. Somebody, somebody's going to hear about it.

[00:20:35] In fact, I'm going to spend all my waking hours making sure that those four legislators don't get reelected. It's just how absurd. I wasn't kidding when I mentioned that I saw this yesterday and I had to double take what I was reading. I thought maybe it was a parody account. There's all these fake accounts that pop up on social media that try and mirror somebody who's like, somebody that you actually know. They make a fake profile. They copy their picture and everything like that.

[00:21:03] That's what I thought I was looking at until I saw the legislation. Your previous caller pointed out that it might be unethical if these four legislators were trying to pop up this biodegradable diningware. Shazam! Say it ain't so unethical in our legislature. I can't believe it's so. No, it's completely unbelievable. But, you know, reading through it, I'm... Hard to grasp.

[00:21:33] It is very hard to grasp, Dan. Well, hopefully this situation doesn't unfold for you. And if it does, I'm glad that I'm not going to be on the other end of those phone calls. Appreciate the call this afternoon at 704-570-1110. I didn't read through. I bared you not reading through all of the whereases that was brought up in this legislation. But it's all about the climate stuff. I mean, it's all talking about plastic.

[00:21:56] Whereas the United States uses more than 36 billion disposable plastic utensils annually. Laid end-to-end, this amount of plastic utensils could wrap around the globe 139 times. It's just all weird, wacko, leftist environmental stuff. I mean, these are the same folks that brought the biodegradable straws or the paper straws to restaurants near you.

[00:22:23] I was out last night for St. Patrick's Day and I got a paper straw. Halfway through my dinner, lo and behold, what's happening? The straw is melting into my drink. Now, I believe Trump signed an executive order outlawing or attempting to ban those paper straws as they have been an abysmal failure. And I'll say it one more time and then we'll move on. This is not what government should be spending its time doing.

[00:22:51] This was a pretty well-crafted piece of legislation. It goes through the entire thing from start to finish. What the process needs to be, who it needs to be reported to, what the level of penalties are. Somebody in the General Assembly, likely a legislative assistant who is paid for by the taxpayers,

[00:23:10] was charged with crafting this document and spending time doing research as to how many times you could wrap all of the plastic disposable utensils around the earth. Somebody was paid by your taxpayer dollars to calculate that if you used all of, it took all of the 36 billion disposable plastic utensils that are used in the United States annually, that you could wrap that around the globe 139 times. Somebody spent their time doing that.

[00:23:40] Is that a good use of your money? Is that a good use of your resources here across the state? I don't think so. All right, so spring is here, a time of renewal and celebrations. You've got graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and the special days for mom and dad. Your family's making memories that are going to last a lifetime. But let me ask you, are all of those treasured moments from days gone by, are they hidden away on old VCR tapes, 8mm films, photos, slides? Are they preserved?

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[00:24:39] Creative Video, preserving family memories since 1997. Located in Mint Hill, just off 485. Mail orders are accepted too. Get all the details at createavideo.com. We've got some breaking news coming down the wire this afternoon. A phone call took place earlier today between around 9 and 11 o'clock this morning between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. We are getting some details now of that call from the White House.

[00:25:09] And this is exactly how it's being read from the White House. It says, President Donald Trump agreed in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the war in Ukraine, quote, needs to end with lasting peace. That's according to a description of the conversation from the White House. The two leaders also agreed to begin immediate talks on energy and infrastructure ceasefire. The readout did not suggest that Putin had agreed to a 30-day ceasefire that Trump had endorsed

[00:25:38] and which had received backing from Ukraine. Now, that's what's officially being reported from the White House. Some other anonymous sources speaking to other media outlets indicate that there is a 30-day ceasefire in terms of any sort of attacks or any sort of movement on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. That is being reported by a couple of news outlets right now.

[00:26:03] Also, according to TASS, that's an international news service, Putin apparently told Trump that a complete removal of military aid to Kiev is a key condition in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. And Putin has, quote, agreed to an initial, quote, energy and infrastructure ceasefire to be followed by technical negotiations for a full ceasefire and permanent peace with Ukraine.

[00:26:31] So the phone call, I guess, went somewhat well that took place earlier this morning. It was reportedly taking place between 9 and 11 o'clock this morning. And now we are starting to get some of the details of that phone call, some of the back and forth between the Russian president and Donald Trump. And I was thinking about this phone call and how all of this is going to play out.

[00:26:56] So and I just had to remind myself and go back to when this all began. Right. Of course, you had President Joe Biden at the time mentioning that, you know, depending on how big the incursion is, if it's just a minor incursion into Ukraine, then maybe the United States won't get involved, essentially greenlighting Vladimir Putin and the Russian government and military to begin their war on Ukraine.

[00:27:20] What three plus years ago at this point, and I found it shocking and quite remarkable that throughout the entire conflict, the previous administration and Joe Biden never opened the line of communication, never opened the line of dialogue with the Russian president. How could you not have any sort of communication with Russia during this?

[00:27:46] Now, the United States is on the tune for hundreds of billions of dollars in what is being described as essentially a never ending stalemate of a war right now where neither side is making any serious progress. It's been a stalemate now for well over 12 months. We have sides move here and there a little bit, but the battle lines have essentially stayed the same for well over a year. And the previous guy couldn't even be bothered to talk to the Russian president.

[00:28:15] You know, this idea of peace through strength, leadership through strength. This is the example of it right here. Just back a couple of weeks ago, you had Zelensky come to the United States and make a complete and total fool out of himself. Fortunately, he was able to correct the record there with Trump and get everything squared back together. And they have agreed, at least the Ukrainian side has agreed to this 30 day ceasefire deal

[00:28:40] to begin the process of full negotiations to ending this war completely and totally. But that's what strong leadership looks like. This is what strength appears publicly as. Trump had a call with Putin. He has apparently agreed to an initial energy and infrastructure ceasefire for at least 30 days. There will be technical negotiations that take place in the near term future.

[00:29:09] And that's where things apparently are standing right now. I'm sure throughout the rest of the afternoon, you'll get more details. And of course, you could stay tuned to those here on WBT. I just I can't imagine how the previous guy thought and nobody within his his ear, nobody that was pulling the marionette strings up in Washington, D.C., how none of them thought it was a good idea to open the line of communication with the Russian president.

[00:29:34] And really, the irony of all of this, after Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, was laughed out of the United States, was that about three weeks ago? After that happened, he then did his tour around Europe with all of these European leaders talking about how strongly they're going to stand with Ukraine and how they're going to make sure that this war comes to an end. Where have these guys been for almost four years now? Where have all these European countries been?

[00:30:02] None of them could have picked up the phone and began these conversations with Putin. Nobody could have picked up the phone and started this discussion of a ceasefire, started this discussion of the mineral rights deal that was that has been discussed here in the United States. No other leader was capable of this but Trump. It's pretty remarkable when you compare and contrast the previous administration to the one that's been in office less than two months. It's a stark contrast from the past.

[00:30:32] And fortunately, it looks like it's going to end up leading to a full ceasefire and a full truce and treaty between these two countries. Another hopefully huge potential win for President Donald Trump. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendershow.com.

[00:31:02] Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.